Map Fog of War

[SirGraystone]

When my PC move around a map there's a black part (which is not explore yet), the grey fog of war, and the room in which they are at the moment which is lit, all that is normal. My problem is when move then to another map like a 2nd level, and they come back to the 1st level the fog of war is lost and all the map is back to black.

Not sure there's a way to keep a memory of the already explored part of the previous map.

[jharp]

This will do as you want.

https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/224/view

[LordEntrails]

Or put all the levels on the same map, just off set them and if needed put a LOS wall around them in a box. You can do this by dragging the additional levels to the original map as a layer. (May need to export the LOS from the additional level before you do this so you get LOS already drawn on the other maps)

[kronovan]

Or put all the levels on the same map, just off set them and if needed put a LOS wall around them in a box. You can do this by dragging the additional levels to the original map as a layer. (May need to export the LOS from the additional level before you do this so you get LOS already drawn on the other maps)

I'm hesitant about making maps that are larger than SmiteWork's guidelines for optimal performance. SW suggests a max map size of 4000x4000 which you could exceed fairly quickly if you place other maps within one.

I've been experimenting with a custom set of dungeon Tile assets containing LOS & lighting, that are 60'x60' in terms of a grid with 5' grid squares. I originally had them at 150dpi with an overall size of 1600x1600. While I could exceed the 4000x4000 limit, placing more than 4x4 caused considerable lag for some players, or if I viewed the map in a 2nd instance of FGU on the same PC. I took the trouble to resize my tiles to 72dpi and 864x864, with an average file size of about 125k. Even at that, if I place more than 7x7 tiles FGU will start to lag. Note, I'm running FGU on a PC that would be considered above mid stats for a PC Gaming rig. Why FGU can't effectively handle maps larger than this, baffles me.

So based upon my tests, I'd be cautious about making a large map containing a number of offset maps within it. Making levels as separate map images, typically results in maps that are well within SW's optimal guidelines. That FOG extension is pricey in my country's currency, considering I've bought rulesets on the forge store for less. But I can't argue it's not worthwile.

[SirGraystone]

The maps are for Castle Ravenloft in Curse of Strahd, it's a massive castle with 7 or 8 maps. What I have done is disable the new map feature like Line of sight, and added a global mask so I can reveal each room manually as they are exploring. It's not as pretty, but what's revealed stay that way even if you change map.

[LordEntrails]

I'm hesitant about making maps that are larger than SmiteWork's guidelines for optimal performance. SW suggests a max map size of 4000x4000 which you could exceed fairly quickly if you place other maps within one.

I've been experimenting with a custom set of dungeon Tile assets containing LOS & lighting, that are 60'x60' in terms of a grid with 5' grid squares. I originally had them at 150dpi with an overall size of 1600x1600. While I could exceed the 4000x4000 limit, placing more than 4x4 caused considerable lag for some players, or if I viewed the map in a 2nd instance of FGU on the same PC. I took the trouble to resize my tiles to 72dpi and 864x864, with an average file size of about 125k. Even at that, if I place more than 7x7 tiles FGU will start to lag. Note, I'm running FGU on a PC that would be considered above mid stats for a PC Gaming rig. Why FGU can't effectively handle maps larger than this, baffles me.

So based upon my tests, I'd be cautious about making a large map containing a number of offset maps within it. Making levels as separate map images, typically results in maps that are well within SW's optimal guidelines. That FOG extension is pricey in my country's currency, considering I've bought rulesets on the forge store for less. But I can't argue it's not worthwile.
All good points.

[kronovan]

The maps are for Castle Ravenloft in Curse of Strahd, it's a massive castle with 7 or 8 maps. What I have done is disable the new map feature like Line of sight, and added a global mask so I can reveal each room manually as they are exploring. It's not as pretty, but what's revealed stay that way even if you change map.

Masking is still a feasible technique and places far less demands on the FGU engine. In fact, when LOS was intro'd a few of my players bounced hard off of it, so I finished that campaign using masking. :p Getting comfortable with the freehand erase [SHIFT] mode is IMO the key to using it effectively. I'm still comfortable using it and will, if it's the right tool for the map.

[jharp]

Even today the FoW engine is buggy and can at times reveal things you very much don't want exposed. There have always been promises to get it fixed but to date it is still not 100%.

Jason