Video Tutorials

[Xorn]

I've made a collection of FG2 Video Tutorials covering the use of the program and some of the basic fundamentals that a lot of questions are asked about. These will see continual revision over the next month or so as I receive feedback. When downloading them, please right-click the link and save the WMV to your computer before watching it. This will help extend my bandwidth, as I'm hosting these files myself, for now.

Quick Start Guide (https://www.eugee.info/downloads/video/xorne-[quickplay]-1a.wmv) Quick overview of the basic features of FG2, from both DM and Player perspectives. (24:26, 23.8 MB)
Campaign Entry Basics (https://www.eugee.info/downloads/video/xorne-[building]-1a.wmv) Demonstration of the basic building blocks for building a campaign. (DM focused) (13:34, 13.5 MB)
Adventure Modules (https://www.eugee.info/downloads/video/xorne-[adventure]-1a.wmv) In-Depth how-to guide for creating and exporting a campaign into an adventure module. (28:35, 31.8 MB)
Miniature to Token Video Tutorial (https://www.eugee.info/downloads/video/xorne-[minis]-1a.wmv) Quickly and easily turn any image (DDM minis used in tutorial) into a side-view style token. (3:00, 5.3 MB)
Map Rescaling Video Tutorial (https://www.eugee.info/downloads/video/xorne-[rescale]-1a.wmv) Simple method for rescaling an existing map to fit your preferred grid size. (4:30, 8.3 MB)
4E_JPG Ruleset Overview (https://www.eugee.info/downloads/video/xorne-[4ejpg]-1a.wmv) From the character sheet to the combat tracker, a full walk-through of the ruleset. Note: This ruleset has no library modules, just blank character sheets and templates. (32:20, 29.1 MB)

15-Sep-2008 Update: Advisory added--token export workaround not needed with FG2 v2.2!

I just want to make a quick update (I'll revise the PDF and vid-tutorials this weekend, no game :():

You no longer need to use the token-export workaround, thanks to the 2.2 update. You can just export your host tokens, and they will stay linked correctly now. I'm sure the veterans caught this, but for newer folks just starting to make adventure modules SKIP that part of my tutorial--just link your tokens from your token box--you don't need to do the "partial export" step anymore.

Nice fix, SmiteWorks!

[sirosis34]

very wicked awesome! and handy! thanx! keep making them!

[Wargamer777]

Xorn.. buddy...

You rule!

Maybe you could make one for the parser utility that Tenian has posted on FUM.

I'm working on it now.. lots of trial and error, but I'm finally getting somwhere.

[Griogre]

How to make an adventure module is a fairly common question.

[Tenian]

A video for my parser? And you thought FG2's documentation was spotty? More power to him if he wants to try it :)

[DNH]

Good stuff, well done. One of the things I liked about kLoOge.Werks is their video tutorials section. I think most people learn better by seeing and doing as opposed to reading.

Yeah, Griogre has it right. The module export facility really needs looking at. And how about maps, something to do with creating them for the right size, adding grids and so on.

One last thing, if you highlight a number of lines together and change the paragraph type to links, FG2 will create links out of each line, no need to do them individually or delete-return each time.

[Tenian]

You might want to mention when you save your token to use .png (or similar). If they save it to .jpg then the transparency work is lost :)

[Foen]

Good tutorials Xorn, I learnt something new about story entries (tab in a chat box to assign a speaker) and was amazed at your speed on the tokens.

Good drumming too ;)

Stuart

[Xorn]

Oh yeah! You know the first draft I actually did mention to save as PNG, but on the second pass (which I liked better because of my fiance's drumming in the background) I forgot!

And on the story entries, that's the revision--setting links for a whole block of text.

Okay, Adventure Module exporting is definitely priority, I'll cover everything in the PDF and more.

The Parser... wow. I just don't know. I'll look at trying to make one later, but I want to cover the core FG2 stuff first.

I can expand the story entry one into data entry basics, how to do Story, Map/Image, Personalities, Items, and Tokens, maybe call it a Quick Start Guide to DMing or something.

Maybe the basics of installing a new ruleset? (I'd use JPG_4E as the example.) I wouldn't get too fancy with that.

[Sorontar]

(I'd use JPG_4E as the example.) I wouldn't get too fancy with that.

You may want to use something else rather than tie a tutorial on this site to something Wizards could get shirty about.

Perhaps unpack the basic ruleset and set it up as a custom ruleset, as you can show where to place things the same?

[Tenian]

I didn't find installing a ruleset to be complex enough to warrant a video, but that might just be me.

You might want to consider a very basic ruleset customization tutorial.

You could show unpacking the d20 ruleset and some basic skinning.

If you're really ambitious you might want to show the adding of some common elements (TheBox, the portrait chat, increasing the max displayed map size, etc).

[Talen]

I'd definitely like to see one on setting up personalities...specifically when using jpg's ruleset. Related to that, creation of a monster manual and items module that can be used across adventures would be great. I'd love to have Tenian's files :D , but being able to input them from week to week would work just as well...we dont seem to get through alot of combat from week to week and adding to the file incrementally would work just fine.

[Xorn]

In the adventure module tutorial I'm going to illustrate how to copy personalities you made from a previous module over.

re: JPG_4E ruleset
I'm really not sure what WotC has to do with me showing how to add an empty ruleset to a VTT program. There is nothing the JPG ruleset does that WotC has any say over. They don't own math, the words "hit", "points", or even the phrase "At-Will Powers". They haven't said a word about the screenshots I've posted in their DDi forums showing people that there are working alternatives to their non-existent VTT promises, either.

But I think Tenian has a point, perhaps a tutorial on how to change your max map size, or add The Box would be better. (Didn't someone already make a video tutorial for that? That's how I heard about Wink, I think.)

Ultimately I'm not shooting for a reference manual, or to reinvent the wheel. I just want to cover how to get FG2 up and running, how to get your adventures set up, and some tricks to make your prep time as painless as possible. I think that would include:

Quick Start Guide
Basic Campaign Creation
Adventure Module Exporting
Map/Token Tips/Tricks

I'm not sure that Ruleset Modification, even rudimentary, really falls into that. But perhaps some really easy stuff like maximum map size or custom sizes for character tokens would be a possibility. Implementing a new ruleset is very easy, but for someone that is concerned how hard it would be--seeing a video tutorial of how easy it is before you buy could be good, right?

[Sigurd]

Big thanks for all the tutorials.

Can I suggest that you modify the file names

eg... XN-[Tutorial Name]-1a.wmv

1a or 1,2,3,4 etc... anything that attaches a unique beginning and a version number would save confusion. I sort of doubt you'll get beyond 9 versions of any one tutorial but.....

Kudos on the story tutorial - it was really useful.

Sigurd

[Tenian]

Re: My modules

I've begun to release the programs I use to build modules. You can find them over on FUM. The documentation is sketchy at best, but there is some. You should hop over there and take a look. If you get stuck just post in one of the threads or send me a PM (here is better for PMs since FUM's PM notice is not working atm).

I've already released the PHB and MM parser. Those will handle magic items and monsters. At the moment 4E_JPG 1.0.1 does not have much in the way of magic item support. This has been greatly expanded since the release. These changes should appear in 1.0.2

As for the ruleset: I wasn't thinking all inclusive, just something to get your feet wet. Reskinning to update the look and feel is not difficult technically (tho difficult artistically). The same with map sizes.

[Xorn]

LOL. I'm tinkering with reskinning JPG_4E with the animated cartoon images. :)

[Tenian]

Although I whole heartedly approve....
That actually might get you in trouble :)
I'm sure someone does hold the rights to the D&D cartoon images.

[Sorontar]

re: JPG_4E ruleset
I'm really not sure what WotC has to do with me showing how to add an empty ruleset to a VTT program. There is nothing the JPG ruleset does that WotC has any say over. They don't own math, the words "hit", "points", or even the phrase "At-Will Powers". They haven't said a word about the screenshots I've posted in their DDi forums showing people that there are working alternatives to their non-existent VTT promises, either.


That's you the individual, all I am doing is highlighting the caution that has been shown so far in not tying this site with anything that could bring WotC (or any other company) lawyers calling.

If all you need to do is show people where to put a ruleset folder and where .mod files go then the unpacked standard ruleset would let you do this.

[ShadeRaven]

I'd like to mimic others here in saying this is great stuff, especially for someone new to FG2 like myself.

I also want to add that campaign and adventure module creation tips and tricks would be wonderful at this point. How to maintain characters from adventure to adventure, how to work on modules on the side to add in to the main campaign with need, etc.

I hope it doesn't sound too demanding or greedy, though I realize that's just exactly what it is... but I cannot help but want to pick the brain of someone with the command of the tools that you have. :)

Thanks again for all you do here.
SR

[Xorn]

That's the purpose of the thread! I'm really looking for what newer folks wish they could watch someone else do. I learned a lot of my tricks from watching other GMs sessions, but frankly Griogre stays up too late for me on the west coast. :)

[Xorn]

Although I whole heartedly approve....
That actually might get you in trouble :)
I'm sure someone does hold the rights to the D&D cartoon images.

Oh I'm not going to release THAT. I was just mentioning it since you got me started on the Dungeon Master thing. :)

[ShadeRaven]

Excellent!

Yeah, I am tempted to see if there's a chance to "lurk" in on a session sometime but really wanted to have at least the basics mastered before watching for the subtleties that others have mastered.

Looking forward to your next tutorial!
SR

[Xorn]

I will not have a session this weekend (players are interacting with their wives, some priorities...) but next weekend you're welcome to sit in on one of my sessions.

[Xorn]

Okay, I've started the tutorials tonight, my goal is to get everything done this first pass, let people offer feedback, revise them, then see if FUM wants to host them once they've been finalized. The list on the front page is what I'll be putting together this weekend.

Quick Start Guide - Basically a video run-down with the player and DM both in mind; most of the information is also in the user guide documentation.

Campaign Entry Basics - Getting a DM off the ground in making Story entries, importing Images/Maps, filling out Personalities/Items, and importing tokens plus linking them to personalities.

Adventure Module Exporting - Planning/Preparation of an adventure module, building easy to navigate Story entires, using Master Maps (with Map Pins), Exporting your module, making token links that survive exporting, and loading your module into another campaign.

Rescaling Pre-Drawn Maps (w/ PSP) - Quick tutorial for scanning in, cropping, measuring and resizing, and using the clone brush to make a player version of your map.

Creating Side-View Tokens (w/ PSP) - Revision of the existing tutorial I made, minus the Rock Band amateur.

[ShadeRaven]

Looking forward to all that, Xorn. You have a knack for bring clarity to that which often seems muddled.

[Bidmaron]

Xorn, since you made your first video in response to my request about story entries, I feel especially anxious to see your new material. Thanks for your dedication and help.

Your topic list looks very good to me.
--Dale--

[Xorn]

FYI all the recording is done, I'm doing the splicing and editing to clean them up now.

[Xorn]

The "Quick Start" video is irking me. It's a 20-minute run-down of the main features you use in FG2, but when I render it I get 5 minutes of video, and 9 minutes of audio. I'm going to try putting the footage (which plays perfectly in the editing suite) into a different program tonight (if it can import the project, hopefully) otherwise I might need to re-record that one.

I battled it a lot on Sunday, and finally got fed up and just watched the Olympics & The Office. Hopefully I'll figure out why the render is messing up soon.

[Xorn]

Sweet! Figured it out I think. It's only halfway through the render, but it was stopping at 20% before.

By the way the two vids on the first post are updated.

[Sorontar]

Sweet! Figured it out I think. It's only halfway through the render, but it was stopping at 20% before.

By the way the two vids on the first post are updated.

Your a trooper sir, the work is appreciated. *tips hat*

[Sigurd]

You have a nice pair of Tuts, Xorn :)!

The rescale like appears broken

[Xorn]

Fixed the link for rescaling maps. And FYI, the render failed at the same spot. Grrrr. I'm going to render the campaign entry one tonight and see if it messes up. Hopefully I only need to remake the quick start guide.

[Xorn]

Mwahahahah! Success! Actually, I didn't get the quick start tutorial rendered yet. What I did do was try to render the campaign building, and it stopped rendering just like the other one. I extracted the avi files from the camrec files and tried rendering just the raw footage, and it worked great!

So the first draft of the Campaign Building is ready to go! (Updated the first post links.)

[Xorn]

Bah! The quick start didn't render correctly. Actually even the building one didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. I have the quickstart rendering again, and I know it will work this time, because I'm using Ulead Video Studio instead of Camtasia.

The screen recording of Camtasia is nice (especially the mouseclicks, in my opinion) but the rendering for it gets really buggy if you try to kick out more than about 8 minutes. Ulead is chugging away though, it's at 48% already. So I think I'll just do my editing in Ulead and my recording in Camtasia. (Though I might just do Camstudio--which is free, but no mouseclicks. :mad: )

[Talen]

Xorne,

The videos are greatly appreciated, thanks for all of the work!

I'm not sure if your final video to-do list is set in stone, but coverage of the 4e rule set would be a godsend...I've been using it in my games, but I know I'm not making full use of it's functionality....and defnitely not clear on creating modules (powers to drop in the list, etc) to support it.

Regardless, the viedos you have included have been a big help.

[Xorn]

If folks are interested in a 4E_JPG tutorial I'll make one. The bells and whistles of 4E_JPG are pretty amazing actually. Are you looking for something like the quick start tutorial, only set in 4E_JPG?

By the way, the adventure module tutorial is rendering right now, should be finished within the hour.

[Xorn]

Adventure module is uploaded.

[Tenian]

The 4E_JPG Combat Tracker (with effects, setting npcs visible, etc) would be nice to include.

Oh and the magic item builder once it releases. It's not really complex...just a multi-step process.

[Sakusammakko]

Xorn,

I've recently come to FGII and just viewed your Quick Start Tutorial. Fantastic work!

I like how smooth your presentation is. You get right to the point without any extraneous or 'cutsie' comments. You explain the rationale behind some of what you do-- e.g. the docking of the mini tabs, why you set the pixel size on the grid to 30, etc.

I feel confident that I could give this to my players to get them excited about FGII as well as and reduce their anxiety about interface issues.

Thank you!

[Rift]

You sir, are THE MAN!

Tutorials such as yours are really needed. No offense to Smiteworks, but their manual pretty much stinks.

I recently purchased FGII a couple of months ago, and I've been struggling to learn the ins-and-outs of this fine product. My group also purchased Lite versions, and we are planning to run our first session next Friday. Your videos could not have come at a better time!

Thanks!

[Xorn]

Glad you both enjoy them!

I'm working on the 4E_JPG ruleset demo right now, should have it up by Sunday. I think the folks making FG2 know the documentation could use some work, but I'm happy to do this little part to help out. Because of FG2 I don't have to sit in the DDi forums complaining that DDi GameTable isn't ready yet!

(Instead I get to taunt them with screenshots.)

[Sorontar]

(Instead I get to taunt them with screenshots.)

You bad man, picking on the afflicted :D

[icedcrow]

Hey they have a choice. They can keep bitching or they can do something about it.

We've decided to do something about it. There's nothing DDi does that FG doesn't do minus the 3d, and considering it's top down I can do without the 3d.

[Xorn]

I've gotten several PMs in the past two months thanking me for posting those screenshots, actually. One thing DDi has done is raised awareness of existing VTTs. :) Thanks, Wizards!

[Wraith]

Hey Jason,
Just checked out your tutorial and noticed you do alot of click changes on your text format and style. Just thought I would mention that when creating modules you can hold Ctrl and push 1-6 for different text style. (i.e. chat, header, bullet, or link box), or you can hold Ctrl and push B, I, or U to format text. FYI
Shawn

[Xorn]

Hey Jason,
Just checked out your tutorial and noticed you do alot of click changes on your text format and style. Just thought I would mention that when creating modules you can hold Ctrl and push 1-6 for different text style. (i.e. chat, header, bullet, or link box), or you can hold Ctrl and push B, I, or U to format text. FYI
Shawn

You MFer! I have to redo the tutorial now! :D

I knew the Ctrl-B,I,U, but the Ctrl-1 thru 6 is new to me. VERY nice tip. (Looks like my first version B is coming.)

Actually I need to tweak the QuickPlay to show masking.

[Griogre]

I had a chance to look at your turtorials, Xorn. Very nicely done.

I thought I would let you know there is another way to approved a player move you didn't mention. You can click the center button to approve moves instead of holding the Ctrl key down and clicking.

One other thing in the food for thought catagory - How often do you really need GM only maps? Players can't see pins so if you pin the Player map most of the time you don't really need a seperate GM map unless there is something pretty complicated. Naturally if you are using an existing adventure someone else made *that* is the map you always get. But if you are making you own adventure, you really don't often need a seperate map for GM's and Players.

The same thought on your overall map. In KotS I just used the overall maps for the keep because there isn't any reason to have seperate battle maps because you can zoom in on an area. There can be size contraints on the how big a map file you want, of course.

[Bidmaron]

The most common reason I see for GM versions is because I can't figure out a way to hide secret doors without a player-only version.

--Dale--

[Xorn]

Thanks for the Accept Move tip, I'll add it to my list of revisions to do.

I like a separate DM map myself, but by no means is it necessary. There's nothing at all wrong with doing one overall map and zooming around on it. I'll add a caption on that, too.

I just like using the battlemaps, myself.

[Griogre]

The most common reason I see for GM versions is because I can't figure out a way to hide secret doors without a player-only version.

--Dale--
Don't show them (can't accidently reveal them either that way. :) ). Put a pin on them and then use a Secret Door Token if the players find them.

https://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m222/Griogre/SecretDoor.png

It doesn't look like the guys at FUM migrated the tokens over to their new site - so the link is to their old forums: https://www.fouruglymonsters.com/community/showthread.php?t=129

If you were not a member on the old forums I don't know if you can get the download. It's called Kalmarjan's Doorway Tokens. I'm sure they would put it up on the new site if someone asked, though.

[Bidmaron]

Well, I am a member of the old site and have downloaded stuff there before the switch, but it won't let me anymore.

Thanks for the idea. So, what you're saying is that I can scrub the secret door from the scan/PDF and put a pin that the players can't see. Then when/if they find it, I plop down a secret door token. Pretty cool.
--Dale--

[ShadeRaven]

Yeah, the door tokens looked very interesting/good, but I couldn't access them either.

[Xorn]

Had issues with my Saturday game, which resulted in me spending a lot of time working on my campaign Sunday instead of the 4E_JPG quick start. I'll try to get it finished tonight. Half the footage is recorded, though.

I need to add a disclaimer to the token linking though (in the adventure creation tutorial) that it might cause token loading problems. Maybe just take that tip out all together.

[Griogre]

I just like using the battlemaps, myself.
Nothing wrong with that. :) I hate constantly having to tranfer PC tokens from map to map though (I'm lazy ;) ), and it's a bitch when the fight shifts so half the party is on one battlemap and half on another. There is something in Murphy's Law that says the PCs will fight all over a map "seam" where two battlemaps join every once in a while too. :p Naturally you can make overlaps, but if you follow that to it's logical conclusion you might as well put it on one map if you can.

[Xorn]

Heh. That's a good point, really.

One perk I've found since switching from one big map to several smaller is that I don't have to worry about masking very often. On that big map, if I mess up the masking, it's a pain to fix it. On battlemaps it's rare that I even need masking.

[Griogre]

True but honestly, I've gotten to the point I don't reveal by unmasking that much anymore - pretty much only if I happen to have a player map for that specific scenario.

I'd much rather draw on the mask on top of the map (or let the players do it) if I only have only one map and it's a GM one. It's much more forgiving and I don't have to worry about grids not lining up on pre gridded maps and I can modify the underlaying map on the fly if I'm using one I got off the Internet so it matches my adventure better.

I found so many great maps on the Internet: where I go this is a great map - except for just one part. By tracing over the map on the mask I can easily fix that part. My style is to let the players wander whereever and while I like to prepare I tend to do the minimum until I know "for sure" they have decided to do that particular adventure - because about third of the time or more they will wander off and do something else.

Edit: Typo :p

[ShadeRaven]

I'd love to see a tutorial that detailed how DMs of mapping expertise deal with "fog of war", hidden rooms, map layers, and the like.

Being a novice to this, I am still a little confused on how people handle masking a hidden room so players don't see it, especially a difficult to hide one (like a secret room inside another). How are pins added to the map? Is there more layers than just the grid possible? Quick ways to navigate a map? I really hat having to highlight that lower left box and holding down to scroll about.. ugh.. Etc.

[Griogre]

A "donut" secret room is the worse case for unmasking. Ultimately if you are going to unmask it you unmask it like a corridor. Naturally you players will probably take note of this. If you design the map and you plan to unmask don't make rooms like this. If you are stuck with a map like this the best thing to do is make a seperate map of the secret room and fill in the space on the bigger map and put a pin in it (I'll get to pins in a sec) with a link to the secret room map. Just a FYI if you start unmasking something and realize you made a mistake and you have not yet let go to remove the mask if you hit Esc then it will clear the "outline" line.

If you are making your own maps and plan to unmask them to players then put 5 feet or so of wall where the secret door would be. This gives you "slop" so if you are off a bit on the unmasking it won't matter.

On "map pins" they are just a shortcut on the map just like links in a story book entry. You make them by right clicking on the map -> Layers -> Enable shortcuts to show short cuts then drag and drop any link box (little shaded box) on the the map that will make a pin. I'd do it this way when you first "pin" a map but holding down the Ctrl key also shows the pins and allows you to drag and drop them on the map.

There is just the mask and grid layers though you can make tokens invisible. You can drag a map around by holding down the middle mouse button to "pan" it. :)

One thing about FG - it was made to simulate the RPG tabletop online. Regardless of whether you think that was a good design decision it has given FG the lowest learning curve of any of the VTT software out there.

[Xorn]

I know I missed masking in my quickstart tutorial, but I thought I made mention of navigating a map quickly. Holding the middle mouse button will move the map around. Pins are in the adventure module, in the building master maps section.

[Bidmaron]

Xorn, you said that token linking can cause a token loading problem. Can you elaborate on that please?
--Dale--

[ShadeRaven]

Hrm.. then it must be something wrong with my middle mouse button, because that doesn't work.

The masking thing is pretty interesting.. thanks.. I hadn't toyed around with it much before. What I didn't realize was that it worked on my image maps, but it doesn't work for the generic ones you can make in FG2. That's where I was confused before.

Pins: Ah! Very interesting! Didn't realize it was a link. Excellent stuff!

Don't get me wrong .. I wasn't trying to come down on FG2. I love the product. I wouldn't have convinced 10 others (so far) to go in on it and I wouldn't be running 3 campaigns over it if I didn't. :P I just want to know all the ins and outs so that I can weave a better story.

[Griogre]

Don't get me wrong .. I wasn't trying to come down on FG2. I love the product. I wouldn't have convinced 10 others (so far) to go in on it and I wouldn't be running 3 campaigns over it if I didn't. :P I just want to know all the ins and outs so that I can weave a better story.
I didn't think you were. I just trying to give you the "insight" behind most of FG's design.

On the middle mouse button it's click and hold and drag. This will only work if the map is bigger than the frame. The mouse wheel will zoom in the map.

[Rift]

I am eagerly awaiting the 4E_JPG tutorial... :)

[Xorn]

Sorry about the delay on it folks, I redid the recording for the character sheet part this morning, and I think I got it down to 8 minutes, but there's just a LOT of cool stuff to cover. It's hard to work on the tutorials during the week, due to fiance faction grinding.

I'm hoping to have it up before the end of the week, still.

[Xorn]

I've finished all the recording/narration; I'll edit the material and render it tonight. Should be posted before I go to work tomorrow.

[Foen]

Top man Xorn - I also have to say I love the spoken title where your friend says "Fantasy Grounds" in a completely different tone. It always brings a big smile :D

Stuart

[Xorn]

That's MY voice! :D

[Foen]

*grins* I knew that!

[Rift]

Awesome! Thanks!

[Phystus]

Xorn, you rock! I'm starting up a campaign, and your first video is about to become required viewing for my players! Nice job!

~P

[Xorn]

Wow. So... the 4E_JPG quick start is 32:20. I kept redoing the different sections, trying to trim it down, but I just couldn't get it any faster. I covered the options, character sheet, personalities, items, and the combat/client tracker. That's just a lot of stuff!

I'm re-rendering it again, the first run was too big. I changed it to a variable bit rate to see if I can get the size down a little. It will be uploaded tonight, though.

[Rift]

I personally don't mind if it's a long vid... :) Thanks again for all your work! You do us all a huge service with your efforts!

[Xorn]

It wasn't the length that was worrying me as much as the size. It was rendering at 67 MB! I noticed that I accidentally rendered it at a constant bit rate instead of variable. Fixed that and rerendered, just finished uploading it, only 29.1 MB now!

Enjoy!

I'm taking a break for a week before I do any revisions. I want to cover working with masking in the quick start, and add a caption to clicking the speech bubble to assume a personality as an identity in chat.

There's some other tweaks I want to make, but I need to rest a little before doing that.

[Rift]

Great tutorial, as always.

I could tell that you were trying to be quick about it, lol... fast talker you are...

[EugeneZ]

Wow, Xorn, thanks! As a newbiw to FGII, I must say, these were very useful and well made. I wish I had found them earlier!

[Bidmaron]

Xorne, since I think you started these tutorials because I was rocking out so hard, I appreciate it. I've reviewed them all now, and they are very beneficial. As I get ready to run my first adventure, I am making my players watch your Quick Start, as it is a really good intro.

Thanks for your hard work.
--Dale--

[Xorn]

Glad everyone enjoyed them, I had fun making them. 2.1 GB of traffic today. Wow. :)

[leozelig]

I had a chance to look at your turtorials, Xorn. Very nicely done.

The same thought on your overall map. In KotS I just used the overall maps for the keep because there isn't any reason to have seperate battle maps because you can zoom in on an area. There can be size contraints on the how big a map file you want, of course.

Just curious, do you do anything special to enhance the image quality? The overall map of the keep at actual size has a grid width of around 10 for me, and obviously you lose resolution as you scale up. Any tips, Griogre, or do you just accept the loss of resolution? I like the idea, but the details of the map are lost for me...

[Griogre]

I have the non electronic version of KotS. For FG I would normally suggest getting a PDF but I am expecting to run the scenario in a face to face game and don't like the distraction of a laptop in those type of games and I didn’t want to pay for print outs of the poster maps.

Thus my KotS level maps are scans. You can control the size and number of pixels of map scans by setting the dpi of the scan. Each "dot" becomes a pixel on the screen. I scanned my level maps in at 200 dpi which gave me 19-21 pixel squares. These are fine for me because I use portrait style tokens scaled so 32 pixels is a five foot square. I have found that 5 foot squares of about 2/3rds to 1/2 of your medium size tokens give a pretty good appearance to file size trade off.

Once I scanned the map I cropped it and took a look at its file size. My goal is a file size of less than a meg, uncompressed. The scan after cropping was abut 6.9 megs uncompressed and the scan is about a 5.5 meg meg png. This was at 16 bit color depth. I took the easy color reduction down to 8 bits from 16 bit color which usually is pretty unnoticeable. Doing that about halved the size of the file.

Once I did that I had to decide if I was going to stay with a color map or not. You can't really take a color map to 4 bit color and have it look nice. You can take a grayscale map to 4 bit color and have it look nice though. I was undecided on color or not so I ended up trying both.

For the non color map, I sepiaed it which gives it a parchment tanish "look" then resized the map down a bit and took it to 4 bit color. The png file came in a 492K and the non compressed file size is 557K and the graphic is 1108x1026 with a final square size of 17 which is acceptable to me with a 32 pixel medium scale. The map is a tiny bit blurry but the file size is very good considering what I started with.

I went back and then tried a color map. There is no way I can have the map look decent at less than 8 bit color dept (256 colors) but it does look good there and still is half the size of the 16 bit map. I reduce the map so I have 17 pixel squares and end up with 1105x966 map with a 789K png file that is 1.02 megs uncompressed. That's a hair more than I wanted but pretty close so I ended up using the color map and just made a mental note to pre-load it.

If I had to do it again I probably would have scanned at 300 dpi to try to get rid of the slight blurriness.

And now you know more than you ever wanted. :)

[Xorn]

I made my own KotS PDF actually, I have the printed version. I scanned that full-size map at 600 DPI the first time through, then after restarting my computer (because it ran out of memory) I rescanned it at 450 DPI. Turned out really well, actually, though in the end I opted to do battlemaps.

[Tokuriku]

I just have to say, your tutorials rock!
It made me rethink some of the things that I did and did nit do :)
Thanks a bunch for them!

By the way, I tried Wink also but I'm faced with 2 problems.
1 How to put the mouse clicks in the soundtrack.
2 Make a WMP file like you did.
I would appreciate a lot if you could share some of your wisdom on that.

[Xorn]

Well, I ended up not using Wink, that's probably the first hurdle.

The footage was recorded with Camtasia Recorder, and the editing and render was done in Ulead Video Suite (most of them, anyway).

I used the WM9 encoding package to render them. I did them in 640x480 (as it's still legible from 1024x768, the original size), 15 FPS, VBR WM9 video, CBR WM9 audio. Getting 1 MB or less per minute, I was pretty happy with the quality.

[Raheal]

Xorn, which version of the 4E_JPG ruleset were you using? I thought I had the latest one, but some of the text I saw looked different in yours.

AWESOME videos though. I just forwarded this information to all of my players to review.

[Xorn]

1.0.2 for the video, with a slight update to the Items window. (Minor)

What was different?

[Dupre]

With Xorn's permission, we are now hosting the tutorials also here on the main site. You can find them under the Downloads-section.

[zabulus]

With Xorn's permission, we are now hosting the tutorials also here on the main site. You can find them under the Downloads-section.

Clever move :)

[Oberoten]

With Xorn's permission, we are now hosting the tutorials also here on the main site. You can find them under the Downloads-section.

Now how about talking to Foen about his ruleset creation tutorial?

- Obe

[Ged]

Now how about talking to Foen about his ruleset creation tutorial?

It would certainly be a wonderful addition as well. For now, I've just stickied a pretty recent thread (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8896) containing a link, in Foen's post, to the Anatomy of a Ruleset.

[Foen]

I'd be delighted for it to be hosted here, but I need to get it finished (or at least restarted). Once Call of Cthulhu is out of the way I can devote a bit more time to it.

Foen

[Bidmaron]

We are anxiously awaiting! Thanks for trying to help us poor sops.
--Dale--

[Oberoten]

I'll be waiting with my fingers crossed.

[Griogre]

I stumbled across a site that sells D&D minis the other day. The nice thing about it is they show some pictures of the minis that are more "in-scale" than the WotC site. Some of the pics are bad but I found the biggest problems on the WotC site pics was with the larger figures and most of those look good on this site (the bigger figs usually cost more so I think they made a bigger effort). Anyway, if you made some figures using Xorn's tutorial and aren't happy with the picture you used off of WotC's site you might see if the picture is better here: https://store02.prostores.com/servlet/auggiesgames/StoreFront

Look on the left under D&D minis for a link to each set.

[Xorn]

I just want to make a quick update (I'll revise the PDF and vid-tutorials this weekend, no game :():

You no longer need to use the token-export workaround, thanks to the 2.2 update. You can just export your host tokens, and they will stay linked correctly now. I'm sure the veterans caught this, but for newer folks just starting to make adventure modules SKIP that part of my tutorial--just link your tokens from your token box--you don't need to do the "partial export" step anymore.

Nice fix, SmiteWorks!

[Tokuriku]

Hello Xorn!

I'm not sure if you've received my pm but I just wanted you to know that if you want to link your videos on my website, you'd be more then welcome. I saw that you registered and I'm very, very pleased.
This (https://thepalentir.com/?q=node/1) is the site's manifest so I wont bother everyone here with that but please go see it if you want to know why I want the videos so much.

This is the book I prepared for you if you ever wanted to link them there. I think it would help the whole community but your the master on wether you want to do it or not. If it's too much hassle, I can do it for you also. I wont move without you consent since they are yours.

Yours sincerely,
The Palentir

[Xorn]

All but the 4E_JPG video are hosted here, and everything is hosted at www.rpgvirtualtabletop.com. I don't mind you hosting them at all, but I'm trying not to have them located it a multitude of places. I'm in the process of revising two of them (the quick start and the 4e_jpg ones) and I don't want to lose track of where they need to be updated.

I'm going to go ahead and post them up there, I've wanted to see Palentir get off the ground for some time, and I really like the new setup you've got there. Just don't let me forget about them, especially the 4E_JPG one, since it's not hosted here.

[Tokuriku]

I totally understand for the hosting part.
Thanks for contributing.
It's good to see that kind of involvement and encouragement!

Thanks again

[MeepoSose]

Xorn, I just wanted to say thank you for all these videos. They have really helped me to get comfortable with the program. I've got some more practicing and prep to do before I host my first game but your tutorials have greatly shortened that time.

Keep up the good work!

[Indarien]

Hey Xorn, I'm sure many other people have said this, but thanks again for making these videos. They are great and help make an already awesome product more usable and workable.

[Xorn]

My pleasure everyone. With the 1.1.2 version of 4E_JPG I need to add so much stuff I think I'll just do it over, and I also want to revise my QuickStart & Module Building tutorials (since you don't need to do anything at all to export the tokens now, not even drag them into Export Tokens). I don't know when I'm going to, though--Spore has kind of got my spare time in a stranglehold right now.

[Hefsgaard]

Damn - Now I want all that nice functionality of the combattracker in my current ruleset LOL

[wigwam]

Xorn - these toots are awesome. I don't know how many times i've watched them or will in the future. One thing I DO know is that they're indespensible.

[Tarostar]

Excellent videos, very useful. I've been playing around with FGII for a while now and building my own ruleset, but I learned several new tricks from watching them.

They are also a wonderful reasource to link to my players. In the past I've had to do tutorials to show them what is possible, now I can have them watch your videos and then just do a quick Q&A. Bravo!

[Runny]

thanks so much for these videos! you rock!

[hgordillo]

My pleasure everyone. With the 1.1.2 version of 4E_JPG I need to add so much stuff I think I'll just do it over, and I also want to revise my QuickStart & Module Building tutorials (since you don't need to do anything at all to export the tokens now, not even drag them into Export Tokens). I don't know when I'm going to, though--Spore has kind of got my spare time in a stranglehold right now.

Xorn -- can u tell me what version of the 4E_JPG ruleset you were using in the original video tutorial posted at the start of this thread? I want to follow the documentation's updates to the latest version from there. Thx! you are an awesome contributer!

[Xorn]

Oof. To be honest, I don't recall and I'm at work and can't remember if the version is shown. Check the Quick Play tutorial (the first one) and when I show hosting a session, if I recall correctly there's a version list of the 4E_JPG rulesets in my ruleset list. (The version I was using will be the one after the last number showing.)

I was archiving each one of the versions since it was in heavy development at the time.

I keep firing up CamStudio to start revising a few of the tutorials, but never get much production done on it (I blame WoW, mostly), but I really do need to revise the 4E_JPG tutorial. It's really added a whole lot of new stuff, and the onTokenDrop is going to be very exciting, being able to drag attacks/damage rolls onto a token to apply them automatically.

Of course that's more automation than I like, but as a DM I'll be able to drag damage numbers directly onto the tokens being hit by them, instead of finding them in the combat tracker! Plus, I happen to know of someone working it out so that when you drop an attack roll on something in the CT or a token, that it will roll the attack, and mention the target in the roll, but not declare if it was a hit or miss! (A Resolve vs Unresolved option.)

Very exciting stuff (to me)!

[storminj]

THat is very awesome!

Please let us know if you update. I have some party members new to FG, like myself, that an updated tutorial might get them willing to use it.

[hgordillo]

Oof. To be honest, I don't recall and I'm at work and can't remember if the version is shown. Check the Quick Play tutorial (the first one) and when I show hosting a session, if I recall correctly there's a version list of the 4E_JPG rulesets in my ruleset list. (The version I was using will be the one after the last number showing.)

I was archiving each one of the versions since it was in heavy development at the time.

I keep firing up CamStudio to start revising a few of the tutorials, but never get much production done on it (I blame WoW, mostly), but I really do need to revise the 4E_JPG tutorial. It's really added a whole lot of new stuff, and the onTokenDrop is going to be very exciting, being able to drag attacks/damage rolls onto a token to apply them automatically.

Of course that's more automation than I like, but as a DM I'll be able to drag damage numbers directly onto the tokens being hit by them, instead of finding them in the combat tracker! Plus, I happen to know of someone working it out so that when you drop an attack roll on something in the CT or a token, that it will roll the attack, and mention the target in the roll, but not declare if it was a hit or miss! (A Resolve vs Unresolved option.)

Very exciting stuff (to me)!

Ok I looked into the Quick Play tutorial and the latest version named 4e ruleset you had was the 1.0, so i have to assume that the one you were using at the time was the 1.01. thx!

very exciting stuff what seems to be coming down te pipe...thx again..

[Ham08]

Hey there, Xorn! I loved your video tutorials, they were very well done, indeed! Much praise!

I am having trouble filling in the variables for the 4E character sheet and wonder if you or someone else could help me with that. There aren't any tooltips for some of the input fields.

I am using the premade characters from the "H1: Keep on the Shadowfell". The first character I am working on is the "Dwarven Fighter" from that book. I hope someone has this adventure and knows how the 4E ruleset character sheet works.

Could someone take a look at the image links below and tell me the correct entries for the "Dwarven Fighter"? I had a great deal of trouble figuring out the combat tab and the variables that belong in the "Weapon/Implements" section. Oh and the powers tab, too! The "Dwarven Fighter" has a Maul and 5 Daggers (light thrown). According to the premade character, He/She has a Fighter Weapon talent and thefore gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls when using two-handed weapons. The KOTS module also says that this character's "Melee Basic Attack" is +6 (maul) Damage is 2d6+3 and "Ranged Basic Attack" is +3 (dagger) Damage 1d4+1. I am pretty sure that I didn't input the data corrrectly because I don't know what goes where.

Abilities (https://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/Hamarabi2006/abilities.jpg)
Combat (https://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/Hamarabi2006/combat.jpg)
Main (https://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/Hamarabi2006/main.jpg)
Powers (https://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/Hamarabi2006/powers.jpg)
Skills (https://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/Hamarabi2006/skills.jpg)

Thanks for the help, in advance!

P.S. Instead of entering as a host or player, I started FG2 in the character generation mode, if that makes any difference.

[Foen]

I don't think many rulesets (4E included) support character generation. The d20 one does (and I think Obe has a cunning one too), but it isn't supported elsewhere.

If you have character generation facilities at all, you are probably using the d20 ruleset which won't have the new 4E rules support. Take a look at moon_wizard's 4E stuff over at Four Ugly Monsters (www.fouruglymonsters.com).

Cheers

Foen

[Spyke]

I don't think many rulesets (4E included) support character generation. The d20 one does (and I think Obe has a cunning one too), but it isn't supported elsewhere.The GURPS ruleset also supports offline character generation. (And import from the official GURPS character generation software.)

Spyke

[Ham08]

I am using the 4E ruleset from fouruglymonsters and the character sheet I am using is from that ruleset (built-in). I am not asking about automatic character generation (should have said character creation), but rather what information goes into each input field of the character sheet that comes with the 4E ruleset from fouruglymonsters.

If anyone is familiar with the 4E ruleset and built-in character sheet from fouruglymonsters, could you please take a look at the "Dwarven Fighter" from the "Keep on the Shadowfell" adventure and compare it to the values I have entered into the character sheet (image links are in previous post)? Especially the "Weapon/Implement" and "Powers" sections? I would appreciate some guidance. Thank you.

Cheers!

[Griogre]

Ham, you have to remember Power Attack is a binary. It's either on or off. You should do 2 Maul Entries, one with power attack and one without it. Right now your Maul entry has the attack without power attack and the damage entry with power attack.

Make one entry with just the weapon poficency (+2) as a bonus to hit, and the damage with no bonus (+0).

Then make another entry with no plus to hit and a +3 damage bonus. I would name that entry Maul (Power Atk).

Then the player could change the default entry for weapons between using the Maul entries as he wished when he attacked.

There should not be any Misc entries in Melee attack or Range attack. This is like a punch or bull rush, ect. No weapon profencies go here.

Dwarves have a speed of 5 and armor doesn't slow them down.

https://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m222/Griogre/CombatTab.png

On the powers page the damage for cleave should be 1 W not 0 W. I would change you "3 dmg" to STR damage.

https://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m222/Griogre/PowerTab.png

From the Combat tab you can see if the player changes his Default weapon to 1 he is not using a power attack. If he changes it to 4 he is.

[Tenian]

I would add a second attack to cleave that was 0W + Str for the second target.


I wouldn't make separate entries for each weapon for power attack / non power attack. I would make hot keys for power attack hit bonus, power attack damage bonus and add these to the modifier stack when making rolls.

I find that to be more intuitive than having 2 weapons and switching them all the time.

[Griogre]

Actually to follow on a bit. Cleave's secondary attack can be added as a power so you can use the mini sheet to drag and drop the damage on the combat tracker - important if you are having the players roll by dropping on the tracker. You would set up the secondary attack for cleave like this in the 4E ruleset:

https://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m222/Griogre/CleaveMini-1.png

[Griogre]

I would add a second attack to cleave that was 0W + Str for the second target.


I wouldn't make separate entries for each weapon for power attack / non power attack. I would make hot keys for power attack hit bonus, power attack damage bonus and add these to the modifier stack when making rolls.

I find that to be more intuitive than having 2 weapons and switching them all the time.
This is a good idea too. I have found most guys who take power attack tend to almost always use it, though, so you would seldom have to switch it. Either way works.

Is there an easy way for the user to add a secondary attack? It thougth it had to be in the power?

[Xorn]

On the attack line, right-click, and choose Add Attack. You can specify a different default weapon, different attack and damage attributes, etc.

For example, Twin Strike. My ranger uses a bow most of the time, so the first attack uses my bow as default, is Dex vs AC, and 1W+0 damage. I then add a second attack that uses my shortsword stats, Str vs AC, and 1W+0 damage.

For our fighter's Passing Attack, his secondary attack has a +2 pip on the attack roll.

For Power Attack, you could put a -2 pip on the attack and +2 pip on the damage, but since it's usually on or off, I like the idea of a second weapon entry, like Griogre is using.

[Tenian]

If you click on the attack line the radial includes "Add an attack" (delete as well I believe).

I think Add is the pointer arrow and delete is the hand.

[Xorn]

Hi all!

I've gotten my WoW characters to 80 now, and I'm ready to start revising my video tutorials, since a lot has changed since I made them. I'll be working on them during the weekends primarily, and I'll post them as I get them updated. I'm going to start a new thread to discuss what needs to be covered in them--I'd like some help from the community to make sure I don't miss anything that I didn't cover before. All help will be appreciated!

[Ham08]

Thanks for the helpful replies Griogre, Tenian, and Xorn! Sorry about not getting back to this thread until now. I was messing around with that parser trying to figure it out and then decided to contribute to the community over on the FUM forum which took some time.

The interface is starting to make more sense now. I was trying to click the damage field to get it to switch dice, similar to the way you can switch from STR to DEX etc.

First, Griogre, thanks for pointing my many mistakes on the character sheet! My Maul entry is kind of comical is it not? I had both attack without "power attack modifier" and damage with "power attack modifier". It's cheating, but I am innocent of intent. I really screwed that one up. *chuckle* Also, thanks for pointing out that, "Dwarves have a speed of 5 and armor doesn't slow them down." the math on the premade character sheet is starting to make a little more sense. I appreciate you pointing out that, "On the powers page the damage for cleave should be 1 W not 0 W. I would change you "3 dmg" to STR damage.", since the damage is based on STR instead of a static number. Thank you.

Tenian said, "I would add a second attack to cleave that was 0W + Str for the second target." which is a very good idea. I like it.

I like how you can just add a second attack and only fill in the damage part with no dice selected ie 0[W]+STR, that way the damage is always based on the player's strength the way the rules say it should.

Xorn? Where should I put the +2 and - 2 pips for the attack rolls? In Griogre's image, he has the Maul power attack as the fourth weapon, but no +or- 2 pip. Should it be Atk=1d20 STR -2 vs. AC and Dmg=2d6 STR +2 for power attack? How come the book says this Dwarf fighter has a (Maul +6) for Basic Mele Attack, yet in the image for weapon #1 the basic attack is only +2 vs. AC? Why is the dagger +5 when using it as a melee weapon, rather than the +3 thrown weapon? What is the +Crit field used for(obviously it has something to do with critical hits, but to what end)?

In Griogre's post at #112 what is the little box next to "#1 Wpn:" used for? For the Dmg, does the number "1" in "1[W]+STR" stand for single handed weapon and two handed weapon as long as we are not talking about duel weild?

In Griogre's post at #114, he has the "Cleave (Secondary Damage) set as an implement. Is that right? Unless, "#1 Imp:" stands for something else.

Anyway, thank you all very much for taking the time to reply to my queries. I know it takes a lot of time to post on these forums.

Cheers!

[Xorn]

The box next to Wpn: is which weapon line on the Combat tab to use, if blank use the default indicated at the top.

The "pips" would be added on the attack and damage rolls for the power itself. If you're going to utilize a second weapon listing that included the Power Attack modifiers, it's not necessary. As every power could have a Power Attack version--I'd just use a second weapon as Griogre has.

For the dwarf in question, it should be +2 (maul prof) +1 (fighter 1h weap talent) and +3 strength.

The STR is accounted for, so you want +3 in the bonus box (to account for his proficiency and weapon talent). You would also include the enhancement bonus for a weapon there. (Note that 4E_JPG includes the 1/2 level bonus automatically, as well.)

Something that is specific to a power itself (like Careful Strike) you would use a +2 pip on the power's attack roll section. For something that only applies under certain circumstances (like a fighter's +2 attack on OAs) I would use a hotkey.

[Tenian]

BTW to get a pip, hold down the ctrl key and mousewheel up or down over the stat (STR) a small white number should appear indicating an additional modifier.

[adol]

Thx for the tutorials Xorn. There are great.

[Angloson]

I would ask for an updated 4E ruleset tutorial.

Is there a recent updated version of the 4E jpg ruleset?

[DaraLynx]

You saved my game!!!

[Xorn]

Angloson:
I'm working on the 4E_JPG revision, but it will be a bit; there's a lot of new things to cover, and a new release is going to be out soon.

You can find the 4E_JPG ruleset at Four Ugly Monsters, in the 4E Ruleset discussion group.

[kaahen]

Hi there,

I have an annoying format problem when I copy/paste the text from a file to a Story input in FG. FG adds an extra empty line for every single line in the block text copied, So after I paste the copied text, I have to go line-by-line correcting this "extra spacied line", I've seen in Xorne's videotutorial, that he pastes the full text copied without this annoying extra line.

Can you tell me the way to do that, please?

Thanks in advance

[Leonal]

I think that may depend on the source you're copying from and its formatting.
Try copying from another source and see if you get the same results.

(edit: figured it might've been a bad OCR of the pdf)

[kaahen]

Well, I am coping from a PDF file, but also tried in a DOC file, the only way it works is if I open a text file and join all the block lines in a single line, but the work is the same as if I correct it in FG.

[Leonal]

Not sure if there's a way around it other than to manually edit, but I think I remember reading somewhere that the formatting doesn't get copied. Since there is a space added when you press enter, a sentence of two or more lines from a pdf will be treated as seperate I guess.

[kaahen]

Exactly, this is the problem, but any solution I tried with PDF, Word or Notepad, doesn't work, I am thinking about an option in Work to remove automatically this extra line jump character at the end of each line.

The thing is that in the videotutorial Xorne doesn't have any problem to do that, so it has to be a way to do it, he just copies and pastes easily.

[Leonal]

I tried copying from the adventure (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/duad/20080613a) in the tutorial, and it doesn't copy very nicely.
You don't see if it's copied from the pdf, or from a prepared document in the video though.

[kaahen]

Ok, but now try to prepare it then, I mean, just copy a couple of lines from the PDF to Wordpad or Notepad, and try to do anything like exporting in plan text or something to avoid this character at the end of each single line, nothing I tried works. I am very curious of the way he does it in the videotutorial, since it takes you a lot of work out.

[Leonal]

Hmm, I just tried to copy from the pdf both to Notepad and to MS Word 2007 and then from there to FG.
Word fixes the formatting while Notepad doesn't (turn on show formatting).

So copy from pdf>word>FG seems to work.

[kaahen]

In Acrobat reader I only have an option to save is as txt, and it doesn't work neither.
Did you paste it to FG and you don't have any spaced line between lines?

[Leonal]

I highlight and copy (ctrl+c). That doesn't work on all pdfs though, scanned ones in particular.

[kaahen]

mmm.. you're right. So now I know I have the problem with my PDF file, I am doing Heathen but in spanish, so I have a PDF file created from a OCR program, and this doesn't work on it, even it is a pdf file also, mmm... that's weird.

[Leonal]

Yes, I tried the same with a rather poor scan of Red Hand of Doom, but the text got so messed up that it was faster to read from my paper copy and type instead.

[Angloson]

Kaahen,

I have the exact same problem. I copy and paste from a pdf (English) to Word, Notepad or straight into FG and I have the extra lines too. I'm not sure how to get around it.

[kaahen]

Well thanks anyway, I'll try to remake the pdf file again with other options, maybe it was the problem.

[Angloson]

Xorn,

Thanks. I'm using the latest 4E_jpg ruleset now. I'm looking forward to the new update.

I have a question about the ruleset, which I'll ask in another thread though.

[Griogre]

On the copying and pasting from a PDF it's because of the line break at the end of each line. Most but not all PDFs have them. If you are not scared of working with the XML files there is a work around. FG discards the line breaks when it reads them in from an XML file.

Thus if you are copying from say a dungeon adventure you can make a storybook entry for each encounter to make a skeletal XML file for the adventure. Then open the XML file in a editer and copy and past the body text from the PDF into the file - you do have to surround pasted text with FG's tags but they are pretty easy to add. When FG reads in the text from the XML file it will discard all the line breaks and only care about the XML tags.

Obviously this works best if you are trying to input a large amount of PDF data into an adventure or library book.

[Tenian]

The 4EParser also handles story elements. All the non-html formatting is ignored. The downside is if you want to do something in a frame or paragraph you have to punch in the html-ish formatting for it.

[Xorn]

Heh. I'm surprised no one has mentioned this before when they tried to make Heathen into a module. :)

In that tutorial, I'm cut-n-pasting the text from another copy of FG2 running on the other screen. The tutorial campaign (being recorded) was called Heathen 2, and I was copying the text from my Heathen module. :P

However, I do have a solution for your line breaks. There's 2:

1. Get bigger hands. Keep your pinky on the space bar and index finder on Delete--get good at "left-click, delete, space" at the end of each line. Take breaks periodically. :P

2. Use a site like https://www.textfixer.com/tools/remove-line-breaks.php to paste in your text to remove line breaks.

If you have commercial versions of Acrobat Reader, you can modify an unlocked document to remove line breaks too, but it tends to remove spaces instead of putting line breaks, so it's not much better.

[Leonal]

Thanks alot Xorn!
I used method one for the first two chapters of RHoD, but the textfixer worked wonders when I tried it.

[kaahen]

I finally had to OCR the file and covert it into a DOC, I don't know why but that also worked for me.

Thanks a lot for all your answers, I will consider all of your solutions for the future.

[Xorn]

Another option is to use an OCR file, as it will convert the line breaks to spaces if you tell it to. That's how I did KotS, as I OCR'd my own PDF of it.

[darksandman]

Last couple of days I tried to look at the tutorials and they dont seem to be around. Any suggestions? (the video ones)

~darksandman

[Tenian]

Xorn is having some issues...you can find them here:

https://www.rpgvirtualtabletop.com/tutorials/tutorials.html

[Xorn]

I can't edit my original post anymore, but my links will work if you change Eugee.Net to Eugee.Info!

Enjoy!

[Cosmo]

Has anyone found any documentation on the parser yet? I installed it, but have no clue what to do next.. hehe

[Griogre]

There are a couple of articles at the Obe's FG Wiki: https://oberoten.dyndns.org/fgwiki/index.php/Category:Tutorials
The articles may be a bit outdated for earlier versions of the parser.

You can also ask at the 4E Development Group at FUM.

[ShadoWWW]

I'd love if Xorn or anybody else could create a video tutorial how to use 4EParser. I can parse monsters, but I'm still unsuccesful in parsing other information (especially powers, feats and skills).

[Zoso]

The parser document shows quite a bit of information about how each specific section should be setup. If you are still stuck, I'd recommend going to FUM and getting the parser template zip file. It has plenty of example material for input, as well as sample modules so you can see what the final output should look like in FG.

[King Joey]

Hey, Xorn. I'm trying to play your tutorials, but I can't hear any sound. I suspect it's a WMP problem rather than an issue on your end, but I just wanted to check and see if you knew of any potential issues/fixes?

Thanks!

[Xorn]

I can recommend updating your video player (VLC Media Player is a free, effective alternative to Windows Media Player), but otherwise I don't have any advice.

[zWolf]

bummer, I remember watching these tutorials when I first bought FG II, and they were very helpful, now when I Wanted a refresher course, the links don't work - so sad.

did anyone cap these and have access to them? I'd be willing to host - My plan has oodles of BandWidth to spare.

zWolf -out.

[ddavison]

The links from the downloads page still work for me.

[drahkar]

They worked fine for me as well. Perhaps your ISP is having an issue of some sort?

[Tenian]

ddavison, could you edit the original post to fix the links?

It's just a matter of switching the .net to a .info. It might cut down on the confusion

[ddavison]

They should be fixed now.

[tdewitt274]

Don't show them (can't accidently reveal them either that way. :) ). Put a pin on them and then use a Secret Door Token if the players find them.

https://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m222/Griogre/SecretDoor.png

It doesn't look like the guys at FUM migrated the tokens over to their new site - so the link is to their old forums: https://www.fouruglymonsters.com/community/showthread.php?t=129

If you were not a member on the old forums I don't know if you can get the download. It's called Kalmarjan's Doorway Tokens. I'm sure they would put it up on the new site if someone asked, though.


Are these tokens still available somewhere? I like the idea!


Back on topic, I appreciate the videos! I've watched them all at least 5 times each in the last month!

[Griogre]

I don't think those tokens are available anymore. They are pretty easy to make - just put the standard letters on a simi-transparent (or fully transparent) token scaled to whatever size you use for 5 foot squares.

Master's generic pack has just some letters on a transparent background if you just want a transparent S or C: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=56444&postcount=14

[dm-crazy]

23xz41hUmUc
Well thats is my tutorials about effects, Enjoy :p

[dm-crazy]

Amazing Star Wars Saga Ruleset
QyoeKykOadU

Enjoy my friends! :):D

[dm-crazy]

Anyone wants to know how about creation of Ventrilo Server (FREE SERVER)?! If say yes :o i will Create a video tutorial here! Easy, easy. Ventrilo can improve ur game and role play of ur game! :D

[dm-crazy]

Modifiers:
Charge: +1
Combat Advantage: +2
Concealment, Total: -5 (u take penality against the target)
Concealment: -2 (either)
Conditions Favorable: +2
Conditions Unfavorable: -2
Cover: -2
Cover, Superior: -5
Flanking: +2
Long Range: -2
Mob Attack: +1
Restrained: -2
Vulnerability (generic): +5 (if the target has one)

[Xorn]

Anyone wants to know how about creation of Ventrilo Server (FREE SERVER)?! If say yes :o i will Create a video tutorial here! Easy, easy. Ventrilo can improve ur game and role play of ur game! :D

We use GSC (www.getgsc.com) as our free voice server--it's remotely hosted so there's no dependency on anyone's max upload bandwidth.

[Wargamer777]

Once again, Xorn.... You rock!

Thanks for that link. Downloading now...

[Shapeshifter1923]

excellent work! I cant wait to write my first campaign.

[Bidmaron]

Shapeshifter, welcome to fg. You have entered a wonderful world. The folks here are pretty tight, as you'll discover. The devs are great at adding new features and very responsive. We've got some sages on here that have either red or green text that give very comprehensive answers to the questions you'll have. But search is your greatest friend, as you will find that in most cases, your question has arisen at least once before.

[heyhogan]

Just tried to view the vidoes from Xorn, but the links are not working....getting the good old 404 error. Any chance you can repost?

[Griogre]

Check the Download page on the right side and scroll down under archived tutorials. The more recent ones are up higher. https://www.fantasygrounds.com/downloads/

[lokiare]

Some of the video links are out of date.

[dulux-oz]

True, but they are very good.

If you'd like something more up-to-date you could try mine (shameless plug) in this thread: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?18473-New-Tutorial-Videos

You can also find them on YouTube - the link is in my Sig below.

Enjoy!

[dulux-oz]

A quick note: I've updated the entire series of my Tutorial Videos. See the link in my sig below or the new thread at https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20345-TADAAAAA!!!-Brand-New-3-x-Tutorial-Videos&p=166824#post166824

Cheers

[martel]

i love tutorial video... thanks

add to channel favorits :-)