FGU: The interface

[snupy]

I have now added three items to the list of suggested features:

- User defined shortcuts
http://fgapp.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=142486

- Tooltips for options descriptions
http://fgapp.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=142487

- Full trackpad support
http://fgapp.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=142488

[snupy]

Another thing I have often seen people complain about is the duplication of records when several modules are loaded. For example in PF1 if you load both the Core rulebook and the Ultimate equipment you'll have two copies of e.g. the longsword (and most other things). Similar problems with classes, spells, etc. With a few modules loaded it can become quite annoying. In practice it is not something which irks me too much, but I agree with the complaint and don't like the fact that each module has to have a separate copy of each record it wants to access.

The better solution would probably be to have a single master list, possibly encrypted if it has to be, for each type of record, e.g. an items list with all the items. Whenever a module needs a specific record it calls from the master list, so both core rulebook and ultimate equipments call/load/import/whatever the same longsword entity from the master list.

This is the very basic principle of avoiding code (or text) duplication, making consistency, corrections, updates, much easier. Suppose spell or class features effects are added (I believe they should be included in the paid modules but that's for a different thread, very grateful for the great work done for free by members of the community), it would than be enough to update a single list rather than a multitude of modules.

Now I am sure every developer is very familiar with what I wrote. If the unified list solution is not possible or feasible for reasons, allowing to specify which records get visualised in the menus could be a solution. For example if I usually load core rulebook and ultimate equipment I could specify that I don't want core rulebook items to appear in the general items menu. It should be possible to save these settings though, otherwise it's essentially the same as filtering by group which is already possible.

[BaneTBC]

In regards to the animated assets for attacks, spell effects, et al, I recommend you check out SilentRuin's Generic Actions extension. He has already come up with a way to handle the use of the free JB2A animated assets and use them in Fantasy Grounds. He even put together a mod pack with them to make it easy for people to implement.

[BaneTBC]

Well, what you're saying is really what the dropdown menu at the top of the window is for, so you can filter down to a single source for items. The reason that it isn't really viable to put this all into one thing you use is that you have no idea what the person may be using, i.e. for 5E are they using the Player's Handbook, DMG and MM or are they using the SRD? There are things in one that the others don't have. It would become very problematic to try to filter out what is from one book or another and even if they aren't the actual same item.

[Laerun]

YouTube Data Windows UI

https://www.youtube.com/live/uBnqylc...bMUVmPKmwWXctL

[Laerun]

Another thing I have often seen people complain about is the duplication of records when several modules are loaded. For example in PF1 if you load both the Core rulebook and the Ultimate equipment you'll have two copies of e.g. the longsword (and most other things). Similar problems with classes, spells, etc. With a few modules loaded it can become quite annoying. In practice it is not something which irks me too much, but I agree with the complaint and don't like the fact that each module has to have a separate copy of each record it wants to access.

The better solution would probably be to have a single master list, possibly encrypted if it has to be, for each type of record, e.g. an items list with all the items. Whenever a module needs a specific record it calls from the master list, so both core rulebook and ultimate equipments call/load/import/whatever the same longsword entity from the master list.

This is the very basic principle of avoiding code (or text) duplication, making consistency, corrections, updates, much easier. Suppose spell or class features effects are added (I believe they should be included in the paid modules but that's for a different thread, very grateful for the great work done for free by members of the community), it would than be enough to update a single list rather than a multitude of modules.

Now I am sure every developer is very familiar with what I wrote. If the unified list solution is not possible or feasible for reasons, allowing to specify which records get visualised in the menus could be a solution. For example if I usually load core rulebook and ultimate equipment I could specify that I don't want core rulebook items to appear in the general items menu. It should be possible to save these settings though, otherwise it's essentially the same as filtering by group which is already possible.

I agree with the frustration part, and it would also be helpful if the publishers did not repeat content across several books, or not stagger 'onesy-twosy' style releases for character options, and also spread-out across several products and such for five years plus or longer...

[anstett]

I will disagree with the idea that duplication is a bad thing.

Sorting by the drop down categories IS a good thing.

Flexibility and options is the way to go.

[LordEntrails]

. There is also a module which allows stepping on something to trigger effects, it's called active monk tile
https://foundryvtt.com/packages/monks-active-tiles
I have never used it but seems pretty neat.

There has been an extension like this for FG around for years. I think it's one of Rob2E's on the DMsGuild. Dungeon Masters Guild - Virtual Tabletop - (dmsguild.com) And tons of other stuff. Unfortunately, the license with DMsG doesn't allow them to move them to the Forge.

But as a final user what matters to me is that there are much fewer possibilities, and no easy way to set up e.g. automatic spell animations.

There is an extension for that. I believe you will find in the DMsG. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of extensions for FG. It just takes some searching and asking to find one that might do what you want (if you are into extensions. Remember, extensions = risk). But I couldn't find it with a brief search.

Another thing I have often seen people complain about is the duplication of records when several modules are loaded. For example in PF1 if you load both the Core rulebook and the Ultimate equipment you'll have two copies of e.g. the longsword (and most other things). Similar problems with classes, spells, etc. With a few modules loaded it can become quite annoying. In practice it is not something which irks me too much, but I agree with the complaint and don't like the fact that each module has to have a separate copy of each record it wants to access.

So this is actually more of a content issue. Sure, FG could filter out duplicates with some sort of source priority ranking, but the problem is a Ranger from SCAG is not the same as a Ranger from the PHB. Spells, items etc mya have the same name, but they are not identical. So, if you don't show them all, which one do you force upon the table? The current solution is to not force any one version on the table, but instead to indicate the source the version is from and let the human make the intelligent decision. Of course, that's not always easy.

[Nylanfs]

Man, I was looking forward to a video with Brent Spiner in it...

[snupy]

I will have a look at the various extensions suggested, thanks.

I agree that the last thing I mentioned (duplication of entries) is moving towards content, although it affects FG appearance.

The primary solution I was proposing is more sophisticated than "have a list with everything in it and load that", or clever autosorting. Each unique record has a unique identifier. Each module loads the records it needs by calling the corresponding identifiers. I repeat, each module loads what it needs, not everything. But if two modules need the same thing they both call the same id and you get only one instance. Assuming a ranger from SCAG and PHB are different things (not familiar with them), they get different ids. But a longsword from core rulebook and ultimate equipment, and any other module which wants a (unmodified) longsword calls the same id. In fact identifiers would probably be better organised as something like a triple (n1,n2,n3) with n1 identifying the ruleset, n2 the category (item, npc, class, spell,...) and n3 the specific record within the given ruleset and category.

The biggest problem I see with this kind of implementation now is that all the previous material would need to be revisited, a bit like replacing something hard coded with a variable in existing code. Not sure why it was not approached this way initially although there are probably reasons I am missing (I have some experience coding, but never in the real world or for larger scale projects).