Darkening a Map's Sections

[Tempered7]

I know this is a long shot but
Is there a way to use some FGU features to cover a map's sections for surprise effect? But before opening the map for solo play? As in the picture.

mapcovering.png
Map starts black, and as you progress, other sections reveals?

[LordEntrails]

Yes, turn on dynamic line of sight and lighting options. Players will not see anything but black until they have a token that has both line of sight and a light source to illuminate the part of the map the line of sight reveals.

See videos 2 & 4 here: "How Do I ??? In Fantasy Grounds Unity" by Zacchaeus - Fantasy Grounds Customer Portal - Fantasy Grounds (atlassian.net)

[Tempered7]

Yes, turn on dynamic line of sight and lighting options. Players will not see anything but black until they have a token that has both line of sight and a light source to illuminate the part of the map the line of sight reveals.

See videos 2 & 4 here: "How Do I ??? In Fantasy Grounds Unity" by Zacchaeus - Fantasy Grounds Customer Portal - Fantasy Grounds (atlassian.net)

D'oh! I actually wrote about that in the blog but I just complicated the issue When I play on the GM acc. I assume I do the same and my PCs still can't see all. Rest could be solved by RP.

Thank you.

UPDATE: GM window still can see the map. For immersion in solo play, playing from player acc though joining LAN to my own IP should do the trick. Video shows how to add dynmaic lightning if your map doesn't have it. https://youtu.be/verTvYTUGyA?si=x80YsIAXA3yOvRoO&t=134

[LordEntrails]

Yea, for solo play the DM can use Player Vision Preview. But it's not a full player vision mode. You can start a second instance and join as the player, but then you won't have all the GM tools. I do't know a better solution. The Global Mask is there, but again, as the GM you get extra vision.

[Tempered7]

Yea, for solo play the DM can use Player Vision Preview. But it's not a full player vision mode. You can start a second instance and join as the player, but then you won't have all the GM tools. I do't know a better solution. The Global Mask is there, but again, as the GM you get extra vision.

As usual, imagination is the solution. Maybe I can see the map but my characters can't. I will try some global mask tests though.

[Tempered7]

Finally found the way! No need to use player acc.

NOTE: Use Player Map.

Settings should be as in the picture below: Right hand side.
After you set the map, place a token and immediately click on it to remove map visibility. Otherwise, you see all the map in GM screen.

1vision.png

As you can see, there is no party vision for immersion. (If you play 2+ PCs)

1vision2.png

Turn off Party Vision if it's on: Right click on a character > Eye icon > Two guys with an eye in the mid.

1vision3.png

And they say FGU is too complicated LOL!

EDIT: Right click on a character, not map, my bad. / Also, party vision is not ON by default after some patch. Videos have old info.

Check https://youtu.be/verTvYTUGyA?si=x80YsIAXA3yOvRoO&t=134 to learn how to add dynamic lightning if your map doesn't have it. The rest would be adding hex grids and Line of sight squares (walls, etc).

GM LAYER EDIT: It gets better! I found this GM Layer invisibility option for Solo Play. Just turn it on / off as needed. Old or imported maps might not have it though.

# Visible
gmlayer1.png

# Invisible
gmlayer2.png

[LordEntrails]

Glad you figured out what you needed

And they say FGU is too complicated LOL!

And yet you will see folks commonly ask for more options. Without understanding that it adds complexity. Personally I don't mind a lot of options (the primary application I work with has something like 1200 user facing options!), but I also understand the reasons to avoid such

[Tempered7]

Glad you figured out what you needed

And yet you will see folks commonly ask for more options. Without understanding that it adds complexity. Personally I don't mind a lot of options (the primary application I work with has something like 1200 user facing options!), but I also understand the reasons to avoid such

1200?! Imagine the combinations of them LOL. To be honest, I didn't think FGU was so versatile and PERFECT for soloing at first. I couldn't manage to hide map parts in the other VTTs but it's already available before anyone asks for it in FGU. That's what I love about this app. Oh, and the community <3 I literally pressed 4 additonal buttons

But it is true that too much complexity eventually produce more complications than solving issues.

[LordEntrails]

Yea, there are so many that most users take one look at it and say "I'm not going to bother, I'll just make do."
Which helps keep support calls down, but makes users less efficient than they could be.

[Tempered7]

Yea, there are so many that most users take one look at it and say "I'm not going to bother, I'll just make do."
Which helps keep support calls down, but makes users less efficient than they could be.

Especially newcomers. I was daunted at first but the menus reminded me Neverwinter Nights 2 and I quickly adapted. It is even nostalgic. But I imagine new users want easier UI like a web page menus, a map and pop up links. Maybe there can be a theme with less functionality and more weblike UI but that would just add another burden Maybe when the phone app finished it can solve this problem.