Having trouble concealing things witht he topography tool

[advocate002]

In the tutorial the topography tool one where he goes over light and vision the screen for the player view blacks out completely beyond what the players have vision for. Mine only goes to that fog of war gray. how do i get the pitch black thing to happen?

[jfrazierjr]

Do you have fog of war on? Under the Map menu, Fog of War. Also, you can have a map default on NEW maps via a preference setting (Edit->Preferences). Also note, topography and fog of war are separate features that are unrelated, but related so to speak. ie, they work together, but one does not require the other....

[advocate002]

oh, i know they are separate tools i watched all the tutorials he made, it was great, but i tried both in the new map preferences and the fog of war is on, I was just referring to that video. when he moves the pc tokens into the house everything is pitch black and my fog of war is only that "you have already been here and can see it" gray. it doesn't conceal everything. like you can still see the rooms and everything in them other than the tokens of the npc's.

[jfrazierjr]

oh, i know they are separate tools i watched all the tutorials he made, it was great, but i tried both in the new map preferences and the fog of war is on, I was just referring to that video. when he moves the pc tokens into the house everything is pitch black and my fog of war is only that "you have already been here and can see it" gray. it doesn't conceal everything. like you can still see the rooms and everything in them other than the tokens of the npc's.

Is this from a connected players computer or player mode? The GM will always see through Fog of war.. .if that is not it.... the post a screenshot.....

[advocate002]

i believe you have answered my question, i haven't had anyone to try this with due to my roommates laziness and i thought the show as player would give me what they were seeing. i am not connected and if that is the case, you've been really helpful.

[jfrazierjr]

i believe you have answered my question, i haven't had anyone to try this with due to my roommates laziness and i thought the show as player would give me what they were seeing. i am not connected and if that is the case, you've been really helpful.

One quick way to see exactly what they would see is to open a second copy and connect to the server of the first instance as a player, drop a token and see what your "token" sees... I do this quite often. The Player view menu is a good facsimile of what a player would see... but there are some differences (I can't remember what off the top of my head), so doing the former thing will get you exactly what you expect. The only thing you need is enough memory on your computer to open two copies (and if you can't, you will probably have trouble with one copy). If all else fails and you are not connected to a network, you "should" be able to connect to the localhost port with the IP address 127.0.0.1 on the Direct connect tab(note.... I have never tried this, so cannot verify this will indeed work, but it should)

[Azhrei]

It's also important to note that what the players see in the "soft fog" area (the grayed out portion you are referring to) doesn't update for players if something changes.

For example, if the GM puts a new visible-to-players object in an area that the PCs can't see, the soft fog won't update. But when that area becomes visible by the PC, i.e. it's no longer in soft fog, then the object will show up.

This is exactly how it works as you walk around your house or any other building. The stuff you've seen you think is still there and you won't know about any changes until you return to that area again.

[Craig]

It's also important to note that what the players see in the "soft fog" area (the grayed out portion you are referring to) doesn't update for players if something changes.

For example, if the GM puts a new visible-to-players object in an area that the PCs can't see, the soft fog won't update. But when that area becomes visible by the PC, i.e. it's no longer in soft fog, then the object will show up.

This is exactly how it works as you walk around your house or any other building. .

People are placing objects in my house while I am not looking? Hmm so maybe I should get that tin foil hat ready...

[jfrazierjr]

People are placing objects in my house while I am not looking? Hmm so maybe I should get that tin foil hat ready...

You mean you don't already have it on? I only take mine off when I am in the shower... but that's because I figure if they are seeing me naked and hear my awful singing, there is nothing that would scare them away....