So what's the roadmap look like to getting Dynamic FoW in MT?
What features are needed first and where are they in the dev schedule?
Roadmap to Dynamic FoW
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One thing I am really interested in in this topic is how the FoW will be handled within the map. If it is dynamicly removed, how will the GMs define where walls are so the player's lights obey walls and doors?
Going into a dungeon could such for GMs if they are going to have to go in prior to the game and trace the map's walls so the light does not inadvertantly uncover and area in an adjacent room...unless of course there is an easy way to do this that I havent wrapped my head around yet.
Going into a dungeon could such for GMs if they are going to have to go in prior to the game and trace the map's walls so the light does not inadvertantly uncover and area in an adjacent room...unless of course there is an easy way to do this that I havent wrapped my head around yet.
• snikle •
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The technique that has been discussed in the past is to allow the GM to "paint" the solid areas on a separate layer of the map. That layer would always appear as "solid" to the FoW tools.
This painting could be done in a number of ways. Using the normal FoW expose tools is one possibility, another would be to use a paintbrush-style and allow the selection of the brush stroke size.
One possible feature if this implementation is chosen is the ability to create this "solid" layer outside of MT -- using PhotoShop or GIMP, for instance -- then importing the result...
This painting could be done in a number of ways. Using the normal FoW expose tools is one possibility, another would be to use a paintbrush-style and allow the selection of the brush stroke size.
One possible feature if this implementation is chosen is the ability to create this "solid" layer outside of MT -- using PhotoShop or GIMP, for instance -- then importing the result...
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trevor
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Azhrei is correct. Most likely a Paint The Walls kind of thing.
For schedule, we are having a team dev meeting on Sat night and one of the topics is "What's in 1.2".
FoW is the biggest requested feature, so you can be sure we'll be working on making iterative improvements to it through 1.2 and 1.3. We probably won't have the ultimate fow by 1.2 (visible light casting), but it'll be a lot better than it is now.
For schedule, we are having a team dev meeting on Sat night and one of the topics is "What's in 1.2".
FoW is the biggest requested feature, so you can be sure we'll be working on making iterative improvements to it through 1.2 and 1.3. We probably won't have the ultimate fow by 1.2 (visible light casting), but it'll be a lot better than it is now.
Dreaming of a 1.3 release
Yeah, I dont think a simple drawing of the walls would be too difficult, especially if it operated like the draw tools now. We could simply draw in rectangles for the areas we wanted open on the map, then FoW scripts use that as a guide to what could be expsoded on the map.
I can see some really sweet effects resulting from a good working of this.
Could the same ideas be used to impliment an actual FOG or rain on the map? Perhaps a textured effect that could be applied to the area designated as open? Could be really sweet if we could use a textured animation!
I can see some really sweet effects resulting from a good working of this.
Could the same ideas be used to impliment an actual FOG or rain on the map? Perhaps a textured effect that could be applied to the area designated as open? Could be really sweet if we could use a textured animation!
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trevor
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That's also a possibility. We'll have to play around with it and find out what fits best.Kershek wrote:How about a Photoshop magic wand type tool? For instance, if all the walls are a certain color, you can have MapTools select that color using an eyedropper tool to tell it to treat that color as a bounded wall wherever it is seen.
Dreaming of a 1.3 release
Something else to think about too:
Let's say we eventually make the drawing tool that does textures and we draw the cave or whatever with that tool. it might be a good idea to be able to assign the "blocking light layer" to the drawing layer with the click of a switch.
Some GM's might use Maptool just like their tabletop - instead of making high tech maps, they grab their marker and start drawing rooms out. By applying this light blocking layer automatically to the drawing layer would make thing really easy and the FOW stuff will be automatic for the walls and doors then.
While I am not saying this is the only way we should do it, I think it would be a nice thing to also include. We will still need a way of drawing the light blocking layer for those high tech maps.
I hope I explained that whole concept correctly
Let's say we eventually make the drawing tool that does textures and we draw the cave or whatever with that tool. it might be a good idea to be able to assign the "blocking light layer" to the drawing layer with the click of a switch.
Some GM's might use Maptool just like their tabletop - instead of making high tech maps, they grab their marker and start drawing rooms out. By applying this light blocking layer automatically to the drawing layer would make thing really easy and the FOW stuff will be automatic for the walls and doors then.
While I am not saying this is the only way we should do it, I think it would be a nice thing to also include. We will still need a way of drawing the light blocking layer for those high tech maps.
I hope I explained that whole concept correctly
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SDShannonS
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Well for my part, I'm pretty excited about the upcoming functionality of having the light source push back the darkness of the unknown.
The tool has become so embraced by my group that they're hoping to get more functionality from it and I'm having to scale back the functionality. They want every part of the map that they've been to previously to remain revealed so they can always reference it and I'm having to manually return the FoW once they leave an area so they don't have a permanent record of every detail of the map. It will be nice when that becomes completely automated as they move through and the FoW opens before them and closes after.
I like giving my group that sense of being enclosed by darkness with the only thing staving off certain doom is their feeble light source pushing back the enclosing blackness. =o)
Oh and as a minor correction, may I suggest that, in the Light UI window, the slider for Transparency be corrected so that sliding it to 100% does not actually set the light source to 0% transparent (100% opaque)?
Also along those lines, there are a number of characters in my group with darkvision. Currently, I reflect that on the map by giving each of their tokens a light source with a border, and then make the light source 100% transparent (otherwise the mulitple overlapping sources drown out the entire map). The border remains, showing the extent of their darkvision. There are no plans to change this functionality, are there? This method will still work to push back the FoW once that feature is implemented?
And as a final question, are there still plans to allow the light source to radiate equally from all corners of a token rather than just one? Any estimate as to when that feature might enter a build?
Shannon
The tool has become so embraced by my group that they're hoping to get more functionality from it and I'm having to scale back the functionality. They want every part of the map that they've been to previously to remain revealed so they can always reference it and I'm having to manually return the FoW once they leave an area so they don't have a permanent record of every detail of the map. It will be nice when that becomes completely automated as they move through and the FoW opens before them and closes after.
I like giving my group that sense of being enclosed by darkness with the only thing staving off certain doom is their feeble light source pushing back the enclosing blackness. =o)
Oh and as a minor correction, may I suggest that, in the Light UI window, the slider for Transparency be corrected so that sliding it to 100% does not actually set the light source to 0% transparent (100% opaque)?
Also along those lines, there are a number of characters in my group with darkvision. Currently, I reflect that on the map by giving each of their tokens a light source with a border, and then make the light source 100% transparent (otherwise the mulitple overlapping sources drown out the entire map). The border remains, showing the extent of their darkvision. There are no plans to change this functionality, are there? This method will still work to push back the FoW once that feature is implemented?
And as a final question, are there still plans to allow the light source to radiate equally from all corners of a token rather than just one? Any estimate as to when that feature might enter a build?
Shannon
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SDShannonS
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- Posts: 242
- Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 12:21 am
- Location: San Diego, CA, US
Well for my part, I'm pretty excited about the upcoming functionality of having the light source push back the darkness of the unknown.
The tool has become so embraced by my group that they're hoping to get more functionality from it and I'm having to scale back the functionality. They want every part of the map that they've been to previously to remain revealed so they can always reference it and I'm having to manually return the FoW once they leave an area so they don't have a permanent record of every detail of the map. It will be nice when that becomes completely automated as they move through and the FoW opens before them and closes after.
I like giving my group that sense of being enclosed by darkness with the only thing staving off certain doom is their feeble light source pushing back the enclosing blackness. =o)
Oh and as a minor correction, may I suggest that, in the Light UI window, the slider for Transparency be corrected so that sliding it to 100% does not actually set the light source to 0% transparent (100% opaque)?
Also along those lines, there are a number of characters in my group with darkvision. Currently, I reflect that on the map by giving each of their tokens a light source with a border, and then make the light source 100% transparent (otherwise the mulitple overlapping sources drown out the entire map). The border remains, showing the extent of their darkvision. There are no plans to change this functionality, are there? This method will still work to push back the FoW once that feature is implemented?
And as a final question, are there still plans to allow the light source to radiate equally from all corners of a token rather than just one? Any estimate as to when that feature might enter a build?
Shannon
The tool has become so embraced by my group that they're hoping to get more functionality from it and I'm having to scale back the functionality. They want every part of the map that they've been to previously to remain revealed so they can always reference it and I'm having to manually return the FoW once they leave an area so they don't have a permanent record of every detail of the map. It will be nice when that becomes completely automated as they move through and the FoW opens before them and closes after.
I like giving my group that sense of being enclosed by darkness with the only thing staving off certain doom is their feeble light source pushing back the enclosing blackness. =o)
Oh and as a minor correction, may I suggest that, in the Light UI window, the slider for Transparency be corrected so that sliding it to 100% does not actually set the light source to 0% transparent (100% opaque)?
Also along those lines, there are a number of characters in my group with darkvision. Currently, I reflect that on the map by giving each of their tokens a light source with a border, and then make the light source 100% transparent (otherwise the mulitple overlapping sources drown out the entire map). The border remains, showing the extent of their darkvision. There are no plans to change this functionality, are there? This method will still work to push back the FoW once that feature is implemented?
And as a final question, are there still plans to allow the light source to radiate equally from all corners of a token rather than just one? Any estimate as to when that feature might enter a build?
Shannon