Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Thoughts, Help, Feature Requests, Bug Reports, Developing code for...

Moderators: dorpond, trevor, Azhrei

Forum rules
PLEASE don't post images of your entire desktop, attach entire campaign files when only a single file is needed, or generally act in some other anti-social behavior. :)
Post Reply
User avatar
Oryan77
Dragon
Posts: 452
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:14 pm

Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by Oryan77 »

I just loaded Map Tool for the first time the other day and I finished watching all of the tutorials. I've been reading the FAQ and even the Wiki pages, and I have searched the forums for these answers. But I just can't find the answers to these questions.

1. Can we export an image (not a map)? If I load a campaign and I like some of the artwork being used in it (tokens, objects, backgounds), am I able to save the images so I can use them in my own resource library for other campaign maps?

2. I installed the additional resources from the "add resource" option (the ones included with Maptool). Is there any way to organize those folders/graphics within the resource library to better categorize them with the other resources that I import into the library? Or are we stuck with the generic folders and categorizing that it does when we add those resources?

3. I've seen the templates for things like area or burst spells. Are there similar templates or an option to activate that will show a creatures threatened squares (including squares with reach weapons) depending on the creatures size? I thought maybe this could be shown from a tokens options, but I don't see that feature.

4. Is it possible to make the black edges of the Fog of War be Anti-Aliased so they fade out rather than be a hard edge? I've never seen anything like that in any videos, and I think I read that it was not possible to do that with vector graphics in java. I'm not much of a programmer and I know very little about Java. But I know Flash can anti-alias a vector graphics edge. Was just wondering if this is possible in Map Tools.

5. I managed to add my own vision templates (added a 90-ft radius Darkvision & a 120-ft Darkvision). It was very easy to figure out! I could have sworn that the far edge of the vision circles were touching the far edge of the outer squares on the grid. Meaning that, on a 60-ft radius Darkvision circle, the circle extended to the far edge of the 60th square. Then when I loaded the campaign again, the vision circles were extending only to the center of the outer squares on the grid (or 60th square). Am I just freaking out and was not paying attention? Is it supposed to only reach the center of the last square because the character is thought to be standing in the center of his square? Just trying to figure out the logic behind this.

Ok, I've asked enough questions for now. Sorry about that. :p

Phergus
Deity
Posts: 7132
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 8:56 pm
Location: Middle of Nowhere, NM
Contact:

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by Phergus »

Oryan77 wrote:1. Can we export an image (not a map)? If I load a campaign and I like some of the artwork being used in it (tokens, objects, backgounds), am I able to save the images so I can use them in my own resource library for other campaign maps?
You can save tokens, objects and background images by having the correct layer selected and then right-clicking on the image in question. Then select Save from the pop-up menu. They will be saved in the RPTools token format.
Oryan77 wrote:2. I installed the additional resources from the "add resource" option (the ones included with Maptool). Is there any way to organize those folders/graphics within the resource library to better categorize them with the other resources that I import into the library? Or are we stuck with the generic folders and categorizing that it does when we add those resources?
The additional resources (once downloaded) are located in your home directory under .maptool/resource. Copy the ones you want to where you have been keeping your other images and organize as desired. Then you can remove the default ones, if you like, from within MapTool. Do not add your own files to the .maptool/resource location. Use the Add/Remove functions from within MapTool.
Oryan77 wrote:3. I've seen the templates for things like area or burst spells. Are there similar templates or an option to activate that will show a creatures threatened squares (including squares with reach weapons) depending on the creatures size? I thought maybe this could be shown from a tokens options, but I don't see that feature.
That would be a DnD specific feature and MapTool is system agnostic (mostly).
Oryan77 wrote:4. Is it possible to make the black edges of the Fog of War be Anti-Aliased so they fade out rather than be a hard edge?
The FoW edges are anti-aliased. But that is different from fading-out on the edge. The short answer is no. There are both game-play and technical reasons why this is so.
Oryan77 wrote:5. I managed to add my own vision templates (added a 90-ft radius Darkvision & a 120-ft Darkvision). ... Is it supposed to only reach the center of the last square because the character is thought to be standing in the center of his square?
Light and vision extends from the center of the token it is assigned to. If you want it to go to the far edge of the last square then you will need to add in that extra 1/2 square distance. So 92.5 and 122.5 in your examples.

User avatar
aliasmask
RPTools Team
Posts: 9024
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:11 pm
Location: Bay Area

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by aliasmask »

I'll try not to duplicate any of existing responses, but add my $0.02.
  1. This will depend on your permissions. If you are a player and the images are not a part of your existing resources, then you can find the images downloaded to your computer in .maptool/assetcache. They'll be the files bigger than 1k (which are shortcut links to your resource library). You'll have to sort through them and rename them with .png extensions.

    If you have a campaign file, you can export as a campaign repository file. I name the file a .zip. After exporting it (File|Export) you can open the zip file and go to the assets folder for the images. Again, you'll have a bunch of shortcuts and images that need to be renamed.
  2. No more info
  3. You can use auras to show threatened squares if you like.
  4. No more info
  5. Lots of debate on this one and I think it'll be improved in the 1.4 version in the works, but like he said just add 1/2 a square to the vision.

User avatar
Oryan77
Dragon
Posts: 452
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:14 pm

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by Oryan77 »

Thanks guys. I think the only question I have in response is for #5.

I adjusted the numbers for vision and light to equal the distance of the edge rather than the center using 2.5 like you said. The only problem I see with this is for Lowlight vision. If it multiplies by 2, then using the 2.5 calculation will not be precise. The closest I got it was multiplying by 1.83. But even then the lights go a bit beyond for the shadowy illumination and a bit too short for the bright distance. So, using a torch with lowlight vision makes the inside cirlce about 38 feet (about 7.75 squares) and the outer circle reaches about 37 feet (about 7.25 squares).

Is there a way to adjust this calculation to get it more precise?

User avatar
jfrazierjr
Deity
Posts: 5176
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:31 pm

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by jfrazierjr »

Oryan77 wrote:Thanks guys. I think the only question I have in response is for #5.

I adjusted the numbers for vision and light to equal the distance of the edge rather than the center using 2.5 like you said. The only problem I see with this is for Lowlight vision. If it multiplies by 2, then using the 2.5 calculation will not be precise. The closest I got it was multiplying by 1.83. But even then the lights go a bit beyond for the shadowy illumination and a bit too short for the bright distance. So, using a torch with lowlight vision makes the inside cirlce about 38 feet (about 7.75 squares) and the outer circle reaches about 37 feet (about 7.25 squares).

Is there a way to adjust this calculation to get it more precise?
No.. just hand waive it ... remember, most RPG's originated with no game board and everything "shown" to the players via an oral description from the GM. Don't get so caught up in the technology that it limits your game. Besides that fact, low light vision is really a hack and it is not done in the code in a game agnostic way(ie, it's done the D&D 3.x way and won't fit into D&D 4E and many other games either.
I save all my Campaign Files to DropBox. Not only can I access a campaign file from pretty much any OS that will run Maptool(Win,OSX, linux), but each file is versioned, so if something goes crazy wild, I can always roll back to a previous version of the same file.

Get your Dropbox 2GB via my referral link, and as a bonus, I get an extra 250 MB of space. Even if you don't don't use my link, I still enthusiastically recommend Dropbox..

User avatar
Oryan77
Dragon
Posts: 452
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:14 pm

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by Oryan77 »

aliasmask wrote:You can use auras to show threatened squares if you like.
I looked up auras and figured out how to implement them. Thanks, I like it! The only thing I can't figure out is if I am able to have two different colored rings of squares in the same aura?

For example, for a medium token, the surrounding 5' squares would be red, and the surrounding 10' squares would be blue.

I tried using:

Code: Select all

Aura 10: aura GM square 7.5#ff0000 12.5#0000ff
but it just puts a muddled solid red 10' square around the token (I assume it is overlapping both colors and making both colors 10').

Can auras be created in this way?

User avatar
aliasmask
RPTools Team
Posts: 9024
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:11 pm
Location: Bay Area

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by aliasmask »

You have to create 2 auras.

Code: Select all

Auras
----
Aura 5: aura square 7.5#ff0000
Aura 10: aura square 12.5#0000ff

User avatar
wolph42
Winter Wolph
Posts: 9999
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:40 am
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by wolph42 »

note that you can do that with light, but not with aura's. Check out the illumination generator in my link to see some funky stuff you can do with light.

User avatar
Sereptus
Giant
Posts: 123
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:08 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by Sereptus »

Wow! Old post! Anyway, I was wondering if any headway has been made on the hard edges of vision. I know I'm getting caught up in technicalities but it would be REALLY nice to have a fading out. Just putting it out there!
OOOHH RegEx....YOU BITTER-SWEET BEAST!!!

User avatar
JamzTheMan
Great Wyrm
Posts: 1872
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 12:59 pm
Location: Chicagoland
Contact:

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by JamzTheMan »

Yes and no. I've done some more proof of concepts using Box2d but that's it. It's going to take a good chunk of work as I plan on converting to Java FX first/during that process and it's a LOT to do. I'm trying to get a nice stable/easy to deploy version of MT first so I can completely tear about MT for a version 2.0 of sorts...
-Jamz
____________________
Custom MapTool 1.4.x.x Fork: maptool.nerps.net
Custom TokenTool 2.0 Fork: tokentool.nerps.net
More information here: MapTool Nerps! Fork

User avatar
Sereptus
Giant
Posts: 123
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:08 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by Sereptus »

Ok, good enough Jamz, thanks for all your hard work! Since I got ya on the line (sort of speaking) I was wondering why when I go to save a token with your NERPS (latest version) it always takes me to JWrapper75635635278....etc folder instead of the last folder I saved a token? I've done a hundred tokens or so and this is getting very frustrating always having to navigate though to the folder I want to store it in.
OOOHH RegEx....YOU BITTER-SWEET BEAST!!!

taustinoc
Dragon
Posts: 516
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2015 6:30 pm

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by taustinoc »

Sereptus wrote:Ok, good enough Jamz, thanks for all your hard work! Since I got ya on the line (sort of speaking) I was wondering why when I go to save a token with your NERPS (latest version) it always takes me to JWrapper75635635278....etc folder instead of the last folder I saved a token? I've done a hundred tokens or so and this is getting very frustrating always having to navigate though to the folder I want to store it in.
The best solution is, of course, to update the program to remember the last place you saved to. But as a shortcut, a trick I've learned is to open a Windows Explorer window, navigate to the correct folder, then click on the address bar and copy the address there. Then you can paste that into the box for the file name and hit <Enter>. It'll take you right to the correct folder.

User avatar
Sereptus
Giant
Posts: 123
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:08 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by Sereptus »

taustinoc wrote:The best solution is, of course, to update the program to remember the last place you saved to.
:shock: And how would one do this? :shock:
OOOHH RegEx....YOU BITTER-SWEET BEAST!!!

taustinoc
Dragon
Posts: 516
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2015 6:30 pm

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by taustinoc »

Sereptus wrote:
taustinoc wrote:The best solution is, of course, to update the program to remember the last place you saved to.
:shock: And how would one do this? :shock:
I suspect the most efficient way would be to hire James full time to work on MapTool and nothing else. Other than that, unless you're a Java programmer and willing to dive in and do it yourself, I think you're out of luck.

User avatar
JamzTheMan
Great Wyrm
Posts: 1872
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 12:59 pm
Location: Chicagoland
Contact:

Re: Brand new to Map Tools, have several questions.

Post by JamzTheMan »

Regarding save location, it's a known bug and fixed in the next version. https://github.com/JamzTheMan/maptool/issues/19

Feel free to see tracked issues/fixes and/or open new issues on github as well, it'll get my attention more than the forums.
-Jamz
____________________
Custom MapTool 1.4.x.x Fork: maptool.nerps.net
Custom TokenTool 2.0 Fork: tokentool.nerps.net
More information here: MapTool Nerps! Fork

Post Reply

Return to “MapTool”