Bag of Tricks VBL Stamp Guidance

[goldensword52]

Hello everyone, I was very pleased to learn today that the wonderful Bag of Tricks collection supports something called VBL stamps. This sounds like exactly the type of things I'm looking for for an upcoming dungeon. But unfortunately I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how it works. Can anyone point me to a guide describing how to use the VBL stamps feature? Thanks in advance.

[wolph42]

what do you want to do?

[goldensword52]

Well I'm most interested in the "Current VBL" function. Long story short, I want to make something similar to this dungeon with several independently rotating parts. I want to put the VBL on each part, so that I can rotate the VBL along with the background. Obviously if I can figure out how to save the VBL to the token and rotate it freely, that would be the best. but even if I can only change its position without rotating it I could come up with an acceptable work around.

The problem is that I haven't even been able to figure that out yet. I still don't know how to make even a simple rectangle move with a token, let alone saving the current VBL. So any help you can offer me would be great. Thanks again.

[wolph42]

ok clear. Frist of: both is possible, rotation and translation. However the 'trigger' (for the VBL to adjust itself to the new situation) is onTokenMove. So if you rotate it you also have to 'wiggle' it a bit so the change kicks in.

Now how to set this up. Been a while, but tbh, I *thought* I made a tutorial for this as well.(one of the vids I created, I think the main one).
Also if you hadn't noticed, there is a manual inside the bot. Its the blue button with the text 'manual' on it, this opens 2 windows (but you only see one as they overlap eachother, so you have to move one). One explains functions, the other explains the stuff in the BoT. Close to the end you will find: "SET VBL STAMP". Read that first. If you have any question after that, ask!

I do see one issue with your setup though. the trigger 'onTokenMove' only works on the token layer, which is not a very good place to put a map.

I'll have a look how that can be solved, in the mean time you can play with what is.

edit: 38e is released with an extra macro 'Update VBL'. Read the manual for further instructions.

[goldensword52]

Thanks for all your help so far. After some more experimentation, it looks like VBL stamps work just fine for some tokens, but not for others, and that is the issues I was running into before. Maybe it has something to do with the filesize of the token? I still can't figure it out.

But if I need to, I can always use one of the tokens that does work to store the VBL, and rotate both it and the map at the same time. So with your help, at least I am able to actually make the dungeon work. It might be a little inconvenient, but it's still a hundred times better than what I was planning before I found out about VBL stamps! So thanks again for all your work on the project!

[wolph42]

Can you provide me with the campaign file amand instructing where our goes wrong, might be a bug

[goldensword52]

Well, the good news is, that I'm not having the issue anymore. The bad news is that now I can't help work out what the problem was to begin with. It seems like it may have been an issue with the way the token was named or created. But after both deleting and re-adding the token, and changing it's name, the issue seems to be gone. Again, sorry I couldn't be more helpful for debugging, but that you for all of your help.

[wolph42]

Well I suspected it was the naming tool begin with. A way to check if that's alright is by running the diagnose macro.

[goldensword52]

After messing around with it some more, I've got the "Rotating Dungeon" working almost perfectly. But there do seem to be some issues with having two VBL stamps on top of one another. It seems like one of two things will happen; either one VBL will be completely erased until I move the token again, or one VBL will be rotated in an orientation that doesn't correspond with it's actual token's orientation. In any case, either problem can be solved by moving the tokens far enough away from their current position and using the Update VBL button.

This doesn't always happen, so I'm trying to figure out if this is a bug, and intentional limitation of the system, or perhaps something to do with which token is on top of the stack or something like that. I'll keep messing around with it to see if I can figure it out, but I'd really appreciate any more insight anyone might have. Thanks again.

[wolph42]

yes i know its not always working perfectly. I recall having some issues, but i never was able to consistently repeat them. Overall the VBL stamps work well with the occasional exception. But anyway, let me know if you find anything.

[JamzTheMan]

I'm finding one issue as well. I've been running The Emerald Spire Super Dungeon, and in drawing level 6 there are 6 intersections that rotate in one of three positions based on a lever.

I created a macro that sets the rotation and the directly call you BoT stamp macro to invoke it's onmove action.

I now also have a door that is next to the stamp but outside the bounding box of the rotating stamp. but if I open the doors (and vbl undér them) then rotate the stamp, it resets the vbl under the stamp.

Is the stamp resetting VBL larger than it's bounding on purpose? (the stamp is larger originally and is set to freesize and made smaller, then the stamp was created)

[wolph42]

I'm finding one issue as well. I've been running The Emerald Spire Super Dungeon, and in drawing level 6 there are 6 intersections that rotate in one of three positions based on a lever.

I created a macro that sets the rotation and the directly call you BoT stamp macro to invoke it's onmove action.

I now also have a door that is next to the stamp but outside the bounding box of the rotating stamp. but if I open the doors (and vbl undér them) then rotate the stamp, it resets the vbl under the stamp.

Is the stamp resetting VBL larger than it's bounding on purpose? (the stamp is larger originally and is set to freesize and made smaller, then the stamp was created)

can you provide me an isolated and repeatable example showing this issue? (with instructions) so i can have a look at what is going on and how to fix it?