Weather window?

[dorpond]

Would your players want to see the current weather?

Well I made something quick as an example. Maybe we open and close it like the mini maps in the right hand corner - but instead, "show weather".

When the players select that option, the weather window could be in the upper left corner perhaps?

Just a wild thought that came to mind. /shrug

In this quick example, I made 4 different weather - sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy and storm clouds. (of course only 1 would display at a time)(I didn't have time for lightning )



Would anyone find this useful?

[Emryys]

Sure with a GM toggle and a hot weather girl in chainmail!

[dorpond]

This is probably more accurate - the weather window wouldn't need to be that large.

Thoughts?

I am currently a Druid so Since my spells revolve around weather, I am asking the GM what the weather is every encounter. I guess it would be nice to see it instead of asking all the time, especially if we were playing across oceans.

Not all that important though - I was just curious what the community thought.

/shrug

[Phergus]

That is an intriguing idea.

Kind of goes back to the thoughts on an integrated CampaignTool. Current weather, in-game time, phase(s) of moon(s), etc. could be optionally displayed for players and/or GM.

[trevor]

Interesting idea. It would be easy to implement too.

Here's a question though: does each map get its own weather ? It seems reasonable, but also a pain if you have multiple maps that represent the same general area.

[dorpond]

I would think that only the active window gets weather since that is the one that is currently being played on.

Unless the party splits up across nations, it should be the same weather anyway.

[dorpond]

That is an intriguing idea.

Kind of goes back to the thoughts on an integrated CampaignTool. Current weather, in-game time, phase(s) of moon(s), etc. could be optionally displayed for players and/or GM.

I was actually going to make the moons next - you spoiled my fun!



I would think in-game time would be a real pain though since it isn't real time so the GM would have to change it constantly.. Don't you think?

[Phergus]

I would think in-game time would be a real pain though since it isn't real time so the GM would have to change it constantly.. Don't you think?

Well most game systems have some concept of time at a higher level above the melee round. I was thinking at that level or at the hourly level. This would be something only done after more integration with other tools was done.

[Emryys]

The time could be integrated to the lighting, indicating day or night shading... Hmmm

[Steel Rat]

I think the concept of campaign need to be expanded. When you save a file im MT you're saving a "campaign" file, but really it's just a map, which would only be a small part of a campaign. To truly expand upon that a campaign would have any number of maps attached to it, and different weather in different parts of the campaign world. And you'd want some sort of continuity with weather. I mean it's not going to me 90 and sunny one hour, and then freezing with sleet the next. (And no I don't want to hear "Well, you' haven't seen the weather in..." either.)

To be honest I dislike needing multiple tools to do one job. I would rather see all these tools as one great campaign tool. Where when you create a campaign you're creating a world, where all your campaign NPCS are stored, all the game logs are stored, adventures, etc.

Of course that's just my vision, my preference. Maybe others like having 4 different tools open, in addition to something like DJ, Photoshop, Poser, etc. I prefer consolidation, even if it's via Plugins.

[dorpond]

DMGenie is like that. In the menu bar you have windows like:

-Campaign Manager
-Group Manager
-Time Keeping
-Weather
-New Creature (which is the whole list of D20 creatures to add to the current battle)
-Dice Roller
-Random Encounter
-PC Leveling Wizard
-plus more...

All those "windows" are in one program. We open those windows from a central menu.

What if in Maptool, we have similar menu options? In Maptool we have:
- DiceTool (Dice Roller)
- InitTool (Combat Window)
- etc..

As more tools get developed, they get added.

This way, when the programs pop up, they will feel like they are part of Maptool but they are really seperate apps.

Just a thought...

[Steel Rat]

That's kind of what I had mentioned before, a launcher app for all these tools.

I have DMGenie, but rarely use it, mainly because it doesn't keep track of the rounds properly. Keeps skipping over PCs and/or NPCs in the combat list. Got no help from the author either, and that's something I paid for. I'd much rather pay Trevor and company for something that is actually supported.

[trevor]

Of course that's just my vision

Mine too. I'd love to have the campaign file contain entire worlds. That would rule.

[RPTroll]

There was some talk earlier of a compass display on the map. In someways, a window or set of windows that remains anchored to the canvas and doesn't move as the user scrolls might solve these problems. You just populate it however you wish either via macro or stamp.

If you linked this with a translucent FoW that shaded portions of the map without a light source you'd have the effect of darkness where you could see some detail but leaves the map somewhat obscured.

[dorpond]

There was some talk earlier of a compass display on the map. In someways, a window or set of windows that remains anchored to the canvas and doesn't move as the user scrolls might solve these problems.

Although I would probably prefer being able to dock it AND move it if the user prefers it docked somewhere else. (and of course being able to turn them off all together.

I am big on personal preferences.