Select Map Menu

[Laithoron]

After buying several dozen Flip Mat PDFs, exporting them to image files, and then importing them all into MapTool (v1.4.0.0 if it matters), I was rather chagrinned to find that the Select Map menu can only display a maximum of 43 maps on a 1920x1080 monitor.

Is there any way that the current non-scollable list could instead be replaced with a list that scrolls?

Even better, if GMs were instead greeted with a dialog box containing thumbnails of all the maps in the current campaign file and a search box capable of parsing the map names, that would be even a huge boon. Then we could easily find all of our taverns by typing "tavern" and determine which one we want by perusing the thumbnails.

Also, any chance we might get a tabbed view at some point? It would be handy for quickly switching between Nation/City/Building levels without having to go thru the entire list again.

[Full Bleed]

After buying several dozen Flip Mat PDFs, exporting them to image files, and then importing them all into MapTool (v1.4.0.0 if it matters), I was rather chagrinned to find that the Select Map menu can only display a maximum of 43 maps on a 1920x1080 monitor.

Is there any way that the current non-scollable list could instead be replaced with a list that scrolls?

Ouch. Guess I've never had more than 43 maps up.

As a workaround, you can create some map selection macros.

Check out the map functions: http://lmwcs.com/rptools/wiki/Category:Map_Function


Also, given what we can do with macros, I actually wish I could toggle OFF Maptool's map selection button. I don't want my players using it. I want them to use the map selection method I have built into their character sheets. So if anyone gets into the code to fix your map selection issue maybe they'll add a toggle for it as well.

[wolph42]

The bot has a switch map fun function that you could use. Link I Sig

[Laithoron]

Also, given what we can do with macros, I actually wish I could toggle OFF Maptool's map selection button. I don't want my players using it. I want them to use the map selection method I have built into their character sheets. So if anyone gets into the code to fix your map selection issue maybe they'll add a toggle for it as well.

For me that's not an issue as the players have no access to the MT server whatsoever. They sit around my dining room table where I've got a 50-inch TV mounted horizontally and I control the maps from there. They and I both use physical minis, and for exploration I simply move around a placeholder token at the scout's behest to roll back the FoW.

Ironically, that brings me to one of the things I'd most like to see in a VTT... built-in support for a secondary display without having to run a second copy of the program. It would be great to mirror the screen of my laptop (sans GM info) so when I move the move cursor over an object on my screen, they see it move in the same way on the TV. Presently, the only way to do that would be to run the Player View on my laptop screen, mirror that to the TV, and then use my second monitor for the GM view. Unfortunately, that means I have to cover up the notes I'd prefer to keep on the side monitor:


Anyway, I guess I'll check out the Bag of Tricks wolph suggested, but I still stand by my request to have the aforementioned map selection tech included in the base program. Thanks for the quick replies.

[Laithoron]

Haven't tried the BoT yet because I'm being lazy and refuse to get up from the recliner, however I discovered something else interesting...

It seems that MT 1.4.0.5 doesn't yet support hi-DPI displays like on the MS Surface. As a result, the entire interface is microscopic and I literally have to take off my glasses and hold it in front of my nose to read the menus. Of course, the upside of this is that I can now see all of the maps I added Saturday night.

Gotta love first world problems, right?

[Jagged]

Not sure why you need the "second screen" functionality. Starting a second instance works easily enough.

[Full Bleed]

It seems that MT 1.4.0.5 doesn't yet support hi-DPI displays like on the MS Surface. As a result, the entire interface is microscopic and I literally have to take off my glasses and hold it in front of my nose to read the menus. Of course, the upside of this is that I can now see all of the maps I added Saturday night.

Check out this post: http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php ... 21#p261021

[wolph42]

so when I move the move cursor over an object on my screen, they see it move in the same way on the TV.

use the space bar.

[RPTroll]

After buying several dozen Flip Mat PDFs, exporting them to image files, and then importing them all into MapTool (v1.4.0.0 if it matters), I was rather chagrinned to find that the Select Map menu can only display a maximum of 43 maps on a 1920x1080 monitor.

Is there any way that the current non-scollable list could instead be replaced with a list that scrolls?

Even better, if GMs were instead greeted with a dialog box containing thumbnails of all the maps in the current campaign file and a search box capable of parsing the map names, that would be even a huge boon. Then we could easily find all of our taverns by typing "tavern" and determine which one we want by perusing the thumbnails.

Also, any chance we might get a tabbed view at some point? It would be handy for quickly switching between Nation/City/Building levels without having to go thru the entire list again.

Those are really interesting ideas. Sometimes we get stuck in "that's the way it is" mode but that's really thinking a bit outside of the box. If we had a map editor dialog, like a token editor dialog, we could set properties on maps (like making sure the FoW was on and setting the initial player viewport) from there.

[RPTroll]

That's a sweet setup. Do you mind if I share that to our social network (g+, Facebook, and Twitter)?

[Laithoron]

That's a sweet setup. Do you mind if I share that to our social network (g+, Facebook, and Twitter)?

Fine by me, I actually shared it on the Pathfinder RPG Facebook group when I first completed it. Here, I've shared it publicly to make it a bit easier...

https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/kUXoaB

EDIT: Gah, why is G+ so clunky?!

[Laithoron]

[When I] move [the] cursor over an object on my screen, see it move in the same way on the TV.

use the space bar.

Not home right now to try this, but are you saying that if I hold the spacebar in the GM window the players will see my mouse cursor move over the same area of the map in the player view? If so, that would help to a certain extent.

Not sure why you need the "second screen" functionality. Starting a second instance works easily enough.

Maybe I've been spoiled by PowerPoint? Beyond the issue that I'm hoping Wolph addressed, it's mostly a matter of ease-of-use and elegance. Just because something works doesn't mean that it can't be improved upon. The fewer pieces of software/hardware that have to be involved to get the job done, the less there is to troubleshoot when a problem arises. I just feel that the current method is clunkier than it could be. My ideal would be to open MapTool once and start playing, rather than having to open it twice, start the server, get the other instance connected, and then wait for the map to load twice each time I want to change it.

If we had a map editor dialog, like a token editor dialog, we could set properties on maps (like making sure the FoW was on and setting the initial player viewport) from there.

If we could edit such info thru a single dialog and couple that with a batch importer for maps... that would really speed-up the process of getting a new campaign setup — at least for me anyway.

[Jagged]

My ideal would be to open MapTool once and start playing, rather than having to open it twice, start the server, get the other instance connected, and then wait for the map to load twice each time I want to change it.

That will be possible.

One of the things JamzTheMan is/has added are some startup parameters that allow you to specify the screens you want to open and where they appear. You would have to go to the trouble of setting it up one and you would still need to start a server and join a server, but it will certainly make things easier.

I think two Maptool instances is the best way to go, because its also the safest With a client logged in as a Player, there is no danger of you accidentally revealing anything because you have GM permissions!

[Laithoron]

Wolph: Just tried the spacebar, and that will be quite helpful. Thanks for the tip!

Full Bleed: As for the font-size suggestion, there's another application I use that's not well-suited to high-DPI displays (Scrivener), and their solution was to employ an external manifest file. No clue if that approach would work for a Java-based application like MapTool, but it might be worth a shot.
https://scrivener.tenderapp.com/help/kb ... i-displays

Jagged: I tried doing a forum search for startup parameters, multiple displays, etc. with JamzTheMan as the author, but I can't find any documentation. (As my post history might indicate, I don't come here often.) You wouldn't happen to have a link to where I could find that info, would you?

[Laithoron]

Wolph: Maybe I spent too much time troubleshooting firewalls and routers today, but I don't have sufficient brain-power left to make the BoT operable. Even when downloading your Live version, I get stack overflow errors which no amount of RAM seems to help. MapTool is fully compatible with Java 8.91 64-bit, right?

Anyway, the door function and perhaps the map-to-map teleporters look useful, but I don't feel like it should be necessary to setup and configure a mod of this complexity just to be able to add and select from more than 43 maps. Irrespective of whether I personally can get the BoT to work at a later date, I still feel like built-in support for a map selection dialog is the way to go.

Thanks just the same.