Fantasy Grounds Unity Line of Sight with Doors and Terrain
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ต.ค. 2024
- Doug Davison takes a deep dive into the new line of sight features within Fantasy Grounds Unity. You can check out the Fantasy Grounds Unity Kickstarter for more information and for a chance to get involved during our Beta process.
www.kickstarte...
🎲Fantasy Grounds-
Website: www.fantasygrou...
Forums: www.fantasygrou...
Facebook: / fantasygrounds
Twitter: / fantasygrounds2
Discord: / discord
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/fantasygrounds
📰Sign up For Our Newsletter:
fantasygrounds...
✨Join the Fantasy Grounds Affiliate Program
affiliates.fan...
That is awesome, but why not both? To be able to can set if a door is locked or unlocked, with unlocked doors being allowed to be opened by players.
Cool idea. Would you see that as a map-wide setting, or set individually (likely with some sort of region or "lasso style" bulk selection for ease of use)?
@@RichardFoster honestly, for simplicities sake I see it as a boolean that you change on a door when you right-click the door as opposed to left-clicking a door which opens it up. That way when you draw all your doors you just go through and right click them all locked, since I imagine doors to be open by default.
I love it, I would suggest to allow the DM to allow players to open the doors or DM only, optional is always best.
It would be nice to have “locked doors” that can be picklocked and allow the player to roll on it with their thieve’s tools.
Edit: Optional Features, that means if you don’t want to use it, you don’t have to.
IDK, sounds like you want to play a video game.. So what good is a GM... no allowing a player to pick a lock because you want them to just strictly by the rules playing.... let the program do it all.
There is a few other VTT that can do this, if you don’t want to use it don’t use it, Fantasy Grounds is all about automation, perception checks, stealth checks and picklocking checks coding would be nice feel to the system.
This is why a lot of games fail due to people not wanting “optional features” or “forced features”.
@@gmjankin8389 I have never used FG or roll20, but I love what they do. Automation is great and it takes a bunch of the load off the GM and allows him to focus on more of the game. Lets remember these programs are used mostly to allow us to play online and we should not give too much control to these programs to run of games.
Allowing the automation of a program to run your game is crazy. Those that want all these options make me wonder if they would rather play some computer game! That is all I am saying... FG will add in all the automation they can and if the FG customers want it than they will use it and those that do not want it will not use it. I understand all that ... and I understand your point.
I am questioning the reasoning of people that want all this automation. Why do they want this or that? They don't want to be the bad guy telling players they can't pick a lock or they failed a ST.... it's the program? Next why not have the program monitor how many and kinds of actions a player takes. That way the GM no longer has to pay attention and players can't accidentally use 2 reactions a turn. We all know some players cheat so let the computer run all changes to his/her character during game play. So I ask, where do you want this automation to end?
Optional, there’s no need to make an essay about something that is optional, also it gives a form of realism while playing online, also VVT is a game at the end of the day, that allows you to play DnD online.
Also you need remember everyone has there own style, if FG don’t make those options, someone will make a extension for it.
As others have said line of sight without lighting/dark vision seems to only provide half of the equation. And without it the usability is diminished. Currently it’s easy to track dark vision by repurposing the Reach mechanic to easily determine what needs to be unmasked. In my opinion tracking line of sight and dark vision is one of the biggest hassles the DM faces where as many of these other functions are easily handled at the table.
Like others mentioned, I think it would be a good idea to give the GM the ability to chose between GM opening doors or players, in the options menu. I am always in the "more options" camp. Letting people set things up to suit their needs is always great.
It looks great. Can't wait to play around with it.
The only problem I have with players opening unlocked doors is that there is a lot of content that requires the GM to participate upon opening a door. However, I could see a player having the ability to shut open doors (if it has been setup to do so by the GM)
Would you consider a community-driven dynamic lighting map share for modules so if someone puts all this work into preparing a map/module with all the lines of sight that it could be shared to others without having to do all the work themselves or are there plans to have future modules pre-made with these lines of sight ahead of time?
If anyones' wondering this now 10 months later, in the current beta the commercial modules at least come with LOS layers.
@@hannessteffenhagen61 Thanks for sharing, I was actually curious if I would have to rig all of the modules myself. I'm on the fence whether to get fantasy grounds and the fact that they already put the LOS for the modules is a plus!
Loving it! As others have said I would like the option for players to be able to open doors, just a checkbox in the options for instance, though admittedly I probably wouldn't use it with some of my players. What I REALLY want next is sight range limited by light source and vision type.
This is awesome! Can you make it a DM option that in the Campaign Settings as to whether or not the Players can open/close objects?
I would love if you can add a option to open the same map as a "DM mode" and as a "Player View only" in parallel, for those who play Local Games using fantasy grounds on a TV.
Then I can edit the map on DM view on my laptop, and the players can view the same map as "Player View only" on the TV. This would be a really nice feature, because when you switch to DM mode it reveals all the information and it would spoil that "secret info" for the local players.
In my local play I always connect to myself using "localhost". That way I can share the player view on the TV and have my DM view on the laptop. Might be an option for you?
@@euchale but in this mode we will not change the "view" from each token by clicking right? You will me stuck with only one view? or if I claim the ownership of all sheets I can view all the tokens line of sight?
This looks really good but it's going to be so much work to build from scratch. Would it be possible to import pre-made objects that already have LOS polygons built into them?
Nice!
Is there an option to have all lines of sight activated at the same time without selecting each character for the players to have a global representation of what the group sees on one screen?
Indeed, having a cumulative "Party View" mode would be very useful, especially for face-to-face games.
@@heruca or for streaming so that the viewers can see what everyone sees without having to stream the GMs screen.
Is this just demonstrating the Line of Sight feature (which I do like), or is this actually what Unity is going to look like? Was hoping for an updated, polished HD graphical interface with visuals like animated 3d characters, animated spell effects, sound effects, custom dice, integrated voice communication, stuff like that.
3d... characters. Might want to dial back your expectations there as to what Unity is going to do, achieve and what they are actually planning to implement. I wouldn't expect any of these (except for custom dice, maybe) for first release of Unity, and stuff like 3d characters probably never going to happen.
3d is maybe in theory possible but there is too less support for 3d P&P on official site (I do not mean Smiteworks, I mean WotC, Paizo etc., there is basically not much offer for 3d stuff such that you couldn't really use it). Also for the animated things one still would need the data for it; personally, I already need so many things to prepare my sessions. Animated stuff would need more preparation time such that also this may not used that often as expected :) As Smiteworks I would also concentrate on other things first like range-restricted line of sight etc :) But 2.5d may be a reasonable next step :) But I do not know really :D
Our first phase is to get the improvements listed on our KS up and running before we begin adding more and more advanced features. We may or may not tackle many of those features you listed.
Thanks for this wonderful video! One question though - Are the LoS barriers be in place for purchased content (like the Out of the Abyss campaign) or will DMs still need to manually put them in?
They are included with many modules in the store, but not all of them. Look for a badge that says LOS on the store.
Is line of sight based on the character's light source/vision? So, if a normal vision had a torch, would it limit it?
We have not added lighting and vision at this time. This phase is just focused on Line of Sight and Fog of War.
Is there any way you could create a colored light effect on the dynamic lighting, to represent a torch, or darkvision, etc?
That doesn't sound like it would be a challenge.
@@FantasyGrounds That would be great! That's been on my groups wishlist for ages.
@@FantasyGrounds you say that now... :)
@@FantasyGrounds being able to set objects giving off light, players with darkvision being able to see with no light source, while players without a light source not being able to see would be huge.
@@lietheness5212 That would be friggin amazing!
Would love if doors could be marked as locked and then include a campaign option to let players only open unlocked doors. A locked door would have three click states, locked (only DM can toggle it to unlocked), unlocked (if campaign allows it players can toggle it to open), and open (does not impede line of sight)...
That is what we are thinking too.
How do you set it so encounters are not visible on the combat tracker unless they are in line of site of a character at which point they show up on the combat tracker but disappear (go not-visible) when the players do not have line of site? So far I have to have the NPC (bad guys) visible to players on the combat tracker (can block their ID) but hidden when masked via line of site mode. But the players now know how many NPCS there are by counting them on the combat tracker.
So the radius/distance of the LOS cannot be controlled in this first iteration?
That is correct. We will be adding that at a later date.
@@FantasyGrounds This sounds great, but what is, or what would be the distance a creature could see in normal lighting conditions assuming unrestricted line of sight? Also how would this distance be determined on on the map? Does the Unity Engine now allow range to actually matter between the character token and any given point and/or other token?
@@twseifert I believe the GM will be able to decide that as a setting rule when they add that functionality, and be able to manipulate exceptions.
You should assign a height value to furniture and terrain pieces and to tokens, such that we can have a table that blocks LoS to a Goblin, but not to an Orc.
but that would then require all tokens and objects to have a height variable assigned to them. That is probably a ton of work.
@@twseifert We may let it sit for a bit in the current state to get as much feedback as we can and then start looking into any other sorts of updates we can add that would increase usability without adding too much additional prep time or complexity.
I feel like this is much better than the lighting on R20. Wish this was dynamic as well. But it's still better.
Lighting ranges have been talked about and should be added in the future. No ETA has been determined or announced.
Great video! Very well explained and effectively shown off.
Really, really, really hoping that light/vision ranges are instituted before actual release.
I really do like the toggling of terrain though, that is something that Roll20 was missing.
Lighting / vision ranges will not be in the initial Unity release. It is on the list of features to add in the future.
@@FantasyGrounds Can we turn off the automatic mapping for the players in this? I don't map for my players, if they want to map they have to draw it and keep track, adds to the immersion. Would be really nice to have a toggle option in the main settings for that.
Unity 2019.3 will make the 2d lighting ranges much easier for you so I don't blame you on that part. Thanks for the reply.
@@slagmoth Hello Cpt Kirk, I'm not sure I fully understand what you mean. Do you mean not show previously revealed areas once they have moved on?
@@FantasyGrounds Yes. That is exactly what I mean. I can definitely see most leaving it defaulted to remaining revealed in a Fog of War sense but it would be really awesome to be able to toggle that in the options section.
@@slagmoth Understand. Thanks for the clarification.
I'll make a note of it for consideration.
Very cool, so excited for this!
Any workplace health & safety issues? I notice your two tester creatures have suffered eye injuries.
No injuries. They just use patches to train their eyes to be stronger. Eye patches occasionally shift to the other side.
We’re those goblins in the combat tracker or have you guys finally made to where we DMs can just place monsters on the map and they’ll always be there and ready to use (like roll20)
Monsters are still encounter based. In this example, there are 4 separate encounters loaded into the CT.
When the goblin moves after it is hidden, do the players see it move, or is there a ghost image of where it was last seen from the players perspective, even though it moved to a new location? Also this is amazing, you guys are fantastic!
They only see the goblin move while it is in their revealed line of sight. Once it leaves their vision, they don't know if it stopped just outside of view or kept going. That is for the DM to describe -- or not. :)
Looking great! Is the line of sight going to take into account the distance a character can see? Dark vision vs Lighting or even Devil's Sight? It would be a shame to not be able to use all this work in dark places like dungeons and caves.
Vision and lighting is slated for design and development at a future date - after the first release.
@@FantasyGrounds That would be great to have
Won't it be possible to generate a green circle able to move with the token ? It could be a simple solution to the range of sight problem. And then a new kind of circle, let's say purple for dim light and so on...
That's a great idea! The radius would be the range of sight and the circle would block the line of sight of the characters, the program could allow to save presets linked to the characters so that the DM would be able to quickly switch between different lighting conditions
@@HAL_NOVEMILA But what is the range of sight in normal unrestricted conditions?
@@twseifert I suppose that it depends on how you manage the game.;me as a DM, with a fairly bright environment and an unobstructed line of sight, I would probably set a reasonable range of sight (maybe 3-4km) and then allow spot check for enemies/creatures that are further away but you could just as easily disable the circle and ance set the range up to infinity... It's really up to you
@@HAL_NOVEMILA Vision and lighting is slated for design and development at a future date - after the first release.
This is looks great. Any chance that a normal/darkvision aspect will be implemented? Limited range of visual based up darkvision/light source etc?
Vision and lighting is slated for design and development at a future date - after the first release.
@@FantasyGrounds My group and I really like what you are doing here. However, the vision and lighting would be a critical piece for us and I think many, many others. Without that component, honestly, as a DM I think I'd stick with using the FOW system as it is currently to manually restrict the players view based on light source/darkvision. If we got nothing else but this with FG Unity I think I'd be satisfied with the product. I am really surprised this isn't the top priority for most users. A little disappointing, but we are looking forward to the future date that you mentioned.
Michael Auld what is the FOW system?
@@frededgar7777 I was just referring to the "Fog of War" style masking/unmasking functionality that FG currently has.
@@michaelauld6933 Gotcha. Thanks
New to FG, may I ask what skin that is you're using? The leather look of the UI looks pretty cool.
Hello taelok, this is the default theme for the 5E ruleset.
Does this mean the DM has to have the whole map pre-populated now?
How does this work with the initiative tracker? will the monsters remain invisible on it until there seen on the map?
Yes. They are only visible on the combat tracker for the player when visible.
@@FantasyGrounds Sweet thats awesome
This looks great so far! But after trying the early access ultimate some time, please do these things:
1. Add view distance (bright/dim) - this adds a cool claustrophobic feeling to dungeon crawls and night maps.
2. Give the ability to put the map fullscreen behind(!) other windows (left window border to right button bar) - immersion!! I really see no practical reason to leave the left third free, that should be my option as user, not a limitation.
3. Add a per window Undo stack with a few steps (this is nothing that can be done cheap very late in development).
4. Optimize resource usage! My MacBook 2015 runs much hotter with FGU with map open than when I'm playing WoW. The fan starts blowing strong as soon as i open a map in FGU. There must be something wrong, other Unity games with even fancy 3D graphics don't do that. Or please give at least an option for fixed frame rate or something. And best do not run on full render fps when the window is not even shown.
5. Eventually give the possibility for a secondary window popup, so a Gm can make better use of a secondary screen
6. Support retina screens better (just for me playing on the balcony on my Mac)
7. When you work on MAC support, please make sure the window is able to resize to fullscreen with the window buttons, not only max window size. Even text editors support this and it is a bit annoying when an application does not.
Also I think a new GUI could be upgraded a bit in usability. I know you want the classic users to not shy away, but some things could be more user friendly on top of old functionality like the map scroll could be grabbed. Multi touch touchpad devices could be supported with pinch drag and zoom (to mouse cursor position).
Other than that, greatly done so far. Especially IPv6 support was a mandatory upgrade!! Thx!
Didn't hear about this product and bought FG original Ultimate. Will there be any discount on the Ultimate for this new product or did i kinda screw myself lol.
There will be an update charge if you have a current license to unity but we have not announced any upgrade prices as of yet.
When players move on their screen, is there a mechanic in place that only allows them to move on their turn, and specifically up to their normal move, unless pressing a button for the Dash action (in 5e)? This way a player can't just keep moving his token around to get view and then having to remask everything because they moved more than they should've.
Not yet, but we have a redesign planned for locking tokens and approving movement that should work in a future version.
Fantasy Grounds Awesome. A feature that’d be good is to have a line trailing the token from the point of origin so the DM and player can see where they started and how they moved.
I definitely want to hop on the FGU train, but I’m not sure on some other facets like the previously mentioned token locks. Keep up the good work, though!
as i recall doors 7 types 1. open 2. closed unlocked 3. closed locked 4. closed locked / trapped 5. secret unlocked 6. secret locked 7. secret locked / trapped probably more but have the 7 types and have it to where the DM can have the player have a pull down menu where player can open, detect, try to unlock, try to pick, cast to magically unlock. that would sorta be cool. that way while the player is opening the door the DM could get the event ready for them
Great ideas for sure. For phase one we are going with the player being able to open/close doors and it will tell the player if it will be locked.
Is that like a better roll20? With better I mean more complexe
Will modules already purchased be updated with these new features? Example being Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Yes Jason, all current Fantasy Grounds content and rulesets will work on Unity.
Thanks for the reply. I’ve backed on KS.
Thanks for your support Jason!
@@jasonmountain4643, to clarify a bit more, the modules and rulesets will continue to work with Unity. We plan to go back through our back-catalog to update modules and "enhance" them to take advantage of the new features -- add LOS, doors, terrain, etc. With more than 1300 DLC, this may take us some time to work though. We will be starting with the most popular modules and working backwards, meaning that most or all of the D&D items may be completed by launch in December. We will steadily enhance others as time goes on.
If we don't get around to enhancing a module that you have purchased, then you will still be able to add them yourself within the software.
Is it possible to add a blurred edge to the fog of war? The sharp edges kind of ruin the immersion.
That is an interesting thought. I will share it with the team for consideration.
Super awesome!
Will there be an option to peek through doors or open them at different intervals?
Peeking through a Keyhole or cracked door? Not likely. That will probably best be handled via roleplay with the GM.
Is it safe to assume that a mistake was made when setting up Line-of-sight on the right hand side with those stairs? I just found it odd that Test Bear couldn't see the top of the stairs from the bottom or the bottom from the top. Looks like those stairs were set up like the rubble or arrow slits.
Yes, we are going to want to play with this a bit more. It will probably make sense to define it to be one square extra at the top and the bottom of the stairs.
I am unbale to even find that castle in the game. is that dlc or something?
This is from the D&D Lost Mines of Phandelver adventure module.
is there a way to give all players shared vision?
By default when the Dm uses a map with the lighting turned on, all of the players will have dynamic lighting.
And each token has its own sight, so player C cannot see what player A can see and vice a versa.
@@FantasyGrounds So, is there a way to change it in the options so each player token shares it's vision. I would be using this locally on a gaming table and it would be less hassle to not have to click on each token on the table screen.. can you just select all the tokens and they show all the vision for each token?
If you selected both the toad and the bear would you be able to see everything they both see
@@xXVintersorgXx Yes. You can select multiple tokens at once. On the player view you could select all owned player tokens and any other friendly tokens. The GM side could do movement and all the players would see the combined LOS of all players at once.
Does line of sight block movement?
Yes for players.
Yes it will block tokens from moving through them. Unless a door is open of course. ;)
maybe it flew over my head but it would be nice if each player had their own sight history instead of revealing what they see for the entire party
That is how it works when each player controls their own PC. It looks a little different when one player is controlling multiple players or if party-vision is enabled.
@@DougDavison thank you for clarifying
This all looks great until you actually have to run a game that might finish before the year 3000. My friend runs his games using a very sophisticated Unity based mapping programme with LOS,light sources and all the rest of it and it just slows the game down to a bare crawl.
If you use the built-in LOS for maps that support it, you just have to let your players move and they uncover things as they go. They open the doors on their end and the GM just narrates instead of having to cut away the mask.
You raise an important point though and that is that the focus should be kept on keeping the game moving at a pace that everyone enjoys. If you find that you are spending all your time tossing a torch ahead 30 feet or micro-managing the placement of lights, it could slow down to an unacceptably slow speed. We currently just offer line of sight, so the GM and players should manage the lighting in roleplaying terms.
Test Bear!!!! Patchy.
Test Bear Don't Care!
But actually he does. He is really quite sensitive.
@@FantasyGrounds Test Bear and Janice from accounting don't give a fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu--
I find it weird that D&D is getting turned into a turn-based tactical wargame with these things. I know lots of D&D has always used miniatures and maps but...I think it's just too much! D&D is more about telling stories, interesting narratives, interaction between players. If you wanna do this kinda stuff, why not play Warhammer or something?
Anyway I know FG didn't start this trend and neither did you... I'm very curious about the Unity version. Thanks for the video. My comments are a general take on roleplaying these days, not you :-)
I'm definitely a fan of tactical combat in games, but I like the occasional theater of the mind style. It's funny that the Lost Mine of Phandelver starts with a theater of the mind encounter in the very beginning and we have people contact support to ask where the map is for that encounter.
We have one of our devs working on a window specifically for theater of the mind. We hope to provide some support for people that want something visual while they do that. I'm really looking forward to seeing how GMs employ it once released. Old-school GMs probably do this with ease, but newcomers may not yet have the confidence or skills to pull it off without a little help.
@@FantasyGrounds I'm not sure what "theatre of the mind" means other than... just traditional roleplaying, with the DM explaining what's going on through verbal language, and the players doing the same. For me, a tabletop system like this is best for taking the tedium out of encounter charts, combat rolls, character sheets, and the rest. Does the FGU client build on any of that, perhaps with better performance, or is the FGU basically just a "graphics" upgrade and using the same back-end systems for rulekeeping stuff?
@@mercster yes, that is basically it. Our theater of the mind will allow you to include the tokens or portraits of the involved PCs and NPCs and add a background. You can still get some automation of dragging and dropping attacks, abilities etc., but the GMs and the players would use roleplaying to describe the encounter. Some relative locations may be able to be conveyed visually to assist this, but it would be far different than a top-down tactical style used in map based encounters.
FGU adds a number of new features.
www.fantasygrounds.com/home/FantasyGroundsUnity.php
D&D has *always* been a turn-based tactical game. In fact, it started out as an spinoff of miniatures wargaming but on a smaller scale. From the very beginning, D&D creatures had movement rates expressed in inches, such as MOVE: 9", which represented the distance in inches they could move across the map. So D&D is not getting turned into anything it hasn't always been. Perhaps you and your circle of acquaintances never played with maps and movement rates, but you're projecting if you think the rest of the world also did so as well.
You really need a pop filter for your mic. Almost blew my eardrums
Thank you for the feedback.
None of this tells me how to make it work. Showing off fancy features doesn't do dick if I can't make them work.
So still no basic, fundamental things people actually need and use? Like, oh I don't know, text formatting in chat, easily changing backgrounds/decals, and things like that? And they want to piss on current license owners? AND they did it as a Kickstarter?
Yeah, fuck Unity.
LOS was the #1 requested addition from existing users. Port forwarding and inability to host games was the #1 support request. Decals are popular and we plan to make it easier to swap those without the need for extensions. Text formatting in chat is something that I haven't seen requested previously.
How exactly are we not considering current license owners? By charging an upgrade fee for the first time since 2004?
@@FantasyGrounds I've seen your forums. You get requests for those BASIC features all the time, but just straight-up and outright dismiss them every. single. time.
So yeah, those requests were made. You just choose to ignore them. Nevermind that the WHOLE FUCKING POINT of the software is to facility chat-based roleplaying. "Why would anyone want to actually be able to format their text in such an environment? That's befuddling to the extreme!"
Oh, and nevermind the all the greed coming with Unity. That's the TRULY disgusting part of it all.
@@DocFunkenstein You can review the most requested features here: fg2app.idea.informer.com/
There are pages and pages of requested features. We prioritize based on popularity, our capacity to do them well, etc. Changing the background dynamically is on page 2 of the requests with 199 votes. We consider that to be a fairly popular request, so we have plans to tackle this at some point in the future. I don't see formatting chat comments anywhere in the first 6 pages of requests sorted by most requested. Most users today use voice and video primarily and chat is used for dice rolls and in character chat features.
We have a forum with almost a half-million posts and about two hundred thousand users. People post suggestions constantly and other users weigh in echo the requests, show their support or let us know what they think about it. We can't please all of our users 100%, but we do listen as much as we can. I'm sorry that you are so angry about this. Just know that while this may not be addressing your primary concerns, it is addressing the primary concerns of many of our users. We will hopefully get to more of the features that you care about over time.