Neat trick for players! (Moving the map)

[NymTevlyn]

Yeah, it gets really annoying when you're in wolf form and you want to move 100' and there's only 40' showing. >_<

[Tristram]

Maybe if there was a way to have picture-in-picture. Players and GMs could toggle between the the full map and the zoomed in section. The problem is that it would have to be more than just sending two versions of the same map (full and zoomed section). The maps would need to be linked so if you move a token in one then it would move in the other as well as sharing masking, grid, and drawings. Heck, if that's possible, why not have each player only able to see a zoomed in section relative to his character's visual range and the GM be able to zoom in where ever he wants? I can dream can't I?

[Griogre]

I think NymTevlyn problem is typical (moving off the edge of visable). I don't know that you need to acutally move the map but being able to zoom in and out would solve most problems. Typically when I am a playing and want to move the map it is for the same reasons: I want to move off the side or target a spell in an area not being shown.

[DNH]

my group has only just started using FG2 and we are all a bit concerned about the lack of the ability for players to zoom in and out of maps. i can see the argument for not permitting it - that the dm wants the players to focus on the action - but the players usually tend to focus on their own characters in my experience and that character may be away from the main action. as things stand (and i admit that my fg2 dm experience is very limited), the dm has to pan the map to the current character, zoom appropriately and then reshare the map. this will presumably have to be redone for other characters' turns (unless they are adjacent). what is more, suppose a character wants to cast a spell but can't decide whether or not it is appropriate. in order to decide, the player will have to request that the dm zooms out and refocusses (and resends) the map. the same goes for planning movement. this of course means that the players are unable to plan ahead.

my point in all this is to ask whether or not the developers have the intention to include player map zooming and panning in a future patch or release. i get the impression that the community would be extremely grateful if they could.

cheers.

[Griogre]

DNH, honestly this is not usually a big deal the players can't move or zoom the map. As a DM you just need to keep the map zoomed out enough. While your concern is valid if the party splits, partys don't tend to do this much as they tend to get wiped out while split. Also if the players are on seperate maps you can just share the map(s) with only the characters on the map.

I like the player zooming idea because it would probably be easy for the developer to do and as a DM I really do want the players most of the time focused on the map area I have selected.

Part of the this issue of moving the map is based in part on what size your tokens are. If you have larger tokens and grid sizes then you will move the map around more and vice versa.

[thefladhouse]

As a player, I think the map view is pretty frustrating. It takes twice as long for me to decide what my character is going to do, simply because I have to move the map around and hold it each time I want to see something.

As a dm, I am more concerned with the players being able to act quickly so as to maintain the flow of the game (especially in combat) than I am with knowing the players are looking at the map I want them too. In any case, there are no guarantees players are even looking at the computer screen, right? How do you know?

For those gm's who would like to control the map view, how about a map lock that can be enabled and disabled?

While your concern is valid if the party splits, partys don't tend to do this much as they tend to get wiped out while split.

That depends entirely upon the type of campaign you run.

[Azrael Nightstar]

That depends entirely upon the type of campaign you run.

That is a really good point, as is the "optional map lock" suggestion. I couldn't help but think that as I read this whole thread. Some like the map lock, some don't, the obvious solution is an OPTIONAL map lock.

Another viable, maybe better, solution is a "snap player's map to GM view" option. It seems everyone who likes the lock likes it as a way to make sure everyone's "on the same page" (both figuratively and literally). I'm guessing most of the time these people don't care whether the players are looking at the EXACT SAME view of the map, and that for their purposes it would be just as good, if not more useful/less restrictive, to be able to, when necessary, have the GM focus the view on a certain portion and then bring all the players' displays to match.

For example, all the players might have the view centered on their own token, while the GM has it zoomed out to include everyone, some right at the edge. The north wall of the chamber collapses, so the GM centers on that and zooms in, then hits the "snap players to GM view" button so everyone can see what he means when he says "horned devils come streaming through the breach", as he positions a dozen fiend tokens in the area of interest. Now everyone's once again free to move their view as desired, assumably in a way that's consistent with the new information.

[Ged]

Options are good as long as they don't lead to sloppy design. We try to avoid the need to insert other, less justified, options because of modifying or adding some feature. However, this feature under discussion would be viable as an option and might actually introduce another nice feature as a side effect. But let us see if and when...

[NymTevlyn]

What about having a separate token layer only the DM can access? That would really help me a ton with running games in my preferred style.