Programming Basics

[Talen]

As I continue in this hobby, I've become more interested in the programming aspect and how things work. Do any of the programmers here have any recommendations on how to begin a self-taught journey? I've done internet searches and have some youtube links and book recommendations, but what would you recommend from a fantasy grounds specific perspective (languages and resources....Lua and....?

[Trenloe]

First question - are you learning programming from scratch, in addition to learning how to program in FG? Or can you program in another language and you want to learn the details of programming in FG?

[Talen]

From scratch -complete newbie. Mostly looking to understand as much as possible. No illusions as to learning how to create my own ruleset.

[Trenloe]

This is what I've recommended in the past: https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Lua.../dp/0470069171

Unfortunately, I don't think there's a digital version and it can be quite expensive as it's been out of print for a while - but you may be able to find a reasonable used copy out there. FG uses LUA 5.1, which was released in 2006, so there's no need to worry about the book being published in 2007 - in fact, it's probably a good thing!

[Trenloe]

For XML you won't need to spend much time learning it - just the basic syntax of tags and properties. You can start with something like this: https://www.w3schools.com/xml/

[jasonthelamb]

Trenloe - not to hijack the thread, but what about people with experience programming that are just looking to learn

[Trenloe]

Trenloe - not to hijack the thread, but what about people with experience programming that are just looking to learn

There's the LAU 5.1 reference manual: https://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/

Then there's the basics on FG scripting here: https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassia...et+-+Scripting

And the API doc here: https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassia...+API+Reference

Then it's a case of diving in and looking at examples. Unfortunately, there's not really any documentation on how the FG rulesets are tied together - but broadly, there's XML to define the GUI components, which will be layered across CoreRPG and your ruleset of choice. Then there's LUA that is tied to the GUI XML, and also LUA event handlers - like the action managers in the \scripts directory.

[Moon Wizard]

For experienced developers, I would give the whole developer guide index a quick scan to familiarize yourself with where topics are located:
https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassia...eveloper+Guide

Then, I would open up both the CoreRPG ruleset as well as an example ruleset closest to the system you want to make (5E, 3.5E, Cypher, Fate, ...)

Regards,
JPG

[Talen]

Thanks Trenloe, I'll check them out!

[johnecc]

There is also an online course at Udemy, about an hour long on LUA Core Syntax
https://www.udemy.com/course/luas-core-syntax/