Dynamic Lighting Tips & Tricks

And two more things i discovered wasting 30 minutes at the start of the game last night you are forced to use dynamic lighting by turning on daylight mode and tokens must have vision enabled. So punched in the face again because simple, easy, quick, fast, no lags times, and awesome has been replaced by a half hour additional game prep, slow, buggy, problematic but works great when it works (sometimes) while using 450 gigabit internet.

WarHorse said: And two more things i discovered wasting 30 minutes at the start of the game last night you are forced to use dynamic lighting by turning on daylight mode and tokens must have vision enabled. I think something is missing from this statement.  That isn't anything new, because if you had dynamic lighting on in the LDL system, you had to have vision turned on for the players to see through their tokens.  That hasn't changed with UDL.

I've uploaded a map of a boat at sea. The boat has four decks, all shown on the map. I've drawn the dynamic-lighting barriers for the boat at every deck level; no external light source will penetrate the hull. I'd like the sea outside the boat to be bathed in seamless dim light. How can I do this? * Obviously, making the map file itself radiate dim light won't work. * Spreading invisible tokens across the map that radiate dim light doesn't work either, because dim light stacks -- gets brighter -- when it overlaps, and light sources radiate light in circles, not squares; I end up with a huge venn diagram of different light intensities. I've spent a couple hours trying to solve this, to no avail. Your advice is appreciated.

DungeonMair said: I've uploaded a map of a boat at sea. The boat has four decks, all shown on the map. I've drawn the dynamic-lighting barriers for the boat at every deck level; no external light source will penetrate the hull. I'd like the sea outside the boat to be bathed in seamless dim light. How can I do this? * Obviously, making the map file itself radiate dim light won't work. * Spreading invisible tokens across the map that radiate dim light doesn't work either, because dim light stacks -- gets brighter -- when it overlaps, and light sources radiate light in circles, not squares; I end up with a huge venn diagram of different light intensities. I've spent a couple hours trying to solve this, to no avail. Your advice is appreciated. You have to either use Daylight Mode (at roughly 50%) or set up several low lights in the corners where the radius reaches the boat in the center of the map. Since the main deck of the ship probably should  have the same light level as the water, I would lean toward using dim Daylight Mode. If the interior of the boat is supposed to be pitch black, you can also place the lower decks on a different page that has no Daylight Mode. These can then be placed side by side to each other, and you can drag the PC tokens between decks as the PCs move, allowing PCs to be on different decks simultaneously. If this is an underwater wreck, I would just go with Daylight Mode, as the PCs will probably bring a light source anyway. Otherwise, you will need to use multiple low lights at the edges of the map, giving them a radius that reaches the boat in the center. This will result in some minor overlap, and you will need to position lights so they shine into any holes in the hull.

Thank you for the advice. I appreciate it! Brian C. said: DungeonMair said: I've uploaded a map of a boat at sea. The boat has four decks, all shown on the map. I've drawn the dynamic-lighting barriers for the boat at every deck level; no external light source will penetrate the hull. I'd like the sea outside the boat to be bathed in seamless dim light. How can I do this? * Obviously, making the map file itself radiate dim light won't work. * Spreading invisible tokens across the map that radiate dim light doesn't work either, because dim light stacks -- gets brighter -- when it overlaps, and light sources radiate light in circles, not squares; I end up with a huge venn diagram of different light intensities. I've spent a couple hours trying to solve this, to no avail. Your advice is appreciated. You have to either use Daylight Mode (at roughly 50%) or set up several low lights in the corners where the radius reaches the boat in the center of the map. Since the main deck of the ship probably should  have the same light level as the water, I would lean toward using dim Daylight Mode. If the interior of the boat is supposed to be pitch black, you can also place the lower decks on a different page that has no Daylight Mode. These can then be placed side by side to each other, and you can drag the PC tokens between decks as the PCs move, allowing PCs to be on different decks simultaneously. If this is an underwater wreck, I would just go with Daylight Mode, as the PCs will probably bring a light source anyway. Otherwise, you will need to use multiple low lights at the edges of the map, giving them a radius that reaches the boat in the center. This will result in some minor overlap, and you will need to position lights so they shine into any holes in the hull.

I was looking for a solution too. Thanks a lot! Demi,  work time Brian C. said: DungeonMair said: I've uploaded a map of a boat at sea. The boat has four decks, all shown on the map. I've drawn the dynamic-lighting barriers for the boat at every deck level; no external light source will penetrate the hull. I'd like the sea outside the boat to be bathed in seamless dim light. How can I do this? * Obviously, making the map file itself radiate dim light won't work. * Spreading invisible tokens across the map that radiate dim light doesn't work either, because dim light stacks -- gets brighter -- when it overlaps, and light sources radiate light in circles, not squares; I end up with a huge venn diagram of different light intensities. I've spent a couple hours trying to solve this, to no avail. Your advice is appreciated. You have to either use Daylight Mode (at roughly 50%) or set up several low lights in the corners where the radius reaches the boat in the center of the map. Since the main deck of the ship probably should  have the same light level as the water, I would lean toward using dim Daylight Mode. If the interior of the boat is supposed to be pitch black, you can also place the lower decks on a different page that has no Daylight Mode. These can then be placed side by side to each other, and you can drag the PC tokens between decks as the PCs move, allowing PCs to be on different decks simultaneously. If this is an underwater wreck, I would just go with Daylight Mode, as the PCs will probably bring a light source anyway. Otherwise, you will need to use multiple low lights at the edges of the map, giving them a radius that reaches the boat in the center. This will result in some minor overlap, and you will need to position lights so they shine into any holes in the hull.

Hello! I prepared a dungeon map last week wiht dynamic light, LOS, and restricted movement. tested everything, and all worked out wonderfully. Today i let my players join, and suddenly they can move through walls, see the whole dungeon, and my prep time was wasted. Was there any update on dynamic light? Is it known to bug out randomly? Restricted movement is turned on, and all tokens have "vision" turned on. Anything else I can try or do? Also: Nightvision and LOS work perfectly. Just the restricted movement thing is not working.

Max said: Hello! I prepared a dungeon map last week wiht dynamic light, LOS, and restricted movement. tested everything, and all worked out wonderfully. Today i let my players join, and suddenly they can move through walls, see the whole dungeon, and my prep time was wasted. Was there any update on dynamic light? Is it known to bug out randomly? Restricted movement is turned on, and all tokens have "vision" turned on. Anything else I can try or do? Also: Nightvision and LOS work perfectly. Just the restricted movement thing is not working. Do you have the 'restricted movement' feature turned on for that map?

Jarren said: Max said: Hello! I prepared a dungeon map last week wiht dynamic light, LOS, and restricted movement. tested everything, and all worked out wonderfully. Today i let my players join, and suddenly they can move through walls, see the whole dungeon, and my prep time was wasted. Was there any update on dynamic light? Is it known to bug out randomly? Restricted movement is turned on, and all tokens have "vision" turned on. Anything else I can try or do? Also: Nightvision and LOS work perfectly. Just the restricted movement thing is not working. Do you have the 'restricted movement' feature turned on? Yes, triple checked all settings on map and tokens

Are your players promoted to GM status? That would also allow them to move through walls.  How are you testing that all the settings are working correctly? Are you using a Dummy Account? It would be helpful if you could post some screenshots of the page settings, as well as what your players are seeing.  Or if you'd like you can invite me to the game and I'm happy to take a look to see if I can see anything wrong. (Send me a private message if you want to do this - don't post game links publicly.)

Jarren said: Are your players promoted to GM status? That would also allow them to move through walls.  How are you testing that all the settings are working correctly? Are you using a Dummy Account? It would be helpful if you could post some screenshots of the page settings, as well as what your players are seeing.  Or if you'd like you can invite me to the game and I'm happy to take a look to see if I can see anything wrong. (Send me a private message if you want to do this - don't post game links publicly.) I just screenshot everything and wanted to reply, and while testing, it suddenly works again. I dont know why tho, I did not change anything. Last quick note: I was using a dummy account to test, and my players did not have gm status. Thanks alot for helping!

Is there any way to setup DL on a map that moves? For some context, I've made a maze map that has sections of the maze rotating periodically to keep it interesting - but I'm struggling to find a way to add walls with DL and have it represent the individual pieces of the maze instead of making walls for the maze in its entirety 

Answered here .

Are you guys going to add see through but impassable lines for window use or one way lines for height differences when using dynamic lighting? I know there are some API scripts that can do this but I was wondering if this is something planned for the Plus Users. 

i accidentally deleted the walls and doors of a module is there a return to default command or do i have to redo them all?

Ambriox said: i accidentally deleted the walls and doors of a module is there a return to default command or do i have to redo them all? Since you have a pro account, the easiest thing would be to create a new game with that module and then use the transmogrifier to bring in a new instance of the map from that game with the clean/new module.

Morning! How to post a new topic?

Invyr said: Morning! How to post a new topic? You go to the forum you want to post in, and then click the big blue button in the upper right corner that says "Post New Topic".

Is it possible to hide the new torch icon from players?

I haven't used it much, but my understanding is it will still illuminate if neiher on the token nor the map layer but the players won't see it

Just put them on the Dynamic Lighting Layer (the icon would still be visible if placed on the map layer).

I have a character that transforms into a giant spider. The spider has darkvision and blindsight. How do I give the character blindsight on UDL?

Just adjudicate it manually. Giant Spider darkvision is 60 feet, and blindsight is 10 ft. There's usually no need to indicate the blindsight specially. If you want to indicate it as a sense when darkvision would not work (such as in the darkness spell or suffering the blindness condition), just change the range to 10 feet. Since you have the API, you could even do this with a token-mod macro.

TJ said: I have a character that transforms into a giant spider. The spider has darkvision and blindsight. How do I give the character blindsight on UDL? Oops, missed that this was a character, not an NPC. I would still suggest an aura if you really want to support both visions at the same time, or toggle it back and forth with Keith's suggestion. Like Keith, I would suggest just figuring it out manually. Using Dynamic Lighting for NPCs has several drawbacks: It will unnecessarily slow down the VTT for you. The NPC vision clutters up the VTT and makes it harder to see what the characters can see without using Ctrl+L. You won't be able to really see what the spider sees without using Ctrl+L. If you really want to know exactly where a particular NPC has blindsight or darkvision, you can give it an aura in an unobtrusive color. This will clutter up the screen a bit, but you gain the following benefits: You will instantly be able to see the area. It won't slow down the VTT for you. You will still be able to see the edges of lit areas for the purposes of the PC's vision.

TJ said: I have a character that transforms into a giant spider. The spider has darkvision and blindsight. How do I give the character blindsight on UDL? One of my players has the (5e) Blindfighting fighting style. I set up a macro for him using the Radar script, which outputs a radar-style graph of nearby creature tokens. If in magical darkness or blinded by an effect, I can toggle vision with token-mod and he "pings" whenever he wants to sense what is around him (results whispered to just him and me). We play it as only sensing the presence and size of creatures as opposed to recognizing details, but you could create a filter to color the pings of party members in a different color, for example.

keithcurtis said: Just adjudicate it manually. Giant Spider darkvision is 60 feet, and blindsight is 10 ft. There's usually no need to indicate the blindsight specially. If you want to indicate it as a sense when darkvision would not work (such as in the darkness spell or suffering the blindness condition), just change the range to 10 feet. Since you have the API, you could even do this with a token-mod macro. The issue is in total darkness, the 60 ft. should be lowlight, but the 10ft should seem like bright light. In low light it is no big deal, but I plan for darkness being regularly occurring. I'd like to do this without also showing everyone else that 10ft of bright light. if that makes sense.

The aura is probably the best bet, then.

I don't know if anyone will see this on Page 2, but I have a tip to share!  If you ever need to determine vertical line-of-sight , you can build a map like this: Here's the step-by-step: Create a new page and under Page Settings , enable Dynamic Lighting. Under the Page Details tab, Scroll down to Cell Width (where it says "1 x 70 = 70"). Change the second 70 to 20 px .  Under Grid Scale Distance , set it to 1 ft. This is an easily measurable distance to draw your specific scenario. ( Recommended: Change the background from white to gray or another color that's easier on your eyes. Make sure the grid is visible though.) Draw out your map in the Lighting layer using the shapes and polygon/line tools.  Optional:  Repeat this step in the Map layer. Tips Label feet from the ground using the text tool. As you draw, make sure hold shift to snap your shapes to the grid. If you are drawing a polygon/line and mess up, you can let go of shift and simply use Ctrl-Z to undo. Use colors to avoid confusion. 5.  Draw stick-figure people  of the appropriate height or use images and stretch them to the appropriate height. (I used Mario for this tutorial simply because everyone knows a side-scroller when they see it.) 6. Use any object or image as the "eyeball" . Place the eyeball roughly where it belongs on the person/robot/thing.  Make the eyeball emit light . (Double-click it > Dynamic Lighting > Token Emits Light > Bright Light > 100 ft) 7. Back under page settings, change   Cell Width to 100 px  and change the  Grid Scale Distance back to 5 ft . And you're done! This is a tip for pretty niche circumstance, but I'm planning on building multiple "levels" of these height/LOS scenarios, all on the same page, which I'll be able to play with and reference whenever I want. So, if you've ever been unsure about whether your player characters would be able to see a sneaky creature, deadly trap, or important plot point from their elevation, this will hopefully help. :) 

So this is a question to anyone connected to the development side: Foundry does offer a few things that I would LOVE to see here on Roll20 is there a plan to: 1) Have the different types of lighting - See through walls that you can't pass through but light can (windows)? 2) One way light ?  One way mirrors that you can't pass through? 3) One way light that you can pass through (like a portal type effect, that is NOT reversible, like a light and passage diode? 4) The ability to IMPORT D&DBeyond stuff?  I know there is the Chrome addon for rolling, that's Meh . . .? Ok. . .but it would be cool to import my D&DBeyond stuff into Roll20.  Maybe even if you only offer that to subscribers who are NOT free users, that way you still get purchase value from free users.  I have been with Roll20 for 10 years now, and I love it, I have a LOT of stuff here.  But I am longing for some of these other features found on Foundry. 5) I Really, Really, Really want the ability to copy my maps and characters and custom monsters to PNGs & PDFs (option for either) for export to my computer for manipulation / customization using software I already use for other purposes.  This seems like the easiest of all upgrades and I know I'm not the first person to ask.  So why is this feature not already available? I would like to print my custom characters into PDFs or PNGs my option.  As well as my maps, magic items, monsters etc . . . that I create within the game. Thanks, Dave

WarHorse said: And two more things i discovered wasting 30 minutes at the start of the game last night you are forced to use dynamic lighting by turning on daylight mode and tokens must have vision enabled. So punched in the face again because simple, easy, quick, fast, no lags times, and awesome has been replaced by a half hour additional game prep, slow, buggy, problematic but works great when it works (sometimes) while using 450 gigabit internet. I agree with you.  Its cool to have these other features if they work, and don't gobble up all your bandwidth.  I'm not a programmer, however: 1) The old version should always be an option - (easy button) 2) Light and players should have differing abilities to pass through dynamic lighting lines (think windows vs walls) _ this could be done by having a (window / wall / one way window (two way mirror) / one way door ) options for each dynamic lighting line / object.  I'm thinking the default would be as it is now, but you would click on a pull down option for the other options.  This would make maps look amazing, and add at least three or four dimensions to a map that don't exist.  These options should have no more effect on your table top than any other object or effect of old school dynamic lighting. 3) Doors & windows (dynamic lighting objects) should also have a (player activated) option where they can click on an object they can see (because it is somehow linked in the two layers) and then light in Foundry, they can open a door themselves, and perhaps use the same technology that there are things only DMs can open from the token layer (like locked items - or magical effects of light) These effects alone would keep me from envying Foundry.  I haven't moved there yet because I have so much content here already.  But the ability to do these things would make me happy. If I could also download my creations in PDF / PNG formats (my option for each), I would think roll20 would swat its competition pretty handily. Thoughts?

Any recommendations for map making program that bakes in UDL?

Any recommendations for map making program that bakes in UDL? <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Universal_VTT_Importer" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Universal_VTT_Importer</a> UniversalVTTImporter provides a way to setup Dynamic Lighting lines, Lights sources(even colored lights) from maps created with the Universal VTT format. Dungeondraft ( .dd2vtt -files), DungeonFog ( .df2vtt -files) and ArkenForge ( .uvtt -files) are map programs which can export maps with the Universal VTT format, the filenames are just slightly different.

David R. said: So this is a question to anyone connected to the development side: Foundry does offer a few things that I would LOVE to see here on Roll20 is there a plan to: 1) Have the different types of lighting - See through walls that you can't pass through but light can (windows)? As a Pro user, you can use the API scripts.&nbsp; DoorKnocker allows creation of windows that allow light and vision to pass through but prevent tokens moving through.&nbsp; Once you have DoorKnocker set up and running, you just have to draw lines on the dynamic lighting layer in the color that you have reserved for windows. I can't help with the other item, though.

1) Have the different types of lighting - See through walls that you can't pass through but light can (windows)? With APIs, both windows &amp; Passwall can be created: DoorKnocker -- Script helps quickly open and close doors by controlling the dynamic lighting lines. I ncludes option to create "windows" UDLWindows (Forum) -- API for creating or converting DL lines to be see-through, but still block movement UDLPasswall (Forum) - Walls that block sight, but not movement Example of both a window, and a "passwall":

I use dynamic lighting a lot on my maps for D&amp;D 5e but I now noticed that tokens can go through doors even if I draw a line in the Dynamic lighting layer across the door.&nbsp; Originally, player tokens could not go through a door, unless the DM moves the line from the door to allow player tokens to pass through to the next room.&nbsp;&nbsp; Here are my page and token settings.&nbsp; I don't use the Advance/Legacy settings as it stays toggled off.&nbsp;&nbsp; The image below shows the orange line representing a closed door.&nbsp; When I select the token (on the token layer) and hit "Ctrl-L", I can move it through the door which shouldn't happen.&nbsp; The image on the right shows the Dynamic layer and the barely visible token passing through the door. I've had my players join in to see if they can move their tokens on my map with all the doors closed (orange line covering the doors in the dynamic layer), and they are able to freely move through the doors entering different rooms without any difficulty. I'm not sure, if I have my page/token settings set up where it does this, or if I'm overlooking something?

The setting you are looking for is on the other tab of your page settings, probably because it applies to both types of dynamic lighting.&nbsp; Right below the grid settings, there is a toggle for "Dynamic Lighting Barriers Restrict Movement".&nbsp; Be sure that is turned on.

Can your players move through the blue lines as well, or just the orange lines? Assuming the&nbsp; "Dynamic Lighting Barriers Restrict Movement" option is turned on, then the next questions is: a re you using any scripts? The DoorKnocker script (and others such as UDLPassWall, linked just above by Andreas) can change DL lines to be 'fake walls' which block vision without blocking movement (even when the 'Dynamic Lighting Barriers Restrict Movement' option is turned on).&nbsp; The DoorKnocker script automatically converts lines to different types based on the color of the line. I would also strongly suggest using a Dummy Account &nbsp;to check what your players will see and experience.&nbsp; Ctrl-L does not &nbsp;provide a player's view (it is only used for 'line of sight' from a single token) and I wouldn't trust that it always performs correctly for DL barriers/movement.

And now I’m wondering if this might be related to the new one-way dynamic lighting that is being tested on the dev server.&nbsp;

I just tested, and DL seems to be functioning normally. This is almost certainly the Restrict Movement option not being checked on the first tab.

If your ever having problems understanding a creature's gaze length and what they would normally see by changing the limited sight to the creature. it can then be angled in case it has multiple heads and ore things the sight would be coming from.&nbsp;

That was the first ever trick in the&nbsp; Tips n Tricks &nbsp;thread.

Got a real problem with the new Dynamic Lighting system if anyone would like to help.&nbsp; In the old Dynamic Lighting system, I can set the "multiplier" for a given token. I find it useful for some races that have lowlight vision to have a *2 multiplier, as it simulates that they would see further with all light sources, bright and dim. So the difference between "normal" vision, in the giant here, and "lowlight vision" in the goblin, is that the goblin sees twice as far as the giant with the same light sources.&nbsp; As demonstrated here.&nbsp; However, when I try to set the same thing up with the new Dynamic Lighting system, I set the "Light Multiplier" to 200% to get the same effect. I put the same Bright light and Dim light values in, and it looks like this.&nbsp; Whereas the Giant with normal vision, his Light Multiplier is set to 100%, and it looks more or less the same as the old Dynamic Lighting system.&nbsp; Any ideas on how to fix this? It looks like I won't be able to use the new Dynamic Lighting if this is the case.&nbsp;

Update: This appears to be a bug.&nbsp; If I grab the giant&nbsp; (with normal vision) and set his Light Multiplier to 200%, it looks normal. However, if I deselect him, then select him and Ctrl+L to look through his perspective again, that's when I get the hard boundaries again. Before, there was light feathering and the radi reached twice as a far, and after, it has the hard circle boundary again, no feathering.&nbsp;

It would be helpful if you post the settings on the token and light source, as well as a screen shot of the DL layer. To get the feathering back, use the "nocturnal" setting on night vision. Don't tint night vision or light. You will likely be disappointed. Also, for a true test of sight (this was equally true under LDL) don't trust Ctrl-L. That was never intended to give a true view of the DL experience of a token. The "L" stands for "Line of Sight", and it's just intended to show you if one token has LOS on another. For a true player experience, use a&nbsp; Dummy Account .

So keep using the old Dynamic Lighting system, because the new one kills established features, *still*. Got it.&nbsp; I turned the nocturnal setting on, and it does not change anything. I can set it to a huge radius, but then the token sees in the dark, which is not what I want. I only want the token to see all light sources doubled for their vision only.&nbsp; I'm not going to use a dummy account to check what my monsters truly see, or to check what my player sees to judge things like cover and line of sight when they ask me to. This is not a fix for my issue, though I appreciate your suggestion. Old LDL never had this strange hard boundary on light sources, and works completely fine with CTRL+L. I am so frustrated with roll20 devs adding new stuff that's broken, has reduced usability, and also lets their established, working stuff fall to disrepair. This is a pretty common theme here.&nbsp; As requested, here is a screen grab of the Goblin token, that should see doubled light radi, as well as the torch near him (all torches have the same settings.) This is the Goblin And this is the Torch

You have it set up correctly.&nbsp; Control + L shows the hard edges.&nbsp; If you add yourself as a controller of the Goblin and rejoin as player, you will see the soft edges.&nbsp; That is what players will see.