[Feature Request] - Linking Maps - and Auto archive

I feel in my campaign, I am looking for a better system for world travel. I want to create maps, and have players be able to travel fairly quickly. All of my previous attempts at this just seem to bog things down. I try to use the zoomed out map and say, "you make it to here, etc" However I am looking for chaining intermediate size maps together. Such that each square is 220 feet. So each 120x120 would equal one of my world map squares of 5 miles. What this would allow me to do is keep a chain of yes (a lot of maps - auto archive???) where players can travel along and travel the world. A feeling I feel every attempt I try to replicate on roll 20 fails. To make sizable amount of maps possible and automatically interconnect them would require a link on the side of maps to move the players, and load them on the new map. I don't mind having to copy and paste the tokens, etc. Currently I am thinking I might have to find some other software for the players to use for this purpose, and just use roll 20 for all of the "destination and encounter" maps. What does everyone else think about this?

Could you describe the problem a little more? What you described sounds fine. You can set the squares to 220 feet, and make a map of 120x120 squares at this scale. Not a problem. You can copy the party's tokens when they get to the edge, and load the next map, and paste the tokens in the area where they would be walking into the new map section. The GM can archive a past-used page with 1 or 2 clicks. Why or how do you mean about every time you try to replicate on roll20 "fails"? Trying to understand the dilemma, to try to figure out some tips for ya. I don't know what game you're playing but one general RPG tip is "Don't make maps for the intermediate sections where only travel happens". Just make maps for the places where something happens. For the intermediate travel parts, just describe it verbally and maybe use a zoomed out map with a line or x's marking where the party has gone so far (on a map scale: continental, state size, county size, or regional --- no where near 220 feet per square, more like several miles per square). So they won't be moving tokens across your world map, but just placing a tiny line of x's for each camping spot (one x for each day's travel, or 3 x's per day, or put an x each place they have an encounter). One of my campaigns has a map that's around 1000 miles wide. They are moving slowly but surely across some grasslands in one section of this wide regional map. I switch them to zoomed-in map pages when we reach a place where something's happening.

Well you can give me a "tip" all you want. I want intermediate scale tracking. I revised my idea to be 1100 feet each. honestly I am just not a fan of auto moving the party. I want more adventure opportunities than 1 per 5 mile sided square.

Yes, it sounds like just one or two clicks. It's fine for DMs with 10 maps. When you have 100s to sort through, massive time sink.

I THINK I understand Bryan's frustration here... correct me if I'm wrong please. Bryan, you're having a problem that's two-fold here: One, you're frustrated by the fact that having dozens, or even hundreds, of maps loaded into the game simultaneously causes substantial lag, yes? Two, you find the need to manually select the next map and transfer it to the 'focus' of the Roll20 interface, allowing yourself and the players to use it, takes too long. The amount of searching and setting up required distracts from the immersion of play? If so, it's possible (I'm by no means certain of this) that an API script could be what you're looking for. Once you decide what you want it to do, I'd suggest asking around in the API forum for help making it work; there are some very clever people out there doing amazing things with it. I would imagine that a script which can automatically do the following things would help you find more satisfaction with your game: 1) It can detect which map is currently being displayed. At each edge of the map, it can determine which map would logically follow in that direction, should the players travel that way. It would then, at a certain trigger, replace the current map with the next one, as appropriate. It could also move the player tokens to the appropriate starting location, usually on the opposite end of the playing field, or wherever the GM desires. 2) It can automatically store and retrieve archived maps, as needed, to achieve the above while keeping the currently active maps to a manageable number. While I'm reasonably certain the first capability is possible, at least to some extent, I'm much less sure about this one. It depends on whether or not the API can archive/de-archive maps, or images at the very least. 3) Hi, Opal. If this isn't the case, I'm afraid I just don't understand what you're asking for here. -Phnord

Yes, exactly Phnord. I want quick, seemless play. Something video games have been taking advantage of with computers for decades. Video games excel at the mid range. The world travel. I feel the reason RPGs have avoided this like the plague, is that it is the plague to do it by text or description. It consumes too much time. DO you approach, do you not said person/place/thing. Do you move closer? Do you go around. Am I giving you enough detail. I feel an API script could in fact doing with after speaking with my personal API scripter, let's just call him Aaron. :) hehe. I know everyone says it is a lot of work, but with a square scale of 1100 feet, I feel that's the magical number for a 120x120 map which I feel is probably the max size I find to be usable in roll 20. I plan on working on this once I can, however I feel like having it as an API script isn't enough. Obviously it will be made available to the public once complete, but I feel this is something roll20 can get the jump on, which I feel other similar tools also can't handle. As Gold and others have told me. It is just skipped over traditionally in RPGs.

Bryan K. said: Well you can give me a "tip" all you want. I want intermediate scale tracking. I revised my idea to be 1100 feet each. honestly I am just not a fan of auto moving the party. I want more adventure opportunities than 1 per 5 mile sided square. Not entirely clear if you are blowing me off on purpose or just coming across that way with the "tip" bit. I am trying to offer you an answer to your vague and long question. Setting squares to 1100 feet each is not hard. Archiving a page from that menu takes less than 10 seconds so if you have 1000 maps that will use up 166 minutes of your life over the course of your campaign. Hopefully the campaign would last several months and it wouldn't be a big deal but if you plan to have players blaze through 1000 maps in a short period of time like an afternoon's gaming session, then no, I don't think Roll20 would be good for that. I have squares set anywhere from 5 feet to 120 miles and it works fine in Roll20. Good luck with your approach. Sorry to hear you don't like RPG's because there is too much text and description. Like you said, video games may be better suited for what you say you are looking for.

Gold said: Bryan K. said: Well you can give me a "tip" all you want. I want intermediate scale tracking. I revised my idea to be 1100 feet each. honestly I am just not a fan of auto moving the party. I want more adventure opportunities than 1 per 5 mile sided square. Not entirely clear if you are blowing me off on purpose or just coming across that way with the "tip" bit. I am trying to offer you an answer to your vague and long question. Setting squares to 1100 feet each is not hard. Archiving a page from that menu takes less than 10 seconds so if you have 1000 maps that will use up 166 minutes of your life over the course of your campaign. Hopefully the campaign would last several months and it wouldn't be a big deal but if you plan to have players blaze through 1000 maps in a short period of time like an afternoon's gaming session, then no, I don't think Roll20 would be good for that. I have squares set anywhere from 5 feet to 120 miles and it works fine in Roll20. Good luck with your approach. Sorry to hear you don't like RPG's because there is too much text and description. Like you said, video games may be better suited for what you say you are looking for. Yeah, buddy ride that high horse!!! Not at all, pictures are worth 1000 words, and a traversable map to simulate this is what roll 20 should be designed TO do. Finding a page and loading it does not take only 10 seconds, unless you have less than 10 pages. Btw my question must not have been vague if Phnord Prephect understood me. He seemed to nail it on the head.

"Well you can give me a "tip" all you want. I want intermediate scale tracking." You sounded like a 5 year old kid after his/her father had just said: "No you can't have a lollipop but how about a strawberry instead?". Just saying that respect is a two way street. "Currently I am thinking I might have to find some other software for the players to use for this purpose, and just use roll 20 for all of the "destination and encounter" maps." What softwares did you have in mind and how could you "link" their mapto Roll20 pages? I really failed to get how many maps/pages are looking for doing? What are you going to but on those? I mean are they detailed and have NPCs etc. or just like 500 meters of grass type of things? Do you have like 1 page with the world map which consists of squares which are their own pages/sub-maps? Also are the squares of these sub-maps "normal" P&P RPG maps where one square is eg 5X5 feet in D&D?

Bryan K. said: ...and a traversable map to simulate this is what roll 20 should be designed TO do. No. Just... no. That is not in any way what Roll20 was, or should have been, designed to do. It would be a nice addition, but no. Bryan K. said: Btw my question must not have been vague if Phnord Prephect understood me. I'm gonna try real hard to not read that as an insult. -Phnord

No Phnord, I wasn't calling you a caveman.

Phnord Prephect said: Bryan K. said: ...and a traversable map to simulate this is what roll 20 should be designed TO do. No. Just... no. That is not in any way what Roll20 was, or should have been, designed to do. It would be a nice addition, but no. Bryan K. said: Btw my question must not have been vague if Phnord Prephect understood me. I'm gonna try real hard to not read that as an insult. -Phnord Not sure how you can design a system of maps that go from one to the next and not create a better linking system.

Maetco said: "Well you can give me a "tip" all you want. I want intermediate scale tracking." You sounded like a 5 year old kid after his/her father had just said: "No you can't have a lollipop but how about a strawberry instead?". Just saying that respect is a two way street. "Currently I am thinking I might have to find some other software for the players to use for this purpose, and just use roll 20 for all of the "destination and encounter" maps." What softwares did you have in mind and how could you "link" their mapto Roll20 pages? I really failed to get how many maps/pages are looking for doing? What are you going to but on those? I mean are they detailed and have NPCs etc. or just like 500 meters of grass type of things? Do you have like 1 page with the world map which consists of squares which are their own pages/sub-maps? Also are the squares of these sub-maps "normal" P&P RPG maps where one square is eg 5X5 feet in D&D? 1100 feet squares, 120x120. So 25 x 25 miles. Probably around a 12x12 grid of them so 144. Grass, woods, topology. With cities. Enemies you can see from further than 100 feet, etc.

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Keep this civil, gang.