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UVTT maps work on Roll20! + Page Menu Redesign, Random Dungeons

Starting today, the Page Menu makes it easier for all GMs to create new campaign pages, whether you want a blank page, a template to start with, want to upload your own, or create one using map tools. You told us that the old "Create Page" button and separate "Build a Map" dropdowns were confusing, so they’re now a single dropdown, with every option available at a glance. Plus, there are two new options: Generate Random: Found on the Dungeon Scrawl side of the menu, one click opens a map created with the Random Dungeon tool in a new tab (connected to the VTT). This is perfect for when you need a usable map fast, or don't want to draw one from scratch. Plus: you can re-generate as many times as you want, and use any of the tools in the editor to edit, customize, and decorate the result. All changes made will reflect on your connected campaign page.  Upload Background lets you upload a background image placed automatically, without dragging and dropping from your library. AND, it accepts a new file type: UVTT! UVTT map uploads let the VTT automatically place your image on the Map layer and build out the walls, doors, windows, and lights on the Light layer for you. While a subscription is required to view and edit Dynamic Lighting, any user can upload a UVTT map; the data will still be built out and unlocked with any future upgrade. + Now, Plus subscribers can upload UVTT maps for the first time, without the complex workaround of Pro/Elite’s Mod Scripts.  More details can be found in our blog . Let us know what you think, or any questions you have!
OMG.  Like, mind blown. I was just planning to start experimenting with dynamic lighting, and this comes along. I did a quick test with an old map I'd made in Dungeon Alchemist, which had lights on the walls, and I got a map with doors, windows and lights (the lighting was more than a little weird, with concentric purple and blue areas from each light that made the map a technicolor mess, but that's probably the fault of the old DA map lighting).  I shall have to try building a new map with the current version of DA and see how it looks.
I'm loving the timing! Let us know how it goes! Just in case this is helpful, we have an FAQ in our help center covering  the topic of what to do when "...walls or lights didn't come through correctly. What should I check?" There are a couple of additional tips to try, but perhaps trying to remove colors from overlapping lights on the Tabletop can help solve that for you? Ken S. said: OMG.  Like, mind blown. I was just planning to start experimenting with dynamic lighting, and this comes along. I did a quick test with an old map I'd made in Dungeon Alchemist, which had lights on the walls, and I got a map with doors, windows and lights (the lighting was more than a little weird, with concentric purple and blue areas from each light that made the map a technicolor mess, but that's probably the fault of the old DA map lighting).  I shall have to try building a new map with the current version of DA and see how it looks.
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The multi-colored light I saw is what happens when overlapping colored lights interact, creating a kalidoscopic interference (actually intensity, I guess) pattern: This is what happens when the default orange torches that DA made overlap.  Removing the color from them solved the problem. Well, sort of.  If they overlap you still get shades of gray in the same pattern as long as you use the white DA light (which is colored "white" in roll20, rather than "no color"), you have to remove the color in Roll20 to get something uniformly lit. It would be nice if there was a way in the import function to say "ignore light colors on input."
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keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
Tinted light has never worked well on Roll20, but to be fair, it's a lot more complex an issue than it looks. Can DA be set to not tint lighting?
Apparently it can tint white, but not do anything that matches what roll20 sees as "no tint".  But I'm no expert, having never used lighting in either DA or Roll20 (except for some long-ago Roll20 tests), so it's possible there's something.  DA has pretty primitive object customization though.  Ligh sources (light torches you hang on a wall) are lit/not lit, and have a palette of about 8(?) colors to pick from.
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I am a fan.  Just used Dungeondraft to Export as UVTT for a simple map I had previously uploaded and set DL lines.  Walls n doors all as expected, but with the added bonus that objects set to block light (stalagmites and a crane in this instance) do block movement but can still be seen in all their beauty.  This also allows players to see and target foes behind partial cover without DM intervention.   In the earlier version I had used one way lighting on those objects, which is fine, but I think I prefer this.  I have previously had forest maps or halls with many pillars and the solid black can be very difficult as a player - I can always draw a DL if I really want to shut down vision.  NB epic fail to turn on blocks light for  path used for RHS walling, but top 2 images are new version, Light layer and then the lovely new Player View, bottom 2 are original Light layer and Player View (also disregard carrion crawler, those bugs get everywhere at this time of year)
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What is a "background" ? What layer does it go on? How does it differ from a map image? Why isn't "background" in the help files? Do you have to make a page and THEN create a background? Congratulations for successfully creating new jargon to describe "a map." Unless, of course, it provides some other function... and you didn't document it. Because why would programmers document things? Or... if what you meant was "Upload UVTT image", then why not have the words "Upload UVTT image" ?  I know. Weird. Actually describing the purpose and function of a tool Is so 2020.
I agree 100% that it's poor terminology, given that the actual in-game name is "Map" layer.  And that used to be the only name. However, since the Foreground Layer was introduced, I've seen an increasing use of the phrase "Map and Background Layer" for the map layer (it's in several Help Center pages now), so perhaps it's the new, and apparently unanounced, name for the layer. Personally I prefer "Map". It's a nice, short, easy to type name. And for many games, it's what the layer is used for. But if Roll20 want's to call it the background layer, that's their call.  But I do wish they'd stop trying to be half-pregnant and commit to one name.
Plural said: What is a "background" ? What layer does it go on? How does it differ from a map image? Why isn't "background" in the help files? Do you have to make a page and THEN create a background? Congratulations for successfully creating new jargon to describe "a map." Unless, of course, it provides some other function... and you didn't document it. Because why would programmers document things? Or... if what you meant was "Upload UVTT image", then why not have the words "Upload UVTT image" ?  I know. Weird. Actually describing the purpose and function of a tool Is so 2020. Ken S. said: I agree 100% that it's poor terminology, given that the actual in-game name is "Map" layer.  And that used to be the only name. However, since the Foreground Layer was introduced, I've seen an increasing use of the phrase "Map and Background Layer" for the map layer (it's in several Help Center pages now), so perhaps it's the new, and apparently unanounced, name for the layer. Personally I prefer "Map". It's a nice, short, easy to type name. And for many games, it's what the layer is used for. But if Roll20 want's to call it the background layer, that's their call.  But I do wish they'd stop trying to be half-pregnant and commit to one name. Thanks Ken and Plural for the feedback. Feature updates like this that touch the Tabletop interface require changes across (sometimes dozens of) existing help pages, which we're working through now... I’ll make sure that by the time we’re wrapped up, we’re providing a step-by-step walkthrough of each page creation option so you and everyone else can see exactly what each does before choosing. To explicitly answer your question: the Upload Background option opens this dialogue: For further context, the term “background” was chosen intentionally for this menu based on our testing and community feedback, since Roll20 supports 1200+ game systems, and not all of them use “maps” the way that, say, a D&D group does. Pages can be used in-game for many non-map purposes like displaying scene-setting or transition images, serving as functional, interactive landing pages, and even as reference boards. Sticking only to the “map” name isn’t representative of how everyone uses the VTT.    That said, we can and will be clearer in our documentation. 
Thank you. That's reasonable. Personally, I'd have stuck with "Pages" if you wanted a more generic term than "Maps".  It's something you can fit on the left sidebar control. Background is certainly understandable though, and does work well when paired with "Foreground".
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keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
"Pages" are the objects that hold a background image. Pages hold all the things on all layers. But if I were king of Roll20 and could go back in time, I would probably have named the two layers above and below the Token layer: Foreground and Background.