Group Between Layers

I have an ulterior motive for this suggestion but I think it could have a lot of uses. For example, if you had an invisible monster riding a horse, you could group the monster (GM layer) with the horse (token layer) and when you move either they move together. The main thing I'd like to see, though, is the ability to group things on layers with other objects on the dynamic lighting layer. For example, if you have a statue with DL drawn around it, and you move the statue (trap, puzzle, etc.) you have to separately move the dynamic lighting to its new location. Also, this could eliminate most of the tedium with dynamic lighting and doors, as you could just rotate or move the door on the token layer and have the DL line move with it. I think this is better than a "door specific" type of solution and would fit with a mechanic that already exists (grouping). I'm sure people could come up with more uses for this, like having GM notes follow around a token or a map element (torch?) follow around a token. Right now the DL layer works great whenever you are setting up the game but it's honestly a pain to use during gameplay. It would be nice if you could affect the layer as the map changes, for doors, curtains, movable objects, gas clouds, areas of darkness, collapsing rubble, large monsters...all these things can block line of sight but currently are very cumbersome to keep up with in play. I know you can do some of this with the API (although I haven't found a reliable way to position DL objects along with tokens, they always get "lost") but I think it would benefit everyone who uses DL and those who don't want to deal with potentially complex, unreliable code just to open a door. Let me know what you think!

This is an interesting idea. I have some API scripts that do some similar things. I could likely help you with one that would provide the dynamic relative positioning you're talking about (was discussing a new script with Stephen S. this morning that would make heavy use of this. =D )

The Aaron said: This is an interesting idea. I have some API scripts that do some similar things. I could likely help you with one that would provide the dynamic relative positioning you're talking about (was discussing a new script with Stephen S. this morning that would make heavy use of this. =D ) I use an API thing I found a while back (can't find it anymore for some reason) that shrinks down a "closed" door image, makes shrunk "open" door image bigger, and moves an attached line from the DL layer to the GM layer. Activating the code again reverses it. It works pretty well, but with the API I have to do some annoying setup to identify things. I have a routine that gives me the ID code for each item in the "door" which then needs to be pasted in the name of the item in order for the script to parse which items to resize, move, and switch layers. It doesn't take that long once you have the first couple on a map, and it's very quick in play, but takes a long time to set up and requires a very specific set of door images (they have to be the same size and shape, one with an "open" image and one with a "closed" image, since the API seems to have trouble with accurate rotation). Compared to "select door, switch layers, shift click DL line, right click group" the setup takes a long time. Then in my ideal situation in play I could just rotate the door and the DL line would move along with it. Even better would be if there were a way to adjust the rotational position (I know wargamers have asked for this, so you could wheel a block of troops along the corners) so that the door could rotate along the hinge. It's not a huge deal, but since doors are such a common thing in virtually all gaming systems that involve miniatures and indoor areas, and it can be applied to any moveable object that blocks LOS or even things between the GM or Map layer.

Yeah. Sounds good to me. One problem you would run into with the DL layer is that objects block light based on their unrotated state, regardless of rotation. Rotating accurately in the API requires a bit of geometry/trigonometry. Rotations happen from the center as you point out, so there are some translation steps if you want to get a rotation from an edge. I have plans to do a door script at some point, but haven't gotten to it yet.

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