Optimization of Maps

So I have an Unusual challenge, and was hoping someone could offer me some feedback/input on how to optimize a map for performance. So We are playing a 40k Universe campaign with my own homebrew rule system. And one of the things much lacking in gaming in general is the concept of a bridge crew. Basically players can be part of the bridge of a starship during combat, and give the ship improvements during battle. I want to have a map of the starship AND a map of the starship in space at the same time. The players can opt to control ship consoles to make the ship better in combat, or do things like try to repel or join boarding parties, repair armor, man guns, or heal fallen comrades. I figure that in space combat, ships don't just don't roll dice at each other, they have dozens of human beings working in consort, doing everything from putting out fires, to tending the wounded, to firing the guns. I like the idea of having a battle go in such a way that there is many things one can do with their limited time, and all of it useful, but it is hard to really know what the 'optimal' course of action is in any given circumstance because so much is going wrong at once. I'm trying to get the battle to feel more real, as if it's bigger than the players, and while they have impact, that impact really hinges on the choices they make, as opposed to the dice they roll. However once I build a map, even a relatively sparse one, with say an 80 by 75 unit size hex map (and a .65 grid size, with 1 unit = to 1 hex), i start to get major performance issues. I feel like after i put say 3 or 4 dozen things on a map, it gets really slow. Not delibatingly slow, but certainly noticeably. This idea has alot of moving parts, and I need to add tokens to cover the HP of various combat stations, subsystems, ect. It's important because I want to make sure that only people who are at certain consoles get certain information, to maintain the kind of fog of war that one would have in an actual starship battle (So engineering can see HP for armor and life support, but only tactical knows where boarders are, ect) So it is going to get crowded. I'm curious if anyone has some thoughts on the real performance killers i should be on the look out for.

Why do all of the consoles and things need to be tokens? It's not like the consoles are going to move around the map, is it?

Token actions, maybe?

"This idea has alot of moving parts, and I need to add tokens to cover the HP of various combat stations, subsystems, ect. It's important because I want to make sure that only people who are at certain consoles get certain information, to maintain the kind of fog of war that one would have in an actual starship battle (So engineering can see HP for armor and life support, but only tactical knows where boarders are, ect)" I imagine he would assign control of a particular station to the player operating it, thus allowing him to see whatever data is associated with it to the exclusion of his fellow players.

Reduce the number and size of png images you are using. Make sure that any images you are using for your tokens are actually token sized (less than 140px) to begin with. I'm not sure, but if you insert a 1280px image and bind it to a 70px token, I think it still uses the memory of 1280px. Maybe roll20 makes it's own unique thumbnail for tokens...? You might try keeping as many images and tokens off the map as you can and only bring them in when needed. Maybe have a "staging" map where you have things at-the-ready. Don't use 3d dice. Try making your map smaller. You might have to use two maps instead of having the ship and the space battle on one large map. Just some thoughts.

Hmm...... We using API here? That is on the map layer (70x70 buttons let's say.) On the object layer transparent gif. Macro: name = [Press Button] action = "!buttonpress@{target}" I should be able to get which button it was..... even more than one button (4 digit code.)

So in the future instead of using computers, complex tasks are performed by humans with limited cognition and a narrow subset of situational information on which to base their decisions? Well, in that case I'd say ensure everything is a jpeg where possible. You could also put each player on a smaller map, that would restrict what they see AND take some of the load off.

You could just take a screen capture of an FTL game. That'd be one or two images instead of 2 dozen. If you want to use your own tokens, consider reducing the size and colour depth of the PNG files. A PNG with 64 colours (indexed) is dramatically smaller than a full-colour png. In practice, you'll hardly notice the difference (unless you need semi-transparent shadows).

1) Avoid PNG files. PNGs take significant system resources to render. Use JPGs whenever possible. 2) If you have static background elements consider merging them in an art program such as GIMP and then uploading that as a JPG. 3) Large Hex maps take significant resources also. While 80x75 shouldn't be an issue if it is causing issues consider reducing the size. 4) Regarding images and thumbnails, Roll20 creates several versions of an image (thumb, medium, maximum) when you upload it. The version used is dependent upon the size of the image being displayed.

Gauss said: 4) Regarding images and thumbnails, Roll20 creates several versions of an image (thumb, medium, maximum) when you upload it. The version used is dependent upon the size of the image being displayed. That's good to know Guass. When I first started using roll20 I would create a small token (140px) image for my token and use a larger version for my portraits. So, if I want to use the same image for my portrait and token, I won't take a resource hit?

Well Tokens for both Token Actions, and because I can use the bars to track resources. Plus I wanted some kind of visual representation of the status of the ship. It doesn't have one set of hit points, it has all these modules like guns and things like that, that be individually damaged and destroyed. As far as the 'things' on the ships, I'm using a ship model I found online that lays out the rooms, and I've got things that the players personalized on the ship (like private quarters, ect). I guess i'm going to need to bake all that stuff into it as a single image, which is fine. This was very helpful. Thanks for the input everyone.

@Alan H. Well it's in the 40K universe, which is more like Medieval Warriors in space. They have advanced technology that they don't even understand. Plus ships that fly themselves, while objectively better, are also not nearly as fun. Startrek would have been incredibly lame if captain Picard could just manage the enterprise from bed.

Bryan W. said: They have advanced technology that they don't even understand. Burn the heretic! He refuses to believe in the machine god!

Vince , that is correct.