Expanded interaction with DL & Tokens + additional layer.

Hi! I've been (happily) playing with Roll20 for the last few weeks, but a couple of suggestions to really enhance the ease of use for GMs and to allow a couple of additional features I'm missing. Apologies if any/some of these are available in some way (in which case, please point me to it) in API and/or Dev server, I don't have access to those (yet). 1) Tokens affecting Dynamic Layer. Maybe even with a very simple checkbox "Blocks Light" in the token settings (see suggestion 4 for additional feature). I've been shown there's a script that works beautifully with DL & Doors, but to have a more generic token-based way of blocking view would be amazing for us GMs that run campaigns with DL and movable objects (moving statues, cars, traings, even larger enemies). It would be sooo cool to have those affect the field of view without -constantly- having to switch layers and draw/delete lines in the DL layer. 2) Separate settings for "Control this token" for movement and others. ie, I want the players to see thing X (sorry, have to be vague here if my players are reading :D ) and see what it sees, but I DON'T want them to be able to move the token. I currently can't do that. It is either full control, or none. 3) A way to reveal a part of the map (perhaps only for awhile), without moving tokens to that location AND with Dynamic Lighting enabled. I COULD do this with Fog of War, but then I'd lose DL, which I'm not willing to so. Sort of like when a character is scrying or using a security camera, I'd like them to be able to see a location, but DL "walls" block the line of sight so I can't currently show that to them. (other than making a token that has sight and they can control, which brings us to suggestion 2...) 4) I might have to explain this further, if you don't understand my explanation, but here goes nothing: dynamic lighting area where the field of view is not blocked by the front, but the BACK edge of the area. ie. I could paint a section of a wall with DL "wall" and the further edge of that area would act as the blocking part. ie. the characters would see the actual wall from all angles, but not anything beyond it. This would work perfectly with suggestion 1, as you could then just use the whole token as the DL "wall" and the players would still see the actual token (and not just the silhouette of it). 5) And colored lighting... I know this might not be so easy (or it might, I have no idea how roll20 is coded), but it would add tons to the atmosphere... 6) And perhaps the simplest/easiest (or then not?) and least needed, but I've had occasional needs of a "top layer" (that players could see) on top of everything, that DL did not affect. For effects and misc stuff that makes no sense for line of sight to block. Like a screen-wide transparent color image to have a tone for the whole "encounter". (have a green transparent overlay for "night vision", for example.) Makes no sense to make a giant token on top of everything else, since I can't then select anything under it :) I'd happily pay money for these features, I've bumped into needing all of those multiple times in the last weeks, so yeah, I'd really love to see all of them in Roll20 sometime in the future :)

There is a suggestion to allow more control over what players can and cannot do with a token that I think would work for #2, <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1241923/allow-mo" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1241923/allow-mo</a>... #4 could be faked with one way dynamic lighting walls on a non moving image, see <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1242655/dynamic-" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1242655/dynamic-</a>... or <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1246470/special-" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1246470/special-</a>... On a token that can move, it would probably need to be the default behavior for a token that blocks line of sight, aka your #1. Although it could just be that any token set to block light displays on top of the dynamic lighting layer like player controlled tokens do now... #3 would probably just work fine if the suggestion I linked for #2 was implemented, but is also one of the uses on my suggestion for the special lighting layer objects(second link for #4) Colored lighting is something that I think would be great to have, but I haven't seen a suggestion specific to that. #6 can be faked in some situations with an aura(only the whole map tinting part of it though)

I've actually already voted all those suggestions :D ps. good call on that aura-thing, that does work with tinting.. but not with effects and such. (currently, I'd want to have a large "HA HA HA" image layered over the map in one spot, but the DL walls are too close for there to fit any large images... don't ask :D )

Some interim thoughts below... Antti V. said: 2) Separate settings for "Control this token" for movement and others. ie, I want the players to see thing X (sorry, have to be vague here if my players are reading :D ) and see what it sees, but I DON'T want them to be able to move the token. I currently can't do that. It is either full control, or none. I think you can get this effect by giving players control of the token but putting it on the map layer. 3) A way to reveal a part of the map (perhaps only for awhile), without moving tokens to that location AND with Dynamic Lighting enabled. I COULD do this with Fog of War, but then I'd lose DL, which I'm not willing to so. Sort of like when a character is scrying or using a security camera, I'd like them to be able to see a location, but DL "walls" block the line of sight so I can't currently show that to them. (other than making a token that has sight and they can control, which brings us to suggestion 2...) Could do this just like above, with player controlled object on the map layer (which they don't get access to, so can't move). 4) I might have to explain this further, if you don't understand my explanation, but here goes nothing: dynamic lighting area where the field of view is not blocked by the front, but the BACK edge of the area. ie. I could paint a section of a wall with DL "wall" and the further edge of that area would act as the blocking part. ie. the characters would see the actual wall from all angles, but not anything beyond it. This would work perfectly with suggestion 1, as you could then just use the whole token as the DL "wall" and the players would still see the actual token (and not just the silhouette of it). You're basically saying you want to see the whole interior of the wall but not through it from both sides. Most people handle that by having a wide wall with a DL line down the middle. I mentioned something on the foreground layer suggestion about having DL shapes that have sight through from only one direction, which would allow this sort of thing. 5) And colored lighting... I know this might not be so easy (or it might, I have no idea how roll20 is coded), but it would add tons to the atmosphere... As Roger A. mentioned, this can be done with Auras. Set a large square aura on an invisible token and you only have one spot it is occluding selection. For that matter, you could just send it to back on the token layer and it wouldn't be an issue at all. But yeah, all that stuff sounds good to me. =D

The Aaron said: I think you can get this effect by giving players control of the token but putting it on the map layer. & Could do this just like above, with player controlled object on the map layer (which they don't get access to, so can't move). Ooooh, I didn't know! Do the token "features", like vision and light still work in Map layer? I gotta try this, if this works, this is acceptable for me, although I still would like to have that "show this place here to players, regardless of their field of vision", but this is a good work-around that isn't too hard to manange. Thanks! You're basically saying you want to see the whole interior of the wall but not through it from both sides. Most people handle that by having a wide wall with a DL line down the middle. I mentioned something on the foreground layer suggestion about having DL shapes that have sight through from only one direction, which would allow this sort of thing. Yes, I know, I do that myself and it works.. well, adequately with walls, not perfect, but not bad. But it doesn't work really at all with other things, like statues, cars, trees, almost every other obstable than walls. The foreground layer would "fix" 90% of the troubles I have with this, yes. (Also would allow many other things, I fully support that FG layer suggestion), but again, not all. As Roger A. mentioned, this can be done with Auras. Set a large square aura on an invisible token and you only have one spot it is occluding selection. For that matter, you could just send it to back on the token layer and it wouldn't be an issue at all. yeah, that works.. again sort-of :) I can't adjust the transparency of the auras and some of the colors are too opaque to be used as a tint for colors, unfortunately. I've been using a few different images for poison clouds or some such above the light-sources to convey the different color. They images I use are suitably transparent and if I do them before any moving tokens, they stay back enough so it isn't a huge pain in the butt to deal with the. Obviously I'd still prefer a "true" color selection for light.

Antti V. said: Ooooh, I didn't know! Do the token "features", like vision and light still work in Map layer? I gotta try this, if this works, this is acceptable for me, although I still would like to have that "show this place here to players, regardless of their field of vision", but this is a good work-around that isn't too hard to manange. Thanks! Those features do work. HB uses this technique with location tokens on a map to reveal the map as they explore the overland. Very Cool stuff. yeah, that works.. again sort-of :) I can't adjust the transparency of the auras and some of the colors are too opaque to be used as a tint for colors, unfortunately. I've been using a few different images for poison clouds or some such above the light-sources to convey the different color. They images I use are suitably transparent and if I do them before any moving tokens, they stay back enough so it isn't a huge pain in the butt to deal with the. Obviously I'd still prefer a "true" color selection for light. I know that via the API you can choose any 24-bit color you want, allowing some subtle light colors that wouldn't be to dark. I'm not sure if you can type an html color into the color chooser, but if you can, you could look for lighter shades of the colors you want to use that are too dark (or manually lighten them if you know hexidecimal.. =D )

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