MapGen Mechanics

so a few days ago ive launched XCOM Enemy Unknown BETA with what ruleset i have made based on the actual game with some minor tweaks so it would work on a tabletop environment and my players seems happy and pretty excited on the game. but as with new DMs there are some problem that crops up. first is that i dont know how to properly use the Fog of War, which is meant to hide stuff to the player and let them explore the map but it seems player hitting with walls and making me readjust them to the nearest wall is a bad idea because it waste turns and defeats the fun. so one of my player suggested to just kill the FOW and just place them on interiors which is fine and just hide the enemy objects. thats the question in hand. how do i make an object visible only to me before the player seems them? using DM Overlay doesnt consider it an object and i kinda want to pre-made the stats of an object when they appear. second i was wondering if i can implement a sort of tile transformer, see in XCOM, some objects blows up, some objects gets destroyed, and i kinda want to just use a transform function to change a tile on the fly. Lastly, is there a way to tell the player a passability option like if that object is a wall or not without ruining the map with flat colors?

KakashiMugen said: how do i make an object visible only to me before the player seems them? using DM Overlay doesnt consider it an object and i kinda want to pre-made the stats of an object when they appear. Not sure what you mean.  Tokens on the GM layer will be hidden from players until you move them to another visible layer like token or map.  I usually setup my entire encounter and have all my baddies on the gm layer and move them to the token layer as soon as contact is made. second i was wondering if i can implement a sort of tile transformer, see in XCOM, some objects blows up, some objects gets destroyed, and i kinda want to just use a transform function to change a tile on the fly. Not really a transform/morph option.  But you could move a different token down from the gm layer when the transformation happens.  Or you can use a  roll-able table  of images as the token's image.  You can cycle thru a token's images as needed. Lastly, is there a way to tell the player a passability option like if that object is a wall or not without ruining the map with flat colors? Again, you could have a colored line drawn on the gm layer showing special boundaries or unique features of your map and only move them to the map layer when you need to demonstrate this to your players.  Move it back when you're done.  I would probably just ping the map and explain to the players what the environment is like at that point.  Apologies if I misunderstood the question.

To further expand on Vince's response which all holds true as always: With regards to hiding tokens on the GM layer and still retaining their stats, they should keep any values assigned to the bars regardless of the layer they are on. It is also worthwhile having them  linked to journals as  default tokens so that further attributes can be called using macros once the tokens are on the token layer (ie. visible). Rollable tables as Vince says is your best bet for changing graphics on the fly if there are objects that may have different views (doors open/closed, barrels whole or exploded etc). You can also layer the map graphics to allow quick changes to the background (for example if you have an explosive barrel on a tile you could place a scorched version of that tile underneath it and should the players blow up the barrel you would simply right click on the map tile and 'send to back' to show the scorched version instead... takes some set up but can be visually exciting for the players to see the results of their desire to blow things up!). For walls etc I can't recommend  Dynamic Lighting enough. It would allow you to keep things hidden without using the GM layer, can prevent players from passing through walls (while, if used correctly, still able to blow holes in walls on a whim) and would really lend itself well to that classic xcom darkness beyond your vision style of play. However, please note, it would require a Plus level subscription or above to use.

well thanks for the tip guys. i guess thats everything answered. as for the dynamic lighting, clever designers have their way even without features. but thanks for the rollable table stuff. also it is nice to know that bar stats arent removed when changing a token from token to gm overlay because that was the first thing that comes to my mind when switching them from overlays. also about the move to back option, i have done that on my first session with the swimming pool hazard where when a valve is turned, water would drain or flow in the pool, drowning everyone on the pool.

KakashiMugen said: also about the move to back option, i have done that on my first session with the swimming pool hazard where when a valve is turned, water would drain or flow in the pool, drowning everyone on the pool. Stealing that.  Thanks  lol