Fog of war, Line of Sight and Dynamic Lighting

Does this software have automatic LoS in anyway or does the GM have to reveal manually what can be seen? If you've used Maptool you probably know what I mean. Can FoW be token/player dependent? With this I mean is it possible that player A sees something player B can't because they are positioned differently? How does DL work? Eg if there is a wall between rooms and there is a light source in both rooms and player A is in room 1 then does the player see into room 2 unless the GM uses FoW to cover room 2? Basically this a question whether DL also handles LoS in some regard. Thanks in advance to anyone who bothers to reply!

Yes, it's called dynamic lighting but you have to be a support or mentor. Dynamic lighting is token/player dependent, but it is not due to positioning. If you add light to a token, you can click a checkbox that allows everyone to see the light or just the people that control that token.

Ok, thanks. I think I got it how the DL works. It's primarily about lighting but it also works as the LoS mechanism but because it's not a as functional as LoS in Maptool because it's primarily about lighting. That probably didn't make any sense to you but anyway thanks.

Yeah, I really miss MapTool lighting and vision.

Me too. I really long for MapTool lighting. However I would like to put one thing into this argument. Roll20 works. Consistently. I found MT to be so buggy I was unable to get players to log on successfully. And some of them are network SysAdmins. None of them could get it to play nice. I want to give a *huge* thankyou to the folks here at roll20. Sure, it needs work. But I am a very happy supporter.

Yeah! The reason I stopped usin MT was that we couldn't use it online at all. We used it during F2F sessions on a 48 inch TV and there it worked great but when we started having online sessions as well I just didn't see the point using it anymore. If Roll20 truly works I'll be happy to pay for it 50 pucks a year. Our first session with it is tomorrow.

Maetco, let us know how your first session turns out. If you need any help let us know. :) - Gauss

MT requires a LAN program like hamachi for connection. And I actually prefer Roll20's lighting because MT's lighting doesn't give the fog of war effect, Roll20 lets you actually black out the map itself, that way players can't see the entire dungeon and intuit which way they should go. FoW in combination with dynamic lighting is fantastic, aside from the slight buggy graphical issues of the lines you draw and angles that show thine lines of light that shouldn't be there.

MapTools fog of war/lighting/vision is better... and it does include the option to re-fill in the fog as they move. 

Oh maybe I've just never had a DM that chose to hide the parts of map we're not supposed to see. They've only ever used the vision to hide the monsters, I could always see the full map. It always seemed weird.

MT has both LoS and FoW independently. You start with a black screen (FoW) and if you discover a part of the map then the FoW is removed so you can see the map even if you leave the area but if you don't have LoS to that area anymore you can't see any tokens etc in that area. And in MT lighting affects LoS.

I just want to make sure I fully understand how this works.  It sounds as if DL pushes back FoW based on the light emitted from a token. The first question I would have on that is, can the area illuminated by a token be adjusted? Can I have one token that illuminates up to two inches away, while a completely different token illuminates only one inch away, or four inches instead? The second question I have is to ask if the areas illuminated by the tokens can be independent of each other? Using the examples from my first question. If I have one token that can see for two inches all the way around move to within three inches of another token that can see for four inches all the way around? Would the token with the smaller radius be able to see the token with the larger radius automatically because it's within the larger illuminated area, or would the second token still be hidden because it's not inside the smaller tokens area? Part of the reason I'm asking is because, depending on how this works, it looks like Roll20 could be used for space combat situations where ships have varying sensor ranges. Having one token with great sensors being able to see a second token, but still be hidden because it's out of range of the second token would be a nice thing.

Thomas: DL and FoW are two separate systems that compliment each other.  If both DL and FoW are turned on we have the following states: 1) Lightsource in area and FoW blocking area = players cannot see 2) No lightsource in area and FoW is clear in that area = players cannot see 3) Lightsource in area and FoW is clear in that area = players can see Regarding your questions 1) Yes, each token has its own radius 2) It depends on how the token is set up. There are three ways to set it up: a) all players can see. This setting will allow everyone to see the that radius regardless of location on the map (assuming Fog of War also allows it). b) no players can see. This setting will prevent players from seeing the 'light' that token is generating.  c) specific players can see. Do this by setting certain players as controlling that token. Only those specific players will be able to see the token's like radius. In your space combat situation you would want option C.  Example:  Ship A has a light radius set to 5 inches. All players can see is NOT checkmarked. Only the controller of Ship A can see the light. Ship B has a light radius set to 3 inches. All players can see is NOT checkmarked. Only the controller of Ship B can see the light. Ship A and Ship B move to within 5 inches of each other. Ship A can see Ship B but Ship B cannot see Ship A.  When th e two ships move to within 3 inches of each other both ships will be able to see each other. I hope that answers your questions. :) - Gauss

That answers it perfectly! I'm assuming based on what I saw for DL, that if there was a map feature placed in between the two, and it had the border that indicates it blocks light, then it would prevent both tokens from seeing each other. Can the light-blocking border be moved around after it has been drawn, or does it have to be removed and a new border be drawn? Can tokens be set to block light?

Just 1 suggestion / request: an eraser tool so I can just erase a section of los line to simulate a door that's been opened.

Ron.  when I use Dynamic lighting what I do is cut the line at each door way.  Grab a new color and make a new line for the door, then stop that line, get the old color back and continue drawing my map.  This way when my party says "i open the door"  or more commonly "I smash the door down with my hammer"  I can quickly select the Green line press delete and poof.. door is open and light shines in.  It takes about 15 seconds per door to add the extra line, not too long and it works perfectly every time :) To speed up the creation process I skip all the doors, do all the walls in black, then grab green and go back and do all the door ways at once.  This saves time in the creation process. Thanks Chuck G

Thomas, the way DL works is not based on line of sight. Thus, if there is a light source on each side of a DL blocking line that both targets can see they would be able to see each other. However, if they cannot see each others light the DL line will indeed block them from seeing further.  - Gauss

Ron, unfortunately the way objects are designed (vectors) are such that they cannot be partially deleted or erased.  Chuck's idea is a very good one. It is what I use in my own games. :) - Gauss

Where can I find the documentation for Dynamic Lighting?  Want to run a one shot and take advantage of this feature to see how well I can incorporate it into my regular game.

Hello all, I have another question on lighting effects.  So far I have been able to create the walls to block light effect, I have given different tokens a different radius and the lght does not go thru the walls I have set up, so far so good.  I like this in the sense that as a PC moves about, more area is seen, but is there a way to get an area to stay visible?  I place the FOW off with the lighting effects on and it works as above, but when I enable fog of war, then as the token moves into an area, it will not reveal it. Mind you I am doing this alone going back and forth as player and GM. Just in case what I would like to do is, give the PCs a light radius so as they move they see new areas, and also be able to (for lack of a better word) unhide the areas they have been to so that they have a visible map they have been thru. Thanks for any help and if I am not expressing myself clearly in words, ask me so I can try to better explain what I am doing (or attempting to do).

What I do is go into the lighting layer, search for a torch token and drop one in each room I want the PCs to see. Just add a light radius to the torch and let all players see it. Since it is on the lighting layer the actual token is only visible to you and only when you are on that layer.

Thanks,I was thinking of that if all else failed, just was not sure if something was already in place for this.

What I would like to see added is "Light source only visible if within LOS of another light source"  This would make turning torches on and off un needed and speed up the flow of the game.  I find FoW slow to manage, so I just click the boxes for torches on and off as my players get close / leave the area..   this feature would take dynamic lighting to the next level of awesome!

This would work but only is the PC-tokens produce light. I mean if they don't have a lantern/torch/etc with them but there are light sources around the map. You would still have to do everything manually. My point being that this would be a great feature but technically it probably should be implemented differently so it wouldn't be so restricted.

What I would love to see is the area goes back to fogged if not in an area of DL but still able to see the map, just not the token layer. And maybe a quick way to "switch" DL on and off for tokens.