FGU 4.4 Feature Update

[@MacDork]

Holy spit, folks. This is a huge win. Thanks team -- I wasn't expecting this, and it's a really fun surprise!

[@SimonSedgwick]

This is a crazy amount of new functionality for a single point release, thank you SmiteWorks Elves!

[@danieldouglasclemens]

I am blown away by this packed update! Great new functionality! Thank you so much, Smitework! I was wondering, why the update was so enormous, yesterday. Now it makes total sense!

[@FantasyGroundsAcademy]

Cool update.The new features will definitely smooth out over time as the community becomes used to the changes and any additional intergration considerations. The features or game vs computer specs thing is common to most any software game.

[@djbreaktime5272]

Well done! I am very happy to see this implemented. I think whether used by myself or not, this will help keep FGU on the frontline of current vtts.

[@Gumby-vx7ki]

Really cool update, Doug. I'm excited to freshen up some of my old maps with animated features.

[@RobinHobben]

I am SOOO amped for the Syrinscape integration!! This is pretty awesome!

[@bradmalott]

I think mapping unique dice to a single NPC could be cool. That way, when you roll with a boss monster, it could have it's own dice, adding more weight to the encounter. Also heavier dice that shake the screen would be cool, also for those big rolls. Maybe when you roll a certain amount of dice, the screen could shake a little as well, just to feel the digital roll a little more.

[@DougDavison]

I agree. That sounds like an awesome and fun thing to have occur during a campaign. I will bring it up in a dev meeting for consideration. We have talked about making some cool full screen effects that can be triggered by various things within the interface.

[@brianburmeister598]

Wow, wow, wow, wow!!! That was the ONE thing that set Foundry VTT apart from Fantasy Grounds. I thought we would be looking at another year at best before we got animation in Fantasy Grounds, so this is a massive surprise. Now hopefully we will see a huge amount of animated content for Fantasy Grounds. Foundry VTT even has a large amount of animated spells, so hopefully that will eventually happen for Fantasy Grounds as well. Job well done!!!

[@LordGwydion]

Awesome Doug. Love these enhancements!

[@nickgaidin]

This is amazing stuff - as more content creators provide animated packs this is going to get crazy! Thanks for this work!! (edited) Thank you for supporting your users with local sound options!!!

[@morquendel]

? it´s already built in - 41:50

[@nickgaidin]

@@morquendel Wow, I'm an idiot and totally missed that somehow. Thank you Smiteworks and thank you @morquendel for the remedial training. 🤣

[@morquendel]

@@nickgaidin you got it working? i didn´t :/

[@FantasyGrounds]

@@morquendel make sure to place the sounds in a folder within your Fantasy Grounds data folder. We won't activate any files outside of the FG data folder for security reasons.

[@jdmaltz100]

@@FantasyGrounds Is that true for .webm files as well. I am trying to load some but it doesn't show up in fantasy grounds it blank when i try to import it through images

[@dungeonbuilder1816]

Really great update. Well done

[@FantasyGrounds]

Thanks.

[@aubazardhectelyon6497]

WOW , juste WOW ! I have left fantasy grounds for Foundry two years ago for the animated battlemap support, but now ... i'm back to FG ! Thank you SmiteWorks

[@FantasyGrounds]

Welcome back!

[@aaroncullen1803]

This is better than my wildest expectations for one beefy update. Love your work, I had no idea this was being worked on!

[@jacksprat232]

Thank you!

[@RedmondStache]

Really happy to see webm and webp support, but I have one specific question with regards to using the animated tokens: Is it going to be possible to offset the tokens' animation, so that, say, eight orcs don't all show the exact same frame at the same time? While it could be cool for things like Modrons to all be in perfect lock-step with their animation, for most creatures I'd rather each individual token started at a random frame of their loop.

[@MarkWomack11]

Good call. I speed option like we have on light flicking is really important. Love this feature!

[@FantasyGrounds]

@@MarkWomack11 Good point. We did discuss this during our testing and development. We haven't come up with the end result yet, but the issue is known.

[@saas-space]

Amazing job! Keep going!

[@similarly7246]

This looks fantastic and I would love to use it, but my current concern is that even now, some of my players have a lot of trouble getting even static maps and tokens to load, either because their internet is slow or their computer is a potato, and while this isn't FGU's problem, it's definitely a consideration in using these.

[@KanbeiK]

What kind of images are you using? PNG? I find that upload speed of the GM server to be the biggest thing in a smooth session.

[@FantasyGrounds]

@@KanbeiK webp images will be smaller in file size than PNG. Even some of our new animated files are going to be smaller than the equivalent PNGs. The big animated maps that we see for other platforms, however, are often 25 MB. If your players are having trouble with bigger PNG images, I would definitely avoid using any large animated maps.

[@similarly7246]

@@KanbeiK I've used PNG a couple of times, but generally keep to JPG. I doubt my server is the problem since I have a very good custom-built PC, and living in Japan, I have superfast internet service. But I've had problems in the past with players who told me their internet was slow or computer was old, and it would take time to load or sometimes wouldn't load at all, especially when it was a large map with lights and the early animation effects.

[@ungainlytitan1460]

While I still think that Smiteworks have been too focused on map creation which I do not regard as a central function of a VTT (it can be done externally) I do have a couple of points I would like to bring up. It should be possible to add tokens, that are both transparent and animated to layers that are outside the normal map editing. To allow, on the fly in session addition of things to the map. Like spell animations which could be added by the players from the shapes. Also by the DM, with out opening the map editing mode to add lights, trap images, and the like. As for sounds, It is not something I have used but screen real estate is in short supply, you should consider being able to trigger sound effect from tokens on the map or from the combat tracker.

[@njflyersfan74]

Finally they did it. Fantastic.

[@Andrewc87563]

I hope you can approach heroic maps about the animated maps they have quite the back catalogue.

[@Andrewc87563]

Can’t wait for animated spiders and slime to be available animated graphics to paint over a map

[@arekisan5239]

Finaly, thanks you, it was sad to see you software to not be up to today's standart.

[@Fissi0nChips]

fantastic

[@haydongonzalez-dyer2727]

Cool

[@DrakeStardragon]

Josh's stream is every Saturday @ 12PM PDT, not Sunday

[@FantasyGrounds]

Thanks. We recently had a Sunday stream for Paizo Con from Josh and I mixed those up in my mind as a result. You are correct that they are on Saturday.

[@blackwolfe638]

Pretty groovy

[@danieldouglasclemens]

I have major problems finding the needed random tables during my campaign on the fly. That's why I desperately need more sophisticated ways to search within my countless random tables on the fly. E.g. assignable tags and a more detailed search filter to: search within titles, description, tags, full table contents or even specific column name or content within a certain table (of course SQL would be the expert solution). As a side note: I am not a particular fan of folders/subfolders.

[@Badgerheit]

Those are dragon lance animated maps. Where can we get those? Playing this now on FGU

[@FantasyGrounds]

Dynamic Dungeons has them available from their Patreon. The ones I used in the video are free. Others are available by subscribing to their Patreon. www.patreon.com/dynamicdungeons

[@LaPantalladelMaster]

Love it!

[@blinkonceonsunday1325]

I like the new features, but the Syrinscape sound packs are a bit pricey. And only 3 packs available on release.

[@FantasyGrounds]

These are optional. You can build those yourself. Importing all the sounds from Syrinscape is built-in and you just need to create the Sounds Sets. We priced them based on the amount of development time it took us to assemble them. We will be looking at doing more in the future, but we are also looking for community developers who might be interested in assembling them.

[@morquendel]

Can anyone explain how to set up own sounds? how to type a path to a soundfile - thought should be something like C:\Users\XX\AppData\Roaming\SmiteWorks\Fantasy Grounds\campaigns\DM\sounds\file.* but get just a "ERROR: One or more filepaths unable to be processed, or needs to be in the data folder"

[@FantasyGroundsAcademy]

Not campaign, just FG Data folder and "sounds", you went too deep.

[@morquendel]

@@FantasyGroundsAcademy Thanks. Got it working - but that only works local - right? C:\Users\XX\AppData\Roaming\SmiteWorks\Fantasy Grounds\sounds\file.ogg or will it work when the players get the sounds folder localy?

[@FantasyGroundsAcademy]

@@morquendel correct, nothing has changed or been different in that regard. One must find a way to pipe audio to players and live streams for local audio. Syrinscape has a web based browser audio link for local users.

[@FantasyGrounds]

Cameron did assemble this and put it in the FG Forge. It's probably only suitable for advanced users or those who don't mind tinkering a bit to get it set up. forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/1227/view

[@morquendel]

@@FantasyGrounds Thank you. Read the manual of the ext. One Question before i start trying - will players need to install vlc, too and set up things?

[@JasonIsTheManWithThePlan]

When will the reference manual graduate to a button, replacing the Story button?

[@homunculus023]

When are the animated paint effects coming out for purchase? Love to add birds and maybe a flying dragon

[@DougDavison]

The brushes and stamps will be in this month's Art Pack subscription release. It should release this coming week.

[@ungainlytitan1460]

Another question, is the reference manual now seen as the primary to construct an adventure and what is the best use of the story pages? I could see them as the best way for the DM to take notes.

[@FantasyGrounds]

This area is still evolving, but we like the ability to have more styling and images embedded that we have in the reference manuals, as well as the ability to organize them better. It is our new method for adventures. We think that any DM notes could possibly still benefit from the same features.

[@wrandalljr4]

Mr. Davison, each time I go to export my modules now, the Module Export contents are blank, I have to re-write them each time I export. This did not do this before. FYI 🙂

[@FantasyGrounds]

That sounds like a bug, but also make sure you don't have any extensions loaded that could be changing the default export behavior.

[@wrandalljr4]

@@FantasyGrounds There was an update and it seems like its fix now. yay! 🙂

[@ianbutler1077]

Great map did you create this map yourself before animating it ? and most importantly were can I get this map ?

[@FantasyGrounds]

Check the video description for a link to their Patreon

[@ianbutler1077]

@@FantasyGrounds Thanks.

[@blackwolfe638]

When will we get multi-display support? Many many people use more than one monitor now, we need support for that.

[@DougDavison]

It's not on our short list to work on this. It would require a fair amount of R&D and code to develop. There is some basic support for multi-monitor support available in Unity now, but that likely would not work with how our platform uses drag and drop actions from one sub-window to another. Typically those things break across application boundaries and while there are some work-arounds for specific Operating Systems, I doubt those would work across Windows PC, Mac, and Linux. You can still stretch across multiple monitors and this is a common usage for many people. It obviously helps if they share the same resolution across multiple monitors.

[@justinjette1473]

Is there a free webm animated map we can try to test the new animation? Also where do we get the stamps for the animations of the bushes, trees, birds, fish, etc being shown at 3:33?

[@JasonIsTheManWithThePlan]

What kind of overhead are we talking about here for resource use? (.webm + layered animations versus .jpg + fx) Many of my players are not running FGU on full blown gaming PCs like me so I want to make sure they're still ok. I do use heavy amounts of fx on my maps, but not very much in the way of stamps/image layering.

[@FantasyGrounds]

We will be coming out with some very efficient webm animations that are actually smaller than our normal art pack items. They should be about the same as using JPGs, but at a higher resolution - or with animation.

[@THESCUMMBAR]

Pretty disappointed that you decided to integrate syrinscape instead of allowing sounds to be played from within FG itself. (Something like what Tabletop Simulator does.) Oh well, at least we finally have animated maps. That's one was long overdue and honestly probably my most-wanted feature.

[@danieldouglasclemens]

I was trying to wrap my head around the structure of the XML files using the wiki of FGU and tried to create an xsd using the provided information. Why? Instead of reading the XML definition of various Fantasy Grounds Unity files in a wiki, it would be a lot more intuitive and helpful, if an XML schema (xsd) for each type of XML file Fantasy Grounds uses was available. This has many advantages: Developers can use free tools such as Eclipse IDE, which includes an XML and XSD editor. This way the user is offered only valid choices, can validate his XML on the fly, generate a valid XML with a single click of a mouse button and also gets te structure of the XML explained as he edits it (provided the xsd has the description of elements and/or attributes). Maybe internally an XSD already exists?

[@DougDavison]

Hello Daniel, XSD files would definitely be useful for many developers. I think they have fallen out of use, probably because maintaining them is similar to keeping documentation up to date. We all know how good developers are at that task. Many of our rulesets are built by community members. They can add new XML elements and structures very easily, but many of them don't know anything about XSD documents. One of our recommendations for developers looking to understand the data structures in FGU is to simply create a full record of any item/npc/class/etc and then call the /save command and look at the xml structure added to the campaign's db.xml file. You can then do an /export command to spit out a module and you will see the same structures exported there. Remember that you can quickly duplicate a record in FGU by dragging the shortcut link for it back into the master window list that contains it. You can then modify it further from there.

[@danieldouglasclemens]

@@DougDavison I am not talking about XML files for features developed by the community, but by SmiteWorks. Your suggestion is called reverse engineering and is not only a lot of work, but holds quite a few potential sources for errors. E.g. a sequence of elements may be limited, but you tested it and found out, that supports 22 elements. Therefore you assume, that the sequence is not limited in elements and stopped testing. Same goes for simple examples as a Fibonacci sequence, which MIGHT continue or not. I also believe that good quality software needs documentation as part of it.

[@MacDork]

Are any of your map packs going to be upgraded with animated brushes?

[@DougDavison]

Potentially. It takes a lot more time to make animated graphics that look good, but we discussed maybe doing that for some of the older packs.

[@MacDork]

@@DougDavison go to bed man!

[@RaphaelLamour]

Where I can find more details for the supported .webm files? I'm using webm (dynamic dungeons) and worked fine, but others map makers (animated dungens) doesn't work.

[@FantasyGrounds]

We have a Wiki page in the works, I will link it here when it is completed. You need WebM files that were created with Codec VP8 (and not VP9) there are plenty of converter options to change them, my favorite being an open source program called Handbreak

[@RaphaelLamour]

@@FantasyGrounds awesome! thx a lot!

[@nicolasmeurillon2330]

Nice to see the new updates, but the the ergonomics of the reference builder will still suck for quite some time, it seems. When you decide to move up/down items, you need to start a click marathon… Just a drag and drop to move/up down would be so more natural… One day, maybe…

[@FantasyGrounds]

It will continue to improve, but there was no way to change the display sort for Story entries short of renaming the title to fall in the proper order alphabetically.

[@nicolasmeurillon2330]

@@FantasyGrounds So you should give us choice in later iterations, like drag and drop sorting, alphabetical, and for now, just implementing a shortcut to move an entry up/down, which would go way faster than many times clicking small up/down arrows (which was a very bad ergonomic choice from the beginning). Sorry, as industrial designer, I cannot be harsh enough on this. Feel free to reach me to develop the topic and find ways to improve ergonomics together, I'll be glad to help. Fantasy Grounds is already an amazing piece of software, for sure. The one I chose over all competition for years, but because of its age and lack of initial work with designers, the interface still lack some improvements on interface. But those could be corrected the right way, step by step. I'm sure it can be done and everyone will be thrilled about it. Keep up the good work, guys!

[@FantasyGrounds]

@@nicolasmeurillon2330 yes, we plan to add drag and drop to location. We decided to release the current iteration so we could move to other projects. We do this a lot so that we can move multiple projects forward iteratively and have more released each year. We hope to move back to provide future improvements over time in a follow-up dev cycle.

[@nicolasmeurillon2330]

@@FantasyGrounds That is a great news! Can't wait to get there 👍

[@peter4hefner]

good new things, but the syrenscape integration does not work. Non of my players can hear anything. We are all unable to understand how to make it work,

[@dalethurber5413]

If I buy and load the D&D sound set, can I load a Pathfinder campaign and have the monster sounds load, or are the links campaign specific?

[@FantasyGrounds]

Hello Dale, no, these are specific to the ruleset and product. We should have Pathfinder versions coming out in the near future.

[@ScaRy_StyX]

What about portrait type tokens ? Any animations coming for those ? This update is amazing … very exciting

[@FantasyGrounds]

Portraits don't currently support animation. I'm not sure exactly why that was at this time, but I think there were just a few more steps to do and we didn't want to hold the update back to resolve it. I expect we will resolve it in a future update.

[@nosywendigo592]

Very good. Thank you!

[@ScaRy_StyX]

It’s very important that the portrait animations be able to be applied to token images that we upload ourselves…

[@nosywendigo592]

@@ScaRy_StyX Why not? If the FGU team updates it again with portrait animation, there will be a market for it. you bet there will be content creators selling animated portraits for gamemasters.

[@ScaRy_StyX]

@@nosywendigo592 I create my own tokens so I’m interested in the ability to animate those

[@falfires]

I've tried converting mp4 to webm for purposes of animated maps with VLC, but it didn't work. I've turned to ffmpeg, and it worked well, but I had to find an example for the command line first. Original post with my issues with vlc below, for posterity. I've tried importing a webm file (converted from mp4) as a map - the record shows in the Images menu, but it's empty when opened, not even showing a static image. I can open the webm file in vlc without issue. What might be the problem for FG here? PS: I've noticed the converted webm file has lost the metadata the mp4 file had. PPS: I'm converting in VLC, to WEBM VP8. I've noticed the webm file has an incorrect length, which seems to be a common problem for vlc. Investigating

[@FantasyGrounds]

We used ffmpeg to convert successfully to VP8 for our tests.

[@robinhood7293]

I got myself the syrinscape online player for desktop and managed a connection to Fantasy Grounds. I also got the DnD subscription for all those sounds. However, once inside FGU, I try to test the sound effects by having one of my player's character attack an enemy and hit, but no sound plays. I thought it must be because I use modified versions of the weapons, and added the weapons name to the effect trigger. Tested it manually and it worked, but when I roll the dice with the attack, no sound is heard. Can I get some help with that?

[@FantasyGrounds]

You need to use the online player from Syrinscape. You can launch it from FGU.

[@TrueTemmpest]

Awesome! I bought some modules to use Syrinscape Sounds and chat triggers. I no longer need them, right?

[@TrueTemmpest]

Nope! Looks like i don't need it any longer. I'm messing with the update! This is fantastic!

[@Andrewc87563]

You’ll need a supersyrin subscription as you have to use your token. To make the link to play the sounds.

[@FantasyGrounds]

@@Andrewc87563 yes, you will still need your Syrinscape subscription. These packs simply tell FGU which sounds to play.

[@HandOvDoom2112]

I bought a few of the Syrinscape sound sets-but not finding them able to be played, whereas other sound sets I purchased specifically in Syrinscape do play…do I need a Syrinscape subscription to utilize the FGU/Syrinscape sound sets? Thanks!

[@jdmaltz100]

Lovely update, one question after taking the update is seems the import button for images is gone. Has it been moved? how do Import images now for example a webm?

[@FantasyGrounds]

Import image is a button on the Image window. If you are using any extensions and don't see it, please turn off extensions that might be overriding the default functionality. I show the import button at 42:34.

[@jdmaltz100]

@@FantasyGrounds Ah I see it doesn't say import any more, it used to be a big button that said import. Thank you for helping me find it.

[@thegreycount]

Where can I get a hold of those Dragonlance animated maps?

[@FantasyGrounds]

Dynamic Dungeons has them available from their Patreon. The ones I used in the video are free. Others are available by subscribing to their Patreon. www.patreon.com/dynamicdungeons

[@thegreycount]

@@FantasyGrounds Thank you!

[@HandOvDoom2112]

I have the Syrinscape package for Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign…would this work for the Masks campaign I have going in FGU…?

[@FantasyGrounds]

Yes, you should be able to import your sounds and then link those sounds to your story entries, NPCs, etc.

[@ianbutler1077]

Wow...

[@RylanStorm]

Anyone got any good links for tokens, assets etc. Really good update but now I have to start replacing all my paid tokens and that's not going to be cheap.

[@Nhire]

Are you not showing any sounds because YOURE REQUIRED to have a syrinscape subscription to use products YOU ALREADY PAID FOR on steam?

[@blackteo4427]

Where is the folder for local sounds?

[@morquendel]

don´t know why there´s no folder in the campaign for own sounds that shows up - like with images... everything I tried just got me a "ERROR: One or more filepaths unable to be processed, or needs to be in the data folder"

[@FantasyGroundsAcademy]

You have to create your own folder "sounds" and put your local audio files in that directory.

[@FantasyGrounds]

It needs to be a sub folder in your FGU data folder. Anything else would present a security risk.

[@blackteo4427]

@@FantasyGrounds and then I can play my sounds and players will hear them? Or do I still need to use Syrinscape?

[@FantasyGrounds]

@@blackteo4427 If you are wanting to use local sounds instead of Syrinscape, these will only play locally. It is a bit more advanced, but you can set up a VLC player that will stream the local sounds to the players. This is available on the FG Forge (forge.fantasygrounds.com). forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/1227/view

[@manueldiomedes367]

You will sell sound pack at steam store?

[@DougDavison]

They should be available there now.

[@twistedturns65]

Where do I find those brushes?!

[@DougDavison]

They will be in this month’s Art Pack subscription item. Included with the subscription or available for purchase separately. They should release next week.

[@twistedturns65]

@@DougDavison I don't subscribe, but I will almost certainly buy.

[@randalltupper8910]

When did people stop using story entries did I miss something

[@DougDavison]

You can still use story entries, but official adventures now use editable reference manuals.

[@jameshartley6315]

When will FGU allow window pop out?

[@farnaby13]

Any links to resources?

[@FantasyGrounds]

www.patreon.com/dynamicdungeons

[@zedapinga2796]

Find a UI design to improve the look of FG is completely outdated compared to competitors, and better sound for dice rolls.

[@GuatemalanJedi]

The animation, dice and reference manual changes are all welcome. However, I feel the syrinscape implementation needs a lot of work. This isn't INSTEAD of having a syrinscape subscription, it's making me pay more ON TOP of my syrinscape subscription for the convenience of having it sort through the sound files for me and telling me what to play, this not only feels like a cash grab, it also has very little value to homebrew campaigns where I'd have to create those links anyway. Create a situation where I can buy soundpacks from you, and not NEED a syrinscape subscription, and you'll have a feature I'll pay for, but as it stands, it's another subscription fee for very little value.

[@FantasyGrounds]

We are not likely to build our own sounds or provide the mixing options that Syrinscape does. They have a full company centered around doing those features and it is not our strengths. Our packs are optional purchases that can save you time, but you can create the same thing within FGU with no additional purchases. You can even export those out when you are done and reuse them in multiple campaigns. Importing your sounds from Syrinscape works without purchasing anything else beyond Syrinscape. Then just drag over the sounds you need to your own custom Sound Sets.

[@tomwodi2]

Ok, not trying to be overly negative here, the update overhaul is good, but the sound context in a BIG letdown. Too much focus on Syrinscape, and local file sounds get NOTHING. I don't like this direction, Fantasy Grounds was not like this in the past, we used to have tools to make our own things. I don't know if this is your community nowadays, but for me I'm about to leave after this update. Huge letdown.

[@DougDavison]

Local sounds are supported with this release. You will need to set up VLC to stream those to remote players though. There is a forge extension for VLC by our developer for free.

[@midairflyer]

absolutely useless for those of us that DO NOT play Dumb & Dumber. you start to explain how to set up weapon sound triggers, so when a weapon attack is made by the player, the sound triggers, then, you suddenly jump in to the story / content crap i could care less about!! wtf?? you were just about to explain the part i am stuck at, and then you quit! unreal.

[@skruluce]

This isn't meant to be a tutorial, just an overview of the updates. That info is probably coming in a detailed video later.

[@FantasyGroundsAcademy]

Really, what makes you think or say this when the video here is a preview of the entirety of version 4.4.4, and mostly just a release video. Nowhere does the video imply instructional video or tutorial. Creating your own sound links takes time and familiarity. This literally just dropped yesterday. A different video will be required on how to setup your own links and local files.

[@FantasyGrounds]

We will be expanding upon this in the future with more information on the wiki and/or videos. What system are you looking to set up sounds for?

[@morquendel]

@@FantasyGrounds Pathfinder 1st for me.

[@FantasyGrounds]

It should work for PF1E. Try dragging the weapon to the new sound set you create. Set the pattern to match the weapon name and then choose hit, miss, etc. make sure the web player is open and you have a Syrinscape subscription and then text making attacks with that weapon against NPCs.