Fantasy Grounds Map info

[Anna Sellers]

I took a DM class with Laerun at Fantasy Grounds College today and he talked about the maps and images.

This is what he said:

Maps = 2048x2048, jpeg, 1-2 megabytes max file size, 50-60 pixels per inch (square) Maps only
Tokens = PNG format, 100x100, 200x200,300x300 depending on creature size.(edited)
Shareable NPC/Handouts/Photos:, 1000x700 max, jpeg, max file size 1-1.5 MB
Portraits = 100x100 jpeg or png.
Less is more!!!

I should also add that most DM's like their maps to be ungridded because Fantasy Grounds has an overlay that grids. They like these grids better because the tokens will behave automatically with the grids. It is nice to have a scale square they can use to grid on, but trying to match the grid is really difficult and usually ends up more of a mess than helpful.

I usually set my grid to be 100ppi and divide twice to get the 50ppi.

Something my DM likes me to do is to divide the world map into usable sections so there is world view without distorting it too much.

I just thought I would pass this info along. Fantasy Grounds has two discord channels one for the main Fantasy Grounds and another for Fantasy Grounds college. The people that hang out in there are super nice and very helpful.

[jpstod]

When Fantasy Grounds is usable offline..I will consider their guidelines.

[Anna Sellers]

I may not understand what you mean, but you can use Fantasy Grounds without an internet connection. It would be less useful without a network connection, but the program will run if you have no connection at all. Our game consists of people that may or may not be physically present. If they are here, we connect to the LAN. When they are away, we connect via internet and Discord.

If I have misinterpreted, please explain.

I am not here to sell Fantasy Grounds over any other VTT. This is what our group uses, so as the main illustrator/cartographer for the group, I had to seek out this info. It isn't listed anywhere as an info page and you have to really dig to find it.

[Phergus]

Wow. Those are pretty restrictive constraints. Are these FG limitations or just guidelines to keep network bandwidth down? About 13 years ago when I first started using VTTs for gaming those would have seemed appropriate but not so much today.

[Jaxilon]

Hey I just saw this and as a Fantasy Grounds user wanted to say thanks for the information. I don't consider myself an expert with FG yet but...

As far as the questions go I haven't seen any issues with using whatever you want to use. I think the guidelines are just so everything lines up optimally and keeps bandwidth down.
I'm pretty sure you can use whatever sizes you want however, it will be smart if things are larger, to upload/download the data to the players well ahead of time so you don't have bottlenecks while waiting on that one guy with rubbish internet to get the map into his system.

I don't get to play that often myself but I always have had a strong internet connection and haven't had an issue.

If you decide to pop a new map or image during play and it's huge you are bound to interrupt flow while it loads. In such cases you would want to use the smaller is better idea. You can however drag an image into your fantasy grounds and share it at any time without modification (but you could shoot yourself in the foot).

I also tend to play with people I already know in RL so I am aware of their internet speeds.

[sorcerersapprentice]

Hello, I volunteer with Fantasy Grounds College as 'MapHatter' or 'KrisfromGTW' and can vouch for what's been taught - I make official map modules for FG so I know first-hand these dimensions are useful: Maps = 2048x2048, jpeg, 1-2 megabytes max file size, 50-60 pixels per inch (square) Maps only

That said, it was Phergus, (if you are the one and same), who was the one to teach me that 1350x900 is the optimal size for map making in FG and less than 500kb as it retains the balance between minimal file size and maximum clarity. When you share a map or token in FG, for all your players to see it, you have to share the load for them too - thus if you share a map at a table with seven players, you are sharing it seven times and shouldering the payload which eats up your resources (approx 4g). The PHB uses 1.5g alone, so FGC teaches lots of tricks, through experts and programmers and a large range of other teachers and people in the know, that help reduce this footprint on resources, and map sizes and file types is one of the big ones. Tokens are another. So while you can use larger and dif file types like PNG, its not advised as it will slow and crash your system eventually. 1350x900 happens to be the exact number of pixels per square to mark out a 50px grid perfectly within FG. FG was built in such a way originally as to be a tabletop supplement you could consult at the table as a tool - but people came along that wanted it to be more, to be an actual playable tabletop like R20 - so over time they drastically modified things, and still make all kinds of extensions to improve its capabilities. Smiteworks caught on to the fact and have since been trying to develop a more powerful program that doesn't have these restrictions - but they never expected it to be used the way it was so a lot of work has to be done to change the way it was originally set up.