Making Maps for Foundry VTT

Hello patrons! As you probably know, we are preparing to introduce ready-made scenes with Dynamic Lighting to our maps on Foundry VTT and Roll20. 

Such maps will be available in tier $10 from next month (if you want to change your subscription click here) and we'll also start working on all our maps created so far (it will probably take several months). 

However, we are considering a form of publication that would be most convenient for you - that is why we would like to ask you for your opinion. 

We will now describe the possible options in the case of Foundry VTT that we can make available for you, we would ask for your opinion (please vote below) on which method would be the best for you.

Our VTT maps have various additional versions, apart from the basic one. They contain different weather, time of day or differ in some elements. For each of these versions it is necessary to develop a suitable dynamic lighting that you can then use.

This means a large number of files that need to be properly catalogued so that you can use them through Foundry VTT - we describe the different approaches to this topic below.

Option 1

We can prepare a module for you on Foundry VTT with a so-called "manifesto" or a folder for manual insertion. After using the manifesto or after uploading the relevant files manually, you will have the opportunity to run the module in your game. 

After enabling it in the "Compedium Packs" tab you will find a set of all our maps with each version. What's more, this package would automatically update you with new maps along with add-ons. 

Now you just need to right-click on the map you are interested in and its version to automatically create a scene with ready dynamic lighting using "import". 

The same rule applies to all "Exclusive Pack" provided for Foundry VTT users. In our case, however, it will be a very large database of maps and their versions, reaching up to 2000 scenes (and more over time), which may be difficult to use.

Option 2

For each map we prepare a separate module with a "manifesto" or manual insertion option. 

Thanks to that you can download only the map you are interested in, after activating the module, you will find our map with all its versions in "Compedium Packs", similarly to the first method. 

Thanks to this method you will avoid browsing through one big Compedium to choose a map. However, each map will require activation of a separate module. (Which you can turn off when you don't need the map anymore)

Option 3

We can prepare for you to each of the maps ready-made designed scenes shared with the graphic files. This means that you don't download the module that creates access to maps in "Compedium Packs" but you create your own scene on Foundry VTT. 

Then, using the Import button (right mouse button on the scene list), you can select the configuration file prepared for the map. This file will load the ready-made scene with the dynamic lighting set. 

Your task will be to upload a map of the scene you are interested in by loading its graphic file with the same name as the uploaded scene. From now on you can enjoy the ready-made map with Dynamic Lighting.

This option contains two possibly convenient variants:

A) We prepare a separate scene configuration file for each map. The number of files will coincide with the available number of map variants. For example 20 and they will have the same name as the map to which it refers. 

B) Most of the map variants have the same core - so very often one scene fits many versions of the map. For example "Viking_War Camp" map has different variants, but most are identical for Dynamic Lighting. 

The differences that need to be taken into account are - Roofed, Roofless and Day/Night versions. This gives us 4 differences in total. For this map you only need to prepare 4 configuration files. After choosing the map you are interested in, you will find the right file that corresponds to its version. (So whether it is a day/night map or with/without roof) 

Option 4

This option also assumes preparing the scene configuration files instead of installing the module. To use a map on Foundry VTT, it must be in the folder of the program. 

In the same way, the configuration file you upload always contains the location of the map from which you want to download the image file. This location will almost always be different for each user. 

That's why there is an option to prepare a package with all our maps, which you then upload to a specific location indicated by us.

From now on, if you upload our prepared scene configuration file he will always look for the appropriate image file in the "Spellarena" folder. If you find it there the map will be ready to use right away. 

Thank you very much for your time and please take part in the survey below!