Compatible VT

Daelmaron

As a DM that has recently been asked to run several online campaigns and that has been using profantasy for quite some time I seem to have encountered a problem. I can't find very many virtual tabletops that accept any of the Profantasy Software file formats. Do any members of the community have some suggestions that the file format that Profantasy Software uses can be used in without converting it to a different format and losing all the nice things?

Dogtag

Hmm. Interesting question. Out of curiosity, what sort of features are you hoping to preserve for use in the VT?

~Dogtag

Daelmaron

namely the icons and effects if at all possible, I was actually kinda hoping Pro-Fantasy had made a VT but haven't been able to find one. Without all the layers that the Cartographer has in it the maps look mildly dumb. Stuff like shadows and what not

Monsen

I don't think you'll fins any VTT's that accept the native format of CC3. But CC3 do allow you to export to a png image that I believe every VTT will accept. And as long as you export with effects turned on, the exported map will look exactly as in CC3., with effects and everything. Also note that most ProFantasy symbols are in the png format, so you can use these as tokens inside most VTT's as well.

BlindMapmaker

Well, I'm not sure I get your question, but I just export my maps with all the effects on and use the resulting image file in MapTools. That works well for images up to 10 MB. Larger file sizes are probably okay too, but if you have a mix of techno-illiterates and people on real old machines among your players, it's probably best to stick to files with single-digit sizes. MapTools does layers but you need separate image files for those.

It would would be ingenious to have a VTT from ProFantasy that allows you to display layers, change lighting effects and draw stuff in real time. Given the sluggish performance of CC3 even on fairly new computers, I don't think this can be done, though. Bitmaps are the way to go here, vectors take too much unless you ditch all the effects.

Dogtag

Posted By: MonsenAlso note that most ProFantasy symbols are in the png format, so you can use these as tokens inside most VTT's as well.

I've done this and the result is quite good.

For example, I made a map of some caves that had one or two chasms cutting through them. The chasms had bridges built over them. I hid the bridge symbols in CC3 before I exported the map so the resulting PNG did not have bridges on it. Then, in the VTT, I added the bridge symbols as icons, like I would for NPCs/monsters, and assigned them an armor class and hit points. The PCs were able to bash the bridges behind them to prevent pursuit. When they did enough damage to a bridge, I removed it from the map and the map had a bridge-less chasm.

~Dogtag

P.S. For what it's worth, I use kLoOge.Werks for my VT. I've also used occasional animated GIF images on the maps, such as flames, to great effect as well.

Daelmaron

aight, in KloOge.Werks what formats are accepted for importing character sheets? just outta curiosity.

Dogtag

I think I heard that the old eTools (for Dnd3E) character sheet format was compatible but I honestly don't know. I've never imported character sheets, sorry.

But if character sheets end up being an issue, I'm guessing that most VTs can do the same sort of thing with the bridge, map and token-wise, that I described. All of the raster symbols in CC3 and it's add-ons are PNG format. Most of them come in various sizes/resolutions, too. So, if a VT can import PNG images onto the map, you should be fine. Other formats might be possible (such as JPG) and most image editing applications can convert the CC3 symbols to that format, but you'll lose the powerful transparency feature that the PNG allows (so images are not limited to rectangular shapes and so on).

~Dogtag

Daelmaron

is there a way to access the CC3 tokens and such that are there? looking to perhaps transfer them into the kLoOge library for use

Monsen

All CC3 artwork is located in subfolders under the Symbols directory inside the main CC3 installation directory.

Eugee

I use Fantasy Grounds 2 for my VTT solution. I just finished a map of The Caves of Chaos (which is HUGE). Exported it to a PNG (25 MB) then I opened it with GIMP and saved it as a 30% quality JPG. Still looks good and only 2 MB now.