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I there a way to preload stuff?

Discussion in 'User Created Content' started by Vilrandir, Apr 8, 2011.

  1. Vilrandir

    Vilrandir New Member

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    Hi guys !
    I started playing yesterday using d20 pro and we absolutely love it.
    I do have a question, though. We noticed that when I show a new map, it takes a considerable amount of time sending that map to the players and making it available for interaction. Is there a way I could pre-send a file with the maps and stuff so its already pre-loaded in their PCs? Thanks for your time and I look forward to contributing to the forums
     
  2. edwardcd

    edwardcd Administrator
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    You can preload maps...

    Here's how...

    Change the map on your side (make sure the map has FoW on every square), press "Broadcast") Then go back to the map you were on before and continue (press broadcast again).

    I usually pre-load maps while everyone is planning or gearing or while I'm describing NPC interactions. Then once they are loaded I re-broadcast the current map.
     
  3. Vilrandir

    Vilrandir New Member

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    edwardcd, thanks for replying, I'll try that next week.
    What about preloading before the actual game, is that possible? I was thinking since everything is stored in an actual file, maybe the maps can be sent before the game to people so the loading times wouldnt be too bad.
    Again, thanks for sharing your wisdom.
     
  4. Golkiwu

    Golkiwu Member

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    I am afraid that what you want to do, send a map to the players before they even log in to your D20PRO, will not work. Edwardcd's suggestion is about the only way to accomplish what you are trying to do. You being the judge, the players are logging in to your game, and have no pre-stored materials for the game on their side. You have all of the maps, the characters, everything. They only have a client to view and interact with you and your game.
     
  5. Daeruin

    Daeruin New Member

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    If you get the map ready and opened in d20pro and broadcast it as soon as people log in, they'll have it from the beginning. It might take a couple minutes to load, but you don't start off fighting in the first 30 seconds of game time, do you? If so, I want to join your game. :D
     
  6. Dan

    Dan Member

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    You can have them log in the day before at a certain time if you want. Files should be cached on their machines then.
     
  7. jmckid

    jmckid New Member

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    I know this thread is a bit old - but just in case someone finds it like I did and is frustrated that there is no way to pre load everything to your players computer for a crisp and instant gaming night - there is a way!

    Our internet in Austrlia is terribly slow, particularly uploading - and if I could not find a solution for this - it was going to be a deal breaker for us using d20Pro.

    So I have tested this and it works - here are the basic steps:

    - You will need two computers (there may be some way to do this on one computer with two d20Pro installations - I am not sure)
    - Set up all of your maps with fog of war enabled and ready to go on your judge computer and start a session
    - With a fresh install of d20Pro on your laptop - connect to the judge game as a guest via your LAN
    - Broadcast every map from the Judge machine until it is completely uploaded on the laptop (this will be much faster via LAN)
    - Once it is done - on the laptop navigate to this directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\MindGene\d20Pro\player\campaigns\4a61665735f526973656f6620746865205256e656c676473\res\FLR\0
    - Your campaign string name will be different. if you are on Mac and Linux the file structure will be different - but I am sure you can figure it out.
    - zip ip all the .dat files here - and have your players copy them into the exact same directory path.
    - You can give them the zip on a USB physically - or upload to Google Drive or Dropbox - where it is a single download for players that can be done once only well before game session

    There will still be some load time for NPC/Player tokens on the map - I think you could just zip up the entire campaign directory and have them drop all of the files in and this would be instant too - but I have not tested this yet.

    Hope this helps :)
     
  8. ChrisRevocateur

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    There's a way to even do this on a single machine. Sign in first with your judge license, then start a second instance of d20Pro, logging in as a player with an IP address of 127.0.0.1 Then broadcast the maps from the GM client like usual.

    If you have two monitors, you can use this trick to give you a face to face GM and Player display with only one machine.
     
  9. AEIOU

    AEIOU Member

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    Now that you've tracked down how to do it, I'd love to see this integrated into d20pro to make this simple for everyone.
     
  10. jmckid

    jmckid New Member

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    I can confirm copying the whole campaign folder works fine - and it is lightening fast and awesome :)
     

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