Area "pins" for smart images

[pyremius]

I'm pretty sure this has been mentioned before, but the search functions don't accept words like "map" or "pin".

First, I expect this will be very difficult to implement, but I'd like to make the request anyhow. The short version is I would like to request the ability to create an arbitrary area (I'll call them Masks, for now) to use as a Pin for linking content. The idea for this request came from entering Pins for all of the locations from the Skulls and Shackles maps, and then having to go into the new objects and assign Containers.

I envision this working similarly to the reverse of Fog of World: you start with no mask on the map, and add it to the area you wish to define. These Masks would correspond to the existing Pin types, and would hopefully interact with the rest of the software in the same way. Mask categories could be enabled or disabled as desired, making it possible to only see "Geographic" Masks, or "Political" Masks (or both, to see what territories are contested).

The second part of this request is adding the option to set auto-containers for new Pins or Masks. The idea is that once I create a Nation Mask, any Community Pin placed within that area will automatically have the Container set to appropriate Nation. In each case, the default Container is one step above the current selection, so as an example, placing a Pin for the Community of Fort Wayne would Contain it within Indiana, instead of the United States. An option to Change Containers when a new Mask is created would be a great secondary option. In the above example, if I had started with the United States Nation Mask and not created any States, when I went back to add a Mask for Indiana I could have it change the Container for all enclosed Community Objects from the United States to Indiana.

[Zaphod Beebledoc]

+1

(Extra text)

[AEIOU]

The idea is that once I create a Nation Mask, any Community Pin placed within that area will automatically have the Container set to appropriate Nation.

Interesting idea.

But how would you handle exceptions or things that cross boundaries? I really don't want the party to know that the headquarters for IBM is really in North Korea. Or that I need to create a doughnut mask so a native American reservation which has limited sovereignty can have its political boundaries respected. Or that a city that sits on both sides of border is automatically attributed to one side or the other. Many geographic entities are really big. People can have dual citizenships.

I have enough trouble with RW providing the right choice for Adderwood (the forest) and Adderwood (the town). Automation sounds good but it needs to be be able to be tuned (at which point is it worth the trouble?).

[Dark Lord Galen]

Originally Posted by AEIOU

I really don't want the party to know that the headquarters for IBM is really in North Korea.

ROFL

Originally Posted by AEIOU

I have enough trouble with RW providing the right choice for Adderwood (the forest) and Adderwood (the town). Automation sounds good but it needs to be be able to be tuned (at which point is it worth the trouble?).

Spot on in multiple counts... while automation is good for repetitive functions that produce repetitive results, it can quickly become an irritant if it starts making assumptions for you.

[pyremius]

Took me a minute to re-find it - auto-filling is supposed to be a toggleable option. When you're doing bulk importing of existing data the vast majority of what you're entering will fall into predictable, and repetitive collections. Once that portion of the project is out of the way you would likely turn off the option, and manually assign containers as appropriate.

New thought: Once the game is live the ability to reconnect Topics based on the Masks would be very handy for territory changes. If a war results in border changes, adjust the Masks as appropriate, and all of the Communities would be auto-corrected to reflect their new allegiance.

[AEIOU]

While I'm not totally in favor of this particular implementation, I do find the idea to be very intriguing. It would be hugely helpful to be able to change multiple entries quickly and easily (and, if it makes sense, automatically too I guess ).

[Dark Lord Galen]

Originally Posted by pyremius

New thought: Once the game is live the ability to reconnect Topics based on the Masks would be very handy for territory changes. If a war results in border changes, adjust the Masks as appropriate, and all of the Communities would be auto-corrected to reflect their new allegiance.

Intriguing idea... but for sake of debate, would say "IF the game becomes live" LWD hasn't managed to do that with all the renditions of herolab (imagine if the tactical console or INPlay, Conditions, or Spells tabs did that). So I wouldn't make plans around that thought in the foreseeable future.

However, "mask adjustments" for the changes you describe could be possible even without live. Just haven't wrapped my mind around how this would be done from a programing perspective..
But do like the idea

[pyremius]

Sorry - bad terminology on my part. I was differentiation two periods in the Realm's lifecycle - setup before the campaign starts, and while the game is running ("live"). During the setup phase there is the greatest potential for the quantities of data that would make automation useful, and the value will taper off as more data is entered (eventually all that will be left is one-offs or edge cases that need special attention). Once the game begins (presumably, after most of the data has been entered) there would be less use for such a feature - except in special circumstances such as territory acquisition.

[JustinThomason]

I was about to make a very similar feature request when I found this post.

In my current case, I've just started a hex crawl exploration campaign. I have a large overland map that I'm revealing to the characters as they push through the wilderness. Each Hex has a unique number assigned, and I've started creating topics for each hex to keep track of things like how thoroughly explored it is, etc. I would love to have a tool that would create a Mask as described above to allow an area of the map to act like a pin (a box drawn around the ID number, for instance). It would make my life a lot easier, and I think would be helpful for my players.

Admittedly, the concept outlined above with automated containers and the like is way more than I was thinking, but I could see some value in it.

[pyremius]

One further refinement of the idea (and a vastly increased workload, I'm sure) would be "reveal pin" so that we don't have to use the brush as often during the game - especially for hex-based maps.

Pretty sure this belongs in the "dream" category, but it's a good dream