Map Pins and Table of Contents

Thinking about map spaces that have multiple maps on the same grid, maybe there could be a pin that the GM can assign to a map and there is a table of contents (kind of like bookmarking a spot on a Google Doc and having a table of contents to jump to any of the bookmarks). Maybe this would be nice if an elaborate campaign develops over the same map space.

It could also be interesting if someone slowly builds out a full map (like Barovia) over the course of an entire campaign.

Maybe not the highest priority feature.

4 Likes

I personally would like this kind of feature - if Iā€™ve prepped a large dungeon in advance on a big map thatā€™s covered in fog of war, Iā€™d like to be able to snap the player view to the spot where the action is atā€¦ or at least be able to say ā€œclick on ā€˜Entranceā€™ in the table of contentsā€. The default spot when you join a game is the center of the map, but the entrance to the dungeon might be in a corner. Itā€™s not too much trouble to say ā€œok everybody pan to the bottom left cornerā€. Iā€™m not sure how many people intend to use Shmeppy to prep maps in advance like me though; it seems to be more intended to let you start drawing quick maps as soon as you sit down.

2 Likes

I have a different way of addressing the same problem that this feature tries to tackle. I wrote about this in an email where someone asked a similar question. Hereā€™s an excerpt:

Will you be adding a feature that allows us to jump from area to area on the map (if I pre-draw a dungeon and several other key rooms could I quickly ā€œjumpā€) to that area on the grid?

Yes! In fact, quite soon. There are many pieces involved in the mobile support Iā€™ve started on this month (March 2020 Roadmap - #2 by johncs). One of them is compensating for mobile deviceā€™s small screen size.

Currently itā€™s pretty easy to make a map that exceeds what a desktop monitor can display all of fairly quickly, but itā€™s generally manageable since monitors are really quite large. But I think the problem will be unmanageable with mobile devices, and ā€œgetting lostā€ in the map will be common.

To compensate for this, I have three features planned: (1) Iā€™m going to add ā€œpingingā€ so if you click with the laser tool itā€™ll mark a point temporarily, (2) Iā€™m going to add little arrow hints when a user is pinging or using their laser out-of-view and if you click/tap the arrow it will snap you there, (3) Iā€™m going to add a minimap that will let you quickly jump to different areas of the map and allow you to orient yourself.

I think this should tidily solve the problem of getting lost, and it sounds like, also satisfy the need youā€™re encountering.

2 Likes