Exploration, Travel & Atmosphere
When your campaign session begins, Lidarion Hexmap Studio provides dedicated tabletop tools to make overland travel immersive and exciting.
1. Discrete Hex Fog of War
In traditional tabletop software, token vision reveals an awkward circular bubble that cuts through the middle of hexes. Lidarion fixes this with Discrete Hex Exploration:
- How to Enable:
- Open your Scene Configuration.
- Locate the “Lidarion – Hexmap Exploration” checkbox.
- Check the option and save changes.
- How It Works at the Table:
- As tokens travel across the map, fog of war clears in whole, discrete hexagonal tiles.
- A hex is either fully explored or concealed, preserving the mystery of adjacent wilderness tiles.
- On-Screen Discovery Banners:
- When a party token crosses into a newly discovered territory or location, an animated cinematic title banner automatically appears on the players’ screens:
NEW AREA DISCOVERED: The Whispering WoodsNEW LOCATION DISCOVERED: The Sunken Citadel
- When a party token crosses into a newly discovered territory or location, an animated cinematic title banner automatically appears on the players’ screens:
2. Group Token Travel Mechanics
Managing overland travel with a single party token keeps the game moving while providing clear travel pacing:
- Configuring a Party Token:
- Double-click the party/caravan token on the canvas to open its Token Configuration.
- Navigate to the token options and enable “Group Token (Lidarion Hexmaps)”.
- Movement Speed Setting:
- In Foundry’s Module Settings, configure “Group Token Movement Speed” (
groupTokenSpeed). - Default:
1.0space per second.
- In Foundry’s Module Settings, configure “Group Token Movement Speed” (
- Animated Hex-by-Hex Traversal:
- When you drag or direct the party token across multiple hexes, it doesn’t instantly teleport or slide diagonally across borders.
- Instead, it smoothly animates step-by-step from hex center to hex center along the shortest path, giving players a tactile sense of distance and travel time.
3. Atmospheric Weather Clouds (FXMaster Integration)
To bring your overland map to life, Lidarion includes an integrated atmospheric cloud layer:
- Setting: “Automatic Clouds on Hexmaps” (
autoCloudWeather) in client module settings (enabled by default). - Seamless Cloud Animation: Drifting cloud shadows float across the terrain, adding depth and visual polish to mountains and valleys.
- Dynamic Zoom-Responsive Density:
- Zooming Out (Continental View): Clouds condense into denser atmospheric formations, enhancing the feeling of looking at a sprawling continent.
- Zooming In (Local View): Clouds automatically thin out and disperse, ensuring that individual trees, paths, and hex details remain crystal clear while playing.