Initiative Indicators

How to Configure Initiative Indicators

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To configure Initiative Indicators:

1. Click on the Options button under the TOOL section of the Sidebar.

2. Scroll down to the listings under the Token heading.

3. The Token: Initiative Indicator listing should be near the bottom of the list, a little above the House Rules section.

An Overview of the Initiative Indicator Window

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1. Initiative Indicator asset - There are several to choose from, both static and animated.

2. Search Field - This allows you to search for an asset quickly by name. Useful if you make your own and name them by effect, or simply want to filter files with “animated” in the name.

3. Folder button - Opens your operating system’s file browser to the folder where custom initiative indicator files should reside.

4. Refresh Folder Assets - This button refreshes the initiative indicators folder and loads any new additions to it into the Selection window shown above.

5. Default button - Returns the Initiative Indicator to the default setting (shown above as item 1).

6. 2D Display Order toggle - This toggle will either display the indicator on top of the token layer (Over), or underneath it on the map (Under).

7. Grid / List toggle - Grid mode shows the indicators as square thumbnails. List mode shows them as an alphabetical list.

8. OK button - Keeps any selections and closes the window.

9. Cancel button - Discards any selections and closes the window.

10. Next Page / Previous Page - The arrows on the sides of a window are navigation buttons allowing you to go to the next page, or the previous page, depending which button you use.

Choosing A New Initiative Indicator

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Clicking on either the small thumbnail of the current indicator, or the Under/Over button next to it, will open the SELECT INIT INDICATOR window. This is where you will change all of the settings available for Initiative Indicators.

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Upon its release, Initiative Indicators had 21 indicators available to choose from. Some are animated (as denoted in the asset name), and some static. All are in the WEBP or WEBM file format.

When selecting an indicator from the SELECT INIT INDICATOR window, the new selection will take effect immediately.

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2D Display Order Explained

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The 2D Display Order allows you to display the indicator on top of the token layer (Over), or underneath it on the map (Under). Some visual examples are listed below:

Open 2D Display Order: Under	Open 2D Display Order: Over
Open 2D Display Order: Under	Open 2D Display Order: Over

Open 2D Display Order: Under

Open 2D Display Order: Over

Default Indicator Folders

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Initiative Indicator assets have their own bespoke location for easy organization. You can add an asset to the folder locations on your respective OS listed below, then click the Refresh Folder Assets button next to the Folder button to load them into the SELECT INIT INDICATOR window.

Clicking the Folder button on each of the OSes below will take you to their respective default directories.

Windows 10/11

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\SmiteWorks\Fantasy Grounds\images\Initiative

macOS

/Users/[username]/SmiteWorks/Fantasy Grounds/images/Initiative

Linux

/home/[username]/.smiteworks/fgdata/images/Initiative

Indicator Properties and Suggested Sizes

The Initiative Indicator files that come default in Fantasy Grounds VTT have the following properties. When creating your own indicators, you can use the following information as a sort of “best practices”, but isn’t strictly necessary.

While using WEBP and WEBM aren’t the only formats supported, we’ve found them to be a good compromise between size and image fidelity (less compression artifacts, etc.).

Naturally, transparency in the files is necessary so that, when layered either over or under the token, the token graphic can show through as desired.