MapTool Preferences

Important Note: All preferences related to maps only take effect on new maps created after the preference has been changed. This is the behaviour of version 1.3b54 and all preceeding versions. Preferences that follow this behaviour will be marked with a

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Note: All screenshots in this article are shown with the default settings, which might not necessarily be the recommended settings for your use.

Interactions Tab

File:prefs tab interactions.png

Interactions Tab on the Preferences Dialog

Maps

File:prefs interactions maps.jpg

Maps Section

New maps have Fog of War

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Determines if new maps should have Fog of War enabled when created. If you use Fog of War, it might seem obvious to have this ✓checked; however, when creating a new campaign, it is often useful to to disable this feature to assist with rapid map creation.

New maps visible to players

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Determines if new maps should be set as Player Visible when created. Although there are exceptions, typically having this ✓checked is the optimal setting; that way you won't unintentionally leave a map visible to players.

Default Grid Type

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- Square File:gridSquare.png
- Horizontal Hex File:gridHorizontalHex.png
- Vertical Hex File:gridVerticalHex.png

Determines the grid type of new maps when created. You are free to create maps without a grid type, and also a grid type different than the one specified here, but you can not set the Default Grid Type to none.

Default Grid Size

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Represents the amount of pixels you want MapTool to use drawing each grid unit at full resolution. The default setting of 50 pixels is adequate for most computers, but higher-end computers can handle 100 pixels or even 200 pixels for very high-end computers. There is no requirement that you use specific sizes, but 50 pixels and 100 pixels are commonly used. This setting will also determine how large an image appears when placed on a map; if set to Free-size and not manually re-sized.

Default Units Per Cell

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Sets the amount of units that each grid cell represents. The ambiguous "unit" is used in this case because you decide what "unit" means. If you want each grid cell to represent 5 feet, this would be set to 5. If you want each grid cell to represent 4 kilometers, this would be set to 4. This is often referred to as Distance Per Cell.

Default Vision Distance

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The maximum distance that PC Tokens can expose Fog of War after Lights, Sights, and Vision Blocking Layers are taken into account. It is important to note that this setting is measured in Distance Per Cell.

Movement metric
- ONE_TWO_ONE
- ONE_ONE_ONE
- MANHATTAN
- NO DIAGONALS

Determines how movement should be calculated when a Token moves diagonally. This affects the total distance displayed beneath a Token when it is moving, or when its previous path is diaplyed; it is calculated based on Distance Per Cell. ONE_TWO_ONE specifies that every second diagonal movement will calculate as twice the Distance Per Cell. ONE_ONE_ONE specifies that diagonal movement will calculate the same as non-diagonal movement. MANHATTAN specifies that every diagonal movement will calculate as twice the Distance Per Cell. NO DIAGONALS specifies that Tokens can only move non-diagonally. This setting only comes into play with maps that use the Square grid type; maps with a Hex grid type calculate movement in any direction using the Distance Per Cell.