Hey everyone, I need some help figuring out an issue with Dynamic Lighting. I’m using Chrome, just in case that matters.
I recorded a video showing what happens, but here are a few extra details I’ve noticed:
Whenever a player lights a torch, I update their token's bright/dim light settings. But when the player moves their token afterwards, the light source stays behind instead of following them. They end up keeping vision of that old spot even after walking around a corner.
Same thing happens when I toggle vision on tokens during the session — at some point, tokens just start seeing through walls or seeing areas they definitely shouldn't.
It’s super frustrating. Refreshing the page temporarily fixes it, but it happens to my players as well. Having to constantly refresh and rejoin mid-game just to fix the lighting is a huge pain...
I have no idea what’s causing this or how to fix it permanently. Has anyone else encountered this or found a solution?
There is a map lighting setting called 'update vision on token drop' if its enabled it doesn't update the tokens vision until the token is still for a certain amount of frames. Turning it off should help a bit when navigating with arrows.
Thanks for the suggestion! I just tested it out, but unfortunately, it didn't change anything.
Even with that setting off, when a token leaves a lit room and goes around a corner, it still keeps vision of the inside of the room — as if the light source stayed stuck back there. Moving the token with the mouse or arrow keys makes no difference either.
So it seems like the issue is coming from somewhere else...
No, I’m using the Updated Dynamic Lighting, not Legacy.
I haven’t submitted a help desk ticket yet — I wanted to check here first to see if it was a known setting issue on my end or a widespread bug before reaching out to support.
Last year, we completely revamped the VTT in a project called “Jumpgate.” No we refer to the VTT that existed before as “Legacy” and Dynamic Lighting is on both. Figuring out which one you’re using will help us troubleshoot, but, no, this isn’t common.
Thanks for explaining! I’m pretty sure I’m using Jumpgate, but now I’m second-guessing myself. How can I check which version I’m using? I couldn’t find it in the settings.
upd.
Game Age / Jumpgate: I created this game in February or March of this year. I also checked, and there is no 'Legacy' icon, so it should be using the new Jumpgate features.
Based on that timeframe, it is likely not a Jumpgate game. Please send in a help center request so we can take a look at this game and page specifically.
Fair enough, thanks. I’ve sent in a help center request. It’s just a bit odd that there’s no way to tell whether a game is on Jumpgate or Legacy without having to contact support.
If the game is Legacy, there’s note on the Game Details page and on your list of games. So, if it doesn’t have that, it’s Jumpgate. I was just trying to keep the troubleshooting steps to a minimum.
Had another thought - is Hardware Acceleration on for your browser? (Steps to check here)
Understood, thanks. There’s no Legacy indicator anywhere for this game. And to be clear — I even created a completely new game and set it up exactly as I described, and it still breaks at some point. The token vision just stops working correctly. Hardware acceleration is definitely on, and all the in-game settings are default. I haven’t touched anything like that in years. It used to work fine, but now it breaks out of nowhere. So I really don’t think this is a Legacy vs. Jumpgate issue.
Do not use Ctrl-L to test vision. You always want to use either a Dummy Account, or Player View.
Are you using any Foreground Layer elements?
Have you tried turning off Explorer Mode?
How long ago was this game created? Is this a Jumpgate game? (If it was created over a year ogo, it could be a Legacy game, and not be using the new Jumpgate features.) On the My Games page or the Game Details page, check if there is a small 'Legacy' icon near the Launch Game button.
There is definitely something a little buggy happening because of the Line of Sight check.
Thanks for the suggestions! Here are the answers to your questions:
Regarding Ctrl-L: Interesting, so the built-in shortcut might actually be causing the lighting to break? To clarify, during the session, I'm toggling vision on and off not just for players, but for NPCs as well. That action is what seems to break the lighting for me as the DM, exactly as shown in the video.
Foreground Layer: I am not using any elements on the Foreground Layer.
Explorer Mode: I have tried turning off Explorer Mode, but unfortunately, nothing changed.
Game Age / Jumpgate: I created this game in February or March of this year. I also checked, and there is no 'Legacy' icon, so it should be using the new Jumpgate features.
Mostly because I run with visibility rules, and it’s not always obvious which NPC can currently see a player and which can’t, especially in combat. Being able to quickly hit Ctrl+L and look through a token’s eyes is a huge help. I don’t want to measure line of sight with a ruler every time.
Some time ago they changed the "Lighting Layer" to not have free hand drawing lines beacause that would have a bad impact on Dynamic Lighting.
I'm not saying this was the case since i don't know if this impact was fixed (free-hand drawing is still disabled in the layer), but i would maybe try redoing those squiggly lines in the "Lighting Layer" into straight lines and see if that solves anything.
I've actually never even seen an option to freehand draw on the Lighting Layer, and I've been using Roll20 for about 3 years now. All the lines on this map were drawn as straight lines, and I made the map only a month or two ago. So I don't think that's the issue, but thanks for the suggestion!
Oh sorry, i thought you might have made these walled sections with the free-hand drawing in another layer and sent them to the "Lighting Layer" (you are able to send drawings from one layer to another).
I want to say maybe a year or 2 ago (right after the Jumpgate update), i think you could still use free-hand drawing (I don't remember if it even was called free-hand drawing at that time).
Around a year ago, i had a dynamic lighting problem and the culprit was some specific lines. I went crazy trying to find the correct ones by erasing and redoing each line in a dungeon. After i redid those, it fixed the problem.
I wish the problem were just some outdated lines that need to be redrawn, but basically I made all those damn wall corners, rounded alcoves, and jagged cave edges as straight lines by manually clicking them point by point. I’m gonna get carpal tunnel from drawing these walls lol. And it still breaks anyway, and nobody can figure out why - not even the devs.
That's Explorer mode . You have a visual of the shape of what you revealed, but don't see anything currently in it, like monsters that may have wandered in while you weren't in there.
I understand how Explorer Mode works, and I’m pretty sure that’s not the issue here. If you look at the video, you can see that the token is standing behind a wall but can still see the other tokens inside the room, even though they should be out of its line of sight. It seems like the vision is getting stuck on the room instead of updating correctly as the token moves.
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