Custom Light Sources Not Honoring Some Values

[mkniller]

Foundry VTT v12.331
System: Call of Cthulhu v7.4
Torch: 2.16.0

I have created an additional light sources JSON file for CoC7 that provides my players with the ability to turn on/off a flashlight, provided they have one. I am not sure that Torch is honoring the dim and bright settings. It makes the light source with the distance of the dim but the whole area is lit up with bright light. See screenshot:

I would also like to be able to adjust the starting rotation such that the light points out the top of the token rather that the bottom. Here is my current implementation. Notice that I added the rotation field in thinking it would adjust the rotation angle. My players do not typically rotate their tokens to be "upside down" when moving around the map, so having the light come from the top makes more sense to me.

{
    "CoC7": {
        "system": "CoC7",
        "topology": "standard",
        "quantity": "quantity",
        "aliases": {
            "Flashlight": "Flashlight (Electric)"
        },
        "sources": {
            "Flashlight": {
                "name": "Flashlight",
                "type": "item",
                "consumable": false,
                "states": 2,
                "light": [
                    {
                        "bright": 5,
                        "dim": 20,
                        "angle": 90,
                        "rotation": 180,
                        "color": "#ffe5b8",
                        "alpha": 0.15,
                        "animation": {
                            "type": "none",
                            "speed": 5,
                            "intensity": 5,
                            "reverse": false
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

[lupestro]

Let's see -

First, your setting in the settings UI is only used for systems that Torch doesn't know about. We don't deliver a CoC7 set of light sources out of the box, so CoC7 initially fits that picture. You'd have needed to change the torch in that screen to flashlight, and with no default or custom settings, it should have worked. However, with your further customizations, making a custom light settings JSON was definitely the right move.

So far, the official CoC7 stuff (Investigator Wizard, etc.) doesn't offer gear. As soon as it does, I will make sure there is one, but that's for the future - and probably not far off? Nobody's given a release date yet. I'm hoping for something nice slithering out from under the Yule tree ;).

However, in the meantime, let's see what is happening with your data file. Bear with me on the "is it plugged in" questions. :)

• You got the system name exactly right.
• Do your players each have an item named "Flashlight" in their inventory? (It's non-consumable, so you don't have to worry about the quantity.)

I will kick the tires with this one and get back to you later today.

[lupestro]

The way we handle light is by assigning light in the properties of the token itself, not creating a separate light source. The schema for tokens shedding light - visible on the third tab of the token settings - doesn't have a field for rotation - so that's why it doesn't do it.

Another thing to note with this implementation is that when you turn the light off, it resets the token to the prototype token settings of the actor. So if you update your actor's prototype token from your token's settings when you have a light source activated, they can get "burned in" and you have to go back to the actor's prototype token and set the bright and dim to zero there so your light source can turn off properly.

Maybe that's not what you were hoping to hear, but the behavior of shedding light in a particular direction is based on the core implementation. If the core allows for the flexibility you need, we'll be glad to update our schema accordingly to match the properties they provide.

Aside from that, your JSON is perfect. The default "luminosity" and "attenuation" advanced setting for characters (0.5 each) makes the gradation from light to dark a bit hard to see clearly. You might get a more natural effect for modern lighting by boosting both of those to 0.75.