Jumpgate Is An Overhaul of the Roll20 VTT

A new engine with a focus on improved performance and user interface.

Our Founder in Residence Riley introduces Roll20 Jumpgate: a major reworking of what powers our VTT + efforts to integrate the new UI redesign efforts for a faster, more modern experience.

Jumpgate is the name of our overall project to deliver to you the largest overhaul and modernization of our VTT platform since we started. It’s a major reworking of the lowest level of the engine code that powers our VTT, as well as an opportunity for us to bring together all of the recent strides we’ve made with our new UI redesign efforts.
Bottom line: it means a faster, more performant VTT, with a beautiful modern interface, built on top of the latest web technology that will last us well into the future.

Here is a stress test video.

 

[darjr]

Update blog entry. Including demo videos. I haven’t read or watched yet.

Jumpgate: Crafting Delightful Surprises - Roll20 Blog

A quick update on where we’re at with Jumpgate and what the team has been working on to get the project ready for Beta testing for Pro Users.

blog.roll20.net

 

[MarkB]

Looks like a few basic quality-of-life improvements - most notably, the area around the map is now a useable workspace, you can park unused tokens there or use it as a whiteboard area. Definitely handy.

 

[Zaukrie]

just went to roll20 for the first time in years, and man, I cannot remember how to use it at all, I've become so used to foundry UI

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

I'm excited, because anything they do has to run smoother than the current kitbash.

That said, I am preparing to run a Drakkenheim game using DnDBeyond+Roll20, and I have needed to make so many macros, just so I can run basic DnD5e stuffs smoother. I cannot see how people who aren't into the code bits could have a good time with this out of the box.

 

[kronovan]

Good to hear they're finally coding a 2.0. That said, unless they offer the Pro level as a one-time purchase, perpetual license, they won't lure me back from Foundry VTT and Fantasy Grounds Unity. In my country's currency, a perpetual license for those 2 VTTs costs roughly the same or less than a 1 year roll20 Pro subscription.

 

[Nylanfs]

In my country's currency, a perpetual license for those 2 VTTs costs roughly the same or less than a 1 year roll20 Pro subscription.

Plus you can buy FG through Steam which uses regional pricing for those not in the USA.

 

[Nebulous]

I play on Roll20 with one of my groups and all of us will be glad to hear about something new. My experience with Roll20 is that it's really horrible. We have technical issues nearly every session and our GMs just laugh and end up saying "oh, Roll20, right?"

Just curious, what kind of technical issues? We use Roll20 too but it almost always works perfectly. Only rarely has the server lagged. My opinion the past 3 years is the complete opposite, and for the price point, I like playing online better than playing in person as DM. I have full creative reign over every map and token and prop, most of which are free to implement.

I and my group of 6 players have happily used Roll20 for years with no problem. We don't play a lot of 5e but that has great support as do a vast array of other systems.
Looking forward to seeing the upgrades

We have used it going on 4 years now and also don't experience many problems. Very rarely does something glitch up. I pay for pro so use all the dynamic lighting and API scripts. If a new version of Roll20 rolls out one thing I would like to see is a smoother implementation of scripts, like a single toggle on toggle off. And weather effects. There's lots of little queues they could take from Foundry to improve on the immersion.

 

[Nebulous]

Looks like a few basic quality-of-life improvements - most notably, the area around the map is now a useable workspace, you can park unused tokens there or use it as a whiteboard area. Definitely handy.

I stick extra tokens on the GM layer as needed, but having them relegated to the side on a map with no panning limit would be better.

 

[darjr]

There is a new update. The interesting one to me is the touch support. I’ve said for a while tablet and phone support can be huge especially in new markets.

Roll20 Jumpgate: Redo, Context, and Touch - Roll20 Blog

Roll20 is focused on the final gaps on features and QA testing before we open the next version of the VTT for our Beta with Pro Users.

blog.roll20.net

 

[Zaukrie]

Make it super easy to import maps (I mean, that's why I like maps w/o grids, so I don't have to fiddle with sizing as much, but that isn't always possible). The UI needs some work, hope that's fixed (fonts too).

The one huge advantage it has on Foundry is the ability to have WotC rules native....

If anyone had the perfect character creator (like dndbeyond) that would be HUUUUUUGE.