# VASSAL Reference Manual Home > Module > Map Window
## Map Window The Map Window is the main interface for playing games with VASSAL. It displays the playing surface on which the players move game pieces by dragging and dropping with the mouse. It is possible to have two or more Map Windows; the players may drag and drop pieces between the different windows. A Map Window should be configured with at least one Map Board (in the "Map Boards" panel). Map Name The name of this map window Mark pieces that move If checked, then any pieces with the "Can be marked moved" trait will be marked whenever being moved in this map window. The module designer can also allow players to set this option in their preferences. Vertical/Horizontal padding The amount of blank space surrounding the boards in the window Background color: The color to use in the blank space padding Can Contain Multiple Boards If checked, this map window can contain several boards arranged into rows and columns Border color for selected counters The color of the border to draw around pieces that have been selected Border thickness for selected counters The color of the border to draw around pieces that have been selected Include toolbar button to show/hide If checked, then this map window will not be automatically shown when a game begins. Instead, a button to show/hide this window will be added to the main controls toolbar Toolbar button name The name of the show/hide toolbar button Toolbar button icon An icon for the show/hide toolbar button Hotkey The hotkey for the show/hide toolbar button Auto-report format for movement within this map A Message Format that will be used to report movement of pieces completely within this map window: pieceName is the name of the piece being moved, location is the location to which the piece is being moved (in the format specified above), previousLocation is the location from which the piece is being moved. Auto-report format for movement to this map A Message Format that will be used to report movement of pieces to this map window from another map window: pieceName is the name of the piece being moved, location is the location to which the piece is being moved (in the format specified above), previousLocation is the location from which the piece is being moved, previousMap is the name of the map from which the piece is being moved. Auto-report format for units created in this map A Message Format that will be used to report pieces that are dragged to this map window directly from a Game Piece Palette: pieceName is the name of the piece being moved, location is the location to which the piece is being moved (in the format specified above). Auto-report format for units modified on this map A Message Format that will be used to report changes to pieces on this map: message is the text message reported by the Report Action trait of the game piece being modified. ## Sub-Components ### Map Boards
This component contains all the boards that may appear in this map window. It contain Board components and defines the dialog that is used to select boards when a new game is started. Dialog Title: The title of the dialog window for choosing boards on this map. "Select Boards" prompt: The prompt message in the drop-down menu for selecting boards Cell scale factor: The relative size of the boards in the dialog compared to their final size during play. Cell width: The width of a cell when no board has been selected. Cell height: The height of a cell when no board has been selected. Default Board Setup: Hit this button to choose a default set of boards. When a default has been set, the dialog will not be shown to players when a new game is begun. Instead, the game will always be started with the boards you select. If you hit this button and then clear the boards, then dialog will again be shown at the start of each game. |
### Stacking Options This component controls how stacking is handled in this Map Window. It may not be removed Disable stacking: If checked, then pieces will never form stacks in this window Horizontal Separation when expanded: The distance in pixels from the left edge (right edge if negative) of a piece in a stack to the edge of the piece above it when the stack is expanded. Vertical Separation when expanded: The distance in pixels from the bottom edge (top edge if negative) of a piece in a stack to the edge of the piece above it when the stack is expanded. Horizontal Separation when not expanded: The distance in pixels from the left edge (right edge if negative) of a piece in a stack to the edge of the piece above it when the stack is compact. Vertical Separation when not expanded: The distance in pixels from the bottom edge (top edge if negative) of a piece in a stack to the edge of the piece above it when the stack is compact. Color of pieces when not expanded: If set, then pieces below the top piece in a compact stack will be drawn as plain squares of this color and a black border. If not set (hit the "Select" button and cancel the color-selection dialog) then pieces will be drawn normally. ### Overview Window
Adds a separate window that will be displayed whenever the main map window is displayed. The additional window will contain a view of the entire playing area at a smaller scale than displayed in the main map window. The area of the map currently visible in the map window is highlighted in the overview map with a colored rectangle. A player may click on the Overview window to center the Map Window at the point clicked on. The scale of the overview window relative to the map window can be specified in the "Scale Factor" property. You may also specify the color of the rectangle indicating the area visible in the main Map Window. |
### Line of Sight Thread
Adds a button to the toolbar of the Map Window. Pushing the button will allow the player to drag the mouse between any two points in the window, drawing a line between those two points. Hotkey: Specifies a keyboard shortcut for the button. Button text: The label on the button in the Map Window toolbar Draw Range: If checked, draws the range between the two points, in hexes or squares, as appropriate for the board in use. Pixels per range unit: If drawing the range on a board without a grid, this determines how many pixels on the screen equal a single unit of range. Round fractions: For distances that are a fraction of a range unit, specify whether to round fractions up, down, or to the nearest whole number. Hide Pieces while drawing: If checked, then all game pieces in the map will be hidden (or transparent) while the thread is being drawn. Opacity of hidden pieces:Set the transparency of game pieces while the thread is being drawn. 0 is completely invisible, 100 is completely opaque. Thread color: Specifies the color the thread on the screen. If set to null (by hitting the "Select" button and then the "Cancel" button in the color-choosing dialog), then a Preferences option will determine the color of the thread at game time. |
### Toolbar Menu Groups buttons in the toolbar into a single drop-down menu. ### Hide Pieces Button
Adds a button to the toolbar of the Map Window. Pushing the button will temporarily hide all pieces on the map, until the button is pressed again. Hotkey: Specifies a keyboard shortcut for the button |
### Zoom capability
Adds "Zoom in" and "Zoom out" buttons to the toolbar of the Map Window. Keyboard shortcuts can also be specified by filling in the "Hotkey" boxes. The "Zoom factor"specifies the magnification factor for each zoom level, and the "Number of zoom levels" specifies the maximum number of levels that may be zoomed out. The "Starting zoom level" is the default zoom level when a game is loaded. |
### Mouse-over Stack Viewer
Adds a tool that displays the contents of a stack when the player leaves his mouse resting over it, after a specified delay. Recommended Delay before display: When the mouse has been stationary for this many milliseconds, the viewer will appear. This can be overridden in the preferences. Keyboard shortcut to display: Players may display the viewer without waiting by typing this keyboard shortcut. This can be disabled in the preferences. Background color: Pieces/text are drawn against a background of this color. Border/text color: Color of any text drawn and the border around the overall viewer. Display when at least this many pieces will be included: If set to 0, then the viewer will display even if the location is empty. Otherwise, it will display only if 1 or 2 pieces have been included via the settings below. Always display when zoom level is less than: Regardless of the above "at least this many" setting, the viewer will also display when the map's magnification factor is less than this number. Draw pieces: If selected, then the included pieces will be draw in the viewer. Draw pieces using zoom factor: The magnification factor to use to draw the pieces in the viewer. Width of gap between pieces: Empty space in pixels to place between each drawn piece. Display text: If selected, then the viewer will draw some summary text and some individualized text for each piece. Font size: Size of the text to draw. Summary text above pieces: A Message Format specifying the text to display above the drawn pieces in the viewer. In addition to standard Properties, you can include a property with the name sum(propertyName) where propertyName is a property defined on a Game Piece. The numeric values of this property for all included pieces will be substituted. Text below each piece: A Message Format specifying the text to display below each included piece. Text for empty location: A Message Format specifying the text to display when no pieces have been selected. Include individual pieces: Specifies how pieces are to be selected for inclusion in the viewer. You may restrict the pieces according to the Game Piece Layer that they belong. Alternatively, you may specify the value of a Property. Include non-stacking pieces: If selected, then non-stacking pieces are eligible for inclusion in the viewer. Show pieces in unrotated state: If selected, then pieces that can rotate are drawn in the mouse-over as they look when not rotated. Include top piece in Deck: If selected, then the top piece of a Deck is eligible for inclusion. |
### Last Move Highlighter
Draws a colored border around the last piece to have been moved, added, or deleted in a logfile or by an opponent during live play. Color is the color of the border and Thickness is the border thickness. The highlight is cleared by clicking on the map. |
### Game Piece Layers Allows you to restrict Game Pieces to different layers on the map. Pieces in higher Layers are always drawn on top of lower Layers, and pieces never combine into stacks with pieces on other Layers. ### Image Capture Tool
Adds a "Camera" button to the toolbar of the Map Window. Pushing the button will dump the contents of the Map Window to a image file. This allows you to take a screen shot even if the map window is too large to fit entirely on the screen. |
### Text Capture Tool
Adds a "Save Text" button to the Map Window toolbar. Hitting the button will write a plain text summary of the contents of the map to a file, using the names assigned to the counters and the appropriate numbering of the board's grid.
### Deck A deck of cards. ### At-Start Stack A fixed draw pile of counters. ### Recenter Pieces Button

Adds a button to the map window toolbar. Then button will shift the position of all pieces on the map such that they are centered around the middle of the map as much as possible. This is useful for games where there are no absolute terrain features, such as some air and naval games. |

### Global Key Command

Adds a button to the map window toolbar. Hitting the button will select certain pieces from the map window and apply the same keyboard command to all of them simultaneously. Description: A description of the action used for the button's mouse-over tooltip. Key Command: The keyboard command that will be applied to the selected pieces. Matching properties: The command will apply to all pieces on the map that match the given Property expression. Within a Deck, apply to: Select how this command applies to pieces that are contained within a Deck. No pieces means that pieces in a Deck ignore the command. All pieces means that the command applies to the entire Deck. Fixed number of pieces allows you to specify the number of pieces (drawn from the top) that the command will apply to. Tooltip text: Mouse-over hint text for the toolbar button. Button text: Text for the toolbar button. Button icon: Icon for the toolbar button. Hotkey: Keyboard shortcut for the toolbar button. Suppress individual reports: If selected, then any auto-reporting of the action by individual pieces via the Report Action trait will be suppressed. Report Format: A Message Format that will be echoed to the chat area when the button is pressed. Example: Suppose you have configured some pieces to contain a Layer indicating that a piece has fired, activated by CTRL-F and with the name Fired. Give each piece the Marker trait with property name canFire and value true. Configure the Global Key Command to apply to pieces whose properties match canFire = true && Fired_Active = true. Specify CTRL-F as the key command. Now pushing the Global Key Command button will set all marked pieces on the map to not having fired. |

### Map Shading

Applies a semi-transparent solid color or image tiling to the Map. In background mode, can be used to overlay a repeating image over solid-color boards. In foreground mode, the area is determined by the pieces on the map that name this Map Shading in an Area of Effect trait. Name: A short name of this shading for reference by pieces with the Area of Effect trait. Shading Always On: If true then the shading is always drawn. If false, then visibility is controlled by a button in the Map Window toolbar. Shading Starts turned on: If true, then the shading will begin visible when a game is loaded. Button text: Text for the toolbar button. Button icon: Icon for the toolbar button. Hotkey: Keyboard shortcut for the toolbar button. All boards in map get Shaded: Allows you to select which Boards in the map to apply the shading to. Type: If set to Background then the shaded area includes the entire board, minus the areas attached to any Area of Effect traits. If set to Foreground, then the shaded area includes only the areas attached to Area of Effect traits. Draw Shade on top of Counters: If true, then the shading will be drawn over any counters on the map. Otherwise, it will be drawn underneath all counters. Shade Pattern: Choose between 100/75/50/25 % hatch patterns, or choose a custom image. Color: The color of the shading (if not using a custom image). Opacity: The opacity of the shading. 0 is invisible, 100 is completely opaque. Border: If selected, will draw a border around the shading area. You can specify the thickness, color, and opacity of the border. |

### Global Properties

Allows you to define default values for Properties

### Additional Selection Highlighters

Allows you to define additional ways to highlight the selected piece on a map. The additional highlighters are drawn only if the selected piece matches the specified properties. If a piece matches the properties of more than one highlighter, all will be drawn, in addition to the highlighting color/border specified in the Map's properties. Name: A short name for reference in the editor. Active if Properties Match: The highlighter will be drawn for all pieces on the map that match the given Property expression. Use Image: Specify an optional image to be overlaid on top of the selected piece. The center of the image will be offset from the center of the piece by the given number of pixels. Border Color: The color of the border to be drawn around selected pieces. Border thickness: The thickness of the border |