Help with transparent (editable) board overlay

Hi everybody,
I want to make a module for World Class Football (or possibly my own game with a similar idea.)

The game board is a soccer field with 5 zones on it. In the physical game there is a transparent overlay that has 15 numbered arrows for the home side and 15 for the away side. During the game you would mark with a grease pen each player number assigned to that arrow. This could change mid-game if you changed your tactics.

The transparency needs to be able to move along the board so that all the players shift from zone to zone.

Can this be done in Vassal?

I know you could make a transparent overlay with the arrows, but could you then put editable fields (or just counters) on that overlay so all the graphics move at once when you move the overlay?

The original board:

The Overlay:

BTW, the image of the soccer field is never manipulated and never needs counters on it. Essentially it it just a background image. The Transparency is the “map.”

Testing:
I made the above “arrows graphic” (with the white part trasparent) a counter (that does not stack) and put soccer player counters on top of it. IF I selected all the counters (the arrows and the players) I could move them together. This would allow me to swap out the players if I wanted to and move everything to different zones. However, it is a bit of a pain to drag box everything every time I want to move them to a new zone.

Hopefully someone can come up with a better solution. If not, is there a shortcut command I could use to select everything on the map so I could move them without drag boxing them?

That can be done easily enough. I don’t know the game but I’m assuming that the arrows remain in the same position on the overlay and you just need to be able to change the player number in the arrow. Is that correct?

I can see that you’re treating your overlay as a game piece, which would be the right thing to do. The overlay graphic should have all the arrows empty of any numbers. Then create a set of small graphics for the numbers. You can use a Layer trait on the overlay piece to display a number for each of the arrow graphics based on the value of a Dynamic Property for that arrow. You can also define the size and location of an Action Button for each of the arrows. You can then set it up so that you can click an arrow and the Dynamic Property for that arrow would display a dialogue box to enter the player number. The Layer trait that’s following that Dynamic Property would then display that number. Since all the Layer, Action Button, and Dynamic Property traits are part of the overlay game piece, they’ll move around with the game piece.

If you have trouble figuring out how to do that, I can make a quick sample.

Thanks for the quick response. I did a workaround today but still want to try something like you suggested. After playing the game in Vassal here are the things I need:

1:The transparency would be a piece that sits overtop the (greenish) map graphic and can move into 3 different positions. Easy enough.

2:The arrows and numbers don’t change or move. I do need to be able to click on the arrow to change text beneath it and also a command that allows me to add a small yellow graphic next to the arrow. How would a multi-function invisible button on the arrows work?
I’m familiar with typical war-game counters that have 3-3-6 factors etc. You are saying that on one of these pieces I could create an invisible command area (over say the 6) that would allow me to edit a text label and add a yellow band around the piece? So right-clicking the “6” could give me these options but right-clicking elsewhere on the piece could give me different options? I’ve only made pieces that have one graphic and change with layers via the right-click menu. I didn’t know you could essentially put “zones” on the counters that give you different commands when right clicking.

3: I need to be able to drag-move a soccer ball graphic across the transparency to put it next to the different arrows. Would I just use the “does not stack” command on these to have additional pieces move around on the piece. However, the ball graphic needs to move with the transparency.
Real life example:
I am holding a sheet of glass over top a map. I need to be able to put on/take off quarters and dimes from the glass. When the quarters and dimes are on the glass, they need to stay put while I move the piece of glass around over the map.

Example was so I could be clear. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about but trying to think of pieces on top of pieces is making my head hurt!

Thanks again for the response!

Quick response on one of your issues …I’ll address other things later when I have more time.

Add Game Piece Layers to the soccer map. Give it a name something like Map_Layers and insert values something like Overlay and Ball. The layers are set up from the top down. In other words, the top layer in the list is the bottom most layer on the board.

Then go to your overlay piece and add a Marker trait: Map_Layers = Overlay.

Go to the soccer ball and add the Marker trait: Map_Layers = Ball.

This will set the pieces to a specific layer on the map window so that the ball will always be on top of the overlay.

…and no, I don’t see anyway of having the ball move with the overlay, as they are independent pieces, unless you multi-select them.

The transparent overlay moves quite a bit during the game. If the ball can’t move with it then I guess I’ll just go with the simpler version that I came up with. I made a small “zone” graphic (like the part of the green image above that says A,B,C,D,E) that can move beside the static “overlay” map graphic. It doesn’t look as cool but it gets the job done.

Thanks for the help. No need to address the other issues. I’ll just make due with what I have.