Greetings, Forge community!👋

Our latest developer update livestream was packed with exciting improvements and ongoing projects at The Forge. If you missed the livestream, don’t worry - we’ll be posting it on YouTube soon so you can catch up.

In the meantime, here’s a breakdown of the key updates and latest developments.

Bazaar Sorting Algorithm

If you tuned in to our previous Developer Update, you’ll remember we introduced a revamped “Featured” sorting algorithm for The Bazaar. This update aimed to diversify content discovery, ensuring that while popular creators and modules still get the spotlight, hidden gems and smaller creators also have their chance to shine.

However, there was an issue where sorting by “Recently Updated” on The Bazaar wasn’t correctly using the updated dates, so we fixed it. Now, when you sort this way, you’ll see the most recently updated packages as expected - especially helpful for finding actively maintained Foundry VTT modules!

Notification Drawer

As we teased earlier, we’re rolling out a Notification Drawer! An envelope icon in the header will allow users to view their latest notifications, and a new tab on the user account page will provide access to all past notifications.

This will include both global messages, such as announcements about upcoming sales and events, and direct messages from The Forge staff. This system will be particularly helpful when we need to reach users who may not be responding to emails.

Of course, the notifications on sales or the latest cool releases out of The Bazaar will be opt-in- so make sure to opt in when it releases, for the latest and greatest in Bazaar releases!

We will be rolling out the notifications drawer within the coming week after this livestream.

Getting ready for Foundry VTT V13

We are preparing for the newest release of Foundry VTT. V13 has been quite the journey, just like in V12.

After extensive debugging, we traced the issue back to our LevelDB dependencies, a topic we’ve discussed before here and here in more detail. We’ve been working on updating these dependencies ourselves, and while it’s been a deep dive, we’re making progress.

Our goal is to ensure seamless support for the new release as soon as possible, when the stable version drops. Stay tuned for more information.

Downloading Files or Folders from the Asset Library

A long-requested feature from many users is almost here!

Users will soon be able to download individual files or entire folders from their Asset Library, as well as select multiple files for bulk download.

While this isn’t meant for full backups (our Asset Sync feature remains the best tool for that), it’s a convenient way to grab copies of maps, tokens, and other assets. Keep in mind that if you are downloading a lot of files at once, the download will take a lot longer than the asset sync.

As with the notification drawer, this feature will be going live again with the coming week.

New Package Install Feedback UI

One of the long-standing frustrations with Foundry premium module installations has been the lack of real-time feedback. Users only saw a spinner with no indication of progress, which led to confusion, especially when installing large packages that could take a while.

To address this, we’re introducing pop-up toast notifications on The Bazaar page. These small, unobtrusive messages will show what stage the package installation is in, giving users a clear idea of progress while allowing them to continue browsing.

This feature will be released in the coming week, alongside the notification drawer and asset downloading.

Stars of the VTT Galaxy

We recently featured interviews with incredible Bazaar creators: Renflowergrapx and David North.

Each of these interviews has provided incredibly insightful glimpses into the art world of digital TTRPGs, and even into the general TTRPG industry. We highly recommend checking them out if you haven't already!

Bazaar Showcase

We showcased the following packages during our Developer Update:

And a free package:  The Net Libram of Random Magical Effects V2 by Orrex, remade with permission in Foundry VTT by Blokka!

And that's it!

Thank you for reading through everything and for being a part of The Forge community!💚

We’ve made great strides in refining The Forge experience over the past month, and there’s plenty more to come. As always, we appreciate our community’s feedback and support!

Stay tuned and follow us on these social media channels for more news and updates about The Forge:

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Until next time, happy gaming!🎲