i bought it as a download. I'm not sure if there is a cd that comes or not. I didn't note an option for a cd, though i have to admit i would have liked one.
Download.
Then immediately burn to CD to back it up. Like it should be done with all your important "stuff".
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Download.
Then immediately burn to CD to back it up. Like it should be done with all your important "stuff".
Thanks, guess I gotta print out the manual, oh well. I think I will get it on monday. I got a 5mb download connection so I shouldn't have a problem with download time. I hope you don't mind if I pick your brains for info after I get it.
FH
For those that use this program, what's it like? I have a few friends that are working out the demo, but we haven't make the purchase yet. Is it worth it?
I'm very interested in this app as well. ONe big question: is this available for both Mac and PC or only PC?
at this time, there isn't a mac applicatoin, though they are talking about it on the discussion boards over there. it can be a bit intensive, and the manual is a bit sparse at this time (there is a jpg on the discussion group of the commands compiled that makes a nice suppliment to the manual).
I think this program is fantastic! it manages to recreate a massive amount of the tabletop experience. You can use any mapping program to make maps to share (and only share parts of as appropriate) and share any pictures as visual aids. You can talk in and out of character, the dm can 'create' npcs and talk through them so there's no confusion who is speaking. If one types in the adventure on the story pages ahead of time, preset blocks of text can be shared with the party, and you can set up whatever background you need. And you have the same ability to 'wing it' when the players do the unexpected (yeah, like THAT happens). It's the closest to playing face to face i've come up with yet. the only limits are typing speed and the lack of a voice chat feature. and frankly....i can do without the voice chat feature, this way, you have on text what everyone says.
The database is editable with some .xml skills so you can customize your rules, and there are a lot of supplimental rulesets out there too if you don't want to edit it yourself.
(a happy customer makes a great commercial)
from what i was able to gather, the demo may not have a connection capacity. I have the full license myself (you need that for dm functionality), and i have connected to a friend with light license for testing...and have started as DM in one campaign (just started last weekO and played in another campaign so far.
Overall, i have no complaints with the program and its functionality, except as i mentioned in my earlier posts. Yes, the demo really doesn't do much more than let you get used to the interface, but it does let you do that a bit at least. i think that the program is quite possibly the best 40 dollars i've spent on d and d since my dungeon magazine subscription.
Here's a post from another thread, for easy review:
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So far, I'm really liking it. The interface is pretty intuitive once you get used to it and linking to reference items is very quick. I have not run or played a game in it yet, so I can't comment on that yet. The built-in chat system is very IM-like, you can do emotes ("Lilith scratches her head") and the text will change color if you're talking in character, out of character, emoting, telling the story and what not. The GM can change the hue of the screen, to make it feel like it's nighttime, or daytime, or by a campfire, or in a forest. It's a minor thing, but I think it will help with setting the mood. Another minor thing is changing the color of your dice. It's such a little thing, but it's a very personal choice that I'm glad they included.
Dice rolling is a blast - you right click on the dice you want to use, select how many you want to roll, and move your mice around in a circle and toss 'em! Somehow, they've managed to capture the same feel of the dice rollin' around on the table. Modifiers are as easy as dragging from a character sheet onto the modifier grid.
Pretty much everything you want to do is handled through a series of right or left clicks and through a radial menu. Adding images (read: maps, NPC portraits, item pictures) is stupid simple - simply copy the file into your campaign directory where Fantasy Grounds is installed, and you can access it in game. There is a clear separation between what the players can see and what the GM sees. If the GM doesn't "share a sheet" the players don't see what he's looking at. The neat thing I noticed is that you can add images to your campaign while FG is running - since I have a dual monitor set up, this works out REALLY well.
There is an option to draw maps on the fly as well, but there doesn't seem to be an option to erase something. Images can also be "masked", meaning you can hide portions of the map that the players haven't seen yet - great potential if you're doing a dungeon crawl.
If you haven't played around with the demo, I'd get that and get a feel for the interface. I'm not going to say "buy it" until I've actually had a chance to use it fully and give a better review on it. My initial reactions are all "WOW! Neato!" but those don't make a good review, ya know?
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Firing up Dundjinni again and starting to play with mapmaking again.