Hello, I have a few questions about using technology In my table top game. Where we play We have a 50inch Plasma T.V. I was thinking of hooking a laptop to the T.V. and pretty much using the T.V. As a battle map. Now the main question is what about software to use for a battle map. Also has anyone used hero lab? What about some software for a battle map, anything good out there? Any and all suggestions would be helpful! Thanks.
P.S. has any one used battlegrounds?
A quick easy one would be MapTool which can be used both as Virtual Table Top over the internet. One interesting thing with MapTool is that you can run two clients at the same time. This would allow you to use a non-mirrored setup, leaving the TV displaying a Player View map while you keep a DM View on your computer's (laptop?) screen.
May I also suggest that if you have a flair for the artistic/CAD that Google's SketchUp may be something to look into as well. There is even a growing collection of Fantasy tagged user made content in the free Warehouse that you can use as pre-generated content.
Have you done any test runs of visuals on your TV? I would check the quality using materials you have on hand. I have tried integrating technology displays into my games for several years... no attempts have met with much success. Although I did not have a plasma high definition TV to work with but instead lower end CRT or LCD TVs which made everything kind of bleh.
A big barrier I've found is player interactivity, if there is a battle map they want to push the pieces around. That kind of multi-user interaction is not particularly easy to setup and maintain. Personally I'm looking forward to something like MaPnakotic if it gets off the ground for the iPad/iPod, along with VGA out to a pico-projector.
What I'm really waiting for are better, easier to use, multi-user systems. It is unfortunate that this seems to be a low priority focus of most people. If I could hand each of my player's something like an Apple Magic Trackpad or Wacom wireless tablet and let them all poke at a projected battle-map, that would be awesome. What would be even better would full touch surface to project on to.
* I have not used Hero Lab, wrong primary OS for me... although I guess I could stuff it into Wine... nah not worth the time or money for me.
Hello, I have a few questions about using technology In my table top game. Where we play We have a 50inch Plasma T.V. I was thinking of hooking a laptop to the T.V. and pretty much using the T.V. As a battle map. Now the main question is what about software to use for a battle map. Also has anyone used hero lab? What about some software for a battle map, anything good out there? Any and all suggestions would be helpful! Thanks.
P.S. has any one used battlegrounds?
I would definitely take a serious look at MapTool for the software to use for a battlemap. It will work great for what you are after.
I have used Hero Lab. It works very well and I have been quite happy with it.
I use MapTool for this kind of gaming all the time.
It is possible to run two clients, as Dorje mentions above. Unfortunately, you can't use the full-screen option very effectively in this manner, so I tend to have a GM's laptop and a second computer set up to run the PC view (which is connected to the TV with full-screen enabled). Then you just connect the PC view to the GM client via Local Area Network (LAN).
There are other VTTs that are not free but may give you better Pathfinder support. You can get decent Pathfinder support from MapTool but it takes a bit of setting up, and there are no official standards so it takes some doing.
I'm about to start a blog that will have a nice tutorial for running a MapTool campaign with adventure PDFs, I'll post back here when it's up. If you run into specific problems getting it set up, post back here and I will try to answer your questions.
Unfortunately, you can't use the full-screen option very effectively in this manner, so I tend to have a GM's laptop and a second computer set up to run the PC view (which is connected to the TV with full-screen enabled).
Really? The only real problem I've had is with cables running everywhere. That and poor resolution/image quality of the TVs I've used.
I've never really had an issue with MapTools running full screen on a secondary display under Mac OSX.
Unfortunately, you can't use the full-screen option very effectively in this manner, so I tend to have a GM's laptop and a second computer set up to run the PC view (which is connected to the TV with full-screen enabled).Really? The only real problem I've had is with cables running everywhere. That and poor resolution/image quality of the TVs I've used.
I've never really had an issue with MapTools running full screen on a secondary display under Mac OSX.
Hm. It's been quite some time since I tried two displays and one computer running two clients. It is entirely possible that the problem no longer exists. I will be trying this method again in about a month, so I guess we'll find out.
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We're doing the Skeletons of Scarwall with MapTools on my 52" LCD. I have a PC attached to the TV for Hulu and music and whatnot so I just put MapTools on it and away we go.
My GM starts the room on his Macbook and I connect to the LAN with the TV and sometimes my laptop, too. It has been quite handy and the ability to easily measure distance, make spell area templates, and get up next to the TV to point out various points of interest for us has been great. It is possible that we'll be doing all our gaming in this manner in the future.
... get up next to the TV to point out various points of interest for us has been great.
Did you know that any player can convert the mouse to a cursor visible to all clients by holding down space bar?
I've never seen map tools, but I've seen Dungenie and Neverwinter Nights Custom Map abilites used to great effect.
I've see a rig where someone bought an used school projector and mounted it sideways on an old coat rack so it projected down on a table/battle mat and made maps on the fly. Even had animations like bubbling lava and such.
I've never seen map tools, but I've seen Dungenie and Neverwinter Nights Custom Map abilites used to great effect.
Dundjinni is a nice tool for making underlay maps to use in MapTools, actually I think It was one impetus for MapTools to begin with.
@ TriOmegaZero, do you have Laptop? If you do, one possibility that presents itself if no TV in the host house is available is to get a pico projector. One's on my holiday shopping list now that more and more iPod/iPad apps are starting to use the VGA-out functions. The things are starting to slide under 300 USD. While not super bright, their compactness and light weight make them almost ideal for Projected Table-Top gaming, and other on-the-go self projection.
I just need to create a collapsable frame for mounting it overhead.
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... get up next to the TV to point out various points of interest for us has been great.Did you know that any player can convert the mouse to a cursor visible to all clients by holding down space bar?
Yeah, but it makes me feel more like I have a board on the table when I can make wild gestures and yell at the TV.
My GM uses the visible cursor to point stuff out to us but that's just cause he doesn't want to get out of the comfy chair.
I downloaded Map tools I just don't know how to get started. Like I just want to make a simple dungeon to start off then as I get more used to the soft ware etc. So where can I find a place to start off at? Thanks.
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I downloaded Map tools I just don't know how to get started. Like I just want to make a simple dungeon to start off then as I get more used to the soft ware etc. So where can I find a place to start off at? Thanks.
Are you doing an AP? If so, you can put the map from your PDF into MapTools and then you just have to draw in the lines for walls so your PCs don't accidentally walk through them and sightlines for your PCs is established.
You could also try google. I got this in less than ten seconds. I'm sure you could even find more by devoting your own time to the research.
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I just laid down my 46" LCD tv to begin playing around with it on the game table. Building a frame to hold a sealed plexiglass over it so we can continue using miniatures.
I've got maptools and GIMP. Now I want to take Kingmaker pdf maps and insert those into maptools while retaining as much resolution as I can. So far all I've done is cut & paste maps from the pdf, resize them in GIMP and save them as a JPEG file that I then load into maptools. When I zoom in to size the grid it tends to get a little blurry. Any tips?
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I downloaded Map tools I just don't know how to get started. Like I just want to make a simple dungeon to start off then as I get more used to the soft ware etc. So where can I find a place to start off at? Thanks.
MapTools is a good choice for doing this. An alternate tool, and a very simple one which does much the same thing, is roll20.net If not one, then the other. I've used both. Both work. It's just a question of preference and ease-of-use.
If you're using your TV for a map, you can just enlarge the PDFS for maps. Use whatever viewer you have and there you go.
My group personally uses Maptool. We typically have 3 laptops or tablets running for easy look up of tools, spells etc. I used to be against technology at the game table but have embraced it.
When looking through mapping options for my table, my main obstacle was it needed to be 100% removable after the game was over as it a dining room table and it had to be within a budget. So my solution was buying a very low cost led flat screen (led to reduce heat) a 32" cost me less then $200, and placed it on the table. Covered it with a solid clear sheet of plexi-glass ($25 ish). I placed 4 velcro stickers between the plexi-glass and the tv. I then placed some Stickers felt pads to the back of the TV so it wouldn't scratch the table. W
After the game is over, Plexi-glass is removed, the TV gets placed back onto it's stand and is used in a bedroom. So it's 100% functional for daily life and game life.
My choice for program was Maptool, as it is Free, easy, and does an amazing job. With about 1 hour of watching youtube tutorials on Maptool and a little prep, I save about $50 a month or more as compared to print outs and flip mats. I can still place a grid map up on the plexi-glass screen or draw directly on the plexi-glass just like a dry erase mat. We still use miniatures and pawns. I can even mark areas on map, such as rough terrain, or spell effects. My group can also edit these, freeing me up to run the story. But the star of the show is maptool's built in Fog of War feature. I have saved a ton, and added so much upside to my dungeon maps. I can not recommend it enough.