PostMonster General
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We're working on a FAQ for Paizo Game Space and it occurred to me that I can probably head off a lot of questions by posting the current feature set:
Maximum resolution maps stream instantly when you join a scene
Fog of war means unexplored areas on maps are revealed to players only when necessary
Translucent tokens, with control over label, image, size and placement assignable by GMs to individual players
Browse tokens by categories like gender, weapons and class so it's easy to find the monster or NPC you need quickly
Custom labeled dice macros for each token
Tokens may be made visible or invisible, individually or in named groups
GMs can add custom labeled dice macros to groups, rolling for every token in a group as a single action
All controls conveniently located in a single collapsible, draggable tabbed inspector
Integrated collapsible text chat with integrated dice roller, in-character posting for any token a player or GM controls and tabbed private chats with unread message waiting indicator
Initiative tracker that understands using custom dice macros to roll for initiative, as well as entering in physical rolls; draggable reordering including round separator; add and remove combatants; delaying
Easy access to all custom dice macros for tokens you or the GM controls during combat in a slide-out panel
There are lots of features that either aren't quite ready yet or simply haven't been added yet. These include uploading custom maps and tokens, stat block integration, combat round timers and area of effect templates. The single biggest missing feature right now is freehand drawing, and that's first on our list to be added. If you have features you want to see added to Paizo Game Space—or bugs to report—we want to hear from you!
Game Space Beta Tester
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Great start! What I currently use Game Space type products for is simply projecting the map for people in the room so my biggest requirements are 1) easily loading and scaling maps, 2) fog of war, 3) dynamic lighting. Your fog of war works fine, and I know you'll have appropriately scaled versions of your maps coming (that will be awesome), so that leaves dynamic lighting.
Feature Request: Dynamic lighting. Ability to add walls, etc to the map, then add a light source such as torches and then the map displays whatever that light source will show.
Dynamic lighting and the ability to add my own images/maps and you're done. :)
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Game Space Beta Tester
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I´m a VC and i have access to the program ( it logs on). But whenever i click on something , it exits the program , and says" There's a problem with Corgi.Unable to join scene." . I used Firefox , and Chrome , and the same error appeared . Can anyone help? Sorry if this is not the place for this....
Gary, this is awesome, and a great starting point for playing around with it! After I'm over my own con crud I will try a game with others who were at the banquet and see how it goes.
Game Space Beta Tester
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We're working on a FAQ for Paizo Game Space ...
Great! I don't have access to the Beta (*sadface*), but I do have a few questions while I wait. I'm sure these are on the FAQ list anyway, but just in case:
- When do you expect to open GameSpace to the general public? (I understand that it'll depend on how the Beta goes, but even a very general ballpark would be appreciated.)
- What sort of content–e.g. maps and tokens for Paizo-published adventures–do you expect to provide for GameSpace (whether for purchase or for free)? (I'm especially interested in maps for APs. That would be hugely helpful!)
Thanks!
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Assistant Software Developer
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I swear, when I go to GM at GenCon, I will wear a hazmat suit. This ConCrud gets worse each time.
It is a bit of an inevitability. It's bad every year. This time I may only be out two days which would be awesome. I managed to avoid it the past two years but this year it smacked me in the face. The fact is, when you get a sizeable number of people in a small place from across the globe, that small place becomes a petri dish. Sean has a list of things you can do to help avoid getting con crud and they really do help a lot.
Where is Sean's list of ways to avoid con crud? I have some friends that would love such a list!
- Gauss
Sean's list can be found here.
But back to the topic at hand.
Are those who currently have access to Game Space allowed to post screenshots?
If yes, who'll volunteer to give the rest of us a glimpse behind the curtain? :-)
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New Q: Can GMs who have access to the Beta be able to invite non-beta players to a game or do all players need beta access?
The chatting is filtered, but the naming of tokens isn't. :-)
New Q: Can GMs who have access to the Beta be able to invite non-beta players to a game or do all players need beta access?
Yes. They can invite 5 players who don't have access.
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so how many tokens are there? I tried roll20 recently and was disappointed to find out token selection appeared to be extremely limited, and what tokens I did find where really ugly. I assume ugly is not a problem with gamespace because Paizo are very good with their art, but what about variety? if I search "vampire", would I get a couple of handy tokens to use?
Game Space Beta Tester
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Speaking of tokens...
I am happy with the breadth and range of the tokens currently available. There are quite a few options, but what I think is need is tokens for inanimate stuff.
There are currently no tokens for things like tables, chairs, treasure chests, coffins, beds, sleeping mats, and other typical dungeon dressings. These items would really spice up the visuals for players and give GMs some reminders about loot in each of thier encounters/rooms.
To answer your questions Lord Snow, the token selection appears to currently be restricted to a wide array of the characters and monsters presented in the core books. There certainly is a wide variety overall, but some categories are severly limited. For instance the category of "Vampire" currently contains the image of the female Vampire from the Bestiary; it includes both a full figure token and a closer "head shot" image. Wider ranging categories (ie. less specific) include many more tokens and options.
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Chief Technical Officer
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The current GameSpace tokens are adapted from the pawns in the Beginner Box, the Bestiary Box, and the NPC Codex Box.
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Game Space Beta Tester
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I have noticed and it has been pointed out to me by a player I shared a beta code with that when the main chat panel is opened, the help field gets in the way of the first few lines of text. Normally this wouldn't be an issue as a person even vaguely familiar with software will know how to close the help field, but it could hide a much needed "Welcome" from the GM. Since the first line of text in the main chat panel tells you how to get to the help field, it may be worth not showing the help field when the main chat panel is opened.
So wish I was helping to work on this! It better be great, as I will use the heck out of it when it arrives. :)
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Game Space Beta Tester
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Had a really great game session last night, everyone had a blast.
Couple of recommendations/comments I'd like to post though.
First, is there a reason the chat panel is a static size? I think being able to adjust the chat panel size would be great. When posting large blocks of text the chat bubble is very squeezed in the current sizing and requires players to scroll up and down to read it all. If the panel could be pulled wider then the bubble would not have to be so tall.
Second, the initiative tracker and it ability to roll for every one in the encounter is fantastic. Can we tweak it just a bit though. It would be great if it automatically added text to the main chat panel informing everyone that an initiative roll has been made. Additionally, a comment (in either the main chat panel or a player's PM panel) letting them know that it is their turn to act would be nice as well since they can't see the initiative tracker. I'll grant that both of these actions can and should be handled by the GM, but it would be nice to have.
Lastly, from this session, having an audible signal that you have received a PM would be awesome. The change in color of the grey bust in the tab is very subtle and may be difficult for some to even notice the change. A small audible "ping" would easily let you know something has happened and if there are a very few number of things that generate the "ping" then you can quickly see what changed.
Thanks for "listening", Game Space is a wonderful tool and I know it will grow into a most exceptional one.
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Assistant Software Developer
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Had a really great game session last night, everyone had a blast.
Couple of recommendations/comments I'd like to post though.
First, is there a reason the chat panel is a static size? I think being able to adjust the chat panel size would be great. When posting large blocks of text the chat bubble is very squeezed in the current sizing and requires players to scroll up and down to read it all. If the panel could be pulled wider then the bubble would not have to be so tall.
Second, the initiative tracker and it ability to roll for every one in the encounter is fantastic. Can we tweak it just a bit though. It would be great if it automatically added text to the main chat panel informing everyone that an initiative roll has been made. Additionally, a comment (in either the main chat panel or a player's PM panel) letting them know that it is their turn to act would be nice as well since they can't see the initiative tracker. I'll grant that both of these actions can and should be handled by the GM, but it would be nice to have.
Lastly, from this session, having an audible signal that you have received a PM would be awesome. The change in color of the grey bust in the tab is very subtle and may be difficult for some to even notice the change. A small audible "ping" would easily let you know something has happened and if there are a very few number of things that generate the "ping" then you can quickly see what changed.
Thanks for "listening", Game Space is a wonderful tool and I know it will grow into a most exceptional one.
Something to let people know it's their turn is definitely on the list of things to add when we get time. We're working on a few more fundamental changes right now. Something better would be good if you have waiting messages. Not sure what that will be yet though.
I think that could be nice if someone is playing a rouge and wants to create a sneak attack macro for damage as well. Or a winter witch using frozen caress and ray of frost. Flaming, frost etc weapon yeah there are a few cases where that would be useful. A whole lot of magus abilities too.
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Game Space Beta Tester
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With regard to rolling damamge, you can certainly include multiple dice in the string. Such as for a rogue's dagger attack while sneak attacking: just put "/roll 1d4+1d6: dagger and sneak attack damage" in the macro or the chat panel and you are good to go. Obviously this would work with any other damage string as well.
The issue would be separating your attack roll and the damage roll. I know lots of gamers like to roll both at the same time, but I personally think that having it separate is just as good. I played around with the dice commands and figured out that this command string will generate separate rolls with out totaling the results; "/roll xdx; xdx". You'll note the use of a semicolon between dice sets. This returns a chat panel value in the format; "xdx » yxdx » y". Note there is no space between the first result and the second dice set. If you use a colon (:) in there it takes the text afterwards as the descriptor.
I know other VTT's do utilize multiple dice rolls, having it for those that want it would be good. I think I will play with it a little more and report back.
Game Space Beta Tester
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I was just thinking it would be quicker to have one macro for both the attack and damage rolls. The same result could be accomplished by the ability to call macros recursively.
For example, make two normal macros
/roll 1d20+4: Longsword Attack
/roll 1d8+2: Longsword Damage
Then create a way to call multiple macros say using a special symbols like # or & in front of the macro name. Like this
/roll #<Longsword Attack>; #<longsword damage>: Standard Attack
Then you could even add modifcations. Something like:
/roll #<Longsword Attack>-2; #<longsword damage>+4: Power Attack
I could go on but I know this is basically a "nice to have" feature and that there are other things that have a higher priority in the development queue.
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Yeah, that's one thing I really like about roll20 over GS, their macros can have several lines, and you can add descriptive text as well in it, since they're just a button to run lines of code. Of course it'd also be nice if they would run on their own without us having to click on the chat and hit enter.
Will Game Space allow you to use your own custom tokens, such as those made using TokenTool? (And if so, will Game Space have a similar utility built into it?)
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I don't think you can currently, but you've been the first to mention wanting more rolls on a single line.Are macros limited to one die roll apiece now?
Can I make a macro to roll both an attack roll and damage roll at once? If so what is the syntax used?
Not in the Beta crowd, but to me, this is one of the key features that will encourage me to use the final product over Maptool. Lacking multiple rolls per macro would frankly put this in the Roll20 group for me (aka not used).
Example, currently, all of my Maptool monster tokens attack macros are as follows (rolls denoted by {})
<b>Weapontype</b> vs {target}: To-hit AC of {1d20+calcs} for a possible {1dX+calcs} damage type
That's one user input and 2 rolls per macro. Duplicate that for full attacks for number of attacks/limbs. Making that attack 2 different macros doubles the time it takes to resolve combat. If multiple rolls per macro isn't doable, perhaps a qualifier within a macro that allows you to run more macros (ie, replace the rolls with calls to a macro above), so that a single click would run both the attack and damage macros.
Conversely, my group has developed over the years a ~1200 character attack routine that automatically compensates for flanking, power attack, charge, crit trigger,etc, and it has somewhere of up to 5 rolls for a single attack without any added damage bonuses like sneak attack. Not being able to code and implement some similar 1 to 2-click attack macro would be a turn off (albeit a nit-picky one).
Some thoughts from my experience using other VTTs:
Dynamic Lighting is incredibly handy both because it makes the characters move naturally (moving tokens slowly to adjust their line of sight) and also because it allows the GM to focus on other things than to continually adjust the fog of war as the party progresses. I didn't think Dynamic Lighting mattered until I started using it, and then I absolutely fell in love with it. This is a feature I would consider essential if I were to use a new VTT.
The breadth and variety of tokens (and hopefully in the future, maps) available on Game Space is already incredible and a huge plus - this is a major, MAJOR perk and upside. Extracting, editing and uploading artwork for personal campaigns is most likely the thing I spend the most time on while preparing online sessions - anything that lets me avoid or cut down on that time is huge for me.
Macros:
Multiple lines is very welcome - in my experience players quickly start making different macros to cover different actions. For instance Seelah the paladin would make a full attack macro that reads as follows:
/roll d20+16
/roll 1d8+8
/roll d20+10
/roll 1d8+8
That would cover the basics - attack rolls and damage.
Then we spruce it up a bit:
/me brandishes her longsword, then leaps to attack!
/roll d20+16 vs AC
/roll 1d8+8 Slashing Damage
/roll d20+10 vs AC
/roll 1d8+8 Slashing Damage
Being able to mix numbers and text in the macro as needed is helpful since it makes it much easier to track what roll represents what and/or who. This is especially important if you're using a macro to roll for multiple characters. For instance I have a 'secret' Perception, Sense Motive, and assorted Knowledge macros that I use to roll for the characters to check whether or not they notice and/or realize something.
It looks a bit like this:
/w GM Perception Check
/gmroll d20+14 Merisiel
/gmroll d20+3 Valeros
/gmroll d20-1 Lem
/gmroll d20+8 Kyra
If you don't have the option to add names to track the different rolls you need to continually check who has what perception modifier.
Finally, long macros can get messy. It would be nice if there was an option to condense macros into shorter strings.
For instance, I cast a fireball. /roll 10d6 gives me the following string of text: 10d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 1, 4, 6, 4, 2, 5, 1, 3) = 34
I make a full attack: 1d20+16 (normal attack bonus) + 2 (heroism) -1 (Doom) +1 (Haste) -2 (Ray of Enfeeblement) +2 (Flanking) +1 (higher ground).
I get the following string of text: 1d20 + 16 + 2 - 1 + 1 - 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 16 + 2 - 1 + 1 - 2 + 2 + 1 = 27
That's a fairly low level set of buffs. In a proper BBEG fight there can be more than a dozen modifiers in play.
Ideally there'd be an option to type /roll x and just get the result while hiding the rest of the text: 10d6 = [[34]]. d20 = [[27]]. This shouldn't replace the full math breakdown, but it'd be nice as a tidier alternative.
The breakdown of the math should still be available so you can control for a critical hit etc, but preferably hidden until wanted.
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Game Space Beta Tester
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@Lissa Guillet:
Been out for a while and am still on vacation, but I see that you have rolled out some bug fixes. Anyway us testers could get a list of the fixes that have been pushed?
I know there is a lot of work going into bug fixes and such right now, and I know you have stated that the draw feature is pretty high on the next things to release list, but I have a request (desire to know the priority of) other maps being added for use.
With regard to using other maps, will there be a drop down menu for the maps or will the users have to scroll through a multitude of maps like we currently scroll through the three available options? I would think that something like the token selector filter would be useful. That way you could easily look through the forest maps or the city maps or desert maps without having to scroll through everything.
Anyway, I was hoping for some new maps sooner rather than later to begin running some PFS Scenarios (probably just for fun to start).
Thanks for any info.
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Assistant Software Developer
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@Lissa Guillet:
Been out for a while and am still on vacation, but I see that you have rolled out some bug fixes. Anyway us testers could get a list of the fixes that have been pushed?
I know there is a lot of work going into bug fixes and such right now, and I know you have stated that the draw feature is pretty high on the next things to release list, but I have a request (desire to know the priority of) other maps being added for use.
With regard to using other maps, will there be a drop down menu for the maps or will the users have to scroll through a multitude of maps like we currently scroll through the three available options? I would think that something like the token selector filter would be useful. That way you could easily look through the forest maps or the city maps or desert maps without having to scroll through everything.
Anyway, I was hoping for some new maps sooner rather than later to begin running some PFS Scenarios (probably just for fun to start).
Thanks for any info.
I'm working on a lot of things related to more maps and tokens right now so yes that will hopefully be soonish. I'm not sure how we'll eventually do map sorting. Doing it like we're doing now I don't think will work once we get a past a certain point and it's been on my mind.
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Assistant Software Developer
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I'll be rolling GameSpace soon. Not a lot in the new feature zone right now. Big thing for this roll is permissions and for the most part that should be completely invisible to you, but if you see broken images, please let me know. Also, this roll should fix the initiative problem with not being able to get out of initiative.
Also, a note, this is a boring update, I know. You guys are waiting for features but we've had some things to put on the backburner for a little bit while we get these really important behind the scenes bits fixed up. I promise some more exciting bits hopefully in the near future. =D
Hi guys! This particular part of the forum has been pretty quiet lately...
Maybe we could get an update on how GameSpace is coming along, what's on the schedule, what features you're looking into, that kind of thing?
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If this can seamlessly support the maps from the APs and remove the pain of converting the maps into VTT format, that would be a huge benefit. Converting maps over is one of the more painful things about running a game via VTT.
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Game Space Beta Tester
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I'll be rolling GameSpace soon. Not a lot in the new feature zone right now. Big thing for this roll is permissions and for the most part that should be completely invisible to you, but if you see broken images, please let me know. Also, this roll should fix the initiative problem with not being able to get out of initiative.
Also, a note, this is a boring update, I know. You guys are waiting for features but we've had some things to put on the backburner for a little bit while we get these really important behind the scenes bits fixed up. I promise some more exciting bits hopefully in the near future. =D
Any news on progress?
We are not implementing the Pathfinder rules in Paizo Game Space.
That would be crazy. Our approach is, just don't be stupid by default.
Was said in a post somewhere I read. I find this really silly that rules wont be implemented. Might as well just use Roll20.
Character sheets in Game Space. I'd like to see what they look like or if your going the Roll20 way and you actually have to edit and create tables and garbage. Which would be upsetting.
Please do something automated half the reason people want to use a VTT is because of this. Something like Fantasy Grounds 2. If you haven't looked into FG 2 as a company your doing it wrong. I'd rather use it then what I hear so far from Paizo Game Space.
And I would go browser based like Roll20. This seems like a pretty slapped together VTT.
No real commitment to it.
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Assistant Software Developer
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We don't really want to limit people just to pathfinder. We have a lot of people that like to play a lot of different games. I once played in a mutants and masterminds pathfinder game and that was pretty cool. We'd rather work on getting content and features out to play whatever kind of game you'd like and incorporate whatever type of rulesets and homerules you want really. And of course it's browser based. We stated that from the get go.
I'd like to give you a bigger update but we're just utterly slammed right now. Most of it is all going to be backend invisible stuff to enable the cooler stuff soon(tm).
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Appreciate the update Lissa, thanks for stopping by!
Good luck with the invisible stuff.
-Upload our own assets (tokens, maps, music, etc)
-Ability to make complicated macros
-Ability to import stat blocks and have them quickly generate a functioning character in game complete with macros.
These are some of the more important features i am already used to in a VTT. I'd really like to hear more about plans for such features.
However the big appeal I see so far over what I currently use is Paizo's large community.