Online Tabletop RPGs

[daxos232]

A video for a new game just created by Wolfire.com called Desperate Gods. The cool thing about it is that it recreates playing a board game at a table with your friends. You have to use your mouse to move the pieces, pick up and flip a card, and even to roll the dice. Everything is synchronized in real time so that everyone sees exactly whats happenning on the board. Its open source so hopefully mods will come around for other games, like tabletop RPGs.

Desperate Gods - Design Overview - YouTube

 

[tneva82]

Looks bit...Clumsy. Generally it's not smartest idea to try to recreate real tabletop to computer. User interface varies so generally that will lead to clumsy and slow. UI should be designed to utilise computer so that effect would be same but faster, more intuitive. Less eye candy perhaps but faster to play.

 

[daxos232]

Ah, but the "eye candy" is the point. The user interface is the dice, cards, tokens, and pieces you see in front of you, just like a real board game. What could be more intuituve than picking up the dice, rolling them, and reading the result, just like you would with your hand?

Use a third party voice chat program for communication and have game rules, character stats, and bookkeeping on real paper next to your computer. The pieces, dice, and board would all be on the screen. You don't need to customize the UI to each game (RuneQuest, D&D, etc) with menus and such. Your players already know the game/have the book, why rely on the computer software to enforce the rules through its programming? That's the GM's job.

Heck, maybe you only need a "menu" to choose which dice/pieces you want to have on your table, like a virtual dice or miniatures bag.

Most computers today could run the physics (dice rolls, moving pieces) needed for such a program, even if it did have some nice shaders or rendering for the pieces. If not, turn down the graphics.

 

[LegendaryJWP]

Use a third party voice chat program for communication and have game rules, character stats, and bookkeeping on real paper next to your computer. The pieces, dice, and board would all be on the screen. You don't need to customize the UI to each game (RuneQuest, D&D, etc) with menus and such. Your players already know the game/have the book, why rely on the computer software to enforce the rules through its programming? That's the GM's job.

I think that's what they're doing at roll20.net, aren't they?

 

[daxos232]

Indeed it is, although I had never heard of Roll20.net until now, thanks for the link.

From the video of Roll20 I can see they use more menus and UI and such, where the Desperate Gods game such things are kept track of using "physical" pieces, tokens, cards, on the screen that you interact with like you would in a real life board game.

So there are some differences, but they are both aiming for the same goal. Very interesing, I did not know anyone else was making efforts towards this.

 

[tneva82]

Ah, but the "eye candy" is the point. The user interface is the dice, cards, tokens, and pieces you see in front of you, just like a real board game. What could be more intuituve than picking up the dice, rolling them, and reading the result, just like you would with your hand?

So flower instead of dango...I'm more interested in system that makes game fun and easy to play. Not where eye candy takes priority over usability.

There's already virtual tabletop programs that actually concern with usability. Sure they might have less eye candy but instead you have system where you can play quickly and comfortably. Have been around for several years.

 

[daxos232]

So flower instead of dango...I'm more interested in system that makes game fun and easy to play. Not where eye candy takes priority over usability.

I'm not sure how you think that the "eye candy" is taking priority over the usability. Could you explain further?

There's already virtual tabletop programs that actually concern with usability. Sure they might have less eye candy but instead you have system where you can play quickly and comfortably. Have been around for several years.

Which I think is great. Until now I had heard of some programs that allow you to do this, but are not user friendly or are tied into a specific system only. LegendaryJWP's post for roll20.net looks very user friendly, and quick to set up and play. Haven't used the program yet but I am looking forward to trying it.

 

[GamerDude]

Ah, but the "eye candy" is the point. The user interface is the dice, cards, tokens, and pieces you see in front of you, just like a real board game. What could be more intuituve than picking up the dice, rolling them, and reading the result, just like you would with your hand?

EVERYTHING on the screen a user can interact with is... tada the User Interface (use to teach this for undergraduate comp sci courses)

 

[daxos232]

EVERYTHING on the screen a user can interact with is... tada the User Interface (use to teach this for undergraduate comp sci courses)

Exactly, instead of the UI being menus and toolbars that you often have to use the manual to figure out how to use, you just pick up the dice, move the pieces, or flip the cards with the mouse. Just like you would with your hand.