MapTool 1.3 Development Build 39

[Orchard]

I would not call those "core features" at all. The CORE purpose of a VTT is to simply simulate a Table Top game

I am not sure. those features are my motivation point to try MT. Everything else is quite well handled in excel I would not incorporate MT into our game sessions if there is no significant improvement in speed of game.
Till I found MT we suffer mostly from
1. map drawing (description of maps and mapping in general)
2. lack of tactical fights (impossible movement simulation in "spoken" encounters)
3. low focus on "living environment". in fact, this last was caused by time consuming activities with regular gameplay. Now I have simply more time to care about dungeons and nature around the party.

That is why I think these are core features of VT - or at least should be. Light speeds up mapping, tokens makes fights more realistic.

It depends on what you are using the VTT for. If you are in a face to face game, then fine, excel can probably do most of things you need, combined with a vinyl mat. The VTT is mostly candy.

But for those of us who rely on a VTT to enable ANY game at all, then the perspective is considerably different. So for me it isn't a question "DO I want a VTT?" but "WHICH VTT do I want?" For me, the answer is Maptool without a doubt because it is so much better than the competition (and I'd say that includes ALL of the non-free competition as well, at least, from what I can tell from the demos.

[Phergus]

It depends on what you are using the VTT for. If you are in a face to face game, then fine, excel can probably do most of things you need, combined with a vinyl mat. The VTT is mostly candy.

I can only assume you are saying this because you don't play face-to-face.

A VTT in F2F does exactly what it is supposed to do - be a better table-top. Unlike the vinyl battlemat, a VTT provides an unlimited mapping space and instant access to multiple maps without erasing and redrawing. It gives everyone a better view of the current situation on the map. In a crowded environment, with more than a handful of players, the ability to see the map and move your own figure around is a huge benefit.

Other, more practical benefits, include the ability to present to the players multiple full-color handouts and images without spending a fortune on ink for your printer every week. Then there is being able to include not only those players who can show up locally but also players who couldn't physically come to the game session.

When you add in FoW to the VTT, the whole experience moves to another level beyond what a vinyl battlemat is capable of and this is irrespective of its being used for F2F or remote gaming.

[Orchard]

It depends on what you are using the VTT for. If you are in a face to face game, then fine, excel can probably do most of things you need, combined with a vinyl mat. The VTT is mostly candy.

I can only assume you are saying this because you don't play face-to-face.

A VTT in F2F does exactly what it is supposed to do - be a better table-top. Unlike the vinyl battlemat, a VTT provides an unlimited mapping space and instant access to multiple maps without erasing and redrawing. It gives everyone a better view of the current situation on the map. In a crowded environment, with more than a handful of players, the ability to see the map and move your own figure around is a huge benefit.

Other, more practical benefits, include the ability to present to the players multiple full-color handouts and images without spending a fortune on ink for your printer every week. Then there is being able to include not only those players who can show up locally but also players who couldn't physically come to the game session.

When you add in FoW to the VTT, the whole experience moves to another level beyond what a vinyl battlemat is capable of and this is irrespective of its being used for F2F or remote gaming.

I won't disagree, but compared to what the degree of necessity for a remote game, the VTT for F2F is hardly the same. I won't argue that it is EXTREMELY useful, and that I would use it in my F2F games even now. But that doesn't stop me from realizing that I wouldn't play a remote game without some type of VTT. In fact when I started my remote campaign I absolutely said that if it was going to happen we had to find a VTT (but I didn't know the term).

That's where I'm at now.

[n3phrit]

i think playing RPG remotely is perverse. I am not sure what kind of atmosphere could be during that session, and I definitely think that seeing your players face to face is an essential condition for good gameplay.
Maybe this opinion makes me that focused on some features of MT. sorry about that.

[Azhrei]

i think playing RPG remotely is perverse.

Guilty as charged!

I'm currently in two remote games. While I much prefer a local game to a remote one, I can't seem to find local players so that I can get my fix with a f2f game.

The price of fuel has made that worse, since no one wanted to travel for 45-60 minutes a few years ago and they certainly don't want to do that now!

[BigO]

i think playing RPG remotely is perverse.

Now hold on there, buckaroo. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's perverse. And that's an awful strong statement to make when you know darn well that you will be insulting other people on this forum when you say it.

I am not sure what kind of atmosphere could be during that session, and I definitely think that seeing your players face to face is an essential condition for good gameplay.

There you're just dead wrong. The campaign I am in now is hands down the best one I've ever played in, and I live a thousand miles away from my DM. We're more focused, have better communication, and play goes faster.

If you want to prefer face-to-face, that's fine, but I object to the implication that that is the only valid method.

[hennebeck]

Yep, not perverse just different.

I would play Face to face in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately I work Saturdays and Sundays. And weekdays until Midnight.
Very few gamers want to play at 1am, dontcha know.

And my favorite gaming group, my brother and sister, live 3 hours away.
They used to drive 70 miles every week to play, but then I moved again.
Now VTT is the only way to we can play.

And I love it.

Not better then face to face. Just different.
But the benefits of playing with my siblings is immeasurable.

[RPTroll]

I've had the same gaming group for almost three decades now. Online is the only way we can get together and online with them is better than F2F with others and Maptool made it possible.

[jfrazierjr]

I wonder what this could mean:

Token states updates: groups, opacity, mouseover & paint order

Specifically, what are groups.....

[Brigand]

Groups are probably for organization of the states. So you can put all the HP0-100 for the health bars in one group. And still have an ordered list.

[UntoldGlory]

That would be awesome. I'd love a "Marks", "Debuffs", and "Ongoing Damage" grouping.

[jfrazierjr]

There is another checkin with an interesting comment.. but I shall keep that one mum for now....

[jay]

Token state groups are just a way of keeping common states together. Adding a group to a token state will cause it to show up in its own sub-menu in the token popup menu. I also need to group them in the token editor dialog, but that isn't finished yet.

There is another checkin with an interesting comment.. but I shall keep that one mum for now....

Shhh!

[Phergus]

There is another checkin with an interesting comment.. but I shall keep that one mum for now....

You mean the one that generates a huge pile of NPE's when you load an existing campaign?

[jfrazierjr]

Token state groups are just a way of keeping common states together. Adding a group to a token state will cause it to show up in its own sub-menu in the token popup menu. I also need to group them in the token editor dialog, but that isn't finished yet.

There is another checkin with an interesting comment.. but I shall keep that one mum for now....

Shhh!

heh.. thats why I kept it mum....