[Crazy?] Going 3D?

We are always looking for new tools to create to help facilitate the table top gaming experience. Let us know if you have an idea for a new gaming tool you'd like to see. (Note: this is NOT for feature requests on existing tools!)

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Azhrei
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Re: [Crazy?] Going 3D?

Post by Azhrei »

I've played other wargames with simultaneous movement (SM from now on). In fact, doesn't Axis and Allies do that? Basically, you write down where you're going to move and everyone does that at the beginning of each turn. Then the movement actually takes place.

Those games don't worry about crossing paths though. Say one unit moves 10 grid cells and another moves 20. If the shorter one crosses the longer one, it would be nice to know when that occurred since the two may surprise each other and a small (or large!) skirmish could break out.

Tracking that with a pen-and-paper game is more work than you'd get back for the amount of effort put into it though. But with a VTT and a macro framework to handle the details it could be done. Perhaps planning movement would be a player dragging their token across the screen (with VisibleToOwner selected) and dropping it. The onTokenMove event captures the movement and draws something on the screen (such drawing is still VisibleToOwner) and then resetting the original token back to its origin. When all tokens have been moved thus, the resolution phase begins.

Yep, sounds doable to me. :)

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Re: [Crazy?] Going 3D?

Post by username »

As I said, WS&IM does a pretty good job at this. Range is at about 1-5 hexes per round. Running afoul with another ship is often a goal and you have to count out the hexes to find out whether you can actually intercept. Line-of-command is also simulated by having ships further away from the "admiral" plot their course farther ahead. It is smooth enough (as far as wargames go).

I guess one of the problems for any round-based system is the effect of having interception occur in the middle of a round. What happens then? You can't give them a full round, but can't really force them to stop doing something either.

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Azhrei
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Re: [Crazy?] Going 3D?

Post by Azhrei »

username wrote:I guess one of the problems for any round-based system is the effect of having interception occur in the middle of a round. What happens then? You can't give them a full round, but can't really force them to stop doing something either.
You can define what happens with a standing order: if you see an enemy ship, avoid it. (Or attack it. Or monitor it. Or ...)

But we've gotten way off the "3d" topic. I may split this to another thread if anyone wants to continue the wargame discussion...

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Re: [Crazy?] Going 3D?

Post by GrindGod »

I like this discussion! IMO its an interesting idea and an important factor of tabletop gaming - virtual or f2f...

I mainly play f2f tabletop (DnD) and try to step into VT...

My players like fast battles.. after one hour they start doing crazy things... i think their time to concentrate on one scene is very limited (maybe they suffer from the alcoholic intoxication^^)

Therefor simultanouisly movement wasn´t practibel. And now i thought about a projector and this idea.. this would be practiable.
I guess one of the problems for any round-based system is the effect of having interception occur in the middle of a round. What happens then? You can't give them a full round, but can't really force them to stop doing something either.
Let´s talk about DnD battlerounds.. The round is cut into 2 Phases in both phases could occure movement and actions. So lets say everyone has a movement of 60 feet for one round, if he had moved more than 35 feet he cannot do an addional action other than movement. Now if you have in mind that you could divide a round in phases and give anyone involved a valuable for movement and action AND you make this custemizeable - i think you could handle this for any wargame with a good result.
But we've gotten way off the "3d" topic. I may split this to another thread if anyone wants to continue the wargame discussion...
There is much discussion about 3D out there, but i think its in the earliest state of development and still far away from any practicable solution. Therefor i don´t see the importance to discuss about 3D implemented into MT... but simoultanious movement is an interesting thing - and it should be discussed by users.
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Geroblue
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Re: [Crazy?] Going 3D?

Post by Geroblue »

I have Perspectives add-on for my copy of Campaign Cartographer. Unfortunately, I'm better at imagining in 3D than i am getting any software to draw in 3D.

I've heard of SketchUp, and I've tried to learn Bryce and DAZ Studio.

(Shrug) Me drawing in 3D escapes me... so far.

Hopefully I can get something going. I'm rather waiting on someone to get a 3D software tutorial set going.

I think one way of dealing with 3D would be card stock with rooms, walls, floors, etc. printed on it, and then that photographed, and uploaded as jpgs or pngs. Then brought into MapTools. Campaign cartographer also has an add-on that does dioramas, but I haven't tried using it yet.

I simply don't have the spare time to do this, but maybe someone can come up with the time and drawing expertise to use these ideas.

Hmmm... I had another thought there, but it was a long day at work, and I'm tired. Sorry.
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CoveredInFish
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Re: [Crazy?] Going 3D?

Post by CoveredInFish »

Keep learning SketchUp. Its really the easiest 3D software out there. Its limited, but has all you could ever need for MT.

Have you watched the video tutorials by google?

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Re: [Crazy?] Going 3D?

Post by The_Grand_User »

Perhaps this might have potential for running a game in 3D.

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Geroblue
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Re: [Crazy?] Going 3D?

Post by Geroblue »

Finding time to do the many projects I would like to work on...

I remembered today that during Campaign Cartographer 2 days there was a person who made a program that would take a top down CC2 map, and give you the street level view. He gave it up some years ago. He said he had no plans to make it Campaign Cartographer 3 compatible.

I did look at Bryce and DAZ Studio 3... but the documentation needs big imptovements. I looked at the tutorials, and most were fine, until part way through, it would say to do a certain thing, and not explain how to do it.

Very frustrating.

I know someone on another forum who is working on a few things, and one of them is a Bryce tutorial.

'Soon', but no date.
'thru the thorns to the stars' One version of a phrase from the 'Ghost in the Shell' Anime.

My Crestar site has over a thousand free maps of various sizes; continents, islands, nations, cities, towns, villages, inns, peoples, some mysteries, and several adventures from the short to the many hundreds of rooms types. Menus fixed June 8, 2012.

My Starship Wanderer site. Only a few maps.

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