Maptools and Chromecast

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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Mapes
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Maptools and Chromecast

Post by Mapes »

Hi all first off thanks for MapTools. Love it and use it.

Secondly I had an idea. My gaming group rotates hosting duties between us. Although I do have a projector it's not always feasible to bring it and project. One thing I notice is that everyone though has either a TV or a monitor and wifi. At our last game I used a hdmi cable to put the players view of Maptool on the TV. which was really awesome because the TV was mounted on the wall and did not clutter up the table. I then was thinking about Googles Chromecast which is basically a small dongle that plugs into the TV or monitors HDMI port. It also has wifi built in. Best of all Chromecast costs all of 35 bucks. It allows you stream music/video over wifi and onto the TV/Monitor. It would totally rock if MapTool supported Chromecast. There is a SDK for it. I would totally donate for this. Instead of having to lug a projector and struggle to set it up or have hmdi cables all over the place. It would be way cool to just plug the Chromecast into a TV and "stream" the players view to that.


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JamzTheMan
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Re: Maptools and Chromecast

Post by JamzTheMan »

Currently there is no direct java to Chromecast api as far as I can see. There are APIs for android, iOS and chrome. Plus MT doesn't stream media in a sense. Now there could be some hack way to do it but it may be easier once MT is updated to JavaFX.
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Jagged
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Re: Maptools and Chromecast

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S0AndS0
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Re: Maptools and Chromecast

Post by S0AndS0 »

Tried running a PC with Mozilla and desktop mirroring; couldn't get it to work.

However I did get the Nintendo Wii to accept streeming of Maptools running from my Android server; perhaps an app will let me mirror my Androids screen to Cromecast, I'll do a little digging.
I have ported Maptools Mobile for Android.
link to guide to do it yourself step by step
Maptools on ARM (Android & Pi)
or
rptools [Guide] thread
link to script to use after using section 1 of above guide
My github Repos
You may contact me through the document that I'm writing or though email or through one of the mirrors that I've posted this information on for public viewing such as XDA Developers or through PM through this very site.

CommanderHAL9000
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Re: Maptools and Chromecast

Post by CommanderHAL9000 »

As a Chromecast owner, if this is workable, I would absolutely donate to the cause.

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RPTroll
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Re: Maptools and Chromecast

Post by RPTroll »

I did some looking around and didn't see anything that would link a Java program directly to Chromecast. I did find this link that talks about how to cast your screen to a TV.

http://www.howtogeek.com/199565/mirror- ... hromecast/

Hope that helps.
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Sauron
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Re: Maptools and Chromecast

Post by Sauron »

Hi

I'm not sure I get this. Why would you want to put maptools up on the big screen for everyone to see? Surely the whole thing here is that its personal to each player and therefore better for their individual screens on their laptops, with the GM's laptop being used as his main screen..

That is not to say that big TV screens don't have the uses here - far from it.

What I do is use our large screen TV as a scene setter - or if I want to put a big map up there (which is going to feature in maptools for example) then I just export it from maptools and add it to my Realmworks program which I then put on the big screen. I have a separate table (Surface Pro) running everything for realmworks/syrinscape etc.

If you don't want to use cables to connect to a screen then use miracast. You can also your the Chromecast for this but its not very stable.

S

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aliasmask
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Re: Maptools and Chromecast

Post by aliasmask »

I use MT for table top play once a week. I put a 43" tv at one end of the table, I sit at the other end and have 6 players, 3 on a side (it's a good sized table). My computer has dual DVI outputs and I run one to a monitor for the GM screen and one under the table to the big tv. I run 2 instances of MT, one as GM and another as a player. I set the center view (continuous) and I'm read to go. If your computer doesn't have dual outputs or running a cable isn't practical then chromecast could be a good option if you can use separate desktops. You wouldn't want players to see your desktop. Using a second computer/laptop in that instance would simplify things.

Something just occurred to me. You could use a web based screen sharing app like hangouts. That one specifically allows you to target the desktop or just one popup, like an instance of MT. You can then use the Cast this page on the hangouts tab (after installing the chrome app for it).

taustinoc
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Re: Maptools and Chromecast

Post by taustinoc »

It's a convenient alternative to paper maps and miniatures. My current setup involves the big TV in the conference room at work (I work for really great people), my laptop for the GM instance, the conference room PC for the players, and three cheap wireless mice (I may get one or two more). (I do have two players who play remotely, one of them temporarily, but at this point, even if I didn't, I wouldn't go back to paper maps.)

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Full Bleed
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Re: Maptools and Chromecast

Post by Full Bleed »

Sauron wrote:I'm not sure I get this. Why would you want to put maptools up on the big screen for everyone to see?
AM mentioned it in passing, but to be clear... one of the things that new users of MT tend to not know about it is that you can run multiple instances of it on one computer.

So, you start one instance and make it the server/GM screen. Start a second instance as a player and then connect to your server (using the LAN tab). Then move the player instance over to a big screen for local players to share instead of them all needing to have a laptop. Remote players could still connect to the game as well.

Having one big screen for a local game helps to make sure that everyone is looking at the same thing, like they would be if you had a shared map on the table in front of everyone (which we always had back in the day). It also keep them from doing typical stuff that online players do to disrupt games (like surfing the web, answering emails, etc.) ;)
Maptool is the Millennium Falcon of VTT's -- "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."

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