My MapTool Fork: Video Proofs of Concept 02-07-2013

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Lee
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My MapTool Fork: Video Proofs of Concept 02-07-2013

Post by Lee »

As the title suggests, I finally strung together some videos demonstrating some of the aspects described in this thread. Things have simply been too busy for me at work to do this earlier, but I'm just about ready to do this full time. More on this in the coming days/weeks.

Special thanks to all the contributors who've helped with ideas, feedback, and material along the way. You know who you are.
Videos
Happy new year to everyone.

Edit: modified title to better reflect content.
Last edited by Lee on Sun Feb 09, 2014 12:42 am, edited 6 times in total.

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aliasmask
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Re: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by aliasmask »

Thanks for the demos. All really cool and I hope it's something MT will eventually develop.

Lee
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Re: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by Lee »

Glad to hear it. I'll have more videos up in due time. Next ones in line are the database feature and new event hooks, or something else altogether.

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booga
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Re: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by booga »

Very cool! Thanks for using my French CoC Fw in some of the vids. Makes me proud :)

I especially loved the sound feature and the built-in macro editor.

I'm curious: what are the benefits of using a headless server for Maptool?

Lee
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Re: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by Lee »

booga wrote:Very cool! Thanks for using my French CoC Fw in some of the vids. Makes me proud :)

I especially loved the sound feature and the built-in macro editor.

I'm curious: what are the benefits of using a headless server for Maptool?
Thanks for sharing it :)

Headless servers have a lot less overhead owing to the fact that nothing related to video rendering gets processed. Savvy users can host headless servers on setups that bypass inconveniences and/or obstacles such as UPnP unreliability, low upload bandwidth etc. A dedicated machine can be kept alive 24/7 or be made to respond on demand to serve gaming needs.

In this implementation, it is a convenient state holder where multiple GM-level users can just come in and load whatever they want to run. This is for people who share one running instance. On a grander scale, a cloud service can be written to stand on top of platforms such as Google's Compute Engine or Amazon's EC2, where it listens for requests to create a new headless server instance. Served this way, there will be a significant increase to general session performance and connection reliability.

I'm currently mulling whether to write the service myself. Sent out into the wild, people will no longer be completely reliant on subscription services such as Roll20 and other VTTs like it. Well, everything in its due time ;)

badsequel
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Re: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by badsequel »

Awesome stuff!
My shared rpg stuff:
(exe)TokenNameChanger3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cqsof54v3dl2k ... 3.zip?dl=0
Tiddly Spell Wiki: https://www.dropbox.com/s/53pya4k68mnvc ... ddly01.htm

Stuff to check out:
Mote Kickstarter(back it): https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/74 ... abletop-ev

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wolph42
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Re: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by wolph42 »

This is really cool stuff. Voice over would be nice though. I've started out doing tutorials without VO but after enough nagging I started doing them. Now seeing your vids I can follow what you're doing but also understand why people like a VO. :mrgreen:


Thanks for the demos!

Out of curiosity how 'beta' are these features and what is your intend with them? Still pondering on a kick starter? Cause you'll have my support!

Dracones
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Re: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by Dracones »

Really nice vids. Looking forward to the database example.

And as to the headless vid, yeah I could do some interesting things with that. Use Owncloud for uploading assets to your server, create a web interface for starting/stopping your service, tie in Mumble for voice chat, bundle it all up into an Amazon EC2 AMI and poof: instant Maptool hosting solution for anyone who wants it.

There would be benefits to server hosted Maptool. No firewall config issues, fast throughput for asset downloads(assuming they pull from the server), server is up 24/7 so players can log on whenever to mess with things, and if the GM has a crap connection(lots of disconnects) it won't mess with the players.

I will say that Maptool works wonderfully as it is. I run it over a 3G modem and the repository support is great for that. But headless server hosting? Yes please.

Lee
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Re: MapTool Fork: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by Lee »

Thanks guys.

@wolph Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm still trying to get someone to do it; no one in my team, myself included, has that gravely voice filled with gravitas to pull it off with a straight face :lol: I'll likely put in video comments since time is kind of tight these days. To answer your question, yes, I'm pushing through with the campaign. There are several goals that need time and support to develop.

@Dracones Thanks for expounding further on what headless servers can bring to the table. I plan to put in an automatic kill-switch for headless instances where, when all clients connected to it leave the session, it will quietly dispose of itself (if not overridden). Voice chat is also earmarked for inclusion, though no intentions whatsoever for video chat.

The DB feature basically provides the fundamental SQL functions through macro script, with an extra macro function to pass an arbitrary SQL string directly to the DB engine. I thought this best so as not to write macro functions for each and every SQL function the DB engine is capable of.

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drswoboda
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Re: MapTool Fork: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by drswoboda »

Lee, you had me at "Cthulhu..."

Upon returning to MapTools after several years, I was afraid that MT development, with the exception of Macro Frameworks, was pretty much dead.

I now see I was wrong in that assumption. I am very much looking forward to seeing your dev work continue. I look forward to perhaps using it to run the upcoming release of the Cthulhu classic, Horror on the Orient Express.

Thank you,
-David

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Full Bleed
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Re: MapTool Fork: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by Full Bleed »

Not sure how I missed this post... but it's nice to see some of what you've got working behind the scenes.

Looking forward to more videos... and an eventual release into the wild. ;)
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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jckrbbt
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Re: MapTool Fork: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by jckrbbt »

Amazing stuff. I'm excited to see the fruits of your labors! Can't wait to get my hands on this. Posts like this always reignite my enthusiasm for MapTools. We all know how busy everyone is with real life, and that MapTools is strictly a labor of love for the developers, but with all the time and effort I've invested in getting my campaigns to work, it's encouraging to see that the future is still bright.

Lee
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Re: MapTool Fork: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by Lee »

@drswoboda Glad to hear it :) BTW, I asked on a thread of yours in User Creations if you've ever handled SQL before. If you have, and are interested in using it for MapTool, let me know.

@FullBleed Honestly, I was wondering where you were :lol: I'm on my 2nd day(?) of that 3-day period I set for myself to upload 2 new videos. They're looking good but I've been getting feedback about the resolution on some of the other videos, so I'm making adjustments at the moment.

@jckrbbt Excitement is always a good thing :) I'll update my sig in a day or 2 with links related to my work. Please feel free (others as well) to visit, share, and follow.

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wolph42
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Re: MapTool Fork: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by wolph42 »

Lee wrote:I'll update my sig in a day or 2 with links related to my work.
about that, I've finally also created a direct link to the latest launcher.jar and I would like to point out, that you don't. That is, not to the *last* available version. So maybe you should update your sig as well concerning this matter.

Lee
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Re: MapTool Fork: Video Proofs of Concept (finally)

Post by Lee »

I'll take the reference out of my sig for the moment, and put it back once I resume development on it.

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