VTT in a Face to Face setting question

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Farnaby
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VTT in a Face to Face setting question

Post by Farnaby »

I tried to search for this answer but found nothing, so sorry if it's already been answered.

I built a projector table and just had the first session.
The trouble was for the 2 gamers sitting at one side with maptool upside down.
The problem wasn't that maptool was upside down, but that the wireless mouse didn't
work as it was inverted for them.

The question is for me, how do you play it?
Flip the screen, flip the mouse somehow, use only 1 player to move the tokens?

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Full Bleed
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Re: VTT in a Face to Face setting question

Post by Full Bleed »

Farnaby wrote:I tried to search for this answer but found nothing, so sorry if it's already been answered.

I built a projector table and just had the first session.
The trouble was for the 2 gamers sitting at one side with maptool upside down.
The problem wasn't that maptool was upside down, but that the wireless mouse didn't
work as it was inverted for them.

The question is for me, how do you play it?
Flip the screen, flip the mouse somehow, use only 1 player to move the tokens?
Interesting problem... never thought much about that being an issue.

Maybe you can try adding a game controller (like an Xbox controller) and then use a configuration program to invert how the controller works for people on the other side of the screen.

You could try using this program to get all the functionality of a mouse through a controller: http://download.cnet.com/Pinnacle-Game- ... 14015.html


You could also look into flipping your screen during your player's turn so they aren't upside down. Most video drivers have a way to do this.

Nvidia drivers seem to use a Ctrl-Alt-ArrowUp key (or Arrow Down).

With ATI, you'll have to go into your Catalyst Control Center>Preferences>Hotkeys>List Hotkeys for:Creating and Arranging Desktops. Then make some hotkeys to flip the screen.

(Note: You might even want to do this in combination with the controller mentioned above and program a button to rotate the screen so that players could rotate the screen on their turn.)
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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JamzTheMan
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Re: VTT in a Face to Face setting question

Post by JamzTheMan »

We've tried many things. While the xbox controller worked the best, they quickly time out and shut off. So then there is a delay and when turned back on, they never remember which controller they were, ie controller 4 becomes controller 1 etc.

I have a logitech touchpad that works ok, you just rotate it to operate it upside down.

but mostly, one person operates the mouse. Some peeps use laptops to run hero lab so sometimes login to MT to control.
-Jamz
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Re: VTT in a Face to Face setting question

Post by username »

Turn the mouse upside as well. (You know what I mean.) You can't really work the buttons, but if "pointing out" is all you need, that does the trick (at least for me).

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JamzTheMan
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Re: VTT in a Face to Face setting question

Post by JamzTheMan »

One other option that could be cheaper, by a wireless numberpad (usually for laptops). You can use can actually move the tokens around with 8-2-4-6 and just rotate it upside down easy enough.

In some ways, it works better than a mouse, as each press is 1 cell of movement so it's easy to count out your 30 foot movement for example. If your init macro auto-selects/centers on current player, it even works better.
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mfrizzell
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Re: VTT in a Face to Face setting question

Post by mfrizzell »

Or connect multiple mice to the PC so everyone has one. Worked for me when we were too poor to afford a laptop for everyone.
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Full Bleed
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Re: VTT in a Face to Face setting question

Post by Full Bleed »

Full Bleed wrote:You could also look into flipping your screen during your player's turn so they aren't upside down. Most video drivers have a way to do this.

Nvidia drivers seem to use a Ctrl-Alt-ArrowUp key (or Arrow Down).

With ATI, you'll have to go into your Catalyst Control Center>Preferences>Hotkeys>List Hotkeys for:Creating and Arranging Desktops. Then make some hotkeys to flip the screen.
Have any of you guys tried the above? I just created a hotkey for my ATI card and it works perfectly.

Under "Creating and Arranging Desktops" I just set up Ctrl-Alt-UpArrow to "Toggle 'Display with Cursor' between Standard and Flipped Landscape". Then with a single hotkey I can toggle flip the screen. That would be great for players on the other side of the screen because they aren't just getting the right mouse movement but they are actually seeing the screen in the right orientation (which I know I'd like as a player).

Just about every mouse has at least one programmable button on it so that the flip could be done from a mouse (or mice).
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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Full Bleed
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Re: VTT in a Face to Face setting question

Post by Full Bleed »

mfrizzell wrote:Or connect multiple mice to the PC so everyone has one. Worked for me when we were too poor to afford a laptop for everyone.
The problem isn't about having multiple input devices. It's about having the device take into account that you're looking at the screen upside down and function in an inverse manner or, even better (as in my solution) having a way that people can easily flip the screen so that the screen can be oriented properly on the fly.
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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