I want to apologize to the new forum users who are posting feature requests.
Typically speaking features get implemented very quickly. Lately it seems my only response is "wait for 1.3". The reason for this is we're at the end of 1.2 and I'm trying to get the remaining bug fixes and polish done so that we can get it out the door.
This is always the slowest development part of the release cycle.
But fully expect that once we get 1.2 out the door, 1.3 development will scream ahead with blistering speed
Seriously, folks; have a little patience if you think things are lagging. Believe me when I tell you that Trevor and company kick out an abnormally frequent series of builds in less time than it takes for John Goodman to snarf a cheeseburger. After checking on the other map programs out there I was astounded at the number of improvements these guys produce. Stick around. It's worth it.
MapTools is already twenty times better then my previous mapping solution. I'm bloody grateful you have any time to devote to this at all, let alone the quite frankly awe-inspiring level of devotion you seem to have.
Just watch...
Once 1.2 is out, the new development builds come so fast you don't even have time to test them and the next one is out...
"What...1.3b15... but I'm on b3!"
I'm certainly one of the greatest admirers of the development team here at RPTools.net.
For those of you who are also impressed , consider sending in a Paypal donation (you don't have to have a Paypal account; I used a credit card) as a way of saying "thank you" and putting a number to your level of appreciation.
From what I've heard of the team, your donations will be used to fund the web site, buy pizza for their development meetings, and subsidize the purchase of No-Doze or other stimulants (!). All of which is Good Stuff(tm) for those of us who use these tools...
If you're a starving college student, don't worry about it (chances are good we were all there once, or still are!). But to those who can, this is a great gesture.
Seriously, 1.2 is as massive and rockin' cool a release as 1.1. I have the feeling that - if things are really stable in the final release - we'll stick with it for a long time before popping over to 1.3, so take your time!
I agree, my gaming group plays every Sunday and we've now started to download the latest build before the game because there's always one person with the updated version.
All I can say is thanks, I'm still learning the ropes but I think it's a great set of tools that has allowed my group to be more flexible with game times etc. because we don't need to be at a house.
If any of you have been gaming as long as I have, these tools that are becoming available are an incredible leap forward for RPG gamers, though I would warrant younger men and women don't remember a time when there were no such tools available and we had to hack out a way to do things ourselves.
I play with in a face-to-face environment, and in the early days, I used Campaign cartographer not only to draw maps with,
But I used CC's layering capabilities to place what I called eMiniatures, and that are now called tokens, and I setup hex grids with snaps and I moved the pieces around during combats, with the laptop's output going to an external monitor.
THAT was going on ten years or more ago now and THAT was a leap forward because now I could make a map MILES long if I had to, and not have to cram a whole dungeon on an erasable table top matt (which we used for aeons)
No boundaries, and it was awesome
But, with CC, it was a modest way to game, and there are obvious issues, like not being able to show GM-Only information, so for that I needed a separate key printed on paper.
but it was a step in the right direction for my group.
OpenRPG was my first VGT with any kind of FoW capability and I had to give it up because it only supports Web-Based servers.
That was fine when we were playng at my house because I had internet, but now things have changed and we play at my friend's house, and he doesnt even own a computer much less the internet!
So I need to have LAN capability.
I use two laptops now, with the player laptop outputting video to a 32" HDTV screen, and it works wonderfully.
Actually we are for all practical purposes (for maps and visuals anyway which are handled by VGT's) a Paperless gaming group, having only the rules and charater sheets on hand at the games
I own license to other VGT's as well, and use them in various ways depending on what is going on in game, and I also donated to MT because simply put, I want to support this technology
MT is an excellent tool. Keep up the good work.
As for me, I will be around for a while I am not that easy to discourage!!
venger wrote:I own license to other VGT's as well, and use them in various ways depending on what is going on in game, and I also donated to MT because simply put, I want to support this technology
MT is an excellent tool. Keep up the good work.
As for me, I will be around for a while I am not that easy to discourage!!
Thank you very much for the donation Venger! It will help us promote RPTools even more - GenCon perhaps? Now that would be cool!
Hey, since you use other VGT's, let us know what features you like that you would like to see in Maptool. We are always keeping our eyes and ears open for improvements.
Thanks again and we are glad you will be sticking around!
