Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

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JamzTheMan
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by JamzTheMan »

And.....backed! Is it done yet? :mrgreen:
-Jamz
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Lee
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by Lee »

Thanks Jamz :)

:lol: Far from it. I haven't typed so much since I left the desk job. Didn't have to do much on the field. And this includes writing code!

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Dervish
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by Dervish »

Backed in flat heart beat I am so looking forward to seeing what you will do!

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wolph42
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by wolph42 »

Lee, you forgot to update the OP, with the e.g. the link to the kickstarter page. Also I don't really notice you on any other forum like e.g. cartographersguild :shock:
If you want to real in some REAL funding, go start posting on every conveivable RPG forum you can find!! But especially on VTT support forums.

Lee
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by Lee »

Thanks for the point-out, wolph, and for the reminder to drop by the guild. We've been focusing on G+, Facebook, and even Reddit, as well as forums of all the major RPGs. We're currently passing by all map-related sites we can find (I even saw Jamz in one :lol:). But yeah, Cartographer's Guild, we'll definitely go there now.

Thanks again man!

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wolph42
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by wolph42 »

Lee wrote:Thanks for the point-out, wolph, and for the reminder to drop by the guild. We've been focusing on G+, Facebook, and even Reddit, as well as forums of all the major RPGs. We're currently passing by all map-related sites we can find (I even saw Jamz in one :lol:). But yeah, Cartographer's Guild, we'll definitely go there now.

Thanks again man!
good to hear your working on it and glad to be of service. And don't forget FFG (and Dark Reign)

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Full Bleed
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by Full Bleed »

wolph42 wrote:Lee, you forgot to update the OP, with the e.g. the link to the kickstarter page. Also I don't really notice you on any other forum like e.g. cartographersguild :shock:
If you want to real in some REAL funding, go start posting on every conveivable RPG forum you can find!! But especially on VTT support forums.
It would be a good idea to get the kickstarter link on Youtube videos as well.
Maptool is the Millennium Falcon of VTT's -- "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."

Lee
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by Lee »

@wolph We won't :)

@FullBleed Done!

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RedDog
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by RedDog »

...backed...good luck in the project Lee. :)

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JamzTheMan
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by JamzTheMan »

wolph42 wrote:
Lee wrote:Thanks for the point-out, wolph, and for the reminder to drop by the guild. We've been focusing on G+, Facebook, and even Reddit, as well as forums of all the major RPGs. We're currently passing by all map-related sites we can find (I even saw Jamz in one :lol:). But yeah, Cartographer's Guild, we'll definitely go there now.

Thanks again man!
good to hear your working on it and glad to be of service. And don't forget FFG (and Dark Reign)
I get around sometimes ;) There are a couple of map related G+ communities you can hit up to.

And it may be worth contacting Lone Wolf and the Hero Lab/Realm Works guys. I have worked with them in the past, great bunch of guys. Maybe a little cross integration and support could be a quick hit with big payoff.
-Jamz
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Lee
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by Lee »

@RedDog Thank you :)
@Jamz Thanks for the tips! We've taken time out from marketing to do some writing. What's evident to me at this point is, there is a huge glut of (non-VTT) crowdfunding projects everywhere we went, and I believe this is making people inured to self-promotions.

It's really ideal if other people find out by word-of-mouth, or by 3rd party review (i.e. blogs and mags). We had the latter lined up for launch day, at least we thought we did, but these have been coming out late; not that we can complain :lol: Those will probably gain traction over the next few days.

Anyway, we'll be implementing stuff for our next demo. I'll pass by when it's ready :)

Thanks again everyone! I really appreciate it!

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jckrbbt
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by jckrbbt »

Lee, very stoked about this! I will email all my players and have them throw some money at you, as well as doing so myself. Good luck!

Glitch(TMG)
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by Glitch(TMG) »

Just now learned of this today from some other RPG buddies in the channel we hang out at, where we've all been using MapTool for at least the past four years when we formed together (Though, to be honest, our group also hardly uses any of MT's more advanced features at all. Only one or two of us even bother with basic macros to automatically roll actions, most of us still do everything entirely manually).

I do find myself quite intrigued by this significant reboot and upgrade to MapTool, though there is one concern above most others among our RPG group. As we have several users from across the world, from (very)rual america, to the phillipines, to slovakia, some of us have--shall we say--less than adequate internet. This has been a constant thorn in dealing with maptool for our less bandwidth-possessing folks, who sometimes have to go through hoops just to be able to connect and download the basic maps and campaigns in the first place (one of our number can only connect to a server if there is no campaign loaded, and can only load the campaign while already connected. If he tries to join a server with a campaign file already up, it is impossible for him to get in), and at least one of us has a chronic disconnecting issue.

So, the big thing our little corner of the net is wondering about is how has the netcode/data-transmission functionality of Mote been updated? Some of these new features--playable sounds, animations--sound resource/data-intensive, and if Mote isn't streamlining it's data transfer schemes to keep up, this may turn us away...

Lee
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by Lee »

jckrbbt wrote:Lee, very stoked about this! I will email all my players and have them throw some money at you, as well as doing so myself. Good luck!
Thanks :lol: But, don't tell them to throw it at me. Some of that may be coins!
Glitch(TMG) wrote:So, the big thing our little corner of the net is wondering about is how has the netcode/data-transmission functionality of Mote been updated? Some of these new features--playable sounds, animations--sound resource/data-intensive, and if Mote isn't streamlining it's data transfer schemes to keep up, this may turn us away...
I'm glad you asked. But to set the correct expectations, this is work that is "being" done, not "been" done already. Phase 1 is most concerned with user interaction with the application itself. Work on networking and application data are components of different stages within different phases.

We've identified several fronts to lower the size of data transmission. One is token propagation. We want just one instance of a token's data model, with references to instances of its image that is used on different maps, though this may not have an impact for users who only use a token once.

Another is implementing a scheme for selective updating of data. Currently, when a property is set on a token, the whole token is sent to all clients after the update. Correlating to my first example, a reference, and the changed value will be the only things communicated, and clients will do their updating locally using this information. This pattern will be implemented everywhere where it'll have an impact. We'll have to go through the code to find these places.

We trimming down models that get sent around a lot, offloading some of the information it carries to other data storage locations, information that don't get referenced often, or is only relevant to only a select few (e.g. individual token views).

I'm working on a better way, using the current method found in MapTool/Mote, to compute fog, and vision overall. It's a lengthy process, and with this KS running, something I don't have much time to pursue at the moment. But it looks promising, certainly with less O-complexity than the current scheme.

We're also looking to inject a better serializer/deserializer into the mix, to reduce the size of data being sent, and processing time once the data is received. We've done our technology reviews over the months leading here, as we did in selecting H2 for our DB implementation. We hope people can imagine that these reviews are very deliberate processes, hence the time and support asked for, for each phase of the project.

Hessian has served MapTool well over the years, but it's not stopping us from testing other candidates, especially if we get to implement our web services detailed on the stretch goal.

Nifty features like the one for sound and animation, are optional. These are just tools, and if not used, will not impact performance at all; so, it's the framework designer's prerogative to use these or not, if there is a concern about performance.

But ultimately, what we want eventually to provide users is the ability to get updates in the background, to utilize the time in between sessions to get the assets they need for the next session. With that in place, all features are usable since they can now access local resources instead of streaming assets during the session itself.

All of these are things we definitely want to implement. It all depends on the community at large if we have to opportunity to execute these changes.

Let me know if you have other questions :)

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Bone White
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Re: Mote Kickstarter: We are going LIVE!

Post by Bone White »

Lee, you may want to link to this thread from the Kickstarter page.

In my experience, the connectivity problems are the reason why people who have tried MapTool don't use it over other programs. If M:O.T.E. needs to improve one basic thing over MapTool, it is this. It's not just the initial connection, but the quirks inside the program itself, such as streamlining the way data is handled so that two users don't receive different results from a database being edited.

One of the best things I believe M:O.T.E. has going for it from a user's view is the sound/music integration.

From the GM's view, definitely the syntax parser/highlighter in the macro editor. The number one reason I had to stop writing frameworks was getting cramp from copy pasting to and from notepad++. :oops:

One more question, in using MapTool, it has been a constant frustration for players who get stuck in a loop whilst loading, but no one has any indication of this. Will the host/GMs be able to view how much of the map/campaign each connected client has downloaded? This would allow for easier diagnosis of connection problems.

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