Thore_Ironrock
September 2nd, 2009, 21:28
Now that Gen Con 2009 is over and in the past, I’d like to say a few things to the community regarding our presence at the show, the people I’ve met, their hopes and dreams, and what you can expect from Digital Adventures down the road.
Folks from GC
First and foremost, my personal thanks to everyone that stopped by the booth this year, be it for a demo of FGII or DA licenses, or just to say they’ve been faithfully playing Fantasy Grounds now for years.
The long-standing story here is the 3-year+ World’s Largest Dungeon game by some guy named “Rich” (I think he posts in the FG forums :P ) where his players started at 1st level and are now (around) 20th and engaged in the final battle that had, at the time, lasted three sessions of FG play. Hopefully, they are done by now. :)
I would also like to thank all the new people that showed great enthusiasm for Fantasy Grounds II and how it would enhance or rekindle their gaming experience.
• There was Brad, who upon seeing a demonstration of the Rolemaster Classic Ruleset had nothing but praise for what we had accomplished, and even penned a review in these very forums (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10804).
• There was also an Asian gentleman named Marten who came back to the booth nearly every day with more questions before purchasing our Call of Cthulhu conversion. Though his stature and tone was unimposing, I have no doubt that Marten is what we used to call a “Killer Keeper” when it comes to Lovecraftian horror.
• Lastly, there was he winner of our 20d20 roll-off (anyone who made a purchase at the booth got to roll 20d20 for prizes, highest at the end of the show wins) named Rob, who upon doubting this skills with electronic dice on Sunday pass the mouse to his son, who in turn pegged a roll of 280 – which crushed the 255 that (the above) Brad had achieved on Thursday. To them, and all the others, thank you for making my sore back and feet worth the effort.
FG Questions
For the people who either had never heard of or never fully demoed Fantasy Grounds that I spoke, there were many specific questions regarding what the software could and could not do. There are three things we heard asked the most, and if you have info on this and see forum posts from newcomers on the topics, please chirp up and help them out.
• Non-Windows Support: There were more MAC than linux users looking for help here, and with the new 2.5 update apparently this is now better supported. One thing I think we are missing is detailed instructions on how to get FG to work on a MAC or a linux distro. Having a doc or wiki page for this could easily attract these gamers.
• Netbooks: This question was brought up a lot, since many folks now have these. I know there are issues with the low resolutions, and hacks to rulesets aside I think it would be cool to get official support for these computers. Following the show I actually picked up a Gateway LT netbook that does 1366 x 768 resolution, and it run FG just fine. I probably would not host with it, but playing would be a snap.
• FG Manual: Between the forums and the (dare I say, sparse) user documentation on how to use FG, someone could reasonably figure out how to use the software. However, I did field many complaints on the lack of a central repository of FG info – aka: a product manual of some sort. I did hear “… thank god for Xorn’s videos …” spoken more than once (kudos), but it got me wondering if the creation of an FG manual or book would better serve new players. Now, when I say a manual or book, I mean something professionally written, edited, and produced which covered everything from installation to custom ruleset coding. This would be no small task, and if this project was taken on by Digital Adventures it would be a book along the lines of FG for Dummies or Learn FG in 24-Hour variety. If there are enough outcries for this, and I can find the right people to do it, Digital Adventures might take on the task if SmiteWorks has no interest. Since Digital Adventures does not receive profits from the sale of Fantasy Grounds, this would be a pay-for product. If you would like to comment on this, please contact me or post a reply.
What’s Next?
With Gen Con over, what is next for Digital Adventures? As many long-time contributors to the community may have noticed, Digital Adventures took a little hiatus of sorts following last year’s show and really did not put out many products since. While the company was still moving forward on things like Call of Cthulhu and Rolemaster Classic, there was not much beyond that. There were personal, medical, and financial reasons for this that center around myself, but for the most part that is now all in the past and the creation and conversion of new products is now once again moving forward. So to start things up again, there are a few points I’d like to make about what Digital Adventures is going to be doing in the future:
First off, in the past year our development team has once again dwindled. Since this is not a full time job for any of us, life often intercedes and does not allow us to do things like product conversions and the like, and I completely understand. For those that have left our team, either permanent or for a time, they have my eternal thanks. However, once again I’m faced with the fact that I have more projects than I have people to work on them, and so I would like to put out the call for developers that might want to earn a bit of freelance money, and anything else I can obtain from my publishing contact. If interested, please email me at [email protected]. As for what products I have … see point two below.
Secondly … what new products does Digital Adventures now have license to produce. While there are several I’m still working on, I do have a few tidbits to pass along.
For our newest product lines of Call of Cthulhu, Castle & Crusades, and Rolemaster we are open to convert nearly anything within these product lines. If you would like to see and help get something converted for these worlds, please let me know. Regarding CoC, I now have an agreement to convert products from companies that like Digital Adventures licenses from Chaosium. The first of these is SuperGenius Games (https://www.supergeniusgames.com/), and hopefully more soon.
Regarding Savage Worlds, we have much to say. More and more Savage products are coming to the forefront, and publishers love the idea of getting them into Fantasy Grounds. Here is what I can announce at the moment:
Reality Blurs: Sean over at RB really wants Runepunk, and his new Realms of Cthulhu (for SWEXP) in Fantasy Grounds ASAP. RoC sold out at Gen Con, and is really a very cool port of the classic horror game.
PEG: Shane loves us! As a result, here is what he wants to see in FG … yesterday:
• Necessary Evil updated for SWEXP: Mr. Doswell is already gearing up for this conversion.
• SWEXP Fantasy Companion: I really LOVE this product. If you love SW and fantasy, do yourself a favor and pick it up … or convert it for me and get a free copy!
• Lastly … Shane has finally cleared DEADLAND RELOADED for conversion to Fantasy Grounds!!!!! More to come, but if you’re interested in helping with this project please let me know.
Regarding others, all I can say at the moment is this is what I have for sure … but more might be coming. Again, Digital Adventures won’t take on projects if we don’t have people to work on them, so if you’re interested or have questions regarding our current licenses or other publishers, please let me know.
That’s about all I have for now folks. Thanks to all who we met at Gen Con, for supporting Digital Adventures over the years, and making Fantasy Grounds the coolest VGT software out there!
Folks from GC
First and foremost, my personal thanks to everyone that stopped by the booth this year, be it for a demo of FGII or DA licenses, or just to say they’ve been faithfully playing Fantasy Grounds now for years.
The long-standing story here is the 3-year+ World’s Largest Dungeon game by some guy named “Rich” (I think he posts in the FG forums :P ) where his players started at 1st level and are now (around) 20th and engaged in the final battle that had, at the time, lasted three sessions of FG play. Hopefully, they are done by now. :)
I would also like to thank all the new people that showed great enthusiasm for Fantasy Grounds II and how it would enhance or rekindle their gaming experience.
• There was Brad, who upon seeing a demonstration of the Rolemaster Classic Ruleset had nothing but praise for what we had accomplished, and even penned a review in these very forums (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10804).
• There was also an Asian gentleman named Marten who came back to the booth nearly every day with more questions before purchasing our Call of Cthulhu conversion. Though his stature and tone was unimposing, I have no doubt that Marten is what we used to call a “Killer Keeper” when it comes to Lovecraftian horror.
• Lastly, there was he winner of our 20d20 roll-off (anyone who made a purchase at the booth got to roll 20d20 for prizes, highest at the end of the show wins) named Rob, who upon doubting this skills with electronic dice on Sunday pass the mouse to his son, who in turn pegged a roll of 280 – which crushed the 255 that (the above) Brad had achieved on Thursday. To them, and all the others, thank you for making my sore back and feet worth the effort.
FG Questions
For the people who either had never heard of or never fully demoed Fantasy Grounds that I spoke, there were many specific questions regarding what the software could and could not do. There are three things we heard asked the most, and if you have info on this and see forum posts from newcomers on the topics, please chirp up and help them out.
• Non-Windows Support: There were more MAC than linux users looking for help here, and with the new 2.5 update apparently this is now better supported. One thing I think we are missing is detailed instructions on how to get FG to work on a MAC or a linux distro. Having a doc or wiki page for this could easily attract these gamers.
• Netbooks: This question was brought up a lot, since many folks now have these. I know there are issues with the low resolutions, and hacks to rulesets aside I think it would be cool to get official support for these computers. Following the show I actually picked up a Gateway LT netbook that does 1366 x 768 resolution, and it run FG just fine. I probably would not host with it, but playing would be a snap.
• FG Manual: Between the forums and the (dare I say, sparse) user documentation on how to use FG, someone could reasonably figure out how to use the software. However, I did field many complaints on the lack of a central repository of FG info – aka: a product manual of some sort. I did hear “… thank god for Xorn’s videos …” spoken more than once (kudos), but it got me wondering if the creation of an FG manual or book would better serve new players. Now, when I say a manual or book, I mean something professionally written, edited, and produced which covered everything from installation to custom ruleset coding. This would be no small task, and if this project was taken on by Digital Adventures it would be a book along the lines of FG for Dummies or Learn FG in 24-Hour variety. If there are enough outcries for this, and I can find the right people to do it, Digital Adventures might take on the task if SmiteWorks has no interest. Since Digital Adventures does not receive profits from the sale of Fantasy Grounds, this would be a pay-for product. If you would like to comment on this, please contact me or post a reply.
What’s Next?
With Gen Con over, what is next for Digital Adventures? As many long-time contributors to the community may have noticed, Digital Adventures took a little hiatus of sorts following last year’s show and really did not put out many products since. While the company was still moving forward on things like Call of Cthulhu and Rolemaster Classic, there was not much beyond that. There were personal, medical, and financial reasons for this that center around myself, but for the most part that is now all in the past and the creation and conversion of new products is now once again moving forward. So to start things up again, there are a few points I’d like to make about what Digital Adventures is going to be doing in the future:
First off, in the past year our development team has once again dwindled. Since this is not a full time job for any of us, life often intercedes and does not allow us to do things like product conversions and the like, and I completely understand. For those that have left our team, either permanent or for a time, they have my eternal thanks. However, once again I’m faced with the fact that I have more projects than I have people to work on them, and so I would like to put out the call for developers that might want to earn a bit of freelance money, and anything else I can obtain from my publishing contact. If interested, please email me at [email protected]. As for what products I have … see point two below.
Secondly … what new products does Digital Adventures now have license to produce. While there are several I’m still working on, I do have a few tidbits to pass along.
For our newest product lines of Call of Cthulhu, Castle & Crusades, and Rolemaster we are open to convert nearly anything within these product lines. If you would like to see and help get something converted for these worlds, please let me know. Regarding CoC, I now have an agreement to convert products from companies that like Digital Adventures licenses from Chaosium. The first of these is SuperGenius Games (https://www.supergeniusgames.com/), and hopefully more soon.
Regarding Savage Worlds, we have much to say. More and more Savage products are coming to the forefront, and publishers love the idea of getting them into Fantasy Grounds. Here is what I can announce at the moment:
Reality Blurs: Sean over at RB really wants Runepunk, and his new Realms of Cthulhu (for SWEXP) in Fantasy Grounds ASAP. RoC sold out at Gen Con, and is really a very cool port of the classic horror game.
PEG: Shane loves us! As a result, here is what he wants to see in FG … yesterday:
• Necessary Evil updated for SWEXP: Mr. Doswell is already gearing up for this conversion.
• SWEXP Fantasy Companion: I really LOVE this product. If you love SW and fantasy, do yourself a favor and pick it up … or convert it for me and get a free copy!
• Lastly … Shane has finally cleared DEADLAND RELOADED for conversion to Fantasy Grounds!!!!! More to come, but if you’re interested in helping with this project please let me know.
Regarding others, all I can say at the moment is this is what I have for sure … but more might be coming. Again, Digital Adventures won’t take on projects if we don’t have people to work on them, so if you’re interested or have questions regarding our current licenses or other publishers, please let me know.
That’s about all I have for now folks. Thanks to all who we met at Gen Con, for supporting Digital Adventures over the years, and making Fantasy Grounds the coolest VGT software out there!