Tabletopia: A vision of Fantasy Grounds Next/Unity?

[Mgrancey]

Just found out about this Kickstarter: Tabletopia (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tabletopia/tabletopia-the-digital-platform-for-board-games?ref=users). Tried out one of the demos and looked some videos of use, this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P6VKoek5PU) makes me really encouraged..

No rules automation, just a 3d environment with camera and objects that you can interact with.. Though a lot of work, since they did have 17 people working on the project, a good part of the work would have been making the development aspect of this as well I am guessing. This is the first 3d gaming environment that I seen that actually catches my attention.

Thoughts?

[viresanimi]

While it looks all smart and cool, I must admit I am left with one important question: "Why would I ever buy this. And keep buying access, when Tabletop Simulator is out there, and does NOT require a subscription". *Shakes head in dismay*

Just my two coppers worth.


Vires Animi

[kylania]

Too much software as a subscription nonsense happening. Sell me a product and give me value for it and I'll keep paying.

[Mgrancey]

Seem to have missed point of topic. Not pushing Tabletopia, asking thoughts on how it handles a 3d Environment and objects as a possible basis for future of FG.

[dulux-oz]

Too much software as a subscription nonsense happening. Sell me a product and give me value for it and I'll keep paying.

I agree - problem is if you run the figures the best business model for a company is a subscription is =>100% of the cases (unless your product is a consumable, like food, toothpaste, fuel, etc) :(

[damned]

I agree - problem is if you run the figures the best business model for a company is a subscription is =>100% of the cases (unless your product is a consumable, like food, toothpaste, fuel, etc) :(

Agreed. Subscription or all those micro payments that phone/tablet games work on.

Back on topic - I have seen some others that I thought were better than this for RPG adaption but I cant find teh links right now.

[Mgrancey]

Will admit I haven't looked around a lot but one of the reasons I brought this up is the fact that it uses Unity as well.

[damned]

From everything I have seen the initial Unity Port will look and feel little different to the current client.
Under the covers it will have a better networking engine and graphics engine. It will have support for many other things like native Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Console platforms, multi-threaded operation, 3d graphics etc. I doubt that we will see any great difference on the Unity versions initial release...
Just my 2c worth of observations...



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[TASagent]

Almost closed it when the screen flashed "Lot of Life Hacks" -.-

I don't know... so far I've consistently found 3D implementations of board games to be more effort than they're worth - fighting with the camera to see and interact with what are fundamentally and mechanically 2D components, and the 'freedom' to view the game from orientations that offer no value or information. I expect this will continue to be the case until the first decent, commercially-viable VR implementation comes along.

[jshauber]

I backed TableTop Connect over a year ago as a 3D VTT built on Unity. It shows some promise but is taking FOREVER to get to anything near usable on a regular basis.

The main thing that has kept me away from using it more is the lack of any material. It is billed as a system neutral program and that is fine, but I am so spoiled by having licensed material to use to create whatever I am wanting in a variety of systems that it would be nearly impossible for me to put all the time and effort needed into creating even a fraction of what is available here.

The map creator and look/feel of the map/minis/lighting is very good, but that isn't enough to draw me away from FG.

Hopefully as the boys get Unity up and running similar features can be implemented on an ongoing basis.

[ddavison]

I like the look of what Carl has built in Tabletop Connect. If we could get that sort of graphical mapping features as part of Fantasy Grounds, I think that would be a great solution. The 3D environment would have to be completely optional though. We also want people to be able to work solely in 2D with layers, tiles and other 2D assets, as well as 2.5D assets (basically 2D assets faking 3D..)

[jshauber]

I like the look of what Carl has built in Tabletop Connect. If we could get that sort of graphical mapping features as part of Fantasy Grounds, I think that would be a great solution. The 3D environment would have to be completely optional though. We also want people to be able to work solely in 2D with layers, tiles and other 2D assets, as well as 2.5D assets (basically 2D assets faking 3D..)

Agreed, being able to create the maps and render them in 3D in FG like you can with TTC would be a nice feature but not absolutely critical.

I think I can speak for 99% of FG users and say that the licensed content is the most important aspect of FG anyway. Being able to have all the source material at your fingertips and having the drag/drop functionality and the multitude of things that the Combat Tracker takes care of makes the program infinitely more useful than others especially for GMs.

[lsujonno]

Agreed, being able to create the maps and render them in 3D in FG like you can with TTC would be a nice feature but not absolutely critical.

I think I can speak for 99% of FG users and say that the licensed content is the most important aspect of FG anyway. Being able to have all the source material at your fingertips and having the drag/drop functionality and the multitude of things that the Combat Tracker takes care of makes the program infinitely more useful than others especially for GMs.

I'll second this. Licensed content is what hooked our group.

[Griogre]

Personally, to me, in addition one of FG's best features is minimal prep (ie data input) time. It not just licensed properties, but how it is implemented that allows you to set up a game session quickly and with no more effort than a face to face game. That's why I find 3D environment tabletop interesting but not something I would spend any additional prep the time on.

[Wazoodust]

Agree with the at your fingertips thing, connected to a 5E game one night and the DM had a horrible connection, I ended up being DM for a quick on off thing. That could have never happened without everything being "at my fingertips". I don't tink anything else could be able to do that without any prep, just load the game and run...