FGII for non-RPG games?

[mearrin69]

So, I've been spending some time going through FGII code, documenting for myself and trying to understand everything, and it seems to me that adapting the app to play things like Car Wars, Ogre, Necromunda, etc. wouldn't be much more difficult (or even less so) than creating a new (especially non-D20) ruleset for RPGs.

I'm sure I'm not the first to think about this - anyone done any work towards this sort of thing? Just curious.
M

[terrell]

You are not; a friend of mine and I started working on the idea with FGI. I have not begun the work in FGII, but I plan to develop a few skirmish level game rulesets (Mordheim, Six Gun Sound, etc.) It will be this fall before I really get to sink my teeth into the development. I would love to see any progress you make.

Terrell

[DrClarke]

I was thinking FG2 would accept a Descent ruleset fairly easily. Most of the structure is already there. Heck, D&D Miniatures would probably not be too difficult for the pro modders.

[mearrin69]

Still learning here, so I doubt I'll make much progress for a while. I was thinking Car Wars might be a fun one to try. Adapting the combat tracker to serve as the speed/phase tracker should be possible and the 'character sheets' are fairly simple.
M

[Oberoten]

Actually playing BloodBowl quite a bit... :)

Especially when the other's are doing stuff away from the group. :)

[mr_h]

Actually playing BloodBowl quite a bit... :)

Especially when the other's are doing stuff away from the group. :)

There's an awesome Java client for Blood Bowl, does most of the rolling and skill stuff for you. It's pretty nice.

Also Fumbbl has some a nice site to handle leagues, etc.

Love that game :D

[Oberoten]

Yeah, but we usually just have the GM open the board for us. :)
And then we fiddle the tokens around in the background while Stuffer goes on a quest on his own...

[joshuha]

Few things I have been thinking out now with LUA scripting. Board games and strategy miniature games are pretty doable with the power of LUA.

Some things we need though to make it complete:
-Access to token radial menu options (to assign custom right click functions to tokens).
-Ability to select multiple tokens at once (for things like Warhammer).
-Hex support

But barring this, I have an engine in mind that I think would be perfect to run DDM style mini games. I want to do the Descent board game too just need better support for tiles and that could be done pretty easily too.

[Sigurd]

It is deffinately on the horizon for virtual terminal games, if not already here. The only question is will FG2 be a favoured platform for it or not.

I'd be interested in any success people have had with this sort of thing.


Sigurd

[Dachannien]

Few things I have been thinking out now with LUA scripting. Board games and strategy miniature games are pretty doable with the power of LUA.

Some things we need though to make it complete:
-Access to token radial menu options (to assign custom right click functions to tokens).
-Ability to select multiple tokens at once (for things like Warhammer).
-Hex support

But barring this, I have an engine in mind that I think would be perfect to run DDM style mini games. I want to do the Descent board game too just need better support for tiles and that could be done pretty easily too.

One thing I've been pondering is whether there is a way to make tokens a limited resource that can be moved from one map to another. The reason this is an issue is because (a) you can presumably delete a token at any time, and there's nothing we can do to prevent it, (b) you can put a token on the desktop, which could complicate matters, and (c) you can't move a token directly from one map to another, because when you drop it, it lands on the desktop instead of the second map.

A closely related idea would be dealing out cards using tokens. Randomly generating numbers isn't a problem, but I'm wondering whether there would be problems associated with keeping the deck consistent with all the card tokens flying about and possibly being deleted at arbitrary moments.

Of course, I haven't had the chance to sit down and work this stuff all out yet on paper or in code, so maybe/hopefully the problems will be easy to figure out ;)

[Casamordius]

it's already there...
have a look at https://www.vassalengine.org

there are a lot of modules for many boardgames.
it's just not as beautifull as we are used to when gaming with fg

[Sigurd]

I was actually thinking of the vassal game engine while I was writing the previous post. I want to give them their due but I think the FG interface with its pleasant table and simple sign on is a huge advantage.

I looked at vassal 6 months ago but it just wasn't 'nice' like FG. Environment is a huge factor for board games because a program needs players who are casual as well as die hard. It would be fun to play board games in FG mostly because it could be easy.

Also, central in my mind, is the absense of a vital FG Company Server. I think I'd reject any plan that made me beholden to a commercial server.


Sigurd

[Casamordius]

You're right, Sigurd...

the features of vassal are very nice - hidden movement, stacking, cards, private areas and so on..

but it's just not that nice an beautiful as fg is...

I would apreciate if fg would develop in this direction or - maybe better - if there would be a product variant especially designed for boardgames.