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Tabletop Simulator

tabletopsimulator.com

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Re: Tabletop Simulator

#41

Post by teod »

MikeTheGreat wrote: post #5

I really want to love TTS, and I think that if I had experts to play with (to show me the ropes) then it would be a great game platform for boardgames. I've found it very challenging to get started (to be fair, I was trying to start with HeroQuest - it's not complicated rules-wise, but there's a lot of pieces to move around). I think each game maker can make their own choices about how the UI should work so it's not…

I took at little stab at it earlier this year and made a very basic POC using PhaserJS [https://github.com/te0d/web-tabletop]. You can see what the code does at [https://bored.blue/].

It has a hardcoded background and limited token options, but you can see it live update token positions between the users connected. I actually decided to take another look at it yesterday and I'd like to add some preset game options. And very importantly, add persistence (right now the websocket server keeps each table's state only in memory).

Re: Tabletop Simulator

#42

Post by nullsoldier »

MikeTheGreat wrote: post #5

I really want to love TTS, and I think that if I had experts to play with (to show me the ropes) then it would be a great game platform for boardgames. I've found it very challenging to get started (to be fair, I was trying to start with HeroQuest - it's not complicated rules-wise, but there's a lot of pieces to move around). I think each game maker can make their own choices about how the UI should work so it's not…

Howdy, I'm the developer of Playtable, http://playtable.app/ and I'm really intersted in tackling the usability aspect you are talking about.

TTS is one of the worst systems for usability. It's clunky, runs very slow, and because the interface is not standard UI, it's just programmer game engine UI it comes off as very very hard to use. Currently, the best product out there is Tabletopia in terms of usability, https://tabletopia.com I recommend you give it a try.

On that front, I'm very aggressively attempting to tackle this part of the market because even Tabletopia has major issues with usability in places. Developers often get confused and think these systems require massive user and permissioning systems, and lots of interaction structure, which is a wrong assumption. Turns out people just want to play games. To that I say, stop building token locking systems into engines, stop building complex joining systems!

Playtable requires no account, merely requires you to give a link to your friends to join. The problem is we're only tackling D&D and tabletop RPGs at the moment but I hope we'll expand out to other systems later.

Re: Tabletop Simulator

#43

Post by saluk »

MikeTheGreat wrote: post #5

I really want to love TTS, and I think that if I had experts to play with (to show me the ropes) then it would be a great game platform for boardgames. I've found it very challenging to get started (to be fair, I was trying to start with HeroQuest - it's not complicated rules-wise, but there's a lot of pieces to move around). I think each game maker can make their own choices about how the UI should work so it's not…

Where TTS excels is for designers. It's super quick to change rules in the middle of the game, import new components, make small alterations, you name it. You can open a new table and just start experimenting with the components they give you, and move on to importing new assets when you are ready. And you don't need to code up a ui for it.

This freedom is good for tabletop roleplaying as well, though if you are working within an established ruleset that has an implementation on roll20 or fantasygrounds those give the gm more out of the box automation tools.

Re: Tabletop Simulator

#44

Post by nullsoldier »

Zealotux wrote: post #7
MikeTheGreat wrote: post #5

I really want to love TTS, and I think that if I had experts to play with (to show me the ropes) then it would be a great game platform for boardgames. I've found it very challenging to get started (to be fair, I was trying to start with HeroQuest - it's not complicated rules-wise, but there's a lot of pieces to move around). I think each game maker can make their own choices about how the UI should work so it's not…

Mine! Unfortunately it's still in its very early stages (closed alpha) but let me know if you're interested in trying it out! The goal is to make it as accessible as possible, 2D only, approachable by novice, in-browser only. https://bonfiretabletop.com I would actually love to meet more people in your situation, I myself was kind of fed-up with the current state of TTS, which are either too obscure/complex, or simpl…

Howdy, mine too. Looks like there are a lot of us making VTT's right now. is yours focused around board games, table top rpgs, or all of the above? http://playtable.app

Re: Tabletop Simulator

#45

Post by aloisdg »

nullsoldier wrote: post #42
MikeTheGreat wrote: post #5

I really want to love TTS, and I think that if I had experts to play with (to show me the ropes) then it would be a great game platform for boardgames. I've found it very challenging to get started (to be fair, I was trying to start with HeroQuest - it's not complicated rules-wise, but there's a lot of pieces to move around). I think each game maker can make their own choices about how the UI should work so it's not…

Howdy, I'm the developer of Playtable, http://playtable.app/ and I'm really intersted in tackling the usability aspect you are talking about. TTS is one of the worst systems for usability. It's clunky, runs very slow, and because the interface is not standard UI, it's just programmer game engine UI it comes off as very very hard to use. Currently, the best product out there is Tabletopia in terms of usability, https:…

Do you plan to open source it?

Re: Tabletop Simulator

#46

Post by Zealotux »

nullsoldier wrote: post #44
Zealotux wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mine! Unfortunately it's still in its very early stages (closed alpha) but let me know if you're interested in trying it out! The goal is to make it as accessible as possible, 2D only, approachable by novice, in-browser only. https://bonfiretabletop.com I would actually love to meet more people in your situation, I myself was kind of fed-up with the current state of TTS, which are either too obscure/complex, or simpl…

Howdy, mine too. Looks like there are a lot of us making VTT's right now. is yours focused around board games, table top rpgs, or all of the above? http://playtable.app

We're focusing on RPGs mostly, and working on integrations with popular systems such as D&D. Playtable honestly looks very sweet, I love the 3D that still kind of feel like 2D, I didn't really enjoy the Tabletop Simulator 3D which feels too "clunky" for my taste.

Re: Tabletop Simulator

#47

Post by StavrosK »

exolymph wrote: post #4

My husband adores Tabletop Simulator for D&D, especially because you can import every model under the sun. He has little Dorito bags and tiny Shrek figures. Seriously, wide selection.

On the flip side, we tried it, and it was a huge hassle for our DM to create levels every time, to the point where we couldn't meet as often because of how fiddly creating the levels was. On the players' side, it the UI was dog-slow and clunky as well, so we went back to Roll20.net, though that's not great either.

Re: Tabletop Simulator

#48

Post by burmer »

MikeTheGreat wrote: post #5

I really want to love TTS, and I think that if I had experts to play with (to show me the ropes) then it would be a great game platform for boardgames. I've found it very challenging to get started (to be fair, I was trying to start with HeroQuest - it's not complicated rules-wise, but there's a lot of pieces to move around). I think each game maker can make their own choices about how the UI should work so it's not…

Vassal isn't a physics simulator like TTS, but it's a widely used board game engine.

Re: Tabletop Simulator

#49

Post by bargle0 »

TTS would be great if it were easier to develop modules for it. As it is, there’s no good way to keep your stuff in VCS and collaborate with others.

I tried messing around with it a few months ago, but gave up when it looked like collaborating was going to be difficult.

Re: Tabletop Simulator

#50

Post by readthenotes1 »

MikeTheGreat wrote: post #5

I really want to love TTS, and I think that if I had experts to play with (to show me the ropes) then it would be a great game platform for boardgames. I've found it very challenging to get started (to be fair, I was trying to start with HeroQuest - it's not complicated rules-wise, but there's a lot of pieces to move around). I think each game maker can make their own choices about how the UI should work so it's not…

I've played gloomhaven on it a few times. There's a plug-in that sets everything up for each scenario. It's not quite as easy as in person gloomhaven+gloomhaven helper, but it's pretty close
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