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TaleSpire is a beautiful way to play pen and paper RPGs online

talespire.com

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Re: TaleSpire is a beautiful way to play pen and paper RPGs online

#21

Post by Imnimo »

This looks really cool, but I feel like there's just too many obstacles to using this with my group. Right now we use Roll20, which has a LOT of faults. Weird glitches happen basically every session. But it's free, and it works on everyone's computer, and those two benefits outweigh all its faults. To switch to TaleSpire, we'd have to make sure everyone is on a Windows PC (or know how to trick it into running on their non-Windows computer), we'd have to make sure everyone's hardware is capable enough, and we'd have to spend a collective $150 up front. And if anyone else wanted to jump in for a single session, they have to jump through those same hoops.

It feels like the sort of thing that will be great for groups dedicated enough to organize it, though.

Re: TaleSpire is a beautiful way to play pen and paper RPGs online

#22

Post by weavejester »

jfabre wrote: post #18
apocolyps6 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's like comparing a car to a plane. Planes can be impressively fast, but the vast majority of my commute/transportation needs are better served by a car. These are both VTT software. I don't see a reason why one should be above reproach just because its 3d. I get it, 3d makes everything harder, but tbh it also makes playing the games harder. I can use random jpegs and hand drawn maps and direct translations of ex…

Lookup talestavern and talesbazaar those are fan-made websites that host a ton of 3d maps that were built in Talespire and the game is not even popular yet. People will be able to build their own minis, tiles and props very soon. Building homebrew maps in foundry might be fast, it still looks like crap. We're in 2021.

I don't think Dungeondraft maps look bad by any means. I have both Foundry and Talespire, and while I agree that Talespire is very pretty, a 2D map in Foundry is more than acceptable.

The problem Talespire faces is that it does so much less than Foundry. It's like comparing MS Paint to Photoshop. A visually gorgeous MS Paint, don't get me wrong, but one with only a bare minimum of tooling.

I also get the impression that Talespire's future scope is mostly limited to visualisation. It's not aiming to provide character sheets for a hundred different systems, or automate hit and damage rolls, or provide shop and inventory interfaces, or visual-novel style character popups, or drag-and-drop NPC design, or any of the other thousand things you can get a Foundry module for.

Re: TaleSpire is a beautiful way to play pen and paper RPGs online

#23

Post by jdholan »

jfabre wrote: post #12
hresvelgr wrote: post #9

I have looked at this extensively and other VTTs for an internet campaign, and while it is very impressive, there are a few things preventing me from using this myself. 1. No fog of war. You can create zones that have toggling visibility, but its cumbersome and not automatic. 2. No cyberpunk/modern assets. They did make their stretch goal so this will be arriving eventually. 3. No custom audio streaming. I believe yo…

The project is still in its infancy, so yeah they're missing a couple of things. I've been building stuff in it for a while and currently running my first campaign in it. 1. I agree with you, but hidden zones are good enough for now. 3. discord... 4. Meh... I think it's the kind of thing that people complain, but will still pay for. You can't really compare foundry vtt who displays jpegs in a browser with Talespire w…

> You can't really compare foundry vtt who displays jpegs in a browser with Talespire who offers a 3d environment. It's like comparing a car to a plane.

I personally love the modding ability, which allowed creating a nice nostalgic middle ground, an Isometric view which works with 2d rule measurements, and brings back memories of old school RPGs

https://v.redd.it/iz4tui9ykou61/DASH_1080.mp4?source=fallbac...

https://www.foundryvtt-hub.com/package/grape_juice-isometric...

Re: TaleSpire is a beautiful way to play pen and paper RPGs online

#24

Post by SummonToast »

TaleSpire beautiful but I've always found I actually want something simple for RPG playing which is why so many players are using tools like Roll20. In my experience not handling rules is a strength though, as someone who wants to try new RPGs and plays with homebrew the platforms that run the rules for me work against me because unless I implement every homebrew weapon, creature, etc. into the application I'm double checking every roll anyway.

I built my own entry into the VTT space with that in mind before the pandemic with Tableplop[1] when I wasn't happy with the front ends on what was available at the time. My aim is something free, solid and always online to move tokens about a map with fog of war and a simple dice roll syntax. The 2d maps have a lot of weaknesses in judging heights and especially with flying creatures but it's unbeatable for the number of existing assets and maps and for making your own with something like DungeonDraft[2] or DungeonScrawl[3]. 2d also makes it easier to draw lines on a map on the fly and will in the gaps with imagination when you need to improvize, something that does not translate to 3d very well but is the epitome of RPGs for me.

[1] https://tableplop.com/

[2] https://dungeondraft.net/

[3] https://dungeonscrawl.com/

Edit: formatting

Re: TaleSpire is a beautiful way to play pen and paper RPGs online

#26

Post by apocolyps6 »

Imnimo wrote: post #21

This looks really cool, but I feel like there's just too many obstacles to using this with my group. Right now we use Roll20, which has a LOT of faults. Weird glitches happen basically every session. But it's free, and it works on everyone's computer, and those two benefits outweigh all its faults. To switch to TaleSpire, we'd have to make sure everyone is on a Windows PC (or know how to trick it into running on thei…

You should really take a look at FoundryVTT. Its a one-time purchase of $50 if you are willing to self-host it. I've been using it for the past year or so, and I've had almost no issues (none that reading the docs or asking my players to refresh the page didn't fix). The 3rd party support is great, some publishers (Fria Ligan at least but others too) sell modules for their rules systems on Foundry.

Here's a demo: https://demo.foundryvtt.com/join

https://foundryvtt.com/packages/modules

Re: TaleSpire is a beautiful way to play pen and paper RPGs online

#28

Post by cthalupa »

jfabre wrote: post #18
apocolyps6 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's like comparing a car to a plane. Planes can be impressively fast, but the vast majority of my commute/transportation needs are better served by a car. These are both VTT software. I don't see a reason why one should be above reproach just because its 3d. I get it, 3d makes everything harder, but tbh it also makes playing the games harder. I can use random jpegs and hand drawn maps and direct translations of ex…

Lookup talestavern and talesbazaar those are fan-made websites that host a ton of 3d maps that were built in Talespire and the game is not even popular yet. People will be able to build their own minis, tiles and props very soon. Building homebrew maps in foundry might be fast, it still looks like crap. We're in 2021.

>Building homebrew maps in foundry might be fast, it still looks like crap. We're in 2021.

Your attitude towards your competitors is pretty gauche. You dismiss features and the pricing model they have, etc., while they have been incredibly successful.

I'm always looking for interesting advancements in VTT, particularly because I've got a box with a 55" TV mounted in it I can put on top of my table for using them even when playing with friends in person, but as a potential customer, the dismissive attitude you've displayed towards your competitors has turned me off pretty significantly.

Re: TaleSpire is a beautiful way to play pen and paper RPGs online

#29

Post by jonnyree »

hresvelgr wrote: post #9

I have looked at this extensively and other VTTs for an internet campaign, and while it is very impressive, there are a few things preventing me from using this myself. 1. No fog of war. You can create zones that have toggling visibility, but its cumbersome and not automatic. 2. No cyberpunk/modern assets. They did make their stretch goal so this will be arriving eventually. 3. No custom audio streaming. I believe yo…

Hello! One Dev here.

1) This is an area that needs a whole lot iteration. The current Hide Volume approach has been more of a patch while we figure things out. This is certainly one area 3D has complicated things significantly. Looking forward to diving back into it.

2) As you mentioned, this is certainly on the horizon, we've already started dipping our toes into this area and hope to have an ETA by the end of the year.

3) Audio streaming is also something we're looking into.

4) The pricing model has been in discussion a lot. We're trying to avoid maintaining two different builds, so a player only version isn't something we'd like to do. We have been discussing potential pricing models, but, this is likely a conversation which will resume once the full release is imminent. (Post Early-Access)

Foundry and Dungeondraft are both excellent. They pair great together. Our goal with TaleSpire has been one of immersion into the board. Making the interaction with the board feel tactile and fun. And of course being able to both build and play together. Nothing out there quite scratched that itch for us. I now selfishly get this from playing TaleSpire. We still have a good ways to go however.

Thank you very much for your feedback. I would love to see you join us in TaleSpire sometime in the future once these things have been addressed.

Re: TaleSpire is a beautiful way to play pen and paper RPGs online

#30

Post by jonnyree »

trynewideas wrote: post #20

TaleSpire really unfortunately feels like someone had an idea for a 3D VTT and implemented the 3D part first, instead of the VTT part. It's a beautiful 3D map toolkit with assets for a very specific slice of RPG settings, but nothing included to help with the actual game mechanics or organization. And while I get that it's still early days, I don't see anything here that to be excited about where it'll wind up. Strea…

This was very much intentional. For us when playing online, a focus element was missing, something to gather around (I know that sounds a bit vague). We were looking for something that felt a bit like being inside a video game, but allowing the flexibility of a TTRPG system. Help with game mechanics or organization felt secondary, and it still does in our games. There is of course a lot of different players out there. And we are looking into doing some rules integrations. It will unlikely go the route of full automatization though. Being able to build/play/share together, make changes to the board in real time, and the feel of playing is going to take precedence.

TaleSpire isn't going to be right for everyone. Luckily the TTRPG space is incredibly diverse and have excellent creators with different priorities. So it has a lot of people covered.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the game!

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