>>5714448>>5714557Thank you kind anon, your commendation is very flattering!
Do anons feel the virtual tabletop layouts are helpful? (Pic related a battle from my previous DUNGEONEER quest). Any ideas with how to improve the format?
I probably will still use them from time to time, I like making the dioramas and 2d virtual miniatures hehe. My mental reference is crpgs like IWD BG1,2 and Pillars Of Eternity but also the old warhammer quest and HeroQuest before it yay.
I am using some free no-signup / no login app software I found from Android play, the app (called unimaginatively "3d Virtual Tabletop" lol) is very old and clunky but it works. Unfortunately it does have limitations, I cannot increase the output resolution, the miniatures themselves are locked at fixed upright rectangular portrait aspect ratio and I think there is some restrictions on resizing of the map grid too (I turned it off).
Realistically, a quest thread here is about a max 40-turn game (say at 1 update / day; I usually update multiple times per day but it tends to slow down near the end and weekends etc) So playing it as a pure tabletop wargame would be too slow. I use the virtual tabletop just for illustrative or scene setting purposes (vague placement and positioning of items enemies terrain features) but I noticed that in the previous DUNGEONEER quest players did not really use or reference the map layout that much. So I am not doing skill checks or anything over terrain obstacles I just let players float over them etc
What I also hope for is that players can look at the hidden features of the map and attempt to loot items from it. Eg in the DUNGEONEER quest the Elf lost her rope as it frayed and broke crossing a chasm, but there was a rope lever / wheel nearby (a trap mechanism miniature) I was hoping players would see it and ask to loot the rope from it etc. Similarly there was a guillotine-Head knight trap monster miniature thing, I was hoping the anons would try to loot his axeblade head.
But perhaps not everyone can clearly see the tabletop game images (eg mobile players) so it might be a bit hard to participate that way. I want to make something that combines a crpg like Pillars Of Eternity with the random loot paraphernalia of Escape From Tarkov (LOOT EVERYTHING, look toilet paper!!! ooohhh) maybe will need to create some other setting to explore this.
The final issue with virtual tabletop is that the high quality maps available tend to be cliched "fantasy" settings. So there are LOTS of medieval castles dungeons etc. but finding something like wuxia Asian pagoda is hard (I do have some maps in this area hehe) or say 19th century buildings or something like Passchendaele 1917 trench warfare scene is hard. So by default, virtual tabletop tends to lock you into the generic fantasy look HD maps available, but I am also collecting and hunting for top down / aerial photography and similar videogame screenshot perspectives to augment this.
