FANTASY GROUNDS Goes 3D With TABLETOP CONNECT

Fantasy Grounds, the officially licensed D&D virtual tabletop software, has just acquired Tabletop Connect, a 3D virtual tabletop which was successfully Kickstarted a couple of years ago. "Tabletop Connect is a system-neutral 3D virtual tabletop that lets you connect with your friends to play role-playing games just like you’re around a real table. You play in a true 3D environment—with miniatures, terrain tiles, physics simulated dice, character sheets, and handouts—you can almost feel the dice in your hands." Already one of the big two VTTs (the other being Roll20), this looks like it'll take online virtual tabletop gaming to a whole new level.

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Here's the full press release:

I am pleased to announce that Tabletop Connect has been acquired by SmiteWorks USA, LLC, the developer of the industry leading Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop. As part of this acquisition I will be joining the SmiteWorks team to accelerate the port of Fantasy Grounds to the Unity platform. "

Doug Davison, President and Co-Owner of SmiteWorks added, "We have a distinct vision of what virtual tabletops can and should look like over the coming years and how Smiteworks can accomplish those things with Fantasy Grounds. For that reason, we began porting the core engine for Fantasy Grounds to Unity so that we could streamline and enhance the experience for players and GM's alike and distribute it more easily across all platforms. We've been following the progress of Tabletop Connect since it launched on Kickstarter and we've been very impressed with what Carl has been able to produce as a one-man operation. He shares the same vision we do on many areas and brings a unique level of talent, passion and creativity that is very hard to find. After some great one-on-one discussions, we believe that together we can do more than we could working separately. Work has been progressing on the Unity rebuild for the last year and I am genuinely excited about how the addition of Carl to the team will allow us to speed up the completion of this project and provide additional enhancements to the resulting product. "

During the development of Tabletop Connect your feedback and support have been invaluable. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the next generation of virtual tabletops and to deliver the experience that you deserve.

As a backer of Tabletop Connect, you should soon receive the details of the realignment to Fantasy Grounds and your options during this transition.

Sincerely, thanks again for all of your support and I look forward to you joining me on this exciting new adventure!

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Tabletop Connect is here. Fantasy Grounds is, of course, here.

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[Banesfinger]

Wowzers... that looks fantastic.
But how many years (?) of development before we see a 3D version of Fantasy Grounds?

 

[Miladoon]

IME the 3d experience is only as good as the ability to customize the environment.

 

[GMMichael]

Sooo...there's a niche for people who don't play real TRPGs, and also don't already play video game RPGs? I thought those two had the bases covered.

 

[Morrus]

Sooo...there's a niche for people who don't play real TRPGs, and also don't already play video game RPGs? I thought those two had the bases covered.

You're not familiar with virtual tabletops, play-by-post, and other forms of online gaming? They're very popular, and have been around for quite a while.

 

[BlueDrake]

Fantasy Grounds is a real TRPG. it just happens to be hosted on a virtual tabletop instead of a physical one. I've been running games on it for several years and coupled with Skype it does an amazing job of simulating the real tabletop experience.

In fact it automates quite a bit of the bookkeeping so the game moves faster than it would at a traditional table.

 

[Mr. Flibble]

Sooo...there's a niche for people who don't play real TRPGs, and also don't already play video game RPGs? I thought those two had the bases covered.

There's a very viable niche for gamers who prefer tabletop but aren't able to schedule in-person sessions. A VTT also has some value during a plain old tabletop session.

 

[Miladoon]

TTRPG is the best way, but when your friends and game group are states and or continents apart the VTT works.

 

[GMMichael]

Morrus, one, I'm a hermit. You should know that by now

Two, sure there are other types of gaming, but those gorgeous screenshots are so video game-like that I can hear people saying, "if I'd just play an MMORPG, I'd get the same graphics, and battles would last two minutes instead of two hours." I hope I'm wrong, because Tabletop Connect has some good potential.

 

[Mr. Flibble]

Morrus, one, I'm a hermit. You should know that by now

Two, sure there are other types of gaming, but those gorgeous screenshots are so video game-like that I can hear people saying, "if I'd just play an MMORPG, I'd get the same graphics, and battles would last two minutes instead of two hours." I hope I'm wrong, because Tabletop Connect has some good potential.

I'm sure someone can say that, but they miss what I think are the two big selling points for tabletop: real social contact and options unlimited by software. There's a real, true middle ground here.