General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
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Disclaimer: I helped generate a portion of the material for this text, providing a few derro items and one of the monsters. However, I did buy my print copy of this book. My PDF was provided by... [Read More]
Disclaimer: I contributed a bit of material (Some monsters and one background option) for this book by virtue of working on _Halls of the Mountain King_. I was not otherwise directly involved in its... [Read More]
The first thing that grabs you about the Imperial Gazetteer is the cover. Malcolm McClinton has once again put together a gorgeous image that wraps around to the back. It's fantastic piece of art and... [Read More]
This is not the first Doctor Who RPG. The first one published was a system created by FASA back in the mid 1980s, which used a similar system to their Star Trek RPG. I used to run that game back in... [Read More]
As an adjunct, our gaming group recently decided to build our own battlemat - I believe our illustrious carpenter spent all of $15. for a 5'x8' piece of "shower wall board" which we scored with a box cutter in a 1" grid. Voila! a battlemat wich will readily take dry erase or wet erase markers, and would be an ideal surface for this top-down projection idea!
can it unhide in a radius? like character's using a torch?
This is one of the things I like about using Photoshop. I can reveal exactly what I want.
Other Photoshop niceties:
- Really easy zooming so you can see the whole layout.
- Scrolling via the "hand tool" - much faster and more accurate than using scroll bars.
- Great spell area effects including transparency, outlining, snap-to-grid, snap-to-center.
- Auto grid creation when needed.
- Full screen mode on the projector with tool palettes and menus on the computer display.
- Text tool for player notes.
- Layers and layer sets for organizing map elements (you can even have multiple maps in one document).
Of course there are some drawbacks:
Price - At $650 it's almost as expensive as the projector. Photoshop Elements is "only" $100, but I'm not familiar with it's features. Price alone will rule this out for many folks.
Complexity - Photoshop is a professional image editing program. It's complicated. Don't think you're going to learn it easily.
Difficulty - It takes some practice to become proficient in using all of the tools and brushes. I've become very adroit and fast at editing maps in-game, but the first few game sessions were a bit tedious.
Mad props to youse guys. Very clever, and I'm quite jealous
__________________ "And once again, tithing is 10% off the top. That's gross income, not net. Please people, don't force us to audit. Now I'm going to pass this around a second time. Brother Ned, you'll do the honors." - Reverend T. Lovejoy
A neat trick you could use in photoshop would be to cover the entire map with a black layer, and use the erase tool on that layer to reveal what the PC's can see - this wold eliminate any need to pre-prep areas to mask off...
This may be what Steel Wind was referring to, but he wasn't specific enough for me to tell...
__________________ "I hurt Firewing." is not something a huge number of people can say. "He dropped a parking garage on me," on the other hand, a lot of people can say. -Kazan, my Champions GM.
A neat trick you could use in photoshop would be to cover the entire map with a black layer, and use the erase tool on that layer to reveal what the PC's can see - this wold eliminate any need to pre-prep areas to mask off...
That's exactly what I do with my setup. Though I usually grab a sample of the "negative space" texture and tile it for the mask (or fog of war) layer instead of just using a solid black color. Here's a screenshot of a projected map:
The red secret door and trap symbols are on separate layers that I reveal when the players discover them.
I use a combination of the erase tool (with lots of shift-clicking to erase in straight lines) and the marquee tool to remove portions of the mask layer.
I asked Lionheart Communications (the PR firm that released the article):
Quote:
Hello –
I was hoping to get some more detailed specifications on the PocketProjector. Of most concern are the light level outputs on this small unit.
Thanks –
I got a fast reply:
Quote:
Originally Posted by lionheartpr
Thank you for your interest in the PocketProjector. As this product is still in development, specs have not yet been finalized. Please check the Mitsubishi website www.mitsubishi-presentations.com for more information as we get closer to our ship date in July.
Looks like July. Until then I will have to use the screen that came on my laptop.
No offense to your players, but I can never understand that, especially those people who spend every week playing. If you spend that much time playing, why not invest in your game some more. At least buy the damn book!
I have a theory that the less people play, the more books they buy. Maybe it's because you're too busy playing to read...
Not everyone has the 20-30 to spend on a book. That is lot of money to some folks. Some people don't have the spare cash or have it earmarked for other things.
- Really easy zooming so you can see the whole layout.
- Scrolling via the "hand tool" - much faster and more accurate than using scroll bars.
- Great spell area effects including transparency, outlining, snap-to-grid, snap-to-center.
- Auto grid creation when needed.
- Full screen mode on the projector with tool palettes and menus on the computer display.
- Text tool for player notes.
- Layers and layer sets for organizing map elements (you can even have multiple maps in one document).
Of course there are some drawbacks:
Price - At $650 it's almost as expensive as the projector. Photoshop Elements is "only" $100, but I'm not familiar with it's features. Price alone will rule this out for many folks.
Complexity - Photoshop is a professional image editing program. It's complicated. Don't think you're going to learn it easily.
Difficulty - It takes some practice to become proficient in using all of the tools and brushes. I've become very adroit and fast at editing maps in-game, but the first few game sessions were a bit tedious.
Jasc Software's Paint Shop Pro can accomplish any of the tasks you outlined, provided it's version 7 or later.
It's much simpler and easier to use than Photoshop, and it retails for, IIRC, $50 US. If not, it's less than $100.
Now while I wait for it to arrive I get to rearrange my game room, tweak lighting (got a lamp in the way of the projector to take down.) figure out how on earth I'm going to securely attach it to the joist overhead (while leaving it easily removable) and (the fun bit) upgrade my "server box" with spare parts I've had lying around for awhile to use as the map machine.
I'm going crazy with excitement!
Oh, and it seems that Dell special has ended on the MP2200. At least the link I gave earlier doesn't show the $719 price anymore. (I had practically decided on it, but when I saw it was now $899 I decided that the extra $250 wasn't such a stretch. (I just didn't want to go that extra bit for the Dell 2300MP.)
Anyway. I'll be sure to follow-up here with my experiences and possibly game-room photos!
__________________ "No man should outlive his fictional wizard. No man!" - Homer J. Simpson
The BenQ PB6200 is a nice unit. At 1700 ANSI, its a little bit brighter than the one we use (ours is 1600 ANSI) and yours is 1024 x 768 native mode. Very nice rig. HDTV compatible too
Many projectors of these types are designed to be mounted (though not projecting downwards!), and have mounting kits available. Even if they don't, most have screw holes in the bottom that should help you come up with a mounting solution that isn't too difficult.
__________________ "I hurt Firewing." is not something a huge number of people can say. "He dropped a parking garage on me," on the other hand, a lot of people can say. -Kazan, my Champions GM.
They have a Refurbished PB6200 for $999 with just a 1 year warrenty from BenQ and they have a New PB6200 for $1149 with a $50 mail-in rebate. After some reasonable searching that seemed like the best prices I could find. Normally I would have gone with NewEgg.Com (who has it for $1199 with a $50 mail-in rebate) as I just prefer them for buying practically anything they sell, but Tiger Direct actually has a retail center not too far from me. I figure if I have any complaints I can probably bring it in there and have someone to yell at.
I thought about one of the mounts for it, but I wasn't sure if they would hold it vertically very well. I'll have to look at some.
Your wire cradle looks neat and cheap too. Hopefully I can find something similar that makes me confident.
__________________ "No man should outlive his fictional wizard. No man!" - Homer J. Simpson
Not everyone has the 20-30 to spend on a book. That is lot of money to some folks. Some people don't have the spare cash or have it earmarked for other things.
I understand that, as do the the people on these boards i'm sure. Therefore I suggest two alternatives:
1) Ask to borrow a Players Handbook. If you have any questions then call your gaming group or sign on here so we can answer your questions about problems designing your character.
2) They can always download PARTS (not all) of the SRD if they wish here or here.
They don't have even print it out. They can always take a look at it online and work from there.
Hi Steelwind,
This set up is truly amazing and has me really wanting to potentially try this. However, I noticed that you were thinking of doing a "guide" to this. When will that be out? Will it include all the necessary "hardware" (assorted options; things to look consider; mounting etc) along with software required and potentially ballpark prices? I showed this thread to my group and they were drooling over it! Please let me know when this guide will be done!! Thanks.
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