DDI VT Beta thread

IronWolf · Dec 4, 2010

mac1504 said:
As I've been evaluating a few VTT solutions lately (d20pro, Maptoools, FG2, etc.) it doesn't seem that any of them do this natively. I've found one suggestion of linking an mp3 or any sound file to a shared online site for everyone to play, but that seems a bit clunky. It would be nice if someone had a solution to playing music and sound effects (outside of the system sounds that the VTT's sometimes play) inside of the application, or even an add-on solution.

If you are using Ventrilo for your voice chat with any of the VTT solutions mentioned above you can use this article to join a second ventrilo client to the channel connected directly to a Winamp instance. Then you can use that instance of Winamp to play background music and sound effects during the course of an online VTT session. It worked really well when I did this and allows you to play back music, sound effects and even pre-recorded NPC conversations if one wished.

UngainlyTitan · Dec 4, 2010

IronWolf said:
If you are using Ventrilo for your voice chat with any of the VTT solutions mentioned above you can use this article to join a second ventrilo client to the channel connected directly to a Winamp instance. Then you can use that instance of Winamp to play background music and sound effects during the course of an online VTT session. It worked really well when I did this and allows you to play back music, sound effects and even pre-recorded NPC conversations if one wished.

The link does not apprear to be working when I click it I get
http://this Article/

IronWolf · Dec 4, 2010

ardoughter said:
The link does not apprear to be working when I click it I get
http://this Article/

Ooops! My fault. Corrected the original post and here is the link:

[GUIDE] Play Music Over Ventrilo

vic20 · Dec 7, 2010

This thread got awfully quiet. Theories:

a) WotC sent out a batch of retroactive NDAs

b) A Tron virus sucked all the testers into "alpha space"

c) It's just. that. good.

d) ?

Ktulu · Dec 7, 2010

C, from my point of view. It's worked very well in the various tests I've gone through. While it definitely needs some necessary features at go-live, it's a great tool for beta use, right now.

I haven't encountered much in the way of bugs or UDF's, and it seems to handle fairly well (much, much better than my failed attempts to ever use OpenRPG, and that was after hours of setup and installation).

I'm going to try and get some more play later this week, as two in my group have beta access, as well.

Aegeri · Dec 7, 2010

vic20 said:
This thread got awfully quiet.

I would think the most logical explanation is DnD is a game played on a weekly basis, so people with it are probably only really using it once a week or so. It will take some time for a good amount of gaming to be had by an individual group using the VTT.

Mustrum_Ridcully · Dec 7, 2010

I don't have enough time between this and testing the Startrek Online Foundry (user Generated Content). But I did run a brief test session with [MENTION=90399]TheClone[/MENTION].

Some more or less random findings so far:

On the right side, there are several expandable areas like initiative tracker and monster stats and the like. Unfortunately, they are mutally exclusive. At least the initiative tracker should be in some (maybe shortened) form always visible. Something like "Active Creature: " "Next Creature: " -> Next
A lot of the map interactions are distributed among multiple "modes", like drag/paint and so on. I can see why it is done, but it's sometimes awkward to first have to switch modes.
To adjust hit points, you first need to open a modal dialog type popup. I would like if there was also a way to edit this "in place".

Currently I probably will stay with the GameTable I already use. But depending on whether we will get the ability to import icons and character and monster data from the respective builders, this could be really good.

I don't really like the design of the application. I suppose that's partially a problem with Java itself. If they had sticked to WPF or Silverlight, I am sure we would have something more attractive. (Platform independency be damned.)

Hussar · Dec 7, 2010

Oh oh oh, Mustrum Ridcully just hit a personal pet peeve of mine with Maptools - customizable initiative tracker messages.

In Maptool, about all you get is a "X player's turn" message, and then, only if that token is a PC token. It's a PITA to have to turn all the monsters into PC tokens. Plus, if you mistakenly delete the token that was used to roll init, then that init slot is removed from the tracker.

Don't do that.

I want the initiative tracker to tell me who is up, AND who is on deck, plus, it should have a tone that you can turn on/off to let people know when turns change. AND it should be set up in such a way that a player can advance his own turn.

The best would be if some sort of James Earl Jones esque voice came on every turn change and said, "Player X, it is your TURN, Player Y, you are on deck!".

Umbran · Dec 7, 2010

vic20 said:
This thread got awfully quiet. Theories:

I cannot speak for others - I got my own invite into the beta last week, and had some technical issues accessing the appropriate forum on WotC's site. Since that time, I've had time to glance at the thing, but haven't gotten into a game to *use* the thing yet.

I would imagine it is similar for many - you play a game when you can fit it into your schedule, and you can find others ready to play. That isn't every minute, you know.

Robtheman · Dec 8, 2010

Effect on RP and player interaction

Situation:
- Large flat screen running the VT.
- Players passing a wireless mouse and pad around the couch.
- Two Beta accounts, one for the DM and one for the players.

Observations from a single three hour session.
1. The players rarely looked at each other.
2. The characters became less real to me, as they were now a small circle as opposed to our carefully selected and painted minis.
3. The players used less dialogue in combat. The final exchange of conversation with the newly introduced BBEG fell flat.

We basically used it as a battle mat, initiative tracker and dice rolling app.

DDI VT Beta thread

IronWolf

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UngainlyTitan

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IronWolf

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vic20

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Ktulu

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Aegeri

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Mustrum_Ridcully

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Hussar

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Umbran

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Robtheman

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