Coolest. Gaming Set-up. Evar.

[Wulf Ratbane]

I spent three times that much on Dundjinni Platinum. Wish I never had.

I know the feeling.

I love the Dundjinni Users, and the free art, but Dundjinni itself runs HORRIBLE on my machine.

And my laptop is no slouch, don't get me wrong.

But the problem is compounded by the fact that the more Art you have installed (which, theoretically, should make Dundjinni more useful), the slower and slower DJ begins to crawl.

The fact that Dundjinni doesn't support printing on anything other than 8.5x11 paper (or at least it didn't when I finally sh*tcanned it) was the killer for me.

It's just easier for me to lay it all out in Photoshop.

So-- given that I am pretty good with Photoshop and I have access to all of the Dundjinni User art, where would you realistically place my need for NWN?

Wulf

 

[rom90125]

So you want to stick with NWN for interiors. You want to be able do it in the toolset, and you want to keep part of the map hidden from your players so you can reveal the areas only as you need to during play. What can you do?

Thanks Steel_Wind! I will apply this technique and post my results here.

This has got to be one the best DnD-software/hardware threads I've read in these forums. I only wish I had 'discovered' the nwn toolset before spending major $$$ on Dundjinni Platinum.

 

[BeerSkunk]

Most interesting. This thread has now been slashdotted

http://games.slashdot.org/article.p...2146215&tid=209

We made the front page actually - not just the Games section.

Too funny. Entrepreneurs, start your engines!

I was able to use the projector and NWN this past weekend with my gaming group. The response to our first encounter using the projector was amazing. Everyone loved it. We especially enjoyed having animated models for summoned creatures. It looks like this will become a part of our permanent gaming setup.

The only disappointing news is that I was not able to come up with a solution for how to properly mount the projector to something I can break down and move. For last week's session, we just placed a hook in the ceiling and suspended the projector from it. I didn't feel the need to take pictures of a projector hanging precariously from a single hook placed in the ceiling. It was pretty ugly, but it worked.

Right now I'm considering something similar to this. It's a portable stand for hanging professional photography backgrounds. It's a rather bulky solution, but it does exactly what I need it to. It has adjustable height, adjustable width, it's lightweight, and it breaks down for easy storage and portability. The cost is a factor, but I should be able to fabricate a similar solution for much cheaper than actually purchasing one. On the other hand, maybe I'll find a used one on EBay.

I'll keep posting back with updates as I work up a solution for the 'traveling gamer'.

 

[Galfridus]

This looks /very/ cool, and as someone with a decent amount of disposable income I will definitely be trying it out!

One question: my combats are often fairly large (as in, taking up most of a Megamat). It looks like with throw distance and all, the projected area is smaller than most battlemat surfaces. How often has this been a problem, and what solutions have you used?

 

[Boredflak]

One question: my combats are often fairly large (as in, taking up most of a Megamat). It looks like with throw distance and all, the projected area is smaller than most battlemat surfaces. How often has this been a problem, and what solutions have you used?

We get about a 40' wide (200 game ft.) projection on the table. Since my projection surface is in the middle of a larger dry-erase surface, I just move any satellite combat participants off the projected area and write a note next to their mini of how many feet they are from the edge of the projected battle map. It's a pretty rare occurrence for us, but we do a lot of dungeon crawls.

 

[jodyjohnson]

This looks /very/ cool, and as someone with a decent amount of disposable income I will definitely be trying it out!

One question: my combats are often fairly large (as in, taking up most of a Megamat). It looks like with throw distance and all, the projected area is smaller than most battlemat surfaces. How often has this been a problem, and what solutions have you used?

I finished a Photoshop doc of the Slavers Stockade (A2) as a 100" square doc (used Dundjinni for the keep) and run it at 50% exactly (to avoid scaling artifacts). The nice thing about some projectors is that you can do an 'on projector zoom' which is cleaner than the Photoshop zoom for getting precise scale on the table (plus it gets rid of interface). If the map doesn't fit you can adjust the zoom to say 1/2" or 3/4" squares and just be a little more precise with the miniatures. Or zoom out and use small tokens as markers until you can return to 1"=5' scale.

Our image size is 31"x41" but if I use the lens zoom it can get up to 37"x49" (with loss of brightness and resolution: goes from 19 pixels/inch to 16 pixels/inch).

 

[Boredflak]

Right now I'm considering something similar to this. It's a portable stand for hanging professional photography backgrounds. It's a rather bulky solution, but it does exactly what I need it to. It has adjustable height, adjustable width, it's lightweight, and it breaks down for easy storage and portability. The cost is a factor, but I should be able to fabricate a similar solution for much cheaper than actually purchasing one. On the other hand, maybe I'll find a used one on EBay.

You might also want to check out a light stand with a boom arm, but I'm guessing a background rig with two stands and a crosspiece may be cheaper and more stable. My wife is a photographer, and I used to be (I have a B.S. in photography). I know used equipment should be pretty affordable.

One word of caution, be sure to build in a safety mechanism. Background and light stands have a way of getting knocked over! Weights on the legs of the stands usually do the trick. They can be as simple as sandbags. Of course weights reduce the transportability of the solution.

 

[rom90125]

Thanks Steel_Wind! I will apply this technique and post my results here.

I just ran a quick test and these worked great! The only issue I encountered was when I zoomed in with the toolset, the rendering for the black panes was a bit off. From a zoomed out perspective, it appeared everything was hidden, but, when I zoomed in, and the panes were were redrawn, there were gaps between some the panes that allowed the underlying textures to appear. But this is only a minor glitch in an otherwise plausable solution.

Thanks again Steel_Wind!

 

[Nyrath]

I can dream, can't I?

There was a project called Audiopad. It had diagrams projected onto a tabletop. As the user moved plastic tiles, the computer somehow saw them, and changed the music.
Imagine if the computer could somehow see the miniatures on the table. It would know each characters's weapons and spells. It could then do useful utility work, like figuring ranges, calcuating combat, that sort of thing.

 

[Darmanicus]

I'm a great fan of minis also and believe they enhance a game rather than detract from it.

That set up is absolutely awesome, I want one!