Coolest. Gaming Set-up. Evar.

[Steel_Wind]

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.

In response to the original question, that sounds about right Jans and it's what we do too.

A larger image would be nice. I would appreciate a crisp and clean 48"+ diagonal view. But in order to do this, you need:

1 - a wide angle lens
2 - an XGA projector running at 1280x1024 native mode
3 - Excellent 2000:1 or better contrast
4 - Extremely bright ANSI lumens output (2200+)
5 - Projector model with enough capability to do all of this in a very limited throw range.

Generally speaking, those specs call for a mid-range projector price, or certainly at the "upper end" of the low range ($1600-2000). Like anything else, technology marches ahead and the capabilities grow. In 12 months such system specs may be de rigeur.

One of the posters in this thread indicated he had orderd a projector with a wide angle lens capable of 50"+ in about 5' foot throw and his posts seemed to reflect that maximum image size was of significant importance to him. My concern was that the contrast on the unit was too low for this but it may be that it will turn out okay. I look forward to his pics showing us what's possible in a limited throw range with his projector.

While a 38"-42" diagonal may seem small, for most purposes this is more than adequate for the vast majority of what you will use the map for at the table. As well, remember that the map image easily scrolls so as the battle moves - you just move the figures a little. Your map is bigger than your projected image size - just not all at once It gets quite intuitive and we have found no problems with such an approach.

And yes, sometimes the bad guys are notionally off the map table entirely and we imagine them "near Mark's knee" or whatever. Overall, the limitations of the set-up are far exceeded by its qualities-in-use.

 

[Lasher Dragon]

Steel Wind - could you eyeball the projector I linked to earlier - I think it was the last part of the previous page - and tell me what your professional opinion is?

 

[Steel_Wind]

Steel Wind - could you eyeball the projector I linked to earlier - I think it was the last part of the previous page - and tell me what your professional opinion is?

I responded last night to that one already. It's on page 6 - you just must have missed it.

 

[Lasher Dragon]

Whoops, thank you kindly Steel Wind. Yeah, seeing as how I will probably be taking the projector over to a buddy's house now & then, I may just go with the PB2220. Then again, that econo mode bulb life might make it worth toting around the extra poundage. Guess I'll just hafta roll some percentile hehehe

 

[Conaill]

Has anyone experimented with hanging a mirror from the ceiling, and bouncing the projector off of that? You could leave the projector sitting on the table, or wherever your laptop is positioned. Makes it much easier to set up and tear down. Plus you wouldn't have so much trouble with throw distance, allowing you to pick a projector with better resolution, light output, or contrast.

The only drawback is that you need a reasonabel size mirror on the ceiling. Let's say you want a 3'x4' projection... you would need a 1.4'x2' mirror on the ceiling for that. Should be a lot lighter than the projector itself, but better make sure it's well secured. I'd rather have a 10 lb projector crash down onto the middle of the table, than a 1lb piece of sheet glass...

 

[paulsometimes]

Although a set up like this is more than likely years down the road for me, I was wondering if there would be some way to project the lines you use for miniatures with the picture projected instead of prejecting onto a battlemat or similar? Thanks.

Paul

 

[Steel_Wind]

Yes. No reason you could not project the grid.

But - in general - you don't want to when you are projecting battlemaps. The beauty of the projector is that the image zooms /scales digitally. This is very handy for a number of reasons depending on your image.

At the same time, in terms of battlemap use, 1" = 5'. That does not change when using standard 3/3.5e miniatures rules. There is, therefore, a great utility in having the image scale independent of the grid.

 

[Boredflak]

Photoshop has a grid that does not resize with the image. You can also set it up with subdivisions. So, for instance, heavy lines every two inches (10') and lighter ones every inch (5').

 

[Steel_Wind]

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!

Yeah. Imprecise alignment of "tile" edges - though in this case the tile is, in fact, a placeable.

These are called "sparklies" in NWN tileset modeling terms. You have NO IDEA how much debugging we do for sparkles when modeling tiles.

But - good news. We have a fix for this. You can automate the whole placeable creation thing via script in the exact centre of the tile.

One of the guys on the team says he can whip up the necessary script. Give me a bit and you should be able to make this bug proof *and* automated.

 

[paulsometimes]

I know I already posted on this topic once about the set up, but I just wanted to say that this topic has re-awakened the geek in me. I haven't gamed in years and have barely scanned a gaming book as well. Saw this on slashdot, checked it out, and immediately the old gamer in me was back to life. Just wanted to say thanks.

Paul