Coolest. Gaming Set-up. Evar.

[Steel_Wind]

Steel_Wind, thanks for taking the time to put this together. I regret I have not had any success with implementation.

The only issue I had with the files I downloaded from your site was that I had to cut/paste the two 'black plane' entries into my *.2da file

If you have any suggestions....

I know what the problem is.

You are cutting and pasting in the placeables.2da file. That means that your appearance is not going to show up correctly as the line the Plane15 erf expects to find the appearance on in the 2da has been changed in *your* 2da. This is a standard problem with NWN custom content and let me tell you - BioWare wishes they had that one to do all over again in terms of tech design...

Anyways, The Fix:

Place the mdl files into your override directory.
Import the planeblocker .erf as in the read me
DO NOT import the Plane15.erf - That's what's causing the problem.

You will need to edit your placeables .2da by pasting in the entries out of the most recent placeables.2da in the last rar. Extract the placeables.2da from the hak you are using. Copy+paste in the lines into your 2da at the bottom of the list. If you are using a hak (my guess is you are using the CEP) any modified placeables.2da will *not* work in the override directory. Files in the Override filder do NOT override haks. It will need to go into a hak and that hak should be added to your module via the custom content tab and placed in highest priorty (top of the list) in the hak list - so that it is above the CEP. This means it will get loaded in priority and not itself be overridden by a higher priority hak.

You can create a hack by using NWhak.exe. IT is in your \nwn\utils folder.

So - you've got your mod open - you've added your hak with your modified placeable.2da in via module properties. You've saved the mod. You've closed the mod and reopened it, to make sure the correct 2da is loaded in the toolset.

Then, create a placeable for the planeblocker in the toolset. When you do, make sure you call it Plane15 when first creating it. This will ensure the Resref for the model is "plane15" - which is what it needs to be for the script to work. Check the placeable's properties, under Advanced Tab> "Blueprint Resref". It should read "plane15"

If the resref is still wrong, find out what the resref is and write it down. Edit the script inc_coverarea. At line 21, change the blue word in quotes, currently "plane15" to whatever your resref is. Save and compile the script and ignore any warnings. (Click yes).

Then follow the read me. It will work.

 

[rom90125]

I know what the problem is.

Thanks again Steel_Wind, this is now working! I sincerely appreciate your efforts with getting this to work. It was not my intention to hijack this thread away from projectors. I will let you know how this works after our session tonight.

 

[Steel_Wind]

You are welcome

If you really want to thank me - either use your own - or get one of your players to bring a digital cam to the game tonight and post pics of your setup and results.

Pics say thank-you in the sweetest way

 

[rom90125]

You are welcome

If you really want to thank me - either use your own - or get one of your players to bring a digital cam to the game tonight and post pics of your setup and results.

Pics say thank-you in the sweetest way

Totally planned on taking pics with my digital! We don't have a 'real' projector just yet, we are using an InFocus LP750 borrowed from work. Because it is such an old projector, and our throw distance is limited, we don't get much in the way of an image, but I will make sure I get some good shots to post here.

 

[Luke]

Suggestion: Replace the miniatures and computerize game mechanics

Very cool!

I think that this would be perfect if solid miniatures were replaced by graphical images that appeared on the map directly. You could get a massive benefit by being able to target creatures using a mouse, and have software automatically work out all the numbers for you.

I've worked hard to produce such a setup, which I think would work really well with a projector. Here's what I have so far:

• The mapper has all of the pan/zoom/hide/reveal features of Tabletop Mapper.
• There are invisible layers where the DM can hide specific floors, creatures or objects, which can be revealed to players when appropriate.
• You can use an image map background (from NWN, Dunjinni, CC2, whatever), or you can use the built-in mapper. Using the built-in mapper lets you construct big maps which still give you perfect images when you zoom right in. Its a lot faster than creating lots of small images at the right resolution.
• The creatures and map description icons go on top of everything else, and can be dragged around separately to everything else.
• You can target and do actions using a mouse (attacks, saves, skill checks etc) which is where the real time and ease payoff is for losing the miniatures. You can get very quick results, or check through every modifier of every action, optionally substituting your own dice rolls.
• You can make use of a Player's Window. This lets the DM look at a full version of the map, whilst the players only see the revealed sections on their map.
• My Dell laptop has an nVidia card that gives a 2nd monitor. I would use the 2nd monitor for a full Player Window, and send that to the projector.
• Alternatively, you can network 2 computers together, and send the players monitor to the projector. That allows players to move their own characters around, within their restricted map view.

This isn't necessarily the view I'd use (and its a very crappy map example), but this image demonstrates a DM view of combining computerized mechanics with mapping:

There is a cost to this ($24 shareware), but I don't have a projector, and would be very happy to give you a copy of RolePlayingMaster if you wanted to try it. I'd be very keen to hear about how it goes.

If anybody here wants to try this out on a projector system they have, please feel free to e-mail me.

 

[Luke]

It also occurs to me (fairly obviously) that if you use software that moves PCs and creatures on the map, rather than use miniatures, then you can project onto a wall rather than a tabletop.
Thats got to be a lot safer and easier for most people...

 

[jodyjohnson]

First session with the projector set-up was Friday night.

The Set-up: Permanent 4' x 8' gaming table with 8" deep shelf underneath -- wired for power and network connections. 4 players with laptops (off the table on TV trays) and DM running from a desktop on an end table. nVidia FX5200 card installed for desktop spanning.

The Projector: Hitachi CP-S225 WAT projector resting flat on a shelf permanently attached above the table. About 9" away is a 1' square mirror attached to a board mounted from the ceiling. The mirror reflects the image into the table center.

The Map: 1400 lumens at a 4.9 foot throw and smallest zoom was actually too bright so I switched to 'whisper' mode and zoomed out as large as possible. The image was more comfortable and still plenty bright (there is a 75watt light directly above the map for room light. We're using the back of our old matte board grids as a surface (2 32"x40" sheets).

The image size was 38" x 49" (62" diagonal). For reference that's bigger than the Darlene Greyhawk map and just smaller than the new Greyhawk maps from Dungeon. From the center of the map the party can see 80' in all directions.

For projection I set Photoshop at 25% and then used the projection digital zoom to set scale to 1"=5'. This also served to get rid of the interface. If menus were needed they were just a button away (Zoom Off/Zoom On). All the other Photoshop windows were kept on the DM monitor along with the Excel combat sheet.

The Adventure: A2 (Slavers' Stockade). I duplicated the original map pieces with Dundjinni (which maxes at 32"x40"). The stockade took 3 map pieces and the dungeon took 4. Each map also had a hidden version, and the stockade had extra map layers for the second floor and gatehouses. All the pieces were combined in Photoshop and I added masking layers and a large border as a buffer for projection. Exported from Dundjinni at 40 pixels/inch and the Photoshop docs match that.

The Session: After a late start and updates to characters from the previous session we played up to the Stockade. The projector has 'Blank' so I popped it off when it wasn't needed. I zoomed all the way out to give them the general layout from a nearby hill (the roof obscured the room layout) then reset to 25%. They used a writ gained earlier to bypass the gatehouses and entered the main stockade. A few traps, fights, noncombat encounters and empty rooms later they were about half done with the stockade level. We got a bit more done than normal and the group remarked that it was more focused than usual (laptops tend to be a distraction). The trick/trap reveals ended up adding to the overall role-playing level (we split about 80% hack/20% role-play normally).

The debrief: I explained why we would keep the ~$1200 in MasterMaze as I set a McFarlane Komodo on the table which obsures a big chunk of map. Plus we don't always want to prep maps for basic caves, tunnels, and small crypts when using the MM is still faster.

Originally the contrast of the image seemed poor but adjusting the contrast in Photoshop by 30% popped the image right out (the projector does 500:1). For out of production LCD projectors 500:1 is good. It's low for DLP but if you have a light shining directly on the screen most of that high contrast goes away (personally I crossed DLPs off my list for potential eye strain from the rainbow effect).

An SVGA projector at 38"x49" means less than 16 pixels/inch on the table. So yes, we could see 'screendoor' and the map was pixelated. I'll probably skip tiny features (sconces, small details) and stick with the larger distinct items on future maps. With our normal grid at 1 pixel per inch (the battlemat grid) this pixelation was acceptable. If the tradeoff is 200 pixel/inch printed maps at 8.5"x11" or our huge map at 15/inch we go with the big map. XGA would be 25% better but we'd have to go to UXGA (1600x1200) to really get a fantastic image. Of course those are $15k+ and weigh 30lbs or more.

The Bottom Line: One used SVGA projector in pristine condition $510 on Ebay. One dual friendly graphic card $50. 25' VGA cable $12. Shipping $20. Mirror Tiles 6/$6. Brackets, washers, screws, mirror mounts $8. Dundjinni and Photoshop already owned. Cost was half what we spent on MasterMaze and less than my yearly miniature spending. Printing off 32"x40" maps at Kinko's would eat that up quickly (15 sheets of 8.5x11 photo paper isn't cheap either - basic Slaver Stockade maps: 105 sheets).

Pictures should come later.

 

[Boredflak]

Great write-up jodyjohnson. Definitely send pix!

Your setup sounds like it would meet with approval from the folks that have sent me warnings about running a projector while it's tilted too much (as in 90 degrees).

Did you have any problem with keystone distortion?

 

[Nikmal]

That is a cool setup, but I'm a miniatures-hater and I'm still not convinced. NWN may be good for generic dungeon-hacks, but it can't imitate the fantastic glory of a setting like Planescape, where my players last month visited a burg perched on a huge stalagmite column which had titanic blades and chains spinning around it generating steam power. How would you ever show that in NWN? The place looks 10x better in my imagination that in any generic NWN tileset.

Well until something better comes along would it not be worth the try especially with todays hak paks out there and improved tilesets.. you also forget that one can switich over to 3d mode with this on the atable and show the actual scene they see.. so yes you can show the spinning blades and some other cool spell affects. (there is also the fact that you can not show the cool effect you are thinking about without something similar to this now... ) But then again like you mentioned one would have to invest or re-invest in some more minis I just thought that while I was reading through this thread that I would comment on this one because I am such a huge fan of NWN and what it has accomplished so far especially with the community support it has thus far!
-jon

 

[Nikmal]

Finally... 'NWN tools are available to anyone reading this'... you missed a clause. 'Who uses a PC rather than a Mac.' Not that I'm still bitter or anything.

Sorry if this already been covered in another post... but there is NWN toolsets out there for a Mac just as easily as there are for the PC.. so yes you could use a MAc! My wife does and she plays NWN and makes campaigns in it too
-jon