DDI - What's happening to the Virtual Game Table and Character Visualiser?

[Lord Zardoz]

Forgive me if this has been answered before, but does anyone know what’s happening with the Virtual Game Table and Character Visualiser as promised by WOTC. It seems that all word has gone dead on this subject (and I'm a subscriber too.)

I may be making an assumption but, from what I picked up regarding the results of WOTC resent customer survey, is that these projects may have been axed and replaced with what they are calling campaign tools. (In my games, campaign tools are what I call a notebook and a writing implement).

I am not in any way informed about the internal development process at Wizards. But as a reasonably experienced game developer, I think I have a good idea about what happened.

The Virtual gaming table is at least as complicated as a video game, and the customer base that Wizards expects to use it would be people who play D&D and are comfortable playing games over the internet. It is a safe assumption that this customer base also plays Videogames, and would expect the graphics to be at least competitive with that. So to make the Virtual game table a success, they need to have several things.

- At least adequate 3d graphics, including models for players, monsters.
--- This includes basic animation unless they are ok with supporting static 'minis'.
- Networking code that allows online multi-player, and a 'matchmaking' mechanism for a DM to create a table and for the players to find it (same as finding any other online multi-player game, be it an FPS or RTS, etc).
- The ability to tie into the Rules compendiums
- A means of adding new content for monsters, magic items, new classes, etc
- A powerful map editor tool that can support dungeons and outdoor environments
- The player editor to create characters

All of this is not easy, and that just gets people into the game

And if they wanted the tool to satisfy the expectations of customers used to playing World of Warcraft
- A means to 'save' a game
- An interface to allow DMs to track the health and abilities of multiple monsters
- An interface to allow DM's to create adventures
- the means to run D&D combats in a turn based manner.

I suspect that Wizards grossly underestimated the difficulty of the project, and did not give the developers the time or the budget to do it right. I suspect that someone got their hands on the 'finished' version and realized that releasing it in its current state would be a failure.

Right now, I suspect the tool is in Development Hell.

END COMUNICATION

 

[CubeKnight]

Working for a RPG company and developing their consumer applications would be cool, too. Especially since they developed the Character Builder with WPF and .NET, technologies I really love to use these days.

Lucky you. Been itching to go back to .NET lately, but nooooooooo, all of my work is in web development.
*sigh* I hate Ajax.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Good riddance to the character visualizer, in my opinion.

I thought it did a fine job of making transsexual characters.

 

[Herschel]

I thought it did a fine job of making transsexual characters.

don't you mean intersexed?

 

[Shemeska]

I suspect that Wizards grossly underestimated the difficulty of the project, and did not give the developers the time or the budget to do it right. I suspect that someone got their hands on the 'finished' version and realized that releasing it in its current state would be a failure.

Oh, they provided a budget for it. A big one. They spent a mint on the outsourcing, and now the in-house developers (those that have not been hit by the layoffs, announced or not) are left to deal with the aftermath, and subsequent lack of resources that has them only able to focus on one thing at a time (and even then they have to divert people to keep the CB and compendium updated). They did a great job with the character builder, and they seem proud of their work on it, but from what I've been told, they simply don't have the people available for starting over from scratch on the VTT, which is what it would probably take to see it released.

 

[Xyxox]

Good riddance to the character visualizer, in my opinion.

I don't think the VTT is dead. When I complimented someone at WotC on the character builder, they mentioned that they'd stopped working on five things at once and poured all their resources into making the one piece of software really good. They're doing the same thing with the tools now. I suspect that once the tools are in good shape and published, they'll tackle the VTT. Folks like you, Iron Dog, who really need a VTT to play, is a market they don't want to neglect if they can help it.

I'm considering a DDI subsctiption even though I'm not playing 4E at all right now. Mostly because of the unbiased opinions I've read from subscribers.

 

[avin]

The graphics VTT were going to use was horribly outdated.

Give it to a 3rd party that can do a decent 4E game and it's fine.

 

[Iron Dog]

The Virtual gaming table is at least as complicated as a video game, and the customer base that Wizards expects to use it would be people who play D&D and are comfortable playing games over the internet. It is a safe assumption that this customer base also plays Videogames, and would expect the graphics to be at least competitive with that. So to make the Virtual game table a success, they need to have several things.

I thing that this would be a fail one WoTC part, on of the major things about Role-Playing-Games is that they are “Pro-active”, as far as video games go they are “Re-active”. The market that is more interested in video game would soon get bored of a virtual gaming table because they would have to put work into it to get something out of it, create adventures, design characters, and actually play and not just click a mouse button in response to what they see on a screen. A polished version of Maptools is all they need with reference to D&D source rules. If they were trying to get the video game market with “eye-candy” and an in-built DM rules engine then there is always D&D Stormreach.

 

[Cardboard Carnage]

Can anyone provide some links and recommendations for online gaming environments that would work in running a 4e game? I searched around and found some that appeared to be setup for 3.5

Some old time gamer friends that I used to play with waayy back in the 1e day (we all now live in different states) were planning on using the WOTC VTT when it was out, but since that is scrubbed I'd like to look elsewhere. It would be fun to get the old gang back for another adventure.

Thanks,
D.

 

[Iron Dog]

Can anyone provide some links and recommendations for online gaming environments......

RPTools - Home

Although MAPTools does not have 4th edition material incorporated per say, (as that would be a copywrite infringement) you can develop macros and frameworks to incorporate such like, unlike 3.xrd edition which is more “open”, republishing 4th edition material to the general public is a big no no. So you would be hard pressed to find anyone that’s done a complete integration work of such martial to share to you.

Mind you I use maptools for my home games, solely as a miniature map board, I hook up the comp to the living room TV, have a DM view on my monitor and the players view running on the TV. (something that the VTT was said to be able to do, so it wasn't JUST for online play)