Long distance roleplaying

[Abisai]

Hey folks. I moved 800 miles away from my group and we're trying to keep my character in the group and me playing with some help from computers.

Basically we've got an instant messnger for audio at an annoying audio lag and visual. We routed around the audio lag with a phone from me to a speakerphone on their end. Ideally, we could eliminate that lag in the instant messenger and use one software application and be on with it. I was hoping others would know a solidly used and tested method to eliminate lag in videoconferencing like this. We're connecting at speedy connections on both ends (DSL not telephone modem) and I was hoping it was the application we employed that was to blame.

Silly I know, but I was still hoping to make this work. Thanks for whatever help you can provide.

 

[rvalle]

I've used Fantasy Grounds software (without sound) and it works pretty well (I'm in Chicago and played with a guy in Texas). Others have said they use it with audio with no problems. Basicly FG would eliminate the need for the video (the software tries to be a virtual desktop for RPG's).

There is no built in audio support but you can run any sound software in the background.

www.fantasygrounds.com

rv

 

[Seravin]

Welcome to the boards.

Our Sunday game uses MS Netmeeting and we used it pretty well across both dialup and a cable modem. We've also used Yahoo's messenger (which I don't really like).

Based on experience, I think you can expect lag to happen occasionally, regardless of the application you use; it's the nature of the internet. The art in minimizing the lag is choosing the application settings and making some decisions on whether audio or video is more important to your game.

What we noticed that frequent changes in video tended to overwhelm the audio quality. So we decided to minimize the video since audio was more important. We put our camera on a stand and pointed it at the gaming mat - moving the camera about as necessary. This worked well for us. YMMV

 

[rvalle]

Welcome to the boards.

Our Sunday game uses MS Netmeeting and we used it pretty well across both dialup and a cable modem. We've also used Yahoo's messenger (which I don't really like).

Oh yeah! We did that once as well when a friend moved to Alanta GA. We used a webcam on the battle mat and he used a webcam pointed down into a cup where he rolled dice and we used Netmeeting. It did work pretty well... the remote guy really liked the view point he got from the webcam being on the battlemat.

rv

 

[Zappo]

http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/nodwick/ffn/ffn052.htm

Ahem. As an expert on videoconferencing (well, sorta), I suggest Netmeeting. If that's still laggy, try RAT. It is kinda difficult to use, but it has the absolutely lightest protocol possibile and you won't get less lag than that.

 

[lior_shapira]

Skype(http://www.skype.com) is a really good voice chat software(free). Its pretty much noise free (and I've used it germany-israel quite a lot), and in combination with other tools could be a god solution

 

[Jdvn1]

Hm, we found it easier for my character to leave the party and help indirectly.

I'm currently training about 50 orcs to be holy warriors and planning/setting up an underground super-secret information network.

 

[Guillaume]

Skype(http://www.skype.com) is a really good voice chat software(free). Its pretty much noise free (and I've used it germany-israel quite a lot), and in combination with other tools could be a god solution

Here is another vote for Skype. I have been using it for a few months every time Julie, my wife has to go to Trois-Rivières (450 km away) for her Ph.D.

Never tried Netmeeting outside of videoconferences at the university so I can't comment on that.

 

[Ry]

Personally, I'd forget the video chat, stick with audio only, and use something simple like Screenmonkey for the tabletop. Screenmonkey has practiacally zero learning curve, and if you use the right kind of images it can be nice and quick. I find a lot of the programs that try to handle all the rules for you often get in the way - Screenmonkey is more of a simulated battlemat, not a simulated combat system.

 

[loki44]

I'll second or third Skype as a decent audio chat system and the fact that it's free doesn't hurt. There is lag but it allows for simultaneous talk unlike some others. We've also had a few problems with Skype caused by one person being on a Mac and the others on PC's. Ventrilo is another one I've used that's pretty good. I use that with several longdistance friends when we play World of Warcraft online together. It seems like our conversations are pretty much synched with the game action so there doesn't appear to be much lag.