Playing Vertically

[jcayer]

My group has recently moved to maptools and a projector. Right now I've got the projector overhead, it hits a mirror and shoots down onto the table. It works great, but it's a pain to setup(I need a ladder)

I'm curious if anyone has tried projecting onto a vertical surface, such as a wall. Using the tokens in maptools means we don't need mini's or anything like that. I think seating might be challenging as one side of the table is basically not used. I do think setup/cleanup would be much easier. Also, I could make the map much larger.

So, for those that have done this, how well does it work? Did it take you a while to adjust to not having the map on the table? How does seating work?

 

[Hussar]

I've never tried it, but, I don't see why this wouldn't work. Just a question about lighting though. If you use the projection TV on the wall, do you have to turn the lights down?

 

[Stoat]

I've played this way a lot. It takes a little getting used to, but IMO is a lot of fun.

As you note, the players generally have to leave one side of the table open so nobody has their back to the screen. You'll also need to work out a protocol for how to move the on-screen tokens. In other words, do you pass a mouse around the table, do the players let the DM move their PC's, or do you find some other alternative.

The advantage is that you have a big, full-color map right where everybody can see it. And it leaves the table free for snacks and books.

 

[Harlander]

Maybe you could get a laser pointer, and pass it around for players to point to where they want to move.

 

[jcayer]

The thought for token control was either a wireless mouse, or a laser pointer. Right now we use an IR pen and wiimote hack. If it is a wireless mouse, I could conceivably put my back to the image and shoot it from a ceiling mount, or a pole.

I'm thinking I may need to mock this up before game night and try it out.

Our current projector is only 600 lumens. It works well enough in the current config. I just picked up a newer one on ebay, 3400 lumens, so I would expect that to work, even in summer.

 

[arscott]

The conference rooms in our student union (where my gaming club holds our big events) just got renovated, and now have big flatscreens on the walls. Knowing how tech-savvy some of our GMs are, I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of use they put them to.

 

[jcayer]

The new 3400 lumen projector arrived from Ebay the other day and it's awesome. We played last night and opted to just shoot at the wall. The almost 6 foot wide map was a sight to behold. Even the guy with bad eyes didn't have a problem with seeing it.

I was concerned the players might now like having it right in front of them...they all loved it. I was afraid I'd have a problem seeing it, didn't really need to with the Maptools DM laptop in front of me.

We did go with the laser pointer and map tools has a coordinate system you can drop on with the grid. Each player did his own thing. Some liked the laser, others the coordinates. I think next time I'll give them their own laptop and have them control their tokens...probably a wireless mouse.
I'd love to get a tablet to run maptools, then they could pass it around and each of them could just drag their token around on their turn.