| RetroBoom | 13 Jul 2016 6:17 a.m. PST |
I printed out some maps and minis to play wargames on a small map in 2d, and started thinking about using all the components I made to game digitally instead. Since the goal was to take up less space and be super convenient, it makes a lot of sense. Has anyone does this? Using power point or something else? What works best? Any tricks? Thanks! |
| Mako11 | 13 Jul 2016 6:45 a.m. PST |
I used MS Word to make up some maps, once. Worked okay. Any program that would let you import images of top-down views of vehicles, buildings, etc., would be very nice. |
| BCantwell | 13 Jul 2016 6:51 a.m. PST |
I have occasionally done that for quickie playesting or scenario R&D. It works but is less convenient that you would imagine at first glance, mainly because objects in Power Point are not designed to be grabbed and moved around frequently in that manner, so you run into a lot of issues with pointer placement. If you are in the wrong place you pick the background map instead, or accidentally grab an edge and stretch your unit instead of moving it, etc. It's better than nothing, more convenient than producing a bunch of scaled down maps and counters for similar testing, but less effective than a purpose made environment for digital gaming (e.g. VASSAL) |
| Dynaman8789 | 13 Jul 2016 7:01 a.m. PST |
You might want to look at the following software and websites that allow game hosting like this. Roll20 – website with a free option that is pretty good. Upload your pics of minis and terrain and move them around.
roll20.net Maptools – A program (also free) that allows loading up your files and moving them around. rptools.net |
| Weasel | 13 Jul 2016 7:12 a.m. PST |
I talked to one guy who had run an entire campaign of FiveCore using powerpoint but I lost the emails unfortunately. |
| RetroBoom | 13 Jul 2016 7:22 a.m. PST |
oooOOOooooo, Dynaman, those might be exactly what I;m looking for. Thanks :) Weas, if you find them let me know! I'd be curious to see those even regardless of this topic. |
| RavenscraftCybernetics | 13 Jul 2016 10:00 a.m. PST |
link
this might be what you're looking for. |
| Dynaman8789 | 13 Jul 2016 4:27 p.m. PST |
Vassal is great for gaming but a major pain in the backside to setup a module. Everything has to be in the module before it can be used – the others allow adding things on the fly |
| Dan 055 | 15 Jul 2016 8:49 a.m. PST |
I've often used Microsoft Paint. It is very simple to use, but easily gets the job done. |
| Wolfhag | 15 Jul 2016 1:30 p.m. PST |
Cheesesailor,
Check out Postrazor
YouTube link You can take any image and print it out on your printer for almost any size you want. That means you could take a screen shot from Google Maps or Google Earth or even a board game map and used it as a 2D playing surface. Using a map wherever structures or foliage is on the map place your miniature buildings or terrain at that spot. I hope that helps. Wolfhag |
| Old Contemptibles | 15 Jul 2016 2:19 p.m. PST |
Interesting. But when does it stop being miniatures and becomes a board game? |
| Wolfhag | 15 Jul 2016 5:09 p.m. PST |
Rallynow,
Couldn't you say a miniatures game is a board game played with 3 dimensional playing pieces? When miniatures players use Geohex is it a board game or miniatures game? When someone plays Squad Leader with 1/285 miniatures on a Squad Leader board is it a board game or a miniatures game? The lines are somewhat blurred. I think the Postrazor is good for smaller applications like maybe a town where you can get the great detail from another image or digital map. It also has the advantage of not needing any graphical or model making skills. Wolfhag |
