The perfect online gaming table?

[Grimwell]

I'm splintering a tangent off of a poll I created in the D&D forum because I think that it's an interesting topic of discussion. It's also a broader one than D&D.

It's actually pretty simple too:

What features are you looking for in an online gaming table? I moved this out of the D&D sub-forum because the features are likely to be system indifferent.

I can assume dice rollers and a baseline method of text chat, but what else? How would you prefer to pay for those features? Do you want it centrally hosted on convenient servers, or would you rather it be a peer to peer system with the GM hosting? What are your "must have" features and what are "this would really be nice?"

[DeathByDM]

It definitely needs to have a fully customizable map/terrain builder.

Movement needs to be automatically calculated taking into account difficult terrain and hard corners. I'd like to see something like in the tactics games where when you decide to move you get a visual of what squares you can get to.

Voice chat should be integrated as well as having text available. I'd like to see a text-to-speech option included.

It would be really cool also if the DM could upload MP3s and have battle and environment sounds and/or music.

Basically, I'd like to see something that does everything but the role playing.

[Valdar]

Ideally, and I don't know how this would be implemented, the setup would include remote players at a traditional tabletop game. Somehow you'd have to get your physical map and minis into the computer for the remote players to see, and there would be a point that the DM would "sync" the remote players' moves with the physical board. Perhaps some sort of tablet controller for the map, and smartcard chips that glue to the base of your minis? Or have a camera pointed at the board, and have the computer able to parse out the image into a virtual map?

This way, half your players could show up and do the pizza and chips thing, hang out, and have fun, and those constrained by distance or time could join in remotely and not miss out.

We have two players who can't play with us (one because of too tight a schedule with school, one who moved away) that I'd love to have back at the table, if only virtually-

[MortonStromgal]

I really like screen monkey, its not pretty but it does everything I need when combined with yim/msn messenger using voice.

[1958Fury]

Of course, the die rollers, with customizable buttons for your most commonly used tasks (attack with longsword, disable trap, etc).

No fees. If that means it's strictly P2P/LAN, so be it.

Has enough features that it's even a useful tool offline, like for a DM to use while running a session in person.

Has all the game's rules integrated, allows you to load up different rulesets. (3e, 3.5, 4e, Star Wars, etc.) Allows you to customize house rules, and save them as a unique ruleset.

Allows you to create your own miniatures/avatars/pogs.

Lets you put in your character sheet, and keeps track of things for you - current hit points, number of spells/powers/surges/etc you have left today, and so on. Makes the appropriate changes to your character sheet, so you can print it out after the session. Helps you create & level up your character using official (or house) rules.

Easily modded, encouraging a modding community where people can upload their own homebrew rulesets for all manner of homemade RPGs, in addition to tilesets, miniature sets, etc.

[nijineko]

a GOOD dice roller. there are any number of dice rollers out there, but very few are really good ones. i use crystalball lite.

i'll have to get back to this one, i'm out of time.

[Skunkape]

1. A good dice roller is a must.
2. Some method of communication with the players, either voice or chat, but you must have a method to allow conversations between the GM and all players, the GM and specific players and between specific players, whether that be via the chat or voice. The big problem I've always had with chat between two or more players where the whole group isn't involved is I'd like to know what they're talking about as the GM, but that isn't always a must have.
3. Some form of terrain builder that allows you to easily build the battle map as it were. It would be nice if this terrain builder was easy to use, allowed you consider 3 dimensions and different terrain types, lighting types and would include the fog of war effects.
4. A character portrait/figure creator that both the GM and players would have access to, which you would use to create your character portrait and also your miniature figure.
5. A battle map that you would import the maps into, that you created with the previously mentioned terrain builder and the miniatures into, which you created with the previously mentioned portrait/figure creator. The battle map program would of course be turn based and would allow players to move their figures around and direct those figures to attack visible/invisible adversaries.
A neat variation of the battle map would be one where everyone, GM and players plotted what their characters were doing prior to the action being involved, then the GM would click a button that would cause the battle map program to play out the sequence of events that everyone had just plotted. Not really the way the game system works, but it would be interesting to see how the plans your character had made for the round might fail due to the enemy not being where you had though he would be, or dying from an allies weapon, etc.

But those are my must have items.

[Zig]

humm... I dont play online RPG's because I never get that sense of interacting with a real person, they say 80% of communication is non-verbal that being said my "perfect" digital gaming table would have to include some form of telepresence, like big corporations use to have cross country board meetings...thats really the only way I could see that comes close to that game table feeling. if thats too impossible (I'm not a tech guy) something that allows the characters/mini and character sketch to express various emotions including breathing, sweat, flush, shakes-twiching, etc and an easy way to direct those emotions while roleplaying that you dont have to think about much... maybe having a circle you put your cursor on that moves between fear and agression to contentment and peace etc.

[tesral]

Video chat if the game is real time. I want to see faces.

WoW level graphics (We are wishing here) I want a simple engine that allows me to have a nice graphical visualization of the game. A 3-D version of hero machine to make the "minis". Each player would see the situation from their PC point of view.

All on the same screen. My fellow players and GM at the top, the table in the middle, my sheet on one side and the text/dice roller on the other.

[Etarnon]

I've always been more than happy with Neverwinter Nights, since I like the chat aspect the logs aspect, the PC does the combat and you just click the mouse and type, while walking in rain, with wind, and sound effects with a dozen or more other, live players.

Great for D&D 3.0 themed fantasy, but takes a hell of a lot of work to build a server, and maintain it.

[Farcaster]

I too am going to have to vote the way of video and audio conferencing as a must have. Text based communication is way too slow for me to be able to enjoy. I've tried running games in the past over IRC and it was a nightmare. I also want a fairly slick user interface to take maps that I've built and represent them in 3-D. I'm hooked on that idea now that I've seen demos of the Digital Table Wizards is working on.

[1958Fury]

I doubt I'm the norm, but I can actually type faster than I can talk.

EDIT: Also, regarding video... One of the things I liked most about NeverWinter Nights is that they can't see your face. As a shy person, it's so much easier to roleplay when I know people can't see me. It lets me lose myself in the character and cuts down on the embarassment. The other players see my character, not my face, and I'm doing the emotes and animations I want them to see, so it helps them get lost in the fantasy as well.

[TheNo1Yeti]

I would have to cast my vote in favor of video/audio conferencing as well. I can type extremely fast but text emoting just doesn't do justice to the voices and faces I make when I'm roleplaying out NPC's. (Or to be honest the waving about of my arms like a lunatic) That and there is something to be said for the players being able to hear the ominous sound of dice rattling when I'm making "secret" checks.

A good dice roller is a must as well as a terrain/mapping utility and a very strong system for making mini's. Need to be able to see a good representation of the battle that is going on and player/npc placement.

Another thing is cost. Would need to either be free or insanely cheap. I have to pay for enough as a DM (Books, Dice, Mini's, Snacks when I host, various other one off things), last thing I want to have to do is pay $60 for a program to run a campaign.

[Edward]

I can assume dice rollers and a baseline method of text chat, but what else? How would you prefer to pay for those features?

Most computer gaming aids I've seen are somewhat similar to OpenRPG. Essentially, they're an effort to place online a collection of the tools that many GM's use, such as character sheets, and add features such as dice rollers and text chat to allow the game to be played over the Internet if so desired.

I'd like a program that takes the opposite approach: Start with a MORPG and adapt it for a tabletop game. This would provide a truly integrated gaming environment combining the best features of MORPG's (automation of minor tasks such as movement and inventory, and the ability to see the tactical situation from the character's perspective) and paper-and-pencil games (the flexibility of a human referee and the ability to interact in person with the other players). It could be played over the Internet, but it could also be played in person, as at a LAN party. If the latter, each player could bring their own computer, or the players could share one while the GM had his own, or the GM and players could share a single computer.

I'm involved in a project working on something that could be used for this, but it's in the very early stages.

Do you want it centrally hosted on convenient servers, or would you rather it be a peer to peer system with the GM hosting?

It should provide both options. As for payment, the software itself should be free; there should not be a charge for using it in peer-to-peer mode. There should be an option to use a centrally hosted system for an appropriate monthly fee.

What are your "must have" features and what are "this would really be nice?"

The biggest advantages of a computer are calculating things quickly and remembering things. Character generation and combat are typically the most time-consuming parts of the game, and can be greatly speeded up with a computer. So it would need to generate characters and manage combat. It would also need to keep track of the state of the game: inventory, movement, time (how long did it take to search the room or move cautiously down the hallway?), and especially injuries. In the more complex systems, tracking various injuries, their effects on combat and other actions, and healing can be a beast (particularly when characters in a low-magic world take injuries in different combats). Add in various opponents who retreated with wounds and it gets really hairy. Tracking gradual recovery of spell points is another annoyance, especially if there is more than one point system in effect (say, spell points and psionic points). It would also be nice to let the computer track minor expenditures -- 2 sp per day for the room at the inn, meals, an occasional mug of ale, oil for the lanterns, etc., etc. Also, who's carrying the torch, and who has the map? Did they drop the map during that last combat? Who has a weapon in hand and who doesn't? Allowing the computer to handle these details lets the GM and players focus on the core parts of the game and doesn't take anything away from the experience of a paper-and-pencil game.

Other must-have features:

-It must be open source, so that I can modify it as needed. (With so many different RPG's out there, you would have to be able to modify it to handle anything.) It should be under a more permissive license than GPL (such as LGPL) so that it could be used with proprietary rulesets and settings.

-It must be possible to use it with any ruleset and any setting.

-It should be possible to review combat after the fact.

-The GM must be able to alter the passage of time. Obviously, a tabletop game can't be real-time, but turn-based isn't the best solution, either, because players should have some time limit to make a decision. The solution is to let the GM set the relationship between game time and real time and change it as needed. It could be 1:1 (real time) while walking through a marketplace and talking with NPC's, 1:30 during combat, 30:1 during travel, or whatever other ratio is desired.

-The GM must be able to take control of NPC's when desired and allow the AI to control them at other times.

-It must be possible to place PC's in "NPC mode." If a player is absent, his character could be an NPC. Or, if a player gets frustrated at a tedious task, the characters should be able to perform it automatically. For example, if all the torches go out and no light sources are available, but the characters have a good sense of direction, they should be able to find their way out. If the players don't have a good sense of direction, though, or if they're a long way underground they may have a bit of trouble. They should be able to set the party or an individual character to NPC mode and wait for them to make their way out. Of course, they may also fall into a pit they forgot about . . . .

It definitely needs to have a fully customizable map/terrain builder.

I agree, but I don't think this needs to be part of the same program. Generating realistic terrain is a monumentally difficult task which is best handled by a specialty program. I'd like to see integration with a virtual globe such as OssimPlanet. (Integration with Celestia would be nice for sci-fi settings.)

Basically, I'd like to see something that does everything but the role playing.

My thinking exactly. However, since some people prefer a minimalist approach, it should be possible to use only the features desired.

Ideally, and I don't know how this would be implemented, the setup would include remote players at a traditional tabletop game.

Perhaps they could use a touchscreen tabletop computer instead of an actual tabletop. They're expensive now, but I'm sure prices will come down quickly.

Has all the game's rules integrated, allows you to load up different rulesets. (3e, 3.5, 4e, Star Wars, etc.) Allows you to customize house rules, and save them as a unique ruleset.

I think the legal aspects would be too difficult to overcome. It would have to ship with a sample ruleset or no ruleset at all, and allow you to define your own.

3. Some form of terrain builder that allows you to easily build the battle map as it were. It would be nice if this terrain builder was easy to use, allowed you consider 3 dimensions and different terrain types, lighting types and would include the fog of war effects.

+1 on the fog of war. That's really critical, and in my opinion it's one of the biggest advantages of using a computer.

Many of these features could be available out-of-the-box by using a free game engine such as Delta3D. If all the features we're proposing were adopted, this would be a massively ambitious project; I don't think it would be possible to build it from scratch, and there wouldn't be any real advantage to doing so anyway.

Grimwell, are you working on a project like this? If so, I'd be very interested in hearing about it.

[Etarnon]

I'd like a program that takes the opposite approach: Start with a MORPG and adapt it for a tabletop game. This would provide a truly integrated gaming environment combining the best features of MORPG's (automation of minor tasks such as movement and inventory, and the ability to see the tactical situation from the character's perspective) and paper-and-pencil games (the flexibility of a human referee and the ability to interact in person with the other players). It could be played over the Internet, but it could also be played in person, as at a LAN party. If the latter, each player could bring their own computer, or the players could share one while the GM had his own, or the GM and players could share a single computer.

About 75% of what you describe is covered already with Neverwinter Nights.