VASSAL, reprints and "try before you buy"

Started by ComradeP, July 10, 2017, 01:58:15 AM

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Staggerwing

Quote from: Phantom on July 10, 2017, 12:03:00 PM
However, I rarely if ever play on it as for most of the games I play I find it important to be able to see the whole board at a glance in some detail, and in this VASSAL is limited by screen size. I guess my ideal would be some of those huge screen game tables I've seen around.

Set up a digital projector as a second screen and throw the zoomed-out map window on to the wall of your game room.
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BanzaiCat

When I'm doing an AAR, I much prefer to do it in Photoshop and take screenshots. The game itself sitting on my table is the best way to do it - as was mentioned, you get to touch and feel things and interact in a much more meaningful way. However, when communicating the types of articles I write, it's much easier to communicate things via screenshots. VASSAL works fine enough, but I'm paranoid it's going to screw something up. I don't like the idea of saving a VASSAL game and closing it out, whereas a Photoshop file, I know will be there after I've saved it. I know it's not a similar comparison, but I trust Photoshop more than VASSAL.

I can manipulate pieces in Photoshop much more easily than VASSAL. Some VASSAL modules, while absolutely beautiful and commendable, are damn difficult to interact with. From a reporting/reviewing/AAR perspective, anyway.

Nefaro

#17
JD-

I also find the need to regularly zoom in & out, or scroll the screen in numerous directions, one of the downsides of board gaming on the 'net.

Although, in TTS, there is a hotkey you can hold to display a full-sized view of whichever card/piece you're pointing at.   I think it's holding down 'F' (?) while pointing at the piece in question.   Still not the most ideal, but better than jockeying the main view all the time IMO.   ;)   You just gotta make sure your pointer isn't blocking the text for other people still using the full screen zoom to read it, as I found out.  :))


_____


As for some game companies not worrying about VASSAL and Tabletop Simulator much, I think the vast majority of their customers would prefer to own & play a physical copy of a game they'd like enough to spend the time on.  As others have stated, the feel of playing the real thing is more enjoyable. 

Fortunately we have such digital tabletop options for playing our favorite with others who have similar tastes.  It's not like our kind live on every block, looking for some hardcore gaming. 

After dipping my toes in the online versions, I can definitely say I'd prefer to play the real game.  But even doing the digital version, with others, I'd prefer that I owned the specific game myself, or others do.  Aside from possibly needing to quickly reference the physical copyc which can be easier.  It's also a great help having someone who knows how the real one plays because the UIs on the digital versions can add an extra layer of confusion if you're not familiar with the title.

JudgeDredd

Quote from: Nefaro on July 10, 2017, 08:54:02 PM
...
Although, in TTS, there is a hotkey you can hold to display a full-sized view of whichever card/piece you're pointing at.   I think it's holding down 'F' (?) while pointing at the piece in question.
I know of this key which was very helpful and did remove some of the pain.

Quote from: Nefaro on July 10, 2017, 08:54:02 PM
...You just gotta make sure your pointer isn't blocking the text for other people still using the full screen zoom to read it, as I found out.  :))
Good to know  O0
Alba gu' brath

JasonPratt

There are two 'toggle' zooms, distinct from the mousewheel scroll zoom, both of which I happened to stumble across in the past few days while working on playing out my running AAR of Churchill.

One, which is the left alt key on my system, creates a zoom of the whole piece but ONLY the piece you're pointing at, to a level that seems about the same as the maximum scroll zoom level. (I have had games of Churchill recently where the scroll zoom level didn't zoom in as far as it usually does. Don't know why, but it made me increase the size of my event cards one turn, to compensate. The game was back to scroll-zooming as far as usual on the following day.) So instead of scrolling down to check a particular staff card (for example) I can point to it and hold down left-alt, and I'll get the same zoom effect but restricted only to that card. It's somewhat similar to the auto-zoom effect when poking through bag contents.

The second, is the 'm' key I think for magnify. This creates a rectangular window in (iirc) the center of the screen that magnifies everything under it, and you can move your view around to change what's under the mag-glass. The zoom looks to be 1.5 or 2x the normal maximum scroll zoom.
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ComradeP

#20
I decided to ask GMT for permission, and they've granted me permission to use a VASSAL module for the original France '40 as the reprint/new edition (which I'm supporting) makes its way through the P500 process.

My original intention was to write some AAR's for the previous operational level games by Mark Simonitch in anticipation of the arrival of Holland '44 in (hopefully) a few months, so I can get started on that now. It's scheduled for "early August" but considering the issues GMT had/has with the changes to their production/distribution process in the last year or so, it might be a little while later. According to the monthly update for June, the game is at the printer, so it might be released in August as scheduled. We'll learn more when the next monthly update appears next week or so.
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Barthheart

Looking forward to your AAR's... I'm really interested in Holland '44.  O0

mirth

I can't wait to get Holland '44 and round those counters!
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JudgeDredd

I have to be honest, it would never have occurred to me that Vassal Modules were not without the blessing of any publishers
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ArizonaTank

#25
While I love the feel of a hard copy game.  I am very much in the "must have" Vassal camp.  I am very comfortable with interface and zooming in and out feels natural to me. 

I rarely buy a game that does not have Vassal support.  My favorite game publishers are the ones who embrace Vassal and other digital play vectors.  I think that with one exception, all of my game purchases in the last year either have had Vassal module already, or one on the way.

Vassal offers the only hope that I will ever finish a true monster game.  I would never have the space to lay it out and keep it there for a year or more.  I am planning a full campaign game of Der Weltkrieg for example: WWI at the divisional level, 10 km hexes, the Eastern, Western, Italian and Turkish fronts, with 434 turns.  I think the combined board is something like 8' by 7'.  Also, the game has some ridiculous stacks...sometimes 10 counters high.  In real life, almost unmanageable.  But works fine in Vassal.

As far as the question...I am a strong believer that at least one player in a Vassal bout should have a copy of the original game.  For games that have been out of print for a long time, then I can see the argument getting a little more gray. 
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