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Ultimate RPG Gaming Table
Nyrath the nearly wise writes "RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons are traditionally played on a tabletop using miniatures. The problem is that the players are only supposed to see those parts of the map that they have explored. Gamemasters are reduced to drawing explored sections of the map on the playing surface with dry-erase markers or using cardboard tiles representing stretches of corridor. Some fellows have an expensive but elegant solution. They map out the playing area in a laptop using software such as Tabletop Mapper, which allows to game master to dynamically hide and reveal sections of the map. The laptop is attached to a 1600 lumen DLP projector mounted on the ceiling and projecting an image of the visible map onto the tabletop. The miniatures can then be moved on a dynamic map. The eye candy factor is vastly increased, gamemaster labor is reduced, and the players have more fun. The elegance is that this is an intuitive enhancement of the traditional gaming experience, instead of an unfamiliar new user interface to be mastered."
Look, the table is cool and so are miniatures, but "traditionally?"
Yes, traditionally. D&D started out as a modified set of minatures rules (Chainmail). Why do you thin that AD&D (1E) had all ranges and movements in inches whcih were later converted to feet (which differed if you were indoors or out)? Miniatures were for sell at just about every place that sold D&D stuff. TSR put out lots of minis although I prefered Ral Partha. Warhammer started out as a game to use the minis that GW made for D&D. Not everybody used them, and they weren't required, but the game was still based on the concept of usign minis.
In fact, the shadowing can sometimes be an advantage since you can often see things projected on top of your hands, which would be blocked in the rear-projection case.
The trouble is that most projectors require a minmum distance of five feet between the lens and the screen. If the projector was on the floor, the tabletop would have to be five feet off the ground. And of course the closer the projector is to the tabletop, the smaller the image, which is the exact opposite of what you want.
I suppose one could have the projector in the tabletop, bouncing the beam off a mirror on the floor, but now things are getting complicated.
There are more details here and here
In July, Mitsubishi's PocketProjector will hit the market with an MSRP of $699. It sits in the palm of your hand and is driven by one each of Red, Green and Blue super-bright Luxeon LEDs manufactured by Lumileds. There was a bit on slashdot about it last month, I believe. I mention the light source only because replacing lamps in a projector is usually the most frequent maintenance cost. LEDs don't burn out as quickly as conventional lamps do; they're rating these at 20,000 hours and I'd be willing to bet that they'd work for even longer. (At an average 5 hours per day it should last for 10 years, they say)
Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
Actually. This is really really wierd, becaue I MADE SLASHDOT and the writer didn';t link to my story - he linked to Jans Carton's setup!!
I've been ripped off my Uber_geek moment!
The original poster is describing in my Coolest. Gaming Set-up. Evar. post on EnWorld - but the setup linked to in the post isn't mine - it's Jans Carton's projection page The projector shown in the pic is an 800 lumens LCD projector, not our 1600 ANSI DLP which is way smaller.
Anyways, we went through the projection surface debate with Alan Stalpes at DIY Projector last fall, and the best surface to use for rear projection is a piece of buffed Lexan.
But all of that is besides the point. You need a projector with a very wide angle lens to compensate for the decreased throw distance in a rear mount system. Problem is, the contrast of such an image without serious optics backing it up looks like crap.
And all of this is why? Due to shadows? Sorry. Overengineering for a problem that does not exist.
We use the over the table rig described in the initial story - and shadows are not a problem at all. I mean ZIP. NADA. NYET. No problem during game play at all.
A little less engineering - a little more experience with the tech guys.
.Robert
Of course it is. That's what we do. Jans Carton is a Mac user and a photographer. That's why he uses Photoshop.
p ic =2386
I use a Thnkpad and NWN. Running NWN's largest mod group doesn't hurt us on getting cool unreleaed tilesets for use with the projector either.
IF you link to the original article on ENWorld, you'll see the DLP shots using NWN.
There are more of them here:
http://www.dladventures.net/iB/index.php?showto
It's excellent as I can use the Toolset to whip up an encounter zone and detail it in 2 minutes. It would take me longer to use overhead pens and a battlemat.
.Robert