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omrybass
2013-02-12, 04:00 AM
Hi all.

My name is Omry, and I'm currently working on a project which hopely will take tabletop rpg gaming to the next level (Big words, I know :smallcool:). In order to determine the community demand, I'll just ask you to give five minutes of your time aand answer the following six question survey:

www.surveymonkey.com/s/JL6S3D5

Currently the details are a bit vague - I'll present more information about the product design document will be ready (And I'll find some partners :P).

A bit about me - I'm a 27 Y/O junior entrepreneur who works as a software teamleader and in the middle of my MBA. I've experianced many rpg systems over my life, including AD&D, D&D 3.X, D&D 4, D&D Next (Currently playing), WOD, GURPS, TOC, COC, SOIAF, M&M, Shadowrun and more.

Thanks!

eepop
2013-02-12, 02:41 PM
"Would you be interested in acquiring a software which allows you to turn your tabletop battles into a 3D video game in just a few steps? "

Is very vague. Too vague to answer.

That wording makes it sound like you copy what you have on the tabletop and recreate it in video game form. I guess for playing again later?

If you're instead talking about some kind of digitial tabletop replacement, what does your idea offer above
MapTools http://www.rptools.net/
Dundjinni http://www.dundjinni.com/
Or even something like the Neverwinter Nights toolkit?


The output from that survey is worthless, because you aren't asking questions people can clearly answer.

CarpeGuitarrem
2013-02-12, 04:33 PM
Well, he already seems to have made as much progress as WotC did... :smalltongue:

The other question is, how many other people do you have involved? It's nigh-impossible to launch (and support) a piece of software (for pay) with a one-person team.

omrybass
2013-02-12, 06:01 PM
eepop, I know the one and a half (or even less) sentence description I gave don't really tell anything, but on the other hand I don't expect much from this survey, only to get a glimpse of the community's initial reaction to such an idea.

I know Maptools well and I must admit that it's the first time I hear of Dundjinni - but let me tell you this... I plan to allow players project their characters and DM's project their battlefields in 3D, including high customization, animations and more. I can't tell more for the sole reason that the idea is still shaping in my mind, and I'm currently writing the first PRD to fully materialize it.

CarpeGuitarrem - I plan to include 3-4 more personal in this project (1 Sales / marketing and the rest software engineers / technology experts).

bbgenderless100
2013-02-12, 06:51 PM
Hi all.

My name is Omry, and I'm currently working on a project which hopely will take tabletop rpg gaming to the next level (Big words, I know :smallcool:). In order to determine the community demand, I'll just ask you to give five minutes of your time aand answer the following six question survey:

www.surveymonkey.com/s/JL6S3D5

Currently the details are a bit vague - I'll present more information about the product design document will be ready (And I'll find some partners :P).

A bit about me - I'm a 27 Y/O junior entrepreneur who works as a software teamleader and in the middle of my MBA. I've experianced many rpg systems over my life, including AD&D, D&D 3.X, D&D 4, D&D Next (Currently playing), WOD, GURPS, TOC, COC, SOIAF, M&M, Shadowrun and more.

Thanks!

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Techsmart
2013-02-12, 07:39 PM
I've got a few questions/comments/concerns:
What platform were you considering doing? I've already seen some decent applications for PC (including some web-based ones, like Roll20 (http://roll20.net/)), but I haven't seen anything good for tablet. Might be a market worth exploring, although as that is a route I am exploring myself, I probably shouldn't give too much info away. :smallwink:

Were you planning on coding from scratch, or using an existing 3D game engine? If you are using an engine, which would be significantly less time intensive, what would you use? If you are coding from scratch, the cheaper option, what tools would you be using?

What system were you considering doing? If it is one RPG specific, I believe you might have some legal issues to cope with if you aim to make some cash. If it is not system specific, what kind of tools would you be providing, especially that separate you from competition?

-This one is my opinion, take it how you will -
Your team composition seems a little off for a 3D application. First off, you need texture artists and 3D modelers. The reason most tools right now, like Roll20 and Maptools, use 2D is because 2D sprites can be done with one person, very quickly, and very cheaply (I've seen some pretty good stuff come from GIMP and some other free tools). For this type of application, I think the best marketing for you would be word of mouth, just going on forums and mentioning it (After all, that's how I found out about Roll20), so although a marketing expert may help, I wouldn't find it particularly necessary. A Webmaster/HTML dev would be nice, but that would probably fall under tech expert, and could be done, for the most part, by one of the programmers. Honestly I would almost consider aiming for a 5+ man team, since you would be better off having something like this
- 3D modeler
- Texture Artist
- Audio Specialist (assuming SE included, if not, swap with network developer)
- Web Dev/UI Specialist
- General Programmer

I hope this proves somewhat helpful to you. If not, thanks for reading through it. If you did not read the rest of it, I am bored and have nothing further to discuss :smalltongue:

If I have more questions, I'll probably post 'em (I'm a software dev, so it always interests me seeing what other people are up to).

Zahhak
2013-02-12, 09:43 PM
Based on the complete lack of information actually presented about what this program will do, I'm tempted to think this is some half-baked idea. I don't know, maybe something will come of this, but I doubt it. I think something useful to make is a program to improve map making (dungeons especially are a bitch to do on excel and easily ruined done pen and paper), automatic dice rollers (especially on a d100, which has an average roll of 60!), and maybe something to quickly generate random encounters. I can dream.

AuraTwilight
2013-02-12, 10:18 PM
Maybe Kickstarter spoiled me, but I need some sort of proof of concept before I approve of any idea; you promise things that everyone dreams of as a 13 year old but never delivers; what makes your idea special?

eepop
2013-02-13, 12:39 PM
eepop, I know the one and a half (or even less) sentence description I gave don't really tell anything, but on the other hand I don't expect much from this survey, only to get a glimpse of the community's initial reaction to such an idea.

There is a long history of people wanting some kind of virtual tabletop. And a history just as long of people and companies putting up half-baked ideas for them with sparse information, getting people excited about the idea, and then failing miserably.

We've managed to get a few that work pretty good. But if you want anyone to get excited about your project and even think its worth more than free, you have to tell us why its better than what we have.

In the not so distant past, WotC, the biggest name in pen and paper RPGs failed miserably to do the kind of thing it sounds like you are alluding to. Pardon us if we're skeptical.

I am not trying to be overly harsh here, just trying to relay the reality of the situation.

Fully form your idea, get a tentative design, figure out what you are going to do better than the current alternatives, build a kickstater and report back. We'll give it a look, and if it looks like you've sufficiently done your homework, we may even pitch in.

omrybass
2013-02-17, 01:58 PM
Techsmart
The app will be cross platform - It will support both PCs, Smartphones and tables. As of now it doesn't matter if it will be web-based or not.

I'm going to use an existing 3D engine. I've thought about which exact technology will be used (saving it for later). I'm more concerned about making the design and finding a proper team.

The app is going to allow users to create custom rule systems and / or use predefined ones (which other users created). Think of it as a platform which will allow you to "script" your own gaming system (or more commonly emulate existing systems).
Lets face it - most gaming systems contain the same generic gaming rules - "my turn and what can I do there", "what can I do when it's not my turn", "which meter represents my vitality", "How do I decrease my opponent's vitality", and so on. You just need to add pieces to each part in order to create a system (For example, I have 4 types of actions in my turn - 1 standard, 1 move, 1 minor, N X Free = D&D 4E).
My motives for this part is to allow great versatility while still allowing it to be as simple as possible for users who doesn't want to spend alot of time.

About the team - I aim to start with about 5 people. I already have a sales person on sight, and an additional developer which specializes in web (I'm more of a network developer). My highest concern is to find a Graphics expert (3D modeler) and design the entire graphic part with him.

Regarding what all the other guys said - The project is currently running and I know I haven't gave you any proper info. I promise to open a kickstarter for it when the stars are right and then have much more info :smallbiggrin:

evildmguy
2013-02-18, 10:07 AM
Techsmart
The app will be cross platform - It will support both PCs, Smartphones and tables. As of now it doesn't matter if it will be web-based or not.

I'm going to use an existing 3D engine. I've thought about which exact technology will be used (saving it for later). I'm more concerned about making the design and finding a proper team.

The app is going to allow users to create custom rule systems and / or use predefined ones (which other users created). Think of it as a platform which will allow you to "script" your own gaming system (or more commonly emulate existing systems).
Lets face it - most gaming systems contain the same generic gaming rules - "my turn and what can I do there", "what can I do when it's not my turn", "which meter represents my vitality", "How do I decrease my opponent's vitality", and so on. You just need to add pieces to each part in order to create a system (For example, I have 4 types of actions in my turn - 1 standard, 1 move, 1 minor, N X Free = D&D 4E).
My motives for this part is to allow great versatility while still allowing it to be as simple as possible for users who doesn't want to spend alot of time.

About the team - I aim to start with about 5 people. I already have a sales person on sight, and an additional developer which specializes in web (I'm more of a network developer). My highest concern is to find a Graphics expert (3D modeler) and design the entire graphic part with him.

Regarding what all the other guys said - The project is currently running and I know I haven't gave you any proper info. I promise to open a kickstarter for it when the stars are right and then have much more info :smallbiggrin:

Until this post, I was intrigued. This post turned me off of your ideas. Let me explain why.

Cross platform: Ugh. I have yet to find a good, cross platform program. Dundjinni was done in java and it ran so horrible on my PC. It wasn't worth the performance issues. And if you are doing graphics cross platform? No thanks. You might pull it off but I'm very wary with statements like that.

create custom rule systems: This is another red flag for me. I run several OOP games and the idea of having to spend even more time to make something work for them is a turn off for me. I get that you might have some basics pre-defined in there that I could get working. But if it really requires work on my side to make it fit my games? No thanks.

Kickstarter: If you saw the videos for what WotC was going to do with their virtual table top and character designer, that's the sort of thing that seems to be expected anymore before going to a Kickstarter. You have to have name recognition or be close to completion to run a successful Kickstarter from what I have seen. If I could see a video of a demo of the working code, that would get my money. I would gladly fund something to get more features at launch. I won't fund a technology KS that won't come out for three years or is still in the planning stages.

Overall, this is too vague for me. I have no idea what you are doing or if it will even help me or not. Is it meant for pbp type play? At the table? Skype? Is it meant for wargaming and role playing? Grid or measurements? How do I get my maps in there? How do the models get in there? Does it include campaign management? Or just fighting?

I get not wanting to reveal too much but that's why I think, and it's just my opinion, that things like this need to be two thirds done, with a defined business plan, before presenting themselves.

Sorry if I'm a downer. It's all my opinion. I'm just stating what it would take to get my interest and money.

edg