I need my D.S. fix! (slapping my forearm)

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

Markus.l

May 17, 2004 17:19:05
Some may think this belongs in the RPG Gamer Classifieds but I feel, because of the subject matter, it should be asked here. Chances are slim but here goes (rolling the dice)...

Anyone running a 3.0/3.5 Dark Sun game here in Los Angeles (or the Valley) and need one more?

Bueller...

Bueller...

:D
#2

zombiegleemax

May 17, 2004 17:28:17
hmmmm yeah, i got the shakes, but doc says it'll pass. e-mail me and we'll see what the geography looks like
#3

xlorepdarkhelm_dup

May 17, 2004 17:29:41
Bah. Drive north, about 2 1/2 hours - well, could be about 4-6 hours with traffic. arrive here in Lompoc, I'm still gathering people for DS. 'course I need *time* to run a DS campaign...
#4

dawnstealer

May 17, 2004 17:45:23
It would be cool if someone came up with a program that displayed text on one side and then multiple players' dice rolls on the other (DM's dice would be hidden, natch). Then distance wouldn't matter and those of us that care about this game (from the Hague to the US and perhaps even up to Canada?) could jump on in. Better than MUDs. Was never a big fan of that. Am I rambling?
#5

Markus.l

May 17, 2004 17:46:47
Originally posted by mekillot
e-mail me and we'll see what the geography looks like

Hey Mekillot! What zip code are you in?

Originally posted by xlorepdarkhelm
Bah. Drive north, about 2 1/2 hours

Thanx Dhelm, but my wife wouldn't dig me driving THAT far. ;)
#6

nytcrawlr

May 17, 2004 18:04:37
Originally posted by Markus.l
Thanx Dhelm, but my wife wouldn't dig me driving THAT far. ;)

Bah, take her with you.

Get her exposed.
#7

Markus.l

May 17, 2004 18:09:39
Yup, just checked. You're 125 miles away
#8

xlorepdarkhelm_dup

May 17, 2004 18:53:04
Originally posted by Markus.l
Yup, just checked. You're 125 miles away

Does it help to know that I used to live in Woofland Hills, went to Canoga Park Lutheran School for 9th grade, and El Camino Real High School for the first half of my sophmore year (then moved to Lompoc)? And yes, I move a LOT. I currently have been to the following locations, either through travelling, moving, or visiting (every state or european country that's red I've been in):

State Map

European Country map

Originally posted by Dawnstealer
It would be cool if someone came up with a program that displayed text on one side and then multiple players' dice rolls on the other (DM's dice would be hidden, natch). Then distance wouldn't matter and those of us that care about this game (from the Hague to the US and perhaps even up to Canada?) could jump on in. Better than MUDs. Was never a big fan of that. Am I rambling?

I've considerd, several times, to write an online system for playing pencil & paper games. The thing is, you'd also want to have a character sheet available for the player & DM to be able to see, and it would be nice to have some sort of mapping system. These game aids do exist, in one form or another. Like one I wanna call OpenRPG or something. I'd also almost recommend some voice-chat capabilities, to ease the typing requirements for those who aren't quite up to typing things, but that would be a secondary feature.
#9

nytcrawlr

May 17, 2004 18:59:40
Originally posted by xlorepdarkhelm
I've considerd, several times, to write an online system for playing pencil & paper games. The thing is, you'd also want to have a character sheet available for the player & DM to be able to see, and it would be nice to have some sort of mapping system. These game aids do exist, in one form or another. Like one I wanna call OpenRPG or something. I'd also almost recommend some voice-chat capabilities, to ease the typing requirements for those who aren't quite up to typing things, but that would be a secondary feature.

Raven used a decent one at one time.

What was that one called again Raven?
#10

xlorepdarkhelm_dup

May 17, 2004 19:22:46
Ahh, here's the featues of OpenRPG:
OpenRPG Features

Miniature Map: Simulate combat with a layered, web base, miniature map. Load any image off the web! Map features include: hex or square adjustable overlay grid, background images, z-order, facing, labels, free hand drawing, tape measure, and more.

Game Tree: A highly customizable data organizer that allows for the creating of custom made characters sheets and GM aids. A plug in architecture that allows for openrpg add-ons!

Chat: A full featured chat system that allows embed HTML. Embed color, tables, images, and links!

Die Engine:A full feature die engine that contains many of the common die roll options and a plug in architecture that allows for the development of game specific rollers.

Game Servers: Run your own dedicated game server.

Here's the link:

http://www.openrpg.org
#11

gilliard_derosan

May 17, 2004 22:48:22
Bah, now you ask.

Used it live in La Puente (about 25 miles east of LA I think it is)

Used to game in West Covina/Baldwin Park/Monrovia area. . . Of course, this was up till a year and a half ago when I moved to Vegas.
#12

dawnstealer

May 17, 2004 22:57:28
Good enough description and you wouldn't need a map (make the players do it - that's what I've always done). As for character sheets, it could do it one of two ways: As the player's init comes up, their sheet moves to the fore (for the GM's screen, of course), or you have a listing of names and the sheet is called up by clicking on the name. I'd be REAL surprised if no one's done that before. Hell, you could probably whip something out in VB in about 20-30 seconds.
#13

xlorepdarkhelm_dup

May 18, 2004 0:03:26
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
Good enough description and you wouldn't need a map (make the players do it - that's what I've always done). As for character sheets, it could do it one of two ways: As the player's init comes up, their sheet moves to the fore (for the GM's screen, of course), or you have a listing of names and the sheet is called up by clicking on the name. I'd be REAL surprised if no one's done that before.

There's been several of them done. OpenRPG just might be enough for me - I downloaded iot and haven't had the chance to look it over yet. Maps I find are useful for doing things like combat. Not really necessary for travel tho, but it does help to have a visual reference for where people are in a tactical combat situation. But that might be the soldier in me speaking.

Hell, you could probably whip something out in VB in about 20-30 seconds.

and players could all bow down and start worshiping their DM's as gods. But it's not likely. I personally detest VB. It makes me physically ill even to think about programming in that language. I prefer a more refined, and less convoluded language - like C++ :D

Honestly, I've considered doing it in PHP/JavaScript/HTML/CSS, with a database backend, like MySQL, and basically havint it all run inside of web browsers. but, I'm lazy. Or rather, I've been very busy as of late.
#14

zerpentor

May 18, 2004 8:59:05
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
It would be cool if someone came up with a program that displayed text on one side and then multiple players' dice rolls on the other (DM's dice would be hidden, natch). Then distance wouldn't matter and those of us that care about this game (from the Hague to the US and perhaps even up to Canada?) could jump on in. Better than MUDs. Was never a big fan of that. Am I rambling?

www.teamspeak.org

i use this when playing Everquest and Anarchy Online with my friends in the US
#15

dawnstealer

May 18, 2004 9:38:16
I personally detest VB.

Oh, sure - I hate it, too, but the point was that the programming would be relatively simple and VB's one of the easiest languages out there (unless you consider HTML a programming language - I don't).

Everquest speaking program? Actually, I was thinking of something that would be like a small chat-room with dice graphics and possibly a character pic or two. Haven't played Everquest or used the program, though, so can't comment.
#16

zerpentor

May 18, 2004 9:44:42
well i've played Starwars d6 on Mirc. It had it's own diceroller script and everything.

i just find that it doesnt work very well... everything takes too long imho
#17

dawnstealer

May 18, 2004 9:54:46
Yeah, speed would be important. I would actually prefer to type out situations to the players as opposed to VOIP.
#18

zombiegleemax

May 18, 2004 11:07:11
hey xlorep...

why not write a program together... lets gather recruits from the boards and divide up the code amongst ourselves based on qualifications... then it wouldn't be so daunting of a task (do you ever sit around and bash on programs because they are poorly written, i challenge you to do it better yourself )(just trying to get you riled up)

with propper planning (non-cowboy code) we could bang out an interface fairly rappidlike. im sure that there are other capable coders on these pages

i write c (no plusses) html and i administer a 9i db (therefore mySQL shouldn't be that difficult), how bout you?
#19

dawnstealer

May 18, 2004 11:55:16
Count me in for layout and/or graphics.
#20

zombiegleemax

May 18, 2004 12:04:49
would you really dawn... because those are my least favorite parts of program architecture

you should see me draw... i hold a pencil like a 2 yr old holds a crayon

do you write any code though? (its a job requirement j/k)

just waiting on xlorep to respond (he's the java man... he would have the best idea for implimentation)
#21

xlorepdarkhelm_dup

May 18, 2004 12:39:05
Originally posted by kefka
hey xlorep...

why not write a program together... lets gather recruits from the boards and divide up the code amongst ourselves based on qualifications... then it wouldn't be so daunting of a task (do you ever sit around and bash on programs because they are poorly written, i challenge you to do it better yourself )(just trying to get you riled up)

with propper planning (non-cowboy code) we could bang out an interface fairly rappidlike. im sure that there are other capable coders on these pages

i write c (no plusses) html and i administer a 9i db (therefore mySQL shouldn't be that difficult), how bout you?

1. Time is very precious to me as of late - which is hwy I haven't been able to finish my Avangion Magic page (and then make a .doc for it and hand it out with everything else). With renovations on my Mom's house, and my job hunting, I have only a little time to check message boards occasionally through the day. It's hardly a situation conductive to programming.

2. There is OpenRPG, which is an open-source project that does everything Dawnstealer wants, and more. However, you'll have to check it out (http://www.openrpg.org). as such, if I wanted to improve it, I would using the python source code they provide, and then also submit it to them to be included into the main program. There is absolutely no reason to re-invent the wheel.

3. I'm sure we could do it if we desired, however, it would seem redundant to me at this point, and I'd not be much help for a while, because of #1 and #2.

4. I write in Java, C, C++, Pascal, Delphi, Basic, XML, (X)HTML-JavaScript-CSS, SQL for PostgreSQL and MySQL databases, Cobol, Modula-2, Smalltalk, Objective C, Assembly for the 80x86 processor lines, Logo, Lisp, Ruby, Perl, PHP, Python, and just about any other language I've had an hour or two to look at. After 20 years of programming experience, all of the languages look the same to me, and are mainly built off of the same fundamental designs. Once I've made the proper connections, I'm fluent in the language, usually takes between 15 minutes to an hour, sometimes up to two hours to become fluent in it - there's usually only a few syntax differences between them (Notable exceptions are those based on Lisp)
#22

dawnstealer

May 18, 2004 16:02:53
Actually, I was the designer/artist/storyboarder/president/general-purpose guy of my own corporation. Unfortunately, our timing was incredibly bad and we weren't able to find a VC. As such, I'm pretty good at designing UIs and other aspects of design and art. Not so good at programming, but I do have a rudimentary understanding (I know what I'm looking at, but hell if I could do it myself).

I'll have to check that one program out, Xlor.
#23

xlorepdarkhelm_dup

May 18, 2004 16:16:52
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
Actually, I was the designer/artist/storyboarder/president/general-purpose guy of my own corporation. Unfortunately, our timing was incredibly bad and we weren't able to find a VC. As such, I'm pretty good at designing UIs and other aspects of design and art. Not so good at programming, but I do have a rudimentary understanding (I know what I'm looking at, but hell if I could do it myself).

I've taught myself how to work with Photoshop (well, the entire Adobe creative suite, actually), G.I.M.P. - which those two make up the "industry standards" for 2d graphics, and Blender3D for 3d graphics. I did do a few UI's before, and can sort of force my way through it, but graphics isn't really my calling. I'm also fairly decent at music and sounds.... But I've just got too many hobbies :P
#24

dawnstealer

May 18, 2004 16:38:27
.... But I've just got too many hobbies

I hear that...
#25

nytcrawlr

May 18, 2004 17:53:04
Originally posted by xlorepdarkhelm
But I've just got too many hobbies :P

You're not the only one.

Unfortunately for right now I don't feel like putting any time in them, heh.
#26

xlorepdarkhelm_dup

May 18, 2004 23:10:23
That's funny, I've been wanting to put time in my hobbies, and instead have been renovating my Mom's house.
#27

nytcrawlr

May 18, 2004 23:46:01
All I can say is depression sucks.

Got the mystic done, and am liking it, so maybe there is hope for me yet.

:D
#28

xlorepdarkhelm_dup

May 18, 2004 23:56:38
I know all about depression. Wierd thing is when my Dad died, it snapped me out of the depression. Guess I realized I don't have the time to keep feeling bad about myself and such. I kinda had to move home, and have been basically taking over as "man of the house", whether I want to or not. Not much time for me to think about how much life sucks any more.