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Realmworks on two screens. Player Mode on one and DM mode on the other.

Nikmal

Well-known member
Is it possible? I am trying to set up a projector table and I want to be able to use Realmworks on two different screens. One that my players see (The projector screen) and one on my laptop in DM mode. So then I can use Fog of War.


Or does anyone have a better solution?
Thanks!!
 
I'm not sure what you're asking for here:

If you want one computer to show player stuff on one monitor (the projector) and GM stuff on another, that's Player View in a nutshell.

If you want better map handling than what's in Realm Works, then you want to use a virtual tabletop application for the projector instead of or in addition to Player View.

If you want your players to be able to control the projector screen, then hook a second computer to the projector, put Realm Works on it, and let one of your players log into it.

If none of those sound right, could you give us more info on what you're trying to do?
 
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Ok, what I am trying to do is to bring a projector to a game table with my laptop. What this would entail is to project the map on to the table using the projector as a second screen for my laptop. (not two different computers).

So I would have my laptop screen as my DM screen so to speak, and then the image that the projector is using to show the players the map would be the second screen

The map that the projector is showing would be the ones that the players place their figures on. So no map software... just the smart image (fog of war in player mode) in DM mode using the reveal brush to show the players what they see without them seeing my screen.
 
Have you seen the 'additional monitor' thread elsewhere? Is that what you're asking for?

I'm not sure how you'd do it with a projector - do you mean one of those projectors you see in work situations where someone is doing a talk and using PowerPoint or the like?

If you do, that should be more than possible. You might have to do a bit of playing with the settings to make the projector an 'extension' of the laptop, not a clone. You don't say what flavour of Windows you're using and it would be helpful to know that before giving advice on setup, but I can't see why it wouldn't be possible.

I ran my first session using RW a few days ago, and used my Smart TV - I can't see that using a projector would be very much different.
 
What this would entail is to project the map on to the table using the projector as a second screen for my laptop.

You mean projecting downwards onto a table?

I would never have thought of that, but I think I can see what you are getting at. It sounds like a cool idea.
 
A projector is just a second monitor. You set it up as such (extending the desktop, as Lexin mentioned) and show the map in Player View.

Others have mentioned that VTT software is nicer, but I don't use Player View or VTT applications so you'll have to poke around for threads on the topic or try for yourself and see.

You mean projecting downwards onto a table? ... I would never have thought of that, but I think I can see what you are getting at. It sounds like a cool idea.
Projecting above or below the table was a big thing before flat panels became an affordable product. (Not just in tabletop gaming, of course.)
 
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RealmWorks has to pick a direction for development in order to truly be ready for the table. It's a great reference and world building tool for me. It helps me organize my thoughts and adventures. It does a great job of providing players with history and backstory. But to be quite frank, in my opinion it is next to useless at the table for players for actual gameplay.

1) RW is not intended to be a virtual table top. So we either kludge something together with player view or we also run a real VTT.
2) RW has no export functionality so to use a real VTT, we must maintain copies of all materials players may see separate from RW.
3) RW does not integrate with any of the standard VTTs on the market. If it could do so in a similar manner to HeroLab's integration, they would eliminate the need to export or save copies of materials.
4) Relying on the player client is not viable for maps or handouts due to the current synching implementation.

At least one of those has to become a priority for RW to truly be useful at the table for the players. Maybe the web view will help?

My setup is RW and d20pro with GM view on my screen and sometimes HeroLab. I run a second d20pro client on my computer with player view presented on a second screen. And I have directories for all the maps and player handouts for use in the game. It's redundant, wastes space, requires version control, requires extra work after the game and it annoys the bejesus out of me. But it works.
 
Like AEIOU I've found the player view to be a bit frustrating from time to time. I'm running a wilderness adventure with a strong hexcrawl/exploration feel (Paizo's Kingmaker to be exact). I've been using the player view to reveal the overland map as the players have explored the wilderness, but I have to rely on a VTT for actual combat.

We've made it work so far; the big display shows the overland map and any other portrait "handouts" while several players log into the VTT on laptops through the LAN to manage combat.

I would like more integration, and either a VTT module for RW, or a partnership to integrate with an existing VTT through an API would be most welcome. However, I've pretty much accepted the fact that RW is really a replacement for my GM binder more than a replacement for my battlemat, and I'd rather Lone Wolf focus on making RW the best campaign management tool it can be rather than trying to tack on a VTT. The system I've set up works fine, even if it can be a little clunky. In a pinch, if I only had my computer at the table, I could always start a second instance of my VTT program and have it log in to the server as a Player and have that showing on the big screen with the GM view showing on the main screen.

The version control and such that AEIOU mentioned can get a little frustrating, but I basically treat my VTT as a fancy set of minis that allow for line of sight and lighting, with a very simple HP tracker and Initiative module - I rely on HL for current statuses and applying bonuses and the like.

As with most things, the trick seems to be playing to RW's strengths, and using other programs to fill the gaps (like using HL for character management).
 
@JustinThomason: Your comment that RW is essentially your GM binder and not your battlemat is probably the best analogy I've seen to date. You keep the maps and handouts in your binder for reference but you still need to recreate the map for the minis at the table on gameday.

Liz should borrow that analogy for the product description as it would really help a lot of people understand what type of tool RW really is -- a tool for campaign management. An API so others can extend it is really the ideal rather than LWD trying to tackle everything.

I banish you to heck for ruining a perfectly good tirade with your sensibility. :)
 
Is it possible? I am trying to set up a projector table and I want to be able to use Realmworks on two different screens. One that my players see (The projector screen) and one on my laptop in DM mode. So then I can use Fog of War.

Yes you can do this using Player view of the GM window.

The players will see only the information that you choose to show them on the player view's monitor. You can show the currently revealed parts of the map on the player view - that is how I am using player view for my campaign.

If you want to project the map onto a table top, then you will have to manually adjust the visible part of the map to get the correct "1 square per inch" distance on the table.
 
With Over 24 hours of using RW at the table under my belt now, I feel it is most valuable at the table to:

(1) Act as a digital adventure module. I've now replaced all printed adventure-module material at the table except for a few player handouts, where having a paper document actually adds to the game.

(2) Revealing maps. Basically, instead of having the players have to try an graph out dungeons, etc., I reveal them on the screen as they go through them.

(3) Looking up certain mechanics. I'm playing DnD 5th, and I haven't tried to put the entire core rules set into RW. Instead, I have my DM screen with quick references, the rule books for more obscure situations or to settle an rules dispute, and RW for things that too much text to want as part of my DM screen, but which I use enough that I don't want to have to go to the rule book (e.g. chase rules, encounter and treasure tables, price lists, etc.) I also put all house rules, including rules taken from ENWORLD'S EN5IDER articles or WoTC's Unearthed Arcana articles into RW.

Things I tried to use RW for but didn't work out as well as I would have hoped.

(1) Battlemap. I knew when I bought RW that it was not a VTT and I never intended to use it as one, but when I read about some of the cools setups others have shared, I briefly flirted with the idea. But I never tried it at the table. For me, it is injecting too much tech into the game. I didn't seem like it would save me too much time, as I would still have to acquire or make and prepare battlemaps. Since RW wasn't made to do this, you have to use some kludges to get it to work, whereas software specifically designed to be digital battlemaps do a much better job—but that more software to deal with at the table.

Instead, I reveal the map on a plasma screen as the players explore an area. For battles, I try to mix it up. Sometimes I just use a wet-erase vinyl battlemap. Other times I use "2d" gridless, modular dungeon tiles using DM Scotty's method (search YouTube) which I can use to approximate an area where a battle takes place on the map. Occasionally, I'll print out a battlemap or create a 3D paper model.

(2) Sharing NPC or monster images, I did this a few times, but feel that it detracts from the game. Even if you have everything loaded up, it still takes a few seconds of clicking to reveal the image. I think it detracts from the DM's and player's imagination. The only time that sharing images on a screen using RW adds to the game, in my opinion, is when you are showing an important symbol, clue, or puzzle.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience !

though I'm slightly surprised about the last point. A lot of internet guides to gming suggest to put faces/images of monster on NPCs and monster. They say it helps bringing characters to life.
 
I'm planning on my next gaming session to show pictures of the monsters. I'll be interested to see how it goes given people's different experiences.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience !

though I'm slightly surprised about the last point. A lot of internet guides to gming suggest to put faces/images of monster on NPCs and monster. They say it helps bringing characters to life.

Maybe for new players, especially those who are used to video adventure games, it might help get into the game. I've always found it to be a distraction.

One exception may be if you have a professional module with great artwork that is consistent in style throughout. For most home brew campaigns, people end up pulling stuff from multiple artists and sources that they find on line. Beyond not allowing my to enjoy how I imagine the monsters and character looks like in my mind, it also makes it less immersive when you have completely different styles making it hard to believe that all the beings and places pictured belong in the same world.

Also, as a DM whose adventures are largely homebrew, I would rather spend my limited time creating interesting encounters, background stories, and maps. I find that I have to spend a lot of time on prep to get images ready to share at the table, even if I'm only downloading and adding to the topics without any editing. It is just more game management than I want to deal with.

When I first started roleplaying in Junior High School, I used that think about how cool it would be to have sound effects, images, and other special effects. Now, with games like Skyrim, I can get my cool-game-effects fix with a good video game and am happier leaving much more to the imagination with my pen and paper role playing games.
 
We use a Samsung PCW-ME46C-R as a second monitor to display battlemaps and player handouts on.
This is all done via Realmworks Player display feature.

I picked it up from Newegg as a refurb a couple of months ago.

Heat is almost non-existent.

This TV is super thin (about 1" thick) as it is an older model that uses edge-firing LED backlights.

The newer models are considerably thicker (@3"+) as the manufacturers have changed from edge-firing LED backlights to an array of LEDS behind the screen.

It makes for a better picture but a much thicker TV.

For these purposes thinness is more important than a great picture (I previously tried an el cheapo @$200 40" LCD but it was so thick (about 4") that you had to stand up at the tablet to see the map properly.
With the thinner TV you can sit down and see the image fine.
For some reason the offset from the protective plastic and the LCD is also very minimal on this screen so there is absolutely no parallax offset, a common problem with older (and newer) TVs used in this manner.
 

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You mean you're actually playing *on* the TV screen ??
As Parody suggests...
Ditto here, My version on Page2
I have two actually, but have 6-8 players at a time.... so tend to run larger maps. like others, ours is covered with 1/4" tempered glass (old sliding door). TVs are imbedded into the surface of the table. While Realm Works alone is a POOR VTT (and was never designed to be such), combined with Herolab's export ability into D20Pro it allows me to push the POR file (And player / Monster Pictures) into D20 and set up tokens companioned with a vast quantity of minis (stopped counting but its in the thousands) to use D20 as the map, and RW as my internal tracking document. I make use of the storyboarding quite a bit (though in RW its still in the primitive stage). RW redeeming feature is campaign management, not VTT.
Just my 2cp
DLG
 
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*Shrugs*
Hey some people have "summer homes", travel abroad (get enough of that with work thanks) Hunt / Fish, have season tickets to what ever..... We are basically homebodies (well my family is, I am when not traveling for work). We have a family ranch with cows( more work than its worth but keeps Uncle Sam at bay), a home in town, but our foremost hobby is being gamers... I am thankful my wife indulges my addiction :D

Our Campaign is first in foremost ROLEplay, not ROLLplay... something that has been a personal challenge for me in dealing with the latest generation I have (Generation 4 is how I track them). But its understandable, they (average age 25) grew up in a world that always had computers and PC gaming, so their approach to the game is from that angle. Only in the last year have they really grasped that all the tech, bells, whistles, modifiers, skills, feats, "unique class adaptions" wont save you from poor decisions, poor team work, or poor planning. :eek: Once any group embraces that it is not the destination but the journey that makes the game unique you will find the game much more challenging and fulfilling. ;)

Anyway off the soap box.....

Back to topic point... Cant you utilize RW on two screens, sure, there are (As noted above by the faithful community) many approaches. IT just depends on your expectations.

Determine what those are first.
1> do I simply want to show pictures or handouts electronically? Then maybe a second monitor is all you need.
2> do I want to use Fog of World as a "sudo" - VTT map? Then maybe a second monitor may be too small, and a projector, or TV is the solution.
3> Always consider time you have to prep, room you have to dedicate to the game, and obviously $ resources. You can build a great game for much less than you think if you plan and consider what your real use and goals are. As I noted in the What does your table look like thread.... Ours is probably an exception to the norm, but even it can be done inexpensively (read further down in thread I provided a $ breakdown cost). Note also our's is a culmination of 30 years of stuff too...

A great game is not in the peripherals, its in the participants. Mine has never been to utilize RW as a VTT, there are simply several other superior choices, the most important one being a good DM and good imaginations.

Just my 2cp
DLG
 
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