Lone Wolf Development Forums  

Go Back   Lone Wolf Development Forums > Realm Works Forums > Realm Works Discussion

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Dark Lord Galen
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Texas
Posts: 707

Old December 22nd, 2018, 11:51 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhrakken View Post
........... I went with this TV because it's a side firing LED which minimizes the parallax effect by quite a bit.
I generally agree with this IF the bezel also creates a "lip" that further raises from the actual screen. And Thanks Dhrakken, Parallax was the word I was thinking, .. was suffering from CRS (Can't Remember Sh**)
BUT side fire sacrifices some resolution and true black ability.
BUT, BUT, they are also generally lighter and thinner.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhrakken View Post
......... But I've stopped doing that because it was a bit of a pain in the butt and every time I transferred the TV, I worried I would damage it.
I can relate to the cringe feeling.. that's why we have the biannual "Cleaning of the Glass" when I have ample players present. allow for removal, glass and screen clean and replacement when there are enough hands to keep from dropping the TVs or the glass into the screen surface.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhrakken View Post
Nothing beats the convenience of pulling up an online map and displaying it on the TV surface and being ready to go in a fraction of the time it would take to draw it.
Very true when it comes to time saving and with a better VTT platform than RW
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhrakken View Post
Plus, you can't beat the immersion.
Torn on this one, coming from old school "theater of the mind" I think the visuals help (ie picture says a thousand words) but bad DM'ing and eh descriptors wont save any map.

Quote:
Originally Posted by adzling View Post
Im here to back up Dhrakken on making sure you get a tv with side-firing LEDs to reduce parallax.
I did that and we have zero parallax issues making it possible to accurately use the screen while seated..........
Quote:
Originally Posted by Valyar View Post
....... For some people having those digital stuffs is counterproductive, for others it is the only way. .
Agree. While some digital things have helped the time savings almost becomes a wash. With 3.5 rule set combined with herolab on multiple tablets it allows my players (varies from 6-8) to make changes to the PORs as we go, Rage and Fight Defensive, etc become automatic changes than to have to constantly make corrections on paper Character sheets. Not to mention spell studying wizards and general consumables like potions and rations just get moved to "drop to ground" for repurchase later.
BUT.....Not having good efficient means of exporting of files and no means to record legitimate notes or journals creates alot of multiple programs running simultaneously and toggle back and forth or still having "ye ole spiral" to do those things with... AHHH we long for the day of ACTUAL CALENDARS and PC Journals .. (there I did it .. hehe). Right now the digital approach takes up that time savings of map drawing and redistributes itto other things and table space too for tablet and books and journals etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhrakken View Post
.........where's the nearest tree, or is the table in my way, or is it difficult terrain, are minimized significantly. Plus, the players get a much more vivid representation of their surroundings rather than each player having their own different interpretation of the picture the GM is trying to convey in relation to their surroundings.
Exactly

Quote:
Originally Posted by MNBlockHead View Post
Dhrakkan and Adzling, thanks for the tip about side-firing LEDs. I'll definitely look for that. But, dumb question, where would I find this out? None of the product descriptions I've seen mention whether a display is using side-firing LEDs.
Here is a pretty good slide show of comparing differences...
https://techspirited.com/edge-lit-led-vs-backlit-led

DLG

D&D> Pre 1e White Box Edition, 1e, 2e, 3.5 Currently, Set in the World of Greyhawk (The first, longest running and Best Campaign Setting)
Software>Extensive use of all forms of MS Products, Visual Studio 2012, DAZ 3d, AutoCAD, Adobe Products.
Gaming Specific>Campaign Cartographer, D20 Pro Alpha & BattleGrounds Beta Tester, World Builder, Dungeon Crafter, LWD Hero Lab, Realm Works, Inkwell Ideas Citybuilder & Dungeon Builder, Auto-Realm, Dundjinni
Contributing Writer for TSR, WOC, & Canonfire
Dark Lord Galen is offline   #71 Reply With Quote
MNBlockHead
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Twin Cities Area, MN, USA
Posts: 1,325

Old December 23rd, 2018, 09:16 PM
Thanks for the link DLG. It was helpful. I'll let you all know what I go with.

As for immersion, that is not really what a digital map is for. Actually, I generally prefer highly stylized (like those by Jared Blando), even plain black and white (like those by Dyson Logos) than those that attempt to be "realistic."

The digital maps are mostly a time, space, and money saving tool. We do use a lot of theater of the mind, but we also enjoy highly tactical battles and will mix both styles of play in our sessions. The battlemap allows me to have a lot of maps at the ready. I can run a sandbox style campaign and not have to have a huge number of large scale maps printed out (as I did with Curse of Strahd) or worry about breaks in the action as I draw out the battlemap on my Chessex mat or setting up terrain.

Even when not running battles with miniatures, I still use RealmWorks to reveal areas explored--as long as one member of the party has cartographer tools and proficiency with those tools. My players don't enjoy old-school mapping and my graph paper goes unused. But it does make cartographer tools one of the more useful skills to have in my campaigns. :-)

Also, I occasionally play with sound in my games. I've evolved into simplicity here. I used to use Syrinscape but that became just another thankless DM task. Also, I find that putting in sound effects for magic, and background talking for street scenes and taverns, to take AWAY from immersion. But, playing thematic music in the background can set the mood. Being able to use the TV speakers will mean one less device in the game room (I currently use a bluetooth speaker connected to my iPhone).

For handouts, I still print out any letters or other written materials as that is the most convenient way for players to examine them. But for, say, a symbol they find on a wall, I'll just pull up an image on the display.

For other visual aids like location and NPC pics, I generally find that they take away from immersion. But often an image is helpful. Say you are planning to break into a building, it can be helpful to see an image of the building.

Sometimes it is easier to get across the look of an NPC or monster by showing a picture, though it is rare for me to do so. I try my best to relay on verbal descriptions.

RW Project: Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition homebrew world
Other Tools: CampaignCartographer, Cityographer, Dungeonographer, Evernote
MNBlockHead is offline   #72 Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:27 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® - Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
wolflair.com copyright ©1998-2016 Lone Wolf Development, Inc. View our Privacy Policy here.