Help deciding to purchase - Page 2

kbs666 · December 3rd, 2015, 06:07 AM

Not presently. Once the web version is available you could reveal part of the map you want and sync but that would be fairly tedious.

Fog of world is mostly meant for people with 2 monitors or for players who use the player edition to access their GM's realm between sessions.

Vargr · December 3rd, 2015, 06:21 AM

I believe someone here has connected their 2nd monitor output from the computer to their iPad.

I am not a mac man myself and will go to great length to avoid it, so I am afraid that is all the help I can offer :-/

davidp · December 3rd, 2015, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vorlek

I do have a question though, If I use it with my laptop at the table (which I will always do), is there a way to push maps to my Ipad so my characters can see the map with the fog of war on? I heard someone say they use a TV, but I don't want to relocate a TV for that, if I can somehow push the map to my Ipad, that would work as well.

There are apps available for the iPad that turn your iPad into a second monitor for the laptop. Realm Works can then use that as the player view screen. I have used a free app in the past that appears to no longer be available. A google search of "use ipad as second monitor windows" shows several possibilities.

Lexin · December 3rd, 2015, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidp

There are apps available for the iPad that turn your iPad into a second monitor for the laptop. Realm Works can then use that as the player view screen.

There are six or seven possibilities for this, but it took me ages to find one that worked.

There were reasons for this. If you have something on your PC called "dual graphics switching", unless things have changed with the iPad apps, none of the wireless ones work. It's something to do with the way that graphics is handled by the iPad arguing with the way they're handled by the PC. Only three of the apps tell you this on their listing, the other three let you spend your money and then don't work, so you have to ask for a refund. Apple are very good about refunds, but it's a bit of a pest to have to do it repeatedly.

Nor do they tell you what 'dual graphics switching' looks like on your PC. If you have trouble with this, contact me and I can help.

I found the one program which did work was a wired one called 'Duet'.

It's less hassle than it sounds - I bought a 6 foot iPad cable, and used it with my players with great success.

The down side was that (1) there was only one iPad to five players, they had to share, and (2) because most of them were used to an iPad being interactive, it took a bit of time to convince them that the iPad in this case was just a dumb terminal, and I had control over what they could see. It was just a small TV, basically, and not interactive.

They got the hang of it eventually, but we had some fun and games at the start of the game, because whenever they touched the iPad screen, they 'stole' the cursor, and I had to get it back to use my PC.

Come the glorious day (o glorious day! let it be soon!) when we can use the web version, all this will be over with.

Exmortis · December 3rd, 2015, 10:26 AM

I recommend seeing if you or one of your players has a older spare LCD monitor/TV or look for a cheap used one or hey, boxing day isn't far off!!

There is a lot of use for that spare monitor beyond RW, we now use two external screens for the GM to show stuff, and our current GM does not use RW just Herolab.

Farling · December 3rd, 2015, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vorlek

I heard someone say they use a TV, but I don't want to relocate a TV for that, if I can somehow push the map to my Ipad, that would work as well.

You can get a flat panel monitor (e.g. on-lap) which is powered from a USB port and plugs into the video output of your laptop. I use this arrangement for putting the player view on the second screen (which sits on the other side of my laptop).

MNBlockHead · December 3rd, 2015, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vorlek

If I use it with my laptop at the table (which I will always do), is there a way to push maps to my Ipad so my characters can see the map with the fog of war on? I heard someone say they use a TV, but I don't want to relocate a TV for that, if I can somehow push the map to my Ipad, that would work as well.

I have a large plasma TV in a TV room that is next to my game room. I unplug it, have someone help me move it to a tall table behind my seat at the head of the table and connect it to my laptop.

Throwing up a map with Fog-of-War on a large plasma TV is amazing. Plus, keep in mind, you can share more than the map and can display multiple items at once. Having a huge screen make this easy. Plenty of screen real estate. When I've DM'd at a player's home, they've had smaller LCD displays that could be set up at the table, which also do the job.

I really would not like using a small tablet, even if it were simple. It just doesn't have the same impact. I especially wouldn't want to display on multiple tablets at the same time. I like having the whole group look at the map together. One player started bringing a laser pointer to point at areas as they discussed their next move. It's like having a large map printed on plotter paper that the entire group can stand around and discuss, but without the cost of ink or the need for a large plotter printer. And you get to incrementally reveal the map...something that is much more of a hassle on paper.

Actually, I've printed my world map as a large poster with a plotter printer and have it hung on the wall. It is now just decoration. The color and detail is so much sharper on the plasma TV and I can easily zoom in and pan around to focus on certain areas. Then I can bring up a second area map, like an instant blow out map. Then I can reveal pins. Then I can show a drawing of the castle they are going to and a portrait of the castellan. It is simple to do but has high-impact and is certainly worth the few minutes of unplugging and moving the TV.

ShadowChemosh · December 3rd, 2015, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBlockHead

One player started bringing a laser pointer to point at areas as they discussed their next move.

Just an FYI, maybe you know but for others, red laser pointers will often get absorbed by modern Plasma/LCD monitors/TVs. But you can find "green" laser pointers and they display perfectly on such devices.

You can find them pretty cheap on Amazon. Its currently what my group all use.

MNBlockHead · December 3rd, 2015, 11:05 PM

Didn't realize that. Thanks!

adzling · December 6th, 2015, 01:36 PM

Just as a point of reference:

I use realmworks on my macbook pro running parallels hooked up to a 46" tv laying on it's back to display content and maps for players.

This setup works well for us as I can access all realmworks content on my laptop and share what I like with the players on the TV (we also use miniatures on top of the TV with the digital maps).

It works pretty well for this.

My players have not purchased the player edition despite my continued urging because it's pretty useless for anything in-session and they only bring phones/ tablets along no laptops.

Here's to the web version coming out soon so they can use their tablets at the table!

kbs666 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 1,690 December 3rd, 2015, 06:07 AM	Not presently. Once the web version is available you could reveal part of the map you want and sync but that would be fairly tedious. Fog of world is mostly meant for people with 2 monitors or for players who use the player edition to access their GM's realm between sessions.
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MNBlockHead Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Twin Cities Area, MN, USA Posts: 1,325 December 3rd, 2015, 11:05 PM	Didn't realize that. Thanks! RW Project: Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition homebrew world Other Tools: CampaignCartographer, Cityographer, Dungeonographer, Evernote
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