Fantasy Grounds Unity GURPS? - Page 7

Rupert · 10-20-2021, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willy

There are a lot of fans who would love to playtest a VTT for sure, but the size is nothing SJG ever has handled, and it will take longer with each module up from the start. Imagine a crossover campaign in space with the crew crashed on a medieval standard fantasy world with dragons and magic, add a bit spice in form of psi ( stargates anywhere ) and you know you are bound for trouble. Sooner or later more sooner someone will try such a thing and complain if something don´t work or crashes the system.

My campaign has already gone through the 'PC's spaceship crashed in another dimension that had dragons and goblins and mages and sorcerers in it' stage. Oh, and one of the PC is/was psionic, so that part was covered as well.

So, it'd be sooner rather than later.

Farmer · 10-20-2021, 05:22 AM

I'm currently playing in a game that is space with magic swords and psionics, ancient tech and gods and aliens and etc etc.

All on Foundry VTT with hexes and facing and no issues.

Oh, and hand drawn scribbles can be scanned and a hex put over it or you can draw directly via a tablet. And you can make instant NPCs with a mook generator that just let's you whack in simple skills and basic stats and danage very quickly.

You have to spend a little time learning but it's really not that hard.

seycyrus · 10-20-2021, 08:23 AM

I apologize ahead of time for what will be a bit of a rambling post. Disclaimer: The post below is not meant to deal in absolutes. When I make a statement, is should be interpreted as applying to "most", not "all" etc. etc.

A SJG VTT seems to be out of the question. That is fairly obvious. That a significant percentage(ever increasing) of future RPGs will occur online is also obvious.

I need GURPS products that will help me play my VTT of choice easier. I'd like SJG to strongly encourage this in any way possible.

One of the things that I do not understand is the current relationship between GCA and Gurps products being released. GCA4 is great, GCA5 will be even better. If there are stat blocks for NPCs in a book, supplement or module, why not offer the data files as well? These can be easily imported into most of the current VTTs out there.

Doing so would certainly increase the likelihood of a product being purchased for the intent of being used in a VTT. It would also result in an increase in sales of GCA5 (moving forward).

If I have to spend 4 hours creating NPCs for use in a VTT from a GURPS product for use in my Gurps game, why wouldn't I just spend 4.1 hours creating the NPCs from a non-Gurps product for use in my online Gurps game?

There's a lot of great content out there being produced for use in other systems that can be adapted. It's not like 20 years ago where Gurps products were almost automatically 500% better than anything else being produced.

For those who point out that potential newcomers won't be able to to do NPC conversions from other systems to Gurps, that is my point. They won't do it, they'll just play the other system.

Another thing is maps. Maps should be prioritized to be used by the players, not the DM.

Don't give me beautiful maps with legends and numbers all over the "playable" areas - that makes the map almost useless for a VTT. The GMS map could just be a block diagram after all. If something more is desired, one can always make a copy of the player map for the GMs use. Copying the GM map for use as the players map is generally not a desirable option ("Ok. Grahluk rushed forward to base of the number 4. He then pivots to the right, scanning for enemies in the direction of those circles on the map")

Fred Brackin · 10-20-2021, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rupert

We don't use a VTT, just Skype.

I did not mention Skype as a service with which I had good experiences but it wasn't because we hadn't tried it. Discord wasn't really good but it was better than Skype. Skype gave us poor connections with frequent drop-outs.

Zoom has been really good but limits you to 40 minutes per day unless you spend a bunch of money. We only tried Facebook "rooms" once but everybody who could find our room had really good results.

Rupert · 10-20-2021, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I did not mention Skype as a service with which I had good experiences but it wasn't because we hadn't tried it. Discord wasn't really good but it was better than Skype. Skype gave us poor connections with frequent drop-outs.

It behaves better than some others we've tried. One of my players demands video, and Skype's is as good as any we've found. One of the big annoyances with Skype is the way 'features' come and go without warning, and behaviours as well.

Armin · 10-20-2021, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seycyrus

One of the things that I do not understand is the current relationship between GCA and Gurps products being released. GCA4 is great, GCA5 will be even better. If there are stat blocks for NPCs in a book, supplement or module, why not offer the data files as well? These can be easily imported into most of the current VTTs out there.

Doing so would certainly increase the likelihood of a product being purchased for the intent of being used in a VTT. It would also result in an increase in sales of GCA5 (moving forward).

Long, long ago, in the days when GURPS 4th Edition was shiny and new, and the dreams of a flood of hardcover, full-color books hadn't yet dusted away, this was the plan. SJGames had an employee who was there to shepherd digital products and keep the digital SJGames properties growing. One of our dreams was that we'd be able to put out data files for books as they happened, and that sample characters and NPCs would have GCA files ready to go with the books.

But, alas, that shiny wonderful dream was not to be. GURPS 4th Edition's ambitions were scaled down, that employee left when other digital projects refused to materialize, and we now live in a greyer GURPS world.

seycyrus · 10-20-2021, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armin

...One of our dreams was that we'd be able to put out data files for books as they happened, and that sample characters and NPCs would have GCA files ready to go with the books.
...

So, what's past is past. Certainly playing catch-up would be a herculean task.

Is there a reason why new creators wouldn't be able to include the datafiles? Assume that the creators had purchased a version of GCA.

Gigermann · 10-20-2021, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seycyrus

Is there a reason why new creators wouldn't be able to include the datafiles? Assume that the creators had purchased a version of GCA.

IIRC, Doug Cole included VTT map files for (some of?) his publications—a good start.

Armin · 10-21-2021, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seycyrus

Is there a reason why new creators wouldn't be able to include the datafiles? Assume that the creators had purchased a version of GCA.

I don't see any reason they couldn't. However, it is more work, and asking for more work for no additional compensation seems like a big ask.

A related aside:

I think a lot of people greatly underestimate how important time is in cost-benefit analysis. They think something should be simple or easy, so it should be included. But even a simple thing takes time, and time is money. (And while making characters may be pretty easy, making data files to add new data often is not.) Adding a couple extra hours of something that brings no additional compensation means you have lost money you could have earned doing something else. For many creators, that could make a significant difference in their budgets for the month.

This is why all those data files are currently handled by volunteers. Someone who does it in their free time because they want it for themselves, but is willing to share, has a much different perspective on the time spent. It's also why so much data is missing or incomplete--users who don't need it don't bother with it.

Rolando · 10-21-2021, 12:57 PM

there is another constrain that go along the time is money and is that anything need doing takes time and time is irreplaceable. No matter how much mony you throw at it things need time.

And even if you get more people (turning money into time ni some way) in most cases someone need to take a look and check the product meet the standards for release, and that person usually is irreplaceable with a new person (adding more money to get someone else to check the product).

So, we like the games because they are great, but to be great they need to be checked and revised by the right person and that person have limited time to revise everything that is in the pipeline.

10-20-2021, 05:22 AM	#62
Farmer Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia	Re: Fantasy Grounds Unity GURPS? I'm currently playing in a game that is space with magic swords and psionics, ancient tech and gods and aliens and etc etc. All on Foundry VTT with hexes and facing and no issues. Oh, and hand drawn scribbles can be scanned and a hex put over it or you can draw directly via a tablet. And you can make instant NPCs with a mook generator that just let's you whack in simple skills and basic stats and danage very quickly. You have to spend a little time learning but it's really not that hard. __________________ Farmer Mortal Wombat "But if the while I think on thee, dear friend All losses are restored and sorrows end."

10-20-2021, 08:23 AM	#63
seycyrus Join Date: Jul 2013	Re: Fantasy Grounds Unity GURPS? I apologize ahead of time for what will be a bit of a rambling post. Disclaimer: The post below is not meant to deal in absolutes. When I make a statement, is should be interpreted as applying to "most", not "all" etc. etc. A SJG VTT seems to be out of the question. That is fairly obvious. That a significant percentage(ever increasing) of future RPGs will occur online is also obvious. I need GURPS products that will help me play my VTT of choice easier. I'd like SJG to strongly encourage this in any way possible. One of the things that I do not understand is the current relationship between GCA and Gurps products being released. GCA4 is great, GCA5 will be even better. If there are stat blocks for NPCs in a book, supplement or module, why not offer the data files as well? These can be easily imported into most of the current VTTs out there. Doing so would certainly increase the likelihood of a product being purchased for the intent of being used in a VTT. It would also result in an increase in sales of GCA5 (moving forward). If I have to spend 4 hours creating NPCs for use in a VTT from a GURPS product for use in my Gurps game, why wouldn't I just spend 4.1 hours creating the NPCs from a non-Gurps product for use in my online Gurps game? There's a lot of great content out there being produced for use in other systems that can be adapted. It's not like 20 years ago where Gurps products were almost automatically 500% better than anything else being produced. For those who point out that potential newcomers won't be able to to do NPC conversions from other systems to Gurps, that is my point. They won't do it, they'll just play the other system. Another thing is maps. Maps should be prioritized to be used by the players, not the DM. Don't give me beautiful maps with legends and numbers all over the "playable" areas - that makes the map almost useless for a VTT. The GMS map could just be a block diagram after all. If something more is desired, one can always make a copy of the player map for the GMs use. Copying the GM map for use as the players map is generally not a desirable option ("Ok. Grahluk rushed forward to base of the number 4. He then pivots to the right, scanning for enemies in the direction of those circles on the map")

10-21-2021, 12:57 PM	#70
Rolando MIB Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Panama	Re: Fantasy Grounds Unity GURPS? there is another constrain that go along the time is money and is that anything need doing takes time and time is irreplaceable. No matter how much mony you throw at it things need time. And even if you get more people (turning money into time ni some way) in most cases someone need to take a look and check the product meet the standards for release, and that person usually is irreplaceable with a new person (adding more money to get someone else to check the product). So, we like the games because they are great, but to be great they need to be checked and revised by the right person and that person have limited time to revise everything that is in the pipeline.