News: No news is good news...

Login  |  Register

Author Topic: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?  (Read 20582 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline namelessone

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 75
  • I *LOVE* EO and 40K.ca
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #40 on: February 10, 2005, 01:49:49 PM »
Another option that is copyright free is this.

Instead of having an armybuilder tool, you offer certain icons for each posbile unit. The player makes an armylist in armybuilder or notepad etc. And copy and pastes with chat window or w/e to tell opponent what he has. He can drag a new unit in at any time from like a library of units: so the plyaer selects his army after he has shown is oppoonent the list. This saves you a lot of trouble, and makes it so the players require a codex. Just an idea....

Offline Alpha

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • This space intentionally left blank
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #41 on: February 10, 2005, 02:54:21 PM »
Another option that is copyright free is this.

Instead of having an armybuilder tool, you offer certain icons for each posbile unit. The player makes an armylist in armybuilder or notepad etc. And copy and pastes with chat window or w/e to tell opponent what he has. He can drag a new unit in at any time from like a library of units: so the plyaer selects his army after he has shown is oppoonent the list. This saves you a lot of trouble, and makes it so the players require a codex. Just an idea....

The army editor which skyline is working on does not in fact offer "readymade" units which you add into your army list - if that's the impression you had. There are no stored stats, point costs or anything like that in the editor. Instead, the editor has fields such as unit name, unit role, unit class and unit description which the player fills in just the way they want. This means that when they create an army file of their own to play WH40k through this client, they DO need to know the statistics for those units (which in simple terms means that they need to have the rulebook or a codex).

Of course, since you can use other people's army files (at least for now you can) you might load up an army with all the information filled in, but you'd be stuck with what other people have created. You can't edit an army file unless you know the password for it (which the creator sets). Besides, if you don't have the rulebooks or know the rules of the game, you're not going to get much done no matter which army you choose. The client I'm working on does not contain any WH40k rules in it, it just offers a virtual gaming board to play on.

Offline namelessone

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 75
  • I *LOVE* EO and 40K.ca
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #42 on: February 10, 2005, 07:13:00 PM »
Sorry, ignore my old post as i just read the first few things and posted. Now after having read everything, I would LOVE to see this project finished. Another thing it will allow people to do, is to test out armies for tournies and to test out models before they buy them.

A cool feature would be something that when you click on a button it takes a screenshot that could be placed on ur computer somehow, so people could make battlereports easy. Just a thought.

Another thing is in close combat you might want a tool that shows what is within 2 inches (4 in leapers case) so you dont have to keep measuring the green line to figure out what casualties can be removed.

Best of luck on the project!

Offline Alpha

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • This space intentionally left blank
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #43 on: February 11, 2005, 12:43:53 AM »
A cool feature would be something that when you click on a button it takes a screenshot that could be placed on ur computer somehow, so people could make battlereports easy. Just a thought.

Unfortunately I'm not aware of any way of taking a screenshot with Flash. To my knowledge Flash can't even write files onto the user's computer (save for caching purposes), so it is very limited in certain tasks. The user can, of course, take a screenshot of their web browser or desktop (PrintScreen key in Windows) and paste it into another application such as Paint, Gimp or Photoshop. They can then crop the image as they wish and use it in a battle report.

Another thing is in close combat you might want a tool that shows what is within 2 inches (4 in leapers case) so you dont have to keep measuring the green line to figure out what casualties can be removed.

This is a good idea - I was a bit worried that the current distance tool might not be suitable for certain situations and you've brought up one such example. I'll add a "proximity tool" onto my to-do list.

Also, thanks to everyone who's shown interest in this project. Let's hope I'll have something to show for it eventually. It'd be a shame not to finish what I've started.

Offline Evil Ninja

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 782
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #44 on: February 11, 2005, 09:06:50 AM »
How big will the client be? If it is fullscreen (or any size really....full is just reccomended),  you can take a windows screenshot.

Offline sgt. cervesa

  • Junior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 245
  • be afraid....very very afraid. (or curious)
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #45 on: February 11, 2005, 09:45:03 AM »
wow....

i love it!

can't offer much help (couldnt program if my mothers life depends on it..and i got a grade in java...but forgot all about it)
you are not our allies, no more than a butchers knife is his ally.
you are tools, nothing more.
To be used and expended.
what are a 1000 mon-keigh lives if 1 eldar live could be spared?

Offline skyline

  • Junior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 201
  • I *L0VE* 40konline.
    • BrooklynBattleBunker.com
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #46 on: February 11, 2005, 10:07:17 AM »
Greetings all!

Hopefully if/when Alpha releases the BattleBoard, there will be continued support to enjoy it and make it better.
Either way, as was stated before, its a great experiance!

I have been busy working on the army editor code, and it seems to be comming along well.
There will be more updates this weekend, and I'll post a screen shot of the editor.

lata!
2K Ultramarines (sold)
2K Necron (given to my bro)
1.5K Eldar (given to my bro)
2K Deathwing (sold)
2K Tau (sold)
2K Imperial Fists (WIP)

Offline namelessone

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 75
  • I *LOVE* EO and 40K.ca
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #47 on: February 11, 2005, 12:32:37 PM »
Cool  ;D I personally know that if it works a lot of people would enjoy using it.

Offline Alpha

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • This space intentionally left blank
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #48 on: February 12, 2005, 02:53:35 AM »
How big will the client be? If it is fullscreen (or any size really....full is just reccomended),  you can take a windows screenshot.

Currently the client is 1100 x 850 pixels in size, and most likely this is the final resolution. The flash file weights in at 61 kilobytes but it will obviously grow as I add more features (not to mention GUI elements).

Yesterday I worked on the game list screen, touching up the visuals and changing the game listing some. Here's a screenshot of the updated window:



As with the game creation screen, things should be pretty self-explanatory here. The big blue text is the name of the game, underneath which you can see the game system in use, wether the game is waiting for players or in progress (when all player slots are filled, the game is considered to be in progress) and if a password is required for entering the game or not (the password check is not in place yet - I'll be adding that next). Then comes the game description (if any) and player slots: green slots are free and can be selected by clicking; grey slots are occupied by someone.

I also worked on the dice roller, adding small furry spider's roll discard idea. Some more work needs to be done on that, but when it's finished it'll allow you to discard any rolls above or below a certain value (after applying roll-specific modifiers, if any).

These will likely be done this weekend, after which I'll move on to the blast scatter spinner.

Offline 'Mark'

  • Major
  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1291
  • Country: 00
  • Run them to the ground!
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #49 on: February 12, 2005, 08:49:08 AM »
VERY neat lookin'!

Offline Alpha

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • This space intentionally left blank
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #50 on: February 12, 2005, 09:49:02 AM »
I think it looks clean and to the point, although I wouldn't mind coming up with a better look for the GUI. Since I don't want to brand the client WH40k-specific, I'm probably not going to fill the GUI with sheets of metal, bolts, eagles, skulls and other such WH40k imagery. Still.. it could be slicker.

But as I said before, the GUI comes second after code, which has once again progressed and at a faster pace than I anticipated earlier today. Password checking is now in place and the "dice discard" feature seems to be in working order aswell. And since I was on a roll I went ahead and whipped up the scatter spinner tool, too.

Here's a glimpse of what it looks like:



To check for scatter in Battleboard you now follow these steps:

1) Bring up the template tool and place blast marker of your choice

2) Bring up the Dice roller and roll D6 to see if the shot scatters (as per the official rules of using a regular D6 to check for scatter)

3a) If the shot hits, you're free to proceed with whatever happens after the round strikes

3b) If the shot scatters, find a button labelled "Scatter spin" from the GUI and click it

4) You'll see the above circle-and-arrow diagram appear where your blast marker is and see the arrow spin

5) Once the arrow has stopped, the scatter angle is sent to other players so that they can check it if they want to - in the meanwhile you roll for scatter distance as per the official rules

6) When you've determined scatter distance, you drag the blast marker along the arrow; each circle indicates +1 inches away from the original target location. When you release the marker at its new location, the other players get a notification and can verify that you've followed the rules

Note: the "Scatter spin" button won't be available while the spinner is moving, to stop people from re-starting the spin again and again if it seems the scatter is going to go badly for them. The button only re-appears after scatter angle data has been sent to other players.

You'll also notice that I've added a one-inch dark circle at the center of the blast marker. This was done to make it easier to place a marker accurately.

Offline Evil Ninja

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 782
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #51 on: February 12, 2005, 12:17:31 PM »
Nice job with the lobby and even better with the scatter! (I sware, we need a thumbs up simley ;D) Glad you figured out a way to get the scatter to work out nicely.

Offline namelessone

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 75
  • I *LOVE* EO and 40K.ca
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #52 on: February 12, 2005, 04:29:27 PM »
Sweet!!! I cant wait to test this baby!

Offline Alpha

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • This space intentionally left blank
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #53 on: February 13, 2005, 07:21:57 AM »
Today has been bug hunting day - and I don't mean the Tyranids. For a while selecting an army and deploying units was inoperable due to some recent changes to old code but now that's sorted. The chat bug is still there, though, and I don't yet know how to fix it (some messages get garbled).

The chat in BB presently crypts (or scrambles, more like it) messages since they are stored in plain text files which anyone can access with a web browser - private chat's not very private if your foes can see what you're talking about with your ally. I'm 99% sure the bug is somewhere in the code that scrambles the message and / or puts it back together, but I'm not sure where. I'll keep looking.

I also got the Proximity tool working, but then something occured to me: presently the tool resembles the scatter tool's rings, but while scatter is measured from the center of the blast marker, CC range probably isn't measured from the center of the model's base. Which means the Proximity tool would not be of much use in its present state.

So.. what I need to know now is:

1) Is CC range measured from the edge or the center of a model's base?

2) Are there models that use CC rules and have a base larger (or a different size) than 1 inch across?

EDIT:
I tried looking this information (question 1) up from the rulebook but either I missed it or did not understand it. Just let me know which page / paragraph of the 4th Edition rulebook it's mentioned in and I'll check it out.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2005, 07:23:56 AM by Alpha »

Offline Rasmus

  • The Ratcatcher
  • Ancient
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 33046
  • Country: 00
  • Lost Roads are now found!
    • 40kOnline
  • Armies: Squats
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #54 on: February 13, 2005, 07:28:16 AM »
1. No, from the edge. Where the bases touch.
2. Yes. Terminators have newer bigger bases, Wraithlords and Dreadnoughts, Daemonpirinces and large monsters all have other bases as well, even bigger.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2005, 07:41:45 AM by Rasmus »

Lost Roads - finally released!


YouTube-clip of my Squat army.

Offline 'Mark'

  • Major
  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1291
  • Country: 00
  • Run them to the ground!
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #55 on: February 13, 2005, 07:35:23 AM »
I also got the Proximity tool working, but then something occured to me: presently the tool resembles the scatter tool's rings, but while scatter is measured from the center of the blast marker, CC range probably isn't measured from the center of the model's base. Which means the Proximity tool would not be of much use in its present state.

Nope, it'd have to be more of a... coloured strip of 2" wide?

Quote
1) Is CC range measured from the edge or the center of a model's base?

 Page 6, under 'bases'   I assume I may quote as little as this; "...use the closest edge of the base..."

EDIT: also see this thread

Quote
2) Are there models that use CC rules and have a base larger (or a different size) than 1 inch across?

 Well, in the game certain models in terminator armour (and similar) have slightly larger bases, but you could mount those on a 1" base without any problems. Other models that use a larger base are:

Walkers, such as dreadnoughts
Monstrous creatures (Carnifex, Wraithlord, Greater Daemon)
Bikes/Jetbikes
Beasts & Cavalry

See page 9 of the BGB.



Good luck with your bug hunting!

EDIT:  Dang, just a few sec too late
« Last Edit: February 13, 2005, 01:00:26 PM by Terra's Guard »

Offline skyline

  • Junior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 201
  • I *L0VE* 40konline.
    • BrooklynBattleBunker.com
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #56 on: February 13, 2005, 03:06:57 PM »
Bug hunting is right....hehe.

I've got a shot of the army editor, w/descriptions inside of red boxes on the image:
http://www.aerofi.com/40K/bbedit.GIF

Its pretty evident what everything does. Prior to this page is:
http://www.aerofi.com/40K/bblogin.GIF

You can add units, delete units, change all you want. There are bugs I'm ironing out, such as safe file one, and will add more feats like duplicating unit(s), user interface improvements. This isnt' a realease, just a 'working' point for the project.

2K Ultramarines (sold)
2K Necron (given to my bro)
1.5K Eldar (given to my bro)
2K Deathwing (sold)
2K Tau (sold)
2K Imperial Fists (WIP)

Offline namelessone

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 75
  • I *LOVE* EO and 40K.ca
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #57 on: February 13, 2005, 04:00:51 PM »
One thing: WWP armies use the small blast template as a portal for reserves coming in, but it would need to stay static in the same spot. Not a moveable template that will be needed throughout the game. IDK how this would be done though?

Otherwise it looks like you are practically done.

Offline 'Mark'

  • Major
  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1291
  • Country: 00
  • Run them to the ground!
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #58 on: February 13, 2005, 04:17:50 PM »
One thing: WWP armies use the small blast template as a portal for reserves coming in, but it would need to stay static in the same spot. Not a moveable template that will be needed throughout the game. IDK how this would be done though?

I assume you don't HAVE to go to step two... just if you need to scatter.


As for the army editor, the 'units' look a bit weird this way, but other than that it looks pretty good. But wouldn't a line for 'weapons and wargear' and a line for 'special rules' be better? I mean, those are the things I'd want to know about an enemy unit, besides the stats.

Anyways, thumbs up!

Offline skyline

  • Junior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 201
  • I *L0VE* 40konline.
    • BrooklynBattleBunker.com
Re: Warhammer 40,000 online; tabletop style?
« Reply #59 on: February 13, 2005, 04:41:57 PM »
@ Terras Guard.

Yeah, true the unit are a bit off, not very easy to see whats' what.
As i stated, its not a release, and will probably change before its released.

As far as the weapons and wargear, and special rules, true as well.

I think i will end up moving each characteristic to a table, ... html table that is.


2K Ultramarines (sold)
2K Necron (given to my bro)
1.5K Eldar (given to my bro)
2K Deathwing (sold)
2K Tau (sold)
2K Imperial Fists (WIP)

 


Powered by EzPortal