Heroscape over the Internet?

[DrAwsm]

So, you know how card games can be played over an Instant Messaging program? That's only because the turns are immediate. Card games are fast paced, so they can be played over something fast.

But what about Heroscape? Could an IM program allow us to play over the internet? Probably. But taking pictures, uploading, then browsing them to share over an IM would take much longer than a face-to-face setup.

How about a forum? You can post pictures. You can describe the turns as they happened. It could work, I believe. Combat would be tricky, but only because of the honor system. Heroscape wasn't made with the Internet in mind, I know. There are plenty of amazing minds on here, though, that can probably make this happen.

P.S. The only reason I put this in the General Discussion section and not the Misc. Projects or the Maps and Scenarios section is because this is just an idea. Feel free to criticize, support, add, diminish, or whatever you want to it.

[Fen_Hydra]

Interesting...

[Arrow Grut]

http://www.heroscapers.com/community...ight=HeroSkype
Probably simaliar.

[DrAwsm]

Originally Posted by Arrow Grut

http://www.heroscapers.com/community...ight=HeroSkype
Probably simaliar.

I never thought about searching for "e-mail."

[Darth Vader]

Originally Posted by DrAwsm

So, you know how card games can be played over an Instant Messaging program? That's only because the turns are immediate. Card games are fast paced, so they can be played over something fast.

But what about Heroscape? Could an IM program allow us to play over the internet? Probably. But taking pictures, uploading, then browsing them to share over an IM would take much longer than a face-to-face setup.

How about a forum? You can post pictures. You can describe the turns as they happened. It could work, I believe. Combat would be tricky, but only because of the honor system. Heroscape wasn't made with the Internet in mind, I know. There are plenty of amazing minds on here, though, that can probably make this happen.

P.S. The only reason I put this in the General Discussion section and not the Misc. Projects or the Maps and Scenarios section is because this is just an idea. Feel free to criticize, support, add, diminish, or whatever you want to it.

Personally, I'm not sure I'd like playing a game of Heroscape over a forum. It seems like a good idea until you actually try to make it work. You would most likely need a computer at your game table, and you would need a camera. In a normal turn, you reveal order markers, move your figures than attack. It usually takes about 2-3 minutes total, give or take a little bit of time.

Now in addition to doing every thing above, you would have to snap a picture of what you just did, get it uploaded to a gallery, then post it with a caption describing what you just did. That would add a good few minutes to what you just did. Then you would have to roll your attacks, post what you rolled, than wait for your opponent's defense. I'm not sure if I would have the attention span for something like this. I can't stand loading pictures onto websites, and I get really frustrated trying to post pictures.

I don't think I'd enjoy playing Heroscape online much. I am not patient enough, and I'd probably loose my interest quick. But thats just me.

[SirGalahad]

The pictures wouldn't be necessary. People can play chess and other board games on-line now because the boards and pieces have already been programmed as static images. We already have VirtualScape for maps. In 2-D, the level of the pieces could be labeled on the hexes themselves or as a pop-up when the mouse was moved over them (similar to what you have now on your task bar). Getting usable figures images would probably be the most challenging, but if you remain in 2-D, initializations for figures, color-coded by general, again with the pop-up descriptors could denote the figures.

The DnD Dice Roller is already available - just make it so both users can view it live. Toggle a lockout switch so that one isn't re-rolling the other's dice (or just have two different rollers). Then you don't need to worry about the honor system.

Like in chess, if you attempt to move a piece/figure onto a space/hex where it is not legal to do so, the program would tell you so.

And of course, the IM or chat component is already well-established.

I'm not volunteering, because I certainly do not have the programming knowledge to make it work, but all of the requisite components already exist -- it's just a matter of putting them all together.

[DrAwsm]

You could put the pictures in your post. No need for the gallery.

As for combat, you might have to use the honor system. It's that, or you wait until the other player posts their defense roll. Imagine doing that with squads. I'd much rather use the honor system. Besides, it's just a game. What's the point in lying? If you lie, you gain nothing from it. It is the same with cheating in school. Just be honest and it'll be fine.

EDIT: Some of my argument was negated by SirGalaHad.

[Good Pig]

I think a 3d flash-based Heroscape game that you could play online would be really cool. Tough part would be trying to factor in which card powers trump each other.

I've seen in the software section some people have already built javascript based army drafting programs. Also, it out would be really cool to incorporate the maps with Virtualscape files so you could upload new maps to the program.

It would take a flash-based video game developer to put all these pieces together, but that would be really fun to play.

Maybe WOTC would be able to create it?

[Shockma Ranyk]

Also, on the honor system, no one would believe the other when they successfully mind-shackle someone, or when a DW survives three attacks.

I like SirGalahad's idea, that could work, but both players need to be ready to play at the same time, and if one person can't play all the way through, they need to set up another time when they can then finish the game, which requires quite some communication, which requires both players being online on this site often, and it can get over-tedious. Just my

[xraine69]

Why not webcam it? You can play in realtime and see each other's moves.

[DrAwsm]

Originally Posted by xraine69

Why not webcam it? You can play in realtime and see each other's moves.

I was about to post this. Skype works pretty great. I believe MSN also has a webcam option. My original intent was to find a way to play over a forum. A webcam would be much more practical, but they require a lot of bandwith (spelling?). There's also interruptions, lost connections, etc., but it still sounds like a better alternative to the forum idea. +Rep for xraine

[xraine69]

I honestly just thought of it while reading your thread. In my case, my internet is sketchy right now, I'm supposed to get a new, faster aircard at the end of the month. I have a cam on my laptop, but I would have to get a second one so it can be set to view the whole map and dice tower. I would be willing to try this out next month if anyone is game.