This was my tabletop gaming setup from 2011.<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It was assembled with the following components:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/LG-37LE5300-37-Inch-1080p-HDTV\/dp\/B0039RSYVS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LG 37LE5300 37-Inch 1080p<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.apple.com\/mac-mini\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mac Mini<\/a> 2010 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.apple.com\/displays\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">27-Inch Apple Display<\/a><\/li>\n<li>LCD Adapter Plate<\/li>\n<li>DVI Cable<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ergomart.com\/lcd_monitor_stands\/point-of-sale-mount-POS-LS18.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LS18-3005 POS LCD Monitor Stand<\/a><\/li>\n<li>37 inch TV-Protector Anti-Glare TV Screen Protector<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Background<\/b><\/p>\n<p>For 30 years, I used the traditional approach to running tabletop RPGs: drawing maps with washable markers on a vinyl grid mat. Frequently, game play was interrupted by the need for me to erase and redraw the map. So I decided to devise a technological solution.<\/p>\n<p>I considered the original version of the Microsoft Surface (now rebranded as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/pixelsense\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PixelSense<\/a>), which was a touch screen computer with the form factor of a table. But at $10,000, it was outside of my budget.<\/p>\n<p>Then I considered using an all-in-one touchscreen computer oriented horizontally to display pre-drawn maps. This did have the advantage of a self-contained solution. But the largest touchscreen computer at that time was 27 inches. And I was also concerned the computer might overheat or its components might not work in a different orientation that it was designed.<\/p>\n<p>I decided instead to use a flat screen TV connected to a computer. Since the TV component should also serve its original purpose, I also needed to find a way to tilt the TV to any desired orientation.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, flat screen TVs do use wall mounts; some allow a small degree of tilt, but none of them could tilt 90 degrees. I search for a long time until I found POS monitor stands that could tilt, swivel, and lock in any position I needed. The POS monitor stand could only support a certain amount of weight, so this influenced my selection of TVs. The largest and lightest flat screen I could find was a LG 37 inch. The screen is guarded against scratches and fingerprints by a transparent acrylic anti-glare TV protector. The anti-glare aspect of the protector was an exaggeration on the part of its manufacturer, but its 1\/4″ thickness completely protects the screen from flying dice or dropped metal miniatures.<\/p>\n<p><b>Tabletop Setup 2013<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Since last December, I have improved the portability of the setup significantly. I replaced the Mac Mini and Apple Display with a MacBook Air. This required the addition of a Thunderbolt-to-DVI adapter, since the MacBook Air does not have a DVI port. And I use a mid-2012 Mac Pro Server to host to serve all of the content I need for a gaming session (maps, reference books, character sheets, pictures, music) to the MacBook Air.<\/p>\n<p>Now rather than erase and redraw the map, I simply open a new map on my laptop and drag it onto the screen for the other players to see. I also use iTunes to queue up and play music through the TV speakers to set the mood.<\/p>\n<p><b>What’s next?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Before a gaming session, I use Photoshop to draw maps of the various dungeon, city, and wilderness environments the player characters will experience. Like traditional maps, they are 2 dimensional representations of a 3 dimensional environment. I want to take the maps to the next level, and make them 3 dimensional. I am considering two approaches.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Draw the maps in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blender.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blender<\/a>, or<\/li>\n<li>Build the maps using <a href=\"https:\/\/robcouture.com\/blog\/3DML\">3DML<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Blender has the advantage of being a current technology. And it is also free. But to create maps in Blender, I would be required to learn how to use it. While I see knowledge of Blender as a valuable addition to my toolset, it will take time. And speaking of time, I have no idea how long it would take me to build maps in Blender on a regular basis.<\/p>\n<p>3DML has the advantage of its ease of use. It is something I already understand how to use. I could create new maps rapidly and easily with it. It has the disadvantage of being an unsupported technology, which I hope to see revived as a supported and thriving technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This was my tabletop gaming setup from 2011. It was assembled with the following components: LG 37LE5300 37-Inch 1080p Mac Mini 2010 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 27-Inch Apple Display LCD Adapter Plate DVI Cable LS18-3005 POS LCD Monitor Stand 37 inch TV-Protector Anti-Glare TV Screen Protector Background For 30 years, I used the traditional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tabletop-gaming","category-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robcouture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robcouture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robcouture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robcouture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robcouture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/robcouture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":570,"href":"https:\/\/robcouture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions\/570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robcouture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robcouture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robcouture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}