A must have utility

[JasonRimmer]

I've just come across this and it comes in a Role playing game and tabletop game versions. It has alot of amazing quality modules\games already converted and available to download from th forum games like Up Front, Close Assault, Outrider, D Day Dice, Dead of Night,Banzai and Aliens.

I'm going to buy it. I know there are similar out there but the quality here is astounding.

Battlegrounds

"Battlegrounds: RPG Edition (aka BRPG) is virtual tabletop software for use with roleplaying games such as Dungeons & Dragons, d20, GURPS, Rolemaster, FUDGE/FATE, Savage Worlds, Shadowrun, etc. It was released simultaneously for both Windows and Mac OS X, and supports gameplay in any genre, both online and offline. BRPG can also be used as a virtual tabletop for playing boardgames, wargames, card games, and dice games.
Battlegrounds: RPG Edition is virtual tabletop software designed to enhance your pen-and-paper roleplaying games, whether your players are in the same room, or on the other side of the world.

Go beyond rough, hastily-sketched maps on a plastic battlemat, and bring your games into the 21st century with this “digital battlemat”.

• Easy to learn and use
• Cross-platform (Windows & Mac OS X)
• Supports play in any genre, with any RPG rules system
• In addition to RPGs, Battlegrounds can also be used to play many boardgames & wargames
• The perfect solution for gaming groups where one or more members have moved away
• Full-screen maps, high-resolution tokens, and a user interface that hides away when you don’t need it, to avoid on-screen clutter and heighten the immersion factor
• Easily add your own artwork and maps to the program
• Display visual aids and play music or sound effects to enhance the mood
• Dynamic Fog-of-War feature automatically reveals the map as the party explores, taking into account light sources and any special vision the characters may have
• An incredibly-powerful dice roller that supports most RPG game mechanics, yet requires absolutely no scripting
• Built-in text chat with support for group or private chat, in-character and out-of-character chat, chat aliases, chat macros, an exportable Chat Log, and more
• A highly-configurable Turn Sequencer ensures that everyone always knows whose turn it is (or if their turn is coming up), and also keeps track of important character stats
• Support for card decks, including custom card deck creation
• A token-swapping feature lets you easily switch token poses (standing, prone, mounted, etc), or “flip” virtual counters
• Pop-up character portraits, range measuring, a full assortment of drawing tools, and much more round out the feature set
• Ideal for use with a projector or HDTV in face-to-face game sessions
• Use Battlegrounds to generate awesome visuals for your play-by-post or play-by-email games
• If you already use a mapping program like Dundjinni or Campaign Cartographer, you can save time and money by not having to print out your large, full-color battlemaps
• A developer who listens to user feedback, and a helpful, friendly, and rapidly-growing user community
• A free, full-featured Demo is available for download, so you can try out the software before you buy
• Many free artpacks are available for download, and commercial artpacks are available to further enhance your games
• Many free digital game conversions are available for download, and a growing selection of commercial Game Boxes are also available


Battlegrounds Gaming Engine (aka BGE) is virtual tabletop software for use with boardgames, wargames, card games, and dice games. It, too, was released simultaneously for Windows and Mac OS X. BGE is compatible with all the digital game conversions that were already available for BRPG, and also allows you to create your own digital game conversions. Note that for user-created games, you will need to own a copy of the game you wish to play, and (unless you are extracting images from a PDF) have access to a scanner to scan in its gameboards and counters, since these may not be distributed with the Battlegrounds Gaming Engine due to copyright limitations."

Battlegrounds Gaming Engine is virtual tabletop software for playing boardgames, wargames, card games, and dice games, whether your players are in the same room, or on the other side of the world

• Easy to learn and use

• Cross-platform (Windows & Mac OS X)

• Supports play of nearly any game, even using house rules

• The perfect solution for gaming groups where one or more members have moved away

• Full-screen game boards, high-resolution tokens, and a user interface that hides away when you don’t need it, to avoid on-screen clutter and heighten the immersion factor

• Easily add your own virtual game components and game boards to the program

• Display visual aids and play music or sound effects to enhance the mood

• An incredibly-powerful dice roller that supports most common game mechanics, yet requires absolutely no scripting

• Built-in text chat with support for private messages, custom chat colors, chat macros, an exportable Chat Log, and more

• A highly-configurable Turn Sequencer ensures that everyone always knows whose turn it is (or if their turn is coming up), and also keeps track of important game stats

• Support for card decks, including custom card deck creation

• A token-swapping feature lets you easily switch token states or “flip” virtual counters

• Pop-up portraits, range measuring, a full assortment of drawing tools, and much more round out the feature set

• Ideal for use with a projector or HDTV in face-to-face game sessions

• Use BGE to generate awesome visuals and game-state updates for your play-by-post or play-by-email games

• Save time and money by not having to print out and physically assemble print-and-play games

• A developer who listens to user feedback, and a helpful, friendly, and rapidly-growing user community

• A free, full-featured Demo is available for download, so you can try out the software before you buy

• Many free artpacks are available for download, and commercial artpacks are available to further enhance your games

• Many free digital game conversions are available for download, and a growing selection of commercial Game Boxes are also available


Battlegrounds: RPG Edition (aka BRPG... and Mac OS X,

Upfront

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[Joan d'Arc]

http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/

Looks like I will spend a while looking at that.

[JasonRimmer]

Thought you might like it Joan, as you mentioned Upfront the other day.

[Joan d'Arc]

Yeah I have heard of those sort of programs, but never thought they could do card game type interactions. I might just have to drop some money on that one. Googled it, and sadly I saw links for people that like to steal things. I don't care about those nasty big companies, but you have to support the little guys out there. They usually try the hardest too.

[heruca]

Hi folks,

I'm the developer of the Battlegrounds virtual tabletop software. I just chanced upon this thread, and wanted to say thanks to JasonRimmer for the nice things he posted, and for mentioning my software in the first place.

Jason, I noticed in another thread here that you are a fan of Car Wars, so I wanted to bring this to your attention, in case you hadn't seen it.

I also wanted to let you know that there is a fairly complete list of all the Battlegrounds game conversions that I've created to date posted here on boardgamegeek.com. But the real fun starts when you begin creating your own digital game conversions, either of your favorite published game titles or of games that you created yourself (if you fancy yourself a game designer).

Oh, and for convenience, here's a direct link to the Up Front digital game conversion, since some of you seem interested in that game. A word of warning, though. That is a complex game, and the digital implementation is also more complex than most others, so I only recommend it to gamers who already know the game rules. This is not a game that can be easily learned via a remote gaming platform.

Anyway, I hope some of you try out the free Demo and like what you see. If you have any questions, just ask.

[JasonRimmer]

Hello and welcome. No problems. You need if you haven't already to get the word out over at Boardgame geek. Also Gamesquad forum (they have a huge ATS and ASL section and many play other games).

Joan I'm sure no one is making money from copyright material. I never noticed anything untoward myself. Also if they don't produce a decent version to use online or the games are out of print I see no issue. Vassal does similar.

[Joan d'Arc]

Sadly Jason, there has never been something that can't be found available for download. I think the internet has done a lot to bring out the cheap swine in humanity.