Laptops & Traveller GMing

[Darkhstarr]

I've been currently getting the laptop my wife & some friends gave me for Christmas for graphics and working on my Traveller website & game scenarios.

It's been suggested & I'm been wondering if a laptop would be useful for running a Traveller game. If it would be, what besides campaign notes would be useful to load onto the laptop for running a game.

 

[aramis]

Star Maps and World Data.

 

[Icosahedron]

I'm not sure what wouldn't be useful. I haven't found anyone to play FtF in a good many years, so all my playing is via computer, and I have everything stored there - character sheets, campaign notes, maps, rules, the works...
As I understand it, if you buy one of those portable projector thingys and a stand, you can even project a live map onto your tabletop.
Not at the same time as pulling up a character sheet, though...

 

[aramis]

I'm not sure what wouldn't be useful. I haven't found anyone to play FtF in a good many years, so all my playing is via computer, and I have everything stored there - character sheets, campaign notes, maps, rules, the works...
As I understand it, if you buy one of those portable projector thingys and a stand, you can even project a live map onto your tabletop.
Not at the same time as pulling up a character sheet, though...

Actually, yes, you can, if you configure the projector as screen 2 (or 3 or 4, as appropriate) rather than mirroring screen 1.

 

[Rraurgrimm]

One thing we find most useful for our Traveller campaign: images of starships and characters (NPCs) involved. We get a print version of those as well - so we usually add our personal notes to those pictures.
Last session, we had to decide which of the eight Ensigns our characters have been testing during the last few weeks would be considered for hire. The notes&pictures were almost as invaluable as the session log.

Quick reference rules and more or less current character sheets prooved useful as well.

And last but not least, MP3 playlists with different kinds of background music, sorted by 'fast-paced action/combat', 'suspense', 'celebration' and 'calm background' music - with a few special themes.

 

[Sturn]

I made a website (don't have to publish it can keep it locally) for a Star Wars campaign that represented players logging onto a news network or ship computer. Having a TNS website would be nice for a Traveller campaign. You could then have want ads, job offers, current news, etc all pop up on the laptop when the players are browsing a computer in a starport or on their own ship. You could also add a section for the player's ship computer where ship logs (past adventure notes), ship's locker, star maps, contacts, etc could be listed.

 

[mbrinkhues]

Actually, yes, you can, if you configure the projector as screen 2 (or 3 or 4, as appropriate) rather than mirroring screen 1.

This will not work on every notebook. Actually some of the more interesting boxes (Netbooks) often can not do this either due to hardware or software limitations. Otherwise they have a resonable low price (300€), long battery times (6+ hours) and low noise.

The ideal gaming netbook price-wise might currently be one of the small "convertibles" like Lenovo 10-3T or Asus MT101. They have their deficits like that <list of curses> capacitive screens introduced by that <stronger curses> of Apple with the iThingy instead of a proper digitizer with pen. But if you can live with that they are tablet/netbook combis for less than 500€ with good battery times. And they run Windows allowing most software to be used.

Next step up are some of the new tablets like the Fujitsu Q550 and similar Oak Trail or ATOM based units with active (Wacom) digitizers

Top of the line if you have the money are real tablets and convertibles like the new ASUS EP121 Tablet (suffers from a weak battery) or the Fujitsu Lifebooks T730 and T900 (LOOONG battery times). Those boxes have Wacom-Style active pens allowing handwriting recognition, fine line drawings

 

[Darkhstarr]

Thanks. I had been stuff the FFE CD-ROM's & the few MGT I bought as ebooks as well as a few charts & player sheets. My laptop is a Dell Latitude D610. I also loaded all the Profantasy Software off my defunct PC onto it.

Speaking of sound, I found dejunking the basement my old Roadway Equalizer from the 80's. It still works. I used to use in Traveller games. It had 4 sounds: machine gun, raygun. laser, bomb(the latter sound & dropping bomb & explosion).

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

Event log: What did the characters do, and when did they do it?

Procedures: Character generation, combat, trade, et cetera.

Tables: Encounters, equipment, world data, et cetera.


I've made PDFs of procedures and tables and put them on my Kindle.

 

[aramis]

This will not work on every notebook. Actually some of the more interesting boxes (Netbooks) often can not do this either due to hardware or software limitations. Otherwise they have a resonable low price (300€), long battery times (6+ hours) and low noise.

Never had a laptop that wouldn't support a second screen since win 98 was released... Then again, I've been using Macs since then, too...

Windows inherently supports multiple screens; the resolution might suffer, but most projectors are SVGA or lower... tho' that, too, is changing.

 

[Icosahedron]

Never had a laptop that wouldn't support a second screen since win 98 was released...
Windows inherently supports multiple screens.

WAY beyond my understanding, man.

Mmrraaaagh!
(That's my other dinosaur impression.)

 

[BytePro]

ALL my Traveller games have used a computer during play since '82!

Some were laptop-ish (just not battery powered), many used a TV as a monitor or tiny LCD style mono-colored displays - I even custom build LED die rollers (for secret rolls).

As a referee I found all sorts of uses - starting with chargen (instant NPCs), encounters (animal, etc.), random trade generation. Tracking for personal and ship combat. As well as for props - news, bulletins, contracts, sounds and even instant random maps.

I've even used multiple computers - so players not only had reference material and tracking tools, but we could also RP typed communications.

Currently prepping to use iDevices. While I do wish they supported pen style input (and freaking foil backed light reflective displays with anti-glare/anti-smudge coatings like I've used in industry for 20+ years - geez!), they are otherwise quite close to my optimal RPG aid! (Wireless to my projector would be another nice plus - but this is doable with a cable.)

Looking forward to the day that multi-touch tabletop computers have enough resolution to support my 'needs'! True tabletop roleplaying.

 

[mbrinkhues]

Never had a laptop that wouldn't support a second screen since win 98 was released... Then again, I've been using Macs since then, too...

Windows inherently supports multiple screens; the resolution might suffer, but most projectors are SVGA or lower... tho' that, too, is changing.

Netbooks often use the smallest version of Win7 (IIRC Starter) these days. And that does not support multiple screens. Updating to the next better Win7 (IIRC Home or Home/Pro) OTOH costs 30-50 percent of the Netbook and often isn't worth it. One (otherwise great) box with this "problem" is the Lenovo S10-3 series in the Netbook variant. The tablet/convertible variant uses a better Win7 version (Base version lacks touch/tablet support)

WinXP never had that restriction, can't say about VISTA since I never used that. OTOH my WinXP "Gericom Turbine" weights almost 3kg and howls like a starting Phantom(1) when he starts using the power (Not to mention batteries with 2-2.5h life when they where young in 2003)



(1) It still was a great box in it's days with a PIV/2.53Ghz and tons of memory not to mention a real Grafic card

 

[mbrinkhues]

ALL my Traveller games have used a computer during play since '82!

Some were laptop-ish (just not battery powered), many used a TV as a monitor or tiny LCD style mono-colored displays - I even custom build LED die rollers (for secret rolls).

As a referee I found all sorts of uses - starting with chargen (instant NPCs), encounters (animal, etc.), random trade generation. Tracking for personal and ship combat. As well as for props - news, bulletins, contracts, sounds and even instant random maps.

I've even used multiple computers - so players not only had reference material and tracking tools, but we could also RP typed communications.

Currently prepping to use iDevices. While I do wish they supported pen style input (and freaking foil backed light reflective displays with anti-glare/anti-smudge coatings like I've used in industry for 20+ years - geez!), they are otherwise quite close to my optimal RPG aid! (Wireless to my projector would be another nice plus - but this is doable with a cable.)

Looking forward to the day that multi-touch tabletop computers have enough resolution to support my 'needs'! True tabletop roleplaying.

Now granted, I would not use an IThingy if one pays me(1) but some modern tablets/convertibles are simply brilliant and in the same price class. This starts with the T101MT from Asus (passiv, pre iThingy Smartphone typ stylus) at the 400€ margin and ends at 1100€+ for a late model Fujitzu and Lenovo Core-i Tablets with 6+ hours of battery time and enough power for speach input (The smaller Atom450 based units can do that within limits) and a full, active pen (like external graphic tablets) Some new "pure" tablets are coming out in the 600-1000€ price range (Acer, Asus) currently. All with real pens (Not the Bratwurst footprint type capacitive things) so fine drawings work. Handwriting works also (even with the lower powered ones, mostly a matter of the digitizer, Asus T101 is the worst, Lenovo is the best) And they all run Win7 (That is quite useabel in Tablet mode IF you have a good digitizer)

Add in the Android crowd where some tablets are getting a stylus (HTC Flyer). Maybe that works too, depends on how good A3 will be (The A2.x based tablets are no good IMHO(2))

Actually for many jobs a good smartphone like my old WiMo6.5 unit from HTC(3) with a big screen. And phones are "always there"

(1) Actually I would for certain jobs - serving tray, table leg stabiliser,...
(2) A2.x is nice for phones. It would be better with a pre iThingy digitizer and pen.
(3) Actually back to this from a HTC Desire. I missed the pen and the faster text input

 

[jawillroy]

I've never really used a computer during play, except for PBEMs. I can certainly appreciate the organizational benefit of a laptop for the referee but I wouldn't want to have too much actual play mediated by the computer: we all spend so much time in front of these idiotic machines and I'd rather have my face-to-face gaming stay face to face.

Not that I do so much of it, but you know what I mean.

 

[Socrates8]

not sure if this is so relevant... but I have found this little program called Zim Desktop Wiki (http://zim-wiki.org/) It basically is a wiki-styled notebook for the PC with an easy and fast interface. At first I was thinking about using it for my work, until I realized what it really is good for: management of roleplaying campaigns.
It's a bit hard to explain, but within the framework of the program one easily can administer character information, world information, adventure notes, all within reach of each other and, and that is the best part, interlinkable. The whole thing is based on txt-files with minimal additional infos threwn in and can be edited on the fly.
So far I mostly used it for my OD&D gaming (I dropped the Labyrinth Lord rules in there for reference), and it is a bit like this: when a monster shows up I can link directly to the monster's description in it's own subpage (with neat picture of the beast I just found and linked to the page), or i can just copy over the whole description from one article into the other without any problems. If I want to look up a spell an enemy sorceror might cast I can look it up in the spell directory, or just link to it in the villain's description. etc.

The whole thing is really, really flexible once one gets around looking at it a bit deeper
.
I of course had a similar idea for using it with Traveller, especially the different sectors and subsectors and worlds might be detailed out very neatly with this.

Unfortunately it mostly is a Linux program, and while it does have a Windows version (which I am using right now for example, sitting at a Windows machine), that one has a few less features (the native spellchecker e.g. is an external program)

 

[Mithras]

I feel I should be pushing more for the 'laptiop ingame', but what you said here just sort of hits the mark with me really. Face to face. Table-top gaming. Across a table.

we all spend so much time in front of these idiotic machines and I'd rather have my face-to-face gaming stay face to face.

 

[nats]

I feel I should be pushing more for the 'laptiop ingame', but what you said here just sort of hits the mark with me really. Face to face. Table-top gaming. Across a table.

Ditto. I actually resent computers taking over my life - I was addicted to PC games in the past and wasted loads of time to them, I have been forced to use a computer for CAD in my career. I just hate using them and much prefer drawing by hand, writing using pens, reading paper books, etc. But I sort of accept the need for them. But I am damned if I am going to use one for playing Traveller (other than creating forms etc for printing off). It just goes really against the grain.

Ive actually considered that you could do great vector space battles or land battles using a computer generated map, rather than playing on a limited physical surface, and of course you could keep records etc far more efficiently on a computer than in ringbinders etc - but I just cant face staring at a computer any longer than I absolutely need to these days, especially in my leisure time. Perhaps if I didnt use a computer so much at work I might feel differently.

 

[BytePro]

o: Computers are just a tool - its how you use it that determines its real worth.

Non-programmers are at the mercy of what is available from others and the RP world is very much lacking in this arena as a whole (there are plenty of exceptions, but they are niche and hampered by the traditional computer interface/hardware paradigms).

For myself, with a computer at the gaming table, we can focus even more on roleplay - not dice counting, time consuming rules hunting, prop-sorting and hiding, stat, health and wealth accounting, or spend time consulting complex tables and rules and pausing while the Ref generates random stuffs.

I am very story telling oriented - but props, like a picture, have also proved invaluable for my gameplay (especially when the details are being used technically by players like deckplans and maps). A computer allows for not only lots more pictures than I'd want to carry around and try to organize by hand, but supports full animation, 3D visualization, real-time editing, etc. - not to mention the addition of sound effects...

As to the iThingies - I'm a multi-decade Windows guy and I love hand-recognition, etc - but nothing else in the mainstream market beats the fruity stuff yet for portability, battery life and programming framework. I can literally see (when I have enough stuff written) walking right up to a table or bartop (or well shaded loungers ) and gaming with just an iThingy in hand - no power cords, dice, books, notepads and pencils, props, etc.

With an iPod or iPhone, I can instantly generate and track anything - and hide/show whatever I want - all in the palm of my hand. (Android can do the same... but for now it supports no iPad/desktop format like the iThing world which factors into my personal choices.)

 

[Mithras]

You know, that might be a way around it.... I have an ipod, and I do like to show pictures to players (my god, with the content on the web ... its crazy not to). Flashing the ipod at them is easier than mouse clicking on folders at the large laptop on the table ...

Nice idea.