I'm copying an email announcement that Jeffery Schutt sent to the boardgames list a few weeks back about a cyberboard gamebox for Dragon Pass which he has developed.
This allows DP to be played on the computer screen as is explained by Jeffery below. There are further versions of the DP gamebox and NG gameboxes being worked on by others and which may become subsequently available. Also the possibility exists of new Gloranthan games being developed in this format. This is a great opportunity to set up email games between players living in distant locations, a couple of weeks back Robert McArthur (the boardgames list host) was certainly looking for vict.., er opponents. If it is felt to be off topic to look for opponents and set up games here then perhaps interested parties could email the boargames list instead (gloranthaboard_at_issaries.com.au)*. now the downside, if like me you are a Mac user then I'm afraid you are out in the cold as Cyberboard is PC only.
There is an article on Cyberboard by Mark Ramsdale in the Raiders Digest which can be found on the fanzines section of the fans contribution page at issaries if folks want further information. Web addressess for downloading Cyberboard are also given there.
Cheers (and congratulations to Jeffery for doing this) - Chris
*This address may change soon as the boardgames list looks like it will have to move to a different host server.
Jeffery Schutt:
>The Dragon Pass Cyberboard project can be used in a variety of different
ways.
Play by E-mail - Conventional use for Cyberboard. The many phases within the
typical game turn makes this a bit time consuming as files need to be traded
back and forth many times during a single game turn. Special rules could be
developed to streamline the process if desired. Double blind play can be
done by using a third party to Gamemaster the game and distribute it to the
players as the game progresses.
Realtime interactive play by any number of players via ICQ and NetMeeting
over the Internet - Possibly the most ideal use of the Gamebox. By
connecting computer to computer via the internet players can see the same
gameboard as they take turns moving pieces back and forth. Players take
control of the board and pieces by left clicking their respective mouse
device. "Conversation" can take place via the message box that is part of
the game or by separate ICQ messaging. Games can be saved in progress and
started up at a future date or completed in one sitting.
Campaign Mapping - Role playing campaigns can be managed at a large scale by
creation of special counters to represent the players or groups of players
involved in the game. New landmarks or places of interest and discovery can
be identified by creating special counters for them and placing them on the
mapboard as events occur.
Scenario Design - Cyberboard can be used to create new scenarios. The
convenience of storing a game setup over a long period of development in
Cyberboard is of great benefit. Once developed and saved as a scenario file
the same setup can be pulled up for playtesting over and over without
creating it from scratch each time. Once completed these files can be
distributed as new cyberboard gamefiles or distributed for conventional
boardgame play.
Counter Variant Development - New counters can be created using the
Cyberboard Gamebox counter editing tools. These can be distributed as either
counter group files or incorporated into a new Gamebox scenario.
Terrain Mapping for scenarios in other areas of Glorantha - New areas of
Glorantha can be developed using the elements already created for Dragon
Pass. These areas can use elements of the existing counter set or new ones
can be created using the counter editing tools.
Sharing of Battle Reports - Entire games or individual screen shots of a game
in progress can be shared by simply taking a screenshot (using the print
screen button on you keyboard) and pasting it into a document for E-mail
distribution or pasted into a website.
FAQ Illustrations - Questions or points of argument can be illustrated using
Cyberboard by saving the game turns illustrating the question and E-mailing
them to concerned parties.
In all cases where sharing is of great benefit to the Glorantha boardgaming community a site such as E-groups could be used to save files for future access. Scenario design, counter variants and battle reports are all useful endeavors to save for the benefit of others. The database feature of E-groups could be used to coordinate a list of players who wished to play Dragon Pass either by e-mail or NetMeeting.
I hope this is helpful in illustrating all the potential uses of the Cyberboard gamebox for Dragon Pass. Some may wish to leverage any or all of these possible uses. Whatever the case if you have any questions or other possible ideas for using it let me know.
Mcdredd_at_aol.com
Jeffery Schutt<
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