Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Metallinoss Nov 20, 2014 11:03:00	As a tabletop miniature game, Dungeons & Dragons relies on a grid map that determines the positions of the players and foes. There are various ways to keep track of the situations in game.   One of our Group member has designed Mapping on flat screen tv with software to support it. Areena II makes mapping easy and fast for both, DM and players and software enables Covering and hiding the parts that are not visible to the adventuring group yet. But I'm not going to explain it all here. Visit the original site for Areena II Flat screen mapping and see it yourself:   http://tuomasparviainen.com/areena-ii/   We are more than happy to hear other people ideas and similiar systems to develope our mapping system furhter.   Best Regards, Shayan Darksbane, Ranger, 5th Edition
#2 Synjin Nov 20, 2014 11:53:15	Plugging my laptop into my TV and using Roll20 is working great for me, but more power to ya!
#3 CFK Nov 21, 2014 9:16:02	That looks awesome.   Toyed with the idea of using a projector to create a battlegrid map and enemies, but one thing I questioned was the quallity of the image. Using a flatscreen is a great solution.   I suggest replacing the glass screen with one of Polycarbonate or plexyglass. The image will be mostly the same and it can get more abuse than a normal glass plate, for example it won't shatter when an angry player is hitting it for fumbling his dice roll.   The map builder, was it your own design? and are you planning of putting monster images in there or keep using miniatures?
(Reply to #3) mr.Patu	Hello CFK,   I thought about projector also. It could be used as a whole table where the light source is below the surface. Mirrors could be used to minimize the height. Also I stumbled on an idea of using laptop screen that has its back layer ripped of on a class room projector. One other member of our rpg group designed the first version and it is a glass surface with LED lighting. First we wanted to use paper prints, but the realised they would be huge in size. http://tuomasparviainen.com/areena-i/   We use miniatures on the map. Tokens of them would be handy when moving the map around. The software is compiled by me of various JavaScript libraries, HTML5 and css. It relies on scanned maps from adventure books.   The screen is from an old TV that has plastic surface. They cost around 50-100 euros. This one was a leftover TV. If the screens casing is suitable no modification is needed. Perhaps some legs to balance it.   Software is available in https://github.com/tuomasparviainencom/dndtable