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#fantasy cartographer
arkenforge · 1 year
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How to build a touchscreen TTRPG table, and use Arkenforge with it.
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Hey folks! Recently we put out this video (also shown below) showing off our new touch screen features, and it’s safe to say it was quite popular! In this article we’ll be giving you instructions on how you can build your own version of this setup at home. Product links in this article are affiliate links.
TLDR Links:
Touch overlays for TV-s or Monitors:
32-inch IR Overlay
42-inch IR Overlay
55-inch IR Overlay
Touch software:
MT Touch Client: https://arkenforge.com/mt-touch-client/
VTT:
The Master’s Toolkit
youtube
Map Display
The first thing we’ll need to organise is a way for your players to see the map. There’s three main ways to go about this, depending on your budget and available space. We’ll start with the cheapest/least space required and go up from there.
Horizontal-Mounted TV
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The easiest way to get a digital setup up and running is to take an existing TV and lay it flat on your table. If your TV doesn’t have a flat back or you want something a little sturdier, you can design a mount that screws into the back of it to keep it flat. The image above shows one that we’ve designed for use at conventions and our home games.
Projector
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Image source: http://projection-mapping.org/dungeons-dragons-projection-mapping/ If you’ve got a sturdy roof and don’t mind doing some wiring, a roof-mounted projector may be for you. This allows for any surface to be used for your play area. Minis with overhanging elements may cause shadows on the map, but arguably that just adds to the immersion.
Integrated Digital Table
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This is the big one; a TV built directly into a table! These can range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands depending on the features and craftsmanship. The sky is the limit with this setup, as you can add speakers, lighting, or even cup holders! Depending on your touch screen solution, the TV will either be flush with the table, or slightly recessed. If you aren’t confident to chop up a table yourself, contact your local carpenter, or one of the many companies creating ready-made digital tables.
Now that our players are able to see the map, our next step is to make it interactive!
Touch Screen Options
The most important part of this build is the thing that will actually be detecting your minis. There’s two main types of touch screens you’ll want to consider: capacitive and infrared. The touch technology you use will determine if there’s anything else you’ll need to get your setup up and running.
Infrared Overlays
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Image source: https://crystal-display.com/products/ir-touch/
IR Overlays work by firing out infrared light in a grid pattern and registering a touch point where the grid is broken. They’re cheap, relatively accurate, and they can detect any object that you put in the middle of them. We personally like these because it can detect any mini right out of the box. There are a solid list of cons though, depending on how you like to run your sessions.
Because the detection is done from the frame inwards, objects that the IR beam can’t hit won’t be detected. This can be noticed when clumping minis together, or if some unfortunate positioning leaves a mini in a dead zone. As the frame detects everything that enters it, dice rolls or accidental droppage can cause unintended reveals. This is something we will address with future versions of the Master’s Toolkit. An IR Overlay also doesn’t play nice with 3D terrain, so you may want to opt for a different solution if you enjoy busting out the Dwarven Forge dungeons. Finally, if you play somewhere with large amounts of IR light, your touch screen may have detection issues.
You can purchase IR overlays in various sizes to fit your screen. We’ve selected a few below for common screen sizes: 32-inch IR Overlay 42-inch IR Overlay 55-inch IR Overlay
Capacitive Touch Screen
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Image source: https://www.iop.org/explore-physics/technology-our-lives/touchscreen
These screens are the ones we find in nearly every device today. They detect touch input by sensing when an electrically conductive material is applied to them. This is usually your finger or a stylus. There is no risk of blocking your minis, as the source of detection is the screen itself. There’s also no risk of interference from other light sources, meaning they can be used in all conditions.
While capacitive screens solve a lot of the issues that IR touch screens can face, there is extra cost and work involved in preparing your minis for detection. The main downside of these devices is that standard mini bases are made of plastic, and therefore are not conductive. You’ll need to find custom bases with a capacitive material, usually involving copper or aluminium. Aluminium foil can often work in a pinch, but results can be iffy. As a general rule of thumb, if it works on your smartphone, it’ll work on your screen. As capacitive touch screens put you in charge of what does and doesn’t get detected, you can safely use 3D terrain on these screens.
Capacitive screens can be purchased both as a full unit, or as a film that you can place on your existing TV. You can find one such film below:
Capacitive touch screen film
If you aren’t too big on the DIY side of things, you can increase your budget a bit and go for an already integrated capacitive touch screen:
40-inch capacitive touch screen
Once your screen has been organised, the next thing you’ll need is the software to run it!
Software
At this moment in time, there’s two pieces of software you’ll need to get your touch screen up and running. Our first version of this feature requires two devices, one of which must be running Windows. There’s no spec requirements for this second device. It just needs to be able to connect to WiFi. As time goes on, we’ll be working to get the second device to a much cheaper price point and more convenient size.
The Master’s Toolkit
This is the most important part of your setup! Right now the Toolkit interprets all touch points as vision to reveal. In the future we’ll be performing some software wizardry to allow selective touch reveal, touch dead-zones, and a bunch of other fun features.
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In the first release of this feature, we’ve got some simple options available. For a full overview, check out our sister article that explains how to use and configure the MT Touch Client: https://arkenforge.com/mt-touch-client/
MT Touch Client software
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Those of you on Windows may have noticed a new option in your Launcher – MT Touch Client. This software runs on a Windows device connected to your touch screen. Some of you may be wondering: “Why do I need a second device + software to use the touch screen? Can’t I just plug it into my main computer” That’s a pretty valid question. The primary reason is that touch input steals control of the mouse. This stops the Toolkit from being useable once minis are in play, and can lead to a lot of unintended UI selection. Another fun fact is that Windows clears ALL touch points if it detects a point for more than 60 seconds. This is counterproductive when dealing with minis that are often on the board for hours at a time.
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For this reason, we created the MT Touch Client software to send touch information to the Toolkit over the local network. The only thing you need to do is run the software. It’ll automatically connect to the Toolkit and handle everything from there. One other benefit of having an external app is that the Toolkit can remain platform independent, so whether you’re running on PC, Mac, or Wine, you don’t need to worry about drivers or compatibility issues. For a full overview of the MT Touch Client, view our sister article here: https://arkenforge.com/mt-touch-client/
Integrating other devices with the Toolkit fog of war
For those who want to perform your own fun fog of war integration, the Toolkit receives fog data via OSC. Port 7001, Address “/FogOfWarPosition”. Data will need to be in the string format “[touch point]|[x position]|[y position]”, where [touch point] is an integer from 0 – 99, [x/y position] is a decimal value from 0 – 1 representing the screen position, and ‘|’ is the separator character.
Enjoy your new setup!
You’ve now got everything you need to get a touch screen setup up and running! If this feels like a bit too much work, we’ll be looking to release a kit that contains everything you need in the future. Be sure to stay on the lookout for that!
If you don’t have the Master’s Toolkit yet, try it free for 28 days at https://arkenforge.com/trial
See you in the next one!
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fantasymapmaster · 1 year
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Aurenburg - Drawn with fineliners on paper, scanned and digitally labelled and coloured.
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paracosim · 4 months
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Finished my first ever town map
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mapxilla · 1 year
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The Cutlass Airship [27 x 19]
https://www.patreon.com/posts/cutless-27-x-19-75605257
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useless-prophet · 3 months
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I got a fountain pen for Christmas!! + paper map drop of Cyvern!
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lucalicatteart · 1 year
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Poll adventure (paventure? lol) Day 5: read the small story tidbit below the poll for more details, OR just vote based on initial impression
(✦ see past poll results + further information HERE (link) ✦)
The winning option of yesterday's poll was that the adventurer should choose a suspicious egg as his gift ….
"He carefully plucks the egg from the gift pile, wrapping it in spare fabric and tucking it away inside a small wooden box within his backpack for safety. Not really wanting to stick around and get accidentally pulled into scary underground tunnels or something, he shakily bids the Well Creature farewell, and continues on through the forest, just following whatever he can find that looks vaguely like a path.. He makes an occasional stop to pick up a cool rock, harvest berries, or let the cat play in the grass, but mostly just wanders aimlessly, lost in daydreams and contemplations of how his New Fun Life Of Spontaneous Adventure is going so far......
Eventually, the forest tapers off into a more open area of land, hosting what seems like a humble little village. By this point, it's nearly nightfall, which reminds him that he's actually quite afraid of the dark, so he scrambles about town for a moment until finally finding the local Inn. After nervously stumbling inside, he rents the cheapest room available, then sits alone, snacking on some free leftover food scraps and plain water. It's been a tiring day, but in the spirit of becoming an adventurer and pushing himself to have as many experiences as possible, he figures he could hang around downstairs a little longer, perhaps get one more thing done before bed -- What should he do?"
#paventure posting#polls#choose your own adventure#Sorry I have the opposite problem to people who make characters who are too overpowered and good at everything lol#Everyone has to be fumbling around in roles that are not actually suited towards them that much (like a wandering#adventurer who is also afraid of the dark . not generally all that brave. instead of a trusty steed or something useful#he has like 5 coins and a piece of bread and a little cat. etc#) but that's the point! He wants to get out and try. He doesnt' actually know much what being an adventurer entails but he still wants to#go and adventure and see the world. leave whatever his old life was behind and just let himself be led by whatever paths happen#to present themselves to him - in the hopes that at some point along the way he'll end up with something fulfilling or know#where he actually belongs. blah blah generic adventuring stuff. so on and so forth. He can't have too specific of motivations really#just by the nature of everything he does being randomly voted on lol. So just 'generally seeking to be on a journey' works.#I wonder if that's the fantasy world version of a mid-life crisis. People reach a certain age and are just like 'I'm going to leave#my village and wander around and see what happens!!' and sometimes it works out and they become a famous#cartographer or a well known knight or work their way into a job in castle or etc. etc. and then others just return home after#like a week or something with no money and a broken arm lol#ANYWAY#I wanted to have so many options since an Inn is a good place where many branching paths could come from like. there could be such a#variety of people to talk to and things you could do there. but I'm still trying to limit it to 6 or less options each time#I wanted to have a second mysterious hooded figure described as trying very hard to look much more mysterious than#the first hooded figure but there isn't room for that with the text limits lol. but I thought it would be funny with like.. the fantasy#trope of there always being some shadowy guy in a corner in a tavern or something. but then you look and there's another even more shadowy#guy. then you look in the next corner and there's an even MORE shadowy guy. and sometimes they all stare at each other from#across the room. one of them pulls their hood down a bit and the other does it and they keep doing it until their faces are so covered they#cant see anymore. etc. etc. ANYWYA Ghbjhb#yeah! day 5!
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namatnieks · 2 years
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Paper style world map Asset pack  https://aamatniekss.itch.io/fantasy-paper-map-pixelart-asset-pack
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the-astralatlas · 2 months
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The frigid town of Ordelia❄️
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educationaldm · 1 year
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Kel Patra by The Reclusive Cartographer (@reclusivemaps). I love the idea of adventuring in a floating city in the sky. www.patreon.com/thereclusivecartographer
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mjhartwork · 2 years
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meet my new oc, Chitan!
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spalanai · 9 months
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i can’t be the only one who finds maps so lovely and amazing. like fuck the gps man. i don’t want a computer telling me where to go. imma find the way myself. that’s the adventure and fun part.
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Title: The Cartographers
Author: Peng Shepherd
Series or standalone: standalone
Publication year: 2022
Genres: fiction, fantasy, mystery, magical realism, thriller, contemporary
Blurb: Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr Daniel Young, is a legend in the field, and Nell’s personal hero...but she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over a cheap old gas station highway map. When Dr Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence...because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one, along with anyone who gets in the way. But why? To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discover the true power that lies in maps.
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fantasymapmaster · 1 year
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Il Tempio - The Temple: A commissioned grayscale map for Italian writer Gabriele Governatori; a region divided into 12 sectors aligned to the zodiac signs. Outside is a deadly desert.
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daisy-cartography · 11 months
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I catch myself expecting and aiming for perfection, creating only in the ideal conditions. What I make will never be perfect, but without practice and without the comfort of letting people see it, I'll never even get close.
This is the second isometric I've ever made and the first one just rawdogging it with pen. All things considered it's pretty decent. I started adding detail and gave up when I considered that the pen from the start would make the details (furnishings, debris) a little pointless since it would look bad with all the lines. But that's okay, too. I'd rather figure out how to plan better (or suck it up and use pencil) and try again. Nothing wrong with doodling.
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Book Review: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
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Loved the phantom settlement premise, the map-making, the interwoven personal histories, and the academic nerdiness, but the story itself required too much suspension of belief. I think if you can do without many explanations as to why things are the way they are then you'll resonate with this more than I did. Especially when it comes to the fantasy aspects.
The characters' connection to each other largely depended on what occurred between them in the past, too, off the page, rather than what was developing between them in the present, so that made it harder to care about them. To understand their bond. They came across as underdeveloped and flat as a result. I also felt like the villain's motives were illogical. Senseless. I think I would've preferred more of a sliding scale where that was concerned instead of something so stark, so extreme.
2.5/5 stars
**Follow me on Goodreads
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mapxilla · 1 year
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Coastal Forest [40 x 25]
https://www.patreon.com/posts/coastal-forest-x-75681521
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