

Vassal: Engine for building and playing online board games and card games - lobo_tuerto
http://www.vassalengine.org/

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splawn
Vassal seems like more of a staple of the hardcore wargaming community (For
the most part, not making an absolute statement here). If you want to play
boardgames with less learning curve (both the interface and the games
themselves) I recommend boardgamearena.com for web-based (but with a smaller
library) or Tabletop Simulator for native (bigger library through Steam's
workshop thing)

EDIT: and of course actual physical copies of the games are probably the best
way to go if possible.

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thaumasiotes
> EDIT: and of course actual physical copies of the games are probably the
> best way to go if possible.

In terms of logistics, physical copies are the worst possible way to play.
They have benefits if you're playing as a bonding activity, since everyone has
to be there. They have absolutely no benefits, and enormous drawbacks, if
you're playing to play.

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fragmede
> absolutely no benefits

Digital games do have their advantages, but that's going a bit too far.

Is it possible for someone can't programming to create a digital game? Could
they implement "house rules" on an existing game? In games that have trading,
how about non-standard trading? (Eg I've played Settlers with futures) How
about granting a younger player an advantage to compensate (eg, give them an
extra $1000 to start)?

How immune to cheating is Vassal? If the digital copy runs on Windows, a bunch
of my friends already have a copy of ollydbg installed. Is there also a
feasible to detect if there's a Excel spreadsheet or Google Doc open that
tallying all thes cards used and other information about the game state, and
spitting out the odds that my next card is going to be the one I'm looking
for?

Meanwhile, playing a game locally means playing with others humans with
similarly limited memory and processing power, which means my naive gameplay,
which doesn't have the odds of every possible combination of cards memorized,
isn't a game of Humans vs. Cylons. (Not that I understand the attraction to
online poker either.) Is there any guarantee that the person on the other end
isn't grepping /usr/share/dict/words in our digital Boggle game?

Teaching people how to play ("customized live interactive tutorial") is far
better with a (patient) real person rather than a recorded tutorial,
especially when the game hasn't been translated.

Are you going to be able to dig up a digital copy in 30 years and play that on
the latest computer?

Can you give your digital copy to a friend?

How many copies of the game do you need to buy for everyone to play? Most
online games require each person to buy their own copy, but aside from Magic
and other CCG, the box and some friends is all you need.

That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure you can come up with other
advantages that physical copies of the game have.

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jaryd
I use Vassal to play and spectate Twilight Struggle -- hell of a lot easier
than trying to find people in my area who are willing and able to play :)

Side note: interesting example of how not to manage a delayed Kickstarter:
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559431060/twilight-
stru...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559431060/twilight-struggle-
digital-edition/comments) \-- the vitriol in this thread is pretty ridiculous.

~~~
busterarm
Gosh, can I join you? I bought this game ages ago and have never been able to
play it.

(OMFG, there's a Sekigahara module!!! Another great game I own and can't get
players for )

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civilian
Count me in three? HN Twilight Struggle FTW! Email's in my profile.

//edit actually I confused Twilight Imperium for Twilight Struggle. Still,
either would be great.

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shedletsky
Ew. Sourceforge.

I was excited to try it but I'm afraid of what crapware I'll get if I do.

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guard-of-terra
Checkout sources & build your own binaries.

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ErikRogneby
This reminds me a lot of
[http://www.brettspielwelt.de/Spiele/](http://www.brettspielwelt.de/Spiele/)
which has been around for over a decade. The game list isn't as big as Vassal,
but the client and interface for the games has been pretty reliable.

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math0ne
Tabletop Simulator seems to have gained much more traction than this ever did.

~~~
billbradley
Is there a good spot to see available mods, similar to vassals?
[http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Category:Modules](http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Category:Modules)

I'd be interested in picking up tabletop simulator depending on what's
available.

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ErikRogneby
here:
[http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=286160](http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=286160)

~~~
billbradley
Excellent, thanks.

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civilian
I've installed Vassal and tried it but I haven't actually played multiplayer
with it.

My main point of confusion is--- it's really odd that it doesn't have rules
enforcement. I know that it makes it infinitely more complex to code a module,
but for some games (like A Distant Plain and Twilight Imperium) rules
enforcement would be fantastic.

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jbattle
I always assumed it was an intentional design decision ...

1) these are board games, and for many people working through the mechanics is
a big part of the fun

2) it's an attempt to make it clear the tool isn't a replacement for games but
a supplement (i.e. a hedge against confrontations over copyright)

~~~
Jtsummers
I figured it was a holdover from starting as a wargaming simulator. The rules
on those are somewhat varied (x inches in one system, hexes in another,
squares in a third, or y inches in a fourth) so the ability to shift things
around (flexibly) allows games to be simulated with greater ease.

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Zardoz84
Would be interesting to try to build a IA to play Advanced Civilization. If
the original DOS game adaptation had a very competent IA, what could archive
now ?

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EtienneK
Vassal seems to be the best way to stream board games over twitch. Love it.

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skrowl
At first I was "Oooh, I like board games!" but then I was "aww, Sorceforge"
and then later I was "Aww, Java". I'll stick with Tabletop Simulator for now,
but you'd think something like this could be implemented in plugin-free HTML5
by now.

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tokenizerrr
Java for desktop isn't at all bad.

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skrowl
I'll assume you're on Mac. I roll windows here and haven't had Java installed
in almost 3 years. Couldn't be happier.

Can't wait until I can do the same to Flash.

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tokenizerrr
Nope, I'm on Windows and Ubuntu. I don't have any Java in the browser, on
ubuntu I apt-get the openjdk and on Windows I use ninite.

