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The VTT
🕑 Added 2024-06-12 00:33:11 +0000 UTCHey everyone,
Geoff, General Manager of MCDM here. Last year MCDM and DMHub started working together to build a set of digital tools that we have so far been referring to as “The VTT.” We know it needs a cooler name than that, because it really is turning into more than just a Virtual Tabletop. Internally we have started calling it the Codex, but we will see if that sticks. We want to share a bit about what we have been up to and a few of our goals that have become more clear.
First, some goals:
Directors shouldn’t have to buy our RPG a second time to use our digital tools.
It should be fast and easy for a Director to get their players into an adventure they have prepared.
Creators should be able to share or even sell their creations, ideally in a built in marketplace.
We want to make the simple stuff easy and the complex stuff possible.
That last bullet could use a bit of extra clarity. We want all the things you do often (drawing a map, running combat, building out a challenging encounter, managing a horde of goblins) to work really really well in the Codex and not require a bunch of time or knowledge. Now if you want to build a custom interface or a novel new feature, we can’t make that easy because we can’t read your mind, but we can have tools that make it possible.
Building the Codex remains an ambitious stretch goal, but we strongly believe that a custom-designed tool built from the ground-up to work with our game is the best solution. It will allow us to tailor the user experience to the needs of the community and the game.
Potential Feature Set:
We have regular brainstorming sessions on what features in the Codex might compliment the RPG. We have already come up with plenty of exciting ideas, and if you are following along, you have probably seen them being shared via Discord and Twitter.
A couple of highlights:
A Tactical Battle Mat: We are making a game about heroes who fight monsters, so the Codex needs to do that well. This includes automated dice rolling, initiative tracking, character movement, and targeting. The Codex guides users through the rules—particularly helpful for welcoming new players to the table—but also gives players and Directors the flexibility to override things when they need to.
Character Management: The ability to create characters quickly and easily and play using character sheets. Things like Victories, Heroic Resources, and Stamina will automatically be tracked.
Encounter Building: Naturally, we plan to include the encounter system we’re making for the RPG in the Codex. As the design team is still very much figuring this out for the core game, we don’t yet know what this will look like.
Document Management and Sharing: The ability to share documents and handouts with your playgroup. It’s more fun when we can all see the menu at The Green Dragon Inn.
Chat System: Chat in or out of character, with our chat system recognizing the RPG’s language rules. Share dice rolls, portions of documents, ability descriptions and more to the robust chat system.
Map Creation: An advanced map creation tool that allows you to paint terrain, build gorgeous dungeons and buildings out of shapes, and place props with advanced properties. Maps can be imported and exported, and map updates are displayed to everyone in real time!
Content Sharing & Marketplace: Content you create can be shared privately with friends or publicly with the community. Commercial content can be developed and sold on the marketplace. We’re constantly amazed and inspired by what our community can come up with, and we want to encourage and support this creativity.
Advanced Custom Lighting: Lights and vision are calculated in real-time and look gorgeous. Dynamic shadows based on time of day. Imported props have shadows and vision calculated automatically from their images.
Rules Compendium: Rules for classes, ancestries, items, etc. are all found in the compendium and can be customized and added to. Brew your own content and customize the rules of your game.
Modding. A Lua-based modding system allowing you to extensively customize and add rules and features.
Distribution. We plan to distribute the Codex primarily as an app on Steam that will run on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
This outlines our plan as it stands today, but things will evolve as the core RPG evolves. We are aiming to have early access to the codex for Patrons as it’s part of the dev process, but we don’t yet know when that will be.
-Geoff
Comments
Colin C Carmello
What's the word on this? I'm very keen to use the DS VTT. I know there was some mention of Patrons or Backers getting access to the VTT (not a guarantee, I know), but I haven't seen any substantive update on the VTT in a while. Maybe I missed it?
MCDM Productions
That's a great idea.
MCDM Productions
Not yet, but we plan to have an early version that we share here with patrons.
Grady Culhane
love it! 100% of the games I run are remote online through VTT's so i am very excited for this!
João Pedro Araújo
This looks great. Would the Codex serve also as an companion app for table play. For instance being able to create characters, encounters and an easy way to print them or use it on the table instead of trough the Codex itself?
Joseph Lee Justice
is there a alpha/beta version to tinker with?
Roman Penna
This looks really cool so far. Love the Dungeon builder
DMHub
Great question! If you start using DMHub today, I think most features in the MCDM Codex will be familiar to you. There will most likely be an extra layer of polish, some extra focus on the MCDM RPG, of course, and it is likely things will *look* quite different with an MCDM theme on it, but most of the core features will feel very familiar to you!
Miles Minio
It looks dope like you can mostly automate a whole dungeon and turn it in to a mini videogame for the players, probably would make dungeons and exploring much more fun for the players!
Origami Dinosaur
Question for DMHub! How much parity will there be between your 5e VTT and the MCDM one be? I imagine I'll continue to run DnD and the MCDM RPG moving forward for different styles of game (until MCDM has an RPG for each style of play :D) so if I start playing with the 5e one now will the majority of features work the same?
DMHub
If you want to play D&D, you can use DMHub, which is the technology the MCDM Codex is based on. It includes D&D 5e as well as systemless options. It has the same map, movement, and lighting engine as shown in this video. Our beta is available for download for free at https://www.dmhubapp.com
Jarred Allen
Looks cool! Will there be an option to disable game rules and just have the map/movement/lighting? I might be convinced to use this for my current D&D game
DMHub
Yes, the Codex will have an extensive modding system which will allow homebrew! We also hope to make playing at home using a TV a good experience.
Reformed Hillbilly
This is so damn cool and looks incredibly easy to use. It reminds me of the time I used to make scenarios for Heroes of Might and Magic 3 using the map editor.
Gogo M
Oh my god. As a DM who has tried running multi floor areas in Fantasy Grounds, that floor transition was the most impactful thing. Just wow, incredible
ChatN
This had no right to look and feel as cool as it does. Honestly, your "stretch goal" demo startup VTT is already putting Roll20 to shame. I'm very excited about this! :D
Alex Haas
Man, MCDM just continues to stand out as a good company. Always putting User Experience over profits, you guys stand out as Human Beings fighting the good fight against Corporations in an increasingly anti-human world. To sort of use Matt’s words. Thank you, MCDM
Derek Berdine
This is looking fantastic, team! I've been playing in Fantasy Grounds for about six years and this already looks like a serious upgrade from that. Rock on!
Tom Flynn
Wow. This looks like it's really going to be an all encompassing tool for running the game. Ways to get it onto the TV for at home play would be absolutely amazing. Will there be any support for homebrew classes, subclasses, or other options?
Nelson Chandler
Amazing
Richard Miller
"primarily through Steam" I hope that means you'll have away to get the app that isn't locked behind someone else's walls. Also the map building alone looks like it's worth the price of admission.
Bob Driver
Will it support in person play with a common map screen like a projector or TV? Can it support hybrid play? Some players in person and others remote.
Callum Iles
I've used quite a few VTTs to date but I've never seen the verticality expressed so well (and without having to drag players to a seperate map whenever they go up or down stairs!). Very excited for the Codex and curious to see how it'll handle verticality with flying/climbing creatures and the like :D
Derek Sheridan
Lua, you say! Gotta get back into my Lua Learning Journey! This all sounds AMAZING! Way above and beyond what I had imagined. I can't wait to experience all this first hand.
DMHub
We are focusing on developing for desktop at the moment, but if the Codex is successful we would love to bring it to mobile.
DMHub
The Codex will have a modding system allowing people to add functionality! Mods will be shareable through the community. We haven't worked out the exact policy on what will be on sale in the store, but we likely will have mods available in some form.
DMHub
We don't have a plan for this specific functionality, but the Codex is planned to be moddable and so it would be possible for a member of the community to build a mod to do something like this.
Jon G
Would it be possible to upload the chat/combat log to something like Google Keep or another note taking application? Or export it to text at the end of a session?
Kelby B
I love this, this is what i needed 3 years ago. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 & 9 :: Nail them :) 4, 5 :: Greater for immersion 7, 11 & 12 :: Community Tools, yumm I would love the ability to use this from a single PC and display onto a TV for in person play with minis. So a "Director View" and a separate "Player View" window. ..... pretty please? :D
mercurus
Sounds like the right kind of roadmap. The whole suite would make play much easier to facilitate, much easier to onboard new people. The marketplace would spawn all sorts of new ideas, especially with mod support. You could have PUG one shots with strangers, and a LFG section for campaigns. I could imagine single player content eventually. Hmm I bet someone would even whip up an AI Director bot for this
william white
ok i can see this working as a tool for encounter and map design for GMs who run a physical game and could even work to help players keep track of there characters as well.
DMHub
Yes! https://dmhubapp.com/images/hexes.mp4
Matthew McCasland
Any chance of hex grids overlays or movement?
DMHub
DMHub does make a 5e VTT that has all the functionality shown in the video! You can download a beta already from https://dmhubapp.com/
mAc Chaos
Damn, this looks actually awesome. I was skeptical when I first started the video because we have so many VTTs and most of them all do the same thing but this actually won me over. If only it also worked with D&D...
Connor Collins
How will elevation be accounted for?
Rian Dickson
So excited to the Codex come to life! Is there a plan to build robust DM and/or player campaign journals?
Diego Storck
Is there any thought of bringing the Codex app to Mobile devices? Like the app store or Google play?
MCDM Productions
I think as long as enough people want to use the codex, we will find a way to fund future development.
MasterOfJackals
Great to see a post from Geoff!
Seth Lang
This is really awesome, half of my games are online these days, so it's really cool to see the cool stuff you all hope to do with The Codex.
Mark Widner
Yep. Was wondering if all that good built in animation would make it into Codex.
MCDM Productions
You can import static maps.
Mark Widner
I wonder if there would be a way for those of us that have Dungeon Alchemy to utilize their map making with the Codex.
wyatt wustrau
Looks amazing! I'm curious about future funding/development. A thing Matt mentioned once upon a stream was how the company would like to keep developing the system as it continues to exist, but to do that requires paying people...and to do that requires getting money somehow. Is there any plans for that currently? Or maybe that's a plan for future release....
Joe Auerbach
Seeing this thing build the Delian Tomb in record time was a real eye opener!
Barrett Froc
Well done to the development team on both the MCDM and DMHub sides. Very excited to see this in action. Is the for sale 'content' both game content but also Custom apps made for the VTT?
Ben Ward
I wonder if MCDM ever half arses anything!! No'atmeal is living strong right across the board
Caleb Plehn
Looked like a d20 was rolled on attack, so this is proof of concept, not final product. The RPG is supposed to have consumable magic items and stuff too, right? So inventory does exist, it just won't be actual management. At least that was my interpretation.
David L
This looks really good already, looking forward to more and trying it out once that comes to fruition.
Eric Venegoni
That video was great, and thanks for the write-up. Building the Delian Tomb right there on a big canvas that you can create on is next level imo. Almost had a Miro board feel, and if that’s the case, bravo, I can see the future!
Andrew Straight
Looks fantastic! Love all the ideas that are coming to life in the Codex. Keep up the great work; can’t wait to try it out! Interesting that it has the inventory management, even though my understanding is that the MCDM RPG isn’t ‘that kind of game’. Very cool.
Adam Deming
Looks very intuitive. Can't wait! +1 for "The Codex" for a name.
