Absurdly Pleased by EpicTable’s Windows Conformity

August 29, 2010

Sometimes, on a project of this scope, done entirely in spare time, the little things matter more than you’d expect. In alpha-7 (yes, I’ve subjected my gaming group to 7 builds of EpicTable), the setup failed to install some resources. Technically, all the previous setups failed to do that, but since everyone had been just auto-updating since before there was a setup, no one noticed. In fixing that, I couldn’t help but be absurdly pleased with EpicTable’s new logo, sitting there, looking at home next to all my other apps–looking better than some that didn’t have the hi-res icons used by Windows 7.

There was a similar moment when I was installing and Windows presented its less scary setup warning–blue border instead of yellow, and “publisher verified as Realityforge” instead of “unknown publisher”. Signing the setup and other binaries lets Windows ask you if you care if Realityforge installs software, as opposed to that shady-looking ne’er-do-well, “unknown publisher”.

Posted by John Lammers | Filed Under EpicTable Development  

Refining the Message (Promises, Promises)

August 17, 2010

There’s nothing like giving a couple hundred demos to help you refine your message.

Exhibiting at Gen Con was very instructive. Over and over, for four days straight, I got to ask people what games they were playing and talk to them about how EpicTable could help them do that online or face-to-face.

Over the last couple years, my understanding of EpicTable and online RPG gaming has deepened and evolved. The core of the message remains the same however: ease of use, game system neutral, and gaming group friendly. Read more

Posted by John Lammers | Filed Under EpicTable Blog  

Screencasts from Gen Con 2010

August 12, 2010

For those who couldn’t make it to Gen Con or didn’t have time for a demo: don’t worry—I haven’t forgotten you. I’m posting the videos that were playing in a loop on the big screen at the front of the booth. Sit back, pretend you’re walking around the exhibit hall, and take a look.

These are all very short, meant for people walking by, not sitting at their computers. They also have no sound, since you wouldn’t hear it well in the aisles of the exhibit hall anyway. I’ll likely record something with more depth and some audio later, but for now, I didn’t want you guys feeling left out.

For your one-stop-shopping convenience, I’ve also included links to the previous dice roller videos, portions of which were used at Gen Con.

Posted by John Lammers | Filed Under EpicTable Blog  

Thanks to Gen Con 2010 Attendees

August 11, 2010

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the EpicTable booth for a demo. It was great fun showing EpicTable to all of you, fielding questions, and seeing your enthusiasm for the product. Jeremy and I were steadily busy through the whole con, and for that I’m very grateful. It also had the side benefit of not giving me any time to go off and spend all my money! ;) I really enjoyed hearing about what you’re playing and how you’re interested in using a virtual tabletop. Special thanks to all the folks who dragged back or called in friends or spouses or significant others for a second look.

This was my first time as an exhibitor at Gen Con, and the first time I’ve demoed EpicTable face-to-face rather than online. Thanks for a great experience!
– John

Posted by John Lammers | Filed Under EpicTable Blog  

Day 2 at GenCon 2010

August 7, 2010

Another great day at GenCon. Even more people than yesterday. Grueling but exciting. The demos are almost non-stop, and we’ve had several people come back, dragging their friends in-tow for a look. The new banner and 42″ screen playing screen casts are doing a good job of pulling people in, and then Jeremy and I grab them for demos. So many people have been, not just positive, but enthusiastic and excited. It’s an awesome experience to talk non-stop to people about what problems they’re trying to solve and how EpicTable can help them.

In case you can’t tell, this is kind of a big deal to me—my first time exhibiting at GenCon. It was a big deal just to attend GenCon as high school kid, back in the 80s, when my friends and I road-tripped to GenCon in Wisconsin. If someone had told that kid that he’d be exhibiting at GenCon to an excited bunch of gamers, he would have been blown away. And to be honest, the same is true of present-day me.

One really good thing that’s come from all this is that demoing to this many people has really validated the feature set. I’m convinced the feature set is right and sufficient for a release.

Posted by John Lammers | Filed Under EpicTable Blog  

EpicTable at GenCon 2010 – Day 1

August 5, 2010

It was a fantastic first day at GenCon! We setup for about 7 hours yesterday, and I was really hoping not to spend the whole day waiting for someone, anyone, to come by. I got my wish—we were really busy the whole day. (“We” is Jeremy Shimanek, from this forum, and myself.) There was a nice steady stream of people, and they seemed to be interested and enthusiastic, which was great. Unlike last year, though, I didn’t really have any time to just shop for gamer stuff. I was probably out of the booth a total of 15 minutes—and that was on a mission to visit some IPR folks and arrange an interview with the folks from Neoncon. They’re streaming video from GenCon and will be stopping by the booth at around 1:30 tomorrow.

You can follow EpicTable at GenCon 2010 via my Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/JohnLammers.

Posted by John Lammers | Filed Under EpicTable Blog  

GenCon Preview: EpicTable Banner

July 16, 2010

Last time, I introduced the new logo. Now, we get to see it larger-than-life: the booth banner is ready. This is an exciting (to me, anyway) look behind the scenes at preparation for GenCon 2010. Brennen took this picture while approving the print prior to shipping. (The blurriness is mine, for the sake of the privacy of the guys holding the banner.) It’s very motivating to see the new logo outside my monitor.

Posted by John Lammers | Filed Under EpicTable Blog  

Sneak Peek: New Logo

July 15, 2010

EpicTable has a new logo! You’re going to start seeing it show up in screencasts on the site, and you’re going to see it larger than life if you’re at GenCon this year. Eventually, this site will be refreshed with the new logo, but I’m not going to just slap it in, and I’m not going to pause work on EpicTable itself to change the site.

(For those keeping track, I just made another successful Will Save to avoid blurting out a date for EpicTable. Oh, how I’d have loved to have kept the phrase “…and you’re going to see it on your own monitor in…” What I can say is that GenCon is the first week of August, and I have a family vacation the week prior. I’m not going to push out an alpha or beta release and then vanish on you, so you won’t see a release before GenCon.)

I love the original logo, based on an illustration by Adam Vehige. That dragon has served the site well, and it’s still going to rear its head from time to time. However, the new logo, designed by our own Brennen Reece, scales really well, and I really like its clean classic look. It kind of reminds me of something you’d see on a banner at the head of a Roman legion.

Please join me in welcoming the newest dragon on the EpicTable block, and in congratulating Brennen on a job well done!

Posted by John Lammers | Filed Under EpicTable Blog  

d3…and a Bit More

July 2, 2010

After the last dice roll video, I had many people remind me of the need for a d3.

So, by popular demand, I give you the humble d3.
I added it while fixing a related issue, and while I was at it, I added an “Any-Sided Die”. What you see on the left is a result of an…unusual dice roll: 3d3 + 1d30 + 4d112 + 2d5.

Here’s the Dice Roll Editor while building this roll. A little bit of scope creep, but only in the neighborhood of an hour of work that would have been unnecessary otherwise.

Posted by John Lammers | Filed Under EpicTable Blog  

Dice Rolls Integrated

June 29, 2010

Last time, I showed you EpicTable’s dice roll editor. Since then, I’ve integrated it into the rest of EpicTable. This video demonstrates a number of dice rolls–on the tabletop, ad-hoc rolls to the chat window, and the shortcut gallery for rolls created with the dice roll editor.

Posted by John Lammers | Filed Under EpicTable Development  

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