I have a question regarding use of virtual gaming table software and using it to make an interactive display (hook computer to a television) for "tabletop" training or briefings, not gaming.

What the hell do I mean? I'm a police officer and one of my jobs is a special response team leader/commander. I found myself often using PowerPoint to display stuff during training or when giving briefings before a search warrant. Lots of swapping between slides. I would like to be able to create what in police jargon is known as "tabletop" demonstrations, but on a computer not on a real table top. Cops actually sometimes use little police cars, army men, etc. when training or even during a real briefing - "Joe you are going to be here on the perimeter", etc. Carting around police miniatures and setting up little houses and floor plans can take time. It would be much simpler to grab/sketch a digital floorplan and/or use Googlemaps to show the same thing on a large television screen then use software to move "tokens" around showing placement and movement of personnel/vehicles during training or briefings.

I'm a gamer and have some basic knowledge of what virtual gaming tables can do, but have never actually used any. There are professional software suites made for police to do what I'm talking about, but they of course cost hundreds of dollars.

Would this be something simple to do? Which program would be best for such? Which one is easily customizable so I can get rid of sidebars of d6s, d10s, etc so I don't have to explain to ignore that stuff or get laughs from my audience - "Hey Gandalf did you remember your M4 Assault Staff?" Are there any that require user maps to be uploaded to the software's server, not just saved locally? I don't want Bob at Fantasy Grounds to look over at his co-worker Joe and say, "Hey Joe, I think one of our customers just uploaded a floor plan of your house!"

Regrettably, I'm still very new to virtual tabletops myself, but I am reasonably sure that Roll20 stores resources online (though it may not necessarily share your resources with anyone else, only provide storage). If that is the case, then one of the other options may be best for you.

If you get on a google hang out i can probably show you some stuff. Message me.

I am assuming you want to be able to pull up a map and place your officers and then move them around to show what each member of the team will be doing?

I think its a brilliant idea and I it could work extremely well.

When we do op center training where I work the visualization is always a little flaky because they always use various other software and capabilities that don't quite work.

Using google map imagery, floorplan sketches, and other stuff you could totally do some pretty killer tabletop exercise visuals using roll20...

If it weren't for my employers extreme security concerns I'd actually suggest we try it too....

I am assuming you want to be able to pull up a map and place your officers and then move them around to show what each member of the team will be doing?

Yes. This is pretty much what I want to be able to do. Save google maps and floor plans. I then want to be able to move tokens of officers and vehicles around on it in real time. It would be nice if the tokens are actually shown sliding across the screen as I move them, not just pick up and flop down again. It would also be nice if I could draw on the screen in real time (circle something, draw a route path), but not required.

I am assuming you want to be able to pull up a map and place your officers and then move them around to show what each member of the team will be doing?

Yes. This is pretty much what I want to be able to do. Save google maps and floor plans. I then want to be able to move tokens of officers and vehicles around on it in real time. It would be nice if the tokens are actually shown sliding across the screen as I move them, not just pick up and flop down again. It would also be nice if I could draw on the screen in real time (circle something, draw a route path), but not required.

Yes you can do all those things with the appropriate settings active. I may have some time this afternoon, I'd be happy to demo it. Just pm me to set up a time.

I want an M4 assault staff!

(kidding aside, this is a clever use of this tool.)

Yeah, Roll20 should be able to handle this pretty well. Anything you upload is accessible by you alone. As long as you save an image to your desktop and upload it to your "library" no one else can access it.

I also know that you can have tokens follow a "movement path", I just haven't figured out how to make it work.

Brilliant idea, regardless.

Roll20 all the way, perfect for what you need. PM me with any questions, I have been using it quite extensively for my game. What a great use of the tool!

edit: removed words

Great use of the tool, 100% inappropriate place to post about it. Might as well ask us what ingredients to use when making cupcakes.

I fully understand people here can help, but it is so horribly wrong of a forum for it. The better place to ask would have been on the forums of the products themselves.

There may also be licensing concerns for the usage you are speaking of. Just because something is on the internet does not mean it is "free for all usage". Please look into GNU licenses, etc. Check if it is legal within the app to use it for this.

Okay... your topic is just terrible. Either it is you being a jerk, or you want "Alternative/Non-Traditional uses for Tabletop Apps", but just found bad words for it. Heck I wrote a whole scathing tirade about your topic because it sounded rude.

Unless he wanted to get feedback from a community he already knows, is a member of, and makes use of the tool he's looking at.

He can ask specifics later but for now just confirming that the system can be used for tabletop exercises and training, which it can.

Reading the TOS agreement does not seem to limit it's use to non governmental uses. There are some restrictions that might apply on the art library (they are cleared for non-commercial use, but doesn't say anything about governmental use), but for the purposes of a tabletop exercise it likely won't matter as he'd be using images and diagrams of the facilities he has a specific concern about. "Player" tokens could us actual headshots of the officers taking part in the exercise, so no issue there. Getting maps/sat photos shouldn't be too hard. If his department works near a military installation he could probably just ask them for GIS images of the location his tabletop scenario takes place.

My biggest concern would be the fact you're essentially storing your "plans" on an unsecured internet site. Though depending on who he works for and what they are doing it may be no issue at all.

??

Great use of the tool, 100% inappropriate place to post about it. Might as well ask us what ingredients to use when making cupcakes.

I fully understand people here can help, but it is so horribly wrong of a forum for it. The better place to ask would have been on the forums of the products themselves.

An RPG game forum is not an appropriate place to be asking about tabletop gaming software?

I've been a member of this forum for years. I'm not a cop that just dropped in to ask a question somehow offending you. If I went to the forums of each specific product, I would be having to make a new post at each forum. I also would be getting a biased reponse on which ones to use. Obviously. Here is a forum I frequent daily that I know will have kind members that I thought would give me a no bull answer (see some above, I was right).

Okay... your topic is just terrible. Either it is you being a jerk, or you want "Alternative/Non-Traditional uses for Tabletop Apps", but just found bad words for it. Heck I wrote a whole scathing tirade about your topic because it sounded rude.

Yeah I can't really help you there. I was completely baffled at first (see below) regarding your response. I listed some of the tabletop programs I was looking at, wanted "experts" in their use to reply, then added "(not what you think)" to draw them in and give the complete details since it was not the usual use - it wasn't gaming, so "not what you think". So, I think my title was completely fair.

So I only have one explanation of why you thought I was being a, "jerk", why you thought I used, "bad words", why you thought I was being, "rude". and why you thought this forum was an, "100% innappropriate place" to post about it. Please tell me if I'm wrong, but you read the post, thought I was just a visitor cop, you have a bias against cops (common lately), and so went off on a, "whole scathing tirade" because, well, I'm a cop so I must just be a "rude jerk" doing something wrong!!. That at least makes sense to me. I deal with that kind of illogical hatred from some citizens weekly. I just never figured I would find it here. Especially when just asking for help at a forum I have visited daily for years. Innappropriate place? Looks like I got some really good answers proving it was completely appropriate. I'm sorry if you thought I was being rude. If you can't understand I wasn't being rude at all, please carry on to some other thread and don't muck mine up.

For those offering help. I think I will try out Roll20 at your suggestions and see if it will work for me. If I have some questions I will come back here and take you up on those offers. I hope that is not innappropriate.

Thanks!

My biggest concern would be the fact you're essentially storing your "plans" on an unsecured internet site. Though depending on who he works for and what they are doing it may be no issue at all.

If there's not a way to store locally I won't be able to do this. Even if it's one in a million someone at (insert tabletop producer) would somehow be looking at my maps/plans and contact a suspect, I still couldn't do it when it could be lives that are at risk. It would also be unethical to the privacy of the suspect in my opinion. Not illegal for me to do so, but I would be essentially (possibly) sharing investigative material to a complete stranger. I also of course wouldn't want to reveal any police tactics.

edit: removed words

Well your topic basically says "I want advice not opinions" you meant it to say "i want advice on the products but the usage isn't what you are thinking".

I mentioned the topic title to multiple people and they all thought it was rude as well. I am not the only one that knows how to use the language and I am pretty sure others had a pause at the topic too.

As to the wrong forum yes, it is. I amend my cupcake line to say you wanted star wars cupcake recipes. Still not appropriate.

Either way I explained myself in my edits.

You find it rude and yet keep posting here instead of just ignoring it. You know part of the cost of free speech is you might be offended. Get used to it.

Part of the cost of free speech is that others are free to speak publically on things they dislike.

And I fully support your right to type/say something I dislike. I spent 4 years defending that right, so you don't need to bring politics into this.

Ok I think I'm getting it a bit more. He read the title different then what I intended. I said "not what you think" meaning, this topic is not what you think it will be. He read it as, "I don't care what you think", which is not at all what I typed or meant.

I'm baffled again at the confusion. If I'm asking for "Expert Advice" in my title, how could I also be saying I don't want to know what you think? One kinda precludes the other. I think that should have been a large glaring clue that perhaps you are reading it wrong?

Calling me a jerk and rude, by the way, can't be interpreted in two different ways.

I reckon there's little harm in asking your buddies for help. If the guy with the gun pointed to your head makes you read a thread you don't like, just pretend like you read it and move on. ◔̯◔

After delving into Roll20, there is no"offline" mode at all. Everything is server based. So, I can't use it for this purpose. No way I'm going to post a suspect's floorplans or tactical training models in the cloud.

BUT, now I really want a projector for my face-face games.

Going to look at Maptool next.

MapTool could definitely do it; I don't think you would even need two instances of the program going (since you're presumably not worried about fog of war). Just go into fullscreen mode; it doesn't have any dice by default anyway, and the default tokens are hidden away in folders.

BUT, now I really want a projector for my face-face games.

I used one for a couple sessions and found it really handy, but the tradeoff was that it was loud, poured out heat, and took up valuable table space. I also had to sacrifice a seat for the screen.

BUT, now I really want a projector for my face-face games.

I used one for a couple sessions and found it really handy, but the tradeoff was that it was loud, poured out heat, and took up valuable table space. I also had to sacrifice a seat for the screen.

My plan has always been to suspend the projector above my dining room table from the ceiling fan/light pointing downwards. Of course my plan would require buying a digital projector with high lumens and light weight (costly) then my wife giving approval for me to start building a contraption around the ceiling fan/light. I really don't see that happening.

then my wife giving approval for me to start building a contraption around the ceiling fan/light. I really don't see that happening.

That's always the rub, isn't it? "Ruining our house" something something.