For those of you who know what Vassal is you might find this interesting.

I got my wife to help me put the 52 inch plasma screen onto the coffee table and then I matched the scale of the miniatures. I called her back when I was ready to take photos and she was floored and said "That's amazing, OMG!" She even suggested we should get a bigger TV which was not my goal, but hey, it makes a good pitch for the upgrade anyway.

It was just a test this time, but I expect we'll have to try a run through with a few small ships. It's only 2 feet tall, and the quick start rules have you use an area that is two feet by two feet, so the 31 point game would work well.

It occurred to me to do this because I'd been thinking about those game tables for RPGs with the projector underneath to project the game map onto a transparent table top.

For example like this: http://www.gamergroup.com/page.roleplaying-game-articles.b.2827.r.1.html

Although I was thinking more along the lines of the "Digital Gaming table 2.0" with the pojector underneath:

http://www.rpgbooster.com/draft-awesome-gaming-table/

I know that one isn't but I'd seen one before and I can't seem to find it again.

anyone try anything like this or is it too high tech?

That my friend is pretty **** awesome!

I dream of the day where I could make a mechanical gaming board with magnet or some such thing so the miniatures would move like they do in Jumanji that would be super amazing!

I was just thinking about this a couple days ago.

That's awesome!

But also, I don't really get the point. If you are going to play vassal, play vassal. If you are going to play with real live minis, play with real live minis.

The application I DO see is if you could project a kickass animated background (like a moving asteroid field, huge ship battle or some such).

Naysayers be damned, this is fantastic. No more weird ruler nudging.

WOOOOOW, awesome job, how do you get the program to do that, congratulations, greettings.

Random side note, isn't it really bad for plasma to be laid down? Been about five years since I sold tvs though

I literally texted another member of this forum several hours ago that the TV size would have to be 73.4" diagonal at 16:9 aspect ratio to have a 36" vertical play area, for it to be 1:1.

Someone will eventually do it... although rear projection sounds pretty awesome too. Of course playing vassal on that would be like cheating... you're not supposed to be able to check maneuver templates, but its completely unenforceable!

I literally texted another member of this forum several hours ago that the TV size would have to be 73.4" diagonal at 16:9 aspect ratio to have a 36" vertical play area, for it to be 1:1.

Someone will eventually do it... although rear projection sounds pretty awesome too. Of course playing vassal on that would be like cheating... you're not supposed to be able to check maneuver templates, but its completely unenforceable!

That's assuming you are using it to play someone somewhere else who can't see you place the templates on the TV. I was speaking of playing versus someone in the same room.

"Each selection on the maneuver dial has a

corresponding maneuver template, which measures

the ship’s movement during the Activation phase.

During the Planning phase, players cannot use

maneuver templates in order to “test” where ships

will end up. Instead, they must plan their maneuvers

by estimating their ships’ movement in their heads" Page 6.

I would think just having the templates next to the play area helps a lot with eyeballing the right maneuver, and there are a bunch of techniques that make use of the ship base sizes to better gauge maneuvers also. So I'd say having the templates next to the play area, on the TV, I don't consider cheating and helps me a lot.

It appears I've hit the motherload: http://www.hhgregg.com/tv-entertainment/60in-and-larger-tvs

Samsung 75" 1080p 120Hz LED Smart HDTV

Sharp 80" Highest Resolution Full HD 3D 240Hz AQUOS® Q+ LED Smart TV

Sharp 80" Full HD 1080p 120Hz AQUOS® LED Smart TV

If I only had several thousand dollars collecting dust.

Random side note, isn't it really bad for plasma to be laid down? Been about five years since I sold tvs though

This is quite correct. The glass layers that make up the screen are extremely thin and fragile, and when you lay the TV flat, their own weight increases their fragility immensely. TVs have been known to simply crack under their own weight when lying flat. This is also the prime reason why you shouldn't transport one flat. The slightest bump, and -CRACK- the TV is totalled and not covered by any warranty.

You won't have this problem with LED or LCD, as long as they don't have glass in their screen. LCD and LED are usually more robust.

Gabe69velasquez, it's a great idea, just not with a plasma.

This is perfect for when you accidentally knock a ship or an asteroid over, or when it's undesirable to stick a range ruler into a mess of ships to confirm arc/range for the same reason.

But, you'll have trouble when it comes to bumping ships. Admittedly, Vassal will give you a more precise solution than you'd ordinarily get on tabletop.

But all that fiddling.

you could accomplish this using a projector shining down on a surface from above, then you can have it be whatever size play area you want. 2 caveats. Room would need to be pretty dim, and whenver you reach over the board you are going to cause shadowing. I can play vassal at 200" on my wall with my projector, which gives you lots of room for all those windows, and a projector is much cheaper than a flatscreen of the same size, but you would want one with a high lumen output for sure.

you could also get an older rear projection sceen, and use a short throw projector under the table shining up, then put plexiglass over the screen material for a hard surface.

This is perfect for when you accidentally knock a ship or an asteroid over, or when it's undesirable to stick a range ruler into a mess of ships to confirm arc/range for the same reason.

But, you'll have trouble when it comes to bumping ships. Admittedly, Vassal will give you a more precise solution than you'd ordinarily get on tabletop.

But all that fiddling.

If it's a close call you can always zoom in to see if any base bumping has occurred and then zoom out to the same percentage you were at before and realign to one ship.

you could also get an older rear projection sceen, and use a short throw projector under the table shining up, then put plexiglass over the screen material for a hard surface.

The last photo is a projector, but reusing an old projector TV would be cool too if you could get the lenses low enough..

Just a head's up -- TVs aren't designed to run flat like that -- the vents on the back expect heat to rise to the top edge and out, and plasma screens can run kinda hot.

This is awesome!

And more importantly:

Random side note, isn't it really bad for plasma to be laid down? Been about five years since I sold tvs though

This is quite correct. The glass layers that make up the screen are extremely thin and fragile, and when you lay the TV flat, their own weight increases their fragility immensely. TVs have been known to simply crack under their own weight when lying flat. This is also the prime reason why you shouldn't transport one flat. The slightest bump, and -CRACK- the TV is totalled and not covered by any warranty.

You won't have this problem with LED or LCD, as long as they don't have glass in their screen. LCD and LED are usually more robust.

This would look great on a 4K screen though! Actually, even playing vassal on a desktop 4k screen (vertically) would be pretty helpful compared to 1080. My trusty 30" is 2560x1600, and that works well - although I have only watched a few replays so far, since getting vassal set up again a week ago.

Just a head's up -- TVs aren't designed to run flat like that -- the vents on the back expect heat to rise to the top edge and out, and plasma screens can run kinda hot.

And more importantly:

Random side note, isn't it really bad for plasma to be laid down? Been about five years since I sold tvs though

This is quite correct. The glass layers that make up the screen are extremely thin and fragile, and when you lay the TV flat, their own weight increases their fragility immensely. TVs have been known to simply crack under their own weight when lying flat. This is also the prime reason why you shouldn't transport one flat. The slightest bump, and -CRACK- the TV is totalled and not covered by any warranty.

You won't have this problem with LED or LCD, as long as they don't have glass in their screen. LCD and LED are usually more robust.

This would look great on a 4K screen though! Actually, even playing vassal on a desktop 4k screen (vertically) would be pretty helpful compared to 1080. My trusty 30" is 2560x1600, and that works well - although I have only watched a few replays so far, since getting vassal set up again a week ago.

Just a head's up -- TVs aren't designed to run flat like that -- the vents on the back expect heat to rise to the top edge and out, and plasma screens can run kinda hot.

All these criticism people have can all be fix with the right carpentry and ventilation. If you're going to do it do it right, an old air conditioner under the custom designed table frame.

Is that LG's 77" 4K OLED? $22,000!

I'm still going to swear by my 65VT30 until they come out with an OLED that doesn't cost as much as a car. LCD can't touch the best Panasonic or Pioneer Plasmas in a dark room!

Is that LG's 77" 4K OLED? $22,000!

I'm still going to swear by my 65VT30 until they come out with an OLED that doesn't cost as much as a car. LCD can't touch the best Panasonic or Pioneer Plasmas in a dark room!

http://www.homesystemintegration.com/2012/01/lg-to-introduce-4k-lcd-tv-with-84-inch-screen-the-largest-in-the-world/

The World's First 84" ULTRA HD 1080p 240Hz LED with Smart TV & Cinema 3D

84LM9600

Key Features

• 84” ULTRA HD (3840x2160)
• ULTRA HD Resolution Upscaler
• LG Smart TV with Premium Content and built-in Wi-Fi
• Magic Remote voice for simple control

I love this idea. I'd love to be able to buy a display to use purely to enhanse tabletop gaming. And as technology and capital builds up, we are approaching it being affordable. People bash ffg's xcom game for trying to fuse tabletop games with electronic gaming, but I think the ideq has some real potential.

I'm still going to swear by my 65VT30 until they come out with an OLED that doesn't cost as much as a car. LCD can't touch the best Panasonic or Pioneer Plasmas in a dark room!

http://www.homesystemintegration.com/2012/01/lg-to-introduce-4k-lcd-tv-with-84-inch-screen-the-largest-in-the-world/

LCD, pfffttt. Well, it would be OK to play X-wing on at least.

Just a head's up -- TVs aren't designed to run flat like that -- the vents on the back expect heat to rise to the top edge and out, and plasma screens can run kinda hot.

All these criticism people have can all be fix with the right carpentry and ventilation. If you're going to do it do it right, an old air conditioner under the custom designed table frame.

I'm not criticising the idea. On the contrary, I applaud you for thinking outside the box on this one. I'm just giving you a warning that plasma is most definitely NOT the best option for your idea. It's just too fragile. And whatever you do, don't roll any dice on it like that. That's guaranteed to create a crack.

If you've got the funds and want to pursue the concept, go for LCD. It has a polymer based screen that will gladly lay flat. And if you're concerned about heat buildup, just install a small PC cooling fan over the vents to create airflow. You don't need an old air conditioner, just airflow. Plus a PC fan will be so much quieter as well.