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It is strange nobody has pointed out this yet ...
Battlelore Module 3.0
http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:BattleLore
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Dan Cavaliere
United States
Littleton
Colorado
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Thanks to Vassal user Lurch Brick who put in most of the work to make this fly.
BGG user Toddrew and I had envisioned getting everything BattleLore in one place but LB was the one to do it.
I was hesitating posting an announcement here as I hoped to couple it with invitations to start up a 'new' Vassal BattleLore group or reignite the existing groups that are out there.
Our original intent in revising the 2.0 module was not only to get everything BL in the module but to hopefully inspire more players to get online and play this great game together.
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Gamer DC wrote:
I was hesitating posting an announcement here as I hoped to couple it with invitations to start up a 'new' Vassal BattleLore group or reignite the existing groups that are out there.
I hope I have not screwed your plans, but I was waiting a reworked and debugged module too long ... and I needed a place to thank you all.
Thank you!
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Dan Cavaliere
United States
Littleton
Colorado
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No worries at all Berone - I just figured I'd better chime in while folks might be looking at this thread in hopes that some may say they are interesting in playing again
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Todd Rewoldt
United States
Loveland
Colorado
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Yeah, quite the opposite, Beorne - thanks for the kick in the pants
The module was more or less ready to go during the Summer, working some of the bugs out of it required rebuilding the close to 100 official scenarios to be embedded, and that dragged on for awhile.
We were hoping to have it up on the Vassal page in time for the fifth anniversary of the game this past November - seemed like a fun date to coincide with. Not sure about LB and Dan, but FFG's lack of public direction with the game has been a bit of a downer. Still hoping we can generate some Vassal enthusiasm for the game - really hope we can start getting some campaign series started, maybe tournaments, etc.
As it becomes more and more apparent that additional races for the game are not to be forthcoming, having the vassal group community come to consensuses on how those races & deployment decks should look is also something for the future.
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Ben Boersma
Australia
Pakenham
Victoria
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That sounds like something I could get involved with!
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Todd Rewoldt
United States
Loveland
Colorado
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You're certainly one of those I had in mind
Getting the units right is important, of course, but just as important, to me, is building robust CtA decks for the races/factions.
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Ben Boersma
Australia
Pakenham
Victoria
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Awesome.
Yes - that balance will be tricky indeed. I've found its been the hardest part in balancing my Lizardmen army (still haven't got it right yet).
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I guess I got excited that the module we created (it was definitely a joint project as I've only played the 1st 5 scenarios ;) ) was finally finished and couldn't wait to release it.
I'm definitely up for some Vassal games if we can organise it.
Maybe getting lots of Vassal gaming action happening will be another indicator to FFG that there is value in this franchise. Or maybe not. :O
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Dan Cavaliere
United States
Littleton
Colorado
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LurchBrick wrote: I guess I got excited that the module we created (it was definitely a joint project as I've only played the 1st 5 scenarios  ) was finally finished and couldn't wait to release it. I'm definitely up for some Vassal games if we can organise it. Maybe getting lots of Vassal gaming action happening will be another indicator to FFG that there is value in this franchise. Or maybe not. :O
Some geek gold for your efforts LB
We could only hope FFG is that keen to us BL enthusiasts 
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Todd Rewoldt
United States
Loveland
Colorado
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Have some more bounty, LB
Dan and I played a game from the Dragons expansion - the epic "Let There Be Dragons." It plays wonderfully, very cool to have all elements of this game incorporated into the single module.
We even managed a recruit this morning (that's you, if you're reading, Piet )! Here's to "if you build it, they will come" ringing true. Haphazard at first, I'm sure, but getting those on the yahoo group involved through campaigns and tackling additional races may have things back to where they were in 2007.
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Piet Francke
United States
Martinsburg
West Virginia
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I am very impressed with what you guys did. Observations and an offer...
observation 1) - because of how my brain works, I detest the overuse of the BL banner. The shape just doesn't cut it for my brain to easily know what side a unit is on - I'm simply too used to having color tell me that. I see it as a design flaw in the BL game, but it is what it is and the Vassal absolutely needs the banners exactly as you have them. BUT - it would be cool if the units had small, (perhaps oblong in shape,) colored, bases that based on color identify the side the unit belongs to. Or perhaps just use the font color of the "piece count" number you have - perhaps red and blue instead of all blue.
observation 2) - whether in the physical world, or in the electronic Vassal world, the pieces beg to be painted. I think it natural to paint the units in color themes using red, green, or blue as the primary color matching the banner. I do not know if it would be better to go for a very detailed look, or to go for an iconic look (like Ben did in his Dwarf image). And perhaps it is better to leave them white so that the stand out -- but you already have them shaded (since you took pics), coloring them might make them look better.
offer - if you wish me to take a stab at some of the graphic work, let me know what you want and put me to work.
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I like having the minis, as to me it enhances the game rather than detracts from it. I do agree that they are rather plain.
It took me a while to get my head around the flags as they also looked similar to me when I first started playing but I'm used to them now.
I would actually like to see something like Ben's block pictures instead of the current minis that are used as this would be more visually appealing.
If you would be so kind as to do some test drawings similar in style to Ben's, that would be awesome. :D Or even if Ben would allow us to use his drawings in the vassal module. ;)
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Ben Boersma
Australia
Pakenham
Victoria
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G'day Jim,
It might take a while for me to get every single type done, but you're more than welcome to use the Battlelore block's art that I do for the vassal module. I'm really honoured that it was mentioned - thanks!
As Todd alluded to earlier, the vassal client is a great medium to playtest new armies and CTA deployment both quickly and efficiently. This is something I would be very interested in doing too at some point.
I need to learn how to program for it so I can use Vassal to test some of the games I've written too. It seems like a great option.
Cheers,
Ben.
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Todd Rewoldt
United States
Loveland
Colorado
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pfrancke wrote: because of how my brain works, I detest the overuse of the BL banner. The shape just doesn't cut it for my brain to easily know what side a unit is on -
Shhh...I attribute many of my victories against Dan to moving my troops next to his so he thinks they are his and then doesn't attack them....
Seriously though, I would be all for using Ben's "block" units. While I appreciate the visual impact of the figures in Vassal, I prefer the banners w/counter approach, but I am also a fan of the abstract.
I am acclimated to the figures though, having played vassal with that representation for 5+ years. It works just fine too.
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Piet Francke
United States
Martinsburg
West Virginia
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I think changing the font on one side might help...
I've determined that I don't have the drawing skill to do what Ben did - But if we were to photo painted minis, that would be one other option that wasn't suggested earlier. Anyway, in the attached image, one unit has a blue base (showing the concept). Two images have the red font, to show that there is a blue team and a red team present. And I did a coarse insert of a painted mini to see what that would feel like.
I'm thinking the easiest, but still helpful thing would be the font change...
Edit -- And of course in this case the red team would have different banners!!!!!!!
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Piet Francke
United States
Martinsburg
West Virginia
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BTW, I think it would look beautiful with Ben's blocks. (the block bases could likely identify side - so he'd have two block images per unit)
Or, have a contest and have people submit images of painted minis and start replacing the white minis as they come in on a unit by unit basis.
If you use minis, having the font also indicate side would be most helpful for the mentally broken (like me) that don't want to lose for 5 years of vassal play before they figure it out!!!
But seriously, I didn't mean to steal the thread and get into all of this except to express deep gratitude for what you guys have done to make the game available in Vassal. It is awesome. As is.
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Piet Francke
United States
Martinsburg
West Virginia
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Using WinRar, I took a look at the inside of the VMOD and am slowly coming to terms with how the data is laid out. I can see that what I suggested about the font change would not be a trivial matter. There are 6 or 7 strength.png files and how they are calculated/referenced/made-use-of would need to be changed.
My hat is off to you guys for managing all that complexity. Really cool what you have accomplished.
The Vassal Engine is incredible. To think about how extensible and flexible it is boggles my mind.
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Dan Cavaliere
United States
Littleton
Colorado
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toddrew wrote: Shhh...I attribute many of my victories against Dan to moving my troops next to his so he thinks they are his and then doesn't attack them....
As sad as that may sound, it would probably work  - I highly doubt Todd actually did this however, he just crushes me 98% of the time.
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Updating the fonts to have different colours depending on which side the unit belonged to isn't complicated. The issue is that Vassal doesn't have an easy way to update savegames, this is what the pre-made scenarios are.
Basically, we would have to adjust the fonts on the game pieces and then replace every piece with it's updated version in each scenario, manually. Understandably this would take a considerable amount of time.
It might be something to strive for when Ben finishes all his block pictures. No pressure Ben. :)
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Ben Boersma
Australia
Pakenham
Victoria
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LurchBrick wrote: No pressure Ben.
 Not much 
Once the template is finalised, I can get cracking.
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Posted Sun Jan 15, 2012 2:44 pm
