4 ms·

Vassal seems like more of a staple of the hardcore wargaming community (For the most part, not making an absolute statement here). If you want to play boardgame

by splawn 11y ago

Vassal seems like more of a staple of the hardcore wargaming community (For the most part, not making an absolute statement here). If you want to play boardgames with less learning curve (both the interface and the games themselves) I recommend boardgamearena.com for web-based (but with a smaller library) or Tabletop Simulator for native (bigger library through Steam's workshop thing) EDIT: and of course actual physical copies of the games are probably the best way to go if possible.

vonmoltke 11y ago
I think this is a fair statement. It pretty much started as a way for board wargamers to play each other by email. In fact, the name is an acronym (Virtual Advanced Squad Leader - VASL). It was designed to be flexible, though, so in theory a VASSAL module can be made for any board game.
thaumasiotes 11y ago
> EDIT: and of course actual physical copies of the games are probably the best way to go if possible. In terms of logistics, physical copies are the worst possible way to play. They have benefits if you're playing as a bonding activity, since everyone has to be there. They have absolutely no benefits, and enormous drawbacks, if you're playing to play.
- fragmede 11y ago
  > absolutely no benefits Digital games do have their advantages, but that's going a bit too far. Is it possible for someone can't programming to create a digital game? Could they implement "house rules" on an existing game? In games that have trading, how about non-standard trading? (Eg I've played Settlers with futures) How about granting a younger player an advantage to compensate (eg, give them an extra $1000 to start)? How immune to cheating is Vassal? If the digital copy runs on Windows, a bunch of my friends already have a copy of ollydbg installed. Is there also a feasible to detect if there's a Excel spreadsheet or Google Doc open that tallying all thes cards used and other information about the game state, and spitting out the odds that my next card is going to be the one I'm looking for? Meanwhile, playing a game locally means playing with others humans with similarly limited memory and processing power, which means my naive gameplay, which doesn't have the odds of every possible combination of cards memorized, isn't a game of Humans vs. Cylons. (Not that I understand the attraction to online poker either.) Is there any guarantee that the person on the other end isn't grepping /usr/share/dict/words in our digital Boggle game? Teaching people how to play ("customized live interactive tutorial") is far better with a (patient) real person rather than a recorded tutorial, especially when the game hasn't been translated. Are you going to be able to dig up a digital copy in 30 years and play that on the latest computer? Can you give your digital copy to a friend? How many copies of the game do you need to buy for everyone to play? Most online games require each person to buy their own copy, but aside from Magic and other CCG, the box and some friends is all you need. That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure you can come up with other advantages that physical copies of the game have.

by splawn 11y ago

vonmoltke 11y ago

I think this is a fair statement. It pretty much started as a way for board wargamers to play each other by email. In fact, the name is an acronym (Virtual Advanced Squad Leader - VASL). It was designed to be flexible, though, so in theory a VASSAL module can be made for any board game.

thaumasiotes 11y ago

> EDIT: and of course actual physical copies of the games are probably the best way to go if possible. In terms of logistics, physical copies are the worst possible way to play. They have benefits if you're playing as a bonding activity, since everyone has to be there. They have absolutely no benefits, and enormous drawbacks, if you're playing to play.

fragmede 11y ago
> absolutely no benefits Digital games do have their advantages, but that's going a bit too far. Is it possible for someone can't programming to create a digital game? Could they implement "house rules" on an existing game? In games that have trading, how about non-standard trading? (Eg I've played Settlers with futures) How about granting a younger player an advantage to compensate (eg, give them an extra $1000 to start)? How immune to cheating is Vassal? If the digital copy runs on Windows, a bunch of my friends already have a copy of ollydbg installed. Is there also a feasible to detect if there's a Excel spreadsheet or Google Doc open that tallying all thes cards used and other information about the game state, and spitting out the odds that my next card is going to be the one I'm looking for? Meanwhile, playing a game locally means playing with others humans with similarly limited memory and processing power, which means my naive gameplay, which doesn't have the odds of every possible combination of cards memorized, isn't a game of Humans vs. Cylons. (Not that I understand the attraction to online poker either.) Is there any guarantee that the person on the other end isn't grepping /usr/share/dict/words in our digital Boggle game? Teaching people how to play ("customized live interactive tutorial") is far better with a (patient) real person rather than a recorded tutorial, especially when the game hasn't been translated. Are you going to be able to dig up a digital copy in 30 years and play that on the latest computer? Can you give your digital copy to a friend? How many copies of the game do you need to buy for everyone to play? Most online games require each person to buy their own copy, but aside from Magic and other CCG, the box and some friends is all you need. That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure you can come up with other advantages that physical copies of the game have.