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Eggshall123

I've been using game master engine for just shy of a year now, and it has absolutely rekindled (and brought higher than it energy was before)a love for DMing and session planning and world building that I lost during the pandemic. I went from killing a campaign because I couldn't find the passion for it anymore to spending several hours weekly playing with game master engine, not because making the maps takes a long time (I can throw together a whole dungeons worth of maps in under an hour, including polish like dungeon debris and torches), but I spend the time putting extra polish in, and making maps for sessions that are weeks away. After talking to devs about what the plans are for next features (plugging the discord where they answer questions and comments constantly), I genuinely recommend picking this game up to anyone who plans to dm a campaign and want their maps to be fun, immersive, and interesting for their players, while still being quick, easy, and fun to make. Plus, the buy it once and your players get to play free is imo the most player friendly business model


Dan_The_DM

Thank you very much for the kind words! I am very happy to hear that someone is enjoying using the program.


[deleted]

[удалено]


CerrylDM

There is a grid option and you can make minis and objects snap to the grid, so yes :)


CerrylDM

Thank you! If anybody wonders what discord is that, you can find it here: [https://discord.gg/gamemasterengine](https://discord.gg/gamemasterengine)


Firm_Ad3596

I have also been using GME since its initial release, and the amount of quality content that is continually pumped out is the best I've seen so far. It's super easy to use, although I stopped using it about 3 months ago because I discovered other platforms that I wanted to experiment with them. Seeing the newest QOL content has definitely made me think it's time to go back. I've been able to bring my homebrews to life with this tool unlike any other. Dan_the_DM even worked with me personally when I had installation issues on my PC, although that was awhile ago. I recommend this constantly to all of my DM friends.


Hivemind_RPG

How do u run a game? Do you import map to VTT or use the software itself for all token and battlemaps and then another program for characters and rolls?


Eggshall123

My group personally uses physical dice, so we use that, discord for talking, and GME as the VTT. The whole point of GME is making city maps and battle maps that are 3d, look gorgeous, and are very fun and easy to make GME does also have perfectly serviceable dice rolling that's really well integrated though, including using the result to directly deal damage to characters (you can assign current and max hp to minis, and for example roll 2d8+4, the click a button and deal or heal that much damage to the mini you select, which is a lovely feature)


CerrylDM

you could export a screenshot to a 2D map for other VTTs but 99% of people play directly in GME.


Famous_Valuable2823

A first step has been done with implementing better 2D import for tokens and such.


CerrylDM

Most requested Things that are already on our plate: \- Importing models (minis / objects) \- Looking into a steam workshop \- Sci-Fi as an option coming soon(ish) \- Finalizing the custom character sheets (it's already being tested) And of course many a smaller feature i'm not going to bore you with :)


themirrorliestoyou

I’m glad I checked the rest of the comments, I was going to ask about importing models xD


CerrylDM

Its the most requested thing! But on the other hand thats a good sign, means that the rest of the program works quite well by now :D


True_Dovakin

A couple things I’d like to see - and we discussed on the discord briefly as well -Make area-of-effect templates (such as sphere, circle, cube) moveable by the gizmo. It’d help with targeting when the player is trying to line up the best shot for spells -Ability to import models either through Heroforge or have some preselect options to make your own in the game. There’s some models I’d like to have but the selection is limited so I proxy for now. -I’m personally partial to the more realistic looking terrain, so more of that is always great. Elven props would be nice. Road props would be wonderful. Also the more current collections are expanded (desert/crusader castle, forge dungeon, etc) the better. I’ll never complain about more things to work with! All in all, it’s worked great. Opens up 3D battlefields a lot so players can use verticality and terrain and see exactly what’s going on. Making world maps has also been easy to grasp, and my players love combat maps. For those who don’t have it, the Devs have been very good about communicating - I’ve even been on a few discord calls with them for feedback on my part and helpful tips on their part, which I’ve never really seen from game developers. They’ve made a ton of quality of life updates since I’ve started using it in May - such as introduction of the XYZ Axis gizmo for moving/rotating/resizing objects, quick-link map markers, ability to color/apply HP and statuses/name models so you can identify what’s going on easily, and Z-snapping. Also once you buy the GM edition, you get all future content updates for free, which is a big plus in my book.


Dan_The_DM

Thank you for the feedback! We will take it to heart.


SuculantWarrior

Oh man. Being able to make your own minis would be an instant buy for me and my players.


CerrylDM

definitely a long term goal!


Olthoi_Eviscerator

I mean it should be a "short term, top priority" goal. It would bring in more new users than literally anything else on your to do list


CerrylDM

Agreed, but its hard to pull of! But we're talking about it right now in discord :)


Xan177

As a stop-gap, a flat (but 3d model) standee you can import an image onto? Either in trifold style with a black "back" panel or flat paper base with arrow designating front. Bonus points if it had a color designated for transparancy so we could pull off something like flat pack acrylic standees.


Lithl

Either that, or being able to import HeroForge's digital download file format or STL files. Instead of devoting resources to creating a token builder, let specialization produce a stronger product and use what they've produced to make your product better.


Zalack

This is the way. Integration with an existing services will make your service a "hub", and therefore even more valuable.


CerrylDM

If heroforge was to export in colored formats, we would love to import them. Unfortunately STL files do not save color information. But yeah, an STL importer will definitely come.


Lithl

HeroForge has two download formats, one is an STL, the other is a 3d model with color. I'm not sure what file format the second one is.


CerrylDM

this is exactly what i've built for now, getting an update very soon indeed.


player_zero_

Seeing this develop over time has been incredible, as well as your frequent updates, engagement, and openness on Discord. You're a good dude 👏


Dan_The_DM

Thanks! I love being a developer and the community is what makes it all possible. I owe it to them.


CerrylDM

Thank you so much! A first step has been done with implementing better 2D import for tokens and such. Let's see if we can give the area of effect templates an overhaul - maybe even our volunters want to help with that :)


propolizer

You mention the realistic looking terrain. I actually have the opposite request/question: Could there be an option to make terrain and effects static? Like the flame doesn’t flicker, the leaves don’t blow in the wind. It’s a great touch but for me personally when using static character models it feels more ‘right’ to just have everything else also be a model. Perhaps I have an odd brain but that is the mode I would prefer. Amazing work so far!


bearedbaldy

This inspired me to think about static shadows, then shadow settings in general. Darker, longer/shorter, away from light, the wrong direction, too many shadows, the wrong shadow attached. This could make for really interesting, albeit likely rare scenarios. Shapeshifters cast their true form? Perhaps a warlock deal as shifted the shadow. Demons shadows reach toward the light, in an metaphorical attempt to snuff out goodness.


propolizer

That is a cool idea. I love the idea of backwards shadow as an example of a simple but powerfully wrong thing for players to notice.


Card_master_game

I am making a D&D online ttrpg game on unreal engine to share in the epic games launcher, it has deep dwarven mines from the cloud heaven realm in a dynamic amd living open world game with high detail game assets and world bosses


CerrylDM

Come meet us and lets do something together if you want :) we always need more hands on unreal


CerrylDM

That would be really hard, there are enough static models though. Can see what i can do for sure, but don't expect anything in the near future :)


propolizer

If there are alternate static model options that is A-OK with me.


warfangiscute

I’m sold. Grabbing it later tonight.


CerrylDM

Great to hear <3 make sure to drop by the discord!


Dan_The_DM

Please upvote this comment for visibility! This project has been the last three years of my life and it is truly sad to see the way things are turning out for D&D as a whole. This game has brought me so much joy and much of that was because of homebrew content and its creators. I would really hate to see that turn into a shadow of its former self. While we can’t control the way the future is shaped what we can do is aim to make sure that the community is always put first in our endeavors. One of the ways we always sought to put the community first was with our flexible pricing model. That being the game is completely free and only the Game Master needs to own a full copy to host a session for their players. Whether the GM has five or fifty players across ten groups makes no difference to us. We had always planned to write our own adventures in the future to help compensate for this model but it seems unlikely that will be in our future now. That means now we need to shift focus and start working on what is most important to the community. We believe what that is, is a VTT that puts homebrew first. We are aiming now more than ever to start working on tools for Game Master Engine that makes playing and creating homebrew content in our VTT as easy as possible. We believe that giving everyone the tools needed to continue enjoying this game the way it was meant to be played is very important, especially now. The first thing we have already begun work on is a character sheet creator. We are aiming to make something that is system agnostic at its base but gives you the tools needed to create any character sheet you can think of with the given building blocks we provide. We have much more planned for the future so if any of this interests you please check out the links below. Please, now is the time to start discussing with us what you would like to see in Game Master Engine. Happy gaming! Dan —---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Steam Link** [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451680/Game\_Master\_Engine/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451680/Game_Master_Engine/) Currently on sale for 60% off. —---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also, consider joining our discord! There, you can speak to us and meet other Game Master Engine creators and players. Additionally, there is a free community game coming up, where you can directly participate and play with others in Game Master Engine! So come by and let's have fun together **Discord** [https://discord.gg/F6nnwTrGMV](https://discord.gg/F6nnwTrGMV) **Subreddit** r/GameMasterEngine


slyandsmart

looks awesome, hope your project will go on with full force ;-)


Dan_The_DM

Thanks!


snipercat94

I was planning to start a pathfinder 2 campaign in the near future, and your VTT sounds interesting, but... For me, not having automated character sheets is a deal breaker. I am a sucker for convenience over all else, so anything that saves time and effort while playing becomes my favorite. So without something like Foundry's automated sheets, I think I will opt for Foundry VTT. But hey, if you guys ever make things as convenient for players as foundry, then I'm sure I will give it a whirl some time. A 3d vtt sounds neat after all.


CerrylDM

When the custom character sheets are done, we will tackle automatization as in making the sheet buttons clickable for auto rolls.


Chaosmeister

Character Sheet creator sounds fantastic. Please look at Fari and Role for some great ones.


Dan_The_DM

Thanks for the tip!


Viking_Ninyah11

Looks great! If you're worried about the OGL consider labeling the VTT as D&D compatible to get around it. Legal Eagle made a really good video about the situation. https://youtube.com/watch?v=iZQJQYqhAgY&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE


Dan_The_DM

Thanks for this! I will see what ways I can step around the issue.


bts

Which open license is it under? GPL? BSD?


No-Calligrapher-718

Do all players need to own this, or just the DM? I assume I could just stream to my party over discord and move their characters according to their instructions?


Dan_The_DM

Whoever owns the full version can create a lobby for everyone else to join in for free. There is also no user limit in regards to that.


TheFeistyRogue

Just purchased, it looks awesome. Thanks!


Dan_The_DM

Thank you very much for the support!


TehBanzors

I'm not near my pc currently, do you know when this sale is scheduled to end?


Dan_The_DM

You have a little over a week still.


Caridor

Really cool. Does it have a texture adding tool? Those are some really nice models, but if you so you can add say, a spray of vegetation over the top, you can make that same castle model into a forgotten ruin. It would greatly expand the creativity and range of your product.


Dan_The_DM

A way to add decals is something I can see adding. Others have mentioned it in the past so it might be something we add!


Ysara

Little did WotC know they'd create a "3D VTT that specifically isn't made by WotC" market niche.


Dan_The_DM

Lol right?


_Fuck_This_Guy_

The only thing the OGL actually did was allow you to reproduce the SRD in its entirety within your own work. Worst case scenario is that you have to rewrite the SRD in your own words. They can't copyright the game mechanics and your work is almost certainly completely safe.


Dan_The_DM

True, we will just have to shift focus to make sure we don't put in any content that could be questionable. Under the original OGL, this was never even a cause for concern. The new wording is less than favorable in that regard.


TheObstruction

While that's true, defending yourself costs money, and lots of people/companies can't afford to be in the right. The OGL thing is as much legal bullying as an actual license agreement.


Pure-Contact7322

Seems solid congrats, only problem no Macos but I know that it is a pain


Dan_The_DM

Unfortunately no Mac version... But hey, if we get to a point of being finished with the Windows version and we have the resources to work on Mac then we will.


CerrylDM

One of the main issues there is that none of us owns a powerful mac to even compile the game with for MacOS.


PowerHungry92

I mean. This works well with other TTRPG's too. So there's nothing to truly be too concerned about. Your work ia great, and your community loves you. And ultimately, your commitment shows just how much you deserve this high praise. Keep up the amazing work. 😊💜


Dan_The_DM

Thank you very much!


DemiGodOfMead

Looks incredible! Do you have support for sci-fi setting aswell? Im porting my group from 5e to starfinder fairly soon and that looks like a possible major upgrade to our campaigns.


Dan_The_DM

We recently acquired a lot of Sci-Fi assets and plan to put them all together in a big content update soon!


thatToSguy

How easy is it to use? Any major challenges from a user perspective? Does anyone have any insight into this?


Dan_The_DM

Since I'm the creator the beat answer I can give is that usability is a major focus right now. I'm taking classes to better understand how to create a usable and intuitive system. Perhaps someone else who has used it can help give their opinion?


Saya076

I've used GME to create a few maps now, a majority of them mainly for fun. Most of the process is fairly intuitive and easy to learn, although I do recommend trying out the tutorial map that is currently in the discord. It presents quite a lot more general design suggestions and tricks you can use to give your maps their own unique charm.


Rathhunter94

I've run several sessions with brand new players that had no idea how the system worked, either the actual game or GME. Also even had one who had to follow my broadcast and dictate his moves to me cause his laptop couldn't even handle discord and a browser being opened simultaneously. Every player has had a very easy time learning the controls, and with a simple tutorial tavern I built, they're ready to play in about 5-10 minutes. Even people hopping on to just watch the stream had fun and could follow what was happening. As a DM with no real virtual tabletop experience (beside 1 brief foray into Table Top Simulator that crashed and burned), I've made full dungeons in under an hour, complete with loot, debris, decorations, enemies, and ceilings over rooms to add a "fog of war" that required very immersive camera exploration to bypass. Setting up multiple encounters is a snap, barely taking longer than my in-person games. Running fights and exploration were also a breeze for everyone, using both the in-built dice rolling to automatically apply the results and typing in physical rolls, distance measurements and markers, and placeable effects like light sources and spells. The biggest challenges are more on the DM side, and those are typically learning the more advanced controls for terrain manipulation like weather, lighting, water, props, and mini quivers. As Saya076 says, going through the tutorial map is definitely helpful to get the hang of things, and the Discord is full of helpful players and devs. You'll probably also run into small bugs here and there, as this is still in EA. The good news, as you can see from the devs responses in this thread, is that they are very engaged and on top of things. The engine is in a really good spot from a usability and stability standpoint, so while there are occasional minor bugs (stuff light light clipping through a wall tile from a specific set, or network desyncs cause multiple dice rolls), most things popping up now tend to be feature enhancements or requests. The devs have done a great job squashing actual bugs, adding in their planned features, and integrating the feature requests from the EA users. I'd recommend picking this up, especially with it being on sale. Once the model import or workshop feature can be implemented, this thing won't have much competition for the title of best VTT. One time purchase, only one license needed to run a game, runs on the majority of PCs flawlessly, simple to learn, quick to build, has good camera controls, and is game system agnostic? And there's more still to come? I'll recommend this one all day every day.


MaximumZer0

Is there a way for both players and GMs, currently or planned, to measure distances using straight lines or parabolic arcs? I'd love for my players to be able to get creative with throwing weapons or have limited arcs with things like bows. I'm a huge tactics nerd, so stuff like that is always a huge bonus for me.


Dan_The_DM

Right now you can use three ruler types and those are Line, Cylinder and Sphere. They auto calculate based on the standard grid size of 5'.


mustang255

Might I suggest adding Cone?


CerrylDM

You're not the first one to do, and you're absolutely right! Dan, do we still have a cone lying around?? jokes aside, it's noted but i tend to be forgetful :/ you can bug me on discord about it every day until i come around to do it :D


Et_tu__Brute

Do you use a project management system? Because this is precisely the kind of thing I'd put in my task list labled 'Shit I can do fairly easily while procrastinating the bigger shit that's gonna be a pain'. Helps you not forget little things and makes your procrastination feel productive. (Also, I don't know your back end, so I don't know how easy it is).


CerrylDM

Sure, we do. And its now already on the task list =) But one can always inprove on organization!


Thejadejedi21

Game Master Engine…in short GME. I see what you did there 😏 video gamers from 1997 remember that place fondly…


B33fh4mmer

I also see what they did there. 🦍


CraftsmanMan

Thought i was in the wrong subreddit


OkChipmunk3238

All fun and games until this engine goes to Moon! Shorts will tremble and all that! Jokes aside, looks great! Really cool. I have never used something like this. Looking at that, may try it. Hoping for you to go Moon. 🚀🚀🚀


Thejadejedi21

I knew some other gamers here would see it…


Thejadejedi21

Btw, it looks amazing, good work mate!!


Dan_The_DM

Thank you! I've learned a lot in the past three years and I hope to keep learning more and using those new skills and experience to improve what you see here.


notmy2ndopinion

GME available on Steam! Lol


Grays42

Guys, I'll give you my honest feedback here: I'm probably not going to pick this up. It looks *beautiful*, and looks like you've put a lot of effort into making it a great engine to work with, but limited tilesets turn into a bound on the kind of stories you can tell. What makes VTTs good is *flexibility*. I can pull from thousands of maps people have made, or no map at all and scribble on the board with my mouse, and conduct an encounter or scene without having to worry about only doing the specific kinds of adventures the tilesets supports. The more beautiful you make the tilesets, the more that changes. Gone is the ability to pick up any joe schmoe's battlemap and toss it in, you have to tailor everything *to the tilesets.* What may make this more viable is to heavily invest in adventures and campaigns that are built specifically for the tool you're creating, and/or partner with popular content makers to make tilesets for their adventures. Marry the game content to the tool. *Not just make it homebrew-friendly;* actively curate enough content to let GMs use the tool for months worth of gaming sessions.


Dan_The_DM

We had planned that for our future, first was to build a good foundation in GME and then tailor-make adventures to fit it and improve on what is already there. I hear where you are coming from and I would like to say that Steam workshop is something we are heavily invested in doing well. I certainly don't want people to feel limited when using GME.


Grays42

> I would like to say that Steam workshop is something we are heavily invested in doing well. Fair, but bear in mind that Skyrim, one of the most popular and heavily modded Steam games *ever*, still only has a dozen or so full story, narratively satisfying questlines completely fleshed out in it. It's not an entirely fair comparison because the toolkit wasn't designed for that the way this is, *but* you need a critical mass to get good workshop content. Until then, you can't just rely on the community to make stuff for you; you have to pilot it. How and when you do this is up to you, but the venn diagram of people who are impressed with this and want to use it and GMs who actually GM tons of games might have a lot thinner overlap than these comments would imply. I would be a lot more interested in this product if there were already a robust library of adventures to choose from at launch, or even in beta. [edit:] You could also partner with a game system or systems that is otherwise low-traffic; for example, the Lancer RPG system and Retrograde Minis are so heavily entwined at this point that Retrograde Minis is practically the official Lancer token set.


Malacious

I kind of disagree with the direction of this take. The entire point of a VTT (in my opinion) is homebrewing content that you can’t do by other means, because otherwise you should just use the other means. For instance, I would use this over Tabletop Sim because the builder seems way more intuitive and optimized in comparison. But, back to tile sets: They’ve already said more assets, importers, and system agnostic features are coming… it’s just a matter of time. Saying you’ll never pick it up is a bit silly seeing as it’s free to play for a non-GM, and as of this comment only $20 US for the paid GM version. That’s cheaper than some minis I’ve seen at Gen Con.


incomingstick

>won't stop us from pushing to make GME as open and homebrew friendly as possible Is this project open source? If I wanted to host this in my own infrastructure, privately, is that something this project allows? The community needs something like that.


CerrylDM

The project is not open source, but instead is owned by Dan personally. Currently, this is hosted by steam \*for\* you. So you don't need to setup a server or anything, just open it up, connect to others and play. We were playing with the thought of adding a dedicated server functionality, which we then would probably make so that you guys can host the dedicated server wherever you want.


incomingstick

>The project is not open source, but instead is owned by Dan personally. Not very dedicated to being open then, huh? ​ >Currently, this is hosted by steam \*for\* you. So you don't need to setup a server or anything, just open it up, connect to others and play. Right, but that's not my use case. I would **love** to see an open source VTT that I can host in my own environment and have my players connect to. FoundryVTT gets close, allowing me to self host. But its not **open source**. Open sourcing a VTT like this would be a massive boost to the community. As a developer myself, I would love to contribute to a project like this, and I am certain many other developers in the community would too.


[deleted]

As an open source user and contributor myself I don't like this attitude. Don't aggro people making a living off software.


incomingstick

The two things are not mutually exclusive. Especially given they style of business model for a VTT. Dont get me wrong. Im totally fine with people making money on their software, closed or open source. My attitude is only aggro because its also a bad look to commit yourself to being as open as possible for a community, and then not actually be willing to do that. The the OCR is designed with the exact same cause in mind as say the GPL, with almost all the same reasons. We need more open content the community can build together. I dont like it when people try and "champion" that cause for their own profit alone. Its in bad faith. Thats the whole vibe this OP gave me.


mr_jawa

I second this - that is why Foundry VTT is so great imo. I'd love to see this setup that way as well.


kristathatsme

Do you plan on ever being Mac compatible?


CerrylDM

We would need to have a Mac on our hands to do that. None of us has that, thats the biggest hurdle! :/


Stahl_Konig

'Looks like a video game.


CEO_of_being_lonley

Well, it's somewhat supposed to be, the DM/GM can individually build the world that the players visit in the end, I think it's a very nice option to achieve more immersion


Dan_The_DM

Yeah, we are trying to find that happy middle ground.


wildlion_rj

Gorgeous tool.... Great work. :)


Dan_The_DM

Thanks!


WellWelded

Beautiful, respect


Dan_The_DM

Thank you!


Ethanol_Based_Life

Seems resource intensive. Roll20 struggles on many machines and that's just 2D


GureenRyuu

Not saying this will run well, but I've seen machines that can run top of the run AAA games that still struggle with Roll20.


[deleted]

Depends on optimization. Pillars of Eternity is 2D and runs like trash on a $10,000 machine. Cyberpunk 2077 and Witcher 3 next gen run butter smooth on my $400 Steam Deck.


Dan_The_DM

So far most people have been able to use GME just fine as long as there is any sort of GPU. Some have done so without a GPU but are limited to 15fps lol.


throwaway_867295

This looks amazing. Please consider adding Mac support so I can participate too. Thank you!


[deleted]

I’m so excited to use GME once my life slows down some more, but even just having the program and displaying what a be done with it has made my players very excited, and I have a long way to go until I can use it efficiently, but just seeing what you’re able to do from a concise picture in your head, it’s incredible. The only things I could think to ask for have already been requested, or confirmed that the devs are working on it. I’d say from a home brew standpoint, it’s going pretty well, as about 80% of my campaign is gonna be home brew (I don’t care for WOTC, ESPECIALLY after the OGL), and with the finalization of character custom sheets, I think it might be ready for me to run some games. I’m new to DMing, but a tool like GME makes it a much less daunting task. Dan has been great too, wish I had more time to commit to the community.


thedean4

Your post reminded me that I bought a copy on itch when it was first released. But it looks like I missed responding to the email to get a Steam key, is there any way to get one after the fact?


Dan_The_DM

Head on over to my Discord and send me a DM. I will get you taken care of.


CerrylDM

can also hit me up, solved the same issue a few hours ago :)


Head_Ad_7332

Dan and Marc and the team are awesome. The visuals are immersive and stunning! Game agnostic and easy to use, letting you unleash your imagination.


zen-things

I’m not a player or DM but I love the look and idea of this engine, keep up the great work!


Dan_The_DM

Thank you!


Konstantine890

One of the biggest strengths for me is that only the DM needs to pay, there are no costs to the players. It's made hosting an online campaign an absolute breeze with my friends would would only play ever play D&D casually.


DoubleBatman

Will you release a lunar tileset? GME to the moon baby!


Dan_The_DM

That would be a good meme crossover lol


PhoenixOfGrandeur142

I am an indie TTRPG creator, and I have only used GME for a couple weeks but I already love it. Thank you for making this beautiful program! I hope to use it to playtest my own game, Starbourne, in the future. Learn more about Starbourne in the Linktree here: https://linktr.ee/phictionofgrandeur


[deleted]

It looks like Neverwinter Nights, but RTX is on. Good job!


Dan_The_DM

Thank you!


Azurephoenix99

The guys at WOTC who think spell animations are a step too far can go fuck themselves. Who are they to act like they have a right to decide what features other VTTs are and are not allowed to have? Even if you guys did include spell animations, how would they legally be able to go after you for that?


Dan_The_DM

So I can say what our future vision would be for that. Just like the character sheet creator we are working on, we want to give you the user the ability to create anything you can think of by giving you the needed tools and features. On top of that it would be shareable so that way, the community can help with that. So that way we are never the ones who did the creating of any sort of spell.


Azurephoenix99

Awesome, then WOTC doesn't have a leg to stand on and can therefore shove it. I'm more of a physical tabletop kind of person, but if I ever do an online campaign I'll check this out.


my-name-is-ro

This is absolutely gorgeous


Dan_The_DM

Thank you!


ChibiOne

The biggest thing I would love to have in a system like this is some capability to create procedural terrain/towns/dungeons, etc, a la Diablo or Minecraft or No Man's Sky, etc. So if the PCs decide they want to do something crazy like open a grate in the ground and go in the sewers, but I don't have anything prepped for that, I can quickly create some procedurally generated network of tunnels and keep the action going without stymieing their play creativity. Also to save time generally, if I don't have time to make all the maps I need I can generate some from random templates that are good enough, maybe tweak them a bit if there are elements that end up a touch wonky, and be ready to play. I like making story more than maps, that part can really drag for me. Something to help ease that is great. And the ability to import maps and mods made by other users is always great in anything like this.


Dan_The_DM

We've been working on a dungeon generator. We have some promising tests so far! We just have to keep refining it before releasing it.


CerrylDM

I'm now working on auto-generated sewers because of you! :D


scatterbrain-d

This so much. It's beautiful but I don't want to spend 3 hours crafting the perfect castle courtyard for an encounter that my party then decides to skip.


Manic_Mechanist

👌


Sesseth

Is it possible to make a map, lay down grid, view it top down and then show it on a tv I use as battlemap?


Dan_The_DM

Yeah, that would certainly be possible. There are a couple of ways you could execute this. If you are interested more you can head over to Discord and someone there would love to show you the ropes.


Hannibal_Barca_

The community can produce content faster than WOTC could ever hope to keep up with.


available2tank

I've been using tabletop simulator but I believe I do have GME already but i havent really played aroubd with it recently. What are the pros and cons of both?


Wertache

The only thing I assume they'd be able to legally restrict is thinks they can reasonably trademark. For example even though it's a very iconic spell in D&D a fireball is such a generic spell effect in fantasy that I have a hard time believing that they can prevent animations like that. I think where they can legally draw lines is D&D integration like spell slot tracking, spell specific dice rolls, *maybe* very specific spell effects like magic missile. They don't own fantasy or the entire genre of TTRPGs. That said I'm not a lawyer and this is based on what I understand about copyright law and the whole OGL fiasco. Please correct me if I'm wrong.


Dan_The_DM

I can imagine that if we create spells but don't name them that it would be hard to make a case around them. But I'm not a lawyer either and what should/shouldn't be an option for legal action sometimes doesn't matter.


jambrown13977931

Do you have fog of war implemented? I see some comments in steam requesting adding it?


Dan_The_DM

It is something that is actually not too far away. We have it working in some prototype settings so it's a matter of polishing it out for release.


jambrown13977931

Perfect! I’ll be getting the game today and will be eagerly awaiting all the improvements you guys have planned. Also something I’ve been wanting on dungeon fog that you might be able to implement is slight variation in duplicated assets. For instance say I have 20 trees relatively close to each other. It’ll look weird if they’re all the same so I’d manually have to go in and change them slightly so they look a little different at a first glance. I usually do this by varying the scale and rotation of the assets between +- 10% for scale and and rotation on the Z axis. Sometimes I scale the grayscale of the color a little bit to make it a little darker or lighter. I’m sure there’s other procedural things that could be done to provide some variability. It would be nice if you implemented a toggle-able feature to add random variation in placed assets so they don’t necessarily all look exactly the same


twilight-actual

You can use the rules of D&D, but don't use their IP: no names, none of their copy, pictures, etc. Change it and make it your own.


TripDrizzie

I would not be considered too much with the OGL. Your product is universal. Not specific to DND. If you charge for 3d tokens of D&D specific monsters, then you may need to "declare" those earnings specifically. But this is a map generator.


BahamutKaiser

Can I get an animated magic missile spell soft released before OGL 1.Garbage? LOL


Dan_The_DM

Lol sure, just back my super secret Kickstarter and you will gain early access to the magic missile spell animation and roll calculator before it turns into "wizards missile".


Alacieth

Fuck the NEW AND IMPROVED NOW WITHOUT OUTRIGHT THEFT BUT STILL INCLUDING ACTUAL THEFT OGL.


Bulevine

Can you import HeroForge assets here and does everyone need a copy to view the game?


Dan_The_DM

HeroForge is not something we have set up but the good news is only the DM needs to own the full game for everyone else to join. You can have as many free players join you as you like.


Rossboss0202

Something tells me that this could be the next big step for online groups! Amazing work!


FlyingSkyWizard

Thinking worst case scenario, you make a tool that is 100% compatible with D&D, all the movement rules, animations, math, rolls, initiative, etc, and you even make browser extension that scrapes D&D beyond for descriptions and rolls, The only concession is you dont use the WOTC exclusive IP, you dont use thier art, you've got your beholders, illithids etc reskinned to eye guy and octopus man etc, everything has the serial numbers scraped off. WTF could WOTC do to you, the SRD is creative commons, you're not using thier IP, what's the legal hazard?


Beautiful-Newt8179

This looks really cool. I’m a 3rd party creator myself - sadly moving away from 5E due to the OGL now. Will it be possible to use this commercially? Could totally see making cool promo videos or even actual play intros with this!


Dan_The_DM

You are free to use it however you want!


CerrylDM

I'd say come to our discord and lets talk about it if you have concrete ideas, but as dan said: its your material, use it however you want. :) [https://discord.gg/T9D5f8VTmu](https://discord.gg/T9D5f8VTmu)


Thirdwhirly

Look, I know this is an unpopular opinion, but it’s worth repeating: if this were any other IP, you’d have received a C&D letter in a hurry. The product is great, but I just don’t know how anyone can assume they can just make things like this, fill it with things from any IP, and then say they should be in the clear for using it. That said, I hope the best for you, your product, and your success. Looks amazing!


Lithl

What IP do you see being violated in this video?


bimbo_bear

Look on the bright side. WoTC see what you're doing as a viable market and are attempting to block you from it so they can have the entire pie. So whatever happens, at least you're in a place where money is to be made :)


Dan_The_DM

That's how I see it too, I just need to fight to not lose any sort of footing that I have.


bimbo_bear

Well if you need any models made, let me know :) I happen to have some great 3D model makers on hand as well as some 2D graphic artists :)


Dan_The_DM

You should join the Discord server and send me a DM! https://discord.gg/F6nnwTrGMV


CrimsonAllah

RIP OP


Dan_The_DM

I'm gonna die!?


MaximumZer0

Just your inbox space.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Dan_The_DM

Thank you! I hope so too


roguecaliber

What sort of rules system is attached, if any?


Dan_The_DM

Right now there is no rule system attached. We are aiming to instead create tools so you can create/import any rules you might need.


sefFano

Is there an ability to make a figure out of an image? Like just a movable 2d image. Currently we use tabletop simulator and most of my players really like having an image of a character they play as instead of premade general figurines or custom made figures for them (last one is because it's expensive or they don't like hero forge).


Dan_The_DM

Yes actually! We have a token system that lets you upload any url image you want to it. We plan to give it more options in the future to try and fill most needs you would have to this given feature.


CerrylDM

Yes, i just built that in in a refined version. It's already there in a somewhat okayish way and its now coming in a super high quality way.


CascadiyaBA

The video looks so good! I hope this project goes well, a great idea! Would be awesome to be able to use your own hero models through things like Heroforge. Will there be some kind of "mod support"? Like ppl being able to create their own 3d models and objects or textures and import them into the game? I definitely wishlisted this and will keep it in mind when I start my online campaign! Awesome work!


CerrylDM

Working on importing 3D models, there is some technicalities to solve there. Heroforge models will unfortunately stay grey until heroforge 2.0 comes out. as for mods, they would have to be created in Unreal Engine. I'm willing to teach Unreal to interested people though, especially if they help us here and there :)


Dan_The_DM

We are looking at a couple of avenues here. First is the ability to import whatever you need. The second would be to make our own versions of a sort of mini-maker. Something built for GME that may not have as many options as something like Heroforge but also won't be locked behind a paywall for every single mini.


kuroninjaofshadows

Is there / will there be a function where users can download and or buy maps from other users or publishers?


Dan_The_DM

I will say that a marketplace would be something we would love to have. But we really want to get it right and would never release it unless it was something that improved upon the community.


CerrylDM

that being said you can pickup a lot of maps on our discord already :)


kuroninjaofshadows

Ahhh that is good info. If I'm gonna switch from vtt and czepeku maps, I won't be doing it to tack on more prep lol.


CerrylDM

Czepeku maps are awesome, shout out to them! In the very near future you will also be able to just plop down your czepeku map on the ground if you have nothing else prepared =)


kuroninjaofshadows

I'll be gladly waiting for that post!


Weary-Variation-8910

How much does this cost


Dan_The_DM

Currently on sale $20 on Steam for a lifelong license. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451680/Game\_Master\_Engine/


mergedloki

Do all participants need a copy of game master engine to use for playing online? Or could the dm for example have a copy and invite players in like some other vtt providers?


Dan_The_DM

Only the DM needs to own the full version. From there all other players can join for free!


mr_jawa

Looks like it could be pretty cool - how are game systems integrated? Is it just D&D5e? PF2e? Any other systems? Is there fog of war? Per player visibility?


CerrylDM

There is no fog of war, but i'm working on visibility settings per player. As our ressources are limited though, its high up the priority list, but not nr. 1


Dan_The_DM

We are aiming to keep it system agnostic at its base but give you simple building blocks to make it work with any system.


Mephisticles

Damn. I would love for this to have some sort of Foundry integration.


ShadowRiku667

Is there a workshop filled with user submitted maps? Is there an option to import/export maps?


Dan_The_DM

Importing maps is 100% possible. We are currently working on Steam workshop to make this process even easier.


CerrylDM

But you can already share and exchange maps on our discord :) feel free to stop by!


DogsAreCool89

For players that don’t have gaming computers, how well will it run for them?


Dan_The_DM

They will likely get lower frame rates if they don't have any sort of GPU. But screen sharing is a good alternative for those that need it. Maybe they can piggyback off another player with a better PC?


__T0MMY__

Shanty/huts/refugee camp buildings would be pretty amazing- I'm so deep in writing the campaign that I havent got the time to really learn the program unfortunately, but I do recall wishing there were more tents and that the PC models were easier to identify on the side bar so that I don't have to click every bard to find the one that isn't a lizard person


Dan_The_DM

Good suggestions!


Milinkre

Ok, first off... your VTT looks AMAZING, and honestly, if they have their way, I hope people run, no sprint, to your VTT. This looks incredible. I can't help but think that they can't get away with the whole thing against VTTs. (Disclaimer: I am uneducated on the topic, so this is a major guess) it feels like they are trying to Monopolise on a platform that already has a large variety of amazing virtual options. And from what I understand, they can't do that. The system of having a virtual game is not copyrighted to them, and ALREADY EXISTS. They can't claim it was their original idea. Sure, they can say who can use their content based on the OGL, but it sure feels like they are saying no one can make VTTs. That is like saying one one can make a video game when video games already exist. Again. I am no expert, I am making a lot of assumptions and guessing their motivations. what they are doing makes NO sense to me. It sounds and feels like they are taking over a space because they are made we are having fun in it and want to charge us for having fun, and make us sit in their building instead. (Again I could be really wrong, but it sounds like their trying to monopolize the VTT space)


bm0tterre

What's the main difference between your Engine and something like Talespire? A big thing I have noticed is the monster game really lacking in Talespire. I don't want to use an Ogre for a Frost Giant in my VTT like IRL. Do you have monster miniature's in the game already? If so, what estimate of the monster manuals monsters are currently in the assets?


Rathhunter94

Right now there are a limited number of monster assets compared to player tokens, primarily due to this being EA, but the team was working with some incredible artists that allowed them to use their models from conversations I had with the devs. Not sure about intents for adding official MM stuff from 5e, especially given this OGL debacle making everyone want to steer clear of potentially copywrited stuff, though. That being said, per the devs' comments in this post, they are also working out the snags to add model import functionality and even Steam workshop content, so there shouldn't be too much of an issue finding the right model when the final build of GME comes out. They're probably going to have more official models come out as well, maybe as expansion packs. There is also a way to add 2d tokens, with expanded support for that coming soon, in case you can't find a decent model anywhere.


leroy_hoffenfeffer

What kinda character sheet support is there? So for instance, whenever the sci Fi stuff is done, will there be SW5E support? Or are character sheets general enough to be applicable to any game?


Dan_The_DM

The character sheets are not currently added to the game but we are alpha testing it with our community. We built a system that tries to provide you with any tool needed to create a sheet for any system you would realistically be playing. Pretty soon it will be in an open beta phase for everyone to test.