Virtual tabletop miniature wargaming, feedback wanted

[heruca]

Documentation seemed scarce.  Is there a detailed guide on how to do that?

Really? BGE comes with a 138 pg. User Manual. And there's a two-part video tutorial that takes you through the entire game-porting process. There's also extra documentation posted on the Downloads page, such as a Quick-Start Guide, an Addendum to the User Manual (which covers new features added more recently), and even a Quick Reference Sheet describing all the hotkey commands.

If I can acquire and then take the time to learn how to do 3D images, how do I animate them in Battlegrounds?  It all seems so confusing.  This coming from someone that can make 2D graphics and VASSAL modules with no problems.

Being able to make 2D graphics and consulting the above-mentioned documentation is all you need to know to make create a game conversion in BGE.
I wouldn't overcomplicate things with 3D graphics. BGE is a 2D game engine, so you'd probably need to export PNGs with an alpha channel from your 3D software of choice.

[heruca]

My guess is that you need to know how to use Blender or something similar to make a 3d image of a tank or infantry unit. I wanted to do the same thing in Tabletop Simulator for Heroclix but realized it takes 3d skills I do not have the patience to learn.

No need to reinvent the wheel, unless you need something really esoteric. There are tons of 2D graphics already available of top-down military vehicles, made from 3D renders. All downloadable for free from http://rpgmapshare.com/. Here's a link to 62 pages' worth of just military land vehicles.

[acctingman]

OOOhhhhh....shinny!

Those are some nice top down images! 

[GJK]

Documentation seemed scarce.  Is there a detailed guide on how to do that?

Really? BGE comes with a 138 pg. User Manual. And there's a two-part video tutorial that takes you through the entire game-porting process. There's also extra documentation posted on the Downloads page, such as a Quick-Start Guide, an Addendum to the User Manual (which covers new features added more recently), and even a Quick Reference Sheet describing all the hotkey commands.

Relax mate, I didn't realize that "game porting" was the terminology used for module design; and that's probably why my Google searches didn't find much.  I'll check out your documentation and see what I can learn.

[heruca]

All the Battlegrounds software is currently free to use (no license required) for the duration of the BGU Kickstarter campaign. Look here for details. If you've been curious to try out the fully-unlocked software, take advantage of this opportunity. The promo lasts about 4 weeks.

After you've downloaded the BGE software, I suggest you browse through the free games listed in the Battlegrounds DLC Gallery, find one you like (or want to try), gather some friends, and play some games.

Once you're comfortable with the basic workings of the software, perhaps try your hand at putting together some digital game conversions (ie, "modules", in Vassal/Cyberboard terminology) of your own.

[heruca]

I'm resurrecting this very old thread to keep all things related to BGE in the same thread. Hope that's OK.

Reason #1: I don't think I ever posted a link to this tutorial video here, which shows off some new features that were added to better support tabletop miniature battle games. Might be of particular interest to weateallthepies, if he's still around.

Reason #2: I'm currently running a short Kickstarter campaign to try to restore support for the Mac platform, if anyone's interested. If it does well, I'll make more digital game conversions for BGE.

[heruca]

The above-mentioned Kickstarter won't reach the minimum funding goal in the two days remaining. I was hoping for 60+ backers, and got nowhere close.

I might relaunch next year on a different platform (BackerKit or the like). If you'd like to get notified when that happens, please sign up to the mailing list for my VTT apps.

[heruca]

Good news: I relaunched on BackerKit, and have managed to get the campaign to develop Battlegrounds Gaming Engine v2.0 funded!



The crowdfunding campaign ends in 11 hours. If you want to pick up a BGE v2.0 license for less than the price of a BGE v1.0 license, this is your chance.