Talk Fantasy Football

Edit: Scroll down a few posts for the dropbox link and module update information.

I will be posting a new thread calling for VASSAL BB league signup's shortly. Outcast has volunteered to Commish the inaugural season...it should be a GREAT one!

Nice but why bother?
There is FUMBBL to play Blood Bowl already.

Because you can't just play one turn a night on Fumbbl? That's why I used to play PBeM, because I didn't have the time to play a full game.

FUMBBL confuses the snot out of me. This module is simple and easy to use and pbem format works great for my time schedule.

I'm definitely interested.

I love playing on FUMBBL but have played various games using VASSAL in the past and really like it. Plus I can sneak turns in while I'm at work... I can't very easily commit to a full on FUMBBL game without getting rumbled!!

If you're interested in playtesting the module, I have it up on dropbox. The shared link is:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/alob72vrrisz ... TWGHa?dl=0

The current beta version filename is Blood_Bowl_Vassal_.9.5.vmod

Thanks to Outcast for his help in playtesting the module! Many improvements have been suggested by him and are now implemented.

9.5 Changes: Added "Roll Over" to the movement sub-menu. This will remove the Stunned marker, add a Knocked Down marker and mark the piece as having moved for the turn. Also squished a bug that would send a piece below the pitch layer (and thus become lost in the void) if the left or down arrow key was pressed.

9.4 Changes: Added Assistant Coach markers. Changed the ID tag on some teams to help keep the teams distinctive at zoomed out views. Changed graphics/wording on Dugouts. Added 1d8, 1d3.

9.3 Changes: Added Cheerleaders and FAME markers. Added the two missing Amazon Blitzers. Various other minor changes.

9.2 Changes: A "Knocked Down" player can be toggled to "Stand Up" as part of a move with a Shift+S keystroke. This will remove the Knocked Down indicator overlay and place a "Has Moved" indicator in its place with the one keystroke.

9.1 Changes: Blocking symbol overlay can now be toggled with ctrl+numpad # for the direction of the block instead of having to cycle through all of the different blocking directions.

Just had a brief play and it looks great. PM me if you want to set up a second test game?

outcast wrote:Just had a brief play and it looks great. PM me if you want to set up a second test game?

PM sent!

Here's a couple of screenshots from my current pbem game for those that want to see what it looks like first:

File "BBVassal01.jpg" is a zoomed out view of the entire pitch. I have dual monitors so the chat window that has the dice and dugouts are not visible.

File "BBVassal02.jpg" is a zoomed in look at the same game but I've changed the weather to "Blizzard". Shown is the ball. It has an "Area of Effect" so that it's very easy to tell where the ball is at all times. Dwarf #20 has an orange box around it because he is Knocked Down. Wood Elf #21 is "Stunned" with a red box. The Wood Elf just above #21 has just performed a blitz on Dwarf #02. All of that shows in a logfile that you create when playing your turn (for those unfamiliar with VASSAL).

2nd image didn't upload for some reason so here that one is.

This is interesting. So people would manage rosters and standings offline and this would just be the engine to play the game? The PBeM model is interesting to me in that it could allow some folks that have difficulty making games in a regular league because they are travelling to stay current with the league and not be required to bring massive laptops/computers with them. I haven't played VASSAL for a while, can you run it through a web browser with files that are located in the cloud (in other words a completely server-based experience, no client necessary)?

mzukerman wrote:This is interesting. So people would manage rosters and standings offline and this would just be the engine to play the game? The PBeM model is interesting to me in that it could allow some folks that have difficulty making games in a regular league because they are travelling to stay current with the league and not be required to bring massive laptops/computers with them. I haven't played VASSAL for a while, can you run it through a web browser with files that are located in the cloud (in other words a completely server-based experience, no client necessary)?

VASSAL doesn't run through a web browser, it is a java application that is saved to a local machine along with the module that I created. VASSAL has it's own server(s) for live game play hosting. You could open the module, click to go online and you would be in the main room for this module. If you had arranged to meet another player beforehand, you could then play live on the net (using Skype or Teamspeak). That's one way. The other is pbem. Matches could be played and if both players of a match "signed off" on the final results, then team rosters would be updated and something like an online dice roller could be used for skill ups, etc (there's several that will log the rolls). If there was a dispute between the players about a game, the log files could be sent to the commish who would then review the playback and make a ruling. That's the other way.

A third way would be to either start a match via pbem OR live and then save the game at some point and resume it via the other method. You can go from live to pbem or pbem to live play easily enough.

Logfiles for pbem games that are generated for vassal are tiny for this module...like 30k, so emailing a log is easy enough. Probably a better method would be for a commish to set up a dropbox folder where rosters and logs are uploaded to as they are completed or modified. Logfiles are encrypted and can't be modified, though they could be overwritten. There is some honor system here...theoretically, a person could start a log, get some crappy rolls and say screw it and then just start the log over again but what I've found with playing via vassal and other games, it all evens out so maybe he gets better rolls for a blitz that he was doing in a log that he started over but then double skulls on his next action. You can't start a log, get good rolls, save that log, start another log over and over until you get good rolls for further actions and then somehow merge the logs.

I should also note that for pbem play with vassal, you do NOT have to be connected to their central server or even be online. AND you can run the vassal app from a removeable drive (flash drive). They're working on a version for IOS/Android (supposedly) but it will run on Surface tabs at this time.

I don't follow VASSAL, so this might be an stupid question, but in what way is this better than the current PBeM tool?

Darkson wrote:I don't follow VASSAL, so this might be an stupid question, but in what way is this better than the current PBeM tool?

It would just be personal preference. I've had a look at pbembb and it's a nice tool that automates a lot of things for you. The log is a single log file and the text that is written to it is verbose and covers all aspects of what has gone on in a match very well. The download size of the program is quite small as well. For me though, pbembb, wasn't quite what I wanted. I was looking for something a little more appealing visually, that I could zoom in and maximize the window for and I like to manually handle the aspects of the game (do my own chart look ups, etc) to give it more of a "sitting at the table together" feel. So mine is just another way to play BB either live online or via email.