Open source online board game engine with over 1,000 modules

[datter]

Found this on metafilter this morning, my apologies if it's been posted already.

The engine
The games

What is Vassal?
Vassal is a game engine for building and playing online adaptations of board games and card games. You can use Vassal to play in real time over the Internet or by email. Vassal runs on all platforms, and is free, open-source software.

What games can I play using Vassal?
Hundreds of boardgames have been converted for use with Vassal, so there's a good chance that you'll find the games you own in our module library already. If there is not yet a Vassal module for your favorite game, you can use the Vassal Editor to build your own module, and should you run into trouble, help is only a click away in our forum.

How can I get help?
Need help using Vassal? Stuck while creating a module? If you can't find an answer in our extensive documentation, check our friendly forum for help.

How can I get involved?
The Vassal project is run by volunteers and progresses through the efforts of volunteers. Is there a feature you'd like to see in the next release? Did you find a bug? Request that feature or report the bug here. Are you a programmer? We could use your help. Join us in the developers' forum. Not a programmer? Help us improve our documentation.

[Fishbreath]

Whoa, Rise and Decline of the Third Reich! That game I've never played in full because even my most grognard friends' eyes start to glaze over when I pull out the rulebook.

[meeper]

Found this on metafilter this morning, my apologies if it's been posted already.

The engine
The games

I've been playing the Battlestar Galactica game with friends via vassal for a few months. I believe I even tried to get you involved :)

edit: this no links until 50 posts thing grows tiring

[Hawkeye Fierce]

Oh yeah, VASSAL is great, to the extent that if a game doesn't have a VASSAL module I usually won't purchase it.

Fishbreath, Third Reich mutated into this: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardga...a-world-at-war

[Fishbreath]

Oh yeah, VASSAL is great, to the extent that if a game doesn't have a VASSAL module I usually won't purchase it.

Fishbreath, Third Reich mutated into this: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardga...a-world-at-war

O.O

The rulebook that came with my copy of Third Reich (second edition, I think) was 35 or 40 pages of 8.5x11 paper with tiny print. I sure hope that their 196-page rulebook isn't the same form factor.

[Hawkeye Fierce]

Why wonder? The manual is available here: http://www.aworldatwar.org/

[Bahimiron]

My experience with VASSAL goes like this...

"Oh my God, they have-- oh, it's banned."

Repeat.

Fantasy Flight, put Death Angel on iOS. It just makes sense.*

Edit: Man, they have Netrunner. I wonder how that holds up. I imagine it'd still need my own deck, so I will likely never find out.

*Actually, it looks like I can't blame FFG for this. Arkham Horror's on there. This must be a GDW thing. Those guys are sweethearts.

[Dean]

I've played a number of GMT games over Vassal.

Mostly, I'd rather play boardgames in person. Vassal begins competing with my computer games, and I have much better computer games to play. I will put up with all the dice modifiers, card counting, and what have you in board games because that's the trade off of getting to play games around a table with friends. When I play on a computer, I'd like the computer to take care of all that stuff, not just give me the straight boardgame on a computer screen.

So yeah, I'm a curmudgeon when it comes to Vassal. Rob loves it, I'd rather go over to his house and play on a table.

[Scotten]

Looking at those pictures of A World at War makes me miss my youth.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1...war?size=large

[JM]

Vassal's pretty cool for miniature games too. There's a Warmachine/Hordes module (with the blessings of Privateer Press) which is really well done. There's some Games Workshop ones that have to fly under the radar.

[CLWheeljack]

*Actually, it looks like I can't blame FFG for this. Arkham Horror's on there. This must be a GDW thing. Those guys are sweethearts.

Arkham's release notes say that FFG's policy is to allow their games with blank text for common cards, so it'd be very difficult indeed to play without also owning a copy. Not a bad compromise, I guess.

[Soapyfrog]

VASSAL is excellent. I am currently working on an Empires in Arms module, inspired by how spectacularly crappy the Matrix Games PC game version turned out to be. (yes I know there is an existing EiA module but I felt I could do that one a few better)

VASSAL also makes it actually reasonable and possible to play games like Federation & Empire (which has a terrific module, somewhat surprisingly sanctioned by ADB).

[SlyFrog]

Arkham's release notes say that FFG's policy is to allow their games with blank text for common cards, so it'd be very difficult indeed to play without also owning a copy. Not a bad compromise, I guess.

No, the compromise sucks. Because for a game like Arkham Horror (which I own, along with several expansions), you realistically are not going to memorize the card text. So your choice is then either having all of the actual cards out in front of you while you play on the computer (which isn't very pragmatic) or to simply not play.

Nearly everyone else just allows game ports to VASSAL. But given that FFG in the past few years seems desperate to become the next "big money" game company in the mold of Games Workshop, of course they will hamper it based on IP.

[Hawkeye Fierce]

VASSAL isn't so hot for everything, but it's great for wargames, which is what I primarily use it for. They're tougher to find live opponents for, and being able to leave the vassal board "set up" helps with the longer play time.

There's definitely concern about piracy, even among the VASSAL friendly developers. Lots of games have their rules available for free these days. The typical solution is to hold back some chart or playbook needed for the game, so that you can't just download the module and rules and go to town.

[CLWheeljack]

Has anybody here done any original board game development with Vassal? Or is it not really suited to it?

It seems like it would be neat for prototyping if nothing else, you can apply changes to cards and things without re-printing and cutting cards, and could playtest with remote people for a larger playtest audience.

[JoshL]

People here are aware that VASSAL doesn't enforce game rules, right? It's just a virtual table. Which is nice, and very useful, but not really a substitute for things like Brettspielwelt, Yucata, etc.

ZunTzu and Cyberboard are other virtual tables.

[Aeon221]

Apparently you can write some stuff in Java to manage that for you, but it's a giant pain in the nuts. Also it can't do AI.

Anyone have something similar with APIs that let you do those two fairly critical things?

[scharmers]

I would love to play Silent War on VASSAL (instead of hogging a table in the living room for weeks at a time), but I've loaded up the module and it looks...daunting.

[LeSquide]

If anyone ever wants to play some Warmachine or Hordes (or even Heavy Gear Blitz!) please drop me a line. I'm a big fan of VASSAL.

[Hawkeye Fierce]

I would love to play Silent War on VASSAL (instead of hogging a table in the living room for weeks at a time), but I've loaded up the module and it looks...daunting.

Not that I own it - it's a wishlist item for me - but I can't imagine playing Silent War (or Steel Wolves, which looks even cooler) on anything BUT VASSAL. The module has apparently got lots of handy automation features.

[scharmers]

Not that I own it - it's a wishlist item for me - but I can't imagine playing Silent War (or Steel Wolves, which looks even cooler) on anything BUT VASSAL. The module has apparently got lots of handy automation features.

Yeah, there is a ton of work and counter drawing and book-keeping in Silent War, and all of this took time to learn. Problem with the VASSAL module is that it looks like you have to spend the same amount of time to learn the module workflow. All of this makes me weary and makes me go play the much-less complicated U-Boat Leader.

[VegasRobb]

Is there a simple introductory game that would work as an introduction to VASSAL? I would also be willing to purchase the game if someone wouldn't mind dragging me through.

My collection is compiled on BGG too (under vegasrobb).

[Eduardo X]

Is there a simple introductory game that would work as an introduction to VASSAL? I would also be willing to purchase the game if someone wouldn't mind dragging me through.

My collection is compiled on BGG too (under vegasrobb).

Really, the best thing to do would be to find a game you know and want to play, then get the module and find somebody to play with you. VASSAL, as stated before, is basically a virtual table. You do all the work you'd normally do on a table, but just on a computer.

[Soapyfrog]

Has anybody here done any original board game development with Vassal? Or is it not really suited to it?

I know a guy who is doing board game design and he says it is a godsend for prototyping, exactly as you imagine.

[Mr Bismarck]

Is there a simple introductory game that would work as an introduction to VASSAL? I would also be willing to purchase the game if someone wouldn't mind dragging me through.

My collection is compiled on BGG too (under vegasrobb).

B17 Queen of the Skies is a solitaire game that's on Vassal and the rulebook can be easily found online.

It's semi-complex, keeping track of the oil, oxygen, how much wing damage you've taken, how much ammo you have left, etc, and so you'll be shuffling boards around a bit to get the appropriate one to the front, but it's pretty good.

[JoshV]

If anyone ever wants to play some Warmachine or Hordes (or even Heavy Gear Blitz!) please drop me a line. I'm a big fan of VASSAL.

I'm a fan of Blitz, but.. I could never get into VASSAL. It's just so clumsy, to me, it feels like trying to play baseball underwater. It mostly makes me want to go find (or make) an actual TBS game that implements everything.

[strategy]

The "modern school" of boardgame design which emphasizes minimal downtime during turns is generally not well suited for Vassal.

It works a lot better with "old-school" wargames; i.e., the kind where you can have lengthy down-time while each player takes his turn. All the better if the actual number of turns is limited. Some of GMT's games also fit well with this (R. H. Berg's games, for instance).

Of course, finding physical table space and local players for those kind of games tends to be tough anyway, which leaves most gamers with few choices other than Vassal if they want to play it.

Heh - I still have my copy of A World at War lying somewhere unpunched. If anyone would like to try that on Vassal, just let me know.

[Hawkeye Fierce]

I'd suggest Warplanner for that, actually. It enforces some of the rules, rather than just being a virtual table.

Edit: I'm not sure there's a VASSAL module for AWAW anyway.

[VegasRobb]

Thanks Bismarck, I'll give it a shot. Already downloaded Vassal last night.

[peterb]

I'll be a contrarian and say that the idea of VASSAL is awesome, but the implementation is kinda shit, in that "Hey, check out this awesome kit car! You have to crank-start the engine, mix your own fuel from turpentine and varnish, and you can only make left turns" sort of way.

I basically gave up on it. The number 1 use I found for it was using it to learn a hideously complicated game (SPQR) by having my teacher on Skype while also vassalling it. But I find the friction waaaaay too high to actually use it for pure recreation.

YMMV, of course.