More PG VASSAL?

[stear]

One of the common knocks for little two-person APL is the lack of VASSAL etc online play modules.  While Mike announced a limited embracing of e-play modules in 2010, the player response to supply modules has been slow, and many of the modules provided by fans since have been trashed soon after posting. 

Lately (2015) the naval series e-play module count has picked up (see BGG APL module list).  Will we see a similar surge from the PG side?  If you have ones you have made for personal use, think about sending to Mike, and he will make available via the APL website to the gaming public.

-Jim

[plloyd1010]

Dr. Mike is very concerned that online play modules will cut into game sales. Online modules helping sales of deadtree games is subjective on a good day. As games get more expensive, the iffiness of that help gets worse. Module designer/builders don't get paid, and there isn't a good business model anyway, so it becomes as time and interest are available. That said, I do have some done and doing PG Vassal projects.

1. I've posted a PG Vassal kit. It has the basic pats of the game. One just needs to copy the elements as required, then change graphics and headings.
   
2. Of course I made the 4th Ed Vassal demo, which would also serve as a build kit.
   
3. Then there is the Elsenborn module. Drew started it, and I finished. I never expected it to see daylight after it was submitted.
   
4. I made a 3rd Ed Vassal demo. Dr. Mike would rather it not got into the wild.
   
5. There is the random leader addon to Drew's Airborne module.
   
6. I am working, very slowly, on a universal PG module. Mostly a map set with scaffolding for everything else. Countries would be module extensions. I'll finish that sometime between tomorrow and never. Probably never be in the wild, unless someone with legal authority blesses it.
   
7. Started a WoE module. It has been supplanted by the universal module scheme.
   

How good are you at building a module?

[stear]

How good are you at building a module? 

Hi Peter,

Not at all, I'm afraid.  Rupert Cullum and John O'Day have done the recent GWAS ones. 

Mike appears to have become more supportive of making the modules available over the past six months, although I believe the game titles are all 2+ years old (Remember the Maine was published in early 2013).  Jim Dauphinais is working on a CyberBoard version of Sea of Iron which came out this year; I suppose that will be a real test of how far Mike is willing to go.

-Jim

[plloyd1010]

Well, play with the kit, or the 4th Ed module. Copy some units & modify some units. The biggest problem I have now is getting good maps. There are a couple tutorials that come with the Vassal documentation.

[richvalle]

I have a very rough mod I made for Road to Berlin that I've been playing with. It's very rough in that I have to create each map and add it before we start the next game. Definitely not suitable for release but it's good enough for me and a friend to play PG with.

[J6A]

BTW, publicize these mods everywhere. Request to play on the VASSAL/Skype request list on BGG. The more people realize that APL has changed its's anti-VASSAL stance, the more people are likely to be attracted to the system and the better for all of us in the long run.