Make Offline/LAN version of Roll20

It would be nice to see Roll20 made into an offline or lan-based system, allowing people with less-than-stable internet, but close/nearby physical presence to play together. I was thinking this might be particularly advantageous to students, who might meet during lunch or on break times before/after school, and are not able to access Roll20 (likely because the school proxy system would flag this as a "gaming" site and disallow access to it).

It would flag this site if they flag facebook or some other similar site. Roll20 runs through the browser so it would be difficult (not impossible) for them to sort it out from other sites that have interactive javascripting and such. The requirement to make an offline / Lan based system would not be feasible (probably) since most of the software is stored on their servers. There are plenty of other VTT that can be used offline but they also require you to install various programs so that it will do that. Roll20 loads in the browser and doesn't install any programs like that.  Nice idea but not sure how feasible it would be.

Metroknight said: It would flag this site if they flag facebook or some other similar site. Roll20 runs through the browser so it would be difficult (not impossible) for them to sort it out from other sites that have interactive javascripting and such. The requirement to make an offline / Lan based system would not be feasible (probably) since most of the software is stored on their servers. There are plenty of other VTT that can be used offline but they also require you to install various programs so that it will do that. Roll20 loads in the browser and doesn't install any programs like that.  Nice idea but not sure how feasible it would be. All of the files are stored on a server, yes, but HTML 5 can be localized to a user's machine, but they'd need to host an apache web server to do it, and this software would need to be made open source.  Since there are features that require a monthly subscription, I doubt the source code would ever allow it to be made into an offline client.  And even by doing this you'd need an ad-hoc network with the server to access Roll20. An offline paid client would be interesting (100 bucks gets you current edition, renwed subscription gets you updated clients, failure to renew would cause next renewal to be 100 dollars, etc), and even more so if they tied audio and images into a localized folder on your machine instead of SoundCloud.  Really I could see this being really popular with Windows Surface Tables and other multi-touch table-like platforms, but a very, very expensive way to play tabletop games with friends. Food for thought.

As I said nice idea but not sure how feasible it would be.

Waffles said: Really I could see this being really popular with Windows Surface Tables and other multi-touch table-like platforms, but a very, very expensive way to play tabletop games with friends. People have spent much more on their own silly hobbies. Ever seen how much money boating costs?

Have you seen how much the GeekChiq tables cost?

Waffles said: Metroknight said: It would flag this site if they flag facebook or some other similar site. Roll20 runs through the browser so it would be difficult (not impossible) for them to sort it out from other sites that have interactive javascripting and such. The requirement to make an offline / Lan based system would not be feasible (probably) since most of the software is stored on their servers. There are plenty of other VTT that can be used offline but they also require you to install various programs so that it will do that. Roll20 loads in the browser and doesn't install any programs like that.  Nice idea but not sure how feasible it would be. All of the files are stored on a server, yes, but HTML 5 can be localized to a user's machine, but they'd need to host an apache web server to do it, and this software would need to be made open source.  Since there are features that require a monthly subscription, I doubt the source code would ever allow it to be made into an offline client.  And even by doing this you'd need an ad-hoc network with the server to access Roll20. Just to point out that this is mostly wrong, with HTML 5 you can create content that can be used online and offline without the need for a local web server, the software wouldn't need to be made open source but as javascript is an interpreted language the user would be able to see the code when ever they wanted, this is not the same thing. Able to see the code != Open Source.

Alex L. said: Waffles said: Metroknight said: It would flag this site if they flag facebook or some other similar site. Roll20 runs through the browser so it would be difficult (not impossible) for them to sort it out from other sites that have interactive javascripting and such. The requirement to make an offline / Lan based system would not be feasible (probably) since most of the software is stored on their servers. There are plenty of other VTT that can be used offline but they also require you to install various programs so that it will do that. Roll20 loads in the browser and doesn't install any programs like that.  Nice idea but not sure how feasible it would be. All of the files are stored on a server, yes, but HTML 5 can be localized to a user's machine, but they'd need to host an apache web server to do it, and this software would need to be made open source.  Since there are features that require a monthly subscription, I doubt the source code would ever allow it to be made into an offline client.  And even by doing this you'd need an ad-hoc network with the server to access Roll20. Just to point out that this is mostly wrong, with HTML 5 you can create content that can be used online and offline without the need for a local web server, the software wouldn't need to be made open source but as javascript is an interpreted language the user would be able to see the code when ever they wanted, this is not the same thing. Able to see the code != Open Source. If you don't mind me asking, how so?  We do all of our HTML5 with apache where I work and if there's an easier way I'd love to know.

I think the biggest issue to overcome would be the synchronization between players that is currently handled by Firebase.

Waffles said: Alex L. said: Waffles said: Metroknight said: It would flag this site if they flag facebook or some other similar site. Roll20 runs through the browser so it would be difficult (not impossible) for them to sort it out from other sites that have interactive javascripting and such. The requirement to make an offline / Lan based system would not be feasible (probably) since most of the software is stored on their servers. There are plenty of other VTT that can be used offline but they also require you to install various programs so that it will do that. Roll20 loads in the browser and doesn't install any programs like that.  Nice idea but not sure how feasible it would be. All of the files are stored on a server, yes, but HTML 5 can be localized to a user's machine, but they'd need to host an apache web server to do it, and this software would need to be made open source.  Since there are features that require a monthly subscription, I doubt the source code would ever allow it to be made into an offline client.  And even by doing this you'd need an ad-hoc network with the server to access Roll20. Just to point out that this is mostly wrong, with HTML 5 you can create content that can be used online and offline without the need for a local web server, the software wouldn't need to be made open source but as javascript is an interpreted language the user would be able to see the code when ever they wanted, this is not the same thing. Able to see the code != Open Source. If you don't mind me asking, how so?  We do all of our HTML5 with apache where I work and if there's an easier way I'd love to know. HTML 5 added a feature called offline cashe it can be used to make offline HTML 5 apps Keith said: I think the biggest issue to overcome would be the synchronization between players that is currently handled by Firebase. I would think an offline version would be more single player (like everyone sitting round a table but only 1 screen), lan would be very difficult.

HoneyBadger said: Have you seen how much the GeekChiq tables cost? I'd love to check, but almost every page on their website slams face first into an internal server error (and that would probably push me away from buying their product more than any price). The Google cache of their Sultan table says $16k at most. I brought up boating earlier, so let's look at that to compare... For a boat that would be actually used for "boating" hobby activities (instead of, for example, an outboard flat-bottom to go fishing in a salt marsh), your starting price to look for is around $17k. I just checked a website for boat trading/selling, and found boats in my state going for upwards of $400k. If you move into the "yacht club" territory of boat, the cheapest price you're going to find is "call me to find out." (I did find some yachts with actual prices listed... upwards of $65m.) Hell, I've seen remote controlled toy boats that cost thousands of dollars. Yeah, you can find some expensive things to spend money on for gaming (GeekChiq, for example), but our hobby is far from the most expensive out there. (FWIW: Microsoft PixelSense -- the new name for the old Microsoft Surface, since the "surface" brand is now their tablet line --  appears to cost in the neighborhood of $8k.)

Brian said: HoneyBadger said: Have you seen how much the GeekChiq tables cost? I'd love to check, but almost every page on their website slams face first into an internal server error (and that would probably push me away from buying their product more than any price). The Google cache of their Sultan table says $16k at most. I brought up boating earlier, so let's look at that to compare... For a boat that would be actually used for "boating" hobby activities (instead of, for example, an outboard flat-bottom to go fishing in a salt marsh), your starting price to look for is around $17k. I just checked a website for boat trading/selling, and found boats in my state going for upwards of $400k. If you move into the "yacht club" territory of boat, the cheapest price you're going to find is "call me to find out." (I did find some yachts with actual prices listed... upwards of $65m.) Hell, I've seen remote controlled toy boats that cost thousands of dollars. Yeah, you can find some expensive things to spend money on for gaming (GeekChiq, for example), but our hobby is far from the most expensive out there. (FWIW: Microsoft PixelSense -- the new name for the old Microsoft Surface, since the "surface" brand is now their tablet line --  appears to cost in the neighborhood of $8k.) Huh.  I can get the Samsung Pixelsense table for ~$2.5k through where I work (we resell it marked up for $7.5k I think).  Still a bit more expensive than I'd like though.