I have to admit to being 3 or 4 steps below the self-proclaimed idiot from the previous post.
I downloaded … um … something — and now I have a nifty VASSAL icon on my desktop.
I double click and then I have the choices: Play Module; Server Status; Help; Edit Module; New Module; Load Module.
Now I’m stuck.
I don’t expect anyone to write an entire essay, but if someone could tell me the first step I would need to do in order to play say Squad Leader - or D&D Miniatures Skirmish, that would be great.
Just the first step for now – unless you’re feeling talkative … and “Explain it to me like I’m a six-year-old”. OK, I’m mixing up my movies now. 10 points to whoever can name that movie.
The Vassal engine is just an engine. It doesn’t have any games built into it.
What you need to do is download the module you wish to play. Module files will usually have the extension .mod or .vmod.
Once you have the module downloaded, start the Vassal Engine, select Play Module and browse to the module file. This will open the game.
Once you’ve done this, the game will appear in the module list in your Vassal Engine window whenever you start Vassal and you can just double-click it to start it up.
I gather from your description that you’re using VASSAL 3.0. I’d recommend
that you try the current beta releaes of VASSAL 3.1, as it contains many
(100+) bug fixes. You can get 3.1.0-beta5 here:
Dr. Nostromo: Thanks for the info. So first I need to download a module. Got it. Um … How do I download a module? Remember “I’m not a smart man” …
uckelman: Hmm . I tried downloading it. Clicked on the one for “Any”. There seemed to be a problem with overwriting some files when I run it. So I don’t think it worked.
The sad thing is that I’m a total nerd, but not great with computers. All of the drawbacks but none of the benefits!
But if I can at least get one version working I will be extremelty happy even with the bugs I’m sure! But I’ll keep trying to get the beta…
Thanks to both for the links and the suggestions. I managed to download the new version of Vassal, and (somewhat) even figured out how to download modules. (i.e. go to the game I want from the modules page, then to files section and try to figure out which to download).
I got the DnD skirmish miniatures working (at least offline), but Squad Leader looks a bit more complicated. (I think I have to find out where “my preferences” are and change my boards location???)
But anyway it looks like I’m heading in the right direction.
Hello, I am that original idiot, maybe not the first and probably not the last. I am good with computers, and a plethora of programs and operating systems, and still Vassal had me perplexed for the longest time in total confusion. Now however, because of Vassal I am assembling my prototype game in record speeds. Don’t get me wrong I have not mastered Vassal editing at all, but because of Vassal I am able to play test my game and soon I will have a suitable beta version for others to play test.
The Vassal community is loaded with brilliant individuals, albeit not too many introductory tutorials. This hopefully will be changed, because Vassal is without a doubt the greatest tool for game design for any genre.
Just remember life is like a box of chocolates-and a few nuts too:)
We’re glad that you find VASSAL useful. For many module designers, and
especially for the developers, our intuitions about what is confusing and
what is not have long ago been destroyed, so it’s difficult for us to write
tutorials aimed at beginners.
Something you could do to help us with that would be to keep some notes for
us on what you found confusing or unobvious, which we could use for putting
together turorials.
I’m going to be in and out for the next couple of weeks, but maybe afterwards I’ll take a crack at some very basic documentation. I can start a thread called “Forrest Gump’s guide to Vassal”.
benshelmars – What game are you making a module for? Or is this an original game?
It is an original as far as originality goes There is an old saying that there is nothing new under the Sun. I will have a link for the beta version in about a week or two, right now just mostly compiling the rules into something people can understand. It will not be a very popular game because it is rather complex although I have simplified a lot of the formulas in a spread sheet, it still has its complexities. I hope to be play testing within a month or two if I can persuade individuals to undergo the torture:)
