D&D rolls with the changes, ported to Microsoft Surface

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 20th 2009 at 11:05AM }

By the time your average Dungeons and Dragons player has failed his third death save and gone off to that great dungeon in the sky, he or she's spent nearly $800,000 on miniatures and various-sided dice. (Trust us, it adds up.) Keeping that number in mind, we'd like to turn your attention to an alternative to tangible tabletop gaming: Surfacescapes, an in-development application for the Microsoft Surface, which attempts to recreate the D&D experience on an outrageously large touch screen. As the Surface currently costs $12,500, the lifetime savings would be abundant.

Sure, there's a few kinks to work out -- the dice roll a little slow for our tastes, though this would make saving throws infinitely more dramatic. There's also the small matter of how introducing this technology into the game might diminish the whole "role-playing" element. If used just for combat encounters, it could be a powerful streamlining tool. For everything else, it would need to be fitted with an Imagination Manifestation Drive™, and those don't exist yet.

Check out a demo of Surfacescape's proof of concept in the video after the jump.

[Via Engadget]

Tags: d-and-d, dungeons-and-dragons-online, microsoft, Microsoft-Surface, RolePlaying, rpg, surface, surfacescapes, tabletop, tabletop-gaming, wizards-of-the-coast

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mylivingeulogy @ Oct 20th 2009 11:22AM

Thats pretty cool, I guess... worth almost 13k? Probably not..

NaeemTHM @ Oct 20th 2009 11:29AM

Surface is so much more that just D&D my friend. If I could afford one I would definitely get it.

Here watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP5y7yp06n0

Pretty cool, right?

hunter2223 @ Oct 20th 2009 12:08PM

It's not just a computer, it's a big ass table!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrr7AZ9nCY

Mr.ESC @ Oct 20th 2009 2:19PM

I tried the same pun and I got downvoted to hell by 2 thick headed morons,one who got later banned.

Anyway I love sacarstic gamer dot com.

1up.

mylivingeulogy @ Oct 20th 2009 4:06PM

I wonder if the 'table' will have a bunch of preinstalled programs, or do you have to pay for all the software ontop of the 13k for the hardware?

freaparn @ Oct 20th 2009 11:35AM

At $12,500 a pop, I'm thinking they should've called it the NeoGeo Redux?

whylekat @ Oct 20th 2009 2:13PM

Why'd you get downvoted for that? It's true NeoGeoc was incredibly expensive when it first released. Even the games were what $100-300 each?

freaparn @ Oct 20th 2009 3:44PM

After extensive review and analysis, I'm going to go with "the truth hurts". It's ambitious gaming hardware released at a price point that's laughably unfeasible to the vast majority of the population.

The ironic thing is that if arcade culture was still widespread and financially viable, the Surface would function nicely in a NeoGeo-esque role: a standardized host platform with interchangeable games in an arcade setting. Compared to the standard pricing on arcade units, it's a steal!

Gipionocheiyort @ Oct 20th 2009 11:34AM

Sometimes a clip says it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3njjD41f48

mr nimblewick @ Oct 20th 2009 11:37AM

Wow. Way to make the game last 3x longer than it has to.

BigD145 @ Oct 20th 2009 2:51PM

Over-engineered? You betcha.

Cyanide @ Oct 20th 2009 5:15PM

Exactly. The more computer interaction you put in D&D, the slower it plays. This is cool and all, but the virtual dice and the giant menu of attack options is completely unnecessary.

D-Whizzle @ Oct 20th 2009 6:34PM

Oh Come on! It's not made for every D&D player to buy! Just admit its a neat idea an move on.

Geez...

Uncontrol @ Oct 20th 2009 11:41AM

that's pretty cool actually

i really want to see more electronic interactive board games like this. i think this kind of tech will see a lot of great stuff in the future. perhaps a way of finally consolidating traditional gaming and video gaming

Tracy Peterson @ Oct 20th 2009 11:45AM

Agreed, that dice roll is painfully slow and for no apparent purpose. It also seems odd that you need peripheral control objects. Couldn't different modes be activated with gestures rather than having to have a physical peripheral? Seems like a poor solution for interface.

Neat idea though and a great use of the technology but maybe a few refinements would make it really sweet.

Jeph @ Oct 20th 2009 11:56AM

Note: Surface isn't a touch screen (for all intensive purposes). It uses an array of cameras to determine what is on/touching the surface.

So it makes me wonder, why not roll a real 20 sided? the surface could find the number, and then figure out what's showing at the top of the die based on what it sees on the bottom...

I've done the surface development demo, so I know this is totally possible... But they had to have tried that, right?

Prestidigitator @ Oct 20th 2009 1:53PM

The cameras… do they look up at what's above the table or down at what's on the table? In the latter case I guess it's trivial to see the number that shows on the die. If it's the former, then it's a useful fact that opposite sides of any die always add up to the number of sides plus 1 :)

Dave @ Oct 20th 2009 1:55PM

Note: "for all intensive purposes" = "for all intents and purposes"

Jeph @ Oct 20th 2009 2:26PM

@Prestidigitator: There are (I believe) 5 cameras inside the unit, looking up at the surface. So I guess what you're saying is that 6 on the bottom of the die means 7 is showing?

@Dave: Thanks! haha

Mr.ESC @ Oct 20th 2009 2:30PM

Well first it would need to be able to recognize every size and shape of dice in existance or include official ones.Then every throw should need to be smooth since you don't want to damage the surface of the cameras.

At the end as a programmer you realize it is easier to have in-game dices.

Jeph @ Oct 20th 2009 2:56PM

Yes... I'm a programmer.
Yes... I know that making it recognize dice numbers could be hard.
No... it's not impossible. Especially for a demo, they'd only have to make it work with the dice they're using.

I don't think you follow here... it's not like you're throwing a coffee mug on the surface. The surface is just a surface, the cameras are UNDER it. In no way could you ever damage the cameras by rolling a die on the surface. And I think the surface could handle even a 100 sided die with out damage.

Cyanide @ Oct 20th 2009 5:18PM

Uhh...if it's a screen, and it uses something (read: anything) to detect what's touching it, it's a touch screen.

AsherR [Planeteer | Power of The Hoff] @ Oct 20th 2009 12:01PM

While this is beyond awesome, I still like the tangible feel of dice in my hand.
Clickity clack!

But yeah, awesome.

Courtney @ Oct 20th 2009 12:01PM

I don't really see the potential to improve the D&D experience with something like this. I like handling the dice and figuring up damage, odds, distance, etc.

But, I can see how an original IP could integrate this for something awesome.

geoff0011 @ Oct 20th 2009 2:58PM

This is the only way that I would be able to play D&D. I have some really good friends who get together for D&D, I'll go just to hang out, but I just can't get into "imagining" it all. I need some sort of application like this to make it seem worth it. It's like Eye of Judgment. I don't like card battle games, but EoJ is the one I DO like because there is something visual attached to it, makes it a lot more fun for me.

Riley @ Oct 21st 2009 12:56AM

well you could use miniatures like a lot of people do

Shimrra @ Oct 20th 2009 12:35PM

HOLY SHIT is that fucking amazing. That is straight up some Star Trek type interface there. The price is way to high but just the idea is fantastic I say in less than 5 years you will see those in every major retail stores priced more competitively.

Stevetrop @ Oct 20th 2009 12:38PM

Ah yes my purple crown royal bag filled up with dice. Your making me go back to my days of playing D&D every Tuesday & Thursday. I had all those wonderful colored multiple sided dice D20, D6, D8, D4, D12, D100. Great times I had with them playing as my drunken Half-Elf Ranger who would get my party into more trouble than they wanted to get into.

rahmenxnoodles69 @ Oct 20th 2009 1:34PM

Anybody out there actually own Microsoft Surface?

BigD145 @ Oct 20th 2009 2:49PM

The dice rolls are not truly random.

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.