And for all of that you are still sitting in Shakespeare's 'cockpit' imagining  '...the vasty fields of France'. ;)

 The update was expressly to let TML people know that it looks like this will be a real product, it has received enough interest to generate twice it's funding target and there are plans to keep improving it. Reading about what you can do with your neighbor's cast-off technology is interesting but runs into the problem of being a solution that has a very narrow market with constrained conditions (Money, skill, extra computers, prepping computer art). By contrast the buy in for the tiles is low, the maintenance is nil, and the application is wide. No trees were killed to produce the tiles so environmental stewardship is not a concern as long as we look the other way when it comes to petro-chemical plastics and heavy metals for either of these. :D  The mats have no moving parts, can withstand submersion in water, noxious chemicals, and salsa and won't show fingerprints. It has a working life that is a lot longer than the TV's.

Personally I am mostly concerned with game mechanical relevant information on a map. Where is it? What is it? Showing changes in the play environment- radius of effect of munitions,  fire, smoke or obscuration, terrain effects like mud, etc. A marker set will do that just fine and I don't have to go search for it nor let things come to a halt because the players threw in a monkey wrench and I have wrong/no files of the things they will need to see.

More power to you for having the money, time, and talent to arrange such a thing. I am very sure an electronic map doesn't work for me and I am just as sure there are other people that would be interested in this as a tabletop solution.
 

Joseph Paul
By My Hand Designs LLC
4221 N Park Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46205
317-931-0561
On 4/20/2015 11:12 AM, greg caires wrote:
At the risk of sounding pretentious, I've got to the big TV flat on the table format, rather than kill trees. I convert all visuals to powerpoint slides, run an HDMI cable from my laptop, and we put cardboard counters on the screen. Yes the boys get fingerprints on it, and I certainly didn't buy this TV for this purpose (I upgraded a few years ago with a neighbors handmedown TV so this is a spare 60" flat panel) but I have to say this has enhanced the experience with a bit of high tech befitting the 57th(?) century and gives me much more flexibility when preparing adventures.

On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 10:33 AM, Joseph Paul <josephnjody@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Update - This has been funded for it's initial run ($50,000.00), it has met it's first stretch goal ($75,000.00), and it may make it's second one ($100,000.00) in the 6 days left.

Some thoughts that have occurred to me about using these is that since permanent Sharpie markers are still removable from the drawing surface (alcohol and a little elbow grease) but don't smudge away from use/travel/storage you can do known locations that will see repeat use - like a Type S scout, Free or Far Trader or a small Troop ship for very few tiles. 8x8 means 64 dTons per tile! :) If the players grow out of a ship - scrub the tiles down and draw in the new one's floor plans.

You can produce some 'fog of war' effects by laying one tile over others that have something the characters won't be able to sense right away or use for a quick change in the tactical environment ("Where did that hull breach come from?""Don't worry about it, its not big enough to.. (Ref moves cover tile "Whooosh!")...Aaahhghhh!"). Alternately prepping entire replacement tiles ahead of time for when things go pear-shaped.

Planet side locales can be treated the same way So local hangout, starport office, hanger facility/warehouse etc. Long range fights can be done with two (or more!) small sets of tiles and a note on  the table giving the distance of unimportant territory between the tile sets. Sort of like range bands in action....and you can see how far from cover you are when the shooting starts.

Not to take anything away from the coolness of electronic maps -'cause they are cool- but if I have to transport gaming stuff to a play session this is going to be easier to do and take less time to set up and not break. Info can be transferred fast with a dry/wet pen  <scribbles flame/hole/fungus from yuggoth and note>.

Other not-inconsiderable-features:
Non-slip backing so it stays in place.
Water and snack proof.
Magnets align the tiles and help keep them together.
Quarter tiles (4x4) are available.
They certainly look to be durable.
The company plans on making add-on terrain features. I am hoping that includes buildings/SF interiors.

Even if you are not doing F-t-F gaming this might work as a map with a separate camera on it for a Skype session.

If you haven't seen them and you want a tabletop mapping system go take a look. Here's the short url: http://kck.st/1MeAdPe

Downsides? 

Joseph Paul
On 4/2/2015 2:17 PM, Eris Reddoch wrote:
I think our members might be interested in a Kickstarter project to produce hex and square tiles for game use.

Here's the short url: http://kck.st/1MeAdPe

I signed up at the $75 level.

Eris
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