Post by willie_2k in Ways to do open source symbol dice

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Hi! Lots to think about. Didn't mean to be on the attack, just was trying to be really clear on where my brain was at for this and why it wasn't jiving for me yet. I can also see how the qualms I had about the breadth of application aren't your priority, and therfore not an issue.

Initially the biggest thing I like is your point about how the mutual exclusivity plays out in dice pools, especially (but also without) the subtracted dice pool. The other aspects require more thought on how they could be applied. I'll take a look at how Genesys uses the two types of symbols for an example.

Totally different thought- idk how much experience you have doing digital art. If you want help with stylized models of your dice, I'd be happy to come up with something and open source the result.

Ghost Spark11 days ago

Oh, don't worry about it, no offense taken. I just got caught up in explaining the system so I didn't really take into account how I came off. Sorry if the response was a little blunt on that front.

But yeah, having a cursory understanding of how Genesys' Narrative Dice work will help in the thought process I have behind this endeavor, though the dice are a little different in that Genesys actually has 6 symbols and 6 different dice, not 4 like I do for both. The two additional symbols and dice are not without their merits, but I feel like they work better within the confines of Genesys itself. But then again, this will all be open source, so who is to say people wouldn't make additional polyhedrals in the long run using the symbols?

So Genesys is a slightly different beast despite being the origin. Though, I personally feel like ultimately the best mechanics that people can come up with on these dice will be much more interactive and imaginative than the basic Genesys-style subtraction.

For the digital art side... I will admit I am not an artist. I am going to expand my skillset to the realm of 3d modeling at some point, and I do some light graphic design, since I do the layout of my books by myself. What do you have in mind? Something akin to alternative stylizations or ornaments for the dice? I would definitely appreciate that.

Having alternative versions of the dice (simple, stylized, ornamental etc) would definitely help legitimize the designs a lot.

willie_2k11 days ago

I'm pretty good at the 3d software, but I don't have an extensive art background to reference. Ie., I'm flying by the seat of my pants. Here are some stops along my pants flight:

I'm great at digital modeling but I've never made physical dice myself. I do have a 3d printer to make the initial model, but taking it the next step (making a silicon mold and resin casting) I would leave to someone else.
Currently your dice have sharp edges. Some people like that. We could also easily round them.
Hollow dice, like a cage made of some squiggly or zig zaggy pattern are doable, model-wise. Good for digital tabletop but hard to manufacture.
We could also explore stylized versions of your symbols. Probably plus and minus should stay mostly the same, but there's a lot you can do to a triangle and a circle and still be recognizable.
I'd use Blender for modeling, shading, and exporting the dice and Inkscape for the symbols.

I also like teaching, so if you want to play around yourself, I'm happy to point you toward a usable workflow. Tbh that's my preferred path, because it takes less work for me and I'd feel like I contributed what I wanted to this project.

Ghost Spark11 days ago

Yeah, for sure, if you would prefer to just give pointers, I'm not gonna refuse any help I can get! I'm going to slowburn this project anyway, I just started higher education (again) and I have a moderately-sized Backerkit campaign starting in... 3 days (No Panik at all!). So I'm kinda strapped for time right now, but I will probably have much more time on my hands during the spring and summer.

I just put this thread and project on the wire pretty early because I think it really benefits from the longer timespans in the planning phases.

Honestly, all the ideas you have are very cool (doing a digital 3d roller app + maybe some VTT plugins would be cool and a good way to get the dice out there). I personally use Affinity currently, but good thinking with the Inkscape and Blender angle. I'm familiar with both, but not very proficient with either.

willie_2k10 days ago

oh Affinity is great just not free. If you've got it go for it 😄

Ping me if you ever want to chat though, good luck w your semester.

Ghost Spark10 days ago (1 edit)

Nah I just meant that while Affinity is great, for an open source project it's best to use open source software. That way you can easily share the core files in a way that are editable to anyone.

... Unless .svg actually does that for vector things, in that case I wouldn't really need to learn inkscape again.

ETA Anyway, I'll get in touch whenever I actually need the help (and I'm pretty sure I will).

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