Post by simlasa on Nov 7, 2013 22:39:25 GMT
(I posted this on the old forum before I realized I was in the 'wrong' place... so I'm re-posting it here)
So I've been building 2.5D terrain ever since I first saw the DM's Craft vids on YouTube. "Hey! That looks easy and cheap and versatile"... and it has been.
I've built caves and dungeons and a small town's worth of generic shops... a couple of large pirate ships and some cyberpunk/40K terrain. Most all of it for skirmish games.
But somewhere in the back of my mind I always felt like I was cutting corners... aiming low. Really, wouldn't we all like an enormous set of those Dwarven Forge tiles?
Well, after last night, I can firmly say, "I for one, would NOT"... at least not for gaming purposes.
Now, not to dog on the Dwarven Forge tiles... they're quite nice. Look great, especially when painted up. Our Pathfinder GM bought two of the Kickstarter sets and arranged them into a dungeon for us to game on last night. We looked them over, cooed over the details, the working doors, the little bits of furniture and adornments.
Then we played out a dungeon crawl on them.
It was quite a disappointment.
For one thing, as DMScotty has pointed out... it was a pain to move stuff around by reaching over and into the walled corridors. It was pretty cramped, actually.
For another, there was a repeated issue with players not being able to see where their PCs where in relation to certain situations... again because of the walls.
Also, for my own aesthetics... the tiles pretty much lock you in to a certain 'style'... and once you've painted them, well... you're not likely to change the decor every time you use them... so it's basically going to be the same rooms, over and over again.
All during last night's game I found myself longing for the tiles I've made for our Song of Blades & Heroes games. All sorts of crazy chambers and caverns and even some ships. Easy to use, easy to make something new whenever the inspiration/mood comes over me.
Again, I'm not trying to cast aspersions on the Dwarven Forge stuff... our GM is quite happy with his purchase and the tiles are quite nice for what they're meant to be. I could see getting a set just to display my painted miniatures in.
I'm just finding I'm VERY happy with my own decision to go with creating my own terrain and pretty much sticking to the 2.5D style... because I've now experienced first hand how kludgy the full on 3D stuff can be in use. I can make them look exactly like I want them too and have them be as big as I need. I've made 2.5D tiles that would cost a fortune if I tried to make them with storebought terrain AND I'd be trapped by whatever terrain those manufacturers had decided to make.
So, I'm a 2.5D fan who felt like he was compromising... but now I can see that I've really chosen one of the best options available!
So I've been building 2.5D terrain ever since I first saw the DM's Craft vids on YouTube. "Hey! That looks easy and cheap and versatile"... and it has been.
I've built caves and dungeons and a small town's worth of generic shops... a couple of large pirate ships and some cyberpunk/40K terrain. Most all of it for skirmish games.
But somewhere in the back of my mind I always felt like I was cutting corners... aiming low. Really, wouldn't we all like an enormous set of those Dwarven Forge tiles?
Well, after last night, I can firmly say, "I for one, would NOT"... at least not for gaming purposes.
Now, not to dog on the Dwarven Forge tiles... they're quite nice. Look great, especially when painted up. Our Pathfinder GM bought two of the Kickstarter sets and arranged them into a dungeon for us to game on last night. We looked them over, cooed over the details, the working doors, the little bits of furniture and adornments.
Then we played out a dungeon crawl on them.
It was quite a disappointment.
For one thing, as DMScotty has pointed out... it was a pain to move stuff around by reaching over and into the walled corridors. It was pretty cramped, actually.
For another, there was a repeated issue with players not being able to see where their PCs where in relation to certain situations... again because of the walls.
Also, for my own aesthetics... the tiles pretty much lock you in to a certain 'style'... and once you've painted them, well... you're not likely to change the decor every time you use them... so it's basically going to be the same rooms, over and over again.
All during last night's game I found myself longing for the tiles I've made for our Song of Blades & Heroes games. All sorts of crazy chambers and caverns and even some ships. Easy to use, easy to make something new whenever the inspiration/mood comes over me.
Again, I'm not trying to cast aspersions on the Dwarven Forge stuff... our GM is quite happy with his purchase and the tiles are quite nice for what they're meant to be. I could see getting a set just to display my painted miniatures in.
I'm just finding I'm VERY happy with my own decision to go with creating my own terrain and pretty much sticking to the 2.5D style... because I've now experienced first hand how kludgy the full on 3D stuff can be in use. I can make them look exactly like I want them too and have them be as big as I need. I've made 2.5D tiles that would cost a fortune if I tried to make them with storebought terrain AND I'd be trapped by whatever terrain those manufacturers had decided to make.
So, I'm a 2.5D fan who felt like he was compromising... but now I can see that I've really chosen one of the best options available!