"Hotseat" gaming?

[Blackbird71]

I'm new here and looking for a gaming platform that will suit a particular need. What I am looking to do is for upcoming holidays gather family around a single large screen computer to connect and play with another family member who is in the military and away from home. The original plan was to set up a Skype connection with a webcam on a physical game board and have the remote player just dictate their moves, but I thought an online table system like this might be a better option as in theory the remote player could have direct control over their pieces. Would BGA be able to support such a setup? In order to do this, it would need to be capable of the following:

Does BGA support "hotseat" gaming? I.e., multiple players in one physical location playing their turns on the same device/login?

If yes, in a "hotseat" mode, can the game still connect to another player online in a different location?

Thanks!

[pikiou]

Let's say you have Chrome, Firefox and Safari on your home large screen, well then you can play with 6 accounts: one for each browser, and a second one for each browser in a private/incognito mode.
The family member away from home will be able to play from his/her computer and join you at a private table only him/her will be allowed to join.
BGA doesn't offer more than that, but I think it's pretty good already ^^

[Sawyer Einherjar]

Wouldn't it be simpler to take a few laptops and tablets with you? Then every1 could follow live what the other's move are without looking straigth into their hands as all would be watching their own screen. Multiple devices from same ip is supported!

Cheers,
Sawyer

[Blackbird71]

Let's say you have Chrome, Firefox and Safari on your home large screen, well then you can play with 6 accounts: one for each browser, and a second one for each browser in a private/incognito mode.
The family member away from home will be able to play from his/her computer and join you at a private table only him/her will be allowed to join.
BGA doesn't offer more than that, but I think it's pretty good already ^^

That sounds a bit needlessly complex compared to just having a hotseat or shared tabletop function.

Wouldn't it be simpler to take a few laptops and tablets with you? Then every1 could follow live what the other's move are without looking straigth into their hands as all would be watching their own screen. Multiple devices from same ip is supported!

Cheers,
Sawyer

Assuming there are enough laptops/tablets etc. to go around, perhaps; but not everyone has their own portable device that would support this. I might be able to move in a few desktops and wire them up, but by that point I think the original webcam setup might be a better option.

It sounds like BGA really isn't equipped to do what I need; thanks for the feedback and info though.

[ATGOWTWT]

I would think that just logging in with your account to take your turn, then logging out and letting the next player log in with his account would be a very simple and easy way to simulate hotseat. Easier than trying to manage a web cam setup. (Envisions a player holding a fan of cards up facing the cam and moving hand across cards while overseas person is going, "no, keep going left... no MY left! Yes! That one! Play that.. no, no, you skipped it, go back!")

[Blackbird71]

I would think that just logging in with your account to take your turn, then logging out and letting the next player log in with his account would be a very simple and easy way to simulate hotseat. Easier than trying to manage a web cam setup. (Envisions a player holding a fan of cards up facing the cam and moving hand across cards while overseas person is going, "no, keep going left... no MY left! Yes! That one! Play that.. no, no, you skipped it, go back!")

Actually, I was going to use a card holder to keep all his cards vertical and facing his direction, with numbers for each card position marked on both sides of the holder, so that all he'd have to do would be to say "#4", and we'd pull card #4. Of course, this would only be for situations where his cards had to be kept secret; we have a number of cooperative games where everyone's cards can be in full view for which this would not be needed. I'd have two cameras in place; one showing everyone at the table (with his cards in close view for games where it is needed), and one camera positioned above the table for an overhead view of the board.

The initial setup would be a bit complicated, but once it is in place, we could do just about any game in our collection and wouldn't have to slow down to constantly log in and out for each turn (which frankly would get tedious), and we wouldn't need separate laptops or tablets for everyone at the table (plus one for the Skype display).

What would make this simpler would be a program that can function as a virtual tabletop where people can be logged in remotely, and in which no rules or turns are enforced, but which just simulates the pieces on the board. That way anyone can manipulate any piece, so we can have as many players as needed on either end of the connection and just handle the rules and turns ourselves.

[Quinarbre]

Let's say you have Chrome, Firefox and Safari on your home large screen, well then you can play with 6 accounts: one for each browser, and a second one for each browser in a private/incognito mode.

Wouldn't simply one browser with 5 incognito windows work as well ?
(and with the private windows you don't need to log in and out, that's why Pikiou suggested them in the first place)

I agree it's still not ideal, but not really more difficult to set up and use than having the remote player tell you what to do with physical pieces.

A point to consider is that you'll need to pick a game with no important private information, otherwise there are going to be always 4 of you waiting in the kitchen, or awkwardly turning their heads towards the wall... and most of the games with fully open information on BGA are for 2 players. Caylus, Quantum and Assyria would work. Secret information isn't too relevant in Northwest Passage nor Twin Tin Bots either, and that last one could be fun to play at a family gathering.

Or you could use Vassal, anyone can move anything on the board and there are scores of games available.