InfinitasDM App – Daniel Sandberg Interview
Daniel Sandberg is the producer of InfinitasDM, a mobile app for tabletop RPG players. This app is made to be used in person for live roleplaying sessions. InfinitasDM makes it easy to create and change maps by just drawing on a smart device screen.
The following is an interview that JM Bates had with Daniel Sandberg:
Tell us about the InfinitasDM app and how to use it.
Daniel: InfinitasDM is an Atlas, Lorebook, Battle Map, digital RPG tabletop all in one. All completely game-system agnostic for any genre and any RPG system.
Create, organize, and play your campaign from your PC/Mac and Android or iOS mobile devices while sending an additional Player’s View to a secondary display. For even more immersion you can mount or project the Player’s View display onto your gaming table and use physical miniatures and set pieces to enhance your gaming experience.
What inspired you to come up with InfinitasDM?
Daniel: My main inspiration for InfinitasDM came from the sessions I ran as well as the sessions my brother would run for our RPG group. We both struggled with the desire to user bigger, more complex maps for our campaigns, but got tired of either dealing with the costs and size restrictions of printing them out, or the quality restrictions of using my wet-erase battle mat. I was also frustrated with my folders of word documents that I’d have to sift through for quest and dialog content during play.
The final straw came when I was running a campaign that featured a fairly large maze. Trying to narrate the maze map-square by map-square as the players explored and mapped it (drawing it out on the wet erase mat) was excruciating. When I looked into the digital solutions that were available, all I could find was software that was tailored for separate-computer online play with overly complex systems that tried to run the entire game. All I wanted was something easy to use that brought digital tools to the physical table.
Being a game developer (and a bit of a DIY freak), my immediate reaction was “none of this is working for me…why don’t I just do it myself?”
After a few months of planning, I had the plans together for the software that eventually became InfinitasDM.
Which devices support this app?
Daniel: InfinitasDM is supported on Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac devices. Specifically, that means any Android device running Android 4.4+ (For the best experience, I recommend a device with 1.5GB+ of RAM and a 5”+ screen) or any iOS device running iOS 8+. Windows and Mac versions of the app are available through Steam.
Personally, I like to create and manage my campaigns from the Steam version on my computer, then run my gaming sessions from the mobile version (in my case, from an Android tablet).
How is this app different from web-based roleplaying applications, such as Roll20?
Daniel: The biggest difference is that InfinitasDM was created to work with the physical table top, not replace it. Bringing key digital functionality to an in-person, traditional gaming session with a focus on intuitive, easy to use, mobile friendly tools and interface. Roll20 is an awesome tool that is great for those looking to play their games remotely over the internet, but I wanted IDM to integrate into the table and not have a massive learning curve to get up and running with.
Is there any coding required from the GM while using InfinitasDM?
Daniel: No, InfinitasDM requires absolutely no coding, script writing, or other complex use of macros to operate at its fullest potential.
Which advanced features does this app offer? (i.e. Fog of War)
Daniel: To name a few, InfinitasDM supports Fog of War, Digital Map Tokens (with stackable Status Tokens, 1x, 2x, and 4x size scaling, and naming), Digital Maps (imported images, captured with device camera, or created from scratch within the app), in-map drawing tools, an in-map documents browser allowing you to link documents (and other maps) directly from the map view, a Player’s View that can be cast to another display, Stamps that can be placed (in various colors) to add additional detail, and more.
Is there a way to connect this app to a larger screen, such as a computer monitor or TV?
Daniel: Yes, the Player’s View is a curated view featuring none of the DM/GM’s user interface, an opaque Fog of War layer (transparent to the DM/GM), drawing layers that can be hidden from the players (and a DM layer that is always hidden to the players) that is cast to a secondary display for the player’s to reference during play. On Android and iOS this view is cast to any Chromecast connected device. On Windows and Mac, this view is shared via any physically connected secondary display (ie – a projector, monitor, or TV connected to the DM/GM’s computer via HDMI/VGA/etc). Mac computers can make additional use of AirPlay to treat any AirPlay connected display as a ‘secondary display’ for the Player’s View.
Tell us about your new Kickstarter campaign. Which features are you planning on adding to InfinitasDM?
Daniel: On Tuesday, January 31st I will be launching my second Kickstarter Campaign to create more playable content for InfinitasDM. Unlike the existing content that is available (a one shot mini campaign and an open-world town campaign), this content will feature an entire world to explore with up to 6 distinct regions and two additional mini-world/planes. Each region will feature one major Quest (as well as many smaller quests) that will all tie together into one over-arching storyline. This content will be titled the Adventurer’s Tome: Farador’s Folly and will provide a massive amount of open world content for players to explore, fight, and roleplay their way through.
Funding the creation of this content will also allow me to suspend my full time day-job and focus exclusively on InfinitasDM and Atom Switch related business, allowing for a huge boost in my time available to support the app.
Links
IDM Website: http://www.infinitasdm.com
Atom Switch Website: http://atomswitch.com
IDM v1.0 Video: https://youtu.be/iFmhQWw_NN4
New Kickstarter Page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/atomswitch/adventurers-tome-faradors-folly
About J.M. Bates
J.M. Bates is the author of Brilliant Shadows. She likes the beats and the shouting.
You can follow her on Twitter at @jam_bub.
