Dungeons & Dragons is one of the most important role-playing games in the world, so it's inevitable that it would meet virtual reality. Implementing the relevant details for a game is not easy, but AltspaceVR has managed to reproduce a very complete environment with boards, pieces, and digital copies of its manuals.
A Virtual Tabletop for D&D
Gathering to play role-playing games around a table with paper and pencil requires a huge effort these days. We all work, study, or do both at completely different schedules. Web-based communication tools help a lot, but they will never fully replace the pleasure of sharing an epic adventure with your allies while you take notes, roll dice, drown in junk food, and try to build an altar for that Magic Missile that just saved you... again. Yes, Dungeons & Dragons tends to generate that kind of thought and many more.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/arj6nLdbbREAltspaceVR's Official VR Environment
In the past, we've seen projects that reproduce on a touchscreen everything needed to run a D&D session, but now it's time to step into virtual reality. Imagine if all the boards, all the pieces, and all the manuals were at your disposal just by wearing a VR headset. That is the goal of AltspaceVR, which presents on its official website an environment specially designed for playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends and companions. The project has the authorization of Wizards of the Coast, so it has an official profile and won't disappear overnight.
Each player is represented by a robotic avatar, which, while it doesn't provide any hints about the emotional state of the human controlling it, the simple movement of its head serves as an indication that the group is at the front of a battle, or suffering under the cruelty of the DM.
The Future of Tabletop Gaming?
AltspaceVR still needs to polish many aspects of its virtual environment, not to mention the fact that virtual reality is still in its infancy. We urgently need affordable and compatible headsets to appear on the market. Could this replace the classic games? To be honest, I don't think so, but there is no doubt that it points in the right direction. You can find more information on the official site.
