Video: Play Dungeons and Dragons on Microsoft's Surface Table

Carnegie Mellon students give tabletop gaming a futuristic makeover with Microsoft's multi-touch technology

By Jeremy Hsu Posted 10.21.2009 at 10:34 am 9 Comments

Dungeon masters with deep, dark pockets no longer need imagine how the venerable tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons might play on a futuristic multi-touch platform. Six students at Carnegie Mellon University recently released a video showing off their D&D concept for Microsoft's Surface Table, complete with a storyboard slideshow and rolling the virtual 20-sided die.

The SurfaceScapes project aims to provide extra immersion for role-playing enthusiasts by allowing those tiny miniatures of Drizzt the dark elf and Gimli the dwarf to interact with digital maps and landscapes. Players can pull up choice interfaces by putting down their unique "control objects" onto the table; the dungeon master gets his own control screen.

No word yet on when this proof-of-concept might become available commercially, but it's certainly one of the more entertaining applications for the Surface Table. PopSci's own Sean Captain couldn't stop playing virtual poker on Microsoft's device back in 2007, so perhaps the Carnegie Mellon team is onto something.

[SurfaceScapes via The Raw Feed]

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9 Comments

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seatellite

10/21/09 at 11:58 am

Oh my god. I want one. Now.

SERIOUSLY!

I have been playing table top RPG's my whole life! The problem is that they are a dying breed with the advent of MMORPG's.

If this gets released, it would usher in a whole new era for us old school table toppers!

Seriously. This need to be in stores, tomorrow.

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caradoc01

10/21/09 at 12:57 pm

First off, Gimli is Tolkien not D&D, please get it right.

Secondly, if this goes on sale tomorrow I am buying it on Friday...I so want this...it would be a huge shot in the arm for tabletop games.

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meyaht

10/21/09 at 1:09 pm

Bruneor is the dwarf you're looking for.

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Jeremy Hsu

10/21/09 at 1:14 pm

Thanks all -- I just figured that since D&D is one huge homage to Tolkien, I could sneak Gimli in there.

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Birthmark

10/21/09 at 2:35 pm

I don't want the game, but I want the computer. I know it came out this month or comes out next month for commercial use, but when will it be available for the public?

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Velkon

10/21/09 at 3:34 pm

THat is awesome. When does this come out for private use? This is something I need.

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i_rakov

10/22/09 at 10:28 am

I'm quoting something I saw recently about this table " Why use one of today's more portable devices, and instead use a device the size of a car, to do the exact same thing"

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quasi44

10/27/09 at 11:53 pm

I see big silent rooms full of men with stars on their lapels and being served coffee and updates by bun haired ensigns who also move little tanks and mushroom clouds on screens...oh, yeah, they already do that.

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TomHall

11/17/09 at 8:37 pm

It really sounds like the future of RPG's in the form of D&D. I sometimes play with a group ,and this puts an end to DM's having enormous amounts of paperwork on the game. People losing dice with large overthrows, and easily updating your character sheet without serious erasing every time you gain a level.

I do have a few worries as well though. Can you add your own campaign world maps or do you have to stick to downloadable expansions sold by Wizards. Can a DM finally do what has been near impossible before ,and create worlds that grow ,and evolve ,and completely shape the players as much as the players shape the world. (By which I mean simultanious events of heroism ,and political intrigue around the campaign world that may or may not affect the gameplay upon every session) ,and finally is the app secure from ,any virus's that could potentially send months of gameplay completely down the crapper.

And yes when it comes to my love for rp gaming I am a complete geek.