I want to build a program that has a graphical layout, something like that of nethack running with gtk. However I want to be able to make my own room layouts manually. And then I want to be able to control all the moving pieces (so the room layout might be in the background of everything else, which can move around, the monsters and items and such). Then I want several people to be able to connect to this and move the pieces around (when it is their turn), updating everyone else on what has happened.

The main idea is that I can play Dungeons and Dragons with my friends in other parts of the country (I moved, and I miss playing D&D with them). We've always been terrible at playing without a tactial map during combat. I poked around a bit and bumped into "OpenRPG" I don't like the mapping features quite enough to go with it. I haven't worked on this kind of stuff before and I don't know where to start. So I guess I'm asking, what language would probably be a good one to use, and what tool sets would be useful.

Thank you much for any help,
Michael

you need something that's good for writing servers and also fast GUI development. here's a bunch of other options i could think of to do this easily:

- macromedia director! WTF, you say?? yup. get the nebula java-based replacement for the old director multiuser server, code it in lingo. pros: very very easy gui development, server's already there. cons: it's director, ugh. but it'll work in WINE.

- on similar lines - Flash! nuff said. you could bang this out in a day or so with either of these.

- or, if you'd rather use an oss language, perhaps python would be good. it's good for writing servers, which you need here to maintain a consistent game state. using PyQT, PyGTK, or PyGame gives you GUI building ability. You could also use Processing, which is good for doing graphics easily, and decent though not great for building drag-and-drop gui things.

--skullmunky

You do have good points. Director and flash are both made for graphical stuff. And they would be relitivly multiplatform with little work on my part. Unfortunatly you are also correct in that they are what they are. Which is kind of a *blech* feature. As for python I have an unreasonable fear of it. Freevo is written in it, and while it works well, it is really slow. That is what the OpenRPG program is written in though. In any case, I'll put some thought into them.

It occured to me that GCCG is a program that I have liked quite a bit (For playing card games with friends online). And it is written in perl. I have an unreasonable liking of perl, just because i use it a lot. Looks like the first step is done though, getting some leads. Now it is time to check them out and see which of them I like/will work.

Thank you very much for your input.