Online ASL

[Nat Mallet]

Good evening ASLers,

I'm looking to increase my ASL games. I have a fairly regular FtF opponent, but I don't have that many 4 or more hour blocks to spare. So online ASL it is. I have three questions:

!. VASL is the obvious choice for online play, but I'm curious about other methods of online ASL. Have many tried PBeM (without VASL)? What's the concensus?

2. What about PBIM (Play By Instant Messenger, like Microsoft IM or Yahoo IM)? Has anyone given that a shot? Or is VASL really the only way to online ASL Nirvana?

3. Does VASL play well in small blocks of time? Say 30-60 minutes of gaming a night?

I'd like to play a bit more often, but 30-60 minutes a day is about all I can spare (maybe more on weekends).

Thanks,

Nat

 

[Brian W]

!. VASL is the obvious choice for online play, but I'm curious about other methods of online ASL. Have many tried PBeM (without VASL)? What's the concensus?

2. What about PBIM (Play By Instant Messenger, like Microsoft IM or Yahoo IM)? Has anyone given that a shot? Or is VASL really the only way to online ASL Nirvana?

3. Does VASL play well in small blocks of time? Say 30-60 minutes of gaming a night?

I played a bit of PBeM back in the old days. VASL is so far superior I cannot describe it. Not that PBeM was that bad, but you had to have space to keep games set up for a long time. I played BRT (the original) by email. It took us three months to get through 6 turns of the first scenario when my opponent resigned. We were quick too, about an email a day, sometimes two.

I have not used PM or IM; however, I think state of the art for VASL is voice programs like netmeeting or Yahoo's IM has a componant as well IIRC.

VASL email is great for small blocks of time. Small scenarios go really quickly. Larger scenarios you may have times when you have to spend an hour thinking/executing your move. VASL live is more like ftf at about 75% of the speed. So an 30min is not much time.

VASL is certainly the way to go right now. It is very rewarding, although ftf is still the best.

Brian

 

[klsmith]

VASL

VASL is The Daddy.

I have no ftf partners, but I usually keep four VASL PBEM games going. There's no worrying about the cat eating the counters between sessions, no writing hex positions or any of that stuff. Once you get used to it responding to moves in the VASL log feels very much like real time, plus there's the added benefit of being able to look up rules without holding up your opponent. No complaining about overlays -- pile on as many as you want; they're integrated right into the board. Playing in the snow, VASL makes it snowy. Big counter stacks - you can't knock them over. Never forget a sniper-- VASL gives you a cue. Only downside is if you're playing on a big board, the scrolling and zooming in and out is annoying. Then again if I was playing on a 19 in. monitor instead of a laptop, that would be less of a problem. Though with the laptop I can check out my moves at work (at lunch, of course). And with PBEM, if you got a minute, and your computer's turned on, the game's ready to go. It is undoubtedly the Premier ASL product.

best wishes,

Ken

 

[Jeff Leslie]

Come to the dark side, Luke....

Don't be afraid of VASL, there is nothing to be afraid of.

My recommendation is to start off with VASL 3.x, even though it doesn't have nearly the features that 4.0 has, 4.0 is still a beta production which has several items that need to be fixed before you would be able to enjoy it's full functionality.

The posts above me pretty much covered everything about VASL. PBEM by VASL vs PBEM Any Other Way is like comparing a Lamborghini Countach to a Ford Pinto. The beauty of any VASL game is the ability to take the same game and go live online with it if you and your opponent have some time together. You can even go live with a PBEM log and step through the log with your opponent watching, and be able to interact in the middle of the log.

Some folks even use voice software (Roger Wilco, Team Sound, etc...) to use voice communication instead of typing text while they play. That method really speeds up play - a game that way can actually go faster than a real FtF game because you usually are much more concentrated on the game rather than going off on tangents of conversation.

Jeff