Software:Vassal (game engine)

From HandWiki
Vassal Engine
VASSAL's official logo.
Developer(s)The Vassal Team.
Initial release2002 (2002)
Stable release
3.7.7 / January 11, 2024 (2024-01-11)
Written inJava
Operating systemAny
PlatformCross-platform
Available inMultilingual (English and 6 other languages)
TypeGame engine
LicenseGNU LGPLv2+
Websitevassalengine.org

The Vassal Engine is a game engine for building and playing online adaptations of board games, tabletop games and card games. It allows users to play in real time over a live Internet connection, and also by email (PbeM). It runs on all platforms, and is free, open-source software.[1][2] For example, there is a Star Wars Miniatures module, where players can play with up to three others in a digital replica of the table-top game.

It is written in Java and the source code is available from GitHub under the LGPL open source license.[3]

History

Vassal began as VASL (Virtual Advanced Squad Leader), an application for playing Advanced Squad Leader.[4]

Available modules

Vassal modules exist for over 1000 games.[5]

Copyright and licensing

In September 2008, Games Workshop issued a cease-and-desist order regarding V40k to Tim Davis, the V40k module maintainer at that time.[6] The module is still played.

Games Workshop has also issued a cease-and-desist order regarding Space Hulk.

Similar projects

Similar engines for making board games include ZunTzu[7] and Boardgame.io.[8]

References

  1. Geryk, Bruce (August 2007). Green, Jeff. ed. "Line of Attack: Your monthly guide to hard-core wargaming" (in English) (Print Magazine). Games for Windows (Ziff Davis Media) (9): 92. https://archive.org/details/games-for-windows-2-jan.-2007/Games%20for%20Windows%20August%202007/page/92/mode/2up. Retrieved 3 August 2021. 
  2. Ardwulf's Lair (7 October 2015). Exploring the Vassal Engine for Online Boardgaming and Wargaming. Retrieved 22 Jul 2021.
  3. "Official Vassal Website". https://vassalengine.org/. 
  4. "The Master and His Vassal". 14 December 2010. http://iltredicesimocavaliere.wordpress.com/info/the-master-and-his-vassal-in-english/. 
  5. "Category:Modules - Vassal". https://vassalengine.org/wiki/Category:Modules. 
  6. "GW V40k Legal Action". http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg246/Dezartfox/scan0001copy-1.jpg. 
  7. "ZunTzu - the Online Boardgaming Platform". http://www.zuntzu.com/. 
  8. "Boardgame.io - Open-Source Game Engine for Turn-Based Games". http://boardgame.io/. 

External links