Campaign Creator and the Open Source

My name is Rick Gregory and I've worked as a software developer for over 30 years, beginning with writing programs for CPM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CP/M; DOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS-DOS and later Windows. In the early 2000's I adopted the open source framework Qt which allows programs to be written in one environment and then easily deployed to Windows, Mac or Linux. My OS of choice is Linux.

My son Andrew asked me to write a few words on the subject of how the Campaign Creator program was made and how it makes a contribution to gaming. But I figured I would start by explaining what I do.

My company creates, using standardized components and modules that we had developed over the years, unique and custom programs for our clients. Because we used standardized components, we are able to deliver high quality programs at substantially less than one would have expected – a kind of Ikea of the software world.

When Andrew asked me to write a program for him to manage RPG campaigns, I was at first sceptical. I barely knew what a RPG was. But as we worked together, I found that the tricks, tools and techniques directly applied to my usual line of work. While the goal and domain of the program was something entirely new to me, as we got into it, it became clear that despite the vast differences in intent, the rules of the game hadn't changed.

And D&D has a lot of rules

The first thing that should be said is that Campaign Creator is licensed for use under the Gnu Public License (GPL). The GPL says, among other things, that while it is permissible to charge a fee for a program, the purchaser/user of the program is not only entitled to a functionary binary that can be executed, they are entitled to the program's source code. They are also allowed to create their own releases using this code and even redistribute as they see fit.  And so it is with the Creator. People interested in the code may request it from the our repository, just send us an email at jadegamingnews@gmail.com

The second thing to know is that from my perspective, Campaign Creator is about paths that allow dungeon masters to create content that describes their visions/rules and narratives for the fantasy worlds that they have created. We put into the Creator the ability for a user to be able to publish their campaign and share it; the text, the graphics, the videos, etc; with other Campaign Creator users. Thus you can export your campaign, send it to somebody else to use or add to. Our hope were was that the program would create a vibrant community of users. We even thought that there might be a market the the licensing of high quality graphics and content which could be licensed for use in the community.

We have many plans for the future including server access that will allow you to send Video, Audio, and Image files to players. You can then invite your friends to your campaign using Campaign Creators upcoming Game Mode. They can join in using RPG Player: a free character building program in development, and receive all of your files and cues.

We are currently in Beta Testing right now, and would like to hear what you think. You can get your free copy on the JADE store here:

 https://jade-gaming.myshopify.com/

Written by: Rick Gregory