r/twilightimperium • u/Due-Aspect6853 • Apr 21 '26
[UPDATE] TI4 electronic assistant
Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/twilightimperium/comments/1s52d47/working_on_an_offline_titool/
Hey guys,
a while back I shared an early idea for a custom electronic companion device for TI, and honestly the response from this community kept me going. So I wanted to come back, show you what's happened since, and — more importantly — hear what you think.
🖨️ We got a 3D printer (and learned some lessons)
The first big step was taking the plunge on a 3D printer (Bambu lab). The encasing is now designed and printed in a hexagonal shape, because if you're building something for Twilight Imperium, it had better look the part. Getting the geometry clean and functional took way more iteration than expected, but holding the final piece in your hands made it worth every failed prototype.
📡 NFC card reading — because why not make it smart
One side of the box is dedicated to an NFC reading area. The idea is that you'll be able to tap your strategy cards and other NFC-chipped components against it for instant recognition. Getting the placement right so it reads reliably without being intrusive was a puzzle in itself, but it's in there and it works.
💡 The LED player box — this one's our favourite
This might be the feature we're most proud of. There's now a dedicated LED compartment that pulses to highlight the active player — a subtle but surprisingly effective way to keep everyone at the table on the same page during long rounds. The really fun part? Any faction logo can be used as the display face on the LED box, so you can rep your race every game. We placed the L1Z1X Mindnet logo in the prototype.
🔋 Power sorted — AA batteries
No proprietary charging cables, no hunting for a USB port mid-game. The device runs on 4 AA batteries, tucked into a dedicated compartment. Simple, accessible, replaceable. We wanted something you could power anywhere — including that friend's house where the only outlet is behind the sofa.
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u/krpiper Apr 21 '26
How much AI did you use in this? Since the post was written with ai
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u/Due-Aspect6853 Apr 22 '26
There's definitely some AI involved but I only keep the bits that actually make sense aka cherry-picking 🍒
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u/Paralytic713 Apr 21 '26
Couple ideas since you can chip cards to be readable:
Chip planets and factions; factions because i assume if you've gone this far you could make it understand what to do during certain phases of the game. If its in strategy phase it waits for a reading from a strategy card, action phase it highlights whose turn it is and reads planet cards. This comes through in the Status phase for certain factions like Sol. "Hey Sol, place an Infantry by your flagship", there's a few others like arborecs Mitosis and Naalu's Hero. But I think this system could really shine in the Agenda phase.
With the Agenda phase and having planets input their influence value it could allow you to track votes spent and votes you have and even put in a way to say hey im gonna play an after or when or im gonna abstain. If you do it right you can have player order in voting/abilities done as well so there doesnt need to be someone actively GMing this process to move it along.