# Build a tabletop atmosphere controller

Build a native Tauri application for preparing and controlling the sound and imagery of a tabletop session. Build it extremely well for someone who is also busy running the game. Follow the [shared launch](../shared/launch.md), honoring an explicit preference for another framework.

Learn what the person's group plays and how they use music, maps, pictures, and sound effects. Design a complete application around that experience. If they already built the [soundboard](soundboard.md), carry its collections and capabilities into this extension.

## Prepare scenes

Let the person assemble a scene from ambient sound, music, a map or illustration, visual effects where useful, and individual cues they may want during play. They can choose material from their own collection, adjust its presentation, and save the result for the session.

A market scene might combine a crowd, distant bells, and a street map. When the conversation turns dangerous, the host may want different music while keeping the market and map. Make scenes flexible enough to support those changes naturally.

Give the person a convenient place for relevant scene notes and upcoming cues. Keep their private preparation distinguishable from material presented to players. Arrange the scene collection so they can find a place or event when the group takes an unexpected direction.

## Control it while telling the story

Make common actions quick to recognize and comfortable to use while attention is on the table. The host can enter a scene, adjust the mix, trigger a cue, change the displayed image, or stop the sound. Show what is actually playing and which scene is active.

Give transitions appropriate care. Music may fade between scenes while an individual effect plays once. A sound intended to continue should keep doing so until the chosen transition or host action changes it. Let the host control the timing and balance so the application supports the conversation.

Support temporary changes during play and an understandable way to return to the prepared scene. If the person likes the new arrangement, they can save it deliberately.

Set up the person's real audio and display arrangement. They may use laptop speakers, a separate sound system, a television, or a projector. Make the chosen setup work from the host's seat, with clear control over what the players see and hear.

## Keep the preparation together

Save scenes with their related material and organize them into the person's adventures or sessions. Keep imported originals available and make missing or moved media understandable. Apply the shared launch's ownership and recovery guidance so preparation survives closing the app or reorganizing work.

Supply a ready-to-try example using material suitable for sharing with the project. The person should be able to feel what the app does before spending an evening preparing their own scenes.

## Run a short scene

Deliver the installed application and rehearse a few minutes of the person's game. Enter a location, change the mood while the conversation continues, trigger a cue, and move to another scene. Judge whether the host can do this while remaining involved with the players.

Explain how a prepared scene coordinates several kinds of media, while individual controls let the host react to what actually happens. The person learns that their preferred way of running a session can determine how the software works.

Later projects can deliver private clues to players' phones or add richer shared displays. Keep those additions connected to the same scenes and session. The host should retain the preparation and live controls they already know.