Creating Maps for HomeBrew campaign - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Creating Maps for HomeBrew campaign

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
goliahte
Jul 13, 2010 3:44:48 Okay so I wrote a 3.5 campaign, and then upgraded it to 4E but that is besides the point. I created a world map and seperate land mass maps for each contenant. I have been searching for around five hours now and seem to have found a couple of battlemap makers and such, but I have yet to find one whree I could take my hand drawn maps, and upload them to a program to make them look more like www.adnddownloads.com/images/fr_4e_map.j... .

Can some one please help X.X I have already thought about CS5 and Macromedia......
#2
obdormio
Jul 13, 2010 6:08:10 Have a look at the Cartographer's Guild, particularly their tutorial forum. I found this one to be simple to follow, even for a novice like me.
#3
thecapn
Jul 13, 2010 19:01:51 seconded. There isn't really an easy way to make nice looking maps such as the one you linked. Your best bet is to grab GIMP (a free image editing app that is a good alternative to Photoshop) and trawl the tutorial section of the cartographer's guild.
#4
mastercliff
Jul 14, 2010 1:17:31 He's not looking for an easy way.

Photoshop. You use photoshop.
#5
bone_naga
Jul 14, 2010 1:58:47 I use Fractal Mapper 8 from nbos software. It is specifically designed with regional maps in mind, although I have also made some great looking battle maps with it. You can also export the map into a globe view, link submaps (like linking a city map to the marker on the regional map), add notes, etc. It comes with some textures and images and you can add more from other sources. It has a slight learning curve but after reading through the tutorials you should have a pretty good idea how to use it.
#6
goliahte
Jul 14, 2010 14:12:29 okay, thank you for all the help guys, or on that part, now I will ask if anyone knows any free sources where i can make battle maps on a 1"x1" grid and prent them on 8.5x11 paper, I have looked at and tested Ye Old Map Maker, and the grid is to small for dnd map.
#7
bone_naga
Jul 15, 2010 2:00:25 You could make the grid on photoshop. Also check out MapTool from rptools.net. Its intended as a VTT, but it also makes for a pretty good battlemap tool and has a grid included. You can export it to a jpeg and probably print it out. You might have to do a little trial and error to get the sizes down, I'm not sure as I haven't used it to make printed maps.

There are also some sites like rpgmapshare.com or the dunjinni forums with premade maps you can print. The heroquest group also has some links to some generic dungeon tiles you can print and assemble.
#8
casttiltowait
Jul 17, 2010 0:09:17 For free, the best bet for making your own is GIMP, perhaps in addition to some of the images, textures, etc from the dunjinni forums, that's how I did up some of my maps a couple years ago. I've since moved into doing 3D terrain using the really inexpensive files from WorldWorks Games (less than $12). What you might be interested in is the new release they're doing in combo w/Wyrd Miniatures. For $49, they'll sell you a massive pack of uber-high quality tiles that you clip together to form fully 3D maps that you can reassemble however you wish to make new maps. It's obviously not free, but it'll save you a bunch of time in terms of labor, and unless you were going to be printing out at work or school, you'll be spending some money anyway on ink, etc. They're starting with a set for doing streets, etc, buildings, and a sewer which I've shown below. They can be built up as you can see for many levels, so you could have an encounter that starts on the rooftop of an inn, progresses thru the building to the streets below and into the sewers, all on the same gaming table.

This is a zoomed in picture that shows some of the detail in the textures.

#9
frothsof
Jul 17, 2010 10:28:02 now THAT^^^^^^ is awesome
#10
Bandikoot
Jul 17, 2010 15:23:14 That looks nice. I'll have to go and check out their site.
#11
GlimmTheGnome
Jul 20, 2010 0:52:50
Another free alternative to Photoshop is Paint.NET.

For battle maps, I also use a standalone grid-making program that I wrote a while ago that takes in height, width, and pixels-per-square in order to generate a png file of a grid. That file can then be used as the basis for a battle map.

For my campaign setting map, I started with a scanned drawing and then finished it in Paint.NET. Having a tablet PC definitely helps when doing any work on the computer.

#12
nekros22
Jul 20, 2010 14:44:05 RPTools does some good ones. Try and check out Dundjinni, too.

My personal favorite is Campaign Cartographer.
#13
goliahte
Jul 30, 2010 21:34:33 thank you for your help, and I'll have to see if I can get my hands on those, they look epic, and it might be a better way to do it then the table my friends plan to build.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 goliahte Jul 13, 2010 3:44:48	Okay so I wrote a 3.5 campaign, and then upgraded it to 4E but that is besides the point. I created a world map and seperate land mass maps for each contenant. I have been searching for around five hours now and seem to have found a couple of battlemap makers and such, but I have yet to find one whree I could take my hand drawn maps, and upload them to a program to make them look more like www.adnddownloads.com/images/fr_4e_map.j... . Can some one please help X.X I have already thought about CS5 and Macromedia......
#2 obdormio Jul 13, 2010 6:08:10	Have a look at the Cartographer's Guild, particularly their tutorial forum. I found this one to be simple to follow, even for a novice like me.
#3 thecapn Jul 13, 2010 19:01:51	seconded. There isn't really an easy way to make nice looking maps such as the one you linked. Your best bet is to grab GIMP (a free image editing app that is a good alternative to Photoshop) and trawl the tutorial section of the cartographer's guild.
#4 mastercliff Jul 14, 2010 1:17:31	He's not looking for an easy way. Photoshop. You use photoshop.
#5 bone_naga Jul 14, 2010 1:58:47	I use Fractal Mapper 8 from nbos software. It is specifically designed with regional maps in mind, although I have also made some great looking battle maps with it. You can also export the map into a globe view, link submaps (like linking a city map to the marker on the regional map), add notes, etc. It comes with some textures and images and you can add more from other sources. It has a slight learning curve but after reading through the tutorials you should have a pretty good idea how to use it.
#6 goliahte Jul 14, 2010 14:12:29	okay, thank you for all the help guys, or on that part, now I will ask if anyone knows any free sources where i can make battle maps on a 1"x1" grid and prent them on 8.5x11 paper, I have looked at and tested Ye Old Map Maker, and the grid is to small for dnd map.
#7 bone_naga Jul 15, 2010 2:00:25	You could make the grid on photoshop. Also check out MapTool from rptools.net. Its intended as a VTT, but it also makes for a pretty good battlemap tool and has a grid included. You can export it to a jpeg and probably print it out. You might have to do a little trial and error to get the sizes down, I'm not sure as I haven't used it to make printed maps. There are also some sites like rpgmapshare.com or the dunjinni forums with premade maps you can print. The heroquest group also has some links to some generic dungeon tiles you can print and assemble.
#8 casttiltowait Jul 17, 2010 0:09:17	For free, the best bet for making your own is GIMP, perhaps in addition to some of the images, textures, etc from the dunjinni forums, that's how I did up some of my maps a couple years ago. I've since moved into doing 3D terrain using the really inexpensive files from WorldWorks Games (less than $12). What you might be interested in is the new release they're doing in combo w/Wyrd Miniatures. For $49, they'll sell you a massive pack of uber-high quality tiles that you clip together to form fully 3D maps that you can reassemble however you wish to make new maps. It's obviously not free, but it'll save you a bunch of time in terms of labor, and unless you were going to be printing out at work or school, you'll be spending some money anyway on ink, etc. They're starting with a set for doing streets, etc, buildings, and a sewer which I've shown below. They can be built up as you can see for many levels, so you could have an encounter that starts on the rooftop of an inn, progresses thru the building to the streets below and into the sewers, all on the same gaming table. This is a zoomed in picture that shows some of the detail in the textures.
#9 frothsof Jul 17, 2010 10:28:02	now THAT^^^^^^ is awesome
#10 Bandikoot Jul 17, 2010 15:23:14	That looks nice. I'll have to go and check out their site.
#11 GlimmTheGnome Jul 20, 2010 0:52:50	Another free alternative to Photoshop is Paint.NET. For battle maps, I also use a standalone grid-making program that I wrote a while ago that takes in height, width, and pixels-per-square in order to generate a png file of a grid. That file can then be used as the basis for a battle map. For my campaign setting map, I started with a scanned drawing and then finished it in Paint.NET. Having a tablet PC definitely helps when doing any work on the computer.
#12 nekros22 Jul 20, 2010 14:44:05	RPTools does some good ones. Try and check out Dundjinni, too. My personal favorite is Campaign Cartographer.
#13 goliahte Jul 30, 2010 21:34:33	thank you for your help, and I'll have to see if I can get my hands on those, they look epic, and it might be a better way to do it then the table my friends plan to build.