Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > The Fantasy Trip

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-22-2021, 08:15 PM   #241
JohnPaulB
 
JohnPaulB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Portland, Maine
Default Re: TFT Map Maker

Here is my first attempt at using the new Backdrop addition to TFT Map Maker. The image comes from Google-Maps. This is a very rough image, without editing out labels or symbols. This was done with about an hours practice. Practice needs to be done to get the base image brighter while keeping hexes dark. Practice also needs to be done to get the right hex ratios to background feet.

https://spaces.hightail.com/space/8k...ageThumbnail-1

I used GoogleMaps on Bodie, California. I added hexes, with 1 hex measuring 10 yards from side to side. See ITL p 168 map of Bendwyn for details.

And another town, Pompeii, Italy. This is 1 hex = 10 yards from side to side.

There is a building layout. I used a googled architectural drawing. I added hexes, with 1 hex measuring 4 feet from side to side. See ITL p 11 Hex.

The usefulness of this should not be underestimated. You can now Hex anything you have a map, photo or art for.

- John Paul Bakshoian
__________________
- Hail Melee

Fantasy Chess: A chess game with combat.
Don't just take the square, Fight for it!
https://www.shadowhex.com
JohnPaulB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2021, 06:58 AM   #242
Shadekeep
 
Shadekeep's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Aerlith
Default Re: TFT Map Maker

Excellent write-up John Paul, thanks for sharing!
__________________
Shadekeep - TFT Tools & Adventures
Shadekeep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2021, 08:31 AM   #243
larsdangly
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Default Re: TFT Map Maker

Very groovy. I haven't really done this starting with google earth images or other photographs, but most of the home-cooked locales for my TFT campaign created in the last few years start as maps from Dyson Logos, which cover a huge range of subject and scales and are usually provided in an un-gridded version. I drop a hexagonal wire grid over the top of it in some simple graphics program (even something like ppt works fine) and then print it out.
larsdangly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2021, 09:34 AM   #244
hcobb
 
hcobb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Pacheco, California
Default Re: TFT Map Maker

There's two color palettes. Is that new?

The thing that'd help me most is the 2x2 character notation as per the map at ITL 52 that goes H7/L4 in a single hex.
__________________
-HJC
hcobb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2021, 01:09 PM   #245
Shadekeep
 
Shadekeep's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Aerlith
Default Re: TFT Map Maker

Quote:
Originally Posted by hcobb View Post
There's two color palettes. Is that new?

The thing that'd help me most is the 2x2 character notation as per the map at ITL 52 that goes H7/L4 in a single hex.
The two color palettes have been in there a while, but it's an easy thing to miss.

The longer annotation string would be handy for those kinds of labeling conventions, but I have a few concerns there. One is that the strings would be more complex and I'd want to offer a way to edit them easily (replacing just two characters by clicking doesn't take much time or effort in comparison). The other is that I'd want to make sure the annotations remain legible at all sizes, as well as fitting into the hex without overrunning neighbouring hexes.

I have thought about putting a more rich text feature in the program, so if I find a way to make this work I'll get it in there. It would either be a rework of the annotation system or a whole new feature. In the latter case it could make sense to have it as another layer, so that you could do things like putting names of regions, towns, etc directly onto the map too. The tricky part there would be ensuring they scale nicely along with everything else.
__________________
Shadekeep - TFT Tools & Adventures
Shadekeep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2021, 01:22 PM   #246
Shadekeep
 
Shadekeep's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Aerlith
Default Re: TFT Map Maker

Quote:
Originally Posted by larsdangly View Post
Very groovy. I haven't really done this starting with google earth images or other photographs, but most of the home-cooked locales for my TFT campaign created in the last few years start as maps from Dyson Logos, which cover a huge range of subject and scales and are usually provided in an un-gridded version. I drop a hexagonal wire grid over the top of it in some simple graphics program (even something like ppt works fine) and then print it out.
Yes, if you're comfortable working on graphics programs there are a lot of great ways of building up a map. Especially as the number of toolkits providing ready-to-use mapping elements has grown over the years.

For myself I use Shamat mostly in the initial stage of map design, as it lets me quickly prototype the layout and tweak the design with minimal effort. Once I've gotten that largely settled then I usually migrate the layout to Affinity or Corel and build out the finished map there. Designing the map from scratch in DTP vector software can be a pain and was one of the factors that led to me creating Shamat.
__________________
Shadekeep - TFT Tools & Adventures
Shadekeep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2021, 08:58 PM   #247
ParadoxGames
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: New Jersey
Default Re: TFT Map Maker

PeterDiscord found a quirk in your app. Check out the #cartographers channel of the Discord group for details.
__________________
Daring adventurers are invited to join The Fantasy Trip Discord server: https://discord.gg/Z7AtdCe
Ogre gamers unite: https://discord.gg/VmfVkuh
ParadoxGames is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2021, 07:28 AM   #248
Shadekeep
 
Shadekeep's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Aerlith
Default Re: TFT Map Maker

Quote:
Originally Posted by ParadoxGames View Post
PeterDiscord found a quirk in your app. Check out the #cartographers channel of the Discord group for details.
Thanks for the heads-up. Got a DM here about it as well. Will work on adding the proper megahex overlay to the release for both map grains.
__________________
Shadekeep - TFT Tools & Adventures
Shadekeep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-03-2021, 08:18 PM   #249
Shadekeep
 
Shadekeep's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Aerlith
Default Re: TFT Map Maker

Fixed the megahex layout for vertical versus horizontal grid grains and pushed it out as a minor release (1.7.1). Both the online and downloadable versions of Shamat have this fix now, let me know if you see any issues with it. Thanks to all who contacted me about this!
__________________
Shadekeep - TFT Tools & Adventures
Shadekeep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-08-2021, 03:53 PM   #250
Shadekeep
 
Shadekeep's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Aerlith
Default Re: TFT Map Maker

New Shamat version 1.8 is out. Added a line weight selector that allows you to have either proportional or hairline outlines on hexes and elements. The new proportional default makes the lines thicker on higher zoom levels, so if you are looking to export a large map image for printing, this new setting will make the map bolder and more legible. The hairline setting forces all lines to a single pixel and is useful for web maps and lightweight map designs.
__________________
Shadekeep - TFT Tools & Adventures
Shadekeep is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:42 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.