Changes to Digital Map Assets

French Fries - WOW

This is great to hear!

This is really good to hear. The thing I would ask (and I know it's a big one) is to do the same for the maps in the APs. Ideally, when downloading my monthly AP, I'd like the zip file to contain a VTT friendly JPG for each of the contained maps. Trying to extract the low resolution, and often not exactly lined up to a grid correctly, maps from the APs is one of the biggest and most tedious parts of my prep. I usually search and hope that someone else has recreated the maps from scratch and sometimes get lucky.

Oh man, my VTT tables thank you, and so do I.

Wow! I don’t even use the maps for that sort of thing, but I applaud the change wholeheartedly. Nice work Paizo!

This is amazing news! Thank you, Mark, and everyone working on this!!!

This is really good to hear. The thing I would ask (and I know it's a big one) is to do the same for the maps in the APs.

This is on our list to do, it's just a question of both figuring out the best format/resolution/etc. for these assets and digging back into hundreds of adventures to pull out the multiple maps in each to convert them. One advantage the standalone map products have over in-adventure maps is that they were originally created to be printed at 1-inch scale, meaning there's already a lot more detail in the image than there are in a lot of maps that are intended to be printed at much lower scale. So, know that we're working on it and will keep everyone posted once we have more information on our plans going forward.

Will this change be included in the Adventure Path Interactive Maps you get with the PDF? Oops ignore didn't even see the post above mine :)

Great news! One additional thing that would be really useful for running PFS scenarios online would be for those scenarios that have maps that are put together from multiple map tiles to include one page where they are reprinted with no annotations. That way, it's easy to screen-grab the entire map instead of having to do the rather unenjoyable task of piecing it together from numerous tiles.

WOW! Thank you!!

This is the best news ever! THANK YOU!

If my brain weren't leaking out of my ears from my excitement, I would think of something much better to say than, "THANK YOU!" But I do say it with sheer enthusiasm and unbridled joy!

For more on how Paizo is helping you stay safe and play on, read:
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Accessories Go Digital.

What does "VTT-ready" mean?

As a little graphics geek and VTT player I have a few question regarding the new VTT maps:
1. which resolution will the VTT maps have? (px per inch)
2. will maps from non-flip-map products (e.g. adventure paths) get the same "update"?
3. If an old product got the update, did people who bought the products before will get the new maps, too?

Especially the second question would be important for me, because the current maps in the digital AP are just so low quality, that you can't print them out or use them on a VTT.

As a little graphics geek and VTT player I have a few question regarding the new VTT maps:

1. which resolution will the VTT maps have? (px per inch)
2. will maps from non-flip-map products (e.g. adventure paths) get the same "update"?
3. If an old product got the update, did people who bought the products before will get the new maps, too?

Especially the second question would be important for me, because the current maps in the digital AP are just so low quality, that you can't print them out or use them on a VTT.

1. 300, which should scale to the 75px per inch that Roll20 suggests for their platform, for example. We also made sure to keep every file under the 10MB limit that Roll20 has for uploads.

2. Not currently, but it's something we're looking into. Generally, we don't have these maps at as high of resolution as we do maps that were meant to be printed at a 1-inch scale, so we don't have as many levers to pull to make them look good at the file size folks need to be able to use them.

3. Anyone who owns a digital version of a product that is updated will receive the new file formats in addition to any that were previously included (which are all PDFs currently).

What does "VTT-ready" mean?

Previously, users had to jump through a bunch of hoops to extract the map images from our PDFs before they could upload them into a VTT application, and the edges of the map were almost always not aligned with the grid, so they had trouble lining the map up with the VTT's internal grid. We've cropped partial squares off the edges of these maps and provided them as native JPGs at as high or resolution as we could manage while still keeping them under the size limit of uploads to Roll20.

Thank you, Paizo!

Bravo! We are mid-way through Age of Ashes and since it is NOT available for Roll20, having the maps available would at least help!!

This is amazing news! I’d like to echo the call for AP maps as well. I realize that old ones are pretty low-res but you could for example commission high enough resolution maps for VTT for upcoming APs so that newer material sets a higher bar of VTT friendliness.

Thank you, Mark and the whole team working on this. It is very much appreciated.

Woo, this is great!

Will the Pawns line be getting a similar treatment?

If my players knew how little work I do prepping for games since 2ed launched they'd be very upset. The ease with which I can whip up an encounter with 2ed is truly the best part of the version change.

Online this has been difficult because, well in person I can just grab a flip-map throw it on the table, get a few minis, the Bestiary, and run. Online it will take sometimes 20-30 minutes to get ONE image to fit.

This new change to digital maps will literally mean I will spend half as much time prepping now. Less time prepping means more time drinking and who doesn't need more time for that.

Thank you, Paizo.

As a venture officer in Organized Play, I think that I can say that this will help me and many other GMs. It will save us time and allow us to focus more on our players rather than trying to have one map image fit.

My hope is that we will be returning sooner than later to in person gaming. However, we must face what challenges we have and I thank you for making my work as a GM easier.

Why .jpg and not a lossless and more future proof format like .png

Just one more example of why I will continue to support Paizo. You truly do seem to care about what your customers and community want and need. Although I dont always agree with every single choice, you definitely have a customer for life. Thank you!

Considering that I quit purchasing Pathfinder maps when I switched from primarily in-person games to primarily online games, I'd say this is good news. Converting PDF files never felt like it was worth the effort, so I quit using them altogether and switched to a combination of (mostly) Gabriel Pickard's work and stuff from the Heroic Maps line. I love Paizo maps, though, and this will make me a customer again! Woohoo!

Having the AP maps being able to be individually copied/pasted instead of hidden behind the PDF borders (or sliced into a million pieces when extracted) would be helpful.

I would gladly have paid a few extra bucks to be able to not do the ALT-prt-screen, paste in GIMP, trim, etc thing and then have that blue Swarm image (or labels) stuck in it.

Why .jpg and not a lossless and more future proof format like .png

Size would be my guess. A lot more compression in your typical JPG than PNG.

Next level awesome!

Omg thank you!!

This is probably the best news I have heard from Paizo in more than a decade of using their products.

Thanx to all those who will be digging through all the old content maps to fix them up for VTTs.

Nicolas Paradise wrote:

Why .jpg and not a lossless and more future proof format like .png

Size would be my guess. A lot more compression in your typical JPG than PNG.

If the maps were all textureless solid colors, PNG could actually be better compression wise, like for cartoon pictures... But Paizo's map usually have LOT of details and texture, so yeah, JPG is better.

Thank you! Doing screen capture of PDFs is easy but one more step in our online journey we can now skip.

Awesome update! Thank you!

as someone said above - any plans to tokenise pawn sets or bestiarys?

If you're including APs in this, for the love of god please include clean versions that don't have any markings. Having to photoshop out the giant S's that mark secret doors is a headache.

This will push me towards signing up for more online gaming AND make my GMing easier. Less prep, more play (especially when players zig instead of zag!) Who knows, maybe I'll start working on Organized Play for Starfinder now!

FANTASTIC news! I'd echo the PFS and AP comments above - and don't forget the modules!

I also want to amplify the customer focus comments. I've worked in customer relations management for over 20 years and your obvious customer obsession is part of why the Pathfinder community are such rabid supporters!

Thanks so much!

If you're including APs in this, for the love of god please include clean versions that don't have any markings. Having to photoshop out the giant S's that mark secret doors is a headache.

I agree. GMs do need a players perspective view map, with all markers and specially hidden item markers removed. In the VTT the GM will add needed markers once the players have discovered the item.

Awesome! I have amassed a few image manipulation skills working through this switch to VTT but gald to see you are moving that way. But I wonder if we could look at the map usage in Organized Play program and sort of rank them that way also? Most used? Agreed start with the newest stuff but then maybe look there?

Pawns would be awesome also! :)

Great news! Thank you!

As someone who buys the physical product from my LGS but uses a TableTV to display the maps can I somehow get access to these upgraded map files?

Excellent news, thanks for doing this.

As someone who buys the physical product from my LGS but uses a TableTV to display the maps can I somehow get access to these upgraded map files?

Maps come in two versions: physical and digital.

If you bought a digital version in the past, it will be automatically upgraded as well.

If you only purchased the physical version, you can buy the digital product now and it will either be the new version or else will be automatically upgraded when that map is re-released.

This is fantastic news! Thank you so much for your amazing dedication to your customers.

That is awesome!

Wow. I was hoping for at least future releases, but going ALL the way back is extreme, unexpected, and kind of awesome!

As a former online Venture Captain, I can tell you that this has been a much-wished for item for a long time. Thank you, thank you, thank you for implementing it.

Hmm

This is great, thank you!