|
I'm about to start this Path with my group using Fantasy Grounds 2 (the virtual table top software). Has anyone done that? Are there any reliable sources for the maps? I can, of course, scan my book and then adjust sizing, apply grids etc. to create on-line battle maps, but wanted to see if anyone here has already done that.
Thanks!
Facie
Gah, the boards ate my post. Short version, then. I use MapTools as well.
1) The actual maps aren't available. Those are copyrights of Paizo.
2) The maps in the PDFs are lower resolution than their printed cousins. I prefer to scan. If you scan, you'll need to resize and rotate.
3) The maps aren't perfect grids. You'll need to play around with the image to find the best fit, but it won't match up exactly.
4) Test your VTT connection before the game starts. Get one of your players to connect the day before or something to make sure your firewall settings are correct.
|
I'm about to start this Path with my group using Fantasy Grounds 2 (the virtual table top software). Has anyone done that? Are there any reliable sources for the maps? I can, of course, scan my book and then adjust sizing, apply grids etc. to create on-line battle maps, but wanted to see if anyone here has already done that.
Thanks!
Facie
I just finished converting the second part of Legacy of Fire to FG. All I did for the maps is pull the map out of the PDF and then added the grid on the fly as it was needed. As fanguad said, they're lower resolution, but my players haven't minded. Normally I'll leave the FGII grid off, and let the players move around on the map, only turning on the FGII grid to run an actual encounter. When that happens, I just draw out the grid to overlay over the current area, as the image drift over the whole map will never line up if you leave it on.
If you need any suggestions, feel free to let me know.
|
|
Gah, the boards ate my post. Short version, then. I use MapTools as well.
Welcome to the MapTool Fan Club then. Me, too. ;-)
1) The actual maps aren't available. Those are copyrights of Paizo.
I use the ones in the PDF. They work very well actually.
2) The maps in the PDFs are lower resolution than their printed cousins. I prefer to scan. If you scan, you'll need to resize and rotate.
I haven't had any problem with resolution. And I would be surprised (for a lot of reasons) if they were "lower res" than the printed ones.
3) The maps aren't perfect grids. You'll need to play around with the image to find the best fit, but it won't match up exactly.
I find that if I create an empty map and then drag the map from the PDF to the Background layer in MapTool, I can then set the image for "Free size" and use Shift-drag to change the image size (use Shift to constrain the image proportions). I can then drag it to the size that matches the grid I chose (I stick with the default 50px grid).
4) Test your VTT connection before the game starts. Get one of your players to connect the day before or something to make sure your firewall settings are correct.
Good point. The MapTool Networking FAQ will work very well for other applications as well, so feel fre to grab the PDF on the RPTools.net forum. The specific subforum is Tools > MapTool > HowTo. It provides background on how your network actually functions and then pinpoints where the problems can occur when attempting to host a game. It's obviously based on MapTool but applies to any application.
|
|
I haven't had any problem with resolution. And I would be surprised (for a lot of reasons) if they were "lower res" than the printed ones.
I should clarify my statement. The resolution of the maps in the PDF's are great. They print well, and I have no complaints.
What I should have said is my method of pulling them out and resizing them results in a lower res map (usually a low res small map for the DM, and a larger battle-map for the players). This is a choice I make to keep the maps and other images quick loading for my players, one of which is on a low-bandwidth connection.
2) The maps in the PDFs are lower resolution than their printed cousins. I prefer to scan. If you scan, you'll need to resize and rotate.I haven't had any problem with resolution. And I would be surprised (for a lot of reasons) if they were "lower res" than the printed ones.
It might be the way that I scan it, but when I compare the image extracted from the PDF to the image scanned in, I notice a definite lack of detail in the version I extracted.
|
|
It might be the way that I scan it, but when I compare the image extracted from the PDF to the image scanned in, I notice a definite lack of detail in the version I extracted.
That could very well be as I don't know what technique you're using. :)
Also be aware that one of the Preferences settings in Adobe Acrobat 8 is the resolution to use for snapshot images.
I can't attach images here, but this link is what the Preferences panel looks like for Acro8 on my Mac running OS 10.6.4. YMMV.