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I'm looking for a way to quickly create tiled maps for my PbP campaign. Which one is the best for this kind of thing?
Interested piglet is interested.
Interested also!
maptool is a good system, but not sure if it's quick enough for you. My husband uses it for our online game but he does spend a little time prepping maps in advance.
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Depending on your specific needs there are a whole slew of available software out there. Here are some places to start:
List of mapping software on Cartographers' Guild
Creating impressive dungeon maps in minutes
If you really want to get into mapmaking yourself, I can recommend Cartographers' Guild mentioned above or take a look at Jonathan Roberts' work (he has a lot of tutorials available). Here's the link to his Facebook page (he also has a blog and a Google+ page - you can find them through this page too): Fantastic Maps on Facebook
Dotted
Thanks, GentleGiant. I am so trying out that GIMP script method.
I use google documents to make maps out of spreadsheets.
Just make the cells of the spreadsheet 20 by 20, and you have a grid.
It's extremely basic, but everybody can see it. We used to call coordinates battleship style on graph paper.....plus it's free.
this
is a ruined castle grounds they're bopping around in currently.
dotted for later (Im also looking)
- Gauss
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First off, it's important to recognize that the program in which you use a map doesn't necessarily have to be the same one in which you create it. I've found that it's easiest to create the maps in Photoshop (or Gimp) then use them in MapTool. Unlike a drawing program, MapTool will handle of player/monster tokens, line-of-sight, damage tracking, etc.
Here's a tutorial I wrote a while back on how to paint maps using textures rather than solid colors. You can basically do something similar in MapTool or Dundjinni, but it's much faster and easier (IMO) to use a program with more robust drawing tools. (Plus it will look nicer.)
Thanks for all the suggestions. They're much appreciated! :)
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Just noticed a few more people have dotted this thread, so I wanted to give a heads-up...
Be sure to check out the Mapping Tips and Tricks thread in the Gamer Talk section as well. While a lot of the tips aren't necessarily PbP-specific, there are still plenty of techniques and even tools that may be of use to you regardless. :)
I use gimp for create maps and images, also the layers feature will allow you to move tokens about (gimp has a snap to grid feature, that is great for this), you can export to a jpg, post it and leave the original file where you can manipulate it.
You often need to resize/square up PDF and jpg maps so that a grid will work.
I have several custom built grid overlays, where the individual squares are numbered lettered,
That way the players can give fast and accurate movement locations/paths.
If anyone is interested shoot me a pm.
I have 50 px per square, and 100 px per square