Map Making Tools?

[Wolfman]

Do you know if that's possible with Paint.net? I have not got that far in to it.

[Still_Pond]

Lord? I guess that works.

I don't know how to use masks in Paint.net. I don't think it uses masks. Everything about paint.net seems to work in a destructive manor - that is things are applied directly to the image. Masking is a non-destructive way of working and is better most of the time. However, using masks can be more complicated, and that's part of the beauty of Paint.net for me. It is simple.

Also, because the layer organization is limited in Paint.net, I wouldn't recommend having a layer for each room, unless you merged down all the details into a single layer. I might just have a folder with various maps in it, Level1, level 2, etc. Photoshop is better for what Arcanus is talking about, in my opinion. I often do what Arcanus describes, but I use Photoshop to do it.

What I do is just make a "fog of war" layer. That is a solid black layer above all the other layers. I turn the black layer's transparency down to about 180 or so, so I can see my map. Then I erase the blackness as I need to, as the players explore. Then, I turn the black layer transparency back up to 100% and select the area I want to crop out. Crop it, (The crop selection tool is up on the left side of the top tool bar, under the "L" in Layers). I then save it as a PC map image for posting. So what they see might look something like this:

[Wolfman]

OK, I will try that thanks much.

[MMJunkie]

Still_Pond, what program makes those little minis that you have boxed in green? And does it have a "Monster" setting?

[Still_Pond]

I found the minis on a website. Here. Be warned, there have been reports of a trogen virus on this site. I've used it for years and have yet to have a problem. There are lots and lots of monsters. Here is a link to 9,000 or so, (200 on each page).

Just search for what you want, sometimes it can be tricky to get a good result. Just practice a bit with search terms. I select "all" from the drop-down menu next to the 'go' button so it shows all the sprites on one page.

Once I have found a sprite to use as my mini, I copy and past it into my map document. I clean it up, removing unwanted backgrounds or re-sizing. Then I make a new layer under the sprite layer for drawing the boxes. I then draw a little green box under it the size of the grid squares the figure occupies. I usually draw the PC's boxes green and the bad guys boxes red, just to make it clear. When I'm done, I merged the layers. If I want to move one of the minis, I just select it with a selection tool and move it.

[MMJunkie]

Much appreciated.

[Still_Pond]

I keep forgetting to mention Spore's Creature Creator as a viable option for making monster sprites for a game. I own the full game, but I think there is a limited Creature Creator for free. You can make your own or download pre-made ones. It is nice, because almost every monster in the monster manual is represented.

The nice thing is Spore exports them as .PNG images with transparent backgrounds for you. If you search the "sporepedia" and find something you like, you can simply click on the image and drag it onto your desktop or a folder and you have a .PNG image all ready to pop into a map with no clean-up needed. The size is about right for most maps. You can also right click and open the image in a new tab or save it.

Spore Sporepedia - where you can search for things. (click the search tab) I un-check all the boxes except creatures, and I un-check the creator name filter because I don't want to see things made by a guy named zombie, I want to find zombies. Then, I make sure the highly-rated option is selected and search.

Here are a few examples. A zombie, beholder, mind flayer, kobold, umber hulk, and a displacer beast.



Below here are a few I made. The nice thing about using the character creator is you can take a snapshot from various angles, making top-down-ish views easier (See rest monster example below), if you want that.

A Ankheg, Rust Monster, spider eater

[Arcanus]

That looks like a nice piece of software. I see the unrestricted version is only £UK4.99 as a download too. I'm just downloading the trial version as I may consider using this over my usual tokens. Thanks again Still_Pond

BTW is the game any good? PM me - as I don't want to hijack the thread

[Still_Pond]

I should mention that making your own DnD creatures takes practice and quite a bit of time. That's why I prefer the Sporepedia and just use what others have created.

[Gir]

Still Pond has some great suggestions on monsters and characters to use. I would defiantly try to get a hold of some program that allows you to do layers though. It really makes your life so so much easier. Mainly it does this by keeping various things separate from other things. So first layer is your fog of war, second layer is any spell effects, third is good guys, forth is bad guys, fifth is the environment.

If you are using destructive programs (see still ponds definition above) then you have to re do things every time you want to move stuff around. Its just icky...

[Still_Pond]

This just came up in another discussion, but I thought I should post a link here as well. A few nice art packs can be found from RP Tools: Here

[Still_Pond]

Pixlr Free Online Image Editor:
I don't know if this has been mentioned yet or not, but pixlr.com is another free online image editor that supports layers. (Actual editor is here)

Unlike Avery's Image Editor, you don't need an account to save. You can save a .pxd file (their own format) to your hard drive. It also saves in a few web formats like .jpg and .png. Because the program is online, one could just have the .pxd file someplace where every player could access it so they could open it, edit it (move their guy), save it, and then upload the edited file, replacing the first one. A bit cumbersome, but it might work. In a solo game it could work well simply as an attachment. The DM uploads the map file, the player edits it and attaches it, the DM opens it and again makes his changes...and on and on it goes. (though if you do this, be sure to delete your old attachments).

It is too bad the .PXD file isn't stored on-line as well. Avery does that, but you need an account to do that. If you wanted to allow players to edit the map, you'd have to give them all your log in info and trust that they wouldn't mess with your account settings and such. Just a few ideas and possible resources.

EDIT: Here is an example of a sample combat map. <--this was saved and hosted on Pixlr.com's servers and has been removed for lack of views. Sorry. Attatched to this post is the .PXD file format so you can see all the layers. You should be able to open it up in the Pixlr image editor and see all the various layers. I'd recommend making the map in your paint program of choice first, and then cut and past the layers into the Pixlr program. I found the pixlr program too limited for most of what I like to do. One nice thing is you can open an image from a url and edit it. You could do the following for quick combat maps that you "borrow" from the interweb.

5 Steps for an easy 'borrowed' encounter map 1. Gather your sprites: Set up a .PXD file with your PC sprites on their own layers and save it to your hard drive. You can use these sprites over and over again for your different maps. 2. Find a map you like on the web. The Map-a-week archive has many. As does Dungeons Unlimited. Or you can use a dungeon generator, there are many out there. Here's one: Gozzy's.Com Random Dungeon Map Creator. 3. Copy the Image URL. (Right click on the image. If it wont let you, you can take a screen capture with the print screen button and just crop it later) 4. Open the working files: Open the map image url in Pixlr ('Open image from url' option) and also open your PC sprite file. 5. Add the PC and NPC sprites onto the map. Cut and paste your PC sprites onto the map. (If you have both files open, you can simply drag your sprite layers over to your new map!) Voilà! You now have a map with your PCs in separate layers. You can also do the same thing to import a grid or anything else you want. I have grids in my map making gallery in my profile, but you can find others if you like.

Edit again
I attached a file with brushes made from the following image as well as some trees I just drew. Most of these mapping images are "borrowed" from the internet someplace. These brushes (the ones in the map brushes.zip file), can be loaded into Pixlr and used. Making brushes in Pixlr is very easy.

 

[Still_Pond]

I refined the above idea a bit more. I am not the best artist, but I figured I can do at least as good a job as the MapMagical (TM) program did. (By the way, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, monsters from left to right in the sprite.png file in my gallery - the ones that look like a 5 year old drew; well my 5 year old did draw them. See, one doesn't need to draw well to convey basic meaning and basic meaning is all that is needed on a combat map.)

The attached zip file contains the following:

• A map template with the following layers: white background, blank layer (for you to paste/draw stuff), grid, grid labels.
  
  
• Brush sets separated by category, (PCs, Monsters, Animals, Outdoors, Dungeon).
  
  
• A .png file of most of the images I made the brushes from.

The idea behind this is that you can use the Pixlr.com Editor to make quick combat maps in a similar way one might use the old MapMagical(TM) mapper. It isn't quite as easy as the mapper, but my aim was to make it pretty easy.

By loading the brushes into Pixlr, one has basic combat map icons like PCs and Monsters and a few things like trees or a rock or something. They are mono-tone color, but that still looks decent. One could also cut and paste from the original sprite .png file if you wanted the full color images. (it is easy to open the sprite .png file using the 'open from url' option and pasting in this link.)

The basic method is similar to what I described above. Open the map template and select the blank layer, ("map or something"). Here is where you start to draw your map. You might draw dungeon rooms, or import a previously drawn/generated map.
Then you can make a new layer for your various sprites. Load the brushes you want to use, and then use them like stamps to place things on the map. I tried to make most of the brushes fit a 50px grid, or larger. (they size down better than they size up). When you are done, you can save it.

Pixlr gives you the option of saving a web safe format like .png or .jpg on their servers and they then provide you a link to the image. You can then use that link in the forums, saving you the trouble of saving to your hard drive, and then uploading it as an attachment here. Those formats won't preserve your layers, so you should also save a .pxd file to your hard disk for use later.

This attached collection only includes stuff I drew or made from scratch. This way there can be no issues with copyright. I offer them here to any who want to use them for any reason and for anything. I hope a few folks find this useful. A copy of the sprite collection is also in my map making gallery here.

EDIT: I went ahead an broke that sprite collection into a .PXD file with every sprite on it's own layer. This way, it would be easy to open that file as well as your map file. Then click and drag the layers from one image to another rather than selecting, then cutting and then pasting. I could see this being especially handy for monsters and PCs and the like. I'll add that .PXD file to the attached files below. I tried to include some duplicate images size smaller so they are ready to just click and drag onto a 50px grid.

Edit again: Well it seems Pixlr doesn't like massive amounts of layers. It acts buggy for me. I can drag the top most layers over no problem, but as I scroll down and choose a lower layer to drag over to my other document, it doesn't work because it is forcing my courser way off the screen so I can't aim it properly to drop the layer where it needs to go. I also can't figure out how to make a selection from a layer, so it may be that the layered sprite file isn't as useful as I had hopped. Ah well.

Yet another Edit: I made a map template using Paint.Net and attached the file. The Pant.net map template file has a grid layer, label and border layers, a sample 30x30 dungeon room layer, a door layer, and then sprite layers that include the primary PC sprites and then blank border boxes for use in cutting and pasting in other sprites. The grid is rather large, so it is good for semi-close combat maps. If you need a 400 foot range for your spell casters, this grid is too large for that. (I also added a 50px map template file minus the sprites)

The reason for all the layers is so that one could have some commonly used already included in the image. One could just delete any layers they don't want.

(In addition to the attatched files here, I have other paint.net map templates in my encounter map tutorial, here. Just to save you the trouble, the link to that map template attachment is here.

I have started a new map making image gallery on my profile here. The idea is that all the images in the gallery are sized for the same size map and grid, (50px grid, 1024x768 map size). I will try to upload both complete images as well their components for use in layers. This way, if you like my grid but not my border, you can just copy the grid and grid labels, and make your own border. I ran out of room for this gallery, however, so it is still a work in progress. Other galleries in my profile have sprites and other mapping images.

[Still_Pond]

I'm a tool. Er...I wanted to offer myself as a tool. Let me explain.

I explained how to use layer effects in Photoshop to make painting dungeon room quick and easy here. I even attached the layer styles. But not everyone has Photoshop.

So I am offering my conversion services. If you provide me with a blank layout, I will "dungeonfy" it, that is gussy it up using these simple layer effects and post it back here for you. (or post it someplace else if you like). Here is how it can work.

Step 1. Attach, post or Private Message me the template image you want converted.
Using a paint program of your choice, draw/paint a silhouette style dungeon layout in a solid color. (see example below) Then attach it here or link to it. (Again, an easy and free on-line paint program that lets you save is Pixlr.com)

Image requirements/suggestions:

• What you are drawing is the floor of your dungeon. I draw the walls around the outside of the shapes.
• Clean background: I need solid background that I can cut away easily. A standard and easy way to draw your dungeon layout is to draw the layout in black on a white background.
• Reasonable size: Try to keep the size within normal web sized things. 1024px by 768px is a good starting point. If you pick this size, you can use any number of my 50px grids and sprites located in the galleries in my profile.
• Edges crisp: Blurred edges give different results that you may not like, keep them crisp for most maps. If you want a blurred edge, it is probably best that your image is a .PNG image with a transparent background.
• Paint what you like: Lines and shapes need not be strait or square. Hand drawn rough lines look good for natural caves and things.
• small walls or columns: By erasing small areas you can control where a wall is drawn. Small holes in your template will become columns. You can make thinner interior walls by erasing lines about as thick as you want the walls, more or less.

What your template really is is the floor of the dungeon. Any blank spaces will have wall in them. Here is an example of where rubble was needed. The template was erased in such a way to make the wall form the rubble.

 

 

Step 2. Choose your dungeon style.

I've assembled several styles to choose from. Just tell me the number of the one you want. I am open to special requests, however open doesn't mean I'll automatically say yes. I'm a bit of a grumpy old man so I might just flat out refuse. The textures you see below can be mixed and matched rather easily. I can also use a texture of your choice if you get one to me.

Dungeon Styles EDIT: I've added the following for modern/sci-fi maps.

Step 3. I'll work my magic!

I'll take your template image and apply the chosen dungeon style and provide you with your converted image. I can post it here or post it in a thread of your choosing. I'll likely post it as an attachment, and I'll eventually delete those, so you should save a copy to your hard drive so you'll have it.

 

[Still_Pond]

I found a great map a while back. I captured the decor elements and saved them as brushes to use in my own maps. The problem was they are not my work, and are probably copy written. So, I've

Here are a few samples.

drawn my own in the same style. Mine are similar, but not exactly the same and in many cases are improved, (imho). So I now can offer them up to you all for free and copious use.

I have three images that have these decor sprites. One is color with a transparent background for use in cutting and pasting, and one is transparent and black for us in capturing brushes, and one is color with a white background. I recommend you capture and save these sprites as brushes for that can help make quick work of decorating a dungeon map.

I'm also attaching these as a set of Photoshop brushes as well as Pxlr brushes for you to use. Hope this saves you a little trouble.

 

using brushes If you select something and then hit Ctrl+K, you will make a brush of what is selected. This makes creating brushes very quick and easy. If you unzip the pxlr decore brushes2.zip file that I've attached, you can open the .PBR (pxlr brush file) using pxlr. Open the pxlr editor. Make a new image or load one. Click on the pencil tool or the brush tool (B). Pencil tool is sharper and these brushes have been designed to be clean and sharp. On the top tool bar, there should be a brush selection drop down menu. Click the little down arrow to drop it down. Click the "load set" button. Select that .PBR file you just unziped and saved. Now select the brush you want to use and you're ready to go!

Here is the black and transparent image for brushes (or something else if you want).

Here is the color version.

And here is the color version without the transparent background.