http://www.cartographersguild.com/ Discussion on various software applications ranging from Campaign Cartographer and Dundjinni to Photoshop and The Gimp en Fri, 10 Sep 2010 01:27:14 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.cartographersguild.com/images/cartographer/misc/rss.png http://www.cartographersguild.com/ http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11836-How-to-manage-changes-in-maps&goto=newpost Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:45:33 GMT Hi to all, it's my first post here.
I've been around for a while and this is great community.
I'd like to get some advices from you, much more experienced cartographers than me.
I am writing a fantasy book with (of course!) a map, and maybe some more maps for different historical periods.
I started with some scratch maps but soon i realized that (especially when my book is read by other ppl) i need quite polished maps to enjoy reading, correcting, and progressing the story itself, because the map is very important and is a consistent part of the (imaginary) world.
Here comes my problem: how can i manage changes in map?
I am using Inkscape because i do not like non-scaling images.
At the moment i am using different layers for:

• Background (map "paper")
• Coastal line
• Mountains, forests and other environmental elements
• Rivers / lakes
• Big cities
• Little cities
• Cities names
• Geographical names
• "Rendering" layers (fog, grass, snow...)

When i need to do some changes in a city name or in the shape of a lake, or i need to put a new lake, my method is ok.
But if i need a new region, or i decide that a kingdom of the map has no sense anymore and i want to delete it, the change affects heavily all layers.
I thought that i could make a layer for each region, with (sub)layers in them...but this means a *lot* of layers (5-10 regions x 5-10 layers... 25-100 layers!) or should i do a different file for each region and assemble them after printing?
What methods do you use to manage this kind of things?
It seems that the problem is even bigger with non-svg softwares, and this is the second reason for which i am using inkscape. Managing a changing and half-finished map in a traditional software as far as i know is almost impossibile, but maybe i am wrong.

Thank you all!
d3ko ]]> Software Discussion d3ko http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11836-How-to-manage-changes-in-maps http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11829-Dundjinni-User-Forums-Back&goto=newpost Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:48:30 GMT After being down for many weeks, the Dundjinni user forums went active again yesterday (Sept. 7). After being down for many weeks, the Dundjinni user forums went active again yesterday (Sept. 7). ]]> Software Discussion Mark Oliva http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11829-Dundjinni-User-Forums-Back http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11825-To-all-the-Cartographers-who-are-gamers!&goto=newpost Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:52:45 GMT I've been away from the forums for a while :( I was over seas for the summer, now I'm back. I've found a great game, that can also be used for mapping! Now, the game is called Minecraft. It's currently in Alpha development but it has a huge community with over 100 thousand copies sold already.

The game is about two obvious things: Mining and Crafting.
Essentially you mine blocks, and then use those blocks to either build structures or craft items (sword, axe, pickaxe, etc.). In single player there are mobs (or bad guys) that come out at night, ie. Zombies, Skeletons. This can be turned off if you use the Peaceful game setting.

You have five save slots (You can delete saves of course), in single player and every single time each world is generated randomly, so no two single player files will be the same.

Here is an image of a castle built in minecraft (Not mine, image taken from google):


Now, there is a program written by a community member that will render out your world, into a map layout.

Last night I started work on a castle and here are two renders of it from the Cartography program the community member has written.




As you can see, adding more and more detail will make the maps look much better.

I should note, that building large cities in single player will take you a long time, however is there is multiplayer servers! And you can collaborate with anyone to build vast cities!

Currently the game is 50% off while in alpha, but there is no telling when alpha will be over. The game has progressed fairly far already.

Minecraft.net
If you have Minecraft the Cartography program can be downloaded here http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewto...p?f=25&t=13134

If you'd like to know more, post away and I'll answer as best I can.
Also, if this is the wrong forum I apologize. ]]> Software Discussion Castles http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11825-To-all-the-Cartographers-who-are-gamers! http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11756-PyMapper-version-5.0&goto=newpost Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:22:53 GMT Hello all, PyMapper is a map making utility for fantasy role playing games (RPG), particularly the dungeons and dragons RPG. PyMapper is... Hello all,

PyMapper is a map making utility for fantasy role playing games (RPG), particularly the dungeons and dragons RPG. PyMapper is compatible with any operating system that can run Python (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc). A windows executable is also available. The program uses tiles to create the maps. Support for the d20 SRD is included in the program. Pathfinder or other game systems may also be supported, based on user demand.

PyMapper is available at one of two locations:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/pymapper/

or

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/dungeon_tiles/

Suggested improvements are always welcome. Feel free to email pymapper (at) hotmail.com if you would like more information.

Mike

]]> Software Discussion Toxic_Rat http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11756-PyMapper-version-5.0 http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11754-I-need-help-with-my-CC3-catalog&goto=newpost Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:38:44 GMT I accidentally, and not even sure how, set my catalog settings where I can't see the catalog. Is there a way that anyone knows to reset the settings on the catalog, or to move it, resize it etc. I am in the middle of a map and can't place any more features on it.

I appreciate your help in this matter. ]]> Software Discussion darrylwade36 http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11754-I-need-help-with-my-CC3-catalog http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11696-Photoshop-Multiple-files-and-layers&goto=newpost Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:48:18 GMT Hi there!

I need some help with photoshop. I'm currently working on a map, but I have divided my work into several partitions of that map.
How do I transfer/update the work from the sub-maps to the main map?

Let me explain further...

I have one huge file, with an huge world. I want to extract some of the continents or islands separately and work on it in a new file, then update the huge map with the new layers.

I have an example here:


Main Map = The huge map
Part 1, 2 & 3 = Smaller maps

I can open up both files and drag the layers from the smaller map to the huge map. Then nudge the layers to the right place, delete what I don't want, copy effect, turn of effects, merge layers into one layer - paste effect, rename layer... blabla

Or is there an easier way? I don't want to end up with several land layers and several forest layers.

Thanks in advance!

/T ]]> Software Discussion Obbehobbe http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11696-Photoshop-Multiple-files-and-layers http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11689-An-attempt-at-mapping-using-economics.&goto=newpost Sun, 29 Aug 2010 00:49:21 GMT This is probably going to be a big thread for me and I have been putting off starting it but, well, theres been a number of posts in the last few... This is probably going to be a big thread for me and I have been putting off starting it but, well, theres been a number of posts in the last few days so now is as good a time as any.

I have had an idea for a very long time to try to make a map using character economics. I mentioned it in this thread and in there I said it was an old idea. So this has been rattling about in my head for a few years now.

The idea is to make a program that auto generates a map by monitoring a continuous simulation of the everyday life of characters in a fantasy village or town. The basic premise is that we randomize some stats for some characters - and these stats will be nothing like D&D or game stats - and then let them loose. They will do stuff to satisfy their needs and desires one of which is greed so that they attempt to maximize their wealth. So its like running SimCity in full auto mode but in fantasy.

I know of lots of people who have made auto generating mappers and some auto city mappers but these fall into several camps. One is the pure random approach and the other is fractal or L-system. Now I am not saying that any of these systems is a bad one but I personally have no faith that they will encode the complexity of human (or non human) behavior. We don't build random cities. They are grown.

Theres been many people who post up generators for characters and I have even seen one which tracked a persons state, got them married, had some kids and died. So that it generated a full town listing of all characters will spouses, brothers, children, parents and a full obituary. So thats not so different from what I have in mind.

The key thing tho is that I don't know of anyone yet who has tried to plot the map of that village of tracked people.

I mentioned in that thread a while back that its a very ambitious project and a very hard program to code up. For about a month now I have been scribbling making notes and drawing a lot of tables, boxes and arrows and I think I have whittled it down to something that I can code.

I have for a while been hacking it out. I took GeoTerSys and gutted it and reinstalled a new set of commands. Then set about writing up the tables of stats, items, world, and transactions. I have been coding for some days now and not got to run it and produce a single pixels worth of map yet but I can dump the status and get about 10 screen full's of stats and I made the very first transition tree search the other day. So I *think* it might be possible that this is still a goer. But I am not entirely sure I have to say.

The program is another of my closed source things - sorry - but I will be dishing out betas (with maybe some small limitations) to anyone who wants to have a go. I don't really know where this will end up. Maybe it works real well and maybe it falls flat. I may use it to model other non fantasy mapping too cos I am programming it as an engine so we change rules and items and we simulate something else. So I just don't know.

So where am I with it. Whats the dirt ? Well I have scribbled out what I think is the minimum set of stats, needs and so on to get one human into a base map and start working on it. Oh I should also say that you do in fact have to enter a base map. That consists of just a 4 color bitmap showing where the trees, ground, rock, and river are. The idea is that the map it produces will fit into that layout so you can take a bit of your world region and just blat down the basic resources available and then let it grow a city on top of it.

So far a human will wander around and never die of starvation or thirst but would like less of each. He does not die from lack of sleep or exposure but will really want to prevent being subject to them. He will have basic skills in everything a peasant might do and carry basic tools like an axe, a hammer, and also have some grain on him for planting. He starts with no money, no house, no land, no quantifiable possessions of any type.

Then he can move to water and drink, chop down a tree into logs, plant some grain, bash up some rock or rest on the ground. These things I call transactions and will satisfy some thirst, hunger and rest or increases his wealth in the case of the logs which are worth more (to him) than trees or aggregate being worth more than rock in the ground.

The idea is that he must satisfy his needs and then optimize his desires by looking at the supply and demand of all item types from his point of view (which might be different from the next man in which case there is scope to trade).

Once I have him drinking, planting corn and eating, I am hoping that he will build a log cabin, a house or a shack or something. His choice on what and where he builds it might be beneficial to him or a detriment. As he moves about it will track the paths he is laying down and I hope from the choices that people make and the paths they use to get about it will eventually generate a map.

It will also generate a full list of characters with stats like some of the other programs out there, but, it will also have their skills, their bio, history, their current state and even their future desires. And it should all make sense. I.e. We will know that Bob cuts trees and sells them to Jim the blacksmith and we will know for what price and how often. We will know how much tax is required to keep the village operating, who owns and has inherited all the buildings. It will have a kind of newspaper of notable events like major burglaries, scandals, devastation, invasions and so on.

The output map might be quite simple and used as a basis for a more sophisticated renderer such as something that POVray or a 3D app or virtual tour might be able to use. My intention is that it will take the base maps out of GeoTerSys (tho its designed to be a breeze to put these in manually) and then, aside from writing a bitmap of the village, write out a set of files so that ViewingDale can move around and access all the extra info about the people on the map. But neither of those apps will be required for it to be extremely useful.

Yeah its a tough programming exercise and I am not saying that I will be capable of actually making it happen. But I have started on it and ill post about its progress right here ! But I reserve the right to quit on it and not look like a ninny, OK ? ]]> Software Discussion Redrobes http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11689-An-attempt-at-mapping-using-economics. http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11661-What-are-the-differences-between-CC3-and-fractal-terrains-pro&goto=newpost Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:38:13 GMT What are the differences between CC3 and fractal terrains pro? Say, i want to draw a 3D map and project it using any map projection method to 2D... What are the differences between CC3 and fractal terrains pro?

Say, i want to draw a 3D map and project it using any map projection method to 2D map, should i use CC3 or FT pro?

And if i'd like to analyze weather condition, climate, distance etc, which one should i use?

thx. ]]> Software Discussion Thereh http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11661-What-are-the-differences-between-CC3-and-fractal-terrains-pro http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11623-Cosmographer-for-CC3&goto=newpost Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:59:05 GMT Does anyone have any news on when the new version of it will be coming out? I read that some people were able to get ti at Gencon, and since I bought... Does anyone have any news on when the new version of it will be coming out? I read that some people were able to get ti at Gencon, and since I bought Cosmographer earlier this year, I was wondering when it'd be out for the rest of us, and possibly if it'd be a free upgrade for people who've purchased it already. ]]> Software Discussion Zetsumei http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11623-Cosmographer-for-CC3 http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11613-Gimp-Difference-Cloud-Seed-Query&goto=newpost Sun, 22 Aug 2010 08:12:08 GMT A while back, adapting Ascension's technique to Gimp, I made a planet image which I recently tried to recreate - and failed. :(

I can follow my own newbie tutorial (glad I made that!) but I used a random seed for the difference cloud in the original and, of course, I didn't make a note of the seed number!

Is there any way to interrogate my old xcf drawing to find out what seed number was used to create it?

Thanks. ]]> Software Discussion icosahedron http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11613-Gimp-Difference-Cloud-Seed-Query http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11543-Work-in-progress-hexworld-generator&goto=newpost Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:47:18 GMT I've begun working on an icosahedral planetary random hex map generator. So far I have a simple prototype, showing only land and sea areas, but eventually I hope to use Thorfinn Tait's Mystara tiles and have realistic climate zones. The program actually outputs .SVG files, but these have been converted to .PNG for the web; hopefully in the end you'll be able to edit the maps in Inkscape or Illustrator.

Here's the same planet generated at a range of different hex scales:












]]> Software Discussion isomage http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11543-Work-in-progress-hexworld-generator http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11530-Noobie-need-help&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:14:11 GMT Hey everyone Total Noobie when it comes to making map. I been trying a bunch of different mapping software. and feel very lost or unsure what to do... Hey everyone Total Noobie when it comes to making map. I been trying a bunch of different mapping software. and feel very lost or unsure what to do with everyone I open. I would like to make some very detailed maps to be used with d20pro Virtual Table top software. I Bought Dunjinni because it seemed like the easiest to use. but i was having problems with making Roof and walls and dunjinni forums are down and have been for some time. So i can't get any help there.

I am also trying to remake some Old TSR Map to use in the d20 pro. Is there away to input a scan of the map into any of the program and then stamp the Texture and tiles i want over the section i want and place Object ect.. Or would i have to use GIMP to edit the existing image. If i have to use Gimp how do i import Texture to it to stamp. I figure out how to edit the brush to make a stamp. just don't know how to do the rest. =)

Thanks for any help. ]]> Software Discussion cecilpendragon http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11530-Noobie-need-help http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11493-Dragon-Age-Origins-map-style-can-anyone-help-me&goto=newpost Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:59:14 GMT Hello guys, long time no see! I've been occupied with university stuff.

Well, I'd like to know (i've searched eveywhere) how to make those mountains like the one in the map of Dragon Age Origins, for me that style is awesome! Someone can help me? I know a lot about photoshop and have been experimenting some techiniques and not even a close result.

Thank you! ]]> Software Discussion betomuraro http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11493-Dragon-Age-Origins-map-style-can-anyone-help-me http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11489-Daz-Studio-Help&goto=newpost Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:51:52 GMT Can anyone give me some info and advice on Daz Studio? I've just discovered that this thing exists and the blurb tells me it's like poser (which frightened me off with its complexity) but you don't have to create models from scratch, just pose them. Which sounds much closer to my league...

I'm not planning to do any snappy aniations with it, or fancy lighting projects, I just want to use it to make my own simple top-down character tokens for mapping.

The down side is I have a dinosaur of a computer - 2GHz, 512 RAM, Win2K. Now although it has an accelerated graphics card that handles Viewingdale ok, I'm thinking that maybe the latest version of Daz Studio probably won't run on my machine, and will have loads of daunting clutter that I'll never use.

If someone could tell me whether Daz Studio will do what I want it to do, which version would be most suited for my purpose and machine, and could advise me on whether older versions are actually available (I haven't found any yet) I'd be much obliged.

Thanks. :) ]]> Software Discussion icosahedron http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11489-Daz-Studio-Help http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11474-Where-Dundjinni-users-have-gone&goto=newpost Thu, 12 Aug 2010 03:24:56 GMT For more than a week, the Dundjinni forums at http://www.dundjinni.com have been shut down, officially for maintenance. That's the place, of course, where DJ users traditionally have posted all of their free download material. If anyone's missing this resource, you'll find that many of the DJ users now are offering their download material at http://www.rpgmapshare.com ]]> Software Discussion Mark Oliva http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?11474-Where-Dundjinni-users-have-gone