Mystara: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos

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Originally Posted by Thorf

I actually did the same in November, but at the same time I also got Vista, and although there is some difference, I think Vista killed most of it. But my new computer will have 4 GB of memory (even if it can only use 3 and a bit due to 32 bit Windows) as well as a fast Core 2 Duo processor, so I'm hoping that it'll allow me to do much more.

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I'm running CS3 with 2GB ram and 256mb Radeon Video Card.... Illustrator runs great.... and I've had some fairly large files I've worked with ...

But .... it could always run faster :D

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Originally Posted by Thorf

Actually I did check out your site last night, and it is definitely of interest to me. The only thing I'm not sure of is just how compatible it is with my maps. If it is PDF-compatible in some way, it might just be exactly what I'm looking for - which is to say not a replacement for Illustrator but rather something that works with it or with the maps I've created in it.

I'm going to be posting more maps soon, including PDFs, and I would love to see a demonstration. If it works well, I'll almost certainly get your program. :)

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Its not PDF compatible. The problem with PDF's is that only Adobe and Ghost Script are available to decode them into a raster format so there is no freely available method of getting at the data in a PDF without paying a very large sum of money for the privilege. What I was thinking was whether it would be possible to hold the original maps in illustrator - possibly with smaller number of hexes to keep the file size down. You could export them as high res bitmaps like PNG's and ViewingDale can collect all of the high res bitmaps up and stitch the whole world together as a seamless expanse. It handles lots of high res images better than most other programs. You can then export a bitmap of any section of the world (covering several smaller illustrator regions) as a very high res image - certainly 600dpi or much more. If your going to send to printers then maybe you need it all in vector format but I have gone to commercial printers with high res bitmaps. The usual reason why they don't like bitmaps is because they are not high enough res. If thats the only reason then it wouldn't apply here. But I would understand if you needed to keep the finals in vector format for some other reason.

You're timing couldn't be better ! I've recently rekindled my interest in hex style mapping. After some comparison, I see what you mean about slight inconsistancies in the various older products. Still, it seems you have so far done a competent job of mediating - surely, no easy task. When it all comes together as a completed map, I may have some helpful feedback for you on those pesky boarder-zones and scale comparisons between regions derived from playing on these actual maps over the years. Some of my old players derived some pretty crafty solutions towards making the many small maps into one large workable one. Unfortunately, all I have are hard copies right now, but I'm hoping my admittance into the "guild" will eventually fix that. For now, keep up the good work.