First Map in GIMP

[RPMiller]

Hm... There is only one person I know of with the nick of nolgroth and a real name of James... Although I'm sure he would have used hexes instead of squares.

Welcome to the Guild James! Thanks for sharing the map and I look forward to seeing how your maps progress.

[nolgroth]

Hm... There is only one person I know of with the nick of nolgroth and a real name of James... Although I'm sure he would have used hexes instead of squares.

Hey RP!

Yeah, would have used hexes if I had taken the time to find some sort of hex making tool. As it was, I was just following the tutorial and adapting. As you can see in the posted update, I have gotten rid of the "grid" altogether. Wasn't doing it for me. I like the Solid Noise Overlay that added a "mottled" look. Even had a side effect of making the water look even better.

Welcome to the Guild James! Thanks for sharing the map and I look forward to seeing how your maps progress.

Honestly, this map turned out way better than I expected. The doors were a PitA and I am still not 100% into liking them. Better than the first attempt though.

For the moment, I am going to continue using this particular technique to finish up a series of "portions" to a larger dungeon. Been playing around at running a short diversion from the Gemini game. Felt really like going "old school" with dungeons and all that.

And then I am going to attack that Regional map project.

For this version, I remade the doors and moved the Doors layer up above the Drop Shadow. I turned down the Drop Shadow layer opacity to 70% from 80%. I messed with the water technique described by torstan and I am not sure if I like it better or not. Any lower opacity and it looks like a discolored blob.

Next step is to post a key and write-up for this section.

[torstan]

The doors are looking better. I'd reduce the saturation on them a bit as they really stick out at the moment. If you are feeling particularly enthusiastic then they would also benefit from their own drop shadow - probably best done as an all round outer glow rather than placed off to one side if they are to be manipulated independently in a VTT.

You said you were willing to post a xcf? If so, I would quite like to have a fiddle with the water if you were willing. I will obviously entirely understand if you would prefer me to keep my nose out If you do, note that you can't post xcfs directly - they need to be zipped and posted instead.

[nolgroth]

The doors are looking better. I'd reduce the saturation on them a bit as they really stick out at the moment. If you are feeling particularly enthusiastic then they would also benefit from their own drop shadow - probably best done as an all round outer glow rather than placed off to one side if they are to be manipulated independently in a VTT.

I'll give that a try.

You said you were willing to post a xcf?

I did and here it is. Enjoy.

[RPMiller]

Hey RP!

Haha! It is you. And the interwebs get that much smaller.

Yeah, would have used hexes if I had taken the time to find some sort of hex making tool. As it was, I was just following the tutorial and adapting. As you can see in the posted update, I have gotten rid of the "grid" altogether. Wasn't doing it for me. I like the Solid Noise Overlay that added a "mottled" look. Even had a side effect of making the water look even better.

Honestly, this map turned out way better than I expected. The doors were a PitA and I am still not 100% into liking them. Better than the first attempt though.

For the moment, I am going to continue using this particular technique to finish up a series of "portions" to a larger dungeon. Been playing around at running a short diversion from the Gemini game. Felt really like going "old school" with dungeons and all that.

And then I am going to attack that Regional map project.

For this version, I remade the doors and moved the Doors layer up above the Drop Shadow. I turned down the Drop Shadow layer opacity to 70% from 80%. I messed with the water technique described by torstan and I am not sure if I like it better or not. Any lower opacity and it looks like a discolored blob.

Next step is to post a key and write-up for this section.

Excellent all around. Glad to have another Herophile filling up the ranks, and I look forward to seeing more of your mapping. Now if I could just find the time to map... I guess I have about another 2 - 3 years until my time is freed up.

[nolgroth]

Haha! It is you. And the interwebs get that much smaller.

Well being that I followed a link in your HERO Boards sig to this wonderful resource, it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

Excellent all around. Glad to have another Herophile filling up the ranks, and I look forward to seeing more of your mapping. Now if I could just find the time to map... I guess I have about another 2 - 3 years until my time is freed up.

Well I understand about time. My one day off is filled with gaming these days. I still run the crew in Gemini Ascendant and I started up a game to teach my children the glory that is HERO. I just decided that I wanted to actually make maps instead of just steal those here.

And when I actually write the module up, can you guess which game system I plan on using?

[Turgenev]

Nice work, nolgroth. I can't wait to see what else you come up with. I like the water effect.

[nolgroth]

Nice work, nolgroth. I can't wait to see what else you come up with. I like the water effect.

Thanks. I used the Render -> Lava tool and changed the Gradient to an all blue one. I tweaked the settings a bit until I got what I liked.

[RPMiller]

Well being that I followed a link in your HERO Boards sig to this wonderful resource, it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

I'm beginning to wonder just how many people I have brought over here... I have a number for referrals on my profile, but I think you have to say who referred you during registration or something.

Well I understand about time. My one day off is filled with gaming these days. I still run the crew in Gemini Ascendant and I started up a game to teach my children the glory that is HERO. I just decided that I wanted to actually make maps instead of just steal those here.

Very cool. You will have a lot of fun with that if your kids are like mine. They enjoyed dreaming up a superhero and the powers and I did all the crunchy bits. We've played a few sessions and they enjoyed it every time. I throw in the moral dilemmas and such as well to hopefully teach them a few things about the "grown up world". Since your kids are home schooled I'm sure they get plenty of that already.

And when I actually write the module up, can you guess which game system I plan on using?

Um... GURPS?


I kid, I kid. Hero of course.

[nolgroth]

Very cool. You will have a lot of fun with that if your kids are like mine. They enjoyed dreaming up a superhero and the powers and I did all the crunchy bits. We've played a few sessions and they enjoyed it every time. I throw in the moral dilemmas and such as well to hopefully teach them a few things about the "grown up world". Since your kids are home schooled I'm sure they get plenty of that already.

Well, we've played a total of three sessions before they went off to see grandma for a couple of weeks. In the last one, my daughter's character was eaten by an animated dragon skeleton. Like a true champ, she picked up the HERO book and started in on character #2.

Um... GURPS?

Well I have nothing against GURPS, but I have nothing for it either. I have to admit that there is a certain appeal to going D&D 4th, but HERO has always suffered from a lack of support. I suppose there is nothing stopping me from going either way for that matter, but HERO is my primary system.