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Thread: 4’ x 6’ map for miniature gaming mat

  1. #1

    Post [taken] 4’ x 6’ map for miniature gaming mat

    About
    We are a small studio manufacturing miniature wargames terrain and scenery and are aiming to launch new product – wargames terrain mats. They are going to be 4’ x 6’ (122 x 183 cm) tabletop covers with printed picture of map or landscape on them. The landscape should serve as a ground level for all the actual terrain pieces that will be used for a game. Currently I will need one map only. Possibility for more after the first print, possibility for none if decision is not to develop this product. The theme of a map should be swamp / jungle / forest / field – you choose.

    Details
    Mats are going to be used in 28-32mm miniature games, thus meaning, that an average human sized miniature is roughly 1 inch wide. Maps must use neutral graphical elements that would not normally obstruct movement or visibility. This means no buildings, cliffs, huge stones, etc. Acceptable elements are small stones, bushes, small puddles or springs, corpses, dry rivers, some ruins, tracks, wreckage and so on. In other words, terrain should be ‘flat’ and should not suggest players that some drawn object might or might not be an in-game obstacle – it should not be. Usual terrain pieces that are used for gaming table are trees, hills, buildings, boulders, etc., so try to avoid these in the drawing. Putting small house on a big house might look awkward. A good example how a mat looks like in action is: http://www.harmonyinhuatulco.com/adm...s/IMG_3105.jpg and http://www.harmonyinhuatulco.com/adm...s/IMG_3112.jpg . A good example of what I am looking for is: http://www.cartographersguild.com/at...5&d=1262432780 , http://www.cartographersguild.com/at...3&d=1238081877 (level of detail only, it looks too impassable in most places), http://www.cartographersguild.com/at...3&d=1276263532 (also needs to be more ‘flatter’).

    Technical
    I will require 122 x 183 cm TIFF, 300 DPI. In case my printing company changes, I might need PDF. Time is not an issue. I will have the right to use the image for commercial purposes, the artist will have the right to exhibit the image as part of his portfolio but not to exploit it for commercial gain. Of course artists name and/or initials on the map and noted in product description. NDA if required by artist.

    Payment
    You provide a link to your portfolio and / or you make a small image / sketch / low detail map of what you are going to draw for free so we both know what to expect. We agree upon a price. If need arises, I can pay part of the sum in advance. PayPal transfer.

    Contacts
    Email info@cutdeepstudio.com . Replace ‘cutdeep’ part with ‘deepcut’.
    Last edited by cullorblind; 04-13-2012 at 04:02 PM.

  2. #2
    Professional Artist Guild Donor Sapiento's Avatar
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    Whoever this takes will need a strong PC.

  3. #3
    Community Leader Lukc's Avatar
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    They could probably do it at 150 dpi, with a bit o' dithering ... that'd reduce the size. But still, agreed. Big files.

  4. #4
    Community Leader jfrazierjr's Avatar
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    Well... If you went with a more painterly style, it would not be "quite" as hard to match up and you could use something like Posterazor to assemble. So, perhaps 2x2 3 long and 2 wide images. Even then, the images would be 7200x7200 px. Another alternative would be a hybrid application such as Xara which might be able to deal with the size since it's really only "set" at export time. The issue with that would be making sure your source textures were of the appropriate scale when you can't directly "see" them.
    My Finished Maps
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    Explanation of Layer Masks in GIMP
    How to create ISO Mountains in GIMP/PS using the Smudge tool
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    Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

  5. #5
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected Schwarzkreuz's Avatar
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    I just uploaded another map with 200mb in 20x10 MB packs.... this one? I guess 300 Mb at least....

  6. #6
    Administrator Redrobes's Avatar
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    From a resolution perspective I could do this no problem. I did some textured geomorph tiles at 300 dpi which you could look at putting together and then printing yourself. I did six types of style with about 12 patterns of tile per type.

    http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...textured-paths

    (the tl;dr; => http://www.cartographersguild.com/at...7&d=1218063914 )


    I don't think I am hosting the tiles any more cos they were about 1Gb of tiles but I still have them if you think they would be useful to use or you want to pick a style and I can make up some patterns with that texture style as the commission.

    A TIFF of 20K square is no problem for me. Getting you the TIFF might be but I can upload some big stuff temporarily if required. I can ship you some DVDs to central Europe no problem.
    Post here or PM me if you want to go down that route.

    Your models look great. I do some CNC machining and we started making a blood bowl board:
    http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...loodbowl-board
    but I didn't finish it. After machining a load of dimples on one side of the MDF board it warped badly in that direction. Probably need to use plywood.
    Last edited by Redrobes; 03-28-2012 at 08:26 PM.

  7. #7

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    Hi,

    Looks like I'm too young to send you PM, so I'll just post here. The tiles are nice, lower left and/or lower right might even make it to the print. My concern is that if these tiles would be used, half of them represent road / dry river, which will not be a biggest part of my map. That means rest of the map will be made of one main tile. Any thoughts how to make a map less repetitive? If you do have some, please email me and we can discuss the topic further.

    As for BB board - best practice is to use two 3mm boards - same as movement trays or display stands. One layer serves as a base, second has holes for miniature bases. Just glue these two together and you have it.

  8. #8
    Administrator Redrobes's Avatar
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    Ok, no worries, I have emailed you. If you don't get something very shortly then post here again.

    Summary, just for everyone's interest, I can do any shape and texture the image using the styles. So it does not have to use a set of repeating tiles. I can do one giant image and texture it so that its a set of roads, bushes and gravel in one seamless expanse covering the mat.

    Oh and the BB board. Yes I agree 100%. Esp if I didn't glue the two together, then it could expand and contract without affecting the other panel. Just flock both and lay on top each other to play.

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