[HELP] Hex Map Titles

[palanolho]

Greetings everyone.

Im new arround here and i have to say that i love this forum. I has show me some good tip to create maps and other stuffs in photoshop. (since im a RPG lover too, its even better)

Currently im developing a board game that will have a BIG map made with independent Hex titles (the hex have a max size of 5x5 cm).
talking about the Map objective, it is a mix between Runebound, Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne

I've already made some of the hex (see attatchment) using some tools ive found arround the forum but i'm not liking it that much, at least some of them, but i dont know what to do either . i was thinking in doing something in the style os the Harabar map (link here) but i was haveing even worst results

The one that its really giving me touble is River Title.
The one on the picture is made with 1 layer for the grass, 1 layer with the 2 brown strokes, and 1 layer with the water.

I really would like to make this look like a river .. but im getting a VERY POOR result.

Also, there is something wrong with the 2 forests. Just dont know what. and the Mountains i tryed to make them "higher" but had no success.

So what am i talking here? simples ... IM BEGGING YOU to help me

Some help on "how to make thouse ex in "Harabar map" style, would be great.
Some help on "how to make my current hex" better would be also great.

I hoppe that someone can help.

Thanks in advance!

Hex Legend:
[field][hills][high mountain][normal mountain]
[deep forest][forest][forest mountain][river]

[jfrazierjr]

Welcome to the Guild Palanolho! I think that at the scale you are using, the river is really the only one that is really needing love. The forests and mountains both are nice and effective.

Now, on to the river. A lot really depends on what software you have available to work with and how much time you have to spend.

If you throw up the base image hex with the grass alone (no river stuff at all, I am sure I or someone else could throw together a few examples over the next day or so. Of course, best if we can help teach you though so you can make modifications later (such as rivers with different shapes/blends, etc.)

One large help if you really want to redesign the mountains would be to check out the tutorial by Andy Law (Hapimeses) Simple Mountains [video, Photoshop/GIMP/Painter/etc.]

However, with that said, if you go with that style, you should really think about switching all the tiles to ISO style also. If you want to stay with the top down approach, I don't think you have much choice as if you bring up the scale to make them look taller, you also make the wider and they crowd out of the space alloted. of course, if the mountains are that small, then the rivers at the scale you posted would be freaking hughnormous, so you have to watch for that also...

Enough rattling off... perhaps something I said helped point you in the right direction... or gives you some ideas for further clarifying questions.

Joe

[Ascension]

What I might think about on the rivers is to use whatever terrain hex you want and then when the map is done just paint a thin blue line. I looked at some of my old DnD maps from 1983 and the rivers were just lines on blank hexes. This way you wouldn't have to have variations just to account for bends, forks, deltas, etc...no use having 8 different river hexes when you can just draw a squiggly line over terrain. Here's a scan from a module called "Master of the Desert Nomads".

[Sigurd]

I think your pieces are very nice. I'd resist spending too much time fiddling with them until you had tremendously concrete examples of printing, scale etc...

Are you pre-printing the hexes and then assembling the game map like Catan? I think a tile that works at 3cm diameter may not work at 7 or 10... Until you have some printed you wont be sure of connection issues eg. can rivers only run in straight lines? Do they Fork? etc...

Rivers are always going to be difficult - so much so that I'd investigate having a removable "plug" in the center of each hex piece. It could be round and hold indicators like rivers, drought, plague etc... If you make it round they will be easier to stamp and make fit.

My .02


Sigurd

[torstan]

One quick change to make to your river is to change the ripples. You have them going across the river whereas they should be going along it.

[palanolho]

First of all, thanks for the replys.

jfrazierjr: i already know the Hapimeses mountain tutorial and i.. they are just great. one problem thet i got truing it was ... i dont have a pen so its dificult to make the mountain right (but i think a pen in somewhere on the way to my deck so ... )

Ascension: the map you have is kinda like what im trying to do, but i was trying to give some more detail the hex. He problem about the "when map is done just paint a thin blue line", is that my map will never be assembled all together at unce. (its to simulate the fog of war from computer games, so, every time a players walk on one direction, a new hex is placed on the board).

Sigurd: ive tested my hex and they plug just fine. They have a 2.5 cm side and a max diameter of 5 cm. The idea to plugthe river is to always connect it at the center of the side they are going of. That way all wiver will connect.

The rivers will go in some direction of course so if i create some "generic" river sides, i can easily rotate the hex to optain the type of river i want (so no need to 646546 diferente river hexs).

The idea is al to make a generic think. Theres no much need to make things at an specific scale (but yes .. the river ive make its too big :S )

Thanks for the tips. If anyone have more, i'd be thankful.

Regards.

[Redrobes]

Check this thread about hex tiles. Might be useful.

http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=1581

[RPMiller]

Currently im developing a board game that will have a BIG map made with independent Hex titles (the hex have a max size of 5x5 cm).

The one that its really giving me touble is River Title.

Also, there is something wrong with the 2 forests. Just dont know what. and the Mountains i tryed to make them "higher" but had no success.

Let me see if this helps you any...

The problem with the river is scale. Since this will be a tile based game, I'm guessing you will want to have river pieces that go from different hex sides and possibly even fork. Try this:

Use your existing field tile and paint a tan/brown wide path over it from one hex side to the other, and drop the opacity to about 75%. Then paint your river over that path after reducing the line width by several pixels and then drop the opacity on it by about 75%. See if that gives you more of what you are looking for. Here is an example of what I'm talking about.

As for the mountains, think ridges and do them similar to the rivers in that the ridges can go from edge to edge.