What's Better than Auto Realm?

[yu gnomi]

Actually I have been to Cartographers Guild sight repeatedly since installing Xara. I am a member, although I have not posted anything. I mainly followed links to download texture images for fills.

Once I get a little bit of a better handle on how Xara works, I am going to start following Gamer Poster's tutorials. I hope that he does one on Dungeon making.

I am still holding off on installing Gimp until I get Xara down pat. But I am sure that I will be interested in learning how to use it. I will look for your maps next time I visit Cartographer's Guild.

 

[castlewalls]

Coreldraw is pretty good at making maps too but you've got to draw everything yourself unless you have access to 'objects' you can import such as beds, trees, etc. If you've got a digital camera, you can take pics of real trees, rocks, etc. and modify them. There's all sorts of possibilities...
-Jim
http://home.comcast.net/~castle.walls/gameweb/

 

[gamerprinter]

Try this quick tutorial

Yu Gnomi,

I'm working on the dungeon map tutorial today and I'll be using your Autorealm design for one part so you could replicate this design and Xara, plus I focus on basic map objects and specific objects like stairs, pits, etc.

The great thing with this kind of program is that you can use the many PNG map objects that exist on the Dundjinni forums, the CSUAC - which means there are thousands of pre-created map objects that you can incorporate into your map designs.

I see you said "Once you get a handle on how Xara work..." I think the best way to learn the tools is to dabble with the tutorials right away. They show you where the tools are and what you can do with them. It should give you ideas on how to use those techniques for a completely different situation.

Here's a quick, step-by-step tutorial on creating mountains and forests. I wrote for a GIS Analyst (pro real-world mappers) forum - I show every tool and submenu used so beginners can get a grasp right away. Try this one, as you'll learn to: bevel, feather, use transparency, apply texture fills, all of which you'll be doing in the dungeon tutorial as well.

http://www.gamer-printshop.com/resource/xtreme-tutorial.pdf

This is a 10 page tutorial, approx: 1.9 MB size with hypertext links.

GP

PS: I should have the dungeon tutorial posted this evening or tomorrow morning.

 

[yu gnomi]

Again thank you to everyone posting for helpful ideas. I am committed to learning ins and outs of using Xara, and already have a fully functional version of it installed.

My main issue with learning to use it, had nothing at all to do with the program being difficult to work with (learning the basics isn't difficult). It had something to do with plain sloth on my part. But it mostly had to do with resolving my recently solved Windows XP problem.

To wit, after installing several graphics programs while stuck operating in Safe Mode, I found that the only likely solution to fixing my operating system was to System Restore to a point long before I had downloaded any of these programs. After System Restore fixed my OS, I had to re-install several programs (including Xara), and fix a few other issues as well. I also re-downloaded all movie tutorials, fills, clipart, etc for Xara.

I am now happily messing around with Xara, which seems to be a 1000% more capable than any graphics software I have previously used. I will almost certainly install Gimp, but want to concentrate on mastering one piece of software at a time. If Xara can work with Dundjinni icons, then I will probably do without Dundjinni. The Dundjinni demo didn't survive my System Restore, and I haven't re-downloaded it yet.

I have downloaded every tutorial Gamer Printer has posted. I look forward to the Dungeon Making one. The only big issue I have with Xara is wrt Dungeon Making, specifically I don't know an expedient way to put doors, treasure chests, book cases, etc. into maps. I am hoping the tutorial helps me with this.

 

[gamerprinter]

Dungeon Tutorial with Xara

Here's the Dungeon Tutorial using Xara Xtreme 4.0 that I promised.

Its a 3.72 MB, 9 page PDF file that focuses on creating implied 3D effects using bevels, shadows and photo elements to create a realistic dungeon fast and easy.

Also a couple pages are dedicated to creating quick map objects like: doors, stairs, trestle tables and benches, crates, barrels and a pile of hay, to combine with your PNG map objects and whip out a cool dungeon.

http://www.gamer-printshop.com/resource/dungeon-xara.pdf

GP

 

[gamerprinter]

Mini Xara Tutorial

Here's a mini 5 page tutorial using Xara Xtreme 4.0's Combine Shapes functions. Many special effects especially useful for mapping and creating map objects rely on the Combine Shapes feature.

You can even get secondary uses on all your existing top-down mini objects using the Combine Shapes > Slice operation.

http://www.gamer-printshop.com/resource/combine-tutorial.pdf

GP

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

A bunch of cartography tutorials for GIMP and Inkscape can be found here.

 

[fademaster]

RPGplaneMapMaker

MAPS | RPGplane

these 3 maps were made in 5 minutes with RPGplaneMapMaker.