Trying to gauge interest in new battlemap-making software

heruca · Feb 22, 2017

Well, turns out that there WAS interest after all! I launched the Kickstarter campaign and it went all gangbusters on me. Funded on the first day, and things got so crazy I didn't even have time to post here about the launch. Sorry about that. Stretch Goals should be posted soon. Here's the link.

And here's a quick video.
[video=youtube;HJJrL51ZdaM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJJrL51ZdaM&t=9s[/video]

heruca · Feb 22, 2017

Sorry, double posted by mistake.

pogre · Feb 22, 2017

Looks great! If I used battle mats I would be all over this. Good luck!

Jhaelen · Feb 23, 2017

Grats! I hope everything goes well for you!

heruca · Feb 23, 2017

Thanks!

It should also be useful for campaign maps and area maps, if tactical battlemaps aren't your thing.

LordEntrails · Feb 23, 2017

Congrats! I'm glad it has gone well for you.

heruca · Feb 25, 2017

I just posted Update #4: "Using your own artwork in MapForge, and the benefits of the Add-On format".

L R Ballard · Mar 2, 2017

heruca said:
I just posted Update #4: "Using your own artwork in MapForge, and the benefits of the Add-On format".

First, let me congratulate you on the success of MapForge! I’ve followed your work since the early days of Battlegrounds and am considering backing MapForge.

I know you’re busy with the Kickstarter, but, when you get a free moment, please answer a two-part question for people who are in the situation described below.

Let’s say that a creator is working on a product for commercial use. Furthermore, let’s say that the creator uses Photoshop to create maps. It looks like your product will be easier to use than Photoshop and compatible with a lot of art. The maps therefore will be more detailed than a Photoshop map created by an unskilled or semiskilled user. But it seems both expensive and redundant for creators to produce a high-quality map in MapForge only to use it as a rough draft to make a less-detailed map in Photoshop.

Is it possible for creators to use MapForge to make commercial products with the current available art? If not, is there a benefit to using MapForge rather than Photoshop if one is a commercial content creator only?

Hussar · Mar 2, 2017

This looks very cool. Thanks for the link.

heruca · Mar 4, 2017

L R Ballard said:
First, let me congratulate you on the success of MapForge! I’ve followed your work since the early days of Battlegrounds and am considering backing MapForge.

I know you’re busy with the Kickstarter, but, when you get a free moment, please answer a two-part question for people who are in the situation described below.

Let’s say that a creator is working on a product for commercial use. Furthermore, let’s say that the creator uses Photoshop to create maps. It looks like your product will be easier to use than Photoshop and compatible with a lot of art. The maps therefore will be more detailed than a Photoshop map created by an unskilled or semiskilled user. But it seems both expensive and redundant for creators to produce a high-quality map in MapForge only to use it as a rough draft to make a less-detailed map in Photoshop.

Is it possible for creators to use MapForge to make commercial products with the current available art? If not, is there a benefit to using MapForge rather than Photoshop if one is a commercial content creator only?

Check out the FAQ section on the Kickstarter page. One of the questions is all about using MapForge for publishing. Some content producers will be releasing MapForge Add-Ons that allow for commercial use of their artwork. Not all of the commercial Add-Ons have been announced yet; there may be one or two more announced before the campaign ends, and there will likely be more in around5-6 months.

If I was middling level in Photoshop, I'd probably stick with it, watch some more tutorials, and try to master it fully, rather than use MapForge. Those [Photoshop] skills are going to be much more applicable/valuable in daily life, ESPECIALLY if you're a publisher.