Trying to gauge interest in new battlemap-making software

[aramis erak]

I
GUI? Yeah, clunky.
Of course, as most active FLOSS projects, it only improves with time, and will continue to do so for quite a while. For now it's just a trade-off for not being too specialized or having risk of "it was not our priority, and now we just wrapped it up, so wait for solution in the next forever".

for boardgames, Vassal is passable.
Nowhere close for RPGs, since adding new maps requires rebuilding the entire module last I checked. (I've dabbled in Vassal module creation.)

 

[LordEntrails]

for boardgames, Vassal is passable.
Nowhere close for RPGs, since adding new maps requires rebuilding the entire module last I checked. (I've dabbled in Vassal module creation.)

For board games (Battletech, DragonPass, Samurai, etc), what's a better recommendation than Vassal?

 

[aramis erak]

For board games (Battletech, DragonPass, Samurai, etc), what's a better recommendation than Vassal?

I've not tried it, but there's another one out there. Don't recall the name, either. But Vassal isn't the only option.

 

[heruca]

A list of virtual tabletop software suitable for playing RPGs can be found here. For playing boardgames, look here.

 

[heruca]

I can now reveal the name of my mapping program: MapForge

And, for now at least, this is the app's icon.

 

[TBeholder]

for boardgames, Vassal is passable.
Nowhere close for RPGs, since adding new maps requires rebuilding the entire module last I checked. (I've dabbled in Vassal module creation.)

Er... that would be really strange for this very reason, wouldn't it?
There are modules (.vmod) and there are extensions (.vmdx)
Maps and map packs can be (and are) made as extensions.
Module library. -> Your module (right click) -> (context menu) "Add Extension..." -> select extension file.

 

[aramis erak]

Er... that would be really strange for this very reason, wouldn't it?
There are modules (.vmod) and there are extensions (.vmdx)
Maps and map packs can be (and are) made as extensions.
Module library. -> Your module (right click) -> (context menu) "Add Extension..." -> select extension file.

Extensions were on the to-do list at the time I last dabbled with it.

 

[heruca]

Getting close now! The MapForge Kickstarter campaign will launch either on Feb 18th or Feb 20th.

 

[MNblockhead]

Getting close now! The MapForge Kickstarter campaign will launch either on Feb 18th or Feb 20th.

Looking forward to seeing it. Best of luck!

 

[Quickleaf]

I'd say that back in it's day, Dundjinni had a fairly sizeable userbase, despite the fact that it wasn't particularly fast, nor super-easy to get up to speed on. DJ is, sadly, no longer viable to use on modern computers, and nothing much has really come since to replace DJ. My app, if it's to be compared to other mapping apps, probably resembles DJ the most (in concept, not in execution).

CC3 (and CC2 before it) has sold a lot of copies, but I suspect a good percentage of the people who bought it were overwhelmed by its complexity and underwhelmed by its output. Perhaps people who got burned will never invest in another mapping app. That's unfortunate, but there's little I can do about that. I plan to offer a downloadable demo for prospective customers to try the app out and see if it fits their needs and meets their expectations. They'll be able to judge for themselves if it's worth the $25 or $30 investment. For a lot of folks, if the app saves them several hours of grief and frustration, it will have been well worth the (minor) investment. Think of all the people who didn't buy CC3 because of the high cost or the complexity. I think that number is far greater than those who did buy it. And perhaps some of them are waiting for the right app to come along.

I suspect a fair number of people buy Paizo battlemaps, and/or geomorphic map tiles sold by numerous content providers. These people want nice visuals in their games, something to match the minis they've invested in and took the time to paint. But Paizo battlemaps are "set in stone". You can't really customize them much, if at all. And geomorphic map tiles look great, but are a major hassle to put a layout together in Gimp or the like. It can take hours, and isn't particularly fun. So if my app can help serve that market by letting GMs create great layouts in mere minutes (and have a blast doing it), I think it could prove quite popular.

LordEntrails, please don't get hung up on the fact that my app can stitch map tiles together. That's just one of the features, not the only thing it does. It can also be used to populate a generic terrain, as you describe. It will have filter-like effects, so you can draw walls using textures, and the walls can cast a shadow, have beveled edges, etc.

Sounds potentially interesting, but I'll need to see more.

I initially started with Campaign Cartographer, which was ok, but just wasn't giving me the results & efficiency I was looking for. Realizing the time it was taking, I switched entirely over to Photoshop (and hand-drawn when face to face) and haven't looked back. These take me about as long as CC3 and produce results much closer to what I aim for.

That said, there are times I wish there was a faster method for making maps.

So far I've been impressed by Dungeon Painter and I'm looking forward to their software release of Dungeon Painter Studio (on Steam). OK, really not looking forward to Steam's DRM (digital rights management), so I'm waiting to see.

Also I'm intrigued by Dungeon Builder, an isometric mapping tool. Their demo was really limited and had flaws, but I think there's a lot of promise there. One of the issues I have with 2-D mapping is that, unless you've got a really brilliant idea, 2-D dungeon maps start to feel slightly the same to experienced GMs/players. Adding that 3rd dimension / verticality really supports visualizing more complex and interesting dungeons. So I'm crossing my fingers that Dungeon Builder ends up being awesome.