AutoREALM - any tips?

[meomwt]

Hi,

I'm just starting to use AutoRealm, and it is slow going. Anyone who is familiar with it have any tips to improve my learing experience?

I know there is a Yahoo! group (which I used to sort out a problem last evening), but I'm after practical hints from real users where possible.

Thanks in advance to everyone for their time.

 

[Pyrandon]

Hi, meomwt,

I used AutoRealm for over a year, and my advice is to just start small & make tons of maps. Perhaps start with regional/area maps, then work your way up to islands, then continents. I know that's not much solid technique advice, really, but aside from learning on the job I'm not sure there are many quick & dirty tricks that can jump-start your enjoyment of the program.

And, IMHO, if you are going to be learning new software for maps I wonder if AutoRealm is the best way to go. Either the GIMP (for raster) and/or Inkscape (for vector) (or both) may be time better spent. Why? Well, while you don't have the pre-packaged symbols (trees, map markers, etc.), you will be able to--in the long run--create much more versatile, attractive cartography. Plus there are great tutorials available for those programs, including here on EN World. Autorealm is a nice program, very useful, and I enjoyed it myself, but it's also limited if you plan to produce polished maps.

I hope that advice helps. Good luck!

 

[Emirikol]

Agreed. Start small. I've used it 'primitively' for years for maps. It's so easy even a caveman could do it."

Thanks for bringing up this topic, I've got to resurrect some Hyborian War maps for my upcoming Norse Hyborian campaign. Autorealm should be great for updating the existing stuff.

jh
PS: For those who haven't already downloaded the free autorealm: http://www.gryc.ws/autorealm.htm

Hyborian War (CONAN) maps: http://grimfinger.net/HWMaps.html

 

[Ebonyr]

I use AUTOREALM all the time. Here is a great tutorial to help you get started.

 

[Steffworthington]

I've got a tip. Don't bother. Just draw it. Either with pencil or pens or like I do with Illustrator. (see below)
TWILIGHT

 

[meomwt]

I've got a tip. Don't bother. Just draw it. Either with pencil or pens or like I do with Illustrator. (see below)
TWILIGHT

If I could map like that, I wouldn't be using a tool like AutoREALM.

Sheesh!