Cartography: How do they do it?

Fast Learner

First Post
And I use Macromedia FreeHand to draw all of the base stuff first (walls, doors, overall outline, etc.) and then pull it into Photoshop, with the various layers as Photoshop layers. It works pretty well and is allowing me to, for example, record Photoshop actions that modify each layer appropriately, allowing me to do many maps that have a similar or identical graphic treatment.
 

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Marius Delphus

Adventurer
Just now beginning to do the same thing, except starting with Illustrator. So far, I've found that Photoshop 6+ Layer Styles can create some very interesting "live" effects to start with, forestalling any "irreversible" filtering....
 


Marius Delphus

Adventurer
Quick and Dirty Illustrator Dungeons

Well, I'm just now starting and I have a couple dungeons under my belt, but I'll be happy to explain briefly what I've managed so far. I'm using Illustrator 9.0, but I think these instructions are more or less valid in earlier versions (possibly as old as 6.0, but no guarantees).

0) Rule 0 is Learn the Basics. The Illustrator Help file can be a great resource in this regard. In particular, you need to know how to use the Shape and Selection tools, what Bezier curves are and how to create and edit them, and how to use Pathfinders and Layers. It might sound like a lot, but once you've practiced a little bit and seen how these things operate, a Q&D dungeon map should be no sweat.

Here's a Web tutorial, though I can't vouch for how easy it is to learn from:
http://thetechnozone.com/bbyc/Illustrator.htm

You might also follow some of these links to see how much information you need:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/illustratortuts/

The other Rule 0 is "Save Early, Save Often." As with any computerized project, you may even want to save multiple versions so you don't do anything irrevocable.

1) Set the Grid. (Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid) I like to have major gridlines (Gridline Every) set to my dungeon grid (.5 or .25 inches on paper). Right now I'm tracing the giant WOTC Map-a-Week with a .1 inch grid on tabloid paper (for practice), but it's a biiig map. For minor gridlines (Subdivisions) I usually choose 8; that seems like fine enough detail for major dungeon features. Illustrator saves your Grid settings with each file, so you can go back and forth. Reveal the grid. (View > Show Grid) Turn on Snap to Grid before you draw anything. (View > Snap to Grid) Later on, you can always turn off Snap to Grid if you want to do something that has to come off the grid. I also like to see the rulers, but that's just my preference. (View > Show Rulers)

2) Start with a square. Copy and paste the square (and multiples thereof) until you have your floor mapped out. This method has the advantage of providing the dungeon grid for me as I add rooms. You might as well name this layer "Floor" because you'll be adding more layers soon. I suggest making this square something other than white with a black outline; 20% grey fill with a 50% grey .5 point stroke has been working for me. It really pays to be fastidious about the floor grid. You might consider temporarily switching to fewer than 8 grid subdivisions while you're laying floor tiles, so you get maximum precision.

3) Configure irregular rooms. To get circular, hexagonal, or other strangely-shaped rooms, the first thing I do is to cover the needed area with square tiles. Then I draw the room's final shape with the Pen tool, a Shape tool, or multiple shapes amalgamated with the Unite Pathfinder. Lay the final shape over the tiles (making sure you have complete tile coverage), select the room shape and all the tiles that the outline overlaps (you don't need the room's interior), and hit the Divide Pathfinder. Ungroup that mess and delete all the extraneous elements (sometimes Illustrator adds in short line segments over the edges of the tiles; it can't be helped, but at least you end up with the proper room shape). The point of this is to preserve your grid.

4) Draw walls. You ought to do this on a new layer; call it "Walls" for now. Outline your floor for that "professional" look; I use a variety of Pen strokes and shapes (using Pathfinder for maximum speed) at 75% grey with 1 point stroke.

5) Draw features. Look to old 1st Edition products for an icon library you can duplicate, or make up your own icons for dungeon features. Either way, you must remember to get doors, statues, pools of water, and whatever else you need. Use as many layers here as you think makes sense; one for doors, one for stairs, and one for everything else... whatever. Consider making yourself an icon library and saving it off in another file for later reuse.

6) If using Photoshop to dress the thing up afterward, save a version in Photoshop 5 format, preserving layers. (File > Export...) If you've planned your layers well, then you can have the kind of fun Fast Learner is having. :)

Voila! With a little practice you'll be whipping out dungeons in no time. Now, about those wilderness maps.... :)
 
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wighair

Explorer
A agree - a photoshop tutorial would be great.

In the mean time here's a short one for creating grass I found at http://www.clanmacgaming.com/articles.php?read=51


Grass: This is one of the staples of map making, and is fairly easy. To make a grassy area, select the region you wish to work on (ideally for the sake of this tutorial this region should simply be all there is in its layer). Next pick a primary and secondary color. The grass you make will be randomized as clouds between these two colors, so it is important to bear in mind what the end result you want when you pick two colors. To make fresh grass, for example, pick a dark green and a light green. To make dead or dying grass try an olive color and a light brown. When you have selected your colors, go to the Filter menu and in the Render submenu choose Clouds.
........
You now have a fractalized cloud distribution of the colors you wanted. But you will notice that it is too smooth and regular, so we will now add noise. Find the Add Noise filter in the Noise menu and add a small amount (10-25ish) of noise. I prefer monochromatic for this step, but you may want colored noise instead. This filter leaves the map looking a bit bumpy, so to smooth it we use a Gaussian Blur, in the Blur submenu of the Filter menu. Set the blur to about 1.3 to get a nice effect, which looks a lot like some of the terrain used by Bungie. You can make nice rock this way, too, just use a gray and a gray-brown color.

I haven't tried it yet (i'm at work!)

here's another...

http://fontcraft.com/mapmaker/mmtutorial.html

Part of this uses a product they're selling, but the bevelling info seems useful.
 
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