Looking for MapTool texture downloads

[Trit One-Ear]

Finally getting around to making my own maps instead of filtching from those online. Does anyone know of anywhere to get texture/map packs for use in MapTool (or any other virtual tabletop for that matter)? I looked at the rptools gallery page and can only seem to find the same 8-10 maps/images. Anyone else find something better?

Okay, edit here: Or does anyone have a better map building tool to recommend? I've played with Maptool (which is great for loading pre-made maps and running games) and Dungeonforge which just left me feeling a bit cold. Any one else have favorites?

Trit

 

[Saagael]

Fellow Maptools DM here. I use two resources for most of my maptools assets: Dundjinni and The Cartographer's Guild

Dundjinni is a good place for battle maps and textures, images, and objects to make your own maps, while Cartographer's Guild is great for high-res maps.

I would also suggest downloading Torstan's map-making dungeon tiles. He's a member of the RPtools forums and Cartographer's Guild, and I've gotten more use out of his dungeon tiles than any other. Here's his website where you've got the tiles, as well as pre-made maps.

Some software ideas: Gimp and Photoshop are the standard I've seen. They're powerful and can do pretty much anything. Dundjinni is a program that also works (haven't tried it though). The best, from what I hear, is the Campaign Cartographer, but its pricey.

A last note: Having built several dozen maps for Maptools, I would suggest building them in maptools itself, rather than in Photoshop or the like, especially if you're running a game online and hosting the server. Large images tend to slow down the server for everyone, as it takes more time to transfer a single larger image. Smaller images, however, are sent quickly and then cached on the players' end, making the server run much faster. That's just my experience though.

If you want, when I get off work today, I can upload my collection of textures and objects for you to download.

 

[OnlineDM]

I'm happy to help with all things MapTool. My MapTool Education Central might be helpful.

As for map textures, I describe the image download I use here. The direct link to the download file is here.

 

[Trit One-Ear]

You guys are wonderful. [MENTION=84839]Saagael[/MENTION], thanks for the links. I'll probably end up sticking with Maptool for map making (had more luck with it so far than other programs) If it's easy to share your library and any other tips you have, I would be in your debt.

[MENTION=90804]OnlineDM[/MENTION] , just glancing at your site it seems to have a lot for me to play with. Thanks so much, I'll be sure to experiment with some of your tips soon.

Trit

 

[rptroll]

RPGMapShare.com | Your source for gaming maps and mapping objects is a great site as well. There are also artpacks you can download while inside MapTool. Also check out the User Creations section of the RPTools.net forums.

I have a few articles on mapping at rptroll.blogspot.com. Look for the mapping tag.

Good luck!

 

[SensoryThought]

I use maptools and make maps in Photoshop - but I am a Photoshop genius.

One cool tip - make a couple of colored translucent circles (30% opacity) in Photoshop and add them as tokens. You can the add them to the background layer to mark out zones and AoE spells.