Map of the Week
- Thread starter xanatos
- Start date
Ronnie Ray Custer
First Post
I would think that most of them are made in photoshop.
Prime_Evil
Adventurer
Yep. Most of them are made in photoshop using multiple layers and various filters. I've noticed that their in-house cartographers like to use inner bevels and drop shadows to give their dungeon maps a 3d feel.
I've tried the same technique with maps created using the freeware Dungeoncrafter application and the results are pretty cool.
I've tried the same technique with maps created using the freeware Dungeoncrafter application and the results are pretty cool.
Attachments
Can you tell me how where you able to do this map? I have only found templates to build buildings, and not "natural dungeons". It's very "irregular" (I had to search to find two equal elements, proof that the map is computer-generated (the 1x1 "pillar" that is present in some rooms, there are 5 that are equal, simply mirred/rotated)
Bye
Max
Bye
Max
Prime_Evil
Adventurer
Xanatos,
The basic map was generated using a freeware program called Dungeoncrafter.
You can download a copy of this application from www.dungeoncrafter.com.
Dungeoncrafter is a tile-based map generator. This map was created using version 1.41 of this program. (The developers of the application are currently working on Dungeoncrafter 2: a much more powerful version of the program).
Some of the custom tiles that I used to create the caverns were downloaded from the Dungeoncrafter website. They come from the Stone / Cavern tileset by Chris Labonville. I also used some custom tiles from Blood Tyger's 'Terra Incognita' website:
http://www.geocities.com/blood_tyger/
Once I had finished arranging the tiles to make the map, I saved is as a bitmap and opened it in photoshop. I use an old version of Photoshop (version 4) for most of my image manipulation -- it was the only version that I was able to afford when I started getting interested in computer graphics. Now I am so comfortable with it that I find the interface in photoshop 7 too clunky for my liking.
As soon as I had opened the map in photoshop, I used the 'magic wand' tool to select the black sections of the map that represented solid rock. I used the <SHIFT> key to select multiple areas of solid rock at once.
As soon as all of the solid rock was selected, I saved the selection to a new channel by going into Select >> Save Selection..
Because I am basically lazy, I used a commercial filter from Alien Skin Eye Candy to create the drop shadows, giving the map a 3d effect.
If you don't have access to this filter, you can create the drop shadows by hand. If you want to learn how to do this the old fashioned way, check out the following tutorial:
http://www.gifart.com/tip8.shtml
I think that I also experimented with an inner bevel effect on this map, but wasn't really satisfied with the result.
The version of the map that I am developing for use in my own campaign is keyed. I have attached a small sample below.
The room numbers were also produced in photoshop using the text mask tool. I had created the room numbers, I applied the Glow filter from Alien Skin Eye Candy with a width of 2 pixels, an opacity of 100%, and an opacity dropoff of 'Thin'.
Once again, if you do not have access to these commercial filters, don't despair. It is possible to create the same effect by hand using the Gaussian Blur filter.
As I built up the map, I
If you don't have access to Photoshop, there are a number of cheaper alternatives that can do most of the same stuff. You might like to look at Paint Shop Pro from JASC Software (http://www.jasc.com/).
Better still, check out the GIMP -- a free alternative released under the GNU software license. If you are running Windows, you can download the GIMP from the following URL:
http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/
If you are an enlightened person who is running Linux, you can download the most recent version of the GIMP (including the Source Code) from
http://www.gimp.org/
Note that in both cases, this is a HUGE download, so don't try this if you've only got a dial-up connection.
The GIMP is a great program, but it's a little bit quirky sometimes.
I hope that this helps. Let me know if I've missed something or you would like some more information, let me know.
Also, if you would like me to post the completed map with the various chambers keyed, let me know and I will do so.
Feel free to use the map any way that you like. It's an 'open source' dungeon.
The basic map was generated using a freeware program called Dungeoncrafter.
You can download a copy of this application from www.dungeoncrafter.com.
Dungeoncrafter is a tile-based map generator. This map was created using version 1.41 of this program. (The developers of the application are currently working on Dungeoncrafter 2: a much more powerful version of the program).
Some of the custom tiles that I used to create the caverns were downloaded from the Dungeoncrafter website. They come from the Stone / Cavern tileset by Chris Labonville. I also used some custom tiles from Blood Tyger's 'Terra Incognita' website:
http://www.geocities.com/blood_tyger/
Once I had finished arranging the tiles to make the map, I saved is as a bitmap and opened it in photoshop. I use an old version of Photoshop (version 4) for most of my image manipulation -- it was the only version that I was able to afford when I started getting interested in computer graphics. Now I am so comfortable with it that I find the interface in photoshop 7 too clunky for my liking.
As soon as I had opened the map in photoshop, I used the 'magic wand' tool to select the black sections of the map that represented solid rock. I used the <SHIFT> key to select multiple areas of solid rock at once.
As soon as all of the solid rock was selected, I saved the selection to a new channel by going into Select >> Save Selection..
Because I am basically lazy, I used a commercial filter from Alien Skin Eye Candy to create the drop shadows, giving the map a 3d effect.
If you don't have access to this filter, you can create the drop shadows by hand. If you want to learn how to do this the old fashioned way, check out the following tutorial:
http://www.gifart.com/tip8.shtml
I think that I also experimented with an inner bevel effect on this map, but wasn't really satisfied with the result.
The version of the map that I am developing for use in my own campaign is keyed. I have attached a small sample below.
The room numbers were also produced in photoshop using the text mask tool. I had created the room numbers, I applied the Glow filter from Alien Skin Eye Candy with a width of 2 pixels, an opacity of 100%, and an opacity dropoff of 'Thin'.
Once again, if you do not have access to these commercial filters, don't despair. It is possible to create the same effect by hand using the Gaussian Blur filter.
As I built up the map, I
If you don't have access to Photoshop, there are a number of cheaper alternatives that can do most of the same stuff. You might like to look at Paint Shop Pro from JASC Software (http://www.jasc.com/).
Better still, check out the GIMP -- a free alternative released under the GNU software license. If you are running Windows, you can download the GIMP from the following URL:
http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/
If you are an enlightened person who is running Linux, you can download the most recent version of the GIMP (including the Source Code) from
http://www.gimp.org/
Note that in both cases, this is a HUGE download, so don't try this if you've only got a dial-up connection.
The GIMP is a great program, but it's a little bit quirky sometimes.
I hope that this helps. Let me know if I've missed something or you would like some more information, let me know.
Also, if you would like me to post the completed map with the various chambers keyed, let me know and I will do so.
Feel free to use the map any way that you like. It's an 'open source' dungeon.
Prime_Evil
Adventurer
One gripe I have about the WotC maps is that they tend to fit the underlying grid really poorly. There's typically no effort whatsoever to line up rooms and corridors with the grid, even when it would be trivial to do so. So you wind up with corridors that are 1.5 squares wide, or long straight diagonal corridors on a diagonal grid, or partial squares around all the edges of a room, etc. 
And then I hear people complain about the hex grid, saying that it's too hard to draw rectangular rooms on it...
Edit: Don't mind me, just ranting.
Some nice maps on this thread though! Luckily for you none of them are rectangular, so you won't have to Face My Wrath!
And then I hear people complain about the hex grid, saying that it's too hard to draw rectangular rooms on it...
Edit: Don't mind me, just ranting.
Some nice maps on this thread though! Luckily for you none of them are rectangular, so you won't have to Face My Wrath!
Last edited:
Prime_Evil
Adventurer
Wow. That's pretty cool.
I like the delicate color scheme that you have chosen...
I like the delicate color scheme that you have chosen...
