Tiamat the Tile Mapper

[PosterBoy]

News Link:
Tiamat the Tile Mapper

Quick Look YouTube Video:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6vkqFQLWCY&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - Tiamat Tile Mapper Quick Look[/ame]

I'm super excited to finally announce what I've been working on the last few months. It's call Tiamat, short for Tiamat the Tile Mapper. It's a totally new version of the e-Adventure Tile Mapper . Actually, it's not just a new version but rather a completely re-envisioning of the original tile mapper. It's totally rebuilt from the ground up. So what's so new about it?

Well first, its going to have a new and improved interface (see quick look video), and second, its going to have many new and improved features (such as being able to export a high resolution Miniature scale maps), but most important is a new payment model. You see, Tiamat is going to be FREE to use. Anyone can login and make maps. Make as many as you want. You'll only have to pay for the maps you want exported for gaming.

In addition to being a map maker, it's also a Map Tile store. And you only have to buy the Tiles you want. No need to buy a full tile set. Just make a map from the nearly 3000 tiles created by Skeleton Keys and just pay for the Tiles you use. Once you buy a tile its yours and you can download the PDF for it anytime. Or make new maps using it and they will be cheaper.

Here's some of the new feature and future plans for the tile mapper.

* New Tile Browser that is independent of what tile sets they are from.
* Export maps at miniature scale (high resolution). Just print and play!
* Personal Tile Library. Just buy the tiles you want!
* Map sharing. Share a map with others.

Future Plans - Mobile interfaces for iPhone and Android users. - Export maps for online gaming tables. - Buy color prints of your maps to be mailed to you.

I'm not 100% done yet, but I'm close to letting people start playing it. In the next week or so, I'm going to let owners of the e-Adventure Tile Mapper have access to make maps (but not export them yet) and get some feedback. Then I'll add the ability to export maps and open it up to the public.

Also, people who purchased the e-Adventure Tile Mapper with received $10 in credit for use in Tiamat. Also, I'm putting the e-Adventure Tile Mapper on sale for $10 starting today. So if you want to participate in the alpha and beta testing, you can, and you'll also get the $10 in credit.

 

[PosterBoy]

Tiamat Alpha

I put up the Tiamat Alpha for people who already own the e-Adventure Tile Mapper. You need to be logged in before going to the site. Keep in mind this is just an Alpha version, which means not all the features are implemented. And it's important to note that you can't export maps yet. You can just make them.

Tiamat Alpha

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Looks great!

Just watching the demo, it seems to me your "Right Click to Rotate" would be much easier if a right click was just fixed at a 90' clockwise turn, rather than a pull down menu. I can certainly click the right mouse button, three times, faster than I can access a pull down menu to select "Rotate 90' counter-clockwise."

 

[PosterBoy]

Yeah, that's a good point. There is a hot key for it too that could be used. A few other testers have noted annoyance with the way you rotate, so I'm going to change it. The right click is a good idea, but there's other options in that menu that would need to go somewhere else.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll probably be opening the alpha to everyone eventually here.

 

[PosterBoy]

Tiamat Progress Update:

Tiamat Progress Update:

Original News Link: Tiamat Update

It's been a few weeks since the Tiamat alpha, and I wanted to give an update on my progress towards beta. The good news is that I've finished the exporting of miniature scale maps. The bad news is that my shamefully underpowered server can't handle large scale maps. I've been meaning to get a new server for sometime, but I've been utterly amazed how well my current server has handled things. If I gave out the specs, I think most engineers would laugh.

But now is the time, and I've ordered a new server with the ram and processing power to handle manipulating of large image files. That will unfortunately delay the beta a little bit as I wait for the server and then build it. But in the mean time I will get more things done on the development side.

If you are a tester who has been playing with Tiamat and giving me some good feedback, feel free to request a miniature scale map. I'm willing to generate a few free maps from time to time for people who are helping me debug and refine things.

 

[PosterBoy]

Tiamat Update

Tiamat Updated

I pushed a fairly big update to Tiamat today. 95% of what I want done for Beta is complete. If you login to Tiamat, many of the changes won't be initially apparent or accessible. Many features are disabled (basically anything that would cost money). Those elements will be enabled when I officially go into Beta with the next update (which should come soon).

But don't fret, there are still some new things to do. Other than bug fixes and UI tweaks, you can now export a Thumbnail Map. A Thumbnail map is a small map (10 dps) at a low resolution (72 dpi) for use on websites. These types of maps can be exported for FREE. Paid maps (adventure or miniature scale) will be exported in the same way.

So play with the new update and let me know what you think. Beta coming as soon as I finish up a few technical and non technical issues.