16 Jan, 2009, Skol wrote in the 1st comment:
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Hey all, one of our building projects I kind of started doing graphically after I'd done the main map and I like how things are going. It let's me put myself into the spot and describe what I see really easily.

First thing I took a map of the waterfront from source material (or just draw one if it's not based on a genre with maps images etc). Drew that on graph paper and conformed it to a NSEW layout grid (aka graphed it).

Then I scanned that and brought it in and started overlaying and underlaying graphics.

The idea is then that the maps can be these images later (for the web maps that is), and people can visualize them easier as I did, although the words will match the imagery as well.

This is the area:


Then the overall area (will be about 12+ areas, helps with repops, questing, etc)


Anyway, thoughts if ya have em? :)
16 Jan, 2009, Chris Bailey wrote in the 2nd comment:
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I think it's an excellent idea that really helps with visualization. I can see myself being more interested in areas that had maps like these to go along with them.
16 Jan, 2009, Skol wrote in the 3rd comment:
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Thanks Chris! Yeah I found as I added elements that I could really 'feel' the area. That should help me describe it way easier, and make it more congruent.
16 Jan, 2009, The_Fury wrote in the 4th comment:
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@Skol, I think what you have there is great, you could turn that concept into a grid based mapping program that outputs area files in your required format, including information such as sector type and room name so easy, as well as have a graphical representation of the map itself to add content to your website. I had sort of done something similar to you with zones in eldhamud, i used a program called MapMaker which i used to grid out and join the rooms together and to give them names, i could output a ROM area file, which i would cut the rooms out of and put into my own area. It also could output a jpg of the map and would list the room names down the right hand side, in the image below i had not named anything yet.



MapMaker Doanload Link
17 Jan, 2009, Skol wrote in the 5th comment:
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Way cool!
Yeah, man if I could just feed in the final image and BAM hehe.
With this though, I can look and see, set the fishing pool depths/types, set sectors, do descs really easily etc. I'm stoked, should have done this ages ago heh. (btw I keep updating the image above, so it's changing as I add things, eventually it'll be a finished 'aerial' image).
17 Jan, 2009, Lyanic wrote in the 6th comment:
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I use a proprietary graphical building/mapping tool on The 7th Plane. It was written in Java by my friend and co-owner, Diov. It outputs files in the area format required for The 7th Plane, and has the capability to output as a map. I've included a snapshot of the program displaying the graphical representation of an area. Locations are color coded by sector type (differing shades of blue = types of water, grey = city, pink = inside, green = field). Unfortunately, it can only display the area structures in 2D slices and for a single plane at a time. You have to click the buttons on the program's right side panel to view other levels/planes of the same area.


17 Jan, 2009, Skol wrote in the 7th comment:
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Nice Lyanic! Main image updated btw ;)
17 Jan, 2009, Lyanic wrote in the 8th comment:
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Skol said:
Nice Lyanic! Main image updated btw ;)

Your image looks great! It has a very rustic aesthetic. It would be really cool if you had a program that could output area maps in that style, but it would need some extra information added. As it is, there appears to be no definitive way to tell which adjacent cells connect to each other and if every cell of the grid represents traversable area in the MUD world?
17 Jan, 2009, Skol wrote in the 9th comment:
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Thanks! Yeah I think the original drawing over the top gives it that. I actually went out and found large images with like dock, cobblestone, roof etc and then shrunk them down, trying to give it kind of that 'miniatures' feel, or the Dwarven Forge kind of feel.

As far as programming it, yeah it'd be murder with the shadowing and such. But a simpler version could be done as long as the builder didn't build over the top of other stuff (ie, keep in mind your X/Y's). Although, you probably could even do one with shading if you made them all squares and just said 'ok west is dock, this is water, so shadow left side water jpg goes here'.

Still, I kind of like laying it out like this by hand, it went _fast_ and I kind of get into the feel of things so that I can get down to building once it's all said and done. I'm thinking a few whirlpools and such in the middle to 'maze' things up a bit, then also the dark spot underwater to be a kelp forest with Dargonesti/aquatic underwater stuff, then a few sunken ships. Then above, have a handful of the moving area type ships and it should be bustling. It's supposed to be a _busy_ bay with all kinds of merchants and navy, pirates perhaps with flags hidden heh.

Fun fun!
17 Jan, 2009, Sandi wrote in the 10th comment:
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That's very cool, Skol. Reminds me of a series of tiles a friend and I made for planning model railroads.


Now, I just do a rough sketch that I later put on the web page after the area is built:

Temair Map

I think it helps to have as much of a visualisation as possible before you start.
17 Jan, 2009, Skol wrote in the 11th comment:
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Thanks Sandi! Yeah, I KNOW someday I'll be making/printing my own dungeon tiles heh, it's just way too much fun. I still remember in 79 when I started playing D&D and we had a refrigerator box (huge omg) that we turned into a massive map that was scale to our lead figures. Imagine if we could have done graphics like this on top… whew.

I hear you on the rough sketch though, this just kind of took a life of it's own and I kept going, and going, and going (like I'm even looking now at putting posts in on the docks, breaking some cobblestones… heh yeah neurotic what?).

I fully agree though, the more I can visualize it, the better I can describe it and for those few players that actually read the descs hehe, they can get as much out of it as I did ;).
18 Jan, 2009, Jhypsy Shah wrote in the 12th comment:
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I actually find it quicker/easier to do it in 3D. Do a birdseye view from the top and ya got a game map as usual. Create simple blocks and drop them to the ground, click and slap materials on them. They got features that'll generate trees and erode areas to give it life quick.

Click over to a camera view and ya gotta nice 3d movielike scene of your map. There's alotta nice objects to use for free too..just import and drop them in. Make some nice stuff quick if ya aren't animating it.

Blender's free and has a nice game/physics engine too..playstation, sony and wii developers supposedly use it.

cool stuff..alotta free stuff out there to use too.
20 Jan, 2009, Skol wrote in the 13th comment:
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Image updated. I maybe nuts, but man it sure makes it easier to envision, and the maps for the players will be great ;).
20 Jan, 2009, Sandi wrote in the 14th comment:
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That's great Skol! I think it's the little touches, like the steps down to the beaches, that give it a sense of being a real place.

That's what all building is, really, giving the right details. An outline, an overview, those seem dreamlike - not quite in focus - without a few details.
20 Jan, 2009, Lyanic wrote in the 15th comment:
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Sandi said:
That's great Skol! I think it's the little touches, like the steps down to the beaches, that give it a sense of being a real place.

That's what all building is, really, giving the right details. An outline, an overview, those seem dreamlike - not quite in focus - without a few details.


I don't know about anyone else, but I often go back over long finished areas and tweak room descriptions/flags/etc to add a few small details. It's kind of a gradual ongoing process that I do when I'm bored.
20 Jan, 2009, Skol wrote in the 16th comment:
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Thanks Sandi ;), I'm actually having a blast creating this place in my mind/photoshop hehe. I'm thinking even the street lamps (naptha of course) and glows etc, maybe a night/day one. It's certainly taking me on a journey that's fun.
Nice thing is I start really seeing the wildlife and people running around. (And that micromob project i'm going to have to do now, mobs that you can catch (turn into objects etc), like a hermit crab mob, catch it and it's an object, drop it and it's a mob again).
21 Jan, 2009, Jhypsy Shah wrote in the 17th comment:
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ya could always take a look a little further down the page at a post called "buildin' -it's an art", hehe..
22 Jan, 2009, Skol wrote in the 18th comment:
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Lyanic said:
I don't know about anyone else, but I often go back over long finished areas and tweak room descriptions/flags/etc to add a few small details. It's kind of a gradual ongoing process that I do when I'm bored.

I totally do that too heh. Often it's in balancing items or mobs etc, but sometimes it's just simply to go back in and liven up things with some mprogs or mprog/oprog/rprog quests. Other times it's expanding an area or continuing on with the area's concept.

I've got one area (Caergoth) That I'd done in 2000, went back in 2007 and added about 30 rooms, and now have another 170 or so (expanding it into a major city as it was supposed to be but just kind of 'hit main streets' before).

Others yeah, go in and tweak this, fix that, it never stops… this business of creating worlds. :D
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