Heroscribe Maps

[StratosVX]

I have been working on making some new maps for clmckay to use in Heroscribe and I have learned quite a bit about them. If anybody has any maps they would like to have done, let me know. I can't guarantee success or a timeline as to when they will be finished, but I will do what I can to help make them work. If anybody is interested, the files for the ones I made already are located here. I haven't updated the all-in-one pack that I have at this location yet, but I plan on it soon and I will hopefully keep it updated as I do more of these.

[Anderas]

I am quite interested, yes... how do you want to receive it? I have PPT, PNG, WMF and EMF... and then mail, dropbox or something else?

[StratosVX]

Shoot me a PM with the link or the file. I won't keep the file once I'm done as I like to support the artists who made them, but if it makes you feel better, you can send a low resolution file, a grayscale image, or whatever. As long as I can make out the grid and the walls, etc. I should be ok. Like I said, I can't guarantee success. The eps file for the maps has to be programmed to draw the image. So you have to tell it to create the walls with straight lines, rectangles, partial/full circles or partial/full ellipses. I won't be able to do very complex shapes such as a very wavy cave wall. If you send more than one, just let me know the order you'd like me to do them. No more than 3 or so at a time though. As I said, I can't guarantee a timeline for completion. Some of these can take a bit of time. The Halls of Hightamrish took quite a while to do.

[whitebeard]

The eps file for the maps has to be programmed to draw the image. So you have to tell it to create the walls with straight lines, rectangles, partial/full circles or partial/full ellipses. I won't be able to do very complex shapes such as a very wavy cave wall.

Hmmm... you seem to be missing out on NURBs. You should be able to trace the strange shapes with a sequence of mouse clicks and define a path automatically. I did this in Inkscape and as I recall it was not the default path trace option. I did exactly this when I generated those parchment backgrounds (svg, pdf, eps) for the quest notes pages. If you are selecting different tools for each feature, you are doing WAY too much work. You should be able to zoom in to 400% and create these shapes. Then zoom out, re-select and "smooth"? or "reduce order"? or some such thing to reduce complexity of the shape without visibly sacrificing much... go too far with the complexity reduction, then undo one step, and you get nice looking and tiny eps file sizes.

[StratosVX]

Except that Heroscribe doesn't use a drawn file for the map. I'm on my phone so I don't have the link handy but go to the Heroscibe site, then the FAQ page. There's a topic of creating boards which links to a tutorial on how to do it. Unless there's an easier way, that's what I've been doing. Essentially, it uses commands such as "3 Unit 2 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit rectstroke" to make a rectangle 4 squares wide by 5 squares high that starts at the fourth column in and the third row up (the coordinates for the bottom left square being 0, 0). There are similar commands for drawing arcs and lines but none of it is actually drawn by hand as in Inkscape.

Also, I can do cave walls to an extent, it just won't follow the cave walls exactly.

EDIT: Here's the link to the tutorial.

[StratosVX]

Folder is updated with a few maps from Heroic Maps. Also updated the all-in-one Heroscribe pack with all but the Master Builders maps.

[StratosVX]

Just a quick update: clmckay has also started on making maps and his maps will also be located there at his request so they are all together. If anybody else has any they want to put in there, I'm fine with it. It tends to make it easier to access when they are all together. Also, I will send them to Derfel so he can add them in to his packs for the future.

[Anderas]

I have on more that I didn't send you yet, but likely I'll need two weeks.

[StratosVX]

No worries. I've got a few to work on in the mean time, plus I'm going out to visit my family and see my new nephew for a couple of weeks, so I won't have a ton of time to do these while I'm out there.

[StratosVX]

I've created maps for everything in the "Boards" section of the gallery. They have been uploaded and included in the all-in-one pack I have uploaded as well.