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Do you map?
Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:21 pm
by Saxon1974
Just curious,
For most of you who pay through these games, do you still create your own maps while playing? Or do you use those already created or online ones?
Im doing my own mapping now, its fun but times consuming. Im just wondering how much using pre-made maps will kill the fun of discovery.
Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:20 am
by Horpner
I draw new maps every time I play--it's just part of the experience, to me. Mapping gives me something productive to do while I level up and collect loot.
You could play without drawing your own maps if you follow a strict rule that you must step on every square of every dungeon map before you move on.
The last time through I used gvim to "draw" ascii-art maps. Here's a sample of how they end up:
Code: Select all
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
21 21
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
20 | | 20
+ +--+--+ +--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ +
19 | | | | | | | | 19
+ +--+--+ + +--+ + + + +
18 | # # | |v | | | | | 18
+ +--+--+ +--+--+##+ + + +--+--+--+--+--+ + +
17 | | | | | | | | | | | 17
+ + + +--+ + + + + + +--+ +--+ + + +
16 | | | | | # | | | | | | | | | | | 16
+ + + + + +--+ + + + +--+ +--+ + + +
15 | | | | | | | | | X | | | 15
+ + + + + + + + + +--+ + +--+ + +
14 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 14
+ + + + +--+ + +--+ + + +--+ + + + +
13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 13
+ +--+--+ +--+--+--+--+ +--+ +--+--+--+--+--+##+--+--+ +
12 | s3 | 12
+ +--+ +--+ +
11 | | | | | | 11
+ +--+ +--+ +
10 | s2 | 10
+ +--+--+ +--+--+--+--+ +--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+##+--+ +
9 | | | | | | | | | | | | 9
+ +--+--+ + +--+ + +--+ + +--+--+--+--+ + + +
8 | # | # | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8
+ +--+--+ + + + + + + +##+##+##+ + + +
7 | | | | | | | | | # | | | 7
+ + + + + + + + +--+ + + +
6 | | | | | | | | | # | | | 6
+ +--+ + +--+ + + + +--+ + + +
5 | # | | | | | | # | | | 5
+ + + + +--+--+ + + + +##+##+##+##+ + +
4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4
+ + + + + + + +--+--+--+--+--+ + +
3 | | | | | | | | | 3
+ + +--+ + + + + +
2 | | | | | | | | 2
+--+ +--+--+ +--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ +
1|s1 | 1
+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
0|^ | 0
+--+--+
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
s1 This is the wine cellar of the Scarlet Bard. The air is musty
with old wine.
s2 Rare wines - 50 years or older. Keep out!
s3 Fine wines - 10 years and older. For regular customers only.
Hopefully that looks familiar to some of you.
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:05 am
by Darendor
I map using MS Paint, because I'm pro.
Here's an example of the remapping I'm currently working on for all 3 games:
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:32 am
by dragonbait
their both some very cool mappings! I especially like the MS Paint version. You should upload the maps online when they are completed. You could even make your own Bard's Tale Maps website. Just a thought. What are your plans for these detailed maps?
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:53 am
by Darendor
dragonbait wrote:their both some very cool mappings! I especially like the MS Paint version. You should upload the maps online when they are completed. You could even make your own Bard's Tale Maps website. Just a thought. What are your plans for these detailed maps?
I once upon a time did in fact have my own BT website. Anyone ever hear of "The COMPLETE Bard's Tale Home Page", hosted from 1997-2000 or so on Angelfire.com? That was me. I also was briefly involved with Scott Nelson's Bardstale.com website...
As for the maps, I intend to use them to conquer the world. Or maybe just provide details on the dungeon levels...
I notice how in BTI the set encounters can be quite useful for building up party levels and I felt it relevent to include the experience gained from defeating them.
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:19 am
by Horpner
Woah! MS Paint!
Creating the template must have taken forever. I bow down to your MS Paint mastery!
I found a shareware program designed for mapping on graph paper (digidraw?) but I found it horrible.
Electronic mapping of any kind just wasn't an option in the old days, though.
Here's my ascii rendering of the same map, for comparison porpoises:
Code: Select all
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
+--+--+ + + +^^+ +--+--+--+--+
21 | | | | 21
+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+ + + + +--+--+--+--+ +
20| # # |* * # | | | | |s5 | |20
+ + + +--+--+--+ + +--+--+--+--+ + +--+ + + +
19|v | | #* * # | | | | {} | |19
+ + + +--+--+--+ + + +--+--+ + +--+--+--+--+##+ +
18| | | |* * X # | | | | | | |18
+--+--+##+ +--+--+--+ + + + + + + +--+--+--+--+
17 |* * # | | | |Td| | |17
+--+--+--+ + + + +--+ + +
16 |* * # | | | | |16
+--+--+--+ + + +--+--+--+ +--+ + +##+--+##+--+
15 | | | #15
+--+--+--+--+--+--+ + +--+##+ + +--+--+
14 |X // //# | | # 14
+ +--+##+##+ +##+--+##+##+##+##+##+##+##+ + +
13 | | | | | | # | // 13
+--+--+--+ +--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+ +--+
12 | | # # # | | | | | | | | | | // 12
+--+--+ +--+--+ +##+##+##+##+##+##+##+ +--+--+ +
11 | | | 11
+--+##+ +--+ + +--+
10 # | | # 10
+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+^^+ +--+ +
9 | | s3 Tb> < | | | 9
+--+--+ +--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+ +vv+--+--+ +--+--+--+ +--+
8 | | S # | | < | | 8
+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ +##+--+ +--+ + +--+--+
7 # | | |S #* |* |* | # | | | 7
+ + + + +--+##+##+##+--+--+ +--+ +--+ + +
6 | | | |S |* # s1 # | | # | | | 6
+--+ + + + +--+--+ +--+--+ +--+ + +--+ + +--+--+
5 | | s2 | |Ta X | Tc| 5
+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+ + +--+--+--+
4 | | s0# | 4
+--+--+--+--+ + + + + +--+--+
3 | d |a | | | | 3
+ + + +--+--+--+--+ +--+
2 | |A | | # # | # 2
+^^+--+--+--+ + + + +##+--+##+ +##+--+ +
1| | | | | | | | | |1
+ +--+ +--+--+--+ +--+--+ +^^+ +##+--+ + +
0|s4 b | | # > < | # #s6 | |0
+--+--+ + + +^^+ +--+--+--+--+ +
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
s0 A sign on the wall reads, "Slave quarters."
s1 The air nearby has a foul reak to it.
s2 You are in a splendid library.
s3 A wizened man appears before you, saying, Answer this riddle
to pass:
Once man alive
Now living death
It drinketh blood
N' stealeth breath
"Pass at your leisure," The Master Sorcerer says.
s4 A silver square.
s5 Something is not quite right here.
s6 A magic mouth on the wall speaks to you, saying this riddle:
Past warscapes fought by men long dead, and treasures lost on
bloodied fields, the One God lifts his thorn-crowned head, and
lays a strength on friendly..
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:07 am
by Darendor
The template thusly:
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:39 pm
by Horpner
Excellent! That will be very useful.
Though I expect I'll be using Gimp for my editing purposes, in order to keep my blood pressure down.
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 5:05 pm
by Saxon1974
Wow those are great maps, I thought I was a hard core player of the old games, now seeing your maps, I think not so much
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 2:11 am
by jrodman
Years later.....
For whatever it's worth, I map in Inkscape, creating SVGs.
Here's a screenshot; the svg files aren't really proofed for direct browser loading right now; I'll probably clean that up later.
I cut this to a 64color image to keep the size reasonable; and it's zoomed pretty far out. When actually reading them I don't feel the need to view multiple levels of the dungeon at once.
When I need a new icon, (example, trees, one-way-doors) I just synthesize it from basic shapes, glom them into a new object and keep it handy for copy-pasting. Inkscape makes it fairly easy to control how snapping works to get a good workflow.
I cropped the legend as it's kinda big, and not really properly marked for anyone but me at the moment.
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:21 am
by toper
I was searching for something earlier... found this... BT Maps being made with excel:
