This is the 7th post in a series of map icons. Because each icon is just a 250×250 pixel transparent PNG you should be able to use them with many map software programs or with general image editors. As mentioned in prior posts, I’ll be adding these and the prior pairs of icons I’ve posted (shellfish and submerged battlefield; monster lair and waystation; seagrass and whirlpool; oil well and factory; palace and geyser; light and heavy fungal forest) to the next version of Hexographer. If you’re using the Pro version, you can add these now by going to “Options” and choosing “Add/Edit/Remove Custom Terrain/Features.”

This time I’ve picked two more feature icons: Infantry and Catapult. In Hexographer, that means they would be placed over any terrain and therefore there is no need to give these background colors.

I’ve chosen these icons because Hexographer is being used for more than just fantasy games. Some people are using it to create maps for hex-based strategy boardgames and wargames. These icons (and more that are coming) can support those games.

Below are the icons, just right-click them and save them to your computer:

Infantry

Catapult

Despite going off on tangents like the Random Dungeon Generator project or writing here, progress on Dungeonographer (dungeon mapping software) continues.  A video clip demo has been posted to the Dungeonographer site.  Keep in mind the software is still pre-alpha, so it has many rough edges and incomplete features.

[Note: this is reposted from late last week.  I had just switched servers and it seems that many people were still pointed to the old server.  Therefore many didn't see this update when first posted.]

I just finished off the first cut of the last major new feature in Dungeonographer: Shapes.  In Dungeonographer, you will be able to draw circles/ovals or polygons in a similar way to drawing lines in Hexographer. (Of course, you can draw lines in Dungeonographer as well.)  For polygons, you will be able to set the width of the border, the texture or color of the border and the fill and set the opacity of the fill.  Circles/ovals allow for all of those settings as well as an ability to specify partial circles and how a partial circle is closed.

Shapes are essential to dungeon maps because they answer two common needs:

• You may have round rooms or even a round tower.
• You may have irregularly shaped rooms or an entire cavern complex.

As I said, this was the last major new feature that I needed to implement before alpha testing can begin but there are some smaller (but many are still fairly big) things that need to be completed first:

• Finish the default/built-in set of icons. (If you’ve seen the prior preview, you’ll know there are two sets of icons–one is semi-realistic for battlemats, and the second is “simple” for classic/GM maps.)
• Allow lines to be textured.  This feature allows for walls that look like rock or wood in the semi-realistic mode.
• Allow a feature to be moved.  Currently in my development version if you place a door, chair, bed, etc., in the wrong spot you’ll have to remove it and re-add it.
• Create a texture chooser component.  In some places (like the fill or border of a shape, a line that is supposed to be a wall, etc.) you may choose a texture.  It will be nice to see them instead of just relying on the name.
• There are two or three other minor things, but this should give you an idea of where things stand.

Hopefully in just a couple of weeks alpha testing can begin!

Also: What should be the default set of icons?  Too many icons will cause the program’s download size to be huge.  But too few will make it less useful. (Of course people will be able to add their own graphics.  Even the free version in this case will allow some arbitrary graphics to be imported.)  That said, the current list is:

• Chairs: wood and metal
• Tables: wood and metal, circle and rectangle and rectangular w/benches (6 total)
• Doors: wood and metal, single and double (4 total)
• More doors: secret, one-way, false metal and false wood
• Crate, barrel
• Privy, washbasin
• Fireplace
• Window
• Beds: single and double, wooden and “futuristic” (?)  (4 total)

Please post feedback on the icons or anything else you see!

If you’ve determined that a given hex has some “Ruins” the following chart will give you some ideas of what those ruins may have in store. You may want to roll/pick multiple options from the last column:

Using the chart, if one rolls a 4, a 10, a 12, and a 4 (so we have two factions) one would get: a mostly intact but half underwater city that has been mostly ransacked but may still hold a few treasures.  It has a number of trolls and orcs to contend with.   From that jumping off point, you could sketch a quick map of a half underwater city and develop a reason why the orcs and trolls are there, what treasures may still exist, if there are any traps or secret areas, etc.  Crawling goodness.

Despite going off on tangents like the Random Dungeon Generator project or writing here, progress on Dungeonographer (dungeon mapping software) continues.  A video clip demo has been posted to the Dungeonographer site.  Keep in mind the software is still pre-alpha, so it has many rough edges and incomplete features.

I just finished off the first cut of the last major new feature in Dungeonographer: Shapes.  In Dungeonographer, you will be able to draw circles/ovals or polygons in a similar way to drawing lines in Hexographer. (Of course, you can draw lines in Dungeonographer as well.)  For polygons, you will be able to set the width of the border, the texture or color of the border and the fill and set the opacity of the fill.  Circles/ovals allow for all of those settings as well as an ability to specify partial circles and how a partial circle is closed.

Shapes are essential to dungeon maps because they answer two common needs:

• You may have round rooms or even a round tower.
• You may have irregularly shaped rooms or an entire cavern complex.

As I said, this was the last major new feature that I needed to implement before alpha testing can begin but there are some smaller (but many are still fairly big) things that need to be completed first:

• Finish the default/built-in set of icons. (If you’ve seen the prior preview, you’ll know there are two sets of icons–one is semi-realistic for battlemats, and the second is “simple” for classic/GM maps.)
• Allow lines to be textured.  This feature allows for walls that look like rock or wood in the semi-realistic mode.
• Allow a feature to be moved.  Currently in my development version if you place a door, chair, bed, etc., in the wrong spot you’ll have to remove it and re-add it.
• Create a texture chooser component.  In some places (like the fill or border of a shape, a line that is supposed to be a wall, etc.) you may choose a texture.  It will be nice to see them instead of just relying on the name.
• There are two or three other minor things, but this should give you an idea of where things stand.

Hopefully in just a couple of weeks alpha testing can begin!

Also: What should be the default set of icons?  Too many icons will cause the program’s download size to be huge.  But too few will make it less useful. (Of course people will be able to add their own graphics.  Even the free version in this case will allow some arbitrary graphics to be imported.)  That said, the current list is:

• Chairs: wood and metal
• Tables: wood and metal, circle and rectangle and rectangular w/benches (6 total)
• Doors: wood and metal, single and double (4 total)
• More doors: secret, one-way, false metal and false wood
• Crate, barrel
• Privy, washbasin
• Fireplace
• Window
• Beds: single and double, wooden and “futuristic” (?)  (4 total)

Please post feedback on the icons or anything else you see!

Mordor Pale Ale Presents: Real Men of Genius

(Real Men of Genius)

Today we salute you Mr. Game Rules Lawyer

(Mr. Game Rules Lawyer)

Armed with a few rulebooks by your side, you can single-handedly make combat grind to a halt.

(Just roll already and see if it is close!)

Most players only check the smallest details when a character might die, but not you…

(Don’t forget the +1 for Bless the Cleric cast a few rounds ago)

And you know just enough of the rules to confuse every situation…

(How does grappling work again?)

So crack open an ice cold Bud Light Mr. Game Rules Layer, because as far as we’re concerned, you make sure the GM gets everything right.

(Mr. Game Rules Lawyerrrrrrr!)

—–

Has anyone else done a similar “Real Men of Genius” parody?  Do you have a few better verses for this one?  What “Men of Genius” should be next?  Please post in the comments!

This is the 6th post in a series of map icons.  Because each icon is just a 250×250 pixel transparent PNG you should be able to use them with many map software programs or with general image editors.  As mentioned in prior posts, I’ll be adding these and the prior pairs of icons I’ve posted (monster lair and waystation; seagrass and whirlpool; oil well and factory; palace and geyser; light and heavy fungal forest) to the next version of Hexographer.  If you’re using the Pro version, you can add these now by going to “Options” and choosing “Add/Edit/Remove Custom Terrain/Features.”

This time I’ve picked two more feature icons.  In Hexographer, that means they would be placed over any terrain and therefore there is no need to give these background colors.

Below are the icons, just right-click them and save them to your computer:

Shellfish icon.

Submerged battlefield icon.

Portion of a random dungeon from the Inkwell Ideas generator including a few cavern tiles.

About a week ago I unveiled my own tile-based random dungeon generator.  Now one of the promised improvements is ready: cavern tiles.  They are still a little simplistic (I’ll be adding more variety) but one of the nice things about these is the tile-joining scheme tends to keep a couple of cavern tiles grouped together.

Also note that right now the cavern tiles are shaded where there is solid rock.  I think that helps make the tiles more clear so all of them will get that effect soon.

As I said, more tiles will be coming and I’m still working up a way to stock the dungeon.  But now back to work on Dungeonographer. (Which has been updated a good bit over the past week and I’ll post an update here in a few more days.)

Back in college where I was a computer science major there was a brutal class called “Survey of programming languages” (or something like that–it was 10 years ago or so) where you had to learn 8 computer languages (and actually write in 5 of them) within one quarter (10 weeks.)

The point wasn’t to learn those languages. It was to understand in depth varying concepts of different languages by studying the language that did the concept best (or did a couple of them well). So you might learn concepts A and B from language 1, learn concept C from language 2, learn concepts D, E, and F from language 4 and so on.

Long story short: if you wanted to give someone a “Survey of RPG Games” list where you picked 5-10 RPG games that illustrate (well) various RPG concepts which games would you pick? Concepts can be game mechanics, particular subsystems, flavor, use of setting, maybe even production values, etc.

A bonus would be to err on the side of picking games that are free or have useful free quickstart versions.

I should add to please note what concepts each game on your list will illustrate.

This is the 5th post in a series of map icons.  Because each is just a 250×250 pixel transparent PNG you may be able to use them with many map software programs  or with general image editors.  As mentioned in prior posts, I’ll be adding these and the prior pairs of icons I’ve posted (seagrass and whirlpool; oil well and factory; palace and geyser; light and heavy fungal forest) to the next version of Hexographer.  If you’re using the Pro version, you can add these now by going to “Options” and choosing “Add/Edit/Remove Custom Terrain/Features.”

This time I’ve picked two feature icons.  In Hexographer, that means they would be placed over any terrain and therefore there is no need to give these background colors.

Below are the icons, just right-click them and save them to your computer:

Monster Lair feature icon.

Waystation feature icon.

Portion of a random dungeon.

It has been a pretty big week here.  There was an update about Dungeonographer (dungeon mapping software) on Tuesday.  Yesterday a whole new wilderness icon set done by Kevin Chenevert/RedKobold was posted. Now there is a new tile-based random dungeon generator.

The random dungeon generator has some notes below the dungeon in creates.  But to head off any questions, here they are:

• This tile generator has multiple curent join points between tile sides. Currently, tiles can be joined by one opening/corridor in the middle of a side, two corridors equally spaced out on a side or no join points on a side.
• More join points are possible and will be added in the months to come.
• Cavern tiles will also be added in the months to come. There will likely even be a way to make part of the random dungeon (several contiguous tiles) cavern tiles–or even most or the entire dungeon! (Instead of having a lone tile or partial tile with cavern features.
• More variety will be added to the tiles. (These may be added a little at a time.)
• There will also probably be ways to control the mix of the tiles.
• Dungeon stocking will also be coming in the next few months. (I write this in June 2010, but I have other projects that I need to give more of my attention. Dungeon stocking a tiled random dungeon seemed pretty hard initially but I have an approach in mind that should do at least half the work for a GM.)

So this is one of the projects keeping me from finishing Dungeonographer.  (Sometimes one’s muse forces you in a direction that you know is keeping you from other things.  But it has to be followed, at least to some degree.)  Now that the random dungeon generator has been released (albeit as a .6 version or thereabouts) it should be easier to put time where it should go.