Shessar's Battlemap Competition - Discussion
Dogtag
Moderator, Betatester Traveler
This is a discussion thread for Shessar's Battlemap Competition.
First, I'd like to say "thank you" to Shessar. What a neat idea! And it's awesome that you and your group are offering such generous prizes. An additional thanks to ProFantasy for pitching in with their own generous incentive! I hope I have the opportunity to enter the contest myself, but Time is not my friend, so we'll see. Regardless, it's a great idea and a generous offer to us all.
Second... thirty-five years?! Wow! I've been playing for just under 40 years, myself (December '79), but my group has "only" been together for 20! I thought we were together for a long time. Wow, again! Hat's off to a long and successful time together, Shessar. Brava! *doffs cap*
Cheers,
~Dogtag
First, I'd like to say "thank you" to Shessar. What a neat idea! And it's awesome that you and your group are offering such generous prizes. An additional thanks to ProFantasy for pitching in with their own generous incentive! I hope I have the opportunity to enter the contest myself, but Time is not my friend, so we'll see. Regardless, it's a great idea and a generous offer to us all.
Second... thirty-five years?! Wow! I've been playing for just under 40 years, myself (December '79), but my group has "only" been together for 20! I thought we were together for a long time. Wow, again! Hat's off to a long and successful time together, Shessar. Brava! *doffs cap*
Cheers,
~Dogtag
Comments
Really looking forward to seeing the maps for this competition, love seeing what people can do with the software. Thanks for arranging this.
Five of us met in an electronics class at college in September 1981. (I was the only girl in the class. Hehe.) My now husband had already been playing AD&D with his brother and two sisters and after showing us the rule books, invited us to join their game. We all became good long term friends. Even during the time my husband and I were in the military we would get together as often as possible (us returning home or them descending en masse on our small apartment to continue our campaign). It was a chaotic but fun time. After the military, my husband and I returned to our home town and the games continued. My brother-in-law passed away in 2014 so we are now down to seven of our original group but my two sons and their wife and fiancee now game with us when their schedules permit.
When we hit 30 years of gaming together we decided to celebrate our years together by doing something nice for other gamers every September. We've sponsored a free night at the gaming tables at one of the local game stores. We donated chess and checkers sets to a local senior citizen center. We donated a lot of our tabletop war gaming terrain to a new game store that was just getting started and we donated childrens games to a women's and children's shelter. When I suggested sponsoring a gaming competition this year every one was all for it.
So...in the spirit of the game...have fun mapping!
You were in the service, eh? Well then, I sense another discussion sometime. I'll say this now, though. Back in the 80's, when I was in Basic Training at Ft. Benning, I actually did some campaign building and some mapping(!) in a tiny, flip, spiral notebook. It helped keep me sane during all the crazy stress. I still have the pages!
We were navy. I was only in a year and a half or so and was granted a dependency discharge to care for my mother. My husband was in for 6 years.
I have a lot of my early notes too, as well as my starting map done by hand, then CC2 when I got that, then in CC3 what I got it. The maps show a definite improvement in skill as well as understanding of geography. As a current member of The River Police I am horrified by my earliest maps. LOL
Within three weeks he had even the slackers passing g his class with A's and B's! No one ever skipped one of his classes!
Anyway...he gave me the gaming bug, and I've been playing or GM'ing since then. It I only starting g mapping my games this year.
LadieStorm, that is correct. Only ProFantasy symbols and bitmap fills are permitted in this competition. I do not have any outside party's artwork on my system so if you use them I and the other judges will only see red x's.
I don't know the first thing about real battle maps, so I probably won't be joining the fun, but good luck to everyone else
One practical question for the Judges: You asked for a 5 feet grid. But for me, feet do not mean anything. Would you accept a contribution done with SI units (metric)?
For the record, 1.5 m is essentially 5 ft. It's 2.4 cm shy of 5 ft, where 2.54 cm = 1 inch, so less than an inch short.
Just curious how "the other half" maps.
~Dogtag
For other games, either we don't use squares, or if we need more precision, we use bigger squares, because it's quite easy to get outside of the map very fast when you are on the official D&D scale. The official French translations of D&D have all distances converted into meters so, for me, a fireball has always been a 6m radius sphere.
If the only file that was to be provided for this context was a png, I would have used the IS system and drawn 1.5m squares without even mentioning it.
But since Shessar wanted to get the fcw too, I'd like to be sure it will not be an issue.
I can't, however, extend the time limits of the competition. Sorry.
My map will be in part of a ruined castle and it will be on two levels. Planning to use the SS4 Dungeons of Schley for most of it.
I have a question to do with scaling bitmap fills.
To get the impression of difference in height for the two levels, is it possible to increase the scale of a bitmap floor fill (Stone Paving Grey_SS4) so the larger scaled floor appears higher than the other in such a way that when Shessar goes to open the map she will be able to see this?
If I'm mapping just for myself I normally just make a new bitmap using the Stone Paving Grey_SS4 fill and give it another name then rescale, but I assume if I did that, Shessar would just see the red X's for the renamed, scaled fill?
Hmm did that question make any sense?
I'm hungry, been plugging away at this for a few hours now and no breakfast. Time to feed the belly.
Cheers
Mike
I just checked the email that Ralf sent me. The vouchers will be good until 2019 so you can use them on next years annual.
@Mappy, as one of the judges I can only answer questions relating to the rules so I'll leave that question to others to answer.
I know it can be done if your maps has two separate map levels, because each level has its own set of sheets and layers. As far as I know (and if it can, I would LOVE to know how!!!) It can't be done on the same map level, because the bitmap scale is for the whole map.
Now there is a possible work around, and in theory I even k is how it might be done. Some of us started using the blur effect, at .5 - 1 on lower level areas to help show height. Now, in theory, if you were drawing a cave, with a drop off at the end of a corridor... You would draw the corridor on one sheet, the on another sheet maybe attach to what you have, draw the new level... Then add the slight blur to the sheet that level is on? I have NO idea if it would work...it's just a theory.