Filling in Walls

DmDomination · May 2020

Hello,

I'm someone who makes maps when I have need but doesn't make them regularly so I'm usually a little rusty so i hope it's okay to pester you good people. I am making a blank map for my Virtual Table Top game on Fantasy Grounds that will have players designing it with tokens.

I am almost finished but there is a small areas that has a rock formation in the middle of a cave ((Marked A)). I would like to fill it in completely with wall instead of it being just an outline with blank floor in the middle. Can anyone help me learn how to do this?

Monsen · May 2020

There are a couple of ways, it depends a bit on what tools and such you used to make that spot in the first place.

You should get a filled shape if you just use Change Properties

on that wall around A, and set the line with to 0. Note that this will fill the entire area with that wall texture, it won't show the map background as seen outside the tunnels.

Another way to do it is to make a copy of the wall and MultiPoly

that copy with the floor, this will create a floor with a hole in it (The floor will take on the current properties as seen on the status bar, so either set those to appropriate values before making the multipoly, or use change properties to fix it afterwards)

A third option is to make a copy of the wall, place it on the same sheet as the floor, then set line width to 0 and fill to a solid color, and then use the color key effect on the floors sheet, and target the same color you made the shape in. That also creates a hole which lets the background shine through.

DmDomination · May 2020

I tried option 1 and changing the line width to 0 made the wall super tiny and putting it at 10 made it blow up. I want to keep the outer boundaries and just fill in the center. Here is an image of the change properties i get when i select the center walls.

Monsen · May 2020

Then the wall is a path, and not a closed poly. Try using path to poly on it first, then setting line width to 0.

DmDomination · May 2020

That did it perfectly. Thank you very much!!! Is it normal to draw walls as thin as I do or is there a good way to make them thicker for easier use on a VTT?

Monsen · May 2020

That's just an issue of preference. There are many ways to make dungeon walls, none inherently better than the other, just depends on the map style and your preferences. I am partial to give the floors a more sunken look as opposed to have the walls appear raised. (Example/tutorial video)

DmDomination · May 2020

Finished the map with filled in center stone and wall mask. Thanks a ton. looks a lot better now.

DaltonSpence · May 2020

Is this cave system inside a sea cliff with the sandy area representing an entrance that is filled by the sea at high tide? Or is the water an underground lake? In either case a narrow gravel beach along the shoreline between the stone and the water might be a good idea. Love the style btw.

Loopysue · May 2020

Looks great!

There is just one thing I notice that's spoiling it just a bit. You see that dimpling effect on the thin walls? That's being caused by a kind of interference between the identical-coloured pixels of the two textures lying on top of each other. You can cure it by duplicating the walls onto a new sheet immediately below the walls sheet and using Change Properties to turn the duplicate walls to a solid fill with a colour that is unlikely to be contained in any of the textures in the map. For some reason colour 227 seems to fit the bill. That's a darkish purple colour.

DmDomination · May 2020

@Daltonspence yes, this is a cave system inside a sea cliff that leads to a house on a cliff overlooking the sea. It was the location of my players first adventure in Ghosts of Saltmarsh ((clear the house of pirates)) now they were given the house as a reward many months later. The map is a blank map so they can place their own furniture/stuff using tokens on the VTT program Fantasy Grounds.

@Loopysue Thank you. I actually like it on this particular map but i have always wondered what caused it and now i know how to fix it. You're awesome!!

DaltonSpence · May 2020

I had an idea for a secret docking cavern inside a sea cliff inspired by the one at Half-Circle Seahold in Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsong that I saw in The Atlas of Pern by Karen Wynn Fonstad. The trouble I had was with the dimensions: I wanted the cave big enough to hold several pirate ships but entirely enclosed by the sea cliff except for a narrow fissure that was wide and deep enough at low tide for a single ship to sail through it without unstepping the masts. (I wanted it tricky but not impossible to use with tides being an important factor.) I also wanted it accessible from a house on top of the cliff but I saw the cliff as being tall enough that direct access to the cave(s) from a basement would be unlikely (a fairly long descending tunnel from a secret sub-basement seemed better).This sheet effects you used here would be perfect for this. What template did you use?

DmDomination · May 2020

I honestly don't remember and don't know how to check. I'm happy to look it up if you know how.

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Filling in Walls

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