What are your choices to create/draw dungeon maps in the style of Dungeon Crafter?
I'm really bad at free-hand drawing so i'm looking for a tool/program
similar to Dungeon Crafter which helps me make maps easily that are simple yet not barebones.
Any ideas?
Best regards,
PB
p.s.: No sophisticated web-apps please, those make my desktop crash. And no 3D, please, i hate 3D.
I monkey about with autorealm: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoREALM
Usually I use graph paper. Pretty simple from there and doesnt need a PC on to access.
But on the PC my go-to prog to make maps back in the early 90s was Unlimited Adventures, Now remade as Dungeon Craft. Worked great as both electronic graph paper and as a visual cue walk through of a dungeon.
Recently I started experimenting with Minecraft as a visual dungeon simulator just for my own illumination. I wanted to see what Keep on the Borderlands looks like and how exploring the caves would feel like from an actual viewpoint.
Grid Cartographer, maybe?
http://www.davidwaltersdevelopment.com/tools/gridcart/
Has a pro version but the free one is pretty decent.
Honestly, I've found it's easier to just use a paint program, make a few squares and standard room sizes and corridors, and simply copy and paste them.
Experimenting with using 3D tools to make maps, using 3D objects with pretty high resolution texture maps.
There's a freebie set of objects you can get here - Dungeon Floors FREE Edition (http://www.miryestore.com/product.php?productid=17137&cat=0&page=1) that works with Poser / DAZ Studio, Vue or Shade (and includes 3DS versions which work with just about anything.
This free set just includes 5' x 5' and 10' x 10' tile units, but it does include some lovely texture and normal maps.
What about Google Sketchup? Making rectangular style dungeons is trivial if you use the offset tool. Add a couple of textures, set to top view and you're done.
Here are all the steps to do this:
1. Set to top view
2. Draw some rectangles in the shape of your dungeon
3. Using the offset too, offset the squares to create walls
4. Using the pull tool, pull the walls up to the desired height
5. Select all, add a texture
As a proof of concept, this image took me less than 5 minutes from the time I thought about using Sketchup to the time I posted this.
You can make it much better very easily; there's a whole warehouse of stuff to add, and you can make as detailed or as simple as you like. You can view from any angle, walk through it, or send it to a professional level renderer (a good free one is Kerkythea).
Graph paper and a pencil. Yes, I'm serious.
Quote from: Old Geezer;789916Graph paper and a pencil. Yes, I'm serious.
Since the OP did mention that free hand drawing was problematic lets toss in a ruler and maybe one of those circle template sheets for round stuff. :)
That's completely true, but the OP is looking for a particular style and can't draw, so that's out.
That said, for fantasy especially, hand-drawn maps are much more evocative for me. I find 3D renderings of dungeons all have that same sort of artificial look about them, and don't seem to bring across the feeling of damp and the smell of old potatoes like a good, old-fashioned hand rendering does.
I made this just for you, OG.
Quote from: Kashirigi;789932I made this just for you, OG.
A lot of people don't realize that toon rendering or other non-realistic rendering is available. Sketchup has always been a good architectural visualization tool for this. That's a good example.
Ive thought someone should write a type of non-realistic render script that applies some random variable over time and volume - ie simulate the effects of the artist drinking a beer every 30 minutes, switching to Scotch, then back to beer, that sort of thing ;-)
What it really comes down to is where a 3D tool is strongest as compared to others.
The awesome thing about using a 3D tool is reusability. Ive had discussions with RPG designers at a few different shows who've asked me about the cost of getting 3D work done. Usually they've balked because they are used to paying sub-minimum wage - but they don't quite seem to get that they can reuse the objects again and again, re-render with a different look, etc. That $$ vs $ job ends up with stuff that can be reused in many projects and look original (rather than groanworthy repetitions of the same art piece).
Thanks for the answers so far, but i've added that i don't want 3D, because i hate 3D.
Well, my first choice is still graph paper, pencils, and rulers/templates, but if I were using the computer I'd go with the GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/). SketchUp would be on the list, too.
What about using random dungeon generators and then building odd of those or using them flat out?
Also here is a tutorial for using GIMP to make dungeons.
http://www.cartographersguild.com/tutorials-how/2461-%5Baward-winner-%5D-creating-old-school-map-gimp.html (http://www.cartographersguild.com/tutorials-how/2461-%5Baward-winner-%5D-creating-old-school-map-gimp.html)
Seems more effort than just scribbling on graph paper though.
Theres also a GIMP script to randomply generate cave systems.
Although it's possible do do Sketchup work in 2D, here are some more unusual alternatives:
http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/hexpaper.htm
http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/flagstone.htm
And, arguably most importantly, http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/blueroom/uresia-maps.htm
Which is a nice tutorial on woodcut effects which works just as well in gimp as in Photoshop.
If you aren't bothered about quality? Want something rough and ready?
1) Open a new spreadsheet in Excel. Click top left corner to select all cells and change the size to make square (click and drag on a column to shrink it)
2) Open graphics program of choice. Capture screen/area on the excel sheet you just made (it's your graph paper)
3) In graphics program of choice, create a new raster layer on your picture. Flood fill it with colour.
4) Use eraser tool to draw corridors. Use shape tool (or freehand select) shapes for rooms and press the delete key to get rid of the colour.
5) add boxes for doors, furniture symbols etc by hand or copy from old module whatever.
6) Merge all in your graphics program of choice.
Print.
(http://s1.postimg.org/5searjl7j/Map_1.jpg)
It won't win 'best map ever' but it took 2 minutes.
There's open office for spreadsheets, I use Paintshop Pro, an ancient graphics package for the rest. Gimp etc, whatever is out there will have their own way of doing things, but all just about the same.
If you want a step by step breakdown I can show you (when I get back from work) but so long as you have and roughly know your way round a graphics program you'll be fine.
Thx a lot but i've found a working DC download and i think i'll stick to DungeonCrafter using the TSR blue tilesets which just looks gorgeous but takes quite some time but is rewarding nonetheless.
btw.: Does anyone of you have or know where to get some nice tilesets for DungeonCrafter?
http://www.pbegames.com/print/
This guy has some stuff, don't know if it is exactly what you are looking for, but it is the old blue tiles style.
Not even remotely what i was looking for.
DungeonCrafter uses tilesets to generate dungeons.
If you want the most flexible tool then go with Inkscape. It is free to download.
http://www.inkscape.org
Probably the easier way to use it would be to use Inkscape and import in dungeon tiles like the ones found for Pymapper.
http://pymapper.com/downloads/