NS4 Mapping project

Lorkar1 · Post by **Lorkar1** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:49 pm

This is a call to arms. I have started a mapping project of Aetheria and could use some help. This is a huge job and will take quite some time without the community to help. What I need are the areas that I do not frequent like NC, TC and RK and the underdark to some extent as well as the areas surrounding ash mountain and mezzoloths.
Also I need shots of faction cities SL,RK,TC,and NC. I am not including interior shots as this project is going to be the Aetherian Atlas.

The pics should be unedited and the minimap should be of normal size (ie;the size it is when you log on) and completely explored.
I also need the proper map name and its faction area. All shots taken so far have the character icon oriented to the north. In the case of multiple maps of same name I use the english convention with 1 being top left and 4 being bottom right.
Please send shots to xerious@excite.com. Lastly, if when people send them if they would be in the JPeg format that would be much appreciated.

The area I have done so far are as follows:(I will update areas as I do them and receive them)
Ave to Giant summit
Garagoth and plains of angmar
AO and sleeth foothills
underdark,tunnels,duergar tunnels,underground lake and the 3 tunnel maps
Old Wyrm road to silver road X-roads
Black hills from silver road to black marsh fens
FD

To the DMs I ask for moderator status on this thread and this thread alone for editing purposes.

Very last thing, please make sure NS4 is in the subject line otherwise it goes into the roundfile(trashcan for you non-military types).

kingfatzo · Post by **kingfatzo** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:02 pm

quite a glorious undertaking !

this will totally pWn the current handwritten ones....

Post by **Metis** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:07 pm

No moderator status but, since this something I think everyone would like to see done I wouldn’t mind deleting any spam posts that show up.

Post by **cely** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 4:38 pm

I've wanted to build a dynamically generated NS4 map for a long time. I was thinking about using graphviz, but I haven't gotten around to hacking it together yet. I'm sure you could easily replace hand written text with mini-map screenshots. If I get the graphviz framework built, we can throw the mini-maps in later.

Lorkar1 · Post by **Lorkar1** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 4:45 pm

Shield pointed me towards a program called GIMP but I cant seem to find the tools in it to rearrange the images. I can crop them and I can layer them but I cannot get them to move. I apparently need something with less of a learning curve. I wish I could find a program that has a setup similar to a scrabble board where each image is a tile and then I could piece them together. I will keep looking as I collect the images.

Post by **cely** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 5:07 pm

Yeah what you need more than anything is a flowchart/diagram program that'll let you put the mini-maps in the flowchart instead of the flowchart objects. Visio (windows) or Kivio (linux) is good for this sort of thing. But I was trying to avoid having to handle the layout by hand and having it automated to save time on the initial map and on subsequent updates.

Post by **Binkyuk** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:12 pm

Mmm. Cely makes a good point. Some areas are turned around, and some transitions go out in one direction and arrive in another, or have exra displacement that doesn't show up. Redhorn Pass and Canyon is a good example. Simply pasting them together side by side might be a problem.

Lorkar1 · Post by **Lorkar1** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:21 pm

If I run into that I will have to adapt. And hopefully it wont be a job breaker.

Drunken Dwarf · Post by **Drunken Dwarf** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:14 pm

I have mapped a mod with over 100 areas using visio. You just have to break it down into regions. It can be quite an undertaking <I ended up editing/adding more than I played>.

Just don't expect the map to look like a drawing... That isn't going to happen without going for a mapping software.

http://www.profantasy.com/products/default.asp

DD

Post by **cely** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 2:51 am

Indeed, Redhorn Pass is the bane of ns4 cartographers. I gave up on graphviz and just redid the hand drawn ns4 overworld map with Kivio.

I still need to add Melencia, make a lot of corrections, and add some new stuff such as the Falme to Haddon Mirk Ferry and the Mezzoloth areas.

http://dwarvenwall.googlepages.com/ns4.flw

Post by **shield** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 3:19 am

If your using Linux their are other tools you could use. Other than the ones mention above, I guess you reall need vector graphics programs. I use Karbon (part of the kde desktop), though I've also got openoffice which comes eith a vectors graphics program. Not tried it, but it also runs in windows.

kingfatzo · Post by **kingfatzo** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 3:22 am

cely wrote:Indeed, Redhorn Pass is the bane of ns4 cartographers. I gave up on graphviz and just redid the hand drawn ns4 overworld map with Kivio.

I still need to add Melencia, make a lot of corrections, and add some new stuff such as the Falme to Haddon Mirk Ferry and the Mezzoloth areas.

http://dwarvenwall.googlepages.com/ns4.flw

not to state what may be obvious , however it is nearly impossible to view that map without zooming very far in ....or by printing it and then using a magnifier....

Post by **shield** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 3:24 am

Their are also a few free mapping tools out their. Seen this one http://cmap.ihmc.us/download/index.php

But never got round to trying it yet.

JesterOI · Post by **JesterOI** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 3:37 am

Just click on the map again to get full-sized view

Celorn · Post by **Celorn** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:31 pm

Hmm.. the flowchart is a great way to at least gather the pieces, and the image of it could be used as a background layer in photoshop to place the pieces on top.

But as was said here, and I said in the other thread... some of the maps don't route properly exit-to-exit, so some of it will be messed-up, AND there will be large gaps and overlaps, so it's not gonna look 100% contiguous.

Perhaps the best way is to lay it all out, then redraw the world map based around it, and label the zones with greater detail than the original world map.