# Suggestions for Battlemaps from Projector?



## JDragon (Aug 9, 2007)

Artists of EN World I need you help & suggestions....

I am lucky enough to have a projector set up to use for displaying maps on our playing surface.

So far I have mainly been using pre-genned maps and sizing them to fit.  I would also like to be able to create my own for specific encounters as well as some templates to be able to quickly put a map together for an encounter.

Is anyone else out there doing this?  If so what have you found that works best for you?  Any suggestions or hints?

I'm projecting on to a white surface and so far I'm using the grid from PhotoShop to show the 5' squares.

Thanks

JD


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## pogre (Aug 9, 2007)

I assume you have looked at the giant thread on this topic in general. Several folks discussed how they created some cool maps for projecting. I think the video game NWN2 was something a lot of them used. 

Have fun with the projecting - I hope your group appreciates your efforts.


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## Wulf Ratbane (Aug 9, 2007)

I've been using a projector in my games for over a year now.

You have a lot of options, but here is what I recommend:

1) Buy a few SkeletonKey dungeon tile PDFs. The essential set is Cave Chambers I, but all of the "Cave Format" tiles are well worth having. Extract or otherwise copy all the images. In particular you're going to want tile CC25. Open this tile in Photoshop, select all, and Edit > Define Pattern. 

Now you have a nice looking, pre-gridded texture you can use for ALL your floors.

I also have all of the Dungeon format tiles, but don't use them much for creating my own maps-- they are hard to configure into your own shapes. 

http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=12267&it=1

2) Browse the Dundjinni forums and start collecting Objects you can use to populate your maps-- tables, chairs, rugs, chests, etc. There's a ton of stuff, and it's all free.

http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/default.asp?C=4

3) Definitely use Photoshop. 

4) Open a new file in 200 dpi (the same format as the SkeletonKey tiles, I think). Turn on your grid, and make sure it's set to 1" grid. Turn on SNAP TO GRID.

5) Make a new layer for each room. Name this layer whatever the room is named-- A1, A2, etc. Use the rectangular selection tool (including SHIFT to add + to your selection if necessary) to select out the shape of the room. Once you have the whole room selected, FILL that shape with the floor pattern you made.

Now you have a room that you can turn on and off as the players uncover the room.

6) Repeat this process for every room and for every (roughly) 60' of passageways-- basically, try to create your passageways so that you can reveal what you expect your players to see. Take note of distances, corners, etc.

7) Go back and CTRL-click on each room layer to select the entire room, then EDIT > STROKE to make "walls" around each room. Because the walls will overlap in some places, you will probably have to erase some sections, etc. I recommend a 25 pixel black stroke, centered on the selection outline.

If you need to do any erasing, just use the Rectangular selection tool (with the grid snap still on) to select the portion of wall you don't want and delete it.

8) Finally select your background layer and fill the entire layer with black.

9) If you want to go the extra mile, this is where you can start adding objects. For this you want to make a new Layer Set for each room, so that you can put all of the objects for each room into the same set, and turn them all on or off at once. Open your FILE BROWSER to the folder where you saved all those OBJECTS you collected from the User Art forums at Dundjinni, and start a little interior decorating.


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## Kris (Aug 9, 2007)

JDragon said:
			
		

> ...I would also like to be able to create my own for specific encounters as well as some templates to be able to quickly put a map together...



I don't know how well these images will work (as they are quite small) but here's the link to some maps that I've created (each 'tile' is a thumbnail):
http://www.enworld.org/CrookedStaffProductions/page19.html

I created them for use in the online game I run (using OpenRPG) but I guess they may be usable if you need to piece a few dungeon rooms/passages together to create your own layout.

But like I said they are quite small (each 5ft square is only 35x35 pixels) so they might look a bit blocky when projected to a suitable size for miniatures 

(also, apologies for all the annoying copyright stuff that appears on most of he images... I went a little overboard a while back when a few folks tried to claim that they had created some of my maps ...which kinda got me a little mad at the time  ).

I have a lot more still to add... mostly 'specific' areas like these...










...that I'll hopefully get round to eventually 

Anyway, it would be good to hear if they do turn out to be of use.


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## JDragon (Aug 11, 2007)

Thanks all for the info.

Pogre, yes I'm aware of Steel_Winds on going thread on using projectors, I have had it bookmarked since it first started.  I don't have NWN or NWN2 and have not been happy with the tile mapping options I've seen.

Mr. Ratebane, thanks for the info.  The one thing I'm actually trying to stay away from is including the grid in the image.  It just hasn't seemed to be a crisp as using the grid provided by PhotoShop.  I may check the tiles out and see if they would be good for a base for some stuff.  I've done the blacking out of rooms with the premade/home made maps and been very happy with the results as have my players.

Kris, thanks for the offer, I'll check those out and see how they do.  I'll post here when I have a chance to test them on the projector.  IT may be a while as I have a busy month this month which does not include much gaming. :-(


Has anyone used their projector maps for SW or Modern games?  Do you find the maps for these harder or easier?

Also the other thing I'm looking for is tricks to use in photoshop to make my images look better/cooler.

I've watched all of Palehorse's Videocasts from his ZNG Cartography site on Fantasy Cartography with photshop, which i've learned a huge amount from.  I'm just trying to figure out how to apply that stuff to maps for the projector.

Thanks

JD


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## catsclaw227 (Aug 11, 2007)

Kris said:
			
		

> I don't know how well these images will work (as they are quite small) but here's the link to some maps that I've created (each 'tile' is a thumbnail):
> http://www.enworld.org/CrookedStaffProductions/page19.html
> 
> I created them for use in the online game I run (using OpenRPG) but I guess they may be usable if you need to piece a few dungeon rooms/passages together to create your own layout.
> ...




Kris -- Your maps are excellent. I would love to see some kind of tutorial on how you make your villages, (buildings, paths, grass, trees, etc).  Where did you get your textures? Are they hand-made with photoshop clouds, colors and emboss, or do you take real textures and emboss them?  Particularily like the trees/bushes, and the underground rocky look for  solid areas.

CC


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## Kris (Aug 11, 2007)

catsclaw227 said:
			
		

> Kris...  ...where did you get your textures? Are they hand-made with photoshop clouds, colors and emboss...




Yeah... that's pretty much it... I've spent a lot of time tinkering with  lots of different options/filters/styles in photoshop until I got something I was reasonably happy with.

I've think I've come up with some better looking trees more recently ...though of course  they take longer to draw  . I guess I really need to start adding some of the wilderness areas I have been drawing to my site when I have time... but here's an example of the new trees:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c265/hador_goldenhead/stream2.jpg


And back on topic...
...there are some nice tiles on the following site (especially the ones by a guy name Ron Shirtz) that might be usable:
http://www.aginsinn.com/tiles.html


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