If you've ever GM'd a game, you have probably asked yourself, "How can I improve my campaign and grab my players' interest?"
Since you're reading this, I assume you have access to some form of computer, or else you've perfected that Contact Internet spell.
Well the answer is as easy as folding "Flap A" into "Slot B": Utilize the computer you are using right now to create your gaming materials.
That's what The Digital Dwarf is all about - better role-playing (materials) through high technology.
In this issue we're going to look at using a drawing program to spice up your campaigns. I'll be specifically talking about Corel Draw, but you can really use any drawing program on any platform. I'm even going to show you how you can do many things with Microsoft Windows' Paintbrush applet.
First let's decide what items we normally produce when we create a campaign, module, dungeon, or whatever. The first thing that comes to mind are the omnipresent maps. Without a map your players aren't going anywhere. Next is the text of the adventure. We'll cover that one in a future issue. Next are the various bric-a-brac we give players (or should) to draw them into the game. This could be a scroll, a picture of a monster, a letter, or numerous other props.
In this issue we're going to look at the creation of maps.
There are several shareware programs designed specifically for creating game maps. These will be reviewed elsewhere in Apocrypha in later issues.
For now let's look at using a standard drawing package like Corel Draw.
The first thing you need is a grid. The two most popular types are the square grid and the hexagonal grid. Typically the square grid is used to map cities and the interiors of buildings, while the hex grid is used to map outdoor areas. There is also a 3D perspective grid that we might look at in a future issue.
To help you get started, I've included a square grid and a hexagonal grid for you to download. I've included several different formats so that more people can use them (not everyone has Corel Draw ). NOTE: You do not have to get all the different versions; typically one of each of the two types will be enough).
Click Here for a Corel CDR file (version 3 format) - 41 KB.
Click Here for a WMF (Windows Metafile) - 11 KB.
Click Here for a Mac PICT file - 11 KB.
Click Here for a GIF file - 31 KB.
Click Here for a BMP file - 113 KB.
Click Here for a Corel CDR file (version 3 format) - 800 KB.
Click Here for a WMF (Windows Metafile) - 306 KB.
Click Here for a Mac PICT file - 281 KB.
Click Here for a GIF file - 25 KB.
Click Here for a BMP file - 152 KB.
If you have Corel Draw version 3, 4 or 5, get the CDR version.
If you will be using a different drawing program under Windows , get the WMF version.
If you are using a Macintosh, get the PICT version. NOTE: I don't have a Macintosh, so I haven't tested these files. You may have to play with them a little to get them to work. Sorry.
If you are using a paint program rather than a drawing program (or are using a platform other than Windows or Macintosh ), get the GIF version or BMP version (get the BMP for Windows Paintbrush).
If you aren't sure whether to use a paint program (bitmap) or a drawing program (vector), keep in mind that typicallydrawing programs are better for drawing maps and paint programs are better for painting pictures.
The first thing you want to do is create a template. This just means that you save a copy of the grid in whatever program you will be using to do the drawing. Never draw on this template. When you want to start a new map, open the template and immediately do a "Save As" to the name of the new map. Just in case, you should keep a back-up copy of the template on a disk somewhere (trust me, it will eventually happen).
Once you have saved your grid under the name of your new map, you are ready to begin. If you are using a high-end drawing program that supports layers, you can save the grid on one layer and make different layers that show different information on top of it. Remember the dissection pictures in the encyclopedia with several clear plastic overlay pages that you could peel back and take away different organs from the person or frog shown? Layers let you do the same on your map. If you want to print each layer on an overhead transparency, you can even make one of those layered prints.
Some suggested layers might be:
If your software doesn't do layers, you can achieve the same effect by drawing the rough outline of your land surfaces and saving that as a template. Next you can create each of the layers as a separate file.
If you can do layers (like in Corel Draw), then you'll be able to do cool stuff like print maps showing the land with changing political boundaries over time, population densities and languages or races.
Once you have created your basic outline you can add anything you want in the map. Let's look at creating a map of the first level of the dungeon of a small keep (cliché as that is).
First we create our template as I discussed above.
Second we draw in the outline of the walls over top of the grid (we'll use the square grid). For the most part you can just use squares and straight lines, although an occasional room of odd shape can be interesting; just make sure you can justify it! Good dungeon design is beyond the scope of this article, but I'm sure there will be plenty such articles in future issues!
Third we'll place any features like doors, traps, etc. An easy way to do this is to create a set of stock pieces of clipart to use. This means we can just copy and paste the items into place.
Here are some suggested features you can use:
Click Here for a Corel CDR file (version 3 format) - 18 KB.
Click Here for a WMF (Windows Metafile) - 28 KB.
Click Here for a Mac PICT file - 18 KB.
Click Here for a GIF file - 3 KB.
Click Here for a BMP file - 49 KB.
Here is the first level of our generic keep.
Click Here to download the full-size GIF (51 KB).
This map was created using Corel Draw 5.0. There is a layer that contains just the grid; one that contains the walls; one that has the features like the doors, stairs, pit, etc.; one that has the spell and trap areas of effect (in red and yellow respectively); and one that contains the text.
If you wanted to do something like this in a paint program like Paintbrush, you could have opened the grid template and saved it as LAYER1.BMP. Next you could have drawn in the walls over the grid and saved it under the same name (after all you already have a grid template, so you don't need layer1 to be just a grid). Next you could have drawn in the features on the LAYER1.BMP file and saved that as LAYER2.BMP. After that you could have drawn in spell and trap areas of effect on the LAYER2.BMP file and saved it as LAYER3.BMP. Finally you could have added in the text and saved that as LAYER4.BMP.
Here is a sample world map (actually one continent of a world). To keep with the clichéd tradition, let's make it's name a variation on "earth" and call it Urth. As future issues of Aprocrypha come out, I'd like to build upon this map to create an entire campaign world that can be used with any RPG system.
Click Here to download the full-size GIF (50 KB).
OK, so far I've sounded like a Corel Draw salesman, but in all honesty there are several problems with the program. So that you don't run into those problems and blame me for not warning you, here are some of the problems I encountered.
First, if you use the lens function on several large areas, you could be in for a rude surprise when it comes time for the program to redraw the screen. Several times I found myself tapping the screen and peering at the little hour-glass icon wondering if it were just turning REALLY slowly, or if my PC had hung up. One remedy for this is to work in wire-frame view. It speeds the redraws, but you don't see what your drawing is actually going to look like.
Second, at one point I tried to load my drawing and it would not load at all. Corel would begin loading and then hang. To make sure it wasn't just loading slowly, I took my wife out for an afternoon shopping while the computer was loading. When we came back several hours later, the system was still hung. If you were wondering why the dwarf in my logo above chopped up his PC, now you know (he's the original hacker). Turns out I had to put Corel into wire-frame view in order to load the drawing. Go figure.
Third, several of the export filters just plain don't work well. My goal was to offer the pictures above in bunches of formats, but Corel Draw had other plans...
Finally, in Corel's defense, they provide the greatest number of features for the lowest price of any draw program I've ever seen (and I've seen most of them). Unfortunately, they don't seem to worry as much about stability and fixing bugs. That means you get a huge number of features, most of which work most of the time...
Well, that's it for this issue. In the next issue we'll look at really spicing things up by creating sound effects and narration.
Copyright © 1995 Apocrypha, All Rights Reserved.
Questions and comments are most welcome. Send them to alesh@pobox.com
