Map making

[jexter]

Maybe someone knows any programs for map making which would suit Cantr?
Or maybe someone would be wiling to make a short tutorial how to make a map with MS Paint (cause not everyone knows how to handle more advanced programs ). I think it would be very useful to many players!

Cherrs,
Jexter

[ceselb]

I honestly think it'll be hard, if not downright impossible making maps in ms paint.
The basic functions you need aren't that difficult to learn, there are plenty of good tutorials online for beginners.

[jexter]

Hmmm but I saw really many maps made with, as I suppose, were made with MS paint I may be wrong though.

So which program would you recommend?

[SekoETC]

I once made such a tutorial for Spider but I already removed the file, it had pictures and everything. It's certainly not impossible to make maps in MsPaint and you can even make good ones if you got the skills, like me. I generally dislike maps that are a direct ripoff from the game, but there may be a need to use such a map as a base to make sure it is accurate. Later on you may choose to draw on top of it by hand to make it look original.

Anyway, with the circular maps you must note that the positioning of the towns is not accurate. They will move around by a few pixels so they cannot be used as landmarks.

It is best to save the map in it's full size without starting to resize it because you will lose data when resizing it. When you are ready to publish it, you can reduce size as much as you see fit.

If you have the direction markers turned on, the fastest way of removing them is to create a cutout with a circle that is exactly the same size as the map image and with opaque edges. When you copy map graphics from the game, paste them into the file where you have the cutout. Switch off "Draw Opaque". Select the cutout and move it on top of the round map image so that they are aligned precisely. Now you can flood fill the edges white and you will get rid of the direction markers with ease. Also remember to flood fill the orange dot white. Now select the round map, cut to clipboard and switch to your big map file. Do not save because you will need your cutout with every snapshot. (Unless you turn off directions.)

When in your big map file, there may be a need to stretch the drawing area and move the existing graphics so that there is room for the new snapshot. Once there is enough room, zoom in and paste. Now if you have sharp eyes (and draw opaque is still switched off) you should be able to align the map exactly. Don't let it go before it looks good on every size. The maps do align perfectly if you're doing it right. The only thing that distracts you is the town dots, since those will move around.

[Doug R.]

I use power point. There's probably as many different ways of making maps as there are players making them.

[jexter]

MS Power Point? But it's for presentation making, how are you able to make maps with it?

[Doug R.]

It's easy if you use the map squares instead of the map circles (just left click on the map to change it). Save the map image to your computer, and then import it into power point. Line the map squares up (changing the opacity helps to line up terrain details). Badda-bing, badda-boom. Done. No worrying about layers or any of that stuff. You can move each image forward or backward as necessary easily. I like power point because it's super easy to alter the map (draw lines, text, etc.) Everything seems a bit harder in programs like photoshop, and doing things in MS paint would be a nightmare.

It's what I use for work all the time, so it's what I know. I suspect most people make maps in whatever program they're most familiar with.

If you want to do more, like filling, shading, etc, you can save the PP image as a image file and then import it into your favorite image program. The only problem I've encountered with this, is that png files made by PP are not recognizable by web browsers for some dumb reason.

[jexter]

Sounds easy, I will definitely try it out. Thanks

[ceselb]

It's easy if you use the map squares instead of the map circles

Yes, but just wait until you get a viewer, the square doesn't change fyi...

Also, remember to publish it in game using a non-lossy format, so that others can build on your work. See here for more on that. (it's a pain to use someones cruddy old jpegs as a starting point, trust me on this)