Information Grid Cartographer, New Tool for Drawing Classic RPG Maps

[FeelTheRads]

Hmm, speaking of always on top and such, did you consider making the program pop-up when you press and hold a key combination even if you have a game open in fullscreen? It would be on the screen only while holding that combination (or maybe make it toggable) and then disappear when you let go. Of course you should be able to edit the map while doing this.

Well, I guess this is not easy to do. Just giving you something to think about.

 

[deuxhero]

Cool that it exists I guess, but would require Alt-Tabbing and ruin my immersion.

Real men engrave maps in pig leather.

Games without automaps and make mapping important don't support modern res. Why not run it windowed?

 

[mindx2]

It would be on the screen only while holding that combination (or maybe make it toggable) and then disappear when you let go.

Make it toggable for gents like myself without the extra fingers, please. :D

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

v1.2.3 is out - color tinted edges and tiles are the main newness feature. Also check out the new CGA brush menu, I've probably spent far too long on that theme

http://www.davidwaltersdevelopment.com/tools/gridcart/

It's 2am here so I should probably sleep now

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

Hmm, speaking of always on top and such, did you consider making the program pop-up when you press and hold a key combination even if you have a game open in fullscreen? It would be on the screen only while holding that combination (or maybe make it toggable) and then disappear when you let go. Of course you should be able to edit the map while doing this.

Well, I guess this is not easy to do. Just giving you something to think about.

Yeah that would be pretty tricky and I'm also not sure it's the right thing to do. I'll put it on my list of things to ponder in the future. You basically want it to listen for a keypress and switch to Grid Cartographer. But you'd need to make sure that the game didn't care about that keypress - so you'd need it to be configurable since what holds true for one game doesn't necessarily hold true for all games. Could get a bit messy.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

Map export to an image file is next on my list - I hope it'll be useful for making Let's Plays.

 

[Insane Psychic]

Yes! Export to image would be awesome.
It is an awesome little program, although I primarily use it for P&P Battle map layouts, for which it is almost optimal compared to the confused messes that are otherwise out there.
Thumbs up Mr. Asbestos

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

Yes! Export to image would be awesome.
It is an awesome little program, although I primarily use it for P&P Battle map layouts, for which it is almost optimal compared to the confused messes that are otherwise out there.
Thumbs up Mr. Asbestos

I just exported this out of v1.2.5pro. Not much more to say really, Enjoy! http://www.davidwaltersdevelopment.com/tools/gridcart/

 

[Darth Slaughter]

BTW, besides auto-raise, a always-on-top feature would be useful, no? It would make it work like a mini-map...

I added this to v1.2.0, hope it helps.

This feature works only in window mode?

because I like playing full screen.

well, gess I'll have to leave my laptop by my side!

 

[felipepepe]

More of a rant than anything, I derped around and tried to copy Chaos Strikes Back map that I had already did in the Legend of Grimrock dungeon editor... gotta say that the LoG one looks way more "legible", with the elements clearly identifiable:

And sadly the toolbar doesn't help much the way it is, it needs something like clicing and holding/right-clicking on the icon allows you to select the other ones, because the way it is you need to go to the top menu anyway, so I ended using just it...

Anyway, it took me like 10 minutes to make the map, so it's pretty easy & quick to use.

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

More of a rant than anything, I derped around and tried to copy Chaos Strikes Back map that I had already did in the Legend of Grimrock dungeon editor... gotta say that the LoG one looks way more "legible", with the elements clearly identifiable:

And sadly the toolbar doesn't help much the way it is, it needs something like clicing and holding/right-clicking on the icon allows you to select the other ones, because the way it is you need to go to the top menu anyway, so I ended using just it...

Anyway, it took me like 10 minutes to make the map, so it's pretty easy & quick to use.

Thanks for the feedback! I've taken a good look at this comparison and I think the major issue are the pits looked too weedy and the pressure plates too much like solid blocks of colour. I've updated to v1.2.5b at the usual link and I hope you prefer the change. I would also suggest switching to a different theme as parchment uses quite a dark brown colour as it's main ink (as I believe it should) but some of the higher contrast themes might suit you better?

With regards to the toolbar, I understand what you mean but have you tried holding the <space> bar down and using that menu? That cuts out the need for the top menu for most editing tasks.

Glad you found it quick for your mapping!

I like playing full screen.

well, gess I'll have to leave my laptop by my side!

Yeah, sadly you'll need to run games in a window if you only have one monitor (like me). Full-screen games usually take over the graphics card and change display resolution, any switching to other programs restores the resolution back to your usual desktop size which takes a while and doesn't really work well with a 'companion app' like this. A laptop is probably your best bet if you want a full-screen game experience.

 

[mindx2]

Hidden Asbestos: Definitely like the pit and pressure plate look now. Makes them easier to see. Also wanted to say thanks again for the right mouse click to bring up the menu. Map-making is so much quicker for me now!

 

[Luzur]

i'll keep on doing them by hand, thank you.

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

v1.2.6 has been released. The focus has been on tightening up the brush a little bit - removing niggles I've had. Should be harder to misclick floors when you want a wall now. I've also added a 'none' ground brush to stop ground painting - you can only paint on grid edges in this mode.

Hidden Asbestos: Definitely like the pit and pressure plate look now. Makes them easier to see. Also wanted to say thanks again for the right mouse click to bring up the menu. Map-making is so much quicker for me now!

You're welcome. I've actually added this as a proper option now in the Edit > Preferences menu. You can quickly switch it on and off now without messing with config files.

i'll keep on doing them by hand, thank you.

Sorry to hear that. I assume you just straight-up prefer doing this with a pencil? I respect that - but if you have any specific ideas that I could work on to tempt you back then please let me know

 

[mindx2]

i'll keep on doing them by hand, thank you.

Sorry to hear that. I assume you just straight-up prefer doing this with a pencil? I respect that - but if you have any specific ideas that I could work on to tempt you back then please let me know

Don't worry about Luzur, he's just being grumpy and trying to be all "old school edgy." He's a true classics game bro though and collects old boxed games like I do.

 

[Luzur]

v1.2.6 has been released. The focus has been on tightening up the brush a little bit - removing niggles I've had. Should be harder to misclick floors when you want a wall now. I've also added a 'none' ground brush to stop ground painting - you can only paint on grid edges in this mode.

Hidden Asbestos: Definitely like the pit and pressure plate look now. Makes them easier to see. Also wanted to say thanks again for the right mouse click to bring up the menu. Map-making is so much quicker for me now!

You're welcome. I've actually added this as a proper option now in the Edit > Preferences menu. You can quickly switch it on and off now without messing with config files.

i'll keep on doing them by hand, thank you.

Sorry to hear that. I assume you just straight-up prefer doing this with a pencil? I respect that - but if you have any specific ideas that I could work on to tempt you back then please let me know

well....i like drawing overworld maps, and towns..

 

[mindx2]

well....i like drawing overworld maps, and towns..

I wish I had the hands to draw better as I would enjoy it as well . As it stands now drawing maps old-school just takes wayyyyyy too much time, time I'd rather be enjoying my game. It's why I've really enjoyed Hidden Asbestos 's program. For $5 and the amount of updating he's done is way more than I was expecting and a huge to him for his dedication!

 

[7hm]

Functionality on this has really come a long way in the last week and a bit since you originally posted. I really like the parchment effect.

Here's some Legend of Grimrock (second level) mapping:

 

[Gragt]

Bought it, enjoy my money.

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

Bought it, enjoy my money.

Thanks, will do!

Functionality on this has really come a long way in the last week and a bit since you originally posted. I really like the parchment effect.

Here's some Legend of Grimrock (second level) mapping:

Photobucket's being annoying and the image in your post isn't working for me, but I used my url editing skills to look at it in the gallery mode. Excellent job adding all the detail to that with the teleporters! I'm really happy with how that has turned out, even if I say so myself

Would you mind if I used it on my homepage? I'll drop a credit at the bottom of the page for you!

 

[7hm]

Photobucket's being annoying and the image in your post isn't working for me, but I used my url editing skills to look at it in the gallery mode. Excellent job adding all the detail to that with the teleporters! I'm really happy with how that has turned out, even if I say so myself

Would you mind if I used it on my homepage? I'll drop a credit at the bottom of the page for you!

No problem. Did you grab the fullsize one?

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

I think so. Uploaded now!

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

sadly the toolbar doesn't help much the way it is, it needs something like clicing and holding/right-clicking on the icon allows you to select the other ones, because the way it is you need to go to the top menu anyway, so I ended using just it...

Grab v1.2.7 - you can can right or double-click the door, wall and ground tile options to open the brush selection popup. Hope this helps

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

I gave my task tonight of learning how to write files with libpng and now, starting from v1.2.8, pro users can export images directly as PNG files. As you'd expect, these are dramatically smaller than BMP files in most cases!

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

v1.2.9 has just been released here: http://www.davidwaltersdevelopment.com/tools/gridcart/

It's a bit of a mixed bag but the main changes are:

* Added fill icon to toolbar. Equivalent to Edit > Fill or CTRL+Backspace, this is another way to fill an area of ground quickly.
* Improved the notes system (pro only) so you can change position of where you're adding a note after you've started by clicking another tile. It also now draws a rectangle around the tile you're editing, for clarity.
* New 'Simple Block' ground tile. It's the like the traditional block but without automatic walls.
* Added several options to a new View > Toolbar sub-menu so you can configure what's on there. Great for smaller windows.

... and a bunch of fixes and tweaks..

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

v1.3.0 is done. Main thing here is an edit button for notes and a few bugs fixed.

Happy Mapping!