Greetings fellow citizens of the Multiverse!
Again, sadly, IRL stuff has taken hold of my time and I have been unable to write in here as often as I might have liked.
I have been getting some stuff done though. I have FINALLY been able to make a map that I am half-way decently satisfied with for my world-building project. It is a map of the northern-most continent, and I am very happy to have it mostly done. I am still tweaking it and changing bits and pieces here and there, but the general lay-out of it should be ok. I've been wanting to have these maps done for quite some time now as I feel that they (this map and other ones I have in the pipeline) will help me visualize the world more clearly. It is one thing having a bunch of pages of written text, but once you see it come alive on a map it really helps bring it all to life. At least for me it does. Also the maps help me to keep track of things.
As the eagle-eyed reader might have noticed, yes, that means I have been spending time learning to use Campaign Cartographer 3+. It and I are slowly coming to an understanding. It still has a few things about it that annoys me from time to time, but then again no program can do everything. And honestly, half the times it is probably (it is) I who have done something wrong and the program is simply doing what I just told it to do.
Overall I would say that CC3+ is a very good program for map-making. I do think I will need to sink some more money into it in the long-run if I want to be able to make all the maps properly that I want to make. Though that is for later.
On the world-building front there has also been a bit of writing done. Not as much as I would have liked perhaps, but then again a lot of that time has gone into the map-making instead, so I guess it is for a good cause.
I really can't wait for the time when I have the world at such a stage that I can try playing some kind of tabletop RPG in it with friends. :) Which tabletop RPG that might be though, I haven't got a clue yet. I might even end up running with the home-made rule-set I have been working on. In a way, I am kind of hoping that I can do that. It would be fun to try out a rule-set that has actually been made for that world. But we shall see.
Time for me to sign off for now.
Until next time!
Visar inlägg med etikett Map Making. Visa alla inlägg
Visar inlägg med etikett Map Making. Visa alla inlägg
onsdag 16 november 2016
söndag 30 oktober 2016
Map-making for my World-building
Greetings and welcome once more to the tabletop multiverse.
In today's post I will be going back to discussing my world-building project, and map-making for said project to be precise.
In the last few days I have been practicing my map-making skills and learning how to use Campaign Cartographer, or Campaign Cartographer 3+ to be precise. As I am learning more and more about the program I am coming to the realization that it is a really good program for map-making, albeit a bit much to learn for a newbie map-maker such as myself. In the beginning I think I was struggling a bit with my own wish to be good at it straight from the get-go, and to be able to make really good maps, and especially the maps that I wanted to make, right from day 1. Of course I know that something like that isn't really possible, and I have moved away from that into finally actually practicing with the program and making practice maps. I still feel like I am learning something new every day I practice with it, which I suppose is good, and there are still a lot of question-marks that I need answered before I start going into making the actual maps that I need.
As I said before, Campaign Cartographer 3+ is a really good program, and it had better be considering the price. I am still a novice at the whole map-making thing and so I realize that I am probably making a lot of mistakes, and doing things the wrong way, when I really don't need to. If anyone out there is really good at using that particular program feel free to send me a message. I could do with some advice in finding good tutorials etc, as well as some pointers.
So, why am I so into making maps at the moment, you may ask? The reason is quite simple really. I have a lot of written material for my world-building now. Probably enough to fill 3 or 4 different continents, at least mostly, with cultures, civilizations, races, etc. Now I need the maps to get a better visual on how everything fits together. I have it in my head, but I think it will be immensely helpful to have visual maps to look at as well. I don't need anything super-detailed, but enough for me to get a view of the general layout of various regions, where the mountains and mountain-ranges are, the woods, rivers, lakes, major cities and towns, etc, and how it all relates to one-another.
I am sure I will get to that point eventually. I just need to learn how to do it first, and how to make decent looking maps that will work for what I need them for.
A couple of things I miss in Campaign Cartographer - though it might just be that I haven't found those specific functions yet - is a way to just mark something and then click to see what is effecting it at the moment, what sheet and layer it is on, etc. Sort of just to get a good view of it as I have on several occasions been bewildered as to why an item or thing on the map is behaving the way it is, or why a command suddenly isn't making it do what it did before any more. Another thing I am missing is a measuring device. Something along the lines of what AutoREALM has where you can measure distances in feet, meters, miles, kilometers, or even things such as 'days travel by horse' or 'days by sailed galley'. I know this exists because I have tinkered and experimented with AutoREALM a bit in the past, but not many maps have really been produced from it and in any case no maps that have had any real purpose or seen any use.
That's about it for this time, I think.
Until next time.
In today's post I will be going back to discussing my world-building project, and map-making for said project to be precise.
In the last few days I have been practicing my map-making skills and learning how to use Campaign Cartographer, or Campaign Cartographer 3+ to be precise. As I am learning more and more about the program I am coming to the realization that it is a really good program for map-making, albeit a bit much to learn for a newbie map-maker such as myself. In the beginning I think I was struggling a bit with my own wish to be good at it straight from the get-go, and to be able to make really good maps, and especially the maps that I wanted to make, right from day 1. Of course I know that something like that isn't really possible, and I have moved away from that into finally actually practicing with the program and making practice maps. I still feel like I am learning something new every day I practice with it, which I suppose is good, and there are still a lot of question-marks that I need answered before I start going into making the actual maps that I need.
As I said before, Campaign Cartographer 3+ is a really good program, and it had better be considering the price. I am still a novice at the whole map-making thing and so I realize that I am probably making a lot of mistakes, and doing things the wrong way, when I really don't need to. If anyone out there is really good at using that particular program feel free to send me a message. I could do with some advice in finding good tutorials etc, as well as some pointers.
So, why am I so into making maps at the moment, you may ask? The reason is quite simple really. I have a lot of written material for my world-building now. Probably enough to fill 3 or 4 different continents, at least mostly, with cultures, civilizations, races, etc. Now I need the maps to get a better visual on how everything fits together. I have it in my head, but I think it will be immensely helpful to have visual maps to look at as well. I don't need anything super-detailed, but enough for me to get a view of the general layout of various regions, where the mountains and mountain-ranges are, the woods, rivers, lakes, major cities and towns, etc, and how it all relates to one-another.
I am sure I will get to that point eventually. I just need to learn how to do it first, and how to make decent looking maps that will work for what I need them for.
A couple of things I miss in Campaign Cartographer - though it might just be that I haven't found those specific functions yet - is a way to just mark something and then click to see what is effecting it at the moment, what sheet and layer it is on, etc. Sort of just to get a good view of it as I have on several occasions been bewildered as to why an item or thing on the map is behaving the way it is, or why a command suddenly isn't making it do what it did before any more. Another thing I am missing is a measuring device. Something along the lines of what AutoREALM has where you can measure distances in feet, meters, miles, kilometers, or even things such as 'days travel by horse' or 'days by sailed galley'. I know this exists because I have tinkered and experimented with AutoREALM a bit in the past, but not many maps have really been produced from it and in any case no maps that have had any real purpose or seen any use.
That's about it for this time, I think.
Until next time.
torsdag 6 oktober 2016
Reflections on my world-building project and mechanics
Greetings fellow tabletop enthusiasts!
A lot is going on over here with regards to IRL stuff, so I once again apologise for the lack of posts. However this blog is something I am doing out of my own free will because I like it, and it is not earning me any money, so I am not really sure why I just apologised for not blogging more often. XD lol Oh well.
I'm still working on my world-building project, as well as finding that I have renewed energy to work on the game mechanics for it as well. Not to mention I might have found another little game-mechanics side-project that I am also working on. It might seem like much, but switching between the two helps keeping me from getting too tired of one project, and both projects also help spawn ideas for eachother, so that is good. Yes. I am talking about game mechanics for tabletop RPGs here. :)
While the first set of mechanics is meant to be used with the world I am also creating, if I ever get to run a tabletop RPG game in it, the second set of mechanics is a bit different. They have nothing to do with the world I am building, but is more meant to be used for a Noir-style game, or a heist-game or similar thing. It feels different than what I am making for my world, and it should. Again, neither of these systems will probably ever be made into something I will sell or any kind of official product, but even if I am just intending for them to be used by me and my friends (if the systems ever get that far in development that is), I still want to do it right and not just take an already existing system, add a few houserules and be done with it. I'm not saying that doing it that way is wrong however, I am only saying that I want to try and build it from scratch instead. I enjoy the challenge. Admittedly, chances are that in the end some rules might be similar to things that already exist elsewhere, etc. It is almost impossible to do something completely, 100% original, as so many game systems already exist out there. But hey, if it is just for me and my friends, I don't really think it matters. :)
Sadly I have not been practising my map-making skills any more lately. I really should get back to that, but I rarely seem to find the time, or something else has my attention instead. I will try and get back to it when I can, but I have learned not to force it or promise too much. I will get to it when I get to it, basically. Maps will be a useful tool for me, I know this. They will act as a reference point as I continue to build the world. Writing is all good, but it isn't until I put it down on a map that I can see the actual relations and borders between different nations, cultures and races. It is an invaluable tool for me.
I think that is all for this time.
See you all later!
A lot is going on over here with regards to IRL stuff, so I once again apologise for the lack of posts. However this blog is something I am doing out of my own free will because I like it, and it is not earning me any money, so I am not really sure why I just apologised for not blogging more often. XD lol Oh well.
I'm still working on my world-building project, as well as finding that I have renewed energy to work on the game mechanics for it as well. Not to mention I might have found another little game-mechanics side-project that I am also working on. It might seem like much, but switching between the two helps keeping me from getting too tired of one project, and both projects also help spawn ideas for eachother, so that is good. Yes. I am talking about game mechanics for tabletop RPGs here. :)
While the first set of mechanics is meant to be used with the world I am also creating, if I ever get to run a tabletop RPG game in it, the second set of mechanics is a bit different. They have nothing to do with the world I am building, but is more meant to be used for a Noir-style game, or a heist-game or similar thing. It feels different than what I am making for my world, and it should. Again, neither of these systems will probably ever be made into something I will sell or any kind of official product, but even if I am just intending for them to be used by me and my friends (if the systems ever get that far in development that is), I still want to do it right and not just take an already existing system, add a few houserules and be done with it. I'm not saying that doing it that way is wrong however, I am only saying that I want to try and build it from scratch instead. I enjoy the challenge. Admittedly, chances are that in the end some rules might be similar to things that already exist elsewhere, etc. It is almost impossible to do something completely, 100% original, as so many game systems already exist out there. But hey, if it is just for me and my friends, I don't really think it matters. :)
Sadly I have not been practising my map-making skills any more lately. I really should get back to that, but I rarely seem to find the time, or something else has my attention instead. I will try and get back to it when I can, but I have learned not to force it or promise too much. I will get to it when I get to it, basically. Maps will be a useful tool for me, I know this. They will act as a reference point as I continue to build the world. Writing is all good, but it isn't until I put it down on a map that I can see the actual relations and borders between different nations, cultures and races. It is an invaluable tool for me.
I think that is all for this time.
See you all later!
söndag 11 september 2016
A world-building project
Greetings!
For a while now I have been working on building a fantasy world. It is not something I am making for a specifit tabletop roleplaying campaign, or anything like that. Instead, it is something I am doing because I love doing it. Because I wanted to see what I could make if I gave myself complete creative freedom and didn't tie myself down by time-limits or to a specific adventure. I love building worlds, and the creative process that goes into it. Making all the pieces fit together, and making it both wonderous as well as making it make sense in some way. I find it all to be a very interesting intellectual challenge. :)
A friend of mine, who is also someone I have played tabletop roleplaying games with on occasion, has however convinced me to run a campaign in this world at some point. It will happen, but I will let the world take shape first and have the campaign be inspired by the world rather than the other way around.
The same friend has also convinced me to work on a game system for this campaign, rather than just using something that is already availiable. I was very hesitant at first, as I have never done anything like that before, but now I have found that I quite enjoy it and that I really find it an interesting intellectual challenge as well. Granted, it most likely won't ever be anything that I will make any money off of, but rather it will with 99% certainty only be a system that I use when playing in this particular fantasy world with my friends. That spare 1% is missing because life has taught me that you can never be 100% sure. Still, even though I am not planning on making an actual tabletop RPG out of it and selling it, I still find the creative process to be so much fun that I actually am putting a lot more effort into it than I originally thought I would.
So far the world-building has been going well, for the most part at least. I have material for about four different continents at the moment, but I need to put everything together. There are so many ideas in my head that I want to somehow incorporate into this world, but I know I can't use them all. So some might be saved for a later project or campaign. That being said, I already have ideas for probably two or three other worlds as well, so the left-over materials will definitelly get used.
Until next time!
For a while now I have been working on building a fantasy world. It is not something I am making for a specifit tabletop roleplaying campaign, or anything like that. Instead, it is something I am doing because I love doing it. Because I wanted to see what I could make if I gave myself complete creative freedom and didn't tie myself down by time-limits or to a specific adventure. I love building worlds, and the creative process that goes into it. Making all the pieces fit together, and making it both wonderous as well as making it make sense in some way. I find it all to be a very interesting intellectual challenge. :)
A friend of mine, who is also someone I have played tabletop roleplaying games with on occasion, has however convinced me to run a campaign in this world at some point. It will happen, but I will let the world take shape first and have the campaign be inspired by the world rather than the other way around.
The same friend has also convinced me to work on a game system for this campaign, rather than just using something that is already availiable. I was very hesitant at first, as I have never done anything like that before, but now I have found that I quite enjoy it and that I really find it an interesting intellectual challenge as well. Granted, it most likely won't ever be anything that I will make any money off of, but rather it will with 99% certainty only be a system that I use when playing in this particular fantasy world with my friends. That spare 1% is missing because life has taught me that you can never be 100% sure. Still, even though I am not planning on making an actual tabletop RPG out of it and selling it, I still find the creative process to be so much fun that I actually am putting a lot more effort into it than I originally thought I would.
So far the world-building has been going well, for the most part at least. I have material for about four different continents at the moment, but I need to put everything together. There are so many ideas in my head that I want to somehow incorporate into this world, but I know I can't use them all. So some might be saved for a later project or campaign. That being said, I already have ideas for probably two or three other worlds as well, so the left-over materials will definitelly get used.
Until next time!
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