After a restless night's sleep, both my wife and I woke up feeling slightly better this morning ... which is just as well, as we have to do the weekly visit to the supermarket today to make sure we have something to eat and drink. Last night, whilst I was in that state just between being awake and being asleep, I suddenly remembered that I had read or seen a review of a freeware vector graphics program that had been developed by gamers so that they could produce maps, dungeon plans etc for their games.
The name 'AutoREALM' stuck in my head, and this morning I searched for it ... and found it! I have now downloaded the program, and have found that it is actually quite easy to use once you have spent a bit of time mastering it.
N.B. The link to Andy Gryc's Official AutoRealm website does not go anywhere, but the program can be downloaded via the link on the left-hand sidebar.
Amongst its features, users can select the type of graph paper they want to use for their map or plan and the size of each graph square or hex. Users can also create their own symbols and shapes to use, and then store them in a file so that they can 'click and drag' them onto maps and plans in the future. In the example shown below, I have created some six-hex shapes that correspond to the basic elements of the Hexon II system. This took me only a matter of minutes to do ... and I can easily recreate shapes and symbols for all the Hexon II terrain items that I have in my collection.
AutoREALM might not be the best way to create my imagi-world map ... but it will be very useful for creating battlefield maps for future wargames.
The name 'AutoREALM' stuck in my head, and this morning I searched for it ... and found it! I have now downloaded the program, and have found that it is actually quite easy to use once you have spent a bit of time mastering it.
N.B. The link to Andy Gryc's Official AutoRealm website does not go anywhere, but the program can be downloaded via the link on the left-hand sidebar.
Amongst its features, users can select the type of graph paper they want to use for their map or plan and the size of each graph square or hex. Users can also create their own symbols and shapes to use, and then store them in a file so that they can 'click and drag' them onto maps and plans in the future. In the example shown below, I have created some six-hex shapes that correspond to the basic elements of the Hexon II system. This took me only a matter of minutes to do ... and I can easily recreate shapes and symbols for all the Hexon II terrain items that I have in my collection.
AutoREALM might not be the best way to create my imagi-world map ... but it will be very useful for creating battlefield maps for future wargames.
Bob - may also bring to your attention a few of the other mapping resources I've found and linked to on my main blog..
ReplyDeleteFirst:
http://www.imagineimage.org/gbgen/gbmain.htm
Design your own country demographics:
http://www.welshpiper.com/medieval-demographics-online/
...and finally:
http://axiscity.hexamon.net/users/isomage/wildgen/
...enjoy!
I'm glad that you at least read like you're feeling a bit better. Hopefully you lady wife is as well.
ReplyDelete-- Jeff
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteI am pleased you are both feeling better and are on the road to recovery. I downloaded Autorealm and boy is it impressive! I can see that it will certainly get a lot of use and at this stage I am focusing on scenario design rather than setting a world up - I will be using it for campaign maps for sure!
All the best,
DC
Steve-the-Wargamer,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the links to other mapping resources. As soon as I am back to feeling 100% I will have a serious look at them.
All the best,
Bob
Bluebear Jeff,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your best wishes.
My wife and I are slowly getting better, but we have some way to go before we are back to 100% fitness. In the meantime we are doing our best to cope until we are.
All the best,
Bob
David Crook,
ReplyDeleteI think that Autorealm has lots of possibilities, especially for campaign and battle maps. It did strike me that I could use the program to create special maps for one-off 'Art of Tactic' battles.
In the long-term it might be possible to create a set maps that, when put together, would make up an imagi-world atlas.
All the best,
Bob