Incline Grid Cartographer - Best Tool for Drawing Classic RPG Maps

[Hidden Asbestos]

A quick update today about bringing Grid Cartographer 4 to GOG.com. I've received an official reply now but unfortunately they've declined it (on the basis of it being outside of the scope of the site). While I'm of course disappointed, I respect their decision to focus on games and movies.

Thanks again to everyone who has voted for Grid Cartographer on the community site, it means a great deal to me. Moving forward, I'm still developing version 4 and I look forward to sharing updates as further progress is made.

 

[Siveon]

Oh, well, screw 'em.

You could always try Steam Software I suppose. Don't know how that works though.

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

You could always try Steam Software I suppose. Don't know how that works though.

Yeah that'll eventually be my next port of call. I wanted to give GOG first dibs, plus their private submission process meant I could send them something less complete. Whereas greenlight is a public facing campaign for votes so I feel like I'll need to be more ready with a fully rounded v4 before I go there.

 

[octavius]

Aleshar - Word of Ice, made me finally/temporarily leave my pencil and notebook behind and move into the 21st century with the cool CRPG kids who use mapping software.
The maps are a bit too large for A4 papers (and my head) so this piece of software if perfect.
It sure looks neater than my hand drawn maps, but I guess I will be still using pen and paper for smaller maps, since it's quicker.

 

[udm]

We recently got a projector. I can't wait to see how this will work with maps being projected on the board and the party being moved forward in first person view.

It's amazing how far GC has come.

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

I'm not dead.

http://i.imgur.com/DIS5EQR.gif

There's lots left to do ... sorry to tease.

 

[J1M]

Didn't see this in the FAQ. Which file formats are supported for export?

ie. JSON is similar to XML and easier for someone using javascript or related web technologies.

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

Didn't see this in the FAQ. Which file formats are supported for export?
ie. JSON is similar to XML and easier for someone using javascript or related web technologies.

Version 3 Pro can export to PNG, OBJ and XML. The XML is kinda self-explanatory but isn't fully documented and would require a bit of effort to use.

To be honest though I'm not aware of it being used all that much as I've not had too much feedback on it. I'm actually considering dropping the advanced export features (not PNG, that's safe) for version 4 and focussing on ensuring the rest of the project is more polished.

I can see the benefits of JSON but it takes me further down that rabbit hole. That's not a bad thing in itself but it does pull me away from the core application and when I consider that time could be spent on better drawing tools or something it's harder to make a case for it.

In the far future, and take this as a day-dream rather than a stated goal, I think I would love to turn Grid Cartographer into a game development platform. Perhaps even as a spin-off product or as DLC / higher tier license. This would give it a proper budget and allow for not only export to formats suitable for use in Unity, et al. but also provide it's own game engine and allow you to make your own dungeon crawlers via a scripting language. The more I think of this plan, the XML export seems to fit more suitably in there and becomes less of a crucial feature for the GC people use when mapping CRPGs or creating table-top adventures.

 

[J1M]

Looking into a JSON representation may help you clean up/document your XML format. Even if it was just a post-processing step that converted your XML output to another representation, I think you'd find JSON a worthwhile feature to add.

 

[udm]

Hidden Asbestos Messed around with v3.0. I'm not sure what the specific new additions are since I haven't used v2 in a while, but I'm really digging this. Any plans for textured edges?

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

Hidden Asbestos Messed around with v3.0. I'm not sure what the specific new additions are since I haven't used v2 in a while, but I'm really digging this. Any plans for textured edges?

Hey thanks udm. There's lots new in v3. You can see the main highlights on the FAQ page on the website: http://www.davidwaltersdevelopment.com/tools/gridcart/

Unfortunately - I don't have plans to add full customisation of edge types in v4.0 (assuming that's what you're asking for), but I do plan to add more styles to what's already there and more as the v4.x series progresses. Top of my list are wall niches and key-hole walls - I'm happy to take more requests!

Currently I'm working on the UI:

It has lots of hard coded English text in there so that's slowly getting replaced with strings from an XML file (with the goal of full localisations being possible at some point down the line). I've also changed the colours a bit to increase contrast and overall tried to make it look a tiny bit sexier. I've also reworked the full screen menus to be 'responsive' so many of the pages now break into two columns to save on scrolling.

Hope you like it

 

[Grauken]

I'm replaying Wiz 6 right now together with Grid Cart and its a real blast, this really feels like making your own maps, but more convenient

anyway, my biggest problem initially was that I had no clue how erase something (even the double click with the same symbol I only found out due to an accident) or make notes, but since I had used the software earlier I knew something like that was in it, just couldn't find it
I had to look up the pdf in the program directory to find out how to access the other modes, which is the little grid cart icon on the upper left

what I wanted to say is, this is really not intuitive

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Any chance of getting curved edges (as in slices of circle) in v4? Exanima maps look a bit off from the original due to the lack of this.

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

I'm replaying Wiz 6 right now together with Grid Cart and its a real blast, this really feels like making your own maps, but more convenient

Thanks

anyway, my biggest problem initially was that I had no clue how erase something (even the double click with the same symbol I only found out due to an accident) or make notes, but since I had used the software earlier I knew something like that was in it, just couldn't find it
I had to look up the pdf in the program directory to find out how to access the other modes, which is the little grid cart icon on the upper left

what I wanted to say is, this is really not intuitive

This is good feedback, thanks.

As a test I added an internal switch that drops the G button and makes it a regular 'Home' tab:

Trying to look at it this impartially it does appear to be more obvious and conventional to users of other apps (like the MS Office suite), also it takes up less space.

The only 'keep it' arguments I can think of are that the 'G button' does add a bit of colour and character to the UI and it's familiar to existing v2 and v3 users. This is also the first time I'm aware that someone really mentioned it being a problem. I can only assume that everyone up until now is okay with it (perhaps begrudgingly) or super tolerant of design flaws

There's not a strong case to keep it really is there? I don't want to be that developer who won't listen to reason or change something especially because that's the way it's been done up until now.

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

Any chance of getting curved edges (as in slices of circle) in v4? Exanima maps look a bit off from the original due to the lack of this.

Couldn't quickly find any examples of a curve in Exanima, but basically like this mockup, 4 ways, right?

Sure, I'll pop that on the todo list!

(It's cool you're mapping such a modern game, didn't expect that!)

 

[Grauken]

If you want to keep it, make a simple 5 minutes tutorial that explains basic features to idiots like me, I even tried to find the answer in the FAQ on your website or your forum, but no luck

also true that I'm probably spoilt by office software, after some time you expect everyone to follow the same design principle

also, now that I know how it works I don't really mind, it's just that it drove me kind of crazy trying to figure out where these buttons were

 

[Grauken]

How about netpeek code for Wizardry 7? I know the game has its own map system, but I really enjoy doing my own maps via Grid Card and once I've finished Wiz 6 and I'd like to do the same there

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Any chance of getting curved edges (as in slices of circle) in v4? Exanima maps look a bit off from the original due to the lack of this.

Couldn't quickly find any examples of a curve in Exanima, but basically like this mockup, 4 ways, right?

Sure, I'll pop that on the todo list!

(It's cool you're mapping such a modern game, didn't expect that!)

Awesome, exactly what I need Curvy stuff starts on level 4, and is even more used on the so-called level 5 (though I consider this part of l4 as it does not look as if it is deeper than l4).

I will post my maps in Exanima thread once they are ready. Here are the links to what I posted recently http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/screenshot-thread.72409/page-716#post-4556838 In many place I just used normal corners where there should be rounded ones.

And here is our exanima thread http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/sui-generis-exanima-prelude-released.77528/page-14 - that game is just begging to be mapped in gc.

Another thing I'm missing is a generic scroll icon in the default icon set. I made something crappy myself using the custom tile feature, but it would be nice to have it standard.

I also would like the ability to remove field effect from multiple tiles. As it is now you can flood fill selection with one of fields, but can't easily remove it. This is really annoying as I use blue field to indicate what I have already explored on my current playthrough, so it's a pain to cleanup for a new one.

Anyways, GC is great stuff, keep up the good work!

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

How about netpeek code for Wizardry 7? I know the game has its own map system, but I really enjoy doing my own maps via Grid Card and once I've finished Wiz 6 and I'd like to do the same there

Game link support for Wizardry 7 would be great, of course, but as the Wizardry 6 profile isn't 100% complete I'd like to get that finished first.

Another thing I'm missing is a generic scroll icon in the default icon set. I made something crappy myself using the custom tile feature, but it would be nice to have it standard.

I also would like the ability to remove field effect from multiple tiles. As it is now you can flood fill selection with one of fields, but can't easily remove it. This is really annoying as I use blue field to indicate what I have already explored on my current playthrough, so it's a pain to cleanup for a new one.

Anyways, GC is great stuff, keep up the good work!

Thanks for the curve info, that's useful to see.

As for removing fields: you're right that the erase selection deletes everything and that's not always what you want. I'll think about a solution to this. btw. You can configure the Eraser tool to remove just fields from a tile and preserve other things. It's not the fastest way of clearing an area but it's quicker than single clicks on each tile. You can't erase specific field colours though, so I'll look at extending to support that.

 

[Grauken]

As i'm playing through W6, do you need saves from specific places in the game or just general feedback whether it works until the end?

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

As i'm playing through W6, do you need saves from specific places in the game or just general feedback whether it works until the end?

At some point you'll hit an area where the game link tracking no longer recognises your position. A save game just before entering one of those areas would be great, thanks! I can then send you an updated profile as a patch and you'll be able to carry on playing.

 

[Grauken]

okay, will do

 

[CptMace]

Bought a license when I started a M&M book I playthrough a few months ago.
Very good software, I don't use the linking system as it kinda kills the hidden teleporters design (or so I think ?) but it's a cool feature.

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

Bought a license when I started a M&M book I playthrough a few months ago.
Very good software, I don't use the linking system as it kinda kills the hidden teleporters design (or so I think ?) but it's a cool feature.

Thanks! And yes, the game link feature is technically spoilers for games that move you about in secret as you'll see the cursor on the map jump / spin.

That reminds me - I've added automatic game detection to game link 2.0 now so it's effectively zero config (besides running the custom .exe file). However if like yourself you don't want spoilers while you're taking advantage of the picture-in-picture split screen then I need to make sure there's an option to turn the tracking off.

edit: this is now an option - you can play split screen with no assistance at all.

 

[Hidden Asbestos]

You should know that your fellow RPG codex bro Grauken is being awesome and patiently helping my sorry ass through Wizardry 6. So far the game link profile has been extended with an entire extra area already, which is really great news.