27FEB09 First Map

I did it! I finally combined Inkscape (to do the hex grid) with GIMP (to turn the .png exported from Inkscape into a multi-layer Photoshop Document .psd file) so I could use Painter X to paint the background! So, you have a small village with the well and a battle field with several choke points to fight over. So far, no numbers yet...

Nuts and Bolts (short version):

1. Using Inkscape, I made a .65 inch high hexagon with .03 inch width stroke for line weight. I also made sure my document preferences were for US Letter size paper... Important! Inkscape defaults to A4, most of its development is done in Europe! When I was happy with where my hex grid was, and its alignment, I exported the entire page to .png format which allows RASTR editors like Photoshop or the GIMP to read it as a picture instead of a scalable vector graphics (.svg) file.

2. Using the GIMP (or Photoshop if you are rich enough, I know you aren't a pirate, if you are you need to try the GIMP... I've used the CS Demo and I'm not impressed with Photoshop...) I loaded the .png file. It starts out as black lines on a transparent sheet! Thats fantastic! Thats what makes it handy! I added another layer that was opaque white and moved it behind the hex grid. If I wanted to, I could start making my maps now by working on layers underneath the hex grid! After getting the background in place, I saved the file as a Photoshop Document (.psd).

3. Finally, I loaded the .psd file into Painter X. Painter X put up a background layer called 'canvas' behind my white background, so I deleted the white background and proceeded to add layers and build my map. Finally, I saved a copy in the .RIFF format for further editing using Painter X and exported a copy as a .jpg which we see here!

There you go, baby steps! Turning terrible twos!

Vista Sucks, avoid at all costs... Medieval Total War II: Kingdoms, buy on sight!

Sorry about the lack of updates of this blog lately. I should have some here shortly. However, I made the mistake of 'up-grading' to a desktop computer with the virus known as Microsoft Windows Vista... So I'm resolving that mistake with the company who made the computer, in fact, I'm on my second Vista box... I've already returned on unsatisfied to the retailer...

...on the good news side however, I have Corel Painter X on the way in the mail box. How does this effect gaming? Well, Corel Painter X is the top of the line RASTR graphics editing program on the market able to simulate painting in most traditional media virtually flawlessly... While exporting multi-layerd files in .png or .jpeg or .tiff formats where GIMP and Inkscape can be used to add stuff to them. In other words, I can paint terrain! Should prove an interesting challenge. Mainly for the fantasy or science fiction based surfaces. If I want modern, I'll dig up imagery from web and throw on a hex grid... However, I want a a unique map of some exotic world like Mars as described Edgar Rice Burroughs Warlord of Mars trilogy, or the some ice ball moon like Europa... I will have the ability to paint it. And then once I figure how to put the grid on it in Inkscape or GIMP, expect a tutorial or walk through!

I'm also plugging my way through a few books about Medieval Scotland, on top of getting distracted with Medieval Total War II: Kingdoms Britannia campaign... Worth every penny for this version of one of the finest computer Turn based strategy/Real Time Tactics (optional!) games produced.

Medieval Total War II is based on the game engine found in Rome Total War, and the rest of the Total War series. These games provide a turn based strategic map where you use your armies to capture important cities to command various regions on the game map. The Real Time Tactics (really just real time strategy, however, its a tactical battle map...) option is if you want to resolve a battle yourself involving your armies instead of allowing the computer to auto-resolve. This is a fantastic feature, however, it can really lengthen your game to command every battle. My recommendation is to command the battles where you don't have a good general present; those times when its just your units with no characters to lead them! The Kingdoms expansion the the Medieval Total War II game adds four new campaigns, all of them localized to particular theaters in the medieval world. So far I've played Britannia which focuses on the British Isles,(the countries of Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, and Norway on the northern tip of Scotland, the Orkney Islands and McKay/Sutherland...), and the Americas campaign (New Spain, Aztecs, Mayans, and New England and New France vying for power in Central America and the South East of North America).

Addictive like the rest of the series!