Over the past months, I have recieved scores of private messages and emails from fans asking to buy my maps. I wanted to announce that I am very close to working out a deal with a local printer to print atleast two of these maps in a small run of a few hundred. Once I have maps 11 and 12 finished and posted on this blog, I will be adding a poll where everyone will be able to vote on which two maps will be printed. Currently I am hoping that when everything is said and done I can price these at around $20 for two maps.
I'll have more details in the next few weeks. In the meantime, feel free to give a shout out either here or on HCRealms to lobby for your favorite map (except for the Martian Balls April Fool's map which for the good of humanity will never be printed.)
Next map... we get mythical.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Map 10 of 26: The Dark Alley
Yup, I'm not on pace to hit 26 maps in 52 weeks. With tonight's submission, I'm about 2 maps behind where I should be. So while my goal is definitely farther away than it should be, it's not out of sight.
One of the playing fields I've wanted to see for a long time is your typical grungy and dark alley. All the good urban heroes tend to bust criminal tail in this environment. You can easily imagine Daredevil, Batman, Spawn or the Green Hornet chasing down some goons on this map.
With only 16 x 24 squares to work with, it's difficult to provide adequate spacing for all the urban nooks and crannies you want to depict. The unique thing about this map is that line of fire from elevated terrain to elevated terrain is unblocked by obstacles, but there isn't a lot of opportunity for unobstructed line of fire from grounded to grounded level.
The other thing I wanted to do was a bit of seediness to this map, so I figured a small adult entertainment center was in order.
The last unusual feature is the placement of the starting zones. I would have liked to drape the starting areas across the top and bottom of this map but the intersections between clear terrain, elevated terrain, and starting areas was difficult to depict.
One of the playing fields I've wanted to see for a long time is your typical grungy and dark alley. All the good urban heroes tend to bust criminal tail in this environment. You can easily imagine Daredevil, Batman, Spawn or the Green Hornet chasing down some goons on this map.
With only 16 x 24 squares to work with, it's difficult to provide adequate spacing for all the urban nooks and crannies you want to depict. The unique thing about this map is that line of fire from elevated terrain to elevated terrain is unblocked by obstacles, but there isn't a lot of opportunity for unobstructed line of fire from grounded to grounded level.
The other thing I wanted to do was a bit of seediness to this map, so I figured a small adult entertainment center was in order.
The last unusual feature is the placement of the starting zones. I would have liked to drape the starting areas across the top and bottom of this map but the intersections between clear terrain, elevated terrain, and starting areas was difficult to depict.
Oh and one other thing, this map does line up from side to side.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Map 9 of 26: Deadly Cargo
Two maps in one evening!?! What the heck is happening?
So there has been some back log in my mapping. I've got maybe 30 half-started maps in the works. A lot of times I see map requests and I've already got some of the framework started.
A few days ago XFORCE1982 over at HCRealms posted that he was looking for a spaceship map with some alien eggs. I knew I had downloaded some eggs previously from the Dundjinni forums, so I thought this would be one I could knock out of the park.
Dundjinni is great for a lot of things, but seamless tiling is not one of them. Once I exported this as a bitmap out of Dundjinni and into Corel Paint Shop Pro there were hundreds of off kilter lines that had warp outside their respective grid. It took a few nights of work to get this looking tolerable.
Another big dilemma was how to transition the hatches from interior ship to open outer space. I think the way I handled this works and the more transparent lines at the entrances make sense.
So XFORCE1982, I hope this works and maybe if we're lucky XFORCE1982 will take a few pictures of the map in action for the blog!
I'll see you again in a few days!
So there has been some back log in my mapping. I've got maybe 30 half-started maps in the works. A lot of times I see map requests and I've already got some of the framework started.
A few days ago XFORCE1982 over at HCRealms posted that he was looking for a spaceship map with some alien eggs. I knew I had downloaded some eggs previously from the Dundjinni forums, so I thought this would be one I could knock out of the park.
Dundjinni is great for a lot of things, but seamless tiling is not one of them. Once I exported this as a bitmap out of Dundjinni and into Corel Paint Shop Pro there were hundreds of off kilter lines that had warp outside their respective grid. It took a few nights of work to get this looking tolerable.
Another big dilemma was how to transition the hatches from interior ship to open outer space. I think the way I handled this works and the more transparent lines at the entrances make sense.
So XFORCE1982, I hope this works and maybe if we're lucky XFORCE1982 will take a few pictures of the map in action for the blog!
I'll see you again in a few days!
Map 8 of 26: Mighty Pants
So I play a lot of games and these games force me into acquiring a lot of stuff. Scientific notation would need to be used to count the point cost of all my painted and unpainted Warhammer 40K figures. I'm currently painting both a 28mm Carthaginian army and a 28mm WWI German army. I have shelves of old D&D, Marvel Saga, & West End Star Wars rules. There are binders full of Overpower and the decipher Star Trek CCG.
And then there are shelves of hero miniature games. The closet is full of colossal, never-biodegrading gaming goodness: two Galacti, one big Spectre, a Starro, a Sinestro, three Sentinels, one Advanced Sentinel, two Anti-Monitors and one Foom.
That's right one... one, big, buck naked Foom. Sure, I'd like me an Orange Foom. I'd like me the purple-panted Foom as well. But I need to make room for Dr. Manhattan and I still have yet to find room for the Great Cthulhu.
But the panted Foom calls me. He adds no different game play. But he's a dragon that wears short shorts. That's silver-aged awesome. I want him so, but the house, garage, attic and basement are stuffed with useless gaming crap.
What I like more about Foom owning pants is that it means there are times when he chooses to wear or not wear pants. Owning pants means you may own a dresser or a closet. They need to be cleaned, hemmed and maintained. I'd venture to say most of us own the commando, unabashed Foom. Many like me may want the more modest Foom as well. Many of you might have questioned where the pants go when he's not wearing them.
So for all you inquisitive and greedy collectors out there, I give you Mighty Pants, a hidden place behind the Great Wall where the Foom can let dangle his great balls.
And then there are shelves of hero miniature games. The closet is full of colossal, never-biodegrading gaming goodness: two Galacti, one big Spectre, a Starro, a Sinestro, three Sentinels, one Advanced Sentinel, two Anti-Monitors and one Foom.
That's right one... one, big, buck naked Foom. Sure, I'd like me an Orange Foom. I'd like me the purple-panted Foom as well. But I need to make room for Dr. Manhattan and I still have yet to find room for the Great Cthulhu.
But the panted Foom calls me. He adds no different game play. But he's a dragon that wears short shorts. That's silver-aged awesome. I want him so, but the house, garage, attic and basement are stuffed with useless gaming crap.
What I like more about Foom owning pants is that it means there are times when he chooses to wear or not wear pants. Owning pants means you may own a dresser or a closet. They need to be cleaned, hemmed and maintained. I'd venture to say most of us own the commando, unabashed Foom. Many like me may want the more modest Foom as well. Many of you might have questioned where the pants go when he's not wearing them.
So for all you inquisitive and greedy collectors out there, I give you Mighty Pants, a hidden place behind the Great Wall where the Foom can let dangle his great balls.
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