Finding Maps

[Dan]

There are literally hundreds of maps for use with d20pro. Here are some of my favorite sites to snag from.

Dundjinni User Forums: Maps
http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_topics.asp?FID=6
This site really cannot be complimented enough. With over 1800 posts on this section alone, you will find HUNDREDS of maps for your campaign. Browse or use the search function!

The Mad Mapper
http://www.educatedgamer.net/gallery/
My own hosted site for maps from me, Supercaptain, and Cisticola. My maps are ok, but Supercaptain and Cisticola are simply incredible. This site has a full section of maps for some Dungeon Crawl Classics, plus some Dungeon Magazine maps.

WOTC Map Gallery
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/ag
Not finding enough maps? Grab a few hundred more here, from the official D&D producers. Note that they are organized by sourcebook, so you can easily find the maps for Red Hand of Doom, or Castle Ravenloft, for example.

RPG Mapshare
http://rpgmapshare.com/
Lots more maps made by enthusiasts. Some here are superb, with very high resolutions.

Creative Gremlins
http://www.creativegremlins.com
A premier map site that just started. Content is growing, and is done by some of the best mappers out there. Click on the Gallery and the Marketplace.

[ogexam]

These are amazing links, Thanks Dan!

You almost do not need to make a map, if you can normally find exactly what you are looking for or something close enough that you can just change the module just a little to fit!

[markmad]

I have used dunginni and am used to the defualt map size, I have done some experiments in photoshop and have comped maps that are of larger pixel resulutoins. something like 1000 pixels by 1000 pixels, but I want to go even larger. Before I build such a huge map I was just wondering if there is a pixel resolution you would stop at.

[markmad]

I just found this great site with a map making randomizer. the maps come up to be half the pixel resolutions of dunjinni maps so you will have to a grid adjust to about half the square size. The maps from this site are actually cool and I have used this site to make some fast maps.

http://www.gozzys.com/article.php?cm_id=8

[Dan]

So far, there is no limit to the map size. IF you use maps that are larger than 2 MB in file size you will need to run d20pro from the .bat file (and possibly edit that file to allocate more memory). See this article on our help wiki: http://help.mindgene.com/advanced/system-tweaks

I've personally used a map that was 7,000 x 9,000 pixels, a whopping 8.6 MB jpeg! It's the 1st dungeon level to the Temple of Elemental Evil (nab it at my website), so that pretty much set the benchmark for what d20pro could handle without problem.

[Thurgian]

There doesn't seem to be a functional limit to the size of the map. However, there is a limitation on the number of "units" that can be placed upon the map.

Granted the limit is fairly large, and most people will never encounter it (and I won't encounter it again).

The final battle of my groups ToEE campaign is a plot hook into the next campaing, and includes a truly epic battle (thousands of combatants on each side). Setting up the last battle was quite time consuming; and you can imagine my frustration when I discovered that even when eeking out the very last drop of memory for Java I could not load my map ...

I do wish that the software had a mechanism to report when you are approaching the saturation level. However, in the mean time, I came up with an acceptable solution.

Upon recreating my map, I reloaded my map in 500 creature increments (making alternate saves for each step).
When I reached the point that the map would no longer load (some 2000 creatures short of the total), I resorted to only placing the creature at the beginning of each row.
So, when I actually use the battle I will only have to spend a few minutes to highlight the left-most column of creatures, and use the "duplicate" feature to populate the remainder of my map.

In case you are curious, no the encounter will not utilize traditional encounter rules (More of a custom variation on the rules from "Risk").

[Dan]

Remember the Clone shortcut key = C now!

Good solution, and happy gaming!

[Lord Elderon]

That is awesome. I wish you had some screen shots to share form that battle.

Best regards and happy gaming,

Nick

[Thurgian]

The battle is the finale for the current campaign, and is still a few weeks away.

I will snag some screenshots when my players finally make it there.