Mapping questions
Adrien Beau
Gary Leighton wrote:
> I was thinking more along the lines of another computer
> program that runs in parallel with the game (on multi-tasking
> OS's), that allows you to type in map location details and
> draws a graphical map. Are there any programs like that?
I've used pen and paper for years, but have found that I always
had to redraw the map at some point because it was becoming too
cluttered.
Then, as I was playing more and more IF, I looked for a program
that would allow me to draw boxes and some text, and most
importantly, to move them around.
On Microsoft Windows, the program of choice seems to be
Microsoft Visio, but it is not free and far from cheap. Since I
prefer to use Linux anyway, I have settled my choice on Dia,
which is a similar program. While not on a par with Visio, it
works well enough for my mapping purposes. Notably, Dia has
almost no documentation, and lacks a - real-life - project
manager. Hopefully, the program is rather easy to use once you
accept to spend some time analyzing how it works, especially if
you know the Gimp. Hey, consider this task as a game! ;)
Homepage of Dia
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~alla/dia/
Daily CVS snapshots of the source code
http://zamok.crans.org/~chepelov/dia/snapshots/
Here's a summary of how I work with Dia: I have assigned easy
shortcuts to the objects I use the most, namely B for box, T
for text, L for line, Z for bezier line and G for snap-to-grid.
I have assigned a default font and font size by double-clicking
on the tools buttons - this feature is not documented! I also
make heavy usage of cut and paste, the basic unit of my work
being a "box and text". This work procedure is not optimal yet.
There still is a lot of clicking to do.
These past few weeks, I have toyed with the idea of making
custom "IF" shapes for Dia. Right now, my maps only contain the
names of the rooms and the links between them. I think adding
some more notes such as important objects and NPCs might be a
good idea, but I also want to avoid cluttering the map too much.
Well, you might wonder how this looks like? I haven't done many
maps yet, having recently only played short or puzzleless IF,
but I'm quite proud of my Anchorhead map, which is the only
serious map I have done with Dia. I also have a 1893 map in the
early stages, and a Varicella map, which is the first map I
tried to draw with Dia.
Here are some notes on the Anchorhead map. By the way, go play
it now, or you'll be slightly SPOILED if you keep reading.
* Dashed-lines mean that there is a change of level. There is
no distinction between up and down, because I have not needed
it yet. This is where developing custom shapes for Dia, such
as small stylised up and down stairs, might be useful.
* Filled-triangle arrows mean that the path is unidirectional.
* Filled-boxes mean the path is bloqued. Of course, I used it a
lot while I was exploring the game, and few remain in the
final version.
* Simple arrows are used to unclutter the map or to mean some
sort of teleportation was involved. I have also used them for
the two mazes you can find in Anchorhead; they make the mazes
much easier to understand than my first baroque attempt.
* Bezier lines are great to represent changes of directions and
other twisty passages that cannot really be drawn using
straight lines. They allow you to have very clean curves, and
are simple to manipulate.
* Since Dia displays the pages boundaries on the diagram, it
was rather easy and very interesting to try to keep locations
within pages boundaries, without splitting a box between two
pages. It turns out however that the printed version has a
big problem: you have no indication about the relation
between the pages, which is rather puzzling. I never meant to
print the map, however, so I'm not too bothered.
Enough rambling, here are the links to the maps. Ha, no, still
a few more notes before that!
I have exported the map in three different formats, and have
also printed it as a PostScript file. The .eps file should be
readable on sufficiently advanced image editors. On Unix, you
can use Gv to view it, and it looks quite great! The .svg
format is rather new, but I know that a viewer is shipped with
Windows XP at least. Adobe offers a reader on their site, too,
but I've never used SVG before, so I can't be of much help.
Finally, the .png file is there for those who can't read the
afore-mentioned formats. Eog on Linux displays such a big image
just fine.
As I said above, the printed, .ps version is quite puzzling.
Here's the order in which to put the pages if you want to:
1
2 3
4 5 6
7 8
9 10 11
In case you haven't understood it yet, please note that
downloading any of these files is a MAJOR and DEFINITIVE
SPOILER! In Anchorhead words:
> *** You have become utterly spoiled ***
>
> In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 100 points; you
> are hopelessly spoiled from enjoying one of the greatest
> Lovecraftian games ever made.
However, note that pages 5 and 10 of the printed version are
the least spoily, if ever you feel an urge to have a look at
the map.
Please don't distribute these files all over the world yet. If
enough people step up and ask for it, I will make a more
permanent home for them. Right now, my web space is 91% full,
and such files will be among the first to be removed if I need
to reclaim some of it.
The links, finally:
http://boa13.free.fr/anchorhead.eps
http://boa13.free.fr/anchorhead.svg
http://boa13.free.fr/anchorhead.png
http://boa13.free.fr/anchorhead.ps
And for a funny conclusion, look at how I first drew one of the
maps in Anchorhead. Compare with the new version on page 11,
and enjoy. :)
http://boa13.free.fr/anchor-map.png
--
adrie...@yahoo.guess
Garth Dighton
news:3d581e95$0$10499$626a...@news.free.fr:
> Followup set to rec.games.int-fiction.
>
>
> The links, finally:
> http://boa13.free.fr/anchorhead.eps
> http://boa13.free.fr/anchorhead.svg
> http://boa13.free.fr/anchorhead.png
> http://boa13.free.fr/anchorhead.ps
>
> And for a funny conclusion, look at how I first drew one of the
> maps in Anchorhead. Compare with the new version on page 11,
> and enjoy. :)
> http://boa13.free.fr/anchor-map.png
>
I think this map demonstrates why any attempt at building a generic auto-
mapper is doomed to fail :-)
--
Garth Dighton
gdig...@yahoo.com
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