And now for something completely different... And that's the problem. How do I describe this? Ah well, here goes. The contents of this package are an aid to building interactive local area maps. That is the type of map that the PC can walk on and is used to suppliment or even bypass the standard area transition mechanism of NWN. I describe it as an aid because while it is possible (using the techniques shown in Demangels Dragon riding system (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Scripts.Detail&id=438)) it works much better with miniature placeables (such as the soz_mini (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Hakpaks.Detail&id=7774) placeables by thegeorge).
There are 102 placeables in all. They are designed to emulate the ink and paper part of a map. So you have large "mats" with various coloured designs on them overlaid with dark blue lines. For placing on top of these there are what I have termed features - rivers, roads, lakes, canals, streams and micellaneous. Also included are three custom waypoints and some optional scripts.
If by some fair chance you decide to download my package, I would suggest that you extract all of the contents of it into a folder created specially for that purpose as there are a number of files over and above what I consider the core ones.
The core files are the hak and the erf which you will need to place in their respective nwn folders. There are a number of optional modules which if you choose to use them, need to obviously go into NWN's modules folder. Finally there are a number of informational files.
As this is my first attempt at making custom content I am releasing this as a beta. Don't panic. This works quite well thank you, it's just that I think there are some things that could be better. Also I need feedback. I cannot improve this without your help. Remember you don't have to vote to leave comments either here or on the Bio boards. Finally, I realise that I have all the artistic talent of a stuffed penguin. If you think you can improve on any part of this graphically, please get in touch.
Finally if you are considering adding any part of my package to some sort of compilation before 1st July 2012, please get in touch. After that date you can still get in touch if you wish but you no longer need to.
Stop Press
2011-02-13: Major update - Service Pack 1 added. Add-Ons 1 - 8 updated. Service Pack 1 contains 4 modules, 2 erf's, 2 haks and 2 pdf documents (readme and package catalogue).
The new content consists of the following:-
14 Buildings
11 Decorative
6 Fog of Ignorance aka (FOW)
17 Markers
19 Plants (inc. 15 trees)
12 canal
13 hills
8 lakes
35 mountains
5 Terrain/Other
14 river (plus an extra 6 coloured ones)
11 road
6 streams
23 large tile type mats
2012-10-26: Combined the two archive fragments into Map_Mats_Core.7z. Added combo pack of addons 1-9. - Rolo
2013-02-28: Added ShaDoOoW's tileset to this page.
Add-on number 9 - a map of Kara-Tur. Apologies for the size compared to the other add-ons. This is due to the problem of dark blue on lighter blue that dds seems to have. As a result most of the textures are tga. Updated to Version 1.2 18th February 2011 in order to work with SP1.
Add-on number 5 a map of Eberon (or should that really be Eberron - I just copied what is on the map). Updated to Version 1.2 13th February 2011 in order to work with SP1.
Add-on number 8 - a map of Greyhawk. Thanks UrkOfGreyhawk for finding the original map. Updated to Version 1.2 13th February 2011 in order to work with SP1.
Map Mats Service Pack 1. Over 200 New Mats. Adds New Class of Mat. Archive contains 4 modules, 2 haks, 2 erfs and 2 pdf documents. This is an add-on that works in conjunction with the original Map Mats package.
Fantastic! Thanks for this wonderful contribution!
Posted by The at on02/12/11
This is a very good idea, as it lets builders create their own area maps (without having to use the same one everyone else has). _________________________ World of Aenea (Hall of Fame PW and the origin of all my works) Vault Entries: The Complete List (50+ entries, including 17 Hall of Fame awards) Self-Promotional Honesty: If you have opinions on stuff I've made, or if you use any of it (as a player or builder), I like comments/votes/feedback...so do other content makers and builders. Keep us motivated. :) ---------------------------- Neverwinter Nights Community Site: The Unofficial Homepage for NWN ----------------------------
Posted by TarotRedhand at 2010-10-1615:34:22
Thank you for the comment and the vote karmapoint, it's much appreciated.
Posted by karmapoint at on10/15/10
Fantastic!
Posted by Izk at on08/22/10
TR, thanks for the reply, and don't think I was in any way criticizing the mini-plane idea. I just like to share ideas with other builders, and I always seem to come away with new ones from it. I love that dragon riding system, btw. I saw a video of that on YouTube a while back, and it's what got me started thinking about map tiles for my project. Quote: "I wouldn't dream of limiting anyone's imagination." One might think you've read some of my rantings elsewhere from that. :) _________________________ Silent Hill-ish Hak | Skybox Experiments | Creature/NPC Reskins Vol 1 | Works In Progress
Posted by Izk at on08/22/10
Great job. I love the concept, as I've already been working on map tiles for my own game world for some of the long distance area transitions. I could see adding these placeables to really bring the map to life. Excluding your map tiles, are the other placeables in here all thegeorge's, or have you expanded upon them? An idea I had for this is to make miniature ships and other things as creature appearances or scaleable tail models that could be used to represent the player on the map, for either a custom polymorph, or as a separate creature with the player made cutscene_invisible following as the camera. I'll likely use my map area as a series of cutscenes, since most of that kind of travel will be linear because of the story line, but I think the world map concept would certainly add some depth, versus just popping across long distances without some form of travel inbetween. I thought I'd share that, as it just seems a little odd to me to have a giant character walking around all those Lilliputian placeables, though I do understand your mini-plane concept. It's just a matter of personal preference. Somehow, a more conceptual map feels more realistic, versus actually putting the player into the map and saying "a wizard did it". :) Anyway, nice work. Keep it coming! _________________________ Silent Hill-ish Hak | Skybox Experiments | Creature/NPC Reskins Vol 1 | Works In Progress
Posted by TarotRedhand at 2010-08-1404:42:53
Thanks Skunkeen. You're too kind. Thank you for the vote as well.
Posted by Skunkeen at on08/12/10
Wicked good job. best maps on here
Posted by TarotRedhand at 2010-07-3007:19:01
Thank you for the vote Calvinthesneak. I hope you find what you are looking for.
Posted by Calvinthesneak at on07/29/10
Very pretty, not qquite sure what I'm looking ffor, buut I can see the usefulness and desirability of using such a system instead of having filler areas.
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