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.
checking back and I see you've taken my suggestion of maps and really run with it. Cool. _________________________ Shadow Thief: Crimmor and Path of Evil blog Link
Posted by TarotRedhand at 2010-07-1517:11:57
Thanks for the comment Gonzo_og. UrkOfGreyhawk I love your map even though I can't use it as is. I've sent you an email to explain why. TR
Posted by Gonzo_og at 2010-07-1310:30:55
Looks useful. _________________________ stuff
Posted by TarotRedhand at 2010-07-1103:38:14
Saduj thanks for the comments and the vote.
Posted by TarotRedhand at 2010-07-1103:37:09
Kamal thank you for the link. I've downloaded your hak and looked at it in game in nwn2 - nice. Because I couldn't get into your hak I took inspiration and scoured the web for map images which resulted in the add-ons. Thank you for the vote. Jezira the question is do you think I've acheived it though? Chico400 thank you for your kind words and vote. All of the Map-Mats have been bump-mapped including the add-ons and the roads etc. While I have no plans at present to have zoomed in maps based on DnD worlds I am working on a couple of ideas for this. However, this will involve me learning .net so that I can build the tool that I need first so don't expect anything too soon. Saduj I would love to add other large area maps but in my search I couldn't find any others that met my criteria. The first is quality, they must be done to a high standard. The second is size, they must be quite large and be able to be scaled such that they can be divided into 1024 pixel squares without a great deal of distortion. The last is that they must not have a grid already in the image. I found a beautiful map of a large region of the world of greyhawk that had appeared some time ago in dungeon magazine. Unfortunately it had a hex grid over its entire surface. If you have a suitable map that meets my needs get in touch and I'll see what I can do. TR
Posted by Saduj at on07/10/10
Very creative idea. Esp like the add-on maps, World of Greyhawk would be a great one too, as would Mystara/Hollow World and Kara-Tur... _________________________ Carcerian/Saduj's Submissions: (169 Portrait/Soundset Unlocker) (12 NWN Fonts) (30 NWN Fonts) (Auto-Emotes) (Custom Dragon Disciples) (Dynamic Wildshape) (Keyring) (NPC Schedules) (Sacred Shields) (Spawning Undead) (Shayans Subrace Engine for 169)
Posted by chico400 at on07/10/10
lovely my friend ;) sure it could be a cool tool to add in mods. great with background maps you added! do you plan to texture Map-Mats and add some zoomed background maps? great add on here, a 10/10 is earned my friend, keep up the good work ciao _________________________ NWNCQ NWNCQ-SciFi Project Hak Override - V1.3 >>> Link CEP Team Artist>>> Link
Posted by Jezira at 2010-07-0715:38:54
TarotRedHand, thanks for the clarification. I believe I see what you're aiming for now =) _________________________ 800 sci-fi placeables! *Patch 02* | Modern Secret Base | SW Heads | SW Weapons! | Whitefall Exotic flowers * Updated 1.1! * | Whitefall Heads | Modern Inventory Icons | Mass Effect gun - NEW versions! | Bloody notes! | Horse statue
Posted by TarotRedhand at 2010-07-0702:07:02
Clarification - ignore the *bleep* in my last post, I've no idea where that came from. TR
Posted by jules at 2010-07-0623:20:08
top tip- the Civilization 3 game wditor is great for making 2D maps applications like this. also making an island of floor in the centre of a pit, using the ruins tileset gives the best base to work on (I've got a similar set up in my campaign, so I've tried a few combos) + the "Rebel Camp" music has a great feel for overland travel.
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