A MapTools framework for BASH

[Lindharin]

Thanks for stopping by Dragonfly and AslanC.

Did you get disconnected, DF? If you want to give it another try, just let me know. And if the web conference wasn't working, we can do it another way.

[Lindharin]

I've added version 1.03 to the web site. New features include:

* Added the Heal / Healing keywords to the list of special labels in rolls, which will display a link to increase your hits by the rolled amount.
* When rolling soak, there is now a link to apply a custom damage total, in case the calculated damage amount is incorrect due to resistances, weaknesses, etc. Simply click the Other link and enter the actual damage taken in the pop-up.
* When rolling soak, there is now a notice about how much knockback might be taken. This also required adding token management links to control your knockback resistance and any multipliers due to shrinking, resistances, etc.

[Dragonfly]

Thanks for stopping by Dragonfly and AslanC.

Did you get disconnected, DF? If you want to give it another try, just let me know. And if the web conference wasn't working, we can do it another way.

Hi Lindharin - Thank YOU! The web conference was working just fine, but Comcast went out in my area and I lost connectivity.

Ah well! I'd love to try it again if you are game. Maybe tomorrow? I definitely want to learn how to use the program!

Best,

Dragonfly

[Lindharin]

I'm around now, if you are.

[BASHMAN]

Hey Lindharin- do you mind if I post this link in the next BAM #5? Would you mind writing a short bit for BAM#5 about using Maptool for BASH! in there (more of why it's cool, and less technical specifics of it). I'd be looking for maybe a 1 page article here.

[Lindharin]

I'd be honored! I'll drop you a PM...

[BASHMAN]

Where can people download a map from?

[Lindharin]

Okay, lots of choices and I'm sure I only know a fraction of them. Here's places I've gotten maps, as well as pieces of art that I use to make my own maps:

First, MapTools has a selection of downloadable art packs that you can install right through MapTools itself. Most of it is fantasy based but some of it might be usable for other genres too.

(If any artists here want to put together some generic maps or tiles to create maps, I know the folks at MapTools would be happy to offer them via the same mechanism.)

Open MapTools
Go to the File menu
Click on Add Resource to Library, which opens a pop up dialog with 3 tabs on the left side.
Click on the bottom (3rd) tab.
Highlight an art pack and hit the Install button

That process should download the art pack to your computer, and add them to the Resource Library pane. If you do not see the Resource Library pane, go to the Window menu and make sure the Library option is checked.

There are many gamer-oriented web sites that produce finished maps for virtual tabletop use. Alternatively, you can download objects and tokens to help make your own map (anything from walls to computers, furniture, cars, plants, etc. etc.)

Some of the sites I've used include:

Google Image Search for Floor Plans - this is surprisingly effective, though it does take a bit of sifting to find the usable images. Narrow the search to condos, stores, etc. as needed. Lots of realtors and builders are offering pretty nice floorplans now, some of which make fine maps for modern games.
The RPTools Gallery
RPG MapShare Gallery
Mad Mapper Gallery
Dundjinni Forums
The Cartographers Guild forum - particularly the Finished Maps forum. It doesn't have an easily navigable gallery, but there are great resources throughout the forum and the forum search can help.
Zitting Cisticola
List of Textures for making maps
List of Tokens, Objects and Buildings for making maps

The other thing I've done for a supers game (or other modern genres) where I wanted outdoor or street scenes for a battle is to use Google Earth. I've used these actual high-altitude images as backgrounds for super battles on/around the Eiffel Tower and its vicinity, an actual under-construction nuclear plant, a river-side warehouse in Germany, a "secret base" using a rural area outside Geneva, and downtown battles royale using parts of Paris and NYC, etc.

To do that, set your monitor to its highest resolution, open Google Earth, turn off most of the layers like street names, etc. (though you might want to experiment with leaving 3D buildings on), navigate to any setting you want (pick a big city, small town, or your own street), zoom in until you reach the altitude of best resolution. It takes a bit of experimentation to find the best compromise between resolution and overall amount of terrain visible per saved picture. Save it using File / Save / Save Image (or press CTRL+ALT+S).

If you want you can then move the picture in Google Earth a little bit (leave some overlap) and save it too. Do that a few times in a grid - horizontal and vertical, always leaving some overlap from the last time you saved. Then use a graphics program to open the images and combine them as layers in a single image, and tile them together to make a single bigger picture. I've done this to make a "generic" city map (taken from NYC) that covers several city blocks for running battles.

Using an older version of MapTools and an older computer with 1 Gig of RAM, I could make maps up to about 5000 x 5000 pixels and it worked well. Much bigger than that and MapTools might not display it. I haven't tried on my new machine with 8 Gig of RAM, so I don't know if the limit was Java / MapTools or the computer itself (although bigger maps will take longer for your players to download at play time, although there are now solutions for that in MapTools).

Anyway, once you get some usable images, you can either directly drag-and-drop them from a folder into your MapTools window, or you can just add the directory you store them in to your MapTools Resource Library. To add a directory to the Resource Library, do this:

Open MapTools
Go to the File menu
Click on Add Resource to Library, which opens a pop up dialog with 3 tabs on the left side.
Leave it on the first tab, Local Directory.
Click the Browse button ( . . . ) to select your directory.
Hit the Install button.

IMPORTANT TIP: When placing a map image into the MapTools window, make sure you are on either the OBJECT or BACKGROUND layer (typically background)! If you place the image on the default Token layer it will try to make the image a 50x50 pixel token for moving around the screen.

If anyone has any questions, or finds any great sources for maps, please share them here!

[Stattick]

Probably some really dumb questions here, but you have to consider who's asking.


Ok, I've got Maptools and the Bashframework. Both work; I know, because I've used them in a game ran by Bashman himself.

I've started up a Bash game with some of my friends. We're playing once a week (just switched to the new Bash campaign) on Tues nights, Pacific time zone. Anyhow, there's a few things that i cannot figure out how to do, even though I've been watching the tutorials and reading up on how to use Maptools.

1) I cannot open character sheets.
2) I cannot create character sheets.

Now, probably a really simple thing that I'm doing wrong, but as I said, I can't figure it out.

A little help? Please.

[Lindharin]

Hi Stattick,

I guess the first thing is to make sure the base campaign file is loading correctly. Just because you played in a game hosted by Bashman doesn't mean your Bash Framework campaign file is loading correctly; all it says is that Bashman's campaign file was working.

When you open the framework campaign file in MapTools, do you see Libraries map, with an icon that looks like the Bash logo, plus some sample character tokens? If not, we need to solve that first.

Assuming you do see it, the campaign *should* auto-open a dockable panel for the character sheet of whatever token you click on. If that is not showing up, try this:

Find your Campaign button panel, and click the Character Sheet Launcher button. If the campaign button panel isn't visible on your screen, check if it has been docked and collapsed onto one of the four edges of your window. If not, go to the Window menu and make sure the Campaign entry is checked.

Clicking that button should force the character panel to re-open, and you can move it and dock it wherever works best for your screen layout. Once that panel is open, any character token you click on should display the character sheet in that panel.

To create a new character token:

• * Drag an image into the MapTools map area (either from a library entry in the Library panel, or just drag-n-drop from your desktop or a web page).
  * Once it appears as a token on the map, double click it (or right click and select Edit...)
  * Give it the appropriate Name, and make sure it is marked as either a PC or NPC in the drop down in the top right corner.
  * Switch to the Config tab
  * In the Properties drop down, select the Character option (or Object, if you want a really basic sheet for things like force field hit point tracking).
  * As you play with MapTools features, you might want to turn on vision for the token, so check the Has Sight checkbox.
  * You can optionally drag-n-drop pictures (or click the green plus icons) into the Portrait and Handout regions on the config tab if you want additional images associated with that token.
  * Finally, for player characters, go to the Ownership tab, and assign them to the appropriate player, or check the All Players box if you don't mind anyone being allowed to see that token.

Give that a try and let me know if you have any trouble, and what happens.

[Artbod]

If anyone is planning a BASH maptools game please let me know.