How do you guys make floorplans & maps?

By MonkeyInSpace, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

I'm currently running The Perlemian Haul and had my PC's break into Passk's shop to steal some data from his computers. I wasn't able to find anything I liked online so I made this shop. I was able to find some racks full of clothes on Roll20 when searching for assets to fill in the space.

Store Map1.jpg

I use dry-wipe pens and a transparent sheet of plastic I bought from a D.I.Y shop years ago.

I feel I can get away with just sketching out a very simple map for this game and I like that.

i hear people using programs and getting some beautiful maps, but they use objects/tokens and just cut and paste. Not understand that it is beyond the program but all the additional resources like chairs tables walls and doors that make things look so much better.

I have a hard enough time making circles and boxes that look like crap on the final product

I find the Microsoft paint works just fine for maps. My maps aren't praticularly "artistic," but when you add labels, it works just fine.

For special occasions where I know structured play will happen, I've started to draw simple overhead floorplans of areas on index cards. I'm going to attempt scanning and blowing them up to a regular page size. I know the quality won't be as good but the intent is for them to not be confused during the combat as to the distances and such.

3 hours ago, Yaccarus said:

I find the Microsoft paint works just fine for maps. My maps aren't praticularly "artistic," but when you add labels, it works just fine.

Yes, it does. But what some of the others are doing takes advantage of assets they've previously created to use again. Create a bunch of different chairs/tables, walls, doors, etc... then use layers to copy and paste them in where you need them and then export out the final static image. Takes more time in the setup, but pays out with less time in the long run if you make enough maps.

On ‎6‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 4:53 PM, jowzam said:

I'm currently running The Perlemian Haul and had my PC's break into Passk's shop to steal some data from his computers. I wasn't able to find anything I liked online so I made this shop. I was able to find some racks full of clothes on Roll20 when searching for assets to fill in the space.

Now that you've got the hang of Dungeon Painter, what are it's strengths and weaknesses? I'm on the fence about buying it.

  • How long did that last floorplan you posted above take you to make (now that you know how to use the program and have downloaded addons)?
  • Will it do well for starship deckplans or is it more geared towards floorplans?

Well, here are acouple of exampoles of what can be done in Adobe Illustrator:

yz_900_floorplan_ld_by_tramp_graphics-da

yz_900_floorplan_ud_by_tramp_graphics-da

Of course these will soon change once my 3D model of this ship is finished.

5 hours ago, Sturn said:

Now that you've got the hang of Dungeon Painter, what are it's strengths and weaknesses? I'm on the fence about buying it.

  • How long did that last floorplan you posted above take you to make (now that you know how to use the program and have downloaded addons)?
  • Will it do well for starship deckplans or is it more geared towards floorplans?

That shop took me about 30 min to make I'd say. The majority of that time was finding the tiles, walls, consoles, etc that I liked. The strengths are that it is very easy to use for someone who doesn't know what they are doing haha. I've never used any sort of photoshop or art programs before.

I used these 2 videos I found on youtube (sadly there isn't much out there fo this program) to guide me through the basics:

This is the video that introduced me to the program -

Dungeon Painter Studio - Map Making Tool for your Roll20 & Fantasy Grounds D&D game

This is a nifty video the devs posted (I love the right click to add walls feature -

New DPS features, adding wall, convert polywall to group of singles, ang back to polywall

As for addons, I've subscribed to all the top ones on the workshop currently. With those I have access to tons of assets.

The program from what I've seen in my limited time with it is geared more towards floor plans so I don't think it could do deckplans.

I figured for the price I'd take a chance on on it and have been very pleased I did, so far. Even if no more assets get added to the workshop I have tons at my fingertips to make maps for a very long time. If there weren't so many workshop materials available I would have been disappointed as a lot of the base assets are geared towards a fantasy setting.

Hope that helps!

I don't use floor maps. As soon as floor maps hit the table, the session switches from a quick, narrative game to a slow, grinding tactical slog. However, I do use maps to illustrate areas of space or cities in the abstract.

I use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. I've also been a professional graphic designer for 20 years so your mileage may vary.

A YZ-900 floor plan set, including exterior, Uppder Deck, and lower deck: yz_900_updated_by_tramp_graphics-dbegyu9

yz_900_floorplan_ud_updated_by_tramp_gra

yz_900_floorplan_ld_updated_by_tramp_gra

floor plans for my character, Korath's ship, the Jedi Star , a modified YZ-900:

jedi_star_updated_by_tramp_graphics-dbeg

jedi_star_floorplan_ud_updated_by_tramp_

jedi_star_floorplan_ld_updated_by_tramp_

Edited by Tramp Graphics

I guess I'm a bit of a luddite, but I usually just quickly scrawl out a map on a piece of printer paper with a ballpoint pen, and then point a lot.

For really big fights that need a bit more detail I'll use a dry erase on a map board. Thankfully somebody else in my group (Hi Desslock) has made the financial investment to get all the old WoTC miniatures, so I can use those to set up the fight. I don't worry to much about scale, it's mostly just to get a frame of reference.

5 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

A YZ-900 floor plan set, including exterior, Uppder Deck, and lower deck: yz_900_updated_by_tramp_graphics-dbegyu9

yz_900_floorplan_ud_updated_by_tramp_gra

yz_900_floorplan_ld_updated_by_tramp_gra

floor plans for my character, Korath's ship, the Jedi Star , a modified YZ-900:

jedi_star_updated_by_tramp_graphics-dbeg

jedi_star_floorplan_ud_updated_by_tramp_

jedi_star_floorplan_ld_updated_by_tramp_

Very nice. Any chance you have a C-Roc floor plan tucked away?

Edited by Ahrimon
7 minutes ago, Ahrimon said:

Very nice. Any chance you have a C-Roc floor plan tucked away?

Nope. The YZ-900 is the only ship I've done floor plans for.

I only made the floor plan for our groups ship...which just got blown up by a stray asteroid last session *cry*.

I run my sessions on Fantasy Grounds. One of the first things I learned. If I make a detailed map, the players started to play in a mindset of what they see on the map, instead of what would or could be in the actual building.

An example was one session, the group using a detailed map I made of a warehouse they were infiltrating, but they limited themselves to only the objects they could see on the map, such as cover and access panels.

Next session I just gave an outline of the floor, and told them to imagine anything that would logically fit in the scene could be there, all of a sudden then place was filled with stacked containers, loading cranes, power conduit cables.

It turned a rather boring session last time, into this time, the group swinging a cargo container into a group of enemies, a smuggled spice container exploding in front of a PC, that was using it for cover and a bunch of crazy moments.

What I'm saying is, let the players use their imagination, especially with this system and its narrative dice.

5 hours ago, Hurske said:

I only made the floor plan for our groups ship...which just got blown up by a stray asteroid last session *cry*.

There was a long running rule/joke in my group - as soon as you came up with floor plans for your character's home/headquarters/whatever, it was bound to get blown up. This started in the early '90s, too, so it wasn't as easy as "google for something"; it was quite annoying.

1 hour ago, coyote6 said:

There was a long running rule/joke in my group - as soon as you came up with floor plans for your character's home/headquarters/whatever, it was bound to get blown up. This started in the early '90s, too, so it wasn't as easy as "google for something"; it was quite annoying.

Yeah, but in the world of Photoshop there is always ctrl+c ctrl+v and now you have a new ship... same as the old ship, hahah

12 hours ago, Kallabecca said:

Yeah, but in the world of Photoshop there is always ctrl+c ctrl+v and now you have a new ship... same as the old ship, hahah

someone should have told Boba.

slave-2.jpg

Speaking of a Floor plan, if anyone wants to use the one I made of the last ship....

Loronar E-9 Explorer-Class Armed Long-Range Scout Vessel

https://www.dropbox.com/s/votpiw1n8g1v1sq/Explorer Eng.jpg?dl=0

Small Image...

(Use the Dropbox link for the full image in all its 5MB glory)

Explorer Eng.jpg

Edited by Hurske