Yeah, there are definitely still things that can be added to some of these maps. Of course, adding things from modules can be a little problematic. It can't hurt to have another version, though.

I looked into the Sodervirk, and it seems that it is supposed to stretch about 30 miles along the eastern edge of the Whiteheart Valley. Not sure exactly how I could mark it on, though there are definitely some existing wall symbols to work with. I'm thinking it would make the most sense to mark it as shielding the town of Whiteheart from the surrounding hills, but another approach would be to put it due east of Whiteheart, between the town and the map label for Gnollheim.

Any ideas?

In any case, here's today's map. It's so small that I converted it over just now in less than half an hour.

I finally caught on to what you were doing here. Great work. I like this style of map quite a bit. I'll be using them in my campaign if you don't mind. I'll leave on all of your comments and references.

Thank you much for posting these,
GW

Not at all. That's why I'm posting them here, for people to use for their own Mystara campaigns/projects.

Thorf,

I see "Legend.png" but Hexmapper would have to have each hex in a separate file. Do you have the hexes in separate files?

This leads me to another question. How are you making these maps? Hexmapper lets you place a single hex at a time on a hexmap grid, but if you are using a commercial product, I am baffled as to how you are making them. I know that the Gimp and Photoshop don't work that way.

--Ray.

Hi guys, I'm a newbie here, and I have to say that these maps are fantastic.

I also have a question re. hexmapper.

I made my own map of the Grand Duchy before being directed here, and am able to save it as a bmp, load it into Paintshop Pro, edit it and then load it back into hexmapper with no problem.

The difficulty I am having with these png files is that the hexes are a different size to the hexmapper grid, so I cannot load them into hexmapper properly, even after converting them to a bmp.

Thorf, I realise you have put an immense amount of work in here, and may not want us to be able to freely edit the images, but if you are happy for us to edit them, is there any way we can load your images into hexmapper correctly?

Thank you especially for the Northern Reaches map, BTW. I bought the ESD without realising the map was not included, and was overjoyed to be able to download your map to "complete" my Gazeteer.

I don't have any objections to converting my hexes to use in Hexmapper, but I'm afraid that I don't actually have it myself, so I'm not entirely clear on what would need to be done. If the hexes are the wrong size, it should be possible to resize them without too much trouble, though if the aspect ratio is wrong too they might look a bit squished.

I had a little look at the program right now, and I can't see that there would be a major problem with converting the tiles. The program itself seems pretty good, and of course a lot simpler to use than my system.

As I've mentioned, I use Adobe Illustrator CS to make my maps. Illustrator includes a feature called "smart guides", which allows you to snap objects together perfectly. This allows you to make hex grids. After that, it's a relatively simple matter of selecting the right symbols for your map. It probably takes a little longer than Hexmapper to do, but once you've got the map made, it's extremely easy to edit any part of it, and Illustrator's flexibility and what it allows you to do with the map makes it well worth the time.

One of the best things about using Illustrator is that since everything is vector-based, there is no limit to the quality of the maps: you can resize them as much as you like and they will stay sharp, and you can export high quality maps for the web and for printing. You can also resize a map to use as a guide for changing the scale.

Finally, the drawing system allows you to easily make and alter coastlines, rivers, roads, etc.

There seems to be interest, so eventually I will probably convert the hexes to be able to be used with it. For the moment, I'm a bit busy, so if anyone else who has my mapping file wants to have a go, they are certainly welcome.

I'm up early today, so here's the map - The Minrothad Guilds.



This is not actually the latest version of this map, but I'll be updating it soon. The latest version is fully updated to the new system, and I also have marked in both names for the volcanoes rather than just the trail map names.

The bad news is that I've been so busy the last two weeks that I haven't got many more maps to post, so in a few days things are going to slow down. However, the good news is that once most of the Known World maps have been posted, the first of the Trail Maps, combining all the maps so far, will follow. My trail maps will be different from the released trail maps in that they have less space limitations, because they're in the computer, and I intend to make one for each region. At the moment the regions I am using are roughly based on the original divisions depicted in the Companion Set map.

yay. These minrothad and Ierendi maps are perfect for my Pirates play by post game.

Thank you,
GW

Hey!
Don't you think it is quite irresponsible (not to mention cruel) to get us all addicted - and then leave us without our daily supply?

Absolutely.

But I think it'd be even more irresponsible to spend lots of time on maps when I should be spending it with my fiance. We decided to get married last week, and things have been a bit hectic since then.

Congratulations!



May you walk a joyous road together.

You just got engaged? My sister too. Must be something in the air.

Congratulations, and don't let it take too much time away from the cartography!

Congratulations - now you're in for a REAL adventure!

Thorf,

Thanks for this. Here's what you need to know about Hexmapper's tiles.

Width: 33
Height: 27
DPI: 72

For the transparent tiles (e.g., cities and villages, take a look at capitol.bmp), they use a 'hot pink' background. I'm not certain what color to call that. I guess 'hot pink' will have to do. Illustrator should have a way to grab that color.

Congratulations on getting engaged! I've been married for 9 years. Luckily for me, she's a gamer too.

--Ray.

One problem I've encountered is that your hexes narrow left & right to a 2 pixel point, whereas hexmapper narrows to 1 pixel.

This means I haven't been able to properly resize your maps to match the hexmapper grid.

Maybe you will have more success than I have, but I suspect it will involve re-sizing your basic hex grid. Is that possible in your system, or would it be an absolute nightmare to acheive?

I had a little try just now, and was able to easily transfer a hex into hexmapper. It seems my default hex resolution is 34 x 28, but it's easy enough to fix that. You can simply resize, or make it bigger in Illustrator first to maintain quality and then resize down. Either way the visual difference seemed to be miniscule.

Taking the layover tiles (settlements and such) into Hexmapper would take a bit more effort, but it could be done. Another solution would be to simply make versions of each tile with the appropriate background intact - easier to make but a little more unwieldy to use.

All in all, this should be an easy job for anyone who has Illustrator and a rainy day to spend on the job. If someone is willing to do the job, please go ahead! If necessary I can provide you with the mapping files, too.

I just finished the updated Minrothad map. It has replaced the previous version in this thread, so scroll up to check it out. Some places the captions were most welcome - notably Stronghold and Alfeisle - but other places have become too full of captions, especially Trader's Isle.

Another point to note is that Fire Island's volcano doesn't just have two names, in fact it has THREE!! GAZ9' Player's Guide calls it Redtop, while the DM's Guide calls it Mt. Thymas. Then TM2 renamed it Great Fire Mouth...

By the way, tomorrow's map might well be late, because I'm extremely busy with work for the next two days. I'll try and get it up, though. I know you guys need your daily fix now.

Here's the page from my notes detailing Minrothad.

GAZ9 The Minrothad Guilds

• The map for this Gazetteer was woefully under-developed. It shows very few settlements, no trails or shipping lanes, no rivers, and in fact nothing much at all other than the land itself. In contrast, the Gazetteer itself has extensive descriptions of the geography of the area. The Trail Maps also expanded upon Minrothad, though not necessarily in the way the Gazetteer text did.
• Gregus Ridge – the name of Alfeisle’s mountain range is given on page 49 of the DM’s guide.
• Hermian – this small village on Blackrock Island is mentioned on page 54 of the DM’s Guide. How-ever, it has not been added to the map, since doing so would mean the loss of the heavy forest hex.
• Lithwillow River – this river is referenced on Player’s Guide page 4 and again on DM’s Guide page 45-46: “The Lithwillow drains down from Landfall Peak, into the caldera, then downhill again to the sea.” My map has the river marked according to this description.
• Minroth Harbour – the name of the harbour upon which Harbourtown is built is given on page 48 of the DM’s guide.
• Mountain Names – while none of the volcanoes were labelled on the map, many were mentioned in the text. The names given in the text do not match the names given later on TM2. (See TM2.) Moun-tain names include Landfall Peak, Immortal’s Home, Halfpeak, Mt. Olwin, Mt. Redtongue, Redtop and Mt. Thymas. The latter two are in fact the same volcano, on Fire Island, so that volcano has no less than three names.
• Open Isle – described in GAZ9 as “flat and treeless” (page 5), the map nevertheless depicts this island as hilled and mostly covered with forests!
• Quickhand River – Open Isle’s river is referred to on page 48 of the DM’s Guide. The version here is merely an educated guess as to the river’s course.
• Reedy River – page 54 of the DM’s Guide describes this river on Fire Island.
• Verdun - Alfeisle in the Minrothad Guilds has two settlements. The northern one is called Seahome, but the southern one is actually referred to by two variations of the same name: Verdun and Verdon. Verdun appears on all the official maps (GAZ9’s map, GAZ9’s trading map, Wrath of the Immortals’ 24 mile per hex map, TM2), but only has two references in GAZ9’s text, one of which is in the table of ports. Verdon appears as the label on only one map (the town map), but is the norm in GAZ9’s text, appearing no less than seventeen times.

These notes from TM2 are also relevant.

TM2 The Eastern Countries Trail Map

• Coastal Waters – many Gazetteers didn’t show shallow and deep water. TM2 showed coastal waters for the first time for Thyatis, Ylaruam, the Northern Reaches, part of Heldann and the western Isle of Dawn. It also redrew Minrothad’s coastal waters, which were rather simplistic in GAZ9’s map.
• Mountain names – many individual mountains not found in Gazetteer maps have been added throughout the world.
• Minrothad – mountain names were different from those provided in GAZ9’s text. (See GAZ9.) Halfpeak became Old Nenthead, Redtop/Mt. Thymas became Great Fire Mouth, Landfall Peak became Gold Needle and Immortal’s Home became Mt. Minroth.

Oh, and in case you're wondering - yes I do have lists like that for all the maps.

I could see how lists like these would be very handy in map-making. If you could, I wouldn't mind seeing them myself, but I also wouldn't want it to take you away from the cartography! Like you said:

It's amazing how much more interesting the map of Minrothad looks with the additions. Sure does give a better mental image of the area.

And Congratulations on your engagement! All the best to you and your fiance!

congratulations Thorf

__________________
shawn

Vaults of Pandius
http://pandius.com

Firstly - CONGRATULATIONS Thorf

Anyway, Costal Waters - I'm working purely on memory here, but wouldn't the PC3 Undersea map give the depths?

Whilst combining the undersea map with the land maps would be useful for DMs, I think the maps you are doing are more useful as, if DMing, I would not want the players to be able to see Undersea. That said, my memory is that it gives water depth in several levels, so it should be easy to work out which one is the land map differentiator and apply it as the most definitive.

Keep up the excellent work

__________________
"If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it might just be a crow."

Thanks for all the nice messages about my engagement.


Yes indeed - which is why you will notice that most of the coastal maps have PC3 credited as one of their sources. I took it as the last say when it comes to shallow and deep water.

I agree it shouldn't be combined as such, but as you say it can be useful nonetheless. Eventually of course I'll end up reproducing it too, as well as the X7(?) Undersea map, but they require an almost entirely new set of hexes.

Today's map is coming, by the way, but it's going to take a little bit longer. Yesterday and today I made two whole new sets of hexes to deal with the underground maps.

I finally got it done. There will of course be another map from this Gazetteer, but finishing it tonight seems like an impossible task. Ah well, I got a good portion of it done, and the new tileset is looking good so far. Hopefully you'll get a peek at it in a few days!



Notes about the Broken Lands from TM1:

• Broken Lands trails – both trails have been simplified greatly. The eastern trail even has a part missing where the trail crosses the volcanoes. This error crept in through a simplified version of the Broken Lands map in GAZ12.
• Broken Lands altitude markers – two markers present in GAZ10 are missing here.
• Broken Lands Vesubian River – the southernmost runoff into Trollhattan is missing. Additionally, two of the three greater cataracts shown on GAZ10’s map have been missed out.
• Broken Lands Streel River – the southern cataract has been reduced from GAZ10’s greater to lesser here. For the sake of variety, I have gone with the lesser cataract.
• Broken Lands Dol-Anur River – a greater cataract has been added since GAZ10.

Map! Map! Map! Must see... Must see... Must see...
Aaaaahhhhh... That's better.

Ahh yes, much better than my hexmapper drawn map for the players in my Broken Lands game.

Thank you much.

GW

Thorf,

Wow man, great work. I went to your website to see them all in one place.

Heck man, I even emailed the link to all the editors over here.

Well done.

__________________
Mike McArtor
Associate Editor
Dragon Magazine
...
Opinions expressed are my own and do not represent Dragon, Paizo Publishing, or Wizards of the Coast.

This one's a quick and dirty conversion (I just made the hex grid transparent, nothing else yet). I will of course post the fully updated one when I get it done, and let you know here.



I also haven't tried changing any of Darokin's forests to evergreen yet, but I'm considering changing most of the Orclands forests, along with the others that border the Broken Lands and Rockhome.

Ahhh... another fix. This is getting as bad as needing my coffee! *body relaxes into a state of semi-euphoria*

Thorf - your maps remain **AWESOME**

And well done Mike for spreading the word...

Wow, thanks a lot! It would be great if they were impressed enough to consider printing more Mystara articles.

I'm afraid the daily maps aren't going to last all that much longer - changing the format meant that I have to spend a lot of time converting all the current maps, and although that's getting close to completion, it prevented me from completing any maps in the meantime. I had intended to try to maintain the momentum set by the last few weeks, but it seems impossible at this point in time.

On the other hand, the new system does make drawing maps a little bit faster, as well as increasing their overall quality level. So in the long term we will reap the benefits.

To bring you up to speed with my current status:

• There are two more maps to release, after which the first trail map will be posted.
• I'm right now working on GAZ10's "World Under" map, which is about half done and may well be completed tonight.
• GAZ13's map is also ready to be drawn, and probably won't take that long due to it relative simplicity, though I'm considering adding cave walls to make it look less hexagonal. If I do, it will take a lot longer.
• GAZ14's map is in the drawing stages, but it has been on hold for a while now. I want to get X4's Great Waste map completed before continuing, so that I can use the Expert Set and X4 maps as conversion sources to ensure the accuracy of the map. In the meantime I have also considered producing a copy of the flawed GAZ14 map unaltered, since it could be completed quickly.
• I started preliminary work on the next historical maps in line, which are X4's Great Waste, X5's Hule and X11's Wendar.
• I have started preliminary design on an updated 24 mile per hex map of the Known World, scaled up from my 8 mile per hex trail map and using the existing 24 mile per hex maps for reference.
• The Hollow World 40 mile per hex (argh) maps are in preparation and almost ready to be drawn.
• Additional hexes will need to be drawn for the following maps: Nithia (just a few, pretty easy), Milenia (quite a few, tricky), Undersea (lots, easy but time consuming), parts of the Savage Coast (just a few, probably easy). I probably won't start on these just yet, but instead make them as I need them. Undersea may well be done last, not least because I don't have a scan of the map, since the PDF file I bought didn't have the map included.

That's all I can think of right now, though I undoubtedly have a few more odds and ends kicking around. As you can see, the project is in full swing.