Contemplating redrawing, et cetera, Dwarf Home, Crestar

[grodog]

Someone in another venue asked about megadungeons. I posted a link to Dwarf Home. Its not zipped up by level.

Anyway, I was looking over the maps and realized they need work, or make new ones. This has been on a backburner for a few years now. So, this is to let you know I have a redo in the works.

I feel your pain, D.J.---I've been doing the same with some of my original/BITD Castle Greyhawk dungeon levels, as well as newer ones I've designed over the past decade. It's a fun process, but it can get a bit tedious sometimes, as well as time-consuming, which is why I've focused the redux work on a) levels I plan to publish, and b) levels that are currently in-play. Otherwise it's too many to revisit!

Allan.

[D.J.]

Someone in another venue asked about megadungeons. I posted a link to Dwarf Home. Its not zipped up by level.

Anyway, I was looking over the maps and realized they need work, or make new ones. This has been on a backburner for a few years now. So, this is to let you know I have a redo in the works.

I feel your pain, D.J.---I've been doing the same with some of my original/BITD Castle Greyhawk dungeon levels, as well as newer ones I've designed over the past decade. It's a fun process, but it can get a bit tedious sometimes, as well as time-consuming, which is why I've focused the redux work on a) levels I plan to publish, and b) levels that are currently in-play. Otherwise it's too many to revisit!

Allan.

For Dwarf Home, I have most of the map files, so I can just go in and edit them. Replacing the symbols with newer/better looking ones, using texture bitmap fills instead of colors for floors, etc.

Some, I could only find the png file. So those I had to import and trace over to make a map I could edit.

[D.J.]

Thanks !

As I said, I have some megadungeon map ideas... experimental, I will post here. A bit under the weather today.

[D.J.]

My megadungeons are in smaller maps. I haven't made a huge one graphic map.

Here is level 5 of my original Dwarf Home, 6 maps by 21 maps. Each map is 240' x 180'.

Level 5 is 1440' x 3600'

bad link removed by me, D.J. Sep 27, 2023.

[ken-do-nim]

My megadungeons are in smaller maps. I haven't made a huge one graphic map.

Here is level 5 of my original Dwarf Home, 6 maps by 21 maps. Each map is 240' x 180'.

Level 5 is 1440' x 3600'

Level 05 thumbnails in one map via html

Wow you've put a metric TON of work into your megadungeon. Congrats!

[D.J.]

Thanks. Dwarf Home Two has larger maps, 300' x 240'

Update: September 27, 2023, these links no longer work.

Much more of a work in progress.

Level 2 shape is deliberate. I may may it larger, and keep the shape.

I'll try and check on them this week.

[D.J.]

I have been thinking about doing this for a dungeon. This city map has a number of hexagonal geomorphs for each section characters travel through. A large dungeonmap with a general layout of which group of monsters patrols/controls each area. Then map them.

Not all geos are done for the city.

Link to all geos via menus.

http://crestofastar.drivein-jim.net/art ... -geomorphs

This is the city.

Pa = Park
Po = Poor
Ri = Rich
Me = Merchants
Mi = Military

The Traveller's Path is the 'safe' path for travelers and adventurers to get from the docks to the exit gate of the city. Things can still happen. Not 100% safe though.

[D.J.]

Something like this.

[D.J.]

My basic premise for Dwarf Home.

1) this is the location for one of the Dwarf Kingdoms, but they got ran out at great loss of dwarf life, by a number of tough evil beings.

2) There are Dwarf Artifacts that will get the player characters in trouble if they try to sell them, but the nearby hill dwarves will reward the PCs for finding.

3) Dwarfbas is the nearby port city on the edge of the border with the nearest nation, Trillolara. There is intrigue there. Not neccesarily out in the open, but it does exist. Inn, temples, stables, general store, smiths for various things, money lenders, bank, guards, walls, local royalty, etc.

4) Some dwarves still live in Dwarf Home, but they have become convinced, by evil NPCs, that the surface of the world is blasted and unihabited.

5) Some of the Dwarf Artifacts are Geased and do a Polymorph. Anyone putting on the armor wil lslowly change into a dwarf and become a guard for the Dwarf King.

6) There are factions in Dwarf Home that control various aspects of the dungeon, and some have placed skeletons. etc. and assist the orcs and hobgoblins. Most of them are human or half-orcs. It is possible the Drow have become interested in this dungeon.

7) There is Dwarf Hold on the other side of the southern Continent, but they haven't heard from the dwarves in this area for centuries. They have had a few hill dwarf visitors, but all claim no knowledge of Dwarf Home.

[D.J.]

Added 8 maps 134 rooms for level 4. 5 new maps.

Dwarf Home Two updated.

edit: DH 2 now has 37 maps and 443 rooms.

[D.J.]

Added 8 maps 134 rooms for level 4. 5 new maps in Dwarf Home Two.

[D.J.]

I'll be adding this map in a few minutes to my Dwarf Home Two site, but I'm giving you all a preview.

How to get to room 137 ? Thorough search looking for secret doors, pick axe to open up a hole.

Green paint in room 140 ? Well, it could be an illusion of a spiral stair case and the green is green mold, chomp.

Room 139 is where the spiral goes down to level 5.

[ken-do-nim]

Let me know if I missed any Dwarf Home posts! (Or put too many here)

[D.J.]

Thanks. I'll check. Looks okay.

[D.J.]

I decided to set up a site to track my maps, etc. Nothing on the site yet except the welcome page and the About.

My hobbies tracking site

[D.J.]

Uploaded 3 newer maps for the Atlas. See the mapping project link in my .sig. Still a work in progress. I haven't mapped much, I got hung up on playing Everquest 2 for the past couple of weeks.

[D.J.]

Okay. I got a chance to work on Level 7. All of the maps, and I have added 2 or 3 more, have effects on them now. Corridors are 3D. More symbols added, etc.

The level 7 zip file is also updated. Now 28 megabytes.

Level 7 thumbnails, and entrance page:

http://crestofastar.drivein-jim.net/dwa ... nformation

downloads page, 14 maps in this zip:
http://crestofastar.drivein-jim.net/dwa ... -downloads

I am currently working on level 6, but I don't know if I will finish them soon or not.

[D.J.]

Level 2 and info zip is now on the downloads page of my Dwarf Home site.

42 maps, 320 rooms, room descriptions. About 89 meg zip file.

[D.J.]

Level 3 maps aren't very good. I'm deciding on several ways I can fix them. They are my early maps, when I was learning the software, and I did try to.learn better mapping back 12 to 15 years ago.

So, if anyone wants me to just zip up the current maps and edit the text, I can do that.

If I remap, then do the text and zip up the results, that could be months from now to complete that.

[D.J.]

I have decided to map larger maps. The current level 03 maps are 240' x 180'.

No idea how long this is going to take, but I'm combining 4 of those maps into a larger map. This means instead of 77 maps, this level will be approximately 22 maps.

So the level will be 7 maps high, with a partial map left over. With 3 columns wide instead of 6 columns.

I'll probably turn that lone map in each column, into a 4x4 map with new rooms, passageways, etc.

When I get the first one done, I'll post it here.

[D.J.]

Here we go !

New larger map:



Now one fourth the new map:



Page where all are displayed so you can compare the. On my Crestar site, no adverts, no music, no banners, etc.

http://crestofastar.drivein-jim.net/dwa ... l-3-map-01

[McDeath]

I've been spending some time on the crestar site looking at the dungeon again. I see more areas than last time i looked.

Why is the North indicator going to the left side? I'm so used to north going upspin or to the top.
N
W*E
S

But your is
E
N*S
W

Its not a huge deal but I wondered. I love that you put these in numbered sections. A slice of the whole with links to see the map upclose (some aren't linking btw and I should have listed which). I noticed each section is 18x24 I believe. You list room numbers and even have a large amount keyed. I noticed profile shows up to 11 levels or more? Are these mostly on paper? Not developed? Future plans?

Its a good site with no ads and pretty easy navigation. Its a lot of content to go through thats for sure. Yeah, last time I was on thr site there wasn't a levrl 6 or 7 so I'm glad its still growing.

Cheers.

[D.J.]

I've been spending some time on the crestar site looking at the dungeon again. I see more areas than last time i looked.

Why is the North indicator going to the left side? I'm so used to north going upspin or to the top.
N
W*E
S

But your is
E
N*S
W

Because on the original maps, South was at the top of the map. These maps are oriented to the opening on top of the ground.

Its not a huge deal but I wondered. I love that you put these in numbered sections. A slice of the whole with links to see the map upclose (some aren't linking btw and I should have listed which). I noticed each section is 18x24 I believe. You list room numbers and even have a large amount keyed. I noticed profile shows up to 11 levels or more? Are these mostly on paper? Not developed? Future plans?

The 18 x 24 sections are based on the graph paper I used. It was marked along the bottom 0 thru 18 and along the left edge as 0 thru 24. Of larger squares. Inside each larger square was a 5x5 set of 25 squares. I had each larger square be 10 feet.

The original was to be 11 levels, but I quit gaming in fall, 1985. Since I bought Profantasy's mapping software, I have continued.

I can check them for not linking, but if you remember which level that would help.

Its a good site with no ads and pretty easy navigation. Its a lot of content to go through thats for sure. Yeah, last time I was on thr site there wasn't a levrl 6 or 7 so I'm glad its still growing.

Cheers.

Thanks. I try to work on it, but I have more and more mapping projects to do. Anything below level 5 is new. I had plans back in 1984 to make more maps, but stopped in fall, 1985. I continued on about 16 years ago when I bought CC2, upgraded to CC2Pro shortly after, then bought CC3, now I have CC3Plus and all of the add-ons. I can make maps much better, and in some instances, faster.

I don't know if the comment on my site is still there, but it used to mention level 11 was large enough for a dragon to fly and then turn around.

[McDeath]

Bah! I knew I should have wrote down each link that wasn't working. I did notice that there are the quick links and the thumbnails. Sometimes the thumbnail smalls don't link but the number links above do link. I think its mostly on the levels that you were redoing the maps or adding. Some alignment on the thumbnails are shifted a little when navigating the small overview. Its a great set up. I had been contemplating on large dungeon maps on poster maps and breaking them up (notable Undermountain) so each section could be printed out. I had also been thinking of doing an x,y coordinates similar to how the hexmaps did in JG overworld products. It'd make sense since many crpgs I played used them. As to the sections again breaking each part of a level into smaller printable maps, I tried something like that on paper when doing a grid-based overworld. Its funny, I too had to set a 0,0 point map and have negatives as well as positives for each sheet. I tried that with some hexes as well. It was mostly just me drawing and working on whichever one I felt like running a mock party in testplay (not quite a random overworld generation but close). I'd say it was grid-crawl instead of hexcrawling.

I also noticed you were working on doing a different perspective type map where it was more than 3D. That looked pretty nice as well. I never could draw those by hand so I should consider buying the other CC3 assets for such maps. I wonder how easy it is to make custom 3D ones as there are a few games (well one in particular named Wizardry aka Spell of Destruction) that I'd like to make a map of without resorting to cut/paste screenshots (which I'd have to do anyway since I don't know how to strip game graphic assets from the games). I don't recall seeing a VG atlas entry for that game (c64).

[D.J.]

Those maps are the Perspectives add-on. Four Annual issues, but you have buy the entire year. You might check their site, they have a few free Annual downloads and see if these are mong them.

Issue 66, Isometric Dungeons; Issue 146, Isometric Town; Issue 152 Ancient Tombs Isometric ( somewhat rougher looking symbols than Issue 66); Issue 168 Tagkrammer Isometric. I haven't used 168 yet.

This Resource page on the official forums shows off all of the Annual issues.

https://forum.profantasy.com/discussion ... -one-place

I have a link checker I can run. It will list what isn't working.

[D.J.]

Had my ftp program upload files if not newer than the ones on my site. It uploaded around 20 files. I'll check the links tomorrow.

[D.J.]

Okay, Xenu found some bad links. I think I fixed all of them. Some paths misspelled, some files needed uploading, etc.

Thanks @McDeath, I appreciate it.

[McDeath]

No prob. I kept looking at the megadungeon threads and Dwarf Home was mentioned in quite a few. I figured I'd take a look again as I know I had once. Its great to navigate and with ease. Gives great ideas as well.

cheers

[D.J.]

I tried to set up the site navigation so it is easy to move around and find adjacent maps.

I checked again today, but its that time of day when lots of people on my street are using the Internet. Long list of bad links, but they said the attempt had timed out. I'll try again later this week.

[D.J.]

Ran it again, found two large png maps missing from level 04, and a bad url on the level03 page thumbnails on my site.

All fixed now.