Questions To All Custom Map Makers, No Matter Your Style Of Crafting

[Mulsiphix]

I have been using HeavyMetal Map hex grids and colored pencils to create custom maps for a while now. I don't have the finances to create diorama style maps, but I was thinking playing around with some new home made map styles. For example, I am currently considering buying a large roll of hex pattern printed paper. I was thinking of hand drawing a map and then attempting to paint it. Afterwards I can frame the map however I like in order to make it more durable.

What are you guys up to? Anybody out there making their own maps? Anybody paining their maps? If so, what types of paints do you use? Any tips you could pass on? I'm really hoping to be able to create more custom maps, and this seems like a good approach. No experience with painting though  ::). How about you guys?

[Saint]

I've tinkered around with a free program called Inkarnate. It's for fantasy settings,but it is easy to use and has a setting for hexs. I mostly use it to create world maps so I'm not sure if it would work for game maps.

[Mulsiphix]

I'm really interested in what people are making from various supplies. Printing maps is already known to me, but too expensive at the quantity I desire  ::)

[Daryk]

I have one of the Chessex Battlemats, and use overhead (water soluble) marker pens.

[Mulsiphix]

I have one of the Chessex Battlemats, and use overhead (water soluble) marker pens.

Are you coloring parts of the map before play, or marking the map during play? My interest in purely in the pre-play phase of map development [wildandcrazy]. I haven't even seen any painted battletech maps except for the old FASA/FPR maps,

[Daryk]

I set it up before play.

[Mulsiphix]

Any chance you have a picture of one of your maps? I'd love to see what you're doing  O0

[ActionButler]

Any maps that I make are either in Photoshop, GIMP, or (if I feel like using aerial photography) ArcGIS.  To tell you the truth, I've never tried to paint my own maps.  I'd kind of like to see some examples of that. 

[Daryk]

Any chance you have a picture of one of your maps? I'd love to see what you're doing  O0

I erased the last one I used some time ago.  If I get around to playing again (one can only hope.. DC is a gaming desert in my experience), I'll be sure to take a picture.  I will say I never "painted" any terrain... the hexes are big enough to write "LW", "HW", etc.

[Ang Moh Siao]

Since I have access to a big Epson Printer (62 cm roll paper!) I've been considering making a hex-grid template in Illustrator that I could digitally layer on top of any art--hand-drawn-then-scanned, photography, whatever. 

Some day, I might even get around to doing it.

[Rick Raisley]

I have been using HeavyMetal Map hex grids and colored pencils to create custom maps for a while now. I don't have the finances to create diorama style maps, but I was thinking playing around with some new home made map styles. For example, I am currently considering buying a large roll of hex pattern printed paper. I was thinking of hand drawing a map and then attempting to paint it. Afterwards I can frame the map however I like in order to make it more durable.

For /gaming/ purposes (not to get the best looking maps) we've found that using a large hex-printed sheet (I have a roll made by Highball), and then printing (using HMMap in my case) areas, usually no larger than a letter size sheet, of various terrain, mountains, woods, lakes, etc. works quite well. A dozen or so separate sheets can be placed around the large map, resulting in a new map for each game, looks good, and is cheap. We've even made many of these components 3D, to be used either with flat map sheets or 3D maps. It's just a way of getting a lot of good looking variation, especially with larger (2x2 and up) map areas, without much cost, but they still play well and look good. Obviously, things like factories, buildings, dropships, etc. are done the same way.

[Mapmaster]

I almost solely use Photoshop. Sketchup can also be useful for outputting top-down views of buildings. I output images from Sketchup and import them into Photoshop so I can place them wherever I want. Tiff files of hex grids can be easily found online.

[Highball]

.

[Colt Ward]

Honestly, making some 3D features to your maps is not all that hard . . .

For a simple idea, you can check the following link- http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=57348.0

While I am not totally sure what he used to build up the level using simple box cardboard, tape over the edges, and put the 'hexes' on top of that cardboard for the details.

I bought a chunk of 1 inch foam from Home Depot that I have carved out various bits of L1 terrain, painted them with a paler green color and even put flock on some.  You can find videos on youtube about how to decorate them.

I highly suggest looking in the Gaming Terrain subforum, tons of ideas being thrown around and some topics challenge folks to use 'throw away' items.  I have turned the plastic batteries came in into greenhouses, plastic bottle caps into water towers, plastic bottle caps into bunkers, and soda cans into liquid storage tanks.

[Stinger]

I actually made a fan map or two.

I used google earth and stitched together like 12 .png exports from it to make my base map.

Then I used Kat Wylder's very awesome map templates to provide hexes: http://katwylder.deviantart.com/art/Hex-Map-Template-206069306

Also linked there is Kat's guide, which is very excellent as well.  I use GIMP for all of my image editing work.  Its a bit harder to use than PhotoShop, but it's free and very powerful.

[NeonKnight]

HOTZMATT printed to 1.75" hexes

HEROSCAPE tiles for hills etc

3d Buildings, trees, etc.