Flagstones - What do you think?

[LordEntrails]

I have to agree, if you are looking to use this for a battle map with a 5ft grid, then either the tiles need to be 5ft square, or you should come up with something non-square that repeats every 5 feet. You could come up with a rectangular pattern that repeats every 5 feet. Might be a bit tedious or repetative though. But I think that would make play-ability (use as a battle map) much better.

I think if you search 12x24 tile patterns you will find some that repeat. Though you could also use a repeating pattern of triangles or other shapes too.

[flyenemu]

I have to agree, if you are looking to use this for a battle map with a 5ft grid, then either the tiles need to be 5ft square, or you should come up with something non-square that repeats every 5 feet. You could come up with a rectangular pattern that repeats every 5 feet. Might be a bit tedious or repetative though. But I think that would make play-ability (use as a battle map) much better.

I think if you search 12x24 tile patterns you will find some that repeat. Though you could also use a repeating pattern of triangles or other shapes too.

Oooh! I like the idea of triangles or even hexagons(*envisions a recreation of the Temple of Bel-Shamharoth from the Colour of Magic)! Could also make for some very interesting traps or puzzles too... Great idea LordEntrails!

[Mouse]

Hi flyenemu

I really don't know the first thing about battle tiles. I've only just known about what the word means in the last 24 hours - so thank you for your kind compliment

Now that I'm all curious, please could you tell me which of these would be suitable patterns?

(There are also loads of weave patterns not shown here)

Available patterns.JPG

I'm working on both challenges at the moment, so I don't think I will have any time to do anything about it for a couple of weeks at least, but when I do, I'd like to know which ones are worth working with. Thank you

[flyenemu]

Hi flyenemu

I really don't know the first thing about battle tiles. I've only just known about what the word means in the last 24 hours - so thank you for your kind compliment

Now that I'm all curious, please could you tell me which of these would be suitable patterns?

(There are also loads of weave patterns not shown here)

Available patterns.JPG

I'm working on both challenges at the moment, so I don't think I will have any time to do anything about it for a couple of weeks at least, but when I do, I'd like to know which ones are worth working with. Thank you

Mouse,

You are quite welcome, though I am only a humble observer offering my bias perspective. Before I review your image set, I would like to offer a bit of "Illusions 101" as reported by the BBC: http://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/st...ick-your-mind/ . It is a historical account of mankind's rudimentary understanding of optical illusions. The relevance to this topic is the mind understands what a grid is supposed to look like, and uses horizontal and vertical visual cues to understand what is displayed beyond the direct focus of where your eye is looking. So, any pattern that has similar cues would distort the way we see/understand the pattern of a grid. What this boils down to is you want to avoid patterns that have similar color, orientation, or other visual cues as a standard square grid... or at least that is my understanding of how this all works. I have a degree in criminal law, which has nothing to do with... this.

Based off my limited understanding I would think the following would be the best to work with: Big and Small 1&2, Byzantine 2, Cells, Centerpiece, Diamonds 2, Hexagons, Hopscotch, Overlap 1&2, Six Sided, Strange, Strips & Strips 6, Tear Drops, and Techno. Again, perhaps someone with a better grasp on art could offer a better opinion, but that is my best stab at it with what I know at the moment. I will say, however, whatever pattern you decide to go with, you will want to make sure it is not competing with the grid for attention. The last thing you want is to make a beautiful texture for a floor, and have the grid get lost in the artwork. At the end of the day, a battle map is a balancing act between art and functionality; not enough art, and you lack immersion, too much art, and you lose functionality. I do hope this was helpful to someone. Good luck!

[Mouse]

Thank you very much for taking the time to have a look at the patterns, flyenemu

I will take all this on board and think about it while I am working on my challenge maps.

As I understand it you are thinking about the patterns within each 5' square, rather than a pattern to replace the 5' squares?

I had a look at some of the battle tiles available on RPG now, and it seems that they normally come with accessories such as tables and chairs and things lying on the floor - everything from barrels to blood stained daggers? I wouldn't be doing those - just the basic floor patterns. But then - this is a community of mappers, so I imagine that a dungeon mapper would only really want the floor pattern as a basic background for a map, and not all those other things as well.

Sorry for the thread hijack, Damonjynx!

[damonjynx]

Perfectly fine Sue. Re the issue of patterns competing with the grid, I really get flyenemu & LordEntrails comments. Whenever I'm drawing at the table on a dry-erase mat or similar I inevitably make mistakes when the scale is NOT 1square = 5ft. Which is why I initially went with a fairly neutral floor. Re the other questions on this thread and the Dungeon tiles one:

I don't intend to produce any assets. There are far too many more talented folk than I that do such things. Both Bogie & Torstan (aka Jonathon Roberts) have excellent sets available for free download for Mon-commercial use, not to mention those available on the Roll20 or Maptool market places.

Re Doors, my intention was to leave obvious "gaps" for doors and the let DM's use whatever types of doors they fancy. I could always make up some basic wooden, stone and false walls tiles…
All of my tiles are being produced @ 100ppi with 1" grids.

Thanks very much for the feedback and assistance folks, I really appreciate your input. I think for the random tile project I'll stick with the original flooring and use Mouse's tiles and purpose drawn flagstones for other pieces or as feature floors…

[Bogie]

Great floor tiles Mouse. Thanks for sharing.

[Mouse]

Thanks Bogie

I can make any number of variations, so I'll do a few more and upload them to a separate texture album of their own after I've finished both my Challenge maps

[flyenemu]

Mouse,

It is my pleasure! I enjoy offering my insight wherever welcome. Re. Pattern: Yes, the pattern should be the texture of the floor layer that is independent of the 5’ grid overlay. The grid is often understood as not seen in game, and thus the dungeon often lacks 5’ tile marks for the characters to use. Re. other battle maps: The tables, and other misc. stuff is often to help give some further immersion, and often times is more of a pain to work with.

Damonjynx,

I am happy to lean my view on 1square=5’ and the troubles it causes me while mapping are not unique! This makes me feel a bit more welcome to criticize maps with 10’ squares on dungeon maps. I think a blank or less detailed floor tile would be most beneficial for your project, and your decision to omit decorations or other interior objects is also rather wise. I will continue to follow your project on here and on your Dungeon Tiles thread!