Subterrainian Map Prettier Script

[aerduin]

ok - so i figured out the answer to question #1 - i changed the 'Distort Amount' on the Dungeon Map Maker script to 25 (results below)

would still be interested in answers to the other 2 questions.
2. also yours looks a little more beveled than mine - do i just change the stroke level or something?

3. i am still learning about image size, pixels per inch, grid sizing, grid spacing, etc., and how to get things to line up properly... any tips on how to understand or make sense of all that? like.. explain it like im 5?

test-dungeon2.png

[johnvanvliet]

Hi "aerduin"

keep in mind that in the last 8 YEARS a lot of things have changed in Gimp

gtk is on the way out
and GEGL is now used

script foo is out and python is in

to put things in a bit of a different prospective
in people terms 20 years is one generation
in software 5 years is one generation

8 years would be 1.6 Generations

a young grand parent or a OLD aunt or uncle
-- a baby boomer still

3. i am still learning about image size, pixels per inch, grid sizing, grid spacing, etc., and how to get things to line up properly... any tips on how to understand or make sense of all that? like.. explain it like im 5?

this really is a printing on paper issue

raster images have ZERO need to know anything about pixels per inch
only your paper printer needs to know that ( and is set in the printer GUI )

now Maps that are Geo referenced these need to know the earth ( or planet) radii in meters and the pixels per Degree or Meters per pixel
but for the above dungeon map , that really is not needed .

just set a scale in your head like 100 pixels = 1 M

2. also yours looks a little more beveled than mine - do i just change the stroke level or something?

with 8 years difference and many versions of Gimp ( the current is 2.8.16 )
back in 2008 it was gimp 2.4

you will have to hack the script
the new API used in the current gimp is very different

I set my image to 900x900 px. with resolution of 100x100 ppi

900x900 px is TINY , also with the PRINTING ONLY setting of 100 ppi
this is a 9 inch image if printed on a 8.5x 11 inch paper
BUT the DEFAULT printer resolution is 300 ppi
with 600 ppi as a hi quality print
and 150 ppi as a DRAFT print

now back in 1999 to 2003 that was big ( you had only 32 meg to 512 meg of ram
even in 2008 512meg to 1 gig was average

but today
it is rather hard to find a computer with LESS than 4 Gig of ram

a 4096x4096 pixel image is still a bit small with 4 to 8 + gig of ram

[Midgardsormr]

3. i am still learning about image size, pixels per inch, grid sizing, grid spacing, etc., and how to get things to line up properly... any tips on how to understand or make sense of all that? like.. explain it like im 5?

Let's start with physical size: What you'd expect to see on paper. A typical map that you'd find folded up in the back of a gaming supplement might be about 20 inches x 32 inches (5 x 8 folded in half twice). If it's a battlemat with standard 1-inch = 5-feet squares, you'd have a 32 x 20 square map, which covers extents of 160 feet x 100 feet.

Now, a "high quality" print is 300 dots per inch. That usually looks really good at arm's length. An art print, as johnvanvliet has said, is 600+ dpi, but in my opinion that's really overkill for these kinds of images. For a poster-sized print, I would go no higher than 300, and I'd only go that high if I was planning on printing to very nice paper. Low quality paper just won't hold the ink well enough if you're printing full-color. I have gone as low as 120 dpi and been satisfied with the quality for a poster map.

Okay, so let's assume that you want your map to look really good close-up, and it's going to be 32" x 20". 300 dpi * 32 inches = 9600 pixels. 300 * 20 inches = 6000 pixels. So if that were your target, you would want your eventual image to be 9600 x 6000 pixels.

All of this assumes that you are going to print your image. If it's not going to a printer, dpi doesn't matter!

BUT, the image resolution—the actual pixel dimensions—are still a pretty good guideline for your final output. If it turns out too big to view comfortably, it's very easy to scale down. It's almost impossible to scale up.

A virtual tabletop (VTT) such as Roll20 or MapTool will usually have a recomended resolution per square. It can be anywhere from 50 - 150 pixels per square. Using what you know about typical battlemats above, you can do the math to discover that 32 squares (inches) * 100 pixels/square = 3200 pixels. So using your target sizes, you know what size you want to make your ultimate image.

Now, that doesn't say anything about working resolution. As I mentioned, it's easy to scale an image down, but hard to scale it up. So you never want to work at a smaller size than your eventual final image. Some people like to work at twice the resolution of their eventual image. I prefer to work at my actual resolution so that I know exactly what the end result will look like as I am working and because resource management is easier that way. Remember that since you're working in two dimensions, doubling the resolution (twice as wide) actually quadruples the data you're dealing with! (Twice as wide * twice as tall = 4 times as big.) If you're already aiming at a pretty big image, quadrupling it to work on it could make it unmanageable. But I do usually work as if I am eventually going to print at 300 dpi. After all, if I make a really cool image, I like to have the option of putting it on my wall some day!

[aerduin]

thank you all for your input. I am aware that this technique is several years old, but I am somewhat new to this and found the tutorial on this forum. But thanks for the input all the same!

[Coriolis]

Having recently updated to Gimp 2.10.6, I downloaded and tried running this script without success. It partially runs, but then stops, and I get the following error message:

Error while executing script_fu_dungeon_map_maker:

Error: ( : 1) eval: unbound variable: OVERLAY-MODE

My understanding is that many script fu batch processes, and some script fu scripts simply won't run in Gimp 2.10. Any suggestions on how to fix this so I can go back to making awesome dungeon maps with a minimum of hassle? Is it possible to install and run two versions of GIMP on the same machine? Failing that, is there an old-school algorithm that walks through the individual steps/filters to be run?

[Coriolis]

Ok, I put together a workaround for folks who still want to use this and other older script-fu creations:

1. Download a portable build of Gimp 2.8. You can find one here: https://www.partha.com/

2. Load this and any other script-fu stuff you want into the scripts folder of the portable gimp.

3. Open the floor plan black and white image with portable GIMP and run the dungeon script.

I'm playing with this for the first time in a few years again, and it looks as awesome as ever.

[Hervis]

Hey everyone,

I case you were struggling to get the last version of this script up and running with GIMP 2.10, I went and ported it to Python and got most of the functionality where we want it.

I kept the versioning for clarity.

# 1.7 - original port. Kept same version number for clarity
# No Batch Mode
# HEX Grid Removed as I couldn't get the hex script to work with
# GIMP 2.10
# Combined the Stroke Style and Bevel Stroke items in an attempt
# to shorten the input dialog somewhat
# Remove the Distortion settings. Couldn't figure out what they
# were doing anyway

All credit goes to Rob A for the techniques and the logic this script is based on.

BTW, the python call to the bump map function in GIMP 2.10.14 doesn't work. I had to upgrade to the latest [2. 10. 18] to get it working.

Regards and happy creating.

dungeon_map_maker_python.zip

[Hervis]

Here is version 1.8 of this script. 1.7 had an issue with the blur on the wall shadow and wall bevel

dungeon_map_maker.zip

[Hervis]

Coreiolis,

I ported this script (mostly) to python so that it works very well with Gimp 2.10.18 (do not use 2.10.14)

You can find it here.

dungeon_map_maker.zip

[jfrazierjr]

Coreiolis,

I ported this script (mostly) to python so that it works very well with Gimp 2.10.18 (do not use 2.10.14)

You can find it here.

dungeon_map_maker.zip

I see in an above where you removed the distortion. If I recall correctly, Rob had put that in at a request from Post 43 in this thread. It allows you to draw fairly quick strait rooms using rectangles and end up with jagged results like ROUGHLY worked walls. If you are still around and would update this back in, I would appreciate it.