Dragon Map Maker: Kickstarter Live Map Demo - Biome Painting

[@SgtNuker]

I love that this is basically the "Photoshop of Map Making". This is brilliant.

[@MrJoelpearce]

This is extremely promising - the results look great, and it's much less finicky than many of the other 3d map makers I've seen. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

[@Tysto]

This is just gorgeous. And the interface seems really clean and intuitive. I love it.

[@TheModwriter]

I am thoroughly impressed by this. Very good job, Sir!

[@Karsten_W]

This is really really nice and the first tests with the beta in the last two hours are very promising. Easy to use and you really quick cam get very nice results.

[@bowralunited]

this is so sick man! Looking forward for the beta release

[@robbabcock_]

Wow, this looks great!

[@AlexnicholasBlakely]

Looks awesome

[@mattalford3862]

This is really amazing. Very exciting!

[@Kevlar-78]

Looking fantastic !

[@MenricJJones]

I just got my beta access, and needed to see how to start :) I was gob smacked at how easy it is to make some complex imagery. I notice that there is an elevation beneath the field, is there a planned to be able to 'dig' into it?

[@dragonmaps]

It'd have to say no digging (at least for now). The way the terrain works at the moment the technology won't really support it. The elevation thing is to allow rooms to sit over the terrain, like bridges etc

[@Kevlar-78]

Really digging the aesthetic. Do you make your own art /assets or is it a team ?

[@dragonmaps]

I'm a solo developer at the moment. I hope to get a couple more people involved though.

[@TimWGlass]

You mentioned a demo. I backed this Kickstarter, but don't remember seeing a demo version yet for backers. Did I miss something? Also, is there a way to keep the sunlight from creeping into the cave? The way it's shown in this video, it doesn't have the feel of a cave because of the lighting.

[@TheModwriter]

IIRC, access to the beta demo occurs once the kickstarter has completed. That's just a few days from now.

[@dragonmaps]

Hi Tim, I'm giving a demo of the software in use. It should be around two weeks after the Kickstarter finishes when beta keys are sent out. Kickstarter needs to do all the finatial stuff before I know who has actually backed what. I have shadow caster objects you can place above things like caves to stop the sunlight, I have a couple ideas on how I can make it more automated.

[@TimWGlass]

@@dragonmaps Sounds awesome and looks like a good tool. I can't wait to try it out. Thanks!

[@MarcGillham]

Am I understanding correctly that for game play use (printing or in a VTT) you can only export a 2D top down view? Cool factor aside, doesn't that make the 3D stuff kind of pointless?

[@dragonmaps]

Hi Marc, 2d and 3d have different strengths. The main benefit of doing the maps in 3d is the lighting. Everything sits together and looks "correct". 2d assets can feel very separated from each other unless an artist goes in and takes time to blend them in by painting light/shadow/color tone etc which will take a long time (and needs a skilled artist).

[@MarcGillham]

@@dragonmaps Fair enough, but it does seem like a missed opportunity given the state of the 3D mapping market. This looks much easier to use than any of the alternatives (and isn't trying to be a VTT).

[@TimWGlass]

@@MarcGillham I second that. It would be awesome to be able to provide perspective or panorama views for players to set the stage. Also, and don't hate me, we're going to need decayed structures, a way to brake walls, etc.

[@MarcGillham]

@@TimWGlass Totally, that would render (pardon the pun) all of the potential competition second rate compared to this. The hill building is awesome for example, but no one will ever see that in a top down view.

[@Delmontey]

Spent around 3.5 hours creating a beautiful pyramid dungeon plunder, and everything was going great. UI is still wonky here and there, but all in all it was looking really well. Was super happy with it until near the end when I CTRL+Z to undo something, and it deleted way too many things. I tried to "Re-do" to fix, and it deleted over half the map, putting my camera into the red blank zone. I quickly hit undo again, and saved the map and exited to try and maybe restart the program. Once restarted (multiple times), when I try to load the map, I'm consistently getting stuck on the "Initializing" screen for 30 minutes at a time before I quit and try again, only to be met with the same problem. This seems like a beautiful tool to make quick little mockups, but for bigger projects? I'm scared to try again under the notion that a simple Undo button can seemingly corrupt the entire file. Very disappointed at my loss of work.

[@dragonmaps]

Hi there, I've not had any reports of this happening before. Can you pop onto Discord when you have time and post in the bug report section. The Discord server link can be found in the top right corner of the app or on the Steam Store page right hand Info section. Its possible it may be a hardware issue that I can help resolve.

[@Delmontey]

Absolutely, thank you for the heads up! @@dragonmaps

[@GhostCharlie1]

Buaaaaa 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[@mattwilson3292]

has anyone made a basic tutorial? I'm having a lot off issues