A New Adventure Begins...
Added 2021-09-28 20:40:24 +0000 UTCDungeon of the Mad Mage!
Here we go! After much consideration, I've decided to tackle the sprawling labyrinth of the dungeon beneath the mountain. Thank you to everyone who voted on their preference as it showed me there is lots of support for DOTMM. It's going to be a big task, but I've never been one to shy away from a challenge. I hope you will stick around as I embark on this new adventure whether you are a new or long-time supporter.
How is this going to work?
Have I mentioned these maps are gigantic? I plan to map them on a standard 5 ft grid cell (or double the size of the book's 10ft grid). As such, in order to balance regular releases, time and effort, map size and playability, and VTT performance, I am planning on splitting each Dungeon Level into 2 (paid) releases, as best I can split the map logically. For an example see the image below of level 1: it is 128x166 - the yellow and red sections would be separate releases - the teal line is that max I can map at once anyways (128x128). I will also look to make a composite full level image (it will be big!), and split it further into smaller tiles if required (ie. 50x50 or maybe 6 or 8 tiles per level - I will count on feedback from you all if there are performance issues with these massive maps, even split in 2).
Other changes?
Besides the info noted above, you can expect the same detailed, source-book-aligned maps, assets, and file formats as I've been producing previously. One change I am hoping to make (pending testing/confirmation it works how I hope it will) is to do 1 ever expanding asset pack that is updated each release with new assets from that map.
Sounds great, when do we start?
I'm starting to map these right away! My next release will be a paid re-release of The Yawning Portal - to bring it up to my current mapping standards and use some of the additional assets and tools I've built over the WDH campaign. After that I am diving straight in to DOTMM and hope to have the first release of Level 1 by the middle of October. It's a new adventure with new maps and new size challenges so there might be some delays while I figure out a new workflow - but once I get that sorted I hope to be back to my 4 release a month schedule, meaning 2 dungeon levels per month.
THANK YOU! Thank you for your support through WDH and I am excited to embark on a new adventure with you all!
Comments
Looks like I was late with my advice. Glad to hear your plan. I think it will work very well. I think a composite image will be helpful, too. Maybe something with a lower res to reduce size, but still functional as a DM map. Maybe.
Michael Thompson
2021-10-21 21:54:44 +0000 UTCThanks for the feedback Michael - you are spot on with your suggestion which I quickly discovered once I started mapping it. I will still be splitting each map into 2 releases (just to divide up the work and make my release schedule manageable), but each release will have multiple smaller maps in it. For the north half of Level 1, it is going to be 3 maps and another 3 for the south half - 6 maps total, split into 2 patreon releases. I'm going to try and split them as logically as possible to avoid too much back and forth between maps (ie. where only 1 or 2 hallways cross, not the middle of a room) - as such each map will fit together like a puzzle piece, not a perfect square. I will also try and put together a composite image at the end, but suspect it won't actually be useable by many! cheers!
Ian
2021-10-21 19:43:35 +0000 UTCThis might work, but I have an observation from downloading other maps for this module. They are massive in file size. The map were High Def maps and beautiful. But, too large to use in the VTTs I am using (FGU). I would suggest dividing the maps into quadrants to minimize that as much as possible. Especially since you add walls and lighting for Foundry. That will only add to the file size. Just a thought.
Michael Thompson
2021-10-21 19:17:35 +0000 UTCgood one. I can´t w8 for it :D
Dominik P. Ma Tan
2021-10-01 19:17:19 +0000 UTC
