***May 2019 Challenge: Map for a Virtual Table Top***

[Straf]

Oh it has to be a battle map. I don't really know what one of those is but I think it might be a Warhammer sort of thingy. OK I'll have a think about it.

Edit: I think I understand it now. 50 - 60 pixels per inch, with each inch representing 5 feet. So if it's 2048 px^2 then that would be an area of about 200 x 200 feet. It doesn't seem that big of a space for a mass pagga.

OK this is new to me so bear with me ;-)

[arsheesh]

Ah, so the "50-60 pixels per inch" is about the grid. I though it's the image resolution which made me thinking, why so small
Thanks Arsheesh

I'm not quite certain why the resolution is so small. I'm used to seeing either 70 or 100 px per inch for battlemaps intended for screen viewing. I'm guessing it has something to do with the megabyte max file size.

I feel like I must be overthinking the FG requirements...but I'm perplexed. "Dimensions 2048×2048, jpeg, 1-2 megabytes max for file sizes, 50-60 pixels per inch (square) for maps. Most battle maps are around 1200×1200 up to 1800×1800 pixels." Does this mean the map can be as large as 2048 x 2048 pixels, but most maps are smaller? Even my 1200 x 1080 map is coming in WAY over the 1-2 MB file size (currently 22 MB), which is why I haven't yet posted a thread.

Yes, you've got that right. Hmm, 22 MB does seem a bit large for such a map of the listed dimensions. What file format are you using? I'd recommend using .jpg for this and if needed reducing the image quality.

Oh it has to be a battle map. I don't really know what one of those is but I think it might be a Warhammer sort of thingy. OK I'll have a think about it.

Edit: I think I understand it now. 50 - 60 pixels per inch, with each inch representing 5 feet. So if it's 2048 px^2 then that would be an area of about 200 x 200 feet. It doesn't seem that big of a space for a mass pagga.

OK this is new to me so bear with me ;-)

Yup, you've got it, max size (at 50px per inch) would come out at around 200 x 200 feet. No, it's really not that large of a map. The primary use of this will be to determine placement and movement of tokens on the map within a virtual table top. The map doesn't need to be that large in order to do this.

[aeshnidae]

Yes, you've got that right. Hmm, 22 MB does seem a bit large for such a map of the listed dimensions. What file format are you using? I'd recommend using .jpg for this and if needed reducing the image quality.

Using a .jpg. I reduced to 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels and still getting a file size of 17 MB. Could be because my resolution is too high; I've been doing large format printing so my blank template is set to 200 dpi. I'll futz with it some more.

[Voolf]

Using a .jpg. I reduced to 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels and still getting a file size of 17 MB. Could be because my resolution is too high; I've been doing large format printing so my blank template is set to 200 dpi. I'll futz with it some more.

It is probably because you save with the lowest possible compression (best quality for jpg).

[Straf]

Using a .jpg. I reduced to 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels and still getting a file size of 17 MB. Could be because my resolution is too high; I've been doing large format printing so my blank template is set to 200 dpi. I'll futz with it some more.

That will be it. For screen 72 dpi is usually sufficient. (I think)

[aeshnidae]

That will be it. For screen 72 dpi is usually sufficient. (I think)

Yup. Thanks, guys! I need to make it through this week and then I'll hopefully get an entry up over the weekend.

[Jaxilon]

Sorry I'm late to the party guys, I was in London and then Normandy France for the last couple weeks. It was totally awesome!
Right now I'm a bit jet lagged but I'll try to get back and help answer any questions tomorrow most likely.
Right now I'm so tired I don't think I can be fully coherent.

Bottom line however is its pretty much do your map how you want to and adjust it when you create the jpg.

[aeshnidae]

Do our maps have to be square, or is rectangular okay?

[Jaxilon]

Do our maps have to be square, or is rectangular okay?

As far as I know they can be rectangular. I know I've used maps in Fantasy Grounds that were nowhere near what the recommended settings where but then at the time I was using it over a LAN which had plenty of bandwidth.
The main reason for the recommended parameters is for transferring during play between computers all over the world. If you are larger then it just takes longer to load up. Squares vs rectangles makes no difference.

[Jaxilon]

I'm not sure if this will help anyone but if you are struggling with what a 50px square grid is all about you could think of a grid square as the area a single humanoid character could occupy. While it's true more than one person CAN fit in a 5x5 foot space, if they put their arms out wide and spun around 5x5 is about how much space on average they would need. Thus, if you think of the battlemap as a checker board and player tokens as the pieces they all fit and can move about.

Now, all that said, you don't have to make a battlemap. Overland maps can also be useful in Virtual Table Tops. They can even use squares to represent distances (although for my money a hex map is better). You would just specify each grid space as so many miles and maybe the token is a stage coach or something. Anyhow, while it may be late in the month already any kind of map that could be used in a regular rpg game sitting at a table with friends can be used by a Virtual table tap system. Just keep in mind the size recommendations and it should work perfectly.