What size should I make online maps?

[PaperGriffin]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of converting some of my maps for online gaming use (Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, etc). Does anybody know if there is a general recognised resolution and/or dimensions for using maps online or is it platform dependent?

[Styescape]

Hi PaperGriffin,

at first I'm no Pro in Virtual Tabletops, I just startetd to think about the use. So I have just a very small overview and might be wrong. As far as I see it seems to be depending on the plattform. Roll20 for example has 140x140 pixels per square (https://roll20.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/...etplace-Assets). OneBookShelf instead is telling you to have squares of 70x70 pixels (https://onebookshelfpublisherservice...top-VTT-Assets). If you want to get an overview of VTTs, this might hepl and maybe you will find out more there: http://rpgvirtualtabletop.wikidot.com

[Tiana]

What's important to note about Roll20 is it will break by 10mb, so ideally you want your images to be way smaller than that, and it will also break at a certain width and height, so you want to stick to reasonable sized squares and rectangles for maps. It did NOT work to do a super long narrow map for example.

[stephensonalma]

I`m also looking for an answer to this question but there is no answer yet

[Redrobes]

I think the answer is that there is no general or absolute value to the size of tokens to use.

Each of the VTTs have different capabilities. When I wrote mine there was a limit of 2048x2048 for the overall bitmap size to any and all tokens but that token bitmap could be on the screen at any in world size so there was no fixed resolution needed. You could have a 1000x1000 pixel bucket sitting next to a 200x200 pixel dragon and it would handle it just fine. Of course you could then zoom into the bucket better than the dragon but the resolution to world scale was not specified by the bitmap and you did not have to scale the bitmap to any particular size beforehand to put it into the app. There was no overall fixed resolution for the map at all. Only when you saved it did you specify the resolution and you could specify whatever you wanted to get the map bitmap out at whatever size you asked for. I think my app got a bit unstable when you asked for the map outputs at about 20000x20000 res but that could have been memory limitations.

Other VTTs I have seen do have fixed resolutions for tokens and set the in world token size by the bitmap size and use 72 pixels per foot and some others double that. So the overall map size would have been about 20 - 30 x the token size. I assume you could have had small maps or large ones but given that the tokens for them were of fixed res it sort of fixed the map size to some extent.

[Tiana]

I`m also looking for an answer to this question but there is no answer yet

Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

Look at my post literally above yours. I explain in it that the limit on Roll20 is 10 MB. That is their limit. It isn't pixel based, it's size based. From system to system, VTTs are not locked into any maximum limit. If you want to play it safe make 20x20 maps, or 30x30 maps. I broke Roll20 by trying to do extra long racetrack maps. Another VTT might handle my extra wide maps fine but I'm going to play it safe and just do squares from now on, probably.

If you fear being inconsistent, take inspiration from Kris M's Meander series where he always puts 'exits' in the same squares on his maps so they are universally compatible as tile sets. This is a lovely way of ensuring maximum user compatibility. This, however, must come from YOU, and not a universal standard. If you want to do this make a 'template' that indicates where your paths will always exit every single map you make and work over top of that by reskinning it for new genres and settings.