# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Building/Structure Mapping >  Visio, anyone?

## Fujisawa Rob

I am working on mapping the floors of Kendall Keep (Return to the Keep on the Borderlands) in Visio.  I've got the 'Gatekeeper's Tower (Southeast tower) pretty much done. I'm surprised Visio isn't used more for floorplans like this, I was able to whip something up pretty quickly, and it's to scale. Granted, I've been using it for a while but it's a pretty easy program to use.  You can even import your own textures.  Anyone else done any mapping with Visio?

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## the$im

I used it some years ago mainly for making tactical maps for my cyberpunk rpg group. Among other things I designed an entire mall and an island underground complex. It's a pretty nifty tool and easy to use as well.

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## Fujisawa Rob

> I used it some years ago mainly for making tactical maps for my cyberpunk rpg group. Among other things I designed an entire mall and an island underground complex. It's a pretty nifty tool and easy to use as well.


I've played around with making dungeons with it too. It works ok for rectilinear rooms, not so good for irregularly shaped passages or natural caverns.  There's a free form tool but it's only as accurate as the number of points you create.

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## jimmyray73

God, I used Visio ages ago, it was bundled on a Windows 95 computer I got in college back in '95 (makes a certain amount of sense).  I used it for a lot of room/building layouts in more games than I could count until that computer finally self-immolated in early 2000.  Is it worth looking into this again after a decade and a half?

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## Fujisawa Rob

> God, I used Visio ages ago, it was bundled on a Windows 95 computer I got in college back in '95 (makes a certain amount of sense).  I used it for a lot of room/building layouts in more games than I could count until that computer finally self-immolated in early 2000.  Is it worth looking into this again after a decade and a half?


I use Visio 2007, it is a fantastic program. I've been using it since it was owned by Visio Corporation, long before Microsoft bought it.

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## Jaxilon

There is also Dia which is free and opensource. I haven't used Visio in so long either but I used to use it for work way way back. A good program and I know you could use it to make floor plans pretty quickly so long as you were after the old school look.

If you don't want to pay for Visio you might give Dia a shot. If you are into opensource you might even be able to add the special shapes you want for your dungeon.

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## jwhalen

I have done one location layout using Visio.  It is great for drafts but it lacks artistic and emotional appeal...unless you get geeked by blueprints (which I have been known to do but I think I may just be weird)

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## Robbie

I just cleaned out the mod queue for your posts...I think I got everything...if something is still missing, then I did it wrong and probably just need to be shot at. (I deleted duplicates). Sorry about that.  Users with less than 5 posts are subject to moderation based on a third party filter.  Unfortunately, approval is a manual process.  Sorry for the delay.

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## Xandegar

I've been using Visio for some time, but not for dungeon design, have to confess that my PC is getting old, and many of the more "pro" tools just don't run on it..  :Frown:

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## alphonsus

I do all my 'digital' maps in Visio - mainly because I'm a rubbish artist. Yes, it can give you a very 'clinical' look and you don't get anything like the lighting efects that make a building drawing (as opposed a plan) look more interesting, although if you use transparency on say, a yellow circle you can get a rough version of the same. Shading is rudimentary, but as Fujisawa Rob says, you can use imported textures to reasonable effect.
Fujisawa Rob is right in that it won't do jagged outlines, but I've had reasonable success doing contour lines with the freeform tool. You can get a good-looking, scale plan in a fairly short amount of time - especially if you re-use parts of your previous work. If you do any 'technical' style work - such as spaceships, etc. then I reckon it's a good investment, especially if you are eligible for a student discount edition or can get an older version cheaply.

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## Fujisawa Rob

> I do all my 'digital' maps in Visio - mainly because I'm a rubbish artist. Yes, it can give you a very 'clinical' look and you don't get anything like the lighting efects that make a building drawing (as opposed a plan) look more interesting, although if you use transparency on say, a yellow circle you can get a rough version of the same. Shading is rudimentary, but as Fujisawa Rob says, you can use imported textures to reasonable effect.
> Fujisawa Rob is right in that it won't do jagged outlines, but I've had reasonable success doing contour lines with the freeform tool. You can get a good-looking, scale plan in a fairly short amount of time - especially if you re-use parts of your previous work. If you do any 'technical' style work - such as spaceships, etc. then I reckon it's a good investment, especially if you are eligible for a student discount edition or can get an older version cheaply.


A couple of incomplete Visio maps for "Return to the Keep on the Borderlands":

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## Fujisawa Rob

I've also used sites like Gozzy's Random Cave Generator which makes a nice image that you can then paste into Visio.

I get the software for free through work, I've never had to purchase it.

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