# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Board Game Mapping >  Wargame map for game "Ordered to Die"

## timallen

Hi all:

This will be my first thread here, so bare with me if I mess things up!

A couple weeks ago White Dog Games asked me to build a map for one of there upcoming games, to be called "Ordered to Die".  It will be a hex & counter war-game on a battle that took place near Baghdad in 1915.  They sent along a map the game designer was using  and asked if I could re-do it in Photoshop.  Here is the original map.

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## timallen

About a week ago I started work on the photoshop version.  After playing around with quite a number of different backgrounds, I came up with this one.  Its based on the assumption that the map will be printed onto an 11x17 paper.  It doesnt look too bad, even with loads of terrain yet to add.  I sent this off to the designer to get his thoughts on it.  I also had a number of quetions for him on exactly how to proceed with some other parts, like the entrenchments and such.

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## timallen

After seeing the map I had started, the designer asked if I could have the river follow the hex lines instead of flow through the hexes, so I changed that and started adding in some of the terrain.  I grabbed some nice buildings out of CC3 and used them for the villages and mosques and sand dunes.  My swamp looks odd...gotta work on that more.  But its coming along.

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## RobA

Are you using....

Papyrus?

(that is a link, by the way...  :Wink:  )

Looks like a nice start!

-Rob A>

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## ravells

Oh Papyrus.....ohhh cliche, ohhh comic sans could only be worse (I used Papyrus for our wedding invitation).

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## mearrin69

Heh. I like Papyrus.  :Smile:  It's unfortunate that it has gotten such a bad rap for overuse/misuse. 

@timallen: It's a nice looking map so far. Only issue I'll raise is one of licensing and CC3 - don't know the particulars of the CC3 user license so I'll suggest you check (if you haven't) that it's okay to use their images in commercial works (and whether its okay to use them in such works with other software). If it's not cool maybe you can recreate them with a slightly different look? Looking forward to seeing where you take this. I love wargames!  :Smile: 
M

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## timallen

Yes its Papyrus.  Its only a "placeholder" font until I find something else.  Unless the boss at White Dog Games likes it, of course!

I did go over that CC3 info when I first got it.  I recall that using there stuff for commercial maps was not an issue.  It shouldn't be...the dang software cost enough!  And, BTW, CC3 is a complete enigma to me.  I just Dont Get It.  Its a shame, since it cost so much and other people seem to be able to make very nice maps with it.  I guess its mostly because I keep wanting to do stuff in it "The photoshop way" and its Nothing like photoshop.   With Gimp if you know photoshop you can probably puzzel out how to do stuff, but not with CC3.  At least I cant.

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## mearrin69

I've never used CC3 but have bought and tried the NBOS software and find it equally incomprehensible. I much prefer Photoshop.  :Smile: 
M

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## timallen

Yep.  I've spent too much time with Photoshop...I dont seem to have the time now to "unlearn" it, so that I can learn CC3.  Oh well.

Here is the latest version of the map.  Been hard at it!

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## mearrin69

Looking really good. Noticed a typo: terain - terrain.
M

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## ravells

It is looking really good and nice to have some action in the boardgames section too. Not sure about the ravine though, it looks like it's convex in a couple of spots.

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## tilt

Looking good, nice and clean  :Smile: 
And I agree with Mearrin - I like Papyrus, but don't use it anymore cause everybody else does... 
And also agree with timallen, bought CC2 (I think) but never got around to using it cause I was stuck in my photoshop/illustrator ways.. and it just seemed to make things more troublesome to do. 
hmmm very agreeable today - aint I *lol*

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## timallen

Well, Tilt, you are doing better than me then.  I still have to learn Illustrator.  My "boss" at Victory Point Games sent me a copy of it, but so far I havent done much more with it than open up Illustrator files and then export them out so I can use them in Photoshop!

I would agree about the ravine.  It doesnt look right.  I'm still trying to figure out the best way to do it.  If anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it!

Its funny, but some maps just flow together on there own, while others I struggle with.  This one seems to be a struggle.  One minute I like it and the next I think it stinks, and I want to start all over again...

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## torstan

It's looking really good. If you can nail down the ravine then I think you'll be golden.

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## tilt

concerning the ravine of the top of my head, try making the basic shape as a black thin 1 pixel line, select it, go to select/modify/expand and expand by 1 pixel - then make a new layer and fill with a very dark brown, then repeat that process, expanding, making a new layer and filling with a lighter brown each time. When done - add some "vertical" lines going down the depth here and there...   :Smile:

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## Steel General

Nothing wrong with the Papyrus font - if it's appropriate then damn the torpedoes and papyrus away:  :Wink: 

Oh yeah, the map is progressing quite nicely.

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## ravells

I'm sure there are 'how to make cliff' tutorials for photoshop in the tutorial section you could look at...

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## timallen

Thanks for the tips guys.   The map will now officially be 22x17 which gives me plenty of room around the edges for a combat results table, Terrain Effects Chart, Turn Track, and maybe a few extras...dunno what exactly.

I"m thinking of starting again with most of the terrain.  I do like the villages, but they look rather out of place when placed along side top-down views of things like the river, the road, and the trench-line.  I think I will see if I can make all the terrain top-down.  The problem really is in the middle of the map, where the terrain is really crowded.  You have some hexes with a village, strong points And the trench line all stuck together, while most of the map is just empty desert.

Luckily, White Dog Games hasnt (yet) given me any time limit.  Which is just as well, since I actually have 2 other maps I need to do for Victory Point Games right away.

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## timallen

So, after fooling around for several hours tonight, I came up with this.  The map has now been expanded to 22x17 inches, allowing larger hexes and more room for tables and charts.  The hills and ravine still arent right yet.  And the sandy background is too...grainy?  It needs toning down.  But its coming along....

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## tilt

slowly getting there (and always good to get more space) - I really like the texture of the sand - so don't lighten it to much  :Wink: 
The ravine has some background sticking out two places and the hills I feel are a little dominating. If you want to put a little extra effort in the ravine try working a little with light and shadow - the cliffs would cast a shadow on the bottom and the oposite cliffs should be a bit ligther as the sun hits them  :Smile:

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## todd636

Would it be possible to have the partial hexes not white?  Maybe the same color as the top and bottom half of the sheet?

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## timallen

Sure.  that is a separate layer so it can be any colour; it can even be turned off.  I'll play around with it when I have time.  Got other mapping to do before I get back to this project.

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## timallen

bit more work done on the map.  I am still waiting to hear from the game designers on what info they want on the Terrain Effects chart.

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## timallen

The map is finished.

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## mearrin69

That looks super-duper great, man. Have some rep. I loves me some hex-based wargaming. Watching you make this one makes me want to unbox my old AH Panzer games and Squad Leader again. It has been too long.
M

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