# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Virtual Tabletop/Battlemap Mapping >  Pyramid of Shadows [Another Take]

## Ashrem Bayle

Not to take away from Neon Knight's efforts, but I decided to re-map Pyramid of Shadows myself.

I use a projector setup, so I needed to make all the rooms connect correctly. Thus I decided to tackle this in Photoshop. Unfortunately, I had to break it up into sections to post it because of the file size limitations for attachments.

Here's level one! Levels 2 and 3 to follow soonish.

The full (8.4MB) image can be downloaded here: http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.p...mzmmmz&thumb=5

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## NeonKnight

Good work on your maps there.

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## Phantos

Quite a beautiful take on it!

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## hpederse

Fabulous!  I am starting the module this weekend, also using a projector, so this is great.  I especially like the dark feel to the maps.  

I don't suppose you are planning to also do the other levels? =)

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## Ashrem Bayle

Level 2 is almost done. Should be complete by mid next week.
I imagine the third level will follow shortly thereafter.

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## Ashrem Bayle

I was in the mood so I decided to go ahead and finish up level 2. Here's the full resolution file: http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.p...muyrxm&thumb=5

Level 3 coming soon!

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## Phantos

Very cool! So do you just use photoshop to project it on a surface, or do you use a program like Maptools?

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## ravells

I love the colours - especially the blue. Also great is the little arrow to show which way the doors open. Great map!

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## Ashrem Bayle

> Very cool! So do you just use photoshop to project it on a surface, or do you use a program like Maptools?


It depends on whether or not I use miniatures. If I use real physical minis, I usually just use Photoshop. I can put a black "fog-of-war" layer over it and erase it as they go. You can do that in Maptools as well, but it looks much better in Photoshop.

If I use virtual minis though, I use Maptools. The ugly "fog-of-war" is made up for with the other tools.

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## NymTevlyn

What's ugly about MapTool's fog of war?

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## Midgardsormr

It doesn't have pleasant soft edges such as can be done in Photoshop. And since the physical minis won't interact with MapTool's topology, there's really not much need for it.

On the other hand, I find it useful to be able to see the unobscured map on the PC monitor, where the displayed map has all the interface hidden.

edit: And I remain the Page Break King. The antecedant of "it" is MapTool's fog of war, for those who don't feel like clicking back to the previous page.

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## Ashrem Bayle

That's exactly right. Maptool cuts away fog-of-war with sharp precise edges. Photoshop can do a smoother, more natural erase.

It's purely aesthetic.

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## NymTevlyn

Seems like a really silly thing to not use it over. *shrugs*

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## Redrobes

Yeah, cool maps there Ashrem... Bonk

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## Ashrem Bayle

> Seems like a really silly thing to not use it over. *shrugs*


But if I'm not using tokens, why would I want to use it at all?

If just need to project the map, Photoshop is fine. Heck, the last map I used I didn't even use fog so I just used the basic windows image viewer.

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## Redrobes

Because I'm interested as I write an app with a projector mode, do you find that its difficult to get the scale right for miniatures with a normal image viewer or Photoshop after its been projected. Do you just measure it on the table and resample by a factor to fix up ?

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## Ashrem Bayle

> Because I'm interested as I write an app with a projector mode, do you find that its difficult to get the scale right for miniatures with a normal image viewer or Photoshop after its been projected. Do you just measure it on the table and resample by a factor to fix up ?


Nothing as complicated as all that. I project it onto the table and zoom in or out until a square is the size of a miniature base.

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## Ashrem Bayle

Level 3.

Of note, I removed one of the rooms? Why? The room was dumb, the encounter was dumb, and it served no real purpose at all except to prolong the adventure.

Which in my opinion, is overly long as it is.

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## Ascension

That voodoo room thing is amazing.  Excellent stuff there.

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## Nebulous

Awesome stuff man!

I'm running tabletop Thunderspire right now and i'm gonna finish it with printed maps, but you guys have inspired me to get a projector for Pyramid.

So, any advice on what KIND of projector i should get? Anyway i can swing a good one for $300?

Nebulous

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## jfrazierjr

> Awesome stuff man!
> 
> I'm running tabletop Thunderspire right now and i'm gonna finish it with printed maps, but you guys have inspired me to get a projector for Pyramid.
> 
> So, any advice on what KIND of projector i should get? Anyway i can swing a good one for $300?
> 
> Nebulous


I would say to research (projectorcenteral.com) and find out about the projectors you are looking at BEFORE you buy.    Specifically, if you plan to project down onto a table top, you need a certain distances from the project to the surface to get a specific size screen image.  This is called throw distance.   For example, product A may required 7 feet 1 inch to create a 36x24 image, while product b may only require 5 feet 5 inches to hit the same size scale.  Unless you have super high ceilings or plan to project onto the floor, this is a very critical piece of information to know before you decide on a particular projector!!!!  

Second, make sure you get as high a lumens(light brightness) projector as you can afford.  Those with low lumens will be horrible unless you have the lights down real low, which is not always condusive to gaming where you need to be able to read printed material (assuming you or your group needs printed material!)



Unless you happen to get a good deal for a used one, you will not get a new projector for under 300 that will meet the above criteria.  I think I ended up paying around 650 for mine which is not "great" in the lumens department (not bad either though) but has a fairly short throw range.

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## Zoso

These maps are fantastic!  Were the maps created entirely in PS?

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## tagon

Love the maps thanks

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## JDragon

Nice looking maps.

I have a projector I'm using as well and only use Photoshop to build and display the maps.  I'm actually in the process of changing how i have it mounted due to some changes we made to our living room.

I want to second everything *jfrazierjr* posted above.  Do your research first.  I had been talking about wanting one for a long time but my wife always laughed at me. (in a friendly way) So I never did any research, then outta the blue a few years back she got me one for xmas.  Which was great and really surprised me, but I'm not sure if I had done the research I would have gotten the same one.

For more info from other gamers that are using projectors check out this thread over at enworld.  Its been going for around 4 years at this point and still has recent activity.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general...t-up-evar.html

Good luck

JD

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## Zoso

Would you mind sharing what you did for the effect over the floor in the Maze of Lost Souls area (Level 3 bottom-right corner maze)?  I would love to use something like that for a flooded room.

Thanks!

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## Calexander

Wow, just wanted to say this is a fantastic map and ask a question of everyone:

What is the best way to print out these large images over multiple pages? I'm having trouble doing it through web browser, paint, photoshop, pretty much anything I've pasted it into. Any help is appreciated.

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## BlackLotus

Kinkos prints some over sized maps.

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## Thanlis

Ashrem -- do you still have the originals available somewhere? Mediafire seems to have timed out the download.  :Frown:

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## TheMarcus7

Check out these links. Apparently, you can do some amazing things with a projector, a wiimote, and some infrared pens:

http://tyrendes.spaces.live.com/blog...731F!347.entry

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/04/diy-gamer-build/

http://kingworkscreative.blogspot.co...ame-table.html

.TM7

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## Sereptus

This looked like a great map to use for my game and I realize this thread is 4 years old but ....isn't the first level of this map missing the rooms in the middle where the characters first appear after entering the pyramid? :0

Since the Artist hasn't been active for 4 years I guess I won't hold my breath on an answer from him.  :Razz:

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## Gamerprinter

If memory serves, the maps created were missing from the original adventure, but any maps that did exist in the publication weren't done here - only the missing maps...

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## Qoff

Anyone still have the full map? The link is broken.

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