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Almaseti
2013-07-26, 04:50 PM
I want to run games, but I've been having a lot of trouble designing maps for things. What do the rest of you do when you have to figure out what something looks like in space and then make a version for your players to kill things on?

mjlush
2013-07-27, 05:42 AM
I want to run games, but I've been having a lot of trouble designing maps for things. What do the rest of you do when you have to figure out what something looks like in space and then make a version for your players to kill things on?

A google image search with keywords like map or floorplan + 'building your looking for'
can often bring up some useful results. Its a good idea to set the search to return medium sized images or larger to get rid of the thumbnails

hymer
2013-07-27, 08:49 AM
I start by making a little list of places that ought to be in the area ("Workshop, storage, exhibition/customer area, living space", e.g.), and note what sort of area it is ("Natural cave somewhat modified by mining", e.g.). Then I design the place accordingly. But really, you needn't worry, I expect. I've occasionally come across a player saying, jokingly, "Where are the toilets?" (which just goes to show they don't pay attention, because there's always proper waste management in places designed by me). But really, people tend to not think about these things. It helps if part of the place is impossible to access, that way anything you haven't put in or thought of was in the part that collapsed.

Jay R
2013-07-27, 12:19 PM
In the first game I ever ran, the nearby wilderness was Philmont Scout Ranch, because I'd been a Ranger there and knew nearly every fold on the map.

Later on, I started designing my own lands, but any given area small enough to hold a melee on is based on a picture in my mind - usually patterned on a place I've seen in person or in a movie, then modified (sometimes extensively) to fit the scenario. But I usually start with a real place in my head.