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View Full Version : DM Help What would you like to see in an online map-making application?



Theik
2015-07-14, 02:30 PM
I have been working on making an online application that will (eventually) enable you to make your game world quite easily, using Google Maps to allow you to use basically any city or section of the world you would like for your map. I figure it will mostly be useful for modern, futuristic or post-apocalyptic campaigns, but with the right icons and filters, it may very well also produce a decent fantasy map, perhaps even something that would be useful for hexcrawls.


Current proof of concept:
Click (http://twintailedcomet.com/)
Obviously not very far, it was mostly an experiment with filters, coloring Google maps and removing default and somewhat useless features like bus-stops and street names.


Currently planned features:

Pick starting location/zoom level/boundaries of your map
Ability to make a copy of a map
Placing icons to indicate special locations
Adding information popups to icons
Ability to password protect the public view of your map
Fog of war to prevent other people from seeing past certain boundaries
Ability to add DM only notes to the map, useful for personal reminders
Stylizing your map with different colors



What I am curious about is what kind of other features would you, as a DM, like to see easily available?

And considering I will need to somehow earn back the expense of hosting it all, what kind of "payment scheme" would you think you'd mind least?
Advertisements on the map seem like they would be really obtuse and undesirable, but they might be a lot less problematic in the developer side where you are managing your map/notes/etc. Other options I might consider are small donations in exchange for the ability to have more maps linked to your account. I don't want to limit things too much, but I also don't want to lose money on a fun idea, so I'd appreciate ideas in that regard as well.

Slarg
2015-07-14, 02:53 PM
I like it; this allows you to use your home town in a zombie apocalypse scenario, allowing you to have the players actually start in their homes/put giant supply drops in their homes.


One thing that would be cool is weather; You could pick a year, upload the weather data to it and allow the weather to play out to be played around (As an option).


Have you thought of Kickstarter for funding?

Theik
2015-07-14, 02:59 PM
I had not yet thought about kickstarter, no, in part because I doubt I would be able to generate enough enthusiasm for it to actually fund more than 100 bucks, which makes the time spent creating the kickstarter less time effective than simply spending it on programming the thing. ;P

Weather data might be interesting, I'll have to look into that one! Perhaps even something as simple as simply labeling areas on your map as "x% chance of rain, x% chance of snow, average temperature x" and having it randomize things for you based on the date, so you don't have to worry as much about generating that kind of information yourself.