I need a map...well a better one.

[black dragoon]

Hey guys I need you help. I'm working on a setting which I already have a few small maps worked out for sadly, I do not have any topography or the ability to make them more detailed than they already are. So, I was wondering if you had any suggestions.

I'm on a pretty tight budget so I can't buy anything like photoshop and I'm not wholly sure how to overlay maps into an already existing program. Are there tutorials for that sort of stuff and where could I find them or do i have to start from scratch.

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this would be one of the maps.

[Lycan 01]

I draw all my maps.

[black dragoon]

Haha yeah. Sadly my artistic skill is next to nil. I can do an awesome grid but maps are a hard one. That and the wondrous lack of a scanner to polish her up is a pain. I do have autorealms though and I'm wondering if that might not be useful for this task. Can you import images into that program?

[The Dark Fiddler]

Can't help with your problem, but the location of /b/ didn't escape me at all.

Is this map by any chance a map of the internet?

[black dragoon]

Just Fourchan. Its based on a prompt where the world is destroyed and remade effectively but, everyone on fourchan over the past two weeks is transported to the various islands.

I'm part of /tg/ and have been working on a story as well as a general world based on this concept. A friend and myself have even come up with little effects that are on each isle based on the nature their board. I might turn it into a flat out setting though eventually but it needs some more meat on its bones in my personal opinion.

[Fendalus]

Yeah, you can import images into AutoREALM. To do so, go File>Insert, the select the JPEG or BMP filetype, whichever one you image is, then just find the image you want to import and hit open. It should be added to the screen.

Also, this sounds like a weird setting, but it does seem interesting.

[black dragoon]

It is. It's very odd. Given each island has a different little 'knack' that makes it unique it can get absolutely crazy. Also thank you. I did not know that and its been awhile since I've played around with the program so this will be fun I think.

[Otodetu]

GIMP is an awsome drawing tool, free too: http://www.gimp.org/

[black dragoon]

oh cool. I've never seen that before. Is it fairly simple to use?

[Zeta Kai]

GIMP is an awsome drawing tool, free too: http://www.gimp.org/

That was a wild way of formatting your text. I had to look at my screen from multiple angles to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I didn't know you could do that. Kudos.

Now don't do that again.

[Magnor Criol]

oh cool. I've never seen that before. Is it fairly simple to use?

Eh. It takes some getting used to, especially if (like me) you try to use it after becoming adept at MSPaint. But it's a solid program, especially considering the "free" bit, and I can attest to its versatility. Give yourself a bit to get used to the controls and it's like a poor man's photoshop.

[black dragoon]

Sounds fun. I could use a poor man's version of Photoshop. I know a friend of mine uses art gem with some ease. Would that be a suitable program for this sort of work? Also I might post what happens on the islands We've gotten drummed up so far.

[Magnor Criol]

Sounds fun. I could use a poor man's version of Photoshop. I know a friend of mine uses art gem with some ease. Would that be a suitable program for this sort of work? Also I might post what happens on the islands We've gotten drummed up so far.

Don't know about art gem, haven't heard of it. And do post what you have, it really sounds pretty interesting. (Though, what happens on several of the islands may be very unsuitable for this forum... =p )

[black dragoon]

That's true most likely thankfully there is no graphic images and I keep the language fairly toned down. But I'll start with some of the more mundane worlds.

/m/:

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The island of /m/ is similar in ways to /tg/. Scattered across the island are the ruined forms of various mecha. Some as small the VOTOMS to as big as the Big O resting amidst the ruins of paradigm city. All have one thing in common. They are nonfunctional and also partially hollow. often the upper portions are little more than metal shells with the cockpits being entrances to the insides of the great statues.

/g/ :

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The land of technology /g/ seems to have a strange field capable of generating power. This field only seems to work with the machinery(nothing more complex than a radio) that is found scattered throughout the land. The few machines that have been taken apart seem to be exactly those found throughout our modern world yet, need no plugs or connection to a power source. If so much as taken outside the large harbor of the island they will cease to function and will resume once more when brought back.

/o/:

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the auto board, this island is covered with fairly well preserved roads and also with working vehicles. But, there is a catch. The vehicles only work upon the island much like /g/'s technology. The engines thoroughly inspected seem to be simple gas or diesel jobs yet, they have no gas in their tanks and run as if always filled.

/tg/:

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/tg/ isle encourages heroic deeds. The various 'monsters' roaming the isle pose a natural threat to people and the ruins filled with seemingly random traps that eventually lead to small caches of weapons and needed supplies prove to be challenging.

The ruins also themselves are also a mystery. Massive cities lay scattered upon the land filled with slowly decaying buildings of mysterious origins. No technology seems to work though. Even when it should. The gears are simply wall fixtures and the great war machines set pieces. Lying in the center of the largest of these strange structures however seem to be chambers leading to a deeper place. A place no one goes out of fear of the unknown and the simple fact those few that do, simply never come back.

also as a side note the image I want to work with the most is a png type...-.-

[valadil]

I'll second Gimp. It lacks some of photoshop's more advanced features, but you probably wouldn't have used those anyway.

[black dragoon]

Most likely. I think I'll download it today actually.

Sadly autorealm does seem to support png images...

edit: Alright so I just downloaded Gimp...I need to scale the image to full size though. Is there any tricks to that?