Creating Game Maps with a Computer

[Whiterook]

Creating game maps can be fun, and as easy or complex as you need or can tolerate, depending on the medium used. I’ve created maps with markers on paper and tiles, but I never did some on a computer. Recently, I came across a variant system for Advanced Squad Leader (ASL), called RETRO, which uses ASL-style mapboards, and one of the things that immediately sprang to mind is, what if I wanted to design my own maps? The same thought occurred to me when Mike showed us his Gotterdammerung Belin, 1945 game (which I subsequently bought!), and even Valor & Victory, which is another game I own. That’s three games right there alone, and you could easily at ASL Starter Kit and Squad Leader to the mix. Having the ability to make your own maps is a pretty powerful weapon in your arsenal! It’s been on my mind a long time.

Now I will preface the beginning of this discussion with stating, that the closest I’d gotten to trying my hand at mapmaking on a computer was Jo Bader’s, HexDraw application, which is a pretty neat program all in itself, making nice ASL-style mapboards. It covered most of the bases of ASL style terrain, and pretty darned close to MultiMan Publishing standards, to boot. But though it is possible to create and import new terrain, you need to create that outside of the application and import it in. I’d like to be able to do that last bit, in-program.

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That led me totally by happenstance, to Neal Ulen’s, Advanced Squad Leader Academy video on how to make ASL Starter Kit style maps with Adobe Photoshop Elements (PSE), which is a photo editing software; a dumbed-down, at home, entry-level version of the more professional parent program, Photoshop. Below, is the ASL Academy video I watched…




So yeah, pretty dang good amazing stuff! I have to give this a try and provides us with a great jumping-off point, so let’s start with PSE and get the ball rolling!!!

As far as this ASL Academy tutorial, which I must say is pretty nicely done for a typical guy that doesn’t teach for a living, it doesn’t instruct on GIMP at all, but rather that it is a possible option. A fascinating aspect here is, the instructor started with absolutely no knowledge of creating ASLSK-style maps and got quite proficient within half a year! …that sounds long, but the majority of that time was not only in actually learning PSE; he had to gather all the files… map making ASLers (as are most wizkid computer nerds and cooks) do not share their secrets! …getting all the necessary files was like pulling teeth (his words), and then of course, he had to build the *toolboxes* to make it all work on a main hex board *palette*, along with the three toolboxes to paint on that palette: 

1. Making a Layers Library
2. Making a Brush & Texture Library, and
3. Making a Color Library

…all of these each for the allowable options that are individually labeled and relate directly to map elements, such as walls, forests, hills, marshes, etc.

The maps you can make? Well damn people, they are pretty damned great! So two things you need to know:

• The method outlined in the tutorial are for Low Resolution finished maps. That just means, they won’t be the high resolution quality you see in the professionally made products from sources like MultimanPublishing and the third party retailers. That’s not such a bad thing though, because I believe they are perfectly playable maps for personal use, including playtesting new scenarios.

• The main reason he developed this technique and the means to do it is for uploading your finished work to VASL (the ASL version of VASSAL). Does that mean you can’t print off your finished map? …no, probably not, but the intent was for VASL use. Also, the functions of VASL won’t be complete, but pretty close… such as, you will have the LOS tool working as normal in VASL, but the blocking data on the line won’t be there, for instance. Not a deal breaker!

Conclusion:  I think this is well worth the investment in PSE and the time to learn it. All the toolboxes (files) he made are in a link below the video on YouTube, but I’ll provide the download link here, as well… LINK 

...The download is pretty simple:

• Click on it to start the download;
• My computer didn't like that it wasn't recognizing it so it blocked it...simply allow download;
• It goes into your Download folder on your computer's File Manager. It is a ZIP file so you will need to extract it;
• I just create a new folder and save a copy of it all in there for easier access.

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So what’s the goal of this thread? This will be an exploration, of different programs (design and/or editing) and applications that are available and a general exploration of what’s involved in using them. Actual tutorials, if they come to pass, will be made in separate threads, per system; but for now, I’m going to start with PSE and see where it leads me.

The next thing will be to get it imported into PSE! I’m going to try this out, simply because it looks doable for my limited skill set. I’ll post my progress with it in this thread as I go, from downloading the files into PSE to actually using it.

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One last thing — two other computer vehicles mention in the video…

A note on GIMP: Back in the day, mostly from Urban as I remember it, or MAGNA. I did check it and found it interesting, and it seems a pretty impressive tool, much akin to Photoshop Elements, but it is also free! …you pay a price tag for that no price tag though, in my opinion… I found it much harder to use and the learning curve ultimately drove me away in retreat mode If you do a comparison online, you will get a whole lot of confusion! …if you cull everything down to the core, the two are an equal bet in my book, as the differences are just not that severe for the mild amount of work I would want to do with them… I’m not a graphics editor guy, I just want something that will do what I need it to do, and not fry my brain cells anymore than they already are. I get the feeling GIMP may be a smidge more powerful in tools, but it’s also harder to learn. So, it’s an alternative, is what I’m sayin’!

A note on HexDraw: The presenter on the video states specifically, that he doesn’t know how to use HexDraw, but he was correct (in my opinion) in his assessment that HexDraw produces a far simpler map result, as in graphics. The PSE method uses the exact, ASLSK model of imagery, so in that regard, it is a likely the far superior tool to use. That’s not a dis against HexDraw, as it is very good at creating an ASLSK-style map, but just with much simpler and limited imagery.

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!!! Please keep comments confined to just questions and comments about the programs I’m outlining in my exploration and experiences with. If you want to cover any program or application you use or are aware of, please start a separate thread on such 

[Whiterook]

The first program we will explore is one I personally own, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2021 (PSE)

Again, it’s basically a dumbed-down, easier version of full Photoshop. Photoshop Elements can be bought for about $60 and is worth every penny!!! I image correct the majority of my digital camera pics with it, especially my model and wargaming/miniatures builds (…when I’m not being lazy and just slapping up here straight from camera).

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So, how do you get this onto your computer and actually working? Download PSE

First, if you don’t own PSE, you will need to purchase it, which is still available as of this writing, without needed to subscribe annually for it. Photoshop Elements (available on both Windows and Mac) is fairly intuitive to load onto your machine and the software has all the instructions on how to do so. It is available on both disc or download. Personally, I’ve used PSE for photo editing since probably somewhere around 2009, so I am a tad familiar with it… this ASLSK mapmaking is a whole different, advanced level, so it will be a learning curve.

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Next, Download the files

I think of the files as a kit, that allow you to build your maps; this adds onto the standard photo editing features that come with the software, with the components that you will use specifically for ASLSK map making:

• Layers — which build one atop the other from the base layer, which is your starting-geo map
• Brushes — PSE comes with a variety of preloaded brushes, which open as a default when first starting the program for the first time; but uploading the ASL Brushes file gives you specific brushes (generally labeled by terrain type, like Rivers) that allow you to paint upon your map
• Color Swatches — Much like Brushes, PSE comes with a variety of pre-loaded Color Swatches; but uploading the ASL Color Swatches file allows you to fill in ASL-approved colors on your map features
• Patterns — Much like Brushes, PSE comes with a variety of pre-loaded Patterns; but uploading the ASL Patterns file allows you to fill in various ASL-approved textures, like the leaves on your forest trees

NOTE: The files outlined above are all available in the comments section of the ASL Academy YouTube video posted in the first entry of this thread.

To do this, open PSE and open Organizer



Then, Import the tool kit files (Brushes, Color Swatches, and Patterns) into PSE; you do this by copying each of those three files (and thereby, their content) directly into PSE in your Program Files. I know…scary stuff! I had issues with this step of the process, because I didn’t know how to get them into my PSE and it wasn’t explained in the video. I relied on a Google search, which showed me how to temporarily add those three files in, but it would disappear every time I restarted my computer! Reaching out to Neal he explained the process with a screenshot of his File Explorer…



So first, I opened my computers File Explorer and searched for a path to where I needed to do my imports: I navigated to my laptops’ Program Files > clicked on the Photoshop Elements file > made sure that the Hidden Files option was checked (as Neal showed) so I would have those open > and find the Presets folder. My version in Windows 11 Home looked like this for that folder…



…his pathway was different than mine, but he gave me enough of a carrot to allow me to find my way myself!

Next, I opened up a second pane Files Explorer window…



Copy & Paste time! So now, I had two panes showing Files Explorers I could work with to copy/paste from where I had saved the files (above, the screen on the right), to the PSE, Program Files to the left.

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It’s Go Time… I next had to see how it worked out! 

I opened Photoshop Elements and sure enough, the three tool kits (Brushes, Color Swatches, and Patterns) were all loaded!!! …well except for Color Swatches    Searching on the Internet, I found that in PSE, you can activate (show) the Color Swatch two ways…by the Window dropdown and activate Color Swatches, or clicking then More button in the bottom right corner and activating Color Swatches there. Phew that worked and the missing Color Swatches popped on the screen (…they were there all along, but hidden).

Next, I clicked the Brush Tool (the PSE icon with the small paint brush), and when the Brush menu pops up at the bottom left, I found I had to click on the expand arrow above “brush”, and then, all the ASL Brushes were all loaded in!

I then clicked the Paint Bucket Tool (that looks like a pouring bucket), and once that icon was clicked, the Paint and Pattern box’s displayed in the Paint Bucket menu at the bottom left of the screen. Clicking the Pattern Fill selector, the dropdown on the Pattern Picker to the right showed all the ASL Patterns! Excellent!!! Everything looked operational…



The nerve wracking moment came with shutting the laptop down completely, and then restarting… but everything was where it needed to be!

[Whiterook]

OK... theoretically, we're in a good place so far! All the tool kit files were downloaded into PSE and I can make and/or edit mapboards at will. At this point, I wanted to see exactly what I've got and if it actually works, so I opened a new “blank” map:

Open PSE Photo Editor (see pic in previous post) > File > Open > then click on the Starting Geo Board file, which contains the blank ASLSK map…



…continued… > open the starting-geo PSD File, which will launch the starting map



...and you get...



...well, that was exciting!!! The map has a few terrain features already painted in, which are the typical starting points along board edges from roads and forests (see this thread for more on that subject).

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So, the blank mapboard is open, and the Layers are all showing on the right side! ...that was the most important part, in getting the ASL Layers, of which you map is built; as you add features, like most notably, terrain, each new feature is on its own Layer.

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But now, I needed to figure out how to get those features on the map, so I tried opening the next most obvious toolbox needed, Brushes. On the far left, under Draw, you see a small paint brush icon (hover over it and it says "Brush Tool") ...that brings up the Brush toolbox at the bottom, left side.

When you click the dropdown above the thick squiggly brush stroke, you will see "Default Brushes" listed... that's just PSE's standard brushes. When I click on that dropdown, it just gives me a list of 14 different brushes…



When you click the dropdown arrow, you now also have the ASL Brushes menu! It worked!!! The ASL Brushes are now in the mix...



Next up will be figuring out the colors and textures. 

[Whiterook]

Just a little experimentation… having issues with foliage in the woods, and my building would’t drop in, lol… but the roads are easy. Gonna be a learning curve.

[josta59]

Looks cool! I don't think I'll ever make this kind of effort, but it's neat to see you doing it.

[Whiterook]

Aug 22, 2024 12:24:02 GMT -5 josta59 said:

Looks cool! I don't think I'll ever make this kind of effort, but it's neat to see you doing it.

In fairness, the issues I was having with download were lack of knowledge on my part. Basically, the guy that made the map making tools files probably assumes you know a fair bit of Photoshop and/or computer programming (even in its simplest form). When I looked up how to import files into Photoshop Elements, the methods were not only temporary fixes, but a lot of it was horribly complex. The final solution was a straight copy/paste of three files into the PSE software in Program Files… very simple, but it wasn’t explained anywhere I looked. One they were in though, you’re off to the races!!!

…now, it’s really a matter of learning about Layers and how they work, how you need to arrange and move them, how to duplicate some; that’s probably the next biggest challenge, not that it’s horribly complicated and all…it’s just, I don’t know (…yet, seems easy enough in just a cursory glance at an Adobe site on my phone this afternoon, while waiting for my car to get inspection stickered).

I hear what your saying on unsure you (or anyone else) would necessarily make the effort to go down this road… the maps are pretty specific to Advanced Squad Leader/Starter Kit and there’s kinda a small specialty niche for that game(s). For me, it has wider implications, however: I know I am going to use it with Minden Games’ “Gotterdammerung”, and was the main catalyst for my searching to get back into this style map design. I also plan on using this with the RETRO rules set, which is dumbed down ASL/SK…and I can see uses with many squad to company-level games; you can build up some rather large maps, using the ASL-style maps geomorphically in many-sectioned cobbled maps.

I think what appeals to me is, after you know how to use this (…HexDraw is the same), it is actually quite easy, and it really stretches the creative juices flow! 

[josta59]

Aug 22, 2024 16:36:30 GMT -5 Whiterook said:

Aug 22, 2024 12:24:02 GMT -5 josta59 said:

Looks cool! I don't think I'll ever make this kind of effort, but it's neat to see you doing it.

 the maps are pretty specific to Advanced Squad Leader/Starter Kit and there’s kinda a small specialty niche for that game(s). For me, it has wider implications, however: I know I am going to use it with Minden Games’ “Gotterdammerung”, and was the main catalyst for my searching to get back into this style map design. I also plan on using this with the RETRO rules set, which is dumbed down ASL/SK…and I can see uses with many squad to company-level games; you can build up some rather large maps, using the ASL-style maps geomorphically in many-sectioned cobbled maps.

I'm really into this scale right now. The Men of War games I just started playing are the same scale, and the designer sent me digital versions that are working great for me using PowerPoint. And the Lock 'n Load modern X-Maps I bought recently will be perfect when I transfer that system to a physical board game with counters. So I have enough options that I don't need to draw my own maps. I do enjoy seeing you work through these options, though.

[Whiterook]

Having a lot more success with this now, where I can drop building is no problem now.. I didn’t have a handle on Layers, being the problem; and I can daw in hedges, bocage, and roads well now. I need to try woods again, but I think that was a matter of layers, too.

I decided to make a tutorial/manual on this. Basically, the video is good at showing you what can be done, and some good instruction, but on the latter, it is far from complete. I think the guy that did the video assumes you know a little (or a lot) about Photoshop Elements, because he leaves out important steps, like needing to change the layer type for dropping in a building… I rewatched the video, watching his mouse clicks closely, and the order of things, all while putting it is a step-by-step manual. This is one of those programs that, if not used regularly, I know I’ll forget many steps…this manual should help!

[Whiterook]

Well, making headway… slooooooowly, but surely! Over the past day, I realized that I am basically reverse engineering this puppy!!! …as I go, I am also building a user manual (…I’m up to page 13 already, as I have lots of pictures!), so that if I step away for any length of time, I won’t be like, “Doh, how’d I do that?!?” I know I’ll put all the puzzle pieces together in short-ish order, but it definitely is a task for sure; that video is far form complete and assumes you know your way around the dance floor that is Photoshop, Elements or not.

Anyway, I am indeed working my way through that initial video, step-by-step with each feature he talks about; and then with my trying to replicate it…then, document it. Aside from the shit-show of actually loading everything onto my version of Photoshop Elements 2021, after knowing what to actually do, it’s very easy; not easy to do when trying to hack your way in with incomplete instructions…and I guess in fairness, I’m not sure you’re ever going to get thorough and accurate guidance from any “influencer”, no matter how well meaning they are, so fair warning as well: Do not expect to hit the ground unning after that 43 minute video!

As for the actual usage of the map making kit on PSE, the hardest terrain feature to figure out was definitely, Woods. In truth, am not sure I truly understand how to dump in the actual leaf graphic onto the initial painted layer, but I’ll be swinging back to that at some point. Interestingly, the second terrain feature giving me agita is Plowed Fields… I can lay in a Grain Field (the first step of creating a Plowed Field), but when I follow the tutorial’s instructions to a tee, my little plowed field just will not drop in. In short, I creat a Grain Field (as seen in the first picture), and then duplicate that layer into another layer I name and drop in the Plowed Field Graphic over that duplicate layer.



In the picture below, you see the Grain Field changed, but did not display plowed furloughs…



…it’s almost like the plowed field graphic is an underlay, instead of an overlay? …No friggin’ idea…yet. I have a feeling that once I figure that out, other features, like Woods, will flesh out nicely. I hope.

Though that sounds a bit downer-ish, let me say that I have a lot of hope that this will end up being a much used vehicle to produce maps for a wide range of games, including some of my own design. Maps are kinda all over the board (pun intended), in terms of graphic design and artistry, but I have long admired the ASL/SK style maps and find them extremely viable.

For now, Plowed Fields have me at a stalemate, but if I can’t get them to work, there’s nothing terribly derailing about that, as there is plenty of precedent in leaving them displayed as Grain Fields and using Special Scenario Rules (SSRs) in the scenario cards to denote they are plowed during certain seasons.

[Whiterook]

So, I found I am having issues with Brush as well. Arrrrg! Neal had me send him a copy of my map…



…the lighter blob is supposed to be Brush, the two darker blobs supposed to be Woods. He looked at it on his system and see’s the following…



ARRRRRRG! OK, so we’re figuring out that my Photoshop Elements 2021 version seems to be having issues with my texture files, as in not loading Woods or Brush patterns when I dump them in. He has a newer version than me… 2023. It has to be a backwards non-compatibility with my 2021 version. That would make the most sense. The only last ditch effort I could try was to duplicate the layer and try and dump the texture on the copy, and that didn’t work. I did try a new map, and that didn’t work.

My Hail Mary play might lie in my Mac? I’d purchased the disc for PSE2021, so I can try and download the program on my Mac laptop and see if it’s a operating system issue…that’s a super long shot, and I’m not entirely sure it’s worth it. We’ll see if I go through with it tomorrow.

The last option is to buy PSE 2024 (or wait until next year for 2025) and see if that works. having a new version of the software is not a bad thing, as I use it for other things. I’d actually upgraded from my original 2015 version to 2021 (in 2022).

So, it’s all very much up in the air right now. 

[Whiterook]

OK, forward momentum again! I never could get my HP laptop to work with PSE2021 woods and brush pattern fills. So, I loaded PSE2021 on my new MacBook Pro (it was a dual system buy, thank goodness!) and it worked! Woods and Brush, painted and then filled…









Overall, I’m very pleased. The bit of a re-learning curve in using the Mac version of the software (which is pretty close to the Windows version) is going fine, and I need to switch mindset to files management with Finder (Mac) vs Files Explorer (Windows). The plus side is, I get to design my maps open my big Apple cinematic display (a.k.a, Big Assed Monitor), so there's that! 

There was a totally different pathway to the appropriate files folders that took a little head scratching, and loading the actual software went well once I found the serial number!!! …that was a bit pf a puzzle, but turns out it’s all in my adobe account, because Thank God, I registered everything I own!

My manual I’d been writing will obviously look a snidge different in screenshots, not to mention it’s in Word so I really don;t care to convert it all to Pages, so I’ll just continue along with that in my HP.

[Whiterook]

Note that I went through the thread, up to this point, and made a bunch of clarifications and deletions, as it read as very muddy to me. If you’ve been following along, you may find a quick peek back worth your while. My MacBook Pro has had absolutely no issues with what my HP Spectre (Windows) was, but there was a definite shift in mindset needed between the different operating systems, mainly with files management.

Interestingly enough, I ran across my copy of Adobe Creative Suite CS5.5, which is a 2011 Student/Teacher edition. It not only has the full, more professional-style Photoshop, but also Illustrator and InDesign, along with some other goodies. For the sake of curiosity, I spent a good part of the day (I was having issues with the download) the other day, but finally managed to download the entire suite to my HP Spectre laptop, and sure enough, the ASL Mapmaking kit works on it, including the troublesome textures I was having with forest tree leaves! I think I’ll switch back over to the HP for this endeavor and see how I do with full Photoshop.