Importing Maps

[lauraoliva]

As a writer, I already have paper copies of some complex maps. I have attempted to duplicate two of them in OWM, but it has been very frustrating. Since the current design of the maps are intricately related to the novels and stories that inspired them, I can't just recreate something new. I can, however, digitize the existing paper copies for importation. I noticed an Import SVG function under the File menu but using it does nothing. Is this an up-and-coming feature? Or is there something special I need to do to use the function?

I haven't given up. I am now trying to figure out how to get my Ugee M708 tablet to accept the boundaries of OWM, so I can try tracing the existing paper copies but importing the originals would be the most ideal.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Thank you,
Laura Oliva

[Kanchou]

As a writer, I already have paper copies of some complex maps. I have attempted to duplicate two of them in OWM, but it has been very frustrating. Since the current design of the maps are intricately related to the novels and stories that inspired them, I can't just recreate something new. I can, however, digitize the existing paper copies for importation. I noticed an Import SVG function under the File menu but using it does nothing. Is this an up-and-coming feature? Or is there something special I need to do to use the function?

I haven't given up. I am now trying to figure out how to get my Ugee M708 tablet to accept the boundaries of OWM, so I can try tracing the existing paper copies but importing the originals would be the most ideal.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Thank you,
Laura Oliva

Laura,

If you digitize the existing paper copies to a typical image format (bmp, png, etc) you can set them as the background for the map and trace it using either the fractal pen or the free hand pen (fractal pen as you follow the original outline should give you a realistic effect).
This is something that it's not very intuitive so we'll probably have another way to access it, but you can set the background in the Map Properties by enabling Image background and browsing to the image you want to use as background.
(You can do the same inside an existing landmass if you want to trace something into that landmass, for instance a lake).

The import SVG functionality is not working yet, and probably won't be ready until beta 1 or 2. However, I think you only have your maps in bmp/png formats and SVG is for vector files (i.e. for something you may have created using Inskcape).

Several of our backers have previously made maps they want to bring into OWM so Stephanie had talked about adding the functionality to import an image and have Other World Mapper create landmass shapes from it ("vectorize" the map). That would work best if your original maps are gray scale.
We can't promise it will be ready by V1.0.1 since it's outside of the scope of the KS campaign, but it's something we plan for future releases.

Please let us know if you are able to set your map as the background, if it helps and continue sharing your feedback

Thanks!

- Alejandro

[lauraoliva]

Yes, I was successful using the map image, a .tiff file, as the background. After a bit of tweaking with the tablet software, I was able to trace reasonably well the outlines of the main continent, the primary island, and 7 small islands. I ended up with more landmasses than I expected. I was equating landmass with continent not any unattached body of land. I chose the map from our most current project because it is the most underdeveloped map we have as well as the smallest. I'm not sure how the software will handle a multi-continent, detailed background in tiff format. That world will probably need to be stitched together in Photoshop and converted to a different file format. I'm dreading the process of trying to trace all of that world and am tempted to put it off for awhile in hopes of the addition you mentioned.

Now it is time to pull out the manual so we can seriously flesh out the continent. I have topographical information to add, shires to shape, and cities, towns, forts, and underground guild hideouts to work into the map. It will be a good way to test the documentation.

[lauraoliva]

So far, we have managed to trace all of the landmasses, use the grid to establish proper distances and size relationships, and the Scale tool to alter one landmass that had a disproportionate size, scale-wise, on the original map (nice catch).

When drawing the political borders, however, I am back to drawing issues. The first one was a piece of cake, obviously. The rest are not so neat and tidy. The lines rarely look like they should - one boundary snug against it's neighbor's. I made sure the Following option was selected, but landmass borders still don't line up with political boundaries and some boundaries have 1/8" discrepancies where they should meet. I would like to know what steps I am missing to get them to align properly. Is there a specific pen I must use (I chose Freehand as I needed smooth lines)? Or a specific way I have to connect boundary lines? Ideally, once a separate boundary line was crossed and then recrossed all points in between would be in tandem, or that was my impression. I did try zooming in as closely as possible to align the boundaries, but I couldn't get close enough to draw tight lines and see the entire area that needed to be inside the border. Whenever I remove my pointer or try to move the map and draw again, the program thinks I've finished drawing the current boundary and starts a new one. The problem is most certainly my clumsy technique at drawing and positioning. Maybe it's time to beg for that larger monitor.

Another issue that cropped up is before we commit to placement of locations, such as towns and cities, on the map, we need to draw specific routes that our characters will need to take to complete their objectives. These aren't roads or rivers or boundaries. Is there a way to draw "other" lines upon the map? I wanted to check before I start cobbling the route together with unintended tools.

[Kyete]

We're happy to hear you were able to trace all the landmasses from your original map!

Following an item is done by clicking along the outline of the item, so there are still some issues with following using the freehand pen. Try switching to the line pen when you're close to the item you want to follow. We're working on making the following tidier, but in the meantime you can use the point edit tool to manually move the outlines together.

Drawing of an item should only be ended by returning to the starting point, right clicking or switching to a different tool. The freehand should just pause when the pointer is released, so it may be a bug. Could you tell me more about the steps that're causing the drawing to end?

If you're using the pan tool, switching to it ends drawing of an item. So, for alpha 2, try using the scrollbars to navigate the map and hold “ctrl” while scrolling with the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. That won't interrupt drawing.

We don't have any committed tools for drawing a path like that. What kind of functionality do you need? Would it work if the measure tool had the option to be added as an item so that it becomes a “journey” marker?

[lauraoliva]

The line pen gave better results for drawing boundaries than the Freehand pen.

A "journey marker" would work well as long as it can bend or at least points added/removed to mimic a curved path. Unfortunately, people don't always travel in straight lines. I like that it even shows distance traveled.

[lauraoliva]

The previous comments were based on importing/tracing Chris's map of his world. The map is quite vague and bland with little detail, so it was a good first attempt at the process.

I thought you might want a sketchy look at the issues I have while trying to recreate my old poster board maps. Aside from the headache it was to get images that were usable (not your fault or problem), it has been a frustrating endeavor to recreate even one part of them.

I started by selecting what I thought was going to be one of the least complicated continents. This time I chose the Bezier fractal pen, zoomed in to 500%, and began the long process of following the continent's outline by clicking, adjusting my mouse along the background line, and then clicking again, etc. I only used the scroll bars to move around in the window and was very careful not to click on a different tool.

I took screenshots of strange occurrences that began to happen and dumped them into a Word doc. The whole fruitless process took about 45-55 minutes. Unfortunately, the forum won't allow me to upload the Word docx with the screenshots or the jpg with the background image. I will attempt to email them to Stephanie 1 at a time. Other than the link to the background image, there is nothing in the .owm file, so I'm not sure if you want it.

If necessary, I can repeat the steps I took with or without modifications. Just let me know what you want me to do.

[Kyete]

Thank you for the email. The screenshots were a huge help! The bug in the Bezier fractal pen has been fixed for alpha 3.

We'll also work on added a journey marker tool for the beta version. Thanks so much for all your help testing!

[lauraoliva]

Ok, maybe this is a dumb question, but how do we add towns, cities, capitals onto the map? Will there be symbols for them? Right now I'm using the Buildings feature as a temporary marker, but they don't really convey population locations well.

[Kyete]

There will be more symbol features added for later releases, but at the moment we just has some rough, basic stuff. We'll be adding the final artwork assets around Beta 2.