Battlemap’s Hub

[supple trout]

for now, no. but do try to not post new stuff and try to aggressively track down og sources

I myself just don't post stuff I can't source anymore

[coarse trout]

For what’s its worth I can’t source all 800+ maps so

Yeah

I’ll occasionally post the maps I make tho :>

[coarse trout]

Oh also I take it this rule apply to mech tokens as well?

[supple trout]

yeah, like, everything tbh

like all art

[coarse trout]

Yeah

[supple trout]

let's just not steal stuff in general

people just right click download art and rehost it

it sucks

[coarse trout]

It’s the same situation with them I can’t source them all I have 1000+

[supple trout]

try to set yourself a standard going forward to not do that

[coarse trout]

I think

[supple trout]

it's not the worst sin in the world but we gotta do better

it's much worse in the offtopic channels which is where I police actively

[coarse trout]

I do what I do for my players

[supple trout]

I appreciate that a lot of random token hoarding and visual mood board stuff is much more functional in the rpg space vs just posting art that looks cool in sharing channels

but we should try to source stuff regardless

[coarse trout]

Oh I fully understand and agree with the sentiment

But I’m so far onto the other side of the rubicon I’m in the Congo 😭

[supple trout]

well time to start trekking back

it is what it is

[coarse trout]

https://tenor.com/view/thanos-memoji-gif-23490017

[turbid lark]

only caught this now but yes absolutely maps are art

it'd be crazy to consider them to NOT be tbh

[supple trout]

okay I just caught this: hey. if we find you deliberately skirting this even after you're aware of it, yeah we'll probably ban you

we ban on vibes and "well the rules don't force me to not be evil" is atrocious vibery

[pearl wedge]

Thanks for the clarification.

[proud atlas]

do you have a higer res version of this one? it's so cool

[pastel delta]

On the topic of sourcing maps, what I do is any map I save from here I also forward the message it's sent via to a private channel in a personal discord server then if I ever respond to a request for a particular type of map I can go straight to the source via clicking the forward link and then repost it in here.

I do the same thing for almost any art I save on Discord

[gritty marlin]

I think this is in the pinned community spreadsheet, lemme check artists

[gritty marlin]

This folder from Kaffeezombie, “armsfort_blank1.png” https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wt-6xh_CMpuyx7xt6qRsqZHmS2LiZw7O

[late frost]

Piggy backing on this comment to add to the ongoing conversation, the pinned community spreadsheet was set up with two purposes: make sharing maps simple and make sure the authors got credit.

Not much we can do about all the great maps that have already been posted, but perhaps moving forward we can be more vigilant about hosting folders and sharing links from that spreadsheet.

I’m also open to feedback on the sheet itself if folks have suggestions on how we can improve it.

[raven plaza]

^this

[scarlet quest]

Source: myself

[empty current]

Is that...a giant ball-pit? 😂😁

[pearl wedge]

https://tenor.com/view/smaug-treasure-rich-dragon-the-hobbit-gif-11677489

[tranquil helm]

I'm looking for a downtown sort of 'buildings as cover' in an active warzone type of map if anyone knows of any good ones. Current sci-fi stamps in inkarnate don't really have what I'm looking for to make my own.

[raven plaza]

^ maybe you'll find something here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HEcgdjk2klCRLdrJU4wdXFnuscDnXuH43J9OcTKkKE8/edit

Not sure i nailed it but it's good enough

[inner portal]

I dunno, that's pretty darn cool

[haughty edge]

https://tenor.com/view/shock-shocked-shocked-cat-shocked-meme-shocked-face-gif-6329997493175349435

I though you were reaaallll

Everything is art

[haughty edge]

Thoses chairs now gave me the idea of a theater battlemap

I was about to post a pic of Kino Der Toten but then I remembered that there is a sign it that... Yeah.

Instead here is an art from reddit inspired by it

Or an open air concert!

Ideas of maps flowing in

[coarse trout]

It is what you want it to be

But if you want my original intent:

The leader of a major criminal organisation built a large city from which to operate from, at the centre of control is a large cylindrical crystal structure with a colour similar to sapphire, it was carved over time into a throne and large chunks of it were taken and sold off or carved into various items, unbenknownst to anyone it is actually the long lost lens of a very large super weapon

[coarse trout]

:3

[coarse trout]

So the idea is that centrally there is a literally size 2 throne from which he sits upon, and then surrounding it is piles of cash and strange trees that grew on the crystal, surrounding that is piles of physical manna and treasures because the golden emperor has a wild streak, then there’s various statues he’s looted, lounge chairs and tables made from jade for his court room advisors (he has a full governmental cabinet with ministers for war, home affairs, etc), and a viewing gallery for a select few people whenever he’s making announcements (or sometimes he’ll just get a camera crew there if he wants something public)

[final parrot]

A port map I did for ||The Battle of Laguna|| in Act 2 of Wallflower. I am planning to release a whole pack of maps as I have just finished creating the last map for ||Vagabond Red|| encounter.

[raven plaza]

Thanks Taz- making outdoor places like plazas, courtyards, promenades etc is tricky for me- cus it either always looks too clean or too stark in the transitions between pavement, damaged pavement - etc

[haughty edge]

Love the look of it!

[scarlet quest]

"The ties to horus are unquestionable but the purpose is... not understood. As we understand, an individual of unusual importance to the Cabal was captured and this machine extracts... Trauma? Our scientists suspect trauma to actually be more of an impurity in whatever is wanted, but the individual in question produces so much of this material, we deemed to have called Anima, that it seems the amount of byproduct produced was deemed worthwhile for the end result. Current uses of Anima are not understood, it seems that it can be shaped into weapons and tools of unusual strength and effeciency, but requires the use of artefacts to catalyse the process, crystallising, shaping and then reforming the item into its desired shape. (see: [constellar midnight clearence required] for further information on the kind of artifacts involved in the production chain.)"

okay so being serious

not my best work

but I got unusually tired doing it

and for some reason I cant seem to think of good flooring or clutter

its supposed to be like a dingy adhoc research lab built deep underground

fuck tons of funding but so unethical that the DOJ would come down harder than anything before it

-# its actually related to the throne room above story wise!

any suggestions or advice would be appreciated

I have been trying to get a better control over like perspective and the height of things but I feel this is a particularly decent example of it

[raven plaza]

hmmmm, suggestions for aesthetics i'm assuming since i'm not sure what sitrep you're making this for?

Maybe you can add some good lighting and shadows- pick a direction and use a couple of the tricks below

couple tricks if this is inkarnate

• take the blood stamp turn it to 33% transparency and reduce brightness to 0. it becomes a cool stain that adds life to the space
• do the same thing with any token u have on the map to make a easy shadow, if you drop it to a lower layer
• for a candle light shadow, you can take light stamp and do the same thing as above- maybe putting it on your green machine at the center to give it a ominous vibe

[coarse trout]

The exact sitrep got a bit sidelined but I suppose a control at the platform and both sides of it, for 3 zones.

[coarse trout]

Thank you!!!

I’ll have to play around with this tomorrow

[raven plaza]

lmk how it goes!

[tranquil helm]

I use a slightly darker floor texture to paint in shadows, grime and areas of high activity. You can layer a gradient in with different values to get a softer shadow but I usually do a hard shadow and then soften it in clip studio once I export the map as an image

Some of the line tool textures (even the fantasy ones) can be good wear and tear visuals to layer on top

[plain ravine]

anyone have any maps set on a big landing pad?

[raven plaza]

There are definitely some in the pinned link

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HEcgdjk2klCRLdrJU4wdXFnuscDnXuH43J9OcTKkKE8/edit

[languid glacier]

@shrewd plinth

[forest compass]

I really ought to put all the random things I've been putting here and the old maps channel into a drive somewhere so it can get linked in the main repository. Have another one - this is a beach resort on the edge of the ocean. I'm probably going to run this as a Recon, but we'll see? Intended to be a little bit of a knife fight with some long but broken sightlines. The highways are elevated, as are the walkways between buildings - I'd recommend 3 up for the roads and 5 up for the skywalks. The top of the resorts can be as high as you need it to be depending on how many flying or teleporting units are on the field.

[haughty edge]

Evil map design jumpscare

[shrewd plinth]

Does anyone have a half city/half Harbor or bay area map like hong kong in pacific rim?

[pearl wedge]

Scroll up to 4/10 there is a nice harbor map

[haughty edge]

I will try to redner this on the map

[coarse trout]

Gl :3

[haughty edge]

Ye i'll need it

[coarse trout]

Oh that is an evil map

[haughty edge]

It is

But the sitrep make sense

That's the full thing so far

I consider maybe putting boats in the watery area

I also need to figure out why it's an assault...

[mystic hollow]

I'd say add some boats to give a covered route but a bit more cumbersome path.

[haughty edge]

Yee

Terrain "should heavily favor hostiles"

So I need to figure out a good way to render that

[final parrot]

There is nothing stopping you from putting explosive barrels on the approach, or make it so characters in the line of the crane have to make an AGI check or take damage at the end of the round (maybe even push them back because why not)

[haughty edge]

There will be

Context of this mission would be ||The house of stone don't trust you... So they sent you on a suicide mission so you can prove them that you are indeed as good as Union told them you were||

[kindred plume]

Work in progress battle in a ship wreck any thoughts as this is the second Lancer map I've made, objective will be to hold the small red ship for 4 rounds, this will be a zero G fight

[onyx aurora]

Working on making some maps to get better at isometric and used to adding more cover. This ones still a little work in progress but i wanted to make a 0G map set halfway out of a cargobay

[tranquil helm]

legitimately looks fantastic. I love the dispersed debris. My only suggestion would be some larger pieces of cover to break things up a bit - the items around the scene are fairly uniform in size

[mystic hollow]

I need to get used to isometric maps again,just sucks I don't want to go to v11 to use grape's iso

[kindred plume]

Thank you so much ill break out the old reliable cargo containers for the next pass

[empty current]

Isometric Perspective also works well enough and is v12 compatible.

[raven plaza]

Ooooo I like. did u manually do the yellow streaks? Or is that a pattern brush?

[inner portal]

I think its' one of the corporate brushes

[kindred timber]

It could also just be the floor terrain itself

[slow tundra]

what tools is this??

[onyx aurora]

I used assets from Starlight Furnace (mostly free on Itch.io,) ans made the base map (just the walls and floor,) in Dungeon Scrawl

I then uploaded it into foundry vtt and put down all the props and stuff down afterwards

[kindred plume]

It is one one of the floor brushes on inkarnate

[scarlet quest]

its the floor terrain itself

with jacks

oh it was alr said I cant reade 😭

[final parrot]

First attempt at creating earthmotes and it went pretty good! I am going to be experimenting with paracausal terrain/impossible geometry for an eidolon fight next

[kindred plume]

I gotta say folk who can make isometric maps work are wizards to me

[tranquil helm]

another one, this is a multipurpose map as I've made it pretty large. I'm going to use it as a recon map sitrep (the doors on the walls as control zones) but it could easily be used as a holdout/etc. The central lift is intended as an ingress point but could be used as whatever. No current map settings as I've not messed with it in foundry yet.

it's a 4k resolution map - sorry for the size and I just realised I forgot to invert the symbol on the top portion of the lift

[coarse trout]

4k res wallahi im cooked

[leaden token]

I know its a huge necro but you you have any more of these mech mini artworks?

[void coyote]

Oh it's from Retrograde, most of the dedicated "NPC" sprites on there have a glow option to look like that

Or at least most of the "Corpro" category does

[raven plaza]

getting busy with a lil map-roni

[inner portal]

I just did a double take when I realized we had LASER BARRIERS up in here

I was going to mention I love how simple and elegant the maps you make are, typically. But the lasers got me.

[final parrot]

Very slick

[polar jasper]

I made a fairly simple 'home base' map for my campaign

[raven plaza]

Yeaaaaaaah boi!

[raven plaza]

This one has a gimmick, the have to shoot the barriers down and they can evac the vip- they just gotta find them first

Thanks bud!

[haughty edge]

Did the same but the place is less flashy and more pink

[modern ivy]

Both map packs on my itch page are now pay what you want (14 maps total) https://icelevel.itch.io/

[ember wedge]

does anyone have any tips to align a map to its grid?

[gritty marlin]

What's your VTT? There's a pinned guide in #lancer-vtt for Foundry

[gritty marlin]

Might be hard to use this map but I think it has potential: https://www.patreon.com/posts/canyon-portal-156197223

[craggy kernel]

Could see that in Far Field

[haughty edge]

Trial and error

[sly jacinth]

Blinged-out mech bay (intent was Karrakin vibes), clean and ruined versions

[final parrot]

Are the lights added in an external program or are they a part of the map itself?

and a follow-up question on that, what program do you use for creating maps?

[sly jacinth]

They're part of the map itself, Dungeondraft has its own lighting layer so I tend to bake in the lighting there, and use Foundry's lighting just for animated effects

[slow tundra]

I traced a Valkyria Chronicle map, made it a huge platform in the middle and adjust it a little. I liked the design and I'm planning to run a modified Nexus attack/Infiltration sitrep with it

[lyric burrow]

A bit late but final capstone map for Mission 2 of EDM
whole idea is to go from one side of the map to the other. Roads give escorted vehicles more movement
My players have told me that this is a MOBA map and I cannot unsee it!

[olive socket]

Actually… moba maps are a brilliant idea. I’m gonna look into that

[viscid plover]

electronic dance map...

[plain ravine]

these are really cool, but is there any way for me to save them in a format that isn't webp? it's only letting me save it as one

[inner portal]

Actually just.. playing Lancer Moba style in general lol

[rotund comet]

Honestly a lot of VC maps that work great for Lancer sitreps

[slow tundra]

True! a lot of them are well designed for tactical combat .. which is their main gameplay lol

[haughty edge]

It should be done

As always feel free to use it, feedbacks are welcvome

[scarlet quest]

ship bows tend to be pointed, sometimes they will also have an orb beneath the top (called a bulbous bow) :3

[haughty edge]

Now that I think of it... How did they manage to fit a ship in reverse

[scarlet quest]

I should probably censor that yeah sorry french

[haughty edge]

https://tenor.com/view/driving-brandon-lay-parking-reverse-gif-20697794

[scarlet quest]

very explicit ship innit

[haughty edge]

😳

[scarlet quest]

unless its being drydocked

like

I wanna state

im not a ship expert my any means

im actually british stupid

well I meant to type pretty

but british also works

[haughty edge]

Yeah, I consider making it a drydock but I feel like it's exploitable for the map

[scarlet quest]

but unless its being drydocked you really wouldnt want a ship in such a tight space like that

but also like hey

its a game

[haughty edge]

Ye

I could also just put mines there

[scarlet quest]

and dont get me wrong not attacking the map

just talking about the general shape

[haughty edge]

[scarlet quest]

I have already stolen it thank oyu for posting :D

[haughty edge]

Feedback is always welcome when you run thoses

Helps me figure out what I did wrong or good in the level design

[scarlet quest]

another for the collection

[scarlet quest]

I happen to live within like

eyeshot of ships that pass through my river

so in general from what i've seen unless its being birthed most ships just try to lay alongside the water instead of going into specific channels

especially since most ships dont bring themselves in under their own propellors but usually under tugs iirc

-# tugs are very small ships with powerful engines that are attached to bigger ships to position them better

[haughty edge]

The planet it take place is water heavy. Also the flora is pink

[scarlet quest]

woaa

I need to do less terran coloured maps 😔

[scarlet quest]

but thank you im now up to 1062 maps

[haughty edge]

Changing plants color is also like

A good way to highlight the alien aspect of it

[scarlet quest]

yeah

[kindred plume]

so second pass on this broken ship battle map, added more details and tried to vary up the size of cover, I was thinking of making the red ship a tile on foundry and having it be slowly pulled by the enemy so the party is forced out of their half of the ship

[lyric burrow]

I feel like dropping this one in a bit early, but FOG map for combat monday
Feast of Gevudons spoiler masking in case my PCS come through
|| a double OBJ holdout map after pirates crash a party. I'm really proud of the after-effects with the coals and fire.||
Honestly inkarnate's fantasy half has been getting more and more incorporated into my general battle maps because some of the destructible and "battlefield damage" works really well for some baselines

Honestly I need to collate my maps with like a little primer for the purpose of each one

[spare spruce]

very simple map I made in OwlBear Rodeo, intended both in an out of universe as a tutorial - the lack of detail is because of limited processing power in the training Sim the PCs are in.

Green hexes are trees (size 1, difficult terrain, soft cover), blue is a water feature (difficult terrain if you're not size 1 with an EVA module). Unlabled coloured objects are cars and trucks (height 1, hard cover). Everything else is buildings and statues.

semi-obviously intended for Recon or Control

[tranquil helm]

the simplicity of it is really nice, the different angles for each of the tree hexes adds a lot

[kindred plume]

Great use of map to build out world lore love it

[spare spruce]

I've used this a couple of times as a Baby's First Sitrep - handed my players pregens, told them they were running through an annual Union-Standard Recertification program, had them spawn in on a mostly featureless plane with three bits of cover and a pair of assaults to beat up, then do this afterwards

and then after they've decided if they like lancer enough to do a campaign, have them make characters

[haughty edge]

Anyone has made a map for a NEXUS DEFENSE (Combat enhaced)?

I kinda want to know if I should make it as flat as possible or not

[thorny rock]

Yeah generally done it pretty barren. Still like to add some broad terrain strokes so it's not completely single-level.

[haughty edge]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810775427470589953/1497728048160706651/image.png?ex=69ee9371&is=69ed41f1&hm=e43bf349bceb5333b066a688ac38a4b959b16f90ee766034e8aa1a6081a33665&

Still a wip

[kindred plume]

looking good is it an underwater map?

Final version of the wreck of the Vixen as my game is tomorrow any glaring issues that those who are more experienced than me can see, any advice is greatly appreciated

[timid elk]

Anybody has like
A map for escaping a facility or something like that?

[lyric burrow]

As promised, high qual version of the map!

[devout aurora]

This shit is fire

literally

[lyric burrow]

something I'd like to note, I like the fact there are many paths for NPCs to flank

[lyric burrow]

thank ya!

[lyric burrow]

This is one I use pretty often that I made
Start at broken elevator, end at other side
NPCS spawn from sides

[devout aurora]

Maps with multiple threatening vectors is always a treat

especially if they aren't general paths everyone can take and certain types of movement are able to traverse it.

Like say, oh you are fighting near the cliffside. Assassins and Aces are coming from the cliffs while the main meat of the enemy is coming in from the ground.

I strive to make maps with that philosophy.

But its hard as fuck

[lyric burrow]

This is another favorite one.
It's notably a maze encounter. Start on bottom, go to top.
Pick up relic in the middle and get to end
The glowing lines are breakable walls

[kindred plume]

Thank you i worked to make sure my players couldn't just reinforce one side and hold it and with breachers other paths can be opened up

[azure tree]

How do you all address damaged spaceship hulls, etc? Metallic parts in general.

[haughty edge]

10 health 100 armor

But it's multiple layers

That's how I deal with it

[kindred plume]

In what context?

[umbral plinth]

my guys want to board a submarine, does anyone have any subs?

[mystic hollow]

Like in a sub or on one?

[umbral plinth]

On a sub

Any sub shaped map should do I guess I'll edit it to fit

Basically they put a tracker on a military sub and want to steal it mid voyage

[mystic hollow]

I mean Solstic rain has gauntlet map where the PCs rush onto a sub from the docks. The map of it I have is from buy solstic rain so I can't post it.

[umbral plinth]

does the map have the whole sub?

if you mean the one from solstice rain yeah i have that but like its 1/3 of a sub

too little sub

[final parrot]

I made an eidolon fight arena with a small theme of impossible geometry where the lancers had to stand on different platforms to hurt the eidolon. I am still wondering if the lancers should have some ability to create data constructs for cover but the encounter went pretty well.

[craggy kernel]

Ooh that's really fun!

[gritty marlin]

Industrial map for industrial mechs? https://www.patreon.com/posts/steel-mill-34x46-155382691

[haughty edge]

I legit think that's a really fun map xD

What could make it way funnier is if all tiles for example is a different biome

But that would ask a lot of work

[spiral monolith]

What do y'all use for making maps by the way?

Trying to make some of my own for my players, and at a loss of really where to start

[umbral plinth]

Inkarnate, dungeon draft, plain old gimp

Depends

[craggy kernel]

I use CSP personally

[scarlet quest]

Inkarnate is my go to but the interpoint map maker looks good as well

[quaint flame]

• there's software available like Lancer maps creation tool on itch which does the job, there's also Dungeondraft and Inkarnate. I'd say personally Inkarnate is amazing but requires investment (money and time. But it does have a free version). I haven't used Dungeondraft so I can't speak on behalf of it

Here's a lil bullet point from when I've talked about map making software before

[amber blade]

#gm-corner message
I primarily use dungeondraft and had this to say on it. For the price point it does a lot for you with a ton of free resources to help learn to use it or just add to your assets.

[plain ravine]

I feel like I might’ve asked this before but are there any maps set in a large military base?

I feel like that would probably be a common one

Either that or like an armored core 6 style megastructure

[kindred plume]

Inkarnate is my go to as well the sci fi pack has served me well for both star wars and now lancer maps, there is a bit of a learning curve for how the software works and yes the price is a dealbreaker for some which i fully understand but i feel i get my moneys worth with each map i make

[spiral monolith]

How much is inkarnate’s price point by the way?

[umbral plinth]

i did the sub game

they fought on the sub on a storm

one of them fired the appocalypse rail at the sub and now the sub is two half subs

[kindred plume]

I have a legacy account so i think its a tiny bit cheaper for me but its around 5 euro a month for me, it could be 7 for the normal account now though

[azure tree]

Hey, how do you guys represent ramps on your map?

For example, below (I'm just sketching things out, don't mind the quality), some parts will be buried in sand, so I want units to be able to walk up them at no extra cost from one side, but not the side that is protruding from the ground.
_ _

[thorny rock]

I'd say you're fine with the visuals already - the gameplay elements get represented by Terrain Height Tools with a zone called "Ramp" which does precisely as you've said

[azure tree]

That's the thing, I haven't imported any terrains, I just made my own presets. So I'm wondering how the ramp markings may look like.

[kindred plume]

If you want to show height naturally use shadows figure out where the sun would be and darken where the ramp is blocking it, makes that section of terrain look different

Alos what do you mean youve not imported any terrains?

[azure tree]

I meant the THT module in Foundry. So the "ramp" terrain stebb mentioned doesn't exist on my end.

[kindred plume]

Ah makes more sense

[inner portal]

I just use layers of heights over the gradient, normally.

Depending on the map I would also use THT to just make a separate "terrain" that is called "Ramp" possibly with text of like 1 > 3 or whatever the heights are, just depends on the set up. If it's broad ramped terrain (like hills) I normally just use a line of the height across the hill to denote the shifts.

[tranquil helm]

hey quick question, what software did you/do you use for isometric maps? I was considering swapping from top down to isometric for an ||eidolon|| fight for my players

[final parrot]

Inkarnate

[thorny rock]

Wait inkarnate has scifi iso assets? i gotta go try those out

[final parrot]

It doesn't, I upload starlight furnace assets and other iso stuff from various creators onto inkarnate to create maps

[kindred plume]

Inkarnate does have sci assests just fyi

[azure tree]

Just not isometric.

@thorny rock Just in case you're not familiar, there are the Starlight Furnace assets you can get from Itch, but not sure how many custom assets can be uploaded to Inkarnate at any given time.

[kindred plume]

Ahhhhh sorry my bad

[final parrot]

It depends on your subscription

[azure tree]

Ah, yes, I read since then.

100 for the lower tier and what... 10,000 for the other?

[haughty edge]

I think I manage to get the square template.

32x36

I will make a map with it

I want top make a city map

Dammnnn Train Heist

I can work with that.

[final parrot]

I would pick a lane and start by tracing the train heist lane

I should make a map like this myself where the train is on height 5 along with rooftops

[lyric burrow]

Map from Saturday's game (will do high qual upload when i'm home)
The underside of a station. Lots of spaces to hop around of various heights, plus letting people run across pipes as they chase down their target

[plain ravine]

Looks very good

I like the very industrial vibe

[shadow sail]

does anyone have any good maps of wrecked hangars? Ones from battlegroup carriers like say...an IPS-N Minokawa or some sort of similar vessel?

[spiral monolith]

Does anyone have a transparent hex grid image that could be used in a software like Krita? Might see if I can do some map building using that as well.

[azure tree]

Hey hey, may I ask for any thoughts on this map from gameplay perspective?

[azure tree]

These can be generally easily made from a pattern of hexes. Is this what you're after?

There may be some faint outline on these, so would be best using them as a mask, I guess. I'm about to sleep, so didn't want to fuss too much.

[rotund comet]

Looks solid to me. I’m assuming the 1/2 tiles are slopes?

[azure tree]

Yes. So the .5 elevation changes will cost no extra movement to climb.

But I also feel like the map isn't really complete. Don't top left and bottom around the tent feel a little empty?

[rotund comet]

I’m of the opinion that its fine for them to be empty if you want the PCs to flow through those areas

cause there is dense cover elsewhere

you can always litter some small size 1 cover about though

Also if you have any size 2s in your party id throw some size 3+ LOS blockers, Somewhere

[azure tree]

You're right, that S3 would be good. I could make the protruding ship sections taller Or at least the one in the middle.

[craggy kernel]

I personally use that
https://hamhambone.github.io/hexgrid/

[azure tree]

That's neat. Much simpler.

[late frost]

This map is beautiful and looks like a ton of fun. Don’t know if that’s super helpful though but kudos!

[haughty mountain]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but has anyone been working on making battlemap art for the Iphigenia at Midnight campaign? The maps provided are functional but they're just hex grids with no artwork

[azure tree]

I appreciate your kind words. I'm still trying to get used to Inkarnate and learn designing functional maps.

[spiral monolith]

That's exactly it, thank you so so much!!

[left ether]

Here's some maps I made for Battletech that will work for Lancer as well.

[thorny rock]

These are superb! Made with Dungeondraft? Out of curiosity, how are you getting the nice slightly rounded hexes with edges for terrain? :>

[left ether]

Yep that's the software I used! There is a mod that lets you set up the snap points to match a hex grid instead of a square one.

[thorny rock]

Awesome, I'll go looking for that mod - I'll shout if I can't find it or anything if that's alright :>

[azure tree]

I like your colour palette and composition. I generally don't like oversimplified maps, but these speak to me.

[sly jacinth]

That Dungeondraft mod is a game-changer, reduced the jank in making lancer maps by like 30%

[slim cedar]

I used that mod to make my mythic bastionland maps~

[shadow sail]

does anyone have any cool hangar bay maps? I have trouble finding maps and battlemap zones of ships that work in a thrust gravity setting. Most of them assume that traditional style of ships where there is artificial gravity and windows for the bridge of the ship, but I need ships that have a layout more akin to those ships seen in thrust gravity settings like those seen in The Expanse.

Does anyone have any maps that could represent something like the interior of the hangar bay of a Minokawa Frigate? (IPS-N 1 km long Frigate)

[rotund comet]

I think you will have trouble for plans of full ships but for zones of a ship i don’t think there’s much that would be all that different from usual hangar bay maps? the only thing thats different is that the ‘floor’ is in the direction of thrust. it’s still probably gonna be a big chamber with an opening on the hull.

https://www.reddit.com/r/battlemaps/comments/j3y7lc/hangar_bay_3040_30x4070pxsquare/

if you’re doing a boarding mission you could basically just abstract the full map of the ship - its just a bunch of decks stacked vertically (so, a skyscraper)

https://www.czepeku.com/fantasy/maps/hangar-bay/space-no-ships one from czepeku as well

[azure tree]

Don't know about that 1km-long, but there was this message: #1211781091577438339 message

[shadow sail]

thank you, but there is a slight issue. Those maps are of ships that seem to not use thrust gravity

[late frost]

So you’re looking for a ship that’s actually just several stackable maps then?
I’ve seen a few maps like that but they’re usually on patreon

[late frost]

Miska’s Maps has some good ones. “Annora Arabella” and Infinite Rocket Decks

https://www.patreon.com/posts/infinite-rocket-59334190

[azure tree]

I apologise. In a hurry, I completely missed the specific type of ships you were looking for.

[shadow sail]

np

these ones look cool

[golden oxide]

arent these from in golden flame

[quaint flame]

Yeah

Well, they're unofficial

[karmic grove]

Also Al is the one who made them

[quaint flame]

:>

[final parrot]

It is time to start ||wallflower part 3|| collection! I am still unsure of the 2.5D perspective but it nicely represents the scene I think.

[golden oxide]

Al wtf your maps kick ass

[quaint flame]

Don't mind me, posting maps without crediting the author (me)

[left ether]

I just made something super simple for mine. Dungeondraft skills go! lol

[slim cedar]

Plain and simple is great for adding stuff to it.

[golden oxide]

Actually please credit yourself im like your number 1 fan but I didn’t even know it was you 😭

The maps have been passed around so much and we just thought they were THE igf maps

[quaint flame]

Yeah, I made them all. They're also unofficial, Vex has endorsed it but never told me to make them

So they're not "the" in golden flame map

[final parrot]

If I may ask, what do you use for the terrain height "mask" that you have on maps. It looks very good and would love to learn how to do that

[quaint flame]

#1216805351488356353 message

[final parrot]

Thank you kindly, I will look through it

[viral glade]

does anyone have any like. underground industrial parks? or like. industrial mazes

[quaint flame]

I have overground industrial

Might not be what you want but still

[viral glade]

sounds pretty cool. do post

[quaint flame]

I have

[quaint flame]

It's there

[haughty edge]

Bubblegum jungle update

I consider adding more colors but

The planet looks pink from the orbit

[plain ravine]

Is there like a collection of all your maps somewhere? They’re always so good looking and great to use

[quaint flame]

https://lmplo.itch.io/in-golden-flame-act-1-unofficial-map-pack

[plain ravine]

Thanks

These are all very cool

[gritty marlin]

Al makes a mean map, great stuff, throw money at them

[pearl wedge]

@quaint flame Have you ever considered taking map commissions?

[quaint flame]

I have considered it, I'd need a lot of persuasion

[pearl wedge]

Well I am not much for persuasion but if you ever decide to test the waters I would be interested.

[thorny rock]

Follow up on that, I was thinking over the last day or so that if you were open to the idea of making maps on a Patreon-monthly or releeasly type model, I'd be first to sign up.

[gritty marlin]

On the other hand: Making hobby into a job can be a Burnout recipe

Do what you’re comfy with, Al

Like, I can’t imagine even doing a Slowfunding thing for my stuff because then I’m on the hook to deliver

[final parrot]

Yeah the IGF maps are awesome and are a great source of inspiration to improve in inkarnate

Here are my ||"infested egregorian study lab exploration map" || scribbles (spoiler tag so none of my players would accidentally see them)

Also I love exploration maps in LANCER but that just might be the DnD parasite in my brain

[quaint flame]

My motivation ebbs and flows, I can't control it. Sometimes I have mad motivation to make maps, paint minis or write for my projects. I can't control which I want to do. It's why I need hefty motivation for commissions

Patreon would be neat but I can't gguarantee I want to work on maps

Especially if my only motivation is to keep up a patreon

[final parrot]

Maybe a pay per post like JB2A does it

You are charged only if they release something new

Right now from my current perspective I don't watch every month of what JB2A adds. They send an email, charge for it and I am happy to see something being released

[haughty edge]

What prevent me from really doing paid gming

Because turns out... Playing with ppl you are confortable with is way better than doing it with randoms that pay you

https://tenor.com/view/devious-evil-cat-devious-evil-cat-gif-13662346222156832155

And also it forge them to run the thing they want to play or dont play it at all

[spare spruce]

another minimalist map. Looking for layout feedback

[gritty marlin]

Generally I like this; the bridge might be a bit too open, if anything? Might be fine though. Could always put a “low wall” on the sides of the bridge for some mild cover

[spare spruce]

could do - realistically it'd be like... size 1/2 hard cover

not that I have to be realistic

[meager stream]

Another way across the river could be good. I've played on a similar map and any wrecks turn what's already a chokepoint into a fatal funnel of difficult terrain.

[spare spruce]

Jump jets allow for hopping across via that one rock

Although I might make the river a little bit narrower there

[pulsar lodge]

Greetings, Lancers. Could someone refer me to some trench-warfare style maps?

[spare spruce]

I'm not aware of any, but may I ask if you're looking for trenches scaled for infantry or trenches scaled for mechs?

[pulsar lodge]

Either work, but scaled for mechs would absolutely go hard! Thank you for asking anyways

[spare spruce]

if you own dungeondraft or are handy with image editors, this asset pack could be useful: https://2minutetabletop.com/product/ww1-trench-map-assets-pack/

there's this - the above-ground portion is pretty scale agnostic: https://www.reddit.com/r/battlemaps/comments/10uihlk/ww1_bunker_trenches_54x57variations/

[earnest smelt]

not sure if this is a reasonable place to ask, if not just direct me where would be better:

I am doing some of the onboarding for Lancer to likely run a game, and found the Interpoint Station Map Tool which is likely what i'll use just between ease-of-use, fidelity, and clarity, but was curious if there are are options in it to support different elevations (e.g. higher ground, etc)

I was asking here in since, idk i imagine some people here have likely used it and would know

i could also see the answer being: "climbing onto cover gives elevation, bigger number climbed on, higher elevation"

i just figured i'd ask in case there was more nuance or something

[gritty marlin]

I’d check with the #1056034709555138610 thread for it but my understanding is you’d need terrain to serve as the “elevated platform”

I believe there’s some items in the packs that can be used as a platform but it’s been a minute since I’ve used it

[thorny rock]

quick and dirty mine map. tried to do the whole thing within an hour in an effort to stop spending hours on making maps
tags: mine, cave, underground

[kindred plume]

love it, any idea on the sitrep or just keeping it open?

[thorny rock]

Completely open honestly. You could likely get away with a bunch as you see fit. The blockout for the terrain is as such btw, if that's of any help

Intention is

• 🟥 Red is impassable terrain
• 🟪 Purple is soft terrain (can move through it at the cost of 1 heat per movement. Destroyed when moved through)
• 🟦 Blue is objects and bits
• 🟨 Yellow is difficult or dangerous terrain

[meager stream]

the soft terrain heat cost is really interesting

my players would love that

[bitter saffron]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but I just found this tool for making maps and it looks extremely promising

[raven plaza]

Lil space map I made for Mechanized Body - the asteroid clusters and the walls are basically infinite height up and down essentially players can’t go above or below them because they’re just way too big to do in a single combat.

it kind of creates a weird maze to navigate. The asteroid clusters players could go through though it’s just like essentially harder to move. Their goal was to board an excess hatch on this giant space station, and of course take out the enemy. MBs along the way.

[twilit topaz]

It's flattering to see that people find a map I've made years ago good enough to show to others, especially seeing how bad it honestly is 😅

[spare spruce]

as with all creative things, the artist sees how it differs from what they imagined. Others only see what is there

[twilit topaz]

I see the hacky solutions I had to resort to in order to accommodate the desires of a person at whose request it was made and the endless "Hmmm, can you make that thing different?"

😄

But I shall post something that I made specifically for LANCER and am personally very proud of: I call it "Pain Canyon", inspired by "Devil's Bath" map from Battle of Tukayyid Map Pack made for BattleTech. Very closely inspired, I'd say. Two versions, one with grid, one without.

For those who want to use it in Foundry, use the following settings for the grid: Hexagonal Rows — Even, Grid Size — 200 pixels.

Grey areas are envisioned by me to be very hot lava (therefore dangerous terrain), but feel free to interpret them in any way that suits your needs. No particular sitrep attached (I used Gauntlet when playing on it myself). Put in some Rainmakers and Hives to torture your players.

Made in Dungeondraft, primarily using assets from DnDungeon and Crosshead Studious, along with Krager's Shadows and Lights Pack.

Alternative name: Atlas Paradise

[raven plaza]

Yo naming maps, I don’t do this but I really like the idea of it- I typically name them after the encounter I use them for, which is more story driven. Kinda thinking it’d be cool just to name them for what they represent. Atlas Paradise is a cool name

[twilit topaz]

It's a joke name 😄 The names I give are a vibe, this map was a pain for my players so Pain Canyon it is

[gritty marlin]

I started internally writing joke lyrics to the tune of “Gangsta’s Paradise” lol

[twilit topaz]

Intended

[final parrot]

I love unique map naming conventions, my players have told me repeatedly that they very much enjoy the little jokes and bits in the map name. Even tho I thought nobody was looking at it

[raven plaza]

yeah that's funny, deff doing this now.

[haughty edge]

I have a big empty room in both the south and north of my control map and no idea with what to fill thoses with

[azure tree]

Could be more vegetation, the map doesn't need to be square, right?

I can see you have vegetation as map boundaries, you could flood the map a little and make it traversable and providing soft cover.

[kindred plume]

What type of area are you trying to depict with the map?

[haughty edge]

Its supposed to be a military outpost player will have to take control of

In the middle of a jungle

I just struggle to figure out what to fill the map with, i'm afraid adding up more trees would just bloat the map

[violet turret]

What about a little training area?

Like a track or something where the troops can run laps

Or better yet, a pool, to make it hazardous terrain

Maybe they need to boost over the pool or go around it, instead of just moving in a straight line always

[kindred plume]

Ok and what are the other buildings functions so far?

[haughty edge]

Training aee is a good idea...

[haughty edge]

So far I have

-Control tower and a landing zone

-A warehouse

-A fuel reserve

-An area where they sleep

[twilit topaz]

More but smaller trees

Where are your players supposed to enter the map?

[haughty edge]

South

Enemies north

[twilit topaz]

Also, just in case, what software are you using?

[haughty edge]

Inkarnate

[twilit topaz]

Aha, not really familiar with it so can't give you any particular tricks

But overall, a bit more trees but smaller

Also combine them with other things, you have some freestanding rocks, put some bushes and trees next to them

Blue areas are objective areas, right?

[twilit topaz]

Sort of like this

Example done in Dungeondraft but it should convey the idea well enough

With grid for referece

Depending on your party composition, you can spread small islands of cover like that around to give your map more detail and depth for cheap

If you have Atlas or anyone with Jager Kunst I, I would recommend to be very careful with how many you place

This way also works

I don't know what you have available in Inkarnate in terms of tools and assets, but you don't really need much else to fill empty areas

Just sprinkle various gribbles

[kindred plume]

That can be done in inkarnate easily enough

[kindred plume]

So possible ideas just off the top of my head:

A mech bay/armoury (or a field printer bay)

Medical centre

Prison for enemy combatants

Mess hall

Admin buildings/officers and up offices

Carpool (Area where transport vehicles are kept)

Power supplies for the base

Again ive no context on the campaign where this map takes place im just shotgunning ideas to see if any help

[twilit topaz]

Putting some vehicles on the map is a good idea

[kindred plume]

Oh defensive positions with mounted weapons, bases like this surely would have basic perimeter security

[twilit topaz]

Also adding some shadows to things to achieve depth

[haughty edge]

[kindred plume]

This is a game changer for map quality with very little effort on your part

[twilit topaz]

I remember the time when I didn't do/didn't know how to do shadows

Oh, speaking of bad maps

My first foray into making a mao that aligns with hexes.

It is very bad by my own standards and I would not recommend it to anyone but if you want to and run Foundry, use the following settings: Hexagonal Rows — Even, Grid Size — 200 pixels.

Oh and it is supposed to be a night time map, or at the very least late evening, so if any potential user wants it to be ask me I'll make it darker.

If you are not using Foundry and want to grab this map anyway, contact me and I'll whip up a version with grid for you

[plain ravine]

I feel like this is still a pretty solid map even if your newer ones are better

[final parrot]

Yeah, the map is pretty solid, nicely designed, lots to play around with

[twilit topaz]

No particular sitrep was envisioned for it, just in case

But thanks for kind words ❤️

[thorny rock]

Oh man I seriously love these hexy maps. Thanks for taking the time to share your efforts on these, genuinely awesome

I love the way the terrain edges are well rounded. It comes out hexy while not looking too sharp or off

Gotta try this in inkarnat

[trim jay]

Does anyone here know a good free way to make maps for lancer I’m trying to get into it I have the core rulebook on order and I’m currently looking into ways to make maps for it

[spare spruce]

depends on what you want it to look like

if you don't mind it being real basic, I just made an Owlbear rodeo room (free) and made these using the drawing tools in there:

[trim jay]

That works just fine

Ok not figuring that out any other ideas

(My current plan is to just draw something on paper which shouldn’t be THAT bad of a plan right?)

Anyway I really need to sleep thank you for helping but it is 2 AM where I live GOOD NIGHT

[spare spruce]

when you come back tomorrow: an advantage of something like owlbear rodeo is that if you have the shape right but the location wrong you can just move stuff

[thorny rock]

Just wanted to say your owlbear maps are really cute and are a great use of the tools available to portray exactly as much information as you need, while still having flavour ❤️

[spare spruce]

thank you!

[twilit topaz]

That was the goal, thank you. I wanted to run LANCER but didn't know at all how to make maps that worked well with hexes so got to experimenting. One thing I did first is to rip out some assets from MegaMek and see how it would look. While decent-ish, it was still very hexy: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1397152501219987576/1483371525330567208/megamek_200px_97.webp?ex=6a0eb8e3&is=6a0d6763&hm=2ebb5c86f72adb024f2eaf73b7934d89e37df2f234ff5a050c0b21f90c0b7def&=&format=webp&width=1469&height=864

I did learn valuable things along the way

Making this thing was a veritable pain as every hex had to be placed manually and I refrained from mapmaking for a week due to hurt wrist 💀

[thorny rock]

I'm glad to hear your workflow's been figured out lol

Do you generally use 2minutetabletops stuff for all your maps?

[twilit topaz]

I didn't use 2MTT assets, I used DnDungeon and Crosshead Studious assets

For the maps I've posted here at least

[thorny rock]

quick 60 minute map. trying to get faster at these. Map is 38w x 30h hexes
tags: city, buildings, populated, street

(i missed a car and statue in the top right but it's prolly fine)

[kindred plume]

When making city maps how do you guys go about deciding what to add and how cramped or open it will be?

[amber blade]

Having done one recently, I used the opfor and my PCs builds to inform the street/alleyway spacing.

You can still do pockets of density, just gotta have a purpose beyond clutter for clutter sake. Like, several buildings that create a winding path is good for cover for your small PCs and larger ones can just ignore it and quite possibly clear it faster.

[spare spruce]

hey, so I'm working on a Recon map, intended to be a zero-G shipyard - looking for feedback on the rough layout/WIP I've got going on.

[amber blade]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gplD9SPoxjpSBV5_f4OmoKAKQb4QNlOk1C5rschUAy8/edit?usp=sharing
Eld's example map in the link does a good job of showing what I mean.

[twilit topaz]

First question that popped into my mind was "why are these ships so small" but other than that, I assume white areas are vacuum?

[spare spruce]

correct, the white area is open space

the ships are like... courier vessels/light corvettes. Things that (if they were mobile) would be using the ship template

[thorny rock]

Honestly I'd go for layout over "realistic scale" anyway. Scale is an illusion and the last thing anyone will care for or remember in play is things being an "imperfect scale" .

[spare spruce]

indeed

[spare spruce]

okay, continued WIP: I've colour coded the components based on size (yellow: 1/2, red: 1, blue: 2. green: 3, purple: 4) - as this will be in zero G, I'm kind of assuming that drawing LOS will never be difficult (unless you hide), but if you're butting up against something your size or larger you get hard cover.

I feel the middle bit, the enemy deployment zone, maybe should have more going on

I'm wondering if I make the non-horizontal struts into soft cover, being a network of smaller strutwork

[twilit topaz]

My first concern would be about what happens if your players decide to just start blasting enemies right in their deployment zone

[kindred plume]

Having recently run a zero g mission just a note be ready for your NPCs to not be able to really move without supports that can teleport them like a mirage, the slowed status for those without jump jets is crippling

Players are usually fine

[spare spruce]

oh, every enemy on the field have Spacer

(admittedly, a few also have industrial, so that kind of... offsets it)

[kindred plume]

Ah perfect disregard that then, love the layout tou got going on

[spare spruce]

okay Now I think I'm done

[thorny rock]

Cover in the middle is a good call. Allows it to function as a useable combat space beyond the initial deployment too

[gritty marlin]

At least you only need to worry about slowed if the character in question isn’t near a solid surface; should be fine since there’s plenty of those present

[spare spruce]

I think rules-as-written being next to a surface doesn't actually help you at all in zero G.

I'd be inclined to be lenient for anybody with Mag Clamps or the Jager Kunst

[gritty marlin]

Mm okay that does look RAW

[twilit topaz]

Looks great now

[twilit topaz]

I made the call because I had a realization when making one of my maps that my players can just go all Barbarossas

[spare spruce]

I bring another owlbear rodeo vector map, heavily inspired by https://bsky.app/profile/siegefault.bsky.social/post/3m66a6sip4c2l

⋮⋮⋮ ＳＩＥＧＥ (@siegefault.bsky.social)

what can i say, i like creating arenas of violence.

(but hexagons are bestagons)

-# Katherine Stark (@kastark.bsky.social)
All of this happens within tight technical constraints. There are specific size requirements, art and terrain placement needs to work for both hexes and squares (no mean feat!!), maps need to be usable and readable on VTT and when printed out. Each of these offer a significant technical challenge.

Bluesky · Nov 21, 2025, 9:31 PM

[earnest smelt]

My first attempt at a battlemap for my upcoming lancer campaign. Wanted to make a "small town/outpost near a swamp/wetlands", specifically for a Holdout scenario, wanted some feedback in case I made some terrible blunder or similar -

[spare spruce]

what's the stuff to the lower left?

[earnest smelt]

meant to be a "road" more or less

like heading out of town vibe

if that makes any sense

i also have realized that it makes the whole town look like a golf club as well lmao

[spare spruce]

i does, but the scale feels a bit off?

in that a car is probably size-1 ish

[earnest smelt]

that's true, i'd need to pull probably 1 dark grey layer from each size to make it make more sense

[spare spruce]

yeah, unless it's a highway, it should only be like two hexes wide at most

you also might want to put buildings inside the objective zone because right now it's kiiind of a killing field

[earnest smelt]

Made some adjustments based on previous feedback -

[spare spruce]

what is the white hexes representing?

[earnest smelt]

side-walls, like how some bridges have, in wetlands areas even normal roads would have them since if a vehicle went offroad, it's into swamp, etc (source: grew up near wetlands)

so essentially like 1/4 size hard cover or something like that

[spare spruce]

ah, I see

I feel like they maybe... don't add anything to the map. As they're not cover a mech can use, and they make the road very Wide-seeming

like, that's a 100% the sort of thing that would be really neat in a map with a higher degree of realism/fidelity

but in the style you've got going on here it's confusing

[earnest smelt]

got a second map put together, meant to be an "escape" from the same general vicinity as last time (so marshy, etc), not sure if I have a reasonable amount of cover or not, or rather, if the hard/soft ratio is decent, etc -

[spare spruce]

Maybe more of the mist/whatever that soft cover is

In the water as well?

[earnest smelt]

it is meant to be mist yes

[tulip walrus]

What are you using to make these? Looks nice

[earnest smelt]

The Interpoint Station Map Creation Tool, it's not as high fidelity as some stuff like Dungeondraft, but I liked it for being higher readability than something that high fidelity by default (the markers on different terrain showing size and cover type), while also still looking decent and not just being blocks on hex

it's also pretty easy to use so far

[twilit topaz]

This tool is cute, indeed, and very, very handy if you want to quickly throw together something quick and nice looking

What I did most recently with it

(I disabled size indicators on various objects as I use Foundry with Terrain Height Tools)

[dawn wagon]

Some link rot's happened on the spreadsheet, is there a way I could flag the dead links somehow?

[amber blade]

Finished up this one the other day for Wallflower ||Abaddon. Took a lot of inspiration from the city descriptions and added funiculars, fallen sunlamps, and stepped plazas.|| Very excited to run it in a couple weeks

[twilit topaz]

Could benefit from some shadows

I will make an educated guess that you are using Dungeondraft

So you can get yourself Krager's Shadows and Lights pack which would give you nice paths, patterns and objects

[thorny rock]

Alternatively if you're in the mood for Foundry lighting, you an wall and light the scene there

[golden oriole]

Something to consider : make the white raised side platforms for the roadsize 1 or 2 . Could be a fun feature for players/enemies to go hunker down behind and fight from. As for cover, I think you could place pieces together, creating small lil islands or even lengthy sections. Finally, use the water a bit closer to city area, so that is a bit less playersided (going to be harder for NPCs to traverse it than PCs).

[fathom coral]

Just tried to make some map, mostly first time doing something modern/sci-fi, would gladly accept some kind of advice or critique! Also, because I'm using Foundry I do all lights and effects in it, so there's not much on map itself.

[slim cedar]

More urban maps is always good in my books.

[thorny rock]

Oooh that turned out lovely! Nicely done putting a good amount of cover around :>

[mystic hollow]

Good generic map.

[lyric burrow]

close to done on this one, man making a derelict map is hard

[lyric burrow]

fully finished with filters and glows
This map can be used for anything, i'm using it for GTFO siterep

next time I need to play around with how I can do shadow on the app because it would be fun to play with a spotlighht and angle it

(also it is constantly a blast coming in here and seeing all the cool maps people make!)

[final parrot]

The map looks fantastic with the added lightning and filters, what a difference it makes

[thorny rock]

Suffice to say, it's peak 🙂‍↕️ 🙏

Any tips for your shading process? Are you using Inkarnate, or exporting to do so in another software?

[haughty edge]

Bubblegum Jungle Control

[kindred plume]

Love the style of the map and as said above more city maps are always great, no critiques from me, the only advice i can give (and this is coming from someone who has also just started out making maps for lancer) A: Is this supposed to be an area where there has been fighting or B: Is it just that they are prepping for the fight that is coming?

If option A: get come shell craters in there some wrecked cars maybe mess up one or two of the buildings

If its b then have the supply trucks nearby, ammo crates suppling the troops here maybe somw encampments on the roof, soldiers even against mechs would want high ground to at least see them coming, maybe a turret emplacement?

When i build my maps i try to think of things my players and npc can interact with makes the map more alive than just a map, e.g the ammo crate i mentioned should someone target it becomes a burst one explosion doing a set amount of damage, turrets can be tech attacked to turn to your side that sort of thing

Again love the map please dont take my thoughts here as thinking this is bad you could boot this up ans run a grand old fight in it right away just giving some thoughts on how i would add to it

[kindred plume]

Great to see it finished, you went for the trees idea to fill in the space?

[haughty edge]

Yeah, it's the best way to give the jungle vibe

[kindred plume]

Makes sense it came out great

[still matrix]

currently working on this beauty. PDZ will be the right hand size and its either gonna be a gauntlet or the defense one.

still got to put more terrain down on the right hand side

[kindred plume]

Whats happening there in the centre?

[still matrix]

Toxic gas geyser

Still needs refinement because that was the basic "let's see how this looks" setup

[kindred plume]

Very cool look forward to seeing the finished results

[lyric burrow]

yes! (sorry for the late response)
What i typically do is:

Object layer (light sources only)
Filter layer (night filter)
Brush Layer
Object layer I want to "grim up"

essentially I use the layers to make a sandwich: so my objects are near always under the filter layer. Then, above objects is a brush layer, so you may notice for example the derelict, on the object i used the scorched earth brush from the fantasy battlemap, the dirt brush, the cracked stone brush, anbd then a bit of lava brush

Ontop of that I typically put my night layer which just "darkens everything"
To add the brightness back, that's why we have the top most layer. Because we can't "brush" light in inkarnate (in anyway I've done it) I typically just use the light object in sci-fi, and basically use it as a "stamp", alternating the type of glows.
it';s crucial its above the night filter layer because that will brighten up the area you want once you size and scale it

[thorny rock]

Tysm for taking the time and effort to write up your process C: Really really useful, this is exactly the kind of thing I've never been too sure where to start with on Inkarnate :>

[lyric burrow]

yeah no problem at all! I'm glad I could be of help!

[left ether]

Glad you were able to figure out Dungeondraft for this! 🙂

[left ether]

Trying to use elevation more in my campaign's maps:

[sly jacinth]

I dig it, love introducing some Topography into the mix

[sly jacinth]

Another one from (IGF Ch.3) ||Asphodel; the Guns at Noon fight specifically||. Really forcing myself not to over-clutter on this one, despite the urge to litter the ground with various bits of sheet metal.

[twilit topaz]

This one was made before I asked you about your techniques, I still envy your precision though 😄

[twilit topaz]

Hey, my GM used one of your maps quite recently, I recognised some of the assets you used

[quaint flame]

Do it, go littering

[upper delta]

you guys are the pros here, how do you all think i should go about making a "scorched earth" background for a phase 2 of the boss fight? keeping in mind, i'm gonna make the background scroll infinitely to give a sense of movement to the scene https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/515881053836148736/1508561425985962147/image.png?ex=6a16a58f&is=6a15540f&hm=3dce4bfbd178bcab2607851f8bdb6b26ad3b65beba450f563ffd874d7b9c2b99&

i tried playing with the scorched earth (literally) texture, but it was wayyyy too intense, so you fellas got any tips on how to make a ground look burnt?

and yeah, its trains, the players are fighting on top of trains

[azure tree]

Do you have any other editing software? I would potentially export the texture itself and apply motion blur to smooth out the details. Scrolling a static texture will not look what a moving background looks like to the eye, will also be more jarring.

Here's an old example and the difference between a blurred and regular texture when scrolled: #lancer-vtt message

If you do not use any other software and are interested in giving it a go, you can send me the texture and I'll see what I can do.

Probably good to include the train tracks in it, but it will mean it has to be well aligned.

[upper delta]

that's what i was thinking too, so we're already pretty aligned on that part

i'm not home atm but later i can export the background alone

no need for train tracks since the trains themselves already obscure the whole thing

[azure tree]

Ah, you're right, I was under the impression they were sticking out from under the carts, but it's parts of the carts.

Cool, send them over and ping me. I'll have a peek when I can. Is this for today?

[upper delta]

anytime! i was gonna focus on sorting out cinematics for my campaign before i finally started moving stuff into foundry, but i still had that part in my curiosity

apart from the moving thing, do you got any tips for making the background all burnt up? detailing or decorating in that way?

[azure tree]

In a scrolling map, I probably wouldn't go with too much detailing, as that will mostly get lost and and/or noisy.

What's the context, would there be craters? Or is this from a wild fire, etc?

For non-motion, I would probably try to do some small and very few unburnt patches with charred edges to kind of give the idea of what happened.

[upper delta]

the entire thing takes place in a industrial park, so right now imagine this background as the typical train yard tracks you see in cities, but the phase 2 transition is going through a burning city since explosions went out, soooo just kind of imagining a lot of fire that has burnt up the ground here and there

you do bring up good points with the detailing part

[azure tree]

Not certain how I'd do it in Inkarnate, you'd have to play with textures and layering, I haven't done a burnt map yet.

Are you also needing a static background like this or are we talking purely scrolling?

[upper delta]

purely scrolling, the foreground is the playspace and its the trains, so those are the only static things

was thinking of using the fx module for foundry to add moving clouds to add on top of the high-speed scrolling background

[azure tree]

You can play with that. Just try not to make the map harder to read.

[upper delta]

nodnod

I'll drop the texture background later and you can toy with it to see my proof of concept

will ping once i do

[fathom coral]

Thanks for the advice, gonna add more details!

[kindred plume]

Glad i could help as i said im still learning myself

[upper delta]

@azure tree

not entirely sure if this will end up looking good for a seamless tile scroll

but the blur likely will help once you fiddle with it

[azure tree]

Can I ask for one thing? A 1:2 image with these lines running along, rather than diagonally?

[upper delta]

like, rotating the whole thing?

if you mean like this, i'd have to make a new layer and paint it up though, guess i could try but wouldn't you be able to just rotate it in a program, or does it cut too much?

[azure tree]

Basically like this.

[upper delta]

ooooh

if i were to make one that is like that, do you need it as 1:2? couldn't it be 1:1?

[azure tree]

Technically, but if you want any repeating elements, like bushes or whatnot, then they'll repeat constantly. The longer the map, the more variety you can bring.

[upper delta]

good call

i'll get to it when i can then, just got home and thinking over what i do next

[upper delta]

a quick attempt? no clue how later i'd have to align the background better

at this point i wonder if i should've just made the map aligned properly rather than diagonal

[azure tree]

So for a test of a charred greenland, I would probably go with something like this. But this may not work the best for motion, I feel like the scale is too large, so it will still repeat quite a lot.

Since your map is at an angle, it does need to be a slightly wider to account for the corners.

[azure tree]

^

[upper delta]

ooooh that's a perfect take on the scorched variant

and yeah, i see what you mean now with the scale

yeah i'll just have to make a 1:2 image like you said so i can detail it much better

thank you though, this helps a lot

again, i have no real clue how i'm gonna line up the ground with the tracks considering i made the map how i did

i guess i'll just figure it out

or maybe inkarnate allows me to import an image into a map, and then i rotate it to use it as a guide

but yes, good call with making it wider for the corners due to the angle, thank you tons, feel like you just saved me a future headache whenever i'd get around to implementing the map

[azure tree]

In Inkarnate make sure you use the line tool. And hold Ctrl to do a perfect horizontal - I don't recommend doing this by hand.

In the editing tool I then:

• Offset the image by 50%
• Duplicated it and overlapped the ends in the middle
• Blended them together
• Cropped in a way that no part of the image repeated. So this should now tile perfectly without showing any edges.

As for your grid being at an angle, I think you simply need to rotate the scrolling tile in your VTT (Foundry?) at a 60 degree angle and you should be good.

_ _
I don't mind having a go at some other variants, as I will eventually need something similar. But then I also don't want to impose myself or hold you up, should I get occupied with something else.

I guess at some point, I'll just drop whatever I managed to do here for grabs if anyone fancies.

[upper delta]

sounds good, handy and dandy

yeah i get what you mean though, use line tool to just put down the tracks, then use that as my reference point to use the brush to draw around and decorate

even if i dont see the tracks in my map, its a handy reference point regardless

thank you tons for the help though! i'll definitely give it a shot eventually, i'm currently focused on another part of the campaign i'm working on, but once i'm done with that, i'll give it a try making these backgrounds using your method

[spare spruce]

I'm revisiting the city map here to make it usable for an escort sitrep. Any glaringly obvious things I should change?

[haughty edge]

https://tenor.com/view/soken-ffxiv-train-gif-27594975

[thorny rock]

I think it's fine as is personally

Or you can come in from the bottom left and leave upper right side

[mystic hollow]

At most if you want left to right I think I'd adjust some of the smaller terrain. Maybe add some difficult terrain.

[azure tree]

Is it common to stack the hexes vertically, rather than horizontally on horizontally-oriented maps?

I tend to provide straight lines for the most likely longest movement direction. Am I missing something?

[thorny rock]

The only way it really matters is in distance. Horizontal hexes are approx 30% longer distance for the same pixel distance. You can usually count the hexes to check how far a "straight* line is.

Other than that, how the hexes are oriented means little :>

One thing to note is that if you always orient hexes along the intended path, you naturally shorten that distance

[azure tree]

I guess the main thing that struck me when I first realised I need to make that decision is that if you're moving in a straight line across the columns, you move in a zig-zag kind of path. Which obviously means little, as you're still moving on a grid, but I think it's just the aesthetic of it.

But the last thing you said is something I did not consider.

[thorny rock]

Aesthetically it's nice I agree, but I also have found that the reality is that, unless your map is excrutiatingly empty, nobody is going to move in massive straight lines anyway regardless of orientation, so how you orient the hexes only really needs to account for the distance you intend the players and OpFor to travel.

[azure tree]

Yeah, which is making me realise that perhaps orienting against the entry-exit line may be the better idea if you're planning on it being more difficult than it looks.

The map you were just commenting on seems to be doing just that. More reach to position yourself vertically, but advancing forward is slower.
_ _

[azure tree]

Pretty much, yeah. Added bonus is that if you decide to have gaps between your carriages, then there may be a little bit of motion peeking through.

I made a quick attempt at recreating your map. Didn't fuss with grid-aligning everything, just wanted to see how it would look overall.

I can see the background could be a bit longer, as it does repeat pretty often, but I don't think there'd be much of a need for it. Also the cloud effect in black could work nicely with a bit of tweaking.
_ _

[upper delta]

I was literally jsut thinking about this at work lol

I realized that I don't need to really align the map, just kind of make the space in the middle wide enough so the "train" space makes sense

and thus the edges are decorated accordingly

So no real need needing to fuss, I don't think I need that between tracks spacing when the ground is already gonna be very blurry from the speed

Your example is pretty much what I was thinking myself though

[azure tree]

I had to fuss a little with aligning the train space to match the train map, but perhaps I should have just did both of these on the same map canvas and rotate in post.

[upper delta]

That's what I was gonna do

[azure tree]

Yeah, that would be best, not sure why I did them separately 😄

[upper delta]

Haha

I know my map is made diagonal but again, the background just can be done horizontal like you did, and then rotated in foundry/vtt for the scrolling

At least, the module for tile scrolling allows that in Foundry (if that's what you use!)

[azure tree]

Yup, that's what I used.

I made a horizontal background, then did the map in a separate canvas diagonally. For some crazy reason.

[upper delta]

yeeee, ez pz

I mean that's fair

that is how I have it right now

I could recreate the map horizontal too

but I can just put the actual map down as a background in a scene, and then the tilescroll separetly, and rotate it until it fits and it'd look good!

[azure tree]

You could just make the map horizontally and then rotate it before exporting, but if you already have it then I don't know if you'd be gaining anything.

True.

[upper delta]

It's a lesson learned for sure

[azure tree]

Anyway, yeah. I'll definitely be doing something similar in the future, so was nice to see how to make it work.

[upper delta]

if gonna make a map that has a scrolling background, always make it all horizontal or vertical

yeee

I'll be sure to post my finished results later when I can so you can see for yourself too if you want!

[azure tree]

Don't know about urban, I would probably put something resembling bricks/rubble and hope it peeks through the blur enough to make sense. Broken cars maybe.

[azure tree]

Definitely. Feel free to ping if you remember.

[upper delta]

Here's the thing, I was thinking that too but like you said, it's blurry so it may not be worth adding all those details

Like in my original map you see how I had gravel around the trains undersides

but now that's pointless due to the blur

by the way, you mind putting down your tilescroll settings too?

It seems like you landed on a comfortable value combo, I was a bit worried the blur + speed might make it hard on the eyes of my players

[azure tree]

I feel like it would HURT to watch this for a few hours straight.
_ _

[upper delta]

yeah no, you're right

the blur saves it so much

genius call on that one man

[azure tree]

Glad it helped.

[upper delta]

much softer on the eyes, and also it adds speed to it

[azure tree]

I just realised I had the tile ratio a bit wrong, so it was squeezed.

I fixed it, so it repeats less now, but the blur is much more... blurry. But you'll have your own blur to play with anyway. These are the settings + result.
_ _

I think what would help here is for the players to see the scene before the train starts moving - unless that's not possible for whatever reason.

Once that's done, then they already have a mental picture of what the blur obscures.

[upper delta]

that's a good call actually

maybe for the pre-round start

when we're setting up all the player spots and enemies, so they can see where they're starting, and once round starts, swap to the scrolling tile and all the other effects

thank you though, by the way hate to ask, but what's the stamp you used for the train platform/floor?

very different from what i'm using and i'm feeling a bit wanting to swap what i did for that

[azure tree]

Ah, yes, I couldn't find what you used - it's probably not available as part of the line tool. It's the Conveyor Belt in Sci-Fi Battlemaps / Industrial: Hazard Lab.

I added nodes to the line to create these protruding pegs on the sides.

[upper delta]

oooh yes, that explains it

i used a shelf something or a platform stamp

and then i aligned them myself in a straight line, grouped together

your way of doing it is probs ten times better though haha

[azure tree]

Yeah. To be perfectly honest, I would probably go with stamps as well if I was doing a final map. More choice and a lot of stuff that might be more fitting.

[upper delta]

yeye, ofc

[azure tree]

It's quicker, but options are limited 😄

[upper delta]

i get ya!

good stuff though, tysm for going ahead and executing the concept ahead of me doing it

[azure tree]

Just saw - loving this table tile 😄
_ _

All good. I was curious too. Look forward to seeing what you come up with.

[upper delta]

in due time! i'm gonna work on my cinematics first before i jump back into this map

then i can set the whole thing up in foundry and show a very nice example of what i got planned for my players

[left ether]

Map I made for a reverse escort mission where the players need to intercept a transport moving through the underbelly of a massive city.

[thorny rock]

I gotta know how you're doing the grills blocking out the light 👀

[left ether]

Which grills and which lights?

[thorny rock]

This bit with the grid blocking the light source as if from above owo

[slim schooner]

there is a stamp in inkarnate for that actually!

[thorny rock]

Oh shidd fr? Awesome ty ❤️‍🔥

[left ether]

That was a modded asset. I forget where I got it.

[haughty edge]

https://tenor.com/view/ironman-tony-stark-forge-gif-10677756

[haughty edge]

I will post an update

[haughty edge]

I'll stop here for today, I'll just need to figure out what cover to put on the ship to not shred the players instantly

I kinda want to make so, you can either pull or drag the covers with you as a quick action so enemies have some control on the map

[kindred plume]

Thats a really cool idea

[final parrot]

Very nice and informative, I feel like animated maps make for excellent encounters. I am experimenting with phased battlemaps myself, showing damage after phases, revealing new areas etc. I wish there was a way to share isometric maps easier

[azure tree]

Thank you, though I was pretty much just describing my trial and error.

Can I ask what you mean re sharing isometric maps? What's the current issue?

[final parrot]

I am happy to talk in detail actually. I am personally using grape juice isometrics ( the king is back btw ) and in isometrics you have to include two things:

First is the base map which is basically the map without any specific terrain

Secondly you have the buildings, rocks, obstacles, everything that has height that is not "flat" that should have occlusion enabled to look nice

The problem with this is I can share a map to inspire someone's game at best but it is not able to be easily imported to FoundryVTT

At this point the best thing would be to get permission from starlight furnace and launch my maps on itch.io as FoundryVTT packs, or create 2 separate maps, one for base, one for all the occluding objects but it doesn't work well with grape juice either (I have tried)

[azure tree]

I see what you're saying. Completely off the top of my head, I'm wondering whether perhaps it would be possible to set up a map-specific macro for Foundry and just prep your asset folder accordingly.

Of course it would require additional set-up when creating your maps, but once done the first time, it could probably be streamlined.

[final parrot]

I was thinking of using Token Attacher or FoundryVTT module creator. Especially since scenes retain their tile placement

[azure tree]

Something to play with, for sure.

Nobody is doing it so far, that I know of. Could fill a demand.

[slim schooner]

Some maps i used for a Tempest (on steroids) bossfight! For clarification, i had the cloudy background spin around in phase 2 and used the rocks as an overlay to have it look as if they would have to jump from levitating rock to rock within a tornado. Is this kind of over the top and stupid? yea

[upper delta]

woaaah how you did you make the clouds?

[slim schooner]

do you mean the background or the ones on the borders of the first map?

[upper delta]

both!

[slim schooner]

iirc for the background i used color adjusted snow, added some shadows, and overlayed a "smoke" asset from the sci fi tokens a bunch until it fit right

similar thing for the border clouds, put a new object layer on top, overlay and added the clouds via that. also a brush layer below with a darker color to have it look as if they were casting shadows

[upper delta]

genius, thank you

[left ether]

Sort of off topic, but we're having a grinder free-for-fall event for Battletech at my LGS today and we're using a map I designed and had printed. The printer touched it up a bit and it came out fantastic.

[kindred plume]

Thats so cool, looks great, hope the event goes well

[upper delta]

@azure tree done your tricks, i feel like i could've done better with the background, but i'm gonna make the phase 2 with a larger size so i can fit the details at the sides better

but thank you tons though regardless

[azure tree]

I think this is looking great. Only thing, it looks like a desert to me, not sure if this was your intention or not.

Otherwise, map's legible and doesn't look like the background hurts my eyes, at least on mobile. Nice one!

[upper delta]

Must be the lighting, when I think of train yards, I always imagine them full of gravel and dirt

[azure tree]

I'm you don't mind me asking, how does this map work mechanically? Do PCs have to actually jump between wagons? What's the sitrep?

[azure tree]

I think it's the sandy background for me.

[upper delta]

To keep it short, its a finale fight to death. After enduring multiple sitteps with objectives, I'm letting them go all out on this battle using their size 3, size 2s and a singular size 1/2 mechs just to kill the fuck outta people

[azure tree]

I just noticed the platforms fit S3 units, cool.

Hope it goes well! I know people tend to discourage deathmatches, but I also know each table has their own tastes.

[upper delta]

I dont know the exact encounter specifics for enemy composition, but it involves an Executioner as the ultra, with probably cataphracts to bring them closer to it and a sniper and some controllers

Haha like I said, the players go through several combats already with very tense objectives, this deathmatch is their reward for pulling through

You're right regardless though, I'll be remaking the background with better dimensions and a more green background

After that, I'll make the scorched earth one!

[azure tree]

Good luck!

[upper delta]

Thank you!

Oh rogh

Let me post here

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/802330000547643423/1509683297133789324/2026-05-28_23-16-23.mp4?ex=6a1a11a2&is=6a18c022&hm=2d885c36f7bf6600e1c21385bbdd5182e252fd55ba0455794ae7db6207bf69bf&

I will post my other maps here

Once im home at least!

[azure tree]

Ah, that's neat. Did you make it through a module or fully in 3rd software?

[upper delta]

All in after effects, though I'm sure this can be done all in html if given the time

[azure tree]

I'm never sure if I should go with my own from scratch or try to use the community tools.

[upper delta]

It's really down to whatever you want

Or whatever you need

[upper delta]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/515881053836148736/1510724233435680878/chrome_T0DyOIxlVu.mp4?ex=6a1ddb15&is=6a1c8995&hm=6943128c84036d7a6725c8bf98c5dd5244598f41b31dfd32f7c2466a370b9fbc&

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/515881053836148736/1510724515351625941/chrome_bZ5PuBuhFC.mp4?ex=6a1ddb58&is=6a1c89d8&hm=f8290dbe570b1f3b7131c07aebd8b762987d9e4925c55e311852aec327306826& @azure tree Made it faster and a little green via tile options

Saves me time

And later I'll make it darker brown for the scorched