Hello! I've been getting a good amount of feed back from my sci-fi campaign maps with my groups and they're asking me to show them how I make maps quickly and with ease. So I figured I'd give other GMs here a tip for simple maps using a game I love to play called counter-strike 2D!
[Now, before some one raises flags for pirating or stealing content, CS2D is a free source top down tactical shooter made as a fan game and ode to, you guessed it, the Counter-Strike franchise. Though the tittle is copy write, their engine is free source! If it wasn't... well they'd be looking at a little legal action from steam :P ANYWAYS, I asked the developers if I could use their map creator for table top games just in case I missed something in their Terms of Use.
They said, and I quote: "You can use the map creator for creating custom maps and using the maps you make for other games such as, in your case, a table top game. However, you're not allowed to sell any of the maps you make. Also, you cannot claim any of the sprites or use any of the sounds for anything other than personal use. We wish you the best to your table top endeavours!
-LucasRib" ]
So simple as that! PLEASE don't sell anything you make and try out CS2D! It's a fun game to play if A. Your computer is low specs and cant play CSGO or B. you want a very small program you can play just to pass time.
Also, if anything in this violates any of the Code of Conducts, please let me know! I love to learn from mistakes.
1. First thing you need is Counter-Strike 2D! You can easily find the download through searching "counter strike 2d" on google or through the link in the image below! It's a small program and should only take you anywhere from a few seconds to 1 minute to download. The entire game is only 28 mb.
2. Your next step is opening the game and going on over to editor. This opens the map editor! [Note: I'm using a halo mod, this changes sprites and sounds in the game but you DO NOT need this for the map! The menu should look the same.]
3. Next, you'll be greeted with a grid, options to the top left, and a list of tiles to your left. Everything here is self explanatory here but if you want to make the map bigger or want to add a background, click the "map properties" button to resize your map or add a background.
4. I'm not going to give a huge tutorial on this but I'll help you out with the basics, First you want to click a tile you'd like and click the empty map to start panting and making the map! There are a few tile types that affect shadows: Floor, Obstacle, and Wall. Floor will give the tile no shadow. Obstacle will give the tile a shadow but it will be shorter than the wall. Wall will give a longer shadow around some edges of the tile. You can change this for any tile by clicking Tile Properties and editing it. You don't need to worry about any other tile types for this, just the ones I listed above.
5. Now after you've made your basic map, it's time to export this to an image! Under "Tools and More Options," you will find a way to import the map as an image file. This will copy over a few things: Entities you have placed on your map, any background image you set, and shadows. This will not copy over the grid but that's ok! Each tile is 32x32 so with a little math or another image program, you can add in a grid with ease. You have the options for size which are ratios from 1:32 to 1:1, and also you have the options to import what the mini map will look like. I like using both the map and mini map because in some sci-fi campaigns, gives tech users layouts to the map if they're hacking or using an advanced tool.
After this is done, the image will be placed into your CS2D folder!
6. From here it's time to dress up your map! You can use your favorite image editing tool to add items or extras that you didn't get a chance to do in game. Also, you can add a grid if you want using the dimensions 32x32. You can also place the image to your map layer on Roll20 and apply anything you want from Roll20's selection of tiles/map addons. There are lots of stuff you can use in Roll20's art library! Pretty impressed with the selection.
And that should be it! Even though I usually spend a lot more time editing these maps I just wanted to give my players and other people here a chance to see the basics to what I do to build a modern or sci-fi map. You can honestly use this for any type of game you'd like if you're good at making your own tile sets! But at its base you can make a simple modern or sci-fi map with ease!
I want to thank LucasRib over at Unreal Software for giving me permission and developing CS2D! Like I said before, if any of you mods find this against any of the Code of Conduct, please let me know! Have fun guys~
[Now, before some one raises flags for pirating or stealing content, CS2D is a free source top down tactical shooter made as a fan game and ode to, you guessed it, the Counter-Strike franchise. Though the tittle is copy write, their engine is free source! If it wasn't... well they'd be looking at a little legal action from steam :P ANYWAYS, I asked the developers if I could use their map creator for table top games just in case I missed something in their Terms of Use.
They said, and I quote: "You can use the map creator for creating custom maps and using the maps you make for other games such as, in your case, a table top game. However, you're not allowed to sell any of the maps you make. Also, you cannot claim any of the sprites or use any of the sounds for anything other than personal use. We wish you the best to your table top endeavours!
-LucasRib" ]
So simple as that! PLEASE don't sell anything you make and try out CS2D! It's a fun game to play if A. Your computer is low specs and cant play CSGO or B. you want a very small program you can play just to pass time.
Also, if anything in this violates any of the Code of Conducts, please let me know! I love to learn from mistakes.
1. First thing you need is Counter-Strike 2D! You can easily find the download through searching "counter strike 2d" on google or through the link in the image below! It's a small program and should only take you anywhere from a few seconds to 1 minute to download. The entire game is only 28 mb.
2. Your next step is opening the game and going on over to editor. This opens the map editor! [Note: I'm using a halo mod, this changes sprites and sounds in the game but you DO NOT need this for the map! The menu should look the same.]
3. Next, you'll be greeted with a grid, options to the top left, and a list of tiles to your left. Everything here is self explanatory here but if you want to make the map bigger or want to add a background, click the "map properties" button to resize your map or add a background.
4. I'm not going to give a huge tutorial on this but I'll help you out with the basics, First you want to click a tile you'd like and click the empty map to start panting and making the map! There are a few tile types that affect shadows: Floor, Obstacle, and Wall. Floor will give the tile no shadow. Obstacle will give the tile a shadow but it will be shorter than the wall. Wall will give a longer shadow around some edges of the tile. You can change this for any tile by clicking Tile Properties and editing it. You don't need to worry about any other tile types for this, just the ones I listed above.
5. Now after you've made your basic map, it's time to export this to an image! Under "Tools and More Options," you will find a way to import the map as an image file. This will copy over a few things: Entities you have placed on your map, any background image you set, and shadows. This will not copy over the grid but that's ok! Each tile is 32x32 so with a little math or another image program, you can add in a grid with ease. You have the options for size which are ratios from 1:32 to 1:1, and also you have the options to import what the mini map will look like. I like using both the map and mini map because in some sci-fi campaigns, gives tech users layouts to the map if they're hacking or using an advanced tool.
After this is done, the image will be placed into your CS2D folder!
6. From here it's time to dress up your map! You can use your favorite image editing tool to add items or extras that you didn't get a chance to do in game. Also, you can add a grid if you want using the dimensions 32x32. You can also place the image to your map layer on Roll20 and apply anything you want from Roll20's selection of tiles/map addons. There are lots of stuff you can use in Roll20's art library! Pretty impressed with the selection.
And that should be it! Even though I usually spend a lot more time editing these maps I just wanted to give my players and other people here a chance to see the basics to what I do to build a modern or sci-fi map. You can honestly use this for any type of game you'd like if you're good at making your own tile sets! But at its base you can make a simple modern or sci-fi map with ease!
I want to thank LucasRib over at Unreal Software for giving me permission and developing CS2D! Like I said before, if any of you mods find this against any of the Code of Conduct, please let me know! Have fun guys~
