Mapping Tutorial Tileset Tutorial


Table of Contents


Quick Start

"I hate reading documentation, let's get this over with!"

When you start NWMap, you'll see the main Map Window, and the Palette Window, which shows the available tiles for the current tileset. The available tiles are divided into separate Tabbed pages, representing different Layers in the map. The selected Tab in the Palette Window determines the active Layer in the Map Window.

If the base layer is active, the default Drawing mode is called Blob mode, in which continuous, amorphous shapes can be drawn. To use Blob mode, simply select a terrain type by clicking on it in the Palette. Wherever you click in the map, a blob of terrain will be drawn, and the blobs will automatically connect seamlessly.

If another layer is active, the default Drawing mode is called Normal mode. This is the simplest mode to understand; you simply select a tile from the Palette, and that Tile will be copied to the Map wherever you click. You can rotate the Tile before placing it by Shift-clicking with the left or right mouse button (or by using the < and > keys). You can use Normal mode in the base layer by unchecking the check box to the left of the desired Terrain type.

In upper layers, there is a column of buttons to the left of the available Tiles. Each button activates either a Box Mode or a Snake Mode. In Box Mode, you paint a Rectangular group of tiles by dragging the rectangle to be covered in the Map. The rectangle is automatically filled with Interior, Edge and Corner Tiles with the correct orientations. In Snake Mode, you drag the mouse over a path which is filled with Tiles to make a long, continuous object, like a river, hallway or road.

In addition to mapping, you can also place Doors, add a Text description, or attach NPCs, creatures, items, events and portals. These functions are activated with a right-click popup menu in the Map.

You can Undo any operation at any time by clicking the Undo button.  If you decide you want the operation after all, use the Redo button.  Repeated use of the Undo button will let you return to successively earlier versions of your map.


The Guided Tour: Creating your first map

The best way to learn NWMap is to use it. So, if you haven't already, download and install NWMap, run it, and let's get started!

  1. Mapping Basics
    When you first start NWMap, it opens a new, empty map using the City Tileset. NWMap uses transparent Layering to greatly increase the variety maps you can make with the Tilesets. The Tabs in the Palette Window each contain Tiles for a separate Layer in the map. The base Layer contains Terrain textures (grass, dirt, stone, water, etc.), and the upper layers contain everything that can sit on terrain (rivers, roads, buildings, walls, etc).

     

    In the Palette Window, switch to the Upper layer and select the straight River Tile. Then click in the map, and you'll see the river Tile gets copied to the map there. You can Rotate the Tile by Shift-clicking with the left or right mouse button (or with the </> keys). Rotate the River so it is vertical and place it in the map. You can press the Undo button in the Map Window (or press Ctrl+Z) to revert to a previous map state.

     

    Next, try dragging the mouse along a curved path in the map. You'll see that the River Tiles are copied into each Tile you cross, but that the Tiles don't connect with each other. Now, click on the S-shaped river button on the left side of the Palette Window. You are now in a Snake Mode. Again, drag the Mouse along a curved path in the Map. This time, you get a nice, continuous River:

    Drag Mouse in Normal Mode Drag Mouse in Snake Mode

    Note that you can intersect River segments, and NWMap will join them properly. Try clicking the "road" Snake Mode button, and paint down a road in the map that crosses a River. It's smart enough to place a bridge across the River (but this only works if you cross the straight river tile):

    Now click on the Draw Buildings button in the Palette Window. This is a Box Mode. Define a rectangular area in the Map by dragging the mouse. The rectangle is filled with Interior, Edge and Corner Tiles to make a large building:

    Finally, switch back to the Base Layer by clicking on the "Base" Tab in the Palette Window. Remember, when you switch Tabs, you change the active Layer in the Map. We are now working on the Base Layer, so anything we do won't affect the Rivers, Roads and buildings we put in the upper layer. The Base Layer is currently filled with the default Terrain (grass in this case). Select the Dirt terrain by clicking on a Dirt Tile. Then click anywhere in the Map. You'll see a "blob" of dirt appear in the Map. In fact, this default base layer mode is called Blob Mode. If you click again on a neighboring Tile, you'll see the Blob grows. No matter where you click, edge and corner Tiles will be positioned automatically to make a continuous, amorphous "Blob" of Terrain.

    Note that if you place Terrain in tiles containing Roads, Rivers, or anything from the upper layer, that stuff is left intact, and only the base layer portion of the Tile is changed. If you need to, you can leave Blob Mode and place terrain one Tile at a time by unchecking the box to the left of the desired Terrain type.

  2. Doors

    Next we will add doors to a building. Choose any building Tile in your map, and select the Doors... item from the main window's Popup menu. You will see the Add Doors dialog window, shown here:

    An image of the current tile is shown, and a list of six possible door positions (north, east, south, west, center-horizontal, and center-vertical). Select any of these, and in the text box, you will see the current door type assigned to that position. The possible door types are:

     

    By default, all positions are set to "No door". Choose an appropriate position from the list, and select "Door" from the list. You will see the door painted on the tile. The different door types are color-coded.

     

    You can add normal doors to a tile quickly, by using the numeric keypad:

     

    The NUM keys will toggle between no door and a standard door. In the case of the Center position, the NUM 5 key toggles between no door, a horizontal door, and a vertical door.

  3. Cut/Copy/Paste

    Occasionally, you'll want to copy or move groups of tiles in the map. This is done with the "Selection Mode". Enter Selection Mode using the button along the top of the Map Window with a small arrow on it. Selection mode works similarly to Group Mode, in that you click-and-drag to define rectangular regions of the map. Once defined, you can "cut" or "copy" that region to a virtual clipboard. Later, you can "paste" the region back into the map. These functions are accessed using the standard Windows keystrokes: [Ctrl]+x (cut), [Ctrl]+c (copy), [Ctrl]+v (paste). They can also be accessed by right-clicking in the map to bring up the popup menu, and selecting [Cut Region], [Copy Region], or [Paste Region] as needed. Note that Cut and Copy only work while you are in selection mode and have a region selected. Paste only works if the clipboard has something in it. Using Cut is a good way to remove many tiles from the map at once.

  4. Describing Tiles

    NWMap is more than a simple mapping program. You can also write text descriptions for specific tiles in the map, and you can populate tiles with NPCs, creatures, items, events and portals. Collectively, this information is the tile's description. We'll explore the possibilities by describing a building you have placed in the sample map.

     

    While pointing at one of the building's tiles, right-click to bring up the popup menu, and select the "Describe Tile..." function. This will open the Tile Description Window, shown here:

    Described Tiles are automatically numbered in the order in which you described them, so you should see that this Tile has ID number 1. Later, you can change the numbering order with the "Change" button, but don't worry about that for now. Below the Tile ID number is a blank text box for placing a short name for this tile. Every town needs a good tavern, so let's call this building "The Gnarled Gnome".

    Below the short name box, there are a series of tabs: Description, NPCs, Creatures, Items, Events, and Portals. The rest of the window shows a page of information associated with the currently selected tab. I'll go over each in order.

     

    Once you have described the Gnarled Gnome, and added any and all objects you need to complete the Inn, click "OK" in the Tile Description window to close it. Notice that the tile you described is now tagged by the number "1", indicating that this is the first described tile. If you re-open the description window of a described tile, you will have access to all the information you added before, and you'll be able to change it.

    If you decide you want to move a description to a different tile, you can. The right-click popup menu has three functions: "Cut Description", "Copy Description", and "Paste Description" for copying and/or moving descriptions. The Tile graphics are unaltered; only the description attached to the tile is affected by these functions. (Note: When you Cut/Copy/Paste groups of tiles, the descriptions are moved along with the tile graphics.)

  5. File Input/Output and Printing

    The first four buttons on the Toolbar are for the standard Input/Output functions: New Map, Open Map, Save Map, and Print Map. Each of these functions is also accessible in the File menu.

     

    Try Saving your map. Notice it asks you for a name (title) of the map, and a filename. Also try printing it out! In the print dialog, be sure to select both "Print map Image" and "Print text". Once it's printed, try making a change to the map, and then either try to exit the program, or open a new map. Notice that a dialog opens, warning that your unsaved changes will be lost and asks you if you are sure want to discard them.

This concludes the Guided Tour of NWMap. Read on for more information about functionality not covered by the tour.

Menus and Toolbar Functions:


Jason Harris
nwmap@hotmail.com

July 2001