Curious Lurkings

The New Map in Action

2011-10-13T23:17:00.005-04:00

I have had a few request from fans for in game photos of the Atlantean Throne Room / Rayship map. Check these out below!

And make sure you buy your copy today!

-CL

Free Map: The Wandering Undead

2011-10-13T22:58:00.004-04:00

Happy October! I love October with its warm days, cool nights, falling leaves and horror movies. A friend of mine asked me to quickly rustle up an image paying homage to the promo poster for his favorite zombie television show which begins airing season two this Sunday.

The promo poster really doesn't give you a lot to work with. One side is abandoned cars, the other side is an empty highway. The whole poster is washed in the putrid grey/green color scheme.

This map itself in nearly 100% Dundjinni. The cars and the road textures are straight out of Dundjinni. The grey/green saturation, terrain lines, and grids were done in Paintshop.

Since the map was made by request specifically to mirror the poster, we don't really have much here other than hindering terrain.

Because this was a quick and breezy map, and with everyone's favorite show starting in a day or so, I felt this was the perfect time to make this map available for free download here.

Enjoy!

-CL

NEW MAP FOR SALE!

2011-09-14T19:44:00.006-04:00

Oh that's right! You asked for it. Wait, you demanded it. Another map has been professionally printed and we're all about to get soaking wet!

Break out your blue skinned mermen and regal fish-boys. The Atlantean Throne Room and The Rayship have been printed on a double-sided machine folded map.

There have been a few tweaks since these designs were first previewed. These two maps were playtested and from feedback I have made some minor changes.

On the Atlantean Throne Room, the side room with the weapon's table has been replaced with another water chamber to mirror the opposite side of the map.

On The Rayship, two internal walls have been added to break up the line of fire between the left side of the map and the right side.

The water terrain lines on the finished product came out a bit more purple than blue but you can still definitely tell what's water on these maps.

With two maps available, I had to change the pricing structure so that both maps could be purchased together with multiple quantity options. It basically works out that one to three maps costs the same as it did before.

This map is already in hand and ready to print. So order one today. Don't forget to order a Dark Alley map as well and save on shipping!

Thank you for your support!

-CL

Free Map: Gear Factory!

2011-09-02T22:14:00.000-04:00

Hello!

Over the past few weeks I received numerous requests for amap suitable for futuristic video game properties. Being the obliging sort thatI am, I wanted to quickly create a map for this genre and make it available fordownload for everyone.

Everybody knows I carefully avoid copyright issues. Thatbeing said check out the gears on this factory. I love gears, they make bigmachinery move, and frankly I'd never go to war with gears. They are just thatimportant. Wouldn't you want to have awar with your miniatures on this factory with gears?

I also wanted to design a map with every conceivable terrainfeature: indoor, hindering, water, and elevated so this map gave me that opportunity. One nice feature of this map is that itlines up with itself on any side so you can create huge battles with multiplecopies.

And did I mention those gears??? Check them out below...

So make sure you download a copy of this map and if you oryour gaming group prints and plays on this map, send me the photos and I'llupload them here.

Thanks for reading and check back next week when we find outwhat maps just went to printer!

-CL

Worst Map Ever! - Square Earth

2011-08-27T01:11:00.004-04:00

Well, we're about 20 hours away from Hurricane Irene hitting Pennsylvania and my hometown goes under a state of emergency in 18 hours. Normal folks are on a milk, bread and battery spree. I, on the other hand, spent my night finishing the worst map ever!

With a new expansion due out in a few weeks for big blue, I wanted to pay homage to one of my favorite Silver Age concepts, a cube-shaped earth. Here on Square Earth everything is backwards.

The inherent problem of designing maps on a square grid system is that the grid forces your art into a restrictive 90 degree left-right mindset. You tend to start lining up everything on right angles and parallels. This map was so fun to design because every element forced me to get out of that 90 degree mindset. Of course the terrain coding brings it back from being too non-linear.

It was a fun to represent the three visible sides of the square earth as well and the following rotated images will help you see each respective side, right-side-up.

The map had three levels of elevation. Elevation 1 is the sides of the buildings on the left of the earth cube. Elevation 2 is the ground level on the topside of the earth cube and Elevation 3 is the tops of the buildings on the topside of the earth cube.

The special terrain will have the following rules. "Special Terrain is considered adjacent to any elevation level it borders. All successful attack rolls to a target occupying Special Terrain cause knockback. " The logic behind this is that space should be void of elevation and I like the idea of permanent knockback representing the lack of gravity.

As always, thank you for reading and stay tuned to this site as we have a huge announcement coming up!

Stay safe!

-CL

Map Preview: The Evil Scientist's Lair

2011-08-08T23:44:00.002-04:00

Comic Bookdom has no drought of awesome evil super geniuses and they always get equally awesome super lairs. Laser trips, poison gas traps, buzz saws, crocodile pits: there are multiple ways to pick your doom in one of their hideouts. With the Superman expansion around the corner, I wanted to pay homage to all those great mad labs we've read about in old pulp comics and watched in James Bond movies.

I wanted to create a map where each side could pick which corridor they took to reach their opponent and each of the corridors had its own specific drawbacks.

With this map our heroes have three options to choose from: the flamethrower hall, the buzz saw hall and the shark pit hall.

The buzz saw hall lacks any hindering or water terrain; there are no obstructions to movement. But the hall is only one square wide and the blocking maze cuts off any chance of long-ranged combat. You take this path and you can get thru at full speed but you need to be wary of what bruisers your opponent could send your way.

The shark pit hall is very open for ranged combat however without any fliers, it will take a few rounds to get from one side of this hall to the other.

The same idea applies to the flamethrower hall. It will take some time to traverse the hall, and you'll get a slight defense bonus but your opponent will also benefit.

The evil scientist's lair also sports the ubiquitous death ray, lab gorilla, nuclear bomb and defunct robot that you'd expect from your standard issue evil lair. All in all, I can't wait to print this guy and give it a try. I've already got one being sent to me from PosterBrain.com.

Also I'm putting the final touches on the next professionally printed map for sale, so keep checking the website.

Thanks for reading!

Work in Progress - Exploding Planet (Part II)

2011-07-27T00:06:00.002-04:00

Here's a quick update with terrain lines.

Check out this thread for a discussion on scenario rules.... Link!!!

Work in Progress - Exploding Planet

2011-07-25T23:15:00.003-04:00

Had some free time to kill and hanging out at Clixathon with the Maryland crew got me in the mapping mood. Normally I plot out the map first on paper and plan where the terrain features will land.

With Superman around the bed, I wanted to paint this image in my head. Not too sold on the rocket... I could take it or leave it.

Wondering about the center planet... blocking??? Who knows. Kind of bland play wise. But its the first time I painted something purely for imagery and then plopped a grid on afterward.

Looking for terrain marker suggestions! I'll probably make this available for everyone once it's finished so make sure you comment!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned as there will be a huge announcement in the next few weeks.

Free Map - The Video Pyramid

2011-04-17T16:26:00.007-04:00

Phew... it's been a long time since I have previewed something new. Have no fear, I have a lot of stuff in the pipeline to start showing you. To start off a new round of maps for the site, I thought I'd go and release a new free map for download.

The Video Maze I posted last year was a big hit and I wanted to revisit that particular genre. The new elevation rules in the 2011 rulebook opened up another favorite classic video game for me. By adding multiple elevations, I now could map everyone's favorite 80's pyramid game.

The original game itself showed the pyramid on an angle. This couldn't easily be translated into a square grid map that was at even angles. The solution was to create two game pyramids and butt them up against each other. So while this map isn't as faithful to its source as the Video Maze was, it really pays homage to the original game.

The new elevation rules also removed the necessity of needing stairs or ladders to represent the area where you could change elevations. This is for me as a mapmaker the best part of the 2011 rules update as it opens up creatively what you can design.

When you first see all these elevation triangles your immediate response should be "@!#?@!" In the original game our hero could jump from any platform to the next elevated platform. To keep that spirit alive, I decided that each square was a point where a character could change elevations. This did create a herculean job of placing all those triangles but I think staying faithful to the source was worth the trouble.

One other neat feature of the original video game was the floating platform you could jump onto to immediately and safely take yourself to the top of the pyramid. This mechanic had to be incorporated into my map. So for this map, the following special rule applies.

When a character is given a movement action, squares inside the border of an orange line are considered adjacent to Elevation Level 8 squares for movement purposes only.

You can download the map here, and if you anyone gets this map printed please email me the pictures and I'll showcase them here.

See you in a few days and thanks for reading!

Beware the Ides of... well all of March.

2011-03-30T23:19:00.004-04:00

Oof, 2011 is of to a rocky start. It's been dullsville here at Curious Lurkings. The winter has brought what seems to be an endless parade of illness for my family. Fear not, locked away in my home in Pennsylvania I have a lot of goodies lined up to unveil which will include a few new downloadable maps. I'll also be adding a new section to the blog to showcase a few maps that members of the Heroclix community have commissioned. In the meantime, Hair10 over at HCRealms sent me these pictures of one of my maps in action and I thought I would share them with you. He's blocked something out of the map though; as he stated "Sorry about the blacked out area in each pic. I promised I wouldn't spread what's behind it around. ;)"

If you have shots of my maps in action, send them my way and I'll post them! And keep checking back for more updates.

Kind regards,

An Interesting Graph

2011-02-06T17:38:00.003-05:00

Me... I'm a numbers junkie. I like seeing every fact and figure plotted out and regurgitated. And when given the chance, I'm using a pie chart.

In case you haven't heard, I'm selling copies of my first mass produced custom map. One side features my "Dark Alley" map and the other features the Nightclub. The map first went on sale back in November and we're rounding the corner of it being available for nearly three months.

I wanted to take a peek at where the sales have been coming from, so I generated this quick graphic. This represents the maps I sold thru this website and does not reflect any maps that were purchased straight from me at my venue in Delaware. Couple of things jumped out at me.

First off, my home state of Pennsylvania. You guys are rocking in the lead with the most maps purchased.
Maryland and my Clix for the Cure buddies are coming in strong in second place!
New York & New Jersey, beyond being fairly populated, are strangely missing from my sales ledger. What do I need to do to win you fine folks over?
All of New England... where are you my friends?
Tennessee and Missouri, you guys rock as well!

What's next after this map? I've got the next map primed and ready for the printers. We just need right around 100 more copies of the Dark Alley map sold and I'll have the next one printed .

Thank you all for your support!

-CL

Map 19 of 26: Atlantean Throne Room

2011-01-17T17:12:00.003-05:00

If your Atlantis has risen for more than four hours... consult a doctor.

I couldn't resist that joke. I told myself not to post it, but I did anyway.

You're probably shocked. I know I am. After months of whoring out my awesome Dark Alley map (which is still available... buy it!), I'm back to displaying maps of my favorite public domain locations. That's right, nobody owns the concept of "Atlantis". Take that, lawyers! Ha!

Everybody knows one thing about Atlanteans. They like the color blue. They can't get enough of it. Blue buildings, blue roads, blue pavement, blue thrones, blue shields. And when their water changes from blue to sewagey brown/green or oily black, they get super miffed and go after us surface dwellers. You know, I've never seen a story where Atlanteans dump their waste on our lands and we invade their territory. Geoff Johns, if you're reading this, make that story happen.

I've been told I don't have "the right shade of blue" and this map was inspired by that comment. I actually did play around with the RGB on the blue water terrain lines for awhile on this. I wanted a blue that could stand out from the other side of the map and didn't blend in with the actual water terrain.

Most of my maps show a transition from one location to another. This map is no exception to this. It's tough to depict an underwater city top down without showing some underwater parts. This leads to an interest dilemma. What mechanic do you use to simulate the line between domed city and underwater space? For me the answer was simple, ignore it. You can see here that water terrain leads right into clear terrain. Yes. there is a purple energy to stylize the force field or dome protecting the city but there isn't an associated mechanic attached to it.

Lastly, I threw a prehistoric beastie under the water. Originally I had planned to put a small personal sub in the starting area however the inclusion of something that hi-tech really threw off the feel of the map. The addition of the plesiosaur is an homage to my first map. This seemed fitting as last February I embarked on a personal challenge to produce 26 maps in 52 weeks. The first map completed had dinosaurs and if you count the 3 full sized map pieces of the giant Airship I made for the Maryland Clix for the Cure as three maps, then this map is #26.

Circles in circles.

Well, thanks for reading and thank you for your continued support and interest as we approach year two here at Curious Lurkings.

-CL

Happy New Year: Ball Dropping Danger! Free Map!

2010-12-24T13:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I may be late with a free Christmas map, but I'm barely early with a New Year's Eve map!

Again I want to thank you for a great 2010. This blog and my maps, would not be what they are without all of you supporting me. Thank you so much for a great 2010!

And here's to all of us that we have a flawless 2011. I'm still a few Dark Alley map sales away from hitting the numbers I need to produce a second map. But if we reach that goal, I've got a few big surprises for everyone for 2011.

I've always wanted to experience New Year's Eve at Times Square. And since I can't convince myself to endure that level of madness... I felt mapping it would be the next best thing!

For you New Yorkers, hopefully this map adequate captures the feel of Time Square. I'm in New York for business often enough that I was OK with watering down One Times Square to its bare essence. Ok New Yorkers, I know that Broadway comes in on an angle and isn't at a perfect 90 degree, but square grid maps lead themselves to right angles.

I also cut out the Police Station and the Recruiting Center. I have nothing against either structure, I just couldn't get them into the map without losing the side elements I wanted.

Those of you that remember my Martian Clockwork map know that I'm a fan of balls and this map has both a Dick and a Ball! That's right! That's our old, old, old pal Dick Clark on the side of that building. And that's a 12 foot diameter ball! Look out Dr. Manhattan.

Also, unlike the North Pole, this map contains very little hindering terrain. So look out Clown Prince of Crime, odds say that the Caped Crusader is in that mailbox!

If you want to rock your battles on this Rocking New Year's Eve Map, you can find it here.

Happy New Year! I'll see you in 2011.

-CL

Merry Christmas: North Pole Nightmare Free Map!

2010-12-24T13:24:00.003-05:00

Yo Ho Ho! or just Ho Ho Ho!

It's Christmas and who doesn't like free gifts!?! This has been a wild 2010 for me. I started this personal challenge to design 26 maps in 52 weeks. With your encouragement and your kind words, this has blossomed from what was really just a pipe dream to my mass producing one of my maps for the public. Last February, I had no idea that my work would be so appreciated. Thank you!

Way back on December 10th, I previewed this map over at HCRealms. I was hoping to finish it two weeks ago, but with barely a few hours left before Christmas, it's done and ready to download.

I actually started this map a few years back and it was originally intended for Horrorclix and was riddled with dead elves, dead reindeer and a dead Santa. In the end I decided to clean this one up a bit and use it for more friendly battles.

Santa's workshop is a Stealth player's heaven. There are tons of workbook benches, ornaments and trees to hide in. Looks like Batman has been a good boy this year.

While vectoring the green lines around all those tables, I started thinking about Snow as a game element. One would expect Arctic snow to be deep and hence able to be submerged in. And it's made out of water... so with that I thought, "Eureka! Snow is water terrain!" Merry Christmas, Aquaman! All that snow becoming water terrain lead to some unique and intricate map areas. You need to really watch and plan out exactly where you're stepping and where you want to go.

I hope you like it and you can download this map here.

Thank you again for reading and Merry Christmas!

-CL

3 New Tabs at the Top of the Page!

2010-11-29T23:02:00.002-05:00

We're getting fancy over here at Curious Lurkings!

Three new tabs have been added at the top of the page!

Home: Here you'll find all my inane ramblings and previews of my mapping projects!

Maps Available for Purchase: Here you can get info on how to buy my maps. Currently we've got a double-side map available with the Dark Alley on one side and the Nightclub on the other. Prices include shipping and International Ordering is available.

Free Maps for Download: Here you'll be able to occasionally get info on how to download special free maps. These maps will be only available for a limited time and new maps will be made available periodically.

As always, thank you for your support!

Free Map: The Video Maze

2010-11-29T22:53:00.003-05:00

Well, it has been a wild November. My first mass-printed maps were ordered and delivered and I've started selling these maps online. This has been an interesting and intense month. From hyper-analyzing each printed copy I've mailed out to learning the in's and out's of Paypal, every day has been busy.

I want to get back to where this journey began... designing maps. I've got a few beauties in the pipeline and I think everyone will be please for what's in store for December and January. Occasionally, I want to have a few maps available free for download. These maps will tend to be either a bit more simplistic than my normal maps and the maps that I will eventually make available for sale.

The Video Maze may be texture light but it's far from simplistic. Since I got in to miniature gaming I've wanted to see a playing field like this one with lots of turns and blocked lines of fire.

Of course, I can't take credit for the genius who initially designed this board but hopefully I've packed enough classic imagery to satisfy the inner geek in all my followers. And yup, more orange lines, however this time I can't imagine that there isn't someone who can't figure out how to house rule that one.

Click here to download!

Thanks for looking and if you haven't purchased my Dark Alley / Nightclub map... well what are you waiting for!!!

-CL

Maps now available for sale!

2010-11-15T21:51:00.005-05:00

That's right! After hundreds of your emails and private messages goading me into mass printing maps, I am officially selling one of my maps. Well... actually two. Now available is the Dark Alley and The Nightclub printed as one double-sided map.

These will start to ship out on Thursday and the price will be $15.00 USD for one shipped in the US and as a break to all those judges trying to stock up for their venues you can get three copies for $35.00 USD. Right now these are just available in the United States however in a week or so, I'll have pricing up for international customers.

If you want to see these maps up close, check here and here.

The Dark Alley

The Nightclub

And guys, I'm not sure this will be a regular thing. I have no real plans to start a business out of this. As my blog followers are aware, this has always been a personal challenge to design twenty six maps in one year. This time last year I would have never thought my dining room would be filled with copies of my work. Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the past nine months!

What are you waiting for??? Get buying!

Clix for a Cure: Leaving Pennsylvania for Maryland in 11 hours.

2010-11-06T22:20:00.004-04:00

Well I've got the big caravan rented to haul everyone down. I pick that up in the morning. We've got snacks and beverages for the trip... and well the map, its got that new carrier smell.

I thought some real life shots were in order.

It's tough getting a six foot by three foot map in one photo!

Modok!
This looks like a job for Gorilla Man!

Thanks for looking and check back frequently!

Clix for the Cure Maps: Terrain Lines Added

2010-11-02T21:51:00.005-04:00

I thought so more images of the map was in order. Here we can see what all three maps look like lined up and what just using the top and bottom sections get you!

Just using two sections
Using all three sections...

Clix for a Cure Maps: Up Close!

2010-11-02T01:01:00.006-04:00

Evening folks!

I thought I'd post some close-up images of some of the details from the Clix for the Cure Maryland map. I hope you enjoy.

Call Mom!

Very Interesting!

Warning: Objects in Mirror appear closer than expected.

Is that Pacman???

Happy Halloween: The Occult House

2010-10-31T21:41:00.003-04:00

Yo ho ho and Happy Halloween. Let me just get this right out of the way now. I have the worst stomach ache from eating Paydays and Dots and Pumpkin Cupcakes with cream cheese icing.
Doubled-over from the sugar pains and I decided to squeak this map in between bouts of nausea and the start of The Walking Dead on AMC.

The three biggest requests I see weekly are for maps of Hell, Horrorclix maps, and free downloadable maps. Two of those three requests come often from ProfessorShenanigans over at HCRealms. However, I'm not sure if he plays Horrorclix.

With Halloween in the air and the weight of the Horrorclix community coming down on me, I feel it's time to give them a properly scary map. The type of map that makes you want to start going to church on the weekend. And with that I give you... The Occult House.

Is it a haunted house? Is it a gateway to Hell? You can decide that for yourselves.

Now I haven't played Horrorclix since the game came out. I kept buying figures, just never got the time to play. So Horrorclix fans, chime in and tell me where to put the victim blood stains and I will do so over the next week.

Personally, I'm a big fan of special terrain. There is no way the vast tapestry of every location imaginable can be pigeonholed into either blocking or hindering terrain. So I am going to use the orange line at any given chance. I'm not going to come up with the rulings. That's for you to decide. In the end, you can just rule the orange line is hindering or you can come up with your own scenario rules.

Yup, and this map... it's free to download. Let me know if the google document feature doesn't work. This is the first time I'm using it.

You can get the Heroclix version of the map here at:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B8a_xUHzVDadOGZiYmY3YTYtMTAwMC00OTBmLTg2ZTktZTYzMWU4Mjc3Yjcy&hl=en&authkey=CIqEt80P
Heck, if you print and play this, and don't mind taking a picture, send it to me and I'll post it here!

Also, next post, I'll be showing you the finalized Clix for the Cure Map. And later this week we'll talk about my first map pack which will be available for sale in November.

Happy Hauntings!

Maryland Clix for the Cure Map

2010-10-21T20:02:00.004-04:00

Yo ho ho!

I'm very happy and honored to be able to donate a few custom maps for the Savage, Maryland Clix for the Cure event.

I wanted to do something special for the event and so in chatting with tom730 from HCRealms we were able to work out my doing an exclusive map just for Clix for the Cure.

Well in typical lurker madness what started out as one map quickly spiraled into three maps. I'm not sure if tom730 plans to use these as prize support or auction. I still have some touch-ups to make and I need to add the terrain lines in.

Also if anyone wants to chime in custom rules for the open sky area, feel free to comment!

So I hope you enjoy seeing these maps and I hope to see you at The Family Game Store on November 7th.

Status Check...

2010-10-19T23:30:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to mention a few sundry items.

Just got the sample posters from the printer yesterday. I'm comparing paper weight and folding methods. But I'm damn near close to having the first run of maps printed.

The next map in the 26 Map project will be delayed a few weeks. I've been working on a super-secret project for the past two weeks that is consuming my time. Hopefully I'll be able to post full images of the sheer madness of the task I'm working on in the next few days. I'm just waiting for someone to give me the go ahead to release the images.

However, while I wait... a tiny teaser wouldn't hurt if we keep it between friends! Keep your eye peeled folks over the next few days.

Thanks for reading!

Printing Time!!!

2010-10-11T15:00:00.004-04:00

Yo ho ho!

First off! I want to thank everyone who has posted about my customs maps either here, at HCRealms, or sent me a private email. I'm overwhelmed by the support.

My customs map project started as a personal endeavor but is quickly growing beyond that. Since May of 2010 my blog was has received thousands of hits. Blogger allows me to see a wealth of statistics or who is viewing my site and how they are viewing it. I chuckle when I see people have accessed my site from half way round the world or used their Wii to browse my maps. It's all surreal.

Now that I'm receiving daily emails from folks wanting to buy my maps, I'm researching doing a limited double sided print of two of maps. However this a pricey venture I'm considering so I'd like to know who's interested in getting these maps and which maps most interest the community. I have a printer nearly locked (the first two I tried lacked the quality control I was looking for) and I'm hoping to have the first run printed around Thanksgiving.

So add your opinion below or vote at HCRealms if you're a member!
http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=291135

So tell your friends, please vote and, as always, thanks for reading!

Below you'll find a list of potential printing candidates!:

Map 1: The Lost Jungle
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/02/map-1-of-26-lost-jungle.html

Map 2: WWII Invasion
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/02/map-2-of-26-wwii-invasion.html

Map3: Blue Atoll
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/03/map-3-of-26-blue-atoll.html

Map 5: Warrior Island
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/04/map-4-of-26-warrior-island.html

Map 6: Mission Abort
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/04/map-6-of-26-mission-abort.html

Map 7: The Mystic Tower
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/06/map-7-of-26-mystic-tower.html

Map 8: Mighty Pants
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/07/map-8-of-26-mighty-pants.html

Map 9: Deadly Cargo
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/07/map-9-of-26-deadly-cargo.html

Map 10: The Dark Alley
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/07/map-10-of-26-dark-alley.html

Map 11: Asgard!
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/08/map-11-of-26-asgard.html

Map 12: The Resurrection Pool
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/08/map-12-of-26-resurrection-pool.html

Map 13: The Nightclub
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/08/map-13-of-26-nightclub.html

Map 14: The Chemical Plant
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/08/map-14-of-26-chemical-plant.html

Map 15: Doomtown
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/09/map-15-of-26-doomtown.html

Map 16: Paradise City
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/09/map-16-of-26-paradise-city.html

Map 17: Pizza Loving, Martial Artist Sewer
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/09/map-17-of-26-cl017-pizza-loving-martial.html

Map 18: The Ray Ship
http://curiouslurkings.blogspot.com/2010/10/map-18-of-26-ray-ship.html

Map 18 of 26: The Ray Ship

2010-10-10T12:11:00.003-04:00

Phew... Still on schedule!

Sure, every hero gets a map. Everybody is rushing to do an Arctic fortress, gadgety cave or chartreuse planetary defense post. Heck, even the villainous clown gets a factory map here and there. But can the coolest underwater mutha, get a map? For eight years the answer has been no.

Until today.

That's right the legions of evil get a cool new submersible ride. This aint no seahorse.

This map had me up for days. Most miniature game mechanics lack a fluid way to show the transition from underwater openness to inside an underwater layer. I bounced around a lot of ideas with my fellow gaming friends and in the end I decided to ignore the minutia and went with the broad stroke method of just simplifying the map down to Water and Indoor terrain.

The starting areas I felt also needed to be tweaked. The standard left side meets right side method of mapping I felt didn't work in the visual space I had to work with. The nice thing about not being fettered with corporate ties means that I don't need to worry about the metagame. I liked the idea of the heroes being able to pick and choose from what side they could mount the offensive against the defensive position of the ship's crew.

Anyway, I'm off to finish that mancave I showed you last week.

Thanks for reading!

Work in Progress: Plain Manor with Mancave (Part 2)

2010-10-04T22:43:00.003-04:00

Here is a quick draft of how the terrain markers would look if we went with the first 12 columns being elevated.

For the sake of disclosure, this is a quick, sloppy, inexact marking. The true grid would be much thinner and more precise. I just wanted to slosh some color on the reduced blog image for a reference.

Work in Progress: Plain Manor with Mancave

2010-10-03T20:15:00.004-04:00

I mentioned in a previous post that there are a few iconic locales every map maker needs to take a swing at and this is one of them.

Most of the custom maps I see attempt to only map the cave. This, I feel, is disrespectful to the thousands of faithful butlers out there that defend their employer with great zeal. I also am a fan of showing transition in a map so I wanted to show outside the manor, the manor, and into the cave.

Traditionally the cave is lower than the house, this is an interesting dilemma as that would force the manor and outside the manor into being elevated terrain. Technically the first 12 columns (all of the grass and manor interior) should be surrounded by a red line. Then the 6 manor columns and the 12 cave columns should have a yellow line.

I could end the dilemma by removing the two sets of stairs into the cave on the top and bottom of the map, but I feel the stairs are visually necessary. We all have that image of a certain butler carrying down a tray of vittles to his master.

Anyway this map is easily 10 man hours away from completion. The bathroom needs to be fleshed out and I need to paint in wall shadows, clean up some viscous transitions and add terrain lines. So I wanted to let everyone see the work -in-progress and give me a shout out as to whether I should bag the steps and lose the elevated terrain dilemma or keep them and roll with the big 12 columns of elevated terrain.

Post your thoughts here or on HCRealms at http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=290394

Thanks for reading.

Map 17 of 26: Pizza-Loving, Martial Artist Sewer

2010-09-20T22:53:00.003-04:00

The goal is twenty six maps in fifty weeks. To be on schedule, Map 17, this map, needed to be posted by September 24th. I'm doing a happy dance as for the first time in months, I'm on schedule.

What can I say... this map was begging to be made. Everybody wants a certain select four reptilian ninjas. The "Man" has the license already. I have the cash in my wallet to give to the "Man" for them. Is the "Man" man enough to step up to the plate and take my money?

Sure, some of you are on the wheaty side and want comic based clix while the others are on the frosted side and want cartoon based clix. You can say I'm not being a purist with this map, but come on people, they're just pillows.

Heck, I just realized I was making a shredded wheat analogy up there and the major villain of these guys is called... hey now, that's crazy and completely unplanned.

Me personally, I'm an Italian guy and I'm playing into a stereotype, but I like pizza. The map needed it.

All in all, a fun map to make and I can't wait to play on it.

Thank you for reading and the next map I post will pay homage to my favorite villain.

Map 16 of 26: Paradise City

2010-09-13T20:41:00.003-04:00

I will apologize in advance for the cornball Guns N Roses joke that is about to happen. Last Monday I posted the toughest working environment in the cosmos to commemorate Labor Day. This week I take you up to Paradise City where the grass is green and the gaming is pretty.

Yeah, I couldn't resist that.

It's tough to visually represent a floating city without showing the ground below. Top down maps utilizing a square grid system have some inherent issues with a lot of locations I want to represent. Those typical bubble cities, like Atlantis or Gorilla City are difficult to pull off. Get to close to the city interior and you don't get to see the city boundaries which is where the magic happens. The same thing applies to your floating cities. Without seeing the transition from air to ground, you just can't tell its above the earth.

This leads to game mechanic issues. How do you represent an area where clearly no non-flier can exist? I've opted for the easy way out with the poor man's fix... the orange terrain line.

In the last post I mentioned my hatred of blocking terrain and yet here I'm showcasing it. The five sculptural monuments are blocking terrain. I jumped between the idea of either making them hindering or blocking but in the end like the tight spaces they create.

This map has a lot of different terrain elements crammed in a very tight space. I can't wait to print this bad bear and try it out. In the meantime, send me your thoughts on what the special rulings should be for the orange area.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you guys again in the next few days.

Map 15 of 26: Doomtown

2010-09-06T23:21:00.004-04:00

Oh no, not Latveria. We have a passable Latveria map already.

One of my biggest pet peeves is that lack of non-terrestrial maps the Wizkids has put out. Comic Books have spanned the galaxy and stretched from the beginning of creation to the end of time. Yet somehow a lot of the maps produced these days tend to follow the town, park, office, rinse and repeat pattern. I've even annoyed myself with my own generic town maps.

I started reading comics in the 70's and as a kid I was always blown away by Jack Kirby's artwork. You cannot pick up one of his books and not immediately recognize his particular style. This map has been on the burners for a while. And seeing how today is Labor Day, I felt it was time to finally finish the map the signifies probably the worst place in the galaxy to work.

This map has gone thru a few developmental stages over the years. However what kept me from releasing this image was that I was never comfortable with the realism one can get on a map and how that realism blended with some natural Kirby-esque imagery I wanted to use. So today I hunkered down and practiced my Kirby dots.

As I flip thru those old comic books, I love how Kirby would dot up everything and add these bizarre geometric lines and circles. Hopefully I've captured that feel here. As far as the rules go from the fire pits, I was torn. I hate blocking terrain as I have never been a fan of any feature stopping Superman or Thor. So I decided to mark them as Special. As the player, you can determine if they're blocking, have special rules or, heck, maybe they're just hindering.

I was particularly happy with the slave wheels as well as they were cobbled together from numerous sources including an item from the original Dundjinni set.

And this is a map that lines up nicely with itself! Here you can see nine of them put together in three rows of three.

Next map will be around the corner in a few days. We saw Doom town, so next I'll be showing off Paradise City. After that, the next map may be having you say, "Kowabunga, dude!".

As always. Thanks for reading.

Map 14 of 26: The Chemical Plant

2010-08-29T14:11:00.001-04:00

Though 14 maps have been finalized, over the years I have popped out dozens that I experimented on or toyed with. There are some locations which just about every mapmaker just has to produce as though the creation of that map is a rite of passage. Two of those locations are a certain vigilante's cave and a nice chemical plant for the creation of his main villain.

Yesterday, at Baltimore Comic-Con I had the privilege to meet Jerry Robinson. He signed a copy of the Batman Archives Vol. 1 for me and as a comic book collector and a lover of DC's prodigal Archive series, this was a great moment and one that I will cherish. So having met the Joker's creator, I felt the need to dust off and clean up a Chemical Plant map I started back around 2005.

Oddly, you'll notice that the elevated catwalk has access steps and ladders on only one side. I like the idea of the map being the third player and forcing its own will upon the game. Here we a place where grounded characters fear to travel hoping they won't be knocked back into an area they can't escape.

You'll notice more orange terrain from me again. I like house ruling an area to have special rules and not forcing feeding my rules onto a player. With these elevated chemical vats, you could just rule them as Water terrain or you could rule them as blocking or you could do what I plan to do and rule that these squares are poisonous and anyone starting in them takes Poison damage.

With that, I'm off to tinker with the next map.

As always, thank you for reading.

Map 13 of 26: The Nightclub

2010-08-23T19:52:00.006-04:00

Oh heck yeah, I've hit the half way point. I'm about 2 maps behind but I feel I can hit my personal goal. With Map 13, we're back to beautiful, unsymmetrical, biased maps.

Let's face it... most of us are not kids playing these expensive miniature games. Sure the companies say they are marketing to children, but most players I meet are pushing 30, balding, and single. So we need a man's map and nothing says "manly" more than a Nightclub with dancing girls and poles and couch rooms.

Like the Dark Alley map, I wanted this map to appear as though it's night time. I wanted to invoke the image of Kingpin or Black Mask sitting at a table when Batman or Daredevil came crashing into the bar.

It was a bit of an artistic liberty to put the dancing girl on the map, but I felt the map wouldn't look right without her. None of the gaming companies print bystanders on their maps so I felt this was a unique leap.

I toyed with the idea of not making the bar hindering terrain, but in the end I knew this map would see a ton of play from my Batman Ally team and I wanted to maximize the amount of hindering terrain.

I also wanted to make the couch rooms and bathroom fairly disgusting and I think I have succeeded. My girlfriend was personally grossed out by the stain on the couch. That's a sign of success in my book.

As always, let me know what you think. Hopefully I'll have another map up next week.

Thank you for reading!

Map 12 of 26: The Resurrection Pool

2010-08-22T23:56:00.002-04:00

If I was on schedule for completing 26 maps in 52 weeks , then this Wednesday I would be posting Map 15. Well here's Map 12 and 13 should be up in a day or two. Map 14 has a lot of touch up work to finish, and Map 15 is about half done. Anything beyond that is still on graph paper and in the planning stages (except for the 3 part Helicarrier map.)

Brave & the Bold gave us loads of League figures and I felt Ra's deserved a map of his own. I wanted to push the Anubis theme that was so prevalent in the 90's Animated Series. I love the whole look of that show. I also wanted to do a map with a strong Egyptian influence and this was the perfect time to bring that into play.

I also wanted to create a perfectly symmetrical map, where no one side had an advantage over the other. While symmetry is important in tournament play. I personally find it boring to play on continuously. I like a map that forces you into making compromises.

One difficult was trying to come up with a grid color that showed up against the floor tiles I wanted to use without the grid becoming too radioactive. The blue/gray lines hopefully will print well, but this may be a work in progress.

The past few maps have also had special terrain areas. I toyed with the idea that the green pool waters would be Water terrain however I felt the pool deserved its own rules. Feel free to send me suggestions. I'll post them here. I'm leaning towards something hideously broken, like characters on their starting click take D6 damage when starting their turn in the pool while characters not on their starting click heal D6-2 when starting their turn in the pool.

I'll have the next map up in a day or two and put the kids to bed before you check here again. The next map goes NC-17.

Thanks for reading!

First shots of the printed maps! (continued)

2010-08-19T22:35:00.001-04:00

First shots of the printed maps!

2010-08-19T22:21:00.004-04:00

I was able to get two maps printed: The Dark Alley and Deadly Cargo. They look great. I'm happy with the visual results. If I ever mass print these, I may add a black border around the perimeter of the map. The Deadly Cargo map, I may need to rework back to square one. Visually the map is impressive. However game play wise, the two symmetrical openings to the ship means that most of the games played on it would have very little chance to roam out of the middle of the map. Oddly I'm no great photographer and I couldn't take a decent photo of either map. Either the camera flash was so bright it made the clix look radioactive and toned down the maps colors or it was too dark and the map wasn't visible. On the Dark Alley photos, the elevated terrain lines look orange but in reality are quite red. Anyway, here are some low quality shots for you to enjoy.

Map 11 of 26: Asgard!

2010-08-09T23:23:00.003-04:00

Man, its August already!?! I need to start ramping up the design production or 26 maps by February 2011 will not be happening. This week, its Asgard time! Good old-fashioned, public-domain Asgard.

Recently one of my loyal supporters posted this comment about my maps...

"A lot of your other maps are very original but sometimes one starting area has a major advantage over the other (WWII, Amazon Island). I'm sure you planned it that way but I wouldn't want those nearly as bad as the two I mentioned."

The beauty of not working by assignment and having complete creative control means that I can create completely unbalanced maps and not need to worry about the promotion of the meta-game. Playing on painfully symmetrical maps becomes tedious for me. I've always felt Heroclix sacrificed scenario play in order to foster a tournament environment.

In a classic defend-the-keep scenario the defenders should have an advantage. When playing around with an Asgard map, the initial designs changed a few times. The first design had less open space and a tree-lined shore for hindering terrain. But that design bothered me. Why would the Asgardians give any quarter to the enemy on their shores? And quickly with that thought I eliminated any hints of hindering terrain.

Don't get me wrong, I love the official Hammer of Thor map. It's water heavy with a neat special rules twist. Variety is the spice of life. However, I yearned for that classic Asgard of my youth.

In the next few days, I'll be the biggest hypocrite and give you one of those boring symmetrical maps I was just lamenting.

Until then, thanks for checking out my site.

Printing Time...

2010-07-18T23:13:00.002-04:00

Over the past months, I have recieved scores of private messages and emails from fans asking to buy my maps. I wanted to announce that I am very close to working out a deal with a local printer to print atleast two of these maps in a small run of a few hundred. Once I have maps 11 and 12 finished and posted on this blog, I will be adding a poll where everyone will be able to vote on which two maps will be printed. Currently I am hoping that when everything is said and done I can price these at around $20 for two maps.

I'll have more details in the next few weeks. In the meantime, feel free to give a shout out either here or on HCRealms to lobby for your favorite map (except for the Martian Balls April Fool's map which for the good of humanity will never be printed.)

Next map... we get mythical.

Map 10 of 26: The Dark Alley

2010-07-18T22:56:00.004-04:00

Yup, I'm not on pace to hit 26 maps in 52 weeks. With tonight's submission, I'm about 2 maps behind where I should be. So while my goal is definitely farther away than it should be, it's not out of sight.

One of the playing fields I've wanted to see for a long time is your typical grungy and dark alley. All the good urban heroes tend to bust criminal tail in this environment. You can easily imagine Daredevil, Batman, Spawn or the Green Hornet chasing down some goons on this map.

With only 16 x 24 squares to work with, it's difficult to provide adequate spacing for all the urban nooks and crannies you want to depict. The unique thing about this map is that line of fire from elevated terrain to elevated terrain is unblocked by obstacles, but there isn't a lot of opportunity for unobstructed line of fire from grounded to grounded level.

The other thing I wanted to do was a bit of seediness to this map, so I figured a small adult entertainment center was in order.

The last unusual feature is the placement of the starting zones. I would have liked to drape the starting areas across the top and bottom of this map but the intersections between clear terrain, elevated terrain, and starting areas was difficult to depict.

Oh and one other thing, this map does line up from side to side.

Map 9 of 26: Deadly Cargo

2010-07-08T22:59:00.002-04:00

Two maps in one evening!?! What the heck is happening?

So there has been some back log in my mapping. I've got maybe 30 half-started maps in the works. A lot of times I see map requests and I've already got some of the framework started.
A few days ago XFORCE1982 over at HCRealms posted that he was looking for a spaceship map with some alien eggs. I knew I had downloaded some eggs previously from the Dundjinni forums, so I thought this would be one I could knock out of the park.

Dundjinni is great for a lot of things, but seamless tiling is not one of them. Once I exported this as a bitmap out of Dundjinni and into Corel Paint Shop Pro there were hundreds of off kilter lines that had warp outside their respective grid. It took a few nights of work to get this looking tolerable.

Another big dilemma was how to transition the hatches from interior ship to open outer space. I think the way I handled this works and the more transparent lines at the entrances make sense.

So XFORCE1982, I hope this works and maybe if we're lucky XFORCE1982 will take a few pictures of the map in action for the blog!

I'll see you again in a few days!

Map 8 of 26: Mighty Pants

2010-07-08T22:22:00.007-04:00

So I play a lot of games and these games force me into acquiring a lot of stuff. Scientific notation would need to be used to count the point cost of all my painted and unpainted Warhammer 40K figures. I'm currently painting both a 28mm Carthaginian army and a 28mm WWI German army. I have shelves of old D&D, Marvel Saga, & West End Star Wars rules. There are binders full of Overpower and the decipher Star Trek CCG.

And then there are shelves of Heroclix (and Horrorclix). The closet is full of colossal, never-biodegrading gaming goodness: two Galacti, one big Spectre, a Starro, a Sinestro, three Sentinels, one Advanced Sentinel, two Anti-Monitors and one Foom.

That's right one... one, big, buck naked Foom. Sure, I'd like me an Orange Foom. I'd like me the purple-panted Foom as well. But I need to make room for Dr. Manhattan and I still have yet to find room for the Great Cthulhu.

But the panted Foom calls me. He adds no different game play. But he's a dragon that wears short shorts. That's silver-aged awesome. I want him so, but the house, garage, attic and basement are stuffed with useless gaming crap.

What I like more about Foom owning pants is that it means there are times when he chooses to wear or not wear pants. Owning pants means you may own a dresser or a closet. They need to be cleaned, hemmed and maintained. I'd venture to say most of us own the commando, unabashed Foom. Many like me may want the more modest Foom as well. Many of you might have questioned where the pants go when he's not wearing them.

So for all you inquisitive and greedy collectors out there, I give you Mighty Pants, a hidden place behind the Great Wall where the Foom can let dangle his great balls.

Map 7 of 26: The Mystic Tower

2010-06-24T23:47:00.005-04:00

I've stated in the past that one of my missions has been to create Heroclix maps that represented certain places from the comic mythos. One such locale I wanted to tackle was the arcane tower of our friendly, neighborhood, gold-helmed mystic. I love the idea of places with vast misleading inner space and while I couldn't exactly create a room whose interior was bigger than its exterior, I could create a unique interior that mimicked that effect.

Originally this map was started years ago when I first purchased Dundjinni and various renditions of this map are saved haphazardly across my hard drive. The map was always intended to be a 36"x36" map and on that big of a map, the tower looks more centered. Tournament play evolving towards the use of narrower maps and the high print costs at my local print shop drove me to make this map the newer narrower width. The Tower sides are narrow but I think that will create some interesting strategic positioning for opposing players.

I also was itching to make an outer space map and this helped sate that urge. Again, I had designed this map long before I had purchased the software I use for post-production; especially adding the colored lines. Had I known adding the terrain lines would be so damn tideous I may not have designed the internal walkway the way I did.

Anyway, thank you for checking out my maps and in a few days I'll be posting a map that will solve one of comic bookdom's greatest mysteries.

Excuses...

2010-06-24T23:19:00.000-04:00

One particular man was a huge part of my youth growing up. He was a Marianist brother who taught algebra, physics and computer science where I went to high school. He was full of odd mannerisms and odd sayings. Just to give you a glimpse into his madness, I'll tell you this... he used to cover the classroom windows in aluminum foil to keep the commies from spying on him. One of his better lines will always stick with me.

Excuses, your friends don't need them and your enemies don't believe them.

So I've gone two months without putting up a map. To play catch up, three should be going up in the next week or so. And over the course of the summer you'll see some of the map madness that has been keeping me off board lately including a massive three part connecting map that will knock your eye patch off.

Keep your good eye posted.

Map 6 of 26: Mission Abort!

2010-04-25T13:03:00.004-04:00

Originally I planned to post a map that would showcase a bit of Heroclix nostalgia from years past. Unfortunately, this map is taking a ton of time to clean up and finish. So hopefully that "classic" map I promised will be up for viewing in the next few weeks. In the meantime I give you a map designed by a "psychotic moron".

Back on 04/03/2010, I was discussing my personal opinions of the character selection (or the lack thereof) from Brave & the Bold on a thread title "**SPOILER ALERT** Brave and the Bold" over at HCRealms. I broke the set figures down on a rating scale from 1 thru 5 where generally 3 thru 5 are positive categories and only one category is overtly negative. Here's a quote from that thread.

"1- Characters or concepts I dislike so much that if I had a time machine I'd go back in time and kill the creator's parents (Remakes or New Clix)

020 – Damian Wayne

042 – Robin

045 - The Wizard Shazam (I won't forgive DC for messing up the Marvel Family)"

http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4630333&highlight=inertia#post4630333

In a 04/11/2010 thread titled "Disgusted" created by HCRealms member mjts , mjts ranted:

"Some moron actually said that there were three characters in this set he disliked so much that if he had a time machine he would go back and kill the parents of the creators. I am not sure if he was talking about the creators of the sculpts, the dials or the comic book characters, but what was more surprising to me was that this psychotic was not immediately banned."
http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=273843

Now OK, I'll give you that my category label is a little extreme but I intensely hate the concept of Damien Wayne. For the people out there that like this character. I'm glad they got two versions of him.

However, Batman has been known for his willpower for years. Knock him unconscious and try to take off the cowl... blam!... you're electrocuted. The man carries anti-shark repellant in his utility belt. That's prepared. This guy even carries around a piece of kryptonite just in case his buddy goes loco. That's even more prepared. He's slept with a billion women for seventy years and never conceived a child. Cripes, Hugh Hefner couldn't even do that.

Yet somehow Talia got a hold of some Bat-seed. Are you telling me there isn't some Bat-defertilization spray in that tool belt? You've got to be kidding me.

So it got me thinking, in the vast tapestry of comics, how could Batman stop this? Clearly he'd use the Atom to shrink down and stop the conception or maybe since he's a billionaire pay someone to shrink down and permanently set up shop in his sack who leaps into action in the event of an unexpected release. I like the idea of Batman joining forces with Rip Hunter and the Atom to go back in time to get inside Talia and stop Damien Wayne from being conceived. Once there, they're surprised to find hordes of League Elite and Man-Bat Assassins guarding her eggs. So with that fight in mind, a new map was born.

Now of course this map isn't exclusively Talia, so we can use it to stop any of the ridiculous offspring comicbookdom has forced on us over the years. From Connor Hawke to Hulkling no contrived legacy character is safe.

Before anyone asks... yes, this is an indoor map. This map was difficult for me as it was the first time I had to hand design all the shading effects. No one on the various RPG map sites had ever designed the necessary uterine shadows needed to create the internal area of this map. This map also has a ton of blocking terrain to help define where the "cavern" walls would be.

The debate has also finally been won; giant sperm flow is hindering terrain. Late last night, a fellow judge and I were discussing the merits of making sperm flow water terrain but in the end I felt at that scale the sperm would be too large to be wet. Also before any microbiologists reading this jump down my throat, I understand that the sperm, eggs and background are way out of scale to each other. However I needed to get all three elements in the map and feel the scale offense is nowhere near as bad as some of the scale liberties Wizkids has taken their maps such as the giant computers on The Bank map.

Anyway, thanks for reading this moron's psychotic ramblings and I'll see you in a few weeks.

Map 5 of 26: Warrior Island

2010-04-17T18:52:00.006-04:00

One of the major reasons I wanted to get into map-making was that I felt dramatically limited by the types of maps that Wizkids was producing. My personal evolution in gaming started with role-playing in the 80's then moved into miniature wargaming in the 90's then to Heroclix when the game first came out in 2002. I've also been an avid comic book reader and my personal collection stretches back now well into the Golden Age of comics. The fun part about comic books is that the locales can be fantastic: Atlantis with Namor or Aquaman, fiery Apokolips, underground caverns or ancient Greek islands. The dull part of Heroclix for me is that the vast majority of the maps produced have been in Anytown, USA.

I also wanted to toy around with map dynamics not yet explored by Wizkids. Sometimes I'll start working on a map and think "Why does elevated terrain always needs a way to it?" This is seen in the Martian Clock Map. Conceptually, that clockwork structure is floating. So why should a non-flier be able to get up there automatically? Wizkids has the obligation to create a balanced playing field as the makers of the game and shepherds of the gaming experience. I don't have that hindrance. I have the luxury of designing playing fields that are not shackled with the burden of being balanced for both players.

And that brings me to my next map, Warrior Island. With Brave & the Bold having so many island-hailing warriors in it, I felt this next map was appropriate to complete. It's been sitting half-finished on my hard drive for easily two years and I felt it was time to finally clean this one up.

With this map, I wanted a map that gave a stronger advantage to one side (the island defenders) than the other (the offshore attackers). Here the defenders have quickest access to the elevated and blocking terrain. The attackers are saddled with nothing to obstruct any line of fire to them and start off with a movement penalty for being in the water. There is only one measly square of hindering terrain, the idea behind this is that it gives the defenders home field advantage as the attackers have no place to hide from the island natives.

Of course, I have to now shell out the cash to get to Kinkos and print this baby up. Hopefully by the weekend I will have my 600 point Amazon army taking on Darkseid and his parademons.

Next week, we'll revisit an old classic.

First Look: Watchmen Collectors Set Map

2010-04-01T16:39:00.004-04:00

Many of you may have seen this blog and my thread dedicated to my personal custom map challenge over in the Custom Maps forums.

Personal Mapping Challenge: 52 Weeks, 26 Maps
http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269800

What you may not have known (unless you're a player at me venue, Sorry Justin I couldn't keep it a secret) is that after I posted my WWII map, I was contacted by Wizkids/Neca and given the chance to design and submit a potential specimen map for the upcoming Watchmen Collectors Set. Honestly, not being an artist by trade and really just a novice with the computer, I was flattered but not expecting this to go anywhere. Well, I'm proud to say that Wizkids/Neca not only loved my map, they've given the task to design the maps for the next few sets.

Tomorrow, Wizkids will be previewing some of the figures from the Watchmen set, and the gang over at Wizkids (who are all excellent to deal with) are allowing me to preview the Watchmen set map on my site first. Now what you're seeing here is not the finished product. Consider this like a sculptor's green model. What still needs to be added is some of the legalese and copyright information and special rules for Martian gravity. (I know what these are, but was sworn to secrecy).

And if you like this, you'll be blown away by what I have planned for Web of Spiderman.

And here are some highlights!

Also I want to thank everyone who has supported me here, at HCRealms, and on the Dundjinni web site.

Oh and April Fools! (Sorry folks none of this is true!)

Map 3 of 26: The Blue Atoll

2010-03-23T00:25:00.004-04:00

Oof... I am getting seriously behind on the maps. At this point, I should be on Map 4 by Friday and here I am just releasing Map 3. I'm blaming this delay on Rollinsolo at HCRealms who threw out this challenge.

"If you are accepting ideas, I have always wanted a fully water map with scattered islands, each island being no more than 3x3. Good luck with your project and tell your family it's for a great cause."

I was intrigued at how I could accomplish this map as very little of it could be generated with Dundjinni and most aspects would need to be finished post in Paint Shop Pro. I decided to throw progress to the wind and give Rollinsolo's idea a whirl. So what would have been Map 3, a nearly completed shoreline map of Themyscira has been pushed back to Map 4 and hopefully will be previewed by the weekend.

This was a challenge for me getting the water to hit the rock and look at least slightly representative of what it should look like. I'm no artist and chunks of this map were virgin territory for me. Hopefully this passes everyone's expectation with a grade of a high C or better.

Oh... I liked the name the Blue Atoll. Reminded me of naked Brooke Shields and helped get me thru some of its inherent tediousness. I am completely aware this map is not an actual atoll. I'm being a rebel.

Map 2 of 26!: WWII Invasion

2010-02-26T01:10:00.005-05:00

Map 2 of 26!: WWII Invasion!

Let me preface this whole post by stating that I love my eldest brother dearly. He also collects Heroclix and is a huge history buff. This is how a recent conversation with him went down:

Me: Pete, I'm making a WWII map.

Pete: Yeah

Me: It's going to be black & white

Pete: Why's that?

Me: Because it's in the past, duh...

Pete just laughs at me.

I've wanted to do a Normandy-esque WWII map for a while. I like the idea of Cap and Bucky putting the beat down on Red Skull or the JSA and Sgt. Rock going toe-to-toe with Per Degaton. For me, this map had to be black & white. It's what makes it WWII to me.

I also wanted to invoke the feel of an old movie reel. You may notice I've darkened the black & white effects around the perimeter of the map to give it that old box camera photo feel.

As goofy as it is, I love the "Allies Storm Axis Beach" across the side with the 48-star flag.

Map 1 of 26!: The Lost Jungle!

2010-02-10T00:14:00.008-05:00

Map 1 of 26!: The Savage Land... err... umm... The Lost Jungle! Phew, I was just nearly grazed by a Cease and Desist!

A fellow realmser challenged me to do a Savage Land map. I always liked the idea of a hidden dinosaur jungle nestled in a secret Antarctic valley so I jumped at the challenge.
For me this map needed a few things to symbolize what I envision when I think of this location. I needed the elevated ice plains, I needed jungle, and I needed dinosaurs... lots of dinosaurs.

The dinosaurs added some gaming challenges. What kind of terrain are dinosaurs: hindering, blocking? I hate blocking terrain that shouldn't be blocking like the tank on the airbase map. In the end I liked the idea of clumps of jungle with dinosaurs hidden inside and just roping a green line around the whole mess. I still wanted an unobstructed dinosaur on the map and so I went with a quick hindering carcass.

Remember, I'm no artist and there are a lot of artistic concepts that are long outside my abilities. The transition from elevated ice shelf to lowland jungle for me was difficult to achieve. The mechanics of the game only provide two types of terrain that allows a grounded figure to traverse between elevations: steps and ladders. I tried to pull off a convincing natural rock staircase up the cliff and didn't like the way it looked. Ultimately, I opted for the rope ladder. I assumed one of the mutates left it there!

Also... I need to do a quick shout out to the gangs at the Dundjinni forums and RPGMapshare who basically provided me everything I needed to get my feet off the ground.

Finally... my personal modding challenge.

2010-02-09T23:36:00.002-05:00

For the longest time, I have been considering challenging myself to a personal modding challenge. Originally the concept I was batting around was doing a 52 week challenge where each week I would complete one custom Heroclix mod from one of the books I read from that Wednesday's new releases. Logistically it became a problem for me to acquire the parts I would need for each week's challenge in under a week. Laziness crept in and the project never got off the ground. I am also about 18 issues behind in most of the books I'm reading!

I've also been toying around with custom maps for the past two years and slowly have been teaching myself the in's and out's of various programs like Dundjinni, Paint Shop Pro, Google Sketch Up and Daz. I have dozens of maps half started. So it seemed logical for me to start to complete my custom maps.

The fuel that really started the fire burning was the Secret Santa exchange I was participating in over at HCRealms. I wanted my first printed map to be my Secret Santa gift. It's recipient loved it and it was well received by the gang at my venue. This was a map of a Nativity scene for Christmas. All the positive compliments I received have really motivated me to push myself further.

So here is my personal challenge... 52 weeks... 26 completed maps. The goal is for me to produce one map every other week. When you consider that my career, family life, new home and responsibilities judging at my local venue all will take time out of my week; one map every two weeks seems daunting to me.

Also at this point, I do not plan to release any of these maps for sale or mass distribution. Especially given the fact that I'd like to challenge myself to make some very specific comic locales. The cost to print a 24x36 map at Kinkos is $44, so actual production of these maps will be limited for my personal use.

So, wish me luck... god speed... and carpe mappum.

Heroclix Add (Part 2)

2010-01-06T18:49:00.004-05:00

And for the obessive compulsives out there the extreme left edge of the add... (Yup sorry, my scanner decided to die tonight)

Heroclix Add

2010-01-06T18:37:00.004-05:00

A quick scan of the add from GTM#119 (Sorry my scanner is on its last leg and about a 1/4 inch was cut off the left.

Merry Clixmas!

2009-12-21T20:03:00.004-05:00

Well, it's December 21st and hopefully about right now my Secret Santa recipient over at HCRealms is opening his gift! This was a real labor of love as his gift is the first map that I have ever created that I've printed. I read my Secret Santa buddy was a youth pastor and I thought a Nativity scene map would be perfect. I whipped this up over a rainy weekend and Fitch at my local comic shop had it printed and laminated. I was so happy with the results! Hopefully I'll figure out how I will make this map available to the public! Merry Clixmas everyone!

Handful of Heroes - Sabretooth

2009-09-27T02:52:00.003-04:00

I'm been a big fan of Sabretooth since back in his cool Iron Fist days. He's a bad ass who knows how to look bad ass sporting a fur collar. We don't have the pimped out version of Sabretooth in clix form so this figure is a welcome addition. It's hard to see all the detail on this translucent figure, so I'll need to prime him to see what exactly I have to work with. His fingers are very stubby and rounded at the ends so I am considered cutting off his hands and swapping them with the hands from the Ultimates Sabretooth.

Handful of Heroes - Spider-Man

2009-09-27T02:47:00.002-04:00

When you have hands that big it's easy to climb walls, play basketball and get dates with girls prone to believing urban legends. What this figure lacks is details pronounced enough to survive the painting process. Good luck painting this figure.

Handful of Heroes - World War Hulk

2009-09-27T02:43:00.002-04:00

This is one of my favorite figures of the set. I love the facial emotion. If I ever get a spare, I may end up painting this figure just for the sheer enjoyment.

Handful of Heroes - Gladiator Hulk

2009-09-27T02:38:00.002-04:00

Wizkid's Green Scar figure is so damn amazing that honestly the Handful of Heroes Gladiator Hulk didn't really ever stand a chance. However this figure is clear green and one day will make a sweet Green Lantern construct.

Handful of Heroes - War Machine

2009-09-27T02:34:00.002-04:00

An OK figure. I like the size of this model and I love the static pose. It's details are pretty shallow so I'm not sure how it would paint up and I'm not sure I'd ever attempt to because I do not feel this figure offers me anything over the Armor Wars version.

Handful of Heroes - Iron Man Mark I

2009-09-27T02:30:00.002-04:00

I have no love for this figure. It barely has any detail and it offers nothing we didn't see in Armor Wars.

Handful of Heroes - Thing

2009-09-27T02:21:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure what it is about The Thing that leads him to have so many different looks and styles for what is basically the same character year after year. The Handful of Heroes Thing offers a look and style that hasn't been offered in clix yet and I must say... I like this sculpt. I'll eventually paint this figure when I'm feeling a bit more adventurous.

Handful of Heroes – Captain America

2009-09-24T23:46:00.001-04:00

That’s a big Captain America. If you want to paint Captain America correctly, there is a lot of shading, scale work and stripe work. This figure may look good painted; but it sure as poop won’t be me painting it.

Handful of Heroes – Cyclops

2009-09-24T23:42:00.002-04:00

Let me clear the air on this one. Cyclops is my least favorite character of all time. That being said.... this figure isn’t half bad. But with that wide stance, he just barely fits on a base.

Handful of Heroes – Juggernaut

2009-09-24T23:39:00.001-04:00

I personally think this one is a winner. I like his imposing stance. He’s smaller than Marching Band Juggernaut and Fantastic Forces Juggernaut, however I still feel he adds something to the mix.

Handful of Heroes – Green Goblin

2009-09-24T23:38:00.002-04:00

Like Magneto, I can’t imagine why anyone would paint this figure for a Heroclix conversion as he isn’t going to bring anything new to the table and Fantastic Forces offered some of the best quality figures that Wizkids produced.

Handful of Heroes – Magneto

2009-09-24T23:35:00.002-04:00

"...because the room has been magnetized"

This figure is super plain. It has very little detail. It’s scale is not too far off but honestly painting this figure for a Heroclix conversion isn’t going to bring anything new to the table.

Advertising Madness - Hulk #230 (1978)

2009-08-25T19:43:00.001-04:00

I have my own comic book hang-ups and they cost me nothing.

Advertising Madness - Hulk #225 (1978)

2009-08-25T19:38:00.003-04:00

Back in the day... When carbs could bring a feuding country together. You Skinny Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!

Handful of Heroes - Hulk

2009-08-14T22:31:00.002-04:00

Just a little to small. Oh well... he'll end up a Green Lantern construct.

I couldn't resist me a big'ol Hulk ba dunk a dunk shot. That is a wide ass on the right.

Then turn around!

Stick it out!

Even white boys got to shout.

Banner got back!

Handful of Heroes - Venom

2009-08-14T22:27:00.001-04:00

Nothing says evil like Glitter. This by far is, in my opinion, the best candidate for Heroclix conversion. I plan on priming this one and seeing how it paints up.

Handful of Heroes - Nick Fury

2009-08-14T22:21:00.000-04:00

My initial gut instinct was that this Nick Fury was too tall. Once again, the erraticness of Secret Invasion's scale creep somewhat muddies this. Maybe he's OK. Where's my Hypertime Checkmate agent for a quick comparison?

Handful of Heroes - Rhino

2009-08-14T22:13:00.000-04:00

I'm digging Rhino. Classic costume... looking good. Plus Rhino should be easy to paint.

I felt based on the positioning this needed a top shot.

Handful of Heroes - Colossus

2009-08-14T22:07:00.000-04:00

Colossus... one "l", two "s"es. Get it right... Steady

I hate spelling "Colossus"

Again, this is all just my opinion, of the handful I purchased this one shows much process. OK, he's lugging around the super-bricky. But the height is right.

Handful of Heroes - X-Ray

2009-08-14T22:02:00.000-04:00

I had no idea this figure was X-Ray. Immediately thought he was Human Torch. He works either way in my opinion and is not a bad height either.

Handful of Heroes - Astonishing Wolverine

2009-08-14T21:57:00.000-04:00

The most Astonishing thing about this Wolverine is the price. Like the previous Wolverine, just a hair too big.

Handful of Heroes - Wolverine

2009-08-14T21:51:00.000-04:00

So here's what I intended to do... comparison shots of the new Handful of Heroes alongside their Heroclix counterparts. At first without the neighboring clix, I felt this Wolverine was too big. In retrospect he's not that off. However Secret Invasion destroyed what little faith I placed in Heroclix scale compatibility.

Custom House - Punisher

2009-08-14T21:43:00.000-04:00

A whaa? A Marvel custom!?! It happens. Being so damn picky is tough. I don't like unnecessary clear plastic. I don't like bricky. And I sure as shit don't like non-upright poses. The game is beginning, the forces are lining up and Punisher already is diving in a roll, gun a'blazing. Doesn't work for me.

The head was popped out and straightened. The legs are off an IC Henchman. Pretty simple conversion.

Custom House - Chameleon

2009-08-14T21:36:00.001-04:00

Weird costume choices "bug" me too. The whole insect hybrid look for Chameleon annoyed me. And again, in my hands, a decent paint job. Under the Sony's lens... pretty crappy. How did I even get that blue paint on his knee and not notice it?

This was done a while ago. I'm guessing now, but I believe the body is Brainiac 5 and the head is an untouched Chameleon head. The cross-eyed look was brought to us by Wizkids.

Custom House - Killer Frost

2009-08-14T21:28:00.000-04:00

Let me get this on the record right now. I despised Wizkids use of clear plastic for characters that weren't translucent or transparent. At some point before my death, I'll repaint everyone of these.

Killer Frost, three or four years ago this repaint was awesome. In the eyes of my Sony Digital Camera at 5 megs... it doesn't look so good.

My advise is to squint.

Custom House - Red Hood

2009-08-14T21:05:00.000-04:00

First Post!

I've been thinking about having a place to "showcase" my customs. I've also been thinking about an ambitious modding project where I put out one custom per week based on a character that I read the week prior. The impetus tonight to get a site going is that I wanted to post comparison shots of the new Marvel Handful of Heroes alongside their Heroclix counterparts. However being a die hard DC fan, I couldn't let my first post be a Marvel post. So I dug up some old customs.

This is the ubiquitous Red Hood custom most of us have tried. The body is Black Mask. The cape is from a Robin. The helmet is the tip of a plastic paint brush.