i want to create a module for playing Schicksalspfade (a relatively new German TT) and would like to know if someone is willing to give me some help via teamspeak or skype, as i am a complete noob.
It should be very simple, as it uses a hex battlemap and only 4-6 Hero-Miniatures per side, and only normal d20 and d6.
So my idea is, i will be scanning the battlemap and the tokens for the game and use the sample picture of the hero cards as actual tokens for vassal instead of the miniatures. Then have generic d20 and d6 and the scans implemented in vassal. If anyone out there is willing to help me out a bit or even (and that would be really awesome) willing to create the module if i help and do the scans etc. i would be thrilled.
As i only want to play it with a friend and we both know the rules, we wouldn’t need anything else beside this. I have already asked the publishers if we are allowed to create this module, either for the vassal community or at least for our private use only but i haven’t recieved any reply so far. They are only a small team but i bet, they will reply soon.
For any the German Speaking community here (i hope there are some) the quick rules and a promo game can be downloaded here:
Please help me out and thanks a lot for your patience.
PS: i would at least need help with chosing the right scan size and with additional programs i should use for this project. Only grafic prog i know is GIMP 2.
Awesome reddeblu, i was thinking about sth similar as the Dungeons and Dragons tactical module,
Just with fewer tokens and miniatures. Also it would ne a hex map.
If that Works out i will be thinking about more automated processes and implementing character cards.
I live in Germany so we would need to find a time when to meet. How about i Start Scanning and Putins together all the Images and then we discuss how to go on from there. (I will need help with editing the Images and implemting the dice and so on). Also i will try to learn as fast as possible so i will not be exploiting you.
Since I don’t know any of the pieces and materials the game comes with, I’ll have to rely on you to figure out if we have it all or not.
About scan size, the only importance is that the size of the map/board and pieces/cards/other stuff are in some way consistent enough with each other. Like, a miniature fits comfortably within a hex, without being bigger than it, or far too small.
The size of all the materials beyond this is of no concern in vassal, save for maybe memory saving and file size. But vassal can zoom in/out of the game area, making it all just as visible as it needs to be.
I can re size things on this end in Photoshop if needed too, so you can just send me what you’ve got so far and I’ll see about handling the rest.
For the best results, you want to scan at the highest resolution that you
plan to display. Resizing to smaller sizes works much better in graphics
programs than scaling up images. It is easier to throw away pixels from
the image than to have to invent values for them.
If you need a general rule-of-thumb, I would suggest scanning at twice the
size you plan to display as the “normal” zoom level, so you can make things
look twice as big without losing detail.
You should use PNG for the scans.
See also the section of the Module Designers Guide about the graphics and
files.
Since I don’t know any of the pieces and materials the game comes with,
I’ll have to rely on you to figure out if we have it all or not.
About scan size, the only importance is that the size of the map/board
and pieces/cards/other stuff are in some way consistent enough with each
other. Like, a miniature fits comfortably within a hex, without being
bigger than it, or far too small.
The size of all the materials beyond this is of no concern in vassal,
save for maybe memory saving and file size. But vassal can zoom in/out
of the game area, making it all just as visible as it needs to be.
I can re size things on this end in Photoshop if needed too, so you can
just send me what you’ve got so far and I’ll see about handling the
rest.
thanks a lot again for the help and advice. I got permission to do this from the developers for private use. They also want to have a look at it when it is finished, but i must refrain from uploading this project here, which i will obey of course.
My scanner is not that big. Will it be sufficient if i scan the board in, lets say 4 steps and put it together with gimp2 again?
@Redeblu: I will finish all of this first and make a plan what has to be done. If you have time on the weekend, i will be positive, that i can do this during lunch break in the office ^^this week. Hope my colleagues won*t look at me funny. Or better, hope they want o join in for a match . Then we can discuss what to do, and you can help me out. Sorry for being a pain, but i hope you are still willing to do this .
Scanning multiple sections of your map and “stitching” it together with gimp will work. I have done that before and my best results were when I created some overlap as that allowed me to align sections easily, even with scans that may not have been square. I don’t know if the folds in your game board will allow it but if you can manage it may want to try it.
I don’t know if it’s in your budget, but here in the states we have companies such as FedEx/Kinkos that offer business services out of store fronts such as copying and printing. Most FedEx/Kinkos have good sized scanners that can handle drafting sized sheets. Perhaps you have such services there.
I would be willing to assist, too. My German is not so current, but I can still read most of it.
Scanning multiple sections of your map and “stitching” it together with
gimp will work. I have done that before and my best results were when I
created some overlap as that allowed me to align sections easily, even
with scans that may not have been square. I don’t know if the folds in
your game board will allow it but if you can manage it may want to try
it.
i have all scans ready. My Scanner managed 300 dpi, but i could only create pdfs. Would you reckon there will be a Great quality loss when i copy Paste it to GIMP?
Also i would like to Open a google document including a written Project plan so we can discuss everything on Skype and work on the game simultaniously.
Tomorrow i will read the module Design Guide again, so i will understand at least least some Things when u explain them. Shall i prepare anything else? Please Email me your Skype names via my profile so i can Add you there.
i have all scans ready. My Scanner managed 300 dpi, but i could only
create pdfs. Would you reckon there will be a Great quality loss when i
copy Paste it to GIMP?
There was really no way to get your scanner to make normal scans?! If
so, that’s pretty crappy. I’d recommend investing a bit more effort into
exhausting all the avenues for making your scanner produce bitmaps
before trying to work with the PDFs.
If you are stuck with PDFs, you could use pdfimages to extract all of
the images. I’m not sure if there’d be any loss of quality. You’d have
to try it to find out.
300 dpi is ok. If the module starts to get to bulky, any image editor can resize smaller. As far as output types, PNG would would be preferable to jpeg.
300 dpi is ok. If the module starts to get to bulky, any image editor
can resize smaller. As far as output types, PNG would would be
preferable to jpeg.
Also—if you’re going to be adding text of any sort, or layering on
line art, I highly recommend importing your PNGs into Inkscape and
working in SVG.
Ok the only Scanner here which can Scan to png is out of order. I have rescanned to jpg and will convert this from jpg to png. Any other quick Tipps Before i do this?
Ok the only Scanner here which can Scan to png is out of order. I have
rescanned to jpg and will convert this from jpg to png. Any other quick
Tipps Before i do this?
If the scanner gives you any way of setting the JPEG quality, set it as
high as you can.
and thanks a lot for your patience. 
. Then we can discuss what to do, and you can help me out. Sorry for being a pain, but i hope you are still willing to do this