Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Video Game Resume



Here is my short-but-sweet list of adventure video games that I've beaten. Some were conquered years ago, and some I beat just this year.

GAMES CONQUERED
Warriors of the Eternal Sun - Sega Genesis
Sword of Fargoal - PC Version
Dungeon Hack - PC Version
Fate - PC
Fate 2: Undiscovered Realms - PC
Diablo - PC
Diablo II - PC
Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World - Sega Genesis
Puzzle Quest - PC
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion & Shivering Isles - Xbox 360
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Xbox 360
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - Xbox 360
Baldur's Gate - PC
Baldur's Gate 2 - PC
Dungeons of Daggorath - PC Version
Neverwinter Nights - PC (beat the adventure included with the game, and some of the fan-created modules. Queen of the Demonweb Pits on NWN is one of my all-time favorite gaming experiences.)
Pool of Radiance - PC
King's Bounty
Forgotten Realms - Unlimited Adventures
Fallout 3 - Xbox 360 
Diablo 3 - Xbox 360
QuestLord - iOS

GAMES ENJOYED BUT NOT YET CONQUERED
Might & Magic VI
Might & Magic VII
Eye of the Beholder
Puzzle Quest 2
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance - Xbox (currently on the final battle)
Dungeons of Dredmor (currently on Level 8)
Dungeon Master
Curse of the Azure Bonds
Blades of Exile
Icewind Dale
Shining in the Darkness
NetHack
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup
Shadowgate
Dungeon of Doom
Madness and the Minotaur
Brandish (made it to Level 70 or so...way too long!)
Battlemaster
Drakkhen
The Immortal
Dragon Warrior
Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall
Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
Faxanadu
Heroes of Might and Magic III & IV
Phantasy Star I & II
Zork
Rings of Power
Ultima 3 & Runes of Virtue II
Willow
Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (this was a great game - I need to go back and try again)
Planescape: Torment
Dink Smallwood
Dark Souls
The Witcher 2
Minecraft
Terraria
Dark Souls 2

GAMES I WANT TO PLAY BUT HAVEN'T YET
Shadows Over Riva
The Temple of Elemental Evil
Diablo III
Prelude to Darkness
Wizardry 8 *** I have to play this one soon***
Dark Heart of Uukrul
Ultima VII
Ultima Underworld 2
The Legend of Grimrock 

 TOP 10 FAVORITE GAMES EVER PLAYED
 1. Diablo II
2. Baldur's Gate II
3. Might & Magic II: gates to Another World
4. Might & Magic VII
5. Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
6. Fate 2: Undiscovered Realms
7. Might & Magic VI
8. Baldur's Gate
9. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
10. Warriors of the Eternal Sun

Monday, August 27, 2012

Mega-Dungeon Map



Last month, I POSTED about the banner of a huge dungeon map that I had printed. I thought someone might want the actual jpg file of this map, so I'm posting the link HERE. Just left-click on the picture below and left-click again on the image that comes up (offsite), then right-click and Select View Image, then zoom in to view the image in actual size.

Mega Dungeon Map
Mega-Dungeon Map

Monday, August 6, 2012

Dungeon Map - The Boiling Cauldron of Menzanoth



Here's another quickie map that I made using Excel and GIMP2. This one has a nice lava texture background, and a layered effect for the caverns.

GIMP2 Dungeon Map
The Boiling Cauldron of Menzanoth

Dungeon Map - The Hidden Vault of Gromlauch the Defiant



Here's a map that I whipped up using Microsoft Excel and GIMP2. I used Excel to set the background and dungeon grid. Then, I used GIMP2 to create the dungeon caverns using an opaque painting tool.

The Hidden Vault Map
The Hidden Vault Map
Now I just have to stock it.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Make Your Own Dungeon in Excel



It's pretty easy to create a sharp-looking dungeon using Microsoft Excel. I'm using Excel 2010, but any prior version of Excel should work just as well.

First, you need a cool looking background. Search Google images for a large texture in the color you want. I went with a dark to light green texture for my dungeon backdrop. The image should be large enough to encompass the entire dungeon or it can be a seamless texture, too.

Once you have the background image saved, go into Excel and set your background. In Excel 2012, this is done from the Page Layout Menu. Next, you'll want to set your rows and columns to equal height and width, so you get perfect squares for your spaces. You can do this by selecting the entire spreadsheet, and then grab the edge of any column and drag it a bit. You should see a small pop-up window that indicates the column width (in inches and pixels). I chose 30 pixels as my column width. Do the same with the rows, except you are modifying the row height.

Once you have your perfect squares, you can turn the gridlines on or off. In Excel 2012, this is done from either the Page Layout or View menus. For dungeon creation, I like to have the gridlines on, and then remove them afterward at my whimsy.

Make Your Own Dungeon with Microsoft Excel
Excel Dungeon with Gridlines

Now that the template is set, you can start creating your dungeon. The easiest way that I've found is to use the cell borders as walls using the cell format function (by right-clicking on the cell you want to change). You can use the same function for shading the cells. I used the gradient feature to create darkness around the walls, and brightness toward the center of each room. For hallways, I used the gradient feature on each individual cell to imitate a graph-paper look.

Once you've created a room or two and some connecting corridors, it's pretty easy to copy and paste these cells to make your entire dungeon. You'll probably want to create some doors, too. This can be done by using the Shapes tool found on the Inset tab in Excel 2010. Simply draw a small rectangle, and right click on the image to set the properties. Make one vertical door, and one horizontal for mass copying and pasting. In the properties window, set the image to "Move with Cell". That way, when you copy a cell, the door image will be copied as well.

Create Your Own Dungeon Using Microsoft Excel
Excel Dungeon Without Gridlines

Of course, you can use the symbols library in Excel, or create your own images and import them, too. However if you want to bang out a cool creation quickly, it's possible using this method.

If you've tried this before, or give it a shot now, let me know what designs you've come up with.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

RPG Stuff



I was going through some of my old files on my PC and I found some hidden treasures that I thought I might share. Some of this stuff is old graphics, some is just miscellaneous stuff, but it's all GOOD. Feel free to download and use as you see fit.

Here's a .jpg file of some castles and towers on a snowy terrain. I think these may be from Heroes of Might and Magic 3, but I can't remember for sure. Anyway, you can copy/cut these and paste them into your own RPG maps.

Winter Palaces
Snowy Castles

Next, I have a sweet collection of spinning dice .gif files.

I also have this wilderness map that I think I constructed using the Heroes of Might & Magic 3 map editor. It shows the northeastern section of the world.

Heroes of Might and Magic 3 World Map
World Map - Northeast Section
Here's a little wilderness area map that I made with a stream running through it. It could be useful for running a close-up encounter. I think I made this with Railroad Tycoon's map editor.

Railroad Tycoon Area Map
Area Map with Stream
Here's a few more Tower objects from the HMM3 Map Editor:

Winter Towers
Snow Towers
Finally, here are some Space-RPG tiles. I think they are from a game called Space Empires 3.

Space Empires 3 Tiles
Space Game Tiles