Two games ago I decided I would never again attempt to run a game off my laptop. Ostensibly this was to keep me off the computer for a few more hours each week in a belated attempt to save my carpal tunnels. In actuality it’s because the computer was too damn useful and I kept finding new ways to make use of it when I should have been writing game.<\/p>\n
Well, I’m between games now (that sounds a lot more depressing than it really is) and figured I could invest some time into coding up my own RPG tools.<\/p>\n
Dungeoneer is \u00c2\u00a0what I came up with. \u00c2\u00a0I liked taking notes on the computer but hated mapping. \u00c2\u00a0Even with some good tiles it took much too long to make simple maps. \u00c2\u00a0And even if I did have the patience for it, my wrist didn’t and I knew I’d be better off with something mouseless. \u00c2\u00a0Quite a bit of time spent mapping was sunk into making the map conform to a grid and coming up with notation. \u00c2\u00a0Why not use something that’s already based on a grid and already has well known and well documented notation?<\/p>\n
Many moons ago I was addicted to a game called Angband. \u00c2\u00a0It was kinda like Diablo with ASCII art. \u00c2\u00a0What I needed was a map maker that drew Angband.<\/p>\n
So I made one.<\/p>\n
What I came up with is simple to use, if you’re me. \u00c2\u00a0I haven’t done a bit of usability \u00c2\u00a0testing and I’ve only actually shown the program to one other GM. \u00c2\u00a0Even if the controls are reasonable, there’s no feedback from the program beyond what’s on the screen. \u00c2\u00a0I have plans for all that, but haven’t had time to program them yet.<\/p>\n
Anyway, the controls are as follows. \u00c2\u00a0Arrow keys or jkil can be used for movement. \u00c2\u00a0I recommend jkil. \u00c2\u00a0If you hold shift while moving with jkil you move 5 squares at a time instead of 1.<\/p>\n
There are also movement tabs that jump you to the next letter instead of to the next square. \u00c2\u00a0u and o jump left and right, y and h are vertical. \u00c2\u00a0If there is nothing on the screen they’ll jump to the far side of the screen. \u00c2\u00a0These commands may not make sense right now, but they will once you start using the program.<\/p>\n
q is for quit. \u00c2\u00a0That one’s easy.<\/p>\n
Finally there’s the spacebar. \u00c2\u00a0This is how you’ll be doing your drawing. \u00c2\u00a0Hit space to begin marking off a region. \u00c2\u00a0Move to the opposite corner of that region and hit space again. \u00c2\u00a0Nothing will happen, but if you press a key, that letter will fill in the region you just defined. \u00c2\u00a0So if you open up dungeoneer and type “space k k k l l l space #” you will make a 3×3 square of the # symbol. \u00c2\u00a0This is where the program is perfectly functional but lacking in feedback.<\/p>\n