I have been playing around with different configurations for a custom table and wanted to note some things I’ve landed on that I really like. A main one thing is having the map mounted so that it can slide around as needed on top of a bigger playing area. My table is 65” x 95” in total with a 5.5” arm rest around the outside and the middle is a recessed neoprene surface. I have the OOB Global map mounted on 1/2” rigid foam with a 1/2” aluminum frame around it. This allows the map to slide up close to whoever’s turn it is, but then be in the middle so both players can roll dice In front of them without disturbing the map and in easy view of the other player. (Plus we like lots of room to roll the bones). This ability to adjust the surface along with a standing height, makes it comfortable for long uses because you can move around more and don’t feel as tied down.
Things I’ve learned and changed from original design - I originally used too big of a frame for the map and mounted it on too high of a foam block (you can see these pictures at the bottom) - it made it hard to see the other player’s dice and the big frame took up too much real estate. My global map is mounted on much thinner foam (the framing is bad, you can see if you look closely) but I also used much thinner aluminum angle for the frame. This gives just enough grip when needing to move the map around (I use furniture slides on the bottom, which glide very nicely on the neoprene) but doesn’t make the whole thing too bulky. Having it an inch or so off the surface keeps the dice off, but isn’t so heigh that you can’t see the other player’s dice rolls. When playing other versions (such as Zombies) the board is much smaller, but it can easily swap in and out on the same table since it can move around where ever it is needed or be pushed aside.
I originally made it normal table height, but found long reaches while sitting were harder and it just felt cramped. Standing height with a bar stool is a great way to have the best of both worlds.
The 5.5” rim around the table itself gives you a nice arm rest that doesn’t interfere with the gaming surface. I’m playing with how to best add some cushion to this part - open to suggestions. Sometimes I just lay a piece of leftover neoprene on it.
Dice bounce nice on the neoprene and stay off the floor. It also feels nice and has enough give to allow things to slide but be picked up easily. Wouldn’t definitely go with neoprene again as a surface covering.
I made the drawers open to the inside of the table so you can stay hunched over the action while accessing and stowing stuff away. 50/50 on whether I would keep this if I were to do it again. If I were doing it again, I might try to build customer drawers form scratch using actual drawer glides, but that was beyond my ability when I first did this, so I just used clear plexiglass boxes with aluminum pulls mounted on them. It’s nice having them clear, and I was happy with how the pulls came out, but without glides they can be a little fussy sliding in and out of their slots.
I originally designed the table so that I could put a cover surface back on top when not in use, but find I don’t really ever do that, so if I were to do it again, I might not mess with that part (I never even finished staining those as you can see in the pictures).
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Custom Map
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North Africa and Great Britain
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North Africa and Great Britain
Nice maps. The Great Britain one, incidentally, should say Wales, not Whales.
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That’s embarrassing, didn’t even notice that. Thank you!
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Been a while since I shared on here due to being busy and not having a lot to share, but here is Germany/Poland/Southern Europe
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Mr. Tricorder, you said you have used inkscape before. When working on this map it began placing white squares anywhere I attempted to draw. It wasn’t actually placing the blocks there just displaying them. What I mean is it would still draw the color I wanted where I wanted but would display a big white box over where I was attempting to draw until I zoomed either in or out. Because of this I tried to save my work and reopen it and see if that would work. Now when I reopen the file there is nothing there, not the original map or the map plus my edits. Any idea what may have happened?
I’m very sorry. I haven’t visited this thread in a while and didn’t see your question until just now. I haven’t used inkscape in years though, so I don’t know what’s going on there. I have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, so I do all my vector-based artwork in Illustrator now. If you’re still having this problem, I would recommend checking out the inkscape support forums.
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Not a problem. I was speaking to panther about the problem when it suddenly fixed itself. So now everything is working great
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This project is not forgotten or given up on. I have made some great progress in the pacific so far. However, due to repeated issues with inkscape and the fact that I have basically had to redo all my work a few times, I am going to look to switch over to adobe programs. Once I have more figured out I will share the progress I have made
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you can also look at Affinity products.
They have a PS and Illustrator replacement.
Cheaper and no subscriptions.
Caveat is they are newish and are not as chrome laden as adobe stuff.
But for this job, they would work fine. -
This map looks really great! Love to see this progressing
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Robert have you worked with Affinity’s designer program? It seems nice, but since it is new I just want to make sure I am not spending $50 on something that will be riddled with bugs
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I’ve dabbled in Affinity designer and photo. I use Adobe Illustrator now for work but am slowly learning designer as it probably will replace AI in the future. I won’t pay Adobes software ransom demands.
Designer has been going since 2014 so it does have growing pains trying to get on par with Illustrator. ( I won’t say it is riddled with bugs, just not as feature rich as AI )
Photo on the other hand is a viable PS replacement. (more money in creating a PS app than a vector app)
That said, it should work fine for most if not all your needs.Really though, there is no other alternative AI when doing large files/maps.
If you are not in a hurry, check the app store on major holidays as these do go on sale. I think I got mine on the July 4th or Black Friday sale.
Hope this helps.
Robert -
i use too Illustrator to make a custom map and by my own opinion, it’s the best software to create large map. After it’s right, it’s not the cheapest software…
Siredblood is creating his map wth Photoshop, i don’t know how he can do it with a such great result -
the main problem with PS is it isn’t that scalable.
AI is a vector program which allows it to be scaled at any size without the images becoming bitmapped.
AI 6 was the last buyable software before the subscription model came into effect.
It would cost $240 US a year or for me $310 CDN. Bundles would be higher.
All the new features are not needed, by me, so it is a waste of money.
Adobe was trying to get more money because not everyone upgraded each time.
Now they are forced to and pay for it too.Affinity is a company to watch as they are aggressive and want to replace Adobe as a viable alternative.
Many designers own both companies software and will drop Adobe at the soonest possible moment. -
i use too Illustrator to make a custom map and by my own opinion, it’s the best software to create large map. After it’s right, it’s not the cheapest software…
Siredblood is creating his map wth Photoshop, i don’t know how he can do it with a such great resultHave you seen Sireblood’s work aside from his map? That guy is freaking talented.
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yes i saw and the map looks very nice ! The war on this map could be epic.
His map is a different style than the original that really stands out.
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I can get a discount on Adobe since I am a student but it is still $240 a year. I mean $20 a month doesn’t sound terrible if I was going to be able to crank this out this cancel my subscription but between classes and work I doubt that will be the case. Affinity seems like it can do what I need as I am certainly a beginner. I just want to make sure its user friendly since I am the worst 21 year old when it comes to technology.
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Which rules would you apply to this map? A&A Global 1940? HBG Global 1936?
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A&A 1940 plus rules of my own. Never played or read the rules of HBG. For all I now my rules could have some overlap but to my knowledge they are either my own or twisting of things that I have seen on the forums that were concepts that I made/am making into rules
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I really want to figure out which program so I can get this worked out and get to designing and play testing the variant I have in mind. Then I can share more. But I need this map done first
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All vector programs have a learning curve. Best way to learn a program fast is to start an actual project with them.
Google techniques as needed, not to get an understanding of the program.It really comes down to ownership and time.
Adobe is cheaper at first but you will need to keep paying. Add that you will feel you need to use it to get the $20 out of it.
If later revisions are warranted, you will need to re-subscribe.
Affinity will be more expensive at first but you own it and can use it whenever you have the time.Both will do what you want in this case.
If I was starting out now, I’d use Affinity as it offers the most options for my time. (no having to get it done before the end of the month/subscription)A lot of the techniques/commands are similar in both programs so switching later isn’t relearning from scratch.
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