Going over the maximum pixel size for maps.

[tomponzi]

I admit it. I am a lazy GM. I barely have enough time to myself these days (kids, mortgage, non-gaming partner etc.) and so I intend to borrow as many maps as I can find on the internet for my Temple of Elemental Evil write up on Realm Works.

I have found some stunning Greyhawk maps here that are, IMNSHO, astonishingly beautiful and an absolute must. There are also plenty of handy battlemaps to be found at the Cartographer's Guild.

It makes sense to my untrained mind that there is a maximum file size, 30MB I believe, for any map file and have decided to shy away from anything too large at this stage.

The problem I am finding is that even though I am well inside the overall file size limit, finding artwork that displays well on a large screen that fits within those dimensions is not as straight forward as I'd hoped. The maps I wish to use are exceeding the recommended pixel dimensions by some margin. I have uploaded these maps into my baby realm (6 topics with a map each) and they display beautifully on the widescreen TV that sits beside my gaming table. (Player View is the mutz nutz guys!)

Am I going to encounter problems later on if I continue to use maps that are over the pixel limit? What is the issue?

 

[mirtos]

"Good writers borrow. The best steal."

Not lazy. Smart.

Compressed images (which png and jpeg are) are as much about the number and depth of colors as much as they are the number of pixels. So if you have an image manipulation program, you could easily save at a sligtly lower quality (the print might not be as good if you were printing posters, but thats not what we're talking about) and EASILY get them even for a 50 inch HD TV at full resolution within the limit. I have put in some decently large maps pixel wise.

And when the web view comes into play if you want you rplayers to be able to access (or even just syncing) you probably wont even want images even remotely close to that size.

 

[davidp]

Am I going to encounter problems later on if I continue to use maps that are over the pixel limit? What is the issue?

The issue is that when displaying and otherwise working with the images in Realm Works, it needs to store the full uncompressed image data in memory. And for reveal, it at times needs an extra copy in memory along with an image for the reveal mask in memory. When you figure an image that is 10,000 x 8,000 pixels and using 24-bit color along with 8-bit transparency, you end up needing around 320 million bytes of data. Now have the extra copy needed for the reveal mask and then the reveal mask itself and then the extra copies needed for displaying the revealed area in the player view and then a few more images of the same size.... You end up running out of memory. And, really, for a typical HD TV display, the size it can display is 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. So you don't really need a 10,000 x 8,000 pixel image to display on a 1,920 x 1,080 pixel device with decent quality. You can usually get by with a much smaller image like 3,840 x 2,160 (double the resolution able to be displayed).

One thing to keep in mind with PNG and JPG formats is that both of them are compressed data formats. PNG uses compression techniques similar to ZIP files in that you get back exactly what you started while JPG can throw away color data that the human eye wouldn't notice to compress things.

So one approach you can take for Realm Works is to use a graphic editing program such as Paint.NET (which is free software) to load up images, resize them, and then save them out. You can also use this software to carve up a large image into several smaller pieces. Then import the smaller image or pieces into Realm Works instead.

 

[tomponzi]

Davidp

Thanks for the reply. I really am a noob when it comes to talking about memory and stuff like that. Is this something to do with the amount of RAM I would need on my machine or does the limit reside elsewhere. What I understand from your post (probably incorrectly) is having lots of images open would be a problem, but maybe not just one?

I'll check out Paint.NET and add it to the list of programs I need to learn, right after the whole Campaign Cartographer suite!

Mirtos

What would you recommend as an EASY (luddite friendly?) image manipulation program. It does not have to be free, but that would be nice.

 

[Parody]

What would you recommend as an EASY (luddite friendly?) image manipulation program. It does not have to be free, but that would be nice.

Paint.NET is pretty easy.

I still use Paint Shop Pro 8 for things, but you're not going to just wander on down to the store to buy a copy of that. The current one looks very different, so I have no idea how they compare.

 

[mirtos]

I think it depends on your operating system.

Windows/Mac?

Windows: I agree with Parody, if you're looking for simple. (though see the rest of my post)
Mac: not sure... i have the professional stuff on my mac. iPhoto MIGHT serve your needs not sure.

However, I'm a BIG fan of GIMP. Its free, its powerful. It exists for Windows/Mac/Linux.

Paint.NET IS pretty easy, but if you find yourself getting into it, you're going to wish eventually for a more powerful tool, and GIMP is it. It doesnt have everything something like Photoshop does, but it has a lot. Its quite awesome.