It was developed as a mapping assistant for classic cRPG games like Wizardry and Might & Magic - a replacement for graph paper with the conveniences that an electronic document provides. The idea being you run DosBox in a window and next to it (or on a second monitor) you run this and as you scout around the dungeon you build up a map.
Since launch it has been well received over at the GOG.com forum and RPG Codex, it has grown rapidly to include many advanced features such as importing custom tile sets, new themes (including a CGA mode for an even greater retro experience), full clipboard functionality and a popup brush selection screen for rapid switching.
Here’s the sort of thing you can make using the recently added ‘export to image’ feature:
I’m very open to feature requests and look forward to any feedback.
You’re making me want to play the first Might & Magic now. Good luck with the release!
(Also, any other would-be forum sales-pitchers, take note. This is how it’s done: Up-front, modest, and to-the-point. And it’s something QT3ers would appreciate that we might not have heard of otherwise.)
Thanks for the warm welcome, it’s always a bit nerve-racking posting for the first time in a new community :-)
I’m glad I’ve inspired you to play Might and Magic again! Number 2 in the series always draws me in with it’s simplicity.
This project was one that I started shortly after buying Wizardry 6 and promptly getting very lost and falling off a tower. I think the secret to making good software is making something you want to use for your own enjoyment. I find myself scouting around for hours in these games now, role playing a guy with a map grumbling about ‘inconvenient’ fights.
Glad you like it and yeah, I hope people get inspired to play these old gems again!
I have the M&M 1-6 collection and can’t bring myself to try the older ones that don’t have automap. So this little program of yours just might be the answer.
Its nice your paid version is only $5, that’s very reasonable for a tool that P&P DMs will find very handy.
Thanks for all the kind words! I’m not going to spam this board every time I made an update but I thought you might like to know that in the 3 days since I’ve posted this thread I’ve added:
Native PNG export
Repeating mode for axis numbers - as a result of a request from someone looking to re-create Might and Magic 1’s world map.
Improved toolbar with options to turn sections on/off and a paint-can button to fill selected areas.
Several new tiles: A ‘simple block’ without the automatic edges of a regular block. An exclamation mark and speech bubble tiles for events and messages respectively (or whatever you want them to mean!).
Improved note mode with a visual indicator of where you’re placing a note, the ability to change that during editing and an edit mode for existing notes.
and numerous fixes and usability enhancements.
I hope you enjoy this extra stuff and look forward to further suggestions!
Not sure how many game developers will read this, but v1.3.4 can now export maps as XML files.
You can use this data to drive your own engine and make grid based games with it. I made a reference manual for it too: http://www.davidwaltersdevelopment.com/tools/gridcart/xml-export-ref.html . Probably I should learn Unity and make a tech demo for people since parsing XML and making your own engine is kind of a dying art now (and that’s probably a good thing). Not enough hours in the day though :)
Other than that I’ve also added a top-left option for people like me who find bottom-left … just … really weird.
This is primarily a collection of bug fixes for the PC version I’ve discovered while making the code more portable.
You may also be interested to know that I’m currently developing a spin-off project for Android devices called “Grid Cartographer Touch” :-)
I’m hoping for it to be a very close equivalent to the PC version, as close as possible feature wise. There’s a lot of code to make touch screen compatible (and a fair bit of learning how to do so Android specific things) so it’s still a way off yet, but the thought of being able to play games in full-screen, to doodle new map ideas while I’m out, and to transfer maps back and forth between the PC and phone/tablet is definitely making this project seem like a great idea.
I’ve rewritten a ton of stuff to be touch friendly and hopefully it’s nice to use. As with the PC version I’ll continue to develop updates and improvements as suggestions roll in. The PC version has had over 40 updates so far and this version benefits from being a lot more feature packed and mature than the original v1.0 of that release!
Also, if you’ve drawn maps on the PC version then you’ll be pleased to know that this version is 100% compatible with those files, so you can carry on where you left off, or transfer them back and forth, etc.
I have so many pieces of paper with maps of forgotten lore stored away… with this they could be digitized and I’d free up space :)
And I might dare venture into more dungeons :)
Thanks, I’m glad I made a mobile version as running games full screen is a nice benefit. Android is still quite new to me so I hope to make improvements that make it more useful over time. For example, today I will be looking at adding a ‘share’ button which will hook into Dropbox, E-Mail, etc.
I’d love to make iPad (and Mac desktop) version someday, but I’m at the disadvantage of needing £1,150 worth of Mac products to even get started :-( Feel free to write a stern letter to Apple about providing a PC based tool-chain for iPad ;-)
