Threw in the towel on ps18xx PostScript tile work

After much fiddling, I posted a request for help to the Yahoo group to see about making print-ready tile sheets. Several people, particularly the old hands, already have scripts that make this a breeze. I had hoped to figure it out on my own, but the sheer number of "Magic Numbers" inside the ps18xx files threw me for a loop. I'd also like to create and release to the public a script or front-end that makes this easier to generate.

I worked out how to adjust the scale, how to increase/decrease space between tiles, change/remove the page header, change font sizes on the tiles, add/remove tile numbers, change orientations, change labels, and so on. BUT I can't figure out how to adjust the number of tiles per row/column. I suspect the key is in the main drawing loop, but how precisely to do that (to make for exactly 4/5/6 columns of tiles instead of the normal 8, I couldn't work out.

Also eluding me was how to cause my edited file to be a multi-page document. I'm not sure if it's a defect in GhostScript, or in my own edited files, but all the pages after the first were blank.

The frustrating thing is that this could be so much easier. It would be fairly simple for a better web designer than me to generate a frontend where one checked boxes to select all the desired tiles, then chose where to put them. It would also be moderately challenging to create a graphical frontend for manipulating these files. Marco Rossi's Tile Designer readme files and webpage hint at the creation of an entire tileset generator, which would also create print-ready maps.

I've been experimenting with Inkscape, and that seemed interesting. I don't know how much work in it I want to re-create, but within 5 minutes of downloading it, I was creating perfect hexes, combining them into single objects, and so on. The tough part is going to be the roads, etc.

What works against everyone is the fact that most people don't inherently "get" the idea of vector versus raster graphics. My friend Larry and I were brainstorming yesterday when he came over to see the new baby. Earlier this year, I got him hooked on Paint.NET for raster work, but he still needs to flip over to Corel's stellar, $300 program to do vector work. I know that several of the train game experts use Corel Draw 10 as well. I've seen that at least one uses Visio, which I hadn't considered before reading that.

The final issue with file creation is that web users and playtesters, for the most part, need PDFs to print, rather than the original .ps or .eps or .svg files used to create the PDFs; PDFs are universally understood, and the original file-types are not. Lowering the barriers to trying your game makes it more likely it'll be playtested, and ultimately, that determines whether the game's a success.

I just keep thinking, "If I could create a good-looking map and good-looking tiles using a better, faster, automatic method than hand-drawing everything from scratch, I could halve the time it takes to create a working prototype. That'd also make it so much simpler to release a good-looking prototype, rather than a mediocre-looking one. The reduction in time to create a commercial print version would probably also be halved, though never having done so, I can't swear to that."

The home-grown tools used by the designers aren't new. They take what works, and add on new bits incrementally, but there are still major holes in the creation process.

Is this bad? Maybe. I read that Steam Over Holland, formerly known as 18IR, took about a year to go from prototype to final version. Interesting stuff.