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Top-Down Vehicle Graphics

S

Sturn

SOC-13
I've been trying to find some "top-down" graphics of Traveller vehicles, but have been unable to do so. I wish to find some top-down graphics to print out at 25mm scale and mount on poster-board for miniatue play. The graphics I find are excellent, but all are side or 3D view.

Vehicles are what I'm most interested in, but starcraft would be nice also so I can make cheap alternatives to buying Traveller starship minis.
 
My best advice:
Take deckplans, and trace them...

you can get from CT alone two different Air/Rafts, the GCarrier, the RF128, the Horonin ATV, and at least one other vehicle.
 
I should really do something with this sometime ;)

DorsalExterior.jpg
 
If I ever find a free/cheap drawing program that will do this, and is simple enough that I can learn it faster than I forget it, I'll make a library of these things. I'd find them very useful myself.

Don't hold your breath though, I've been looking for 5 years so far.

All the software I've found is either so basic that it won't join curves to lines (eg Word Draw) or is so complex I can't devote the time to learn its use (eg XxxxCAD).

Added: Then there's always the problem of compatibility. Could anyone else read a library created on some obscure software? and if I jpeg it, you get pixellation on scaling. :(
 
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Sturn said:
I've been trying to find some "top-down" graphics of Traveller vehicles, but have been unable to do so. I wish to find some top-down graphics to print out at 25mm scale and mount on poster-board for miniatue play. The graphics I find are excellent, but all are side or 3D view.
Click to expand...

IIRC (I'm at work so I can't check at the moment) "Tancred" by Judges Guild had something in '15mm' scale on the back cover.
 
Icosahedron said:
If I ever find a free/cheap drawing program that will do this, and is simple enough that I can learn it faster than I forget it, I'll make a library of these things. I'd find them very useful myself.

Don't hold your breath though, I've been looking for 5 years so far.

All the software I've found is either so basic that it won't join curves to lines (eg Word Draw) or is so complex I can't devote the time to learn its use (eg XxxxCAD).

Added: Then there's always the problem of compatibility. Could anyone else read a library created on some obscure software? and if I jpeg it, you get pixellation on scaling. :(
Click to expand...


Isoc, check out Serif Drawplus (vector drawing proggie). The earlier versions are free and the the prices then scale up to about $100 for the latest version. Even the earliest version should produce this sort of drawing and it's a snap (very intuitive) to use. Because there are no complicated fills or transparency, you could save the image as a WMF which is sort of vector based and scales nicely.

Or you can use something like the pro-fantasy stuff: Campaign Cartographer (or Cosmographer) and save the file in a vector (dxg. format) CC is basically a CAD programme anyway. Sturm, CC comes with lots of pregenerated symbols and you could very easily make your miniatures from them.

Ravs
 
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Awesome Far Trader,
you have posted the bottom deck
and now the overall top plan,
all we need now is the middle deck.
I for one would appreciate that very much.
Outstanding work overall.
 
Hemdian said:
IIRC (I'm at work so I can't check at the moment) "Tancred" by Judges Guild had something in '15mm' scale on the back cover.
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right. I bought Tancred many years ago, and while typical JG rubbish as an adventure, the top-down vehicles have done sterling service ever since.
 
Icosahedron said:
If I ever find a free/cheap drawing program that will do this, and is simple enough that I can learn it faster than I forget it, I'll make a library of these things. I'd find them very useful myself.

Don't hold your breath though, I've been looking for 5 years so far.

All the software I've found is either so basic that it won't join curves to lines (eg Word Draw) or is so complex I can't devote the time to learn its use (eg XxxxCAD).

Added: Then there's always the problem of compatibility. Could anyone else read a library created on some obscure software? and if I jpeg it, you get pixellation on scaling. :(
Click to expand...

Inkscape, dude. Inkscape! Inkscape! INKSCAPE!

I've found this vector illustration program incredibly simple to use, yet easily sophisticated enough for anything you can throw at it. It only took me a few nights' worth of mousing around with it to get the hang of it, and now all my in-game Traveller charts and maps are done with it.

It's also totally free (as in "beer"), cross-platform (Win/Mac/Linux/Unix), and is designed to work natively in the widely-available (and very web-savvy) SVG file format.

If you've already checked Inkscape out and rejected it, then I apologize for all the rhetorical collar-clutching and neck-shaking. But it really is a good drawing program, and appears to be everything you mentioned that you were looking for. I suggest you give it a try.
 
ravells said:
Or you can use something like the pro-fantasy stuff: Campaign Cartographer (or Cosmographer) and save the file in a vector (dxg. format) CC is basically a CAD programme anyway. Sturm, CC comes with lots of pregenerated symbols and you could very easily make your miniatures from them.
Click to expand...

I have CC, but have only used it to make complicated fantasy land maps. The thing I don't like about CC is that since I only use it from time to time, it seems I have to sit down and relearn it due to its steep learning curve. Making deckplans and vehicle graphics may be easier, so I may have to install it try once again.
 
I'm with you a thousand percent there, Sturn, CC is a bit of a monster, like most cad-based stuff, and I don't have time to learn it once, let alone re-learn it three to five times a year!
Fractal Terrains is the only program of theirs I've figured out how to use.

Thanks for the other suggestions, guys, I think I may have tried Drawplus a while back, but I'll check.

Inkscape is a new one. "simple, sophisticated, FREE, cross-platform, widely-available"? That seems to tick all the boxes. :)
Might be worth investing some time to check it out. Thanks.
 
Andrew Boulton said:
Here's a Trepida:

http://www.traveller3d.com/pics/trepida.jpg
Click to expand...

That is perfect thanks! Exactly what I was looking for. Now to find an air/raft, APC, ATV.........:)


For those who want top-down views of starcraft for making counters, I totally forgot about the new T5 ship recognition guide. I think there is a small pic of it on the farfuture site? It is a card with nearly all of the standard Traveller ships in a top view. Have to have ordered a farfuture product or pre-ordered T5 to get it I think. I think I got mine with the MT CD.
 
I found an old battered copy of MT's "Brilliant Lances" in my basement. It has a sheet of counters for this starship combat supplement similar to Mayday. If anyone happens to have this, the counters would be great substitutes for the expensive minis used for play.

The counters include all kinds of craft: small craft (launches, pinnaces, etc), Free Trader, Far Trader, Fat Trader, Merc Cruiser, Patrol Cruiser, Vargr Corsair, etc, etc. Even Zhodani and Aslan craft. There are multiple painting schemes for the craft, for example no two of the Scout ship counters look alike.

I wish I could scan them and upload the graphics for others to use, but of course the copyright gods might strike me down.
 
One correction, "Brilliant Lances" was for TNE, not MT. It catches some of the anti-TNE heat and doesn't get the attention it deserves.

The counters are quite nice. I haven't punched them out, so I might put them on the scanner. I'm getting some ideas for space combat and they'd be a big help.
 
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