GMT Barbarossa and Gamers' OCS, SCS

robarrieta

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Hi guys. Great idea for a VASSAL forum!

I would like to know if anyone has any plans on creating VASSAL mods for GMT's Barbarossa East Front games series or for any additional Gamers' OCS and SCS titles?

(Gary K. - I know I've talked to you about this and I still plan on sending you a couple of games via mail)

Also, I may try my hand at creating some mods myself. Can anyone recommend a good scanner that could do the job.

Obviously, I plan on contacting each company to get their OK should I move forward.

Thanks,
Rob
 

GJK

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Hey Rob - cool, glad you joined us here! :)

My scanner is such a piece of junk, it barely suffices - you can see a scan in this screenshot on my map making tutorial:



But, since I redraw the maps/counters anyways, all that I need the scanner to do is give me an image to trace over. What you do would depend on your proficiency with a graphics program and/or the time you wish to spend making the module. Some people have good enough scanners that they can get away with making a module using just the scans and they look fine. I obviously aren't so lucky....

SO, I too would be interested in hearing about some decent scanner models as I have been looking to finally replace mine. I'd prefer NOT to get an all in one - though they are rare now, I want just a scanner, I have enough printers and faxes. Rob may prefer an all in one though, so any suggestions that anyone has would be welcomed.
 

travillaintim

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Well I use a Canon flatbed LiDE 30/N1240U.

I dont scan much but one trick I've learned is to scan in at a very high resolution i.e 600dpi.
The image will be very large and very pixelated almost grainy but this is fine

Using Photoshop or Fireworks I load up the horrible image and redefine it to a different resolution. Then use the wand filter with a wide tolerance, pick the basic color areas and erase / repaint them. This will make those tiny images such as the men on a SL counter look sharp, holding their form. See the counter below that was a pure scan. The original counter size is only 1/2" x 3/4" approx but as you can see the image is quite good. All it needed was a little clean up.
 

KLG

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For a flatbed scanner I'd recommend the Epson Perfection 3490 Photo. It's a decent scanner for basic photo and text scans and you can probably get it for around $100. The Epson Perfection 4490 Photo is a step up but probably costs over twice as much. It would probably run around $225 give or take.

I don't much about other brands, I've just always used Epson scanners because I've never had a problem with the two I've bought.
 

Swampwallaby

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robarrieta said:
Also, I may try my hand at creating some mods myself. Can anyone recommend a good scanner that could do the job.
First thing I always check is to see if you can get hold of some existing artwork on the 'net somwhere that will be suitable. It is amazing what you can find sometimes.
 

GJK

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Countertroll said:
and a Wacom Graphire 4 pen tablet for detailed tracing.
I have a Wacom Graphire - that I've had for a while now and have used maybe 5 times. I just can't get used to it - I seem more precise with the mouse. With the pen, I'm always picking up - hovering - trying to find my "bearings". Maybe I just need more practice with it?
 

robarrieta

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Would someone mind pointing me in the right direction on where I can find a tutorial in tracing?

Gary - you're artwork kicks ass. How did you learn?

Thanks,
Rob
 

GJK

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robarrieta said:
Would someone mind pointing me in the right direction on where I can find a tutorial in tracing?

Gary - you're artwork kicks ass. How did you learn?

Thanks,
Rob
Wow, thanks Rob! I'm self taught in Photoshop - I think I started with Photoshop 5 on a Mac for a company that was using it. I had to learn or walk. :laugh:

To me, the trick is making the selection on the "canvas". Select by color range, the lasso tool, the selection box of course, and some other methods are the key to me. Once you've selected the right area, then it's just a matter of Edit > Fill to color it in.

What graphics program(s) do you have? Paint Shop Pro is highly recommended though I've never really used it I'm sure it's very comparable to Photoshop (except in price). There's a list of freeware graphics programs on the vassalengine.org site as well in the documentation area. I haven't used any of those but someone may have a recommendation. Once you decide on which graphics program that you want to get comfortable with, I'd just start hitting the web looking for free tutorials.

If you have or decide to get Photoshop, I can send you some of my original .psd files that would have all the various layers so that you could kind of see how I do things. I'm supposed to finish my map making tutorial and include screenshots with all of that in it - I should do that one of these days!
 

Countertroll

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The VASL Cabal uses Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro for the boards, overlays and counters; depending on personal preference.

I use both depending on the job.
I scan in PSP.
I trace in either, it depends on what I intend to do with the finished product.
I really prefer the layers in Photoshop and all the VASL gifs that have been updated are flatened psd to gif images.

The Wacom I bought myself for Christmas to improvethe counter work. I think that I am getting my groove with it. When I first sit down every time I play a lot of 'find my cursor' but after a few minutes it is no problem.

As far as tracing goes, Corel Draw or Illustrator are better choices since they are vector programs, but I have no skill in either and am fine with the results in Photoshop.

As far as a tutorial goes....
 

Countertroll

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Oh, and if you do note mind Gary, I would like to see some of your templates. I am sure that I can pick up something.

thanks
 

KLG

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I use Paint Shop Pro for my stuff and, like Gary, I'm self taught.

I'd like to try PhotoShop sometime but I just don't have the $$$$ ..... and I agree, Gary's graphics kick butt and I wish I new how he does it .... *hint* *hint* :halo:
 

Swampwallaby

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I use the Gimp. It's free and does everything I want.

(Except for converting images from CMYK to RGB properly!)
 

GJK

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Ok guys - for a short period of time, I've uploaded a portion of the .psd file for the map for "No Better Place To Die", with all of the layers intact including the original scan so that you can see how I break it down. Not sure if it will actually help anybody, but if interested:

Part 1 (11 MB)

Part 2 (7.2 MB)

You'll need WinRAR to piece it back together again: LINK (you won't need to buy it). Just double click on Part 1 after you've downloaded both and it will ask you where to extract it to.

I don't know if PSP or another program will open the .psd file properly (layered) or not - so this may not be very helpful at all-
 

GJK

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No problem! I'll let Kenn grab those and then I'll pull them down - large files.

Again, not sure what, if anything you can learn from them but if you have questions about how or why I did something, just let me know!
 

Jab5450

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Scanners models

Hi Men,last year I created a vassal module for GMT's Great Battles of Alexander.For most of the maps I just scanned them using my lexmarkX75,then using the paint app that comes with windows I repainted most of the large map areas,leaving things like cities and river banks from orginial scan(also leave a few hex sides so u know where to place) and was very happy with the results.You can dl my mod here---

http://www.geocities.com/jbowersjab@sbcglobal.net/Alexmod.html?1104972427062

and checkout the maps for yourselves,The tricky part for me was ajusting the location and size of the hexes to match the game maps.Hope this helps.Also I'd be glad to assist anyone on vassal mod creation.I'm no guru by any means but I know a little.

Later......................................:smoke:
 

GJK

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Jab5450 said:
Hi Men,last year I created a vassal module for GMT's Great Battles of Alexander.For most of the maps I just scanned them using my lexmarkX75,then using the paint app that comes with windows I repainted most of the large map areas,leaving things like cities and river banks from orginial scan(also leave a few hex sides so u know where to place) and was very happy with the results.You can dl my mod here---

http://www.geocities.com/jbowersjab@sbcglobal.net/Alexmod.html?1104972427062

and checkout the maps for yourselves,The tricky part for me was ajusting the location and size of the hexes to match the game maps.Hope this helps.Also I'd be glad to assist anyone on vassal mod creation.I'm no guru by any means but I know a little.

Later......................................:smoke:
Nice job Jab!

Note that Brent (Swampwallaby here) has worked up a nice addition for a future release of VASSAL that will let you adjust the hexgrid visually to fit your map - just move the hexgrid via arrow keys until they're in place where you want them on your map and it automatically plugs in the correct X/Y coordinates. That alone will save a ton of time when it comes to making modules. I had been recommending that you first align your map to a hexgrid taken from a blank map in VASSAL of the same size in your graphics program, but Brent's addition to the VASSAL editor will make that idea obsolete.
 
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