Server is up and should be all configured. If you have any issues downloading books, using tiamat, or the online store, please let me know asap.

I've been wanting to redesin my website for some time. This new design is really only a tweak to the old design, but it has one important change: it works on both desktop and mobile devices. And it's not two different sites (as is often the case), but rather one site that adapts. If you look at this site on your smartphone, it should adapt to the smaller screen size.

It's not ideal. When I saw it works, I don't mean it's flawless. But it's usable. Which is important to me since I spend a good deal of time these days on my phone and tablet.

Anyhow, I've been trying my best to clear my plate the last year so I can do more blogging and work on other projects. Getting this site working on mobile was one of those steps. Except a total resigned sometime in the not to distant future.

Gencon approaches and I want to continue with my gencon blogs I started last year. This is year 21 for me!

If you find something not working on the website due to these changes, please let me know asap (webmaster at rpgobjects.com).

I'm off to google i/o and will be in San Fransisco for most of the week. So any print orders this week will not ship until Friday.

The Tiamat Map Making Contest ended Dec 1st and the winner is... Mark Pankhurst's Temple of the Tentacled One:

Click for Large Image

The main reason I pick this one as my winner was its unique design and the fact that I kept thinking of great adventure ideas to fill it.

A also choose two Runner Ups:

Tiogshi Laj's Sacrifice Halls:

Click for Large Image

It was a little on the busy side, but it seemed to used such a wide variety of tile sets.

John Reiher's Swamp Castle:

Click for Large Image

Super clean design and also gave me ideas for an adventures.

Tiamat has just been updated. Included in this update is one of the most request features, multi tile selection. Now by holding the ctrl or shift key, you can add tiles to your selection. Thus you can move, cut, and paste larger sections of your map. I created a video that demonstrates this new feature:

In addition, I changed the tile placement icon from a blue box to the tile(s) currently selected. Those tiles should standout from the other tiles on the map as they are slightly transparent (except on IE).

I think there will be 1 or 2 more updates before I drop the Beta tag to Tiamat. I'll blog about the ramifications of that in the not too distant future.

Also, remember, I'm still running the Tiamat Map Building Contents until December 1st.

Tiamat has been in beta for awhile now. I took a break from development to work on Abandon All Hope, but it's time to get this beast out of beta! As I alluded to in an eariler blog, I'm going to run a map making contest.

So here it goes, the 1st official Tiamat Map Making contest!

The Prize:
1. FREE Miniature Map export of the winning map.
2. $5 credit added to your Tiamat balance.

How to Enter:
1. Create a map no larger 30 x 60 (the default size of new maps).
2. Make the map Public.

Rules:
1. Contest ends Dec 1st.
2. Make no more than 3 maps public.
3. Please do not use another person's public map as your submission. I can detect this and you will be disqualified (and magically cursed).

I created a new Tutorial Video: Creating a Map Start to Finish.

Our friends over at Role Playing Tips have produce a FREE City Encounter Generator and accompanying PDF with over 600 encounters! The content is all from the contest they held to celebrate 500 issues of Roleplaying Tips.

I updated Tiamat today. The changes are relatively small for the UI, but I had a few backend issues to address as well. I added auto save and a "select tile after placement" options. Both are managed through a settings windows.

The "select tile after placement" option is straightforward. The auto save feature will save your currently opened map periodically to a map called AUTO SAVE.

I wanted to make an adjustable tile palette size, but it proved to problematic for a number of reasons. So I moving on to other items and will revisit it later (i.e. multi tile selection).

I pushed a fairly big update to Tiamat today. 95% of what I want done for Beta is complete. If you login to Tiamat, many of the changes won't be initially apparent or accessible. Many features are disabled (basically anything that would cost money). Those elements will be enabled when I officially go into Beta with the next update (which should come soon).

But don't fret, there are still some new things to do. Other than bug fixes and UI tweaks, you can now export a Thumbnail Map. A Thumbnail map is a small map (10 dps) at a low resolution (72 dpi) for use on websites. These types of maps can be exported for FREE. Paid maps (adventure or miniature scale) will be exported in the same way.

So play with the new update and let me know what you think. Beta coming as soon as I finish up a few technical and non technical issues.

It arrived early and probably not at the most convenient time, but my new server has arrived. Now to get it built in between changing diapers. Once I do, the ability to export maps should come shortly after that.