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RPGObjects News
Posted by Chris Davis on 2023-10-16
As anyone who has visited this website knows, it has been dormant for quite some time. I last published a book in 2013, which was a decade ago, and the last time I posted was in 2018, which was five years ago. Despite my lack of recent activity, the storefront, d20 modern character generator, and Tiamat tile mapper have remained active. However, the software running all these tools is quite outdated and poses a security risk. I'm faced with the choice of either upgrading everything or taking the site down. Frankly, upgrading will require too much time and money, neither of which I have right now. So, I plan to bring down this website in the coming months.

If you're reading this post, please log in and download all your ebooks, maps, and other files. I won't be deleting anything; instead, I will replace this site with a placeholder that includes contact information so customers can still access their books. However, it won't be as convenient for you or for me.

You will still have the option to purchase ebooks from DriveThruRPG.com and print books from Amazon. I may consider setting up a new storefront for selling books, as there are many software solutions available for that. However, the character generator and mapping software present a different challenge as they are custom-coded.

Regarding the d20 Modern Character Generator, I may consider making the code open source on GitHub. Although the code is quite old, it has the potential for improvement, and perhaps someone else can modernize it or individuals can run it locally.

As for Tiamat, please refrain from buying any additional tiles or maps that you cannot use immediately. There is no viable upgrade path for this tool, and it costs more to maintain than it generates in revenue. There are numerous other excellent mapping tools available, making open-sourcing the code (excluding the tiles) seem unnecessary.

I hope to publish again someday. I have numerous adventures, settings, and other games that are mostly complete, waiting for me to finish when I have more time. However, I've been saying that for years. :)

So, to reiterate, please log in and download all your ebooks, maps, and other files.

Posted by Chris Davis on 2012-10-28
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.

Posted by Chris Davis on 2010-12-03
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.

Posted by Chris Davis on 2010-11-17
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.

Posted by Chris Davis on 2010-11-03
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.

Posted by Chris Davis on 2010-07-02
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).

Posted by Chris Davis on 2010-05-03
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.