A new version of Arcane Mapper has been released, version 1.0.2733. This version greatly improves stability and robustness when deleting rooms or vertices and when editing rooms in general.
Fixes include:
Validation on map load which attempts to fix invalid geometry.
Fixed a bug that could lead to crashes or invalid geometry when deleting rooms.
When deleting vertices, if the room is no longer a valid shape (for example having fewer than 3 vertices) then it is deleted.
Some invalid room configurations can no longer occur.
General stability improvements.
Please let me know if you still have stability issues with this build, please make a forum post or Discussion topic about it so these kinds of issues can be fixed as soon as possible.
AMD Fixes & Asset Improvements
Unfortunately Arcane Mapper was released with compatibility issues with some AMD drivers. I am happy to say that these issues have been fixed and lighting now works correctly on both AMD and NVidia GPUs. This was due to the cooperation of a few customers who were willing to report the issue, test new versions and report errors.
During the process the lighting was improved to fix a precision issue that could cause "stair step" artifacts on some walls. The result, though, is that the torches and example maps had to be tweaked. If you have a version prior to the fix - Version 1.0.2660 - then you will probably want to get the new assets, otherwise the torches may be harder to place and examples may look a little off. The new assets also include a few carpet objects to help decorate your maps.
Floor and wall decorations, like carpets, should be placed on the "Envronment Details" layer - in this layer they directly use the environment lighting - blending better with the environment. In addition, they do not get in the way when manipulating normal props (on the Props layer).
Note - if you purchased Arcane Mapper recently and have Version 1.0.2660 or later then you will have the improved assets and maps already. Otherwise to get the improved assets, go to the Steam Workshop tab on the Community Hub and Subscribe to the "Environment Example Update" item. That should download the item in your Steam client. Once you have downloaded the package, in Arcane Mapper you can select the Import From Steam in the Steam menu. Then click on the item in the list to import it. See the documentation for more information on importing and exporting packages and Steam Workshop.
The new Environments map should look like this:
Some people are still encountering stability issues, so that is still the top priority. Once that is done the missing features and other improvements will be continued in earnest. Thanks again to everyone who was willing to purchase this product in Early Access and to all those following the product and waiting for release.
Early Access Priorities.
I posted a plan towards getting from Early Access to a more feature complete releasable state - such as getting the liquids, door system and other systems in place. See http://steamcommunity.com/games/598180/announcements/detail/666939419452937838 for the list of planned builds.
However people are having more issues than expected so the initial goal is to work on stability, UI polish, documentation, tutorials and missing features. To that end, please post your bugs and issues on the forums or Arcane Mapper Discussion area here on Steam. Performance should improve dramatically with the next release and the Web Search system will be in place, making finding free assets for your games much easier (for personal use, not commercial obviously).
I want to stress, as I inadequately expressed previously, that this is Early Access release - if you want a polished or complete tool Arcane Mapper isn't there yet. In that case it may be best to wait for a few builds before diving in, unless you want to show your support early of course.
For everyone that has purchased the product so far, thank you. You will help shape Arcane Mapper into the high quality, useful and complete tool you need to enhance your games.
Startup Issues
Arcane Mapper has just been updated with a small hot-fix. On some systems Arcane Mapper was having issues starting up due to a missing redistributable not required by the main program but required by the Steam integration. This has been fixed, so if you have issues starting Arcane Mapper, please update it and try again.
Arcane Mapper Released
Arcane Mapper has been released as an Early Access title and can be purchased on the Store Page!
Several improvements did not quite make it into the first release, due to time constraints, so there will be an update sometime tonight or tomorrow. This update will have several enhancements:
* MUCH faster lighting and shadowing. I really wanted this to make the release but it wasn't quite done in time. In the meantime, if you experience slowdown, you can disable shadows or even lighting in the Lighting Tab while you are working and enable lighting to see the results.
* Additional UI improvements - right now you cannot change the default floor/wall texture and wall height, which will be problematic with big maps.
* Web search, which wasn't quite ready for the build.
* Inevitable bug fixes. :)
Once that build goes live a new trailer will be produced and more announcements elsewhere and work will begin on the other builds previously discussed.
People have been running into issues but this is your chance to help make this product better (the reason for Early Access). Please post any issues you are having in the Discussions area for the product or on the forums and they will be dealt with quickly (hopefully).
Small Delay Until April 28
Short Delay
The first build has been approved and is really close to a releasable state. However a few extra days are required to finish a few important performance improvements and missing UI.
This means that the first Early Access Release has been moved from Monday April 24 to Friday April 28. Even though this will be released as Early Access the quality of the release is important and worth a few extra days.
The free art I had used previously could not be included but Arcane Mapper will include a minimal set of objects and textures with more likely coming in the future. In addition it already supports Steam Workshop and integrating web search in order to make sharing and finding free assets for your games easy. The primary focus of Arcane Mapper has always been as a tool first rather than a set of art packs and DLC. Obviously any art I used previously can be found and hopefully the web search will make that process simpler.
Here is a rendering of one of the example maps that will be included with the release. The assets used in this map will be included with the release and may be used in your maps.
Commercial Use
The question of commercial use has come up a few times so I will now take the opportunity to make things a little more clear. See the EULA for more details but the important points are very simple.
First any content you create with Arcane Mapper is yours with all of the freedoms and responsibilities that entails. Think of it like creating an image in Photoshop or a model in Maya. This means you can sell your maps, use them in your personal games, give them to friends or post them online.
With that freedom comes responsibility. You are solely responsible for ensuring that you properly license any art work you use in your maps or packages. If you are using them for personal use - in your D&D games for example - then this isn't an issue. However if you use them commercially, then proper fees, licenses, etc. required from the author(s) are solely your responsibility. Art work included with Arcane Mapper, except for the logo, UI and manual art, can be included with your maps. However that art work cannot be sold on its own as your own.
Approaching Release
Arcane Mapper is approaching release, currently scheduled on April 24. The product is being released under Early Access in order to make it available to the community sooner so your feedback can help make this a better and more useful tool. As a side effect, the tool will be limited in some ways on release. The tool will be useful for certain types of maps from day one and has many nice features for building atmospheric maps for your games quickly and easily. However there are types of maps and scenarios - such as exteriors or city maps - where this tool will be less useful. This post is meant to show you how I plan on addressing its limitations quickly.
You can build dungeon style maps with atmospheric lighting and shadowing with simple room drawing and editing controls, forced perspective 3D looking walls - which you can adjust and even reduce entirely to the wall tops, easy drag and drop object placement - with faster methods of placement available, pits and raised areas - with height fog available for the pits, image rendering for Virtual Tabletops, PDF and image export, Steam Workshop support with the ability to import and export packages, very simple methods of adding assets and of course much more.
I plan on making this tool much more useful for different types of maps and to remove the limitations the program currently has. To accomplish this I have already planned out the near term Early Access builds - these builds should come along pretty quickly. Longer term, once the editor is solid, I will move into the Digital/Virtual Tabletop features - not listed here.
These builds are not necessarily listed in order, mostly in the order listed in the internal project documentation. These builds also do not cover bugs you guys find or changing priorities based on community feedback. For example, Virtual Tabletop features may be prioritized before some of these builds depending on community feedback.
Better Fog
Basic Editing Improvements
Procedural Enhancements
Door System
Stair System
Multi-level / Exterior Support
Steam Workshop
Steam Workshop is now officially supported by Arcane Mapper - if you are a Beta Tester, you should be able to go to the Community Hub on Steam and see the Steam Workshop page. Currently I have uploaded a test package that includes the new floors, walls and torches that will be included with Arcane Mapper, which you can see if you select Browse > Items. Obviously, for release, this won't be necessary so I will replace it with some example maps before release.
Currently I am working on the user interface, which should be done this week, for uploading and installing Workshop items. I am adding a description text area and thumbnail to the package UI and adding a simple interface for uploading your packages to Steam. You will be able to add release notes and update or create new Workshop items.
Of course, if you prefer, you can also distribute the package files yourself - if you want to give maps or assets to friends without having to go through Steam. Packages are also a handy way of backing up your Library or maps, or moving your custom work between installations of Arcane Mapper.
I am hopeful that these features, in addition to the built-in web search for free assets, will allow the community to share assets and build awesome looking maps for their RPG games.
Packages and Search
I have been busy fixing bugs, such as room connection issues that the Beta testers have found. In preparation for the upcoming first Early Access release, scheduled for the end of the month, I have been busy implementing missing features as well. Two of these features are the Asset Web Search and Package Import/Export with built in support for Steam Workshop.
The built in Asset Web Search is used to quickly find free assets to use in your maps - including search options for "free for non-commercial use" and "free for commercial use" options as well as the normal fair-use option (i.e. free for personal use). The search integrates directly in the program and assets you find can be immediately added to your Library. There are several built-in searches that are known to provide good results, so this will make finding assets for your games very simple.
In the screenshot above you can see the Export dialog (still work in progress) - this allows you to export any or all of your maps and assets. If you remove all assets - there will be buttons to quickly do this - than only those assets required to export the maps you have selected will be included. In this way you can distribute your maps and know that someone can open them up in Arcane Mapper while minimizing the amount of data you need to package. Of course you may distribute assets from your Library and not include maps. In addition, you will be able to include documentation with your package, if so desired.
You will also be able to upload your packages to Steam Workshop directly from the tool as well as import any packages that you have access to. During import you can also select which files you want, though they are all selected by default.
With these two features it will be easy for the community to share assets and to quickly find free assets to use when creating your maps. This is important, there will be no paid asset pack DLC for Arcane Mapper - as I have said many times, Arcane Mapper is a tool first and foremost, not a set of Asset Packs or paid DLC.
Searching for the perfect prop or light to add to your map can become quite tedious as your Library grows. Maybe you have sci-fi assets, fantasy assets and even modern day props for different maps. To make searching through all of these objects easier, Arcane Mapper will support a Tag system. A simple text file contains all of the tags you want to use with names, alternate strings, parents and a description. While the UI will allow you to add new tags easily, the simple text file allows these to be added outside of the editor, making sharing the perfect set of tags that much easier.
Any object may have many tags associated with it. For example a cabinet may be furniture and a container. It can even be SciFi (maybe its metallic) or Fantasy. Then the user can select which tags are visible and edit which tags are assigned to each object. In addition, the key words listed in with each tag allow the tool to automatically assign default tags to each object in your Library based on the original file name. For example TreasureChest.png might get assigned the Treasure, Chest and Furniture tags, where Furniture is the broader category that Chest belongs to.
The window containing the tags can grow to some extent, beyond which a scrollbar will be required. However I plan on adding features to make searching for tags easier, such as being able to type in part of the tag name(s).
