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The Fractal Mapper Version 2.01a NBOS Software

Available online from Hyperbooks for $31.50 or you can get mailed a floppy with documentation for $34.95. Visit NBOS's website for more information on purchasing: http://www.nbos.com/nbosfm.htm

System Requirements (taken from web page): 486 PC or higher with 8 meg of ram and 5 meg of free hard disk space running Microsoft Windows 95. Pentium class processor and 16-bit (64k) color graphics highly recommended for 3d terrain. On my 133 MHz Pentium, I had no problems, though randomly generated 3-D maps over 1000x1000 pixels started to bog the system down.

The Fractal Mapper is a drawing application which includes some tools specifically targeted for creating maps for roleplaying games: Fractal Lines and Shapes, 3-D Terrain, Hyperlinked Maps, Map Icons, Hex or Square Grid Overlay, and others.

As with other drawing applications, Fractal Mapper allows the user to create lines, shapes, and text as objects and then move them around, cut, and paste them wherever is needed. The standard tools are provided: line, triangle, ellipse, rectangle, and text. The user can select the line thickness and color, the fill color for shapes, and the text formatting (font, size, bold, etc., plus rotation).

These basic drawing functions work well, but higher end drawing programs like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw provide more options and greater freedom. For instance, in Fractal Mapper objects cannot be reshaped or resized after they are created -- to make these changes, you have the delete the object and redraw it. Also, Fractal Mapper's undo function only works on the last completed operation. When moving objects, the objects do not track as they are dragged, so placing objects can involve a bit of guesswork.

For those not familiar with fractal drawing tools, fractals are a mathematical way to draw realistic looking squiggly lines. They are particularly useful for drawing realistic coastlines, rivers, roads, caves, etc. On paper, it's easy to draw these freehand, but I find that it is not so easy with a computer mouse. To use the fractal tools, the user specifies either the rough boundary of a shape (like a continent or island) or the endpoints of a line and Fractal Mapper draws in a squiggly line. The user can change the "fractal seed" from 1 to 10 which controls how random and squiggly the line is (0 is a straight line and 10 is very random).

The 3-D terrain tool is used to create realistic looking relief maps. The user controls the basic boundary of the shape, the roughness of the terrain (5 grades from flat to mountainous), and the color-code for elevation; the software randomly fills in the details. This feature is great for making sharp and stunning maps. The software can even create a whole page of randomly generated 3-D terrain. My main quibbles are the lack of a fractal seed for the 3-D tools and there is no way to create a 3-D map from a 2-D map already created.

Hyperlinking allows the user to create linked maps. For instance, in the map of continent, the user can click on a city and the city's map is loaded and displayed on the screen. In that city map, the user can click on a building and the map of the building will be loaded. This hyperlinking could also be used for creating multi-level building maps. Text notes can also be added to each object or to the map as a whole, and these can be read when the object is selected. Therefore, a GM would not need a separate document with descriptions since it can all be accessed via the map. There is also the utility to link objects to NBOS's rpg database program, which is still in development.

The pre-designed map icons include icons for terrain (mountains, forest, swamp, etc.), structures (cities, keeps, ships, etc.), indoor features (tables, doors, bed, etc.), plus others. These are very easy to use -- the user selects an icon to use and clicks on the map to place it. The quality of the icons range from mediocre to nice, though adding new icons is easy -- any bitmap image can be used as an icon.

The user can overlay maps with hex or rectangular grids, adjusting the grid size to suit the scale of the map. Using the "snap to square grid" function speeds up the creation of indoor maps.

The software is straight-forward to pick up, especially if you have any experience with drawing programs. I did have to refer to the documentation for a few pointers. The online help system is useful, though lacking in specific examples or a tutorial. The manual is essentially a hard-copy of the online help, with some minor differences. A word of caution: to use the sample maps provided, be sure that you install the software in the default directory; otherwise, the hyperlinks get lost.

Files can be saved as Windows Bitmaps or Fractal Mapper's own format. I would have liked to have other options, like GIF or JPEG. There are several options in printing, including fitting maps to a page, printing only a subsection of a map, or printing to a specific scale. The latter is especially useful when using miniatures.

If you do not already own a drawing program, the Fractal Mapper is definitely a good buy. Experienced users of higher-end programs might get frustrated with Fractal Mapper and find that the fractal tools, 3-D terrain, and hyperlinking are not enough to warrant purchase. My personal preference is to continue to use another program for indoor maps but use the Fractal Mapper for outdoor maps.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Fractal Mapper 2.01a
Author: Ed Diana, et al. Category: Computer Mapping Program Company/Publisher: NBOS Software Playtest Review by Patrick Riley on 08/18/97. Genre tags: none	The Fractal Mapper Version 2.01a NBOS Software Available online from Hyperbooks for $31.50 or you can get mailed a floppy with documentation for $34.95. Visit NBOS's website for more information on purchasing: http://www.nbos.com/nbosfm.htm System Requirements (taken from web page): 486 PC or higher with 8 meg of ram and 5 meg of free hard disk space running Microsoft Windows 95. Pentium class processor and 16-bit (64k) color graphics highly recommended for 3d terrain. On my 133 MHz Pentium, I had no problems, though randomly generated 3-D maps over 1000x1000 pixels started to bog the system down. The Fractal Mapper is a drawing application which includes some tools specifically targeted for creating maps for roleplaying games: Fractal Lines and Shapes, 3-D Terrain, Hyperlinked Maps, Map Icons, Hex or Square Grid Overlay, and others. As with other drawing applications, Fractal Mapper allows the user to create lines, shapes, and text as objects and then move them around, cut, and paste them wherever is needed. The standard tools are provided: line, triangle, ellipse, rectangle, and text. The user can select the line thickness and color, the fill color for shapes, and the text formatting (font, size, bold, etc., plus rotation). These basic drawing functions work well, but higher end drawing programs like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw provide more options and greater freedom. For instance, in Fractal Mapper objects cannot be reshaped or resized after they are created -- to make these changes, you have the delete the object and redraw it. Also, Fractal Mapper's undo function only works on the last completed operation. When moving objects, the objects do not track as they are dragged, so placing objects can involve a bit of guesswork. For those not familiar with fractal drawing tools, fractals are a mathematical way to draw realistic looking squiggly lines. They are particularly useful for drawing realistic coastlines, rivers, roads, caves, etc. On paper, it's easy to draw these freehand, but I find that it is not so easy with a computer mouse. To use the fractal tools, the user specifies either the rough boundary of a shape (like a continent or island) or the endpoints of a line and Fractal Mapper draws in a squiggly line. The user can change the "fractal seed" from 1 to 10 which controls how random and squiggly the line is (0 is a straight line and 10 is very random). The 3-D terrain tool is used to create realistic looking relief maps. The user controls the basic boundary of the shape, the roughness of the terrain (5 grades from flat to mountainous), and the color-code for elevation; the software randomly fills in the details. This feature is great for making sharp and stunning maps. The software can even create a whole page of randomly generated 3-D terrain. My main quibbles are the lack of a fractal seed for the 3-D tools and there is no way to create a 3-D map from a 2-D map already created. Hyperlinking allows the user to create linked maps. For instance, in the map of continent, the user can click on a city and the city's map is loaded and displayed on the screen. In that city map, the user can click on a building and the map of the building will be loaded. This hyperlinking could also be used for creating multi-level building maps. Text notes can also be added to each object or to the map as a whole, and these can be read when the object is selected. Therefore, a GM would not need a separate document with descriptions since it can all be accessed via the map. There is also the utility to link objects to NBOS's rpg database program, which is still in development. The pre-designed map icons include icons for terrain (mountains, forest, swamp, etc.), structures (cities, keeps, ships, etc.), indoor features (tables, doors, bed, etc.), plus others. These are very easy to use -- the user selects an icon to use and clicks on the map to place it. The quality of the icons range from mediocre to nice, though adding new icons is easy -- any bitmap image can be used as an icon. The user can overlay maps with hex or rectangular grids, adjusting the grid size to suit the scale of the map. Using the "snap to square grid" function speeds up the creation of indoor maps. The software is straight-forward to pick up, especially if you have any experience with drawing programs. I did have to refer to the documentation for a few pointers. The online help system is useful, though lacking in specific examples or a tutorial. The manual is essentially a hard-copy of the online help, with some minor differences. A word of caution: to use the sample maps provided, be sure that you install the software in the default directory; otherwise, the hyperlinks get lost. Files can be saved as Windows Bitmaps or Fractal Mapper's own format. I would have liked to have other options, like GIF or JPEG. There are several options in printing, including fitting maps to a page, printing only a subsection of a map, or printing to a specific scale. The latter is especially useful when using miniatures. If you do not already own a drawing program, the Fractal Mapper is definitely a good buy. Experienced users of higher-end programs might get frustrated with Fractal Mapper and find that the fractal tools, 3-D terrain, and hyperlinking are not enough to warrant purchase. My personal preference is to continue to use another program for indoor maps but use the Fractal Mapper for outdoor maps. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Fractal Mapper 2.01a