Planetary Updates!

Two of my favourite mapping software has just been updated!  Fractal Terrains 3 and AstroSynthesis v3.0!

The most amazing update for Fractal Terrains 3 is the option to export to Google Earth!  As well as faster refresh and draw time!

So what is new in Fractal Terrains 3?

• CC3, Google Earth, Cosmographer 3 and 16-bit PNG export.
• Screen rendering on mulitcore processors is twice as fast or more.
• The complex mathematical operations used in Fractal Terrains are up to 20% faster.
• Performance scales better with the number of processors available on the system.
• The interface has been improved with a variety of themes.
• Added texture-based climate shader which works on sea areas.
• Added normalize tool to manually fix problems with painting in earlier versions that could cause black areas to appear on the world.
• Many niggles and bugs fixed and export libraries updated.

Price: 32.95 (27.95 for download only)

Fractal Terrains 3 is perfect as stand alone or if you own Campaign Cartographer 3 and any of the add-on software you can export your maps to scale!  This is a HUGE time saver if you are making several different overland maps to scale!

AstroSynthesis allows you to create an entire galaxy all in 3D!  Star Coordinates, System Generator, Planet Maps, Animations, Search Functions and so much more! You can even choose to use the built in Planet Generator or Profantasy’s Fractal Terrains!

So what is new in version 3?

• New Integrated Orbital Display
• Multiple Star System Display
• Flexible System Generator
• Terraforming
• Fixed-Number Star System Generation
• On the Fly Surface Map Generation
• 3D Models
• Background Images
• Anti-Aliased Graphics
• Natural Language Search
• Sector Date and Time Tracking
• Travel Calculator
• Video Recording / Movie Making
• New Storage Engine
• Automatic Updater
• Better Windows 7/ Vista support

Price:  $34.95 US (download only) or $20.00 to upgrade

I have been using both programs since they first came out and I have been pleased to purchase every upgrade that has come out since.  If you play any space faring game such as GURPS, Serenity, Traveller, RIFTS, or any other type of game then these programs are for you!  I even use AstroSynthesis for my Fantasy campaign as I use it to figure out the position of the planets and stars!

Are you a wargamer instead?  I also use AstroSynthesis for campaigns in my Warhammer 40,000 games.  AstroSynthesis is perfect for generating the systems that we play over, distances and travel time then export to CC3 for local maps with Cosmographer 3.  The possibilities of these two products is almost endless!

I would also like to add that both companies have amazing customer service.  I’ve never had a problem with them answering questions that I have had in the past.

Get over to their respected web pages and read more about these amazing products!

World Works Games Relaunch!

We’re Just Getting Started!

WorldWorksGames is nearing its 10th anniversary and as astounding as that number is to those of us who’ve been around since the beginning, what’s more exciting is just how far we have left to go. This decade long journey saw WWG setting many new standards, occasionally fumbling but always pushing the limits of where we could take the medium and the market. The journey has taught us that the road isn’t just long, it never truly ends and each new place we visit is more amazing than the last. Put simply; WorldWorksGames has finally come of age and we want you by our side as we explore new paths.

We can’t say the above without mentioning the incredible nature of the community which has formed around us over the past decade. Bar none, the WorldWorksGames community is one of the friendliest, most supportive communities out there. You simply won’t meet a better group of people and we are constantly humbled by how fortunate we are to have you along with us for the ride.

At Home with WorldWorksGames

To us, the WWG website is about much more than the same old, tired e-store experience you’ve seen a million times before. To us, its always been a place to hang your hat, talk with like-minded friends and explore the potential of the hobby together. Though we’ve worked very hard for the past year to ensure an intuitive shopping experience, our focus moving forward will be on the community, how to make it stronger, more supportive, more inspiring and it will never truly be finished (so watch the wet paint!). This is a work in progress fueled by you!

New Store Features

Reduced Prices!: Over the years we’ve seen pricing trends change dramatically while the market found its feet. To that end, we’ve adjusted pricing catalog wide to help you stretch your hobby dollars to the max! Food and clothing are just as important as gaming goods…we realize that!

Robust Catalog Filtration Tools: You can now browse our catalog by Category, Genre and Product Line. We’ve broken our products into distinct product lines, with detailed descriptions for each, to help you make an informed purchase decision each step of the way!

FREE Kitbashes!: Product owners now have completely free access to fan modified kitbashes associated with each core catalog purchase. Kitbashes remain available for purchase to those who do not own or for whatever reason do not wish to own the model set from which they were derived. (More kitbashes to be added and updated from our archives as we move forward).

Easy Downloads with “Collections”: We’ve created an all new “My Home” area which includes 3 handy visual collections tools. My Collection, My Kitbashes & My Freebies offer you a visually intuitive listing of your purchases and complimentary contents. Simply scan to the product image of your choice and hit “Download”. Doesn’t get any simpler than that!

Public Profiles: The single best way to promote community growth is to promote community members as individuals! With Public Profiles, users can opt to share details about themselves, their builds, their product reviews, their hobby and their level of support in general. We have additional enhancements coming to the Public Profiles area which will offer tighter integrations to other areas (forums/galleries) and connect users in unique ways, to inspire, to forge friendships and offer guidance. You can also use Public Profiles to check in on your favorite designers to see what they’ve created in the past and what they are working on right now!

Countdowns: After a product hits a specific level of completion on our “In the Works” meter on our homepage, you can expect a countdown to start which exactly marks a products launch date on our store.

News & Social Networks: WorldWorksGames will be fully supporting regular updates to FaceBook and Twitter feeds as well as regular RSS support and a newly streamlined newsletter format. Keeping up to date with WWG has never been easier!

Expanded FAQ / Tutorials Area: We’ve expanded and consolidated our tutorials, support materials and information into an easy to browse listing.

More Friends on the Way!: You can expect to see some fresh faced designers around WorldWorksGames as we continue to expand our catalog and product range (you may even know a few of them). You will also see unique features from time to time with a focus on maximizing your table top gaming experience!

Much More to Come!

We aren’t done yet! The truth is that the new WorldWorksGames store has many planned features waiting in the wings for implementation. We have broad improvements to community features, a richer user experience and support structure, additional shopping tools and much more on the way! Our goal is to provide you with the best online shopping experience and community experience possible for tabletop gaming related goods, both digital and otherwise.

Like we said; we’re just getting started!

Campaign Cartographer July 2011 Annual

Profantasy The Cartographer’s Annual 2011 July issue is a paper diorama of mines.

July ’11

The July issue of the Annual 2010 a customizable mine diorama that you can print and assemble as you need. Created with Dioramas Pro, it also shows off many of that add-ons features without the need of actually owning it!

Mine Cart

The style contains 14 A4/Letter pages of Dioroma goodness. Ech of these can be customized on its own, and together they allow you to build almost any mine layout. The accompanying mapping guide gives hints and tips for customization and assembly.

The map pack Mine Diorama includes

1 new drawing style
2 new template wizards (Imperial and metric units)
2 new symbols
8 bitmap fills
32 new drawing tools
1 new effect setting
15 pages of example diorama parts
15 pages of blank diorama parts
1 4-page mapping guide

You must own Campaign Cartographer 3 and a subscription to the 2011 annual to use them.  I’m hoping that this will mean an upcoming Dioramas 3.

I’ve been pushing for an update for Dioramas and Character Artist (for paper figures) for months now.

Free RPG Day is THIS SATURDAY!

Dungeon Crawl Classics

Visit your local participating game store on Saturday, June 18 to pick up your Free RPG Day goodies! Goodman Games is offering the DCC RPG Adventure Starter, which contains a brief introduction to the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game AND two adventures! This module includes a level 0-1 adventure for kick-starting your campaign, and a level 5 adventure to sample higher-level play. Visit www.freeRPGday.com to find a participating retailer today!

If you’re playing DCC RPG on Free RPG Day, be sure to download the DCC RPG beta rules and participate in our open playtest!

And even if you’re not sure whether you’ll play DCC RPG at your local game store, you can be ready for a pickup game by downloading our DCC RPG Quick Start Rules.

See you on Free RPG Day!

Last chance to score a 2003-2010 Archive DVD!

World Works Games releases – The Garden

The Garden

“An elaborate underground garden lit by softly glowing light coming from glowing crystals in the ceiling twenty feet above. Gravel walkways wind between, cracked granite benches and surround a cobblestone fountain filled with crystal-clear water. To the south, a gently flowing creek runs across a pebbly streambed that passes through a rock garden and into an iron grill drain along a passageway to the south. To the north, a lone almond tree stands in alcove, while to the west, a double arch leads to a small circular room. Four sandstone sculptures chiseled into the forms of huge angry faces stand throughout the room”

- Excerpt from Pathfinder Adventure Path #20: “House of the Beast”

This Pathfinder compatible terrain setting is ideal for ornamental garden locations of all shapes and sizes. From backyard, to royal grounds, to subterranean cavern of wonders! The Garden is completely TerrainlinX compatible and can be freely mixed and matched with all other TerrainlinX terrain settings. Build your garden complex to any required configuration or height, remove or add floors/walls on-the-fly and store everything flat when finished!

The Garden includes all of the following:

PROPS

• 3 Granite benches
• Cobblestone fountains
• Wooden bridge
• Almond tree
• 3 Stone Speaker sandstone heads
• 1”, 1.5” and 3” wide stair sections

GROUND TILES

• Grass, Gravel, Raised garden bed transitions & Water feature tiles in zero-grid, 1”-grid & 1.5”-grid formats
• Grass: 1- 6”X3”, 2- 3”X3” & 2- 6”X6” (in all grid & non-grid formats)
• Gravel: 1- 6”X3”, 2- 3”X3” & 2- 6”X6” (in all grid & non-grid formats)
• Raised bed transitions: 3- 6”X3”, 4- 3”X3” & 1- 6”X6” (in all grid & non-grid formats)
• Water features: 5- 6”X6” (in all grid & non-grid formats)

SINGLE STORY WALLS

• 15- 3” arch walls (with and without openings)
• 4- 3” straight walls
• 2- 6” straight walls
• 6- 6” arched walls (includes waterfall)
• 9- Short angle arched walls
• 4- Long angle arched walls

2-STORY WALLS

• 6- 3” walls with upper cave trim (includes 2 arch openings)
• 8- 6” walls with upper cave trim
• 4- Long angle walls with upper cave trim
• 3- Short angle walls with upper cave trim

POSTS

• Regular posts
• Angular posts
• 2-story posts low (angular posts included)
• 2-story posts high (angular posts included)

FULL GSD SUPPORT!

• All files automated cutter friendly for those with CraftRobo or Silhouette SD craft cutters.

$11.95 USD

RPGNow.com DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS FLOOD RELIEF

Record monsoon rains caused flooding that left almost 2,000 people dead and 20 million homeless. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani estimates crop losses at $3.3 billion, total damage of about $7 billion. People displaced by the flooding that began at the end of July are still living in temporary shelters, such as schools, or in tents. Doctors Without Borders continues to provide medical care, clean water, and relief materials.

Following the success of our previous fundraisers for DWB during the Haiti Earthquake Reponse we have decided to put together a new charity effort to raise funds for relief efforts in Pakistan. Several publishers have donated some very cool items to help us raise funds for Doctors Without Borders. The bundle will be available until 10:00 AM EST, Monday, October 25th.

Donate $25.00 and receive over $700 in RPG titles

Donate $10.00 and receive over $100 in comics titles from our sister site, DriveThruComics.com

These are some amazing deals, and all of the proceeds from your purchase of the bundles will be donated to DWB for Pakistan aid. Thanks to all the publishers and creators who have donated their creative works to these bundles!

Click here for more information

MAYHEM: Armoury 4 / Mayhem Destroyed!

Mayhem Destroyed

MAYHEM: Armoury #4 / Mayhem DESTROYED!

Concluding the Terranlinx updates for Mayhem Armoury comes set #4: Mayhem Destroyed! Wargamers rejoice, your dreams of an affordable shattered city-scape to fight over have come true! Mayhem Destroyed gives you everything you need to create the smouldering remains of urban destruction on your tabletop! Stack ruined floors and crumbling walls to create towers of sniper-filled terror! Send your models up pitted stairs, across rickety metal walkways and up fully functinal, totally modular ladders! Take cover behind wrecked cars, burning barrels and piles of debris! Or cat-walk your way along iron girders in a desperate bid to get out of harm’s way! Mayhem Destroyed also features multi-grid format tiles, giving a seemingly grildess appearance at first glance but using hidden elements within the design to create unobtrusive 1″ and 1.5″ grids! And best of all, while Mayhem Destroyed is a fully-contained stand alone set, it’s also completely compatible with all three previous Mayhem Armoury sets, adding some serious destroy-as-you-play MAYHEM to your Mayhem!

World Works Games Mayhem Destroyed

MAYHEM: Armoury #4 / Mayhem DESTROYED! contains all of the following:

• T6 U-shaped Destroyed Floors 6″x6″ in multi-grid format
• 6 L-shaped Destroyed Floors 6″x6″ in multi-grid format
• 12 L-shaped Destroyed Hallways 3″x6″ in multi-grid format
• 12 L-shaped Destroyed Small Floors 3″x3″ in multi-grid format
• Destroyed Groundtiles 6″x6″ (plain and damaged), 3″x3″ and hallway in multi-grid format
• 3″ and 6″ Broken Ledges in 6 styles in multi-grid format
• Broken Ledge supports in 5 styles
• 5 6″ destroyed walls in interior/exterior format
• 5 6″ destroyed walls in double-interior format
• 5 3″ destroyed walls in interior/exterior format
• 5 3″ destroyed walls in double-interior format
• 5 Destroyed half-walls in interior/exterior and double-interior format
• Double-sided brick walls in 1″, 1.5″, 2″, 3″ and 6″ lengths (with and without grafitti)
• 2-way, 3-way and 4-way posts in all brick and iron girder styles
• 4-way, open-corner and open-side double-height posts in all brick and damaged styles
• 3″ and 6″ destroyed double-height walls in double-sided brick style
• Brick stairs in 1″, 1.5″ and 3″ wide versions
• Brick staircase overlays in 1″, 1.5″ and 3″ wide versions
• Post-to-post Girders in DIY format
• 2 Destroyed hatchbacks
• 2 Destroyed sedans
• 1 Destroyed police cruiser
• 6 Burning Barrels
• 4 Piles of Rubble
• Plate and chain-link bridge
• Functional 1-storey and 2-storey Ladders
• And as always, fully illustrated, step-by-step instructions

HarnWorld: Fortified Manor. Free PDF

DICEY BUSINESS
Columbia Games News

HarnWorld edition
August 21, 2010

Fortified Manor. Free PDF Download

The newest article from the Harn Writer’s Guild is a 16 page Free PDF available from Lythia.com.

Link: http://www.lythia.com/2010/08/fortified-manor/

This article describes a large, fortified manor house. It is unnamed and intended to be usable in any fantasy campaign. It is an example of the sort of manor house that might be found on a large, wealthy estate. The lord of such a manor is only one step below a baron and can afford to build a fine stone manor house, support a large household, and live in an impressive style. It may be a newly constructed manor in a dangerous frontier region where such strong defences are necessary or it might be an old, long-settled manor whose defences are now merely a reminder of days gone by.

The writer made a deliberate choice not to name this manor, so that GMs could feel free to insert it anywhere they need a large stone manor house. He hopes it proves to be of use to GMs and PCs alike.

The article includes floor plans of the manor house, description of the household, adventure hooks and Game Master (B&W) and Player (color) local area maps showing the manor and adjacent village.

This is a Harn Writer’s Guild Production: Written by Kerry Mould, Maps by Kerry Mould & Thomas Shook, Art by Richard Luschek, Editing by Brent Bailey.

Enjoy! Be sure to check out the other free downloads at lythia.com while you are there!

Ebbles Miniatures M3619 Folding Unit Structure

Ebbles Miniatures brings you the M3619 Folding Unit structure, these portable buildings are perfect for your war gamming or role playing needs.  Medium dormitory-sized utility structure and a small cabin-sized utility structure with removable roof and functional interior. Includes 8 different color schemes, which can be mixed and matched for up to 64 possible combinations.

The buildings fold into easily storable containers! 

You can’t beat the price either

Small folding unit             $2.00

Medium folding unit       $4.00

Large folding unit             $6.00

X-tra Large folding unit $8.00

Check it out for yourself at

http://www.ebblesminiatures.com/shop/index.php