Easier map-making tips

[ej]

Anyone have tips for making things easier when constructing maps? The only thing I've come up with is putting a dot of paint on the underside of the rock, grass and sand smaller tiles. That way, when you're digging through a bin of tiles and they're ALL upside-down, you'll be able to tell at a glance what something is from the spot of green, beige or grey paint.

[Shades fan]

Keep all your Terrain organised!

I really do this

[djsmith]

Make some sort of divider for the tubs, and put the singles into large storage baggies (separated by type). I have a decent size collection and that seems to work well.

Wouldn't it be nice to have storage containers designed especially for HS tiles??

[ej]

Originally Posted by Shades fan

Keep all your Terrain organised!

I do... when I arrive. When I tear down, though... it's all thrown together, usually because we've only got a short amount of time to get out of the store. Sorting the 24- and 7-hexers is a breeze compared to the singles, doubles and even triples, if you've got a lot of them.

I've got ten maps to make soon. We'll probably have a building party at the store the night before, where 2-4 of us will be constructing them.

I've considered buying really large zip-lock bags and putting the map instructions along with all the necessary pieces in their own bags, so when we arrive we can just open a bag and assemble instead of digging through a bunch of tubs. Of course I'll bring the extra tiles and bits because there's bound to be 'errors'.

Anyone know where I can find such zip-lock bags?

[djsmith]

Originally Posted by ej

I do... when I arrive. When I tear down, though... it's all thrown together, usually because we've only got a short amount of time to get out of the store. Sorting the 24- and 7-hexers is a breeze compared to the singles, doubles and even triples, if you've got a lot of them.

I have this same problem.. Usually everything gets thrown into the same bin at store closing time, EXCEPT the singles... Then I just reorganize once I get home.

Maybe mark the backs with those colored metallic pens/markers. Those are a lot easier to distinguish and see.

[STAROCEAN980]

Well I'll tell you what I do. I recently got a bunch of bins for most of my stuff. I have 12 ms, 2 sotm, 2 vw, 4 rttff, 4 fota, and 1 tt. Plus tons of tiles from boosters.
I have 1 bin for all my small grass hexes, 1 for the rock ones, 1 for sand, 1 for swamp, 1 for lava and snow, and 1 for road and water. I also use a huge bin for all my walls and doors. The only stuff I can't store is my 24 hexers and 7 hexers. They just don't fit. I also need a bin for my ruins, glaciers, trees, and wall walk tiles. I keep my ladders and battlements in seperate gallon zip-lock bags. I could do the same for my order markers, dice, and wound markers too.
The only things I have no idea how to store are my cards, books, and figures.

So, it's not a perfect system, but it's better than having it all over the floor.

[ej]

I'm definitely doing the big bag idea for the maps. I think that'll just make things so much easier... and tear-down might be easier, too.

[southwest ninja]

i kept all of my ms boxes and i actually use one for each type. one box holds all of my singles another for doubles and another for triples. those are divided by rock sand and grass. i then have a seperate box for ice, then snow, and then another for lava and molten rock. rttff boxes sort my water swamp water and road and wall walks. and similar methods for rest. as for the 24 hexes and 7 hexes they just get stacked in a corner. just curious ej where is this tourney happening? just in case its close enough to make it a couple hour drive

[Darkomen57]

I just have 1 bin for my terrain and another for figures.... probably should find a better method.

[auralerogeny]

I use shoeboxes for all the single hex pieces. One for grass, sand and rock. I also combine other types of terrain that are easily distinguishable one from the other, such as snow with road, and every type of water, ice, and lava tiles go together.

[ej]

Originally Posted by southwest ninja

Just curious ej where is this tourney happening? just in case its close enough to make it a couple hour drive

The venue is too small - we had to cap registration at less than 20. However, we hope to have a second one in April in a church basement that I can advertise on here.

[Ormus]

I absolutely refuse to use plastic baggies or any such nonsense. I keep all my hexes (7 MS+expns) seperated by type and size, it really is disgusting for some to behold my obsession with keeping the game organised when not in play. Whenever I deconstruct a map, I time myself on my watch, start to finish.

I should film it, to give everyone a good laugh, who knows you may learn something from my OCD.