Dundjinni

Realmsbard · Post by **Realmsbard** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:22 am

Is anyone here using this mapping program?

If so what do you think of it?

I downloaded the demo. Seems to be a bit fiddly.

I need some sort of a mapping tool. This maybe the one. The price is good.

Thanks, Realmsbard
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Tadhg · Post by **Tadhg** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:46 am

Realmsbard wrote:
Is anyone here using this mapping program?

If so what do you think of it?

I downloaded the demo. Seems to be a bit fiddly.

I need some sort of a mapping tool. This maybe the one. The price is good.

Thanks, Realmsbard

Hmm, I've heard of this program and thought I had it. But I see that I only have Dungeon Crafter and Dungeonforge. Although, come to think of it, I may have un-installed it after the trial period. Mebbe, I can download and try again.
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:38 am

I played around with it when I first got it... I really liked it. I liked it enough to shell out the cash to get it. Try playing around with the demo some more though. It's solid enough all around though you'll need to make sure you're Java is up to date. It produces some nice stuff. My recommendation is to check out their tutorial they have on the site to get a feel and to get an idea of how much you can do with it.

However, if you're looking for a simple map program which is easy to use, go with Dugeoncrafter III -- it's free:
http://www.dungeoncrafter3.com/

The couple of things about Dundjinni which I found to be annoying was its restrictive license (which they are completely changing for the better in the next version of the program) and there's a few bells and whistles I could have done without (integrated d20 SRD if I remember correctly). Dundjinni is really good if you want to print out various battle maps for your miniatures. This is also a feature I don't get much use out of since I tend to play my games with few to no miniatures at all.

But it does some NICE stuff. You may want to consider some of the art packs with it too though.

M
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CharlieRock · Post by **CharlieRock** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 3:03 am

I use the heck out of Dunjinni. When I have ink cartridges that is. I think it is really easy to use. I make dungeon "tiles", overland maps (with elevation shading), and my characters' homes.

The only part I would change about it is the load time. Like, I got a tree off the Dunjinni forums. And it's a big one. Anyway everytime I try to load that list of props it takes halfway to forever.

But I can take out the tree so I guess it doesn't bother that much since I havn't.

The forums usually has neat stuff to add to your pack.
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Astinus · Post by **Astinus** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:57 pm

Does Dundjinni have any advantages over Photoshop? I make maps for online play, and have been teaching myself Photoshop, and wondering if Dundjinni was worth the purchase.

moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:11 pm

Astinus wrote:
Does Dundjinni have any advantages over Photoshop? I make maps for online play, and have been teaching myself Photoshop, and wondering if Dundjinni was worth the purchase.

If you have a good mastery over photoshop, the only advantage I would see is time.

With Dundjinni you will work a lot with tiles and objects already made. They have packs to expand the selection too (some of which are free and quite good)... the base program also includes a decent selection of all this. In other words, if you're happy with the tiles (which are nice) and use them, a map can be made very quickly.

However, with Photoshop you can create your own tiles to use with Dundjinni and port them in. Having something like photoshop means a lot more creative options at your disposal.

I suppose it's a matter of preference. I have a nice little program that's like Photoshop but I rather use Dundjinni to make my maps. I also haven't bothered creating tiles for it either.

What I'd do is download the demo to see if you like it and what you can do with it. Using the demo convinced me to drop down some cash on it.

M
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CharlieRock · Post by **CharlieRock** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:08 pm

There is tutoring downloadable called Jailbreak. It explains a lot of what Dunjinni can do (but not so much that its overwealming and dunjinni can do a lot more than that tutor thingy shows).
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:23 am

CharlieRock wrote:
There is tutoring downloadable called Jailbreak. It explains a lot of what Dunjinni can do (but not so much that its overwealming and dunjinni can do a lot more than that tutor thingy shows).

Good call on that... the simple tutorial and the finished product made with it shows how amazing it could be.

M
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Astinus · Post by **Astinus** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:11 am

moriarty777 wrote:
Astinus wrote:
With Dundjinni you will work a lot with tiles and objects already made. They have packs to expand the selection too (some of which are free and quite good)... the base program also includes a decent selection of all this. In other words, if you're happy with the tiles (which are nice) and use them, a map can be made very quickly.

That is appealing. Speed is important. I've been making and saving tiles in Photoshop, for future use. But it is laborious. Will have to check out the demo.

CharlieRock · Post by **CharlieRock** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:13 pm

That integrated d20 srd, I've never found. I still DM a D&D3 campaign and just never thought of using it and it's tucked away in some menu I never pull up. I think.
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serleran · Post by **serleran** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:54 pm

I had it once, just to see, but found I prefer to draw maps, when I need them, by hand.

Witterquick · Post by **Witterquick** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:18 pm

I have dunjinni, and used to love it until it couldn't keep up with the advances in java (which is its core program). There is a rumored patch in development, but it hasn't been finished yet.
http://www.dunjinni.com/forums/forum_po ... =9400&PN=1

This is frustrating for me, because DJ has been sidelined for months (their suggestion was to go to a previous version of java, which I won't do).
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:36 pm

Thanks Moriarty, I have never seen Dungeon crafter before.
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Robocoastie · Post by **Robocoastie** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 2:10 pm

I've been using it and love it so far but I've found a couple issues you may want to be aware of:

1) It's a memory hog. Because it doesn't use your graphics card like a couple programs I've come across now it's using your system memory to render. I have VISTA 64 with 1.5GB RAM and increased Dundj. memory allowed in the registry to 512 (default is 256) in order to get it to work smooth enough.

2) It's using an older version of Java which means if you use VISTA it's going to kick you down to VISTA Basic graphics everytime you start the program. Not a big deal though. People claim it's a bug in java 1.6 that makes you have to use 1.5 for Dundj. but I've been unable to verify that since no other program gave me a fit with Java 6. /shrug

3) Working with tokens is painstaking and dangerous. Often times when you click a token to move it during your move your computer may "surge" as it swaps memory (see point 1 above) which then causes you to inadvertently switch to the ground beneath to be moving and muck your whole map up.

Solution to 1 & 3 = feed your computer LOTS of RAM. Get a mainboard with 4 RAM slots, and fill it with 1GB sticks. Then in the registry give Dundj. 1GB to 2GB memory to use. OR keep your maps small. Yes you could fit the whole scene on the screen but instead split it into 4 parts.

Just why it gives such a fit when I can run Quake 3 practically entire in RAM I dunno, I'm a hardware guy not a programmer. I suspect it has to do with the program's reliance on Java instead of C++ or better yet *gasp* machine language. I'm sure there's someone here with more programming knowledge that could elaborate.
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:47 pm

Hmm... I know that Java apps in general can be 'sluggish' but I haven't had the problems you've mentioned (Robocoastie)...

I'm using XP on a AMD 3800 X2 and, at the time I was playing with Dundjinni quite a bit, I had 1 GB of RAM (I have recently upped it to 2 GB). That said, I haven't played with it in a while and I don't know about the Java problems (the last time I loaded it up, I was using it problem free but that was many months ago). However, for all I know, the dual core nature of my CPU may actually be helping with the problems you've mentioned. I think this warrants me playing a bit more with it (now) if only to see if I run into some problems with a more recent version of Java as opposed to the version I had back many months ago.

I'll run a few 'tests' this week and report back what I find.

M
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Robocoastie · Post by **Robocoastie** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:32 pm

Aye my rig is single core P4 64bit. I experience that sluggishness mainly when I am trying to move something such as a token when the "ground" is filled with texture.

It would be awesome if my situation is indeed some isolated incident.

thanks Mori*, let me know what you find out.

Rob
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heruca · Post by **heruca** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:05 pm

moriarty777 wrote:
The couple of things about Dundjinni which I found to be annoying was its restrictive license (which they are completely changing for the better in the next version of the program)

DJ v1.0.7 has finally been released, and DJ Enterprises has greatly loosened the EULA restrictions, so you can now use DJ for commercial maps and other commercial projects. A lot of people used to take issue with that, so I'm trying to help get the word out about this now policy.

TheNewGuy · Post by **TheNewGuy** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:14 pm

I appreciate this thread very much.

Much to my shame, I couldn't hand-draw a decent map if lives depended upon it. Sure, you could tell what was what, but something to intrigue and inspire players? Fuhgeddaboutit ...

I bought the Campaign Cartographer 2 suite (CC2, City Designer, and Dungeon Designer) a few years back and, Mother of Mercy!, but it's a fiddly thing! The learning curve is so steep, the altitude will give you nosebleeds!

More seriously, the fact that you really have to wrangle the CC2 suite to get anything done really adds to the time spent on it (for me, anyway) which makes it less than ideal as any kind of "time saving program".

I never upgraded to CC2 Pro or the current CC3 because, at three products per upgrade to do what I need, it's painfully expensive. Campaign Cartographer may be many things, but it's always been a touch too expensive for what it does. The fact that they put out new (non-backward compatible) versions fairly regularly, just rubs salt in that wound.

So, I've been looking for something better, and haven't found it yet. I'd been looking at Dunjinni, but they even flag the Java problem Robocoastie mentioned on their website now, so I've been holding off.
Fractal Mapper is a good, more-user-friendly CC knock-off. Its one near-fatal flaw, in my opinion, is that it's severely understocked on symbol sets and symbol options, and the FM user-community doesn't seem to be filling this void.

I need something which will help me create fantasy cities (preferably of various cultural types), more than anything else, and Fractal Mapper has only the most basic of symbol sets for this.

If Dunjinni (or some other program) can help me do better, I'd be grateful to hear about it.

TheNewGuy
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