RPG Manager

14 April 2014
Lance Duncan has sent me another great work. This time it is a city: Yoker, on the banks of a river which leads to a dangerous swamp.
It is available in the downloads section.
Thank you Lance for sharing your map.

28 October 2013
Another small update. Version 2.27 fixes a bug which would occur when creating a new map using a custom tileset.
I would like to thank Lance Duncan for sending me a custom world tileset he has created for RPG Manager. It is the first user submission since I started the RPG Manager project some years ago.
I have uploaded his work in the downloads section.

14 October 2013
It has been awhile...version 2.26 fixes a couple of bugs with the generation of world moons in the Campaign Editor.
Due to the scarce user reaction, feedback and participation I have put RPG Manager in maintenance state. This means that at the moment the development of new features has been stopped, even though I will still work to fix any program bug or malfunction which I am made aware of.
I have taken this decision, as you can see after many years of development and much effort. Unfortunately I feel that the contributions to the project have been minimum. I am not talking just about donations, which indeed have been only sufficient to cover the yearly maintenenace of the website and the forum database. In the past I have also proposed many other ways to contribute: feedback, reviews, submission of user created contents to be made available to others, forum participation, etc. Finally, I tried to keep the RPG Manager project as open as possibile, sometimes even accomodating to single user requests.
It's hard to admit but I haven't been successful in all these aspects.
I still have many new ideas in mind to improve the program, it's just that for the time being they are not worth the effort.
Should user involvement and feedback increase in the future I will gladly get back into development.

10 April 2012
In the latest months I had to put the project on a temporary hold, due to several personal problems which drained most of my time and energies. For this reason I was unable to update RPG Manager and the website, although I did answer to e-mails and to posts in the forums.
Now I am quite ready to get back on track.
This minor update (v2.25) contains small improvements and adds trade markets to the Game Manager. This latest feature should have been there from the start, but because of a bug I never got to notice before, the trade markets never worked.
I have also been writing code for two new utilities which I have anticipated last year: a random cavern generator and a random creature generator. This creature generator will also be the basis for a soon to come character generator. Caverns and random creatures are almost 90% done and will most likely make it into v2.26.

11/11/11
I really couldn't miss the chance to post something today!
And what a post it is! Yeah! I am releasing version 2.24 which introduces a couple of new stunning features:

- In the Campaign Editor, you can now zoom out to view a larger portion of your map. While zooming out you cannot edit your map but you can scroll around to preview wide areas, then zoom back in and edit the map as usual.

- In the Campaign Editor you can now lock a tileset layer to a certain position. Switch to another layer and then come back to your locked layer to find it in the exact position it was before. This is really cool and can dramatically speed up map editing. For more information please check here.

Besides these new features, the first requested, the second which I had in mind to develop since a long time, there are also a few bug fixes, the addition of a scroll box in the calendar which allows to display very large calendars and..oh yeah...for a reason of contrast, I have changed the color of the layer 4 world tiles to red.

Things to come: I am about to open a new section in the forums where people can post they're experiences using RPG Manager. If you wish you can write about your gaming sessions or how RPG Manager has helped you out developing your campaign (if indeed this tool was of any help). I am also writing a new topic called "RPG Manager Wishlist"...and this says it all.

Other things to come: I've been thinking about a cavern generator. I am also thinking about a character/creature generator. Finally, I would really like to improve the speed of the graphics engine, which as of today is quite under par.

12 October 2011
Having finished the huge GURPS data integration, I have decided to get back to and improve some features of RPG Manager which I think are pretty fun to use. I am talking about the world map randomizer and the tool with you can create maps from a bitmap image. These two features have been enhanced in the following ways:

- Wold map randomization has been optimized for large scale maps. When generating a map you can now specify the percentage of land/water you wish to use. Also, you can now zoom in and out of the generated preview image. You can also force a new randomization from that same preview. And finally I have coded a feature which adds a spherical/elliptical appearance to your randomized world.
Oh yeah mama!

- Map importation from an existing bitmap image is now possible with any bitmap size (it obviously depends also on the amount of memory of your system). This means that you can now transform into RPG Manager maps even the smallest/biggest image. This is true for both world and location maps. Finally, a touch of elegance: the hexagonal or square grid generated for these maps is now created by shading the original bitmap. I believe that by doing so, the imported maps look better.

Those using the Game Manager (anyone?) will find another major improvement in the always complex and full of bugs movement rate calculation/estimated movement time. I did fix a lot of stuff, so hopefully everything is now working as it should.

For your convenience, I have also added a replace tile tool which you can use in the Campaign Editor when drawing world and location maps. This tool replaces all tiles which have the same terrain name with another tile of your choice. The original terrain name is retained.

Finally, I have added a couple of missing location tiles in layer 3 (number 4386 and 4387). I'm talking about chains which I used for the Bodiam Castle drawbridges and which were not showing up. Due to an inadvertency they were never included in any downloadable version RPG Manager. Here they are now.

To conclude, I would like to see some more participation in the forums. I believe there could be much to write about. I'm always striving to meet up with your RPG Manager requests. Unfortunately I do not feel that the same is happening in the opposite direction.

13 September 2011
Finally! After several weeks of hard coding I am releasing RPG Manager v2.22 which features GURPS data integration.
I'd like to spend a few words on this major program update. First of all, in order to introduce the possibility to deal with several different game systems I had to rework the way data is stored in RPG Manager.
So at program launch, the first thing that is done is some data rearrangement. In particular now, most of the data has been placed into a "Data" folder and then, inside its appropriate game system folder (RPG Manager and GURPS at the moment).
Then, you will be able to choose which game system to use: RPG Manager or GURPS.

RPG Manager
RPG Manager datasheets have not been changed. But I have optimized data editing, removing most of the insertion requirements which previously were a must. Also, you are now able to edit data in the Game Manager.

GURPS
For GURPS I have completely reworked most of the existing datasheets. I have also added Advantages and Disadvantages (previously not available). Again, you can now edit data in the Game Manager.
Finally, some features in the Game Manager have been disabled for the GURPS system: morale checking, combat and spell search by spell magic words.

One final note. Should you wish to update your existing version of RPG Manager with this new release, I reccomend you first do a backup, just in case...then, replace your old program executables with the new ones. It's that easy.

24 August 2011
Progress with the GURPS data integration is proceeding very well so far. I've almost done all program coding and quite ready to do a full scale test of the new features (along with the old ones), for bugs and problems. You'll be amazed of the results.
For those who have tuned in just now, I can say that I've been working on some major RPG Manager modifications to allow the creation and use of GURPS data. While doing so, I have also decided to greatly enhance and review many other aspects of the program:

- While inserting data, I've got rid of most limitations which you could previously encounter. You know what I'm talking about...those annoying messages such as "Age must be a round number...", "Spell does not exist..." and so on.

- Fixed several errors and optimized a whole bunch of other things with data editing (a complete list will be available upon release).

I hope to make RPG Manager v2.22 downloadable in a week or two from now. As usual progress highly depends on how much of my (little) free time I can spend on the program.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has been giving feedback. Your comments and suggestions are valuable and contribute to make RPG Manager a continuously improving program.

19 July 2011
In these last weeks I've started developing some new program features which potentially will allow you to use RPG Manager with different game systems.
Some of you may know that I have recently started a topic in the forums to gather information on the various types of roleplaying games used in conjunction with RPG Manager. The topic is still open but I have decided to start with GURPS.
The basic concept is that the main program engines will not be modified at all or in the worst case will face only minor changes. At program start you will be able to choose which set of data to work with.

So at the moment it will be just standard RPG Manager, GURPS is currently under development and will soon be added and then who knows... These sets of data will include Characters, Creatures, Equipment, Skills, Spells, Tables and Rules and maybe some other custom data. Should you wish too see an early preview of what the GURPS Character sheet might look like, please visit the "ROLE-PLAYING GAMES SURVEY" in the General section of the forums.

30 June 2011
Today I am releasing RPG Manager version 2.21 which introduces the possibility to create standard models for random encounters which then can be applied to different terrain types. At the moment there are no models available but I am working on some which will be grouped in a new data pack and made available for download.
Also, I have been fixing some other problems related to terrain descriptions and map links.
I would like to start working on data templates (a utility to create custom data sheets) and other data models. I have opened a topic in the forums asking for feedback on what are the major RPG systems used in conjunction with RPG Manager. Having this information will help me focus and also document myself on some roleplaying mechanics more than others. So please send me your feedback.

23 June 2011

Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, England!
WOW! This is my first location map for RPG Manager, which I have based on a really existing construction, and probably the work that so far I am most proud of. Actually, this is more than just a simple map of a moated castle.
For starters, there are a total of five maps, each one depicting a different floor: the basement, the ground floor, 1st and 2nd floors and a final aerial view of this magnificient castle.

The castle's composition and dimensions are coherent with those of the real life construction. The layout of the rooms is mostly accurate. In particular, the ground floor has been drawn based on actual documentation and floorplans. The other floors have been designed using a mix of documented characteristics and when I was not able to find any information, my imagination.
In any case, each map is provided with its own description and I have also added descriptions for rooms, towers, walls and many other castle features.
Some maps have links to real life pictures showing the look of the castle nowadays. I thought it would be a nice idea to show how some portions of the castle are in real life. Moreover, all maps are also linked together: map links have been placed on stairs going up and down and trap-doors.
Finally, I have created a few custom objects (beds, bookshelves, and the like), to add even more realism to these maps. These objects are included in the download and may be reused in other maps.

One final word about the maps. Each one is 84h squares and 130v squares. These map dimensions are bigger than the ones normally allowed in the public version of RPG Manager. Nonetheless, I am making the "CASTLE BODIAM" location maps available to all users. I hope that this will be appreciated. Users of the full version of RPG Manager should be able to enlarge the map (if desired) and add more features, like for instance the nearby town.

As usual I am adding a new topic in the forums where you can comment or make suggestions on this latest production or just talk about this castle in general (for the lucky ones who had the possibility to visit it in real life). Please leave me a word or two for feedback. It only takes 5 minutes to register and write a post.

To conclude a word about the next release of RPG Manager, which I am already working on. I have been fixing some serious bugs and stupid program malfunctions. These fixes involve terrain descriptions management (deleting a description for a certain terrain would delete all descriptions related to that terrain), map links and the map link monitor (cycling forever under certain circumstances). I am also working to add templates for random encounters, a feature to easily export world and location maps along with all their related content and an automatic character generator (I hope that this will make it in the next release). As far as the possibility to create customizable datasheets or templates, I am still studying how to accomplish this without having to rework the engines which at the moment process the RPG Manager data. Also, it would be nice to know what are the genres or types of roleplaying games which you are using RPG Manager for. So to collect this data I'm opening another new topic in the forums, where you can write to me about this, and eventually add suggestions. Having this information will help me focus and also document myself on some roleplaying mechanics more than others, though I'm betting that the most of you are D&D (3rd or 4th edition) players.

09 June 2011
Today I am releasing a minor program update. Also, I wished to share with you an image of the next data release for RPG Manager. As anticipated already, it will be about a complete set of plans describing a real world castle in England. In total I'm talking about 5 location floorplans fully describing the castle and its immediate sourroundings. Expect the download to be available starting from the end of next week.

24 May 2011
Having planned to release the final part of the "GROUND FEATURES" objects pack, I must again postpone this release due to an important and urgent program bug which came to my attention and fixing which I spent several hours. Basically, there was a serious problem with objects placement in location maps after resizing such maps. The objects would not be assigned the new position coordinates, instead they would retain their old ones. In the end, this caused a wrong allocation of objects which after such map resizing could not be moved, rotated or deleted anymore. This problem has been fixed now.
But this is only the beginning. Then, I had to deal with location maps which had this problem and had already been saved. For these, I have added a new command under the Campaign Editor, Location menù, called "Fix wrong object positions". Once selected, a routine will go through all objects in your location map and adjust their placement data correctly.
People who have been following RPG Manager for some time now, should know that in every program release, besides eventually adjusting things, I like to add stuff. This time is no different. In this release I was able to throw in a few new location tiles in the standard RPG Manager set: basically some small size spiral staircases, some more doors and windows sections and a few more fireplaces that can be positioned along different width walls.

Later this week I will finally upload the final part of the GROUND FEATURES" objects pack.

16 May 2011
Today I am releasing a minor program update to RPG Manager. Version 2.18 mainly fixes some things here and there, adds a map preview to maps imported from external .BMP images and adds recurrent events to the world calendar. This last feature now allows you to add just one time, those events which periodically occur every year. Please checkout the download page for further details on this new release.
Later this week I will be also publishing the final parts of the "GROUND FEATURES" objects pack. I have also started working on my next RPG Manager content release, which will be a location map.
No more info at this time but you'll probably get a screenshot of it quite soon.

10 May 2011

Finally! After hills and dunes it is now time for some mountains. I think that these latest objects are pretty cool. I have put a lot of effort while creating them (at least at the best of my possibilities) and are quite happy with the results. So this is installment number four of the "GROUND FEATURES" objects data pack. Next time I will probably be releasing rocks, ridges and waterfalls and this will pretty much round things up.

In the future, I would like to create some more graphical objects. Maybe I will resume working on some buildings. I would also like to create some bridges and these I think could be pretty easy to draw.

In the meantime I will continue to update RPG Manager. I think that by now most of the program's features are working and are well consolidated. I will add new features, but at the moment I can only think about 3 major program improvements:

● A map engine upgrade where tiles are no longer constrained to their layer but where you could actually place any tile on any of the four map layers. This would solve problems during those times where you would want to draw at the same time (on the same world hexagon or location square) tiles belonging to the same layer.

● A character generator. Not just a common utility which generates a new character by randomizing a few values. What I am aiming to is a more complex generator able to create a complete character profile filled with plenty of information about physical traits and its history.

● Customizable datasheets. I'm thinking mostly about editable character and creature sheets where you can add custom fields through the use of a datasheet painter (some sort of utility to drag 'n drop data fields). Or maybe a utility to create datasheet templates. I don't know. I'm only just now starting to think about this stuff. Maybe I will do both.

29 April 2011

Today, the entire webfarm of my cheap website provider was down for what initially seemed to be an unknown reason and finally turned out to be a wildfire in the server room. Because of this, the RPG Manager website was not reacheable in the last 15 hours. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Now back to us. In the already available third installment of the "GROUND FEATURES" data pack, you will find some nice sand dunes which you can use to enrich and add more realism to your desert settings, oasis and beaches. I am still working on mountains, rocks, ridges and waterfalls, which have been almost entirely completed. In the meantime I am also fixing some other minor problems and bugs in RPG Manager which pertain to the placement of objects in location maps. Due to my lazyness some of these problems were not taken care of in version 2.17 but should be definately fixed in the next release.

One final thing. This is the first time I talk about it so openly, but it is really necessary. I would like to complain about the fact that even though I believe I'm spending a lot of effort and time on this project, and even though I'm also trying in some way to populate the forums with some discussions, I find very little participation from users. I don't know why, but this is somewhat frustrating. I think that there could be plenty to talk about, improve, and add to this project. From what I can see there are more than few people which are using the program. If you are one of them, please get involved in some way. Thank you.

20 April 2011

Due to the dimensions of the "GROUND FEATURES" data pack, I have decided to split the pack into several minor files. Today I am releasing the first two of them: a set of 20 coastlines and 10 green hills to be used in large scale location maps. Look at the image at the left, which illustrates that combining tilesets, objects and your imagination, you can create some very interesting maps using RPG Manager. This map was done in about 10 minutes. A bigger version of this image is also available in the screenshots section.

So a few words on these packs. The coastlines data pack is quite huge in download size (approximately 190 Mb.) and gets even bigger when uncompressed. The coastlines have been studied and created to be used with any type of land. Water is a medium depth tile, identical to the one found in the "RPG Manager 2.x - Cities" tileset.
Each coastline is provided with 4 different rotation views (0°, 90°, 180° and 270°), and this is the reason why the object pack is so damn big. Of course, to gain on size, I could have created just the standard view and maybe optimized the coastline objects a little more but for immediacy and ease of use I preferred the current solution.

To conclude, I would like to say that if you have a huge map, you can place coastline objects side by side to produce an even greater variety.

Moving to the hills data pack, it contains 10 green hills, some of which have flat surfaces or terraces. This pack is really small in size so I hope it will somehow compensate with the previous above. There is really not more to say here.

As usual, I am opening a new topic in the forums on the subject. Feel free to leave your comments, ideas or suggestions.

Finally, I am still working on some other "GROUND FEATURES" objects which I will release very soon: mountains, sand dunes, rocks, ridges, waterfalls and so on. I am also awaiting some if any submissions for the RPG MANAGER 2.0 - DATA CONTEST. Come on guys! Don't let me do all the work here! For the details about the contest, just look somewhere here below or in the forums.

14 April 2011
Just a brief minor release here and a brief post. In the perspective of soon releasing the anticipated "GROUND FEATURES" objects pack (which you can see some images here below), I have fixed a few problems with objects management, placement and movement in location maps. I have also reworked the maps engine and some of the program windows to allow for 1280x768 resolutions. This should meet the requirements of most of the laptops users.

	This time I am writing about objects. One thing that might come to the attention of RPG Manager users is the fact that there are really few map objects to deal with. The ones included with the program have mostly a demonstrative purpose and can be used to test out how objects work and to get familiarity with them. Even though it is true that I have created some tower objects to go along with wall sections, that is pretty much it. Some time ago I announced (or probably just thought to announce) that I was working on some building objects for small scale maps. Unfortunately I have put that project aside mostly because of the difficulty for me to generate some graphically appealing results. So now I have started working on some landscape and ground objects a few of which you can see some preliminary images here.
These objects will be assembled into an addon package which willl mostly include hills, dunes, ridges, some rocks, waterfall, coast lines, lakes and so on. I will probably release the new package next week. Although much easier to draw than buildings and other more complex objects, I am really doing a big effort here. My graphics capabilities are quite poor and it takes me a lot of time to produce some decent graphics.
While testing out these objects I noticed a few bugs and graphical glitches, especially when dealing with overlapping graphics, object replacement, zoomming and such. I will make sure to fix these in the next RPG Manager release and maybe will even try to improve the overall management of objects in the program adding new possibilities (I'm thinking about clipping) and making it more intuitive and immediate. But, should you have any suggestion on the subject, now is the right time to let me know.

31 March 2011
As anticipated, version 2.16 which I am releasing today includes some greatly requested map improvements. First of all I have enlarged the map windows for the following screen resolutions: 1440x900, 1680x1050 and 1920x1200. In the Campaign Editor they are now almost as large as the whole screen. In the Game Manager these map windows are smaller because they are placed side by side with the group window. Still, they are greater in size than before.
Another new feature is the fact that now, these maps can by scrolled using the keyboard arrows. This can be done when the map window is the active window and if the mouse cursor is over the map. Each key press will scroll the map by a number of 8 hexagons or squares.
A correction which came along with the above is that that when you search for a terrain using the search box or the map preview, the destination is now centered on the screen.
I have also fixed 2 major bugs: a serious bug with the calendar which would produce an access violation error after placing a group in a map. This bug was introduced with a previous version, and I'm sorry if I got notice of it only recently. Also a second bug with terrain descriptions in location maps. Terrain names were not displayed preventing the editing of their descriptions.
In this release I was also able to throw in a few enhancements. For these, please check the downloads page.

The RPG MANAGER 2.0 - DATA CONTEST goes on. No submissions have been received so far (uh uh?). For the details about the contest, just look here below or in the forums. If you love RPG Manager and feel that you could contribute in some way, don't be shy.

18 March 2011

RPG Manager v2.15 is finally available for download. As you can see from the image here on the left, this new version introduces moon phases and somehow tries to calculate and simulate the strength of tides, based on some simple concepts which are well explained in the hints section of this website. But this is just one of the new features which have been added to RPG Manager. you can also find two new program tables, one called MOON AND TIDES STRENGTH and a second called MAGIC SURGES. I believe that both are pretty much self explanatory.
Also, the equipment monitor has been greatly enhanced. With this updated tool you can now not only refresh data, but also sort the displayed equipment list in a variety of ways. Finally, you can double-click on an equipment to display or edit it.
Continuing, in the Campaign Editor I have added a function to speed up weather assignment. Now you can copy weather from one terrain to another and then eventually modify it, without having to reinsert the data every time from the beginning.
Finally, I have coded some optimizations here and there: the save game command in the Game Manager let's you now choose from a list of previously saved games, the load time of many data sheets have been improved, when enlarging maps, you can now choose which fill terrain type to use among the ones in all the tilesets available, etc.

For those of you who have been waiting for a further improvement in the map dimensions and for a better scroll feature I can anticipate that version 2.16 (which I will start working on since today), will be centered on these two themes. So please be patient a little more.

To conclude, please keep in mind that the RPG MANAGER 2.0 - DATA CONTEST is open. For the details just look here below or in the forums. If you love RPG Manager and feel that you could contribute in some way, don't be shy. The contest is just for fun and to provide the user community with some data (other than the one I sometimes create) it can use with the program.

25 February 2011
After so much time the "Medieval Armors" data package is now available for download. I really wished I was able to produce data for RPG Manager in a much faster way. Unfortunately there are so many aspects of this project which keep me busy that the pace of any new data release is really slow.
For this reason, and also to involve you users a little more, I am starting the:

The rules are very simple and anyone can win. The purpose is to have fun with RPG Manager, see what other people's imagination can produce and obviously try to gain some popularity for the program, which I think is a good thing for everybody. So here's the deal: whoever will send me contents for RPG Manager could be entitled to download the "full version" of the program and any future updates for it.
This is how it works:

- The contest starts March 1 2011 and lasts for 3 months ending May 31 2011. Send your submissions to RPG Manager 2.0 - Data Contest.

- Contents can be of any of the following types: data such as worlds, locations, characters, creatures, equipment, skills and spells or graphics such as tilesets, map objects and tokens.

- Each content should evolve around a topic or should be identifiable with a subject. For example an equipment package dealing with medieval ground transports, map objects for furniture, a complete spell package for necromancers, a world map illustrating a particular island and fully describing its characteristics and features, a package describing the alien creatures living on a particular lost planet, etc. I will not accept submissions of just single pieces of data such as a single spell, a location map without any description or just featuring a single map level, uncomplete or unorganized data. Finally, let's keep it clean. I will not accept data which is subject to copyright or might offend the dignity or sensibility of others.

- You must accept that your work will be made available as a free download for other users on the RPG Manager website. Your data package will not be modified. It will be given the name and description you choose for it. If you wish, your name or nickname will also be featured in the downloads, along with your e-mail address.

- I will examine all submissions as I receive them. Contents which are deemed acceptable will be promptly uploaded and you will receive the link to download the full version of RPG Manager.

It's that simple! For this contest, I am also opening a new topic in the RPG Manager forums, which you may use to ask questions or discuss uploaded subsmissions.
I do hope to receive some positive feedback on this initiative which may be fun for everybody and could encourage and provide help for the popularity of RPG Manager.

08 February 2011
Yeah! I am proud to release RPG Manager v2.14. You'll love this new version which is not a simple and plain update but introduces great new features and addons.
First of all the thing that really thrills me most is the fact that now you can create random world maps. For now, the program routine is just a basic one and only generates land and water but in the near future I plan to make this as customizable and complex as it can get. Play with this new tool and let me know what you think about it.
Second thing, I have created a totally new world tileset which has got an RPG Manager v1.x (or classic) flavor. Moreover, in the Campaign Editor you can easily switch with a click from the original tileset to this new one and vice-versa. Just look under the "Worlds" menu.
Tokens: this is another new feature. I've called tokens, the map markers which would identify groups or single members in world and location maps. Up to now, these were fixed in style and you could just choose among a dozen or so. From this point on you can create your own tokens to use in maps. Some new ones are already avaialable and more will surely come in the future.
Finally, I've read your comments and requests for bigger editable map windows. This has been done. I have maximized map windows but there is still some more improvement to do. In the future I'm planning to dynamically link the map windows to your current screen resolution. But still I think that even now a good improvement has been made.
This is not all, of course, just the main stuff. For a full list of features and fixes, just visit the download page.
Also, I'd like to thank those of you who actively support the project and provide comments or suggestions. Thanks to your posts and e-mails I was able to understand your priorities and I hope that this new version meets somehow your expectations.

31 January 2011
There are a few posts in the forums from people which are asking for improvements in the map editor. The main requests are for bigger maps and a map scrolling feature. I'm doing a few tests with scrolling and will let you know if it can be developed and added in the current engine. At the same time I've been playing with map sizes a bit. At the moment, based on your screen resolution, RPG Manager supports 2 different map sizes: one size for resolutions under 1920x1200 and a second for resolutions of 1920x1200 and above. Starting from v2.14, I have increased the size of such editable maps in the Campaign Editor. Below you can see a preview of both (click on the image to see it at full size). Let me know what you think about it.

Consider that this a temporary solution. As suggested, what I would like to achieve is a dinamic map sizing, where, depending on the screen resolution of each user, the editable/viewable portion of the map changes. Finally, another idea from the forums is to add a zoom feature to maps. This might be very well implemented but will require a great deal of coding, so it will not be available very soon.

20 January 2011
Another year has passed and fortunately enough, the RPG Manager project still grows, sometimes at a faster rate, some other times slowly. This is one of my very rare posts which does not announce a new release or the availability of new content. I have taken some time to pull my thoughts together and started working on several new things for RPG Manager which I wish to share with you and anticipate in the form of the image here below.
Have fun guessing out what I'm talking about.

23 November 2010
Welcome RPG Manager v2.13: a great new program update. The biggest improvement in this release are the greater map windows which can be seen using a Full HD resolution (1920x1200 or greater). So, the dimensions of the displayed maps have been increased, but at the moment they are not at their maximum yet as I can further stretch them horizontally but nonetheless it is a great leap since before. Give me your feedback on how this affects performance because I haven't noticed a reduction in editing speed so far. and if things are smooth and running I'll further increase them.
In the meantime, hopefully I haven't screwed the rest of the code while modifying the map engine. I did some tests but obviously it is not possible for me to try out every single map-related feature of the program, so I'll cross my fingers on this one.
Also, some people have been asking for a way to keep track of all the links between maps. I've come up with a new tool: the Map Links Monitor which, as shown in the picture below, displays in a tree-like view, all the relationships between your maps. Moreover you can double-click on a map name to load that map automatically. Finally I've tweaked some other things around, such as providing a progress bar when saving maps and fixed a couple of more bugs.
Moon phases, eclipses and tides did not make it this time...but this gives me something to work on for the future. ;-) Until them, keep enjoying RPG Manager.

15 November 2010
The new anticipated medieval equipment data pack is ready and available. I have called this one "Medieval Stuff" since it is a collection of 55 various items of the medieval times. Included you will find such things as clothes (including hats and shoes and accessories such as bags, pouches, belts, etc.), torches and lanterns, gems and jewels, tools of different kinds and so on. As usual, I'm opening a new topic in the forums where it is possible to discuss the package, write comments or suggestions.
I'll start to work on v2.13 now. In the next release I hope to be able to include bigger map windows for high resolution monitors, a tool to better keep track of links between maps, some additions like management of moon phases, eclipses and tides and a few other improvements.

02 November 2010
Yet another program update. With regards to coding (and only this aspect), every new release brings the program closer to perfection, as bugs and problems are fixed, things are optimized and so on.
This time, many bugs dealing with the Game Manager groups, transports, movement, climate and visibility have been (hopefully) fixed in a definitive way.
As usual, and if possibile, I also like to add new features with every RPG Manager release. This time I have added many new options in the initiative calculation and the possibility to generate a random encounter at will. Also, some of you have been complaining about data fields which must be necessarily compiled for a particular object to be saved. I'm reviewing much of the code to minimize user input.
As of now, many fields in the creature and equipment data sheets are no longer required if you do not wish to deal with them.
So what's next? I'm looking forward to finishing the manual in a few days. I'm also working on a generic medieval equipment data pack which will contain things like tools, maybe some clothing, etc. I have also started working on a "Medieval Armors" pack.
'Til next time.

26 October 2010

Continuing with the pubblication of contents for RPG Manager, it is time now for some "Siege Engines and Artillery". This new package contains over 20 different early medieval war machines; included are devices such as catapults, onagers, trebuchets and siege towers, as well as heavy artillery which makes use of gunpowder: culverins, cannons, bombards, carronades and so on. Some naval weapons have been also included and, in my opinion, are a nice integration with the data contained in the "Sailboats of the Past" package. Finally I have also added some secundary auxiliary equipment such as shelters, gunpowder, cannonballs and many other types of shots and projectiles.
Like my previous package, the data provided in "Siege Engines and Artillery" has been accurately researched and has a solid historical background: descriptions, statistics and performance are comparable to how these devices actually were manufactured, appeared and used to work in real life.
As with all other packages, I'm opening a new topic in the forums where, for each equipment, you can find a summary of most of its data and where it is possible to discuss about the subject, make suggestions or report corrections.

21 October 2010
In the effort of continuously improving the program, I am making available v2.11. Among other things, this release adds the possibility to import a bitmap (.BMP) image as an editable world map (feature available only in the full version), fixes some problems with the equipment data sheet, includes an editable table of poisons populated with meaningful data and solves several other minor issues.
Meanwhile I'm still working on the next data pack which as already anticipated will include siege engines, war machines and artillery. It will surely be available for download starting from the middle of next week.

07 October 2010
I have been working on a new equipment package, which starting from today you can find in the downloads. I've called this one "Sailboats of the Past" and as the name already suggests, it contains data and descriptions for 24 types of sail ships type which in my opinion are important for historical reasons. Among these for example the Trireme, the Galleon, various types of Merchantman, the Caravel, etc. I really spent a lot of time to find information and documentation on each sailboat, which I tried to describe and represent in the most accurate way. I am also opening a new topic on this subject in the forums. There you will also find a table which summarizes some of the most important features of each ship and you will have the possibility to report corrections, suggestions or future additions. You may also just have a general talk on the subject. I have also added to this package a few other related equipments such as food supplies for navigation, cotton sails and reparation material, etc.
I have also thought that since I was dealing with navigation I could populate the "Water Maneuverability Classes" table with some meaningful data. It is now available for download and I will also include it as a default in the next RPG Manager program release.
What unfortunately did not make it in the package are naval war machines and artillery. They are almost complete and will probably be added to my next release along with siege weapons and cannons.

Second thing, I have created a new forum section called "Rules" where anyone will be able to post topics on any aspect of RPG gameplay which deems interesting. My first topic in this new section talks about fire. I'm also putting together my stuff on naval rules and naval combat. Please read and participate.

Third and final thing I have also been working on fixing some other program bugs. A new version of RPG Manager will probably be available starting from the second part of next week. So far I haven't had much feedback on where to focus. What I am starting to think is that probably not many people are using the program.

27 August 2010
Again another release...the reason for all these new releases almost on a daily basis is the fact that I've been having a lot of time lately and while finishing the program manual I am also testing out and fixing things. This new version solves the following serious issues in the Game Manager: time advancement and calculation during group movement, combat, groups/members entering new worlds and locations and several other program crashes. Again I'm stressing out the importance of my recent 2 new topics in the "General" section of the forums. Please take a look at them and write, if you wish.
I'll be on vacation (yeah, finally) for the next 2 weeks and will probably not be able to check my mail and the forums during this period. So for problems or queries, please have a little patience.

26 August 2010
Yet another release, this time to fix a new and serious issue which was introduced with the latest eraser feature in location maps. I noticed that after using the eraser, the drawing toolbar would remain disabled, thus not allowing further editing of the map. I also fixed a bug when resizing (enlarging) world and location maps and developed some minor improvements, one of which, in the location map, enables you to preview objects by just scrolling the object combo control.
Also, I was not satisfied with many of the rooftops graphics contained in the tower packages, so I have redone all of them. I think that now they are more realistic. The new updated packages are already available for download. Talking about objects, I am also working on a new package which will feature some medieval large scale buildings, I hope to have some screenshots of this work very soon.
Finally, in the "General" section of the forums I have posted 2 new topics which I deam very important. Please read them and participate, if you wish.

23 August 2010
Today I am releasing another version of RPG Manager (its v2.08 this time) which fixes some bugs and other annoyances and adds some more features, a couple of which were strongly requested by some users. Before talking about these new features, I would like to point out how the RPG Manager project is among those few where users can actually ask for modifications or new functionalities which if reasonable and implementable are taken seriously into consideration.
Anyway, the two new features are the following:

- The possibility to import any bitmap (.BMP) image as a location map. A new set of tiles will be created for this map which will be fully editable and will have all features of location maps. It is also possible to add a square grid to the imported map, should you wish to.

- An eraser tool in the location maps editor which, if selected, allows to delete a particular layer data in a very fast and easy way.

I am working to extend these new features also to world maps. It will take some more work since hex based maps are all but simple to manage and I still need to fix the importation algorithm for these kind of maps. Hopefully I will be able to make another release very soon. Until then, enjoy RPG Manager v2.08!

17 August 2010
It has been a while since my latest update but that's not because I'm becoming lazy. The reason is that I have been working so much on one of the two new features I have in mind for RPG Manager. That is large city maps, which from now are available for creation. Yeah! You read right, so what are you waiting for? Go ahead and grab the latest RPG Manager 2.07 program version. Still not convinced? Here's another screenshot illustrating some of the different city tiles you will be able to use.

In total there are 6 different city styles, some vegetation and some other objects like decks, bridges, lighthouses, etc. I might be able to create more in the future if the feedback is positive.
As for the other feature, the second one which I am being misterious about, I only can tell you that it is still under development. I'll talk about it soon but I can anticipate here it will have to do with importing maps.

24 June 2010
As anticipated in my previous update I am working on a couple of new features for RPG Manager, one of which I will reveal at this time and if you have already seen the picture below you have already understood what I'm talking about. That's right! With RPG Manager you can create large scale maps of worlds, small scale maps for dungeons and buildings or other locations and heck you can event create space maps to represent galaxies or solar systems. And soon you will be able to create medium scale detailed city maps.
The image here is just a preview and shows only few of the many possibilities. I have already created buildings of different styles; I only need to draw some more of them for variety purposes. Also included will be rivers, trees, bridges and hopefully some land features. I am opening a topic on this in the forums. Since this new feature is still under development it would be nice to have your opinions and ideas while things can still be pretty much changed and reworked.

18 June 2010
Welcome to another program update. I think I am being very prolific ultimately and I feel that RPG Manager is reaching a good point in terms of program completion, usage and bug fixes.
So here we are at version 2.06 which has the following fixes:

- Fixed a problem in the Campaign Editor with tilesets different from the standard one. Custom tilesets would show mixed up with the default. Now they don't anymore.
- Fixed a problem in the Campaign Editor with rules and tables importation from RPG Manager v1.x.
- In the Campaign Editor you could rename a rule even if no rule was selected. This was bringing to a program crash. Fixed.
- Removed the Rename button from the load rules & tables in the Game Manager.
- The load spell menu command was not working in the Game Manager. The problem has been fixed.
- The load skill menu command was not working in the Game Manager. The problem has been fixed.
- Fixed several issues with group events in the Game Manager.
- Fixed a problem with group notes in the Game Manager.

In the meantime I am also working to complete the manual and to implement a couple of features which I believe will be very much appreciated. I'll talk about these new features very soon and I hope to be able to upload some screenshots too.

11 June 2010
Here I am again with another release with bug fixes and new implementations.Version 2.05 is really a major update and solves a number of issues in the Game Manager, some of them really fundamental, dealing with world and location maps, others related to group management, movement rates and estimated movement time.
So the most important improvement is a serious bug fix which was preventing world and location maps loading and usage in the Game Manager and therefore the use of many other Game Manager important features. The problem with the code was really a silly one and I'm sorry I did not notice this before.
Other improvements are related to weather and movement modifiers:

- In the Campaign Editor I have populated the weather options table with meaningful data. Not only that, now weather conditions can affect ground, water and air movement.
- In the Game Manager, terrain movement modifiers and movement modifiers related to weather conditions now apply to each single group member. Then, group movement is calculated as the lowest movement rate among all members.

In the future, I'll be working to provide more content to RPG Manager either in the form of graphics objects or gaming data. I am also looking forward to completing the RPG Manager user manual with the addition of the Game Manager part of the program. Unfortunately I have little feel of what you, the final user, think about RPG Manager or would like to see in the program.
Don't be shy, please write or post your comments in the forums.

27 May 2010
As promised, I am releasing the first equipment pack for RPG Manager 2.x. You can find the equipment pack in the downloads section of the website; it contains 62 different medieval weapons. There's something for everyone here: different sword types, many bludgeoning weapons, range weapons, etc. Each weapon has it's own description, statistics and image. I tried to describe each weapon at best based on historical information. The statistics provided try to be coherent and in line with the type of weapon. Of course, once added to your own copy of RPG Manager you are free to change anything about this pack. Moreover if you feel like this pack needs improvement and should you wish to add or integrate the data provided or even correct it, please let me know and I'll gladly update the package. As usual your feedback is very important to me.

21 May 2010
New RPG Manager version update. Version 2.04 fixes some bugs with equipment, skills and spells management. I have also been working on a new feature which you can find with this release: it's the equipment monitor, a utility available in both the Campaign Editor and the Game Manager and which sort of makes a summary list of equipment statistics. With the equipment monitor you can now have all your equipment on hand with a single glance.

I am also working on an equipment data pack which I hope to release in the next couple of weeks. This first equipment pack will feature medieval weapons.

11 May 2010
I have finished working on the second tower pack: it's time for some square towers. Since RPG Manager already allows you to create custom size towers, just by working with the wall segments, this tower pack only features tower roofs of different dimensions (tiny, small, medium, large and huge). I don't think that towers bigger than huge size are needed but I am willing to create them should anyone ask for them.

07 May 2010
Work goes on to track and fix eventual program bugs. I think I am being very prolific ultimately. ;-) Today I have released a new program update v2.03 which, besides fixing some issues with the calendar and name generator utility and with program embedded tables and some other stuff, adds drag and drop functionality to character and creature sheets. This comes in handy to move equipment, spells, and many other stuff around.
I have also worked on the manual adding a cover, an index and updating the chapters regarding character and creature management.

05 May 2010
I have finished writing the first part of the RPG Manager v2.x user manual. At the moment the manual features only the Campaign Editor but it will soon be completed with the Game Manager section. I hope the manual will shed some light on all the Campaign Editor features and provide a useful aid for some program functions which are not of immediate comprehension.
As usual, please let me know your thoughts and comments about this last piece of work.

04 May 2010
I've been playing a little with the RPG Manager forums tweaking most of the board features. Let's see if I was able to fix some problems with user registrations and posts! In any case please report any problems you might encounter while using the board. Also let me know if you wish me to open some new RPG Manager or role-playing related forum categories. I'm very new to all this experience and might really need your help and suggestions.

30 April 2010
Some people wrote to me about a few bugs they have found while changing world and location map descriptions and tile size. Some others have requested a prompt when exiting from editing world and location maps. Therefore I have recompiled the program and uploaded RPG Manager v.2.02.
I have also finished working on the first package of objects dealing with towers. The package is called "Round Towers 01". This particular package, which is already available for download, features round towers of tiny, small and medium dimensions, along with some tower floors and roofs. The "Round Towers 01" package requires at least v2.01 to work properly.

22 April 2010
RPG Manager is now on Google Wave.
Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. The purpose of creating an RPG Manager Wave is to collect feedback and suggestions, lend hints and help out on eventual problems in real-time, or just have a chat. As of today I have 20 Google Wave invitations which I can give out, in a first-come first-served basis, to whoever might be interested. So if this is your cake, just write to me and I'll send you one.

20 April 2010
I finally managed to rearrange the FAQ section of the website. I have provided what I think is a full list of features of RPG Manager v2.0. I am also looking forward to posting some tips and suggestions in the "Manual" section.

19 April 2010
RPG Manager v2.01 is available. This minor release fixes some bugs and changes a few graphic tiles. I have also been working on a significative improvement to the object management engine which now minimizes object dimensions on disk when these are created and saved.

15 April 2010
I am currently working on some tower Objects to be included in location maps. Below are some samples.
The package will probably be available by the end of next week.

22 March 2010
RPG MANAGER v2.0 IS FINALLY AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD!!!
Welcome to the new RPG Manager website. After almost four years of work I am pleased to announce that RPG Manager is still a live project.

RPG MANAGER is a powerful program which lets you create and manage fictious role-playing worlds and campaigns. With RPG Manager you may create multi-layered hexagonal or square based maps, characters, creatures, equipment lists, spells, skills and tons of more information which is normally used in a role-playing game. RPG Manager than merges all the provided data into a unique interface that allows your world or campaign to come alive.

I would like to thank all the people that have been using RPG Manager so far and have written to me providing their feedback and comments. Also, thank you, for your great patience. Please let me know your comments, suggestions or problems with RPG Manager. From now on I will be working to fix any bugs I will get knowledge of, polish and enhance the program's code and provide downloadable content. Of course new features might be implemented if found worthy. So enjoy RPG Manager and if you feel it is worth of, please contribute with a donation. Thank you.


Lo-res (under 1920x1200)	Hi-res (1920x1200 and above)