Boardgame Counters
Below are some graphics files which can be used to create so-called "counters" (playing pieces) for board games, whether tabletop- or computer-based. The intention is that players use the graphics available below to create countersheets, print them out, and use them in tabletop play. Together with the free gaming maps, these graphics provide a good starting point for designing custom games.
csv2countersheet, countersheet generation tool
The csv2countersheet Perl script can be used to generate counter sheets from CSV (comma-separated values) files which describe the sheet layout by listing individual graphics files, like those available for download below. In addition, it supports a very basic macro syntax to make creating such files "by hand" somewhat simpler (alternately, you can use your favourite spreadsheet program to create these files).It requires a Unix-like environment and the ImageMagick convert tool to create countersheets. (Sorry Windows users - you'll need to lay out your countersheets using your favourite graphics program.)
Tip: to create double-sided countersheets, simply lay out the CSV descriptions so that the front sides are on one half of the countersheet (e.g., top or left half), then the bottom sides are on the other half (e.g., bottom or right half), then print them out, put some glue on the back side of the printout, and fold the sheet so that the front and back sides line up. This trick works pretty well, especially when used on small counter sheets (where there is less room to make a mistake in the folding).
Known bugs and mis-features:
- Some versions of convert have a broken -border option which mistakenly colors the whole background of an image instead of bordering it. If that is the case on your box (as it is on my box with convert version 6.2.4) then csv2countersheet's -b option will not work as advertised for you. This does in fact make generating usable countersheets much more difficult because without the borders you don't have lines to follow when cutting out the counters! See this bug report for a description: http://www.archivesat.com/post4806754.htm.
- This tool was written as a quick hack some years ago and may seem a bit funky. Hack it to suit your tastes.
Counters: Dungeon hacking
angband-counters-32x32.tar.gz (1709476 bytes, last modified 2009.Jul.27)
Here is a collection of 2320(!!!) dungeon-themed graphics, each one 32x32 pixels (so you may want to scale them up when printing them, to avoid that the printed counters are too small to handle). i grabbed these graphics from http://www.thangorodrim.net/ (see their downloads page, which i can't link directly to because that site uses frames). The only difference between this set and the one available from the link above is that these are chopped up into individual PNG graphics with transparent backgrounds, whereas the original is available as one big BMP file with a black background and a separate "masking" image file.
License: see the included README.txt file.
Counters: Generic armored combat
cisco-sci-fi-counters.tar.gz (60199 bytes, last modified 2009.Jul.27)
Here is a set of generic counters for use in games centered around armored combat (in particular near-future/sci-fi genres). Created by Francisco "Cisco" Cestero, they are identical to the graphics available on my Ogre page except that these copies have no unit statistics printed on them, making them more generic. The counters include a variety of ground vehicles (various sorts of trucks, tanks, and hovercraft) and infantry counters, plus a few extras like craters and buildings. Also included is a ready-to-use countersheet, in various colors, suitable for printing. These graphics are all 48x48 pixels, which normally prints out to exactly 1/2 inch (a common gaming counter size) on most printers.
License: These graphics are freely usable in non-commercial contexts, but may not be used in commercial contexts (see the included README.txt file).
Counters: Plastic army men
joe-counters.tar.gz (225206 bytes, last modified 2009.Jul.27)
This set contains a handful of 60x60-pixel counters which i created by photographing plastic army soldiers and touching up the photos to get silhouette-style images. They were created for the CGME Joe game, but can probably be used for a variety of games.
License: Public Domain
Counters: Space Ship Silhouettes
wanderinghorse.net-svg-spaceship-counters-20100530.tar.gz (207938 bytes, last modified 2010.May.30)
This set includes more than 60 individual silhouette-style counters of space ships. The master copies are in SVG and small PNG versions are included for use with electronic gaming tools like QBoard. It also includes a print-ready sheet which has the counters (or most of them) laid out in a 0.5x0.5-inch grid. They can be scaled, colored, etc., using an SVG editing program like InkScape.
License: Public Domain
When using Inkscape, by selecting individual images (or groups of images) in this file and applying various filters from the Filters menu you can get some really interesting effects. Some which i liked:
- Textures-->Tinted Rainbow (or Melted Rainbow)
- Ridges-->Thin Membrane
- Protusions-->Fire
- ABCs-->Specular Light (or Diffuse Light)
- Bevels-->Button
- Bevels-->Bloom