I occasionally use a version of MapMaker that came with the old Core Rules Version 2.0 CD-ROM, and I think it's about time for an update.
I checked out Campaign Cartographer 2 in the Paizo store, but the screencaps (and my experience with CC 1) show the software to be very cartoonish. I want my maps to look realistic - I want the stone walls to look like real stone, the water to look wet, trees to look like trees, etc. Dundjinni (also in the Paizo store) looks pretty good.
There was also an older version of MapMaker that let the user do a first-person walk-through of a designed dungeon. I'd love that feature in a program with more sophisticated graphics.
What do you folks use? And to the folks at Dungeon Magazine, what did you use to create the maps for The Obsidian Eye in issue 120? They are absolutely incredible.
XOXO - Asberdies Lives
Dundjinni (also in the Paizo store) looks pretty good.
I have made some use of Dundjinni, and the maps it produces are beautiful (though harder to create than they want you to believe). The end user license agreement sucks though, and restricts what you can do with the maps quite a bit.
Pretty maps!!! They can be quite exquisite really. Here's where I wish I had learned something from my dad... two cartographers in the family, and I use generic graph paper and a pencil for most of my maps.
- Ashavan
I generaly do not use any software at all... simply pencil, pen and graph or hex paper for most maps I do... however if I want to create a map for putting online, etc. I do it the way that most of the pro's do (although my maps do not turn out nearly as good as thiers) I hand draw them, scan them into my computer, and then touch them up, color them etc. with Photoshop.
It's funny that this is here. I just posted on teh Dundjinni forums that as much as I love the maps I can make with it, it's just too time consuming. Everytime I work on a map, I ned up abandoning it in favor for some time to prep with new material for my campaign. I have tons of books that I try to incorporate, and tons of Greyhawk material that I have to hunt for and absorb, and creating a pretty picture doen't place itself high on my priority list.
http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=2848
Dungeon's cartographers generally use photoshop to do their maps.
I was afraid you'd say that. I've got Photoshop 7.0, and I just can't imagine being able to put real-looking water over real-looking marble on a real-looking grid without really firing my PC out onto the highway.
Dungeon's cartographers generally use photoshop to do their maps.
I would love to see a write/tutorial on how they do it.
Neomorte
What do you folks use?
No software - I use the good ol' graph paper and pencils. Extremely time efficient (which is valuable to me) and meets my "good enough" standard.
Hey guys,
I am a professional cartographer and I've experimented with many of the mapping programs on the market (Dunjinni, CC, etc). Honestly, nothing beats Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Sure, there's a bit of a learning curve but the results are far beyond what the other programs can offer.
The $650 price of Photoshop freaks most people out but Adobe has a program called Elements for $90 that has many of Photoshop's features. I haven't used it so I don't know how well it would work for cartography.
There's also an opensource program called GIMP that gives Photoshop a run for its money. It's powerful, free, and you can find it at www.gimp.org.
Dungeon's cartographers generally use photoshop to do their maps.I would love to see a write/tutorial on how they do it.
Neomorte
If you look closely at some of them, you can figure out where their layers are, what effects they're using and so on... some of the time.
I find the really tricky bit with PhotoShop is getting things like the lovely water effects that Christopher West, for example, comes up with.
It's been said before, but some Photoshop cartography pointers would make a really great Dungeon article... or series!
No software - I use the good ol' graph paper and pencils. Extremely time efficient (which is valuable to me) and meets my "good enough" standard.
I draw most of my maps as well, and they are easily good enough. But I was faced with designing a small, walled city last year, so I broke out the old MapMaker program and gave it a shot. The resulting map was beautifully detailed and colored, and I finished it in the same amount of time it would have taken to draw it - maybe less. I was wondering what kind of upgraded graphics and functionality there might be now.
I remember Campaign Cartographer being very slow. Every time I moved around on the map, each graphic would have to reload, which took nearly a minute in total. That became extremely frustrating and time consuming. It sounds like Dundjinni might have the same problem. Boooooo.
Creative Director
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Campaign Cartographer is a resource hog. If you have a slow computer, it can be agonizing to work with if your map has a lot of elements. But if you have a relatively fast/powerful computer it's not bad at all. It still redraws every element, but it does so quickly enoguh that it's usually not even noticiable.
Campaign Cartographer is a resource hog. If you have a slow computer, it can be agonizing to work with if your map has a lot of elements. But if you have a relatively fast/powerful computer it's not bad at all. It still redraws every element, but it does so quickly enoguh that it's usually not even noticiable.
All of the mapping programs are resource hogs. And regrettably, my computer is far from top notch... I need to replace it, but I always feel like I'm sending money down the drain when I do that, as they are outdated so quickly.
Campaign Cartographer was just a little too slow for me on my computer and I wasn't willing to fork over that much cash if it was going to be that slow. Maybe when I upgrade my computer I'll consider it.
That being said, Dundjinni can also be really slow too... it's easy enough to use that I ignore the slowness... CC2 is just not easy enough to use for me to ignore how slow it is.
Doing maps in photoshop is beautiful, I just wish I had the skill to do it.
- Ashavan
I too would love a series of articles in the back of Dungeon on aspects of cartography in DnD. Mapmaking is probably the greatest thing that I enjoy about being a DM. I usually always start with a map as opposed to starting with a story. When I was a kid finding a stash of graph paper was like striking gold. God forbid finding the holy grail of mapping AKA hex paper.
-wipes drool off chin-
I am currently messing around with various mapping demos (Fractal, autorealms, etc...) and CC2 CD is currently on the way to my house. Great timing on this post. Anything in Dungeon to help tackle what Mr. Jacobs described as a 'steep learning curve' would be sweet. Thanks.
I would be very interetsed in a cartography series or tutorial. as well. I'm pretty skilled at hand-drawn maps and while I have access to Photoshop and Illustrator, they remain on my life list of "things I want learn someday".
Hey guys,
I am a professional cartographer and I've experimented with many of the mapping programs on the market (Dunjinni, CC, etc). Honestly, nothing beats Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Sure, there's a bit of a learning curve but the results are far beyond what the other programs can offer.
Are most of the templates and graphics you use of your own creation or are many of them open-source?
I've voted on this before in an earlier thread, but if this is where the votes are being tallied, let me add my name to the list.
I'd really like to see a map-making master class too. I'm in love with Christopher West's work (and am a little envious that his name is 'West' so he gets to so cleverly sign all his maps), so you should start with him.
Along the same idea, how about a place where we can download digital objects to use in our maps. For example, .jpgs of buildings or stone floors.
You can add a vote on the series of articles on mapmaking. It is one of the most fascinating aspect of DM and remains one of the most obscure part at the same time.
I'd love to see articles on digital mapmaking too. And a downloadable set of icons and textures would be incredible, even at a cost.
Not sure if I'm spilling the beans.. but the Dundjinni site has a forum where ppl have posted pics of ALL KINDSA stuff. They're .PNG files but you can pull them up in your paint program of choice and manipulate them to your heart's desire. I believe most are posted by artists as 'free use'.
http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/default.asp.. but please take as sec and let the artists know you appreciate them...
I want to add my vote to the group that would like to see some articles on how the masters at Dungeon make their maps. They are so pretty and I am so envious.
Add my name to the list of those wishing for a map-making tutorial!
(There was once a short article in Dragon about this some years ago, called "Making Maps the Wizard's Way" or somesuch, but I can't remember the issue...)