I'm looking to get my hands on a decent software or software package that will assist me in mapping my homebrew campaign world. I'm less concerned with an overland map, truth be told, as I typically hand draw my large world maps, then work on them w/ Photoshop (mostly because I haven't found a mapping program that I like), and more interested in finding a good city mapping program and dungeon mapping program.
A lot of what I've found online, both as free downloads and programs to purchase, seem either too clunky or not overly useful (I've found a lot of city mapping software that allows you to lay a city out only in a grid-vbased pattern, which doesn't seem overly realistic).
What programs do other people use? Any suggestions? Is Campaign Cartographer worth the expense?
Campaign Cartographer is nice, but it's expensive and not easy to use--it takes much more of an investment in time than I care for. I have it and I use it occasionally, but for quick and easy practical maps for my home campaign, I use a flowcharting program called RFFLOW, which can be readily and easily used to make dungeon maps, city maps, etc. It's very intuitive, you can very easily duplicate symbols, put text inside them, draw floorplans and you can export your files to .jpg and even import custom symbols (so you can handdraw or photoshop a specific symbol you like and turn it into an RFFlow symbol)
The program is small, you can download it straight off the net without a hassle and it runs fast because it's not bogged down with a bunch of CAD features.
The end product is not as pretty as CC or Dundjinni, but it's a hell of a lot faster and very useful in a practical sense. I even started flow-charting dungeons and drawing the detailed map off the flowchart as the adventure was being played--the players never knew I didn't have a detailed map done ahead of time.
The website is www.rff.com RFFLOW . There's a free trial download. The other bonus is that it uses a heck of a lot less ink if you draw your maps right. I was introducted to this program back in 1998 during a work in-service class where I learned to flow-chart organizational structures and enterprises, human relationships and financial transaction flows and I immediately realized its usefulness a a quick and easy mapping program for my RPG campaigns.
The program defaults to a single page of graph paper when drawing new charts, which is pretty cool as well.
i have to cast my vote for CC2 and CC3. Campaign Cartographer, and all of its suppliments, is not a casual investment in money or time, but i love the results it produces. It takes some practice, but with Campaign Cartographer 2, and a few of its suppliments (Dungeon Designer Pro, City Designer Pro, notably), you can produce some amazing maps with just a bit of work. Some have commented on a 'campaign cartographer' look to maps, but i have found that this was in large part because the program itself was designed to emulate a lot of maps that had existed before that. And most maps can be further coaxed with some tricks and techniques in the program itself.
I have all of the CC2 suppliments, and have started acquiring the Campaign Cartographer 3 components as they've become available, and while i may regard myself as an intermediate mapmaker, i am quite proud of my work with it. I have made all the maps my campaign uses with it, even maps adapted from other sources. I have a campaign web page showing many of the maps, though this page has not updated in some time, and it is a geocities page, so it has a narrow bandwidth allowance. (the newest maps are actually a few months old and all of these maps are CC2 maps)
http://www.geocities.com/liath22/
There are other mapping programs you may enjoy more, but this is one i will highly endorse, it's worth the time and money and effort
I like Dundjinni - the price isn't bad, but I had a couple of nigglies with it (see my review on it in the Paizo store). Adding new tokens/map tiles/whatever is pretty straightforward - drop the PNG into your program folder file. If you do look into Dundjinii, the Dundjinni website is an excellent resource - a lot of people post their creatures, background tiles, etc on the forums for people to download. Another Dundjinni resource is a site run by Steel Rat, a big contributor. Excellent stuff, not just limited to Fantasy settings, but a lot of Sci Fi materials as well.
There is also Dungeon Crafter, but it's grid-based and not very flexible.
as you can see, three people, three different postings, and all three of us have a valid point of view. Look around and find what works for you. but we will all be happy to give our opinions
If you can find it, Dungeon Crafter is a good, easy to use, tile-based and FREE mapping tool.
You can find a lot of tiles on-line, too.
You got forest, village, temple, and tunnels tile sets when you downloaded the basic Dungeon Crafter file, and other tiles I have found are building interiors, mines, letter and number sets, and more.
Note that Dungeon Crafter is no longer being actively suported by the team that created it, but you should be able to find it on the 'net.
Very frustrating, because they were working on Dungeon Crafter 2, that was supposed to be an order of magnitude of improvement. Darnit.
Go to http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/dungeoncrafter/ and subcribe to the group. The install file for DC 1.4 is in the "Kheferens's Tiles" folder in the "files" section of the group. (The mail-group is dead, too, btw)
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Dundjinni is what I like. Dungeoncrafter is cool because I made tiles for it that match my modular dungeons that I made from HirstArts molds.
But Dundjinni is my favorite and has a lower learning curve than CCs. Go to the website forums and cruise the maps that users have made to see what it can do.
FH
as you can see, three people, three different postings, and all three of us have a valid point of view.
No kidding . . . :) I'll have to take a look at all the different programs mentioned. I've been leaning toward Campaign Cartographer lately, but the place I was planning on purchasing it from isn't selling it right now (I'm guessing it's because ProFantasy is transitioning from CC2 to CC3).
I own Campaign Cartographer 2, Dungeon Designer 2, and City Designer 2 myself, as well as Fractal Terrains. It's pricey, the learning curve is steep, and it isn't very intuitive at all. I think the most important question you might want to ask yourself is: Just how much time, effort, and cash do you want to invest to make purty maps for your game?
I've heard many a person say that once you learn how to use it, you can make some excellent maps. One just needs the patience to sit down and figure it out.
I've got to vote for photoshop. Again it's a steep learning curve but that's only if you want to learn everything.
What I love about photoshop is that you can scan in hand drawn stuff and add the photoshop elements, such as colours and other details. This way you get exactly what you want with a different look everytime.
I've got to vote for photoshop. Again it's a steep learning curve but that's only if you want to learn everything.
What I love about photoshop is that you can scan in hand drawn stuff and add the photoshop elements, such as colours and other details. This way you get exactly what you want with a different look everytime.
Along with a nod to photoshop, Microsoft Visio is a great program for doing dungeons and even small towns. And if your dungeon just happens to have a Cisco 6509 in it Visio's got that covered!