Hi there, its me again. Ok, over the past 3 years or so I have purchased Campaign Cartographer products. Apparently I don't learn. I have struggled with CC2, CC3, and various add on's over these 3 years. Something always goes wrong, I get various error messages, missing files, incompatable with Vista, you name it, I've dealt with it. I have writtent to the company for help and despite friendly suggestions, the programs are so touchy that I cannot escape the gremlins that dwell within.
My solution is to give up, take the loss, and move on. So I'm looking for another map making program that will work for me, which isn't as touchy, downloads easily, compatable with Vista, etc. etc. etc.
My map making skills are pretty basic but here's what I would like it to do.....
1. Make outdoor maps that look nice..continents, hills, mountains, glaciers, forests, deserts, etc.
2. Have features which work for futuristic settings such as developing space ships, futuristic buildings, space ports, that sort of thing.
3. Must be compatable with VISTA.
4. Price not a big deal.
Please provide your suggestions which feature items 1 and 2 above. I would love to see a website or find out what store to contact where I could find it, perhaps sample maps on the internet.
I'm tired of the program fight and just want to move on to something simpler.
I use Fractal Mapper 8.0. It does everything you just asked for. Check it out:
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=28465&it=1
I reviewed the website you offered me and was pretty impressed, especially with the science fiction direction and maps they showed. Have you had any problems such as....
Installing and Uninstalling
Missing Files
Difficulty in trying to figure out the program
Installing add on's
Various error messages popping up
These are the types of things I was encountering with Campaign Cartographer.
Well, let me admit up front that I don't use Vista yet. I'm still using XP. The XP version has none of the problems you mention. In fact, there is an awesome tutorial that comes with the program that taught me how to use it in under 30 minutes. It was quite refreshing for a Help feature to actually help!
I can only hope it works as well with Vista. It claims it does, but I'm sure CC claims the same. Oh wait, I just remembered that NBOS has its own site:
http://www.nbos.com/
The site has a Forum, so I'm sure there are folks there that will tell you the truth.
While we're here, can anyone recommend a cartography program for Macs?
Well, let me admit up front that I don't use Vista yet. I'm still using XP. The XP version has none of the problems you mention. In fact, there is an awesome tutorial that comes with the program that taught me how to use it in under 30 minutes. It was quite refreshing for a Help feature to actually help!
I can only hope it works as well with Vista. It claims it does, but I'm sure CC claims the same. Oh wait, I just remembered that NBOS has its own site:
http://www.nbos.com/
The site has a Forum, so I'm sure there are folks there that will tell you the truth.
I previously used XP as well and overal preferred it, though I don't feel Vista is the disaster that many make it out to be. I had plenty of problems with XP as well though I suspect some were due to my unfamiliarity with computers. One of the problems I've suffered with Vista though is a flashing screen effect resulting from an issue with zip files. The other problems I have had with CC such as not loading and unloading correctly or missing files I think are program related.
While we're here, can anyone recommend a cartography program for Macs?
Options for the Mac are limited in terms of specifically designed for RPG use. Obviously, lots of potential in terms of graphic design. No personal experience, but in other threads I've seen people talk about Photoshop as very doable. And that would apply for PC's and Macs.
Yes, I've seen Photoshop used for D&D. It worked very well. However, it's also very pricey.
Eileen - I'm up for trying Vista, but my PC is old and wouldn't convert well. My newest computer was a Mac. Just decided to try something new. Unfortunately, they don't make Fractal Mapper for the Mac so my old PC is in no danger of being discarded. Besides, I still have about a dozen XP games I haven't gotten to yet. ;-)
Since I seemed to have gotten rid of the flashing effect caused by some Vista zip file glitch, I'm going to TRY CC3 and the Cosmographer one more time (since I have it sitting here and the customer service person I have been dealing with has been very nice to me thus far. If it doesn't load right then I'm buying the fractual mapper. The space oriented parts did look a lot neater. I also suspect that it's newer as well. I think Cosmographer is like 5 years old.
Eileen - I'm up for trying Vista, but my PC is old and wouldn't convert well. My newest computer was a Mac. Just decided to try something new. Unfortunately, they don't make Fractal Mapper for the Mac so my old PC is in no danger of being discarded. Besides, I still have about a dozen XP games I haven't gotten to yet. ;-)
So are you saying that your thinking about getting Vista? You must have been using the Fractional Mapper on your previous computer then with Windows XP?
I'm a computer geek for the US Army. So its inevitable that I become intimate with Vista sometime in the near future. I'm also an MCSE for XP, so I've always been a Microsoft supporter. I bought the Mac to expand my skills. Though I have to admit...I like it.
BTW, Fractal Mapper just went on sale (20% off):
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=28465{1}8&it =1
I agree with you. If CC3 is working, you should stay with it since you've already made the investment.
Yes, I've seen Photoshop used for D&D. It worked very well. However, it's also very pricey.
Agreed. I've thought about trying gimp, open source alternative to photoshop, but realistically I don't have the time right now to make the learning curve worthwhile.
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I can highly recommend trying da GIMP. It's awesome and it's not as complicated as many people claim it to be. Okay, if you want to do a map that looks like it's straight out of the PFCS on session one, you might run into problems... But if you take some time to see what can be done and take a look at the tools first, it won't take long to get decent results.
Here are two maps I did with GIMP lately:
Map of a nation in my homebrew
Map of a mining town
As can be seen, I haven't added stuff like textures to my maps, but I know that this can be done as well (haven't figured out how yet...). And GIMP has a great and helpful community on the net with lots and lots of very good tutorials.
I can highly recommend trying da GIMP. It's awesome and it's not as complicated as many people claim it to be. Okay, if you want to do a map that looks like it's straight out of the PFCS on session one, you might run into problems... But if you take some time to see what can be done and take a look at the tools first, it won't take long to get decent results.
Here are two maps I did with GIMP lately:
Map of a nation in my homebrew
Map of a mining town
As can be seen, I haven't added stuff like textures to my maps, but I know that this can be done as well (haven't figured out how yet...). And GIMP has a great and helpful community on the net with lots and lots of very good tutorials.
Do they have any support for space/science fiction/superhero RPGs?
Posted some really neat maps
Those are some neat maps! 3 questions:
How long did it take to do one of those?
Is there an easy way to add/remove a grid?
Are you aware of any library of images for common map elements?
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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I like using photoshop. I reuse a lot of the stuff in different maps. A good pattern can be used again and again.
Full Belly, Empty Head Restaurant and Koi Pond.
Still, I'd be happier with a faster way to do these.
No, they don't! GIMP is not a map-making program; it's a graphic program like Photoshop. But it has lots of tools that can be used to create objects of all kinds. You could, for example, cut out stuff from existing maps and use these snippets to create your own maps.
And it's free! :-)
As usual with these threads I completely agree with Absinth. Gimp is basically just a free version of Photoshop. Its stunningly powerful and the professionals around here all use Photoshop for their maps. Its got a tough learning curve but you get better and better the more you use it and it will allow you to do anything pretty much if you figure out how. Its the kind of program where you will still be learning new tricks and still improving 10 years after you started to use it.
Beyond that your likely to find that its the kind of program that helps in other areas of your life. I learned to use Gimp for D&D but I have used those skills to make Banners for my store and design advertising, I've made specific birthday and anniversary cards etc.
My suggestion is to simply bite the bullet and use what the professionals use. In the end nothing else even really comes close and your work, while not being of professional quality will be passable and soon enough it will be more then passable.
There is something to be said for the versatility to do more then just make maps with a program as well. I make all sorts of hand outs and while 3D perspective maps are my primary activity with the program its the kind of tool that, with practise will allow you to enhance your game in lots of ways. Ways in which you might not have even thought of or considered really useful prior to gaining the expertize to function in the program.
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Wow those maps you made are quite impressive Absinth. Hopefully someday I'll be able to GIMP my own maps to look that good.
The GIMP is a very powerful program. It has a learning curve but as others were saying you may find your D&D map-making skills get used elsewhere once you get good. I'm also curious if you would be able to share some wisdom with us burgeoning GIMP users Absinth, even if it's just a link to tutorials elsewhere?
P.S. The Room of Miscellaneous Evil is awesome. Just the name itself deserves that but the map is also quite nice.
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Posted some really neat mapsThose are some neat maps! 3 questions:
How long did it take to do one of those?
Is there an easy way to add/remove a grid?
Are you aware of any library of images for common map elements?
It depends on which route I take. Mostly I draw the outline by hand, scan it and then work it over using the GIMP. That doesn't take that long. The map of the nation was done in about six hours. Although I'm not really fast and often change things half way through, so it could be done faster. What's really cool is, that you can change the maps again and again. If the PCs burned down a house, I can adjust the map in a couple of minutes for the next session. That's just great! No more stuff like "pretend this house doesn't exist anymore"...:-)
Grids can be added by using layers. That's one of GIMPs biggest strenghts. You can add and remove layers for an image. You could, for example, add room descriptions on a layer and just remove it before printing out a player's map and then add it again for your DM reference map. You can do the same with grids, hexes and so on. That's really neat.
There's lots of fan-made stuff for GIMP on the net; like custom designed brushes and so on. One of the best sites to find stuff like this is DeviantArt, where you can find brushes and other stuff. Here's a cool site for textures that look really nice and suitable for RPG maps. I didn't find a library like you mentioned, but I didn't search for it. I'm nearly sure that something like this exists.
I'm also curious if you would be able to share some wisdom with us burgeoning GIMP users Absinth, even if it's just a link to tutorials elsewhere?
Feel free to ask any questions you have! I'll try to give advice as best as I can, but I have to point out, that I'm far from being a pro using GIMP. I stumbled across the programm about eight months ago while looking for mapping programms too. I only scratched the surface of what GIMP really can do. Right now I'm trying to create textures so that my maps won't look that flat and feature-less anymore.
One of the best ways to get into GIMP is reading the manual. It has lots of tutorials in it. Most tutorials within the manual are aimed at editing/retouching photos, but all of these advices can be used for creating maps. There are lots and lots of further tutorials on the net; just google for GIMP and tutorial and you'll find lots and lots of useful stuff.@Jeremy: We're always meeting in these map-making threads. Would you be so kind to show a map that you designed with GIMP? I find it to be helpful to look at other peoples maps to see how they do stuff and to improve my own skills that way.
Ohh, and thank you all for the kind words regarding my maps. I'm not that pleased with the results, but they look better than hand drawn stuff on grid paper and they're getting better. I'd also like to point out, that english is not my first language (as you can see at the labels on my maps, I'm german), so please forgive if my phrasing doesn't always make sense...:-)
@Jeremy: We're always meeting in these map-making threads. Would you be so kind to show a map that you designed with GIMP? I find it to be helpful to look at other peoples maps to see how they do stuff and to improve my own skills that way.
I don't have a website so I have nowhere to post the maps. I keep meaning to buy myself some Internet real estate but I never seem to actually get around to it, partly because there is always a higher priority for my hard coin.
I've been using Illustrator to do some of my mapping. It does grids and lines well, so it's fast for doing Dungeons and buildings, but maybe not the best for continents. However, combined with photoshop it's very powerful. However, like the other posters have said, professional graphic design software isn't cheap and takes some learning.
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Thanks for the offer Absinth. I'll be sure to read through the manuals you linked before asking n00by questions; that could take a while. Perhaps we should do that in another thread though, maybe one specifically for the GIMP? Something like "Trick My Map Making Skills: the GIMP", I'm sure lots of people would find it useful (and other people who use the GIMP could share tips/tricks).
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Thanks for the offer Absinth. I'll be sure to read through the manuals you linked before asking n00by questions; that could take a while. Perhaps we should do that in another thread though, maybe one specifically for the GIMP? Something like "Trick My Map Making Skills: the GIMP", I'm sure lots of people would find it useful (and other people who use the GIMP could share tips/tricks).
Yes, that sounds like a cool and very useful idea! I'm looking forward to this thread! :-)
Oh, I don't have webspace myself; I'm using Photobucket to host images.
OK I'll see if I can get Photobucket to host some of my images.
OK I've uploaded some of my work to Photo bucket - lets see if I can figure out how to link it up.
Vulture Point
This is a map of Dungeon Magazines Vulture Point. First adventure my players went on in this campaign and the very first map done with the help of a computer. I'm just starting to learn Gimp here and its quite a primitive map.
The Caves of Chaos
This is the second adventure my PCs went on. Its a 3.5 conversion of Return to the Keep on the Borderlands Caves of Chaos. I've already started to significantly improve in my map making here though there are many many rough spots still being worked out. I learn every time I open the program - note also that I'm not a cartographer, I don't actually have talent and I never will, but with practise the maps still look pretty damn sweet.
Here I have begun to add stuff like furniture but its all a pinkish purple. Later I get better at making more interesting furniture though good looking statues and such (things that are not blocky and require real artistic talent) are something I still can't really do even today.
Notice that the map is broken up with Part 1, Part 2 etc. Thats because I have close ups of each part of the adventure. Occasionally I splurg and get a Poster Map done but they are expencive so mostly I just have everything printed out on 11 by 17 sheets and use an over view with close ups of the different parts of the adventure.
Part 5 of the Caves of Chaos
Here is an example of one of the close ups. E1 and E2 are were the famous troll lives. Killed one of my players with a critical and a rend, Players fighter went from 5 hps below max to instantly and irrevocably dead in the blink of an eye - he was pissed.
Adobe Illustrator with occasional tweaks using Photoshop.
For speed it beats photoshop, but if I want to get into textures I find I do a lot of crossing from Illustrator to Photoshop and back. The other reason I like Illustrator is the speed with which I can manage player's counters during combat. They look a little cartoony without texture but WTF.
Some PBP maps:
Turin's
Wall crawling
Infirmary
Crypt
The Hood
The Hood combat
Oasis
More Images
This is a close up of an Orc Complex I did as part of my additions to the Caves of Chaos. This section was actually even older then the other additions. I probably made this around 12 years ago and only got to use it (after updating to 3.5) much more recently. Its inspired by Tallows Deep (Old Dungeon Adventure) and the whole movement to make nasty humanoids with well defended lairs that Roger Moore started rolling with a Dragon Editorial many years ago.
This complex had around 120-130 Orcs in it and it became the single largest and longest fight in the campaign. The lair has choke points and there are counter attacks as well as secret doors that allow the Orcs to move behind the players and attack them from the rear. Some of the Orcs are actually Orogs - which I made in 3.5 by giving Orcs Barbarian levels and obscene physical stat bonuses. There are even a few leveled Orcs in the complex, a Half Orc Eldritch Knight, a Whitch Doctor (Mystic Thuerge) and the Chieftain (a higher level fighter). Combat takes 3 sessions, about 16 hours and more then 100 rounds. Players make it because they are about 5th level at this point and have obscene ACs, most of the Orcs only hit on natural 20s.
Players Book Cover
The cover of my players campaign book for my world. Here I've been playing around with some of the special effects you can do with Gimp and I've had it take a map and create a stained glass feel for it.
DMs Campaign Book Cover
Same theme as the players book cover though this time I've used the political map of the main continent of my campaign world.
Haddath Isle Political Map
Here's the Political Map I mentioned above.
Haddath Isle
My campaign World. I was really happy with this map. Photobucket really can't do that great justice to it as its one of the poster maps I had done and its about 3 feet by 3 feet.
Haddath Empire
Most of the action in my game takes place in the western part of the world map and this is a close up of that area. Here I did it to conform to hexes to aid in tracking travel times etc. Can't say I'm all that happy with how that worked out and when I redo this map I'll go with something more organic (even if its stylized} feeling. This close up is even larger then the world map because its meant to be used much more by the players. Its 4 feet by 4 feet and its been heavily marked up by them over the course of the campaign. Lots of fun for everyone there.
And yet more images...
Dragon Symbol
This is a broach that the BBEG in Caves of Chaos had. I made it by finding a picture of a real broach on the internet and then playing around with that in Gimp. The players keep finding this broach on varous individuals during the course of the campaign. The wearers are always Death Knights riding living Dragons.
Lizard Folk Embassy
One of my players was a Lizard Folk and he took over an abandoned Lizard Folk Embassy during the course of game play so I made him a picture of the Embassy.
Players Handout #39
So after the players left the Caves of Chaos they went through the first few towers from Dungeons Secret of the Towers. This image is from later when they had been through even more and where trying to figure out what towers were where and which ones teleported to which other ones.
Xak Taseroth
My players would later explore a much modified version of Xak Taseroth - the Dragon Lance Adventure. It was those original Dragon Lance adventures that made me want to do perspective mapping in my games originally and for sheer power of an adventures setting very little really compares to Xak Taseroth. This was actually probably my favourite adventure of the campaign. Again Photo Bucket has a tough time dealing with the size of this thing. Its something like 700 feet (in 5' squares) from the upper parts of this map to the lower parts.
Here I'm getting better at judging when and how to show the whole 3d structure and when not to bother.
Creation
This is a modified version of Tallows Deep. I used it as the place where Draconians were made by the bad guys in my campaign world. My Draconians were actually Lizard Folk Eggs that were infused (magically) with the essence of Good Dragon Ichor - throw in some dark magics and some major evil NPCs and voila - An excuse to have Draconians - one of my favourite monsters.
And the last of my images.
Telhran
My opus. This is the map of the main city in may campaign world. This thing is about 4 feet by 4 feet and its really detailed. There are probably 3000 buildings on the map. Took me between 40 and 60 hours to make. I got so sick of drawing little square buildings but it turned out phenomenally - at first my players did not believe me when I told them I had made it myself.
Lost Souls of Xak Channrath
The map for my Ravaneloft inspired Horror adventure. Couple of interesting things about this map. If you look closely you'll see that its actually two buildings - they are joined by some connections underground and by an arched walkway on the 3rd floor.
One of the buildings is the Haunted House from Pathfinder #2 while the second building is the Vampires Keep from either Hero's or Horror or Liber Mortis (can't remember which). All done as a perspective map in the style of I6.
I actually made an interesting discovery with the Pathfinder map - once you do this style of perspective mapping the stair cases and such must line up and to make Pathfinders Haunted house line up between the second and third floors it turned out that the third floor must be off centre from what you'd expect from looking at the maps in Pathfinder #2.
I had wanted to do all the furniture and such for this map but my players were hard on my heels when I was making this. I think I even cancelled the game one week because I was not ready so I'm cutting some corners during this maps creation.
The Greater Halls
My most recent map (and were my players are currently adventuring. This is of course the infamous Greater Halls of Castle Maure. Here I have finally gotten pretty good at doing nice furniture and such. I find that having this sort of thing actually on the map really helps with both transferring stuff to the battle grid and also my descriptions of the environment.
I had wanted to play with some special effects for the pond (it has that crazy colour changing cup) but could not find anything that really floated my boat.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Adobe Illustrator with occasional tweaks using Photoshop.
For speed it beats photoshop, but if I want to get into textures I find I do a lot of crossing from Illustrator to Photoshop and back. The other reason I like Illustrator is the speed with which I can manage player's counters during combat. They look a little cartoony without texture but WTF.
Some PBP maps:
Turin's
Wall crawling
Infirmary
Crypt
The Hood
The Hood combat
Oasis
Those are some nice maps. I've got to check out illustrator for throwing the lines down. After I do the lines in illustrator, is it easy to import them into photoshop to add textures and other images?
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@Jeremy: Wow, those are really cool maps! Thanks for uploading!
I haven't done any dungeon maps yet, but I'll definitly look at yours for inspiration when I'll one day create some myself. The map of Xak Taseroth looks pretty cool. I like it how you assembled the various layers so that the players really get a feel for how deep under the surface they are.
The map for the Caves of Chaos look really cool too. The whole 3-D perspective is great too! I haven't tried to create 3-D maps yet. How did you do these? Did you create the grid first and then add a white layer to "cut out" the rooms? It looks so perfectly geometric.
The map of Telhran is great too! I can imagine how much time and effort you put into this one. Wow! Well, at least your players seem to appreciate your work. It's one of the rewarding moments of map-making when you put a piece like this on the gaming table and to see the look on the players faces when they're told, that you created it yourself. Priceless! :-)
This is the Angraenor World Map, a geographical map of the world of my homebrew. I decided against using hexes to have it look more like a real map. As with your large maps, Photobucket isn't able to show it in a size that enables you to see the smaller details. The same maps with a higher resolution can be found at my homebrews Wiki. You have to scroll to the bottom and click on the thumbnails. A political version of the same map can be found there too.
Here are some other maps I did lately:
Geographic map of the nation of Kandamur
Political map of the nation of Kandamur
It's really easy and doesn't take long to modify an existing map to use it for geographic or climatic maps. I find it highly useful, to have several maps like these for important nations or regions.
This is a city where my current campaign started: Glazuria
And this map of the Monastari-Archipel is the latest map I did. My players haven't seen it yet, but they don't post here and do not know about my Photobucket-account, so it's safe to post it.
I'm not that pleased with the flat look of the maps, because I haven't found useful textures yet and haven't figured out how to create ones myself. There really should be some kind of structure on the rooftops, trees etc. .What I don't like is, that the pattern of textures can be seen, when you put it on large areas (as can be seen on the background of the Monastari-Archipel map). Well, I guess I'll figure out how to solve the problem in the future.
i myself want to find a map making program, that doesnt require a degree in cad.
i really liked the map making utility that was included with the 2e cd collection. plain, fairly easy to operate, the problem with it was that you couldnt make long corridors very easily. you had to add the elements square by square, and you could only put one element per square.
i should load that again, it was really useful.
i didnt like the village/overland part. i need to look, see if i still have that software, i took the second disk to iraq and lost it. :( but the mapping software wasnt as good. also, i dont remember what the file ended up being, so i dont remember what else would open them.
i just realized im rambling.
i dont have a degree in cad, and my maps with cc suck. im also not an artist by any stretch of the imagaination. i couldnt do order of the stick comic.
help. no cad involved.
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i really liked the map making utility that was included with the 2e cd collection. plain, fairly easy to operate, the problem with it was that you couldnt make long corridors very easily. you had to add the elements square by square, and you could only put one element per square.
Actually, that program was a lite version of Profantasy's Campaign Cartographer. They even offered an upgrade from that program to CC2 back in 2000 or so.
I've been a huge fan/user of Profantasy's products ever since then. Of course, I also took two years of drafting in high school and used some of the early CAD software programs then. I was such a geek that I got a copy for my home PC and did a lot of my gaming maps with that.
I'm sorry you're having such a huge problem with the software, Eileen. I've never had any real issues with it, myself. Of course, I also haven't tried to load it onto a Windows Vista system.
I wish I could provide some concrete assistance, but since I've never had any problems, I've never had to learn how to fix them.
@Jeremy: Wow, those are really cool maps! Thanks for uploading!
I haven't done any dungeon maps yet, but I'll definitly look at yours for inspiration when I'll one day create some myself. The map of Xak Taseroth looks pretty cool. I like it how you assembled the various layers so that the players really get a feel for how deep under the surface they are.
The map for the Caves of Chaos look really cool too. The whole 3-D perspective is great too! I haven't tried to create 3-D maps yet. How did you do these? Did you create the grid first and then add a white layer to "cut out" the rooms? It looks so perfectly geometric.
When I get a chance I can show you the basic technique. Essentially I use the normal grid to create squares that are orientated in a diamond shape. After that anything that is going straight up or down is changing elevation. I can upload something that will make it more clear at some point soon.
The map of Telhran is great too! I can imagine how much time and effort you put into this one. Wow! Well, at least your players seem to appreciate your work. It's one of the rewarding moments of map-making when you put a piece like this on the gaming table and to see the look on the players faces when they're told, that you created it yourself. Priceless! :-)This is the Angraenor World Map, a geographical map of the world of my homebrew. I decided against using hexes to have it look more like a real map. As with your large maps, Photobucket isn't able to show it in a size that enables you to see the smaller details. The same maps with a higher resolution can be found at my homebrews Wiki. You have to scroll to the bottom and click on the thumbnails. A political version of the same map can be found there too.
Here are some other maps I did lately:
Geographic map of the nation of Kandamur
Political map of the nation of Kandamur
It's really easy and doesn't take long to modify an existing map to use it for geographic or climatic maps. I find it highly useful, to have several maps like...
Your maps are great as well. I find it interesting just how distinctive our styles are.
How do you get the boxes around the names?
has anybody tried AutoREALMS?
Those are some nice maps. I've got to check out illustrator for throwing the lines down. After I do the lines in illustrator, is it easy to import them into photoshop to add textures and other images?
Yes. And Illustrator, in my experience, throws the lines down faster. Importing images is a breeze, just 'drag and drop' it onto your 'paper'.
If you knew how fast I made those maps you'd think it was obscene.
Here's some other stuff, exclusively on Illustrator.
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Those are some nice maps. I've got to check out illustrator for throwing the lines down. After I do the lines in illustrator, is it easy to import them into photoshop to add textures and other images?
Yes. And Illustrator, in my experience, throws the lines down faster. Importing images is a breeze, literally you just 'drag and drop' it onto your 'paper'.
If you knew how fast I made those maps you'd think it was obscene.
Here's some other stuff, exclusively on Illustrator.
How much is it running? I been using Paint.net to make the ones I been using lately (usually on your beautiful grid).
I got it used in a bookstore.
It's also on ebay: And way cheaper than when I bought it.
Those are some nice maps. I've got to check out illustrator for throwing the lines down. After I do the lines in illustrator, is it easy to import them into photoshop to add textures and other images?
And illustrator does do texture, some VERY well. But some of it gets pixellated around the edges and you need to touch it up in Photoshop.
How much is it running? I been using Paint.net to make the ones I been using lately (usually on your beautiful grid).
If price is an issue might I suggest Inkscape?
Just as Gimp is meant to be an open source version of Photoshop, Inkscape is an open source version of illustrator.
That said Gimp has been in development for many years while Inkscape is not so recent. I'd say that Gimp is every bit as powerful as Photoshop while I could not say that when comparing Inkscape to Illustrator.
That said when it comes to the really advanced tools very few of us are that good. Inkscape has all the basic tools most people use in a vector art program its just lacking in many of the advanced features that Illustrator has. My bet is there is no difference between the capabilities of the programs when it comes to making the sorts of things that Kruelaid is showing off with his pretty maps.
That said when it comes to the really advanced tools very few of us are that good. Inkscape has all the basic tools most people use in a vector art program its just lacking in many of the advanced features that Illustrator has.
Go ahead and try Inkscape, I have, it is free and you can't beat that. I guarantee if you can get your hands on Illustrator after, you'll never go back, though. I've GIMPed, too. GIMP is solid. Inkscape not so much.
Maybe after some more development...
That said when it comes to the really advanced tools very few of us are that good. Inkscape has all the basic tools most people use in a vector art program its just lacking in many of the advanced features that Illustrator has.Go ahead and try Inkscape, I have, it is free and you can't beat that. I guarantee if you can get your hands on Illustrator after, you'll never go back, though. I've GIMPed, too. GIMP is solid. Inkscape not so much.
Maybe after some more development...
OK - you've actually compared them while I have not. In anycase I still suggest giving Inskscape a whirl if vector graphics has you curious as it is free which makes it great for a test run to see if this is the kind of thing you'd like to use for map making.
And Jeremy is right, Inkscape is worth trying out before you spend on something else. At the very least you will get an appreciation for the learning curve. It takes up free time for a few months before you really start picking up the tricks and can work a map fast.
Jeremy, Absinth and Kruelaid have already covered the program parts really well, so I'll just echo their recommendations.
As for learning how to do the maps themselves, there are several resources. Some of the best I've found are Zombie Nirvana Games and Cartographers Guild.
ZNG has a lot of video podcasts where he explains his techniques, from the very basic and onwards. ZNG and his podcasts can also be found on YouTube.
Cartographers Guild is a forum based site with lots of examples and discussions about fantasy (and sci-fi) mapping.
By following e.g. Zombie Nirvana's tips you'll quickly start to do pretty decent maps.
Lastly another quick resource - rpgmapmaker on YouTube only has two tutorials up so far (he frequents Cartographers Guild too), but one of them is a sweet mountain tutorial.