I apologize if this has been asked before and I have slogged through google searches on this as well but can anyone recommend a SIMPLE overland map creation program (for Windows)?

I have found all sorts of wonderful products but most go way beyond what I'm looking for. I would just like a simple (preferably hex-based) drag and drop program to create some quick maps of the area for my adventure. This is the type of stuff I used to just do on paper but I can't imagine that there isn't something easy like this out there. I just can't find it lol.

Soooo, if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

Thanks in advance!

I used Inkarnate to do this map and GIMP for the handout . One pic is a screenshot of the online Inkarnate tool and the other the hangout I made with GIMP. I downloaded the image and used GIMP to add a cloth effect ... and blood splatters. What good is a map handout if you don't have blood stains on it anyways? ?

It asked you to put in your e-mail address to login. It keeps your maps for you and I didn't get spammed at all by that website.

Enjoy!

Z

Quote

I have  found all sorts of wonderful products but most go way beyond what I'm looking for. I would just like a simple (preferably hex-based) drag and drop program to create some quick maps

Ah, so you’ve already found campaign cartographer.

I know I’ve seen a program that produces hex maps in the styles of old D&D box set maps, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was now. Sorry. If it comes to me I’ll let you know.

Hex Kit is probably something you want to look into. Easy, fast and not too expensive.

I think you are thinking about Hexographer forgottenlore.

Its good for quick simple maps, but not as pretty as something like CC or that inkarnate that was shown above.

Thanks for the input guys. I am currently looking at Hexographer (and Worldographer) to see if that fits the bill. So far so good but I'll check out the other suggestions as well.

Thanks again!

Here's one I've been considering (you can overlay a hex grid within the software): https://otherworldmapper.com/index.html It's not free, but looks really simple to use. (The Demo is free, but you can't save your work in any way.)

5 hours ago, FangGrip said:

I think you are thinking about Hexographer forgottenlore.

Its good for quick simple maps, but not as pretty as something like CC or that inkarnate that was shown above.

Yep, that was the one.

On 5/23/2018 at 11:44 AM, admutt said:

Here's one I've been considering (you can overlay a hex grid within the software): https://otherworldmapper.com/index.html It's not free, but looks really simple to use. (The Demo is free, but you can't save your work in any way.)

I kickstarted this, and it has really come together nicely. It's not overly complicated like Campaign Cartographer, and it has lots of nice features for making RPG maps. I've used CC, Autorealm, Inkarnate, Hexographer/Worldographer, and others, and Other World Mapper is my favorite by far. It isn't free, though, as mentioned. For free, easy, and not bad looking it's hard to beat Inkarnate (even though every map has that undeniably "made with Inkarnate" look).

Here's an example of my world map made with Other World Mapper. I'm by no means anything other than a mapping noob, but I thought it turned out pretty good. The program allows you to make political boundaries, roads, trade routes etc that follow rivers and things, and you can toggle on/off every type of map feature and label for different kinds of map views - physical, political, trade, etc.

Khoram,

Well done, my friend! That map turned out really nice!

Z

On ‎5‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 10:44 AM, admutt said:

Here's one I've been considering (you can overlay a hex grid within the software): https://otherworldmapper.com/index.html It's not free, but looks really simple to use. (The Demo is free, but you can't save your work in any way.)

Wow. I looked into this and I'm going to have to get it as soon as my accountant forgets I just upgraded to the latest version of Campaign Cartographer.

If you look at old posts, you will see me preaching for years in this forum regarding AutoRealm being a free and much simpler version of Campaign Cartographer, which has a steep learning curve. I recently upgraded to the latest version of CC, and it seems there have been several changes including automation tools which have made it better, but it's still a chore.

After reading through the website of Otherworldmapper, I should have saved my money and grabbed it. The $60 full version includes overland, city, and dungeon mapping. To get all 3 in CC, you are paying much more. It looks much, much simpler to use and still can create some nice looking maps. Not the customization of CC I assume, but still professional looking.

A couple things I noted:

• Import tool. Don't see a symbol you like? Create your own.
• AUTO-Z ORDER!!!!: One of the most frustrating things about CC is placing symbols at the right depth to each other. If you don't plop them down in the right order from the start (or want to go back and insert some others), it is a headache involving changing layers and such. I often end up with the wrong symbol on top and have to go back to manually fix things which is not intuitive at all. The Auto-Z function in OWM, if it works as stated, seems to be directed at this problem in CC!!

Thanks again all! Great suggestions and I tried most of them out (the ones that had free trials anyways).

In the end I went with HexKit for my campaign map. While I wasn't initially a huge fan of the overall look, it sort of grew on me as I fleshed out a test map. The program itself is extremely easy to use and while it might be less flexible than some of the tools it had more than enough to get the job done. I was able to complete the whole area map in a few hours which is a huge plus to me!

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 1:35 PM, Sturn said:

Wow. I looked into this and I'm going to have to get it as soon as my accountant forgets I just upgraded to the latest version of Campaign Cartographer.

Got it. Other World Mapper is going to be my new go-to program for mapping. AutoRealm and CC are being shelved. Beats AutoRealm in map making quality and beats CC in ease of use. If you get the full version, it appears you can easily make deckplans or towns also, not just overland maps.

Thank you for the suggestion Khoram! And sorry for the intrusion Uncle Joe!

Gonna follow this topic

Other World Mapper looks amazing. I'm going to have to set aside some funds for that one.

Related to all this, any one know a good mapper for making cities specifically? Running an urban/dieselpunk game and it would help to draw up a map of the city.

12 hours ago, Cyvaris said:

Related to all this, any one know a good mapper for making cities specifically? Running an urban/dieselpunk game and it would help to draw up a map of the city.

Campaign Cartographer has a specific program for making cities. But, it has a learning curve and many complain it's basic controls are not intuitive (click tool, then click item, then set parameters, then execute vs the usual click an item, then click a tool).

The new Other World Mapper includes a city designer if you pay for the full version. While I love the overland mapping program (good results and easy to use), I've yet to try out the city mapper so can't say if it is as good as the main program.

The Cartographer's Guild forums have a lot of really nice tutorials for making maps in Photoshop, if you ever want to take the plunge with that.

It sounds intimidating but honestly I've messed with Dundjinni and Campaign Cartographer and both were substantially more difficult to use, and substantially less flexible. I'm yet to find a dedicated map making software which isn't either very restrictive, or designed horribly.

On 5/22/2018 at 4:22 PM, Uncle_Joe said:

can anyone recommend a SIMPLE overland map creation program (for Windows)?

I have found all sorts of wonderful products but most go way beyond what I'm looking for. I would just like a simple (preferably hex-based) drag and drop program to create some quick maps of the area for my adventure. This is the type of stuff I used to just do on paper but I can't imagine that there isn't something easy like this out there. I just can't find it lol.

Soooo, if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

Thanks in advance!

MapForge might sound like an odd suggestion, because it used to be only for tactical-scale battlemaps, but thanks to this successful Kickstarter campaign , it can now also make great-looking area/regional maps using hex-shaped tiles. This video shows it in action.

There are currently two art styles available, David Baumgart's and Hex March . A more extensive video preview of the content can be seen here .

Hoping for a couple more styles, in time.