Searching for a robust, yet simple map maker

[Totema]

For me, one of the most challenging parts of planning a campaign is drawing a map. I can think of general geography easily enough, but I would like if I could make the map to appear high-quality too, like a satellite image.

I've used fractal generated maps before, and they look pretty great to me, but it's very hard to get a map that resembles my vision of the world this way. I've also used programs like Hexographer, but those maps, while very functional, are also not very pretty. Is there a map-making program out there that is easy to use yet looks good at the same time?

[Airk]

Well, I use Campaign Cartographer 3, but anything that has hours of demo videos is not perhaps to be considered "Simple".

It does produce some bloody awesome maps though, even in my somewhat inept hands.

Oh. It's also not free, so there's that.

[Anxe]

I also use campaign cartographer. I actually found it pretty easy to grasp. Just don't show your first draft to your players!

But, yes. Not free. It's 30 or 40 dollars right now I think.

[Melayl]

You could also check with the folks at The Cartographer's Guild. They specialize in mapmaking, and are quite friendly and helpful.

[Rhynn]

Hexographer (and the same company's other products, like Dungeonographer) is the only one that I can actually figure out and get to do what I can (I r dum), and it has a free version. I love it. The ability to trace over PNGs is great, even if trying to fit the map to the PNG is a painful and humiliating trial.

[Anxe]

Hexographer (and the same company's other products, like Dungeonographer) is the only one that I can actually figure out and get to do what I can (I r dum), and it has a free version. I love it. The ability to trace over PNGs is great, even if trying to fit the map to the PNG is a painful and humiliating trial.

Someone didn't read the first post in full. :P

[Totema]

I'm considering Campaign Cartographer, but that price tag ($45!) is awfully steep! @_@ At least they let you try a demo first. If it works well I'll probably buy it anyway.

Edit: Oh wait, the demo is for the Fractal Terrains program, not Campaign Cartographer. Any testimonials for that one?

[Airk]

I'm considering Campaign Cartographer, but that price tag ($45!) is awfully steep! @_@ At least they let you try a demo first. If it works well I'll probably buy it anyway.

They don't let you try a demo, but their website claims a two week money back guarantee, which is basically a two week demo.

[Anxe]

Here's a map I made for my campaign world using campaign cartographer.
http://s10.postimg.org/7zwfczm87/Greek_Campaign_4.jpg

And here's a map for my groups next campaign.
http://s24.postimg.org/d681p7d10/Gurutama_Map.jpg

Everything but the fonts are from Campaign Cartographer. The fonts I grabbed from The Thieves Guild.

[Airk]

Or for a completely different sort of map done in CC3, I made this one, printed it, and aged the paper as a sort of 'treasure map'.

[Owlglass Moot]

ProFantasy's products are okay, but I personally don't feel that they're worth the amount they charge for them. I guess I'm spoiled by Photoshop, but all of their software is more limited in functionality than I would like and has a cheap, "late-90s" feel to its appearance and how it handles.

Not to mention that a lot of their software should have been consolidated into one robust tool. For example, there's zero reason that Campaign Cartographer and Fractal Terrains should be separate programs.

That being said … For my most recent map I used Fractal Terrains to generate a bunch of random coastlines, then pasted and tweaked them together in Photoshop to get something that resembled the landmass I wanted. You could use Donjon and GIMP to do the same thing for free.

It's not exactly satellite quality, but yeah, kludging together a bunch of fractal coastlines can sometimes get you close to how you envisioned your map.

[Owlglass Moot]

Edit: Oh wait, the demo is for the Fractal Terrains program, not Campaign Cartographer. Any testimonials for that one?

Fractal Terrains is my favorite ProFantasy program I've tried, and the randomization options are pretty customizable. The terrain height and biomes seem really wonky to me, though. No matter how much I tweak it, the elevation increases drastically as soon as you move away from the coast, and 90% of the terrain ends up being tundra.

It also would benefit a lot from a cut/paste option.