Map Software

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by dgrm4

Can someone recommend good software to create adventure maps for Gurps?

I guess we can add this to the list: Live Home 3D for making maps of modern homes.

I don't use it. I just saw an add for it and remembered there was a thread that was a clearinghouse for map making software.

[Bruno]

In a similar vein, my mother loves 3D Home Architect but I don't know how available it is any more (Open box on Amazon for $100 :P - I think that's the 16 bit version too...)

For a cheap alternative, Amazon suggests Sweet Home 3D, which is certainly competitive at the pricepoint, has a print manual, and runs on Windows and Mac (sorry Linux users) [ EDIT: The download version runs on linux but no paper manual]. No idea how good it is, but from my experience with 3D Home Architect, these kinds of programs are pretty simple and very handy for modern floor plans.
A "home" themed one might be a little tricky to do an office or school with, but only in the sense that the furniture may be lacking.

A unique feature is that these programs are actually building a 3D layout based on your floor plan, so when you have your map done, you can get a picture from the doorway to show the players what they see when they walk into the room. It's not going to have decorations or cultists with knives or whatever, but it's a handy prop generator anyways. You can scrawl those in with a pen or copy-paste appropriate figures from RPG book art to enhance your handout (no redistribution, that would be VERY rude).

[edk926]

Back in the day, I used Autorealm, which was basically modified Autocad. I have no idea if it's still around. Since most of the posts at like 6-7 yrs old, I'd like to read updates on programs ... especially free ones. :)

[Langy]

I can recommend Other World Mapper; it's currently in beta, but actual release looks a month or two away. I like it significantly more than Fractal Mapper or Campaign Cartographer, and the default symbol sets are pretty decent. The one big feature that it lacks (though I don't know many pieces of mapping software that do have this feature) is a good 'display' mode, where you can use a digital device to navigate around the map and view notes, check distances, etc all with data from the map. The actual map supports those things, it just doesn't have a dedicated 'display' mode.

The other main problem that it has at the moment - other than a few small things they're looking to fix for the final release candidate - is that they don't take transparency into account when selecting symbols on the map, so if you've got a large symbol that's mostly transparent in the same spot as other symbols, you have difficulty selecting the other symbols by clicking on the map. Not a huge deal, but annoying enough. They have said they're looking into changing that, but it'll take some more back-end work than can be justified before the official release.

[dom1]

Is there anything currently available for Mac users, with a shallow learning curve, and not too expensive?

I was foolish enough to buy a beautiful MacBook Pro and later discovered I can't get any Mac versions of the kind of software I had loads of on my old PC :(

[Armin]

Originally Posted by dom1

Is there anything currently available for Mac users, with a shallow learning curve, and not too expensive?

I was foolish enough to buy a beautiful MacBook Pro and later discovered I can't get any Mac versions of the kind of software I had loads of on my old PC :(

If tile-mapping works for you, Hex Kit recently came out, looks simple to use, and has some very interesting features. It is cross-platform.

Here's a tutorial video, which should give you an idea if it might be for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT1TvSHiu5I.

There are links to the official pages and such from the info on that video.

[dom1]

Thanks Armin, I'll have a look at that :-)

[edk926]

One thing I'd like to see, and I really don't know if something like this even exists, is a weather/climate simulator. Something where you can take a map with rough elevations and run it through a program that can do seasonal weather estimations. This way I could design a regional map as authentic as possible.

[Luke Bunyip]

Originally Posted by edk926

One thing I'd like to see, and I really don't know if something like this even exists, is a weather/climate simulator. Something where you can take a map with rough elevations and run it through a program that can do seasonal weather estimations. This way I could design a regional map as authentic as possible.

Agreed. I'm currently trying to correlate Koppen climate categories with a setting map of mine. Tis a fun exercise, but it's a lot of work.

[Culture20]

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

Well, I like Inkscape to build the shapes, and GIMP to add the chrome. That's what I used in my Beneath Castle Everglory maps. Now, the learning curve can be a little steep, but IMHO not as much as CC.

(Inkscape has an initially user hostile GUI, but once you get the hang of it, you get why some of the decisions were made. This is what my Inkscape looks like when I open it http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5877937/Inkscape.png

Of course, there's no manual, and documentation isn't easy to get, but it's free. It's an extremely powerful program, and even allows importing PDF pages.

I too use inkscape and the GNU Image Manipulation Program. I've got a template svgz floating around somewhere with svg hex art from Thorfinn Tait's Creative Commons licensed maps, and a hex snap-to grid. Not nearly as fancy as Illustrator, but it's portable and free. My group's been less map-heavy lately though, so it's fallen into disuse.