im looking at making a map for a world iv been cooking on whats a good way / program to use

Everyone says Campaign Cartographer but - speaking from having tried it out on a friend's system - I found the learning curve pretty difficult.  There's a few free apps out there on the web that will auto-generate your maps for you...

yah auto generating is a no go here i have the map in my head what i need is a good way to get it out to show / tweek it

There are all kinds of free Drawing programs to use. If you are familiar with image layering, you can have a hex or square grid as top layer. Then draw your map over it using a layer underneath. Download various PNG files of clutter to place on your map as well. Or make your own PNG cutter files as you draw content for your maps. Clutter gets placed on its own layer. And so on.

Programs to use:
GIMP
Inkscape
Krita
MyPaint

Quote from: kosmos1214;885154im looking at making a map for a world iv been cooking on whats a good way / program to use

Check links from my collection:

http://www.therpgsite.com/showpost.php?p=877441&postcount=109. There are some online/offline generators, simple mapmakers and tutorials that put either Photoshop or Gimp into action.

It all depends on what kind of maps you want to draw - there are better applications for "overhead combat map", there are that specialize in modern cities, there are some that are very good for giant landmass and some for buildings/dungeons.

I think Dundjinni (although no longer expanded) is a terrific application.

Personally, I love hexes and therefore I'm using either old AKS HexMapper, or Hexographer and later add some effects in PS or similar software. If it's about some one-shot, then I'm simply using a graphical tablet and draw simple shapes in KRITA. Brilliant piece of software.

Draw it by hand.
Scan it
Use one of the forementioned programs that has layers.
Put the scan on a bottom layer.
Switch to higher layers and trace over the scan.
Add symbols, text and other features that is easy with your program.
Delete the bottom layer.
Print.

I recommend Inkscape. It support layers, handles vectors and can combine them with bitmaps image.s

Campaign Cartographer 3 hurts my eyes to look at their maps. I had not heard of Dundjinni before. It's maps look less cartoony and have way better colors/textures to them.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;885230Campaign Cartographer 3 hurts my eyes to look at their maps. I had not heard of Dundjinni before. It's maps look less cartoony and have way better colors/textures to them.

Campaign Cartographer 3 has a steep learning curve. But one fault it doesn't have is the inability to draw in more than a handful of styles. There are dozens of styles to chose from and it growing all the time.

Even the default styles of 3 are very different then the older Campaign Cartographer 2.

I've been playing with Inkarnate.  It's in beta testing right now, but it is very usable to create cool looking maps.  And it's free for now.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;885230Campaign Cartographer 3 hurts my eyes to look at their maps. I had not heard of Dundjinni before. It's maps look less cartoony and have way better colors/textures to them.

Yep, it takes time to learn CC3. For all its worth, it's a bit specialized CAD software, so everyone who attempts to master it might as well consider learning AUTOCad, or similar professional application in hope to later get a well payed job.

Dundjinni is JAVA based piece of software that reduces whole thing to "select an object and place it (like a stamp) wherever you want. It features quite big library of fantasy elements, but you can find modern/SF stuff and create relevant terrain/building/interior maps as well. You're also free to create (it's quite easy process) your own libraries of objects ranging from floor textures, plants and furniture to characters and monsters.

I might be too optimistic here, but I think that your own creativity is the only factor limiting it.

Spoiler

Side note: It came around D&D 4th IIRC and I was convinced back then that Wizards used it to illustrate their sourcebooks/scenarios.

Quote from: Technomancer;885233I've been playing with Inkarnate.  It's in beta testing right now, but it is very usable to create cool looking maps.  And it's free for now.

Wow, this tool looks really cool.

Thanks, Technomancer.

QuoteOriginally Posted by estar
Draw it by hand.
Scan it
Use one of the forementioned programs that has layers.
Put the scan on a bottom layer.
Switch to higher layers and trace over the scan.
Add symbols, text and other features that is easy with your program.
Delete the bottom layer.
Print.

It's cool to see your process.  Step 1 here has always been enough for me, but it might cool to convert my analog maps to digital.

It's been a while since I've played with either game, but don't Civ 4 and Civ 5 have editors? You could use that, couldn't you?

I use Paint Shop Pro, or Gimp mostly to make most of my maps. Some are hand drawn that I scan in, some I make with Vue d'Esprit or Unity3d...

My Fantasy Map Album
http://imgur.com/a/GmYpH