Quote Originally Posted by aiRo25 View Post
Then I went into writing seriously. Right now, I'm working on a multiple galaxy universe, and I'm trying to create a workable image of my space/time continuum (that's a harder ball of wax and I'll probably figure it out later), and then for regular mapping, I'm looking mostly to do artistic, somewhat realistic overland maps.
Take a look at out last challenge (Nov) as there are tons of space maps, most made either in GIMP or Photoshop.

Quote Originally Posted by aiRo25 View Post
I could do maps of ships and buildings and there are a handful of them that I ought to do, but I'm worried it will take too much time. There is one city map I desperately need to do, but I'm not very attracted to the add-on prices of Campaign Cartographer, especially since I know CorelDraw is vector (not sure what PhotoPaint is), but I know nothing at all about CAD.

I looked at Dundjinni for the style I like, but it doesn't do overlands too well, and that's my main requirement. I looked at Fractal Mapper, CC3, Inkscape, Bryce, etc. but all of them have that learning curve. And maybe I'll need to pick one, but I'm kind of hoping...
PhotoPaint is raster based on what I found last night in the web. As I said, a lot of it is all about features, BUT I have seen someone do a very nice map in MSPaint that comes with Windows, so skill also plays into it. If you decide to go try another software, I would highly encorage you to give GIMP(rastor)/Inkscape(vector) a try since they are both free and there are a large number of mapping tutorials here as well as general tutorials on the web. Since you say you have a City map to do...try the this tutorial. It may be for photoshop, but many(not all) of the techniques are adaptable to GIMP and other applications and those that are not can usually be faked somehow. Create a new Work in Progress thread in the appropriate forum to post up your work and we have plenty of people who will try to help you. And if you have found any reference work post a link to it so we can get an idea of what you are going for if needed.