Hi all! Brand new game designer here looking for help with my maps

[honortogod]

Im very excited i found this website! Ive been looking at some of the maps available on this site and I'm impressed. I even saw a Star Wars universe one that was very cool.

Im not a cartographer but i have designed a prototype map for a board game im designing. Im trying to turn this prototype with all its Borders, numbers, and Names into something professional with the look of this satellite world map. Im using Paint.net lol. What should i be using?

Im also looking into commissioning the map on this site. Just wanted to say hi first and learn more before i take that step.

Map 4 FINAL.jpg

N. America Screen shot.png satellite-map-of-the-world_wm00875.jpg

[Diamond]

Hey there, welcome to the Guild! For software, it really depends on how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go. I started out with Paint years ago and switched to Photoshop fairly quickly because I just wasn't getting the results I wanted. However... PS is EXPENSIVE. A good alternative is GIMP, which is a free open-source version of PS. It works very similarly to PS, and there are many many folks here who use it.

On top of that, there are dozens of other, more specialized software you could get into, most of which are above my paygrade (and skill level).

If you just want a map and aren't interested in future mapping, I'd say just commission one. But - PS is useful for a lot more than mapping. Game tokens design, counters, all kinds of things you could design.

[Kellerica]

Yeah, basically what D just said. It really depends on your needs. But I'd also like to point out that Adobe offers a special deal on the Creative Cloud services, which goes under the name of a Photographer membership or something to that effect, that will get you access to Photoshop and Lightroom for only 12-15 euros per month. I don't know if that's too much for you, for my budget it has always been more than reasonable given how much use I get out of it.

But like my esteemed colleague pointed out, if you are just looking for a one-time thing, you might be better off just commissioning someone. Plenty of people here to help you out with that too. Head on down to the Mapmaking Requests subforum at the bottom of the main one and check it out if you are interested.

Whatever you decide to do, welcome to the Guild!

[honortogod]

I appreciate the prompt reply and the info. I do plan on working on more designs of maps for the other games i'm making as well as other game components etc. so i will check out GIMP.

I also plan on commissioning the map for this game since I want it to be professional and as i continue making games for fun or for finance I will be commissioning maps for those games as well.

Looking forward to getting to know you guys more!