List of Mapping Software

[JustinWaters]

I'm interested in this Cartography software list.

There are so many listed and it is difficult to swim through all the Pros and Cons of each one.

Basically I'm looking for a piece of software that allows me to plug-in some coordinantes x,y,z and then it adds a point.

It's for a game called Entropia Universe where you mine underground. I'm mapping resource depth underground and hoping for a visual representation where people could see where underground resources were found.

[Deadshade]

Your problem is too simple - no specific cartography software I know would do only that - generally they do more complex things.
What you need is just a small mathematical program like http://k3dsurf.sourceforge.net/

With that you can plot any 3D surfaces you want. F.ex you can consider that every ressource deposit is a small sphere of varying center and radius and this kind of software will plot all the spheres wherever you want them to be.

[johnvanvliet]

mind you that k3dsurf is a fork of "opencscad"
http://www.openscad.org/

and the windows prebuilt "k3dsurf-062.exe" was BUILT in 2007

k3dsurf is 7+ years out of date and might not run on win7 or 8
and will not run on a ARM powered win8 laptop /tablet ( surface)


underground as a whole planet ?
if so then you only need to plot things in the outer 2 % of the sphere

for that i would just use a flat map of the planets surface
and map the depth of things below the surface

something like this maybe
http://ncgmp.usgs.gov/geomaps/introgeo_mapping.html
or fig6 here
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1428/dedonatis2/


or if you are looking for something like this
http://subsurfaceviewer.com/ssv/index.php?id=3
-- image --
http://subsurfaceviewer.com/ssv/asse...nimation_2.gif
-- there are MANY free and GPL'ed software products that can do this like VTK
http://www.vtk.org/

[TheRed]

Thanks for this comprehensive list.

[Roseweave]

Still finding it hard to find something that suits my needs perfectly. I may be better off going the photoshop route, but one of the simpler ones rather than the "Realistic" ones which would give me a headache.

[Roseweave]

I tried Dunjinni but it's too slow and clunky and awkward. Dungeonforge has a really nice interface, but an extremely limited tileset

[markem]

Try Inkscape or Dia. Both are free. Inkscape is pretty neat and there is a lot you can do with it. A good idea is to get a screen capture program also (or maybe use Snippy?). Because you can draw something, grab it, and then insert it in to something else. (Or you can just draw something and save it.) Both of these programs are general purpose drawing programs. But if you turn on the grid and do a snap-to-grid option then you can load in tiles as you need them and apply them where you need them. Both programs also have layers so you do the ground, then the walls, then put in trees and lay them on top of the ground. Same with bushes, flowers, stepping stones, etc....

[Daxon Khaed]

Hello folks Im new here and Im looking for mapping software that I can use to generate maps for a game Im running on fantasy grounds 2. I had dundjinni but apparently that website is so screwed up I cant retrieve my software key from thier store. So I am looking for new software. It needs to have the capability of generating a hex grid, as well as having tilesets for modern and science fiction games. Cost is mildly a concern but if it lets me make what I need I can certainly consider it. Any help would be great.

[markem]

A hex grid is really simple to make for any software (well - for most software). Check out Visio Guy's website. He has a quick way to do hexes. (Yeah - it is mainly for Visio but it shows you the technic on how to make hex grids.) There are a lot of really great software listed here. If you are looking for something that is free (just try it out or use it) - I would suggest Inkscape. It is a vector and bitmap program. Also, Pencil2D is good (but a bit buggy). The thing about Inkscape is that it would allow you to turn on a grid and adjust it so it fits your grid spacing. (This is a square grid though.) It also has layers so you can create a hex grid (or heck - just go online and download a hex grid), save the hex grid and then load it into a layer. In this way you can display the grid once you are through or overlay everything with the grid so you know you are making everything to scale. Inkscape will import all of the common file formats so all you have to do is to adjust the size of the icons to fit the grid properly, import such things as walls, doors, trees, or basically anything else. They will all become objects in Inkscape and you can drag and drop them where you want them to go.

I use Visio to do a lot of this same thing. You get a nice parchement background (or maybe find some grass), put everything else on top of that - and you have a map. Import the hex grid, send it to the top of the display stack, and it will overlay everything.

The great thing about Visio (or Inkscape) is that you can reload everything in and make changes to everything as needed. So like on one of my maps there was a fight in a forest. The players set the forest on fire. So now the forest on that map is partially burnt out (about two miles worth). To do this I just grabbed all of the trees in that area, went into the picture adjustment area and turned the brightness all the way down. This made all of the trees turn black. Then I just removed about half of the trees by just moving them to another layer and telling that layer not to show up. Suddenly this nice thick forest was a bare, burnt area - except the grass was still green. So I just made a circle, made it partically transparent, made it black, and overlaid the grass with it in that area. Now the grass is a really dark green - almost black - and it looks burnt also.

I use Visio 2003. I say this to tell you that you don't have to have the most current software with all of the bells and whistles. Many people here use older software. It's because then you just pay once for it and never again. Unlike most of the software now being sold where you have to pay for it each month. You can find good deals on Amazon, eBay, and other places. Be aware that the cheap software you see on these locations are usually free software the people are just packaging on CDs and then selling the software cheaply.

Anyway - I'd try out Inkscape. It is fairly good. And also download GIMP. GIMP can help you do textures and there are a lot of really neat modules and plugins that people have posted on here. Like RobA's dungeon maker. A really nice program.

[Diego Araujo]

I didnt' go through the whole 13 pages of the thread, but just would like to mention which softwares I use for my art and that would be very good for map creation:

2D Digital Painting: GIMP (free and open-source). Yup, most people may have mentioned or be using it.

2D Concept Art: Alchemy (free). Ideal for finding inspiration and shapes from random strokes and other modifications/functions. Never thought of using it for maps, mainly for character concept, but the possibilites are unlimited.

3D Modeling/Animation/Simulation/Game Creation: Blender (free and open source). http://www.blender.org/

3D Fractal Art: Mandelbulber (free). Ideal for generating chaotic images for inspirational work. Some formulas generate very interesting surfaces that could be the base for a city or planet. http://www.mandelbulber.com/