Making Maps, Need advice from GM's Options

[Bushw4cker]

I'm am horrible at making maps for my campaigns, Is there any software, programs, websites that anyone can recommend. or PDF books

[Khyron]

We just use googlearth maps zoomed out a bit for outside stuff and inside we google up random floorplans that fit. Then the GM edits in what needs to be added via paint or photoshop.

[vaelen]

AutoRealm is good for floorplans and worldmaps
http://autorealm.sourceforge.net/

[knasser]

Someone introduced me to a program called Inkscape and I've never looked back. If you check out any of the locations on the site in my sig, they were done with Inkscape.

One nice thing about it is that once you have a number of elements prepared, it's very easy to start recycling them so future maps come more quickly.

K.

[ZeroPoint]

I also use AutoRealm. its a very handy dandy tool. It has its querks, but is good for making building plans quickly. Great if you need to whip up a basic map for demonstration purposes. Making nice maps takes a good bit of time though. Much better than using paint, photoshop/gimp at least.

I've never used Inkscape but I always like the way your maps look Knasser and wondered what you used to make them so I think I'll give it a try and maybe my maps will look half as good as yours.

[Marston]

Microsoft Visio (not free, nor open source) may be able to cover the "map-making" process. It can make decent circuit diagrams. ... Obtaining a copy ...

[Wandering One]

Same, I also use Visio for mine, but as mentioned, it's not free (legally). I'm just more used to that from my different jobs then anything else so I leverage that, ymmv.

[tete]

Open Office Draw has 80% of the stuff Visio can do if your willing to spend some time searching the open office add on area for the icons you need. They don't include the cisco, etc stuff by default.

[YourAdHere]

Here's a quick little thing I have come up with, nothing to amazing or anything, but it works. I use an Open Office Calc spreadsheet with the columns sized down to be just as wide as the rows are tall. This give you neat little squares. Fill them with black backgrounds to show walls, obsturctions, whatever. Even color code them if you want. On these maps I can denote bad guy starting positions, tactical manuevers, and things like that. Either print them out, our keep a laptop handy so you can look them over when you need them. I personally have a workbook filled with interior rooms designed this way. A little hard to edit unless you know a little VBA or something to turn it into an app of sorts. But, once you got the maps of about 40 or 50 possible rooms, you can just print one out when you need a room, or combined them to make an entire floor plan. I'll actually do this with just screen shots and put them together in GIMP or something similar. I'm to broke to pay for software so I find all the free stuff I can. Further more, I can include a key on the map that gives me the distance of each square (Typically I stick to a meter a square, with every other square of diagonal movement counted as 2 meters). It's not an exact science but it works. Just my .02