View Single Post
  #20  
Old October 29th, 2008, 09:32 AM
Stavis_L's Avatar

Stavis_L Stavis_L is offline
Second Lieutenant
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 466
Thanks: 35
Thanked 95 Times in 60 Posts
Stavis_L is on a distinguished road
Default Re: "Hand Drawn" style maps...

Well, if you want "hand drawn look" without hand drawing skill...

AFAIK, the "gold standard" in fantasy maps is ProFantasy's set of tools.

See their example gallery here:
http://www.profantasy.com/evidence/gallery.asp

You can get anything from the kind of maps that they use in Dungeon mag to the kind that are in the Lord of the Rings books. However, it's not free (by a long shot, depending on how many of their tools you want), and it's based on CAD software, so there is a bit of a learning curve. I played around with it a bit when I was doing a lot of PnP RPG mapping, but eventually decided that it was easier to just search for things on the internet

However, it does do pretty "hand drawn" style maps.

There's also a product from NBOS software:
http://nbos.com/products/mapper/mapper.htm

...that lets you put vector graphics down on top of fractal based maps, and some of it looks quite similar to the Silent Seas map. Again, not free.

Then, there is the free option, AutoREALM, also inspired by CAD software. Not as nice and not as full featured, but it may float your boat. Here's an example from their SourceForge page where someone created some "Lord of the Ring-esque" style maps (and other things as well.):
http://autorealm.sourceforge.net/mapsROY.php

It'd be great to have some other map style options roll out of the auto-generator, but I'm guessing that the coloration options that Semi-Random and such gives (or at least makes accessible) are about as good as it's going to get.
Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Stavis_L For This Useful Post: