Hi, All,
I have been busy using a variety of software to get the right mix of photo-realistic and hex-based maps (currently of the Marnharnnan continent), and I recently purchased Hexographer.
--My first map (too small) worked our pretty well, but I'm almost certainly going to use Photoshop and others to edit the coastlines, detail the rivers, and generally gussy-up the hexes a bit so that clusters of the same terrain type icon will still have individual differences.
Population Migration maps, political maps, etc.
--And these will then be handed over in some/many cases to other artists better known for their cartography.
EDIT:
Rob 'Bat in the Attic' Conley's, as well as the Welsh Piper's write-ups have been very helpful.
Which specific posts are you referring to, if you don't mind me asking?
ReplyDeleteWith Regards,
Flynn
Flynn: The post is now updated with those links.
ReplyDeleteBest,
So, what do you think of Hexographer? I'm working on maps as well, but have been reluctant to buy a program that might turn out to be a toy instead of a real tool. Is it as decent as the blurbs on their site say it is?
ReplyDeleteNetherWerks: So far, I think it is worth not only the $28.xx for the (new) Lifetime License, but the extra $20 for the Publisher's Alternate Icons set.
ReplyDelete--I am already formulating Photoshop brushes of the icons I most like, so I can use them in non-hex applications (like State and National Parks do on their maps, etc.).
So, I suppose that is a limited endorsement of sorts, but a pretty solid one.
--I will say that the Lines, and the Text functions leave room for improvement, although they are entirely 'doable', as is were.
Best, :)
I like your idea about the brushes. That sounds good. I'll give it another look. I've been building the city maps more along the lines of Fodors and Frommer's travel guides. I'm still not completely decided how I want to handle the projection method for the globe-to-flat-map conversion.
ReplyDelete