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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mattcolville" data-source="post: 353967" data-attributes="member: 1300">I see the "mapping software" threads pop up every once in a while, so I figured I'd add my experience to the mix. I'm currently working on The Book Of War, a d20 Mass Combat/Realm Management solution from Eden Studios. Playtesting ground to a halt because the Realm Management test files had no 'example' realm. So I started looking around for an easy way to make a nice map for the playtesters. These were my requirements; I needed a program that would quickly and easily let me lay a hex grid over a colored background and start adding names and symbols to the grid. I ran into several problems with many different solutions. I should detail them all here, but I tried so many different solutions, I can't remember which ones presented which problems. Often, it was difficult for me to say "the map is 1000 miles across, each hex is 24 miles. Sometimes I couldn't add text, HexMapper didn't let me draw boarders. I tried Autorealm, HexMapper, and Campaign Cartographer 2 Pro. In fact, I bought CC2Pro, DD2, and CD2. CC2 Pro *is* very powerful, and I don't regret the $150 I spent on it and its add ons. I'm sure someday I'll sit down and spend a week and figure it all out. However, I spent about 20 minutes playing with the free trial for Fractal Mapper and then dropped the $34 for it and am very happy. So far, it's the best solution. It was very easy for me to make a dun-colored background over a blank map of the right size (measured in miles) then drop a hex grid of the right scale on top of it, then start adding text, symbols, and boarders. It's easy to move these around and resize them, though I haven't figured out how to make text that curves with a line or change text color. I believe both of these are possible. It's easy, fast, and above-all, intuitive. It's still a cad-like program, and really does feel like a really simple version of CC2 Pro, but that's all I wanted really. My playtesters should have a nice looking map this weekend.</blockquote>

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