Fractal Terrains or Fractal Mapper?

[Munin]

I'm adding mapping software to my list of time-wasting activities.

Which one would you recommend?

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I have not tried Fractal Terrains, but I quite like Fractal Mapper, it is versatile.

The Fool over to Ancient Awakenings has done some tools for city building with it which have kicked Fractal Mapper into my five most used pieces of gaming software. (Word Perfect, PCGen, Dungeon Crafter, Fractal Mapper, and Jamis Buck's Treasure Generator.)

The Auld Grump

 

[Munin]

Thanks for the response.

Fractal Mapper seemed to offer more versatility for the price, but I wanted to get the opinion of someone who had the full app before I purchased. Thanks.

What's this Dungeon Crafter all about?

 

[Maerdwyn]

The programs you mention aren't directly comparable.

The Profantasy program that competes with Fractal Mapper is Campaign Cartographer 2 Pro for $39.95. Both Fractal Mapper and CC2Pro are full mapping programs that let you create maps and then add symbols to them. CC2 is more complicated but more powerful, FM is easier to use, but a little less versatile.

Fractal Terrains is a program that creates random, fractal based worlds, which you could then edit and add symbols to with either of CC2 or FM (easier with CC2, being from the same company.).

If you have time to learn the program, and really love mapping, I'd advice CC2Pro. If you just need an occasional map, go with Fractal Mapper. If you are starting a campaign from scratch and want a really cool world map, or are running a sci-fi campaign or other game in which PCs visit multiple worlds, I would additionally recommend FT, which is a stand alone program.

Edit: Dungeon Crafter is a free program that lets you create tile-based dungeons. There are some limitations, but for free, who's complaining? There are other commercial programs for dungeon mapping if that doesn't completely meet your needs (Dungeon Designer 2 is an add-on for CC2Pro, for example.)

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Actually Fractal Mapper has its own equivelant to Fractal Terrains - Fractal World Explorer, which is one of the points of versatility in this case.

I can also recommend Dungeon Crafter, it is my program of choice for creating interior maps, and the price can't be beat!

The Auld Grump

 

[Maerdwyn]

Cool - actually forgot about Fractal World Explorer. FM really is a great choice for the money. I'm in love with some of CC2 and FT features - it really depends on how involved one wants to get.

 

[Hand of Evil]

All, I think have demos that you can download, find the best one for your mapping style.

 

[ender_wiggin]

I use autorealm. Free, fairly versatile, but not as "clean" as the $40 products. Using color in it is a pain in the ass. Still, it makes black and white maps awesome, and that's all really need.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

There is also Izandwo/MapX/Dewmap a program that has gone through numerous and diverse name changes and rewrites over its existence. I never could get it to do quite what I wanted, but I gather that there are people who swear by, rather than at, it. You may want to at least try it out.

AutoRealm has had a recent update released, and is changing architecture soon.

The Auld Grump

 

[Munin]

I downloaded the demo for CC2 and found it quite interesting. Unfortunately, the demo for Fractal Mapper doesn't include the Fractal World designer. Bummer.

My complaint with CC2 is that the maps look rather...cheesy. Kinda like the CRPGs from the late 80's early 90's era. Now Fractal Terrains is a pretty sweet cookie, and I like the random generator part...I'm a lazy creature.

I guess what I really need is something I can do a quick and dirty map with and then polish it up in photoshop or something similar.