Suggestions on what to use

[Peejosity]

Hi All,

With the kickstarter running at the moment called "PROJECT DEIOS", and the functions it is advertising it'll have, is it still worth investing time into the slower ways? Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against spending hours and hours in photoshop working on 1 image, or having complete control over how every tiny detail comes out. I also don't have unlimited hours or money to pour into my hobbies anymore.

Deios appears to be a solution that covers town maps, inside building maps, world maps (Not sure on dungeon maps). I've tried some of the alternatives out there, and they all have their respective pros/cons. I also expect this new kickstarter to be the same in that aspect. It also doesn't help that it's another monthly subscription which also has it's pros/cons.

What I want to know, based on what it can do, and what some of the other alternatives can do, is it worth the wait to see how good/bad it is?

Can any alternative programs generate content in similar ways to how they select a region, and it is just filled with content?

In other words; I want to be lazy but still get great results but not get ripped from endless subscription fees

Any help or suggestions welcome. Cheers

[Azélor]

"I've never heard of that projet''

Til I noticed the ad at the top of the page.

It does look similar to Campaign cartographer, although I don't use it so i could be wrong.
It is possible to do more or less the same thing in Gimp/Photoshop with the right tools.

[Tiana]

Personally the only one I'd put any money into right now is Other World Mapper since it's a single fee purchase and I respect how the guys behind it are participating on the Guild to get feedback. I refuse to rent a subscription program and have my money syphoned off by this attempt to revive cable TV packages for EVERYTHING. So yeah, that also means I no longer use Adobe programs. I got Affinity and Clip Studio. I'm perfectly willing to pay a reasonable fee to purchase a program version. I'm not going to pay 5 dollars a month for access to someone else's Dungeons and Dragons clipart. But I would pay even up to a few hundred dollars for a program that does something unique. I bought World Creator, for example. Subscription models are one of my least favorite things and a sure way to not get my business even if I really want your product. =(

Yes, I think it's still worth learning to illustrate and or hiring an illustrator. But hey, lots of people do great things with Campaign Cartographer and I'm sure they will with Project Deios too.

[Josiah VE]

I haven't used any or even looked at many map-making programs, but I have to say that Deios definitely looks like the best one I've seen. The maps on there look beautiful and I think the easy transition between city and region maps is a function everyone wishes they had.

[Peejosity]

I'm also opposed to the subscription model. Almost considered buying the perpetual license for the kickstarter, but it came out to $600 AUD or $1200 AUD (totally not worth). I still feel robbed from when I purchased photoshop, and multiple other Adobe programs, to then find out I couldn't upgrade anymore, and had to pay a sub instead; and that continues when they try and charge me $80/month to subscribe to something I paid for outright years ago. :'(

Moving along from that sore point, I have the skills to create maps in photoshop, but I don't have the time to sink hours into a single map. I've tried a couple other platforms out there, and they all have their neat features etc. I'm not trying to sell my maps, I just want decent maps I can use in D&D campaigns. It seems to be quite hard to do that without the large time and or money commitment.

I'll take a look at the Other World Mapper program; seems reasonably priced, and the expansion art could be useful even though I could make it myself. Wonder if I could use my own art in it?

I'll probably end up going back to photoshop at least until my current subscription expires; after that I'm probably going to buy an ipad pro and use Procreate.

Thanks all for your replies! I suppose I'm being lazy not wanting to use PS >.<

[Tiana]

Moving along from that sore point, I have the skills to create maps in photoshop, but I don't have the time to sink hours into a single map. I've tried a couple other platforms out there, and they all have their neat features etc. I'm not trying to sell my maps, I just want decent maps I can use in D&D campaigns. It seems to be quite hard to do that without the large time and or money commitment.

I'll take a look at the Other World Mapper program; seems reasonably priced, and the expansion art could be useful even though I could make it myself. Wonder if I could use my own art in it?

I'll probably end up going back to photoshop at least until my current subscription expires; after that I'm probably going to buy an ipad pro and use Procreate.

Photopea is a free in browser Photoshop knockoff. I recommend it as a free option. And yes, I too am sore about the same Adobe issue... which is exactly why I won't subscribe. You're not lazy, it's hard work illustrating maps. For me it's worth it to pour time into custom details because I'm one of the pros, not a DM. You however, just want to beef up your games, so buying a program like that seems reasonable, but spending $600 or $1200 AUD does not. Spending $52 bucks, though, yeah, I can see you doing that. Besides they let you try it full featured for free, just not save anything for free, so you don't even have to risk not liking it. Yes, you can use your own art and assets in Other World Mapper. I've only used it for about half an hour to write my experience up on their thread, but in that time that I used it I was very impressed with the potential I saw and knowing they're planning to add a key feature I require for my style just because I asked, I'll probably buy it next time I get paid. The price is a drop in the bucket compared to what I'm capable of making as a map artist, it has good tools to speed up production. It's not just an asset stamp set.

The only other thing I can think you might try is buying assets or pre-made maps from sites like Roll20 or DriveThruRPG, there's some pretty awesome DM assets for low cost that could be customized by you for much less time than making something from scratch. At least those are one time purchases and usually quite cheap.

[eViLe_eAgLe]

I'm very interested to see how Deios turns out, at-least in regards to its city maps. I can't say i'm impressed by the assets themselves, but the features look like they could get very useful -- and if I could load in my own assets, I could see myself using it for city maps when in a hurry. I am primarily interested in the landmark system, as it seems like it would be fun to play around with or use as a campaign helper tool.
We'll still only be able to tell how good the biomes, city tools, and other things like that look and work, but it looks good so far. That being said, I started cartography with CC3 , but ever since picking up photoshop (and a pen with paper), I've never gone back. I've looked at others over the years, like dungeonmapper, inkarnate, etc. but my biggest problem with them is, for lack of a better word, to me they lack soul. I've looked at hundreds of maps made in Inkarnate which are pretty, but don't elicit the same feelings of curiosity and fantasy I get from even a simple MS paint map (with some exceptions). This is why I hope they allow custom assets, as it would go a very long way into helping fix the "clone" problem that a lot of world and regional maps made this way suffer from.
Now as for whether other programs do the 'select and fill' that Deios looks to do, then I do not think so. There are numerous random generators that can give a wealth of results, but nothing particularly this good in regards to world and regional maps. If the game you're making this for is physical, I'd say hand draw a map -- I know my players appreciate physical media like that -- while you wait. If it's online, I'd say stick to the free stuff until it comes out and more information is made available. There's no reason a map has to take hours on end drawing after all, but some of us (myself included) are very detail, oriented.

[Peejosity]

Thanks for the replies team! I'll give the "Other World Mapper" a crack, and see how it goes. If export res is high enough I can always make it prettier in PS. As for online tools etc, I think I'll just stick to what I have. Dust off the old wacom and go from there.

Totally going to be posting terrible maps in the near never! <3

[Cédric H.]

As a GM, Deios seems like an amazing tool and I'm pretty sure I will use it for my homebrew game, thought I would prefer a one time payment than a subscription, but this will have the same effect as Inkarnate, you will start seeing a bunch of map with the exact same recognizable style coming from a lot of different artist.
I personally started doing maps with Inkarnate and I really like them but it didn't feel like "my map" but more like "another Inkarnate map" and so I moved on. Right now I use Wonderdraft for the ground work, it's a one time payment to use it, you can import any asset you want in it (even the one you've created) and the software itself is very versatile if you know how to use it, and then I work the map in Photoshop to give it my own flavor.

[Peejosity]

I have seen Wonderdraft before, but for some reason (I can't remember), I decided against it. I ended up buying the "Other World Mapper" yesterday, and I am very happy with the purchase. I'll end up making my own art in Photoshop to import into it, and likely do more post work after I've completed a map, but it's exactly what I need! I may still give Wonderdraft a crack, wait and see where I'm limited first and if I even need it

Thank you all again, and a special thanks to Tiana for your recommendation