Hexographer Update 1.40
More hexes, more fun
Terrain Placement
There’s a new release of Hexographer, which features additional free-drawing tools so you can split hexes into more than one terrain type (i.e., you can add terrain independent of hex boundaries). The new release also lets you customise placement of symbols within a hex. Check out the release notes here.
I just wish I were more computer friendly. Then I would hex the hex out of this!
-Tourq
Free-drawing tools may look more realistic, but they defeat the purpose of a map in my opinion. (Though I’d make exceptions for major linear features: coastlines, roads, and rivers.)
Using your example “Terrain Placement” above, it is starting to look too much like an illustration or satellite photo for my tastes. All that wasted precision that ought to be sacrificed on the altar of legibility as it conveys nothing of great value…without yet another smaller-scale hex-map, anyway.
Just my $0.02 CAD — we’re finally at par, at least.
@deimos3428 : Good point, and I largely agree (because the example above isn’t the best). That said, dividing a hex’s terrain is useful for plateaus and coastline features (e.g., where a shore is bordered by a reef). For a hex map, it seems contradictory, but it does have its usefulness, and when used appropriately, it conveys good meaning within the confines that we expect from hex cartography.
@Tourq : Anyone can hex it up. Test drive the free version of Hexographer and you’ll see.
The intent of the new terrain placement is to allow creation of maps more like the “world of greyhawk” map I remember as opposed to the mystara/”voyage of the princess ark” maps previously in Hexographer. It is important to note that this is just an alternate mode of terrain placement (and not the default). The one-terrain-per-hex is still the default. I’m even happier with the ability to place features (city/cave/ruins/village/battle/etc. icon) independent of hexes and scale them up or down in size to either fit some close to eachother, show their size/importance, etc.
Oh, and thanks for the post!