Hit me slowly, hit me quick!

Yeah, anyway. I'm looking for software where I can make hexmaps. I've scoured the seven seas for an old bit of freeware called Hexmapper, but it seems to have disappeared entirely from teh interwebs. Any recommendations?

I should also add that I'm aware of autorealm and have it. But all that does is allow you to put a hex frame underneath the maps you draw by hand. What I want is software which lets you fill in and number hexes with pretty colours and fonts.

Incompetech has really useful hex generation tools, output to PDF.  It's freehand from there, or you could import it to Illustrator, which ships with a mess of standard USGS cartographic textures.

No, it's still around. It's even been included in a grand AKS Adventure Writer update. Check it out. Be sure and get some of the alternate hex styles as well.

Yahoo! Groups Hexmapper Haven

Another java based program also called Hexmapper is available for free. It looks to be less customizable but able to handle several layers of detail.

HexMapper

Bruce Gulke's Wilderness Mapper is another free hex-based option.

Wilderness Mapper

Thanks!

Here's my own set of hexes for AKS Hexmapper - b/w and perfect for your old schooling needs.

CDD_Hexes.zip 19.8 Kb

Here's sample map to show what they look like:

Here's a link to a page I created with instructions for creating hex maps using GIMP and a set of GIMP hex map brushes.  It also has a map key that shows all the brushes and a sample map showing the brushes in action.
http://inkwellideas.com/?page_id=9

(GIMP is a free, open-source powerful drawing program that is only outclassed by Photoshop and programs on that level.  A link to it is on the above linked page.)

Quote from: Kellri;252155Here's my own set of hexes for AKS Hexmapper - b/w and perfect for your old schooling needs.

CDD_Hexes.zip 19.8 Kb

Here's sample map to show what they look like:

Quote from: SowelBlack;252197Here's a link to a page I created with instructions for creating hex maps using GIMP and a set of GIMP hex map brushes.  It also has a map key that shows all the brushes and a sample map showing the brushes in action.
http://inkwellideas.com/?page_id=9

(GIMP is a free, open-source powerful drawing program that is only outclassed by Photoshop and programs on that level.  A link to it is on the above linked page.)

Very nice, Kellri. I'm getting flash-backs to my old Expert boxed set and the maps we used to create while playing it.

Thanks for the GIMP files. Although I have to confess to downloading GIMP, fiddling around with it for a while, and then becoming frustrated because I couldn't immediately draw pretty pictures with it.

I've heard it's not easy to join the yahoo group and access the files. So, here's the new AKS Adventure Writer + VBRun installer on my server. It already includes several hexsets as well as the City/Village/Hexmapper programs. Enjoy.

AKSWriter_Installer.zip 4 Mb

Ok... this might sound stupid... but why hexes?
What do they do that some kind of measurement tool and a scale don't do better?

Saphim, hexes are traditionally used for mapping wilderness areas.  Classic D&D uses two sets of graph paper for maps: squares for indoor, dungeon areas and hexes for outdoor, wilderness areas.  The former uses a scale of 10 feet per square whereas the latter uses a scale of 10 yards per hex.

Quote from: Kellri;252522I've heard it's not easy to join the yahoo group and access the files. So, here's the new AKS Adventure Writer + VBRun installer on my server. It already includes several hexsets as well as the City/Village/Hexmapper programs. Enjoy.

AKSWriter_Installer.zip 4 Mb

You are a scholar and a gentleman, sir. Cheers.

Quote from: Saphim;252571Ok... this might sound stupid... but why hexes?
What do they do that some kind of measurement tool and a scale don't do better?

As Pete says: tradition. I'm sure the origin lies in wargames, which still mostly use hexes even in their computerised versions (see Steel Panthers: World at War, Panzer General, Western Front... even the Civilization series).

The difference between hexes and squares is that hexes allow for freer (i.e. diagonal) movement, whereas squares don't. Or rather they do, but less elegantly.

EDIT: And I see that doesn't really answer your question. The short answer: a measurement tool and scale are more reliable and allow for greater detail and accuracy, but they're very fiddly to create. Hexmaps allow you to, for example, look up Hex 119 (or whatever number) in your notes, see that it is mostly desert and has a 10% chance of a random encounter, see which random encounter table to use... and so on.

Quote from: Saphim;252571Ok... this might sound stupid... but why hexes?
What do they do that some kind of measurement tool and a scale don't do better?

Hexes have a nice granularity to them. This hex is mountains, this hex is forest: you can then key the map and describe each hex in more detail, without worrying about exactly where feature X is within the hex. You can't do that with a traditional map, and hexes work better than a square grid.

Quote from: The_Shadow;253371This hex is mountains, this hex is forest: you can then key the map and describe each hex in more detail, without worrying about exactly where feature X is within the hex. You can't do that with a traditional map, and hexes work better than a square grid.

Oh c'mon Shadow, that's too easy. Some of us use the Wilderlands mapping method. We divide 25 mile hexes into 8 mile ones, then 1 mile, then 100 yards, and then 100 feet....all the way down to quarter inch hexes at 1:1 scale. That way you always know EXACTLY where that tree you carved your initials into stands in the whole of Mirkwood. I'd like to see you do that with a ruler.

Here's a link to the Hexmapper software in zip.