Who do you know who does good Hexmaps? I'm thinking of providing an alternate world mini-setting/adventure for High Valor which can make use of Hexcrawl elements, but I need a good map-maker. Mine tend more towards the visual than the overtly "useful" for such purposes.

Quote from: Silverlion;515050Who do you know who does good Hexmaps? I'm thinking of providing an alternate world mini-setting/adventure for High Valor which can make use of Hexcrawl elements, but I need a good map-maker. Mine tend more towards the visual than the overtly "useful" for such purposes.

If you're just looking for something simple and utilitarian (while still being aesthetically pleasing), I recommend Hexographer. (Think BECMI modules for the basic look you'll get.)

Rob Conley does good stuff in the old JG-style, but I've never actually been a fan of that style.

Beyond that, I'm drawing a blank. Hexmaps that are both effective and attractive are a rare commodity (because they're really tough to pull-off). For example, Isle of the Unknown had a pretty attractive map... but in terms of utility they thought they could just slap a hexgrid over a terrain painting.

If you find one, lemme know.

My random wilderness hex map generator: http://axiscity.hexamon.net/users/isomage/wildgen/

My GIMP plugin for creating or editing hex maps (compatible with the generator): http://axiscity.hexamon.net/users/isomage/gimp/hexgimp/

Some hex maps I've made with the plugin: http://axiscity.hexamon.net/users/isomage/maps/

Some maps others have made with it: http://axiscity.hexamon.net/users/isomage/gimp/hexgimp/gallery/

Best hexmapper ever is the tiny little Ar-Kelaan program. To get it nowadays you need to subscribe to a Yahoogroup and then download it from the files section. This one should work:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/hexmapper_haven_redux/

It makes very nice BECMI type hexmaps like this:

Quote from: Justin Alexander;515054Rob Conley does good stuff in the old JG-style, but I've never actually been a fan of that style.

I have other hex map styles

What I call a Harn Style
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mFjy4EWzmtg/S2JmRso-NEI/AAAAAAAAAuI/9W0k5mpWaIU/s1600-h/Region,+Gormmah+Sm.jpg

A greyscale Harn style
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mFjy4EWzmtg/S0VWTr3pG-I/AAAAAAAAAto/1Enl1gAP7wk/s1600-h/CSRegional.jpg

And a third which I can't find an on-line image for. Basically it colors the vegetation like above but uses contour like lines for the hills and filled in shapes for the mountains. It looks like a  color contour map but less confusing to use due to the fact that the shapes and contours are designating boundaries rather than true elevation. It was inspired by the maps in the Judges Guild Wilderness series.

Quote from: Silverlion;515050Who do you know who does good Hexmaps? I'm thinking of providing an alternate world mini-setting/adventure for High Valor which can make use of Hexcrawl elements, but I need a good map-maker. Mine tend more towards the visual than the overtly "useful" for such purposes.

First, of course you're going to get some really nice results if you pick the right illustrator/cartographer.

But if you want an easy tool to either do your draft for the cartographer or possibly to use for publishing (the hexes/graphics do scale up nicely to save as large images or for printing) then I hope you'll look at Hexographer.  I've tried to make it very simple to use.  You can even use the free version.

And if you want to use it but don't want icons that are so similar to the TSR Gazetteer icons, there is an alternate set available that is reminiscent but updated: http://www.hexographer.com/alticons.shtml  (Although the feature to use these is only in the pro version of the software.)

Anyone know a good illustrator/cartographer they'd recommend?

Quote from: Silverlion;515149Anyone know a good illustrator/cartographer they'd recommend?

I work with Keith Curtis: Map Samples  Reliable, good rates, quality work.  A post at cartographer's guild (they have a forum for commissions) will probably also generate a few good leads.