#Free hex map maker software#

One of the problems I wish there was a solution to is that Gimp gives you hexes with faces to the top of page (vs a point to the top of page). IвЂ™m gonna give you +1 Internets for this great explanation. Author Yora Posted on Categories game design, gamemastering, worldbuilding Tags maps

#Free hex map maker software#

The only issue I noticed is that with hexes of sizes below 20-30, the hexes tend to get a bit squashed as a result of the image consisting of pixels, but I think youвЂ™d get this with any other method to get a hex map as well, unless it uses vector images (which I doubt any map software does). (The вЂњPreviewвЂќ box has to be checked to see how the grid would look like with the current settings.) But if the map has scale markings on it, move the view of the image to that corner of the map and try out different sizes in the Mosaic dialog until the hexes line up with it. The tricky part is to find the right value for вЂњTile HeightвЂќ to get the tile size that matches the scale of your map.

Click вЂњOKвЂќ in the Mosaic dialog to apply the grid to the player.ДЄnd that is the entire process.

(You canвЂ™t disable the reflection, but this makes it completely transparent and therefore invisible.) Set the value for вЂњAвЂќ to вЂњ0вЂќ or move the slider all the way to the left.

Light Color: To remove shiny reflections on each hex, click on the color to open the вЂњLight ColorвЂќ dialog.

Joints Color: This will be the color of your grid lines.

Set Tile Spacing to 1 (or higher, if you want wider grid lines).

Set Tile Color Variation to 0 (to make all tiles blank).

Set Tile Neatness to 1 (to make orderly hexes).

Set Tile Height to 1 (to remove reflection effect).

Set Tile Size to your preferred size of tiles.

Make sure Tile Geometry is set to вЂњHexagonsвЂќ.

Open the Mosaic dialog: Filters > Distortions > Mosaic.

Make sure the new layer is above the layer with the map.

Add a new layer: Layer > New Layer > Press вЂњOkayвЂќ.

But at least for GIMP I found a great solution to add a grid on top of any image. Make a best guess which terrain on the background image dominates, and when you donвЂ™t stay consistent between different occasions the players are passing through it nobody will notice.ДЇinding an image of a hex grid on a transparent background to simply slap on top of a map you have in Photoshop or GIMP has been a huge pain in the butt for most of this afternoon. The terrain type of each hex wonвЂ™t always be completely clear, but thatвЂ™s not really an actual issue. You can also overlay a hex grid on top of the GM version of the map along with the hidden sites and other notes. In most situations you want to have separate maps for the players and the GM anyway, so you can keep track of where hidden and unknown sites are located without giving it away to the players. As a setting creator, I see even myself getting affected by that and it significantly hampers my work on the world.Д«ut hexes are very useful as tools to keep track of the partyвЂ™s position as it is moving through the wilderness. I feel it creates too much abstraction in the minds of players that works against them mentally visualizing the setting of the game as an actual world. However, I am not a fan of these maps, at least not as something to put into the hands of the players. I used one of them to make this map of the Savage Frontier five years back. There are a number of programms out there that allow you to make a hex map out of hex tiles.