Dungeon Map Software Survey Results

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A couple of weeks ago, I invited anyone to answer a dungeon mapping software survey as I continue work on “Dungeonographer.”  I wanted feedback (in an open-ended way) on what people like in similar tools and what they would like to see.  I hoped this would verify I’m going in a direction people want and to consider features to add to the initial release.  I also made it a contest for a free license when the software is ready, and that goes to “da3mnan.”

I love that a few features that I think will make Dungeonographer different than other tools showed up in several people’s comments.  (No, I don’t want to share those yet.) 🙂

Below is what I can share from 53 responses to the survey.

Regarding tool choices (remember people can vote for multiple options):

  • Over half of the respondents do hand drawn maps.
  • Almost half use general image editing software (photoshop, GIMP, Inkscape, etc.)
  • Of the dungeon design specific tools, Campaign Cartographer/Dungeon Designer had the most votes at 13, Dungeon Crafter had 11, Dundjinni and MapTool had 10, Autorealm had 8, Wizard’s Dungeon Tile Mapper had 6 and DungeonForge had 5.
  • The write-in votes only listed two tools more than once: Visio and Masterplan.

There were 52 votes for fantasy themed maps, 20 for modern and 17 for futuristic.  Write-in votes included requests for cyberpunk, steampunk, toon, and wild west maps.  (Obviously many people voted for multiple options.)

People’s favorite features of their current preferred tool included (these were mentioned more than once):

  • Ability to draw freehand, especially for caverns.
  • Variety of map symbols.
  • Printing to battlemat scale.
  • Layering
  • Print just sections of a map.
  • Fractal tools for organic look

There were several features I’ve had planned (and partially implemented) that match what people would like to see in a dungeon mapping program and some were new ideas to me. I can’t mention them all because I feel some will differentiate Dungeonographer.  But here are some that are more general or features I can’t/don’t plan to implement:

  • Use Dwarven Forge tiles as a unit of placement: I hope Dungeonographer’s UI will be easy to use, but it won’t match this concept.
  • Random/Auto-fill a dungeon: Maybe that will come in a later version, but I want Dungeonographer to be a good dungeon map making program first.
  • Don’t limit the size of maps: Dungeonographer should only limit you by the amount of memory needed.
  • Link multiple maps: Maybe in a later version.
  • Easy to import other symbols: Dungeonographer will let you load any PNG image.  In the software you’ll be able to scale and rotate the symbol/image.
  • Ability to run in many operating systems.: Dungeonographer will be in Java (like Hexographer) so it should cover most of the bases.
  • Notes: Notes will exist and be improved.

Finally I asked, “What other general comments/advice do you have for someone creating a Dungeon/Building mapping program?”  There were many different responses, but these were mentioned by at least 6 people each:

  • Keep it easy to use.
  • Allow for natural terrain that isn’t in straight lines.
  • Keep it speedy. It shouldn’t take too long to repaint.

To everyone who responded, Thank You!  If you have further advice/comments, please post.  I expect to have a beta version available in 2-3 months.