If you download AutoREALM, in the application folder there should be another program called AutoNAME which randomly generates names based on different themes which you can choose from. It's useful for quickly naming locations but you might wanna make the names yourself for your more significant places.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/autorealm/
Has a bit of a learning curve (though not too steep) but otherwise it's a pretty powerful piece of software. I suggest melding this with GIMP for touchups.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/autorealm/
Autorealm is a competent mapping program that I've used to a make a rough map in the past. It's far from perfect and does have a learning curve, but for a free program it isn't too bad. It was designed to create tabletop gaming maps so it also has tools for grid and dungeon style maps. My only complaint would be that the given assets looked obviously digital, but it is usable. The level of detail in your maps with this program will obviously depend on your own skill, but you might be able to make it work.
Here's an example of a map that someone made with the software: https://newbiedm.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/raven.jpg
>name generator and town building
I'm a recent DM as well and, while looking for ways to quickly make maps, came across AutoREALM. It's an older program but quite powerful AND it has a sweet name generator built into it.
I used AutoREALM for creating the maps of buildings, but sadly I haven't found tilesets for modern buildings yet, so I drew most of the interior myself.
I would really love a huge library of blueprints for this, especially office buildings, warehouses, bars, restaurants and other public places.
I use AutoREALM for the initial outlines, primarily because of its incredibly helpful fractal line tool, which allows me to draw wiggly rivers and coastlines without hassle.
Once I have the initial map done, in either greyscale or false colour, I save it as an extravagantly oversized bitmap file, load it up in my visual editor of choice, and then add in all the various details like colour, labels, and so forth. The results are often pretty good-looking, but I'm still learning a fair bit.
(Plus it doesn't help that a lot of the time I have to resize down to 25% or so to fit them on imgur.)
The few times I've found myself having to make a map for my group I've used AutoREALM. It's very simple to use compared to CC3, but it also looks a bit more rough and unprofessional (unless you get real good at it, which is not my case).
Usually I make a black and white outline using AutoREALM and then Photoshop the heck out of it with cloud renders and whatnot, it looks so much better.
For anyone reading the comments and interested in 2D map making, there's a great free program called AutoREALM.
>AutoREALM is a free role-playing game mapping program originally made by Andrew Gryc. This program is an excellent mapping program that can design castles, caves, cities, dungeons and more.
An excellent tool for table-top RPGs and their virtual counterparts.
Autorealm is great, free, and has a GM layer to add your own notes. And you can export the map out to a graphics app to make some great looking maps. There is also a lot of support for it.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/autorealm/
Here are a couple of maps I have done a long time ago.
http://www.angelfire.com/blog/rpd20/dundgeonMaps/OriginalArt/pages/Esperian-World-Map.html
Google and from this program
http://sourceforge.net/projects/autorealm/
Though even though its a dedicated map making program, I found it very awkward to use, so I just nabbed some graphics from it.
I recently took up map making as an apprentice to a friend. I am currently using a free software called AutoRealm, with a combination of my friend's creations and the youtube series of tutorials linked just below, I was able to learn. (the first video alone helps plenty, as he give a brief tutorial of simply land creation, the second talks about adding terrain on map)
AutoRealm Tutorial: Episode 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RqZpFrBq88
AutoRealm Download http://sourceforge.net/projects/autorealm/files/latest/download?source=files
I did a search for text in this post and didn't find it mentioned, so I figured I'd bring up AutoRealm.
Not the best for terribly fancy maps, but if you're like me and have problems creating realistic-ish coastlines, its fractal features are useful.
I believe this was mentioned in here yesterday: autorealm
From their sourceforge project page: >AutoREALM is a free role-playing game mapping program originally made by Andrew Gryc. This program is an excellent mapping program that can design castles, caves, cities, dungeons and more. New developers are more than welcome!
The mapping software that I used, AutoREALM, has several pre-loaded sprites that you can place on your maps. Everything in the map (save for the text and the overlaid coloring of the regions) is from AutoREALM. It's a really cool piece of software and I probably wouldn't have even attempted to create the continent if I hadn't found it.
I stumbled upon this sub and thought it might be fun to try my hand at this again. I'm currently using Autorealm, but have always wanted to try Campaign Cartographer. Don't get me wrong, AR is nice (and free), but development hasn't really gone anywhere in a while. There's something going on over at Bitbucket, but it looks to be all source and very early alpha. I may give in and buy CC3 in a week or two. I remember looking at it a while back and thinking it was really hard to use. We'll see.
I say try again because I have a world that I've been working at off and on for the last 25 years. I'm reluctant to share any of it because I started it when I was 12. It's in need of a complete overhaul - something I've known for the last ten-plus years. Maybe it's time I just shelve that for now and start over from scratch. So here, then, is Tinterra. I will try to update this thread on a regular basis. Comments, suggestions, and questions are all welcome. Thanks for looking at my stupid crap. :)
Quick edit: The measurement from tip to tip of the southern continents is roughly 1700 miles across. (I set the measurement to leagues and then kept scaling up until I was happy).