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AutoREALM is a freeware and open source mapping program for Windows (Linux port is planned) available from http://www.gryc.ws/autorealm.htm

New features

The 1.19 verion of AutoREALM fixes some of the things you could get annoyed at. Some of the new features are

Allow Undo/Redo to work from within symbol editor. This helps a lot when creating new symbols.
"Save" and "Cancel" from symbol editing go back to symbol library dialog, since that?s where they were launched from in the first place. This also helps when you edit several symbols in one go.
Added Send Backward and Bring Forward. A very usefull feature. Now you aren't restricted to move to fron and move to back, but can nudge thing up or down as you wish.

A drawback of 1.19 is the very small symbol library available with the program. However that is not a major problem as many new symbols are available from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/autorealm/files/symbols/ and you also have the ability to both import WMF files and use cut and paste from your other programs.

Features

Fractal lines, polylines and curves for rivers and coastlines.
Dozens of dungeon, campaign, and wilderness icons.
Instant hex, rotated hex, square, diamond, half-diamond, triangle, polar grids (fully scalable and designable with secondary grids)
Chart navigation rosettes.
Zoom in, out, and zoom percentage toolbar.
Save and restore views.
Move, scale, rotate, skew, flip, align, and array create transformations.
Snap-to-grid and snap-to-point.
Full undo (20 levels and more) and redo capability.
Archaic, runic, and other fonts.
Bitmap objects for special symbols or for tracing scanned images.
Optional crosshair cursor for precise alignment.
Measures in standard and friendly RPG scales.
AutoNAME, a random name generator with styles like Tolkien, English, etc.
Multiple overlays (10 layers) with freezing and color-coded viewing.
Glyph line styles like pack-ice, water boundary, and castle walls.
Curve-fitted text.
Decompose text, icons, and fractals into polygons and polylines.
Tiling of large maps onto multiple pages
Import and export of Windows Metafiles and Enhanced Metafiles.
Measurement ruler and measurement string
Help Files
Intuitive interface comforming to Windows standard functions as manipulating objects, stretching them, moving them, selecting them.
Saves maps into .bmp, .jpg and .aur (native) formats.
Support of language DLLs : french and japanese translations are available.
Toolbars with many Menu Icons
Symbol library, possibility to add and design your own symbols.

AutoREALM V1.19

New features

Features

Conclusion

AutoREALM V1.19
AutoREALM V1.19 Capsule Review by Staffan Vilcans on 08/03/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) A very useufull mapping program that give exellent value for money (it's free) but let down by lack of symbols. Product: AutoREALM V1.19 Author: Andy Gryc Category: Software Company/Publisher: Andy Gryc Line: RPG Mapping Software Cost: free Page count: n/a Year published: 2002 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Staffan Vilcans on 08/03/02 Genre tags: Fantasy Science Fiction Generic	AutoREALM is a freeware and open source mapping program for Windows (Linux port is planned) available from http://www.gryc.ws/autorealm.htm New features The 1.19 verion of AutoREALM fixes some of the things you could get annoyed at. Some of the new features are Allow Undo/Redo to work from within symbol editor. This helps a lot when creating new symbols. "Save" and "Cancel" from symbol editing go back to symbol library dialog, since that?s where they were launched from in the first place. This also helps when you edit several symbols in one go. Added Send Backward and Bring Forward. A very usefull feature. Now you aren't restricted to move to fron and move to back, but can nudge thing up or down as you wish. A drawback of 1.19 is the very small symbol library available with the program. However that is not a major problem as many new symbols are available from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/autorealm/files/symbols/ and you also have the ability to both import WMF files and use cut and paste from your other programs. Features Fractal lines, polylines and curves for rivers and coastlines. Dozens of dungeon, campaign, and wilderness icons. Instant hex, rotated hex, square, diamond, half-diamond, triangle, polar grids (fully scalable and designable with secondary grids) Chart navigation rosettes. Zoom in, out, and zoom percentage toolbar. Save and restore views. Move, scale, rotate, skew, flip, align, and array create transformations. Snap-to-grid and snap-to-point. Full undo (20 levels and more) and redo capability. Archaic, runic, and other fonts. Bitmap objects for special symbols or for tracing scanned images. Optional crosshair cursor for precise alignment. Measures in standard and friendly RPG scales. AutoNAME, a random name generator with styles like Tolkien, English, etc. Multiple overlays (10 layers) with freezing and color-coded viewing. Glyph line styles like pack-ice, water boundary, and castle walls. Curve-fitted text. Decompose text, icons, and fractals into polygons and polylines. Tiling of large maps onto multiple pages Import and export of Windows Metafiles and Enhanced Metafiles. Measurement ruler and measurement string Help Files Intuitive interface comforming to Windows standard functions as manipulating objects, stretching them, moving them, selecting them. Saves maps into .bmp, .jpg and .aur (native) formats. Support of language DLLs : french and japanese translations are available. Toolbars with many Menu Icons Symbol library, possibility to add and design your own symbols. Conclusion If you are low on money there is no program to match AutoREALM. The user interface is also very intuitive and easy to learn. If you are a professional or have too much money you may want to check out the other programs that have larger symbol libraries, but for a hobbyist AutoREALM is a good choise.