Review of MapMaker Plus

MapMaker Plus is a package of cartographic fonts and images on CD which is intended as an alternative to complex programs like Campaign Cartogrpher for gamemasters who need help developing maps for their worlds.

This package takes the unique approach of bypassing the need for a customized interface and graphics program to create maps, by instead providing resources to create your maps using any graphics program or layout program. I tried it out with both Pagemaker and Paintshop Pro and it was surprisingly easy to use and very effective.

It's really a very simple concept. The CD comes with 9 fonts. Once you've installed them you can type individual characters to produce fully scalable map elements which can then be moved around and combined to create all sorts of different maps.

With the Ortelius font you can map your world, with rivers, mountains, cities, coastlines and everything you need on a basic physical or political map. The Basilica font is for mapping buildings, and can be combined with the Landscape and Floorplans fonts to map whole complexes or even cities. There are also several text fonts which are perfect for labelling maps.

Although this system is much easier to use once you get the hang of it than the program-based alternatives, it does have the shortcoming that the maps you produce have a very specific look and feel to them. The buildings look like medieval buildings and the world maps look like the typical map from the flyleaf of a fantasy novel. The package is clearly geared towards fantasy or historical settings, but that's not really surprising. If you're mapping churches and keeps and medieval kingdoms you'll be very happy with the results. The maps produced look genuinely hand drawn and don't have the sterility of most program-generated maps.

One other feature in the package is that it includes a large selection of historical maps. There are over 100 high resolution color and black and white maps in JPG and TIF format covering everything from the ancient world to the Victorian era. Some of these maps are excellent, and they'd be a big help in a historical game.

There are things that could be improved or added here. I'd like to see fonts for mapping more modern or futuristic settings. I think they could also provide something specifically for mapping urban areas that would be easier to use than combining several of the fonts they have.

Nonetheless, for the gamemaster who wants to make interesting maps, but doesn't want to learn to use a complex program in order to do it, this is an excellent tool.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)