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Wednesday, 1 July 2026

Making progress ... but not quite in the direction I expected

I recently wrote about my experiments with various terrain-drawing programs. One of my regular blog readers (Mike C) suggested that I look at the Memoir '44 scenario map editor ... and I tried to, but discovered that it seems to have been withdrawn by the publishers, Days of Wonder.

In the conclusion of my earlier blog post, I outlined the three options I had:

  1. Carry on using Hexographer ... and working as best I can with the screen size problem.
  2. Wait until HexDraw2 become available.
  3. Draw my own hex grids and individual tiles using MS Paint and accept the inevitable delay that this will cause.

Well, I have tried using Hexographer but I am finding the screen size problem just too much of a strain on my eyes. At present, there seems to be no published release date for HexDraw2, and I could easily have to wait for months (if not years) before it becomes available. I am therefore left with the third option ... to draw my own hex grids and individual tiles using MS Paint.

I've done this in the past, and I used my home-drawn hexes in my book, A WINTER-ISH WAR.

I thought that I had lost my original drawings when I had a computer memory failure a couple of years ago, but I found that I had saved a copy of them on a memory stick and I now have a starting point from which I can work.

12 comments:

  1. Finding the earlier mapping system gives you a leg up. Your familiar with the program so that will spread things. When HexDraw2 does become available you can always convert if you want. Now you can make progress on very serviceable maps.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WEK 3,

      I only wish that I had realised that the original drawing had not been lost as they are a great starting point for me.

      Hopefully, I will be able to use HexDraw2 if and when it becomes available again.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. That map looks good to me Bob. If all you need to do is edit that one then personally I'd stick to using MS Paint.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      Cheers! I rather like using MS Paint and will continue to create my maps with it ... until HexDraw2 become available.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Good stuff Bob. You can do a lot in a drawing package. Make one shape (hex), duplicate, align, re-colour and... you are your uncle!
    Best wishes, James

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. James Fisher (James),

      Cheers! I am doing pretty well what you suggest … and hope to show my progress via this blog.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. Looks good, Bob…and any progress is progress 👍🏼.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Martin S.

      I seem to be getting somewhere … at last!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. I recently found this and am enjoying using it. Lots of short tutorials to view. https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3685214/wargame-map-tool-an-app-for-creating-maps-for-hex

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pete,

      Thanks very much for the link. I’ll look at it later today.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  6. Are you using the free version of Hexographer or the paid for version? The latter seems to have been upgraded to Worldographer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nigel Drury,

      I have only used the free version as I didn’t want to buy a program that I didn’t end up using.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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