Here's what you can do:
- You can load and save hex map files.
- You can plot and erase hexes, both singles and in large amounts.
- You can swap between the three layers so borders are on the top, water and roads on the middle, and your base hex layer on the bottom.
- You can do crude thin line drawing
- You can magnify, but the resolution is anti-aliased so it's not much of an improvement.
- You can import bitmap files directly into a layer, that way you can draw up stuff in Paint or some other program and just bring it in. (That's how I did my demo.)
- No need to provide hexes, my custom "Mystara" hex set is available in both horizontal and vertical alignments.
What you can't do:
- Create really big maps effectively. The new map option will accept 127x127 in size maximum, but I urge you NOT to do this unless you have plenty of hard RAM memory on hand.
- Do any advanced drawing tools, like color swapping, filling, essentially any nice paint program features.
- Export layers as bitmaps.
- Print maps.
- Text labels are not implemented.
- Hex Legend creation is not implemented.
Because the program is written in C#, you need the .NET framework installed on your system. If you have any of the Visual Studio .NET suites installed, you're good. If not, you'll need to go and download the package:
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET framework
I should add that this particular crutch is another reason to switch over to C/C++ 6.0 instead, which runs in pure assembly when compiled (just a bit faster) and doesn't require the framework. However, C/C++ is much more difficult to write in, and I'd have to start from scratch. Plus handling graphics will be a pain.
Anyway, here's the link. It's 2.8 megabytes:
HexMapper
Adamantyr
I am going on a short holiday at the end of this week but when I get back I am going to give it a try right away!!
Nice work!
:-) Jesper
I downloaded your hex mapper. It's good.
I haven't had a chance to really work with it yet. I hope you continue to develope it.--Ray.