Recommended apps?

Hey there worldbuilders, What apps do you use to generate maps and the like? What are your goto applications?

5 comments

If you're someone who enjoys buying software once and owning it, Wonderdraft and Dungeondraft have been really wonderful to use in my experience!
Not an avid map builder, but I've heard good things about Inkarnate.
- Oh this looks fantastic! Thanks!
  
  For a one-time purchase alternative there's Wonderdraft.
  
  A super in depth software with world generation features is Worldographer (succesor to Hexographer). The maps are less pretty since theyre hex based but you can do lots of things like having different levels of detail, where a hex is converted into many smaller hexes in another editing layer.
As a writing-based worldbuilder, a good notes software is a must for me and I imagine most others as well. I always recommend CherryTree for organizing worldbuilding research, notes, lore, stories, etc. It's free and open source, supports inline pictures and other elements, everything within a given world or project can be stored as one file on your own computer, and allows unlimited nested pages for when your tangential tiny piece of lore turns into a two week research project.