Hi,

Thanks to all who make this website and forum possible.

I'm forty-something and a life long D&D player. I'm going to start a new campaign in Sept. 2011 where I will be the DM. I'm pretty good at drawing by hand, and can make all the maps I need. But as I struggle to put my world together, I find what I need is the ability to zoom in and out on my map. I'd like to start with a continent that is about 20,000 miles across (having the different nation-states isolated from each other is an important plot element). I'd like to be able to quickly and easily draw in the usual geographic (mountain chains, rivers, lakes, plains, deserts, etc) and biological (forests, grasslands, marshes, jungles) details.

Then I'd like to be able to zoom in and draw a detailed city state, down to the level of a single square mile, or smaller.

As far as how realistic the maps look, that doesn't matter much to me. If I need them to have a good description, I can do that with narrative. If I need them to have a good map, I can draw one for them. It's more about the book keeping to me- to be able to roughly calculate distances and to be able to put down a specific detail in one area, and a different specific detail in another area, and have the map program remember it all.

I've read the basic links, and I will continue to look for more information in the forums here.

Thanks again!

B.H.D.