Yes. There is no way I could do multiple maps like these for the books and still have time to write them without a tool like flaming pear. I still invest a fair amount of time in getting the planet images to match the writing. A map takes me a good couple of hours to finish but that beats a much longer stretch without the tools.

I used Illustrator for the map below. Pretty basic but it gets across the 1930's flat map look I want to use for the star systems. It is based on the ideas of a much better map maker than I who did a few maps for the game way back in the day. Someday I hope to become as proficient as he is but for now this is about where I am at what with time constraints and everything.



and what should be a larger shot of part of another star system map so you can get a better look.