Or does anyone at least know of software that I can use to make good quality maps?
I'd much prefer a free software, as I don't really have all that much money, but if need be I'd look into a paid software to see if it's worth the price they're selling for.
Not sure of free ones. I use Campaign Cartographer 3. You can get it at Profantasy.com.
Check out my gig on fiverr (link in the signature). If you're looking for some custom maps to be made up, I can do them.
AutoRealm is free, and can make decent maps.
May I please have the link to AutoRealm to see what it looks like?
MapTool is also free, and quite popular. (you can even use it to run campaigns over the internet)
Personally I prefer to just draw maps myself in Photoshop. I use some clipart from the classic Hero Quest boardgame for furniture and such.
Maptiles are also a great way to illustrate dungeons, but only for setting up an actual combat encounter while you are playing (and not for designing a map in itself). Plus, once you gather a lot of maptiles, storing them and sorting them becomes a bit tricky. So what I do is lay out a piece of a dungeon before starting a session. I arrange all the tiles on a thin piece of hardboard the night before a session. This is mostly for when you want to illustrate combat encounters that require a bit of clever positioning.
I just googled MapTools and AutoMap and found them both.
Good free tools. I guess it depends on how indepth you want your mapmaking to be. Do you need just basic illustrations as a reference point, or do you want something high quality and fully fleshed out? Something to think about.
A good, simple idea for world mapping as well, is to print out some hex grid paper and simply draw it out. Or, sketch it out, scan it, and then use photoshop (or paintshop, etc) to go over it and digitalize it.
If you want to map out your dungeons, I agree with imaculata. I have lots of dungeon tiles and fold-out flip maps that I use, as well as a dry-erase reversable grid (hex on one side, squares on the other).
Good luck with your mapping 
(Again, if you're willing to pay a few bucks for a full colour world map, I can hook you up to get you started with your maps.)
Timpookie wrote:
NBOS has a good map-making program, but it is a demo.
I have an older-version of NBOS that can float a .bmp and make transparent the most numerous color (usually the background), so I can make detailed maps.
You might want to consider video-game level-editing programs and take screen-shots. What I usually do is create a rpg map with those programs and take screen-shots of the detailed-locations my players are at and then print them so they can get a feel for the location.
And I like autorealm's random name generators.
I make a few maps here and there. This is stuff on my blog.
If you want to do really nice maps but you cannot afford adobe photoshop, gimp is a free yet powerful alternative
http://www.gimp.org/
Myrhdraak wrote:
GIMP is not .. it has a high bar of proficiency. My map making is usually done by hand. Just the way I have always done it.
Let us know which one you pick, I am curious. Might try it out myself. I have to get used to Roll20 for next years Aethercon. Online table.
Check out HexGIMP http://www.axiscity.hexamon.net/users/isomage/gimp/hexgimp/
Myrhdraak wrote:
tao_alexis wrote:
I really like using Hexographer to make Greyhawk like maps. Works really nice and gives me a feel that I'm used to.
http://www.hexographer.com/
Doc_Klueless wrote:
A few years ago, there was a poster that made Dark Sun tile sets for use with adobe; I do not remember where they are or which poster made them.
The guys over at InKarnate (http://inkarnate.com/), assuming you can still sign up, have a nice beta toolset for map and dungeon creation. Simple to use, and quite effective.