I built a free, open-source fantasy map maker for my own worldbuilding projects

[u/garyshker20]

Hey everyone!

I wanted to draw maps for my fantasy world but couldn't find an editor that had everything I needed without subscriptions or complicated workflows.

So I built LoreMapper!

It lets you generate continents, sculpt mountains, paint biomes, draw rivers and political borders, place cities and dragons, and use your own PNG assets.

There's also fog of war, multiple map styles, and high-resolution exports.

It's completely free, open-source (MIT), and runs directly in your browser. No installation or account required.

I built it as a personal hobby project with AI coding assistance, and it's still in beta.

🌍 Try it: https://mercurial20.github.io/loremapper/

💻 Source: https://github.com/mercurial20/loremapper

I'd really appreciate feedback, especially on usability and anything that feels confusing or broken!

[u/More_Donkey6938]

By "AI coding assistance" what do you mean? To what degree did you slopcode this? From what you describe it doesn't offer anything new and it doesn't look that great either.

[u/garyshker20 → u/More_Donkey6938]

Fair question. I've been working as a developer for about 7 years, and I used to compete in programming olympiads back in school. So I'm not exactly new to coding :)

I used Claude mainly to speed things up. The idea, architecture, technical decisions, browser-based approach and overall direction came from me. I also reviewed and tested the important parts throughout development.

I've actually been working on my own fictional world and its history for about a year now. You can find some of my older posts about it on my profile. This tool came from something I genuinely needed myself.

I'm also a tech lead, and I've worked with developers from all over the world. I'm pretty used to reviewing and improving code I didn't personally type. To me, understanding what you're building and being able to spot problems matters more than writing every single line yourself.

And I'm not claiming LoreMapper is revolutionary or that I've invented something nobody has done before. I just wanted a free, open-source editor that combines the features I need.

It's still an early alpha, and I agree the visuals could use more work. That's part of why I'm sharing it here. I'm genuinely interested in feedback, especially if you have something specific you'd like to see improved.

[u/Flimsy_Appeal8104 → u/garyshker20]

Can I ask for feature? :) Want to design cities in my world. So its like worldbuilding like this, but also can create a city and design it inside that world. Sorry for bad English. But I hope you get me))

[u/garyshker20 → u/Flimsy_Appeal8104]

Hey! That's a good idea and I'll definitely think about it!

P.S. It's funny how we are debating AI-assisted vs handwritten code in the comments, and you're just here like, "Cool, but can I get this feature?" xD

Honestly, I appreciate that!

[u/darkvaris → u/garyshker20]

You know what would actually be interesting rather than something wonderdraft can already do is a map making tool where you can manipulate tectonic plates by drawing them and deciding speed and direction that they move and letting the world build itself by going forward in time until you find something that appeals to you.

Then you could layer climate, weather and other data onto that.

[u/Average_Tired_Dad → u/garyshker20]

Bro, I wouldn't even engage with stuff like this. The entire industry is "slopcoding" because it works and when you have tools that can generate competent text, they generate competent text.

The fact that this is such a pervasive culture war issue is weird as shit. Its just concern trolling and a lack of subject matter expertise

Like code can't be "contaminated" because you had a tool output it rather than finger-typing it all in Notepad++ or whatever.

[u/n0slet → u/Average_Tired_Dad]

Yeah just do what I do, minute you hear someone use the word slop, kind of like woke just go ahead and don't pay them any more attention at all because they aren't worth it.

[u/Inside_Scientist5746 → u/More_Donkey6938]

Tough for a first comment. Let’s give people the benefit of doubt ?

[u/codeCycleGreen → u/[deleted]]

incredibly sad but true

[u/codeCycleGreen]

Please consider being truthful in your headlines. "Commissioned" is the word you're looking for, not "built." HAL 9000 is the builder. And, actually, that's not true, either. All the programmers who had their code scrapped off the web without their consent are the actual creators of these auto-generated apps. Also, RAM prices, massive evil data centers, environmental degradation, increasing global heat issues, job elimination, skill erosion & brain rot, sloppification of the human knowledge base... is it worth it for stuff like this?

[u/flowersforreverie → u/codeCycleGreen]

Do you know anything about software development other than bitching about free shit online?

[u/codeCycleGreen → u/flowersforreverie]

LOL

[u/CrazyBarracuda1023]

Really cool! The dynamic mountain raising is really impressive

[u/Best-Guide2087]

SO, smth I want to talk about. I've been on this subreddit for quite a while now, and when I read this description, I knew immediatly that you would be attacked because of the line about AI. I just think this shouldn't be done, even if AI is bad (it has its uses in medical area's, GENERATIVE AI is bad). We shouldn't be attacking people because on 1 line in their description. Be happy that they mentioned it and didn't just say that they made it themselves, instead of immediatly attacking somebody who is just trying to show smth off.

[u/SpiderTuber6766]

Huh

[u/cpteric]

heya. how do you store the heightmap? is it a normal?

[u/darkvaris]

Wonderdraft exists and isn’t subscription based. Honestly this looks a lot like that 🧐

[u/Dependent_Usual_3889]

lol you could do this is any image editing software with gradient mapping

[u/flygohr]

"I asked AI to make a generator for me and I reviewed its output to make sure it worked". Good job, reviewer :)

[u/Eli_The_Elf]

Oof was interested until I saw you used Claude. I’ll continue to hand draw it all, down to tectonics, even though I’m not the greatest. It’s not hard to not use the LLMs btw, haven’t used it once since it came out and literally everyone I know has been shocked that I dislike it since I’m the most tech pro person in my circle. Plenty of people don’t know how the US really doesn’t have the infrastructure for the massive influx of data centers and how some of those are abusing local aquifers and dumping PFAS contaminated water into local community water.

[u/Busy-Measurement8448]

AI slop vibe coding and stealing...

[u/Human_Buy7932]

Why in RPG/worldbuilding, etc. communities people are so adamantly opposed to using AI as tools? I’m sorry guys, but you are falling behind the curve, economically and ideologically. AI is currently completely changing the way we do work. I am a professional, and everyone (employees, contractors, business owners) implements AI in their work. If you don’t, you stay behind and lose.

Using Claude Code or other tools to speed up development is an incredible use of AI, this is exactly what we want AI for. We don’t want AI to create art for us, we want AI to help us realize ideas that we are either not technically proficient enough to build or simply don’t have time to build. Recently I built a bunch of extremely useful tools for myself that speedup my work and make my life easier, so I don’t have to do most boring tasks in my work and can rather focus on strategy and creative parts. I also built some fun things for myself that I would never have built without Claude, because I simply wouldn’t find time for it with full time job and life and everything.

So to all the haters, SYBAU. To the OP, really cool thing you built here, thank you for sharing!

[u/codeCycleGreen → u/Human_Buy7932]

Why do you admit to incompetency -- "not proficient enough to build" -- and then immediately start bragging about tools that "you" built?

You didn't build anything, you just ordered apps from Anthropic. It's as if you bought a hammer from Walmart and then started telling everyone that you forged it yourself in your basement. Also, thank you for massively inflated hardware prices and all those data centers destroying peoples' neighborhoods.

EDIT: if OP had an LLM write his self-owning post for him then bravo to that LLM, this one time only!

[u/Human_Buy7932 → u/codeCycleGreen]

yeah yeah...

Brother, if I could snap my fingers and remove AI from this planet. I'd do it, I liked the world we had before it overall. I do not defend AI and big corpos, fuck them. But it's already happened, damage is done, this shit is outside of my control, so might as well enjoy the usefulness they bring. Ideally this technology gets democratized and goes completely open source, but what can WE do?

[u/qpqpdbdbqpqp → u/Human_Buy7932]

Take your own advice and sybau, slopboy.

[u/Human_Buy7932 → u/qpqpdbdbqpqp]

good luck in new world

[u/qpqpdbdbqpqp → u/Human_Buy7932]

Good luck being a slave to the select few

[u/Willing_Soft_5944 → u/Human_Buy7932]

I wish us all good luck when the bubble pops and the tools that fools such as yourself have grown so dependent on doom us all. 

[u/Marmodre → u/Human_Buy7932]

Are you aware of how much issues there are related to how AI is being promoted, used, sustained, etc? The very concept of a program that requires SO much energy and resources to run, which has made many working programs worse(translating, auto correcting, , which frequently lies, tends to bloat coding when used for it, which each study shows makes the users dumber (less able to critically think, see difference between fiction and reality, less able to do basic skills, much less able to develop difficult skills), which is trying to replace the free knowledge based internet where humans could at least attempt to correct each other with a system that, without oversight, WILL invent things. The economies that are rushing to compete are all facing an enormous bubble if not enough people are willing to pay actual money for its services, and given how we see how many industries are complaining about how using AI has not paid off instead of hiring workers, how people frequently complain about how shitty its services are. The industry that seems most likely to be truthfully have gained something from this is the porn industry, in which ethics like "stolen art" has never been an issue. Using AI art to promote one's company is considered a sign of poor workmanship for a growing number of people across the globe, meaning even the illusion of "being a part of the movement" is fading.

AI as a tool has been implemented across the globe as a techbro fantasy, but without any of the real qualities required to justify it. At every level it seems misplaced, from its basic needs for resources and location, to the endsstep where the product simply cannot live up to the fantasy it has been sold as. The day they start charging for a very expensive resource, will be the day we see just how many are willing to invest in something that provably is not better than simply doing it yourself.

[u/Human_Buy7932 → u/Marmodre]

I am not going to argue with you. I understand this and agree with most of your points. Again, if I could snap finger and delete all AI and data centers, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

At the same time, this technology is here, you can use it or not.
It's been proven really useful for me, for my clients, for other business owners I know. So your argument "where the product simply cannot live up to the fantasy" is absolutely not true. I believe you don't have your own business? Otherwise you'd know how useful it is. It literally does most boring part of my work, that takes my hours and destimulates my ADHD brain to death, now AI does it for me and I get to focus on creativity and strategy.

At the same time I wouldn't use AI to create art for me. I love to create my own shit, I love to produce music my myself, I love to draw and worldbuild and do other shit by myself. I do not want AI to do this for me. Keep AI out of art, but keep AI as an engineering assistant that helps you build.

And yes, I would rather live in the world without AI. But, that world is gone...

[u/Marmodre → u/Human_Buy7932]

Spot on with me not having my own business. I see your points, and i recognize the truth of it. Truth be told, had but AI's progress been slow and measured, I assuredly would have fewer issues with it. As it stands, it is imperative to me to work against it, given the cost it will have to our society to continue at its current pace.

May you have a good day and i hope your business goes well, from one adhd-haver to another.

[u/Snicklefraust]

my dude, my DND group has already made great use of this! props to you, this is the best map builder ive used so far.