Hi, how do you all design a game board?  Is there a program that you use?

Thank you

Two part answer, I suppose:

To design the map background (the image of the map), you'll need to use a third party program. I used Paint.NET. I know others use Photoshop, GIMP, and Pixlr.com. The possibilities for graphics editors are pretty endless. One hapless board designer I used to know did all his work in Microsoft Paint. (I wouldn't recommend it).

There is a built in board designer in WarGear, which your premium membership gives you access to. The premium membership comes free for the first month, and then you have to pay to keep it. Pricing details are somewhere else on the site. The designer can be found on the "Boards" tab, and near the top of the page is a button for the "Board Designer". I think you can also follow this URL: http://www.wargear.net/boards/myboards . Once there, put a board name into the text box, and your board is started.

The first thing you'll need to do is click the "Upload" button. Select the image you drew in your graphics editing program and upload it. There are some restrictions as to the size and dimensions of that image which should be listed somewhere in the "Help" tab (http://www.wargear.net/help/display). After that, type a brief board description and click the "Save" button near the upper right of the page. You'll want to click that "Save" button pretty often. I know I frequently navigate away from the designer without saving and inadvertently lose my unsaved progress.

Next, move from "Settings" to "Design". Here you can Add, Edit, or Delete your Territories, Borders, Continents, Modifiers, and Starting Scenarios. Have at 'er. This part should come fairly intuitively. Keep adding your board elements and keep saving. If you want some feedback while you're working on the map, feel free to invite me or some of the other regulars to play on your map while it is still in development (you can do this).

You can still make changes to the board and they will show up in the Dev game, so long as the board still hasn't been submitted or promoted to Live. Also, as the author, you'll have a few extra powers regarding administration of the game which will help everyone more quickly evaluate the map and if it needs a major overhaul.

So that was the general answer. Check the help tab. There is a lot more detail, and pictures!, than I slapped into this response. And, if you have specific questions, feel free to reply to this thread. Some of us have been making boards for sites like this for a few years, so there is plenty of know-how floating around the site.

The Designing Boards Help does have some good information in it, although there's still more info that could/will be added.

Okay, thank you for the replies. I will check out the links.

If you have any specific questions feel free to invite me to a game or send me a message. I'm around most of the time and I'm pretty schooled in knowing what I'm doing in design.