Does anyone know any program that could help in creating maps? By creating maps I mean a number of diverse tasks - displaying of coastline and landscape, adding objects, scaling the map, maybe even add art to it. As those tasks are quite specific and require different tools than general graphic editing, I guess there should be some programs that could help, or at least plugins to Photoshop or other graphic programs.
(late reply?) softimage XSI, its free, its a modeling program that you can use to map and the other things you listed. http://www.svencoop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26590
there you have information about how u can use it for free (legally, no cracking :D)