Great tips
Stu, really forgot to mention the other ones
Now let's sum it up and show some differences between the programs
Terragen
http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/
For Mac and Windows, free, but if you register for US$79 you also get the ability to render images larger than 1280 x 960, terrains larger than 513 x 513 and enhanced anti-aliasing modes.
The program creates realistic water, skies and clouds. Vegetation is not included.
Development has slowed down over the last few years and it?s showing in some areas.
Still a great product and very popular.
Mojoworld
http://www.pandromeda.com/
For Mac and Windows, US$249
With Mojoworld you can create landscapes, but Mojoworld really shines when it comes to creating fantasy worlds that includes planets, star systems, planetary rings, etc.
It?s very versatile, great value, vegetation is not included. Animation is included.
The render engine is however slow and the program is also fairly complicated to learn
Vue d?Esprit
http://www.e-onsoftware.com/
For Mac and Windows, US$199
Very easy and fun to use, fast rendering, includes network rendering, vegetation, advanced material/terrain/atmosphere editor, some basic modeling, numerous 3D file import/export filters, animation. Excellent value.
New versions can be quite unstable, but after some maintenance updates most of the problems are solved. Latest version v4.12 is stable.
Here?s an example to show you that you can still create more than just landscapes using Vue d?Esprit?s basic modeling tools, which include only shapes and booleans.
http://www.paroge.com/vde/image3D/city/chaiseachypre.jpg ( 100% Vue d?Esprit)
Other products;
World Construction Set
http://www.3dnature.com/
For Windows, $995 Mac version released soon.
Natural Scene Designer
http://naturalgfx.com/index.htm
For Mac and Windows, $139
Vista Pro
http://www.andromedasoftware.com/cd213.htm
Only for Windows, only US$34.95
Plant Studio
http://www.kurtz-fernhout.com/PlantStudio/
Windows or emulation on Mac; free!
Create plants models
Xfrog 3.5
http://www.xfrogdownloads.com/greenwebNew/index.htm
For Windows only, Full versionUS$269, Lite vesion US$138
The #1 program to create organic structures
Xfrog 4 ( tip! )
http://www.xfrogdownloads.com/greenwebNew/index.htm
Cinema 4D 8.1 plugin for Windows and Mac. US$299
More info here:
http://www.xfrogdownloads.com/greenwebNew/products/xfrog4SubStart.htm