I'd like to see the map you have in mind. Firstly, you should take a look at this:
http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewto ... 66&t=40463
Once you give ti the read through, make your image and don't worry about the programming. There are a number of people willing to write the XML and with Chipv's XML tool, it's quite easy to do it yourself.
What graphics program are you using?