ProFantasy Campaign Cartographer

[Engar]

Curious if anyone uses this and shares files here? I like using it, but it takes me quite a bit of time.

[mrken]

I have CC2, City Designer and Dungeon Designer. Unfortunately I have yet to learn how to do anything with them. I have read the for weeks and tried to follow the Manuel with no success. For the past year and a half it is just setting on my shelf while I wait for my wife to do some work on my computer. Maybe I will just reinstall it and when she wipes the HD I will just start over, again. lol

[Farcaster]

Moved from Campaign Resources. Unless you are sharing an actual resource -- i.e. a map, an adventure, etc, post it in the Fantasy or D&D (or other genre) section as appropriate.

[Skunkape]

I own CC3 and have been using it to build an area map for my campaign. It has a lot of great functions but is an extremely complex program, so work goes slow.

I keep meaning to purchase their Cartographer's Annual, but so far haven't had the extra funds laying around!

I do like the results you can get from the program and plan on purchasing their City and Dungeon Designer version 3 programs as well.

[cplmac]

Let me start by saying that I do not have that program. From the sounds of a couple of the posts, it is rather slow going at using it. Might not be as elaborate, but how much faster is it to just draw the map by hand? I know, so I'll say it, how prehistoric.

[Engar]

LOL, nope, I often think the old fashioned way is also wiser. The benefit of CC3 (or the like) is in the ongoing management (changes or corrections, linking maps to other maps or even word files, etc, just plain staying organized with growing map libraries). Also of large benefit is finding a great map online and then tweeking it to fit, which helps plan in a time crunch. Of course I do not have a lap top yet, so much of the benefit for me is negated. It does remove the traditional "artistic" element, but replaces it with a kind of techno artistry which once learned is easier to repeat quickly.

I suspect it is more of a distraction than it is worth, but maybe it will reach a point of returns down the road.

I do not see many posters here with CC3, but one thought I had which could not so easily be done and then shared with PnP is to generate a random blank world (oceans and land forms only) and see how many might be interested in populating a wedge of it with an original idea/region from their homebrew game.

Looks unlikely, but the program would make it realistic to transfer the files back and forth and using the links to include written data (descriptions, history, etc) could flesh out the maps. That could be a truly interesting realm. Might not work even if implemented, but a neat theory at least.

[cplmac]

That would be interesting to see what turned out by having a collaboration on a world like that. Unfortunately, I agree that it is probably not something that can be easily started.

[Demandred69]

I hate the install process. CC2 was simple. Now you need a patch and this and that with CC3. I just recently got CC3 and the Overland. I'm working with a number of people on a World Building Project, and I can't submit a map. I keep getting an error message.

[tesral]

I've got it. I can't say I have done much with it. There is a learning curve and I haven't had the time to learn.

[mrken]

I've got it. I can't say I have done much with it. There is a learning curve and I haven't had the time to learn.

Ditto that!!! I installed it after reading the manual about two weeks in whatever time I found, maybe about twenty or thirty hours. Then spent another week or two with the same kind of time commitment. Was able to do squat. Still I am hoping I can persist. I have seen what others can do and I know I too can do that. My problem is that I don't know how high the learning curve is above where I am currently.

[Skunkape]

There is one really nice thing that most mapping programs allow, you can start with a continent level map, then create a number of other maps from that start by enlarging the coast line of the main continent map. This gives you more detailed maps in a shorter length of time because you copy elements from the original and paste them into the enlarged version.

Plus, you can lay down elements like mountain and forest symbols from a symbol library which allows you to create details on the maps much quicker than with hand drawn maps. But yes, the mapping programs tend to have sharp learning curves and are best used if you have some level of tech interest.

Plus, there’s nothing wrong with hand drawn maps, I’ve used those quite often in the past!

[mrken]

One day I would like to import a world atlas into CC2 and then use those maps to create maps for my campaign. It is so nice to have actual maps to use. The world is so big and has such a varied landscape one does not have to invent anything but the history and the places. You just breeze past the world creation and just create the the details. According to the season I even have a variety of weather.

[Engar]

I never looked it over in detail, but there is a "real world" map file with it. It may not have the level of detail you are looking for though.

[Moritz]

I generally use http://home.paonline.com/zaikoski/ak/ for my terrain building. It's fast, easy, and I don't get crayon all over my desk.

<edit: Go to the RPG tools section - HexMap>

[nijineko]

i've tried the demo a few times. with talent and/or effort, (lots of effort plus tutorials if one has no talent) some nice maps can be come up with. oh, and if you find and download a bunch of premade stuff from online. i find it faster to draw it out myself. i use painter, fireworks and gimp.