A simple question before I buy
Hello to the ProFantasy Community!
Since I started to stage DnD rounds every now and then I had been looking for a good mapping program and finally I found CC3.
The price however, makes me think again before I buy, especially after hearing about "Annuals" or symbol packs. Since I am only a student, the packages are pretty expensive for me so...
What can I do if I only buy "Campaign Cartographer 3" without any add-on's, packs, subscriptions etc.?
Are there enough tools, symbols or however it is called in the base program to create overland maps? (I know dungeon maps are an add-on, which is perfectly fine)
What I want to create is a pretty little map with some symbols for mountains, woods and trees or cities in addition to rivers and the general landmass of course. I do not need detailed city maps.
The goal is to give my players a classic "Worldmap" as it can be found in every RPG so places of interest and cities are represented by a symbol and not in detail.
What I am afraid of: That it is only the program itself without any really usable symbols (or just 5 test symbols). A good comparison would be "MS Word without Fonts, Symbols, Templates or Letters" so if you want to write something you have to purchase "Times New Roman" pack.
Finally, I want to stress that I am simply a cautious buyer. I do not want to imply anything negative at all!
Thank you for your answers and your time!
Since I started to stage DnD rounds every now and then I had been looking for a good mapping program and finally I found CC3.
The price however, makes me think again before I buy, especially after hearing about "Annuals" or symbol packs. Since I am only a student, the packages are pretty expensive for me so...
What can I do if I only buy "Campaign Cartographer 3" without any add-on's, packs, subscriptions etc.?
Are there enough tools, symbols or however it is called in the base program to create overland maps? (I know dungeon maps are an add-on, which is perfectly fine)
What I want to create is a pretty little map with some symbols for mountains, woods and trees or cities in addition to rivers and the general landmass of course. I do not need detailed city maps.
The goal is to give my players a classic "Worldmap" as it can be found in every RPG so places of interest and cities are represented by a symbol and not in detail.
What I am afraid of: That it is only the program itself without any really usable symbols (or just 5 test symbols). A good comparison would be "MS Word without Fonts, Symbols, Templates or Letters" so if you want to write something you have to purchase "Times New Roman" pack.
Finally, I want to stress that I am simply a cautious buyer. I do not want to imply anything negative at all!
Thank you for your answers and your time!
Comments
I purchased CC3+ a couple of months ago. It comes with enough styles and symbols to produce the kind of maps I was hoping to make as illustrative online maps for the fantasy books I intend to publish. I have attached a couple of samples for you to see what I have done (at the risk of boring the rest of the forum silly, for they have already seen these at least once before). I am sure that others will attach their own 'CC3 only' maps for you to look at as well.
The only thing I will say, is that I have an appalling lack of ability to generate realistic coastlines all by myself, so I also purchased Fractal Terrains 3. Both the examples I have attached have coastlines that were originally exported from FT3.
(Sorry to everyone who has already seen these examples!)
EDIT: ok soooooo funny, sue. We posted the exact same time! But my map was too big! So i'll just leave yours up there.....because lets face it, your overland maps are just stunning
EDIT AGAIN: ok, here's the map
EDIT: Anyone out there got a nice Mike Schley example?
EDIT 2: Rayeth, while we are waiting for the others to come online and respond, I can tell you that it is possible to create and use your own textures and symbols to compliment those which already exist, so if the Herwin Weilink style that both Lorelei and myself have illustrated for you, or the Mike Schley style (that I am hoping someone else will illustrate because I haven't really used it myself) are not to your taste, you could if you want create an entirely new style all of your own. The forum itself comes with a search facility that allows you to look up how other people have dealt with any problems you might encounter along the way, and some extremely benevolent and very helpful experienced users and moderators
The only thing that is not from the basic set is the sea monsters.
They are from an annual. :-)
Thank you very much for your responses! This has helped me a lot!
After seeing those examples I'm convinced that it's worth the money. Since I assume the rest of the products is of similar quality, I already see myself buying the others too, but for starters CC3 seems perfect!
Again, thank you a lot for your responses!