Exploring the Annuals
Mosk
Newcomer
Any recommendations on a good way to start exploring the content on the Annuals? I purchased the complete Annual bundle on black Friday, because there looked to be so much useful stuff that I didn't want to have to pick and choose. Not quite sure how to go about exploring where everything is and if there's a good way to keep track of things for future use. Don't know if people tend to gather all the PDFs into a larger manual - but would welcome advice on how to get started. I'm mostly interested in creating overland fantasy maps to begin with, but will want to do some cities and dungeons after that. Thanks.
Comments
While it is not totally up to date, but look in Resources here for links to each Annual.
If nothing else, pick one and go through it. They can teach you many things about this software. And you can import that symbols and bitmap fills into other maps.
I do that, but I try to keep the same types of symbols together. Overland with overland, dungeon with dungeon, etc.
If you click Add-ons in the Tools menu it will show you a list of all the add-ons and annuals you have installed. If you pick one of the annuals from the list you will be taken to the relevant webpage with a short description and links to the all the issues Mapping Guides. That will probably be more efficient way of finding things than having to search a huge volume of them all stuck together.
If you just want to look at a page of thumbnails to remind yourself of what's in each one, there's a slightly out of date one here:
Annual links
A long time ago, I just installed everything from a bundle and then tried to make maps. That was not a good approach because I didn't know any of the software. Also, the software was supper buggy because many settings were wrong so nothing worked like it should. Learning from that, I suggest the following:
Start with one of the early fantasy annuals. Read the PDF and follow the instructions. Just go through the earlier ones and move on from there. Try to go with different styles and switch back from B&W to color style maps. After you have made a few maps and feel comfortable with some of those early styles, then go pick whatever style you like and try to make a map.
The PDFs typically walk you through, but many of the later map PDFs do not. It assumes you know the basics. So that is why I suggested make a few maps from the older styles.
Thanks for the feedback / suggestions and link. I have some experience and look forward to gaining more proficiency as I go through the Annuals.
It is indeed an overwhelming amount of material to handle from a full set of the current Annuals. The key thing is not to be intimidated by the magnitude of the task - easier said than done!
What I did - and I did something similar to your purchase several years ago, when there were a few fewer Annuals, and I'd only previously had the first year's set - was to print out all the PDF mapping guides, so I could see exactly what each issue was about. The finished example map, often on the last PDF page, is a useful guide to the scale, symbols and design options for those issues that deal with new mapping styles, for instance.
Then I organised the styles by type - Overland, City and Dungeon - and subtype (such as Overland styles that are suited to world or continental-scale maps, those that work well for sub-continental regional scale maps, and those that work for still smaller regional areas, for example). So now when I'm looking at trying out a new mapping style, I go through the guides for the appropriate type and scale I'm intending, and proceed from there.
Oh, and I still haven't used more than a tiny fraction of the Annual contents overall, even years down the line - plus there's always more new material on the way 😁
I just have a desktop link to my Annuals folder. Saves on paper.
thanks - I'll keep revisiting this discussion for ideas as I wade into the annuals