Dimensions and Scaling

Saturn830

Hey, forgive my noobishness but I have a general question on the process of mapping that I haven't been able to find the answer to in the user manual.

I've noticed that creating maps with larger dimensions (say 2000x1600 vs the standard 1000x800) doesn't seem to affect the size of the symbols or the terrain fills (ex. forests). Now I know I can scale individual symbols and I'm sure there's a way to do that for the terrain fills but that all seems like a hassle. I guess I was assuming that the creation of a larger map would make symbols and such appear smaller when viewing the full map (so a mountain on a map in full view set at 2000x1600 would appear half the size of one on a 1000x800 map). Is there a way to set this so the software does it automatically or am I just overlooking some element completely?

Thanks.

Monsen

The reason CC3 does this is to keep the map viewable. If the symbols didn't scale automatically with the map size, they would get really tiny on the larger maps, to a point where it would be really hard to see what the symbol depicted at all. Generally it is better to use fewer, but larger symbols as the map size increases. Also remember, the symbols will never be to scale with the map anyway (If they were, you would need more trees than you would care to draw for even the smallest forests), so they just indicate the presence of whatever the symbol depicts.

The default symbol scale used by CC3 for overland maps are the width of the map divided by 1000. So a 1000x800 map uses 1.0 as the default scale, while your 2000x1600 will use 2.0 as the default scale. The idea is that you would use fewer trees to show the same forest on the larger maps as compared to the smaller. The true scale of the map should be evident from the scale bar, not the size of the individual trees.

Anyway, the default scale is just a guideline, and is of course not appropriate for all maps. If you want to change it, go to File -> Drawing Properties and change the default symbol scale to whatever you want it to be. Remember that CC3 does remember the last value you scaled a symbol (in this map) to, so even if you change it here, CC3 will remember the last actual value used when you place new symbols. However, this value will be used each time you open the map, as well as when you click "Set Normal" in the symbol parameters box.

Saturn830

Thanks, that was extremely helpful. It leads me to two follow up questions:

1) How does one increase the 'frequency' (not sure that's the right word) of the various fractal tools to adjust to a change in scale?

2) What would you recommend for someone who wants to create a fairly large world (let's say the size of your average Middle Earth map) with many nations, towns and features in general?
a) Also, (and this might once again be something I've completely overlooked) is there a way to adjust the view to show the 'actual size' of the image (in terms of pixels, like you can do in a photoshop-type program) as
opposed to just the custom zooms and the fit to window option?

Thanks again- this all gets to be pretty fun once you get the details down.

Monsen

1) The fractal values are stored inside each drawing tool. Again, these are scaled according to the map size, again based on the principle that a large map shouldn't go into the same amount of details as smaller maps. To edit the drawing tools, open up the drawing tool window, click "Advanced >>", then select the desired drawing tool. For any drawing tool that uses the fractal draw method, you can click the option buttons and change the fractal settings. Increase the Depth value to increase the number of nodes used in the fractal form, and use strength to set the amount of possible variation.
Another method that does not involve editing the drawing tools is to use the fractalize tool to add additional fractalization to an existing entity. Make sure to not do this more than once, as each use will multiply the amount of nodes currently in the entity, and too many nodes will slow down CC3 considerably.

2) Do not add too many details on the main map. A world map should show the important features, but does not need all the details. A lot of details is best saved to regional maps of individual areas.

a) You do not really want that. The 'actual' size of your 2000x1600 overland map is 2000 miles x 1600 miles. I don't believe you have that large a monitor. CAD software (like CC3) does not define their drawing in the terms of pixels. This is what gives CC3 maps the nearly unlimited zoom possibility. You can render a CC3 map to an image export of any pixel dimension you want, but the map itself is never limited by a number of pixels.