The textures are apparently from CD3 and not the compatibility update for CD2. The only version of CD3 is the distributed one (which comes bundled with the patch). No biggie.
I think you may be on to something here, Jim. If the digital noise only appears when the hi-res bitmaps are installed then it might have to do with the way CC3 handles hi-res bitmaps or something perhaps.
I have played and GM'd in Role Playing games for over 25 years. Frankly if the maps I saw in the campaign or drew for my own players were even close to that it would add a lot to the experience.
You have a very good flair for zoning of buildings and how various parts of town work together. I like it and look forward to seeing more.
Has anyone else had this problem? Please let me and Tech support know. CD3 is completely useless to me until this export problem is fixed. It does not matter what I make in CD3 I just can't export it without all the digital noise.
Hmmm... I don't think you're actually seeing digital noise. The bitmap fills in that style do have a pattern in them, which becomes apparent if you zoom in closely (on the grass or fields) for example. I'm attaching a piece of an export I did at 2000x1600 pixel. The "noise" is only on the backgrounds, not the house or the wall. This is normal for the style. Is that what you see too?
Try to export the map with bitmap quality set to Fixed, Very High. Does it look better for you then?
I still get the HUGE graininess and the symbols are effected. Now when I put it on Fixed Very High it looks like the export. Grainy and horrid. When it is on the standard then it is crisp and clean like everyone else's exports. Here are two SCREEN Shots side by side.
Now the exports no matter how I do it are just riddled with holes
Highland_Piper, what are the holes you are referring to? Both of the images you attached appear to be complete. The digital noise that we are seeing with the hi-res bitmaps may (as Ralph suggested) be in the actual bitmap fills and may not be due to any process that CC3 is making. The descrepancy between the Automatic and Fixed Very High qualities may explain why we are seeing the noise or grainy patterns. If the Automatic version lowers the quality of the image or "smoothes it out" by not displaying the higher resolution images and the higher res images have grainyness within them, then we should be able to remove the noise by simply lowering the display quality. Just a thought. We should also see if the same thing happens when using DD3 textures or original CC3 textures.
The wierd thing is when I export it as a pdf the holes or noise gets nicely blended in. If the grainy quality is from the bitmap fill then I will have to look for a new style to use for my city maps, it is very unattractive and looks unprofessional. This of course is just my opinion, but it does look pixelated like you have taken a small low resolution image and blown it up.
I'm afraid that the pdf is not represented well here. It is exported at 150 dpi where as CC3 is saved at 72 dpi so there was some distortion and blurring do to my hurrying to make this image.
Posted By: GandwarfI like the town, the layout and the forests. The colors you used as the floor of the forests are too much I think. They should blend in more with the ground. How are you saving these maps? They look a bit grainy.
What I'd like to know is how you save your maps Gandwarf and let me try it that way to see if I get the same quality as you do. Your maps that you post do not have that grainy quality.
What you're seeing is indeed how the bitmap fill looks. Open the following file in an external image editor to seean example: cc3/Bitmaps/Tiles/City/CD3/Bitmap A/CD3A_Field_VH.png. There are a number of things ou can try to change this look if you don't like it:
1. Try to export with a different fixed bitmap quality (e.g. High). I'm not 100% sure this will work though. 2. In the map, make the bitmap fills scaled. As they are, they are unscaled and will always be display/exported at their internal resolution (letting you see their pattern regardless of resolution). If you open the fill style dialog, you can go through the offending bitmap fills and set their scaling to a value you like. I'd suggest trying a 40' scale on the Fields fill first and adjust it until you have something you think looks good. 3. Change the fill style completely. I'd go throught he sheets one by one and change the polygons with the offending fills. You can use a solid color and apply texture effects to the sheets for example. 4. Or you can simply export the map at a higher than needed size, and scale it down a little in an image editor. This should also soften the bitmap pattern you're seeing.
Thank you for the information and easy-to-follow instructions, Ralph.
I personally really like the "noisy" look of the bitmaps. To me, it gives them an organic feel (sort of like grass or dirt with vegitation). I think that is why several of us posted that we actually liked the look... because that was the intent!
It is good to know there was nothing wrong with CC3, my computer, or my eyes, and it is also good to know we have options (we CC3 users tend to really like options!)
Thanks Ralf. I am relieved that it is not CD3 and I think I will just print it as a pdf than open and save it through an image editor like GIMP or Photoshop.
Comments
I didn't turn on sheet effects, if you used them.
I have this on my Averatec 3700 laptop.
No graininess before install of CD3 high res bitmaps.
I downloaded the 1.x gigabyte file, installed, and I get grainness on the Arum bmp export.
Oh, if this gets fixed. I would rather keep the grainy bitmaps !
Link to the page
You have a very good flair for zoning of buildings and how various parts of town work together. I like it and look forward to seeing more.
Try to export the map with bitmap quality set to Fixed, Very High. Does it look better for you then?
Now the exports no matter how I do it are just riddled with holes
I'm afraid that the pdf is not represented well here. It is exported at 150 dpi where as CC3 is saved at 72 dpi so there was some distortion and blurring do to my hurrying to make this image.
1. Try to export with a different fixed bitmap quality (e.g. High). I'm not 100% sure this will work though.
2. In the map, make the bitmap fills scaled. As they are, they are unscaled and will always be display/exported at their internal resolution (letting you see their pattern regardless of resolution). If you open the fill style dialog, you can go through the offending bitmap fills and set their scaling to a value you like. I'd suggest trying a 40' scale on the Fields fill first and adjust it until you have something you think looks good.
3. Change the fill style completely. I'd go throught he sheets one by one and change the polygons with the offending fills. You can use a solid color and apply texture effects to the sheets for example.
4. Or you can simply export the map at a higher than needed size, and scale it down a little in an image editor. This should also soften the bitmap pattern you're seeing.
Hope that helps,
Ralf
I personally really like the "noisy" look of the bitmaps. To me, it gives them an organic feel (sort of like grass or dirt with vegitation). I think that is why several of us posted that we actually liked the look... because that was the intent!
It is good to know there was nothing wrong with CC3, my computer, or my eyes, and it is also good to know we have options (we CC3 users tend to really like options!)