Perhaps a 'scroll over' feature could be implemented? What I mean is: Take the effects, for example. I only use about half of them - the inner/outer edge fades, the glows, the bevels, transparency, blur effects. I understand what they do. But what does texture overblend do? RBG matrix - what's that? Blend vs Alpha blend? I don't use these effects, because I don't understand what they do, and more importantly, how they work. (...) I would love to be able to put my cursor over an effect in the list, and have a little window (attached to the cursor) open up to give a brief explanation of what the the effect does and how it works : ' Blend Alpha produces [thus] effect, it can be used to do [thus and such]'. ( @LadieStorm )
That's a good idea - And I would go further: there should be some visual examples of what the effects does.
Now Remy has done an excellent job helping users that aren't as savvy as computer programmers to understand how to utilize each of the different programs through the Tome, but obviously he wasn't able to explain everything.
I think the above quote part from @LadieStorm also goes with the post from @JulianDracos : CC4 must be more user friendly, with visual helps (gifs, textual instructions, ...) directly in the application. Someone mentioned they do not like the "Ribbon" on the top of the application (like the screenshot from @Shessar from AutoCAD), but I think it's a perfect way to categorize the functions accross an application.
Last thing is... some application allows to display "button label". I know you can hover a button to see the "label", but it would be cool to have the ability to show the labels of each buttons. This way, when you start learning the application, you know which buttons to choose without having to hover them.
And while you hover such a button, there should be somewhere (in the status bar usually), the list of key modifiers are allowed for this button...
I like the tool tips hover when I am doing things. However, it sometimes gets in the way. I want an easy way to toggle it off. There may be one now, but I find I have to go into the menu and turn it off. Then I have to remember to turn it back on later.
Some sort of auto-save mechanism that lets you resume a polygon after the program crashes or if an autosave occurs, autosave completes the polygon.
or
Ability to 'join' two polygons which removes the "seam" between them.
and
Add backspace to the polygon tool to back up in case you go in the wrong direction or make some error.
Use of the numeric keypad or arrow keys to scroll the map.
EDIT/ADDITIONS:
Vertical and Horizontal rulers based on the dimensions input in the design wizard .
Ability to "resume" a polygon construction if the program autosaves or crashes or that cat presses a keyboard. I guess that means the program should save a path/polygon incrementally as you go along or convert it to a path/line. When the program autosaves, it completes the polygon and if it crashes, you lose the polygon.
I would like it that if you save, auto or not, that you can still change undo. I have found that undo does not work if you save. That, and autosave poping up at the most inconvenient times is why I disabled autosave.
I am with Julian - surely an easy fix for Cc3+. Though I always keep Autosave on, and say Later if I need to undo. I have learned that inconvenience is better than complete disaster.
Back many years ago, late 1980s, there were no standardized keyboard shortcuts. MS exclaimed all software to be used with their OS must start using the following shortcuts about 1990. Ctrl-p for print, Ctrl-s for save, etc. Before then it was a mad house.
The nested shortcuts I don't like are similar to Ctrl-Shift-Y. Two or more altering keys then a letter or number. Some could be 5 or more keystrokes, the menu selection was faster.
Concerning the auto-save, there is one feature I really like in "modern" application: versioning. The idea is that we should be able to have an auto-save feature without overwriting the previous one. This way, you could "come back" to what you did last week !
Another thing, maybe similar, but would be certainly a lot of work: CC4 could store all steps you did to create the map. This way, you could go back to whatever you want and could even made changes to something you did "before" and the rest of the map would still be here, without altering. A good example of this is the 3D application Fusion3D by Autodesk - everything you do is in a "construction tree" and you can modify each steps programmatically...
One option for CC4: a macro/hotspot command that can pop up a selected context menu in the center of the screen. It could be used as a common external key for a set of maps that doesn't take up map space.
I'd like to see the shortcut in the mouse over text of the buttons. I have long periods where I don't find the time to make a map, and when I get back to it i forgot about all the shortcuts. Moving over the buttons tells me that this is "endpoint" for example, but not that I can quickly activate it with "F5". To learn that again, I have to remember or rediscover, that these snaps can be found in Tools-Snaps as well, where the shortcuts are given.
A simple change of the mouse over text to "Endpoint (F5)" would be a big help in (re)learning how to use CC more efficient
I was going to mention the "dark theme" as well. I'm not a fan of dark theme, but there are A LOT of people who love it, which is why it's a thing to begin with. So if you have the option of switching between light and dark, like a lot of programs do, you may find that the "the interface looks old" issue becomes moot to the "new crowd".
I second (or third? or fourth?) the sliders and immediate RBG matrix (and hue/saturation) feedback that @Quenten mentioned from @DoubleDouble . I am not a math person (and apparently not a color one, either), so trying to figure out how much of each color... of each color... of each color, while a very powerful tool, is time consuming and difficult. When having an instant visual feedback would allow me to get to the exact color I need in a fraction of the time.
This may just be the screen size I'm working with, but I've found that when I'm browsing the map styles, what I see in the preview window is not at a fine enough quality to accurately represent the map. I've found there are dozens of styles that I would have loved or would have been perfect for certain maps, but that weren't represented well in the preview so I didn't realize just how good they would look. Once I discovered this, I spent a lot of time going through many... many maps to see how they "actually" look when I started mapping with them. Idk if there is way to make the wizard box bigger with better space to get a good quality preview? And again, this may only be my problem because I mostly use a laptop (It's got a dedicated graphics card and some serious horsepower, okay, it's a good laptop, it's just a 17" screen size.).
Things I would like to see in CC4 (trying not to get too technical. I do utilize art programs a lot and am more familiar with raster program use than CAD or even Vector systems):
1 - Back compatibility with current Annuals and Add-Ons, as much as can be, naturally. At least with CC3+ the team did a great job pulling together and getting all the Add-ons and Annuals eventually ported over.
2 - Better (or at least easier) implementation of copy/paste/scale for overland to regional style maps or vice versa. I've got the Annual with the added commands for it, where Remy does a fabulous and detailed job instructing how to go from one to the other, and even so, I have never been able to wrap my head around it and have never managed to do it correctly, so consequently I almost always end up just eyeballing the best I can.
3 - Simple Canvas Extension. In raster speak, I've just made my map specs and started tracing my landmass outlines, but now I realize I need to place an island off the eastern edge that I don't have room for. But I've spaced everything else out the way I want it and just need to add about 100 miles. Have the ability to set an anchor edge and extend the canvas x number of units.
4 - Better handling of OTF font styles on screen. (Admittedly, most of the fonts I use tend to look fine when fully rendered, but a lot of them have no visibility or look 'off' as I'm placing them)
Really, there's an awful lot I really like about CC3+, so as long as CC4 isn't a major step down, I have high hopes.
Thanks, Sue! I was vaguely aware of that but had never had to use it before. It's good to know that the availability is there already! But I do think that it could be 'upgraded' with a 9 part square to anchor your existing drawing-- if that's not already a part of that functionality which I'm not seeing-- so that you could 'anchor' your existing map to the right side, or right corner, for instance, and add space everywhere else. Not a hugely important thing, but definitely something I use in my raster art that would be a benefit.
Now, while I'm on the subject of adding, and I realize this is a HUGE pipedream, but the ability for simpler, user-added plugins would be nice. I'm sure, based on existing add ons like CSUAC, that's potentially already available, but it's way beyond my ken at the moment.
For example, something that I noticed about Inkwell Ideas' Worldographer that really grabbed me was its ability to create randomized (and editable) details about a territory or city (or a building within a city) on the fly as you placed it from within the program. I want to say that at one point Fractal Mapper did this, too, based on an external call to a CSV sheet or random value on a text list. All of that would be embedded in information to allow you to print an atlas after the fact using those notes. Something like that would be utterly HUGE, because while I love that ability, CC3+'s annuals and the sheer styles of art and ability to edit a map are light years ahead of both those programs, and those apps' maps look comparatively simplistic in comparison, so I've stuck with CC3+, happily.
While that may be taking CC4 out of the direction PF would prefer to go as straight-up cartography software, the ability to generate, edit and save information about a place or region-- and export it-- from within CC4 would actually make me salivate that much more for CC4 than I already would. I do know that external calls-- hotspots, document calls, and hyperlinks-- are there, but they're a little on the kludgy side: which is to be expected, compiling adventures isn't one of CC3's design goals. But it's a nice pipedream!
I'm sorry ArgoForg. I can't understand more than about half of that, but that's because I'm more on the art side of the team than the tech side. Don't let that stop you having ideas, though. I'm not the only one reading along.
More of photoshop like sheet effects and gradient fills would be great. Right now I have the urge to put every map into photoshop for post-processing.
Also I am not able to combine all effects efficiently (e.g. like texture and bevel). If I want to create a cliff side a combination of both seems to be a good idea. Also I wonder if edge fade should be related to an object rather than a sheet. I would like to be able to do smooth transitions between different kind of terrains. And like in photoshop I want to be able to combine two different texture effects (like one height map and one for a forest texture). And finally it would be nice to assign materials to objects (rough surface, smooth and very reflective surface) that will be rendered accordingly. This way I could define water as material to a river and also combine it with a ripple texture.
In my opinion CC is a good choice because of its CAD capabilities. But now it lacks in the art dimension and is about to lose (or already lost) its market leader position.
I am not able to combine all effects efficiently (e.g. like texture and bevel).
I want to be able to combine two different texture effects (like one height map and one for a forest texture).
Could you elaborate a little bit on these two items? A picture of the kind of result that you're trying to get would be very helpful, if you happen to have one.
I'm liking the program more and more as it pretty much is now that I'm running it in a dedicated Windows partition via Bootcamp, not that it can't do with some improvement.
As others have mentioned, it definitely needs to be upgraded to fully utilise the latest processors, i.e. 64-bit multi-threading et al.
The Help system is atrocious and needs to be re-written. It would be really good to get contextual help, particularly for sheet effects; e.g. RGB Matrix, I'm a reasonably smart guy but I just don't get, it does my head in and I don't have time to fiddle around for 3 hours (slight exaggeration) trying different combo's until I get the look I'm after.
It would be really nice if it were re-written to be cross-platform, Mac, Ubuntu etc. I'm guessing there are a lot of people out there who would buy CC# but haven't because it doesn't run natively in their preferred OS and they can't be bothered running it via an emulator/virtual machine.
Most of the commands are available in the help file, although admittedly, it hasn't ben updated with the newest commands added in later updates.
If you have the Tome of Ultimate mapping, it comes with a full command list, both in the book itself, and as a spreadsheet for easier search/filtering.
For the next version, we DEFINITELY need a rewrite of the Help section. Perhaps with links to various proFantasy/Monsen videaos in the relevant sections.
Could I request and sorry if it has already been requested:
reset to defaults for a map style
to include symbols, symbol catalog, scale, fills, etc?
If I have to have a popup ask me: Do you want to save defaults for this map? Or some such. Is this even doable? I'm a MUSHcoder and can imagine the headache and database hassles with this, so probably not, eh?
I just came across this thread. I love the product—a few things I would love to see.
1) 64 bit version so we can use all of our memory. I would love to be able to draw larger-sized maps.
2) Please get rid of the button "Rotate" and incorporate those elements into the "Move, Scale, Rotate" button. It is frustrating having to keep switching between the two.
3) When I select something with almost any button/feature enabled, let me press the delete key on the keyboard to delete the selected thing. This would make the workflow better. It is frustrating to keep switching back and forth between a current feature and then the delete feature.
4) Let us use a user interface to set up buttons, button images, and sub-menu items and point them to symbol catalogs. Please don't make us do this manually.
5) Editing a symbol catalog is pretty good. But there are a few things that seem odd when doing it. I would be thrilled to take time out of my day to do a zoom call to build a catalog of symbols so you can see it from a user's perspective.
6) When selecting a symbol to move, a white space displays on the screen. This makes it difficult to place the item after being selected. It would be nice if this could be solved in some way.
Fantastic software. I build software for a living. This is very professionally done for such a small team. I am very impressed with your staff and company. There is excellent teamwork happening.
One last new feature that would make every single user scream for joy!
Have a new screen called Symbol Organizer. What does it do?
1) The screen is split down the middle with a left and right side.
2) At the top of each column, you have brows for Symbol Catalog.
3) At the top of each column, you can also create a new Symbol Catalog if you want.
4) Between the left and right columns, have two buttons. One has a left arrow, the other a right arrow.
5) Then, list all of the symbols in the two columns found in the catalogs that were selected above.
6) The user can select one or more symbols on one side to move to the other.
This will make catalog management super easy!!!!
I would suggest having all the functionality related to organizing a particular catalog on a different screen or tab. Don't add it to this screen. Keep those separate.
Comments
Perhaps a 'scroll over' feature could be implemented? What I mean is: Take the effects, for example. I only use about half of them - the inner/outer edge fades, the glows, the bevels, transparency, blur effects. I understand what they do. But what does texture overblend do? RBG matrix - what's that? Blend vs Alpha blend? I don't use these effects, because I don't understand what they do, and more importantly, how they work. (...) I would love to be able to put my cursor over an effect in the list, and have a little window (attached to the cursor) open up to give a brief explanation of what the the effect does and how it works : ' Blend Alpha produces [thus] effect, it can be used to do [thus and such]'. ( @LadieStorm )
That's a good idea - And I would go further: there should be some visual examples of what the effects does.
Now Remy has done an excellent job helping users that aren't as savvy as computer programmers to understand how to utilize each of the different programs through the Tome, but obviously he wasn't able to explain everything.
I think the above quote part from @LadieStorm also goes with the post from @JulianDracos : CC4 must be more user friendly, with visual helps (gifs, textual instructions, ...) directly in the application. Someone mentioned they do not like the "Ribbon" on the top of the application (like the screenshot from @Shessar from AutoCAD), but I think it's a perfect way to categorize the functions accross an application.
Last thing is... some application allows to display "button label". I know you can hover a button to see the "label", but it would be cool to have the ability to show the labels of each buttons. This way, when you start learning the application, you know which buttons to choose without having to hover them.
And while you hover such a button, there should be somewhere (in the status bar usually), the list of key modifiers are allowed for this button...
I like the tool tips hover when I am doing things. However, it sometimes gets in the way. I want an easy way to toggle it off. There may be one now, but I find I have to go into the menu and turn it off. Then I have to remember to turn it back on later.
Some sort of auto-save mechanism that lets you resume a polygon after the program crashes or if an autosave occurs, autosave completes the polygon.
or
Ability to 'join' two polygons which removes the "seam" between them.
and
Add backspace to the polygon tool to back up in case you go in the wrong direction or make some error.
Use of the numeric keypad or arrow keys to scroll the map.
EDIT/ADDITIONS:
Vertical and Horizontal rulers based on the dimensions input in the design wizard .
Ability to "resume" a polygon construction if the program autosaves or crashes or that cat presses a keyboard. I guess that means the program should save a path/polygon incrementally as you go along or convert it to a path/line. When the program autosaves, it completes the polygon and if it crashes, you lose the polygon.
I would like it that if you save, auto or not, that you can still change undo. I have found that undo does not work if you save. That, and autosave poping up at the most inconvenient times is why I disabled autosave.
I am with Julian - surely an easy fix for Cc3+. Though I always keep Autosave on, and say Later if I need to undo. I have learned that inconvenience is better than complete disaster.
Back many years ago, late 1980s, there were no standardized keyboard shortcuts. MS exclaimed all software to be used with their OS must start using the following shortcuts about 1990. Ctrl-p for print, Ctrl-s for save, etc. Before then it was a mad house.
The nested shortcuts I don't like are similar to Ctrl-Shift-Y. Two or more altering keys then a letter or number. Some could be 5 or more keystrokes, the menu selection was faster.
Things have improved since then.
@LadieStorm Indeed, sometimes I just want to fractalize a portion of the coastline, not the entire continent.
Concerning the auto-save, there is one feature I really like in "modern" application: versioning. The idea is that we should be able to have an auto-save feature without overwriting the previous one. This way, you could "come back" to what you did last week !
Another thing, maybe similar, but would be certainly a lot of work: CC4 could store all steps you did to create the map. This way, you could go back to whatever you want and could even made changes to something you did "before" and the rest of the map would still be here, without altering. A good example of this is the 3D application Fusion3D by Autodesk - everything you do is in a "construction tree" and you can modify each steps programmatically...
I have a small suggestion regarding shortcuts:
I'd like to see the shortcut in the mouse over text of the buttons. I have long periods where I don't find the time to make a map, and when I get back to it i forgot about all the shortcuts. Moving over the buttons tells me that this is "endpoint" for example, but not that I can quickly activate it with "F5". To learn that again, I have to remember or rediscover, that these snaps can be found in Tools-Snaps as well, where the shortcuts are given.
A simple change of the mouse over text to "Endpoint (F5)" would be a big help in (re)learning how to use CC more efficient
Things I would like to see in CC4 (trying not to get too technical. I do utilize art programs a lot and am more familiar with raster program use than CAD or even Vector systems):
1 - Back compatibility with current Annuals and Add-Ons, as much as can be, naturally. At least with CC3+ the team did a great job pulling together and getting all the Add-ons and Annuals eventually ported over.
2 - Better (or at least easier) implementation of copy/paste/scale for overland to regional style maps or vice versa. I've got the Annual with the added commands for it, where Remy does a fabulous and detailed job instructing how to go from one to the other, and even so, I have never been able to wrap my head around it and have never managed to do it correctly, so consequently I almost always end up just eyeballing the best I can.
3 - Simple Canvas Extension. In raster speak, I've just made my map specs and started tracing my landmass outlines, but now I realize I need to place an island off the eastern edge that I don't have room for. But I've spaced everything else out the way I want it and just need to add about 100 miles. Have the ability to set an anchor edge and extend the canvas x number of units.
4 - Better handling of OTF font styles on screen. (Admittedly, most of the fonts I use tend to look fine when fully rendered, but a lot of them have no visibility or look 'off' as I'm placing them)
Really, there's an awful lot I really like about CC3+, so as long as CC4 isn't a major step down, I have high hopes.
@ArgoForg - On point 3, you can use Resize Drawing Area in the File menu right now if that is still an issue for a map you are working on.
Other useful features might be Vertical and Horizontal rulers based on the dimensions input in the design wizard .
Thanks, Sue! I was vaguely aware of that but had never had to use it before. It's good to know that the availability is there already! But I do think that it could be 'upgraded' with a 9 part square to anchor your existing drawing-- if that's not already a part of that functionality which I'm not seeing-- so that you could 'anchor' your existing map to the right side, or right corner, for instance, and add space everywhere else. Not a hugely important thing, but definitely something I use in my raster art that would be a benefit.
Now, while I'm on the subject of adding, and I realize this is a HUGE pipedream, but the ability for simpler, user-added plugins would be nice. I'm sure, based on existing add ons like CSUAC, that's potentially already available, but it's way beyond my ken at the moment.
For example, something that I noticed about Inkwell Ideas' Worldographer that really grabbed me was its ability to create randomized (and editable) details about a territory or city (or a building within a city) on the fly as you placed it from within the program. I want to say that at one point Fractal Mapper did this, too, based on an external call to a CSV sheet or random value on a text list. All of that would be embedded in information to allow you to print an atlas after the fact using those notes. Something like that would be utterly HUGE, because while I love that ability, CC3+'s annuals and the sheer styles of art and ability to edit a map are light years ahead of both those programs, and those apps' maps look comparatively simplistic in comparison, so I've stuck with CC3+, happily.
While that may be taking CC4 out of the direction PF would prefer to go as straight-up cartography software, the ability to generate, edit and save information about a place or region-- and export it-- from within CC4 would actually make me salivate that much more for CC4 than I already would. I do know that external calls-- hotspots, document calls, and hyperlinks-- are there, but they're a little on the kludgy side: which is to be expected, compiling adventures isn't one of CC3's design goals. But it's a nice pipedream!
I'm sorry ArgoForg. I can't understand more than about half of that, but that's because I'm more on the art side of the team than the tech side. Don't let that stop you having ideas, though. I'm not the only one reading along.
More of photoshop like sheet effects and gradient fills would be great. Right now I have the urge to put every map into photoshop for post-processing.
Also I am not able to combine all effects efficiently (e.g. like texture and bevel). If I want to create a cliff side a combination of both seems to be a good idea. Also I wonder if edge fade should be related to an object rather than a sheet. I would like to be able to do smooth transitions between different kind of terrains. And like in photoshop I want to be able to combine two different texture effects (like one height map and one for a forest texture). And finally it would be nice to assign materials to objects (rough surface, smooth and very reflective surface) that will be rendered accordingly. This way I could define water as material to a river and also combine it with a ripple texture.
In my opinion CC is a good choice because of its CAD capabilities. But now it lacks in the art dimension and is about to lose (or already lost) its market leader position.
I am not able to combine all effects efficiently (e.g. like texture and bevel).
I want to be able to combine two different texture effects (like one height map and one for a forest texture).
Could you elaborate a little bit on these two items? A picture of the kind of result that you're trying to get would be very helpful, if you happen to have one.
I'm liking the program more and more as it pretty much is now that I'm running it in a dedicated Windows partition via Bootcamp, not that it can't do with some improvement.
As others have mentioned, it definitely needs to be upgraded to fully utilise the latest processors, i.e. 64-bit multi-threading et al.
The Help system is atrocious and needs to be re-written. It would be really good to get contextual help, particularly for sheet effects; e.g. RGB Matrix, I'm a reasonably smart guy but I just don't get, it does my head in and I don't have time to fiddle around for 3 hours (slight exaggeration) trying different combo's until I get the look I'm after.
It would be really nice if it were re-written to be cross-platform, Mac, Ubuntu etc. I'm guessing there are a lot of people out there who would buy CC# but haven't because it doesn't run natively in their preferred OS and they can't be bothered running it via an emulator/virtual machine.
Where I can get a list of those commands?
@efenord wrote:
Where I can get a list of those commands?
Most of the commands are available in the help file, although admittedly, it hasn't ben updated with the newest commands added in later updates.
If you have the Tome of Ultimate mapping, it comes with a full command list, both in the book itself, and as a spreadsheet for easier search/filtering.
For the next version, we DEFINITELY need a rewrite of the Help section. Perhaps with links to various proFantasy/Monsen videaos in the relevant sections.
Could I request and sorry if it has already been requested:
reset to defaults for a map style
to include symbols, symbol catalog, scale, fills, etc?
If I have to have a popup ask me: Do you want to save defaults for this map? Or some such. Is this even doable? I'm a MUSHcoder and can imagine the headache and database hassles with this, so probably not, eh?
Cal
I just came across this thread. I love the product—a few things I would love to see.
1) 64 bit version so we can use all of our memory. I would love to be able to draw larger-sized maps.
2) Please get rid of the button "Rotate" and incorporate those elements into the "Move, Scale, Rotate" button. It is frustrating having to keep switching between the two.
3) When I select something with almost any button/feature enabled, let me press the delete key on the keyboard to delete the selected thing. This would make the workflow better. It is frustrating to keep switching back and forth between a current feature and then the delete feature.
4) Let us use a user interface to set up buttons, button images, and sub-menu items and point them to symbol catalogs. Please don't make us do this manually.
5) Editing a symbol catalog is pretty good. But there are a few things that seem odd when doing it. I would be thrilled to take time out of my day to do a zoom call to build a catalog of symbols so you can see it from a user's perspective.
6) When selecting a symbol to move, a white space displays on the screen. This makes it difficult to place the item after being selected. It would be nice if this could be solved in some way.
Fantastic software. I build software for a living. This is very professionally done for such a small team. I am very impressed with your staff and company. There is excellent teamwork happening.
One last new feature that would make every single user scream for joy!
Have a new screen called Symbol Organizer. What does it do?
1) The screen is split down the middle with a left and right side.
2) At the top of each column, you have brows for Symbol Catalog.
3) At the top of each column, you can also create a new Symbol Catalog if you want.
4) Between the left and right columns, have two buttons. One has a left arrow, the other a right arrow.
5) Then, list all of the symbols in the two columns found in the catalogs that were selected above.
6) The user can select one or more symbols on one side to move to the other.
This will make catalog management super easy!!!!
I would suggest having all the functionality related to organizing a particular catalog on a different screen or tab. Don't add it to this screen. Keep those separate.
I only ask for a native Mac version so I can dump Crossover and Parallels for CC.
I would like to see something that Fractal Mapper has
The right click context menu and a interface that we can add noted directly into the map and handle links the same way
Last but not least beg borrow steal it i don't care Ask ed if you can have a look at the codebase handling the scenario builder.
I, too, would love to see a native macOS version of CC4, particularly one that runs natively on Apple silicon.