Creating Symbol Catalogs for New Style
JulianDracos
Mapmaker
I have been following along the Tome of Ultimate Mapping for creating my own style. It is mixing a few styles together. I pretty much have everything except for the symbol catalog. The instructions there just point me to the symbol manager and that is not super helpful for this. There is a blog post on Profantasy, but that is just using one style and making it B&W. So not helpful for me.
I have the folders created. I can click open catalog and it will pull up the folders. I can then load from there. However, I am wanting them to load without that and have the buttons up top open the correct subfolders. When I click the buttons, it opens up the symbols for the base style I used, not the ones I put into the folders.
So, can someone walk me through all of the steps needed to get this to work?
Comments
I'm a little confused here. You say you are using existing symbols, and yet you are creating new folders?
You only need new folders if you are creating brand new symbols. The symbols can be used where they are if they are existing ones.
The Symbol Manager is the tool used to create new symbol catalaogues. You can't do it without the Symbol Manager.
The fastest and easiest way to create a new catalogue from existing symbols is to create a new file using the New Drawing Wizard. Pick the Symbol Catalogs group and "Pick a pre-defined template".
Hit Next, and pick the most appropriate catalogue type, though most of the time the simple Blank Dungeon Catalog.FCT will do.
Having created your new catalogue drawing, hit the folder button at the top of the symbol pane and find the catalogue containing the symbols you want. In this case I have decided to open the Creepy Crypts All.FSC, though I only want some of the symbols.
I only want the fungi from this style, so I expand the fungi collections and click them one at a time as if to paste them (but don't paste them).
Once I've done that if I then open the symbol manager I can see that I have all the fungi symbols from Creepy Crypts in the drawing, but none of the rest of the Creepy Crypts symbols.
I can then open another catalogue from a different style and add symbols from there the same way, and build my own list of symbols in map, which will appear in the Symbol Manager.
Once I've finished adding the symbols I can then open the Symbol Manager again and select all the symbols in the Symbol Catalogue and use the Save as catalogue button at the top to make my new mixed style catalogue.
I recommend saving the catalogue in the parent folder of the basic style type. For instance, if I have a catalogue of mixed dungeon styles I would save it as "Mixed Dungeon SD.FSC" in the Dungeon folder.
Once the catalogue is saved you can discard the drawing you were using without saving it. You have the FSC you wanted, and if you need to add more you just open the FSC file.
It's a little confusing, I have to admit, but once you get your head wrapped around it not that difficult to make your own personalised catalogue files from existing symbols without creating dozens of new folders and duplicated symbols.
As for the next stage - attaching the new catalogue to a button - I once knew how to do this but for the life of me I can't remember the process. Maybe others can help with that.
Thank you. I wish how to do this was clearer in the Tome. As for how to get the button to work, look under part 2 here:
https://rpgmaps.profantasy.com/creating-a-new-style-part-3-adding-symbols/
Thanks :)
The Tome can't cut corners or make the kind of assumptions I make when I explain things to someone who I know already has a reasonable understanding of the app.