Feasibility of doing a battle report

Hi there

I've been working with CC2 for a while now for standard mapping tasks. I am currently trying to do something new that goes beyond its functionality and would like to know whether upgrading to CC3 would do the trick.

Basically, I would like to draw diagrams for a battle report; tabletop players will know what I am talking about. A fixed, simplified map of a battlefield, overlayed with the position of military units in different positions over time. I will have to draw terrain items myself to take my self-built terrain into account, so that would be CC3-generated vector graphics. The actual miniatures would be bitmap (or some other convenient format) pixel graphics. I was thinking of doing background, terrain items and the individual turns/sub-turns as separate layers so as to have one map for the whole thing.

Would this be feasible? As far as I can tell, CC3 uses pixel graphics for terrain itmes, so I could show troop placement by importing the pictures and placing them as a separate layer, correct? And can I still draw my own vector graphics over the top of a bitmap background the way I can in CC2?

Thanks for your help

Comments

  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    edited May 2010
    Sounds to me like this can be done in both CC2 and CC3. The main difference for your purpose, if I understand your description correctly, is that CC3 can use raster images (pixel graphics) as symbols (which you would use for the units), while CC2 does not (You would have to make the units making vector symbols). Both of them support importing a bitmap as a background, which you can draw on top of with vector drawing tools. Both of the programs also support layers, and if you need, macros, so that you can make buttons to show/hide layers automatically (i.e. a timeline).
    The result would look prettier in CC3 though.
    Posted By: morkinAs far as I can tell, CC3 uses pixel graphics for terrain itmes
    I am a bit unsure what you mean by "terrain items" here. CC3 supports using raster graphics for fill styles in the terrain drawing tools, if that is what you are after, and it also support inserting a raster image into the drawing as a symbol. CC2 also support inserting raster images into the drawing, as well as using raster images for fill styles however it does not allow the use of raster images as symbols. Also, If I am not mistaken, CC2 doesn't support .png files, only .bmp files.

    All in all, I believe you should be able to do this in both CC2 and CC3, but it is a bit easier and prettier in CC3 though.
  • Thanks for the fast reply. Sounds like it's perfectly possible to do what I want to with CC3. Both the import of the units as raster image symbols straight from the picture as well as everything looking a lot nicer (at least given my limited artistic skills) all speak strongly in favour of my upgrading. This was extremely helpful, thanks very much.
  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    edited May 2010
    The latest issue of the Annual has flow chart, heirarchy type, etc. chart making in it.

    edit: Yup, the May, 2010 issue.
  • RalfRalf Administrator, ProFantasy 🖼️ 18 images Mapmaker
    While not quite the same, you might find my Tlaroian history maps interesting. They use buttons, hotspots and macros to show changes over time, all in one CC2 map.
  • Just wanted to let you know that thanks to your helpful comments I went and upgraded to CC3. Pretty. I'll let you know what comes of it once I'm done. (Or I might be back sooner, with a message along the lines of "Aaaah! Help!!" ;-) )
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