Spend my money for me
I've not played around with CC since the early days of CC1 and 2 but have decided to get back into overland and city/town/village mapping and do so using something other than photoshop so I don't have to reinvent the wheel with every map.
For a few years I've been using Dujinni to do battlemaps for games and am not (currently) intending to get DD3 though given Dunjinni's lack of ongoing support that may well become an option in the future.
CC3 is a given. I am torn on whether to pick up CD3 in the short term or not as, while I'm not planning any large city mapping, villages and small towns/ruins are a potential.
I will do world design, how important is Fractal Terrains or is it easily done without?
I am unsure as to how 'important' Symbol Set 1 or 2 are. Whether they're considered 'essential' or are entirely supplanted by the annuals.
The annuals seem to have a lot of styles and advice that would be helpful, though thirty quid each makes buying all of them (even with the discount) a significant investment.
It appears to be very easy to drop 2-300 pounds between the symbol sets, CC3/CD2/FT and the annuals.
Much as I'd like to purchase everything now and directly from ProFantasy, having seen I've missed out on a 15% discount sale in May and a 'buy CC3 get an add-on free' at the end of last year, I'm tempted to wait for the next discount sale or go via some third party retailers who are 10-20% off (though this means getting products from different sources as most shops seem to be out of stock of CC3/DD3/CD3 now).
I'd welcome any advice on the above.
For a few years I've been using Dujinni to do battlemaps for games and am not (currently) intending to get DD3 though given Dunjinni's lack of ongoing support that may well become an option in the future.
CC3 is a given. I am torn on whether to pick up CD3 in the short term or not as, while I'm not planning any large city mapping, villages and small towns/ruins are a potential.
I will do world design, how important is Fractal Terrains or is it easily done without?
I am unsure as to how 'important' Symbol Set 1 or 2 are. Whether they're considered 'essential' or are entirely supplanted by the annuals.
The annuals seem to have a lot of styles and advice that would be helpful, though thirty quid each makes buying all of them (even with the discount) a significant investment.
It appears to be very easy to drop 2-300 pounds between the symbol sets, CC3/CD2/FT and the annuals.
Much as I'd like to purchase everything now and directly from ProFantasy, having seen I've missed out on a 15% discount sale in May and a 'buy CC3 get an add-on free' at the end of last year, I'm tempted to wait for the next discount sale or go via some third party retailers who are 10-20% off (though this means getting products from different sources as most shops seem to be out of stock of CC3/DD3/CD3 now).
I'd welcome any advice on the above.
Comments
The annuals are well worth subscribing to - it's safe to say that there haven't been any duff months thus far!
I wouldn't bother with FT, to be frank.
I have the symbol sets, and it's always very nice to have them around - I like their styles a lot.
There are some basic symbols that come with CC3; however, SS1 contains many overland, SS2 contains many dungeon symbols. They aren't duplicated in other sets.
FT is for creating worlds. CC3 and the add-ons are for detailing those worlds.
I created my Crestar site, over 90 percent of it, without using FT. There are a few islands I created using FT, but it isn't necessary if you are short of funds.
My Crestar site has over 1,500 maps.
As for which add-ons to get, it will depend on what mapping you are going to do.
If you'd like to offset some of the cost, I'm having a mapmaking contest - you could win up to $100 worth of ProFantasy products.
The World Builder includes DD3 (which I don't need in the short term as I have Dunjinni) and FTpro which you've suggested I don't need.
The Fantasy Mapper bundle includes character artist and dioramas which I have no interest in.