Suggestion for a new Symbol Management System
Ever since I first started using Campaign Cartographer, I've found it a bit confusing to locate the symbols I wanted. As you add other products, symbol sets, the CSUAC and SMAC (as well as graphics from various other sources), symbol management grows more and more complicated.
This is a subject that new users bring up frequently, and I suspect it is an issue that drives some of them away. The software itself has a steep learning curve. If users become frustrated by not knowing how to manage their symbols as well, I can see where they would become discouraged and give up.
Usually people are instructed to create custom catalogs with the symbols they want. This is an excellent suggestion but, imo, beyond the ability of many new users.
So I gave some thought to how I would devise a symbol management system that was easier to use. I think I've come up with something that would work fairly well.
Add a text file, to every ProFantasy product, listing all the symbols included with that product, as well as a list of tags describing each symbol. When that product is installed, the symbols are added to the symbol directory (as is done now) and each symbol is also added (based on the text file) to a simple database.
Table1: Symbol ID, Symbol Name, Symbol Location
Table2: Symbol ID, Tag
After each product is added, CC3 then creates new (or updates existing) catalog files (one for each tag in the database). There should be an option for users to initiate a rebuild as well.
Then, when users want to locate symbols, they click on a dropdown list of tags to select the catalog they want. Each symbol has the ability to appear in multiple catalogs, allowing users to search for symbols in a variety of ways. They can select all the "Core" CC3 symbols, the house symbols, the terrain features, etc. For additional specificity, users could even select multiple tags and have the system generate a custom catalog on the fly.
Lastly, I would include the ability for users to add, delete, and rename tags as well, in order to create additional custom catalogs.
Imo, this system would vastly simplify the selection of symbols and improve the user experience.
This is a subject that new users bring up frequently, and I suspect it is an issue that drives some of them away. The software itself has a steep learning curve. If users become frustrated by not knowing how to manage their symbols as well, I can see where they would become discouraged and give up.
Usually people are instructed to create custom catalogs with the symbols they want. This is an excellent suggestion but, imo, beyond the ability of many new users.
So I gave some thought to how I would devise a symbol management system that was easier to use. I think I've come up with something that would work fairly well.
Add a text file, to every ProFantasy product, listing all the symbols included with that product, as well as a list of tags describing each symbol. When that product is installed, the symbols are added to the symbol directory (as is done now) and each symbol is also added (based on the text file) to a simple database.
Table1: Symbol ID, Symbol Name, Symbol Location
Table2: Symbol ID, Tag
After each product is added, CC3 then creates new (or updates existing) catalog files (one for each tag in the database). There should be an option for users to initiate a rebuild as well.
Then, when users want to locate symbols, they click on a dropdown list of tags to select the catalog they want. Each symbol has the ability to appear in multiple catalogs, allowing users to search for symbols in a variety of ways. They can select all the "Core" CC3 symbols, the house symbols, the terrain features, etc. For additional specificity, users could even select multiple tags and have the system generate a custom catalog on the fly.
Lastly, I would include the ability for users to add, delete, and rename tags as well, in order to create additional custom catalogs.
Imo, this system would vastly simplify the selection of symbols and improve the user experience.
Comments
Mateus
I just add all the symbols to a small map I'll be using for a village.
Click on the menu Symbols at the top. Click on Symbol manager.
There are a column of symbols there.
Click once on the bottom one, hold down the shift key and click on the symbol at the other end of that same column in Symbol Manager.
Then click on Save as Symbol and type in the name.fsc you want to use.
Click Save.
CC3 will then tell you how many symbols are in that catalog.
When you work on villages, load that catalog.
No need to save the map you made creating the catalog.