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Want to draw my own rivers

jigsawmanjigsawman
in Mapping with ProFantasy's Software
I want to draw my own rivers that are not a single thickness line. So of like Joachim de Ravenbel's of his close up map here: http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=3119&page=1#Item_8 I tried using the smooth poly tool but it ends up filling the color of the map background (which is parchment) and I would like it just black. Of course I may be using the wrong tool anyways. Can someone kick me in the right direction please?
Thanks
JSM
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Comments

  • RalfRalf Administrator, ProFantasy 🖼️ 18 images Mapmaker
    Best to do it the following way:

    - In the style you are using, right-click the Rivers drawing tool.
    - Click "Advanced"
    - Click the "River, Default" tool
    - Click "New" and give it a new name, e.g. "River, My Rivers"
    - Click "Properties" and change them to what you want them like. If you want a purely color river, make sure to set the fill style to "Soild", otherwise it's bitmap fill will show instead of the color.
    - Click "Ok" and "Save" the tool. You can now use it.

    Hope that helps.
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  • nlp138nlp138
    edited December 2012
    There's a macro in this thread that may be helpful.
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  • Joachim de RavenbelJoachim de Ravenbel Surveyor
    edited December 2012
    Posted By: jigsawmanI want to draw my own rivers that are not a single thickness line. So of like Joachim de Ravenbel's of his close up map here: http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=3119&page=1#Item_8
    Posted By: nlp138There's a macro that may be helpful.
    In fact I used the XP version of said macro.
    Discussion here
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  • jigsawmanjigsawman
    edited December 2012
    Thanks you guys! Went to both places and feel more lost than before. I am not sure which files to download there as there's so much talk about edited versions of this or that and DLL files. I am just overwhelmed. Not even sure where to start.
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  • jigsawmanjigsawman
    So can anyone offer me a little bit of a starter tutorial to get pointed in the right direction with macros? I looked at the CC3 manual and the topic there was very brief. What are the steps to putting a macro in place and using it? Where would I put that DLL file mentioned in this river macro?
    JSM
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  • nlp138nlp138
    JdR - thanks for linking the XP version - I hadn't seen this before!

    JSM - JdR's thread, at the very top, tells where to put the DLL file (I think in your root CC3 folder) - you may also need to download the Visual C++ redistibutal that Monsen mentions and links in that thread.
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  • jigsawmanjigsawman
    Ok, I'll re read that thread. Thanks so far.
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  • Joachim de RavenbelJoachim de Ravenbel Surveyor
    edited December 2012
    Posted By: nlp138JdR - thanks for linking the XP version - I hadn't seen this before!

    JSM - JdR's thread, at the very top, tells where to put the DLL file (I think in your root CC3 folder) - you may also need to download the Visual C++ redistibutal that Monsen mentions and links in that thread.
    You're welcome nlp138 and yep, both the macro file (the riv.mac file included in the zip, the pdf is only if you want to learn macro writing) and the XP file (XPRIV.dll) must go in the root CC3 folder (someting like C:\program files\ProFantasy\CC3).

    To use the macro you must first load it with the LOADMAC command, selecting the riv.mac file. This means that all the other macros will be unloaded, so once you're finished, reload then : LOADMAC, FCW32.mac file.
    Once the riv.mac loaded, you invoke the command by typing RIV.

    To use the XP you just have to type XRIV, select a few points to shape the river, enter parameters (first width, last width, color1, color2, fractal depth and fractal strength). Except for the colors, you can right click or hit Enter to select default values. Right clicking for the colors invokes the colors dialog. You should not have to download the C++, I believe it's done automatically when you instal CC3.
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  • jigsawmanjigsawman
    You are so kind :) Sometimes though you guys get caught up in your own language and I think that's a little bit of a barrier here for me too. So when you say "To use the XP..." What is the XP exactly? I kept thinkg something to do with Windows XP and it was a version type or something.
    Thanks
    JSM
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  • Joachim de RavenbelJoachim de Ravenbel Surveyor
    XPs are like macros, except they are faster, are not editable, and much, much harder to code.
    In short, to draw rivers like I did on the mentionned map, you extract the XPRIV.dll into the CC3 root folder, than you launch CC3 (you can't put a dll in the folder when CC3 is running), you type XRIV, hit Enter, and... relax.

    XP means eXternal Procedure whereas in Windows XP, XP comes from eXPerience, dll means Dynamic Linked Library, whatever that means.
    Macro means a bunch of standard commands, or a big command (as opposed to micro).

    For the user :
    XP : + fast, - not editable
    Macro : +editable, - slow

    Hope that helps.
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  • jigsawmanjigsawman
    Thank you very much. I feel smarter already :) I am going to try this when I get home and see how it goes. Crossing my fingers.
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  • jigsawmanjigsawman
    Ok got the running of this thing down using XRIV. It's pretty cool but I cannot seem to get my rivers to be so choppy looking. Can you tell me the meaning of fractal depth and fractal strength please? That might help me clean that up some. basically I am looking for a very smooth river like on Hardurs Island treasure map. Just not sure where to go with those settings.
    JSM
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  • Joachim de RavenbelJoachim de Ravenbel Surveyor
    edited December 2012
    Posted By: jigsawmanOk got the running of this thing down using XRIV. It's pretty cool but I cannot seem to get my rivers to be so choppy looking. Can you tell me the meaning of fractal depth and fractal strength please? That might help me clean that up some. basically I am looking for a very smooth river like on Hardurs Island treasure map. Just not sure where to go with those settings.
    JSM
    The fractal strength controls how far the result can go from the given line, the fractal depth controls how segmented the fractal will be. This tool was not really designed to yield smooth rivers, you can however try with a high depth and a low strength, or a lot of nodes already shaping the curve when you draw your river shape.
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  • jigsawmanjigsawman
    That is perfect. Thanks :)
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  • jigsawmanjigsawman
    Just an FYI, whenever I use a depth of 10, CC3 crashes, no matter what my other choices are.
    JSM
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  • Joachim de RavenbelJoachim de Ravenbel Surveyor
    edited December 2012
    Posted By: jigsawmanJust an FYI, whenever I use a depth of 10, CC3 crashes, no matter what my other choices are.
    JSM
    Corrected in attached version. As I dived in the code, I can tell you that the number of nodes of each *segment* is 2 power FractalDepth (ie for a fractal depth of 10 : 2^10 = 1024 nodes!).
    Thanks for finding the bug.
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  • jigsawmanjigsawman
    Lol no problem. I can normally bumble myself into finding any bugs unintentionally. Kinda like falling on my own sword with my maps sometimes ;) Thanks for the fix.
    JSM
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