Newbie FT3/CC3+
Uff da! Quite a learning curve. I'm trying to create a world map in FT3 (gone through a few iterations from scratch). I really like the random fractal landmasses, and I didn't even have to regenerate too much to get some landmasses close enough to my world to modify.
I am nowhere near ready to try and import part or all of the map to CC3 yet (hoping I can either import parts of the map, or the whole thing then cut it down to size). The next D&D campaign I am running on my world has some geographic restrictions that can be broken, but have a high probability of dying trying to do so. Needed a subsection of the map to learn on.
Anyway, while I can raise and lower terrain like a boss, I'm at a loss on the other filters. I don't want to screw things up, but am unsure how to get the overlay filters to work, or show up. The FT3 map doesn't represent the weather patterns on my world, yet I can't seem to get deserts and lack of/more rainfall to work and show up. Looks like I'm just moving the pen around, but nothing happens.
I am not sure if there is a question here yet, or just a bit of frustration showing through. The software is great, it's my visual/front end lack of talent that is getting me (I'm a software architect, but mostly deal in the back end and middle tiers of software). My only previous experience with image manipulation is Photoshop/Paint.NET (with layers and such), but my lack of talent shows through on those and the maps I make using Paint.NET are terrible.
I am nowhere near ready to try and import part or all of the map to CC3 yet (hoping I can either import parts of the map, or the whole thing then cut it down to size). The next D&D campaign I am running on my world has some geographic restrictions that can be broken, but have a high probability of dying trying to do so. Needed a subsection of the map to learn on.
Anyway, while I can raise and lower terrain like a boss, I'm at a loss on the other filters. I don't want to screw things up, but am unsure how to get the overlay filters to work, or show up. The FT3 map doesn't represent the weather patterns on my world, yet I can't seem to get deserts and lack of/more rainfall to work and show up. Looks like I'm just moving the pen around, but nothing happens.
I am not sure if there is a question here yet, or just a bit of frustration showing through. The software is great, it's my visual/front end lack of talent that is getting me (I'm a software architect, but mostly deal in the back end and middle tiers of software). My only previous experience with image manipulation is Photoshop/Paint.NET (with layers and such), but my lack of talent shows through on those and the maps I make using Paint.NET are terrible.
Comments
While you can edit the map in FT3, many of us, me included, export the FT3 map and do the editing in CC3/CC3+.
Campaign cartograpgher doesn't use the same manipuilation path as a paint program as its base engine is FastCAD.
So in CC you select what you want to do, then the item you want to do it to.
So if I wanted to change the color of a color area, I would go to Change properties icon on the left side of CC3/CC3+ and right click it, and select 'Change Color' from the menu.
Then select the item I want to change the color of, select it by clicking on it, right click and select do it from the menu, then go to the color selector at the top and select a new color. Then click okay.
This one though has a keyboard shortcut. So I can type changec and press the [enter] key, select the item, right click Do it from the menu, and then go to the color selector and choose a different color.
As for importing maps, when I want to do that I export as png or bmp.
Crop it using a program like Irfanview.
Load a map template and decide what width and height you want the import to be. Click on the L: at the top and add a new layer, I call them bmp.
Click on the bmp layer so a check mark is shown in the left column, this makes it active.
Go to the Draw Menu and click on Insert file.
Select the file you cropped earlier.
Click the upper right corner of the map border to start the insert.
While holding down the Ctrl key, move the mouse pointer to the lower left corner of the map.
This helps conform the insert to the shape of the template.
When you have it where you want it, click the left mouse button.
That inserts the png into the map.
You now have a guide. There are a number of discussions here on using trace command which is probably what you want to use.
I hope that helps. It may seem clumsy and slow, but I've done over a thousand maps that way... so thats why I mentioned I may have left some steps out as I am so used to it.
If its not detailed enough someone will pop by and explain in more detail.
And welcome to the forums.
You do talk about weather and deserts and stuff. I don't know if this answers your questions or if you already knew this, but note that FT3 does not change the terrain automatically based on changing the weather manually, you will have to paint in that desert using the terrain tool if you want a desert there.
Edit: Man, I take so long to type up my reply that I got ninjaed by not one, but two people
JimP, your explanation is plenty detailed for me to get started, thank you very much!
Yeah, got that changing weather and such doesn't change the map terrain, I am having difficulties seeing any changes made on the other layers (weather, terrain, etc) get reflected in the overall view of the FT3 map. I think I am going to try and import my subsection as a .bmp file into CC3+ and see what success I have that way. I'm not used to AutoCAD based stuff, so I have a learning curve there, but I have been expecting that.
@JimP - thanks for the welcome!
And Monsen/Remy has been ninjaed multiple times this week. My weather is warmer, no snow, so that could have something to do with it. :-)
I'm sort of in and out, I sort of pop by. Monson and Dogtag are more likely to be in here to answer quesitons.
Any tutorials you find, some are on youtube, are helpful as well.
I was daunted at the learning curve to, but I've turned out around 3500 maps in the past 10 years. Well, not all of them were great maps... I have hopefully improved.
I use FT3 mostly just to create the general shape of the land which I then work on in CC3+. It makes for a far better coastline than any I can generate by hand
I found the best was to manipulate the climate is mainly by varying the overall temperature and rainfall of the map. Once you get it close then you can start manipulating regions via the toolsets.
Once exporting it still is a bit touchy. I love that it sets up the buttons for rainfall, altitude, climate and temperature.
I saved my FT3 world map out as an image, then took the slice I wanted (2000mi E-W, 1000mi N-S) and imported it into CC3+. Created a new layer and imported the image, then traced over the coastlines.
Since it's an island map (Sicily-sized or less islands), this method worked out pretty well, once I got a handle on how the free form drawing worked for land shapes. My entire world is approximately 20% larger than Earth, and most of the land is in a supercontinent...so not sure how well the trace will work with a shape that size. That's a problem for another day, however.
I've got FT3 and CC3+ installed on my Surface Book (Core i7 with nVidia graphics card), and being able to draw straight on the screen has been great for me - I'm not an artist. I have a few artifacts that I haven't figured out how to erase yet (eraser seems to only want to erase entire shapes, not on a per pixel basis).
The manual is good, have used it a few times to figure out where settings are (like how to draw free form) and was able to get what I needed pretty quick out of it.
I haven't tried yet, but is it easy to copy and upscale in a separate file a portion of a map? I'm working on the overview at 50mi/hex scale, but will need to produce a 25mi/hex version for each major island.
Can't wait to see it, Lanthar