Per Quenten's suggestion, I have been playing with the Line Styles for the roads. I didn't try creating a custom one, but I did try some of the other presets, and they didn't really work. I also tried checking the Paper Scale checkbox, and that had weird effects when I zoomed in.

Here's an attempt that sets the roads to be solid and leaves the guided routes as dotted lines. I like that it makes it a bit clearer which ones are actual roads. I will also put it in my WIP gallery to make it easier to zoom in. Thoughts?

I have a feeling that like Chekhov's Gun, that "eccentric 'world's largest operational Jeep'" is going to come into play in the story at some point. An escape vehicle? A mobile battering ram? I'm dying to know!

I have been looking forward to seeing what you do since you first claimed Elkton.

Also: DD4 things! Squeeee!

Thank you, Sue! I’m delighted that Marine Dungeons can be so versatile for even things that aren’t mostly underwater. I’ve been wanting a Roman style annual and it was there all along. 😉

Well, I was going to make a twist of Hanlon's Razor ("Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity") phrased more like Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law ("Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"):

A secret grand design is indistinguishable from stupidity.

The truth is...just a clumsy attempt to recreate from a much bigger parent map that was itself derived from a much, much bigger parent map.

This is the parent map I took it from (Gongodûr is in the lower right):

And this is the section parent map that this whole 1,000 x 1,000 mile section comes from:

When I downloaded the FCW for the parent map, it said there were green mountains there, which I took to mean vegetation-covered hills and small mountains.

So no real grand design, just an over-exuberance in trying to add more detail from the parent map and slip in some mapping/adventure hooks.

Hi Ryan,

Welcome! I see that your hometown was chosen as the inspiration for Mayberry because it was where Andy Griffith grew up. Very cool.

I also started with Fractal Terrains. It took me a while to get my head around how FT and CC3 do and do not interact with one another. I finally started watching some of the older tutorials, and it was watching Joe Sweeney's that Ricko recommends above where things really start to click for me. Before that, I was trying to teach myself using the PDFs and I wasn't really absorbing it.

Joe Sweeney has some videos that show how to use Fractal Terrains, and here are some more from ProFantasy from a few years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuhB_LXr3Sg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khNR-BBPSRo

There are some others that show how to take what you've built in Fractal Terrains and then elaborate on them in CC3. They're a bit advanced, though, but if you want to take a peek, here is one from early 2024:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd78fcQc1YA

(The beginning covers taking part of a continent from FT to CC3.)

But don't get intimidated if it seems like a lot. I started with Joe Sweeney's, then watched some of Remy Monsen's that were about specific techniques and tools, and then graduated to the ProFantasy's "Live" sessions. The Lives are great, and I always learn something new from every one, but you never know (unless it's the main focus on the session) what techniques you'll learn from them. I'd recommend getting a good foundation from the other videos first.

And also, this forum is very welcoming, and we are all happy to answer any questions you have.

Funny, that’s what I was doing all afternoon. Went down to the Old San Francisco Mint to take pics, because the floor plans I found online had conflicting info about the exterior. (Some had fountains outside that I don’t remember seeing — must have been when it was an operational mint up into the 1930s.) Then I went to the main branch of the public library to see if they had floor plans of the original main branch (1917-1993, which is now the Asian Art Museum) — and they did! Lots of mapping inspiration.

Thank you, @Wyvern!

I do have Character Artist, but I haven't used it much and didn't realize those were there. This vastly expands my heraldic symbol options! Here it is using the traditional dragon with a tower icon background. I also tried one with a wyvern off to the side. Which is your favorite?

I actually did have a cave hole there, but it was kind of small and I used a fill that ended up being kind of a washed-out gray at this zoom. I deleted it and drew in an oversized black "cave mouth" polygon.

Sure! I like having multiple options.

Oh no, I am so sorry to hear that. Thank you for staying in touch with his family sharing the news with us. I first started becoming active here a year ago, and Jim was always one of the first to reply and give me feedback and encouragement. Such a kind cartographer. I will miss him.