Hi Mika :)

There is no right or wrong way to do a thing in CC3. Only variations on a theme.

For my suggestion I have started with a standard DD3 template for this map (using one of the dirt bitmaps as the background), and prepared it by adding 10 new sheets. 9 of those sheets are STEP sheets, and one is a SCREEN sheet. This last sheet is designed to hide things that fall outside the area of the map. Some styles have it, but some don't. My copy of the DD3 template doesn't.

I didn't use the FLOORS sheet at all, but drew the mass of the rock directly onto the FLOORS MASK sheet using the freehand drawing tool. I modified the sheet effects to make the edge more prominent by adding a Bevel, Lighted, and strengthening the glow that was already there.

Each of the 9 steps is a simple white polygon drawn with the freehand drawing tool, such that it covers the entire extent of the level it represents and extends under the edge of the FLOORS MASK. Here is one of the step shapes with effects adjusted to show it's extent.

The freehand drawing tool doesn't create a polygon all by itself. You have to draw the outline a bit like you would on a piece of paper with a pencil, and then use Path to polygon from the right click menu of the Fractalize tool to convert it.

As you can see from the screen shot above, I have used 2 different techniques on the 2 sets of steps. Rather than carry on describing these effects and adding loads more to this description, I have attached the FCW file below, so that you can see how the Blend modes are set up. There is one important trick that is very useful to know, however, and that is if you set a Blend mode to 'Multiply' all the white is taken out of the fill. If the fill is solid white (as it is with these steps), then all you are left with is the line and the shadow showing on the top set.

I used Multiply as the Blend Mode on that top set of steps because the highlight effect on the other steps became extra concentrated where the edges were closer together.

Here is the FCW file for you to have a look at. If there is anything you don't understand just shout. Or you may decide to do it a different way.

Hi Brandor :)

Nearly all fills are scaled, so importing them without a scale will cause a lot of hard work because if you don't scale them on import you will end up having to scale them individually by hand using the Fill Style Properties dialog.

This tile (below) is designed to cover 20 square feet, so it has a scale of 20 in this imperial map.

It's probably best to scale them all on import to the scale that most of the tiles will require, and then adjust the scale of any fills that need to be a different scale to the rest.

As I indicated above with my example fill, what scale to give your tiles will depend on how much area you think each tile should cover. For example, if you are importing a tile into a metric map that you know should cover 3 square metres then give it a scale of 3. If you are importing the very same fill into an imperial map give it the equivalent scale in feet.

Try hitting the TAB key while you are moving/rotating/copying the objects. It toggles their visibility on and off.

Hi Everyone! :D

This week, Ralf will be starting a large and ongoing city mapping project that will stretch over multiple sessions at irregular intervals.

You can watch it right here if you like:

Or if you prefer to come along and join in the chat with us on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP5dh0ICVIY

I'm late! Oh dear.

I'm also pretty crazy, so I've picked one of the largest remaining buildings - the Town Hall and Tax Office.

Thanks :)

You will have to add the relevant sheet effects to make the lighting work properly. These are beautifully explained in Ralf's Lighted Dungeons Live Mapping session at about 17 minutes into the video (before that is more about how to draw the dungeon itself)

Looking good :)

If you are wondering why some of the terrain has sharp edges that's because the Edge Fade Inner sheet effect only acts on the outside edge of the combined polygons on that sheet. To give them all the same faded edge all the way around it may be necessary to create LAND FEATURES 1, LAND FEATURES 2, etc, and copy the EFI effects across to the new sheets, then move some of the land feature polygons to the new sheets. To avoid confusion I sometimes call them TERRAIN DESERT, TERRAIN MARSH, etc, so I know exactly what sheet something should be on when I move it.

Where you do forests you can make them look more natural by dotting a thinning band of single trees around the edge to break up the hard line.

On that last point, Raiko, I think there might be an issue if Jim is using the app for commercial purposes. The license is quite specific about it in the first paragraph under "DESCRIPTION OF RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS".

However, it is not Profantasy's intention to be obstructive to the enjoyment of their software, so it is probably worth making polite enquiries via Tech Support to find out exactly how this rule applies to your particular circumstances and the issues you are having, @jmabbott

I've roughed out the rest of the map and added a new title from Jerry. There have been a few name changes. I'm still working on the rivers - tapering them and tidying the ends.

@GThiel - Jerry, please let me know if I have forgotten anything, or if you want anything changed from the way I've done it? Thanks :)

Ok. Taking a random example...

If I have created a map in DD3, and I want to use SS4 (Dungeons of Schley) in it, I would get the drawing tools as described above, and then I would open a second instance of CC3 by right clicking the desk icon and picking CC3, or New, or whatever your system provides for a new instance of an app, and then I would use that instance to create a new SS4 map. I would then save that temporary map with nothing drawn in it as "TEMP SS4" and Pick that as the file to Insert into the DD3 file I was actually working on. I would insert it, but then immediately delete or undo the action because I don't want the dummy SS4 map or any part of it. I just want to fool CC3 into importing all the relevant fills for SS4. It doesn't matter that the dummy map is instantly deleted. The fills are imported in that instant and they stay, even though the SS4 map is gone as fast as it arrived.

Once that is done all the SS4 drawing tools will work as if this was an SS4 map.