@Fersus Well, that is a bloody sensational idea. It never crossed my mind! I'll try that on the bottom of the peninsula and report back.

@Quenten I think it's the time pressure + the fact that I've really no clue with cities, that's frustrating me the most; I'm a month overdue on a revised deadline as it is! When you take out 11 hours for work (inc travelling time), family time, gaming time, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours left to get this done...particularly when it's a map type you're not comfortable with...

I use the colour key method myself, I find it much easier - though some complicated shapes can be a real pain. If it's something you're likely to do often, I highly recommend creating a drawing tool (See page 141 of The Tome) then you can use the Trace function...

I really like the map.

My only critique is the seemingly random numbering of the named locations. I prefer them to be more sequential. For example #5 in this map I would've numbered as 4 and then continued counter-clockwise inside the city finishing at 14 which is currently #10. To me it just makes things easier to find. In a small map it's not so bad but on a larger one...

Crossover works well enough, watch out though. I bought Crossover19 when my iMac was running OS Catalina, when I upgraded to Big Sur, Crossover needed to be upgraded - at additional cost, of course. I wasn't about to spend another $400+ dollars for the lifetime upgrades when CC3+ is the only Windows software I use. I ended up installing in a Bootcamp partition running an un-activated install of Windows 10 and it seems to work mostly OK, the odd crash here and there but nothing major.

I'm seriously considering refurbing my old Mac, it's a 2007 model, 32-bit with a 75gb SDD and 5gb RAM (I bought a new one in 2020, not the M1, the standard 27" Intel version that I'm currently using) as a dedicated Windows machine specifically for CC3+. I don't think the 64 bit OS like Bootcamp...the new machines performance is decidedly lackluster, whether it's due to Bootcamp or other stuff I've no idea... I've got to clean up some stuff and see if that improves things.

Hi Helen,

I run CC3+ on a Mac running Big Sur using your Option C. Originally I had it running via Crossover 19 on OS Catalina (on a high spec Mac), when I updated the OS to Big Sur it did not support Crossover 19 so I was left with essentially 4 choices, buy the unlimited update and support license of Crossover (an extra cost of several hundred dollars) to avoid this happening again, continue to update Crossover each time it was required at an extra $70 each time, bite the bullet and run it via Bootcamp (nil cost) or simply use my work laptop (also nil cost, but if I retire or get put off, I have to give the laptop back...).

I chose the Bootcamp option because:

a) It's free. You don't HAVE to buy a Windows 10 licence to run Windows legally and

b) I like using a big screen for drawing maps.

To run Windows on Bootcamp without a licence is very easy. Download the Windows 10 ISO file. Use the Bootcamp assistant to set up windows. Once it's all setup you can re-install CC3+ and its addons via Windows. The unlicensed version runs fine, there is some reduced functionality which as far as I can tell does not impact CC3+ but as I only use it for CC3+, who cares? There is a little watermark on the bottom right of the screen asking you to Activate Windows.

I'm not sure with Bootcamp if it will run on your external drive which would be the best option based on your screen shots. I created mine at 120GB which is probably too small and would recommend doubling that at least. You can access output files for sharing, i.e. JPEG and PNG files, via the Bootcamp Disk icon on your Mac desktop but can't write to it.

Hope this helps.