The Cartographer’s Annual Vol 14 (2020) is now available as a full collection and consolidated setup of all the 13 individual issues that were released over the course of the last year. If you didn’t subscribe and are just buying it now, or you just didn’t follow the monthly releases, the full setup is available among your registration page downloads. Check the Annual’s page to see the content list.
In 2020 we also started the live mapping series on YouTube and over its course we demoed most of the Annual issues of the year. If you want to see the Annual’s styles in action, here is a convenient listing of these videos in one place:
Despite (or because?) a shortage of social gatherings, December 2020 had no shortage of beautiful maps created by the CC3+ user community. Here is a small selection, by no means comprehensive or even representative, just a few which caught our eyes. Enjoy!
Elizabeth H Prybylski created the world map of Seras with the Spectrum Overland style from last year’s Annual. Continue reading »
I’ve been mapping with the software for about around 5 years, so rather than follow the tutorial, I figure I’d just supply an overland map using the Mike Schley Overland style in my personal style.
[Download the FCW file]
First, after deciding I would do a smaller environs map of a valley, I quickly established I would do a map set in the season of autumn. I had done a commission some time back for Pelgrane Press, Shards of the Broken Sky, and did a small regional map where I had adjusted the hues in the map for place with red, clay colored soil. That map is so simple, yet one of my favorites I’ve ever done, and it’s all because of the palette. So, for this map, I decided I would do the same in picking autumn.
Since this is a smaller regional map, I wanted to do a wide more natural looking river by separating the landmass on either side with it’s own poly. Normally, I would use the Color Key effect for this, but since I’ve made changes to the Hue and added an RGB Matrix to the Land Sheet, the Color Key will not work, as I am yet to figure out so far, as it cannot adjust your color to the effects on the sheet.
As my usual suggestion, chose the varicolored symbols so you can go back later, if you want, and change this map simply by changing the symbol colors, to a different season. When creating my mountainscape of the valley, I soon realized I wanted more muted leaf colors for my palette and began altering the colors by using the Define Color option, where you can then create your own custom colors. After creating a custom color you should then save and attach it to your map. This can be done by going to the Drawing Properties tab or following File>Drawing Properties and click the attach to drawing tab under Custom Palette. Be sure to do this last step or when you close your map and reopen, it will revert back to the default palette for that style.
Once I had my custom palette set, I am able to place my symbols down, starting with mountains first and using the various shades I created for my autumn them = this gives the mountains, in my opinion, the illusion of them being covered with multicolored trees and grasses in lovely greens, oranges, yellows and reds. Then I do the same for forests, using individual trees or the smaller groups of trees in varying colors, landmarks and finally settlements.
Labeling has always been an issue for me….i just can’t ever seem to be happy with how I label my maps (which is why I am so very excited for Sue’s annual with banners coming up in 2021) – but, since I was going for a fall theme, I decided to stick with the same hues for labels, as well.
So, here’s my version of the Overland Tutorial annual, hope you like it and can use it or alter it for you own mapping needs 😊
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A Happy New Year to all you cartographer’s out there, we hope you had a good start into 2021. If you want to celebrate it with a bit of mapping, we have a new city drawing style for you, created by our dear Pär Lindström. “Fantasy Towns”, the first issue of the Cartographer’s Annual Vol 15 (2021) is now available for all subscribers from their registration page.
If you are unsure about the Annuals and their content, check out our free sampler. With 14 individual issues, it’s now bigger than any one yearly volume of the Annuals!
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We have assembled all the individual issues into one complete setup, which is now available from the registration page for all subscribers. If you purchase it now, you get immediate access to the complete collection of all thirteen issues.
At the same time, the Annual 2021 (Volume 15) is available for early subscription at a 15% discount. You can subscribe and check out a preview of the first three months here.
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Early next year we will release the next iteration of the Token Treasury with Monsters 2. Another set of 100 iconic, fun and useful monsters for your fantasy tabletop adventures. Check out the preview on the product web page and see some examples on the maps below.
Every week we do a live mapping session on YouTube, showcasing a certain style or set of tools in CC3+. Here are the most recent Live Mapping videos with Remy and Ralf, as archived on YouTube:
Well, I love this annual. It makes just such pretty maps. I didn’t work on this awfully long. Actually, the longest stint was just waiting just a few hours for Ralf to get me a new file to unzip, as I had a little glitch with the vari-colored trees that got fixed up right quick. ProFantasy support is awesome.
(Download the FCW file)
So, for this map, just mapped as I went. I had no clear plan what I was going to do, so I just started putting down buildings, then the walls around them. I modified a few symbols by changing their scale to use in an unconventional way or two, but that’s what I do (such as the docks and the trellis over the walls).
After getting my structures settled, I set about the landscape, water, and rock ridges. For vegetation, I always start with the low-lying vegetation bushes both green and flowering, then I like to make two sheets for trees, just to assure certain trees I want are higher than others.
I wanted a boat and a few things around the map and normally I would delve into my arsenal of symbols to really dress this map up. Since this is a series featuring the Annuals, the maps should be symbols from the annual only….so what else to do than make my own? I set out to make a rudimentary boat, as I am no Sue, Hans or Pär by any means. I made a sheet for the basic boat shape, then another for the boat bottom and it’s shading to give the illusion of depth (not the well, I’m afraid, lol) and another for the rim of the boat. By adding some Glow effects and Bevel effects, I think it’s decent a job with the tools and talent I’ve got. I also made some stone benches for reflection throughout the temple by creating a sheet and putting the Glow, Bevel and Shadow effects on them. There’s also been a reflection well created on one of the islands.
The font I’ve got showing on the image in not ProFantasy issued. I wanted something with a bit more of an Asian flair so I went online and found this free for commercial use font called Night in Tokyo, which can easily be found by doing an internet search. You, reader, will get the standard font for this annual, Uchiyama, when starting a new map with this style.
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