This month we are venturing into the far future and outer space with the High Space Galaxy style by Joe Sweeney. Designed for Storyweaver‘s space opera setting High Space we are happy to add it to the range of matching styles and packs that have been published previously in the Annuals (see High Space Systems and HighSpace SciFi Tiles and SciFi Aliens).
The Galaxy style focuses on galaxy maps and star clusters, but also adds material than can be used in the High Space System style (on its own or in conjunction with the issue from the Annual Vol 7). The 5-page mapping guide takes you through the steps of drawing a star cluster map.
The issue is now available for CC3+ from the registration page for all subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed to the Annual 2017 yet, you can do so here.
P.S.: Joe Sweeney has produce a video tutorial on making a map with the High Space Galaxy style. Check it out here:
We are happy to announce that three more Cartographer’s Annuals are now compatible with CC3+: Thanks to the hard work of Jeff Salus, if you have previously purchased one of them, you can now freely download Volume 7, Volume 6 and Volume 5 from your registration page. Be sure you use the “Setup for CC3+” to install them properly with the current version of Campaign Cartographer.
If you don’t own them yet, purchasing them from the web store will give you both the CC3 and CC3+ versions. Highlights of the three Annuals include the complete set of John Robert’s drawing styles: Overland, Dungeon and City.
You will also be pleased to hear that we are well underway for the next two Annuals (working backwards) to become available for CC3+. Look for Volume 4 and Volume 3 in the next few weeks.
CC3+ Update 10
To support the current and upcoming Annuals for CC3+ we have also released a new update for CC3+: Update 10 (version 3.76). Here is the change log from the Readme file for Update 10:
CC3+ Version 3.76
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– added Copy & Paste for sheet effects in Sheets & Effects dialog
– added preview in all fill style and line style selection boxes
– added status preview for layers and sheets in selection boxes
– added commands to control display of fill style types in style selection: FSCOMBOMASK (normal command) and FSCOMBOMASKM (macro version)
– added support for Annual Vol 6 and Vol 5
– added SHADEP command to draw shaded polygons will all possible options
– fixed CUTMENUON command
– fixed CD3 symbols to use @ bitmap link reference
– fixed CD3 house settings to include frills
– fixed importing symbols with @ links and _map references
– various fixes related to shaded polygons
– fixed editing macros from drawing tools
– fixed CC3B forest fill setting
– updated ImageMagick’s convert.exe to newest version
– updated CA Pro templates in CA3
As you can see it contains some other neat features. Especially the ability to copy and paste effects between different sheets can speed up work considerably when you are setting up your own effect settings. And the ability to see a sample of the fill styles when you are choosing one in any dialog box is also very handy.
Do you have an old CC2 map lying around that you really like, but that doesn’t look so good anymore? Does any of the CC2 maps in the ProFantasy user library catch your eye? Now’s your chance to convert it to a splendid CC3+ map with all bitmap artwork we’ve grown accustomed to.
The February Annual issue “Wizard’s Tower” contains a detailed tutorial on how to convert a CC2-style map to CC3+, as well as the showcase example of Malvin’s Tower, a wizard’s abode floorplan originally drawn in 1999!
The issue is now available for CC3+ from the registration page for all subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed to the Annual 2017 yet, you can do so here.
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The December Annual 2016 brings you another overland style – also created by TJ Vandel. While working perfectly as a standalone style, it also can be used in conjunction with this year’s previous overland style Scorching Sun and Realms of Legend to vastly expand your symbol and texture options.
To facilitate combining these drawing styles this Annual issue also contains a tutorial on the topic. It discusses how to combine symbol catalogs, set up new catalog settings, merge bitmap fill styles as well using drawing tools from one style in another.
The issue is now available for CC3+ from the registration page for all subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed to the Annual 2016 yet, you can do so here.
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You know the summer is over and fall is coming in the Northern hemisphere, when we head over to Essen for the International Spieletage, or SPIEL for short. 4-days packed with board and role-playing games on the world’s largest consumer fair for board games – what’s not to like?
Come on over and check out the latest add-ons and updates for CC3+, have a chat with me (Ralf) about mapping, and wander the halls for the latest and greatest in boardgaming. What are you waiting for? See us in hall 2 at booth C-117.
To celebrate the 35th Anniversary of her gaming group forum user Shessar hosted a map-making competition on the forum. You can see all the entrants and the rules here on the forum thread.
Here are the winners.
Bill – The Journey Begins (3rd place)
This is a perfect vehicle for miniatures when printed out at a suitable scale.
2nd – LoopySue – Henge Portal
I love the lighting in this, which provides a sense of mystery and foreboding.
1st – Monsen – Breaking Through
This map cleverly combines the mundane modern with the archaic and occult.
Here are a couple of others which show techniques I particularly like – this shows a great use of outer glow and bevel effects on the walls, as well as glows from the symbols.
This demonstrates CC3’s lighting features, and a variety of pallets to contrast the different areas
A busy marketplace full of people shouting and haggling. A nimble, but over-confident cutpurse scrambling to escape the clumsy city guard. A dark alley at night with a party of assassins lying in wait for the heroes.
Do you need a map for this kind of scenario? Then the City Streets style created by Alyssa Faden is for you. As the September issue of the Cartographer’s Annual 2016 it provides everything you need to map out a vivid street scene, either as a reference map or a full battlemap to put on the table. And the included mapping guide tells you how to go about drawing it!
The issue is now available for CC3+ from the registration page for all subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed to the Annual 2016 yet, you can do so here.
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If you’ve used CC3+ on a very high resolution monitor or laptop (e.g. a Surface Pro), you will have come across the problem that the toolbar buttons and other interface parts get very, very small. This is because these parts do not scale with Windows settings and therefore remain at their fixed pixel size.
Update 7 (version 3.73) includes new high resolution icons and screen elements, and also scales toolbars and icons according to your Windows settings. This should greatly improve the usability of CC3+ on Retina-class displays. There may still be the odd glitch with text sizes at certain resolutions and dpi settings, and we will continue to work on these.
Update 7 brings your version of Campaign Cartographer 3+ up 3.73 and is available from the registration page, among the CC3+ downloads.
The summer is in full swing (even if it is a little cooler than usual here) and GenCon is getting very close, for ProFantasy’s annual trip to the mecca of gaming: Indianapolis. Let’s see what else has been worth of note in the Newsletter.
Two months ago we offered a pre-release of Perspectives 3 to our newsletter recipients and owners of Perspectives Pro. The offer was taken up enthusiastically and people started posting their first maps on the community forum just a few hours later. It also helped us to identify a few bugs, which we were able to fix, and we can now officially release Perspectives 3.
Here are a few images taken from the Profantasy forum of what users have created with Perspectives 3. Click on the images to go to the specific thread.
Tomb of Old King Akhanashen by tonnichiwa
Egyptian Tomb by Shessar (with custom art)
Temple pool by Shessar
Ship’s Landing by tonnichiwa
SciFi Airlock by Dkarr (demonstrates custom textures and symbols)
Custom door and windows by Shessar
Shessar has collected the custom art resources in this thread.
If you have previously installed the pre-release version of Perspectives 3, simply re-download the setup from your registration page and reinstall it. Just make sure you’ve updated CC3+ to the latest version (3.73) before you do. CC3+ Update 7 is available among your CC3+ downloads.
This month we are venturing into the far future and outer space with the High Space Galaxy style by Joe Sweeney. Designed for Storyweaver‘s space opera setting High Space we are happy to add it to the range of matching styles and packs that have been published previously in the Annuals (see High Space Systems and HighSpace SciFi Tiles and SciFi Aliens).
