Previously in this series, we have developed a set of tiles which we can use to build a space station of any size. Sure, more variation would have been nice, but the four tiles we made are actually enough for any size space station, as long as we accept that it has to be shaped like a rectangle. The previous articles should have given you the information needed to make more tiles though, such as making an inner corner to complete the set and allow for a more complex shape.

Last time, we did look at how to export and print the tiles. Printed tiles could be assembled on the fly at the gaming table, while the exported images are great for combining in just about any program, like an image editor, a Virtual TableTop, or even CC3+ itself. And this is what we will be focusing on in this article, how to use the tiles in CC3+. There are two options here, either we can import the images we exported as symbols and use those, or, instead of exporting our tiles in the first place, we could create symbols directly from the tiles themselves. This latter option gives us some interesting options we will look at in the next installment, but today, we’ll look at creating bitmap symbols.

This is done by exporting each tile as an image, and then create a CC3+ symbol based on this image. These symbols can then be put in a symbol catalog that can be used in any map.

We’ll start by preparing a permanent home for these tiles inside the CC3+ data directory. When you make new symbols, the artwork should ALWAYS reside within the data directory, otherwise you’re just going to make problems for your future self. It is also best to not mix your personal symbols in with the official symbols. So, in the data directory (C:\ProgramData\ProFantasy\CC3Plus by default, also referred to simply as @ inside CC3+) you’ll find a folder called Symbols, and inside, there is a folder called User which is intended for your own symbols. Make a new folder here for your new symbol set, you could name it something like StationTiles (@Symbols\User\StationTiles). Of course, if you plan on making lots of symbols for different things, you may wish to create a more complex folder structure to better organize things. You should consider this right now, because moving the folder later is not recommended, because that will break existing maps and symbol catalogs using it (This is also the reason why it is so important to put it into the data directory in the first place). For example, you may use a path such as @Symbols\User\Personal\Cosmographer\Tiles\SpaceStation instead, but for the rest of this tutorial, I am just going to assume the simpler @Symbols\User\StationTiles.

Once you have made that artwork folder, let us export the tiles we made. We looked at exporting the tiles in the last installment. We’re going to need a different size than used in the example there when used for CC3+ symbols, so let us look at that. CC3+ actual uses a system where each image exists in four different resolutions for performance reasons. We only have to make the highest quality one, CC3+ will make the rest, but the high quality one is a bit large. The default sizing for floorplan-level symbols is 100 pixels/map unit. Our space station is mapped in feet, and as we figured out last time, each tile is 50 by 50 feet. A quick calculation leads to each tile being 5000 by 5000 pixels. Last time, we also did a more web-friendly export making them more suited for VTT solutions and other use, exporting them at 3000×3000 and using the jpeg file format, but for CC3+ symbols, we should get the proper resolution, and we should export them as png files.

So, follow the instructions from the previous article, but use 5000 by 5000 as the size, and use the “Rectangular Section PNG” instead of the jpeg option as the format. Once exported, I am assuming you now have at least four tiles, and for simplicity, I’ll just assume they are named Tile1.png, Tile2.png, Tile3.png and Tile4.png. Put these files into the directory we created above (@Symbols\User\StationTiles). Note that we are going to tell CC3+ to make multiple resolutions for these, which will also cause renaming. If you wish to keep the originals, make a copy in a safe location now.

Now, we can import them into CC3+. I am just going to do the import into the “map” I am working with where I am making these tiles, and then move them to a symbol catalog afterwards. So, just pick Import Pngs from the Symbols menu. In the dialog that appears, set the following properties:

• Source folder: @Symbols\Users\StationTiles
• Make path: Relative to CC3 path
• Highest resolution: 100
• Create other resolutions: Checked:
• Copy to folder: Unchecked
• Files are: Very High
• Symbol Origin: Middle Center
• Method: Update
• Layer: Symbol Definition

This will take  a few seconds per symbol, and you might get a dialog warning about symbols with invalid bitmap paths. This doesn’t have anything to do with the symbols we are importing now, so just decline the option to delete them. You should then get a dialog confirming the import of your 4 symbols.

Now, to test them. First, we need to setup a snap grid suitable for our tiles. I talked about snap grids when we set up the template in part 1, so refer to that if you need, but what you should do is to set up a rectangular snap grid with a grid spacing of 50 (same as our tiles) and just 1 snap division, make sure it is enabled, and that snap and cursor snap are both enabled.

Now, just click the Symbols in Map button to see the symbols currently in the map in the symbol catalog window. Our 4 newly imported tiles should be at the bottom. Just go ahead and place them. The snap grid should make the placing precise, lining them up automatically, and they can be rotated using the arrow keys. Since we set the origin point in the center, rotated symbols should snap just fine. Do note that since our work so far does not adhere to this new snap grid, don’t go and place them next to our template images, it probably won’t align with them, but make an entirely new station a bit to the side instead.

Assuming you are happy with the new symbols, you can now save them in a symbol catalog. Simply start Symbol Manager from the Symbols menu, scroll down and find your symbols, select all your tiles, and hit the Save as Catalog button. This will create a new symbol catalog with only the selected symbols in it, which you can use from any map. You can save the symbol catalog anywhere, but the standard location is to save it right next to the folder we put the images in, and with the same name as the folder, so this should make our symbol catalog be @Symbols\User\StationTiles.FSC. It won’t break anything if you move the symbol catalog around later, but if you move the actual folder with the images, it WILL break both the symbol catalog and existing maps using the tiles, as they have a reference to the current location.

You can download my Symbol Catalog. Extract the zip file into your @Symbols\User folder. If you experience Red X’es, make sure you didn’t accidentally create an extra folder with the name of the archive. The images files should be found in @Symbols\User\StationTiles\Tile1_VH.PNG, NOT in @Symbols\User\StationTiles\StationTiles\Tile1_VH.PNG or anything else.

Troubleshooting

Now, there are a couple of smaller issues you may experience when doing it this way, so let us quickly discuss workarounds for these. I’d also like to note that none of these issues will be present if you do them as advanced symbols instead, which is the topic of the next installment, but that process is a bit more complex than just exporting the images and importing them as symbols.

1. White Lines: When placing down the tiles, there may be white lines between the tiles. There are actually two reasons for this.
   • White outline on the image itself. When you export an image from CC3+ and you try to export it at the border of the image, the top/bottom row or left/right column of pixels may be influenced by the area immediately bordering the section you are exporting. As such, it is best to avoid having the tile with a clean white background around it. Instead, either put tiles together before exporting them, so you are actually grabbing a section in the middle (easy to do with the right snap grid), thus completely avoiding this problem, or put your tiles on top of a background polygon using the same fill as the floor in the tiles. This will ensure there isn’t some bright outer edge to influence the image
   • Distance between the placed images tiles in CC3+. CC3+ is very good at precision work. unfortunately, images aren’t. CC3+ isn’t working on a pixel scale, and this is part of why CC3+ can make such a high detail level without having monstrously large files. But, even though CC3+ works on a level many times finer than a single pixel, everything has to be turned into pixels for the final display on screen, and this is when tiny alignment issues can occur, because images can’t be dived into fractions of pixels. One way of doing this is just to make the images a few pixels larger. This will cause an inconsequential overlap, but an overlap is much less visible than a white gap. For example, instead of exporting the images as 5000 pixels, try 5050 pixels (a 1% increase). The difference is so small it won’t be noticeable for the content of the tiles, but it will eliminate all gaps. It also helps placing the tiles against a background when using them, and not plain white.
2. Walls/floors doesn’t look the same where tiles meet: This is due to rotating the symbols when placing them and is caused by effects being directional. I talked a bit about effects when exporting in the previous article, and this is more of the same. It is usually rather minor, but still noticeable. If you need to avoid this, the solution is to rotate the source tiles in CC3+ before exporting them and then do a separate export for each of the four orientations, and then when placing tiles, make sure to use the pre-rotated variants rather than rotating the symbol to place. Of course, this is more work, but it do ensure that all issues caused by effects are handled, which also includes the directions of shadows on the tiles.

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