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  1. #11
    Dundjinni was never a very good program, though it is still out there and may still be found and downloaded with effort. More importantly, there are a lot of useful top down objects that remain highly serviceable as well -- Google finds most of them easily. (The Dundjinni community was always much better than the software itself.) They are great to use as objects within Photoshop and GIMP - and I do so often.

    I would never recommend CC3 or Dungeon Designer 3 to anybody. These are very old packages with steep learning curves that simply do not generate output that is worthwhile by today's standards.

    Photoshop (full version) can be had for $9.99 per month. GIMP2 is free. Between the two of them, there is nothing you cannot create. In fact, with not a lot of work and perhaps a month of YouTube tutorials and practice, you can be creating custom battlemps that will rival all but the very best commercial maps. They will please your players, please you and leave you with an "I made that!" feeling which cannot be beat.

    Yes, you really do need Photoshop for the lighting/shadow maps (this is crucial), special effects and other powerful filters that will assist you in creating maps that do not have recognizable tileable texture patterns. GIMP2 doesn't have those features. That doesn't mean that there are not some tools in GIMP which are faster to use or better than Photoshop's mind you (I vastly prefer GIMP's freehand select tool over Photoshop's)

    Anyway - point is, don't waste your money on hobby software without outdated feature sets. Don't settle. Use Photoshop and GIMP and make your maps pop.

    The best introductory tutorials for Photoshop and Battlemapping is here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDQKnb6c-7Q
    Last edited by Steel_Wind; February 4th, 2017 at 00:52.

  2. #12
    damned's Avatar
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    Different apps meet different peoples needs and abilities

  3. #13

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    I've been playing with the beta of Other World Mapper and it's great. Still has a few problems, but once they're worked out, it's gonna be great software...

  4. #14

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    I did this in like 5 minutes with Other World Mapper:

    Attachment 17738

  5. #15

    This was my First Attempt

    This map was my first attempt using Photoshop CC 2016 & GIMP 2.8.

    I used a Dundjinni fountain with a pre-existing water effect. It's the worst part of the map, by far. I'd do it from scratch and spend the hour getting the water ripples and gradient right were I to do this again.

    This was watching probably...six hours of Photoshop tutorials and bashing my head against the desk for another five hours creating this.

    I could do another similar one now in much less time - probably three hours, with lighting effects. It takes even less time as you get better at it.

    I do not have artistic talent. This is technical tool use in a creative way -- but it isn't art. If I can do this for the first time at age 51, you can do better.

    But you have to try. There's no getting around that. You need to watch tutorials, take it seriously - and try.
    Last edited by Steel_Wind; February 4th, 2017 at 00:44.

  6. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steel_Wind View Post
    ...
    I could do another similar one now in much less time - probably three hours, with lighting effects. It takes even less time as you get better at it.
    ...
    I feel confident that I could generate a similar map in less time than three hours, maybe even closer to one, with CC3+ etc.

    Not to get into a stupidity contest, but since you called out CC3 a post or two back... I really have to wonder how you can make that "worthwhile" comment, especially with the advent of CC3+

    You talk about a steep learning curve, and then talk about a SIGNIFICANT amount of time with youtube videos. Seems to be pretty hypocritical.

  7. #17
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    Yeah, CC3 has been pretty good for a number of years now - with excellent bitmap symbols (replacing the ageing vectors that CC2 had), fantastic effects that make maps look amazing, faster rendering with CC3+, continued releasing of monthly annuals with new styles and guidance, free reign to use any of their symbols in commercial products, the list goes on. Yes it has a learning curve, but no more (IMHO less) than taking hours to suss out how to use a high-end graphics application - and then you have to go and spend more time searching for symbols to use, checking what their copyright situation is, etc., etc..

    But, as damned says: "Different apps meet different peoples needs and abilities", but I definitely think that Campaign Cartographer was misrepresented in terms of the quality of it's output, and certainly the output is, IMHO, very worthwhile! Here's an example of taking one of those old maps mentioned and updating it for more recent CC3 symbols/style ("today's standards" maybe?): https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/february17.html Also check out some examples (in PDF format) at the bottom of this page: https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/index.html All done with CC3.

    For those interested in giving Campaign Cartographer a "fair go", tutorials and quite a few quick examples were posted in this thread, start with this post and check a couple of pages forward/back: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...l=1#post284653

    P.S. This comment interested me: "I would never recommend CC3 or Dungeon Designer 3 to anybody. These are very old packages with steep learning curves..." A lot of people say exactly that about Fantasy Grounds and don't give it a fair go - just imagine what a lot of FG fans might have missed if they'd listened to those comments!
    Private Messages: My inbox is forever filling up with PMs. Please don't send me PMs unless they are actually private/personal messages. General FG questions should be asked in the forums - don't be afraid, the FG community don't bite and you're giving everyone the chance to respond and learn!

  8. #18

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    ProFantasy also has a sister RPG publishing company and they use CC3/CC3+ to do the maps, etc. in it. CC3+ plus is certainly up to the modern standards.

    ProFantasy does let you use maps made in CC3/CC3+ for commercial use. ( I think you need to contact and get an additional permission for Battle Maps if I remember some old posts correctly.)
    CC3 takes bit to get used to learn how to use and people do find it overwhelming at first.
    Your better off watching the YouTube videos, but once you learn how to use it you can churn out a good map.
    I've ddone good overland maps in about 3-5 hours. A large dungeons in about 3-5. And battle maps for VTT in about a 1-2 hour. And I was stopping to periodically look at help files etc. in those times in some cases.
    The program can do a lot and is powerfull. A good number of users often pair it with other programs to do maps. Doing one part in CC3 and some touch up stuff in Photoshop or GIMP.

    CC3/CC3+ has an ever increasing symbol library too.

    Dundjinni was a basic simple program, but it was used and still is to do many professional modern maps. A large number old Dundjinni users I've seen have made excellent modern looking maps.

  9. #19
    I have been using CC3+ for a bit now and have done a few maps and am liking it. It does take some getting use to, but using something like Photoshop would be way to much for me as I am not very good at drawing myself (I leave that work to my daughter who can basically do anything artistic).

    These are a couple of the maps I did.
    Attachment 17755Attachment 17756

    Let me know what you think.

  10. #20

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    All I use is CC3.
    Personally I don't care for all the special effects on maps
    here is one of my maps
    Attachment 17758
    AKA The Wayward Traveler Original Battle Maps and Classic Recreations Avaialble on DriverThruRPGhttps://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/p...-Paul-Stoddard Maps also Available at
    https://jpstodwftexas.deviantart.com/

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