Quote Originally Posted by Trenloe View Post
Yeah, I've backed a few RPG/Map making kickstarters ran by "professional" developers who tried their hand at creating their own applications. Mostly these have not delivered - to functionality, timeline (that's pretty much a given) or not at all. It's amazing how many people who work in software development still think it'll be easy for them to write their own commercial quality application - mostly in their spare time!

Now, these guys (two people - one a software developer and one an artist) say the Kickstarter is to allow them to take time off work and write the software. The fact they've got a basic app going already is certainly promising. My main concern is the current stretch goals: "play mode". So... they're now going to spend lots (and there will be lots) of development time on making this a mini VTT? And the functionality that would make this interesting to me (top down view) is rally just an afterthought that they added because people were asking for it - when will this be scheduled in the development cycle? Will they make top down artwork for all of the isometric graphics or just a subset?

Plus, I wonder how long they'll support the software...

Sorry if I'm coming across all negative - these guys might be amazing software developers and can turn out a working, stable application by May 2017; and then do all of the complex stretch goals in a reasonable time; and make this an application I could use for years to come. I've just been burnt a lot by software projects on Kickstarter - which is a shame, as I want Kickstarter to be what it was originally designed to be: a crowd funding community to help people kick start their own ideas/companies, not a pre-order system for already established companies.


Yep, if this kickstarter looks like it's something you'll enjoy and use then don't let us nay-sayers put you off! Back it and I hope it turns out to be an amazing application.

I've invested my time with CC3 and like what it does, like the company, like their monthly annuals, like their community and support, etc.. Yes, it takes time to get up to speed - but to be perfectly honest, "only" a few hours and you'll be producing maps in a powerful engine that gives you a lot of flexibility. I just think that some users are wanting an application that allows them to product amazing maps within minutes - that is only vaguely possible (IMHO) with a tile based approach (all aspects of the map are created by laying pre-created graphical tiles onto the map) and is, by its very nature, limited in what it can do by the graphical tiles available to it. Want to draw a 30 degree diagonal wall? Sorry, we don't have a tile for that... (But CC3 can do that with it's vector based/fill style approach).
This is largely a "look and feel" vs funds/budget argument. If your happy with the look and feel of CC3 and it fits your budget, all is good. But if your not happy with it and want a different artistic style but you don't want too or don't have the artistic skills to do it yourself, then you have to look at licencing costs to use the artwork (and that artists time to create that art).