WELCOME

Welcome to the Tome of Ultimate Mapping. Together, we will

journey through the realms of fantasy mapmaking using the range
of cartographic software from ProFantasy. This Tome will take you
into the depth of Campaign Cartographer 3+ and all its add-ons and
companion products, providing you with a wealth of information,
tips and tricks you can use when creating your maps.

The Tome contains a selection of the collected knowledge and

experience from both our master mappers, as well as the users of
the Campaign Cartographer software range. Therefore, I’d like to
thank all of you for making this work possible.

Credits and Acknowledgements

Tome of Ultimate Mapping written and laid out by Remy Monsen

Parts of this book is based on previous work by Allyn Bowker, Simon Rogers, Ralf Schemmann, Mark Fulford, Linda Kekumu,
Joe Slayton, L Lee Sauders, Kevin Thomas, Morgan Olden, Tony Marker, et al
CC3+ concept and design: Simon Rogers, Mark Fulford
CAD Source Code and CC3+ Engine: Mike Riddle
Programming: Peter Olsson, Joe Slayton
Additional programming: L Lee Saunders
Additional Effects Filters: Joe Slayton

Thanks to all members of the ProFantasy mailing lists and forum. You have all taken part in providing me with the inspiration for many of the tutorials in this book.

©Copyright 2019 ProFantasy Software, Ltd except for those images whose copyright is held by the artist
Software ©Copyright 2019 ProFantasy Software, Ltd
Campaign Cartographer 3™, Campaign Cartographer 3+™, CC3™ and CC3+™ are trademarks of ProFantasy Software Ltd.
Fractal Terrains 3™ is a trademark of ProFantasy Software, Ltd.
Windows® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
TrueType® is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
Photoshop® is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Inc.
Traveller® is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises.
Mindjammer® is a registered trademark of Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.

Permission is granted to print this document for personal use.

ToUM3-19-04
 Content
Welcome .............................................. 1 Labeling the Scale Bar................................................................44 Effects speed tips...........................................................................87
Content................................................................................................2 Finding Text ................................................................................ 45 Sheets and Effects Review.............................................88
Zoom to Text.....................................................................................45
Introduction......................................... 8 Symbols and Symbol Management89
Find in Files............................................................................................45
What is the Tome of Ultimate Mapping? .............8 Symbol Types............................................................................89
All About Text Review ..................................................... 46
CC3 and CC3+.....................................................................................8 Vector symbols................................................................................89
How to use the Tome.............................................................8
Editing................................................ 47 Raster symbols ................................................................................89
Tutorial maps........................................................................................8 Selection menu........................................................................ 47 Symbols, Symbol References and Symbol
Screenshots............................................................................................9 Select by Color..................................................................................47 Definitions..............................................................................90
Difficulty level.......................................................................................9 Select by Fill Style...........................................................................48 Symbol Catalogs.....................................................................90
Redraw.......................................................................................................9 By Entity Tag#...................................................................................49 Using Symbols ..........................................................................91
Effects...........................................................................................................9 What about Not?............................................................................49 The symbol catalog window..............................................91
Command Prompt...........................................................................9 Node Editing............................................................................... 50 Placing symbols..............................................................................93
Who am ‘I’?........................................................................................ 10 Node Edit...............................................................................................51 The Symbol Manager ........................................................95
Contact information.................................................................... 10 Insert Node..........................................................................................51 Symbol Options dialog.............................................................97
Not Interested in Overland Maps?.........................10 Delete Node........................................................................................51 Creating Symbol Catalogs ..............................................99
A World of Fantasy................................................................10 Editing polygons.............................................................................51 Renaming and Reordering Symbols ................. 100
Roleplaying..................................................................................11 Trimming ...................................................................................... 52 Managing Symbol Catalogs..................................... 102
Trim to Entity......................................................................................52 Searching for symbol catalogs......................................102
Doing it Your Way .................................................................11
Trim to Intersect..............................................................................53 Creating new Symbol Catalog Settings ................103
Files and File Paths ..................................................................11
Break .........................................................................................................53
File paths................................................................................................ 11 Understanding the Symbol Filters ........................ 103
Split .............................................................................................................53
File types................................................................................................ 13 The Master Filter.........................................................................104
Trim ............................................................................................................54
Your Copyright .........................................................................13 The Catalog Settings Filter..................................................104
Editing with Drawing Tools ........................................... 54
Compatibility Updates........................................................13 Creating Vector Symbols............................................. 105
Edit...............................................................................................................54
The CC3+ Interface...............................................................14 Preparations....................................................................................105
Editing Rivers............................................................................. 55 Creating a vector symbol...................................................105
Flat Toolbars.................................................................................14 The Big Edit - Making a Local Map from a Vector symbol considerations.......................................106
Version Compatibility..........................................................15 Regional Map .................................................................... 56
Editing Vector Symbols ................................................. 106
Additional Resources..........................................................15 What now.............................................................................................60
Editing the symbol definition ..........................................106
Do I need all the add-ons?.................................................... 16 Tracing ............................................................................................ 60 Editing the symbol reference..........................................107
Editing Review ......................................................................... 62 Editing a symbol catalog.....................................................107
CAMPAIGN CARTOGRAPHER Sheets and Effects............................ 63 Creating Raster Symbols.............................................. 108
3+.......................................................... 17 Sheets............................................................................................... 63 Raster symbol considerations........................................110
Sheet order ..........................................................................................63 Editing Raster Symbols.................................................. 111
Introduction.......................................19
Managing sheets...........................................................................64 Varicolor Symbols.............................................................. 111
The Basic Overland Map..................20 Effects............................................................................................... 66 Creating varicolor vector symbols.............................111
Maps and Magic (and Technology)......................20 Adding effects to our map....................................................66 Raster varicolor............................................................................113
Planning the Map...................................................................20 About Units..........................................................................................69 Final steps – Saving the catalog....................................115
Starting the Map – Land and Sea .............................21 Global Sun ............................................................................................69 Finding and Importing New Symbols from the
Adjust Hue/Saturation..............................................................69 Internet ................................................................................. 116
Artifacts.................................................................................................. 23
Shallow Water ................................................................................. 23 Bevel..........................................................................................................70 Advanced Symbols.......................................................... 119
Bevel, Lighted....................................................................................71 Creating symbols from fonts...........................................119
Terrain Features........................................................................24
Blend Mode........................................................................................72 Creating symbols with text attributes.....................120
Highlands............................................................................................. 24
Blur ..............................................................................................................72 Symbols with control points / smart symbols 121
Rivers and Lakes ........................................................................... 27
Blur, Alpha............................................................................................73 Creating connecting symbols........................................123
Forests and Vegetation............................................................. 29
Color Key...............................................................................................74 Multi-part symbols...................................................................125
Rule of Man.................................................................................31
Displace ..................................................................................................74 Symbol and Symbol Management Review
Cities, Towns and Villages..................................................... 31
Drop Shadow.....................................................................................75 ..................................................................................................... 126
Roads ....................................................................................................... 33
Edge Fade..............................................................................................76
Final Touches..............................................................................34 Fill Styles ..........................................127
Edge Fade, Inner..............................................................................77
Scale Bar & Compass Rose ................................................. 34 Types of Fills ............................................................................ 127
Edge Striping......................................................................................77
Decorations......................................................................................... 35 Brush Patterns...............................................................................127
Glow..........................................................................................................78
The Basic Overland Map Review ...........................36 Scalable Hatching .....................................................................127
Inner Glow ...........................................................................................79
Bitmap Files......................................................................................128
All About Text ...................................37 Outer Glow .........................................................................................79
Symbol Fill.........................................................................................128
Placing Text.................................................................................37 RGB Matrix Process.....................................................................80
Hatch Style......................................................................................128
Text glow............................................................................................. 38 Screen Border....................................................................................81
Spatial Matrix Process (SMP)..............................................82 Using and Editing Fill Styles........................................ 128
Selecting Fonts ..........................................................................38 Brush Patterns...............................................................................129
Texture Overblend ......................................................................84
Taming Text ...............................................................................38 Scalable Hatching .....................................................................129
Texturize................................................................................................84
Exploding text.................................................................................. 39 Bitmap Files......................................................................................129
Transparency ....................................................................................85
Text Along a Curve ..............................................................40 Wall Shadow .....................................................................................85 Symbol Fill.........................................................................................130
Troubleshooting Text Along a Curve......................... 41 Wall Shadow, Directional .......................................................86 Importing Fill Styles from another Map .......... 130
Number Labels .........................................................................41 Wall Shadow, Point Light Finalize....................................86 Deleting fill styles from source map.........................130
Making Text Visible .............................................................42 Parameters...........................................................................................86 Importing the fill styles..........................................................130
Finishing the Map...................................................................43 Wall Shadow, Point Light Setup .......................................86 Fill Styles Review................................................................. 131
Deciding which features to label..................................... 43 Working with Effects .......................................................... 87

2
 Simplifying an Entity...............................................................183 Text ................................................................................................ 299
Tying your World Together – Making
Working Efficiently with CC3+ .... 185 Walls.............................................................................................. 300
an Interactive Atlas................... 132
Bevel......................................................................................................300
Creating Hotspots ..............................................................132 The Command Line..........................................................185
Shadows............................................................................................301
Linking to other map types.............................................. 134 Lesson 1: Reading the command line...................185
Lesson 2: Typing commands.........................................186 Symbols...................................................................................... 303
Hiding and Showing Hotspots................................136
Lesson 3: Answering the prompt...............................186 Columns.............................................................................................304
Editing Hotspots ..................................................................136 Doors.....................................................................................................304
Visually Indicating Hotspots......................................136 Shortcut Keys .........................................................................187
Statues, sarcophagi and altars.......................................304
Linking to Other Files.......................................................137 Letting CC3+ do the Calculations .........................187
Corpses and rubble..................................................................305
Using Macros in Hotspots ..........................................137 Understanding Coordinates.......................................188
Floorplan Effects Review.............................................. 305
Finding coordinates..................................................................188
Map Notes ...............................................................................137
Using coordinates......................................................................189 Creating Features using Effects....306
Interactive Atlas Review .............................................138
Modifiers....................................................................................191 Raised Dais............................................................................... 306
Drawing Tools................................. 139 List of Modifiers...........................................................................191 Pits ................................................................................................... 308
Accessing Drawing Tools ...........................................139 Attach...................................................................................................193 Shadows............................................................................................309
What are Drawing Tools? ...........................................140 Customizing Menu and Toolbars.........................193 Creating Features using Effects Review.......... 310
Editing and Creating Drawing Tools ..................141 The menu files..............................................................................193
Editing menu files......................................................................194
Shadows and Lighting ...................311
Understanding the dialog.................................................. 141
Directional Shadows........................................................ 311
Drawing tool example ......................................................... 143 Automating CC3+ Using Macros. 198 Global Sun........................................................................................311
Illustrating macro drawing tools...................................145
An Introduction to Macros.........................................198 Lighted Dungeons ............................................................. 311
Macro command tips............................................................145
A note about command line commands...........198 Components..................................................................................312
Templates and Map Styles ........... 146 How to Make a Macro..................................................198 Setting up lights...........................................................................313
Templates .................................................................................146 Macro equivalents of CC3+ commands.............198 Symbols with Light Sources ............................................315
Map Styles ...............................................................................147 Add your macros to CC3+’s standard macros
............................................................................................................199 More Dungeon Designs .................317
Styles in CC3+.............................................................................. 147
An advanced macro example .....................................199 Corridors..................................................................................... 317
Using Map Styles................................................................149
Hints for good macro making........................................206 Caves ............................................................................................ 317
Changing Map Styles .....................................................149 More information on macro making......................206 A classic cave...............................................................................317
Starting out...................................................................................... 149
Macro Drawing Tools.....................................................206 A different approach – The ice cave........................321
Sheet order...................................................................................... 150
Taking it Further – XP Development...................207 Symbols...................................................................................... 323
Changing the polygon styles ......................................... 151
Cutting symbols..........................................................................323
Replacing symbols ...................................................................152 Additional Resources.................... 208
Aligning symbols with offset..........................................323
Fixing text......................................................................................... 153 Annuals .......................................................................................208
Finishing touches ....................................................................... 153
Building Floorplans............................................................. 324
Overland mapping..................................................................208
Creating Map Styles and Templates................. 154 Other topics....................................................................................219 Battle Maps .....................................325
Vector or raster?..........................................................................154 Points of Interest.................................................................. 325
Creating the template............................................................154
Appendix A: CC3+ Command
Scale ......................................................................................................325
Getting the fill styles ............................................................... 156 Reference .................................... 223 Placement of entities..............................................................326
Create drawing tools.............................................................. 157
Appendix B: Macro Reference ..... 267 Creating and Printing Battle Maps ...................... 326
Getting symbols......................................................................... 157 Effects on Battle Map.............................................................327
Syntax...........................................................................................267
Creating a Wizard Template ....................................158 From an existing map............................................................327
Example.............................................................................................268
Templates and Map Styles Review...................159 From Scratch ..................................................................................328
Exporting the map....................................................................329
More Tools ...................................... 160 DUNGEON DESIGNER 3 ........... 273 Battle Maps Review ........................................................ 331
Fill with Symbols..................................................................160
Basic usage ..................................................................................... 160 Introduction .................................... 275 Tiled Dungeons ...............................332
Fill With Symbols Dialog explained........................... 160 Using Dungeon Designer 3........................................275 Geomorph Dungeons .................................................... 332
A custom fill................................................................................... 162 Using geomorphs......................................................................332
The Basic Dungeon Map ............... 276
Symbols Along .....................................................................163 Creating geomorph tiles......................................................333
The Floor Plan .........................................................................276
The escarpment configuration dialog.................... 163 Random Dungeons .......................................................... 333
Complex Rooms .................................................................281
Example: Cold front line...................................................... 165 Creating a basic dungeon..................................................333
Example: Coffins arranged in a circle ..................... 165 Dungeon Furniture .............................................................284
Creating new tile sets ............................................................334
Example: Placing random symbols.......................... 166 Doors.....................................................................................................285
Example: Simple Rails........................................................... 167 Stairs ......................................................................................................285 DD3 Macro Example ......................337
Pillars......................................................................................................285 Staircase Macro................................................................... 337
Symbols in Area ..................................................................170
Furniture..............................................................................................286 CliffFace Macro Deconstruction............................. 341
Examples.......................................................................................... 170
Dungeon debris...........................................................................287
Options............................................................................................... 171
Traps and secrets.......................................................................288 Additional Resources ....................347
Arrays...........................................................................................173
Finishing touches........................................................................288 Community Symbols...................................................... 347
Circular Array................................................................................ 173
Grids...............................................................................................288 Annuals....................................................................................... 348
Rectangular Array.................................................................... 174
Floor grid.............................................................................................289
Contours.....................................................................................175 Appendix A: DD3 Command
Hex grids...........................................................................................291
Importing a Map ....................................................................... 175 Reference.....................................355
Labeling.......................................................................................292
Combining Entities................................................................... 177
Map title.............................................................................................293
Perspective Scaling...........................................................178
Starting Out.................................................................................... 178
Numeric labels .............................................................................293 CITY DESIGNER 3 ........................ 357
Full text labels ................................................................................295
Drawing the Map ..................................................................... 180 Introduction ....................................359
Cleanup .......................................................................................296
Exclusion Commands ....................................................181 Using City Designer 3 ..................................................... 359
What about the last corner?.............................................298
Fractalize / Simplify...........................................................182 The city designer toolbars .................................................359
The Basic Dungeon Map Review ........................298
The Dialog........................................................................................ 182
Handling Coastlines................................................................ 183 Floorplan Effects............................. 299 Creating a City ................................360

3
 Planning the City .................................................................360 Annuals .......................................................................................419 PERSPECTIVES 3 .......................... 467
Type of City .................................................................................... 360
Appendix A: House Shapes .......... 424 Introduction ....................................469
History................................................................................................. 361
Terrain, environment and climate............................. 361 Appendix B: CD3 Command Perspectives 3 Overview ........................................... 469
Size......................................................................................................... 362 Reference .................................... 425 The Perspectives 3 toolbar...............................................469
Divisions ............................................................................................ 362 Command overview .............................................................469
Mapping the City ...............................................................363
COSMOGRAPHER 3 .................... 427 Perspective Basics ..........................470
Terrain ................................................................................................. 363
Isometric Maps.................................................................... 470
Partitioning the City................................................................. 364 Introduction .................................... 429
Main Roads.................................................................................... 366 Grids............................................................................................... 470
The Cosmographer Toolbars....................................429 Directions................................................................................... 470
Bridge................................................................................................... 367
Deckplans.........................................................................................430
Important Locations ............................................................... 369 Height and Positioning .................................................. 470
Starmaps............................................................................................430
Streets and Houses.................................................................. 372 Objects......................................................................................... 471
Overland (Planetary)...............................................................430
Final Touches................................................................................. 376
Deckplans ....................................... 431 A Basic Floorplan............................472
Effects in City Maps ...................... 378 Starting Out.....................................................................................472
A Basic Deckplan................................................................431
Global Sun.................................................................................378 Setting the Style..........................................................................472
A word about effects..............................................................431
Shadows and Shading...................................................379 Drawing the floorplan............................................................473
Starting the map.........................................................................432
Wall Shadows.............................................................................. 379 Symbols..............................................................................................474
The hull................................................................................................432
Shading .............................................................................................. 379 Final Touches.................................................................................477
Main deck........................................................................................438
Shaded Polygons....................................................................... 381 A Basic Floorplan Review............................................ 479
The cargo hold .............................................................................441
Streets and Houses ........................ 383 Final touches...................................................................................441 Making Solid Shapes and Holes ..480
Symbols ......................................................................................383 Other Types of Deckplans..........................................443 3D Boxes ................................................................................... 480
Symbol Styles............................................................................... 383 Space stations...............................................................................443 3D Regular Polygon......................................................... 480
Placing the symbols................................................................ 383 Planetary buildings...................................................................443 Adding Rooms ..................................................................... 481
House Tool...............................................................................384 Battle maps......................................................................................443
Deckplan Styles....................................................................443 Converting an Existing Plan View 482
Placing Houses............................................................................ 384
House Extensions..................................................................... 386 Cosmographer Deckplan Bitmap...............................443 Projecting a Floorplan into Isometric View.... 482
House Connections................................................................. 386 Cosmographer Deckplan...................................................443 Converting the Basic Floor Plan.....................................483
Frills......................................................................................................... 387 Cosmographer Deckplan Traveller...........................444 Converting DD3 Floorplans........................................ 483
House Styles.................................................................................. 387 Converting Geomorph Floor plans...................... 483
Overland Maps ............................... 445
Creating House Styles........................................................... 390 Converting More Complex Shapes ................... 483
Hex Maps .................................................................................445
Random Streets ...................................................................392 Adding walls to curves........................................................484
A basic hex map........................................................................445
Placing random streets........................................................ 392 Creating solids from projected shapes...................484
Overland Map Styles......................................................447
Random street options........................................................ 393 Projecting Text ...................................................................... 484
Overland Cosmographer...................................................447
Streets and Houses Review ......................................395 Overland Satellite Map........................................................448 House Creation ...............................485
Labeling Cities ............................... 396 Traveller World Satellite.......................................................448 A Basic House....................................................................... 485
Text Labels ...............................................................................396 Traveller World Vector..........................................................449 A House with an Extension....................................... 486
Roads ................................................................................................... 396 Traveller World Fractal Terrains Export..................449
More to Do............................................................................... 486
Locations........................................................................................... 397 Star Maps ........................................ 450 Controlling the Appearance.........487
Reading the Map ...............................................................397 A Basic 3D Starmap .........................................................450
Creating Your Own Settings .................................... 487
Creating an Index...............................................................398 Starmap options .........................................................................451
Fill Style................................................................................................487
The Grid ............................................................................................. 398 Placing stars....................................................................................452
Color ......................................................................................................487
Color Coding Your City..................................................400 Measuring distances..............................................................453
Hatch styles....................................................................................488
Outline the districts ................................................................. 400 More stars ........................................................................................454
Color coded buildings........................................................... 401 Effects ...................................................................................................455 Perspective Symbols ......................489
Additional details.......................................................................455 Symbol Variations.............................................................. 489
Automatic Floorplans ................... 403
Star Map Styles ....................................................................456 Free-standing Symbols.........................................................489
Creating the Floorplan.....................................................403
Cosmographer 3D Starmap ............................................456 Attaching Symbols ..................................................................489
Different styles for floorplans.......................................... 406
Cosmographer Galactic.......................................................456 Shearing Symbols .....................................................................490
Automatic Floorplans Review.................................406 Cosmographer Galactic Traveller...............................457 Creating Perspective Symbols ................................ 490
City Symbols ................................... 407 Cosmographer Sector ...........................................................457 Free-standing vector symbols .......................................490
Raster Buildings....................................................................407 Cosmographer Sector Mindjammer.........................457 Raster Symbols............................................................................492
Traveller System Bitmap.....................................................457 Creating Shearing (Wall Feature) symbols..........494
Vector Buildings...................................................................411
Traveller System Vector......................................................458 Symbol Catalogs ........................................................................494
Frills.................................................................................................. 412
Traveller Sector Import.........................................................458 Making a Symbol - an Example ........................... 495
Simple Frills.......................................................................................412
Outside building frills ..............................................................412 Symbols ........................................... 460 Creating a wagon......................................................................495
Inside Building Frills.................................................................. 413 Symbol preparations..............................................................497
Hex Symbols ..........................................................................460
City Symbols Review......................................................413 Creating hex symbols............................................................460 Additional Resources ....................498
Height Symbols....................................................................462 Overland Maps ................................................................... 498
CD3 Macro Example...................... 414
Creating height symbols.....................................................462 Annuals....................................................................................... 498
Anatomy of the CurtainWall .................................... 414
Symbols Review..................................................................462
Trigonometric identities and CC3+............................414 Appendix A: Perspectives 3
Macro etiquette...........................................................................415 Additional Resources.................... 463 Command Reference .................499
The complete CurtainWall macro............................. 418 Annuals .......................................................................................463
Additional Resources ................... 419 Appendix A: Cos3 Command CHARACTER ARTIST 3 ............. 503
Additional Reading...........................................................419 Reference .................................... 466
Community Symbols ......................................................419 Introduction ....................................505

4
Character Artist 3 Overview.................................... 505 DIORAMAS 3................................... 537 Usage on Standard Overland Maps........................575
The Character Artist 3 Toolbar ......................................505
Introduction .................................... 539 Styles of SS1 ....................................576
Command Overview............................................................505
SS1 Fantasy A........................................................................ 576
Other Symbols............................................................................. 506 Dioramas 3 Overview ...................................................539
Templates........................................................................................ 506 Maps from previous versions........................................539
SS1 Fantasy B......................................................................... 576
Tutorial Files.................................................................................... 506 The Dioramas 3 toolbar.......................................................539 SS1 Fantasy Color............................................................... 576
The Dioramas 3 symbol toolbar...................................539 SS1 Fantasy Handdrawn ............................................. 576
Portraits........................................... 507
Tutorial files .....................................................................................539
The Basic Portrait ................................................................507 Hand Drawn Parchment Map .......578
Templates.........................................................................................539
Starting the portrait.................................................................. 507 Starting the Map................................................................. 578
Choosing the race and sex............................................... 507 Creating Dioramas......................... 540 Starting to Draw................................................................... 579
Placing symbols.......................................................................... 507 Starting a new blank diorama .................................540 Creating Water.............................................................................579
CA Pro Style Portraits ......................................................509 Features of the Dioramas 3 template......................540 Working the Land.....................................................................581
Reordering................................................................................510 Planning..............................................................................................541 Rivers and Roads.......................................................................581
Reshaping Your Portrait................................................510 Drawing panels ...........................................................................541 Adding Vegetation ..................................................................581
Rescaling visually...................................................................... 510 Fold and cut lines........................................................................542 Labels....................................................................................................582
Rescaling non-visually......................................................... 511 Glue tabs............................................................................................543 In Conclusion.......................................................................... 583
Creating Humanoid Monsters ................................511 Complex Objects ................................................................544
Additional Resources ....................584
Monster styles............................................................................. 511 Circles and tubes........................................................................544
Multi-page objects....................................................................546 Annuals....................................................................................... 584
CA3 style monster portraits............................................ 511
CA Pro style monster portraits...................................... 513 Adding symbols .........................................................................546
Finishing Touches (CA Pro Style)........................... 514 The Tab Options Dialog................. 547
SYMBOL SET 2: FANTASY
Making a silhouette.................................................................514 Creating new Presets.......................................................548
FLOORPLANS ........................... 585
Making a shadow.....................................................................514
Drawing buildings.......................... 549 Introduction ....................................587
Using Custom Parts..................................................................515
Customizing a Portrait .......................................................... 516 Mathematical revision: Pythagoras Theorem and Using SS2 .................................................................................. 587
trigonometry..........................................................................552 Usage on Standard Dungeon Maps ........................587
Sheet Effects............................................................................517
Where to place the effects............................................... 517 Dioramas Geomorphs & Buildings Styles of SS2 ....................................588
General advice............................................................................ 517 ....................................................... 554 SS2 Dungeon A ................................................................... 588
Glow...................................................................................................... 518 Creating a New Drawing using Dioramas 3 SS2 Dungeon B .................................................................... 588
Shadows ........................................................................................... 518 Geomorphs.......................................................................554 SS2 Dungeon Vector....................................................... 588
Color manipulation.................................................................. 518 Adding symbols to geomorph pieces....................554 SS2 Dungeon Handdrawn......................................... 588
Highlight parts.............................................................................. 519 Changing the fill styles of geomorphs....................554
Using Your Character Portraits................................519 Other geomorph tips and tricks...................................555 Example Map: The Rat Tail Inn.....589
Adding your portrait to a character sheet.......... 519 Floor 1........................................................................................... 589
Wall Nets ......................................... 556
Creating Stand-Up Paper Figures and Floor 2........................................................................................... 590
Wall Net ......................................................................................556
Basement .................................................................................. 592
Counters ...................................... 521 Multi-Wall Net.......................................................................556
Finishing Touches ............................................................... 593
Creating Card Figures from Existing Characters
..................................................................................................... 521
Printing and Construction ............ 558
Additional Resources ....................594
Creating Card Figures from Scratch .................... 521 Miniature scales...................................................................558
Annuals....................................................................................... 594
Adding Backs to Card Figures.................................. 521 Tools of the Trade...............................................................559
CA3 Style ..........................................................................................521 Why a steel ruler?......................................................................559
CA Pro Style ....................................................................................522 Why a scalpel?.............................................................................559 SYMBOL SET 3: MODERN ....... 595
Why a cutting board?............................................................559
Printing and Assembling Card Figures ............. 523 Introduction ....................................597
What are the paperclips for?...........................................559
Creating Counters .............................................................. 523 SS3 Overview....................................................................... 597
A sticky subject............................................................................560
Starting a New Map ...............................................................597
Symbol Creation and Catalog Printing Dioramas Pages...............................................560
Toolbars..............................................................................................598
Management .............................. 524 Paper & card..................................................................................560
Creating Raster Symbols.............................................. 524 Printer ink & smudging........................................................561 Styles of Symbol Set 3....................599
Varicolor Symbols......................................................................526 Constructing dioramas objects......................................561 Overland Styles ................................................................... 599
Creating Vector Symbols ............................................. 527 Example: One Star Inn................... 563 SS3 Modern Political..............................................................599
Designing the symbol............................................................527 SS3 Pro Standard Overland.............................................599
Getting Started......................................................................563
Creating color variants of symbols.............................528 Floorplan Styles..................................................................... 600
Overview...................................................................................563
Rename and Reorder ..................................................... 529 SS3 Modern Bitmap A.........................................................600
Planning ......................................................................................563
Pint-Sized Symbols ...........................................................530 SS3 Modern Bitmap B ..........................................................600
Panel Layout............................................................................564 SS3 Modern Vector.................................................................600
My Symbols Need an Attitude ..............................531 Test Assembly.......................................................................568 SS3 Modern Blueprint...........................................................600
Creating a set of symbols from scratch........... 532 Detailing......................................................................................569
Add a blank figure.....................................................................532 Mixing Map Styles..........................601
Creating a model for the new symbol....................532 Additional resources..................... 571 Getting Started ..................................................................... 601
Drawing the symbol................................................................532 Annuals .......................................................................................571 Laying down the groundwork ............................... 601
Filling in the Armor................................................................... 533 Detailing the Roads........................................................... 602
Appendix A: Dioramas 3 Command
Creating the pauldron............................................................534 Kerb stones......................................................................................602
Creating the Gauntlets ..........................................................535 Reference .................................... 572
Road Markings............................................................................603
Additional Resources ................... 536 Buildings..................................................................................... 604
Annuals.......................................................................................536
SYMBOL SET 1: FANTASY Accessing DD3 resources .......................................... 605
OVERLAND................................. 573 Platform....................................................................................... 606
Main Platform...............................................................................606
Introduction .................................... 575
Breaking Through......................................................................607
Using SS1...................................................................................575

5
 Bannister............................................................................................ 608 The 3D Floorplan ........................................................................640 Selections settings....................................................................681
Scattered Concrete and Debris..................................... 608 The 3D Floorplan — Exterior View.............................641 Primary ........................................................................................ 681
Adding Details ......................................................................608 Hyperlinks........................................................................................642 Secondary................................................................................. 682
Lighting........................................................................................609 Additional Resources.................... 644 Raw height Field .........................................................................682
Metric Units ....................................................................................683
Additional Resources ................... 611 Annuals .......................................................................................644
Continental Shelves.................................................................683
Annuals.......................................................................................611
Editing........................................................................................... 684
SOURCE MAPS: CITIES............. 645 Fractal Function..................................................................... 684
SYMBOL SET 4: DUNGEONS Introduction .................................... 647 Method...............................................................................................684
OF SCHLEY................................. 615 What is Source Maps? ...................................................647
Other settings...............................................................................685
Temperature........................................................................... 686
Introduction.................................... 617 Contents......................................................................................647
Rainfall ......................................................................................... 686
Using SS4...................................................................................617 Viewing the Maps .............................................................647
Toolbars ............................................................................................. 617 Usage in CC3+................................. 648 Viewing World Information ..........687
Using with DD3........................................................................... 617 Color to Altitude Conversion.................................... 687
CIT Toolbars.............................................................................648
Editing color items....................................................................688
Styles of SS4 ................................... 618 Main Toolbar .................................................................................648
SS4 Dungeons of Schley..............................................618 Symbol Toolbar............................................................................648 Lighting and Color..........................689
SS4 Dungeons of Schley Inks ..................................618 Creating a Small Town...................................................648 Select Coloring Scheme................................................ 689
The basic layout..........................................................................648 Intensity ...................................................................................... 689
Example Map: Inks Battle Map ... 619 Building the houses..................................................................650 Altitude........................................................................................ 690
Staring the Map...................................................................619 Finishing up......................................................................................653
Temperature........................................................................... 690
Adding Buildings ................................................................619 Creating a City 3D View ...............................................654
Rainfall ......................................................................................... 691
Adding a building using SS4 tools............................. 619 Projecting the landscape.....................................................654
Adding a building using DD3 tools........................... 620 Climate ........................................................................................ 691
Labels, map border and hyperlinks...........................659
Looking at Fills and Effects..........................................620 Final Touches .................................................................................659 World Projections ...........................692
Symbols ......................................................................................621
Additional Resources.................... 661 Grids..................................................693
Additional Resources ................... 622 Annuals .......................................................................................661 Editing Grid Settings......................................................... 694
Annuals....................................................................................... 622
Simple Create Mode ......................695
SOURCE MAPS: WORLD WAR II Setup ............................................................................................. 695
SOURCE MAPS: CASTLES ....... 623 INTERACTIVE ATLAS ...........663 Drawing ...................................................................................... 695
Introduction.................................... 625 Introduction .................................... 665 Execution................................................................................... 695
What is Source Maps?................................................... 625 What is Source Maps? ...................................................665 Editing your World .........................697
Contents ..................................................................................... 625 Contents......................................................................................665 The Editing Tools................................................................. 697
Viewing the Maps ............................................................. 625 Viewing the Maps .............................................................665 Using the editing tools...........................................................697
Changing the editing tools................................................698
Usage in CC3+ ................................ 626 Usage in CC3+................................. 666
Climate painting .........................................................................698
Castle Designer Toolbars .............................................626 Toolbars.......................................................................................666 Global painting.............................................................................698
Main Toolbar................................................................................. 626 Unit Arrows..............................................................................666 Selection Functions ........................................................... 698
Symbol Toolbar........................................................................... 626 Creating APP-6 NATO counters...........................667 Basic selection functions.....................................................699
Drawing a Simple Castle..............................................626
Additional Resources.................... 668 Selection tools...............................................................................699
The First Level............................................................................... 626
Range selection functions .................................................699
The Second Level..................................................................... 627 Annuals .......................................................................................668
Selection mask modification ..........................................700
The Third Level ........................................................................... 628
Appendix A: WW2IA Command More Editing Features..................................................... 700
The Map of the Surroundings ....................................... 628
3D View............................................................................................. 629
Reference .................................... 669 Mound ................................................................................................700
Deterrace...........................................................................................701
What About Effects?........................................................630
Global Noise...................................................................................701
TOKEN TREASURY...................... 671
Source Maps Navigation Buttons 631 Basin Fill...............................................................................................702
Why?.............................................................................................631 Introduction .................................... 673 Expand Land..................................................................................703
How?.............................................................................................631 Use in other Software......................................................673 Fill Basins as Lakes.....................................................................703
Paint Crater......................................................................................704
Use in CC3+ .............................................................................673
Additional Resources ................... 633 Pre-scale offset editing .........................................................704
Annuals.......................................................................................633 Quick Move ..................................... 674 Quick commands.....................................................................705
Built In............................................................................................674 New color option.......................................................................705
SOURCE MAPS: TEMPLES, Saving and Exporting .....................706
TOMBS & CATACOMBS.......635 FRACTAL TERRAINS 3 ............... 675 Saving Your World............................................................ 706
Exporting an Icosahedral Projection................... 706
Introduction.................................... 637 Introduction .................................... 677
Exporting To Multiple Image Files ....................... 707
What is Source Maps?...................................................637 Real World Data...................................................................677
Exporting a Spin View.................................................... 708
Contents .....................................................................................637 Wilbur............................................................................................677
Animating the files...................................................................708
Viewing the Maps .............................................................637 A Basic FT3 World .......................... 678 Exporting To VRML.......................................................... 709
Usage in CC3+ ................................ 638 Navigating the World......................................................678 Exporting to Google Earth........................................... 709
Temple Designer Toolbars .........................................638 Zooming in and out.................................................................678 Exporting to CC3+ ............................................................. 710
Main Toolbar................................................................................. 638 Moving around on the main map.............................678 FT3 to CC3+ export options.............................................710
Symbol Toolbar........................................................................... 638 Named views ...............................................................................679 Exporting to a Single CC3+ Map.................................714
Creating a Greek Temple............................................638 World Settings ................................ 681 Exporting to Multiple CC3+ Maps.............................714
The 2D Floorplan - Interior View.................................. 639 Selection .....................................................................................681

6
 Standard CC3+ sheets and layers for FT3 exports Image Climate.......................................................................733 Sinusoidal..........................................................................................742
............................................................................................................ 714 Stereographic................................................................................742
Texture Climate....................................................................734
Importing field height from CC3+ maps.............. 715 Van Der Grinten ..........................................................................742
Importing Maps by Using Selection Mask Files FT3 Reference ................................. 735 Wagner IV........................................................................................743
............................................................................................................ 717 Theory ..........................................................................................735 Wagner VII.......................................................................................743
Other World Types......................... 718 The elements.................................................................................735 Planar worlds.......................................................................... 743
Worlds from Real World Data.................................718 Fractal basis function ..........................................................735 Interrupted Projections................................................... 744
Downloading higher resolution data ...................... 719 Offsets..................................................................................................735 File format .........................................................................................744
Burn in to surface....................................................................... 719 Scaling..................................................................................................735 Example projections ...............................................................745
Continental shelves.................................................................735
Flat Worlds................................................................................720 Conic Projection Parallels ............................................. 748
Water level ......................................................................................735
Planar Worlds.........................................................................720
Rainfall .................................................................................................736 Additional Resources ....................749
Image Overlays .............................. 722 Temperature..................................................................................736 Terraformer.............................................................................. 749
What are overlays ............................................................. 722 Climate................................................................................................736 More reading about Map Projections .............. 749
Transparency.................................................................................722 Scripts .............................................. 738 Annuals....................................................................................... 749
The Image Overlay window...........................................722
Script Commands...............................................................738
Creating an overlay..................................................................722
Creating an overlay from a disk image................ 723
Sample Scripts.......................................................................739 THE CARTOGRAPHER’S
Smooth lower altitudes........................................................739 ANNUAL ....................................... 751
Drawing and erasing on an overlay ........................ 723
Save slices of a world to files ..........................................739
Adding a cloud image.......................................................... 723
Introduction ....................................753
Adding Rivers................................. 725 Projections....................................... 740
What is The Cartographer’s Annual .................. 753
Supported Projections.....................................................740
Filling Basins............................................................................. 725 Free Samples .......................................................................... 753
Albers Equal-Area Conic.....................................................740
Calculation resolution ..................................................... 725 More Information............................................................... 753
Azimuthal Equidistant...........................................................740
Vector Rivers ..........................................................................726 Equidistant Conic .......................................................................740 Additional Resources ....................754
Adding the rivers................................................................726 Equirectangular............................................................................740
Annuals....................................................................................... 754
Creating a World from Scratch.... 727 Gnomonic.........................................................................................741
Hammer.............................................................................................741 Appendix A: Annual Command
Generating the World with Fractal Terrains 3
.....................................................................................................727 Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area...................................741 Reference.....................................755
Lambert Conformal Conic .................................................741
Tweaking the FT3 Output ..........................................728 Index.................................................757
Mercator............................................................................................741
Exporting to CC3+ .............................................................731
Miller Cylindrical.........................................................................742
Conclusion................................................................................732 Mollweide........................................................................................742
Viewing your World – Shaders ..... 733 Orthographic .................................................................................742
Gaia ................................................................................................733 Pointy....................................................................................................742

Sword & Vine Cartouche

This symbol by Allyn
Bowker was submitted to
the 2002 symbol challenge.
This a detail view of the
Sword & Vine cartouche
created for use in Campaign
Cartographer. It is part of a
symbol catalog that is
available for download
from the Download Library.
Search the library for
“symbol challenge 2002”
to pull up this and other
catalogs contributed by CC2
Users’ Group members.

7
 INTRODUCTION
Add-ons Welcome to the Tome of Ultimate Mapping. This book is an in-depth examination of the Campaign
Add-ons make specialized Cartographer 3+™ (CC3+™) software, as well as all of its add-ons and companion products at the
drawing tasks quick and time of writing. Through the use of tutorials, this book aims to show you a lot of tips and tricks that
easy. For example, with will help you get the most out of CC3+.
CC3+ you can draw a city
Note that this book does not completely replace the CC3+ manual but adds to it. While this book
house by house. With the
covers and expands upon some of the same information found in the manual, it will not cover the
City Designer 3™ add-on,
most basic information from the manual, such as installation, software troubleshooting, basic
you add complete streets of
exporting and printing, and much more.
houses with just two clicks
of the mouse.
What is the Tome of Ultimate Mapping?
The Tome of Ultimate Mapping (Tome) is the ultimate resource for creating maps with Campaign
Cartographer 3+ from ProFantasy Software Ltd. It is not intended as a generic resource in the field
of Cartography, and it is of severely limited use when used without CC3+.

CC3 and CC3+

In 2015, the latest member of the Campaign Cartographer family was released, Campaign
Dotted Underline Cartographer 3+. There was a transitional period where not all add-ons where updated to work with
This is a sidebar comment. CC3+, so users would have to use both CC3+ and CC3. As of this writing, all add-ons are now CC3+
Note that on some pages, compatible, and some newer add-ons only work with CC3+. As such, this Tome only covers CC3+
there are more comment and the CC3+ versions of the add-ons.
references than there is
If you still use CC3, you should use the older edition of this Tome, versions exist for both CC2 Pro
space for comments in the
and CC3, as this edition covers many new features of CC3+ not available in earlier versions of the
sidebar. In these cases, the
software, such as new styles, new effects and new commands.
comments will appear in the
sidebar on the next page. If
this is the case, there will be How to use the Tome
a note at the bottom of the
sidebar that tells you it is The Tome is laid out in the same style as the original CC3+ manual. Most of the information is
being continued on the next presented in tutorial format, guiding you through the various techniques. Most information in this
page. book is self-contained, allowing you to jump to any section of the book. The Tome does assume that
you are familiar with the basics of CC3+, as detailed in the product manual.

Words in dotted underline refer you to the sidebar for additional information and definitions. Buttons,
MONOSPACE dialog box items and menu items are shown in bold text like this: Drawing Properties . The term
Note that a monospace font ‘click’ means to click the left mouse button. The term ‘right click’ means to click the right mouse
results in large gaps button. The terms ‘hit’ and ‘press’ refer you to press the indicated keyboard key, such as, “hit ”,
between certain characters, and the term ‘hover’ means to hold the cursor over the indicated item without clicking on it. An
these are not space charac- alert symbol is displayed where information of particular importance appears. Text to be entered
ters. If you are unsure into the CC3+ command line is written in a MONOSPACE font. Text appearing on a light gray
whether it is a space be- background is a command prompt text from CC3+.
tween two characters or
not, it isn’t. Spaces are
highly visible in monospace
Tutorial maps
fonts. Below are two exam- Throughout this Tome you will draw many maps. If you wish to skip to the middle of a tutorial, or
ples, the first line does not you feel your map doesn’t look like our example, you can find all the maps from the tutorials in the
contain any spaces, the Tutorials\Tome directory inside your main CC3+ data directory. Many maps are saved in a
second line contains one. numbered sequence, indicating the stages of progress for that map. The numbers do not directly
@5,-5 correspond to the numbered steps in the tutorials; they only serve as a general progress indicator.
MACRO STAIRS Sometimes a letter appears behind the numbering, this indicates a map saved from an alternate
path.

Note that if you follow along with the tutorials, you will need to save your work often. Be careful to
save your own maps in a separate location, to avoid overwriting the examples. Also, many tutorials

8
will start by asking you to open a particular example map. In this case, there are two things you
need to keep in mind. The first is that if you followed the tutorial that made that particular map, you
should feel free to open up your own map instead of the example map. Second, if you do open the
example maps, remember to use Save As… to save the map in your own working folder to avoid
overwriting the example maps.

Screenshots
Within the pages of this tome, you'll find many screenshots and images from CC3+. Because this
tome covers both core CC3+, as well as all the add-ons, screenshots will be from a full install of
CC3+, including all add-ons. This means that if you do not have all these yourself, you might see
buttons and tools in the screenshots that you don't see in your own installation. Do not worry about
this. You do not need to own all the add-ons to take advantage of this book.

Difficulty level
This tome is written with an intermediate to advanced CC3+ user in mind. It assumes a basic
familiarity with the CC3+ manual, although some of the important topics from the manual are
repeated in this book. You will find the CC3+ section of the book, particularly the beginning of this
section tends to be a detailed description of each step in the tutorial, both to refresh the memory of
experienced users, and to serve as an introduction to the concepts for beginners. As you progress
through the book you will find the tutorials expect you to know how to perform the basic tasks in
CC3+. New concepts, more difficult and intricate tasks will still be explained in detail.

Redraw
For the tutorials in this book, I assume that you know how and when to use the Redraw
command. I am going to state it explicitly in some tutorials, especially those in the beginning of the
book, but for the most part, I leave it up to you to decide when you need to use it. Generally, if
entities overlap in the wrong order or the map doesn’t look quite right; entities are on the wrong
sheet, the sheet order is wrong, or the map simply needs a redraw, try the redraw first.

Effects
I’ll leave it up to you if you wish to have effects on or off while you work. In CC3 I usually kept them
off while working, because they slowed down even high-end computers. However, CC3+ has
received major optimizations in the effects processing, which means that working with effects on
is far more viable than it used to be. However, if you use a lot of effects, you may experience
slowdowns in CC3+ as well, and in that case, you may prefer to leave the effects off while working
on maps, and only turn them on when working with the effects or when exporting/printing the
maps.

When working with the tutorials, I’ll leave it up to you when to work with the effects on or off.
Obviously, you will need to turn them on when working with the effects-related chapters, but most
tutorials won’t explicitly tell you to turn them on or off.

Command Prompt
A very important communication channel between you and CC3+ is the Command Prompt. You
should always pay attention to what it says.

In CC3+, a floating command prompt was introduced, which follows the cursor, and put the
command prompt more into focus. You can even make it more verbose to get better explanations
of the options. However, it is difficult to properly represent this variation in a written tutorial.
Therefore, all references to text on the command line will use the text from the original command
line at the bottom of the screen. The floating command prompt will basically say the same thing,
but it might be a bit more verbose about it. The original command prompt at the bottom of the
screen will always be available for everyone, regardless of settings, so it makes more sense in the
context of a written tutorial to refer to that. I do highly recommend that you have the floating prompt
turned on though, as it gives the command line the focus it really needs.

9
 Who am ‘I’?
Throughout the tutorials in this book, the word I is often used when concepts are explained. For a
great deal of them, I refer to me, the author of this tome. However, a number of the tutorials in this
book are also updated versions of older tutorials. These tutorials are still relevant for both new and
old users, but needed updating to work with CC3+, such as changes in commands, proper use of
sheets and taking advantage of new features in CC3+, such as effects. These tutorials are primarily
found in the sections of this book containing the compatibility update tutorials, but there are some
in the other sections as well. For these tutorials, the word I usually refers to the original author of the
tutorial. Basically, what I am saying is that I don’t want to claim credit for every smart thing said in
this book, even if it does say “I think…” or something like it. If you need to blame someone for
something however, blame me. After all, I was the one who put it into this book, even if it wasn’t
said by me originally.

Contact information
If you find any errors or omissions in this book, you can report this to [email protected]. Since
this tome is going to live out the beginning of its life as an electronic download, I would be very
grateful to know about all the problems before the book goes to print, including even minor spelling
errors. You can also send me suggestions for additional topics that should have been covered to
this address, and I’ll see if I get the opportunity to include them.

Do not expect a reply when writing to this address. You might get one, especially if I need to ask
you a follow-up question, but depending on the volume of email that arrives, I might not have the
time to answer them all. Rest assured that someone will read all the mail sent to this address, so if
you send an error-report, we will check it out and fix it if appropriate.

Please note that this email address is not a general help address. If you need technical assistance,
please request tech support at http://www.profantasy.com/service/technical.asp. If you need help
or suggestions for making your maps, I recommend the ProFantasy forum found at
http://forum.profantasy.com. The same holds true if you have trouble following the steps in the
tutorials. If you know that this is because of an error in the tutorial, I’d love to hear about it so I can
correct the error, but if you simply need help completing the tutorials, please use the forums. You
can also search the forum to see if anyone has asked the same question before.

Not Interested in Overland Maps?

Campaign Cartographer 3+, the core product, is primarily designed for creating overland maps,
while the various add-ons are designed for other types of maps: like dungeons, cities or starships.
If you are not interested in overland maps, but rather one of the map types offered by an add-on, it
might be tempting to just skip the CC3+ chapter and go right for the chapter detailing your desired
add-on. However, all the add-ons build on the principles in the core product, CC3+. Even if you are
not going to make overland maps later, you should still work through the tutorials, as they will teach
you important skills that you will need when working with the add-on of your choice, even if the
tutorial itself uses overland maps to illustrate the point.

Do not underestimate the power of CC3+ however. Even if it is primarily designed for overland
maps, you can really make any kind of map you want with it. The add-ons make it easier to create
specific kinds of maps, but there is nothing preventing you from drawing a city without City
Designer 3™ (CD3™) or a dungeon without Dungeon Designer 3™ (DD3™). You will need to do more
work yourself when you do not have the tools the add-ons provide, but after reading through this
manual, you will have learned how to create such tools yourself.

A World of Fantasy
CC3+ is primarily designed to draw fantasy maps for a medieval fantasy world, there is no denying
this. Simply looking at the symbols accompanying the software betrays this fact. But even if you are
not interested in this theme, do not let this deter you. The core drawing tools of CC3+ allow you to
draw anything you wish. Do not let yourself be limited by the images and styles provided with the
software. They are great if you are making these kinds of maps, but you can easily create your own

10
symbols and styles to draw whatever you need, and ProFantasy also publishes several add-ons for
other types of maps, like Cosmographer for sci-fi maps and Symbol Set 3 for modern maps. The
value of CC3+ far exceeds the symbols and styles supplied by the default program.

Roleplaying
Most people use CC3+ for creating maps for their roleplaying adventures. As a result of this, this
book will sometimes use references to roleplaying in the text, from simple adventure ideas used to
justify certain features of a map to straight-out roleplaying subjects like battle maps. But even if we
talk a little bit about roleplaying, this book is a mapmaking resource, not a roleplaying resource, and
as such, it should be equally useful if you wish to create maps for other purposes, such as maps for
your novel, or even to make floor plan maps of your own house for architectural purposes.

Doing it Your Way

This book contains a lot of tips and tutorials on how to accomplish a variety of results in CC3+ and
its add-ons. However, CC3+ is a very advanced piece of software, and there are usually plenty of
ways to go about accomplishing the same result. Remember that this book only shows you one way
or perhaps a couple of ways to do things, but that does not mean that you cannot accomplish the
same goal in a completely different way. The basic premise is, if you got the desired result, you did
it the right way.

Files and File Paths

When working with the more advanced features of CC3+, we sometimes need to work with the file
system. It is therefore important that you know a little bit about the file types used by CC3+, as well
as the file paths employed. This is an advanced topic, but you should have a look at it now, and Installation Location
refer back to it later if needed. It has been included at the beginning of the book because the
If you install on a 32-bit
information will be needed throughout the tome.
system, the Program Files
(x86) directory will just be
File paths named Program Files, and if
It is important for CC3+ to know where its files are. For example, when you load up a new symbol you use a non-English
catalog by clicking on one of the buttons, CC3+ needs to know where this symbol catalog resides. version of windows, the
If you need to load a symbol catalog manually, you need to know where to find these. directory name will be
localized in your language.
The first path you need to be aware of is the installation location of CC3+. By default, this is
C:\Program Files (x86)\ProFantasy\CC3Plus. Because I cannot know exact path on your
computer, I will refer to this path as your CC3+ installation directory, or more commonly, your
CC3+ directory. When I use these terms, you should know that this means wherever CC3+ is
installed on your computer.
ProgramData
The next path is a new path in CC3+, the CC3+ data directory. In CC3, all user content was stored This directory is hidden by
in the CC3 installation directory, but in CC3+ all of this was moved to a separate data directory, default, so you need to tell
located in C:\ProgramData\ProFantasy\CC3Plus, unless you chose another location in the Windows to show hidden
installer. Note that since all the content of the CC3+ data directory was stored inside the CC3 files to see it.
installation directory in previous versions, if you follow an old tutorial which tells you to go to the You can also type
CC3 installation directory, you probably need to go to the CC3+ data directory instead. %ALLUSERSPROFILE%
into the location bar or file
name box of any explorer
window and hit enter to be
automatically take inside
this directory.
A way of opening the data
directory directly is to type
OPENDOC @ on the
CC3+ command line.

11
 Inside your CC3+ data directory, you will find several important directories. The following list is just
a brief overview; each of these directories will be explored later in the appropriate sections.

Bitmaps: This directory contains fill styles for use in your maps.

Documentation: Manuals and guides provided by ProFantasy live in this location.

Examples: This location contains example maps, including the example maps from this
tome.

Symbols: Here you will find all the symbols provided with CC3+. You should store your
own custom symbols here as well.

System\Drawtools: Here you can find the drawing tools used in your maps.
Directory
Templates: Templates for new maps are stored in this directory.
You can also place these
files in subdirectories below Tutorials: This directory contains the maps used for tutorials from the various manuals,
your map directory. If you including this tome.
do so, the recipient will There are more directories than the ones listed above, but we will not concern ourselves with those
need to have the same for now.
subdirectory structure as
you. This is usually not an
CC3+ path references
issue, as you will normally
distribute multiple files by Because each user of CC3+ can put the data directory wherever he wants, CC3+ needs a way to
putting them in a zip- reference this path. After all, if you create a map and send it to another user, you still want this user
archive (or similar), and to be able to see the symbols and fill styles used in the map, even if this user installed CC3+ in a
when the recipient extracts different location than you.
the archive, he will end up Similarly, if you create a map with some custom symbols or fill styles that need to be distributed
with the same structure as along with the map, you don't want to have to dictate exactly where on the recipients' computer
you had by default. these must be stored.

CC3+ Data directory To help with that, CC3 includes three special path references. The first is the #-sign. This character
refers to the CC3+ installation directory, no matter where that might be. After the introduction of
Before CC3+, Campaign
the CC3+ data directory, this is rarely used anymore.
Cartographer didn’t have a
separate data directory, The second is the @-sign, this refers to the CC3+ data directory. So, the path @Templates means
instead everything was the Templates directory inside your CC3+ data directory. This method is used to refer to all
stored in the installation standard fill styles and symbols in CC3+. This ensures that if someone else opens your map, the
directory. Tutorials written path will correctly point to his data directory, even if different from yours.
for these versions of
This tome will use these references when appropriate. If I wish to refer to the Tutorials subdirectory
Campaign Cartographer will
in your CC3+ data directory, I will write @Tutorials. The tutorial files accompanying this book are
therefore use # to refer to
stored in the Tome subdirectory inside the Tutorials directory, so that would be referred to as
elements you would expect
@Tutorials\Tome.
to be in the data directory
(@) under CC3+. The third reference is the $-sign. This is used in the same way as the @-sign, but it instead means
the location of the current map. This is very helpful when you create custom symbols and fill styles
and want to distribute these along with your map. Instead of having to tell the recipient to put these
files in a very specific location, you can instead store them inside the same directory as your map
and use the $-sign to reference them. That way, the only requirement for the recipient is that these
files are put in the same directory as the map, wherever the recipient might place it.

For now, it is important that you understand what these three symbols represent, so that you can
read them when they appear in the book. Do not worry if you are unsure on exactly how to use
them inside the program. We will have an in-depth look at that in a more appropriate chapter.

12
File types
CC3+ employs several different file types. These can all be recognized by their filename extension.
Note that most versions of Microsoft Windows® ship with the display of file extension turned off License Agreement
by default, so you may need to turn off this option to be able to see the extensions.
The license agreement can
Map Files (.FCW). These are map files from CC3+. When you save a map, it is saved in be read during the
this format. You'll find several example maps inside the main CC3+ data directory (in installation of CC3+, and
the @Examples subdirectory). Note that the CC3+ data directory is shared between all can also be found by visiting
users of the computers, so when you create your own maps, you might wish to save the ProFantasy website at
them somewhere inside your My Documents directory, or other dedicated data http://www.profantasy.com
directory instead. Under no circumstances should you save them in the CC3+ installation /service/license.asp
directory.
Compatibility Updates
Map Templates (.FCT). These are template files for new maps. A template helps you
get started by providing a file where Sheets, Layers, background, borders, tools and fill You can download free
styles have already been set up for you. Note that the actual file format is identical for compatibility updates for all
maps and templates. The extension is just different to keep them apart. You can turn old CC2 Pro add-ons you
any map into a template or vice versa by simply changing the extension. own. Just register your
original add-on at the
Symbol Catalog (.FSC). These files contain the symbols for use in your maps. Vector ProFantasy website, and a
symbols are stored inside the file, while raster symbols have external image files that download link for the
are referenced from these catalog files. Just as noted for templates above, these are also compatibility update will
ordinary maps, just with a different extension. become available in your
Raster Files (.PNG). These are image files used for the raster symbols and fill styles. registration area.
Note that the compatibility
update is the complete add-
Your Copyright on, you don’t need to install
the old add-on before
As the creator, you retain the copyright to the drawings you produce using CC3+. You may freely
installing the compatibility
distribute them, both privately and commercially, with the following proviso—you may not release
update.
maps which, in the sole opinion of ProFantasy Software, are for the purpose of redistributing CC3+
symbols. Read the license agreement for details.

Think about CC3+ as being a word processor, the symbols are fonts and the drawings are your
documents. Consider that you can use a font in a word processing program to create a document. Compatible with CC3+
The document is yours and you retain the copyright to it, however, you do not hold the copyright
The compatibility updates
to the font. You cannot distribute the font, nor can you include the font in a font collection for
for CC3+ are free if you own
distribution. The fonts, like CC3+’s symbols, are tools for you to use in order to create something
the original CC3 version of
that is uniquely yours.
the add-on. You can
download these from your
Compatibility Updates registration area. Just make
sure to pick the download
During the transition from CC2 Pro to CC3, compatibility updates were made for all the CC2 Pro which says for CC3+, and
add-ons to make these add-ons compatible with CC3. No new functionality was added in these not the for CC3 one.
compatibility updates, except for minor changes to make them work properly with CC3. These
compatibility updates were free for all owners of the original add-on. Note that none of these
compatibility updates work with CC3+.

Later, true CC3 versions were released for most of the add-ons. These were updated versions of the
add-ons, with new functionality, and built to leverage all the new features of CC3. These add-ons
contained all the functionality of the old versions, but also included additional features, like new
artwork and drawing styles.

At the time of writing this book, all CC3 add-ons have been updated to make them compatible with
CC3+. Note that these updates are much like the CC3 compatibility updates described above, they
are simply updates to make the existing CC3 add-ons work with CC3+, they are not new add-ons
nor do they contain any new functionality. Of course, development progresses, and new add-ons
are being released that are CC3+ only.

13
 The only add-ons currently not updated to V3 status are the source maps series of products. They
are still updated to be fully compatible with CC3+, but they only contain older vector-style maps
and tools, which typically look a bit simpler than the modern raster artwork.

The CC3+ Interface

When following the tutorials in this book, a good grasp on the CC3+ interface and the names of the
different interface elements are very important. These are explained in the CC3+ manual, where
you can read more about the different elements, but I’ve included the overview here for reference.

While everything in the interface are important, I’ve put the most important concepts in bold. You’ll
find frequent references to these throughout this book, and you should take care to know what they
are and where to find them.

Menu Bar Symbol Toolbar Status Bar File Toolbar

Map Type View Tools

Specific Tools

Entity Order Tools

Display Tools
Floating
Command
Prompt
Edit Tools

Draw Tools

Single Edit
and Trim
Tools
Modifier Tools

Color Bar

Command
Symbol Catalog View Window Screen Tools Modifier Locks
Line
Window

Flat Toolbars
If you prefer, CC3+ now also supports flat toolbars like those found in many modern programs
instead of the classic raised buttons.

To switch to these toolbars, simply type SETFLATTOOLBARS on the CC3+ command line and hit enter.
The command line will now prompt you with Show flat toolbars (1=Yes, 0=No) [0]:. Simply answer
the prompt by hitting 0 or 1 followed by enter, and the toolbars should immediately switch to show
using the option you selected.

14
Version Compatibility
Campaign Cartographer uses a common map format, .fcw, which works across all versions of the
program, but newer versions of the program include features that won’t work in older versions of
the programs. Convert
You’ll find a menu option
CC2 (Pro): Maps created in CC2 (Pro) will work fine in CC3 and CC3+ without
called CC2 to CC3
modifications. However, these maps usually don’t use sheets, so if you wish to add
conversion in your File
effects to the or edit them using modern drawing tools, you need to convert them. In
menu. The main feature of
addition, CC2 Pro would draw entities on the Common sheet on top of everything,
this command is to set up
instead of on the bottom as CC3(+) does, so drawing deliberately using this to their
sheets in your old map and
advantage may not look right.
assign your entities to these
CC3: Maps created in CC3 can be opened in CC2 (Pro), but bitmap fills and raster symbols so that you can edit them
will simply be missing from the map, since CC2 (Pro) doesn’t support this. Note that there using modern draw tools
won’t be any red X’es to indicate missing content, it will simply not be there. and add effects. CC3+ will
Additionally, sheet effects are not supported either. Maps from CC3 can be opened in use the layer as a basis for
CC3+ just fine, but because of the introduction of the data directory, the multi-resolution determine which sheet to
system will not work on these maps, which can result in poor graphics quality or slow put an entity on, which
redraws. This can be easily fixed by running the FFIX command on the maps, but you generally works fine, but
can’t continue to use it in CC3 after doing that. you might find that you
need to do some manual
CC3+: As with CC3 maps, these maps can be loaded up in CC2, but bitmap fills and
work, especially if you used
symbols will be missing. Because of the new data directory, which changed how paths non-standard layers in your
are handled, loading CC3+ maps in CC3 will cause the red X to show up in CC3 instead
map.
of bitmap fills/symbols.

Additional Resources
This tome contains a lot of tips that will help you in your mapmaking, but it cannot cover everything.
Perhaps you have your own ideas, but need help getting the map the way you envision it. Maybe
you are just looking for ideas? In any case, the ProFantasy community is the place to find help. The
community forum can be found at http://forum.profantasy.com/. ProFantasy also operates a mailing
list at http://www.profantasy.com/community/CC2-L.asp. You'll find both helpful community
members, as well as ProFantasy staff at both the forum and the mailing list.

ProFantasy has a Map and Catalog library at http://www.profantasy.com/library/default.asp. Here

you can find finished maps ready for use, or perhaps simply to be inspired by. The library also
contains many symbol catalogs with symbols you can use in your maps. Another great resource is
the user tutorials page at http://www.profantasy.com/community/user_tutorials.asp to find both
regular tutorials, as well as video tutorials.

For technical problems, please visit the ProFantasy technical support area located at
http://www.profantasy.com/service/technical.asp.

Another excellent source of inspiration is the Campaign Cartographer Annuals. These are premium
resources published by ProFantasy. The annuals contain tutorials, new map styles, new symbols,
new example maps and much more. The annuals are published monthly, for a total of 12 issues
each year. You’ll find more information about the annuals on page 753. GIMP
GIMP (GNU Image
For inspiration, I recommend the ProFantasy Community Atlas, found at http://atlas.monsen.cc. The
Manipulation Program) is a
atlas is a community-mapped world with all kinds of maps, like overland, city, dungeon and more.
free image editor which can
And the best part of CC3+ users is that all maps are available to download in .fcw format so you
be downloaded from
can analyze them an learn exactly how they are made.
http://www.gimp.org.
In addition to the software from ProFantasy, a good image editor is helpful for many tasks. While GIMP is Copyright © 1995-
you can use any image editor you like, I have selected to use GIMP in all the tutorials where I needed 2017 by Spencer Kimball,
an external image editor. One of the reasons for selecting GIMP is that it is both free and multi- Peter Mattis and the GIMP
platform, which should enable everyone to be able to get and install it. It also has all the features I Development Team.
need for this book, including GIF Animations, which means I can use it as the sole image editor,
although a simpler program would have sufficed for many of the tasks. For all the tutorials in this

15
 book, GIMP 2.8 was used. Note however, that this book is not about learning how to use GIMP, so
there will be no coverage of it besides straight up instructions to do the exact tasks needed for the
image manipulation required by the tutorials. As such, if you have another image editor you prefer,
and knows the basics on how to use it, you’ll be fine using that instead.

Do I need all the add-ons?

This book is quite helpful even if you only own the basic Campaign Cartographer 3+ (CC3+) program.
However, to take full advantage of absolutely everything in this book, you need the full range of
software from ProFantasy; CC3+, all of its add-ons, symbols sets and source maps, as well as Fractal
Terrains 3. Do note however that even if you do not have a particular add-on, at least skimming
through the sections for those add-ons in this book will help you learn new tricks. Subjects are
usually placed along with the add-on where they are most useful, but that does not mean that they
are not useful for other purposes too. I found it more useful to try to cover as much as possible in
this book, rather than repeat the same information multiple times, once for each add-on where you
could use it. For example, there is a tutorial in the Symbol Set 3 section of the book that handles
combining multiple map styles in one map. This information is highly useful for non-SS3 maps too,
but the procedure would be exactly the same, so it isn’t repeated in multiple places.

Panorica
This beautiful continent map was created by Mateus Buffone, using the Jon Roberts Overland style from the 2011 annual.
You can read more about this map, at the ProFantasy blog including viewing a high-resolution export.
(www.profantasy.com/rpgmaps/?p=1470).

16
CAMPAIGN CARTOGRAPHER 3+
 Brighton Region
Local overland map by Gerri Broman made with standard Campaign Cartographer 3 tools and symbols.
(With the exception of the bridge symbol, this is from the Symbol Set 2 add-on)

18
INTRODUCTION Annuals
The Cartographer’s Annual
As you read this, you are probably already familiar with Campaign
is a premium subscription
Cartographer 3+™ (CC3+™). You have installed the software, read
service providing you with a
the manual, and tried the tutorials you found within it. You might
new issue every month of
even have tried out the annuals. In any case, we will assume that
the year. The annuals cover
you are familiar with the basics of the CC3+ interface, allowing us
various topics, so even if not
to skip giving detailed explanations for the most basic tasks.
all issues in a given year are
However, this tome is intended for all CC3+ users, not just the
interesting to you, most
experience veterans, so we will start slowly. If you are one of the
people should find many
experienced veterans, you'll probably just want to skim through the
interesting issues. You can
first few tutorials.
read more about the
Campaign Cartographer 3+ (CC3+) forms the core of the Campaign annuals on page 753.
Cartographer suite of products. Using CC3+, you can create any
kind of map imaginable, including, but not limited to the following:
Basics
Overland maps in a multitude of styles, including local,
regional, continental and planetary maps. If you are not familiar with
the basics of CC3+, you
Floor plans; Modern, fantasy and futuristic. should start with the CC3+
manual instead.
Portraits and Counters.
You should find it in your
Battle Maps. @Documentation folder.

You can create all of the above in the base CC3+ software, and this tome will teach you the skills
needed to do so. However, there are several add-ons available for CC3+ that make the task of
creating specific map types easier, such as Dungeon Designer 3 for creating Dungeon, Floorplan and
Battle Maps, and City Designer 3 for creating villages, towns and huge cities. All of these add-ons
will be detailed in their own section of the Tome.

Moons
This composite image by Bill
Roach shows a brilliant,
warm, ringed gas giant with
two Earth like moons.
Both moons were created
using Fractal Terrains 3.
The moon is much smaller
than the planet, but the
perspective used for this
view makes it look larger.

19
 THE BASIC OVERLAND MAP
Let’s start this journey into the world of CC3+ by creating a basic map. We will use this map to
reacquaint ourselves with several of the core concepts of CC3+, and to explore some map-making
Tutorial techniques.
All files for this tutorial are During this tutorial, we will discuss various topics related to creating believable maps, so even if
located in the directory you feel confident enough in your mapmaking to skip doing this tutorial, I recommend giving it a
@Tutorials\Tome\Overland, quick read through even if you are not actually mapping along.
and they are sequentially
numbered, starting with
Windclaw 01.FCW, unless Maps and Magic (and Technology)
otherwise stated in the text. When it comes to fantasy, whether it be in role playing games, computer games, literature or
movies, we will often encounter magic. And if we are going to create a map for a world where
magic exists, we must also consider how this will affect our maps.

The main reason for planning for this at the current stage is that I want to make sure my maps are
believable. If I make a map for a roleplaying game, I want my players to be able to look at the map
and feel that it fits naturally in the world. This obviously also holds true for a novel.

Magic is usually encountered in maps where features not normally possible are depicted. This may
be as blatantly obvious as flying mountains and rivers that run upstream, but may also be subtle like
terrain that wouldn’t normally form in a specific area, like a lush jungle far to the north where
normally there would be taiga.

Before even planning the map, you should have an idea of how magic will affect it. If you want a
world heavily modified by magic, keep this in mind during planning, and if you want a world where
magic is more rare and low-power (or even non-existent), you should plan for a world with features
that would be believable in the real world.

Personally, I prefer worlds where magic isn’t world-altering. I find it easier to accept a fantasy world
if it makes sense to me in a real-world context, and magic feels more special if it isn’t all-pervasive.
But a high-magic world can also feel believable if the magic is properly defined up front, so it makes
sense. But whatever you do, don’t let magic become an afterthought. Retroactively explaining all
the cool features of your world with “it’s magic” as your players point them out for breaking the laws
of nature makes suspension of disbelief hard. Also, if a feature is shaped by magic, ask yourself why
someone would go through the effort to use all that magic to do this, or if it formed naturally, what
caused magic to form such a feature? Don’t let magic become just another excuse.

Windclaw Oh, and if you do Sci-Fi, this applies equally. Futuristic technology will make possible what we
You may remember cannot do today, and terraforming is a common theme, but do remember that everything takes
Windclaw from the CC3+ time, money and effort. A feature shouldn’t be there just because it is cool, there should be a
manual, as we mapped part believable reason for it.
of the coastline for our
tutorial map there. This
time, we will map the entire
Planning the Map
island. Before going ahead with the mapping, you should at the very least have a basic plan in mind. What
I actually have the entire is this location you are going to map? Where is it in the world? What geographical features would
world in Fractal Terrains 3 you find in the area? What is the scale of the map? Is it densely populated? How long have people
(see page 677) format, you been living here? What level of magic and technology do the inhabitants have? How is the mapped
can find the world file in area influenced by the off-map neighbors? What is the background for the area? How is the political
@Tutorials/Tome/FT/Virana. situation?
ftw. In the FT3 chapter we The area I am going to map for this tutorial is a large island from my own role-playing campaign.
will discuss how to export The following text briefly answers the questions from above and give us some flavor to aid in
this island from FT3 to mapping.
CC3+ instead of drawing
the coastline ourselves. The Island of Windclaw is the largest of the Windclaw Isles and also the location of the
capital of the Isles, Snowport. The group of islands is located in open sea in the northern
parts of Virana (about the same latitude as southern Norway on Earth). Windclaw is a
reasonably sized island, about the size of a moderate European country. The island is

20
 sparsely populated, with most settlements
being located along the southeastern coast, Scale
the rest of the island being untamed Maps comes in different
wilderness. Technology is early medieval, scales, such as local map,
and due to the primitive ships available, regional maps, world maps,
contact with the mainland is at a minimum, etc. When we do a map, it is
although some trade does happen. The important to identify the
current kingdom is nearly 400 years old, appropriate scale for it, and
and was founded when humans settled the decide which details to map
isles, although remains of earlier dwarven based on that. If we put too
and elven civilizations can be found by many details into the map,
those brave enough to explore the or make the symbols too
wilderness. small, the map will look
good when zoomed in, but
The very first thing we need to decide is the size of
will tend to look messy
the map. I indicated in the description that it should
when zoomed out.
be the size of a moderately sized European country,
Additionally, too many
so it is somewhat large. Note that this also tells us something about the scale of the map, it is going
details may slow CC3+
to be country-scaled, so only important details will be visible on this map. We will not be placing
down, or even cause
every minor settlement, every minor road, or every river.
crashes if you overdo it.
Based on the above description, I’ve found that my Island will be about 500 by 500 miles. However, It is therefore recommended
since the island will not be square, and because I want to show some ocean around the island, a that you only map details
map size of 800 by 800 miles seems reasonable. realistically visible from the
map scale you are making,
1. Start a new map by clicking the New button. This will bring up the familiar New Drawing and create separate
Wizard. Select the Overland Maps category and check the Decide Settings Myself option. zoomed-in maps with more
In the next steps, select a CC3 Mike Schley Overland map. Make the width 800 and the details for interesting
height 800. Leave everything else at their defaults. regions. This topic is
We could place the title, scale bar and compass rose in the map at this stage, but I prefer to discussed in The Big Edit -
do that later when I have the landmass in place. Making a Local Map from a
I’ve saved my initial map in @Tutorials\Tome\Overland as Windclaw 01.FCW. I’ll save versions Regional Map on page 56.
with incremented numbering during this tutorial, so you can check out my progress at various
points. If you do load my maps, be careful not to save over them by accident, in case you wish to Square
check out the original later. When drawing a map, be
careful to not let your

Starting the Map – Land and Sea coastlines follow the map
border too closely, as this
Obviously, the most important feature of our map is the landmass, so it is here we will start. At this tends to make your
point, our map is nothing but a vast expanse of sea, so let us do something about this. landmasses look artificial.
Always make the map big
2. Use the Default Landmass tool to draw an outline of enough to comfortably fit
your landmass similar to the illustration. You shouldn’t the landmass you desire,
spend too much time making it identical, but the rest of and do not try to fit your
the tutorial will be a bit easier to follow along if it is landmass to the map.
somewhat similar.
To produce a detailed coastline like this, you will have to Sea
place quite a few nodes manually. My landmass from the Most templates are
illustration required somewhere between 50 and 100 designed to start out with
clicks to create. It is very important to remember that you sea as a background and
can use the various zoom commands while in the middle then place land on top of
of another command, as zooming in is very important that, but if you have a good
when working on some of the more detailed sections of grasp about how sheets and
the landmass. Do note that the preview line of the effects work you can get
landmass is not visible while in the middle of executing the zoom command, so you will need interesting results by doing
to use other visual clues to decide which area to zoom in to. things differently.

21
 Let us zoom in to a part of the coastline to have a look.
Fractalization
3. Use Zoom Window to zoom in to the top left of the landmass.
Fractalization works by
adding extra nodes to If we look at the coastline here, we’ll note that the detail level is rather
increase detail. This is done low. There are lots of straight lines here, and the coastline could surely
by inserting the extra node need a bit more definition. The easiest way to do this is to apply some
midway between each fractalization to the coastline.
existing node pair, and
Do note that your landmass consists of both the main landmass polygon,
offsetting this node a bit so
as well as a blue outline. We cannot fractalize both at the same time
that the line between the
and still make the outline follow the landmass, so we need to remove
original two nodes is no
the outline, fractalize the landmass, and then create a new outline matching your newly fractalize
longer straight. This can be
landmass.
repeated multiple times
(depth), and each time the 4. Use Erase to delete the outline. If you don’t remember how to select just the outline
lines are halved, doubling without also selecting the landmass, I recommend reviewing the Selection menu chapter on
the number of nodes in the page 47, but one way of doing this is selecting the outline (which will also select
polygon. the landmass), then hit (Both), followed by (Fill Style). The prompt now
Do note that having too
reads Fill style name [dialog]:, so type solid on the command line. You
many nodes in any one
should now see that the selection count drops to 1, so complete the procedure
entity both slows down
by hitting (Do It). If you did this correctly, the outline should now be gone,
CC3+, and if you go beyond
10,000 nodes, you will start just leaving the actual landmass.
to encounter limitation in 5. Click Fractalise .
the underlying operating
Let us have a closer look at the fractalization dialog that
system, which can lead to
appears.
crashes, so be careful. You
can always use the LIST Strength determines how much variation we
command to check how introduce. If this number is too low, we will
many nodes there are in a struggle to see the result of the fractalization, but
polygon, and you can if the value is too high, the result will be very
reduce the number by using jagged. Good values range between 20 and 50.
the REDN command.
Depth is the number of times the fractalization
algorithm runs. Each run will increase the detail
Hit
level of the entity, but will double the number of
I prefer to do my selections nodes in the entity. Keep this number low!
by using the shortcut keys
because this is far faster, Wave allows a more complex fractalization algorithm to run, which will vary the
but you can accomplish the strength instead of using a fixed value
same by using the right click
Random Seed affects the random outcome of the algorithm. Changing this value will
selection menu (see the
change the result, but there are no good/bad values to use here.
Selection menu chapter on
page 47). Smoothing creates a smooth polygon instead of a regular polygon. This may improve
the end result, but a smooth polygon has a much longer redraw time than a regular
Type polygon, so be a bit careful with this option on entities with many nodes.
If you don’t know the exact 6. Set the options as shown in the image above. Click OK, then click on the coastline
name of the fill style to look to fractalize it. You may need to manually click Redraw to see the changes.
for, you could instead just DON’T click multiple times on the coastline.
have clicked the right
Compare the image to the right with the pre-fractalized coastline from step 4 above. We
mouse button, and selected
can clearly see that the fractalized coastline is much more detailed, giving a more natural
the appropriate fill style
look.
from the dialog instead.
Now, we need to add the coastal outline back. We could do this by using Outline in
black or Outline in current color, which is the standard way of adding an outline to an entity, but
since we wish to restore the look of our landmass to look like a landmass drawn by a drawing tool,
it is faster to use the Change like draw tool for this, since we don’t need to manually adjust the
properties of the outline afterwards.

22
 7. Right click Change Properties and select Change like draw tool from the popup menu.
The prompt should read Drawtool name [dialog]:. Right click to bring up the Select drawing Artifacts
tool window, and select the Land, Default tool from the list. Finally, select the landmass, Such artifacts can also occur
and hit (Do It) to complete the command. when importing a landmass
from Fractal Terrains and
trying to change the map
Artifacts style to a style using wide
After fractalizing our coastline like this and reapplying the outline, we may outlines like the Mike
end up seeing some artifacts in the outline, like the one shown in the Schley overland style.
image. These artifacts are caused by nodes being placed too close In this case, the procedure
together, where the distance between nodes are shorter than the width of to hunt them down and
the line, and can occur when already short line segments are fractalized. remove them will be the
same as after applying
The best way to remove these artifacts is to remove the outline again,
fractalization.
remove the offending nodes from the landmass, and then reapply the outline following the
Also note that this issue
instructions above.
gets worse the more
Finding the offending node can be tricky, so I generally recommend reducing the width of the outline fractalization you apply, so
to better pinpoint the location. This often requires you to repeatedly select the outline to change it is a tradeoff. More
the width slowly, so remember that you can select by prior ( ) each time instead of going through fractalization means higher
the more complicated select mechanism each time. Note that in some detailed areas, especially definition coastline, but
those with sharp corners, there may be more than one offending node. more afterwork. If you are
just making a quick map
Once nodes have been identified, you can either remove them with Delete Node or move them and can live with the fact
around with Node Edit . When removing nodes, don’t be too hesitant about removing details. If that coastlines will be a bit
a detail is smaller than the line width of the outline, it is not really going to be seen on a map of this simple when zooming in,
scale anyway, such tiny details are better saved for local maps. Likewise, don’t try to remove every you may wish to stay away
single artifact either. If an artifact is only visible at 20x zoom, it is not going to be generally visible from fractalization
on your map. altogether.

Shallow Water
Redraw
Usually, the waters near the coast is shallower than open ocean. On maps, shallow water is usually
depicted as lighter areas, while deep water is darker. There are several ways to accomplish this, To ensure the program
and it varies a little bit by map style, but generally, we can either map the shallow water by drawing remains responsive while
a light blue polygon under our landmass, very roughly following the coastline, or we can draw a you work, anything you
darker polygon on top of the parts of the sea not near our landmass. draw will always be placed
at the top, covering up the
For this particular tutorial, we will draw a semi-transparent black polygon on top of our ocean. This map, even if it is supposed
will serve to darken these parts, but we will still see the original fill through this polygon. We can to be below other items on
even layer multiple such polygons on top of each other to easily get different lightness values. We the map. Simply issue the
will also use a polygon with a lighter blue bitmap near our coast. redraw command (by
When adding shallow and deep water, remember to also consider your map’s position in the larger clicking the Redraw
world. For example, for my map, I know that the smaller island of Ilara is located just off the map to button), and CC3+ will
the east, so we wouldn’t expect to see deep water between these islands. redraw the screen, showing
entities in their proper
8. Click Coast/Sea . From the symbol catalog window, pick the Coast Outline places.
tool. Use this tool to draw an outline a little outside the landmass. Remember
that water is often shallower in bays, so in these locations you’ll usually want to
simply include the entire bay rather than follow the coastline
inside it.
You generally don’t want these water contours to be as detailed
as your coastline, so don’t try to place too many nodes.
Remember that after drawing this polygon, it will appear on top
of your landmass until you change the zoom level or Redraw
.
9. Use the Sea Contour tool to draw the outer polygon
representing deep water. When drawing this, remember that
this polygon should be drawn along the edge of the map where

23
 the deep water is, and not “over” the island like the light water polygon. Remember to take
Effects advantage of the fact that drawing tools are restricted to the map border, making it easy to
You may turn on the effects line up with the map edges.
immediately if you wish, the From the preview, the Sea Contour tool may look grey and boring, but this is because this
default effects for this map tools overlays a semi-transparent solid black fill. The effect of this is that it will slightly darken
type will fade the edges of anything it is drawn over, but apart from that, the fill below will be visible through the contour
terrain backgrounds. polygon. You can stack multiple sea contours on top of each other to create even darker
Note that since CC3+ is areas for deeper water. The great advantage of using this method is that you don’t need
much more effective when several different contours for each sea fill, you have one single tool that can both do multiple
it comes to effects, you can lightness levels, as well as fit on top of any fill.
even work with them on,
but I don’t recommend this,
simply because it is hard to Terrain Features
select and manipulate
Now that our landmass is in place, it is time to start thinking of the various terrain features we will
entities that are blurred or
find here, such as mountains and hills, rivers and lakes, and forests.
have faded edges.
For more information on The first question that arises is what to begin with, and where to place it. Personally, I prefer starting
effects, see page 63 and with the most permanent elements, the hills and mountains, then continue on with rivers and lakes,
onward. and finally place my forests and other terrain fills. For me, this is very much an iterative process
however, and I find myself going back and forth between these elements changing things up. And
Hills Background even if I am not placing any signs of civilization at this point, it is also worthwhile to start considering
what impact civilization will have on our terrain. In general, the more modern the civilization, the
We use Hills Background,
bigger impact it will have. Low-tech civilizations will tend to try utilizing the terrain to their
because we are going to
place symbols on top of it. If advantage, while higher technology levels will tend to make the terrain fit their needs. Windclaw is
a low-tech, low-magic location, so the impact of civilization is pretty light, mostly limited to
you wish, you could instead
deforestation in some areas to make room for farmland.
use Hills Fill, which fills the
area with an image that
looks like the symbols, and Highlands
skip the uses of symbols Let us start by placing our hills and mountains. While not necessary, I prefer to use a background fill
altogether. beneath the area to outline it. This allows us to have gaps in the symbols while still clearly showing
that this is a hilly or mountainous region, and I also think it looks better.
Hilly Region
Note that when initially placing these polygons, the edges may seem a bit harsh, but we will take
It is very difficult to have a
care of this with effects later.
map show two things at the
same place. For example, 10. Click Minerals/Mountains to load the hills and mountain tolls and symbols into the
how could we depict a symbol catalog window.
densely-forested hill?
We won’t be using it now, but you may note that the preview for the first entry in the catalog, the
Modern maps often
Height Contour appears to be missing. In reality, it is not, but it is a smooth polygon tool that uses a
accomplish this by using
semi-transparent white fill to lighten the area below the polygon, in exactly the same way as the
height contour lines and
Sea Contour tool darkened the sea. The preview appears blank, simply because it is based on a
solid fills. This makes them
white color placed on a white background, but I recommend you try it out.
better at conveying
accurate information, but 11. Select the Hills Background tool and use it to
they lose out on the flavor draw the background for our hilly region on
from the pretty illustrations the island. I have tried to cover an area that is
we use in fantasy maps. almost half the size of the island, leaving most
CC3+ can be used to draw of the rest for dense forests.
both kinds of maps (or any In preparation for adding effects later, I want to add the
combination of them), but mountain background to a separate sheet. The reason for this is
for this tutorial, we stick that edge-type effects, like Edge Fade only works on outer
with fantasy maps based on edges, so if multiple entities overlap, only the outer edge of
symbols, and simply accept these combined entities will use the effects, while inner edges,
that the terrain underneath like the edge between the hills and mountain background will
the forest may also be hilly be unaffected if these are on the same sheet.
even if the map doesn’t
state that clearly.

24
 12. Click Sheets and Effects and create a new sheet called LAND FEATURES 2. Place this
sheet right below LAND FEATURES in the list. Make this new sheet the active sheet. LAND FEATURES 2

13. Use the Mountains Background tool to add some mountainous regions in the Naming is important here.
middle of the hills, like those shown in the picture on the previous page. The Mountains Background
drawing tool looks for a
If you turn on effects at this stage (or work with them on), you’ll notice that there are sheet starting with the text
no effects currently applied to our mountain background. We’ll fix this later, but the quick fix is to LAND FEATURES. If the
simply add the exact same effects to LAND FEATURES 2 as the original LAND FEATURES have. current sheet name does
start with this text, the
Symbols entity will be placed on the
As we prepare to place down our first symbols in this map, there is one issue to address, and that current sheet. If the name of
is the scale of these symbols. There are no clear and defined answers here, but there are a few the current sheet does not
guidelines. start with this text, it will
default to the LAND
First of all, consider how the map is going to be used. Most maps will be used from a zoomed-out FEATURES sheet instead.
view, where the entire map can be seen at once. It is therefore important that this view look good. This trick works with most
With software such as CC3+, that features deep zoom at high quality, it is often an enticing idea to drawing tools and symbols,
make a map where you can zoom in to the tiniest detail, every tree in the forest, every building in and is very useful when you
the city. There are a couple of flaws with this idea however. One of these is map clutter. A map need to override the default
with symbols designed to look good when zoomed deep will usually look very cluttered when sheet used by the tools. Just
zoomed out. The symbols are too small to see what they represent, and there are so many of them make sure to not have this
that it just blurs together in a mess. Unless you have a very uncommon idea on how your world sheet unintentionally set
map should primarily be used, you don’t want this, you really want the world view to be clear and active when you do want
easy to understand. Another good reason for not making your symbols too small is simply mapping entities to go to the default
fatigue. If the symbols are too small, you will spend hours upon hours placing them, and spending sheet.
weeks, months or more on your map, possibly never finishing it because the amount of work. The
third reason for this not being a good idea is simply technical limitation. CC3+ can handle quite large
Below
maps with lots of details, but it too has its limitations. You may end up with an unusable map. The
recommended way of handling the desire to provide detailed maps of your world is to map in Remember that sheets are
several levels. You make a world map with an appropriate detail level and symbol scale for viewing drawn in the order of this
zoomed out, then you make more detailed regional maps, and yet more detailed local maps, using list, where the top sheet is
as many levels as you feel you need (Doing this is detailed in The Big Edit - Making a Local Map drawn first, then the next
from a Regional Map on page 56). These maps can then be linked together, so you can move sheet is drawn over that,
between them with a mouse click (See Tying your World Together – Making an Interactive Atlas on and so on. This means that
page 132). sheets further down the list
will appear on top of those
Another consideration is available space. For example, if you look at the mountainous regions from above it in the list because
my map, they are pretty small. If the area is to look nice, I do need to fit at least a handful of symbols they appear later in the
in there, a single mountain symbol doesn’t look as nice, especially if I know that there is more than drawing order.
a single peak in the area. I’m therefore going to select a scale that allows me to do this.

The general guideline for symbol scale is map width divided by 1000. Generally, this scale provides
symbols that are still legible when the map is zoomed all the way out (Zoom Extents ). However,
for world map scales, the symbols do get pretty big, which may make it difficult to map certain
details. When faced with this, remember what we talked about earlier, legibility of the map when
zoomed out. A world map should not normally contain every minute detail in any case. Look at a
world map of the earth, or just your own country, and you’ll quickly see that lots of details have
been left out. These details are found in regional and local maps instead. So, if you cannot fit the
symbol, consider if the detail should be there on this map scale at all. However, a general guideline
is no absolute rule. My personal recommendation is to try to place a few symbols at the
recommended scale, study them a bit, then perhaps try with slightly smaller symbols, and work
your way down until you have found an appropriate size. In most cases, I would not recommend
going far below half the scale found by using the general guideline. If you do that, you quickly run
into the problems described earlier, like clutter and mapping fatigue.

Another thing to remember is that there is no need to keep every symbol in the map the same scale.
Varying the scale is fine. After all, not all mountains are the same size, are they? You can use varying
scale to indicate the relative sizes of the features you are mapping.

25
 Finally, remember that this is your map. Consider the guidelines and issues discussed above, but in
Default Scale the end, chose what works best for your map. This flexibility is part of what makes CC3+ so powerful.
Remember that the default
After some consideration and testing, I’ve found that the default scale of 0.8 works pretty well for
scale is map width divided
this map, with the exceptions of the mountains. The mountainous areas are quite small, and
by 1000, so since our map is
Windclaw doesn’t have any really tall mountains either, so I reduced the scale of the mountains to
800 miles wide, the default
0.5.
symbol scale for this map is
800/1000 = 0.8. 14. Pick one of the large mountains to serve as a centerpiece of our
mountain range. For my map, I expanded the Mountain lrg sc
Place the Mountain Symbol collection and picked the Mountain large sc 3 symbols for this.
Remember that most Now, with the symbol on the cursor, right click somewhere in the
symbols choose their own map window, this will bring up the Symbol Parameters dialog.
sheet by default, usually the Change the X and Y scale to 0.5, then click More.
SYMBOL sheet, unless you Finally, place the mountain symbol roughly in the middle of the
have turned off this option. largest mountain background.
For this map, we’ll want
15. Now use the Mountain sml sc collection to place additional mountains symbols to fill up the
them to go to the default
various mountain background areas. Make sure to overlap the mountains so you cover most
SYMBOL sheet.
but not all of the area. Don’t worry if your mountains extend a little bit beyond it either,
especially the peaks at the top is supposed to do so.
Collection
Now, you hopefully remember the lesson from the CC3+ manual
Remember that symbols are
about symbol placement. To make symbols overlap correctly, you
often grouped into
should always work from north to south, and from west to east. If
collections. A +-sign in the
you don’t do this correcly, you’re going to have some weird looking
upper left corner signifies
overlaps in your map, where the base of a mountain may overlap
that this is a collection, and
the peak of the mountain south of it.
by clicking that +-symbol,
the collection will expand. However, there are times when working in this order is
Clicking the --sign on the problematic. We have a good example right now, where I wanted
now expanded collection to place a central larger mountain, and work the others in around
will collapse it again. it. The image to the left illustrates how my mountain area came
An R right below the +-sign out when doing just that. It looks mostly ok, but there is at least
means that this is a random some weird overlap at the peak of the large mountain. Let us fix
collection, and CC3+ will it by having CC3+ sort the symbols automatically for us.
pick a new random symbol
from the collection each
16. Select Sort Symbols in Map from the Symbols menu. Now,
select all the mountain symbols in the map, before
time you place one, this
helps greatly in avoiding executing the command with Do It ( ).
monotony in the map. Note After running the command, you should find your mountain symbols nicely ordered and all weird
that the random pick only overlaps gone. For a small patch of symbols like this, we could have just fixed it manually by using
works when the collection is the Send Behind and Bring in Front of commands, but the sort symbols in map command is really
collapsed, expand it to work helpful when handling large areas of symbols. When working with symbol ordering like this, do
with the individual symbols remember that it only affects the ordering within a sheet. If symbols are placed on different sheets
manually. you can’t reorder them in relation to each other, you would have to move them to the same sheet
You can read more about first.
symbol features and symbol
collections in the Using 17. Fill the Hills Background area with various hill symbols.
Symbols chapter on page I’ve used both the Foothills and Hills symbols, and I’ve
91. varied the scale between 0.5 and 0.8 to create hills of
various sizes, and to easier make the symbols fit the area
without extending too far beyond it, or leaving too large
empty spots. I’ve also mostly used random symbols, but
near the edges I manually picked symbols for best fit
instead.
When you are done, you may need to use Sort Symbols
in Map again to fix any overlap between the hills and
mountain symbols. Remember to select both groups of
symbols when doing this.

26
Rivers and Lakes
Natural
Before placing rivers, let us talk a little about how rivers flow. This allows us to ensure that the rivers
Most fantasy worlds follow
we place on the map look natural. Most obviously, rivers run downwards. They do this because of
real world physics, which
gravity. Gravity is basically the single force that causes the rivers to flow, and gravity points
means natural features
downwards. If the river reaches a low point, it will fill up, becoming a lake if large enough, and the
should also behave like in
river will continue to flow from the lowest possible point. Therefore, rivers generally start in the
the real world. Even in a
highlands, like mountainous areas.
world filled by magic, the
Secondly, rivers follow the path of the least resistance. It does not form S-shapes in the terrain just laws of physics normally
because it looks good. Interesting shapes definitely exist, but they're not found on every river. Third, still hold true. Following
rivers do not generally split. Rivers often join, causing small rivers to become larger rivers as they this principle makes our
flow down the land, but only very rarely do they split, except for lowland river deltas. This is because maps look much more
of the principles above. A river will follow the lowest and easiest path, and if some water can run believable than having a lot
along a certain path, then all the water will tend to follow the same path. Furthermore, rivers dig of strange features, and
into the terrain, enlarging the riverbed, and over the millennia, will cause the major pathways to blaming it all on magic. This
enlarge enough to handle all the water, causing the smaller paths to dry out. Only in the lowlands approach also makes the
do we typically see rivers split, in the form of river deltas right before running out into the ocean. true magic-affected fea-
Note that these are general rules, and exceptions certainly exists, but if your map consists of more tures stand out properly.
exceptions than common features, it starts to look unnatural.
Gravity
Lakes follow the same rules as rivers. A
lake is often formed by several rivers The force enacted by gravity
running into it, but normally there will on a river depends on the
only be a single river running out of any angle of the riverbed. The
lake. This is due to the same reasons for steeper the angle, the more
rivers not splitting, as explained above. force gravity enacts on the
Also remember that lakes don’t form out water, and the faster and
of nowhere, it will normally have at least more violent the river will
one river feeding it, and most lakes will run. While normally not
also have an outlet, even though it required for map-making,
might not be in use year-round, you can calculate the force
depending on the rainfall patterns along applied by gravity by
the feed rivers. calculating the component
vector of the rivers direction
Windclaw doesn’t have any great lakes, (Given by the angle of the
but there are a few medium ones near river bed), parallel to the
the coast. Do note that at this scale, a gravity.
lake needs to be of a reasonable size to
be visible at all. For this map, I set the
limit at about 2 miles, any lake with
dimensions smaller than this will not be
shown. Keep this fact in mind when you
plan local maps, since such smaller
features may show up on those.

18. Right click on the Default River button and select the River, Lake drawing tool. Use this
to draw a number of lakes like in the above image.
If you decide to draw larger lakes than I did, I recommend that you keep a close eye on the
dimensions of the lake. This island is pretty large, so it is easy to fall into the trap of drawing
a lake that is much larger than you really intended. The Distance tool from the Info menu is
of great help here.

For the rivers, we will lay down a little effort to make them look nice. The Mike Schley overland
style comes with 4 different rivers of varying sizes but to make nice rivers, we shouldn’t just draw
individual rivers of varying sizes, instead, we should make our river grow as it is fed by additional
tributaries. To do this, we need to work on the individual pieces of the river. We’ll work on the large
eastern river during this tutorial. You can see the finished result in the screenshot above. Use it to
identify the location of the zoomed in detailed views if needed.

27
 19. Use the River, Default drawing tool to draw the main river,
Attach starting approximately at the border of hills background,
The attach feature in CC3+ and ending a little bit away from the coast. Ensure that you
is a helpful feature that place the nodes so that the ends of the river points directly
helps you place a node toward the mountains and coastline respectively. Make
exactly in relation to sure to place enough points to make it appropriately windy.
another object. Due to the 20. Use River, Small to draw tributaries feeding into the main
fact that CC3+ allows river. If you want to, you can use Attach to position the
nearly infinite zoom, it is ends, but for this, you can simply just place them. Just make
basically impossible to sure to place them so that the ends are hidden below the
place two nodes in the main river, and watch the angles, rivers rarely merge at
exact same location by angles of 90 degrees and above.
manual placement. When
this is needed, we can use As you can see, I have deliberately made paths between the
the attach command to do symbols for my rivers, this looks much better than the symbols covering the river. If you don’t
have any appropriate paths for your rivers, use Move, Scale, Rotate to nudge them a
this. When we place a node
with attach enabled, CC3+ little and make room. Also make sure to hide the start of the rivers behind hill and mountain
will check if there is an symbols where possible, it generally looks better if the river appears from behind a mountain
entity inside the pick cursor. as compared to seeing the actual starting point of the line.
If there is, the new node will If the lake ends up below one of the river lines, use Bring to Front to place it back on top,
snap to this entity exactly. remember to include both the outline and the fill.
Attach supports several 21. Now, we need to divide the main river into separate parts, so we can apply different
options, which allows us to thickness to the different sections, thereby creating a widening river. For this river, we will
snap the node to the divide it into three sections.
nearest point on the entity,
To split the river, we will use the Split command. Start by clicking Split , then select
or the nearest endpoint, or
the river. The command prompt should immediately change to Split entity at point:. Now,
the midpoint of the entity,
click on the river at the point where the tributary coming from the lake joins it. You won’t see
among others. Note that
anything happen visually, but the line representing the river is now divided into two parts.
attaching does not imply a
permanent relation Next, use Split again. This time, make
between the nodes. If you sure to select the river above the first
use attach to snap the end split point (blue and purple in the
of a river to the coastline, illustration), and split it where the next
the end of the river will not tributary joins it.
move if you later move the The image to the right uses colors to
coastline, but will have to show the different parts of the rivers. The
be repositioned manually. split points should be where the color
changes.
22. Finally, use Change Properties on the three parts of the river. Set the line width of the
bottom segment to 2.4, use 2.0 for the middle segment, and 1.6 for the upper segment.
If you look closely after doing this you may see the points where the line width changes, but
this won’t be visible when zoomed out, and the map is not intended to be viewed this close
normally. If you wish, you could obviously just split the river into more parts to have finer
grained steps. Additionally, by taking care where the tributaries join, you can also use them
to partially cover up the edges.
23. For the last part, we will add a river delta at the end of the
river, where it runs into the sea.
Start by using the River, Stream drawing tool, and draw
four minor rivers from the end of the main river and to the
coastline. Take care when placing the start so that the flat
end of the main river is obscured. This is one of those
situations where manual placement is the key, using Attach would have attached them to
the middle of the line, which would not have looked right.

28
 After placing the four main arms of the delta, continue by placing some additional smaller
arms in the delta, and then use Change Properties to bring the
width of these secondaries down to 0.4. Then use Split on the main
arms, and increasing the line width of their upper parts to 0.8. This
ensures that the delta is constructed from a number of lines of different
thicknesses.
24. Since the areas around a river delta is often wetlands, I used the Terrain
Default, Marsh drawing tool to add a little swampland around it.
Note that to make the edge of the marsh follow the coastline, you need to use the Trace
functionality of the drawing tool. This functionality allows your drawing tool to precisely
follow along with another path in your drawing. Which Way
Tracing is quite simple, but a common mistake is that people do not realize that the exact As you can easily see, there
point they use to select an entity is also important, not just which entity they select. Trace is are always two routes one
one of the utilities which uses this point, and in the case of Trace, it uses this point to can take between two
determine which way around an entity it shall follow while tracing. points on the coastline,
Start the drawing tool as usually, and start the drawing somewhere inland. Start drawing either we can follow the
normally, but as you approach the coastline, look at the command line. It reads Next Point coastline clockwise from
(DEL – back, T- Trace):. Hit the key to start tracing. The command line changes to Entity the first to the second, or
we can follow it counter-
to trace:. At this point, you should select the coastline, but it is important that you select it
clockwise. If the two points
by clicking on a point of it where you wish the marsh to follow along, in other words,
are close to each other, one
somewhere closer to the delta than the edge of your marsh.
of the routes will be very
The command line now changes to Starting point of portion: and CC3+ draws a line from
short, while the other will
the current last node of your marsh to the coastline. You should pick a point along the
be very long indeed, around
coastline as close to your last marsh node as possible because you’ll want to start the trace
almost the whole island.
next to it. Note that CC3+ will only allow you to select points along the coastline right now,
Trace always use the
so even if you click outside it, CC3+ will pick the closest point on the actual coastline, so you
direction that goes through
don’t have to be perfectly precise for this click.
your selection point, so if it
Once the starting point has been picked, you’ll need to pick the point to end the trace. The takes the wrong way
command line will read Ending point of Portion:. While waiting for you to pick the ending around, it is because you
point, CC3+ will continually recalculate the trace each time you move your mouse, which selected the entity in the
may cause the program to be a little bit sluggish during this procedure. However, just as for wrong location.
picking the starting point, the ending point will always be on the actual entity you traced, so
you can just click to pick the end point once you find the preview line to show the correct
section you want to trace, you don’t have to actually click on the coastline. Just keep an eye
on the preview line, and click to finish when it looks good. If you see that your preview line
takes the wrong way around the island, it is because you selected your coastline in the wrong
spot, as explained earlier.
Once you are done with the trace, simply finish drawing the rest of the marsh normally.
25. Add the two eastern rivers. These are much simpler than the main river we just made, but
you should use the river widening technique we just explored. Check out the image on page
27 to see how my rivers look. I plan to add a city where the southernmost map runs into the
bay, so this one is particularly important if you want to follow my map closely.

Forests and Vegetation

The last feature to be added to our map before we start thinking about civilization is vegetation,
mostly forests. By its very nature, vegetation is very short-lived when compared to the other
features we have added to the map so far, and is also the one most easily changed by intelligent
life. This means that for this step, we must very much consider the civilization that lives here. For
my island, the civilization here isn’t large enough nor advanced enough to make huge changes in
the vegetation, but they have probably cleared a bit around their cities and villages, to use for
building materials, ships, firewood and furniture. I also want the main settlements to be a bit more
in the open, and not all hidden inside large forests, so I am going to make the inhabited parts of the
island a bit lighter forested, while the rest of the island will be heavily forested.

Since this island is quite a bit north, I am going to use mostly coniferous forests, with a little bit of
deciduous trees mixed in.

29
 To create a nice-looking forest, starting with the forest tools is a good idea. When using the tool,
Trees without Trunks keep in mind that the treetops tends to stick up a bit over the top of the area you define, and also
The tree symbols without that the tool draws a smooth polygon. After using the tool, you end up with a forest with a very
trunks are meant to hide regular edge. To make this look more natural, you should scatter some smaller groups of trees
behind other symbols. If you outside the main forest, to show how the forest thins out, and prevent it from looking more like a
look at a forest, you can wall of trees. You’ll find both the forest tools, and the single trees in the Vegetation catalog. Just
only see the trunks of the make sure to not use the trees without trunks unintentionally.
foreground trees anyway,
26. Use the Pine Forest Tool and the
for the back trees only the
Mixed Forest Tool from the
tops are visible.
Vegetation catalog to fill the
These trunkless trees are
northern and western portions of
mostly an artifact of the
the island with forests.
past these days. In the days
of Campaign Cartographer Make sure to not draw too tight up
2, all symbols were vector against the rivers, coastline and
symbols, and the time it hills, this can very quickly make the
took to display a vector map look cluttered and hide other
symbol on screen depended features. Remember, these forests
on its complexity. will be the representation of the
Therefore, it was sensible to main forest, there can still be forests
cut out parts not really in an area even if it is not covered
needed, and for trees, in tree symbols. In fact, lighter
which usually are quite forests and smaller patches of trees
numerous, removing all the would probably not be visible on a
hidden trunks gave a map of this scale anyway.
noticeable improvement, 27. Use the single trees and small
especially on slower groupings from the same catalog to
computers. add forests to areas too small to fill
Note that the forests with the drawing tool, and to break
created by the forest tools the monotony along the forest
consists largely of these edges.
trees, mostly of the large
Again, make sure to not overdo it. You are mainly trying to break up the edges of the main
chunks of trees, if the area
forests, not fill every remaining space with tree symbols.
is large enough to support
them. The use of single 28. Use the small groupings of mixed trees and various single trees to create a lightly forested
symbols with many trees look along the southeast coastline.
instead of using only 29. Place a scattering of single pine trees among and on the hills, to make them look a bit less
individual trees is also a barren
performance issue, it is far
faster to draw one large 30. Finally, place a few Swamp Tree symbols in the swamp we placed at our delta earlier.
symbol on the screen After placing the forests, don’t be afraid to edit the forests drawn by the drawing tool. Unfortunately,
compared to 30 small ones. these tools doesn’t have an edit option like other drawing tools, such as the landmass tool, but you
can delete and place trees manually to manipulate them. Be aware that they usually consist of large
chunks of trees, but feel free to replace these by using the smaller chunks available in the catalog,
or simply use individual trees. If you do this, you may find that they are overlapping wrongly. If so,
you should use the Sort Symbols In Map command, which we used on our mountains on page 26.

30
Rule of Man
At long last, the time for civilization has come. With all the natural features in place, we can now
start to place roads, settlements, ruins and other elements that signifies civilization.

Before starting on this step however, remember that what we have done so far is not unchangeable
or irreversible. If we find that a spot would be perfect for a city if it wasn’t for that pesky river, well
then, move that river. Just make sure the new position follows the rules and logic you have
established earlier to keep everything believable. Of course, if you move a river, you have two
options. The first one is simply that the river was always like that. After all, if you haven’t already
published maps with the river in the original position, there is no reason to place any significance
on the original location, just consider that a first draft. The other option is, of course, that the people
of the city moved it, using dams, pipes, canals and/or magic. This is also an interesting option, and
serves to showcase how civilization affects the land around it. For my part, a lot of such ideas arrive
while mapping. When I start out I usually have a rough idea of what I want, and when I am done
with the map I find myself with a lot of interesting location and story hooks for my game. In this
way, my mapping affects the story just as much as my story affects my maps.

Cities, Towns and Villages

Before placing cities, I tend to think a little bit about means of travel in the area, as this affects the
logical placement of cities. Secondly, how long ago the area was settled is also important. For
example, in the early periods of settlements, there are not many roads, and travel by sea is usually
the easiest option if water is nearby. This leads to many of the settlements being coastal. But if the
water and coastal cliffs are particularly rough, then perhaps this led to inland travel being important,
and forced the creation of a more encompassing road network. Obviously, the presence or absence
of tamed horses (or equivalents, like camel, elephants, trucks, etc.) also says something about the
viability of using roads for transporting goods.

Windclaw is a young kingdom. The first human settlers arrived here less than 400 years
ago by ship. They came from a continent that must be considered far away given the
current technology level, so ships back and forth to the “home” continent are limited to a
few convoys a year, but their familiarity with the ways of the sea meant that they spread
along the coastline using ships, meaning that most cities and villages are coastal in nature.
Today, there is also a road along the coast, but in reality, it is much more like a trail than a
road by any standard. Fishing remains the most important source of food, although hunting
and farming is also important, paving the way for some inland settlements, especially in
the fertile lowlands near the capital of Snowport.
31. Click Structures to load the Structures catalog, which contains settlement symbols, roads,
and other artificial elements.
Before placing the first settlement symbols, let us look at what we have available; City, Town, Village
and Hamlet. This gives us four levels to work with. Now, the first thing to remember is that these
are only symbol names for internal use in CC3+, they won’t be visible to viewers of the map so don’t
make decisions on which symbol to use based purely on that name. At this point, I’ll also like to
consider how to handle settlement symbols on regional and local maps. This is important because
local maps provide a greater level of detail, and will thus have smaller settlements visible on the
map than we can see on the current map. One school of thought is that we should use the same
symbols for the same settlement on all detail levels. This is certainly possible, but if we do this, we
can’t use the full range of symbols on this map, since we need to save some levels for more detailed
maps. The advantage here is obviously that using the same symbol on every detail level looks more
logical, it can be a bit weird seeing the same settlement using a city symbol on one map and village
symbol on another. The other school of thought is to vary the definition of a city depending on the
detail level and relative population of the area, which means that on a world map a settlement
might need to have 500.000 inhabitants to use the city symbol, while on a local map maybe only
100.000 is enough. This might lead us to use the city symbol on a local map, but on the world map,
the same settlement might only get a village symbol. I am fond of the latter approach, since it opens
up the full range of symbols on each detail level, and this is also the approached used by many

31
 modern maps. Do note that this does not force us to use the whole range on each map, but it gives
Represent us more flexibility.

Another issue when placing the city symbol is exact placement. The city symbol is usually much
larger than the actual space taken up by the city it represents, and it rarely matches the exact shape
of the city as well. This is an issue you always will encounter when using symbols to represent map
elements, and is not just for cities, but also terrain features like mountains. My advice here is that if
you really need exact placements, you should consider a modern-style map instead, if not, we just
need to accept the fact that both location and sizes are approximate. Another issue that makes the
position even more approximate is that you usually don’t want to obscure other features with the
Symbol size vs. actual city
city symbol, such as the coastline or rivers. A prime example here is the capital of Snowport, which
size; The actual city area is
actually spans both sides of the river, and hugs the coast. Because I also consider the coast and river
illustrated as the tiny red
important features that I don’t want to obscure, the city symbol will be placed as close to the coast
polygon right below the city
as possible, on the north side of the river. I find this an acceptable compromise, and if I need to see
symbol. If the city symbol
more precisely how the city is positioned by the river, I can look at the city map.
was that tiny, it would have
shown up as a tiny Even if I have the whole range of settlement levels available to me, as per our discussion on the
unidentifiable spec on the previous page, I am still going to stick with the town symbol for Snowport. Even though it is the
map, illustrating the need capital of the Windclaw Isles, it is still quite small, and using the town
for the oversized symbols. symbol instead of the city symbol helps convey this information.
Even the simple dots on
modern maps are enormous
32. From the symbol catalog window, pick the Town Walled n
symbol, and place it right north of the point where the
compared to the city they
southernmost river runs into the bay. For my map, I found that it
represent.
fitted slightly better if I mirrored it. Before placing the symbol,
Note that the river is also
you may also wish to check that the current symbol scale is 0.8
wider than the actual river
(The default scale for this map)
here, again sacrificing a bit
of accuracy to aid 33. Populate the rest of
readability. the coastline with
settlements. For my
map, I’m only using
Modern-style the southeast
coastline for this, as
For modern style maps, the
per the world lore I
Symbols Set 3 – Modern
defined earlier.
add-on is recommended
Remember that if
since it contains tools and
you expand the
symbols for modern maps,
individual
but since modern maps are
collections by
mainly based on simple
clicking on the +
lines, solid fills and no
symbol in the top
symbols, you can also do it
left corner, this
in CC3+ without any add-
gives you access to
ons, but with a little more
the varicolor
work when you don’t have
versions of the
the predefined tools from
symbols.
SS3.
For my map, I stuck
mostly with the
regular coloration,
but I did use a
varicolor symbol to create a green-roofed inland village. I also stuck with non-walled village
symbols for the rest of the settlements, as I found that the size of the other settlements visible
on this map are all comparable of size, so I didn’t use the hamlet symbol this time.

We should allow for a bit more man-made structures than just towns and villages though. I want
some strongholds for local lords, and I also want there to be some traces of previous civilizations
More on next page …
on the island.

32
 34. Find the Stronghold n symbol in the symbol catalog window, and place a couple of them on
the island. I am sticking with only the southeast coast being inhabited, and since most Mirrored
villages are around the coast, I stuck these more inland, close to the hills. Remember that you can
35. Finally, to add some traces of previous civilizations, and thus also add some mystique to the bring up the Symbol
map, place a few symbols up in the hills. I placed a Ruined Tower n, a Monolith n, a Cairn Parameters dialog by right
n and an Obelisk n symbol. clicking in the drawing area
with a symbol on your
cursor. To mirror a symbol
Roads around the vertical axis, just
The final touch of civilization needed for this map will be the roads tying the various settlements click the Mirror button.
and places together. You’ll see that the X scale
becomes negative.
Roads are a very important element of any map, because they show lines of communication. People
If you want to mirror along
tend to travel along routes that are fast and easy if possible, so the location of roads usually also tell
the horizontal axis
us something about the terrain. For example, a curve in the road often indicates that there is a hill
(normally not done in
or steep segment blocking the straight path, or some other obstacle which is easier to go around
overland maps), you must
rather than through.
instead check the
It is important that you keep this in mind when you draw your roads. You don’t need to explain Independent X and Y
every curve in the road, people will expect there to be curves, but if the major road of the kingdom option, and then just
passes over the highest peak in the mountain range, people would start to wonder why, since it change the sign of the Y
would be a very hard route to travel, especially with cargo. Similarly, if you have a big open plain, scale to make that negative
but you let the road follow the edge of the forest on the outskirts of the plain instead of crossing instead.
straight over, viewers of the map are going to wonder why. This example is a design choice that Note that almost all
might have looked visually good at the map when you drew it, but clashes with the established overland symbols are
behavior of mankind, and thus requires a good explanation. designed with a clear up
and down, so they should
You’ll find the drawing tools for roads in the Structures catalog (or you can right click Default
usually never be rotated.
Road ). It is difficult to see from the preview in the symbol catalog window, but the Road Minor
Even if you can sometimes
tool will draw a dashed line, while Road Major will draw a solid line. Dashed lines are commonly
fit the symbol a little better,
used to denote trails in maps, so I will use the Road Minor for this purpose. As noted earlier, the
it usually ends up looking
road network on this island is not very well developed, and consists mostly of trails, but there is
very strange.
also a small section of better roads near the capital.

Drawing roads is probably one of the simplest things we will do for this map, but there is one minor Smooth
issue we need to take care of before drawing them. Personally, I like to have the ends of the roads Remember that a smooth
hidden beneath the settlement symbols, and often, I also like to draw a long road between a chain path will use the nodes you
of settlements by simply drawing a single long road, and just let it look like separate road segments place to draw smooth
by having it disappear below the settlements. However, the Mike Schley style draws the road on curves between them, but
top of symbols by default so we need to fix this, otherwise my way of drawing roads looks really the line will rarely actually
awful. go through the node. This is
36. Click Sheets and Effects and move the ROADS sheet up in the lists so that it rests especially important if you
want a settlement or other
between RIVERS and SYMBOLS.
symbol to sit on a curve,
37. Use the Road Major tool to draw a road that roughly follows the coastline, starting in the you’ll probably need to
capital, moving through the first village to the north, and ending in the second village. If you place the actual node well
start and end the road in the middle of the symbols, the ends will be hidden nicely. Also, outside the symbol.
remember that the road tool draws a smooth line, so take care when drawing the road Do remember that you can
through a settlement that it actually goes through as desired. use Node Edit to move
38. Now use the Road Minor tool to continue the road along the coastline all the way up to the the node if necessary, but
northernmost settlement. Similarly, draw the southbound road from the capital to the you’ll probably need to turn
southern settlements. Finish up by drawing minor roads to connect the inland settlements on frames ( + ) to
and strongholds. actually find the node to
edit.

33
 Bridges
Now, the road crosses a river, and there are bridge symbols in the catalog. Should we use them?

Personally, I tend not to, especially on large-scale maps like this one. Bridges are such tiny features
compared to the villages and would only clutter this map. It is a fair assumption that a bridge exists
everywhere a road crosses a river anyway, so I prefer to leave out the bridge symbols at this scale
unless it is an especially important bridge, perhaps due to historical reasons. In my case, I know that
the bridge is actually inside the city as well, which would make the symbol even more out of place
once you start looking at local and city maps, although that fact is certainly not discernable from
this map alone.

In the end, it is up to you. For this feature, I would say it is mostly about an aesthetic choice, use it if
you feel it improves the visuals of the map, but don’t be afraid to drop it either.

Final Touches
The map is nearing completion, but there are a few final touches to do. Note that we will not talk
any further about effects for now, nor will we be adding text to the map, those subjects need
chapters of their own, but we need to add a few informational and decorative elements to our map.

Scale Bar & Compass Rose

Without a scale bar, it is extremely difficult to get an understanding of the size of the map and the
distances it shows. One very important thing when placing the scale bar is to make sure it is
accurate. While other symbols can be placed down using whatever scale you think fits best, the
scale bar needs to be accurate, and have a sensible scale, you don’t really want a scale bar which is
58.37 miles long or something like that.

39. The scale bar symbol is already referenced in the template, so click Symbols in Drawing
and select the Scalebar 1 n symbol.

34
 With this symbol at your cursor, right click inside the drawing area to bring up the Symbol
Parameters dialog. Most overland scale bars in CC3+ are scaled to be 100 miles long at
scale 1.0. However, a thin scale bar like this one might look a bit tiny if we use that scale,
and considering the importance of the scale bar, it should be visible. So, set the scale to 2.0.
This will create a scale bar which is 200 miles long, which works out nicely both for the total
length, and the individual divisions on the bar.
Click More and place the scale bar in the bottom right corner. This particular scale bar does
not come with any kind of text, so we need to add some information about the scale. We’ll
handle this in the next chapter when we do the rest of the text for the map, so we leave it
text-less for now. Just make sure to position it so that there is room for some text both above
and below it.

Next, we need a compass rose. Most maps are designed with north at the top of the map, so usually
it is just a matter of dropping one into the map, we don’t need to take as much care as we did with
the scale bar. If you are designing a map where north is not at the top, do make sure to rotate the
compass rose appropriately so that it doesn’t convey false information.

40. Pick the Compass Rose 2n symbol, and position it above the scale bar. For my map, I made
this in scale 3.0, but there is no need to be as precise as we did with the scale bar, so feel
free to hold down and do a visual scale instead.

Decorations
The last step is to add some decorative elements for the more empty areas of our map. For this map,
that means mostly the sea, since I’ve filled up most of the landmass with other details. You’ll find
many decorative symbols in the Coast/Sea and Borders/Political catalogs. Some of these
symbols have geographical, economic or political meanings, while others are pure decorations.

The economic symbols are especially useful if you are creating a trade map. What I will sometimes
do here is to create a new sheet, and put all the trade symbols on that, and perhaps also some Hotspots
arrows to indicate the actual routes, and then give this sheet a strong glow effect or other effect Hotspots are active areas in
that will ensure that the symbols stand out. I will then keep this sheet hidden for normal map use your map you can click to
to ensure it doesn’t interfere with the usability and visuals of the map, but unhide it each time I need execute a macro. You’ll find
to concern myself with the trade information. This way, a single map can serve multiple purposes. more information about this
For easy access to these informal sheets, you can even create hotspots in your map which you can in the Tying your World
click to automatically show or hide these sheets. Together – Making an
41. From the Coast/Sea catalog, pick appropriate symbols to decorate the waters with. I’ve Interactive Atlas chapter
been using waves, icebergs, ice packs, a sea monster, a spout, a trade ship and an anchor to starting on page 132.
mark the harbor near the capital. I do plan to have the title of the map in the top left corner,
so I left an empty spot there for that.

And that is it. The map itself is basically done. What remains is to add text labels to the map, which
we will do in the next chapter. We will also be talking a little bit about tweaking the effects in a
later chapter.

35
 The Basic Overland Map Review
Don’t be afraid to place many nodes manually when crating the coastline, this makes it
easier to get the outline you want.

Use fractalization to increase the definition level of your coastline, but don’t overdo it,
the coastline of a single large landmass should normally be between 1000 and 5000
nodes, and going beyond 10000 may cause various unexpected problems, like crashes.

Make sure the map is believable from a real-world perspective. Most people can handle
a certain amount of suspension of disbelief, but if too much of the map is based on
“unnatural” features (like magic or very advanced technology) it loses its credibility.

Concentrate on features that are visible on the current map scale. You can’t fit every
village on a kingdom map, this is what regional and local maps are for. Remember, your
kingdom map is supposed to look good when looking at the kingdom as a whole, not
only when zoomed in to a specific area.

DON’T try to map out your entire world/continent in minute detail. You’ll probably burn
yourself out long before you are done. Instead, make a high-level world/continent map
with a reasonable amount of detail, then make regional maps of the interesting regions
from this map, and again, make local maps only from the interesting areas from the
regional maps. This way, you end up with overview maps which gives a good look at
the whole world, and detailed maps where it matters.

36
ALL ABOUT TEXT Text Properties
Height sets the height of a
Once completed, a map needs labels. Unless it is a highly specialized or very mysterious document,
capital letter. The default
people looking at it will need to have the features in the map identified. With a few tips and tricks
text height is 0.2 units high.
to work with, you can add text to your map to both enhance its usefulness and its appearance.
Angle sets the angle at
which text will be drawn.
Placing Text Spacing sets the baseline of
new text entities. The
Using either the drawing we just completed in The Basic Overland Map default spacing of each new
(@Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Windclaw 08.FCW) or opening a new drawing, let’s explore placing text. text entity is specified at
1. Click Text Specs . 150% of its height below
the last text. Stretch sets the
The Text Properties dialog opens. proportion of the text entity.
It is in this dialog that the text properties are set. Labels can be made using the fonts already The default stretch is 1 unit.
available in the Font list, or fonts A value of 2 would produce
can be added to the drawing by text that is twice as wide as
clicking More Fonts. normal. Use New Metrics
If you’re following along with enables enhanced text
The Basic Overland Map from handling. Text heights for
the previous chapter, set the text TrueType® fonts will be
properties as follows: more closely matched over a
wider variety of typefaces.
Height: 8.8
Justify sets text baseline
Angle: 0 justification. For Character
style, select the checkboxes
Spacing: 120 for the desired effects for
Stretch: 1.15 the selected font.

Justify: Top Left More Fonts

Font: Baskerville Old Face The fonts aren’t added to
the drawing per se, but are
2. Once the desired text properties have been set,
made available in the Font
click OK.
list for use in the drawing. If
3. Click Text . the drawing is created using
The current sheet changes to TEXT and the Edit a non-standard font and the
Text dialog opens. CC3+ file is viewed on a
computer that does not
4. Type in the text then click OK. For The Basic have that font installed, the
Overland Map, the example uses Snowport as the text will display in Arial.
first label. The text is held on the cursor at its insertion point.
5. Click in the drawing where you wish the text to be placed. In our example drawing, we put Baskerville Old Face
the label next to the city symbol. If Baskerville Old Face isn’t
in the list of fonts already
loaded, we need to add it.
To load Baskerville Old Face
into the current drawing,
click More Fonts, then select
the System Tab. Scroll down
to Baskerville Old Face.
Click to highlight Baskerville
Old Face, then click OK.
Make sure Baskerville Old
Face is selected as the
current font.

More on next page…

37
 Text glow
Edit Text
The default sheet effects in the CC3+ Mike
Put a check in the box for
Schley style provide for a pronounced outer
Multi-line if you wish the
glow around entities placed on the TEXT
text label to be more than a
sheet, as well as a drop shadow. This serves
single line. Text Properties is
to make the text more legible and stand out
also available from the Edit
from the entities under it. To turn on the sheet
Text dialog by clicking
effects, click Sheets and Effects . Click to
Properties.
put a check in the box for Activate Sheet
Effects, then click OK.
Drawing
Zoom commands work
within other commands. Selecting Fonts
Once you have the text label
When selecting a font or fonts for your map, consider how they
on the cursor, you can click
will be used, what the final presentation for the map will be, and
on the Zoom commands to
at what resolution. Text that looks good in CC3+’s View Window
zoom in or out or use Zoom
might end up being dreadfully small or might be dreadfully big
Window before placing the
when exported to a raster image. That lovely, scrolling font might
text into the drawing.
be all but illegible in the final output if it is too small. As a general
rule of thumb, reserve the large, fancy font for large labels such as
the map name and large, prominent features. Use medium size text for the intermediate features,
and use a plain, highly readable font for the smallest labels on the map.
Export
Also make sure you are consistent in your use of fonts. It is very common on maps to use different
If in doubt, do a test print or
fonts and sizes for different types of features (countries, regions, cities, forests, mountains, oceans,
a test export to see if your
rivers, etc.), but always use the same font, and preferably the same text size, for all features of the
font choice is legible in its
same type. This makes the map much more coherent and easier to read.
size and placement and it
properly conveys the
significance of the feature it Taming Text
is identifying.
Now that we’ve explored the mechanics of placing text,
let’s take a moment to explore Justification (insertion
point) and how it affects text position and appearance.
Windows
Windows® is a registered The insertion point of any text label is the point which is the
trademark of Microsoft ‘anchor’ of that label. Choosing the best anchor makes the
Corporation. text more easily read. In the example here, all four text
labels – shown as their respective justification names – are
anchored to the structure symbol, but of the four, one is
Best Render clearly the most legible. With effects and masking tricks,
any of the labels can be made useable, but starting with good text placement will make the drawing
This is not a behavior unique
easier to read.
to CC3+. This is a behavior
of all CAD programs trying
to render Windows® fonts.
When exploring Text Properties, we find there are many options for
justification, a few of which are shown here. In each line, the dot is the
insertion point and the label is the name of that justification.
True Type
TrueType is a registered
trademark of Apple The question is, why are we so concerned about the insertion point?
Computer, Inc. CC3+ is a CAD engine run in a Windows® environment. There are no
pixels in the CC3+ drawing, but Windows® must render the drawing on the computer’s monitor.
We might pick the size and placement of the font, but when displayed on the screen or when
exported to a raster image, the font is lurched to a size that Windows® can best render for that
resolution. As a result of CC3+ working with TrueType® fonts in Windows®, the text label may
grow or shrink a little and might overlap areas of the drawing not intended. Normally, this is not a
problem since the amount of change is very small, but there may be times when it is necessary to
your task that a text label stay confined within specific constraints.

38
Understanding how the text behaves and why it behaves that way allows us to tame it. To avoid
this issue, one solution might be to use FNT Vector fonts. Another solution is to Explode the text on Vector Fonts
placement to make it an entity rather than text. FNT Vector Fonts are font
types used in the DOS
version of Campaign
Back to the question already posed, why are we so concerned about the insertion Cartographer.
point? The text will ‘grow’ out from the insertion point in the direction of the text.
These examples show the direction that text will grow if Windows® lurches it in
order to render the image at the selected resolution. This is something that is
noticeable when we zoom in/out on the map, and it is therefore important that the
insertion point is placed in such a manner that the text stays where it is supposed to. A good general Convert the Text
rule is that the insertion point should be the closest point to the location being labeled. Exploding the text means it
Sometimes however, there are times when it is important that the text does not change size at all. is no longer text and so
For example, we may have designed a box that will hold the text, and we don’t want to risk that the functions which look for
text ever extends beyond this box. Using a vector font will stop this behavior, but at the cost of text, such as Zoom to Text
appearances since vector fonts are typically plain and not nearly as diverse in selection as or Find Text will no longer
TrueType® fonts. So, if you wish to accomplish this result, using normal fonts, you can explode the find the label that has been
text as described below. exploded. For more these
text functions, see Finding
Text on page 45.
Exploding text
Exploding text converts the text from a font entity to a multipolied group of entities. This has both
advantages and disadvantages. First, exploded text won’t grow or shrink because of zoom level as Properties
regular text does. This means that you can have the same exact placement of text as for any other
Exploding the text creates
entity in your map. This can be very helpful if the text takes part of the design, and isn’t just a label.
new entities in the drawing.
However, there is one major downside with this approach. Exploded text is no longer a text entity,
These new entities will be
and cannot be edited using text tools anymore. You cannot change the font or edit the text. This
added using the properties
procedure can also slightly reduce the quality of the text. Therefore, this procedure is not
set as current on the Status
recommended as a general procedure for all the text in your map, but rather a procedure for when
Bar.
exact positioning of your text is very important. As explained above, you can usually avoid the
negative effects of this lurching if you select your insertion point justification properly, so consider
exploding text only as a last option.

To explode text, first set the Status Bar to the properties you wish the label to have such as TEXT
sheet, TEXT LABELS layer and color 0 (black). This is important, because when you explode the text,
it will take on the properties specified here, and not the properties it currently possesses.

Right click Explode , then select Explode Text. Select the text you wish to explode, right click,
then select Do It. Regardless of the justification of the text, exploding it will set the justification to
lower left. The label may need to be repositioned after it is exploded.

Remember that once a text entity is exploded, it is no longer a text entity, so you cannot edit the
text or change text properties like font or style. If you later need to change anything, you’ll need to
delete the exploded text, create a new text entry to your specifications and then explode that.

39
 Text Along a Curve
Text Label Rivers rarely run in a straight line. They wind and meander as
The text label will be added they cross the terrain on their way downhill. When labeling a
to the drawing using the river on a map, it is very pleasing to the eye to have the text
text properties that are set labels follow their curves. Let’s do an exercise to explore Text
in Text Properties and the Along a Curve.
entity properties set on the
1. On the File toolbar click Open .
Status Bar.
2. Browse to the @Tutorials\Tome\Overland folder, then
Node select Text Along a Curve.FCW.
A node is a control point. In Here we have a segment of a river. Let’s add a text label to it so
this example, we have 4 the label follows the curves. To begin, we’ll draw a path offset from the river to use as a guide line
nodes. Notice how the path for the text.
bends between the first
3. Click Smooth Path . The cursor changes to
node and the last node
guided by nodes 2 and 3. crosshairs and the Command Prompt reads
When drawing guide lines 1st point.
for Text Along a Curve, be Find a segment of the river that has a gentle
mindful of the way you want curve and then draw a path a little offset.
the text to be read. The text
4. Click to begin the path, then click to place
will begin at the first node
each node of the path.
and end at the last node.
5. Right click to end the path.
Guide Line
The size of the font and the With the guide line in place, let’s add our text.
length of the label will
dictate how long the guide 6. From the Draw menu, select Text along a curve. The cursor changes
line should be. Experiment to a pick cursor and the Command Prompt reads Select Path.
with the font size and guide 7. Click on the guide line path we just drew. The Align Text to Curve
line length to find the best dialog opens.
combination for your
Type the name of the river in the Text field. Put a radio
application.
button in the desired text position in Special Effects and
be sure to check the box for Delete Guide Line on
Completion. For this example, I am using Winding River
as the name and Top for the position.
8. Click OK.
Repeat the exercise as many times as you wish to
explore the different text positions and experiment
with different length guide lines.

40
Troubleshooting Text Along a Curve
If your text label is strung out and the letters are too far apart, either the guide line is too long or the
font size is too small. If the font size is appropriate for the rest of the map, shorten the guide line
and try again. On the other hand, if the font size is too
small compared to the rest of the labels in the map,
change the Height of the font in Text Properties to a
larger value and try again.

If your text label is bunched up and the letters are too

close together or overlapping, either the guide line is
too short or the font size is too big. If the font size is
appropriate for the rest of the map, make a longer
guide line and try again. On the other hand, if the font
size is too big compared to the rest of the labels in
the map, change the Height of the font in Text Properties to a smaller value and try again.

Number Labels
If your map has a lot of details that needs to be labeled, adding the complete text label in the map Number Labels
itself will quickly clutter up the map. Also, text in a map is difficult to look through when you are Number labels will be added
looking for a particular item. In these cases, it is usually better to just number the places in the map, to the drawing using the
and then use a map key. This is a popular technique in tourist maps as well as roleplaying dungeon text properties set in Text
maps to name a few. Properties and the entity
properties set on the Status
Adding number labels to entities in the drawing is
Bar.
a quick and easy task.

1. On the File toolbar click Open .

2. Browse to the @Tutorials\Tome\Overland
folder, then select Number Labels.FCW.

Here we have a map with four city symbols. Let’s

imagine for a moment that we’re going to use a
legend for this drawing. Instead of putting text
labels in the drawing, we want to number them.

3. Click Number Label .

Take note of the Command Prompt
to see what number CC3+ is going to
begin with. If the number is correct,
hit . If the number is not correct,
type what you want to be the first
number, then hit . That first
number is now on your cursor.
4. Click in the drawing to place a End the Command
number label at each city symbol.
Using to end the
Notice that the number held on the
numbering command will
cursor advances each time you click
close the command cleanly.
to place a label.
Right clicking to end this
5. After placing the last number label, particular command will
hit to end the command. throw the last number
attached to the cursor into
the drawing.

41
 Sheet Effects Making Text Visible
Sheet effects will be We have already seen how turning on the default sheet effects will cause the text to have a black
explored in detail later in outer glow, making it stand out. One alternative to using the glow effect is to give the text an
this book, so we will not outline. This is especially useful when we want to put black text on top of a dark or noisy
look closer on the glow background. The black text alone can be difficult to read, but once we give it a white outline, it
effect or how to modify it in becomes much more visible.
this chapter.
We will try out this trick to label our northern mountain range.

1. Click Text Specs and set the properties as follows:

Above or Below Height: 8.8

Depending on the view of Angle: 0

the map, it varies if it looks
Spacing: 120
best with the TEXT OUTLINE
drawn above or below the Stretch: 1.15
text. If you zoom far out, it
Justify: Middle Center
generally looks best below
the text, but for closer Font: Baskerville Old Face
zooms it looks better on top
of the text. 2. Click Text . Type in Ruin Peaks and place it
over the northern mountain range. You will
have to rotate the text, so hold down while
moving the mouse to rotate the text in 15˚
increments before placing it.
Prior Notice how the text doesn’t look too good over the dark mountains.
Remember that prior selects 3. Click the Sheets and Effects button. Add a new sheet called TEXT OUTLINE, and place
the last entity you were
it either directly above or directly below the TEXT sheet. Set the new sheet as the active
working on. If you have
sheet.
worked with anything
between placing the text 4. Right click the Copy button and select Copy to Sheet,
label and this step, prior then press to select by prior, followed by to execute
might not give the desired the copy. This will cause the Drawing Sheets dialog to pop
result. If so, select the text up. Select the TEXT OUTLINE sheet, and click ok.
by clicking on its baseline as
5. Click Change Properties , followed by to select by
usual instead.
prior, and for Do It. Set the properties as follows:

Color: 15 (White)
Select
Sheet: TEXT OUTLINE
Note that you don’t select a
sheet by using the Text: Click the Pick text properties… button and place
checkmark, that just a checkmark in the Outline Only option.
specifies the currently active
sheet. Instead, when you 6. After clicking OK, hit Redraw to see the changes. Notice
click on the name of a sheet how the text is much easier to read now.
in the list, you’ll notice that 7. Try looking at the text from different zoom levels to see how it looks. You may also wish to
it will get a different experiment with the TEXT OUTLINE both above and below the TEXT sheet in the sheet list.
background color compared
Note that this technique can be combined with the text glow effect, but it is most commonly
to the other sheets in the
used instead of the effect.
list. This is what marks the
selected sheet in the dialog.

42
Finishing the Map
So, we have explored a lot of the features of text, but so far we hardly added any text labels at all
to our map (@Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Windclaw 08.FCW). To make this a better map, we need
to add a lot more text. Baskerville Old Face
I am using this font for all
First, one of the most obvious things we are missing is a title for our map. The map title should be
text in this map. While not
quite large, and would look good in a fancy font.
completely plain, it is rather
1. Click Text Specs and set the properties as follows: simple, which means it is
easy to read and do not
Height: 55 clutter the map. Feel free to
Angle: 0 use a different font if you
want to. Be careful using
Stretch: 1.15 fanciful fonts on the smaller
details though, they quickly
Justify: Bottom Left
become illegible.
Font: Baskerville Old Face

Character Style: None

2. Set the current color to Black (#0). Place It

3. Click Text . Type in Windclaw and place it at the top left of the map. I already knew the size of
the text I would be needing
Now, in addition to the title, let us add a small secondary title that gives some flavor to the map. In
when placing the text, but
our case, we will use it to tell which time period this map is from.
do remember that you can
4. Change the text properties: scale the text while it is
being held at your mouse
Height: 16
cursor, before you place it. I
Angle: 0 don’t recommend doing this
for place labels, since you
Spacing: 200 wish to make sure all of
Stretch: 1.15 these are the same size, but
for title it is usually the best
Justify: Bottom Left option, instead of going
Font: Baskerville Old Face back and forth to the text
properties to change values.
Character style: Bold, Italic

5. Click Text . Type in Year 375 after the Founding and click OK.
6. Instead of placing the text normally, click the right mouse button instead. This will place your
new text on the line directly below the last text you placed. This is a good way to line up
multiple text entities below each other.
7. If you are not completely happy with the
position of the text, you can move it by using
Move, Scale, Rotate . If you turn on Ortho
first, you can ensure that you only move
the text up/down, or left/right, but not both at
the same time.

Deciding which features to label

Before labeling the rest of our map, let us think a bit about what we need to label. If we look at the
map, we have ocean areas, cities/villages, strongholds, ruins, forests, mountains, rivers, a lake, hills,
plains and a marsh. Obviously, if we try to label every single feature, the map is going to be way
too cluttered. But how to decide which features to label and which ones to leave alone?

Well, to answer that question we need to ask ourselves what the purpose of the map is. If you look
at a modern map, typically every single feature visible at the current scale is labeled. Every river,
every mountaintop, etc., is labeled. However, look at almost any fantasy roleplaying map, and only

43
 big and important features are labeled. Obviously, these two maps have very different usages. The
real-world map is trying you to tell what everything is, and aspires to be a complete reference to
the part of the world it shows. However, the fantasy map uses the labels to draw attention to
interesting features. You’ll also notice that the two maps use different text sizes. The real-world
map uses very small text for most features, for several reasons, among them is to actually have
enough room for all the text without causing the text to overlap, and also to make sure the text can
be placed accurately so that there is no doubt to where the label belongs. The fantasy map uses
large, easy to read text.

There are also some conventions regarding text in the map. If you look at a real-world map, you’ll
see that they use different text properties for different features. The number of different fonts in the
map is usually small, often just one, but by using italics, capitalization and spacing, the text for each
type of feature looks different.

Since our tutorial map is a fantasy map, we will limit ourselves to label just the most important
features.

8. Continue labeling the various features of the map. The map generally looks best when you
do not use too many different fonts, so I recommend that you stick with Baskerville Old Face,
but vary the size and font properties depending on the type of feature you are labeling.
Don’t be afraid to use text along a curve when labeling. I didn’t use it on my rivers, because
the curves are too small at this scale compared to the text, but it is great for using on
mountain ranges, forests and the like as well. All you need to do is to draw a guide line
defining the shape first, just as we did on page 40.
Likewise, not all text needs to be at straight angles. Feel free to rotate text to fit the direction
of the feature you are labelling and use text along a curve as described earlier.
Also, remember to keep a close eye on the text insertion point (justification). As mentioned
earlier, you should keep this as close to the point you are labelling as possible, so if the text
is supposed to be on the right side of the village you are labeling, use one of the left-
Lists the Letters
justifications, while if the text is to appear to the left, you would use a right-justification.
Even if you don’t have the Likewise, if the text is to be centered below the symbol, use a top middle justification. If you
floating prompt enabled, have the floating command prompt enabled, you’ll see that it lists the letters eft, enter,
you can still use these keys
ight, ottom, iddle and op for changing the justification on the fly. Use these to
to change justification on
the fly, the standard quickly change the insertion point instead of going back to the dialog every time.
command prompt is simply See @Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Windclaw 09.FCW for a map with some of the interesting
not quite as verbose, but features labeled.
the functionality is the
same. Labeling the Scale Bar
You might remember that when we placed the scale bar in our map earlier, it didn’t come with any
text identifying the actual scale. If you remember from when we placed it, we used a symbol scale
of 2, and since the bar was originally 100 map units long. For this overland map, we used miles as
our unit, so the entire scale bar represents 200 miles in our map.

I labeled my scale bar by using text of height 8. I placed the number 0 right above the first
arrowhead, the number 100 above the middle one, and the number 200 above the last one. All of
these labels used bottom center justification to keep them centered above the exact point, and I
used Ortho to make sure they all lined up correctly on the same horizontal line.

I then put the word Miles right below the center of the scale bar.

44
Finding Text
Both when working with a map and when viewing a finished map, it is highly useful to be able to
search for text in the map. Fortunately, CC3+ gives us several ways of doing this. The below
examples use the map found at @Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Windclaw 09.FCW.

Zoom to Text
Zoom to Text prompts the user for a search string, and then
searches all the visible text in this map. If the search string is
found, CC3+ will give you a dialog box showing you all the text it
found that matches the search string. Once you select the
appropriate entry from the list, CC3+ will zoom in to that text. If
CC3+ only found a single match, it will zoom directly to that one,
instead of showing the selection dialog.

To use Zoom to Text, either select View ➔ Zooms ➔ To Text… or

right click on any one of the zoom buttons in the toolbar, and select Zoom to Text from the pop-up
menu.

Note that the search results dialog cannot properly show multi-line text, so such text will appear
everything on one line, without any separation. Note that in previous versions of Campaign
Cartographer, this would show up as a double bar symbol. Search String

Note that the search is not case-sensitive, so you do not need to worry about capitalization. The search string can be
either a partial or a
complete match for the text
Advanced search options
you are looking for. For
The Zoom to Text command recognizes standard wildcards. This example, all of "Miller’s
means that you can type * to match any number of characters, Cove", "er’s Co" and "Mill"
while ? matches any single character. All of the following will find Miller’s Cove from
examples will match Snowport: Snow?ort, S*Port, SnowP*. our example earlier.
You can also force an exact match by prefixing your search string
with the = sign. For example, if you search for h, your results will
include both strings that starts with h, but also strings that contain
h, like in the image to the right. Visible Text
If the text is either on a
However, if you instead search for =H*, you will only get matches
hidden layer or a hidden
that starts with the letter H, like the image shows.
sheet, Zoom to Text won't
find it. So make sure all
Find all Text relevant sheets/layers are
If you do not know what you are looking for, or just wish to have visible before searching.
an overview of all the text in the map, you can use the Find All Some text, like white text
Text command. To use it, either select View ➔ Zooms ➔ To All outlines are also excluded
Text or right click on any one of the zoom buttons in the toolbar, and select Zoom to All Text from from the search to avoid
the pop-up menu. This will pop up a dialog listing all the text in the map, identical to the one you duplication. Additionally,
get from the Zoom to Text command. because the way text along
a path has to be treated, it
Find in Files won't be searchable either.

Find in Files lets you search for text matches in drawing files without opening them in CC3+ first.
The search can be configured to search CC3+ .FCW drawing files in a specified folder (and in
Match
subfolders, if desired). You can configure the search to look in any combination of map notes, text,
and text on frozen layers. Note that by using
wildcards, you may
Files that match the search criteria are displayed in a bookmark dialog. You can edit and save the inadvertently match more
bookmark file. strings than your desired
The speed of the search depends upon several factors, such as the number of searched files, the text.
size of the files, the speed of your processor, and the speed of your drives. It is highly recommended
that searches be performed only on files residing on hard disks or drives similar in performance.

45
 The five most recent search paths and pattern strings are saved in the registry. When the Search
dialog appears, it is initialized to the latest settings.

To start searching, just click the Find in Files button, and the search dialog will show.

Search dialog box

Search Path: Enter the drive, folders, and file
Data Directory
filters you wish to search. Use the @ character
The data directory is new in as shorthand for the CC3+ data directory.
CC3+. If you use an older Normally this should read @*.FCW, which will
version of Campaign cause CC3+ to only search inside map files
Cartographer, everything (*.FCW files) in the CC3+ data directory (#). If
now in the data directory you have your maps stored in some other
was stored in the folder (recommended), say d:\maps, the entry
installation directory, should read d:\maps\*.FCW.
denoted by the #-sign. The
#-sign still points to the Search Subdirectories: Check if you wish to
installation directory in search files contained in folders nested below
CC3+, but you very rarely the level specified in Search Path.
need to use this.
Search for this text: Enter the text string you
wish to find.

File Notes/Text Entities/Frozen Layers: Check these in combination to direct the text
search. File (Map) Notes and Text Entities are actual items that are searched, while
Frozen Layers is a refinement of Text Entities. If File Notes and Text Entities are both
unchecked, the search will yield zero results.

Also - And/Or: You can further refine your search by adding an additional search string.
To do so, check the Also box, then specify whether the additional criteria is And or Or.
If And is selected, a search will yield results that contain both the first text and the
second text. If Or is selected, a search will yield results that contain either the first text
or the second text.

All About Text Review

Select fonts and text sizes that will enhance the appearance of the map and be legible
at the intended print size and format.

Use the best text justification for the particular task at hand.

Text Along a Curve is used to add text to a curved guide line.

Number Label allows us to quickly and easily add consecutively numbered labels to a
drawing.

Watch the Command Prompt. It is the vital link between you – the user – and CC3+.

46
EDITING Pick Cursor
Drawing tools can handle much of the map creation we’ll do, but there may be times when we’ll
The pick cursor has the
need to create from the ground up, so to speak. In order to do that, we’ll need to understand some
square selection box.
of the basic editing commands. Now that we’ve drawn a basic map, and in doing so, explored
drawing tools, let’s look at how we can edit the entities we’ve put in our map.

Of all the things we can add to our CC3+ drawings, they can each be edited in some way, shape, or The size of the pick box can
form. Every edit that we do involves right clicking to open the Selection menu. That Selection be changed by changing the
menu is a very powerful tool in CC3+. Before we move on, let’s look at that menu in more depth. value in Tools menu →
Options → Pick Cursor
Selection menu Aperture.

The most basic of edits in a drawing involve isolating an entity into order to
move or delete it. We then open the Selection menu to select Do It to
execute the desired command. In that Selection menu, however, there are
several options to modify what entities we have selected. There are times
when entities are stacked so precisely that separating them with the pick
cursor is impossible. The most common of these times would be separating
the outline from the landmass entity to change the color or fill style of a
landmass entity without affecting the outline. With a few short exercises, we
can explore that Selection menu and we’ll see how to separate entities no
matter how precisely they are stacked.

Select by Color
1. On the File toolbar click Open .
2. Browse to the @Tutorials\Tome\Other folder, then select Selection.FCW.

List
List reveals a plethora of
information about the
entities that are selected.
This information includes:
Entity type, Color, Layer,
Line Style, Fill Style, Line
Width, Tag number, Pen
Width, Color 2, Smoothing
We see a row of colored blocks here, but in Method, Parameters,
fact, each box is a stack of three entities Dimensions, and Nodes.
placed precisely on top of each other. The
label below each box indicates what
property is different for one of the three
entities in that stack. We’re going to use the Color 8
Selection menu to isolate that entity and The numbers are taken from
pull it out of the stack. the CC3+ color palette.
3. From the Info menu, select List. Each position on the palette
Click to select the magenta 'by Color' has a corresponding number
box. Right click, then select Do it.
Note the colors of the 3 entities. We have
color 8, color 6, and color 3. We're going to
pull the color 3 (blue) entity out of the stack.
Close the List window.

47
 4. Click Move, Scale, Rotate
Selected Entity then click to select the magenta
When we click to select the 'by Color' box. Right click, then
‘by Color’ box, we have scroll down to Combine. Select
actually selected 3 entities And out of the side menu. Right
according to the command click, then select Color. Type 3
prompt. When we execute then hit . Right click, then
the selections Combine- select Do it. Click on the center
And, Color, 3, Do it, we are of the 'by Color' box to pick up
telling CC3+ that of the 3 the selected entity. Move the
entities selected, we want cursor down a bit then click to place it.
to keep (Combine-And) only
the entities that are color 5. Click Redraw .
(Color) 3 (3). Do it executes We have now pulled the blue box out of the stack. If we check List on the magenta
the command. box again, we'll see that only two entities remain in the original position.

Select by Fill Style

Right Click
We can use fill style in very much
In this case, we're right
the same way we used color to
clicking one more time to
isolate an entity.
open the Fill Styles dialog so
we can select the fill style 6. From the Info menu, select
out of the drop-down menu. List. Click to select the blue
Instead of right clicking 'by Fill Style' box. Right click,
again, we could have typed then select Do it.
'Rock Fill' at the command The List information shows
prompt like we typed '3' to that all three colors are the
select color in Select by same, so we can’t use color to
Color. isolate an entity. We can see,
however, that two of the
entities are Solid fill style and
Entity one entity is Rock Fill. Let's
Let's think about what we pull that Rock Fill entity out
did. We selected the blue of the stack. Close the List
box which was actually 3 window.
entities. We told CC3+ that, 7. Click Move, Scale, Rotate
of the entities we have
then click to select the blue
selected, we want to keep
'by Fill Style' box. Right click, then scroll down to Combine. Select And out of the side menu.
(Combine-And) the entities
Right click, then scroll down to More. Select Fill Style out of the side menu. Right click, then
that are fill style (More-Fill
select the Symbol Fills tab.
Style) Rock Fill (Symbol fills
tab - Rock Fill). The steps Open the Fill Style
make it seem more Name drop down
complicated, but we really menu, then select Rock
aren't doing much Fill. Click OK. Right
differently than selecting by click, then select Do it.
Color. By using the right Click the center of the
click Selection menu, we tell blue 'by Fill Style' entity
CC3+ to keep only the Rock to pick up the entity.
Fill entities. Move the cursor down
a bit, then click to place
the entity.
8. Click Redraw .

48
Each of the other examples—by Layer, by Entity Type and by Line Style—are performed
the same as we did for color and fill style. Using the same techniques, we can isolate
the different entity in each stack on which to execute a command.

What happens, though, if all the properties are exactly the same? There could be times
in your mapping experience when you have two identical paths or have laid two of the
same symbol on top of each other. The properties such as color, fill style, layer, line
style, and entity type will be identical. What do we do in that case? If all else fails, there
is always Entity Tag#.

By Entity Tag#
Each and every entity that is added to a drawing is given an
entity tag number. Even if all other properties are identical, the
entity tag# will be unique. For our last example in this exercise,
let’s pull out an entity by tag number.

9. From the Info menu, select List. Click to select the orange
'by Entity Tag' box. Right click, then select Do it.
According to List, our entities are identical in every way
with the exception of the entity tag number. They are
numbered 92, 93, and 94. Let's grab number 92 and pull
it out of the stack. Close the List window.
10. Click Move, Scale, Rotate then click to select the
orange 'by Entity Tag' box. Right click, then
scroll down to Combine. Select And out of
the side menu. Right click, then scroll
down to More. Select Entity Tag# out of
the side menu. Type 92 then hit .
Right click, then select Do it. Click on the
center of the 'by Entity Tag' box to pick up
the selected entity. Move the cursor down
a bit then click to place it.
11. Click Redraw .
If we check List on the orange, by Entity Tag box
again, we'll see that only two entities remain in
the original position.

What about Not?

We can narrow our selection by using Not with the same techniques
we used for And. When using And, we specify which attributes we
want to keep. When using Not, we can specify which attributes we
want to discard.

Let’s use Not and apply the Selection menu methods to a situation in
which we may find ourselves during a mapping session.

Selection by Not
In an ordinary mapping session, we may
have drawn a landmass only to decide
that we want to change the color or fill style. The landmass entity has
an outline and it is quite impossible using the pick cursor to select the
landmass without selecting the outline, too. We’ll use Not to isolate only
the landmass entity.

49
 12. From the Info menu, select List.
Click to select the landmass. Right
click, then select Do it.
Looking at our two entities, we find that
color and fill style are different. The
landmass is Solid fill style and color
122. The outline is Hollow fill style and
color 0. We have choices using And or
Not and color or fill style. Since we want
to use Not for this exercise, let’s use Not
Do It
by color. Close the List window.
The steps are nearly
identical to the operation 13. Click Change Properties then
we did with And, but in this click to select the landmass
case, we told CC3+ to entity. Right click, then scroll
discard entities with the down to Combine. Select Not out
specified property instead of of the side menu. Right click, then
keeping it. In this case, we select Color. Type 0 then hit . Right click, then select
told CC3+ that of the Do it.
entities we had selected, we
The Change Properties dialog opens.
wanted to discard
(Combine-Not) the entities 14. Click to put a check in the Color box then type 90 in
that are color (Color) 0 (0). the # field. Click OK.
15. Click Redraw .

Change Properties
In this dialog, we can select
which properties to change
and what to change them to
in one step. The check boxes
allow us to select which
properties of the selected
entity to change, and the
fields and drop down lists
allow us to designate what
to change those properties
to.

Using the Selection menu, we left the outline unchanged and only affected the landmass entity

Endpoint
An endpoint is, as you might
Node Editing
have guessed, the end node What is a node? A node is basically a point – a zero-sized
on a line or path. For a location specified by its (x,y) coordinates. Each endpoint or
circle, the endpoint is at the vertex in a path or polygon is a node. For example, while
quarter-circle. For an ellipse, drawing a path or a polygon, each time we click, we’re
it is at each axis. inserting a node at that point. We can edit these nodes to
change the shape of the entity we created. Let’s do a short
exercise to explore the single node edit commands.

1. On the File toolbar click Open .

2. Browse to CC3+’s @Tutorials\Tome\Other folder,
then select Node_Edit.FCW.

50
Here we have a simple path. Each numbered dot on the path
represents a node. We’ll use the node editing commands to
affect the nodes and, as a result, the course of the path will
be changed.

3. From the Info menu, select List. Click to select the

path. Right click, then select Do it.
Using List, we can see the location of the nodes for this path.
Note the x,y positions before we begin and we can compare
after we edit the nodes. Close the List window.

Node Edit
4. Click Node Edit then click on the node labeled 3. Click on the dot labeled A. Right click
to end the command.
The node that was 3 is now at A, and the course of the path has been changed as a result.

Insert Node
5. Click Insert Node then click on the path between 2 and 3. Click on the dot labeled B.
We inserted a node that wasn’t there before, and by placing that node at point B, we altered the
course of the path.

Delete Node
6. Click Delete Node then click on the node labeled 6.
The node that was at 6 is no longer there and, as a result, the course of the path has been
changed.

If we look at List now, we can see that the x,y positions of the
nodes are different than they
were when we started. We
moved one, we added one and
we deleted one. Each change to
the nodes has altered the course
of the path.

This short exercise has enabled us to explore the single node edit
commands. These commands can be used to edit other entities such
Shape
as polygons. When drawing a map, we can use node edit commands
to adjust the course of a river, for example. The reference points shown
in this exercise are points
picked at random to
Editing polygons
demonstrate the effect of
All the entities we draw have nodes. These nodes dictate the the node editing commands
shape of that entity no matter if it is a path or a polygon. Let’s on the polygon. By using
use the node editing commands to change the shape of a reference points in the
polygon. exercise, your results should
match the illustrations
The polygon we have here could be a landmass in a drawing.
shown. The node editing
After it was drawn, we decided we wanted to change the
commands could be used
shape without having to redraw the whole landmass. Let’s
anywhere around the
use the node editing commands to change the shape.
perimeter of the polygon to
7. Click Node Edit then click on the dot labeled C. change the shape as
needed.

51
 While holding the node on the cursor, move the cursor around in the View Window to
observe how the polygon changes shape.
Click on the dot labeled F. Right click to end the command.
8. Click Redraw .
9. Click Delete Node then click on the dot labeled D.
10. Click Redraw .
11. Click Insert Node then click on the dot labeled E.
While holding the node on the cursor, move the cursor
around in the View Window to observe how the polygon
changes shape.
Click on the dot labeled G.
12. Click Redraw .
By using the node edit commands, we were able to alter the
shape of the landmass entity without having to redraw it.

Trimming
As we draw in CC3+, we’ll have occasion to trim entities to fit or trim them with precision to meet
a boundary such as a border or another entity. We have trim commands that make these tasks quick
and easy.

1. On the File toolbar click Open .

2. Browse to CC3+’s @Tutorials\Tome\Other folder, then select Trims.FCW.

Trim to Entity
We can use Trim to Entity when trimming to a boundary or
border or when trimming to another entity. In these exercises,
Click Each the blue path will be the entity to which we will trim using the
If you click and miss a path, various trim commands.
the command ends. If this
3. Click Trim to Entity then click the blue path in
happens, just right click to
re-launch the command, exercise 1. Click each of the black paths in succession
click the blue path to and note how the path trims to the chosen entity. In this
reselect it, and continue. example, we clicked each of the black paths across the bottom of the exercise.

Trimming navigation lines

A common use for Trim to Entity would be to trim nav lines in a
drawing. Let’s use Trim to Entity to trim the nav lines in our
exercise drawing. Pretend that the blue rectangle is our map
border.

4. Click Trim to Entity then click the blue path at the top of
the map border. Look at the nav lines radiating from the
cluster. Click on the nav lines that look like they will intersect
with that top map border path.
5. Repeat Trim to Entity on the other 3 sides of the map border.
In each case, select the map border side and then trim the nav
lines that will intersect it.

52
Trim to Intersect
For exercise 2, we’ll look at Trim to Intersect. This command
takes two intersecting paths and trims them where they
meet. Across the Bottom
6. Click Trim to Intersect then click the first two of Click Undo twice, then try
the black paths in exercise 2. Click to repeat the the exercise again, but this
command, then click on the second pair of black time clicking across the top
paths. In this example, we clicked each of the paths of the paths to observe the
across the bottom of the exercise. As with the different results.
previous exercise, the paths don’t have to actually
cross to trim them to intersect. They just have to be
on an intersecting course.

Break
Using Break, we take a chunk out of a path or poly.

7. Click Break then click on the first black path in

exercise 3. The Command Prompt reads Break
starts at point:. Click the first path where one of the Blue Path
blue paths intersects it, then click where the other The blue paths in this
blue path intersects it. Right click to repeat the exercise are guidelines only
command, then do the next black path. This so your results will look
command is useful for cutting openings in walls. similar to our example. The
path can be broken
Split anywhere along its length.

Split cuts a line or path into two pieces. It will also cut a rectangle into a path or circle into an arc.
Split is not a command that will change the appearance of things in the drawing, so to see the
effects of Split, lets look at the path in exercise 4 with List first.
Change the Appearance
8. From the Info menu, select List. If you use split on a filled
Click to select the path in exercise polygon, it will be reduced
4. Right click, then select Do it. The to a path. This change is
entity in exercise 4 is a single path quite visible, since the fill
with two nodes. Close the List style appears to disappear.
window. What happens is that since
9. Click Split then click on the path. The Command Prompt reads Split entity at point:. it is no longer a closed
Click somewhere along the length of the path. entity, the fill style is applied
to the actual line. Note that
When we look at the drawing, it doesn’t appear that anything changed, so let’s look at the if you later combine it back
resulting split with List. into a polygon with the Path
10. From the Info menu, select List. to Poly command, the fill
Click to select both paths in style will reappear.
exercise 4. Right click, then select
Do it.

Both Paths
Even though there is no change we can
Because there are now two
see in the drawing, List shows us that
paths instead of one, we’ll
Split, in fact, split the single path into two
have to click to select each
paths.
of them, or we’ll click off the
path to open a selection
window that will
encompass both paths.

53
 Trim
Using Trim, we can cut off the end of a path.
Blue Path 11. Click Trim then click on the bottom of the first
Like in the Break exercise, black path in exercise 5. The Command Prompt
the blue paths in this reads Trim to point [pick point]:. Click where the
exercise are guidelines only blue path intersects the first black path. Right click
so your results will look to repeat the command, then do the next black path.
similar to our example. The
path can be trimmed
anywhere along its length. Editing with Drawing Tools
Drawing tools not only let us draw, they also let us edit entities in our maps. Let’s look at some edits
we can do using basic drawing tools.

Edit
Let’s pretend we’ve drawn a landmass entity in our map. We liked
it at first, but as the map progressed, we decided we wanted to
add to the landmass to alter its shape. We don’t need to
completely redraw it. We can edit it using the drawing tool we
used to create it.

12. On the File toolbar click Open . Browse to CC3+’s

@Tutorials\Tome\Overland folder, then select DrawTool
Edit.FCW.

Here is our map in progress. Let’s add a peninsula to the coastline.

13. Click Default Landmass .

The Command Prompt reads Fractal polygon: First point (E-Edit):.
Type . The Command Prompt now reads Pick start node: and the
cursor changes to a Pick cursor. Click on the coastline at a place
where you want the peninsula to start.
Once we’ve clicked to pick a start point, the Command Prompt reads
Next point (DEL – back, Space – Randomize, L/R Arrows – Depth,
U/D Arrows – Strength, T – Trace):. Draw the peninsula. When
you’ve almost completed the new coastline, right click just before you
reach the old coastline. The Command Prompt reads Pick end node
to connect to:. Click on the old coastline in the place you wish the
new peninsula to end.
14. Click Redraw .
With very little fuss, we’ve added a
Coastline new section of coastline to the
This edit also allows us to existing landmass. Note that the
create new bays and coves coastal water is a smooth polygon,
where there were none. which does not support drawtool
Follow the same steps, but editing, so you need to edit it using
instead of moving the cursor the node tools we learned about in
out to draw the peninsula, Editing polygons on page 51.
move it in to take a bite out
of the existing landmass.

54
Editing Rivers
When we use the default drawing tools from CC3+ to make rivers, the rivers look rather nice, and if
we did our job well when placing them, they should look quite natural as well. But there is one major
issue with these rivers; they have the same width along the entire length. We may have used
narrower rivers to draw the tributaries; smaller rivers that flow into the main one, but the main river
tends to be the same width from one end to another. This is not very natural. Rivers tend to grow,
becoming wider the farther along their lengths we travel (or narrower, depending on direction of
travel).

Fortunately, with the editing tools we have explored in this chapter,

changing the river widths is simple.

1. Load up @Tutorials\Tome\Overland\River Edit.FCW, and

zoom in to the same area as in my image.
I have marked 4 interesting points along this river, they are: -
Source, -The point where it meets another large river, -
Halfway to the lake and -Where it runs into the lake.
Obviously, the river continuing on from location  should be
larger than before the merging, and we can also assume that the
rivers continue to grow from smaller sources too small to be
included in our map, so adding another widening point at location  seems about right.
Do note that since the river is a line, we cannot make it gradually widen along the entire
length, we need to pick points along the river where we increase it. The more points we add,
the more gradual change we can imply, but for this tutorial, we’ll stick with changing it at
points  and .
2. Click Split . CC3+ will now ask for the entity to split, so click on our river to select it. The
command line then reads Split entity at point:. Click at the point where the two rivers
meet. If you wish to be precise, you can use the Intersection modifier. If you don’t use
the modifier, make sure Snap and Ortho are off, or your split point is guaranteed to end up
in the wrong spot.
3. Click Split again. Select the river once more, but make sure to select it by clicking on a
point further down from where we split it previously. For the split point, click on the river
around location .
The river has now been split into three separate line segments. One of the segments goes
from the source to the merge, the second segment goes from the merge to the halfway
point, and the last segment is from the halfway point to the lake.
Now, we need to know the current width of the river to use
that as a baseline.
4. Use Info → List on any one of the river segments. From the info
window, you should be able to read that the line width is 0.5.
5. Use Change Properties on the river segment between 
and . Set the line width to 0.75
6. Repeat for the river segment nearest the lake. Set the line width to 1.
The result is a river that gradually widens. As you can see, the split points
where the widths change are really not that noticeable, but if you compare
the bottom segment of the river with the top one, it is easy to see that the
bottom one is wider. With effects on, the split points are even less visible. To
make it even better, split the river up into more segments, and use a smaller
line width increase for each segment.

55
 Local Map The Big Edit - Making a Local Map from a Regional Map
If you wish to have both If you haven’t already, we’re sure at some point
world views and local views, you’ll want to take a large, lovely map you’ve
you should always do this by drawn and extract a small area out of it in order
making multiple maps at to make a more detailed, local map. This isn’t as
different detail levels. Due scary as it sounds. Using editing commands and
to the more or less unlimited drawing tool functions, we can do this with just
zoom levels afforded by a little bit of work.
CC3+, people have
sometimes tried to make a Let us extract the Kings’s Coast region of our
world map where you can Windclaw map and make a local map of that
just zoom down into the area. Start by opening the area map.
more detailed section of the Note that this procedure is best done with
map. Do NOT attempt to do
effects off, as edge fades and glows can make it
this. First, the amount of
difficult to properly select entities.
fractalization you will need
to do on your coastlines for 1. Click Open then browse to
them to be visually pleasing @Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Windclaw
when zoomed in to the local Regional.FCW. Click Open.
level is enormous. This will
2. Zoom in to the area around the red rectangle.
also generate an extreme
amount of nodes in your
polygon, something the This is our example map. We’re going to pull out the area around Snowport, marked with a red
underlying operating system rectangle. We’ll use the rectangle as a guide.
will have trouble handling if
the number becomes too 3. From the Edit menu, select Copy.
large. The amount of nodes We wish to select everything within the red rectangle. The
will also make processing in simplest is just to eyeball it, and click right inside one of the
CC3+ to become more corners to start a selection window, then clicking right inside
difficult, resulting in a more the opposite corner to finish the selection window and
sluggish experience when selecting everything within. However, for this exercise we
editing your map, often to will use CC3+’s tools to be a bit more precise,
the point where it becomes and ensure that we accurately select
annoying, or crashes occur. everything within the rectangle.
Instead, the detail level of
4. Right click within the drawing, then select
the coastline (and other
Window from the selection pop-up menu
entities) should be just good
enough for the zoom level 5. Click the Endpoint modifier button, then
this map is intended for, and click on the line approximately where Arrow
the more detailed levels A points. If you move your mouse around,
(continents, countries, you’ll see that the corner of our selection
regions, local) should each window is at the exact same location as the
be implemented at a new corner of our red rectangle.
map file. For each level, you
6. Click the Endpoint modifier button, then
then increase the details by
click on the line approximately where Arrow B points.
fractalizing coastlines,
adding new islands that 7. This caused us to also select the red rectangle. We do not need it, but fortunately, it is easy
were too small to show up to remove. Simply hold down and click on anywhere on the line, and it will be removed
on the higher level map, and from the selection. The Command Line should now tell you that 44 entities are picked.
so on.
8. Right click, and select Do It from the menu.
CC3+ will now ask for the clipboard origin. The bottom left corner of our selected area should
be at the bottom left of our new map, so we should set this corner as the clipboard origin.
This can be done the same way we ensured the precise location of our selection rectangle.
9. Click the Endpoint modifier button, then click on the line approximately where Arrow A
More on next page… points. CC3 will think for up to a few seconds, then the command will be completed, and the
selected entities will be copied to the clipboard.

56
 10. The drawing looks a shambles right now, but if we click Redraw , we’ll see that everything
is intact. The entities we want are on the clipboard. Area Map
If this were a real map
11. Click New to open the New Drawing Wizard. When asked to save changes, we can click
instead of our example map,
No. Select Overland Maps and Decide settings myself. Click Next. Select CC3 Mike Schley
it’s never a bad idea to open
Overland, then click Next. In Dimensions, type 100 for width and 80 for height. Click
the drawing and then save it
Finish. Click Save.
with a new name before you
We now have a new map template. Let’s get the begin any major edits. From
entities we put on the clipboard and insert them. the File menu, select Save as
12. From the Edit menu, select Paste. The Command and give your working map
Prompt indicates it is looking for a placement point. another name.
Type 0,0 then hit .
Guide
Now we have the section of the map we want in
Assume we know we want
our new template, but we also have the bulk of the
a 100 by 80 mile area of the
land and sea entities that we don’t want. Let’s get
example map. I created a
rid of those. We’ll start with the land entity. We’ll use
100 by 80 mile rectangle
the same drawing tools we used to create the
and placed it over the part
entities with only this time, we’ll use the Trace
of the map I wanted to
function to recreate the section of the polygon we
extract. How did I do that? I
want to keep.
set the Status bar to color 2
(red), Line Width to 2, Fill
13. Click Default Landmass then click at point A in our example. Style: Solid and SCREEN as
my current sheet. I clicked
The Command Prompt now reads Next point
Box, then clicked in the map
(DEL – back, Space – Randomize, L/R
to place my bottom left
Arrows – Depth, U/D Arrows – Strength, T –
point, and then typed
Trace):. Type . The Command Prompt now
@100,80 . This way, I
reads Entity to trace:. Click to select the
knew the guide rectangle
landmass entity at point B. The Command
would be the exact size of
Prompt reads Starting point of portion:. Click
the new template. I then
at point A, which is at the top of the landmass
clicked Move, selected the
where we want to start the trace. The
red rectangle then moved it
Command Prompt reads Ending point of
a bit to get the exact area I
portion:. Click at point C, which is at the
wanted.
bottom of the landmass where we want the
drawing tool to stop tracing. Click at point D
Copy
followed by E and then F. Right click to end the
command. This is a different Copy than
the Copy button. This Copy
14. Click Send to Back . Right click, select Prior, then right click, select Do it. This step takes
copies the selected entities
the landmass entity we just drew and pushes it to the back of its sheet. to the clipboard whereas
15. Click Erase then select and delete the landmass entity outside the template. using the Copy button only
copies the selected entities
16. We could trace the light blue coastal waters, but since this is a local map, the definition of
into the drawing. This
shallow water is going to be different, so let us just use Erase to delete it and draw a new
command can also be
one closer to the coast using the Sea, Coast Outline drawing tool.
accessed by right clicking
the Copy button, then
The next polygon on our list is the hills background. Unfortunately, smooth polygons are more selecting Copy to Clipboard.
difficult to work with, because the visible outline depends on the placement of multiple nodes. If When you copy something
we simply removed all nodes outside our new map border, parts of the shape would be lost. This to the clipboard, it can also
fact also prevents trace from working as desired near the edges, which unfortunately is important be pasted into other
for us. So, we will simply draw a new polygon instead applications, not just back
into CC3+.
17. Hide the SYMBOLS, SYMBOLS TREES, SCREEN and TEXT sheets for now, it makes it easier
to see what we are working on.
More on next page…

57
 18. Hit + . This turns of frames, which are guidelines that helps
Arrow A
us show the true node placements of smooth entities. You should
The arrows points to a part notice straight white lines appearing around smooth polygons and
of the line where there are on top of straight paths.
no other entity edges. This
19. Use the Terrain Default, Hills Fill drawing tool to draw a new
makes it easier to select the
smooth polygon on top of our old one. Use the frames we just
correct entity, in this case
turned on to guide you, they will show where to place the nodes
our red rectangle.
to get the same shapes. Do note that you are now drawing a more detailed view, so feel free
When selecting the line,
to place additional nodes to give it more definition and shape elements that wouldn’t be
make sure that the exact
visible form the large map, but it should follow approximately the same path.
center of the line is within
the aperture box of the pick 20. Once done, you can turn off frames by hitting + again, and then delete the old hills
cursor. background polygon by using Erase and selecting it outside the map border, ensuring
that we don’t accidentally select the new one we just drew at the same time.
Clipboard
At this point, we have removed most of the entities outside our map border, we only have the river
The options, such as and roads left. Note that you may wish to simply redrawing these as well, using the existing entities
resolution, for the clipboard as guidelines as we did with the hill background and adding more detail to them, but for now, let us
can be accessed from use them to explore using the trimming tools.
Import/Export Settings
Options on the Tools menu. When using Trim and similar tools, you will be required to select an entity to be trimmed, and
These options are not then a point along the entity where the actual trim point will be. It is important to note that CC3+
relevant when we are will keep the part of the entity where you selected it, and drop the part on the other side of the trim
copying entities to another point. So if you select a river by clicking on it inside the map border and trim at the border point,
CC3 map, but they need to you will be left with the part of the river inside the map border, but if you originally selected it by
be configured correctly if we clicking on the part outside the map border instead, it would be the outside part that would be kept.
wish to paste the contents
21. Trim . Select the bottom river near the map border, but make sure the selection point is
into a word processor or
actually inside the map border.
image editor, since this will
insert the copy as a bitmap The command prompt now reads Trim to point [pick point]:. Simply click on the point
image. where it crosses the map border to set the trim point. You may want to trim it right outside
the actual map border, because if the line crosses the map border at an angle, trimming it at
Placement Point the exact point will cause part of the end of the line to be visible in the map. By trimming it
right outside the map border, the little stub extending outside will be hidden by the screen
We ‘picked up’ the copied
when we turn our hidden sheets back on.
entities at the bottom left
corner of the selected area Note that for this, it is better to trim by picking the point visually, but if you ever need precise
on our regional map. We trims, remember that you can use modifiers like Endpoint and Intersection .
now want that point to be 22. Repeat the Trim procedure for the remaining river
0,0 on our new map so we and roads.
placed the copied entities at
23. Unhide the four sheets we hid earlier.
0,0.

Trace
We now have a map that stays within the map border,
Trace lets us create a new with the exception of a few symbols. The symbols are
entity that follows the exact also way too large, and so is the text. Let us fix that.
line of another entity. We
will be using this to create a 24. First, begin by using Numeric Edit on the text
new landmass that follows labels. Leave the text alone, but click Properties in the
the old one, but stays within dialog and change the size of the text. I set my height to 1. Note that if you used a proper
the border of our new local justification for each text label, they will neatly shrink towards where they are supposed to
map. be. In any case, you may wish to use Move, Scale, Rotate to adjust the text position a
bit.
25. Use Erase to delete the symbols that extend outside the map border.
26. Use Scale to change the scale of the city symbols. The scale factor is equal to map width
of new map divided by map width of old map. This works out to 100 / 800 = 0.125 However,
More on next page… you might find this to a bit too small, so I recommend 0.25 for this map.

58
 However, if we double the scale of the city symbols, we should change the default scale to
ensure all symbols are scaled equally, so go to File → Drawing Properties and set the Point A
Default symbol scale to 0.2 (double the current value). When tracing, drawing tools
I prefer to use Non-visual Scale for this, which is accessed by right-clicking the Scale does not stop at the map
button. Remember that you have to scale the symbols one by one, because you need the border like we are used to.
scale origin to be at the center of each individual symbol. If you do them all at once, you only Therefore, point A and point
get to specify a single scale origin, which causes the symbols to move, because the distance C are right on top of the
between them decreases as well, and not just the symbol itself. map border. Once done, the
Use Move, Scale, Rotate to get the symbols into better positions. After all, we wish our map border will cover up
any minor oddities caused
costal city to actually be located at the coast.
by the trace ending point. If
27. Use Node Edit to move the endpoints of the road to the new positions of the cities. we wish, we could instead
28. Delete the few hills in the north-west corner and replace them with about 10-15 new ones have used the Intersection
in the correct scale. We have doubled our default symbol scale already, but to ensure that modifier on the point where
our current scale is correct, after selecting the symbol, right click to get the Symbol the landmass intersects
Parameters dialog, click Set normal to reset scale and location, and then More to continue with the inside border to
placing the symbols. start/stop the trace at that
precise location.
29. Delete the individual trees and replace them with a few forests drawn using the Terrain
Default, Forest Decid drawing tool. Place a scattering of individual trees around these
Point D
forests.
Points D, E and F are outside
the map border. As usual,
the drawing tool stops at
the map border, so this
causes the landmass to
follow our map border.

Outside the Template

Click to select them at
points outside the map
borders of our current
template. We want to erase
the entities we copied over,
not the ones we just drew.

Inside the Map Border

When using Trim, the part
CC3+ keeps is the part
containing our selection
point. So, since we wish to
keep the part inside the map
border, we also need to
select that part, even
though this will end up
selecting the entire line no
matter where you click on it.

More on next page…

59
 What now
Scale of the City Symbols
By now, we have successfully taken a piece out of a large map, and made a smaller local map from
Another way to scale
it. Everything now fits nicely within the map borders, and both text and symbol scale are
multiple symbols in the map
appropriate.
is to enter the symbol
manager, select one or more But we are far from done. Right now, the map doesn’t show any more detail than our regional map,
symbols, and then hit the so it doesn’t really serve a purpose. However, our map is now ready to add the appropriate elements.
scale button. This allows While we won’t cover this part in details, here is a list of potential changes/additions you may wish
you to rescale a lot of to make.
symbols at once, without
Use Fractalise to increase the details on the coastline. If you are using a map style
the symbols moving all over
the map. However, this with fractal instead of smooth rivers, you may wish to fractalize those too.
rescales the symbol defini- Add more cities. Smaller towns don’t show up on regional map, but a local map will
tion, which also impacts show them.
future symbols of that type
placed. Add more roads. Again, regional maps don’t show all the minor roads

Use the Edit feature of the Default Landmass tool to make minor changes to the
Correct Scale coastline. Again, a regional map won’t show all the details of a local map, so don’t be
The original symbols copied afraid to add details, like small peninsulas, bays or even small islands off the coast.
from the regional map are
Add text labels, including place names and a map title
obviously in the wrong
scale. However, the default Add some interesting places
symbol scale for this new
map is set to an appropriate Add a compass and a scale bar
value by default, so the new
ones will be at an
appropriate scale.
Tracing
During the tutorial on the previous couple of pages, we took advantage of the Trace feature found
in many drawing tools. Trace is a very powerful feature which allows us to create a new entity that
clones a section of another entity. This is very useful in several circumstances, for example when
we want to recreate just part of another entity, like we did with our landmass in the tutorial above,
or when we want one feature to follow along the edge of another, like when we need terrain to
follow along a coastline, as we did with the swamp in our Windclaw map earlier.

Using trace is generally easy, but it has a few quirks that can seem a bit strange until you have
learned to use it properly, so I strongly recommend you try it out several times on a test map before
you bring it to a complicated map.

To trace something, first activate the drawing tool you want to use, then place at least one node to
start your drawing. Once the first node is placed, you will notice on the command line that an option
T – Trace is available (usually along with several other options). Simply hit the key to start
tracing.

Once you start tracing, the first thing CC3+ will ask of you is the Entity to Trace:. At this stage, you
will select the entity you wish to trace along, but there is one important quirk here, your trace will
always go through the point on the entity where you clicked to select it. Therefore, the actual
selection point is quite important, so make sure you select it where you wish the trace to go through.
This is one of the few commands in CC3+ where the position on the entity you clicked to select it
is important. To make things easier on yourself, I recommend this point being far away from the
starting point you place next.

The next thing CC3+ will ask for is Starting point of portion. This is the point on the entity where
you will start the trace. Note that this will always be on the edge of the entity, so CC3+ will use the
nearest point on the entity no matter where you click in the map. A straight line from the last node
you placed (before starting the trace) will indicate where this is, simply move your mouse along the
edge until you find a suitable point, then click.

Last, CC3+ will ask for the Ending point of portion:. This is the point along the entity where you
wish the trace to end. As you move your mouse around, you will see that CC3+ shows you a line

60
where the trace will go. Once the preview looks ok, you can click to set the ending point, and then
finish up your polygon the normal way.

However, before placing the end point, there are two important things to keep in mind:

If the area to trace is complicated, this procedure can be a bit slow. CC3+ will recalculate
the trace each time you move your mouse, so things may behave a little bit choppy, and Trace.FCW
you may need to wait a little bit. You can avoid some of this by zooming in close on This is a node-reduced
your ending area, but this means you won’t see the trace preview. When you are familiar version of the actual
with the tool, you don’t really need this preview however. If you find things going really Windclaw map. The amount
choppy, I recommend moving your mouse, then letting completely go of it until the of nodes in the original map
calculations are done. If you continue moving the mouse while CC3+ is calculating, you makes tracing slow, which
just cause more calculation, which does not help at all. is not good for a tutorial.
Reducing the number of
The trace may appear to go the wrong way around the edge. There are two main reasons
nodes does make the
why this happens. The first of these is simply that the selection point you used when
coastline less attractive
selecting the entity is wrong, remember that the trace always goes through that point.
however, but can be helpful
The second issue is simply that you haven’t moved your mouse far enough yet. If you
if your maps have way too
position your mouse halfway between the start point and the selection point, the trace
many nodes. The reduce
will be forced to go the other way around to be able to include the selection point. This
nodes command can be
will rectify itself immediately upon you moving the mouse past the selection point. In
accessed by typing REDN
other words, ignore what way the trace is going until you have positioned your mouse
on the command line.
on the end point, if you placed the original selection point correctly, it will be going the
right way now.

Let us try a few traces on our Windclaw map to see the behavior of the trace.

1. Load @Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Trace.FCW.
2. Zoom in to the peninsula at the top right, but don’t zoom too close, we want to see a bit of
the area around. We want to cover this in tundra.
3. Activate the Terrain Default, Tundra drawing tool.
4. Place the first node at the ⚫ at 1.
5. Now, the command line should offer us the T – Trace option, so hit to begin the trace.

6. Select the edge of our landmass at the ⚫ point at 2.

7. Now, CC3+ wants the Starting point of portion. Move your mouse towards the ⚫ point
at 3, note that there will be a line from 1 to the point on the coastline nearest our cursor.
Click to accept the position.
8. CC3+ now wants the Ending point of portion:. Simply move your mouse over to the ⚫
point at 4, and click once CC3+ has finished drawing the preview line.
9. Draw additional nodes to complete the polygon, and right click to end the drawing. You
should now have a nice tundra on the peninsula, following the coastline. (I turned effects
off in the screenshot to show the tracing properly, otherwise the edge fade makes it retract
a bit from the coastline).

Now, the above is clean and simple, and is how things works if you do everything exactly as I
described it, but you may experience some differences, so let us explore why.

10. Delete the tundra you just drew.

11. Do steps 3 through 7 above.
12. Now, move your mouse to the ⚫ at A. Depending on your computer speed, CC3+ may spend
a minute calculating, so just lift your hand off the mouse a moment.
Now pay attention to the trace preview line. Notice that it currently goes the wrong way
around the coastline? Why is this? Why doesn’t it go the way we want it to go? Well, the
simple answer is that we told CC3+ that we wanted the trace to go through the ⚫ point at

61
 2 by selecting the entity at this point. And currently, we started the trace at 3, and we now
have our mouse at A. If you look at the map, the only way the trace can go from 3 to A, while
also going through 2 is obviously around the entire island. So as you can see here, the initial
selection point plays a very important role in the direction the trace takes. Note that if you
really wished to trace between 3 and A, your initial selection point should not have been at
2, but rather somewhere on the coastline between 3 and A instead.
13. Move your mouse to the ⚫ at B. Again, this movement can be a bit choppy because CC3+
keeps calculating the trace. Once you have moved the mouse to B and let CC3+ finished the
computation, you should see that the trace now follows the desired path around the
peninsula. This is because B is past the selection point at 2, so now the selection point is
correctly in between our starting and (current) ending point.
14. Either abort drawing the tundra by hitting , or finish it.

As you can see from the above procedure, the tracing may appear to go the wrong way while you
are in the middle of the command, but assuming you placed the original selection point correctly,
this will correct itself when you get to the end.

The real error you can make is to place the selection point wrong. Let us try this.

15. If you have a tundra drawn, delete it.

16. Repeat steps 3 to 7 above, but at step 6, select the coastline at the ⚫ at C instead.
17. Now, in step 8 above, notice how the trace now goes the wrong way around the coastline
instead of following the peninsula.
As before, that happens because CC3+ starts the trace at the starting point (3), goes through
the selection point (C) and ends at the ending point (4). Again, if you look at the map, you
will see that going all the way around the island is the only way possible when following the
points in that order.
18. Complete the trace and see the undesirable result.

Editing Review
Entities that are selected for edits can be filtered by using the And or Not functions of
the Selection menu.

The editing buttons, like most other buttons on the interface, can be right clicked to open
a list of more options for that command.

Using node edits, we can alter the shape of paths and polygons.

Trim commands allow us to edit entities to fit precisely or alter their length and shape.

Tracing is a great tool to follow along any outline, but make sure to select the entity at
the proper spot.

Watch the Command Prompt. It will tell you what options you have and what input
CC3+ is waiting for from you.

62
SHEETS AND EFFECTS
One of the very exciting changes in CC3 over CC2 Pro is the way CC3 uses sheet effects in our
drawings. CC3+ expanded on this by adding more effects and making them more efficient. These
effects can transform ordinary drawings into something quite extraordinary. Before we look at the
effects themselves, let’s look at sheets and see how sheets work in our drawings.

Sheets
Symbols or entities placed with drawing tools are placed
on an appropriate sheet such as Sea/Coast or Terrain.
Entities added using draw buttons are placed on the
current sheet. Sheets can be thought of as a stack of
transparent pages. Like layers, sheets can be hidden or
shown. Unlike layers, however, all entities on each sheet
are sorted into order by sheet name. Layers do not dictate
entity order whereas sheets force entity order. When we
use Reorder commands like Bring to Front or Send to
Back , the entities can only be reordered within the
confines of their sheet.

Let’s begin by looking at sheets and how they work in a

drawing. Click Open , and then navigate to the
@Tutorials\Tome\Overland folder. Select Sheets
Demo.FCW, then click Open.
COMMON
We see here a small overland map. If we click the Sheets indicator , For the sake of these
we see the list of sheets that are in this drawing. tutorials and explanations,
we’ll refer to COMMON as a
sheet, but understand that
COMMON isn’t truly a
sheet. Rather, it is that
which is not on any sheet. It
cannot have effects applied
to it, and it cannot be
deleted or hidden. For best
results, do not put entities
on COMMON.

Sheet Order
The list is sorted in the order
they are drawn on the
screen. First the topmost
sheet is drawn, then the
next is drawn on top of that,
and so on. This is why the
sheet that is last in the list is
Sheet order actually the one that is
going to end up on the top
The order in which the sheets appear is specific. The
of the drawing. So if you
Drawing Sheets dialog shows us that COMMON is listed
need to put something on
first; but for sheet order, MAP BORDER is on top, then TEXT,
the top of the sheet order,
then ROADS FRONT, etc. until we get to SEA which is on the
place it at the bottom in this
bottom.
dialog.

63
 In this drawing, any entities added for example
to the SYMBOLS sheet, will always be on top of
all entities on the SEA sheet and the LAND
sheet as well as all other sheets above it on the
Drawing Sheets list; and they will always be
under all entities on the MAP BORDER sheet as
well as all other sheets below it on the Drawing
Sheets list.

If we look at the main sheets individually, we

see that each sheet is a transparent ‘page’ that
holds its own entities.

When stacked together, these transparent

‘pages’ form our map.

Managing sheets
If you just want to hide or show sheets, use the checkbox
controls to make any one sheet current, or to hide/show any
sheet.

Sheets Rename allows us to change the name of a sheet in the list.

Click the sheet name to highlight it, then click Rename. Type
There is no practical limit to
in the new sheet name, then click OK.
the number of sheets a
drawing can contain. A Add allows us to add a new sheet to the drawing. Click Add, type in the new sheet name, then click
single drawing can OK.
accommodate over 30,000.
Delete allows us to remove a sheet from the drawing. Click the desired sheet name to highlight it,
then click Delete. Click Yes.
Delete
All entities on the sheet will Move Up/Move Down allow us to reorder the sheets in the drawing. Click to highlight the desired
be deleted from the drawing sheet, then click Move Up or Move Down as many times as necessary to move the sheet into the
along with the sheet itself. desired order position.
This edit cannot be undone. Show All allows us a quick way to reveal all hidden sheets rather than having to click to remove
Make certain that you are the Hide status from each individual sheet.
prepared to delete a sheet
before you click yes.
Let’s create a new sheet, put entities on it and
Reveal All then move the sheet in the sheet order. If you
This function comes in closed Sheets Demo.FCW, reopen it to
handy if we’d checked the continue.
Auto hide all sheets except
1. Click the Sheets indicator in the status
current and COMMON box
in order to work on a bar then click
particular sheet and we now Add. Type GRID, then click OK. Be sure
want to reveal all sheets. GRID is selected as the current sheet,
then click OK.

64
 Color Bar
2. Click color 2 (red) on the Color Bar.
The color bar on the left
3. Click Grid . In the Hex Grid dialog, select Square grid. For shows 48 colors from a
Grid size input a Grid spacing of 10. Uncheck Labels total palette of 256
outside and then uncheck Labelling. Uncheck the Set snap colors. The current color
grid option. Click Apply. is marked with a heavy
black border.
Use the Color Bar to select a
different color at any time,
even in the middle of
drawing or editing.
Alternately, you can click
the Color Indicator and
select a color out of the
complete palette.

Labels Outside
The checkmark in Labels
Outside must be removed to
disable this feature. If you
uncheck Labelling first, it
will gray out the Labels
We now have a grid on our map. Let’s order the sheets to put the grid below the symbols. outside box, but as long as
there is a checkmark there,
4. Click the Sheet indicator . With GRID
outside labels will still be
highlighted, click Move Up four times to position the GRID
created.
sheet above the SYMBOLS sheet in the Drawing Sheets list.
Click OK.
5. Click Redraw .

We could be done with the grid at this point, but let’s say we want to make the grid less bold. We’ll
begin our exploration of sheet effects by making the grid semi-transparent.

6. Click Sheets and Effects . In the Drawing Sheets and Effects dialog, be certain the GRID
sheet is highlighted. Click to check the Activate Sheet Effects box, then click Add. Out of
the list of effects in the Add Effect dialog, click Transparency.
7. In the Edit filter settings dialog, set Opacity (%) to 30. Click OK. Click OK.

65
 Intrusive
Beware that what looks
good on screen might not
look as good in print.
By making the grid semi-transparent, it is now much less intrusive.
Because of the significantly
higher resolution of your
printer compared to your
Many of the drawings we do will be on templates which have preloaded effects. This makes it quick
monitor, this grid might be
and easy to produce nice looking drawings. There will come times, however, when we want to add
almost invisible in print.
a sheet to that preloaded template and that new sheet might need effects applied. Let’s look at
effects and what they do for our drawings.

Effects Effects
Each sheet in the drawing We know that CC3+ drawings are divided up into a stack of sheets. On each
can have several effects. sheet are CC3+'s drawing entities. For each sheet, we can specify one or
The effects settings are more effects to be applied to that sheet. Each sheet is added to the screen
saved with the drawing. in order, but before it is added CC3+ applies any effects we have specified
Note that empty sheets are for that sheet. When CC3+ has combined all the sheets into a single image,
NOT saved with the drawing it applies any effects specified for the Whole Drawing.
however, even if they have
effects assigned to them.
So, if you wish to pre-define
some sheets and their
effects for use later, make
sure to put an entity on
them. The most common Adding effects to our map
way to do that is to place a
single point [POINT] entity Let us continue with our Windclaw map from before (@Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Windclaw
in the 0,0 position. 09.FCW).

1. Click Sheets and Effects . In the Drawing Sheets and Effects dialog make sure Activate
Sheet Effects is activated and click OK.
As we can see, even if we haven’t added any effects yet, there are still several effects active in the
map. All of these are default effects that come with the template. These are primarily Edge Fade
and Glow effects that help fade entities into each other to avoid sharp contours, as well as highlight
important features like rivers and text. There are however a lot of additional effects we can add to
this map to make it better.

66
When adding effects, keep in mind that the effect affects all entities on the same sheet, so if we
wish to have a certain effect only on certain entities, we may need to create new sheets and move Load a Map
these entities there. If you wish, you can have
the effects automatically
Let us start by adding a Drop Shadow effect to the scale bar and compass rose to make them stand
turned on when you load a
out a little more. These reside on the same sheet as the map border, and since we do not want the
map by going to Tools →
actual map border itself to cast a shadow, we are going to need a new sheet.
Options and setting the
Note that for now we want to keep the Activate Sheet Effects option activated, since we are Effects on Load option. The
mainly working with effects here. If we turn it off, we won’t be able to see the result of our changes. As Drawing option means
Fortunately, effects are much less resource intensive in CC3+, so we can usually leave them on while that effects are turned on if
mapping, but some effects, like blur, are more resource-intensive than the drawings were saved
others, so if you use a lot of effects, you may still want to turn them off with them on. Another way
while mapping. Remember that by default, this option is off when you load of setting this is to add
a map, even if it was on when you saved the map, so remember to turn it EFFECTSON to the
on if needed. OnLoadMacro macro of this
map. See the chapter on
2. Click Sheets and Effects .
Macros (Page 198) for more
3. Click the Add button at the left-hand side of the dialog, and name details on macros in CC3+.
the new sheet DECORATIONS. The new sheet will appear at the The OnLoadMacro is also
very bottom of the sheet, but we wish the MAP BORDER sheet to discussed in the Templates
appear last, so select the sheet in the list, and use the Move Up and Map Styles chapter,
button to move it above MAP BORDER in the list. more precisely, the Getting
symbols chapter on page
4. Make sure that the Effects that apply to setting is set to Selected
157.
Sheet.
5. With our new sheet still selected, click the Add button to the right of the
list. From the Add effect dialog that pops up, select Drop Shadow. Selected Sheet
6. Set the values as shown in the image, then click OK to set the effect, and Effects can either apply to a
OK to close the Drawing Sheets and Effects dialog box. single sheet, or to the entire
We are now returned to our map. Right now, we cannot see any signs of our drawing. In the first case,
new effect. This is because we set the effect on the new sheet we created, and the effects are calculated
this sheet does not yet have any entities to apply this effect to. only for the entities on the
current sheet, unaffected by
7. Click Change Properties , then select both our scale bar and compass entities on any other sheet.
rose. Then hit to accept the selection. In the latter case, we have
8. In the Change Properties dialog, make sure to place a effects that apply to the
whole drawing. These are
checkmark in the Sheet setting, and make sure
applied to the final image,
DECORATIONS is selected. Click OK. Once back to the map,
after the individual sheets
hit Redraw to see the changes. Our scale bar and compass
have had their effects
rose should now have a nice drop shadow.
applied and have been
Next, our ruins in the hills could stand out a bit more to indicate that assembled.
they are prominent sites. Let us add a glow effect to them.

9. As we did above, add a new sheet named SYMBOLS

GLOWING and position it right below the regular SYMBOLS
sheet in the list.
10. Add the Glow effect to this sheet. Click on the color square and
select an ominous purple, and use a Strength value of 12.5 and
Blur radius of 25.
11. Use Change Properties to move the Monolith, Obelisk, Cairn,
and Ruined Tower symbols to the SYMBOLS GLOWING sheet.
Note that this added a soft halo around the symbols, if you wish you can
tweak the values to make a more pronounced outline instead, like what
is done to the text in the map.

67
 Finally, let us add a sepia effect to our map. This makes it look like an aged newspaper image. This
is a great way of easily producing old-looking maps, without having to create an entire separate
map. For example, you can use this effect to quickly create a player handout from your GM’s map.
Simply hide any layers with sensitive information, apply the sepia effect, and then print the map for
your players.

Note that this effect will make some of the other effects we applied less visible, but remember that
you can enable and disable individual effects. If you remove the checkmark in front of the effect in
the Drawing Sheets and Effects dialog, the effect is disabled. This way, you can keep several
defined effects in your map, and turn them on and off as needed.

12. Click Sheets and Effects . Change the Effects that apply to setting to Whole Drawing.
13. Add the RGB Matrix Process effect. From
the Predefined drop-down, select Sepia.
14. Click OK and return to the map.
We have now added several effects to enhance
our map, in addition to the predefined effects
from the template. You are encouraged to check
out the settings of these effects. You can check
which settings were used for any effect by
selecting the appropriate sheet, then select one
of the effects for that sheet, and finally clicking
the Edit button. This will bring the configuration
dialog for that effect back up, showing the
currently applied settings.

Caer Bruin
This map was created by
Ralf Schemmann.
New symbols were created
for Caer Bruin using tech-
niques which are explained
in the Creating Perspective
Symbols chapter on page
490. The buildings are
drawn using the techniques
explained in the House
Creation chapter on page
485. The fences and hedges
are projected versions of
standard CD Pro/DD Pro
symbols using the tech-
niques explained in Creating
solids from projected shapes
on page 484. Simple
extrusion and copy
commands created the
palisades and little wooden
platforms on the rock face.
Caer Bruin is available to
view in the @Examples\
Tome\Perspectives folder.

68
About Units
Note that many of the effects takes their size in units. Most of the
effect dialogs which uses this measurement also have an Effects
Unit selector where you can choose exactly how the term units
is interpreted for this specific effect. The default in most cases is
map units.

Percent of View Width: This setting makes the effect scale based on the current zoom
level. This can be used to make a symbol have the same visual glow size for example,
so that the glow is visible while zoomed out, but doesn’t cover everything when zoomed
in to.

Map Units: Specifying effects in map units means that they have a fixed size. A shadow
that is a mile long when zoomed out will still be a mile long when you zoom in. This is
the most used option for effects, and it is relatively easy to predict the size of effects
when supplying the parameters.

Percent of Drawing Extents Width: This calculates the effects size based on the size of
the current drawing. Usually, for a single map, this option is not very useful, but if you
are going to save your effect settings for use in other maps, this is very useful, since the
effects using this value will automatically scale with map size. This option is used for
most predefined effect settings from ProFantasy.

Global Sun
Several of the effects that involve lighting will allow you to use the
global sun, or to set the light source properties manually. By using the
global sun, you will ensure that all effects use the same lighting value, Global Sun
and you can easily change all the lighting by changing a single value. Overland maps usually
To access the Global Sun, right click the Sheets and Effects button. don’t use everything the
The global sun is used for several different purposes, so not everything global sun has to offer, most
of the options in this dialog
in this dialog will be useful for all effects. Use Azimuth to set the
horizontal angle of the sun, and Inclination to set the vertical angle. is mainly used with the City
Intensity controls the strength of the light. Designer 3 addon.

Adjust Hue/Saturation
Hue, Saturation, Lightness (HSL) is a way of Color Wheel
representing colors. This effect adjusts the hue,
A color wheel is an
saturation and lightness values of every pixel. This
organization of color hues
effect is usually applied to an entire drawing rather
around a circle which shows
than to a single sheet.
relationships between
Hue is the angle of the color on the color wheel. colors considered to be
primary colors, secondary
Saturation is the intensity of a specific hue. A highly-saturated hue has a vivid, color, while a less colors, complementary
saturated hue appears greyer. colors, etc.
Lightness is the perceived amount of light in color. A high value tends towards white, and a low
one towards black.

Hue/Saturation example
In this example of a keep on a hill, the hill contours are each on their own sheet. Saturation was
adjusted on the top three sheets. This allows us to make a hill that is six contours tall using only
three different bitmaps.

69
 Bevel
Bevel gives and illusion of depth to edges. It adds a dark area
to edges facing the lower left corner of the screen and a light
area to edges facing the top left corner of the screen. The
edge of the bevel can be faded to appear curved, and the
color of the bevel inverted to invert the 3D effect. Although
the tops of real walls are not usually beveled, a bevel in a
drawing shows that the wall is 3D, and can look very nice.
Cylindrical objects also benefit from long, fading bevels.

Parameters
Length is the length of the bevel in selected effect units.

For Strength, increase this value to decrease the transparency of the bevel. Increasing the number
makes the light and shadows appear bolder.

If Invert colors is enabled, the area will appear sunken instead of raised.

Fade controls fading of the bevel towards the inside of the edge. The higher the number, the more
rounded is the appearance.

Bevel examples
Instead of Raised These examples are all on a wall that is one foot wide.
This only works if there are
other visual cues such as a
drop shadow to show
where the light is coming
from; otherwise it just
appears that the light is
coming from the opposite
direction.

70
Bevel, Lighted
This effect is essentially the same as Bevel with the added
ability to change the direction of the light source.

Parameters
Bevel Size is width of the bevel in effect units.

Intensity is the amount that the base colors show through the
bevel.

Lightness Base refers to the final bevel color which is

computed as sheet color. Lowering this value will control the
overall darkness of the bevel.

Lightness Range controls the range of the final bevel result.

Making this value smaller will result in less overall bevel
effect.

Smoothing is used to remove artifacts from the bevel. Applying a Smoothing value of 2 will
generally smooth out these artifacts, but will round out corners in the bevel slightly.
Global Sun
Edge Fade cause stronger fading of the bevel towards the inside of the edge. You can access the global
Check the box for Use Global Sun to use the global sun direction setting rather than Azimuth and sun settings by right clicking
Elevation. on the Display Speed
Settings button. It is
Azimuth (0-360) is the horizontal angle of the sun in degrees measured counterclockwise from also further discussed on
east. This takes effect only if Use Global Sun is unchecked. page 311 and page 378.
Elevation (0-360) is the vertical angle of the sun in degrees measured counterclockwise from east.
Like Azimuth, this takes effect only if Use Global Sun is unchecked.

Lighted Bevel examples

These examples are on a wall that is one foot wide.

Blurring
Blur is one of the slowest
effects. A lot of blurs in the
drawing will slow redraw
time considerably.

71
 Blend Mode
Blend Mode
Blend Mode is an effect that combines the colors on the
For more details about the
current sheet with the resulting image from the sheets
individual options and
below it. This is similar to what transparency does, but
graphics theory, I
Blend Mode offer many more options on how the colors
recommend that you read
should be combined. For example, you can use the
the Wikipedia Article at
entities on the current sheet to lighten or darken
https://en.wikipedia.org/wi
sections of the below image, you can produce the
ki/Blend_modes
difference between the colors on this sheet and the ones
As this is a common feature
below, your you can create a negative image.
of nearly all image editors,
you can also find a lot of The effect only applies to the parts of the current sheet containing entities, so you can use this effect
information online, even if it to apply color manipulation to parts of the map.
is not written for CC3+, it
Blend Mode is a common and important function in all image editing software that deals with layers.
still operates on the same
principle.
Parameters
The Blend Mode setting controls the type of blending you wish to do. Note that Normal means no
blending at all, which doesn’t make sense for a CC3+ effect, but for most other software that uses
blend mode, this is probably the most used option of them all.

Opacity controls the transparency of the image below. The higher the opacity value, the more effect
it has on the blending. Setting it to 0 results in no blending at all.

Blur
Blurring softens and removes noise, as well as smoothing
out hard edges between filled areas. This effect is
frequently used for backgrounds, water and contours to
blend areas of color and fill styles. When blur is used on
the entire drawing, it can soften it. A blur of .01 on text
might be just enough to anti-alias it.

Parameters
The Blur radius is the distance around each blurred pixel which is taken into account. The larger
this value, the slower the blur effect.

72
Blur examples
The sample text is 5 inches tall in a floorplan template. The sample sea contours are in a standard
overland template.

Blur, Alpha
Alpha Blur uses the color information in the entity to
create a glow around the entity. The entire outer edge of
the entity is affected, blurring an area of equal area inside
and outside the entity border.

This has several advantages over the regular glow effect,

as Blur, Alpha can create different glow colors for different
entities on the same sheet. Note that this effect is quite
resource intensive, so it should not be turned on while still
working on the map

Parameters
Scale is the strength of the effect. Lower values give a less pronounced, highly transparent glow,
while a high value gives a very visible opaque glow.

Blur amount is the size of the glow, in map units. The larger the value, the further from the entity
the effect will be visible.

Blur Color Data mixes the glow effect with the underlying image it was created from. This causes
the glow to look like a semi-transparent effect on top of the original entity.

Restore Image places a copy of the original image on top of the effect. Using this option causes the
inside glow on the entity to be hidden, and only the glow around the original image will be visible.

Blur, Alpha examples

This example shows how a multi-colored geometric shape responds to the Blur, Alpha effect.

73
 Color Key
Bump Map
This effect can make fully or partially transparent any specific color on a sheet. This is commonly
A bump map is a grayscale
used along with a green screen when making videos to put characters into a location filmed
image that represents
separately, but is very helpful in all instances when you wish to insert anything into another image.
height data. These heights
This effect can also be used to knock out parts of another entity. For example, you can use it to
are used to compute a
create a hole in a landmass, allowing you to see the ocean below. This is an optional way of creating
normal map which is used
lakes.
as described above. If you
don’t have a handy normal
map, using a grayscale Parameters
image as a bump map will Knock out Color is the color you wish to affect. You should pick a color not normally used in the
often work well. map to avoid unintentionally affecting other parts of the map.

Replacement Opacity is the transparency you want on the affected color. A value of 0 means that
it will be invisible, while a value of 100 will negate this entire effect.
Displacement
The displace filter works by Color Key Example
using a displacement map
The example to the left shows a simple lake created using Color Key.
to compute the new pixel to
use at the current location. The example below shows an island, where Color Key have been used to
The displacement map is knock out parts of it to create lakes and rivers. Note that this example also
implemented as the red and uses other effects like Bevel, Texturize and Edge Striping.
green channels of the
image. The normal map is
an image that encodes a
vector’s X, Y, and Z
components into the R, G,
and B components of a
pixel. The Normal Map
shader in FT generates
examples of a normal map.
For every XY pixel in the
output image, the appropri-
ate normal map XY compo-
nents are added to the
current XY position and that
pixel in the input image is
used as the output pixel.

Displace
This effect distorts pixels based on another
sample image. Displace can be used to age
or erode the edge of walls or contours.

Parameters
Displacement Map Name is the filename of
the image you wish to use as a displacement
map.

Image is a bump map will indicate that the

image is a bump map. If unchecked, this item
indicates that the item is a normal map.

Displacement Amount is the size to scale the vector by. A displacement of 1 moves things 1 pixel,
2 moves them 2 pixels, etc.

Texture size is the size of the image mapped to the map size.

74
Displace examples
These examples are on a wall that is one foot wide.

Drop Shadow Horizontal Displacement

Drop Shadow gives the impression that entities are Positive values here will
floating over the background by adding a shadow. In displace the shadow to the
overland maps this effect is primarily used with text and right of the entities. Enter a
cartouches to make them stand off the background. negative value for the
shadow to be displaced to
Parameters the left of the entities.
Offset X is the horizontal displacement in units.

Offset Y is the vertical displacement in units. Vertical Displacement

For Opacity, 0% is totally transparent (no effect). Positive values here will
displace the shadow below
Blur radius softens the edge of the shadow. the entities. Enter a
negative value for the
shadow to be displaced
above the entities.

75
 Drop Shadow examples
This example is a cartouche on a standard CC3 overland template.

Edge Fade
Edge Fade finds solid-filled areas on the current sheet and
fades them to or from the edge. It has no effect on entities
with non-solid fill styles. This effect is ideal for political
borders in a map made up of solid-filled regions.

Parameters
Distance is the width of the fading area.

For Invert Colors, if the value is 0 it fades towards the

interior If 1, then it fades towards the edge.

Opacity refers to the opacity of the non-faded area.

Edge Fade examples

The example below uses solid polygons with an edge fade effect to create nice colored political
borders. Notice that we cannot see the symbols at all in the image with effects off, since the solid
polygons cover them up. Once effects are turned on, the symbols become visible through the now
transparent polygons.

76
Edge Fade, Inner
This effect is similar to Edge Fade, but with the added ability
to fade toward the middle or fade toward the edge of the solid
areas.

Parameters
Edge Width is the width of the effect in map units.

Inner Opacity is the opacity of the middle of the solid area.

Outer Opacity is the opacity of the edges of the solid area.

Edge Fade, Inner examples

This example below shows text on a parchment
background with various settings for the Edge Fade,
Inner effect. Note that this effect works nicely with
bitmap fills, as opposed to the Edge Fade effect. One item
worth noticing is that Edge Fade works on individual
polygons while Edge Fade, Inner works on the total area
the polygons form. This means that if several polygons
touch/overlap each other, there will be no effect at the
border. The example to the right shows the same drawing
used in the Edge Fade example, but with an Edge Fader,
Inner effect applied. The difference is obvious.

Edge Striping
Edge striping takes an image and repeats it around the
outside and/or inside of an entity. This can be used to
enhance the edge of an entity in several ways, for
example by adding lines along a coastline.

Parameters
Edge Image Map is the image to be striped along the
edge of the entity. Note that only the last row of pixels in
the image will be used.

Size determines how far from the edge the effect will
stretch. The content of the image will be stretched to fit
this length.

Blur adds a blur effect to the outline for a softer edge. The end result will look rather weird if you
use a large value for this.

77
 Edge Striping Examples
This examples shows the effect applied to the coastline of Windclaw. The image used for the
stringing effect can be found in the @Filters\Images directory.

Glow
RPG Value
This effect adds a color halo around the affected
Color values are numbers sheet. Glow can be used to offset text or symbols
from 0 to 255, and refer to from the background, or do an outline outside a wall
the amount of that or landmass. The glow will make a copy of the entity
component in the mix. For a in the selected color. This is then blurred.
quick way to find these
numbers, open up CC3+'s Mode gives us the choice of Inside for the glow to
color palette, and hit the be in the interior of the shape or Outside to be
Define Color button. You outside the shape.
can now define any color by In Glow Color, click the colored area to choose a
using the color chart and color from the palette, or type an RGB value.
slider to the right in this
dialog. The color selected is Strength adjusts the density of the glow. 0 gives a
shown in the box below the minor effect.
diagram, and you can find
Blur Radius sets the width of the glow in map units.
the red, blue and green
components of the color
here as well. Not that if the
Glow examples
color looks black no matter The example shows how
where you move the cursor glow can be used to make
in the diagram, make sure text and symbols more
that the slider to the far visible against the
right is not all the way to the background.
bottom. Once you are done
inspecting colors, click
Cancel, otherwise you
would add this new color to
the palette, which was not
our intent.

78
Inner Glow
This effect creates a glow inside an entity which is less
graduated than Glow.

Parameters
Blur Size sets the width of the blur effect used with the glow.

In Glow Color, click the colored area to choose a color from

the palette, or type an RGB value.

Opacity controls the transparency of the effect. A value of 0

makes it completely transparent (which is equal to not
applying it at all), while a value of 100 makes it completely opaque. Any value in between will
ensure that the color of the effect is blended with the color of the actual entity.

Brightness controls the

strength of the glow.

Inner Glow Example

This example shows 3
colored circles. The Inner
Glow effect has been
applied twice with different
blur size to create a 3D-like
effect, and make them
appear as spheres rather
than circles.

Outer Glow
Outer Glow creates a very
pronounced outline on entities affected by it. This effect
is especially useful to create outlines on text, to ensure
readability.

Parameters
Glow Color specifies the color of the glow.

Opacity controls the transparency of the effect.

Range determines the size of the glow.

Blur Size determines the size of the blur effect used

with the glow. The lower this value, the sharper the
edges will be, while higher values provides softer glows.

Outer Glow Example

This example shows the use of this
effect to make text more visible. By
using dark text with a white glow, or
white text with a dark glow, text will
be highly visible even on a noisy
background.

79
 RGB Matrix Process
This effect adjusts the color of the pixels in the
affected region. It gives you a linear
combination of the input RGB color
components. This technique lets you perform
color conversions such as sepia tone,
grayscale, pure red, pure blue, pure green, and
so on. There are many possible combinations
of operations, but the important idea is that it's
one pixel in, one pixel out. You can also use this filter to darken or lighten an image. The predefined
values are commonly used to make the whole drawing grayscale, or sepia.

The RGB Matrix Process goes through the pixels in the region one by one. For each pixel, it calculates
new Red, Green and Blue components for that pixel, by using the original component values
multiplied with the values you provide
in the matrix. Using different values,
you can remove one of the
components, like red, from the map
entirely, or you can swap blue and
green components to create a truly
alien map.

The calculation for each color is very

simple. The formula for each
component is x1*R + x2*G + x3*B + x4.
In this formula x1, x2, x3, x4 are the
values you add in the dialog, while R,
G and B are the original color
components of the pixel.

Parameters
The 4 boxes for each color allow you
to define each color component based
on the strength of the existing
components.

The drop list for Predefined on the

bottom of the RGB Matrix Data Entry
dialog has a number of presets,
including sepia.

Load loads a saved setting.

Save saves the current setting.

RGB Matrix Process examples

The examples shown to the right
shows various results possible by
using the RGB Matrix Process.

80
Screen Border
CC3+ can't calculate certain effects - for example, a drop shadow -
from something off the active window. To make sure maps look fine
both in your drawing window and on prints, you can add an opaque
border to the active window. Note that this effect is recalculated to fit
the active window each time you change the view, like zooming in or
out. This is one effect that works particularily well when used on the
whole drawing instead of one individual sheet.

If you are printing a particular view of a map, and you can see an edge
effect you don't like, use an opaque white solid sufficiently big to cover
the problem up. You can also use it to give a fake 3D button to the
edge of your screen by having the border opaque at the outside fading
to transparent on the inner edge.

Parameters
Width is the width of the border as a percentage of the view
window width.

Outer Opacity is the opacity of the outside of the screen

border.

Inner Opacity is the opacity of the inside of the screen border.

Inner Color is the color of the inside of the border.

Outer Color is the color of the outside of the border.

You can use the Save and Load buttons to store your
current settings and load predefined
screen borders.

Screen Border examples

These examples apply a screen
border to a to the current view of a
map. Note that the screen border will
follow the view as you scroll around.

81
 Spatial Matrix Process (SMP)
Effects
This allows you to define a multitude of
If you’re familiar with the
different effects; blurs, displacements, edge
Convolution filter from
effects, embossing and brightness/darkness.
GIMP, Paint Shop Pro's®
This effect has a wide variety of uses, usually as
User Defined filter, or
a whole drawing filter. There are a number of
Photoshop’s® Custom filter
saved settings, and it is likely you will want to
this works in the same
use these. SMP works on a pixel basis, so its
fashion.
effects will vary with zoom levels.

Most users will be content with preset values,

or slight modifications of them. However, given
the fact that you are currently reading this book,
you probably want more. In that case, the first
thing you should do is to load up the existing filters, and have a closer look at the settings used.
This should serve as a starting point to understand this effect, and to use it for defining your own
effects.

This effect is definitely one of the more difficult effects to understand, but once you do, it is also the
most powerful effect CC3+ has to offer, and is therefore worth a detailed explanation.

The first thing you need to know about this effect is that it processes each pixel in the image
individually. This pixel is referred to as the current pixel. The current pixel is then modified by the
values you enter in the Filter Matrix multiplied with the color value of the current pixel and nearby
pixels. The Filter Matrix grid represents a 7×7 grid of pixels in the image, where the current pixel is
the value in the center. This means that the current pixel is affected by the values of the 48 nearest
pixels, as well as its own value. However, since the pixel color value is multiplied with the value in
the matrix, any pixel where the value in the matrix is zero does not contribute anything to the
calculation. For simplicity’s sake, we will therefore only talk about the center 3×3 matrix for now,
assuming that the rest of the 7×7 matrix is filled by zeros.

For this explanation, we will use the Emboss effect. The matrix for this looks like the
1 1 -1
table to the left The Division Factor for this particular filter is set to 3.
1 3 -1
The table to the right shows the color value of the blue color
1 -1 -1 13 13 27
component in a pixel from an example image, as well as the blue
Current Pixel color component values of the 8 pixels that surround it. The value 75 42 12
in red is the current pixel being modified: Now, to calculate the new blue
This effect changes each 98 98 11
component value of our current pixel, we multiply each of the color values from
pixel's color based on its
the pixels with the value from its corresponding position in the matrix, sum up the results, and then
current color and the colors
divide the total by the Division Factor. This gives us the following calculation:
of surrounding pixels. The
effect each surrounding ((1*13) + (1*13) + (-1*27) + (1*75) + (3*42) + (-1*12) + (1*98) + (-1*98) + (-1*11))/3 = 59
pixel has is defined in the
This means that the new value for the blue component of our current pixel is 59. Note that none of
filter matrix. Each pixel's
the other pixels surrounding it were changed. The red and green components will be calculated the
color value is multiplied by
same way. The filter then moves to the next pixel in the image and calculates its color values the
the coefficient in the matrix
same way, processing each individual pixel in the image in turn. Note that each pixel is calculated
center, and any pixels
using the original color values of its neighbors, and not the new values created by this effect.
within the matrix are
multiplied by the
corresponding coefficients. Parameters
The sum of the products Load and Save lets you load saved settings and save the current setting.
becomes the target pixel's
Filter matrix values represent the effect surrounding pixels have on the current pixel. They can be
new value. For a good
any integer value. The center value represents the current pixels, while the other values represents
tutorial on how to create
nearby pixels. For example, the value right above the center represents the pixel directly above the
user defined filters in Paint
current pixel being processed, and so on.
Shop Pro which applies
equally well to CC3+, try Each value in the filter matrix is divided by the Division Factor before being applied to a pixel.
Lori's Web Graphics.

82
Unless you want an effect which darkens or lightens the image, you should click Calc Divisor. This
will calculate an appropriate Division Factor based on the values in the Filter Matrix. This is simply
the sum of all the values in the Filter Matrix.

If the final value of all the values in the matrix divided by the Division Factor is larger than 1, then
the filter will lighten the image. If the total value is less than 1, the image will be darkened. A final
value of exactly 1 will keep the lightness of the image as it is, which is generally desired for most
filters. This means that the ideal value for the Division Factor is the sum of all the elements in the
matrix.

Bias shifts the value of each pixel for use in emboss effects.

Spatial Matrix Process examples

Normal Image
No spatial matrix process has been applied

Strong Emboss
The below filter has been used to create a strong
emboss effect in this image.

Sharpen
The below filter setting adds a subtle sharpening
effect to the image.

Edge Detect
This filter enhances the edges of the image, making
them highly visible.

83
 Texture Overblend
Texture Overblend replaces filled areas with a
Tileable selected tileable texture, and fades that texture
towards its edge. This is useful for background areas
A tileable texture is a raster
filled with different fill styles, for example grass
image where the left edge
contours. Each type of grass contour would be on a
seamlessly fits the right
different sheet, with the Texture Overblend file
edge and the bottom edge
pointing at the correct bitmap tile.
seamlessly fits the top edge.
This allows us to place
multiple copies of the same Parameters
image next to each other to In File, select any tileable png or bitmap file, for
fill an area without having example from your @Bitmaps\Tiles folder.
visible edges that reveal
Scale sets the size of each tile in units.
where one image ends and
the next begins. Alpha Blur adds a blur to the edge of the area.

Texture Rotation sets the rotation angle for the texture.

Texture Overblend example

This example shows a standard smooth polygon with a solid fill before and
after applying a Texture Overblend effect. In this example, we have used a
forest bitmap. Since it is easier to turn on and off individual effects than
replacing fill styles, you can for example use this in your map if you have
an area of changing terrain. Just prepare an effect for each possible terrain,
then make sure only one of them is enabled at a time.

Texturize
This effect adds a semi-transparent pseudo-3D texture to
Texture the affected area. This can be used, for example, for adding
Many image editors come a paper weave to a whole map or adding textures to sold
with good example texture filled areas for interest.
images you can use. You
can also easily find good Parameters
texture images online. The Texture Map Name lets us select a tileable texture.
texture should be tileable to
prevent visible edges in your Intensity is the strength of the effect.
drawing.
Sun Azimuth is the angle from above at which the texture
is lit.

Sun Elevation is the angle around screen from which the

texture is lit.

Size sets the size in units for each tile.

Texturize example
This simple example uses Texturize to
roughen up the surface of the map a bit.

84
Transparency
Transparency lets us change the opacity of entities on the
sheet. This effect allows us to see through entities. For
example, add to a grid overlay to make it less intrusive, or
add to shallow water sheets to show what is underneath.
With Transparency, we can make ghosts and oozes or we
can show what is underneath a forest.

Parameters
With Opacity set to 0, the entities are fully transparent. When set to 100, they are fully opaque.

Transparency examples

Wall Shadow
This effect adds a shadow to all appropriate edges which
looks as if it has been cast from a vertical surface. This is Symbols Sheets
different from Drop Shadow in that Wall Shadow gives the DD3 maps have different
illusion that the entity is sitting on the ground rather than sheets for symbols specifi-
hovering above it. This is specifically designed for use with cally so you can add
walls, although it works pretty well on symbols sheets, too. different length wall shad-
ows to different types of
Parameters symbols which will suggest
Length is the length of the shadow in map units. different heights of the
objects.
Opacity sets the transparency or opacity from 0% (transparent) to 100% (solid).

Blur Radius is the length of the blur at the edge of the shadow. For a sharp edge on the shadow use
a value of 0.

Wall Shadow example

85
 Wall Shadow, Directional
This effect is the same as Wall Shadow with the addition of
allowing us to specify from which direction our light source is
coming.

Parameters
Length is the length of the shadow.

Opacity sets the transparency or opacity from 0% (transparent)

Global Sun to 100% (solid).

You can access the global Blur Radius is the length of the blur at the edge of the shadow.
sun settings by right clicking For a sharp edge on the shadow use a value of 0.
on the Display Speed
Check Use Global Sun Direction to use the Global Sun direction.
Settings button. It is
also further discussed on Sun Direction (0-360) sets the lighting direction measured in degrees of rotation around the circle.
page 311 and page 378. This is ignored if you use the Global Sun.

Wall Shadow, Directional example

Floorplan Lighting
Floorplan lighting effects
are used along with the
Dungeon Designer 3 add-
on. Lighting allows us to
define light sources that
cast light in our map. Areas
without light sources will be Wall Shadow, Point Light Finalize
dark. Floorplan lighting is This effect is a special effect for use with floorplan lighting.
explained in detail in the Adding this effect to a sheet tells CC3+ that this is the last
DD3 section of this book. sheet affected by lighting. Sheets below this sheet in the list
will show their entities normally, not affected by light
sources.

Since this is only used along with Wall Shadow, Point Light
Setup, see that entry for the example.

Parameters
Shadow Color is the color of the shadows cast by the entities.

Wall Shadow, Point Light Setup

As with the Finalize effect above, this effect is used with
floorplan lighting. Add this effect to any sheet that should
generate shadows from the light sources. This will cause
all entities on the sheet cast shadows from nearby light
effects Note that if no light sources exist, these sheets will
be completely black.

86
Parameters
Slow Down
Shadow Length is the length of the shadows cast by entities. Shadows will fade out when they
reach this length. A value of 0 will cause the shadows to be cast across the whole drawing CC3+ has many new
optimizations for the
effects, making it able to
Wall Shadow, Point Light example
calculate most effects much
This example uses a yellow light source placed in the center of a dungeon room. Notice how the faster than CC3 did. This
light both colorizes its environs, as well as causes the objects to cast shadows away from the light. means that you can often
work with effects on
without any noticeable
performance issues.
However, some effects are
more resource-intensive
than others, and may lead
to reduced performance in
CC3+. The same is also true
if you have a lot of active
effects.
Basically, it is up to your
tolerance for slow redraws
when you wish to work with
effects on, or if you prefer to
Working with Effects turn them off while
Effects slow CC3+ down. Each time we change the view, CC3+ must recalculate the effects for the working.
current resolution. This allows effects to be very flexible and not limited in resolution, but means Editing drawings with
that in many cases, we’ll want to work with effects off. We recommend working like this: effects on can be tricky,
however. For example, it is
Add sufficient entities to the map so that it is at least 50% finished. hard to select the edge of a
Click Sheets and Effects, and then check Activate Sheet Effects. blurred or faded contour
line.
Add suitable effects to each sheet. Check that you like the results after each effect.

Finish with Whole Drawing effects if you want them.

Repeat this until you are happy with the effects on the map.

Turn effects off until you are ready to print or export the drawing.

Effects speed tips

To speed things up when working on effects, try one or more of these tips:

Hide sheets you don't need to see for the effect you are currently working on.

Turn off individual effects you don't currently need to see.

Blur, or any effect with a blur in is very slow. Add these last, and keep them turned off
as much as possible.

Resize the viewing window to make it much smaller while you are working on effects.

87
 Sheets and Effects Review
Symbols or entities placed with drawing tools are placed on an appropriate sheet such
as Sea/Coast or Terrain. Entities added using draw buttons are placed on the current
sheet.

Sheets force entity order, and can be hidden or shown in the drawing.

Effects slow down the redraw time of drawing. Turn effects off while working with the
drawing and then turn them on for presentation or printing.

When working with effects, hide sheets you don’t need to see to speed up redraws.

Shield
Drawn by Linda Kekumu.
The Shield can be viewed in
the @Examples\Tome\Other
folder.

88
SYMBOLS AND SYMBOL MANAGEMENT
It is easy to see that symbols are a very important part of CC3+. While it is certainly possible to draw
excellent maps without the use of symbols, most maps will use symbols in one way or another.

CC3+ itself comes with a large amount of symbols in different styles, and each and every add-on
for CC3+ also comes with their own selection of symbols. All these symbols give us a huge flexibility
when making our maps, but even with all these symbols, sometimes we need something new,
something not provided by CC3+. Fortunately, CC3+ allows us to create our own symbols, ensuring
that we can create anything we can imagine using CC3+.

This chapter will deal with symbols. We will look into how to use symbols, how to manage symbols,
and how to create new symbols. We will learn how to find images on the internet and convert these
into symbols we can use in CC3+.

Symbol Types
CC3+ supports two types of symbols, Vector symbols and Raster symbols. No matter what type
these are, they are used in the same way, but for more advanced usage, as well as symbol creation,
it is important to understand the difference between these two.

Vector symbols
Vector symbols are the traditional symbols of CAD software, and the only kind of symbols allowed
in Campaign Cartographer prior to CC3. These symbols are in reality simple drawings; or maps in
CC terms. Each symbol is made up from regular CC3+ entities, drawn using the same tools we use
to draw our maps.

One of the great advantages of vector symbols is that they scale easily to any size. A line in a vector
symbol is represented by coordinates and properties, and if you scale the symbol, this allows the
line to scale seamlessly to any size, without any of the problems that accompanies scaling raster
graphics (Try resizing a family photo to get a closer look at the faces for example).

Vector symbols are stored inside the symbol catalog (*.FSC) files. These files are in reality regular
CC3+ maps. You can actually load up a map in the symbol catalog window if you so choose, and
use the symbols from that map in another map.
Convert
When you use vector symbols, the entire symbol is copied into your map. This means that you can
still view and edit the map, even if you no longer have the original symbol catalog available where Most image manipulation
you got the symbols. Once a symbol is used in a map, a copy is contained in the map file. software will be able to do
this for you. This includes
Raster symbols both expensive professional
packages like Photoshop, as
Raster symbols are regular image files. The kinds you find on the internet, your home photos and so well as software available
on. Raster files exists in a variety of different formats, like Windows Bitmaps (BMP), Joint for free from the Internet,
Photographic Experts Group (JPG), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), Tagged Image File Format (TIF), like GIMP.
and Portable Network Graphics (PNG) to mention a few. CC3+ only uses the last one of these, namely
PNG format files. Fortunately, it is very easy to convert between the different formats.

Raster symbols have both advantages and disadvantages over the classic vector symbols. Perhaps
one of the biggest advantages of raster symbols is the amount of images available from the Internet. Colors
While vector symbols usable for CC3+ have to be created for that program, usually by another CC Vector symbols can contain
user, raster symbols can easily be used even if they were intended for another program or another a maximum of 256 colors. In
use entirely. This makes the amount of potential raster symbols nearly endless. addition, these are the same
256 colors for all symbols in
Another great advantage is visual appearance of raster symbols. One of the reasons for this is that
the map. A raster symbol
they can contain more colors than vector symbols. It is also easier to make more detailed and more
can contain millions of
realistic-looking symbols, and combined with the increased number of colors, makes the symbols
colors (known as true color).
look generally better than vector symbols for most purposes.

89
 Raster symbols can be a bit more difficult to make than vector symbols. The process itself isn't really
that much more difficult, but actually making a good-looking symbol can be an artistic challenge.

One of the disadvantages of raster symbols is the limitation the raster format brings. While vector
symbols can be scaled to any size without losing quality, raster symbols do not have this quality.
You might have seen this yourself in other circumstances, for example if you have ever tried to
zoom far into a family photo to see details. Beyond a certain level, instead of seeing more details, it
just gets unclear. CC3+ handles this problem internally by providing four copies of every raster
symbol, in different resolutions. This allows you to zoom in, and still see a crisp, detailed image. This
still has its limitations, however. Try to zoom too far in on a small detail of the symbol, and you'll
see it for yourself, although most symbols are more detailed than you will usually need.

Another big difference between vector symbols and raster symbols are file size. A vector symbol
takes up very little space compared to a raster symbol. Due to this, raster symbols are not embedded
in the map file like vector symbols are. This ensures that map sizes stay small, but to view the map
Distributed on another computer, all the raster symbols must exist on this computer as well. This means that
You never need to distribute custom raster files need to be distributed along with the map, as separate files.
the standard ProFantasy
Raster symbols still use symbol catalogs, just as vector files. The difference here is that just as for
symbols (neither are you
map files, the symbols themselves are not stored in the symbol catalog (.FSC file). The symbol
allowed to). As long as the
catalog only contains a reference to the PNG files.
recipients have CC3+
installed, and the same add-
ons (if any) that was used Symbols, Symbol References and Symbol Definitions
for the map, they have the
necessary symbols. Only Symbols, Symbol References and Symbol Definitions are three closely related terms. But what is the
custom files should be meaning behind each of them?
distributed. Let us start out with the Symbol Definition. Because each symbol can appear multiple times in a
Note that if you can open map, it doesn't make sense to include multiple identical copies of the symbol in the map file. That
CC3 maps in CC3+ if you would only serve to consume disk space and memory. If you have looked at the file size of any
have the same add-ons, but CC3+ map, you have probably already noticed that the files are quite small, usually below one
the automatic resolution of megabyte in size, no matter how complex and symbol filled your map is. All of this is because of
symbols won’t work until the Symbol Definitions. The first time you use any symbol in the map, the definition for this symbol
you run FFIX (Type it on is copied from the symbol catalog into the map. This definition contains the complete symbol, and
the command line and hit no matter how many times you use the symbol in your map, there is only going to be one copy of
enter). Once you do this and that definition. This brings us to the Symbol Reference. Because the actual symbol is stored in the
save, the map can’t be definition, when you place a symbol in the map, you actually just place a reference to the definition.
opened properly in CC3 And since references are very small, a map can contain thousands of references without causing
anymore though. any real impact on the file size.
Because CC3+ uses a new
location for the raster So, what is a symbol? Well, first of all, symbol is the common term for that little picture in the map.
symbols, CC3+ maps cannot We will not be talking about references and definitions apart from the cases where it actually makes
be opened properly in CC3. a difference. More formally, a symbol is the combination of a symbol reference and a symbol
definition. The reference tells us where in the map the symbol is located, as well as attributes like
scale, color and rotation, while the definition contains the symbol itself.

The definition is a hidden entity, and cannot be seen in your map. Once a symbol has been placed
in a map, the definition remains behind, even if you later remove the last reference to it. It is possible
to remove definitions from the map using the Symbol Manager, which will be covered later in this
chapter.

Symbol Catalogs
A symbol catalog is a collection of symbols which you can use in your map. The normal usage for
a symbol catalog is to load it into the symbol catalog window. This is usually accomplished by
clicking one of the symbol catalog buttons on top of the view window in CC3+.

As discussed on the previous page, the actual symbol design is stored in the symbol definition. So,
a symbol catalog is in reality a collection of symbol definitions. There might be symbol references
in the symbol catalog file as well, but they are ignored. At this point, you might be able to think of
another type of file that also contains symbol definitions and optional symbol references? If you

90
thought of a CC3+ map, you are absolutely correct. A symbol catalog is actually a regular CC3+
map. In fact, you can load up a map file in the symbol catalog window if you wish. If you look at the
files, you will find that CC3+ map files have an .FCW extension, while symbol catalogs have the .FSC
extension. This is done to separate the two from each other, but you can easily turn a map file into
a symbol catalog just by changing the extension. Changing the Extension
Remember that this works
because there is no
Using Symbols difference in the file types.
At this point, you should be quite familiar with the basic usage of symbols. However, symbols have The symbol catalog files are
many helpful features that might not be immediately apparent. actually regular maps, and
the extension is really just
The symbol catalog window cosmetic in this case. Do not
try this with other kinds of
The symbol catalog window is divided into four parts. files. A Bitmap Files (.bmp)
is not going to magically
On the top, we find the Options button. Click this to bring up options for the symbol
turn into a PNG file just by
catalog window.
changing the extension.
The Width and Height of symbols
options control the size of the
symbols displayed in the symbol
catalog window. Larger values give
you a better preview of the symbols,
but reduce the number of symbols
that can be displayed without
scrolling. Also, increasing the width
will also make the symbol catalog
window wider, reducing the size of
the view window accordingly. Note
that these values only affect the
preview size of the symbols in the symbol catalog, they do not affect the size of the symbol when
placed in the map. The Number of columns allows you to have a symbol catalog with more than
one column of symbols. While this allows you to see more symbols at a time, it will also reduce the
size of the view window. If you are on a widescreen monitor, you'll probably want to use 2 or 3
columns to take maximum advantage of your screen.

Expand all Collections: Many symbol catalogs contain similar symbols grouped into
collections. In The Basic Overland Map tutorial at the beginning if this book, we
mentioned random collections, which select a new random symbol from the collection
each time you placed a symbol. A collection can also be a regular collection, meaning
that the symbols have been grouped together because they belong together, but you
will only be placing the exact symbol you selected. By enabling this option, all collections
in the symbol catalog will be expanded by default, meaning you do not need to click the
plus-sign to expand the collection. Note that enabling this option disables random
collections, and makes it impossible to collapse collections.

Disable perspectives shearing: This option is for use with perspective maps from the
Perspectives add-on. Normally, perspective symbols will shear (distort) to fit walls in
the isometric view used by this add-on. Enabling this option will disable this behavior.

Disable random transformations: Some symbols use random transformations. This

allows certain symbols to change their scale and rotate randomly between each
placement in the map. This ensures some variety in the map, even if you use many
identical symbols. Enabling this option disables this behavior. Note that only certain
symbols have this behavior in the first place.

Disable smart symbols: Smart symbols are symbols that automatically scale and rotate
to fit any line you hover them over. This is typically used to make doors and windows
automatically snap to walls. Enabling this option disables this behavior.

91
 Symbols choose their own sheet: Most symbols contain information about what sheet
Default Sheet they should be placed on. This allows symbols to end up on the right sheet, even if you
The option for symbols to currently have another sheet active. For most maps, you'll want this behavior, but if
have embedded sheet needed, you can disable this option to stop this behavior. This allows you to place
information was added in symbols on your current sheet, instead of the default sheet for that symbol.
CC3. If you are using older
Show symbol size: Enabling this option will show the symbol size (in map units) below
symbol catalogs made for
the symbol name in the symbol catalog.
CC2, they will not have this
sheet information, and will The dialog also contains a button for Height Symbol Options. This button brings up the options
thus always be placed on dialog for height field symbol catalogs. These symbols are used in 3D star maps from the
the current sheet. Cosmographer add-on. We will discuss the options in more detail in the Cosmographer section of
this tome.

Below the Options button, we find two more buttons, the Symbols in Drawing button, and
the Open Symbol Catalog button. The Symbols in Drawing button is a toggle button that
can be on or off. When it is off, the symbol catalog displays the symbols from the symbol catalog as
normal. However, when this button is depressed, the symbol catalog window instead shows all the
symbols in use in the drawing. These not only give you a convenient overview of the symbols you
have used, but you can also use the symbols just like you would do with the normal symbol catalog.
This is very handy to give quick access to already used symbols should you need a few extra copies
in the map, instead of having to hunt down the symbol catalog the symbol originally belonged to.
Note that Symbols in Drawing displays all the Symbol Definitions in the map. This means that even
old symbols which you have previously removed may show up here if you didn't remove the
definition as well.

The Open Symbol Catalog button simply opens a standard file open dialog box which you can use
to open any symbol catalog on disk. This is useful if you need to access a symbol catalog that does
not have a shortcut button on the toolbar (like catalogs you have made yourself).

The rest of the window is dedicated to show you the symbols in the catalog, which you can use in
your map. If you right click on any symbol, this window will expand to fill the entire view window.
For most catalogs, this allows you to view all the symbols in the catalog at once, but for the largest
catalogs, you may still need to scroll the catalog. To return to the normal view, either click on a
symbol to select it, or right click again.

If you look closer at the symbols, you see that some of them have some additional symbols in the
top left and/or right corners. We have mentioned these before, especially the plus sign that
represents a collection, but there are more:

The plus(+) sign in the upper left corner represents a collection of

symbols. Symbols are grouped together in collections for various
reasons, but these symbols do belong together for one reason or
Shortcut Buttons another. Click the plus sign to see all the symbols in the collection.
This will expand the collection, and the plus sign will turn into a
See the Modifiers chapter
minus(-) sign, indicating that the collection is expanded. Every
on page 190 to learn how to
symbol belonging to a collection will have a small arrow in the top
create such buttons to load
left corner (Except the first one, which will have the minus sign you
your custom symbol
can use to collapse the collection).
catalogs.
Additionally, if you look at the command line
while placing a symbol from a collection, you'll
notice that one of the options is Tab – Next.
Simply press the key to cycle through the
available symbols in the collection.

92
 The letter R in the upper left corner indicates that this is a random
collection. If you use this symbol, a new random symbol will be
selected each time you place this symbol in a map. This ensures
variety without manually changing the symbol every time. Note that
all random collections also carry the plus sign, indicating it is also a
collection. Just as with a normal collection, you can press the key
to cycle through the available symbols.

The letter R in the upper right corner indicates that the symbol is set
up with random transformations. Random transformations allow a
symbol to change slightly between each placement, for example by
changing the scale slightly, applying a small rotation, mirroring the
symbol, shear the symbol, or apply an offset. Not all symbols use all of
these options however. Random transformations are great for symbols
that are used repeatedly in the map, since these small transformations
make sure the symbols don't look all the same, even if it is the same
symbol.

A colored box in the upper right corner. This indicates that the symbol
is a Shaded Varicolor symbol. This means that the symbol takes on
the hue of the currently selected color. The symbol preview in the
symbol catalog will show how it looks using the current color, and will
change if you select another color. Placed symbols will retain the color
used when they were placed. Notice that the techniques used for
creating varicolor symbols differ greatly between vector and raster
symbols, but when you are just using them, there is no real difference.

The letter C in the top right corner indicates that this is a connecting
symbol. Connecting symbols are a special kind of collection that fits
together in a row, like for example a pipe or a river. The main
difference between these symbols and ordinary symbols is that you
do not need to place them individually. You just have to draw the path
the symbols should follow, and CC3+ will automatically insert the
correct symbols to follow that path, using lengths and bends as
necessary. Not all angles are possible with all connecting symbols; this
will be evident when you draw the path, as CC3 will only let you make
supported angles for the particular symbol used.

An Up Arrow in the top right corner indicates that this is a height

symbol. Height symbols are used on isometric (3D) maps to indicate
position above or below the plane. These symbols are further
explained in the Cosmographer 3 section.

A letter T in the top right corner means that this is not a symbol at all,
but rather a drawing tool. In CC3+, both drawing tools and symbols
can be added to the same catalog for easy access.

Placing symbols
Placing symbols is simple, just click in the appropriate spot in the map after selecting a symbol, and
you place it. However, there are some options to consider while placing symbols.

First, look at the command line. When you have a symbol at your cursor, ready to place, it will read
Place Symbol (Shift=15˚ Rot, Shift+Ctrl=Rot, Ctrl=Scale, TAB=next) [options]:

This line tells us all we need to know about our options. By holding down the key, we can rotate
the symbol in 15 degree increments by moving the mouse up or down. If we hold down both the
key and the key while moving the mouse up/down we get a free rotation, and if we only
hold the key, moving the mouse up/down will result in the scale(size) of the symbol changing.

93
 The next option, pressing the key, only appears if the current symbol is part of a collection, and
allows us to use this key to cycle through the available
symbols in this collection.

Finally, the text in square brackets at the end tells us that

we will get to see the options if we click the right mouse
button. Doing this brings up the Symbol Parameters dialog
box. This dialog gives us control over both the symbol we
are holding and future symbols we'll place in the drawing.

Drawing Properties Scale

To see the drawing Scale X and Y shows the current scale value. The usual
properties for the current default value is 1, but the current scale may be something
drawing, select Drawing other than 1 if the drawing properties set a different
Properties from the File default scale value. Change this value to set the scale
menu. higher or lower.

If Independent X and Y is checked, you'll be able to input a different X and Y value.

Set the Scale In this example, the symbol is shown with the default value
Changing this value will of 1 and with two independent X and Y samples.
change the scale for the
symbol currently being held Rotation
on the cursor as well as all The default rotation value is 0. With a 0 rotation, the symbol
symbols placed after this will appear in the drawing as it does in the Symbol Display
one. The scale value will
Window. Each degree of rotation will turn the symbol
remain until it is changed
counterclockwise.
again or reset back to
default.

More
Clicking More will save the values and settings in the Symbol Parameters dialog, close the dialog,
and return to the cursor with the symbol attached and ready to place in the drawing.

Finished
Clicking Finished will save the values and settings in the Symbol Parameters dialog, the dialog
will close, but the cursor will now be empty.

Set normal
The default values for the Symbol Parameters dialog will be restored when Set normal is clicked.
This means a rotation of 0, and the scale defined in the drawing properties, or 1.0 if no default scale
is defined.

94
Mirror
If Mirror is clicked, the scale
value changes to -1.0 and the
symbol is placed as a mirror
image of the original.

In this example, a mirror is placed

next to its original for comparison.
Obviously, since this particular
symbol have built-in shadows and
shading, you would normally
never use both a mirror and a normal version in the same map.

Align to edge
When Align to edge is clicked, CC3+ asks
which edge you wish to align the symbol to
and then inputs the appropriate rotation in
the Symbol Parameter dialog.

Smart Tracking Control Points

When this box is checked, the dynamic cursor is enabled with Smart Symbol awareness. The For more information on
symbol cursor will align, cut, or scale according to its defined control points. If this option is off, Control Points, see Symbols
the control points will still take effect unless the Disable smart symbols option is also off. If Disable with control points / smart
smart symbols is checked, then Smart Tracking will be disabled regardless. symbols on page 121.

Disable Smart Symbols

If this box is checked, control points functionality is turned off. Symbols will not align/cut/scale
upon insertion, and Smart Tracking is disabled.

The Symbol Manager

The symbol manager is an important tool when working with
symbols, especially when you create your own symbols and
symbol catalogs, but it also has useful features when working
with symbols in your map.

The symbol manager can be accessed by selecting Symbol

Manager from the Symbols menu. Do note that the symbol
manager works on the symbol definitions currently in your map,
not on whatever symbol catalog you have opened. To use the
symbol manager on the symbol definitions inside a symbol
catalog, you must open this symbol catalog as you would a
regular CC3+ map, instead of inside the symbol catalog window.
On the other hand, this means that all operations done inside the
symbol manager are safe. If you delete a symbol, it is only
deleted from the current map, not the symbol catalog it
originated from, and so on. (Obviously, if you have opened a
symbol catalog for editing instead of an ordinary map,
everything you do will of course affect that catalog).

In this chapter, we will have a brief look at the Symbol Manager.

At the appropriate points through this book, I will offer more
details on the various options.

95
 Display Symbols: Check this option to display the actual symbols in the list. If this is
unchecked, only the symbol names will be displayed.

Show fill style symbols: Most templates have some built-in fill style symbols. These
are rarely used in modern CC3+ maps, and even more rarely needed in the symbol
manager, but if you wish to see them, turn on this option.

Symbol List: This list shows all the symbols in the current map. Most of the buttons to
the right operate on the symbols you have selected in this list, so you need to select one
or more symbols for these buttons to be active. Note that you can select multiple
symbols by holding down the key when clicking on the symbols in the list.

Note that the background behind the symbol is the same as the current view-window
background. Some background colors can make it difficult to see if a symbol is selected
or not.

Save as Catalog: This saves the selected symbols as a new symbol catalog. This is
perfect for saving symbols you just created inside your map to a catalog, or place the
standard CC3+ symbols into new catalogs of your own arrangement.

New: Creates a new symbol definition. When clicking this button, CC3+ first asks for a
name for the new symbol, then asks you to define two window corners. These corners
define the size of a new window that will be opened. This is just like a regular map
window, and you can draw your new symbol in this window. When you close the
window, CC3+ gives you the option of saving the new symbol.

Rename: This lets you rename a symbol definition. This is helpful when you wish to have
proper names in a symbol catalog, but also helpful if you try to add a new symbol to the
map, using the same name as an existing symbol. Due to the way CC3+ works, if there
is already a symbol definition of the same name in the map, CC3+ will use that instead
of your new symbol, even if the symbols are completely different. By renaming the old
definition (this won’t affect the symbols in the map), you can then insert the new symbol
properly.
Identical Copy Edit: This lets you edit a symbol. Just like New, it will ask you to define a window for the
If you use Clone to make a editing, and ask you to save the changes when you close the window.
copy of a raster symbol,
Clone: This creates an identical copy of a symbol under a new name. Now you can use
both the original and the
Edit to modify the copy.
new one will point to the
same image files on your Delete: This removes the symbol definition from the map. This will also erase all the
drive, these won’t be symbol references pointing to this definition, effectively removing all instances of that
duplicated. symbol from the map.

Scale: This will change the scale of the symbol definition. Since all symbol references in
the map are scaled relative to the definition, changing the scale of the definition will
also change the size of all the corresponding symbols in the map.

List: This executes the List command on the symbol definition. You may have noticed
that if you use list on a symbol reference in the map, you don’t get any information about
the entities that make up the symbol, but only some basic information about the symbol
reference itself. By using this button, you are actually using the list command on the
symbol definition which will list all the entities that make up the symbol itself.

Options: This opens the Symbol Options dialog. This dialog is described under its own
heading on the next page.

Move Up: This moves the selected symbol up in the list. This is useful when rearranging
a symbol catalog, as it makes sense to have the symbols in alphabetical order to more
easily find them later. Also note that all symbols that should be part of the same
collection needs to be right next to each other in the list.

Move Down: Moves the selected symbol down in the list.

96
 Replace: This doesn’t really touch the selected symbol definition, but it replaces all
references to this definition with references to another definition which must already be
in the map. This can be used to replace symbols of one style with symbols of another
style. This is described in detail in the Changing Map Styles chapter on page 149.

Purge: This removes all the symbol definitions from the map that does not have any
references to them. This also serves to clean up the symbol list in this dialog nicely. Do
note that you should never use purge if you are working with a symbol catalog, or have
defined new symbols that haven’t been used yet, because this command will wipe those
too.

Import: The import command imports symbol definitions from another map or symbol
catalog into the current map. If you do not wish to import all the symbols from the source
map/catalog, it is often better to simply open the source in the symbol catalog window
instead, and simply click one on each symbol you wish to import (You don’t need to
place them in the map, the act of clicking on them in the symbol catalog window will
import the definition).

Import PNG’s: This will import png files and make symbols from them. This is the same
as selecting Import pngs from the Symbols menu, and is discussed in detail in the
Creating Raster Symbols chapter on page 108.

Convert: This tool will let you take complete CC3+ drawings and convert them to
symbols. Each drawing becomes one symbol.

Symbol Options dialog

When you click the Options button in the Symbol Manager, you are presented with the dialog
below. Note that if you have multiple symbols selected, there will be an
additional checkbox in front of every option and the layout will be
slightly different, but the exact same options will be present.

Set: This column of checkboxes only appears if you had

multiple symbols selected when you clicked the Options
button. These checkboxes are used for easily applying only
selected settings to all the symbols, instead of be forced to
set them all to the exact same value. For example, you may
wish to set the Force Sheet option for all symbols, without
having to lose the collection options which are set only for
some of the symbols.

Symbol is one of a collection: This option groups symbols

into collections. For multiple symbols to actually appear in a
collection, they must be next to each other in the symbol list
in the symbol manager, and they must have the exact same
name, except for the variance you can choose from the radio
buttons under this option.

Randomly select from collection: For collections with

this option enabled, a new random symbol from the
collection is selected after placing a symbol. Use this
when the collection consists of multiple similar
symbols where the exact symbol placed does not
matter. This greatly helps variety in the map-

Arrow keys select different symbols: When this

option is selected, the arrow keys can be used to move
through the various symbols in the collection, instead
of rotating the symbols like the arrow keys normally
do. Note that you can always use to move through
the symbols in the collection, regardless of this option.

97
 Ignore initials at the end of the symbol name: If you have symbols from other
Perspectives artists, they often contain the artists initial at the end of the symbol name. This is
Perspectives is an add-on normally a problem if you wish to add symbols from different artists into the same
for CC3+ and is detailed in collection, but checking this option allows CC3+ to ignore these initials for the
its own section of this book. purpose of building the collection.

Perspectives wall symbols: A symbol with this option set is distorted when aligned to
a Perspectives wall. This allows these symbols to look correct no matter the angle of the
wall. This should only be used with wall symbols (windows, doors, wall mounted items
Shaded Varicolor
like pictures, etc.), and not with ordinary Perspectives symbols.
Varicolor symbols are
symbols that take on the Varicolor symbol: This indicates that the symbol is a shaded varicolor symbol, that is, a
currently selected color symbol that has areas taking on different shades of the currently selected color. This
when placed. More detail does not need to be checked for regular varicolor symbols.
about these symbols can be CD3 roof entities are varicolor: This should be checked for CD3 building symbols that
found on page 112. have varicolor roofs.

Random Transformations: If this is applied to a symbol, you can set up various

transformations that will be used, such as varying scale, rotation, mirroring and more.
The exact value used is based on the settings configured for the symbol, and are
changed for each placement of the symbol. This serves to create some variation in the
map, even if only using a single symbol (Obviously, this can be combined with a random
collection for even more variety). One example of great use of this option is populating
a large warehouse with crates. The crates may all be standard shipping crates, and
therefore look alike, but by using a random rotation, it is easy to get the look of stacks
Connecting Symbol of crates manually placed by workers, since they will never be perfectly placed.

Connecting symbols are Symbol is a connecting symbol: This option must be checked if the symbol is a
symbols that automatically connecting symbol. A connecting symbol is really a collection of symbols of various
join together to form a length and angles that are automatically assembled by CC3+ to make a user-defined
“path” without you having path.
to manually place each
Explode symbols on placement: If this option is set for a symbol, the symbol is
individual symbol. These
exploded into its separate components once you place it. Among other things, this
symbols are detailed on
means that it is easy to edit the symbol components, but it will not react to edit, delete
page 123.
and rescale commands in the symbol manager, since it is now only a collection of
entities, and no longer a symbol reference.

Hex Symbol: This symbol is a hex symbol, which will automatically rescale and rotate
to fit a hex grid. Read more about hex symbols on page 460.

Front on current layer: Normally, when you place a new symbol, it will be the top
symbol on the current sheet. With this checked, it is only placed at the top of the current
layer

Convert Line Style names to Sheets: This option is used for symbols that span multiple
sheets. This can be used to create symbols that overlap in creative ways (avoiding that
the background of one symbol overlaps the foreground of another), or it can be used
when you need different effects on different parts of the symbol. Check out Multi-part
symbols on page 125 for details.

Force Sheet: This option will cause the symbol to always be placed on the defined sheet.
Most symbols should normally go to the SYMBOLS sheet. Notice the asterisk (*) in the
screenshot after the word SYMBOLS. This means that if the current sheet starts with the
word SYMBOLS, the symbol will be inserted on that sheet, but if it doesn’t, it will be sent
to the SYMBOLS sheet. By adding this asterisk, your symbols can easily be placed on
another sheet than the default, as long as it starts with the correct text, and you
remember to change to that sheet before placing the symbols. This option makes it
difficult to place the symbols in the wrong location, but at the same time flexible when
you need to place them on another sheet.

98
 Control points only cut on the same layer: This option is for symbols that are using
control points to cut entities. When this option is checked, only entities on the same
layer as the symbol will be cut. For example, a door using this option will only cut the
wall it is placed on, and not the floor below.

Delete symbol after placement: Symbols with this option set will be deleted
immediately after placing them. This is used for the wall cutter symbols, allowing you to
cut a section from the wall without having a symbol remain.

Height Symbol: This is used for symbols that need height indicators in a perspective
view. This is primarily used for star maps. See page 462 for details about these symbols.

Drawtool: Symbols with this option checked aren’t really a symbol at all, but a link to a
drawing tool. Simply enter the name of the drawing tool here, and when you try to use
the “symbol”, the associated drawing tool will start instead. Notice that when you check
this option, almost all of the other symbol options will be grayed out. Note that the Styles
drawing tool must be a valid tool from the current style. If the specified tool doesn’t
There are certainly maps
exist, you will get an error message when trying to click on the symbol. Also note that
where more than one style
the preview image for the symbol changes from whatever the symbol looked like, to a
is needed, especially maps
preview of the drawing tool instead. Usually, you would use this option with a
that cover multiple large
completely blank symbol.
countries. But for maps of
Non-transparent extents check: This makes CC3+ consider transparent section as part smaller regions, it usually
of the image when calculating image extents. makes sense to stick with
one housing style.

Creating Symbol Catalogs

Creating a symbol catalog is easy, and there are several ways to do this. Which method to use
depends on the current circumstances.

Since we haven't explored symbol creation yet, we will start by creating a symbol catalog containing
existing symbols. Doing this can be quite handy if we frequently use a set of symbols spread over
multiple symbol catalogs. By grouping all the symbols we use in a single catalog, we make these
symbols easier to find, and ensures we don't have to switch symbol catalogs as often when we
work on our map.

1. Start a new map. The most appropriate template for this is the Blank Overland Catalog from
the Symbol Catalogs map type. You do not need to set any options in the New Drawing
Wizard, just click Finish as soon as the button becomes available.
2. Click Open Symbol Catalog and open the @Symbols\Maps\CC3\Structures.FSC.
This catalog contains several different house styles. These are really nice, but we rarely use
more than one of these styles in any given map. Let us isolate the Euro style in a new catalog.
Scroll the catalog down until you get to the Euro styles. Now, click on each of the buildings
in this style. You do not have to place them in the drawing; just click each of them once.
The act of clicking on a symbol in the symbol catalog window copies the symbol definition
to the active drawing. And as we discussed above, a symbol catalog is nothing more than a
collection of symbol definitions. Once you have clicked all the appropriate symbols, you have
copied all the definitions in to the drawing. Note that there won't be any visual feedback that
this has happened. Since we do not want to place any symbols in the drawing, either right
click inside the view window and click the Finished button, or simply hit the key.

3. I'd like to have some of the resource symbols from the Borders/Political catalog as well. Open
the @Symbols\Maps\CC3\Borders.FSC catalog. Now, let us select a few symbols just as we
did with the Structures catalog above. Click the Cattle, Crops and Logging symbols to add
their definition to the drawing.
4. We will now use the Symbol Manager to create a new symbol catalog based on our selected
symbols.

99
 Select Symbol Manager from the Symbols menu.
The symbol manager shows us all the symbol
definitions stored in our current drawing. As long as
you only clicked on the symbols I asked you to
earlier, you'll see that this list only contains the Euro
style structures, as well as the specified resource
Contain the Symbols symbols. If you find that you have accidentally
This procedure is a great selected anything else, you can remove it by
way to organize CC3+’s selecting it in the list, and then click the Delete
symbols the way you wish button to the right.
to have them organized. 5. We will now save these symbols as a new symbol
Because the symbol catalog catalog. To be able to do this, we will first need to
only references the image select them all. The easiest way to do this is to click
files on disk, these symbol on the top symbols in the list, then scroll down to the
catalogs are very small,
bottom, and while holding the key, clicking on
even if they contain lots of
the last symbol in the list. This will select all the
symbols. You can also have
symbols.
multiple symbol catalogs
containing the same symbol Now, simply click on the Save as Catalog button.
without any problems. This will bring up a Save As dialog box. You can save
While we are at the subject the new catalog wherever you want, but I
of reorganizing, a word of recommend you save it to @Symbols\User directory
warning: Never move or with the file name EuroStyle. The appropriate file
rename the default symbol name extension for symbol catalogs (.FSC) will be
catalogs and symbol image added automatically. After clicking OK, CC3+ will
files that come with CC3+, pop up a small dialog telling you how many symbols
doing that is going to cause were saved in the catalog. Dismiss this dialog, and close the symbol manager.
you a lot of problems. If you 6. For the final step, we will test that the catalog works. Either start a new CC3 Standard
wish to organize symbols Overland map, or load up @Examples\Tome\Overland\Tariga.FCW. If CC3+ prompts you to
your own way, do it like we save the file you were working on, you can safely say no. We have already saved what we
show here, and create your wanted from this file from the symbol manager.
own symbol catalogs, but
leave the default CC3+ Click the Open Symbol Catalog button and browse to the symbol catalog file you
items alone. You may add to saved above. Your shiny new symbol catalog should now appear in the symbol catalog
the default symbol catalogs window. Scroll down to verify that it only contains the symbols we picked.
if you wish, but don’t
rename, delete or move
stuff. Note however that
Renaming and Reordering Symbols
stuff added to the official As you probably remember from the chapter on The Symbol Manager on page 95, you can rename
catalogs might be and reorder symbols from the symbol manager window, but if you wish to rename and reorder
overwritten by a patch, so multiple symbols, this can quickly get a bit cumbersome. CC3+ therefore provides you with the
you shouldn’t rely on this for functionality to export a list of the symbol names to a text file, which you can then edit in an external
major additions. text editor, or even using automated tools and scripts on it. This is great if you for example need to
If you wish CC3+’s toolbar do a search and replace on all the symbol names or similar.
buttons to load up your
Under the Symbols menu, you will find a submenu called Rename & Reorder, which contains the
custom symbol catalogs like
following menu elements:
the default one, you wish to
explore symbol catalog Create symdef name file: This menu option will bring up a save dialog, allowing you
settings, which are covered to save the current list of symbol names to a plain text file. This file will include the name
in the following pages. You of the symbols, one name on each line, in the same order as they appear in the symbol
can also look at the manager. This text file can then be modified using any program or tool you wish that
Modifiers chapter on page can handle plain text files, and then imported back into CC3+ with one of the two
190 for other ways to following commands.
customize the toolbars.
When editing this file, it is important that you either just change the names of the
symbols OR just change the ordering of the lines. This is because when you need to
import the file back into CC3+, it will be impossible for CC3+ to know which names
belong to which symbols if you try to do both rename and reorder in one operation.

100
Instead, if you desire to do both, you must take it in two steps, first renaming, then
importing the file, then reordering, and import the file again.

Note that the symbol names saved to this file is the symbols from the currently loaded
map file, not whatever symbol catalog you may have open in the symbol catalog
window. To work with a symbol catalog, remember to open it for editing (load it as it
was a map), and not just open it in the symbol catalog window. Remember that you can
always just open the Symbol Manager to see which symbols would be exported to the
file.

When saving the file, you should make sure to name it with a .lst extension. This is not
terribly important, and the file is still a plain text file, but if you do not use the .lst
extension, the file will not show up in the open dialog when you are going to import it
again, since this dialog filters on .lst files. If you didn’t save the file with the .lst file
extension, you can always just change the file type in the open dialog to All Files (*.*)
and it should show.

Import reordered symdefs: Use this menu option to import the symbol name file after
changing the ordering. To know which symbols go where, CC3+ will compare the names
in this file with the names of the symbols, and change the ordering accordingly. It is
therefore important that you haven’t changed the names of any symbols in the file when
using this menu option, since CC3+ then won’t be able to know which symbols the file
refers to, which will cause CC3+ to drop any symbols not found in the list.

Import renamed symdefs: By using this menu option, you tell CC3+ that you have
changed the names of the symbols. CC3+ will then keep the original ordering of the
symbols, but will change the names to match those in the list. If you have reordered the
list as well, this will result in wrong names being applied to the wrong symbols.

Warning: CC3+ does not check for duplicate symbol names when importing a renamed
list. If you have duplicate names in your list when importing, this will lead to multiple
symbols having the same name, which will cause multiple problems. These duplicate
symbol names are impossible to fix from within CC3+, and the only way to fix it is to
export a symdef name file as described above, change the name of the duplicates in an
external editor, and then import it again using this command.

101
 Managing Symbol Catalogs
When you click one of the symbol catalog buttons above the view window in CC3+, you might have
noticed that sometimes, it doesn't load a catalog directly, but ask you to choose from a list of symbol
catalogs. And in some cases, you might also have encountered an empty list. All of this is due to
the way CC3+ handles symbol catalogs. The buttons aren’t programmed to load a specific catalog,
but rather they search for a catalog appropriate to your current map style, containing the kind of
symbols associated with the button you clicked. This is done using filters. CC3+ uses two filters. You
have the master filter, which represent the current style and type of drawing, and then you have
the catalog settings filter, which represents the class of symbols you wish to load (Like mountains,
stairs, doors or planets). The master filter is set when you create/load your map, and should normally
not be changed from the default in any given map. The catalog settings filter is set when you click
on the symbol catalog button. For example, if you click on the Structures button, the catalog
settings filter is set to Structures*.

You can take advantage of these filters to create symbol catalogs that show up in the list when you
click a button, or you can use the filters to search for symbol catalogs that do not have a button on
the toolbar.

Searching for symbol catalogs

Searching using filters is simple. CC3+ will display any symbol catalog that contains both the Master
Filter and the Catalog Setting Filter; the order of these does not matter. Additionally, you can use an
* (asterisk) for either of the filters to match everything. Notice that what you will see when following
the tutorial below depends on the map style you are currently using. To get the same results as in
the screenshots, you should start a new CC3 Mike Schley Overland map, or load an existing map
in this style, like our Windclaw map.

1. Click the Symbol Catalog Settings button. This will bring up the Select Catalog Settings
window.
By default, this window will display all the symbols that match the current Master Filter (not
visible in this dialog). This is because the Catalog settings filter is set to *, causing it to
match everything.
2. Type Structures into the Catalog settings filter box, and click Find now.
The display should update, showing only catalogs that match the new filter. Since we only
searched the current style, you’ll only get one result this time. Click on any of the catalogs in
the list to close the dialog and load the selected catalog into the symbol catalog window.
3. If you wish to find symbol catalogs designed for another map style, you need to change the
master filter as well. Click the Advanced >>
button. The dialog will now change, showing
you both the Catalog settings filter, as well
as the Master Filter. There is also a part of
this dialog that lets us manage existing and
create new symbol catalog settings. Ignore
this for now; we will be looking at that in the
next chapter.
Enter Structures in the Catalog settings
filter box, and CC3 in the Master filter box,
then click one of the two Find now buttons.
The list updates to show only catalogs that
matches both these filters. Note that while in
advanced mode, clicking on a catalog will
not immediately close the box. To use a
catalog from the list, click on the catalog to
select it, then confirm by clicking OK.

102
Creating new Symbol Catalog Settings
Certain Properties
When we create a new symbol catalog file, it doesn't immediately get integrated with CC3+. We
These properties are applied
can always load it manually, but there is no toolbar button that will load it, and we cannot search
only when the catalog is
for it using filters. To enable this behavior, we must create a Symbol Catalog Setting for the catalog.
loaded (through the use of
By doing this, we give the catalog a name that we can search for using filters.
filters), and not each time
When naming our symbol catalogs, we should follow the established naming standard in CC3+. By you place a symbol. So if
doing this, we ensure that the catalog will turn up in the desired list when we click the symbol you load our new symbol
catalog buttons on our toolbar. catalog with the properties
we have set, CC3+ will
The Symbol Catalog Setting name should start with the map style it is designed for. For maps in the switch the current layer to
CC3 Mike Schley Overland style, this is CC3MS. This is also the part associated with the Master STRUCTURES, but if you
Filter. Next, it is followed by the symbol category, like Mountains, Structures or Vegetation. This
later change the layer, then
is the part of the name associated with the Catalog Settings filter, and thus also with the symbol place more symbols from
catalog toolbar buttons. Last, any additional information is appended to the name. This may be a this catalog, CC3+ will use
simple number if the catalog is divided into more than one catalog, or special properties of the
your new setting. To revert
catalog. to the “correct” settings for
Let us add a catalog setting for the EuroStyle.FSC catalog we created earlier. Let us first discuss the the catalog, you need to
name we need to give to this catalog. For the first part of the name, let us look at the symbols we load it again.
included. These were from the CC3 Filled Structures and CC3 Filled Borders. Obviously, our Note that this is in contrast
catalog should also be named CC3 Filled something. For the next part, we know that this catalog to the per-symbol properties
contains Structure and Border symbols. Considering that the catalog mostly contains Structure you can set from the symbol
symbols, we'll stick with that in the name. Lastly, considering that this catalog only contains Euro manager, such as the Force
symbols, let us append Euro to the name. The final name should then be CC3 Filled Structures Sheet option. Those settings
Euro. don’t change the current
settings, they simply
4. Click the Symbol Catalog Settings button, then click the Advanced >> button. override them temporarily,
5. Click the Browse button to browse for the EuroStyle.FSC catalog we created earlier. If you but they also ignore any
didn't do that tutorial, you can find my version of the catalog in #Tutorials\Symbols. manual changes.

6. Click the Properties button. This will bring up a new dialog which allows you to set certain
Save
properties like color, line style, fill style and layer which will be applied when the symbol
catalog is loaded. Since this catalog is mainly structures, select STRUCTURES for the Layer, Symbol catalog settings are
and then click OK. stored in configuration files
in the CC3+ data directory.
7. Click the New button. This will create a new Symbol Catalog Setting based on the values we
They are not attached to the
just set. When asked for the name, type CC3 Filled Structures Euro, then click OK. Click
symbol catalog files
OK again to close the Symbol Catalog Settings dialog.
themselves, so you can have
8. Now click the Structures button. Notice that one of the entries in our list is now CC3 multiple symbol catalog
Filled Structures Euro. Select this entry to confirm that the correct catalog is loaded. settings with different
You can also make changes to an existing Symbol Catalog setting by selecting it in the list, making names and properties that
the desired changes, then click Save. If you click New instead of save, the changes are saved to a use the same symbol
catalog file.
new setting, instead of updating the existing one, this is how you copy existing settings.
You can find the
configuration files in
Understanding the Symbol Filters @System\Symbol Catalog
Settings. The files here have
You may have noticed that the symbol catalog buttons offer you different catalogs depending on
a .sis file extension, but they
the style of map you are currently working on. You may even have encountered a situation where
are regular XML files.
CC3+ actually offers the wrong style of symbols. This is all due to the symbol catalog filters.

As previously discussed, CC3+ uses two filters simultaneously to determine which symbol catalog Loaded with the Map
to load. These are the Master Filter and the Catalog Settings Filter. The Master Filter dictates the The Master Filter is loaded
current style of symbols, while the Catalog Settings Filter selects the particular type of symbol in the OnOpenMacro of the
(Mountains, Structures, Vegetation, etc.) map. See the Macros chap-
When CC3+ shows you the list of Symbol Catalogs to choose from, both of these filters are taken ter on page 198 for more
into account. details about CC3+ macros.

More on next page…

103
 The Master Filter
Menu Files
The Master Filter is normally loaded with the map. A new Master Filter is also loaded each time you
Each add-on has its own set
click one of the Add-On buttons in the toolbar.
of menu files, so the list will
change based on which
add-on is currently active.
You can edit CC3+'s menu Actually, the methods described above do not load just a single Master
files to change the contents Filter, but they load a whole set of Master Filters, and sets one of them as
of this list if you desire. For the active Master Filter. You can use the Symbol Style Toggle button
more information about to switch between the items in the currently loaded set. If you left click
this, see Modifiers on page on the button, you will move from one filter in the set to the next. On the
190. other hand, if you right-click on the button, you can select your desired
filter directly from the pop-up menu. However, note that this list is stored
in CC3’s menu files, and is therefore it is static and not dependent on the
actual set of master filters loaded.

The last option in the pop-up menu, Master Filter Settings, brings up the Master Filters
configuration dialog. The first option, Number of filters to use, simply specifies how many filters
this particular set contains. As you can see in the example, this value is currently set to 7, and all
filters above 7 are grayed out. This value needs to be changed if
you plan on adding or removing Master Filters. Most of this dialog
is filled by the filters themselves. The radio buttons in front of the
filters simply indicate which filter is the currently active filter,
while the text is the filters themselves. CC3+ looks for this text in
the name of your symbol catalog setting names to filter out those
that match the current style. Note that while we normally name
our symbol catalogs to start with the style, the Master Filter
actually searches the entire name, so the filter string can appear
anywhere in the symbol catalog name.

The Save and Load buttons are used to store and retrieve sets of
master filters. If you click Load, you will see the list of filters
currently stored. If you have several add-ons and/or annual issues,
you’ll find that this list can be rather long. When saving your list,
you need to be careful in choosing the name. If you use an existing
name, you will overwrite the existing entry. This can be useful if
you wish to add an additional filter to the standard filter sets, but
if you accidentally overwrite a filter set with something entirely
different, you will encounter problems with getting your symbol
catalog buttons working properly.

The Catalog Settings Filter

A Catalog Settings Filter is normally loaded by clicking one of the symbol catalog buttons in the
toolbar.

When you click one of these buttons, a catalog settings filter is loaded, and together with the Master
Filter, filters out the catalogs that match the criteria. Just as with the master filter, the catalog settings
filter can match any part of the symbol catalog name.

104
Creating Vector Symbols
CC3+ comes with a great many symbols, and each add-on adds to this library. But at some point
you'll probably find that you need a symbol not provided by ProFantasy. Fortunately, creating a new
symbol in CC3+ is quite simple.

As discussed earlier, CC3+ uses two different types of symbols, and the process to create them is
also quite different. We will cover both in the following tutorials, starting with the vector symbols.

Preparations
The process is easiest to illustrate if we start with an empty symbol catalog, as this does not include
unnecessary clutter, although you can easily do this from an existing map if you so choose.

1. Start a new map of the type Blank Overland Catalog, from the Symbol Catalogs category.

Creating a vector symbol

The first part of creating our symbol is to simply create a regular drawing of our symbol, using the
same tools we would use when drawing a map.

However, note that when creating a symbol, all entities that are to be part of the symbol should be
drawn on the COMMON sheet and the SYMBOL DEFINITON layer. There are times when we will
deviate from this, but those are special cases. Also, symbols can't be created with built-in sheet
effects. They will be subject to the effects defined in the map you are going to use them in, but you
cannot include effects as part of the symbol.
Command Line
2. Symbols can be as complex as we wish them to be, but for the purpose of this tutorial, we
I like to type the values into
will make a very simple symbol.
the command line when I
Set line width to 1, color to 0 (Black), and make sure fill style and line style is set to solid. need the values to be exact.
Click the Circle button. The command line now asks for the center point of the circle. Feel free to draw by hand,
Type 0,0 and hit . Next, you need to provide a point on the circle. We want a circle with and/or use snaps and
a radius of ten map units, so enter 0,10 . modifiers instead if you
prefer.
You may need to click the Zoom Extents button to properly see the circle.
3. Set the line width to 0 and the color to 3 (Blue). Use the circle tool again, and use 0,0 for the
center, and 0,5 for the point on the circle. The drawing should now look like the screenshot.
4. From the Symbols menu, select Define Symbol. Now select both the circles we just drew then
right click and select Do It.

The Define New Symbol dialog pops up. This dialog let us set certain properties of our new symbol.

Bounding entity: This allows you to add a

bounding entity around your new symbol.
If you select a bounding entity, the color
and offset becomes available. The
bounding entity itself is a thin line. The
offset specifies the distance between the
bounding entity and the outer edge of your
symbol, and the color specifies the color of
the bounding entity itself. If you specify the
inner color, the symbol will have a filled
solid background of the selected color.

Origin: The origin of the symbols is the point used for the placement of the symbol. This
is the point being affected by attach modifiers and snap. For example, a symbol that
should be placed up against a wall should have its origin at the side of the symbol facing
the wall. When placing symbols, you'll notice that the crosshairs are placed at the symbol
origin.

105
 Name: This is the name of the symbol. The prefix can be used for your initials, the symbol
Symbols in Drawing style, source or anything you feel is appropriate, but keep in mind that the final symbol
Note that the Symbols in name will be the prefix and name combined.
Drawing display does not
update automatically as you
define new symbols. After 5. For our symbol, we will not use a bounding box, and will use the default Middle Center origin.
defining a new symbol, For the name, I've used Tome as the prefix and Marker as the name.
toggle the state of this
6. Click OK. You'll notice that the entities that made up our symbol disappeared from the
button off and back on
drawing. Fear not however, the symbol is still defined and ready for use.
again.
7. To test your new symbol, click the Symbols in Drawing button to see the symbols
in the current drawing. Since we started with a blank symbol catalog, we should only see the
symbol we just defined.
To save this symbol in a symbol catalog for use in your maps, follow steps 4 through 6 in the
Creating Symbol Catalogs chapter starting on page 99.

Vector symbol considerations

When you place a symbol in your map, you will notice that you see an outline of the symbol as you
move your cursor around the map looking for the location to place it. For this outline to be visible,
the outline of the symbol needs to consist of an odd number of entities. For our TomeMarker symbol,
this is taken care of because the outline consists of a single circle. However, for other symbols, you
may find yourself with an even number of entities forming the outline. The simplest way of fixing
this is to duplicate the outer entity in the symbol. A duplicate of the same size and position won't
be visible in the symbol, and thus won't change how it looks. Make sure you only make a copy of
one of the entities, or you will still be stuck with an even number.

Editing Vector Symbols

Sometimes an existing symbol is not exactly what you are looking for. Perhaps it has some extra
parts you wish to delete, or perhaps some parts of the symbol are in the wrong color. In any case, it
Even Number of Entities is very simple to edit an existing symbol. Before editing, you need to know if you are going to edit
This typically happens if you the symbol reference or the symbol definition. If you edit the symbol definition, all symbols in that
use a solid filled polygon for map based on that definition changes to match your edits, while if you edit a single symbol
the background color of the reference, you only edit that occurrence of the symbol.
polygon, then a hollow
polygon of the same size to Editing the symbol definition
form the outline. While If you want to edit the symbol definition, you can do it from the Symbol Manager. Before editing
visually you could argue the definition, you need to make sure that the definition is actually in the map. This is usually
that the outline is a single accomplished simply by placing the symbol in question into the map, which will automatically insert
entity, the fact is that both the definition.
of these polygons are the
same size and have the Note that this procedure only edits the copy of the symbol stored in the map, it will not change the
same position, and you symbol in the source symbol catalog.
therefore have an even
1. Select Symbol Manager from the Symbol menu.
number of entities. To fix
this, simply make another 2. From the list of symbols, select the one you wish to
copy of your outline entity edit, then simply hit the Edit button. If you are
on top of the original. continuing with the example from above, select
the TomeMarker symbol.
The command line now asks for new window
corner:. This is the first corner of the editing

More on next page…

106
 window you will use to edit the symbol. Click
somewhere near the top left of CC3+’s view area. Edit
Next, it will ask for the opposite corner:. Click near If you wish to keep the
the bottom right of the view window. A new window original symbol, you can
will open, showing your symbol also click the Clone button
Any edits you do in this new window will be saved first to make an identical
as part of the symbol when you close the window. copy of the symbol, then
Inside this window, you can use any of the normal edit either the clone or the
CC3+ tools. You should not insert another symbol into original, depending on what
this window however, as a symbol reference within a you need to do. Editing the
symbol definition can cause issues. original will change all
symbols in the map based
3. When you are done editing the symbol, close the
on this definition, while
window. A dialog will pop up asking you if you wish to keep the changes. Note that if you
editing the clone won't have
say yes, there is no way of undoing your changes, other than to edit the symbol again and
any effect on symbols
manually reverse any changes you made.
already in the map, but it
will give you a new symbol
Editing the symbol reference you can place independently
If you only wish to modify a single symbol in your map, you can instead edit that reference. Please of the original.
note that this procedure breaks down this reference into its component parts, and unlinks it from
the original symbol. So, if you later edit the symbol definition, any symbols edited by following this
procedure won’t be affected, not even if you delete the original definition from the map. Close the Window
A dialog will pop up asking
1. Locate the symbol you wish to edit in your map. You probably wish to zoom close in on it for
you if you wish to save the
easier editing. If you follow from above, simply select your TomeMarker symbol from the
changes. If you do not wish
symbol catalog window; place it somewhere in the drawing window, then zoom in to it.
to do so, simply say No, and
2. Click Explode , and then select the symbol. Right click and select Do It to finish the the changes will be
command. discarded.
This breaks the symbol down into its component parts. Note that it is now no longer a symbol
reference, only a collection of regular CC3+ entities.
3. If you use the TomeMarker as in my example, you can now use Change Properties to
change the color of the outer circle to red. If you tried this on a symbol before exploding it,
you would only have been able to select the entire symbol, and even after changing the color
in the dialog, no changes would have occurred. However, if you try this on the exploded
symbol, you can see that you can now select the individual parts of the symbol, like the outer
ring, and you can actually change the color of it.
Note that from now on, your symbol isn’t a symbol anymore, but several separate entities. So if you
wish for example to erase it from the map, you will need to erase each individual entity.

See the final part of the Cosmographer Deckplan tutorial on page 441 for a symbol that has been
edited this way.

Editing a symbol catalog

If you wish to edit a symbol located in a symbol catalog, you can just as easily do that.

1. Click Open .
Now change the Files of type in the open dialog to CC3/CC2 FSC Symbol catalog, and then
browse for the symbol catalog file containing the symbol you wish to change. Once found,
open it, just as you would open a map.
2. Now, you can simply follow the procedure from Editing the symbol definition above, since a
symbol catalog is basically a collection of symbol definitions in a map. Note that you do not
need to insert the symbol into the map first or anything like that, all the symbols from the
catalog are already present in the Symbol Manager.
3. Once done with the editing, simply save the symbol catalog by clicking on Save .

107
 Note that this procedure will permanently change the symbol catalog. It won’t change symbols
Raster Symbols already placed in maps, as the symbol definition is copied to the map upon first use, and thus no
Also known as bitmapped longer dependent on the symbol catalog, but it will affect all future use of this catalog. You may
symbols. These are normally wish to make a backup of the catalog before modifying it.
in the form of .PNG
(Portable Network
Graphics) files.
Creating Raster Symbols
Raster symbols made their appearance in Campaign Cartographer 3. Before this, only vector
symbols were supported. Creating raster symbols is a bit more involved, since you cannot create
GIMP the raster images themselves inside CC3+. One of the great advantages of raster symbols over
GIMP (GNU Image vector symbols however, is their availability. A lot of people (including me), do not have the artistic
Manipulation Program) is a skills to create good looking raster symbols by themselves, but raster images are easy to find on the
free image editor which can internet. While vector symbols can also be found on the net, they are far from as numerous.
be downloaded from There are several programs available for creating raster artwork, and if you already have a favorite
http://www.gimp.org. For software package, I recommend you stay with that one. For the following tutorial, we will use a free
this tutorial, GIMP 2.8 was alternative, GIMP. This is a powerful editor, and is well suited to creating raster artwork. If you follow
used. this tutorial using another image editor, simply use the equivalent tools in that editor.
GIMP is Copyright © by
Spencer Kimball, Peter 1. Start GIMP.
Mattis and the GIMP 2. From the GIMP menu, select New.
Development Team
Before we continue, we need to think about
the image size we will be creating. CC3+
uses four different resolutions (image sizes).
Performance
This does add some complexity, but it is
When you zoom out, you important for maximum performance
can't see the fine details of inside CC3+. The four resolutions are Very
the symbol anyway, and it is Low, Low, High and Very High. Now, we
much faster for CC3+ to don't have to create all the resolutions ourselves, since CC3+ can do that for us, but we should create
render a smaller less the image in the largest resolution used by CC3+; Very High.
detailed version of the
symbol, rather than scale On a standard overland map, the resolution for the highest quality image should be 20
down a large high-detailed pixels/drawing unit. This is an overland symbol, and as we know, the default scale for overland
symbol. maps is 1 drawing unit = 1 mile. We'll aim to make a simple square marker, 20 miles along the sides
at scale 1.0. For the Very High resolution, this translates to an image resolution of 400×400 pixels.

3. Set Width and Height to 400 pixels, and under

Pixels/Drawing Unit Advanced Options, set Fill with to Transparency. Then
This is the standard used by click OK.
ProFantasy for overland 4. A new window will open with a 400×400 pixel image of
symbols. You are free to use grey checkered squares. These represent transparency,
any resolution you desire, all and will be invisible in our finished symbol.
you need to remember is to
import them into CC3+ 5. Select the Paintbrush Tool from the Toolbox and the
using the same resolution. It Hardness 075 circular brush
is recommended that you from the Tool Options window.
stick with the defaults Set the Size of the brush to 30.
however. 6. Now draw a nice square with an X in the image window.
The symbol resolutions used
by ProFantasy are: Obviously, you can draw symbols that look infinitely
▪ Overland: 20 better than this one, just look at the raster symbols that
▪ City: 40 ship with CC3+. We drew this very simple shape because it is both
▪ Dungeon: 100 quick, and also easy to draw even if you are not an artist. I also choose
▪ Character Artist: 500 to use the regular paintbrush tool and draw it that way to give it a hand
drawn feel to it. If you want straight lines and crisp edges, this is also
very simple to accomplish in almost any image editing software.
7. Once done, select Export As… from the File menu of GIMP. In the
More on next page… dialog that appears, give the file the name RasterMarker.png and
save it to @Symbols/User/Tome Art.

108
 GIMP will now pop up a dialog asking you for some PNG options. You should be able to just
accept the defaults and click Export to continue. Very High
Note that the Very High
resolution is usually only
seen when you do close
zooms. For most CC3+
maps, you don’t actually
need this quality, so if you
prefer you can create the
images in the High
resolution instead. The High
resolution can be found by
dividing the Very High
resolution by 2.5.

Transparency
By setting the background
of the image to transparent,
it ensures that we can see
our map through the parts
8. Close down GIMP and return to CC3+. of the image where we do
9. Either continue with the symbol catalog template from above, or start a new map based on not actually paint anything.
the Blank Overland Catalog.
Export As…
10. From the Symbols menu, select Import pngs…
For these tutorials, we will
be saving our raster files
straight to the PNG format
that CC3+ uses. However,
PNG does not support
features such as layers,
which are highly useful
when we design symbols
slightly more complicated
that the examples in this
tome. It is therefore
recommended that you save
your symbols to your image
editor’s native format, and
then use the Export/Save
copy feature of the program
to export your image to
PNG. This way, if you wish
11. Set the following options:
to modify the image later,
Source folder: @Symbols\User\Tome Art you can load up the fully
featured original image,
This is the folder where the source image(s) are stored.
modify it, save it, and then
Make path: relative to CC3 path export it again. If you on the
other hand keep your
This instructs CC3+ to address the image relative to your CC3+ data directory. This original symbol files in PNG,
makes it easier to distribute the symbols, since you can just tell people to put it in their you would find that when
own @Symbols\User directory, and the symbol will work even if their absolute path is you loaded the symbol for
different. editing, all the layers would
Highest Resolution: 20 be merged to a single layer,
making editing more
We drew the image at 20 pixels/map unit, so enter 20 here. The exact calculation is difficult.
image width divided by real world width. So, since we wanted the image to be 10 miles
wide, that makes 200/10 = 20. More on next page…

109
 Note that this scale the symbol to match the vector symbol we drew. Also note that the
Save It value 20 represents the Very High resolution used for overland symbols. Even if I did
If you don't already have a provide a formula above, you should never actually calculate this value from the image
Tome Art folder inside of size, but you should rather crate the image at the size needed to end up with 20 here.
@Symbols/User, simply
Layer: SYMBOL DEFINITION
press the Create Folder
button in the Save Image Create other resolution: checked
dialog to create it.
We enable this option to tell CC3+ to generate the other possible resolutions for us

Files are: Very high

This is the resolution we drew our symbol at.

Symbol origin: Middle Center

This is usually the best option for overland symbols

Bitmap Options: Set Transparency to Alpha transparency

The Alpha transparency option tells CC3+ that the transparency is embedded in the
image file itself. If we need transparency, this is definitely the best way to do it. The
other two transparency options forces CC3+ to make the transparency itself, based on a
Anti-Aliased single color. In some cases, this works fine, but if the image has been anti-aliased,
generating transparency based on a single color is not a good idea. This problem often
Anti-aliasing generally
manifests itself as a colored halo around the image, in the original background color of
makes an image more
the image.
visually pleasing to look at,
but at the same time it 12. Once you click OK, you should get a dialog informing you of how many files were imported.
makes the image almost If it complains that it didn't find any files, make sure you saved your new image in the correct
impossible to edit properly folder, and that you did give it the right extension (.PNG)
afterward, including adding
13. To check your new symbol, click the Symbols in Drawing button to see the symbols
transparency.
in the current drawing. If you just continued with the loaded template we used to create the
vector symbol, there should be two symbols in the list now. Otherwise, our new symbol
should be at the bottom of the list with whatever other symbols that is present in the map. If
you try placing the two symbols in the map, you should see that they are about the same
size.
14. To save this symbol in a symbol catalog for use in your maps, follow steps 4 through 6 in the
Creating Symbol Catalogs chapter starting on page 99.
15. If you browse to your @Symbols\User\Tome Art folder using Windows Explorer or similar,
you'll notice that your original file is gone, and there are four files in its place, carrying the
same filename, but with a suffix that indicates the quality (_VH, _H, _L and _VL).

Raster symbol considerations

When we import images using the Import pngs command, it will import all the images in that folder.
Thus, it is a very good idea to create a folder structure under @Symbols\User which you can use to
sort your symbols into different categories and uses. Folder structures are always a good idea, but
especially for symbols, since you do not really want to import all your symbols every time.

You should always create the highest quality file you need. It is easy to reduce quality by reducing
the resolution, but increasing the resolution of an existing file doesn't really make it more detailed.

If you wish, you can create all four resolutions yourself, instead of letting CC3+ do it automatically.
This will give you greater control over how the symbol looks at different resolutions. To do this,
make sure all the images are scaled properly to match the four resolutions used by CC3+. All the
images should have the same file name, except for the quality suffix. For example, a symbol called
Marker, should have the four files Marker_VH.png, Marker_H.png, Marker_L.png and
Marker_VL.png.

110
Editing Raster Symbols
The procedure for editing raster symbols are the same as detailed for vector symbols in the Editing
Vector Symbols on page 106. However, a vector symbol (usually) consists of multiple entities that
can be edited individually in CC3+, while the raster symbols usually consist of only a single entity,
the raster image itself. You can use the editing functionality to add, edit and remove vector entities
from the raster symbol, but if you need to edit the image itself, you need to go back to your source
image in the image editor, make the changes there, and then import it again as was described in
the previous section.

Varicolor Symbols
One special kind of symbol is Varicolor symbols. These symbols allow you to select their color when
placing the symbol. This means that the symbol can take on a hue to better fit with the colors of the
map, or you can vary the colors to make otherwise identical symbols look different. The great
advantage of this is that instead of making a separate symbol for each color you need, a single
symbol can take on any color in the current palette.

When designing Varicolor symbols you can decide which parts of the symbol will be Varicolor. This
means that you can for example design a city symbol with Varicolor rooftops or perhaps a zebra-
like creature with Varicolor stripes.

Just as with ordinary symbols, there is a significant difference in how you create symbols depending
on if you create vector or raster symbols. Let us explore both of these types

Creating varicolor vector symbols

Varicolor vector symbols actually come in two different flavors; simple Varicolor and shaded
Varicolor. Simple Varicolor symbols have parts that take on the currently selected color, while
shaded Varicolor symbols have different parts that take on various shades of the current color,
allowing more variety and better looking symbols.

Simple varicolor
1. Either continue with the template from above, or start a new map based on the Blank
Overland Catalog.
2. Set line width to 1, color to 0 (Black), and make sure fill style and line style is set to solid.
Click the Circle button. The command line now asks for the center point of the circle.
Type 0,0 and hit . Next, you need to provide a point on the circle. We want a circle with
a radius of ten map units, so enter 0,10 .

You may need to click the Circle button to properly see the circle.
3. Set the line width to 0 and the color to 3 (Blue). Use the circle tool again, and use 0,0 for the
center, and 0,5 for the point on the circle. The drawing should now look like the screenshot.
4. Select Make Varicolor from the Symbols menu. The command line now reads Select
entities (0 picked):. Select the black outer circle, then right click and select Do It. The black
circle now turns white.
5. From the Symbols menu, select Define Symbol. Now select both the circles we just drew then
right click and select Do It. Give the new symbol the name VaricolorMarker.
6. Make sure Symbols in Drawing is activated, then try to change the current color by
clicking on the color symbol in the status bar and selecting a new color. Notice how the outer
circle changes color. Also note that once you have placed a varicolor symbol, it will keep its
color, so you can safely select a new color and place another symbol with a different color.

111
 Shaded varicolor
Creating a shaded Varicolor symbol, while still rather simple, takes a bit more effort than designing
a simple Varicolor symbol. It can dramatically improve the end result however; just think of how a
house roof would look in simple Varicolor Vs. shaded Varicolor.

Shaded Varicolor symbols uses layers with specific names to determine the color of the various
entities. Entities on the layer VARICOLOR0 will take on the exact color select, while layers named
VARICOLOR+1, VARICOLOR+2, etc. will take on lighter hues of this color, and entities on the
VARICOLOR-1, VARICOLOR-2, etc. will take on darker hues. Note that these colors are simply
taken from the palette. For example, if you select color 103, then entities on VARICOLOR0 will
have this exact color, entities on VARICOLOR+1 will have color 104, and VARICOLOR-1 will be
color 102. If you look at the default CC3+ palette, you'll see that colors appears in neat rows of
different gradients of each color, but if you make a custom palette, you can get unpredictable results
with shaded Varicolor symbols.

1. Either continue with the template from above, or start a new map based on the Blank
Overland Catalog.
2. Create three layers; VARICOLOR0, VARICOLOR+3, VARICOLOR-3
3. Set the current layer to VARICOLOR+3
4. Set the line width to 0 and the color to 167 (Red). Use the Circle tool, use 0,0 for the
center, and 0,10 for the point on the circle.
5. Set the current layer to VARICOLOR0
6. Set the color to 231 (Purple). Use the circle tool again, use 0,0 for the center, and 0,7.5 for
the point on the circle.
7. Set the current layer to VARICOLOR-3
8. Set the color to 87 (Green). Use the circle tool, use 0,0 for the center, and 0,5 for the point
on the circle.
9. Set the current layer to SYMBOL DEFINITION
10. Set the color to 0 (Black). Use the circle tool for the last time, use 0,0 for the center, and 0,2.5
for the point on the circle. The symbol should look like the image to the right.
11. From the Symbols menu, select Define Symbol. Now select all four of the circles we just
drew then right click and select Do It. Give the new symbol the name ShadedMarker.
12. From the Symbols menu, select Symbol Manager.
13. Click on our ShadedMarker symbol to select it, then click options.
14. Enable the Varicolor symbol option, then click OK to close the
settings dialog, followed by OK to close the Symbol Manager.
15. Your symbol should now look like the image to the right. Notice that your new shaded
Varicolor symbol has a small colored square in the top left corner. This is always the color of
the currently selected color, and is the indication that your symbol is a Shaded Varicolor
symbol. Try changing the active color, and notice how the shaded Varicolor symbol changes
colors.

Shaded varicolor considerations

When creating shaded varicolor symbols, the colors you use for the shades aren’t important. The
important construction components are the layers on which you put each entity.

All entities, including outlines that are not part of the shaded varicolor need to be on the SYMBOL
DEFINITION layer. Entities on the varicolor layers will change color according to the current color
selected.

The Symbol Settings varicolor tick box must be checked for each symbol in order for the shaded
varicolor to work correctly in the drawings.

112
Raster varicolor
Just as with vector symbols, raster symbols can also be Varicolor. When making Varicolor raster
symbols, we need two images for each symbol, one for the symbol itself, and a second image to be
used as a Varicolor mask. For this, we will again use GIMP for the image editing. We will use the
image we created earlier (Creating Raster Symbols on page 108) as a starting point for our Varicolor
symbol.

1. Start GIMP (Or use your favorite image editor)

2. Choose Open… from the File menu in GIMP. Browse to @Symbols\User\Tome Art and open
RasterMarker_VH.png.
Now, we want to create a new symbol, and not change our existing symbol, so we need to save
this image to a new filename. When creating Varicolor raster symbols, there are also some filename
conventions we need to adhere to. The first convention is that the filename should contain the word
vari. This is not strictly necessary, but since the filename is used by CC3+ to create the actual symbol
name, this is a good rule to follow. Second, the symbol name needs to end in _01.PNG. The mask
needs to have the exact same filename as the main symbol image, except that it should end in
_02.PNG.

So, for this tutorial, our files should be named RasterMarker vari_01.PNG and RasterMarker
vari_02.PNG. Once imported into CC3+, our finished symbol will be named RasterMarker vari.

3. The Varicolor is going to be imposed on top of the symbol, using

the opacity value we select. Obviously, black is a poor
background color, since it tends to hide whatever other color it
is being mixed with. So we will start by changing the symbol to
a light shade of gray. To have a nice effect from the Varicolor, Shade of Gray
we will use a gradient. The background for the
Select the Fuzzy Select Tool and click anywhere on the varicolor should preferably
black lines of the symbol. This will select the entire visible part be grayscale for the best
result. If you are starting
of the symbol. Now click the Blend Tool button, and set up
with a color image, start by
the options as in the image to the left.
reducing it to grayscale first.
4. Now click and hold the left mouse button in the center of the Note that if only part of the
X, and while holding down the mouse button, drag the cursor image is varicolor (like the
up to one of the corners and release. A line indicating the roof of a building),
length and direction of the gradient will be visible while obviously only that part
dragging. should be grayscale.
After applying the gradient, the image will look like the image to the right.

113
 5. Choose Export As… from the File menu, and
save the current image as RasterMarker
vari_01.PNG in the @Symbols\User\Tome Art
folder. Note that we did not add the quality suffix
(_VH). We'll leave it up to CC3+ to create these
when we import the image, just as we did for the
plain raster image originally. You'll again see the
PNG options dialog. Just accept the defaults as
before, and click Export.
6. Now, with our symbol prepared, it is time to
create the mask. Go to the Layer menu, and
select Add Layer Mask… from the Mask
submenu. In the dialog that appears select
Grayscale copy of layer. This will set us up with
a mask that is a copy of our current symbol.
7. The layers window now shows two preview
Edit Layer Mask images for our layer. The left one is our image,
There is a checkmark in and the right one is our mask.
front of Edit Layer Mask that By default, when we create a new mask for a
indicates if it is active. To layer, GIMP switches to editing the mask instead
check if this option is active of the image. We do not want this, so right click
or not, just right click the either layer thumbnail, and deselect Edit Layer
layer thumbnail and look for Mask from the pop-up menu to deactivate this option.
the checkmark.
8. Finally, we are going to fill the entire layer with a solid black (without touching the mask).
First, we need to remove the current selection. Go to the Select menu, and select None.
Now, use the Bucket Fill tool. Make sure the foreground color is set to
Black, and set Affected Area to Fill whole selection. This ensures that the
whole layer is filled no matter where you click in the image.
Mask is Active Now click anywhere in the image to fill it with solid black. Notice,
If you wish to edit the image that since the mask is active, the image in the editing window does
without seeing the effects not turn completely black, if you look at the thumbnail in the layers
from the mask, you can window, it turns solid black.
temporarily disable the 9. Time to save our new mask. Choose Export As… from the
mask by right-clicking one File menu again, and export the current image as
of the thumbnails and select RasterMarker vari_02.png in the @Symbols\User\Tome Art folder. Click Export in the
Disable Layer Mask. Just PNG options dialog, accepting the defaults. That's it. You have now created the necessary
remember to turn it back on files for a raster Varicolor symbol. Now let us head back to CC3 to import our new symbol.
again.
10. Close down GIMP and return to CC3+.
11. Either continue with the template from above, or start a new map based on the Blank
Overland Catalog.
12. From the Symbols menu, select Import pngs…
13. Set the following options:
Source folder: @Symbols\User\Tome Art

Make path: relative to CC3 path

Highest Resolution: 20

Layer: SYMBOL DEFINITION

Create other resolution: checked

Files are: Very high

Symbol origin: Middle Center

Bitmap Options: Set Transparency to Alpha transparency

114
 14. Once you click OK, you should get a dialog informing you of how many files were imported.
If it complains that it didn't find any files, make sure you saved your new image in the correct
folder, and that you did give it the right extension (.PNG)
15. To check your new symbol, click the Symbols in Drawing button to see the symbols
in the current drawing. If you just continued with the loaded template we used to create the
other symbols, there should be five symbols in the list now. Otherwise, our new symbol
should be at the bottom of the list with whatever other symbols present in the map.
You now have a raster symbol using Varicolor with a gradient effect. Try changing the color and
place a couple of these symbols in the map to see how they look.

Varicolor raster symbol considerations

When creating raster Varicolor symbols, the part of the symbol that should be Varicolor should be
in grayscale to make it blend better with the overlaid color.

Varicolor raster symbols always needs two images. The first one is a regular PNG file, the symbol
itself. The second is then used as a mask. The actual mask is stored in the alpha channel of the
second image, and the alpha values determine the strength of the selected color overlay.

Remember to follow the appropriate filename convention. To make CC3+ understand that this is a
Varicolor raster image, the filename of the symbol must end with _01.PNG, and the filename of the
mask must end with _02.PNG. The filenames must be otherwise identical.

You can reduce the opacity value of the entire mask image in your image editor. This will make the
Varicolor overlay more transparent, making it blend better in with the symbol image.

When you design complex symbols, you are going to be using several layers in your image editor.
Normally, only parts on one layer should be made Varicolor, so instead of making the mask from a
copy of the entire image like we did in this tutorial, just copy that single layer to a new image and
make a mask from that. As long as you copy the entire layer, the image size and position of elements
should stay the same as the original image (which is important)

Final steps – Saving the catalog

Now that we have made 5 nice symbols, you might want to save these as a symbol catalog for
future use. See Creating Symbol Catalogs on page 99 for the details, but in short, these are the steps:

1. Select Symbol Manager from the Symbols menu.

2. Select all the symbols in the list, then click Save as Catalog
3. Save the new catalog in the @Symbols\User directory, with the name Tome Markers.FSC

Now, if you ever wish to distribute your symbols, all you have to do is to make a copy of the Tome
Markers.FSC file, as well as the Tome Art folder, and tell the recipient to put it in their
@Symbols\User directory. Since we made the symbol paths relative to the CC3+ data directory, it
doesn't matter where they might have installed CC3+, the symbols will work as long as they put it
in their @Symbols\User directory.

Note that while we made our symbols relative to the CC3+ data directory, they could also have
been made relative to the current drawing. This is great if the symbols are intended for use only
with a single map (or a small set of maps stored in the same location), and makes it easy to distribute
symbols along with a map. As long as the recipient keeps the symbols in the same location relative
to the map file as when you created it, the symbols will work, no matter where the recipient places
the files.

115
 Finding and Importing New Symbols from the Internet
The format used for raster artwork, PNG, is a common image format on the Internet. It is also used
as the symbol format for many other programs using symbols. This means that you can find lots of
images that can be used as symbols inside CC3+. If you are looking for something specific, a Google
image search can often yield good results. Use the advanced search option to make sure you only
search for medium sized png files for the best results. For help finding specific symbols, I recommend
that you visit the ProFantasy Forums found at http://forum.profantasy.com/

Of course, if you find images that are not already in PNG format, you can also convert them using
just about any image editor. The best result will be from lossless formats, like BMP or GIF, but JPEG
can also be usable. We’ll use GIMP to convert the images, but if you have another favorite editor,
you can use that instead.

For the purpose of this tutorial, example images have been included in the
@Tutorials\Tome\Symbols\Bill Roach directory. These images are like many other images you
can find on the internet, that is, in need of some processing before we can use them inside CC3+.
Note however that this tutorial takes a worst scenario approach, you can find lots of images on the
net that do not need all of these steps.
Create a New Folder
To keep symbols organized, Preparing the destination
you should create a new
folder for each set of 1. Create a new folder under @Symbols\User and put your image files inside it. For this tutorial
symbols you are importing. I created a folder called Tome Import.
If you have many symbols,
you may wish to make a Converting the images
complete directory structure You only need to convert the images if they are not already in the PNG format. If they are, you can
with multiple levels. skip this part, and simply copy the image to the destination directory instead.

2. Start GIMP and load in the image file @Tutorials\Tome\Symbols\Bill Roach\Wolves2.GIF.

3. Select Export As… from the File menu, then save the file as @Symbols\User\Tome
Import\Wolves2.PNG. Make sure you actually change the file type to PNG when you save,
or you will just end up with a copy of the GIF file instead of converting it. The easiest way to
do this in GIMP is to simply replace the .GIF file extension on the file name with .PNG, and
GIMP will automatically save in the correct format. Note that most other programs do not do
this however, you must instead select the appropriate file type from a list or you’ll just end
up with a GIF image with an incorrect file extension

That’s all to converting an image to the PNG format.

Adding transparency
Most symbols will need transparent sections. This is what allows the symbol to have a non-
rectangular shape. If you use a non-transparent image, the symbol will have an undesired
background that will cover up the map around the symbol. Again, many PNG files you can find on
the internet will already have a transparent background, and in that case, you can skip this step.

116
Also note that it is generally easier to add transparency when you
create a new image from scratch than adding transparency to an
existing image. In particular, you will often end up with an undesired
light or dark border around the image which can require some work Fuzzy Select
to remove. This is especially true if the image has been anti-aliased. Fuzzy Select is a tool that
automatically selects entire
4. From the Layer menu, select Add Alpha Channel from the
regions with a similar color
Transparency submenu. This will set up transparency
to the pixel you clicked on.
support in the image.
The tool has a threshold
5. Use the Fuzzy Select Tool and click in the middle of one setting that controls how
of the white corners of the image. Since all the white sections similar the colors must be to
are connected in this image, this will select the entire white be included in the selection.
background. If you have an image where the background is
separated into multiple sections, you can first click in the first
section, then hold down the key while clicking on the rest to
select all the parts. Mode
An image can be set up with
6. Hit the key. The white background should be removed, and
one of several different
replaced by a checker pattern representing transparency.
color modes. The most
7. Select Export to Wolves2.PNG from the File menu to save the common are Palette (Also
image. known as indexed). With
this mode, a palette of up to
Post-processing 256 colors is saved with the
image, and each pixel in the
Some images needs a little bit of post-processing to look their best when used as CC3+ symbols.
image has a reference to
For example, the edges on this image are a bit sharp, and would look better if we apply anti-aliasing
one of the colors in the
to it. This makes the edges look a little less blocky, especially on high zoom levels.
palette. This reduces
8. Select RGB from the Mode submenu in the Image menu. storage space required, but
9. Select All from the Select menu. This will ensure that the entire image is selected. also limits the number of
possible colors in the image.
10. Go to the Enhance submenu in the Filter menu, and select Antialias. This will apply the The other common mode is
antialias filter to the selected region, which in our case is the entire image. If you zoom in on RGB. In this mode, the
any part of the image where the yellow and black sections meet, you will now see that this complete Red, Green and
border is now fuzzier. Instead of only completely black and completely yellow pixels, there Blue color values are stored
are now many pixels with colors that are a mix of the two colors with varying amounts. for each pixel. this requires
11. Select Export to Wolves2.PNG from the File menu to save the image. more storage space, but
does not limit the number of
Size different colors that can be
in the image.
The final part of the preparation is to make the
image the appropriate size to function as a
symbol. If you skip this step, the symbol will
Map Unit
probably be too large or too small in relation
to your other symbols at the same scale. Remember that the distance
a map unit represents
What we need to know is how large the image depends on the map type. In
should appear in the map. An overland map overland maps, a map unit
symbol should normally be 20 pixels per map is normally equivalent to a
unit, so if the symbol is supposed to be 10 mile, while in dungeon and
map units wide at a scale of 1.0, it should be city maps a map unit usually
200 pixels wide. However, this particular represents a foot.
symbol is rather abstract, and doesn’t
represent an actual distance on the map. However, CC3+ already has a lot of such symbols, so let
us have a look at one of the existing symbols to find the appropriate size. You’ll find these in
@Symbols\Maps\CC3\Borders. If we look at the resolution of one of the existing images, like the
Apple symbol, we can see that the VH resolution version is 303×306 pixels.

So, if we make the symbol approximately 300×300 pixels, we should end up with a symbol the
same size as the apple, which looks right for our purpose.

117
 12. Select Scale Image form the Image menu.
13. Enter 300 for Width, and then click Scale. The Height should automatically adjust itself to
keep the aspect ratio.
14. Select Export to Wolves2.PNG from the File menu to save the image. That is all we need to
do in GIMP. Let us return to CC3+ and import the symbols.

Importing the symbols

15. Either open the symbol catalog we created earlier, or start a new map based on the Blank
Overland Catalog.
16. From the Symbols menu, select Import pngs…
17. Set the following options:
Source folder: @Symbols\User\Tome
Import
This is the folder we copied our images to,
and which will also serve as the final location
of the images.

Make path: relative to CC3 path

Highest Resolution: 20

Layer: SYMBOL DEFINITION

Create other resolution: checked

Files are: Very High

You should check the option that matches the source files. Not all files you find on the
internet will be in a high enough quality to qualify for Very High.

Symbol origin: Middle Center

Add symbol information: Enable this option, and set the force sheet option to use the
SYMBOLS sheet.

Bitmap Options: Set Transparency to Alpha transparency

18. Once you click OK, you should get a dialog informing you of how many files were imported.
If it complains that it didn't find any files, make sure you saved your new image in the correct
folder, and that you did give it the right extension (.PNG).

If you wish to save the imported symbols as a symbol catalog, follow the steps in Creating Symbol
Catalogs on page 99.

Internet symbols considerations

The internet is full of images, but not all of them are free, or available for use at all. Make sure you
respect the rights of the owner/artist of the images. Image galleries usually have some information
regarding the use of the images, while images found at other websites might require you to contact
the webmaster to learn about usage options.

Also remember that even images labeled as "free" might have usage restrictions. For example, they
might only be free for personal usage, while commercial usage is either forbidden, or requires a paid
license.

Resize and convert multiple images

If you look in the @Tutorials\Symbols\Bill Roach folder, you’ll find that the images are in all kinds
of resolutions. Some are rather small, but others are large. This is often the case after collecting

118
images from the net. To save time, you can resize them all at once. Additionally,
if they are not already in the PNG format, you can also convert an entire batch at
once.

GIMP doesn’t come with this functionality by default, but there is a nice plug-in
that provides this option, David's Batch Processor, available from
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~hodsond/dbp.html. This plug-in takes a list of
images, and applies a set of operations on each, like resizing and converting.
Using such a utility is extremely helpful when you are dealing with a large amount
of images.

There is also other software available that can do the same, including most image
editors.

Varicolor
Remember that you can also make these symbols varicolor. These example
symbols are especially easy to make varicolor due to the usage of solid color fills,
but any image can be made varicolor. Simply follow the Raster varicolor tutorial
starting on page 113, but instead of selecting the entire image like in that tutorial,
only select parts of the image, like all the parts in yellow for the image we used
in this tutorial.

Advanced Symbols
So, you still need more? Well, CC3+ still has more to offer you. With CC3+, you can use smart
symbols that automatically snaps and rotates, you can create symbols with text properties (visible
and hidden), and you can create connecting symbols that automatically use the right symbols to
create a continuous path with straights and bends. The following chapters discuss several of these
advanced symbols. Note that the creation of these symbols are an advanced topic, and you should
make sure you have a full understanding of regular symbol creation before you attempt creating
these kinds of symbols.

The following chapters mostly use vector symbols in the examples, but remember that you can do
all of this with raster symbols as well. Actually, you can even mix vector and raster parts in any
symbol, so separating them into two groups is perhaps a misnomer. To use raster parts in symbols,
you need to insert the symbol using Draw → Insert File to insert the image, then use Symbols →
Define symbol to define the symbol, as opposed to use the Import pngs option, which imports the
raster images as symbols without giving you the option of applying advanced edits. Or, you can
use Import pngs, then simply use what you have learned to edit these symbols to add functionality
afterwards.

Creating symbols from fonts

There are a lot of great symbol fonts out there, and for some types of maps, these can be great to
use as symbols.

For this tutorial, I will use the font Wingdings which comes installed with all versions of Windows.
There are however a lot of free interesting fonts on the internet. Unfortunately, most of those are
for non-commercial use only, and can't be distributed with this Tome.

119
 1. Start a new map based on the Blank Overland Catalog (or continue with the file from
above).
2. Click the Text Specs button. Select Wingdings from the font list. If it is not in the list, click
More Fonts and add it.
3. Click the Text Button. Enter A in the text box, then click OK.

4. Place the letter in the drawing.

5. Right click the Text button, then select Explode Text. Click on the baseline of the letter
we just placed, then right click and select Do It.
6. Select Define Symbol from the Symbols menu. Select the symbol, then right click → Do It.
Since this symbol is mapped to the letter A, let us just use that as the symbols name. Click
OK to finish defining the symbol.
7. Repeat steps 3 to 6 for each symbol (letter) you wish to define.

To save the font as symbol catalog, follow the steps in Creating Symbol Catalogs on page 99.

Symbols from fonts considerations

Remember that most fonts have a user agreement accompanying them. Make sure you are allowed
to use this font for your purposes. This is especially important when it comes to distribution and/or
commercial use.

Creating symbols with text attributes

Another useful feature of symbols is that they can have user-changeable text
labels attached. When you place such a symbol, a dialog will be shown,
allowing the user of the symbol to set the values desired. These values can
be displayed along with the symbol in the drawing, or they could be hidden,
allowing the symbol to store data.

This has a lot of potential usages. For example if you create a military map
with unit positions, you’ll want to have the identity of each unit associated
with its symbol in the map. Or in a star map, you’ll want to label your stars.
By associating a text attribute with the symbol, this information becomes
part of the symbol, instead of a separate “loose” text entity.

Creating symbols with text attributes is not much different from creating
regular symbols.

1. Start a new map based on the Blank Overland Catalog (or continue with the file from
above).
2. Set properties like in the following image.

3. Use the Box tool, and draw a rectangle with corners in 0,0 and 4,2
4. Click the Text Specs button. Select Arial from the font list, and set Height to 0.3.
5. Select Define Attribute… from the Symbols menu.
Fill out the values, for example with the sample
values provided in this screenshot.

Tag text: This is the text shown in the symbol

preview in the symbol catalog

Prompt text: This is the explanatory text

shown in the text box prompting for the
attribute when the user inserts the symbol

Default value: This value will be pre-filled in the prompt.

120
 Hidden: Hidden attributes are stored with the symbol, but are not shown in the drawing.
Hidden Attributes
Constant: Indicates that the value is not changeable by the user upon symbol insertion.
You can see a list of all
The Default value will be used.
attributes defined in the
Display Tag: This causes the Tag text to be displayed in the drawing instead of the user current drawing by selecting
provided value. The value is still stored in the Extract Attributes... from
symbol, much like a Hidden value. the Symbols menu. This will
list all attributes in the
6. Place the text inside the symbol. drawing (both hidden and
7. Define the Symbol. visible), and can be saved to
8. Try to place the symbol into the drawing. A dialog a text file if desired.
should pop up asking for the value of our attribute.
Supply any value, then try to place a new copy of the
symbol with a different value.

Note that a symbol can have multiple text properties. All of this can also be combined with raster
images, varicolor symbols and control points (see below).

Symbols with control points / smart symbols

You may have noticed that some symbols seem to almost have a will of their own. Doors align to
walls, houses align to roads, and house parts align to houses, to mention a few. These symbols are
Smart Symbols
known as smart symbols, and use control points to define their behavior.
Remember that smart
Let us make a simple smart symbol to illustrate how they work. I highly recommend you try out all symbols can be disabled
the different options for yourself. Even though this small tutorial only uses some of the options, you from both the Catalog
can create symbols using the other options in basically the same way. Options (The symbol catalog
1. Start a new map based on the Blank Overland Catalog (or continue with the file from window on page 91) and
above). the Symbol Parameters
(Placing symbols on page
2. Set properties like in the following image. 93) dialogs. If smart
symbols are disabled, these
control points will have no
3. Use the Box tool, and draw a rectangle with corners in 0,0 and 4,1. effect.
4. Change the Width to 0 and the current color to 6 (Pink). The reason for this is that our control
points will leave visible lines in the symbol, and we wish these to appear visually different
from the rest of our symbol. Visible Lines

5. Select Add Control Points from the Symbols menu. The control points will be
visible in our symbol
6. Enable the Midpoint modifier, then click somewhere on the left edge of the symbol. definition, but they will not
Repeat for the right edge. This should create a control line through the exact middle of the be visible in the finished
symbol. symbol, so do not worry
7. The Control Points Effects dialog will pop up. For our example, we’ll enable Align on about their look.
Insertion and Cut on Insertion.

121
 Align on Insertion: When the placement cursor is over a line, the symbol will
automatically rotate to match the bearing of the line

Cut on Insertion: When this symbol is placed over a line, it will cut the part of the line
the control line covers. This is very useful for automatically cutting holes in walls where
you insert doors/windows

Scale Y to Fit: This will scale the symbol to fit the line you place it over. This ensures
that the symbol fits the line width exactly.

Keep DynTrak Scale: If checked, causes symbol to honor dynamic scaling/rotation

performed during insertion into linear entities. Hold down the CTRL key during insertion
to dynamically scale. If unchecked, the symbol will insert using its defined size. Leave
this option unchecked to "lock" insertion size and alignment into linear entities.

Offset from Place Point: After placing the symbol, the user is then prompted to define
an offset from the place point. This is usually used in combination with Align on Insertion.
The result of this is that a symbol can both be aligned to a line, but placed a certain
distance from it. This is used for placing objects nearby other entities, like a piece of
furniture near (but not on top of) a wall, or a house near a road.

8. The symbol should now look like the image to the right. All you need to do know is to define
the symbol, and you are done.

Testing the smart symbol

Cutting Holes in Walls
Testing smart symbols is obviously a bit more involved than regular symbols. Of course, you can
The Cut on Insertion option still place a smart symbol in the drawing and us it as a regular symbol, but to test the smart
is mostly used to have doors functionality, you need the correct setup. Since most of the smart options are triggered by the
and windows cut the walls symbol being placed on top of a line, drawing a few lines is the easiest way to test the symbol.
where they are placed.
However, it is worth 9. Use the Line tool to draw several lines at various bearings in the drawing.
nothing that by default, 10. Try to place your new smart symbol. Notice that when the crosshairs are on top of one of the
these symbols will cut the lines you just drew, the symbol outline rotates to match the bearing of the line. Even if you
first entity they encounter manually rotate the symbol, it will snap into alignment each time the symbol hover over a
so when used on your line.
floorplan, you may find
If you place the symbol while it is aligned to a line, you should see that it cuts the line on
them cutting holes in your
placement. If our line was a wall and our symbol was a door, it would fit perfectly.
floor instead of your wall,
since these normally share
placement.
To fix this, make sure that
the control points
themselves are placed on
the WALL layer, and that
the options for the symbols
have the Control Points only
cut on the same layer
option enabled. This will
ensure that the control
points cut the wall and not
the floor. Obviously, if you
use these symbols to cut
something other than walls,
just put your control points
on the appropriate layer.

122
Creating connecting symbols
Connecting Symbols are symbols which can be
used to create a long string such as a line or path of
the symbol. Connecting symbols are good for long
lines of continuous things such as for walls, roads,
piping, corridors or rivers.

The path of pipe shown here is made up of individual symbols out of a collection.

Drawing connecting symbols

The different symbols that are in a set of Connecting Symbols usually must be able to join end to
end seamlessly. To do this, use CC3+'s precision drawing tools.

Straight lengths
Connecting Symbols usually have several different
straight lengths. For a floorplan drawing, these would
typically be 1', 2', 5', and 10'. Longer lengths can be useful
if the symbols are of something that can be quite long such
as roads or city walls. Using Grid and Snap, set up
construction lines to draw the different length symbols.

Each construction segment snaps the left end of the mid-

line--which is the purple line here--to a grid point. Draw
your symbols so that any two of the symbols when placed
end to end will join seamlessly.

Drawing Bends
As with the straight segments, draw
construction lines to guide you through building
the bends. Unlike straight segments, for bend
symbols, the symbol origin is the center of the
angle.

In this example, the numbers indicate the

degree of the bend for that symbol. We'll let
CC3+ make the calculations for us as we create
our bends.

Start by drawing construction lines for the left Second Point

hand edge of the symbol. As with the straight < is CC3+’s notation to say
symbols, use construction lines to mark the "an angle and length
position on the left-hand edge of any features follows". In the case of a
that connect from symbol to symbol so they'll mirror line, the length is
abut seamlessly. unimportant provided it is
Create the right hand side by using Mirror Copy not zero. 10 is just a value
on the left side with a mirror line that bisects the angle. The bisecting we picked so the length
angle is simply 90 + half the bend angle. So, for a 45 degree bend, this is wouldn't be zero.
90 + 22.5 = 112.5 degrees. To input this mirror line, click the center of
the circle for the first point, then type <112.5,10 for the second point.
Shortest Bend Length
When making bend symbols, note that there must be a straight symbol
If this symbol is missing, the
with a length equal to the shortest bend length. If bend symbols have
usual symptom is that the
different arm lengths, there must also be straight symbols equal to each
first and last segments do
difference in length. For example, if you have bend lengths of 2 and 5,
not draw.
you’d need straight lengths 2 and 3.

123
 Naming Connecting Symbols
Straight symbols are named with the symbol’s root name followed by a number in sequence. A road
symbol would be 'Road 1, Road 2, etc. Sometimes the length is included in the name as well.
Number in sequence
Even if there’s only one Bend symbols are named to include the angle of bend and the
straight symbol, the number length of the bend arm within square brackets, each value separated
must be present. by a colon. If there’s more than one symbol for the same angle and
length, a number goes after the brackets. The bend angle is
measured anticlockwise from 3 o’clock. The following symbol could
be named "<name> [45:10]".

If there are two similar symbols, they would be '<name> [45:10] 1"
and "<name> [45:10] 2".

If you want a gap between symbols, you have to fake the width of the symbol to be greater than it
actually is. There are two ways to do this. You can add non-drawing control points to the desired
width with no options set or you can force the symbol width by adding it to the symbol name in
square brackets. An example name using forced length is <name>[70]4. You can then draw the
symbol however you like and it will insert as if it is 70 wide.

Variable Bend Angles

If a symbol set has no bends defined, it is assumed that it can bend by any angle at any node. An
example would be a barbed wire fence, where the wire goes from post to post and can bend any
amount at any post. In this example, the simplest Connecting Symbol set could be a single symbol
named "WireFence 1". This is used for the wiring symbols in Cosmographer 3.

It is also possible to define a bend symbol that works at any angle. An example use would be a
castle tower, where the castle walls can join the tower at any angle. In this example, the symbols
could be named '<name>[*:<length>]'. The * indicates any angle, the length can be 0 or greater. A
20’ radius tower, for example, could be 'Tower[*:20]'.

You can combine variable and fixed angle symbols in the same set. If the tower set included
Tower[90:20], and you drew a bend exactly 90 degrees, the [90:20] symbol would be used. If your
bend was 90.5 degrees, the [*:20] symbol would be used.

Creating a Connecting Symbol Catalog

It's normally a good idea to draw the entire connecting set of symbols side-by-side. This allows you
to copy and reuse existing detail easily and to check for correct tiling, color matching, etc.

When defining the symbols in a Connecting

Symbol catalog, the symbol origin for straight
lengths is the leftmost point--normally the
midpoint of the left hand edge. For bend
Symbol Options
symbols, the symbol origin is the center of the
For Connecting Symbols, do angle.
not select Random Transfor-
mations or Randomly select
from collection in Symbol In Symbol Options, select Symbol is one of a
Options. Using these collection with Numbers at the end, and select
options will give Symbol is a connecting symbol.
unexpected and undesirable
results with Connecting
Symbols.

124
Multi-part symbols
Multi-part Symbols use line styles to separate the entities of the symbols onto different sheets in
the drawing. This allows us to apply different effects to different entities in the symbol.

These mountain symbols are Two part symbols. When selected from the catalog and placed in the
drawing, they look like ordinary symbols. When effects are turned on, however, we can see that the
fill color is blurred to create a soft watercolor effect which looks so nice in antique style maps, yet
the black entities are not blurred.

This is achieved through line styles and

sheet effects. In these symbols, the
black entities in the symbols have a
line style named Symbols and the Sheet Names
brown fill entities have a line style If there is no sheet in the
named Symbol Color. With the drawing with the
Symbol Options bit set to Convert corresponding name, the
Line Style names to Sheets, CC3+ will sheet will be created. New
break the symbol into its entities and place the entities on sheets with those sheet names. sheets are added on top of
the existing sheets. If you
add a Part Symbol and it
doesn't look right after a
redraw, check the sheet
order. You might need to
bump the added sheet up
the Sheets list until the
order is correct.
To create Multi-part symbols, start by creating new line styles
based on Solid Line. Change the line style of all entities of the
symbol to one of the newly created line styles. In Symbol Options, Based on Solid Line
check the bit for Convert Line Style names to Sheets.
With Solid Line selected as
To use the Multi-Part Symbols, create a sheet in the drawing for the current line style, click
each of the new line style names then add whatever effects you New. Name the new line
desire to the sheets. style and use the settings as
they exist for solid line.

Effects
Remember that effects do
not follow the symbol from
the symbol catalog, they
must be defined in the
drawing where you use the
symbol.

125
 Symbol and Symbol Management Review
You can manage the symbols that come with CC3+ by creating filters and custom
symbol catalogs to easily get to the symbols you wish to use.

While CC3+ comes with a huge number of symbols, it cannot cover everything. If you
need something not supplied with CC3+ or one of its add-ons, consider making it
yourself, or search for it on the Internet.

Symbols can be either vector or raster symbols. They are both used the same way, but
vector symbols are embedded in the drawing, while raster symbols require external PNG
symbols. Keep this in mind when distributing maps.

Vector symbols are made using CC3+, while raster symbols need to be made using an
external image editor of your choice.

There are two ‘parts’ of a symbol, the definition and the reference.

The symbol definition is a hidden entity in the drawing. There is only one definition per
unique symbol name in a drawing.

The symbol reference is the displayed image of its definition. There can be many symbol
references in the drawing.

Create new symbols in a blank template to avoid having extraneous entities in the
symbol definition.

Symbol catalogs can be viewed and manipulated in the Symbol Manager.

Master filters and Catalog Setting Filters determine which catalogs are available for
use when we click Symbol Style Toggle and Symbol Catalog Settings.

The World of Dyra

This is an example map from the very first annual issue, the Mercator Historical style pack from January 2007. To this day, this is one of my personal favorite styles
You can see the continent of Jhendor spanning most of the northern hemisphere. Other Jhendor maps are available on pages 614 and 555.

126
FILL STYLES
Symbols are not the only thing that makes your
map. Most maps also need some kind of fills for
the various elements, such as oceans,
landmasses, terrain features and so on. Take a
look at our example map from The Basic
Overland Map chapter for example.

This map uses quite a number of fill styles,

among them are two different fills for the ocean,
one for the landmass itself, another for the
background of the mountains, one for the hills
and another one for the swamp. If you look
closely, there is even a filled translucent polygon
behind the forests.

Types of Fills
There are five different fill style types available for use in CC3+. Four of these can be used with any
entity, but the last one is only available for use in drawing tools.

Brush Patterns
A brush pattern is a small repeating pattern 8×8 pixel in size. These
are great to use for differentiating elements on a black and white
printout, but for anything in color (even grayscale), you would
normally only use the solid and hollow options to create filled areas.

A brush pattern fill is drawn using the selected color for the filled
part of the pattern, while the rest is transparent, allowing for
whatever is behind it to be seen through.

This type of fill (especially solid) can also be used along with bitmap
fill styles. While it usually looks quite out of place on its own,
combined with for example the transparency effect, it can serve to
enhance and modify the look of bitmap fills.

On vector maps, the hollow and solid versions of this fill type are
the most prevalent fill type used.

Note that on printouts, this fill style will not scale, it will always print
the same size no matter if you print your whole map, or a zoomed
in section of it. This obviously doesn’t make any difference for the hollow and solid versions, but
will be a factor for the remaining patterns.

This fill style is stored in each individual map, and need no external files to work.

Scalable Hatching
This fill style is optimized for use on plotters. Unless you intend to print your map on a pen plotter,
you should normally not use this fill style at all. On the other hand, if you are going to use a pen
plotter, this is a very good fill style type to use.

This fill style type is made up from up to four vector lines that form a pattern. This limits the possible
options for the pattern, but in return, it ensures a pattern that can be easily drawn using a pen plotter.
As with brush patterns, these are single-color patterns.

This fill style is stored in each individual map, and needs no external files to work.

127
 Bitmap Files
The bitmap files fill style uses external raster images to create fill styles for entities. These can be
scaled, making them look properly when you zoom the map. Normally, these raster images are
tillable, ensuring a smooth unbroken fill pattern.

Just as with symbols, the raster images exist in multiple resolutions to ensure fast redraws when
you use the map.

This fill style relies on external raster files, which needs to be distributed alongside the map, unless
the recipient already has these available in their CC3+ installation.

Symbol Fill
This fill style fills the entity with regular CC3+ symbols, both raster and vector symbols are
acceptable. By default, a list of simple symbols is available, but you can use any symbol for which
you have added the definition to the map.

The symbols used will be arranged in neat rows, and you can use the fill options to control symbol
scale and distance between symbols.

If vector symbols are used, these are stored in the map, but raster symbols use external files that
need to be distributed along with the map.

Hatch Style
Hatch style fills are only available as fills for drawing tool outlines. The hatch style fill is actually a
separate CC3+ drawing that will be used for the fill. This gives you the flexibility of being able to
use anything you can draw in CC3+ as a fill style. The hatch files are stored in @Hatch Styles.

Do not confuse this fill type with the Scalable Hatching type.

The hatch style is inserted into the map when used, so external files are only needed when creating
the map, but not for later viewing, unless the hatch style contained raster artwork, which is not
Drawing Tools
embedded into the map, but needs to be distributed along with the map.
See the chapter on Drawing
Tools on page 139 for more
information about using Using and Editing Fill Styles
and creating drawing tools. Click the Fill Style indicator in the status bar. This will bring up the fill style dialog. It contains one
tab for each type of fill style. To use any of the fill styles, simply select the correct tab and the desired
style, then click ok. Any basic shapes you draw from now on will use this style. Note however that
Current Map drawing tools use their own fill style, and will ignore whatever is selected here. You will still edit
If you need to make a fill the fill styles used by drawing tools here however, it is just that they ignore the currently selected
style change available in fill style and use the one set in the configuration for that tool.
other maps, you need to edit
For all types fill styles, when you edit a fill style and click OK, you change the definition of that style
the style in the template the
in the current map. That means that if you have previously used the style on another entity, it will
map is based upon. This will
be updated to match your changes. Also, common to all types are the New button. Clicking on this
cause all new maps created
one will create a copy of the currently selected fill style definition under a new name. The usage of
from that template to
the Delete, Rename and Help buttons should be self-explanatory.
include your changes. Note
that there is no way to
automatically change
existing maps, these must
be changed manually. See
the chapter named
Templates starting on page
146 for more information on
creating and editing
templates.

128
Brush Patterns
Click the Edit Pattern button to modify the currently
selected pattern. This replaces the preview windows
with an 8×8 square edit window that lets you edit
the 8×8 repeating block this pattern is built from.
Once done, either click Keep or Revert.

Scalable Hatching
Use the Set1 through Set 4 radio buttons to select
which of the 4 lines to edit. For each line, you can set
the angle of the line, the distance between lines, and
the offset from the origin of the pattern.

You can change the Sample width value to change

the zoom factor of the preview window. Note that
this has no effect on the scale of the pattern in your
map.

Bitmap Files
This tab lets you edit raster fill styles. Note however,
that if you wish to create multiple new fill style
definitions, OR if your raster images haven’t already
been created in the four different resolutions used by
CC3+, you shouldn’t create the definition here, but
rather use Import bitmap fill styles from the Tools
menu. This will automatically create the required
resolutions and set up fill style definitions for all PNG
files in a single directory.

File: This is the path to the raster image

you are using for the fill style. If you use
a multiple-resolution image set, this can
point to any one of the images, CC3+ will
automatically use the right one. Use the
Find button to get a browse dialog to
browse for the images. Note that after
using the find button, you will end up
with an absolute path in the file name
box. For easier portability, you should
replace this with the @ or $ symbol, to get Tileable
a proper relative path. A tillable image is an image
where the left edge fits
Expand/Stretch/Tile to fill: This determines how the image is fitted into the filled
seamlessly with the right
polygon. Note that if you are using Tile to fill, you should use a tileable image, or the
edge when placed next to
visible borders will look quite bad.
each other, so that you
Opaque/Transparent: This controls the transparency controls of the image. Opaque cannot see where one
means that the image does not contain transparent parts. Alpha transparency is used if image ends and the next
the image contains an Alpha Channel. Alternatively, you can assume that the upper left starts. The same goes for
(UL) pixel is transparent (and all pixels of the same color), or you can provide the RGB the top/bottom edge. An
values for the desired transparent color. image which is not tileable
will have very visible
Scaled: This controls the scale of the bitmap fill as it appears in your drawing and on
borders where the copies
printouts. As long as this option is enabled, the fill will appear the correct size when you
meet.
zoom in or print. If this option is disabled, you may find that the fill is completely
differently scaled on your printout than it was on your screen.

Sample Width: This controls the zoom of the preview window. It does not affect the fill
style as it appears in your map.

129
 Symbol Fill
Symbol Name: The name of the symbol you
wish to use as a fill. If the symbol you desire
does not appear in this list, you need to add
its definition to the current map. This can
easily be done by just placing the symbol in
the map as normal, then immediately delete
it. This will leave the symbol definition
behind, and you can use it as a fill symbol.
Notice that both vector and raster symbols
are fine for this.

X/Y spacing: This is the distance between

the origin of each symbol. If this is less than
the symbol width/height, the symbols will
overlap; otherwise there will be space
between them.

X/Y Scale: This is the scale of the symbols used. If the values for X and Y scale is not
equal, the symbols will appear stretched or squashed.

XY Rotation: Specify the rotation of the symbol to use.

Sample Width: This controls the zoom of the preview window. It does not affect the fill
style as it appears in your map.

Importing Fill Styles from another Map

If you have another map with a set of fill styles you need, you can import these into your current
map. Note that this is an all or nothing procedure. You need to import all the fill styles, or none of
them. However, if you wish, you can delete some fill styles from the source map first if you wish to
avoid importing those.

When importing fill styles, only new styles will be imported. Styles with the same name as existing
ones will not be imported.

Deleting fill styles from source map

This first part is optional, and only applies if you do not wish to import all the fill styles of a given
map.

1. Make a copy of the source map to a new file. Deleting the fill styles is permanent, and you
do not wish to do this with a map you are planning to keep around.
2. Open the copy of the map.
3. Click the Fill Style indicator in the far right of the status bar. For each of the tabs, find the fill
styles you do not want to import, then delete them one by one. You shouldn’t normally have
to worry about anything but the Bitmap Files and Symbol Fills tabs.
4. Save the file.

Importing the fill styles

5. Open up the map you want to import the fill styles into
6. From the Draw menu, select Insert File. Browse to the map file containing the fill styles you
wish to import, then click Open. You should now have the map on your cursor, ready to
insert. DO NOT place it, but simply hit to abort the insertion. Just by loading the map like
this, the fill styles will be imported and left behind, even if you don’t place it.
7. Save the file.

130
When doing this procedure, note that you must insert a map file. It is not possible to insert a
template, even if it does contain the fill styles. If you only have a template, you need to make a map Left Behind
based on that template first, then insert that map. This commonly happens if you wish to use the Note that if you actually
drawing tools belonging to another map style. Note that you can find files containing the default fill placed the file in your map,
style setups for the common styles in @System\Fill Styles. These are ready to insert as explained in addition to the fill styles,
above and saves you from making a blank map from the common templates just to be able to insert it would also have left
the fill styles. behind the symbol
definitions. You can use
Purge in the symbol
Fill Styles Review manager to remove these,
which removes all
Fill Style definitions are stored in the map, just like symbol references. For styles utilizing
definitions not currently in
raster artwork, these definitions refer to the external images; otherwise the entire fill
use. The only case where
style is contained within the map file.
Purge is dangerous is if you
Map files inherit the fill styles from the template they are made from, but changing a have just created new
template won’t affect maps created earlier from that template. symbols that haven’t been
saved to a separate file yet.
Generally, raster fill styles look best when combined with raster symbols, while vector
Since new symbol
symbols generally look best with brush pattern fill styles.
definitions are technically
Fill styles can be imported from another map by simply starting to insert that map into unused, they will be purged
the current map, but aborting before you actually place the file. The fill style definitions as well. Likewise, never use
will remain behind. Purge in a symbol catalog
file.

The Northlands
This Black and White map
by Allyn Bowker is drawn
using hand drawn symbols
from Symbol Set 1: Fantasy
Overland. Also used were
drawing and symbol editing
techniques explained in
Hand Drawn Parchment
Map on page 578. Some of
the cartouche elements are
ornaments converted from
fonts using the techniques
explained in Creating
symbols from fonts on page
119. The Northland is
available in the Profantasy
Download Library.

131
 Imagination
And if you are out of
TYING YOUR WORLD TOGETHER –
imagination, check out the
various add-ons, the
MAKING AN INTERACTIVE ATLAS
annuals, the source maps With CC3+, you can make a lot of different maps, like local maps, regional maps and world maps.
series for inspiration. And You can also make city maps, dungeon maps, floor plans and battle maps. Basically, only your own
don't forget to visit the imagination sets the limits here.
ProFantasy forum for
additional ideas. However, as you start to accumulate a collection of these various maps of your world, you’ll
probably desire to tie these maps together in some way. This is where hotspots in CC3+ come in.
CC3+ allows you to place invisible hotspots over areas in your map, that when clicked will take
Hotspots you to another map. By placing such inter-map links in your maps, you can easily navigate between
your different maps. For example, by clicking on one of the continents in your world map, you get
Hotspots can also link to a
a map of that continent. Continuing, by clicking on an area of the map, you get a regional map, and
macro instead of another
by so on. As you get down to smaller scale, a click on a city symbol will load the map for that city,
map. You can find out more
and clicking on a house can load the floor plan of that house. Interesting spots on local maps can
about this in the
be linked to battle maps for that area, and so on.
Automating CC3+ Using
Macros chapter. If you own such products as the World War II Interactive Atlas or the Forgotten Realms Interactive
Atlas, you probably have first-hand experience on how you navigate through such an atlas. Both of
these are older products, and use maps drawn in CC2, but the navigation features work the same
way. Both these products show the importance of linking your maps together, especially if you are
Free CC3+ Viewer going to give them to someone else, for example if you are a GM and you wish to give maps to
Download from your players. These hotspots also work perfectly in the free CC3+ viewer, allowing you to distribute
https://www.profantasy.co a complete atlas to people who do not own CC3+. The Source Maps series also use hotspots to
m/library/dpv.asp navigate between maps. The Community Atlas is also a prime example of this.
Note that the viewer still
need to have the artwork
available.
Creating Hotspots
Linking two maps together is very simple. For this tutorial, we will link together two of our example
maps, more precisely, the Island of Windclaw (@Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Windclaw
Regional.FCW) and the local section of the isle (@Tutorials\Tome\Overland\King’s Coast.FCW).
The Community Atlas My completed examples, which already contain the hotspots, have the word Atlas prefixed to the
file name.
There is an ongoing
community effort to make 1. Open up the Windclaw map (@Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Windclaw Regional.FCW).
an interactive atlas of a
This map has a red rectangle that we used as a guide when copying out the section for the
fantasy world.
local map. If you loaded your own map instead of the example map from the manual, you
This atlas contains maps
probably won’t have such a rectangle. The rest of the steps in the tutorial assume it is there,
made by various ProFantasy
but you’ll do fine without it.
community members, and
can be found at 2. Before creating the hotspot, we should set our text properties to something reasonable. The
http://atlas.monsen.cc reason for this is that it is possible to view the destination of a hotspot as text in the map and
This project always needs the current text properties is saved with the hotspot, just as with any other text entity in
more maps, you are CC3+. Click the Text Specs button and set the values to something reasonable. A good
encouraged to contribute to rule of thumb here is to set the text to about the same size as minor text labels in your map.
the effort. You’ll find more For this map, I used the Arial font, with a Height of 8.8 and Angle of 0.0. The rest of the
information about properties are less important.
contributing on the atlas We also need to set a color for the hotspot. Keep in mind that the hotspot will normally be
site, as well as in a sticky invisible, so it is better to use a color that contrasts with the map rather than blend in, for
thread on the ProFantasy easy viewing when we do make the hotspots visible. The traditional color used by ProFantasy
forums. is color 7 (Purple). This is a good choice for most maps, but you can use whatever color you
You may wish to download desire.
this atlas just to get a good Finally, to ensure the hotspot ends up on a reasonable sheet, set the current sheet to MAP
example of such an BORDER.
interactive atlas.
3. Click Link with Map . A standard file browser dialog will open up. Use it to navigate to
@Tutorials\Tome\Overland and select the King’s Coast.FCW file

132
4. The command line will now read
Hotspot Window:. CC3+ now expects
you to draw a rectangle. It is nothing
wrong with drawing this by placing
the points at the approximate points,
especially since the actual hotspot
won’t be visible anyway, but if you
wish, you can also use the modifiers,
like Endpoint, to get precise
placement of the corners. Since we
already have our red guide rectangle,
I recommend using the Endpoint
modifier to place first the bottom left,
then top right corner of our hotspot.
Once placed, the hotspot shows up as a rectangle of the chosen color, with some text written
below it. Note that since we drew the hotspot precisely on top of our red rectangle, it might
be a bit difficult to see. The text below the map is the macro command that will load our
linked map: ~LOADM $King’s Coast.FCW;. The first part is the needed command, LOADM,
which loads a map. Next is the file name of the map to load. Remember that the $-sign in
front of the file name refers to the folder our current map is stored in, so in this example the
command tells CC3+ to load a map that is in the same folder as the current map.
5. Move your mouse pointer into the hotspot area and click. Notice how the mouse pointer
changed into a hand cursor when over an active hotspot. If you have unsaved changes, CC3+
will ask you if you wish to save the current map before opening a new map. Note that the
current map will be closed, so if you decline to save, changes since last save will be lost. If
you wish to save the map under another name, you must do this before clicking the hotspot.
The King’s Coast.FCW map should now load.
6. Close down and restart CC3+, then open up the regional map again
(@Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Windclaw Regional.FCW).
Notice how the purple hotspot is now gone. However, if you mouse over the area where it is
supposed to be, you’ll notice that your mouse cursor changes to the hand cursor that indicates
a hotspot.
Click inside the area now to go back to the local map.
7. We are now going to add a hotspot to this map that takes us back to the regional map. Click
Link with Map . A standard file browser dialog will open up. Use it to navigate to
@Tutorials\Tome\Overland and select the Windclaw Regional.FCW file
Now, we need to decide where we wish to place this hotspot. On the regional map, it was
natural to place the hotspot covering the same area our local map shows, but for the link
back, there is really no obvious location.
The standard used by ProFantasy is to place this link on the compass rose of the map. This
keeps the hotspot from interfering with other areas on the map, and since most maps
includes some kind of compass rose, this means we have a solution that can work the same
in every map.
This time we do not have a guide rectangle we can use to make a precise placement, so just
place the two opposite corners of the rectangle so that it will cover the compass rose.
Instead of placing the link on the compass rose, another way of handling this is to place a
text entity in your map, and place the link there. For example, in this map, you could have a
text entity saying “Windclaw Overview”. If your atlas has multiple levels, you can even have
a list of text links to take the viewer directly to different levels, for example “Planetary
Overview”, “Continent Overview” and so on.
8. Click the hotspot to go back to the regional map. You can now move rapidly back and forth
between the maps by using the hotspots

133
 Linking to other map types
Obviously, we can link to other types of maps, not only overland maps. If you have Dungeon
Designer 3 and City Designer 3 installed on your system, you can link to the tutorial maps we make
in those sections of this book. You can either do those tutorials first, or then return to this step when
you have the maps ready, or you can just link to my example maps instead.

9. Open up the King’s Coast.FCW file.

10. Link with Map to create a hyperlink to @Tutorials\Tome\City\Snowport.FCW. Place
the hyperlink around the Snowport city symbol.

So, what happened here? The path in the hotspot is the complete path to the file name, no $ or @
signs, or anything. This is going to be a problem. It is fine now, but if you move the maps later, the
link will stop working because it uses an absolute path. Remember the previous link we made? It
conveniently started with the $-sign to indicate that the linked map was in the same directory.
However, if you note this path, the map is no longer in the same directory. Actually, we had to
navigate one level up, out of the Overland directory, and then into the City directory to find this
map. Unfortunately, CC3+ can’t handle relative links automatically in this situation. Fortunately, it is
easy to fix.

11. Use Numeric Edit on the hotspot (click on the rectangle, not the text). This allows you to
edit its destination.
Change the text to read
~LOADM $..\City\Snowport.FCW;
By now, you know the meaning of the $-sign, but the .. part may confuse you. Basically, ..
means parent directory, that is, one directory up from
where we currently are. This is a standard convention in
most operating systems. So, if we read the edited link
from left to right, it tells us:

Start in the directory of the current map (the $-sign)

Navigate one directory up, towards the root of the

drive, from this location (the .. part). This means that if the
current map was located in the
@Tutorials\Tome\Overland directory, we are now in
@Tutorials\Tome instead.

Then navigate into the City directory found here.

Finally, open the map Snowport.FCW

Obviously, this exact path only works if you started from my tutorial map. If you have your
own maps, you need to change the path to match your own directory structure. Additionally,
if you saved your city map and overland map in the same directory, you wouldn’t have seen
this problem at all, since CC3+ would simply have provided the correct relative link
automatically.
The trick of using .. to navigate to the parent directory is extremely helpful if you are going
to make an atlas with many maps, and desire to have a directory structure to organize these
maps. In this case, if you just accept CC3+’s default links, you will need to tell everyone you
give a copy of your atlas to put it in the exact same spot you have it on your computer, but
if you edit the links to use $ and .., the maps only reference relative paths inside the structure,

134
 meaning that it doesn’t matter where on the disk the recipient puts it, it will still work
perfectly (As long as the directories and maps inside the main structure is not reorganized
obviously)
12. Use the link you created to navigate to the city map, then use the same technique to put a
link from the compass rose on the city map back to the King’s Coast map.
13. Also create a hyperlink from the Chapel Mandina building in the city map, to the
@Tutorials\Tome\Dungeon\Chapel Mandina Catacombs.FCW ($..\Dungeon\Chapel
Mandina Catacombs.FCW) file. The dungeon map doesn’t have a compass rose, but it does
have a set of stairs going back up, an excellent place for the link back to the city.
If we had a floor plan of the chapel itself, it would have made sense to link this in between
the city and the dungeon map, but since we don’t have one, we just linked the building on
the city map directly to the catacombs.

By now, we have a simple atlas encompassing four maps. Hotspots in the map take us to interesting
locations seen in the map, while other hotspots take us back to an overview map. Our structure
looks like this:

135
 Hiding and Showing Hotspots
You might have notice that sometimes the hotspots show up visible in the map, and sometimes
they do not. The truth is that this is not as random as it might appear.

Hyperlinks When you start up CC3+, hotspots are hidden. When you open up a map containing hotspots, you
won’t be able to see any visual indication of the presence of a hotspot, other than the mouse pointer
Hotspots are also referred to
turning into a hand cursor when over a hotspot.
as Hyperlinks. For all
practical purposes, you Each time you create a new hotspot, CC3+ turns on hotspot visibility. This means that all hotspots
should consider these terms become visible, and this stays on until you close down CC3+, even if you load new maps.
equivalent.
However, you can also toggle the display of hotspots manually. In the View menu, you have two
entries, Show Hyperlinks and Hide Hyperlinks. Use these commands to toggle display of hotspots
as needed.

Editing Hotspots
Rectangular A hotspot can be edited just like any other CC3+ entity.

Since the Hotspots need to You can use Move, Scale, Rotate and Scale to change the hotspot area. However, the
be rectangular, you cannot hotspot needs to be rectangular, so you cannot rotate it, nor add, remove or move nodes to make a
easily create hotspots that different shape.
cover oddly shaped areas.
You can also use Numeric Edit on the hotspot. This allows you to edit the command used. For
The workaround here is to
make multiple smaller example, if the filename shows up with a complete path, instead of the $-symbol referring to the
hotspots that all point to the current directory, you may wish to edit it. Otherwise, you might need to instruct any recipients of
same target. Remember your maps to put them in a certain folder on their computer, something that is not very desirable.
that since hotspots are Note that when you use Numeric Edit on the hotspot, you need to select it by clicking on the edges
normally invisible, a user of the hotspot rectangle. The text below is not selectable.
cannot tell if you have used
one big or multiple smaller
hotspots. Also consider if
Visually Indicating Hotspots
the hotspot really needs to As previously discussed, hotspots are normally invisible. While this ensures that they do not ruin
be oddly shaped. Even if the the look of the map, invisible hotspots are not very user friendly for anyone but the creator of the
visible "target" is oddly map. Everyone else will have to move the mouse around the map, and look for when the pointer
shaped, it normally will not changes to a hand cursor to detect hotspots. You should therefore think about if and how you wish
be a problem to have the hotspots to be visible in your map.
actual hotspot cover a
If you go back to the Atlas Windclaw Regional.FCW map, you’ll see that it still contains the big
larger area, unless you need
red rectangle we used both when extracting the local map, and for placing the hotspot. Now, this
a different hotspot
rectangle doesn’t look very good, but it does serve the purpose of showing the location of the
immediately outside the
hotspot. You’ll probably wish to simply delete it and replacing it with something subtler however. If
target area.
you look in one of the Atlas or Source Maps products, you’ll see that ProFantasy uses a purple
rectangle to indicate hotspots. While this is the same color as the one used for the hotspot itself,
note that the indicator is just a normal rectangle. This has a couple of advantages over displaying
the actual hotspot. Firstly, hotspots are hidden by default, and needs to be turned on, while normal
rectangles always show (unless you actually hide the Sheet or Layer they are located on).
Additionally, these do not show the link text beneath the hotspot. Another advantage is that you
can make these indicators any shape you wish. There is no rule that these have to match the hotspot
shape and location exactly, although they should be close to avoid confusion. However, even if you
had to use multiple hotspots to cover a complex area, you can still use one indicator polygon
covering them all.

If you decide to use anything to visually indicate a hotspot, keep the following in mind:

Create a HOTSPOT Sheet and a HOTSPOT layer to place them on. This allows you to
show and hide them easily. You can actually create a hotspot that contains a macro that
will toggle the visibility of the layer, thus giving the users of the map an easy way to
show/hide these indicators.

136
 Also, by using a separate sheet, you can easily
apply sheet effects to these markers. For example,
you can cover the entire hotspot area with a solid
black rectangle, then use transparency on the
sheet to end up with hotspots being represented as
slightly darker regions on the map.

Linking to Other Files Macro

As previously mentioned, a hotspot can link to another map, A hotspot always contains a
or it can contain a macro. But it can also link to any kind of file, not just maps. One example of how macro. When you use a
this can be useful is if you have a file with descriptive information for a location in your map. You hotspot that links to another
can then make a hotspot that will pop up the file with this information when clicked. This file can map or file, the hotspot
be a simple text file, or it can be an elaborate html file full of details and pictures. does contain a macro that
calls the file.
14. Click Link with File .
Just as with Link with Map, you are prompted to select a file. However, the dialog now
shows all files, and not just maps files. Select @Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Windclaw.html.
15. You are now prompted for the hotspot window location. Create the rectangle over the title
of the map.
16. Click the hotspot you just created. Your browser should now start, and load the file, containing
some information about Windclaw.
Notice that you were not prompted to save your map, nor did it close your current map. This
is because Link with File opens the file in a new window/program, as opposed to the active
CC3+ window, which Link with Map uses. You can exploit this fact to create hotspots that
open CC3+ maps in a new CC3+ window, leaving the current map open, instead of loading
the new map into the active window.

Using Macros in Hotspots

You can also easily create hotspots that execute macro commands. To set up such a hotspot, select
Tools → Macros → Make Hotspot. Instead of providing you with a browse dialog, you will instead
be prompted with a text edit window, where you can write your macro command(s). Once you click
OK, you are asked to define the hotspot rectangle as usual.

You can put any kind of macro in a hotspot. Check out the Automating CC3+ Using Macros chapter
on page 198 for more information about macros.

The truth is that all hotspots are really macro commands, the “Link with…” options explored in this
chapter are simply a shortcut to making a macro that will open a file.

Map Notes
In many cases you may wish to add additional information to a map, beyond what is visible in the
Text-only
map itself. For this, CC3+ provides the options to add notes to a map. These are text-only, but each
can hold a reasonable amount of text, and you can add multiple of them. Map notes only support
plain text, so you will be
To access the list of map notes in any given map, unable to add any kind of
simply click the Map Notes button to bring up formatting to them. They
the list of map notes. From here, you can view any also don’t like some kinds of
note (Select it and click OK), Edit an existing note, special characters, such as
create New notes or Delete existing ones. When the “fancy” quotes used by
viewing notes, they are shown in a blue text-viewer some text editors instead of
window (familiar from commands such as List), the regular "plain" ones.
while editing happens in the standard CC3+ text
editor window.

137
 In the Select Note window, you might
Resize Drawing Area also notice some pre-existing notes
This command (found in the called OnNewMacro, OnOpenMacro,
file menu) can resize the Resize and Template. These notes
drawing area of your map, contain information about the current
useful if you found that you map/template for use by CC3+ itself.
specified the original map For example, the OnOpenMacro
just a bit to small and need contains the macro commands to
to expand it a bit (or reduce correctly set up the environment
the area if it was too large). (such as loading the right toolbars and
The command does this by symbol filters) for the current map and
resizing just the border of the Resize note contain needed
the map, leaving everything information to resize the map border correctly if you run the Resize Drawing Area command. Feel
else as they were. However, free to edit these if you know what you are doing, but otherwise I recommend you leave these
map templates have alone.
different properties. Some
If you want, you can even display map notes from a hotspot on the map. All you have to do is to
of them can only be scaled
create a macro hotspot as detailed on the previous page, and put in the following macro:
proportionally, while others
can be scaled freely in both OPENNOTE Name Of Note;
directions, while others That is all that is needed, clicking the hotspot will now display the note. This is super useful to make
cannot be resized at all. This information about interesting areas of the map readily available, just click the location, and a text
is all controlled by the description pops up. Such a hotspot can be placed over an area of your map, or if the map comes
Resize map note, it tells with a legend/index, it may be appropriate to place it there instead. Perhaps clicking on a building
CC3+ how to behave. The in the index of a city map brings up a description of that building, with its inhabitants, stats and so
information here is also on. Or clicking a dungeon room brings up the description of that room.
used when initially creating
the map, you may have As shown on the previous page, you can also create a hotspot that opens any file on your computer.
noticed that you cannot (This uses the OPENDOC macro command in the hotspot). These have the advantage over map note
always specify dimensions that you can use any document type software on your computer supports, so you can use formatted
in the new map wizard word processor documents, pdf-files, html-files, images, videos, sounds and so on. The downside
freely. compared to map notes is that map notes are built into the map, while external documents needs
to be moved/copied along with the map and requires that the appropriate viewer for that document
type is installed on the computer.

Interactive Atlas Review

You can insert hotspots in your map that links to other maps or files.

Hotspots are normally hidden, although they still continue to work. They can be show
by selecting Show Hyperlinks from the View menu.

Remember that the $-sign refers to the directory the current map is stored in. Use this
to your advantage when creating links to maps in the same directory.

Hotspots can also trigger macros.

You should create a visual representation of the hotspot in the map, to allow users to
identify the location.

You can create map notes to store large amount of information in your map, and these
can be accessed via a hotspot if so desired.

138
DRAWING TOOLS
You should already be familiar with the use of CC3+’s drawing tools. Each time you draw a map,
you use the drawing tools to draw sea, land, rivers, roads, forests and so on. If you followed the
introductory Basic Map tutorial, you used quite a few drawing tools.

Accessing Drawing Tools

There are two main ways of accessing Drawing Tools. The first one is through the Symbol Catalog
window. Most symbol catalogs also contain the relevant drawing tools, for example the
Minerals/Mountains catalog usually contain the tools for drawing backgrounds for the hills
and mountains, height contours, and other related tools, depending on the style. This is a quick way
to get the relevant drawing tools while mapping, but for this chapter, we’ll be sticking to the next
option.

The other way is through the dedicated Drawing Tools dialog. This is the classic way of getting to
the tools, but it provides more options than the symbol catalogs do. Depending on which add-on
you are currently using to make your map, there will be a number of buttons in the top-left corner
of CC3+. For example, in core CC3+, you find buttons for Default Landmass , Default Sea ,
Default Contour Line , Default River , Default Road and Default Terrain . Right-
clicking on one of these buttons brings up a filtered list of drawing tools matching the desired type
of entity you need. In addition to these buttons that vary by add-on, there is almost always a button Style
for All Map Drawing Tools . This button shows a complete list of all the drawing tools for the Styles are discussed in Map
current style of map. Styles starting on page 147.
The Select drawing tool dialog contains several
noteworthy sections.
Template
Drawing tool list: The biggest part of
A map template contains
the dialog is taken up by the list of
references to the fill styles
drawing tools. Depending on the state
available for the template.
of the Display sample checkbox, you
Drawing tools relying on fill
may see previews of the drawing tools
styles not in the current
in the list, like in the screenshot.
template will not work
Clicking on any tool activates that
correctly. To remedy this,
tool, and returns you to the main CC3+
you can import the required
window to start drawing with the
fill styles into the current
selected tool.
template. Drawing tools
Tool name filter: This filter is used to designed for another style
control which drawing tools are used might also use a different
in the list. Try replacing the current sheet setup than your
text in the field with keywords like current map, causing
Terrain, Mountain or River, then click entities to appear in the
the Find now button. You’ll see the list wrong order, for example
being filtered by the keyword you supplied. If you used any of the specific drawing tool below the background. See
buttons (like Default Sea ) instead of All Map Drawing Tools , you’ll see that the the Templates chapter on
filter box is already filled in with the appropriate keyword, but you can still change it to page 146 for details on
look for something completely different. creating and editing
templates.
Style: All maps designed with CC3+ are associated with a particular style. This style
determines which symbol catalogs you are shown when clicking the symbol catalog
buttons, and which drawing tools are available for the map. By selecting a different style
here, you can access drawing tools belonging to other styles of map. Be aware however,
that drawing tools often use fill styles that might not be available in your current
template.

Insert on Current Sheet: Forces the drawing tool to place its entities on the current
sheet rather than the sheet set in the drawing tool itself.

139
 Advanced >>: Clicking this button brings you into editing mode. We’ll get into creating
and editing drawing tools shortly.

What are Drawing Tools?

Before we look closer at creating and editing drawing tools, let us have a closer look at what a
drawing tool really is.
CAD
CAD stands for Computer CC3+ contains a set of tools for drawing basic CAD shapes. The buttons for these are located in the
Assisted Design, and is a toolbars at the right side of the main CC3+ drawing window, and contains tools for drawing boxes,
software class primarily circles, arcs, paths and polygons. All of these are draw using the current setting for line width, line
designed for technical style, fill style, color, sheet and layer. Using these basic tools, you can draw anything you desire.
purposes, like blueprints However, having to manually set all the properties listed in the previous paragraph each time you
and schematics. CC3+ is are going to draw an entity quickly gets tiresome. CC3+ has tools to make this easier, like the KEEP
also a CAD program, based command which will extract the properties of an existing entity, easily allowing you to make
on FastCAD from Evolution another entity with identical settings, but this does require an existing entity with the required style.
Computing. Drawing tools solve this problem, and several others.

Most importantly, drawing tools are tools to draw the same basic CAD shapes as CC3+ already
offers, but with the added benefit that they contain all the properties listed above built into the tools.
This means that when you use one of the drawing tools, you still draw with one of CC3+’s basic
shapes, but you do not have to set the desired properties before drawing, the drawing tools already
Edit has everything set. As an added bonus, after you are finished using a drawing tool, the current
properties are reset to whatever they were before starting the tool, so you can safely use a drawing
For a tutorial on how to use
tool without messing up your settings.
the edit feature of drawing
tools, see Editing with Drawing tools have other great features however. One of them is that a drawing tool can draw two
Drawing Tools on page 54. entities at once. This is commonly used to draw an outline around an entity, or to combine two
different fill styles, for example a symbol fill on top of a solid fill. A drawing tool also contain an edit
feature, which lets you modify an already drawn shape, by adding to and/or subtract from it. CC3+
already has other commands for doing this, the node commands, but drawing tools makes this much
simpler, and if the entity to be edited is composed of two overlapping entities (created by the
Trace drawing tool), the drawing tool changes both of them at the same time, something not possible with
the regular node editing tools. This is especially useful when editing fractal polygons. Drawing tools
See The Big Edit - Making a
can also trace existing entities
Local Map from a Regional
Map starting on page 56 for In addition to all of this, drawing tools also have the option of stopping at the map border. This
a tutorial that uses the Trace makes it easy to draw landmasses and other features that extend beyond the view of the current
command. map. This is far more difficult to accomplish using basic shape tools.

Another non-technical selling point of drawing tools is that they serve as an inspiration for your
map. In doubt of what to put into the map next? Pull up the drawing tool window, ensure that
Display sample is enabled, and look through the available tools for something interesting to draw.

Each of the drawing tools in CC3+ are stored in a separate file with the extension .dto. You can find
these files in @System\Drawtools, inside a subdirectory named for the style the drawing tool
belongs to. All drawing tools belong to one particular style, and all drawing tools for any given style
is stored in the directory belonging to that style.

140
Editing and Creating Drawing Tools Paths
When we create a new drawing A Path is a line with a
tool, we will almost always base starting and an ending
the new tool on an existing tool. point. The shape is not
This means that the procedure for filled, and fill style applies to
both editing and creating drawing the actual line, not the area
tools is basically identical. The only inside the shape.
real difference is that when we edit
a drawing tool, we simply save it Polygons
under the existing name, but when A Polygon is a filled shape
we create a new tool, we save our without starting and ending
edits under a new name instead. points. Fill style applies to
Editing drawing tools is simple. the area enclosed by the
Whenever you have the drawing shape.
tool selection dialog open, you can
click the Advanced>> button, and Inside
the dialog changes into editing This is called a Cubic
mode. When in editing mode, a click on the <<Basic button will bring you back to the selection Smooth Polygon, which is
dialog. used by the drawing tools.
CC3+ is also able to draw
Note that when you are in advanced mode, the list of tools is not filtered. This dialog always shows
Parabolic Smooth Polygons,
you all of the drawing tools for the current style. Previews for each entry are also gone, but you can
in which the lines always go
always select a drawing tool in the list to see more detail, including a preview
exactly through the nodes
Note that you can only work with one tool at a time in this dialog. If you have made any changes you placed, with the rest of
to the currently selected tool and try to select another, CC3+ will ask you to save your changes. If the outline staying mostly
you save the changes, you permanently change the tool, but if you do not save, the changes are right outside the bounding
discarded. All edits made in this box are permanent (if saved), which means they will change the box. Note that you can show
way this tool works in all maps that use this style, not just the current map. this bounding box by hitting
+ to toggle
Below the list of drawing tools, you can find 3 buttons. The Delete button permanently deletes the
selected drawing tool, and Save permanently stores any changes you have made. The most frames. (You may need to
interesting button here is the New button. This behaves essentially like a Save As button. If you redraw to see the change)
select a drawing tool, make some changes, then click New, you actually end up with a copy of the
selected drawing tool, including all changes. Therefore, when you wish to create a new drawing Strength
tool, the procedure is to select a similar drawing tool, then click New to make a copy of this drawing Strength is the amount of
tool under a new name. variation allowed. A high
value for strength allows
Understanding the dialog the intermediate nodes to
be placed further from the
straight line between your
Draw method
nodes. The default
A drawing tool can be set to draw one of several types of shapes. These are quite different from landmass uses a strength
each other, and provide the core type of shapes you can use to draw your maps. The option button value of 30%
next to the shape type allows you to set options for that particular shape. The dialog that opens will
vary depending on the type of shape you have selected. All of these draw methods can draw both
paths and polygons; this is determined by the Closure setting.

Path/polygon: This type of shape draws a path or polygon.

The option button lets you choose between a straight and a
smooth entity. A straight entity is straight forward, with the
lines going straight between the nodes you place, and using
sharp corners. A smooth entity uses curves to create a
rounded shape of the approximate size of the box defined by
the nodes you place, but it will always stay on the inside of
this box, never touching the actual nodes you placed. See the
image to the left for an example of this. The bounding box is More on next page…
also of the exact same shape as the straight polygon option.

141
 Sketch: This allows you to do a freehand drawing. Simply place the starting point, then
Depth move your mouse around as you desire, then right click as usual to end the shape.
Depth determines how
Fractal: Fractal shapes are ordinary straight polygons, but where a fractal function has
many times the fractal
been used to automatically place a large amount of extra nodes between each node you
function will process the line
place. The fractal function ensures that these nodes are offset from the straight line
to add nodes. Each time it
between your nodes, thus creating a jagged line. The options dialog allows you to set
processes a line, it adds one
the Strength and Depth of the fractal function.
node halfway between each
other node. So a depth of A fractal shape can either be a free-form polygon, a box (requires you to provide two
one will add one extra node, opposite corners when drawing), or a circle (requires a center and the radius). Note that
while a depth of 2 will add 3 neither the box nor the circle may look much as such after they have been fractalised.
nodes (1 on the first pass, 2
Mirrored Polygon: This is a regular polygon that is mirrored along a center line. This is
more on the second pass).
a very helpful tool when drawing symmetric shapes. The options allow you to set the
Next pass will add 4 more,
angle of the mirror line. This polygon can have both straight and smooth paths for total
and so on. Note that the
operating system has flexibility. The default is a straight polygon, but by holding down while drawing, you
limitation on the number of can make smooth parts.
nodes in one shape, and
Ellipse/Circle: Handy for drawing circular types of shapes. From the option box, you
that adding too many nodes
can force the result to be a proper circle, otherwise the tool draws eclipses.
will also slow CC3+ down.
The default depth used by
Macro command
the default landmass is 4.
Drawing tools can contain custom macros that are run when the tool is used. This allows you to add
Map Border advanced functionality to the drawing tool, going beyond the drawing of simple shapes. One of the
standard tools that use this functionality is the Terrain Default, Forest Decid tool. See the example
The map border is
on creating drawing tools for an example on using the macro command.
determined by entities on
the MAP BORDER layer. If Use macro command: Let the drawing tool contain a macro
tools don’t behave as
Apply macro after drawing: This indicates that the tool should draw an entity like
expected, for example
usual, then the macro is executed. If this is unchecked, the tool will simply run the macro,
refusing to draw in parts of
and will not draw anything, although the macro being run may do so.
your map, or draws outside
the border, hide all layers
but the MAP BORDER layer, Closure
and inspect the entities on This option determines if the tool draws an open shape (a path) or a closed shape (a polygon)
this layer. There shouldn't
be anything on this layer Drawing aids
except for simple lines
defining the border. Note Restrict to map border: This option controls if the drawing tool should stay inside the
that CC3+ only understands map border or not. If this is enabled, it becomes impossible to draw outside the map
rectangular borders, so border. If you try drawing outside the border, it will attach to the border instead, ensuring
trying to define other a perfect fit to the edge.
shapes, like a hexagonal Front only on Layer: Normally, when you draw an entity, it is placed at the front on the
shape, will only confuse the current sheet. Checking this option ensures that it is placed in front only of the entities
drawing tools. on the same layer, but not entities on other layers.

Attach Mode Attach Mode: When attach mode is enabled, if you click on the border of another entity
when placing a node, the node will be attached to that entity using the current attach
Attach modes are Nearest
mode.
Endpoint, Center, Midpoint,
Nearest Point On, Nearest
Fraction and Nearest End or
Properties
Midpoint. The attach mode The properties button allows you to set all the drawing properties of the entity. This includes color,
in use can be set by right line width, line style, layer, sheet and fill style. These properties work the same way as they do when
clicking the Attach button in you set them from the main CC3+ window. The interesting part here is that when you use a drawing
the lower right hand of tool, these properties are set temporarily, while using the tool, but once you are finished drawing
CC3+. with the tool, your previous setting will be restored.

142
The Use Current options lets the drawing tool use the current setting for that property, rather than
set its own. This way, you can create a tool that, for example, always places the entity on the current
sheet, rather than setting a fixed sheet or uses the current color instead of a fixed color.

Outline
When using a drawing tool to draw an entity, an outline can optionally also be added. This can be
a simple colored outline, but it can also be a complete entity. If you set it to use a separate entity,
the properties button will allow you to set properties for this extra entity the same way you set
them for the main entity. Creating a separate entity can for example be very useful if you wish to
create a drawing tool that uses a hatch style as fill, but with a solid background color. In this case,
the normal entity would use a solid colored fill, while the outline entity would use a hatch style.

Sample width
This setting determines the size of the preview window in the dialog. It has no bearing at all on the
scale when using the drawing tool

Drawing tool example

First, we look at creating a simple drawing tool, before we dive into a more complicated tool that
uses the macro command. Before you start this tutorial, remember that drawing tools changes are
global, so don’t overwrite your original drawing tools, as this will permanently modify them for all
maps.

Simple drawing tool

1. Start a new map based on the CC3 standard overland template. For the best result, use the
standard size of 1000 × 800 map units.
2. Click All Map Drawing Tools , then click the Advanced >> button.
3. Select Land, Default from the list, then click New. Name the new Drawing tool Land, Ice-
covered. Make sure our new drawing tool is the one selected in the list
So far, it looks just like our default landmass drawing tool, but let us change some settings.
4. Click Properties, then set fill style to Ice Bitmap. Click OK.
5. Click Outline, make sure Extra Entity is selected, then click Properties.
We are going to change the outline to a rocky grey, and increase the width, to make this look
a bit more like an ice-covered rock
6. Set width to Fraction of Map Border, and set the value to 0.005.
7. Click OK, OK. You’ll notice that the preview window looks a bit messed up. This is because
the line width we set doesn’t really fit inside such a small window. Change the sample width
to 1000 and click Upd for a better preview.
8. Save, then OK.
CC3+ will return to the main window, and the drawing
tool we made will be active. Try drawing a few shapes
with it.
You have now created a new drawing tool, by using an
existing tool as a template. The new tool uses a separate
entity to create a wide grey outline. By using a separate
entity, we can decide the width ourselves, instead of
using the rather narrow outline the As Color option
gives us. By setting the width as a percentage of the
map border, we also assure that the tool will look good
on any size of map. Note that this means that the
absolute width of the outline will vary with the size of the map.

143
 Drawing tool with macro command
Save
For our next drawing tool, we will examine a few of the advanced options.
Note that CC3+ does not
automatically ask you to 9. Click All Map Drawing Tools , then click the Advanced >> button.
save after you have changed 10. Select Land, Default from the list, then click New. Name the new tool Land, Diagonal
the macro text, unless you Mirror.
also changed other settings
at the same time. So if you 11. Enable both Use macro command and Apply macro after drawing. Notice that the preview
do not click the save button window turns blank. CC3+ cannot preview drawing tools that contain macros. Click the
before closing the drawing Command to execute button.
tool window, your changes 12. The Macro command window opens. Note that it might contain the macro from the last tool
will be lost. you edited, so just delete any text already there, then enter the following text:
SELSAVE
SELBYP
MIRCPY;0,0;10000,8000
SELREST
<blank line>
Explanation:

SELSAVE: This line tells CC3+ to save the current selection method

SELBYP: This changes the current selection method to select by prior. This means that
when CC3+ needs you to select something, it will automatically select the prior entity,
instead of asking you for the selection. This is very useful in macros, but usually not
helpful at all in normal mapping.
Pure-macro Drawing Tool
MIRCPY: Tells CC3+ to perform a mirror copy of the selected entities. The numbers are
After executing a pure-
the coordinates for the starting and ending points of the mirror line. These numbers only
macro drawing tool, if you
work correctly on maps in the default 5:4 ratio (like the default 1000×800 map).
left click within the drawing,
you will repeat the last SELREST: This restores your normal selection method (As saved by SELSAVE at the start
command from the macro, of the macro). If you don’t do this, CC3+ will continue to use the selection method set by
and not restart the drawing the macro.
tool as you are used to. A
<blank line>: A blank line after the macro tells CC3+ that the macro is finished.
workaround for this is to
define the macro as a 13. Click OK in the macro window, then click Save.
function in CC3s macro file,
14. Click OK to close the drawing tool window, then test the drawing tool by drawing a couple
and just call this function,
of small islands using the new tool.
instead of having the entire
macro inside the drawing Remember that the mirror line goes from the bottom left to the top right corner of your map,
tool, but this carries other so if you cross this line, the mirrored copies will overlap. Also, the mirrored copy is simply a
disadvantages, for example mirror of the original, and will not stop at the map border.
when you copy the tools to
a new computer. Macro drawing tool
Otherwise, you will simply For our last tool, we will make a pure-macro drawing tool. This tool will use macro commands
need to select the drawing alone to draw a parallelogram. There are no basic drawing shapes in CC3+ that does this, so
tool again each time you we need to calculate the points ourselves.
wish to use it, and not rely
15. Click All Map Drawing Tools , then click the Advanced >> button.
on the repeat command
functionality. 16. Select Border, Default from the list, then click New. Name the new tool Shape, Macro
Parallelogram.
17. Enable Use macro command, but leave Apply macro after drawing unchecked. Click the
Command to execute button.
18. The Macro command window opens. Note that it might contain the macro from the last tool
you edited, so just delete any text already there, then enter the following text:
GP xy1 ^DEnter bottom left
GP xy2 ^DEnter top right

144
 GETX vx1 xy1
Polar Coordinates
GETX vx2 xy2
POLY xy1 <0,((vx2-vx1)*2/3) xy2 <180,((vx2-vx1)*2/3); For an explanation of the
different coordinate systems
<blank line>
in CC3, see the chapter
Understanding Coordinates
Explanation: on page 188.
GP xy1 ^DEnter bottom left: This line asks the user to input a point (by clicking or
typing), and stores it in the variable xy1

GETX vx1 xy1: This will get the X value of the point xy1, and store it in the variable vx1.

POLY xy1 <0,((vx2-vx1)*2/3) xy2 <180,((vx2-vx1)*2/3);: This line draws our polygon.
A polygon is a closed shape, so we define the four points on the polygon in order, with
each point separated by a space. To make this a parallelogram and not a rectangle, we
needed to do some calculations. The first point (xy1) is simply the first point the user
selected. The next point is a bit trickier however. We need to place the point at the same
height (Y-coordinate) as the first point, and to make it a parallelogram, we place the
point two-thirds of the way between the X-coordinates of the two corners the user
supplies. To accomplish this, we use Polar Coordinates. An angle of 0 means that we get
a horizontal line, and we set the length to be the distance between the X-values of our
two points, multiplied with 2/3. The third point is again simply the second point the user
provided, and the fourth point is calculated in a manner similar to the second point.

19. Click OK in the Macro Window, then click the properties button. Set fill style and line style
to solid, leave the sheet box blank, set width to fixed and a value of 0, and enable the check
box for use current color. Click OK, remember to click Save, then click ok to close the
drawing tools dialog, and try out the new tool.

Illustrating macro drawing tools

As you might have noticed, macro drawing tools doesn’t have a preview.
You can fix this by creating either a CC3+ drawing, or a bitmap file having
the same file name as the drawing tool, and placing it in the same folder
as the drawing tool. CC3+ will then use this as the preview image for the
tool.

Macro command tips

You can create the macro just as you usually do in the fcw32.mac text file, then call it
by name from the Macro Command box. If you need your macro to branch, this is the
only way to do it.

Alternatively, you can type the macro commands directly into the box, just as if you
were writing a script.

If you create a macro tool which adds symbols, you might want to set the symbol scale
proportional to the map size. You can do this with SYMBOLOPT. You can find a description
of this command in the help files.

145
 TEMPLATES AND MAP STYLES
One of the great features of CC3+ is the availability of a great variety of map styles. A default
installation of CC3+ provides you with eight different overland styles for your maps, but you can
get more from various add-ons, and the Cartographer’s Annual is a steady source of new styles.

Each of these styles has one or more templates associated with it, which you use to start maps of
that style.

Templates
Whenever you start a new map in CC3+, you base that map upon a template.
This is true no matter how you start a new map; there is simply no way of
starting a new map in CC3+ without using a template. When you click the New
button, the New Drawing Wizard lets you select between picking a pre-
defined template or decide the settings yourself. If you elect to use a pre-
defined template, you are prompted with a dialog requesting you to pick the
template you desire, and your map will be based upon that. However, if you
choose to decide settings yourself, you get a series of questions regarding your
map. However, this mode also bases your map upon a template. Instead of
using it as it is, it uses your answers to customize your map, like resizing it and
changing the map background according to your desires, before you are
presented with your new map.

Templates contain all the settings needed for a new map. They contain the
sheets needed for the style the template represents, and they can also contain
pre-defined sheet effects. They also contain the layers required. Furthermore,
they contain references to the appropriate fill styles and fonts. The template
also contains information on which kind of template (overland, dungeon, city,
etc.) it is, ensuring that CC3+ can load the correct toolbar, as well as the style
the template uses, so that you get the appropriate drawing tools and symbol catalogs when drawing
your map. When you create a new map from a template, all this information is copied into your
map, leaving your new map to keep track of this information from now on. Therefore, maps are
completely independent of the source templates. Once a map has been created from a template, it
doesn’t keep any relationship with the template, and changes to the template won’t affect existing
maps.

Now, before we look into the creation of templates, let us reveal the biggest secret regarding
templates. There is no difference whatsoever between a template and a map. That is correct, no
difference, a map (drawing) and a template is basically the exact same thing. The only thing that
separates them is their file name extension, with maps using FCW and templates using FCT. This
difference is only there to keep these apart, allowing CC3+ to present you a list of templates by only
listing FCT files, and when you try to open a map, it will only list FCW files. You can however, freely
rename the extension as you please. If you rename a map file from FCW to FCT you can start using
it as a template. And from this information, we can gather that creating templates in CC3+ is indeed
quite easy, since all we need to do is to create a basic map and change the extension.

Templates in CC3+ are being stored in @Templates. Inside this directory, you will find subdirectories
for the various types of maps you can create. Depending on the number of add-ons you have
installed, the number of directories here will vary. When you select to use a pre-defined template
from the New Drawing Wizard, it will list all the FCT files from the appropriate subdirectory here. For
example, if you wanted to create an overland map, it will list all the template files in the Overland
Maps directory. Note that it doesn’t list the templates recursively, so if you wish to use a template
from a subdirectory under the default directory, you need to click the Select Path button to browse
to this directory. The templates used when you select the decide settings myself option is also
stored here, in a subdirectory called Wizard. These templates are not meant to be loaded manually,
but will be called from the wizard depending on your choices. Creating new maps for use by the
wizard is almost as simple as creating a normal template.

146
There are many reasons why you would want to make your own templates. One of the most
common reasons is that you have acquired a set of fill style bitmaps you wish to use in your maps,
and you do not want to manually import them each time. In this case, you can make a new template
(or modify an existing one) to include these fill styles, and all maps you create from this template
will now have those fill styles available. If you have previously created your own style, creating a
template for this style also makes a lot of sense.

Map Styles
A map style is a collection of symbols, drawing tools and fill styles that are designed to work
together to create a certain visual style for your map.

These visual styles are often inspired by styles found on real-world maps, both ancient and modern
and from styles used by modern fantasy map artists. Other styles have been created for CC3+ alone.

While each drawing style will usually have similar tools and symbols, note that not all styles have
the same set of these. For example, the CC3 Overland Vector BW style doesn’t have drawing tools
for all the terrain types found in the CC3 Standard Overland style. This can be for a number of
reasons. First of all, not every tool will look good on every style. For example, the CC3 Overland
Vector BW style would look too cluttered if you were drawing mountain terrain fill beneath your
mountains, so this terrain type is simply not needed on this style, simply use mountain symbols
only. The selection of symbols is usually a bit different between styles as well.

Styles in CC3+
As previously mentioned, a default installation of CC3+ provides you with eight different overland
map styles. Out of these styles, one of them is the style from CC2 Pro, the previous generation of
the program, one of them is the default style released with CC3, two are additional styles released
through a later update to CC3, and the two Mike Schley styles are new styles created for CC3+.

These are only the styles available through the core program however. The Symbol Set 1 – Fantasy
Overland add-on adds additional overland map styles you can use, and many issues of the
Cartographer’s Annual also provides additional styles. Currently, I have 50 official ProFantasy
overland styles, not including metric variants, since these are identical to their imperial counterparts,
just with different scale settings. Some of these are not yet
compatible with CC3+, but instead requires CC3 however, but they
will be available as the annuals are converted to CC3+.

CC3 Mike Schley Overland

This is the default style in CC3+. Most of the overland examples in
this book uses this style, and it is also the style used in the manual.
This style uses raster symbols and fill styles. Use this style when
you want to create a standard overland map.

CC3 Mike Schley Inks Overland

This is a black and white version of the default CC3+ overland style.
This makes it very well suited for several purposes, such as simpler
maps, more realistic in-game maps, player handouts, and printer
friendly maps.

Annual Herwin Wielink

This raster style was originally
released as part of the 2012 Cartographer’s Annual, but was later
added to the base CC3+ installation. If you don’t have this style,
make sure to download the latest update for CC3+. A mapping
guide for this style can be found in
@Documentation\HWMappingGuide.pdf.

147
 CC3 Standard Overland
This is the standard style used by CC3. Most of the overland
example maps for this book are drawn in this style. This style
uses raster symbols and fill styles. This style is still present in
CC3+, and you’ll find that most older tutorials and examples uses
this style. Many of the tutorials in this book was originally written
for CC3 and then updated to CC3+, most of these tutorials use
this style.

CC3 Overland Vector BW

This style was released through an update to CC3 some time after its
release. It uses vector symbols and fills. This is a Black & White style
which can create maps that will look good both on screen and in
print. The red text labels
contrast nicely with the black
map elements. An example of
good use for this style is for a
player handout.

CC3 Overland Vector Color

Despite the likeness in name, this is not simply a color version
of the Black & White style from above, although it has several
similarities. As its name implies, this style uses vector symbols
and fills.

CC2 Pro Standard Overland

This vector style was the default style of the previous
generation of the program, CC2 Pro. CC2 didn’t have support
for raster symbols, so this is a pure vector style. This style
contains two different styles of symbols that can be used with
it; Filled and Line. Note that these two symbol styles generally
do not look good when placed together on the same map.

CC2 didn’t support effects either, so by adding effects, this

style can easily be improved over its CC2 counterpart, even if
it uses the same symbols and fill styles as the original.

More Styles
There are several products which will give you more options for overland map styles in CC3+.

Symbol Set 1: Fantasy Overland: This product adds 4 new fantasy styles to your
collection.

Symbol Set 3: Modern: This product adds support for modern style maps.

Cosmographer 3: Cosmographer includes various styles of planetary maps, as well as a

nice hex-based style for quickly making hex maps.

The Cartographer’s Annual: This is a subscription product which provides new premium
content each month. The offerings are greatly varied, but there are several overland
styles among them. At the time of this writing, there are about ~30 overland styles
available in the annual, spread over the various issues.

All of the products mentioned above are detailed in their own section of this book.

148
Using Map Styles
You use a map style each and every time you
create a map in CC3+. So far in this book, we
have only created maps using the default style, Simply
CC3 Mike Schley Overland, but to use The procedure here isn’t
another style, simply select it from the list in the difficult, but it does take a
New Map Wizard. bit of work to convert
between styles. It is not an
Try creating a new overland map using the
automated process.
CC3 Overland Vector BW style. Now follow
the instructions from The Basic Overland Map
starting on page 20 to create the map.

Note that some tools from the tutorial don’t

exist in this style, so you should just skip the
steps where no appropriate tool exists, or find
a suitable replacement.

Changing Map Styles

One obvious question comes up when we include multiple map styles. Can we convert an existing
map to a new style? The instructions above told you to recreate the Windclaw map from scratch in
the new style, but we could have simply converted it to a new style instead, so let us have a closer
look at this option.

Note that before starting the conversion, you should note that not all styles are easy to convert
between. For example, some styles rely heavy on contour lines, and our Windclaw map has almost
none of these. There is no way I can magically convert my mountain symbols into contour lines, or
visa versa, which is especially the case if you try to convert an export from Fractal Terrains 3. So
before attempting conversion, think about your destination style. Obviously, you can always do a
partial conversion, and fill in the rest manually. For example, all overland map style has landmasses,
so you should be able to convert the coastlines/landmasses at the very least, and then add the rest
of the content manually.

Also note that the conversion is a manual process. You can do all your land masses in a few clicks,
but if you have multiple contour levels, you need to do each level separately.

Starting out
For this tutorial, you should have two CC3+ windows open. The ideal setup is to use a multi-monitor
setup with one copy of CC3+ on each monitor, but you’ll manage fine with a single monitor too. The
reason why a dual monitor setup is nice is that you can look at the source map on one screen
simultaneously as you make changes to the new map. Unless you have a huge monitor, everything
tends to be a little cramped if you try to have two CC3+ windows open side by side.

For this tutorial, I will convert the Tariga example map from the CC3 Overland to the CC3 Overland
Vector Color style, but the steps are almost exactly the same no matter which style you wish to
convert to. Perhaps you wish to convert your map over to a new style you just received in the latest
annual issue?

1. Start CC3+, and load @Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Tariga.FCW.

2. Start a second instance of CC3, and start a new overland map in the CC3 Overland Vector
Color style. Use the same dimensions as the Tariga map (250×200), and leave the rest of the
settings in the dialog at their defaults. I saved this new map as
@Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Tariga Vector Color.FCW.

149
 3. Use clipboard copy (Edit →
Copy, + ) to copy all the
entities on the Tariga map,
except for the background
and the map border. When the
command line asks for the
clipboard origin, right click to
Except
accept the default of 0,0.
The easiest way to prevent
4. Switch to the other CC3+
the inclusion of the
instance and Paste (Edit →
background and border is to
Paste, + ) the clipboard
simply hide the
BACKGROUND and MAP contents into the empty map.
BORDER layers before When placing the entities, do
starting the copying. not use your mouse, but
instead type in the
coordinates 0,0 at the
command line. Then right
click to end the command.

Sheet order
Right now, the sheet order is completely messed up. It isn’t very noticeable on this map, but if you
open the sheet dialog, you’ll see that we have a lot more sheets than normal. This is because the
sheet names in the new template are not the same as those from our original map, so any missing
sheets are created. One of the issues however, is that all new sheets are created at the bottom of
the sheet list.

Right now, we have two choices. Simply reposition the sheets in the list, or move our entities to the
new sheets. The latter takes more work, but the effects in the new map are defined on the existing
sheets, so by moving the entities, we do not need to reconfigure the effects to get the default effect
setup for this map style.

Note that we might have entities on sheets which have no equivalent in the new map. For these,
we should simply move the sheets to the correct spot in the list.

When working with this part, I often turn on the option to automatically hide all sheets but the
current. This lets me easily browse through the contents of each individual sheet. I start at the top,
working my way down, and I notice that the first problematic sheet is the WATER/RIVERS sheet.
This sheet should have contained our rivers and lake, but is currently empty. Further exploration
reveals that these entities are on the RIVERS sheet; this is what the sheet was called in the old map.
This sheet was one of the sheets that were created when we pasted the contents into the new map.

If you use another map style than I use for this tutorial, your problems are likely to occur with
completely different sheets than I describe here, but the procedure is the same.

5. Make sure all sheets except RIVERS are hidden. Now, use Change Properties on the
entities here (rivers and lake), and change the sheet to WATER/RIVERS.
Delete the RIVERS sheet.
Repeat this step for all entities that are on the wrong sheet
compared to the new map style.
6. Move all sheets that do not have a counterpart (Like
SYMBOLS GLOW) up to the appropriate spot in the list.
Once done, your list should look something like the one in
my image (Again, if you use a different style, this list might
be radically different).
7. Delete all the empty imported sheets.
8. Make sure to show all sheets again.

150
Changing the polygon styles
Polygons
Now, there are two ways of changing the style of our polygons. We can either change This includes our land-
the style to match a new drawing tool, or we can use a drawing tool to trace over the masses, contour lines and
existing entity, then delete the original. We will explore both here now, although tracing basically everything that
has been covered earlier, in the isn't a symbol.
Editing chapter.

Change like draw tool

9. Set the current sheet to LAND. The command sets the main entity on the current sheet when
using this command, rather than the same sheet the original entity occupied. Therefore, it is
important to manually change the sheet first.
10. Right click on Change Properties and select Change like draw tool. Now, the command 4 Entities
line reads Drawtool name [dialog]. It is definitely the simplest to choose the tool from the Both the island and the
dialog, so right click to show it. If you know the exact name of the drawing tool you wish to coastline consist of two
use, you could have simply typed in its name instead. entities each; the main
Select Land, Default from the list. entity, and the outline. Fear
The Command line now asks you to select entities. Pick the two landmasses (Island and coast not, the Change like draw
of Nirland). This should result in 4 entities being selected. tool command handles this
just fine, don't try to
11. There was some other stuff on the LAND sheet, which got obscured because the landmass
deselect the outlines.
appeared on the top of the drawing order on that sheet. Fix this by using Send to Back
on rior.

12. Use this command on all the various polygons in the map, except for the forests. Remember
to change the active sheet before using the command, as noted above.
Don’t forget the lake, the rivers and the background behind the mountains. There is no
drawing tool for farmland in this style, so I used the grasslands one for simplicity, but you
may wish to consider making your own drawing tool for farmland if you need it in your map.

Note that after doing this, you may

notice that the scale of some of the
fills, like the swamp and scrub is far
from ideal. Unfortunately, these use
hatch styles, which are stored in
external files, and which cannot be
scaled inside the drawing. If you wish
to rescale these, you can edit the
Hatch style fill file found in @Hatch
Styles. These files are just ordinary
CC3+ maps (But don’t use raster
artwork in these). To avoid affecting
other maps, you should save your
edits to a new file. You can then edit
the drawing tool to change the outline
to use the new rescaled hatch style
you created. I won’t be going into
further details about this in this
tutorial, and will simply accept the
current fill styles for my map.

Tracing the entity

Forests cannot be changed using the above command, because they consist of a polygon, as well
as symbols placed by a macro command. We need to take a different approach to handling these.

151
 13. Hide all the sheets except Symbols. Now Erase all the trees that makes up our two forests,
but leave the scattered single trees elsewhere in the map alone.
When you show all the sheets again, the only remaining part of the forest is the background
smooth polygon. We’ll use this to trace a forest in the new style.
14. Zoom in really close on part of the edge of one the forests in the map. We only want to see
a tiny part of the edge of this forest, we do not want to have the entire forest in view.
15. Click on Default Terrain and select the Terrain Default, Forest tool.
16. Now, place the first point anywhere at the edge of your forest . Use modifiers like On if you
like, but we really don’t have to be that precise now.
The command line now allows you to start a trace by pressing . Do that. The command
line then asks for the Entity to trace. Select the border of the forest a little distance away
from the first point we placed . Next is the Starting point of portion. Click somewhere
between the first point you placed, and the point you clicked to select the entity . Finally,
CC3 ask you for the Ending point of the portion. For this, we need a point close to the first
point we placed, but on the opposite side of the
starting portion point .
Finally, right click to finish the command and close
the polygon.
17. Erase the old forest background.
18. Repeat the steps above for the second forest.

Replacing symbols
The final step is to replace those bitmap symbols with
appropriate symbols from the style. This is also quite
simple, but needs to be done manually for each different
symbol definition in the map. As an example, I will describe how to fix the mountains. The rest of
the symbols follow the same procedure.

19. Open the Symbol Manager.

Looking through the list, I see that we have used 13 different mountain symbols; 9 regular
mountains, 3 large mountains, and one great peak. Keep this numbers in memory, and then
close the symbol manager.
20. Click Minerals/Mountains to open up the symbol catalog containing the mountain
symbols.
To make the next step easier, I have enabled the Expand all collections option, found by
clicking the Options button above the symbol catalog.
21. Click on the Great Peak symbol that looks most like the one we used in our map. Do not place
it in the map however.
Then proceed to click on each of the regular mountain symbols. There are only 6 of these,
and we had 9 in our original map, so this means there will be a little less variety. Also, there
are no “large mountain” symbols, so we need to do without.
By clicking on a symbol, we copied the symbol definition into our map, even if we didn’t
place the symbol. We’ll need these definitions for our next step.
22. Open the Symbol Manager again. If you wish, you can verify that our new mountains are
Replace present at the bottom of the list.
Note that the symbol entry 23. Select the Great Peak 01 symbol (the raster symbol from the old map).
in the symbol manager will
not change, but all symbols Click the Replace button. This will replace all references to this symbol definition with a
in the map will be replaced. reference to another definition. In the dialog that pops up, choose our new vector-style great
peak symbol instead, and click OK.

152
 24. Repeat the step above with each of the 9 raster mountains symbols to replace them with an
appropriate vector symbol. Just pick the one that looks the most alike for each one.
25. We don’t have any equivalent to the large mountain symbols, so just replace them with
standard mountain symbols as well, as above.

Replace all of the raster symbols using this technique. If you find that a symbol doesn’t have an
equivalent, either replace it with something else that looks good in that position, or simply remove
it.

26. Once all symbols have been replaced, click the Purge button inside the Symbol Manager.
This will remove the symbol references of symbols no longer in the map. If you find that the
symbol manager still lists some raster symbols after doing this, it means that you still have
them somewhere in the map, so simply replace them using the procedure above.

The great thing about this technique is that the symbols keep their scale and rotation. If you simply
delete the symbols and place new symbols, you need to handle that manually. Of course, this
requires that the new and old
symbol is roughly the same size;
otherwise you may need to do
some manual work.

Some manual work is often

required in any case though. If
you look at my example map,
you can see that some of the
mountains stick out into the sea.
In the original map, it was only
the shadow from the mountains
that extended out into the sea,
but since the shadow was a part
of the symbol, and these new
symbols occupy roughly the
same space, we have some
issues that need to be fixed.

Fixing text
I didn’t see any reason to change the text in this map, but if you need to, changing the font and
other properties of existing text is easy. Simply use Numeric Edit on the text (remember that
text needs to be selected by clicking on the baseline). From this dialog, you can change the text
itself, or you can click on Properties to change the text properties. Unfortunately, this command only
handles one text entity at a time, so you cannot use it to change the style of all your text at once.

Finishing touches
Now that our map has been converted to the new style, there are a few finishing touches that might
be needed.

153
 Symbols
Some symbols might be scaled wrong, due to
the fact that the new and old symbols weren’t
the same size. This can be just a minor
difference, or it can be rather large.
Additionally, some symbols might need to be
rotated. For example, the reef symbols are very
different between these two map styles. In the
default CC3 style, they are straight and long,
while in the Vector Color style, they look more
like the rocks at sea symbols from the default
CC3 style. I had the original reefs angled to
follow the coast, but the reefs from the new
style look really bad when rotated.

Some of the symbols might also need to be

moved a bit. The new symbol might overlap
some text, or the symbol might have parts
sticking out over the coastline, like the
mountains mentioned earlier.

Effects
The default effects for this map style are
designed for a larger map. To make them more appropriate for this map, I divided all the distances
Size (radius, width, length, etc.) in the various effects by 4 (Actually, I varied between 2 to 4 in my map,
Remember that you can but using 4 for everything should give you a good result).
rescale a symbol definition
from the Symbol Manager.
This is very useful when you
Creating Map Styles and Templates
need to scale many copies With a little work, you can easily create your own map style. A new map style can be made from
of the same symbol at once, scratch, or by modifying an existing one. Creating a new style has four major steps. Note that these
for example the city and steps are normally done in the order mentioned here, but usually, you are unable to completely
tree symbols. finish each step in one go, so expect to go back and forth between them as you complete your style

Create a new template that brings our style elements together.

Designed for a larger Map Finding appropriate fill styles. We need to identify the fill styles we wish to use in our
Remember that effects maps.
specified in map units needs Create the Drawing Tools needed for our style.
to be tailored to the map
size manually, while effects Get symbols for our style. These can be symbols we create ourselves, or symbols we
defined in Percent of find elsewhere.
Drawing Extents Width
scale automatically based Vector or raster?
on map size. This template
Usually, a Map Style either uses vector fills and symbols, or raster fills/symbols. This is because
uses the former, so we need
raster and vector artwork rarely blends well together. There are definitely exceptions however, but
to tinker with the effects.
generally you will want to create either a raster or a vector style.

The CC3 Mike Schley Overland style is an example of a raster style, while the CC3 Overland
Vector BW style is a vector style.

Which style to create really depends on the type of map you want to make. For some types of maps,
raster artwork definitely looks best, but for other maps, vector art works best.

Creating the template

Creating a template is an important step in customizing CC3+ to make the maps you want. With a
customized template, you have the best starting point for making your maps, since it already

154
contains your custom fill styles, and is set up with the appropriate tools and correct master filter for
accessing your symbols.

A custom template can be made from scratch, but more commonly, it is based on an existing
template, and changed to add extra fonts and fill styles which you commonly use.

For this tutorial, we will start by creating a modified version of the Standard CC3 Overland template.

1. Start a new map by clicking the New button. Select the Overland Maps category, and
check the Pick a pre-defined template option, then click next. This will bring up the Browse
Files dialog, showing all the available templates for the current map type.
2. Select the 100 × 80.fct template. CC3+ will start a new map based on this template.
We’ll change this map to have a land background instead of a sea background.

3. Click Change Properties . Hit the key to select by layer, then type BACKGROUND .
This will select the only entity on the BACKGROUND layer. Hit the key to execute the
command.
4. In the Change Properties dialog, place a check mark in the Fill Style checkbox, then select
land light green Bitmap from the dropdown. Click OK.
5. Hit + to redraw the map. You should now have a map with a land background instead
of a sea background.
6. Select Save As… from the File menu. In the Save As … dialog, change the save as type
dropdown to Campaign Cartographer 3 FCT Template. Templates need to be stored in
@Templates\<Map type> for CC3 to find them, so browse to @\Templates\Overland Maps.
Save your new template as 100 × 80 land.FCT.
This is the basics for creating a template. The new template can be used just as any CC3+ template.
Note however that this template will not show up in the new map wizard, it will only be available
when you choose to use a pre-defined template. We will look at how to use it in the wizard later.

Available Templates
This box shows all the
regular templates for the
selected styles. There is also
a set of templates that is
used by the wizard, once for
each available style shown
when selecting Decide
settings myself. Those
templates are not normally
shown in the template
browser, although you can
use the Select Path button
to browse for them.

Also, the changes we did to this template were rather small for now. We will expand on this
template during the following steps, by adding fill styles and drawing tools to it.

155
 Getting the fill styles
A lot of the drawing tools you are going to make will require some sort of fill. Landmasses, bodies
of water, terrain types, and so on. You should collect the fill styles you need, and import them into
your map. See the Fill Styles chapter on page 127 for more details about this. For this tutorial, you
can find a selection of fill styles in @Tutorials\Tome\Bitmap Fills\Overland.

7. Open the template we just saved by using Open from the File menu. Make sure to check
that the file type is correct so that the dialog displays template files instead of map files. The
reason we are doing this is that when we save a new map as a template, it doesn’t attach
the file name to the map, forcing us to specify file name, location and type on each save. But
by simply opening up the file we don’t need to do this the next time we save.
8. Select Import bitmap fill styles from the Tools menu.
9. Enter @Tutorials\Tome\Bitmap Fills\Overland for the source folder
10. Check Create other resolutions, but leave Copy to folder unchecked. The example files
provided is in the High resolution, so check this option. The rest of the values should be set
to their default values, which should match the screenshot.
11. Click OK. CC3+ should inform you that 4 fill styles were imported into the template. CC3+
also created files for the Low and Very Low resolutions in the source folder.
That’s it. Four new fill styles have now
been added to this template. Note
that we did not copy these files to
another folder since they were
already under the CC3+ data
directory. You might wish to copy
bitmap fill files to
@Bitmaps\Tiles\<Map type>\<Map
Style> however. If so, make sure that
this directory already exists. In some
cases, this will cause CC3+ to tell you
that it imported zero fill styles, but
you will find that the files were still
created in the destination folder. In this case, just execute the function again, but use the destination
folder as source folder this time, and uncheck the option to create other resolutions, since these
were already created.

12. Save the template.

156
Create drawing tools
In the previous chapter, we looked at editing and
creating drawing tools. Now, we are going to take
this one step further and create a set of drawing tools
for use with our new template. Just as with the
template, we normally base our new set upon an
existing style. Since we based our template on the
CC3 standard overland template, it makes sense to
base our new set of drawing tools on the Overland
CC3 style as well.

13. Using Windows Explorer or another file

manager, browse to @System\Drawtools.
Create a new folder here with the name
Overland CC3 Customized, then copy all the
files from the Overland CC3 folder into your
new folder.
14. Go back to CC3+, and select Drawing
Properties from the File menu. Select
Overland CC3 Customized as the Drawtools
style, then click OK.
15. Create drawing tools for the four bitmap fill
styles we imported. Use the tutorials in the Drawing Tools chapter if needed.
16. Save the template

Getting symbols
The last piece of the puzzle is symbols. You need to collect symbols, and if these are not already in
symbol catalogs, you need to create symbol catalogs for them. You also need to set up the symbol
catalog settings so that we can find your symbol catalogs using filters. Obviously, if you intend to
use existing CC3+ symbols with your style, then this is already done.

All of this is explained in the Symbols and Symbol Management chapter starting on page 89, and
won’t be repeated here. Macros
Once the above is in place, you need to tell your template which master filter to load when the map It is the OnOpenMacro that
is opened, so that it will use the correct filter when you click the various catalog buttons. is the key to CC3+ loading
the correct menu sets and
17. Select Drawing Properties from the File menu, then click Map Notes.
symbol filters when we load
There are two interesting notes here, OnNewMacro our map. If this map note
and OnOpenMacro. These are not ordinary map macro is missing, CC3+ will
notes, but rather macros which are run when a new simply keep the last settings
map is first created, and each time we open the map. you used, requiring you to
We use these two macros to make sure that CC3+ change menus and filters
loads the right filters and menus for our maps, but manually. This is a new
other tasks can be added to these as well. feature in CC3, which is why
If you don’t have these two already, you should no old CC2 maps have this
make them. If you have duplicate entries of any one behavior.
of them, delete either one of the duplicates. Note that you can add any
18. Edit both these macros, and make sure they contain the following lines macro commands to this
map note, for example to
SYMICONMR ensure that everything in
SYMICONFLOAD CC3 the environment is set up
MENUDM @fcw32.mnu just right for that map.
The first line resets the filter. The second line loads a master filter setting called CC3. If you For more information on
have saved your own master filter setting for this map, replace CC3 with the name of this macros, see page 198.
master filter setting. When loaded, the first of the master filters in the list will be the active
one.

157
 The third line loads the correct menu file for this map. Menu files are discussed later in this
book, but fcw32.mnu is the standard CC3+ menu file. Each add-on has its own menu file, so
if this map is for use with one of the add-ons, like a dungeon or city map, you wish to set the
correct menu file here.
19. Save the template
That’s it. You now have a brand new template with your changes. Each time you create a new map
from this template, it will use the fill style, drawing tools and symbols we set up in the template. If
you wish, you can further edit this template to include other items, for example add extra fonts. You
can do the same thing in the template as you would do in a map, and when you create a map from
the template, it will contain all the changes you made.

Note that changes to a template only affect new maps from that template. Existing maps won’t be
affected by changes to the template they were created from.

Creating a Wizard Template

As you might have noticed, when you use a pre-defined template, you won’t be able to change map
size or background, you are stuck with what is defined in the template. Granted, it is easy to resize
a map and change the background later, but it is even easier to set this from the beginning in the
new map wizard. Therefore, making your template available in the wizard makes sense, especially
if you wish to make maps of various sizes from this new template.

We’ll start out with the template we just created, and make the required changes to make it into a
wizard template.

20. Use a file manager, and copy the file @Templates\Overland Maps\100 × 80.FCT to the
@Templates\Overland Maps\Wizard folder. Give the file the new name CC3 Overland
Customized.FCT
Note that the file name of the template is the name that will show up as the style name in
the new map wizard.
21. Along with the template file, we need two support files. Both should have the same file name
as the template, but with a different extension. Create a text file called CC3 Overland
Customized.txt. This will hold the description of the template. You can write anything you
want in here, but normally it will contain information about which units the map uses, special
instructions for use if necessary, and finally a description of the style.
The second support file is a preview image in png format. This file should be 136 × 97 pixels
in size. Normally, this is a screenshot of a finished map in this style, but since we don’t have
one, you can make a screenshot of the template instead. Use Save As.. to make a png export
of the template. Remember to set the export options to get the correct size. Save the file as
CC3 Overland Customized.png in the same directory as the template file.
Both the text file and the png file are optional, but they are recommended, especially if you
are going to distribute your new template.
22. For the final steps, we need to set the sizing options for the template, since the new map will
be created by resizing the template to the specifications given by the user. Because some
map elements can be resized without problems, while others look bad unless they are resized
proportionally, you need to set the resize options for the map.
There are three options here:

Stretch: This option allows the map to have width and height independent of each other.

Fixed: This option prevents the users from setting their own size in the wizard. The size
will always be that of the template

Scale: This option requires the width/height ratio to be the same as in the template.
When the user edits one of these values in the wizard, the other is automatically updated
to match. This option is often used if you have a graphical map border that looks bad if
you stretch it, or the template contains other graphical elements with the same issues.

158
 To set this value, you need to edit the map note called RESIZE. The note should just contain
a single word, one of Stretch, Fixed or Scale. Make sure you edit the map note of the
template inside the Wizards folder, and not the original one we created outside that folder.
For the template we have developed in this section, Stretch makes the most sense, since it
isn’t a problem doing non-proportional resize of this template. You may wish to try out the
other options though, and notice the difference in the new map wizard.
Also note that we didn’t have to do anything to enable the users to select their own
background for the map when using the wizard. This is because the wizard automatically
picks up the background entity since it is on the BACKGROUND layer, and applies the users
selected fill style to this entity.

Templates and Map Styles Review

Templates are just ordinary CC3+ maps, just with the .FCT file extension instead of the
.FCW used for maps.

A template contains a reference to all the fill styles available in the template. Drawing
tools that rely on fill styles that are not in the current template will not work properly,
you need to import the fill styles first.

A map style consists of a template with the appropriate fill styles defined and a folder
in @System\Drawtools containing the drawing tools for the style.

Shifting Sands
This exciting desert map was made by Christina Trani using the Scorched Sun style from the 2016 annual. The map was made for the
Community Atlas (http://atlas.monsen.cc). You can find more of her maps at http://www.loreleicartography.com.

159
 MORE TOOLS
CC3+ contains many more tools that we haven’t covered so far, and in this chapter, I wish to cover
some of the most important of these.

Fill with Symbols

The fill with symbols tool is a command that let us fill a
polygon with symbols. This tool was originally created for
drawing the forests for CC3+ maps (As is evident in its
command names; FORESTOPT, FORESTLOAD and FOREST),
and it is in this regard it sees the most use, but it can be
used for basically any symbol.

In the old days, before this tool was created, forests had
to be filled in by hand, which usually did take some time
and effort to get a nice look. Multiple symbols with large
groups of trees were available, which made this process
Quick Move
considerably faster, but still required some effort. Now,
Quick Move is a nice the same symbols are available, so you can still manually place your forest for total control, but the
command when you need to fill with symbols tool can also take these same symbols and fill a polygon with them.
move several entities, but
you don't wish to move all Before going deeper, you should realize one thing about this tool. It tries to fill an area as tight as
of them in the same possible, so even if it is easy to add spacing between the symbols, the fill will appear rather regular,
direction or distance. When and not randomized. If you are after a more random look, it can be great to start out with this tool,
using Quick Move, you then use Edit -> Quick Move to move some of the symbols a little to break the pattern.
select one symbol, then
move it, select the next, Basic usage
then move it and so on. The
Obviously, the most basic usage of all is to simply use one of the forest drawing tools available in
command doesn't end
most overland map styles. But let us try to use the tool manually.
between each symbol,
saving you from restarting 1. Start a new overland map based on the default CC3 Overland style.
the command all the time,
2. Set a solid fill style, pick a nice color, and then use the Smooth Poly [SPOLY2] command
and it automatically
to draw a polygon. Don’t overdo the size; roughly 100 by 100 drawing units is plenty.
executes after picking a
single symbol, so you don't 3. Select Fill with Symbols [FORESTOPT] from the Draw menu. This will pop up the Forest
have to go Do It for each Options dialog. This dialog is described in detail in the next chapter below.
either. This command is also 4. Click Load, and select mixed.fil (@System\Fillers)
great for example to move
character and monster
5. Click Run now, and select the polygon we just drew, then hit to complete the command.
tokens on a battle map. The result of this is that the polygon is now filled with mixed forest symbols. Obviously, this is no
different than the corresponding drawing tool can do, but using it this way does have one
advantage. Using this method, you can place the polygon first, and use node edit commands to get
it exactly like you want it before filling it with trees. It is much harder editing the polygon after the
trees has been placed, and if you use the drawing tool, you place both at once.

Fill With Symbols Dialog explained

This dialog controls how entities are filled with symbols. The command will pack the symbols as
tight as possible into the selected polygon, based on the values supplied in this dialog. It will choose
the appropriate symbols from the list to achieve as good a placement as possible. The dialog is
divided into the following sections:

160
Symbol Catalog: This is the symbol
catalog which contains the symbol we
wish to use. Note that we can only use
symbols from a single symbol catalog at a
time.

Unit Size: These values are used to define

a grid on which the symbols will be placed.
The values are the size of each grid
rectangle in map units. This should be
somewhat related to the size of the
smallest symbol you are going to use (like
a single tree), but doesn’t have to be equal
to it (After all, overlapping symbols is
certainly legal, just look at a forest drawn
using this tool).

Note that the grid mentioned here is a grid

defined only while this command is
running, which CC3+ uses to place
symbols on the area of the polygon. It
doesn’t have anything to do with your
regular map grid or snap grid, and will not
modify this, nor be affected by those grids.

Offset all: This defines an offset value

between the symbols placed and the entity
itself. For example, for trees, this helps maintain the illusion that the trees are growing
up from the polygon in question, since the treetops are a bit above the polygon, but the
bottom of the trunks all end inside the polygon. The values used here, x=-4 and y=4
should be appropriate for most situations. If you reverse them, your forest will look a
little bit strange (Try it).

Symbols Count: This is simply the number of different symbols in use in the list below.
If you set this higher than the actual number of symbols designed, you risk crashing
CC3+.

Symbol list:

Symbol Name: This is the name of the symbol. It must match the name of a symbol
in the selected symbol catalog. Click the … button to visually pick a symbol from
the catalog.

CX: This is the width of the symbol, measured in the unit size provided above. For
example, if we set this value to 3, we indicate that the symbol should take up three
grid rectangles horizontally. Basically, we use this value to tell the command how
big our symbol is. Note that this should represent the true size of the symbol in
relation to the unit size. This won’t scale the symbol in any way. Note that you can
set this value larger than the actual symbol size; this will create spacing between
the symbols. The opposite, using a value smaller than the symbol size will generate
overlap.

CY: Just as CX, but defines height instead of width.

Single: This tells CC3 that this is a single symbol, which is

appropriate for use along the outer border. For example, for
forests, the fill symbols meant to use in the middle of the forest
only contain treetops, but leave the lower part of the tree out. This
is because this symbol is meant to be in the middle of the forest,
surrounded by “full” tree symbols. Only the “full” symbols can be
used on the edge of the forest, so only these should have this box
checked.

161
 Load/Save: These buttons let you store and retrieve settings for this dialog

Auto Sort: Makes sure the symbols are sorted so they overlap properly. This is
equivalent to running the Symbols → Sort Symbols in Map [SYMSORT] command on the
placed symbols.

Run now: This button runs the command immediately. If you just wanted to configure
the options, but not run the command immediately, click Close instead. This will save
your changes, but will not start the command.

Note that you can’t scale symbols using this box. Symbols placed using this command are always
scaled according to the default symbol scale for the map, which means they also ignore your current
scale.

To set the scale needed for this command, you need to click Drawing Properties and change
the default symbol scale.

Irregular
A custom fill
Highly irregular shapes
make it more difficult for Let us draw a desert and fill it with cactus symbols
CC3+ to place the symbols 1. Start a new overland map in the CC3 standard overland style. Change the background to
in neat rows and columns, land light green bitmap and leave the rest of the settings at their defaults.
thus forcing a more random
look. In the opposite case, 2. Change the current fill style to desert Bitmap, then use Smooth Poly to draw a large
where you do want your desert on the map. The more irregular the shape, the better.
symbols to be arranged in 3. Set the current color to a dark green, such as 83.
neat rows, using a
4. Select Fill With Symbols [FORESTOPT] from the Draw menu.
rectangular polygon will be
perfect for this. 5. Change the symbol catalog used to
@Symbols\Maps\CC3\vegetation.fsc. Select Cactus n for
the first symbol in the list, then just erase the names of the
rest of the symbols. Also remember to set the symbol count
to1.
Remove all the checkmarks in the single column, set CX to
9 and CY to 11 for our cactus symbol, and make sure the
unit size is 5 for both X and Y.
6. Click Run Now, select your desert poly, and hit o It.

7. The desert should now be filled with cactus symbols. If you wish, use Quick Move from the
Edit menu to move a few of them around to give it a more random feeling.
That’s it; you now have a desert filled with cactus
symbols. Remember that you can save the options in
the configuration dialog to file, for easier use next
time. I recommend you do this if you find a setting
you are pleased with.

You may wonder about two things from this:

Why did we use so large values for CX

and CY; way bigger than the cactus
symbol?

This was to create spacing between the

symbols. If we specified the appropriate
size for the symbol, they would be
packed tight together like a forest.

Why did we get cacti in two different colors?

Even though we only selected the non-varicolor symbol for the cactus, CC3+ actually
used the varicolor as well, because these two were part of the same collection of
symbols.

162
Symbols Along Symbols Along
The Symbols Along [ESC] command is used to place symbols along a guideline. This is a very The Symbols Along
versatile command, with a lot of possible uses. command is also known as
the Escarpment command,
Note that the symbols placed along the guideline are still individual symbols, and can be deleted
named after its initial
one by one. You can also remove or edit the line afterwards, without affecting the symbols, as they
purpose. It can still be used
are not bound to the line after placement.
to create escarpments, but
it can also be used for so
The escarpment configuration dialog much more.
When you select Symbols Along from the Draw menu, the Escarpment configuration dialog shows
up.
Symbol Catalog
Symbol Catalog to Use: from
Remember that maps and
here you can pick the symbol
symbol catalogs uses the
catalog, containing the symbols
same file format, so if you
you want to use. Hit the Browse
do wish to show the
button to select another catalog.
symbols currently in your
Below the symbol catalog choice map, simply browse for your
is the list of symbols in this current map here instead of
catalog. Click on any one symbol a symbol catalog.
to use that symbol for the Remember to save your
command. You can only use one map first if you just defined
symbol at a time. new symbols in it, this
dialog will see the file on
Allow random symbol
disk, not including unsaved
selection from group: If the
changes.
selected symbol is part of a
symbol group, this option
will make the Symbols Along
Symbol Group
command to pick a random
symbol from the group for You may remember that
each placement. Leave this symbol collections are
unchecked to make sure indicated by a plus-sign in
only the selected symbol is the top left corner of the
used. symbol in the symbol
catalog window. This
Max Symbols to Place: This limit exists to prevent you from accidentally place extreme symbol isn’t visible here in
amounts of symbols. Feel free to increase this if you need, but the default value of 400 this dialog however, so
should be fine in most cases. you’ll need to check if the
% Chance to Place: This is the chance that a symbol will show up at any individual symbol is part of a
position. A 100% chance means that the symbols will always show up, causing a perfect collection or not before
even interval. If you reduce this below 100%, some of the places may be empty. Use entering this dialog.
this to introduce a random element in the symbol placement. Remember that even if you
cannot make multiple
Symbol Angle: This is the angle of the symbols in relation to the guide line. The first selections in the Symbols
option means that the symbols don’t care about the angle of the guide line; they are Along dialog, you can
always drawn at a 0 degree angle. The second option specifies that the symbol angle always create a new custom
should be perpendicular to the angle of the guide line, while the last option sets the symbol catalog which
symbol angle to be parallel to the guide line angle. included the symbols you
Invert symbol: Simply rotates the symbol an extra 180 degrees in addition to the need, and set them up as a
setting above. This is useful if the symbol appears upside down. group there.

Angle Offset: This value is applied as an offset to the symbol angle, used to get a
bit more fine-grained control.

Angle Random: This is used to apply a little randomness to the angle. The angle
of each symbol is modified (+/-) by a random value up to this amount.

163
 Distance:

Between Symbols: This is the distance (in map units) between the symbols. Note
that this is the spacing between the origin points of the symbols, so if this value is
less than the actual width of the symbols, they will overlap.

Random Distance: This value is used to provide some randomness to placement.

The distance between each symbol is modified (+/-) by a random value up to this
amount.

Use Sym Width: If this option is checked, CC3+ will use the with of the symbols
instead of a fixed value. Note that when this option is checked, the Between
Symbols value is ignored (but not the Random Distance one). This setting is
especially useful because it takes the scale of each symbol into consideration,
which might not be the same along the entire guideline. Note that some symbols
can have invisible components that can cause the distance calculated by this
feature to not be the one you want, but this can mostly be fixed with the Percent
Overlap setting.

Percent Overlap: Used together with the Use Sym Width setting. This allows you
to not have the symbol appear edge by edge, but rather overlap each other a bit.
You can use a negative value to provide some extra distance instead.

Symbol Scaling: This specified how the symbols should be scaled. Default means that
the symbol is scaled in both X and Y direction, thereby keeping its form and aspect ratio.
If you specify X Only or Y Only, only the selected dimension will be scaled, thus
deforming the symbol.

Scale Random %: This value is used to apply randomness to the scaling of the
symbols. A random value up to the number entered here will be used to modify
the scale (+/-) at each placement.

Symbol Scale & Location: This option specifies how the symbol is to be scaled along
the guide line, allowing you to have symbols that get larger or smaller along the length
of the line.

Starting Scale %: This is the scale used for the very first symbol along the line. The
percentage is in relation to the actual size of the symbol, so a scale of 100% is the
same as a scale of 1.0 in the symbol parameters dialog.

% Along: This setting specifies at which point along the line symbols should reach
their center scale setting. From the starting point, and up to this point, the symbols
gradually change scale from the starting scale to the center scale, but from this
point onward, they stay at the center scale value. This value should be between
0% (Beginning of the line) and 100% (End of the line), but it should always be less
than the second % Along value.

Center Scale %: This is the scale of the symbols along the middle of the line. CC3+
start using this value at the first % Along point, and stops using it at the last %
Along point.

% Along: The second % along point is similar to the first, specifying the point along
the line where CC3+ stops using the center scale, and gradually change the scale
until it reaches the ending scale at the end of the line. This value should be less
than or equal to 100% (The end of the line), but larger than the first % Along value.

Ending Scale %: This specifies the scale of the symbol at the end of the line.

In short, symbols are scaled according to the starting scale at the start of the line, then
gradually become larger or smaller until they reach the center value at the first % along point.
They then stay at the center value all the way until the second % along point, from where
they again increase or decrease in size until they reach the ending scale at the end of the
line. If you wish to have the symbols the same scale all along the line, simply make sure that
the starting scale, center scale and ending scale are all the same value.

164
Example: Cold front line
If you wish to make a weather map, you will need various lines to indicate cold fronts, warm fronts
and so on. In this example, we will be creating a cold front line. I choose the cold front, because it
needs an arrow symbol much like the triangle already in the default escarpment catalog. For a warm
front, you will need a half-circle symbol. This is an extremely simple symbol to create, so for
additional practice, you may wish to make this symbol and use it with this command. If you load Make this Symbol
up the @Symbols\Maps\Other\escarpment.fsc catalog in CC3+, you can use the existing default
Symbol creation and
escarpment symbols as guides. Unless you plan on making lots of escarpment symbols, you may
management is discussed in
even consider simply adding your symbol directly to this catalog.
the Symbols and Symbol
1. Start a new map. I used one without a background to easier show the result. Management chapter on
page 89.
2. Set the current color to Blue (54), the fill style to solid, and line width to 1.5.
3. Draw a curved line about 250 map units long using Smooth Path . Note that the direction
you draw your line in is important. If you draw your line left to right, the symbols will appear Appear Above
above your line, but if you draw the line right to left, they will appear below the line. This is
This is relative to the actual
because lines in CC3+ are directional, and the symbols go from the start of the line to the
symbol used. When a line is
end.
drawn from left to right,
4. Set the current sheet to SYMBOLS. symbols will keep their
5. Select Draw → Symbols Along. Set the following properties: default orientation, and
since our triangle points up
Symbol: esc triangle fat. with the symbol origin at
Distance: 10 the bottom of this symbol, it
will appear above the line. If
Symbol angle: Option 2 (perpendicular). Invert unchecked. the symbol origin had been
in the top of the symbol, it
% Chance: 100.
would have gone below the
Symbol Scaling: Default. line instead (but it wouldn't
be rotated, which means
Scale & Location: 10, 33, 10,
the tip of the triangle would
66, 10
be against the line, and not
6. Click OK and select the line we the flat bottom like it is
drew earlier. The result should be now)
like the image.
Tip: If you wish to add symbols below the
line as well (for example, a stationary front Current Sheet
has triangles on one side, and semi-circles The Symbols Along
at the other), you can now reverse the command will place the
direction of the line. The command for doing this is Flip, but it is a text-only command, so you need symbols on the current
to type in FLP on the command line to execute it. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work on smooth paths, sheet, ignoring the force
like our path, but we can temporarily convert it to a straight path using Smooth to Straight [CTS], sheet symbol option.
then use FLP on it, and finally convert it back to a smooth path using Straight to Smooth [STC]. Obviously, you can use
After executing all three commands in order, the line will look exactly like it did before, but the whatever sheet you desire
direction will be reversed. There is no way you can see visually that this has happened, but you can for this, just make sure that
check the line with Numeric Edit or List to verify that the nodes are now in the opposite order you make a conscious
than they were before (only helpful if you actually knew the previous order). choice, so you don't end up
with the symbols below the
Example: Coffins arranged in a circle background or similar.

Ever wanted to have a ring of coffins around a large central something (Like a summoning circle,
large pillar, etc.) in DD3? Again, Symbols Along is your friend.

1. Start a new DD3 map, and draw a room approximately 50×50 feet in size.
2. In the middle of the room, place a Pentagram from the Elemental catalog.

165
 3. Draw a Circle with center in the middle of the
pentagram, and a radius of 12.5. This will be a guideline
for the placing the coffins, so we don’t need to care much
about how it looks.
4. Set the current sheet to SYMBOLS.
5. Select Symbols Along from the Draw menu. Set the
following values:

Symbol: Browse to the

@Symbols\Dungeons\DD3\DD3 Color\Statues,
Temples and Idols.fsc symbol catalog. Select the
Coffin n symbol.

Distance: 10 (If you want the coffins

more tightly packed, try 5).

Symbol Angle: Option 3 (Parallel).

Also check Invert Symbol (This
causes the head of the coffin to point
toward the pentagram. If you leave
this unchecked, the feet will point
towards it instead).

% Chance: 100

Symbol Scaling: Default.

Symbol Scale & Location: Use 100

for all values.

6. Click OK, and select our circle. Finally,

delete the guiding circle.

Example: Placing random symbols

One thing the Fill with Symbols command doesn’t do to well is randomly distributing symbols, they
tend to turn out in a more orderly fashion. Let us revisit our desert example from the Fill with
Symbols command, and try to use Symbols Along to randomly fill our desert instead.

1. Start a new overland map in the CC3 standard

overland style. Change the background to land
light green bitmap, and leave the rest of the
settings at their defaults.
2. Change the current fill style to desert Bitmap, then
use Smooth Poly to draw a large desert on the
map.
3. Use Path to draw a path randomly around the
desert. Just let it cross itself several times.
4. Select Symbols Along from the Draw menu. Set
the following values:

Symbol: Browse to the @Symbols\Maps\CC3\vegetation.fsc symbol catalog. Select

the Cactus n symbol.

Distance: 50 (This is very much related to the symbols scales we are inputting below.
If you use smaller scales, the distance should be reduced accordingly).

Symbol Angle: Option 1 (Fixed). Also uncheck Invert Symbol (If not, the cacti will be
upside-down).

% Chance: 50 (This ensures that the appearances are random, and not a traceable lines
of cacti through the desert)

166
 Symbol Scaling: Default.

Symbol Scale & Location: Use 250 for starting and ending scale, 350 for center scale,
and 50 for both % along settings. This will make our symbols of varying size, and by
setting both % along to 50 (the middle of the line), the size will vary all the way; there
are no segment of this line that will use a fixed scale. Note that the symbol scales values
were picked to look appropriate on my default-scale map. In your real map, you may
wish to reduce these a bit. If you reduce the symbol scales, the “open spaces” not
covered by the guideline should be smaller though, since symbols will only be placed
along the line, and smaller symbols will make these open areas look larger in
comparison.

5. Click OK, and select our path.

Notice that in some cases, cacti
symbols may overlap in the
spots where the line crossed
itself. You may delete or move
such symbols, or if you wish to
keep them, you may need to use
Bring to Front to make sure
the correct symbol is on top.
Finally, delete the guideline.
(Note that if you didn’t like the
initial placement of the symbols,
you can hit Undo ( + ), and
execute the command again,
perhaps tweaking the settings a
little. So, leave the line until you
are happy with the placements)

Example: Simple Rails

Combined with a few other commands, the Symbols Along command is great to draw some rails
with, either for a city map, a mining tunnel, or anywhere else you need it.
Fill Style
To create these rails, we’ll need to do a few simple steps. First of all, since this command operates Note that we are making a
using symbols, we need a symbol for the sleeper. I’ll just draw a very simple one for the sake of symbol using a fill style.
example, but if your map will be used to show detailed close-ups of the rail, you may wish to spend Since the symbol depends
more time in making it pretty. Using the Symbols Along command to create a rail line is mostly on this fill style, it will only
beneficial for a longer line in any case though, if you have an extreme close-up with fewer than 20 work in maps which have
sleepers, you may want to create it manually for some added variety in that case. this fill style available. For a
I am using the @Tutorials\Dungeon\Cave.FCW tutorial map from the DD3 chapter for this example, more portable symbol, you
but if you don’t have DD3, you can do the same on a CC3 Dungeon template, or any map really. should make an image file
in an external editor and
Let us start by creating and preparing the simple symbol for the sleeper. import it instead, like we
discussed in Creating Raster
1. Set fill style to a wood-like texture. I’ve used the Woodgrain Bitmap fill style. It is not the best,
Symbols on page 108.
but it was already available in my map, so I’ll make do with it. Set the width to 0.
2. Create two new sheets in the map, RAIL SLEEPERS and RAIL TRACKS. Arrange them so they
appear above your floors in the drawing
3. Draw a simple 10’ by 1’ Box . Available

4. Use Symbols → Define Symbol to make a symbol out of it. Leave the origin as Middle Center. If you wish to make a
different fill style available
5. Go into the Symbol Manager and access the options of your newly created symbol. Set the in your map, refer to the
Force Sheet option to RAIL SLEEPERS. chapter about fill styles,
6. Save your map (important). starting on page 127.

167
 Now, we have a symbol ready for use, now we should define the position of our railway. We are
Offset Copy going to start that by defining the centerline. When we do this, remember that our sleepers are 10’
Offset copy creates a copy wide, so the centerline should always be at least 5’ from any wall. Also remember that railroads
of a path that is properly generally don’t like sharp curves. If you must make a sharp curve, you’ll
offset from the original. This probably need to adjust the sleepers a little bit manually in the curve
is important when you deal because of overlaps.
with curves. You may know
7. Set the current fill style to solid, and set the color to a metal grey
that on a road, the inner
(or a rust brown). If you have a metal texture, you can use that
edge of a curve is shorter
as well, but the texture shouldn’t be too pronounced. Set width
than the outer edge. If you
to 0.5 and sheet to RAIL TRACKS. Create a new layer, RAIL, and
just drew the inner edge
set it as current.
and did a straight copy, it
wouldn’t match up 8. Use Smooth Path to draw the centerline of the railroad. I used
properly. Offset Copy a pink color in my screenshots for visibility reasons.
handles this correctly for us. 9. Use Draw → Offset. Select the Offset Copy option, then click OK.
Now the command line will ask for a distance, so type in 4 and hit
. This is the distance between the centerline and the actual
tracks. Click on the centerline to select it, then click to the right of
it to place the offset copy on this side. We’ve already configured
the distance, so you don’t need to click a precise location.
Repeat the command to create another copy on the left side of the
centerline.
With our paths laid out, we can now use symbols along to fill in the
sleepers.

10. Set the current sheet to RAIL SLEEPERS.

11. Select Draw → Symbols Along.
You may remember that when we define a symbol, like we did with the
sleeper above, it is only defined in our current map. We could have saved it in an external symbol
catalog from the Symbol Manager, but that isn’t really required. Instead, let us just use our current
map as a symbol catalog.

12. Click the Browse button in the escarpment dialog, then browse to the directory where you
saved the current map.
Now, you may find that the file dialog shows that location to be completely empty. This is
because it is set to only list symbol catalog (*.fsc) files, and not map files. An additional
setback is also immediately observed if we try to change the file type in the dropdown, as
symbol catalog files are the only option there. But don’t despair, there is a way that works in
all such file open dialogs, and this works in any program that uses the standard dialog
provided by Windows. In the File name field, simply type in *.fcw and hit . This will force
the dialog to show all files of that file type (*.fcw is the standard CC3+ map files), and you
can now pick the file normally. Simply pick the current map file, and click Open.

168
13. Now, let us set the Escarpment options.
First, select our sleeper symbol from the list.
The symbols are listed alphabetically. If you
can’t find it, make sure that you saved your
map after defining the symbol, and that you
browsed to the same map you saved in the
step above.

Set Distance to 5. This is the distance

between the sleepers. You may wish to
experiment with this value to get the best
result.

Set the Symbol Angle to the third option.

This angles the symbols in a tangent to the
guide line. Note that the correct option here
depends on the direction of the original
symbol. If you find the sleeper being placed
wrongly, use the second option instead.

%Chance should be 100, unless you wish an occasional sleeper to be missing. Should
probably be at least 70, but feel free to experiment

For Symbol Scale & Location, the three scale values should all be 100%, as this ensures
the sleepers are the same size all the way. The two % Along values don’t matter.

14. Click OK. When prompted to Select Path, make sure to select the center line.
15. If you are happy with the sleepers, delete the center line, if not, go Edit → Undo, and repeat
the command with tweaked parameters.
16. Finally, we need some effects to enhance the look. I recommend a small Bevel, Lighted and
tiny black Outer Glow on both tracks and sleepers, but you can experiment with additional
effects to improve the design. Remember that the tracks are only 0.5 map units wide, and
the sleepers 1 map unit, so keep sizes of the effects to no more than half of this.
My settings (unlisted settings were left at their default value)
RAIL SLEEPERS:

Bevel, Lighted: Size 0.3 Units

Outer Glow: Black, Range 0.1, Blur Size 0.05

RAIL TRACKS:

Bevel, Lighted: Size 0.15 units

Outer Glow: Black, Range 0.1, Blur Size 0.05

169
 Fill with Symbols Symbols in Area
You may think that Symbols Symbols in Area is used to fill an area with symbols.
in Area is the command that Thus, it fulfills a similar role as Fill with Symbols, but
should be called Fill with where the Fill with Symbols command is designed to
Symbols, as this is more in pack symbols as tightly and efficiently as possible to
line with what you would create dense patterns like forests, Symbols in Area is
expect from a symbol filling designed to fill the area with a looser pattern. It comes
command. However, the Fill with options for regular grid-like fills, as well as
with Symbols command is random placement options.
far older, so it didn’t make
As with similar commands, this command operates
sense to rename this
on a polygon, so make sure to have one drawn before
existing command when
starting this command. In the example to the right, I
the newer Symbols in Area
used the command on the desert polygon. Of course,
command arrived.
if you don’t want a polygon, you can always delete it
after using the command to place the symbols.

You’ll find the command under Draw → Symbols in Area [SYMFILL]. It also comes with a several
command line commands:

SYMFILLM: Macro version of the command. Uses current setting instead of showing the
options dialog.

SYMFILLOPT: Shows the options dialog without drawing anything.

SYMFILLOAD: Loads saved settings.

SYMFILLSAVE: Saves current settings to a file.

Examples
The configuration dialog for this command contains a bunch of options, so before we dig into them,
let us see a few examples what we can do with this command. As you can see, you can make both
regular and more random fills.

170
 Symbol Catalog
Remember that maps and
symbol catalogs uses the
same file format, so if you
do wish to show the
symbols currently in your
map, simply browse for your
current map here instead of
a symbol catalog.
Remember to save your
map first if you just defined
new symbols in it, this
dialog will see the file on
disk, not including unsaved
changes.
Options
The options dialog for Symbols in Area
shares many elements with the Symbol Group
Escarpment dialog, but also offers several
You may remember that
different ones.
symbol collections are
Symbol Catalog to Use: from indicated by a plus-sign in
here you can pick the symbol the top left corner of the
catalog, containing the symbol in the symbol
symbols you want to use. Hit catalog window. This
the Browse button to select symbol isn’t visible here in
another catalog. this dialog however, so
you’ll need to check if the
Below the symbol catalog
symbol is part of a
choice is the list of symbols in
collection or not before
this catalog. Click on any one
entering this dialog.
symbol to use that symbol for
Remember that even if you
the command. You can only
cannot make multiple
use one symbol at a time.
selections in the Symbols in
Allow random symbol selection from group: If the selected symbol is part of a Area dialog, you can always
symbol group, this option will make the Symbols Along command to pick a random create a new custom
symbol from the group for each placement. Leave this unchecked to make sure symbol catalog which
only the selected symbol is used. included the symbols you
need, and set them up as a
Max Symbols to Place: This option limits the maximum number of symbols placed with group there.
this command. This is intended to prevent you from unintentionally placing huge
amount of symbols (often a result of setting distances or scale too low).

%Chance to Place: This is the chance that each individual symbol will be placed. This
is a great option to generate some random holes in a regular pattern. Less useful if you
use a random layout.

171
 Symbol Angle: This is the angle of the symbols in relation to the nearest edge of the
entity. The first option means that the symbols don’t care about the angle of the edge;
they are always drawn at a 0 degree angle. The second option specifies that the symbol
angle should be perpendicular to the angle of the edge, while the last option sets the
symbol angle to be parallel to the edge angle.

Invert symbol: Simply rotates the symbol an extra 180 degrees in addition to the
setting above. This is useful if the symbol appears upside down.

Angle Offset: This value is applied as an offset to the symbol angle, used to get a
bit more fine-grained control.

Angle Random: This is used to apply a little randomness to the angle. The angle of each
symbol is modified (+/-) by a random value up to this amount.

Symbol Scaling: This option specified if the symbol should be scaled in both direction
(default, also known as proportional scaling), or only in the X or Y direction. The latter
two are often useful when the symbols are lines that need to appear at different lengths,
but for most symbols, you’ll want the Default option.

Scale Random %: This is applied as a random modifier for each individual symbol,
allowing them to have some small differences in scale. The scale of each symbol
is modified (+/-) by a random value up to this amount

% Size at Edge/Center: This controls the scaling of the symbol at the edge and
the center of the entity. Note that 100% means that the symbol will be placed at
the default symbol scale for the map. Symbols not at the edge or exactly at the
center will be sized at a value in between these two using a linear scale.
Distance
Note that all distances are Minimum Distance: This option specifies the minimum distance between the placed
relative to the default symbols. This is intended to prevent the random options from placing the symbols too
symbol scale of the tight.
drawing. For a symbol scale Pattern: Here you specify what kind of pattern you wish to use for the fill.
of 1, they are equal to map
units. Layout Pattern: This dropdown lets you choose between rectangular grids, hex
grids or random. All of the grid options create very regular patterns.

Auto Sort: This option makes sure the symbols are ordered properly, so that
symbols lower down on the screen overlaps those above them as expected.

Within x of Edge: This option allows you to control how symbols at the edge
should be considered. You can set the dropdown to default if you don’t want to
treat the edges any special at all, or you can set up the command to either don’t
draw symbols near the edge, or to only draw them near the edge.

Horizontal/Vertical Distance: This controls the distance between symbols. Note

that this is the distance between the origin points of the symbols, not the distance
between edges so larger symbols will need larger values.

H/V Random Distance: This allows you to add randomness to the placement. For
each symbol, a random value up to the value here is used to change the position
of the symbol. This should normally be quite a bit smaller than the actual distance
above.

Save/Load: Use these buttons to save your current setting to a file, or load a previously
saved setting.

172
Arrays
In one of our Symbols Along examples above, we arranged coffins around a circle, but there is also
another command that can handle this, the Circular Array command [CARY]. This command can
arrange entities in circles, with options to use more than one circle, and to easily set up any number
of nodes. In contrast to the Symbols Along command, Circular array also operates on any entity
already in the map, even complex constructs made up of multiple entities, while Symbols along
required a symbol in a symbol catalog to work on.

Circular Array also has a sister command, Rectangular Array [REPEAT], which makes a grid of
entities. Both commands can be found by right-clicking the Copy button.

Note that when using these that copies will be placed on the current sheet/layer, and not the ones
of the original entity.

Circular Array
To create any kind of array, start by placing the element you want repeated in a circle. This can be
a single symbol, but it can also be a more element made up from multiple entities.

When used, Circular Array will ask you for a couple of things:

Select Entities: This basically ask you to select the entities you wish to repeat in a circle.
Select whatever you want and end the selection as usual. Make sure that these are in
the correct position however, as they will be on the circle.

Number of spokes: This is the number of times your selection should be repeated around
the circle. Type your desired number in on the command line and hit .

Number of rings: This command can create multiple concentric circles. Enter the amount
required, then hit .

Array Center: This is the center point for your circles. The radius will be set to the
distance between this center and the entities you selected earlier.

Copy Origin: This specifies where on your selection you wish the local origin to be.
Generally, you’ll want this to be somewhere inside the selection you made earlier.

Angle between spokes: This value is automatically calculated to position your elements
equally around the circle. Usually, you should just hit to accept this value, but you
can supply a different value if you wish.

Example: Chairs Around a Table

Let us use this command to place 7 chairs around a round table. Let’s assume it is for
a ritual, so we need exact positions. I’ll use DD3 symbols here now, but you should use
whatever you might have.

1. Make sure the SYMBOLS sheet is active, then place the table and the first chair.
2. Right click on the Copy button and select Circular Array.

3. Now select the chair, and hit o it. For number of spokes, enter 7, for number
of rings enter 1.
4. Make sure to place the Array Center in the middle of the table or the chair circle
won’t be perfect. For copy origin, click in the middle of your chair.
5. For the angle between spokes, accept the default by hitting .

6. Finally, use Bring to Front to bring the table on top.

173
 Rectangular Array
Just as with the circular array, this copies elements in an organized fashion, but this command
generates a grid structure instead of a circle. Note that the resulting grid will always be straight, and
not on an angle. If you want it to be angled, you can rotate it after creating it.

When used, Rectangular Array will ask you for a couple of things:

Select Entities: This basically ask you to select the entities you wish to repeat in a grid.
Select whatever you want, and end the selection as usual. Note that this first selection
will form one of the corners of your final grid.

Number of columns: This is the number of columns, or vertical lines in your grid. Enter
the desired value and hit .

Number of rows: This is the number of rows, or horizontal lines in your grid. Enter the
desired value and hit .

Repeat origin: This is the reference point used when starting the tiling of entities. It
doesn’t really matter where it is in the map, but it is natural to place it on top of your
selection to tile, otherwise it is difficult to visually indicate the distance for the next point
below.

2nd row 2nd column: CC3+ now asks for the offset from the repeat origin point to
determine where to start the next row and the next column. The difference in x-
coordinate from the origin point determines the gap between entities in the same row,
while the difference in the Y-coordinate indicates the distance between rows.

Example: Rows of Seating

Let us use this command to set up some rows of seating for an audience listening to a speaker.

1. Make sure the current sheet is SYMBOLS. Start by placing the

lectern, and a chair. The chair should be in one of the desired
corners of the rows.
Guide Us
2. Right click on the Copy button and select Rectangular Array.
One way to make this more
precise is to place the first 3. Now select the chair, and hit o it. For number of columns, enter
four chairs in the corner 7, for number of rows enter 5.
first, and adjust their
4. For Repeat Origin, click in the middle of our chair.
positions until you are
happy. When starting the 5. Now, the tricky part. Because we don’t have a chair outline to
command, only select the guide us, placing the 2nd row 2nd column point can require some
actual single corner chair. experimentation. If you use a setup like in my image, this point
Then, when selecting the should be where the second chair on the second row would be.
repeat origin and 2nd row Remember that if you are not happy with the rows after
2nd column points, place the completing this step, simply undo the command and try again.
origin point anywhere on
the corner chair, then place
the 2nd row 2nd column point
at the exact same point at
the diagonally opposite
chair. Note that this will
mean three duplicate chairs
down in the corner which
must be deleted.

174
Contours
The Contours [CONTOURSM] command is used to have CC3+ automatically generate the outline
(contour) from a raster image or other CC3+ entities. This has several uses, but one of the really
helpful applications of this command is to convert an existing map to a CC3+ map. Granted, it is
only one step in the process, but getting the outline of the landmass converted to a proper CC3+
entity is a huge step for most maps. Another big use is that you can use it on standard CC3+ entities
to get a new entity based on the combined outline of these entities, this is helpful when you need
to combine multiple shapes.

Single Feature
Importing a Map
Just doing a single feature
Let us first deal with the scenario where we import a new map into CC3+. I assume here that you
at a time isn’t strictly true,
have your old map as an image file, either a scanned image or an export in an image format from
you’ll notice I do both the
whatever program you used earlier, be that an image editor or a dedicated mapping tool.
continent and the lakes at
Note that I deal with importing a landmass here, but you can of course use the same procedure to the same time, but you still
import a lake, mountain range or other feature. Since you can realistically only do a single feature won’t be able to import a
at a time, you may wish to repeat this procedure several times to get all the features imported. bunch of different height
contours at one go.
Pre-processing
Before you can start the process, the image to import will probably need some pre-processing. The
contours command works best if the image to import is black and white. If the image isn’t b&w
Black & White
already, you should edit it in an image editor, or if you can export it from your original program
again, perhaps it is possible to change it to a black and white image. The image should be pure
black and white, i.e. not
If possible, the image should also be of a grayscale.
reasonably high resolution, it is difficult to give
an exact size, but preferably around 2000px in
the largest dimension. If the resolution is too
low, it results in large pixels, which tends to
give a blocky result.

Ideally, the outline shouldn’t bee too complex

either, as too tiny details can cause various
artifacts, so don’t go overboard with the size of
the image to import either.

For my tutorial here, I am starting out with the

map from the image to the right, you may
recognize the place. As it appears in the image,
I am done with the pre-processing.

Importing the Image

You can import the image into CC3+ by using Draw → Insert File. I Deleting it
recommend creating a temporary sheet for the image. This allows you to Remember that CC3+ just
easily hide the image when done without deleting it. This can be references the image, so if
particularly helpful if you later need to reference the image in the exact you wish to be able to show
original spot. it at a later point you must
make sure to not delete the
Make sure to start a new map in an appropriate size for the image you are
file from your computer (nor
importing. You’ll want the scale of the map to be correct from the very
move it to another folder).
first step, not some afterthought. This will save you from much grief later.
Otherwise CC3+ will only
show the familiar red X.
Generating the Contour
First, set the LAND sheet as the active sheet, we don’t want the newly generated contour to end up
on the same sheet as the image. Also set the current fill style to Hollow.

175
 The actual Contours command is not available from a menu, so you have to activate it by typing
CONTOURSM on the CC3+ command line. The command line should respond with Enter Distance For
Contour (negative means inside) [10.0]:

Now, what the command line wants to know is how far (in map units) from the image edge the
contour should be created. A value of 0 means to follow the edge exactly, and while this may
initially sound like exactly what you want, you should remind yourself that the raster images
consists of pixels lines up in nice rows and columns. Using a value of 0 means the contour will
basically follow the pixels in the image, creating a vary staircase-like shape which is probably not
very desirable. The larger we make this value, the better the result will look from a pure visual point,
but the less it will match the shape of the imported map, and the more small details will be lost. The
trick here is to pick a value that will reasonably match your original coastline. I find that a value of
1 often gives me what I want, but this does depend on the scale of the map. For a small-scale map,
it will probably make sense to make this value smaller, and for world-size you may wish to increase
it a bit. Undo is your friend here allowing
you to experiment.

In my image to the right I used a value of

Spikes 5 to get the desired result. It loses some
To give a continuous line a details from the image, but I am happy
good appearance, the with that because I don’t want the detail
corners of a continues line level to be too high for a continent map
(a path) are “filled in” (a like this anyway. I used a template of size
miter joint), otherwise it 2500 x 2000 miles which fits the
would look like a series of continent pretty tightly. Depending on
disconnected lines. This is what you want to do with the map
normally fine, but as the afterwards you may consider giving
angle gets sharper, the yourself some more room, and if so,
miter of the joint gets remember to do it by creating a larger
longer and longer, until it template, not by making the image a bit
reaches ridiculous lengths, smaller when you import it.
manifesting in the map as
weird spikes. This problem Finishing Up
is made worse the thicker
So, all that remains is to style our
the line is, so a thin line can
contours up as a proper CC3+ entity.
handle sharper angles
before this problem can be First, move the lakes to the RIVERS sheet.
noticed compared to a thick Then, right click Change Properties
one. and activate the Change Like Draw
Tool command. Right click inside the
drawing area to bring up the Select
drawing tool dialog. Pick the River, Lake
one and apply it to all the lakes.

Then use Change Like Draw Tool again,

this time applying the Land, Default tool
to the landmass and islands. Your result
should look similar to my image.

Note that if your coastline is to detail, the

thick outline around the may behave
erratically, such as showing weird spikes. This is due to very sharp angles, something that can easily
happen if you go for a very detailed coastline. The best option here is to remove this thick outline
(just hide the COASTLINE sheet) and replace it with a glow effect on the LAND sheet instead.
Top: No miter
Middle: Normal miter
Bottom: Sharp corner, miter
starts to spike.

176
Combining Entities
Complex Rooms
Another use for this command is to combine several CC3+
Another way of creating
entities into a single entity, for example to create complex
complex rooms is discussed
rooms.
in the DD3 section of this
I’ll start this procedure by drawing multiple entities that book, see page 281.
together will form the outline of my room. To easily
manage these, I’ll draw them on a separate temporary
sheet, as this allows me to easily hide or delete this sheet
later since otherwise it can be a bit tricky to separate the
temporary shapes from the outline I will be generating.

In my example image to the right I’ve drawn a room using

multiple circles. I’ve used a partially transparent fill for the
example image because it more clearly reveals the
individual circles, but normally I would be drawing these
ins a solid color.

Once you are happy with the shape (remember it is the outline that counts) switch the active sheet
to FLOORS. Now you can run the CONTOURSM command on the entities. When prompted for the
distance, we’ll want to use 0 in this case, because we want the outline to match the shapes exactly.
This is especially true if we used snaps to place the shapes with perfect precision. When selecting
the entities, remember to select all of them, as the command will operate on the outline of the
selected entities.

Hide the temporary sheet we used to draw the shapes, and

you should only see the single new shape generated by the
command. Remember that the visual look will depend on
the currently set properties (see the status bar), and since
you just drew a bunch of shapes without changing anything
afterwards, it will probably have the same visual look as
they did. Which means if you used a solid color, you’re
probably not going to see a difference at all. Since I used a
partially transparent fill, it will change a bit, since the
brighter spots in my first screenshot was caused by
multiple entities overlapping at these points, but now I only
have a single entity, thus no overlaps, and the fill will look
uniform.

Right now, we have a single entity which we can do

whatever we want with, but to continue the dungeon example, let us just turn it into a room, which
can be done in a few simple steps.

The outline should already be on the FLOOR sheet since we

changed sheet before executing CONTOURSM. So, the first
thing to do is to just use Change Properties to change
the fill style to an appropriate floor style. Then, copy this
entity to the WALLS sheet and change the properties of this
copy to a proper wall fill style, and set the line with to a
sensible value, for example 1.

The result should look something like my screenshot.

177
 Perspective Scaling
Most overland styles come with their symbols drawn in perspective. This is in no way an indication
that the map itself is in perspective, quite the contrary, most CC3+ overland maps are seen from
straight overhead. There are some reasons for the symbols being in perspective even if they are for
an overhead map though:

A perspective symbol is easier to read than an overhead one. Overhead symbols are by
their nature simpler and usually needs a map key to identify what each symbol is, while
a perspective symbol gives a better “picture” of the feature.

Perspective view generally makes for a more visually pleasing symbol. They contain
more details, because you can see three sides simultaneously.

Symbols on an overland map are more intended to indicate that “this feature is here”
rather than be a precise representation of the feature. It is just a marker, and it is not to
scale.

However, even if these symbols are not primarily intended to make perspective maps, that doesn’t
mean that they can’t be used like this. Look at the image below, and you can see that I’ve laid out a
city in perspective view using only the Mike Schley overland symbols.

Map Size
While you can always use
an arbitrary map size and
just scale the symbols, so it
looks correct, I always
advocate getting the map
scale correct. If the map is
correctly scaled, all CC3+’s
information commands
make so much more sense, Now, one of the main things we need to consider when making a perspective map is the scale of
and you get so much more the symbols. For a map to appear in perspective, the symbols near the bottom should be larger than
help out of the coordinate those near the top. This is because the bottom should appear to be closer to the viewer than the top
system. of the map. Scaling these symbols can of course be done manually, but CC3+ also comes with a set
Of course, scale does get a of commands to set up the perspective scaling and handle the scaling of the symbols dynamically.
bit weird when using
All of these commands are command-line only, but they are simple to use.
perspective like this, but I
still recommend getting in a
good approximation. Starting Out
While there are many things you can use these commands for, let us show how to make my map
from above. Start by creating a new CC3 Mike Schley Overland map. Deciding the map size for a
map like this can be difficult but try to establish how large this city really is. For my map I decided

178
that a size of a quarter mile by a quarter mile sounded reasonable. Unfortunately, the new map
wizard only supports whole numbers, so I ended up doing a 1 by 1 mile map. Mile
Remember that the
The first thing to do is to set up the perspective scaling used in our
overland map templates are
map. The most important thing we need to decide on is the scale
in miles, as opposed to city
factor between the symbols at the bottom (those “nearest” the
templates which are in
viewer) and those on the top (those “furthest from” the viewer). If
feet/meters. Of course, map
you look at the image on the previous page, you can see that the
units are abstract units
size changes subtly, but if you compare a symbol from the top and
anyways, so you can
the bottom, there is a very large difference. In fact, the bottom
basically just decide that
ones are 3 times as large as the top ones. To set this up, type
the map is in feet now, and
PSCALESETUP on the command line. This will result in CC3+ asking
use a size of 1320 by 1320
you a series of questions. The first question, Vertical low
without giving it much more
position: asks you to define the lower bounds of the map, fulfill
though.
this by clicking on the bottom X in my screenshot to the right.
(The symbol scales you need
CC3+ will then follow up by asking for the Vertical low scale:.
to use will be very different
This is the scale in the point you just defined. Type in 1.5 . For from the one I use here to fit
the Vertical high Position, click where the top X is, and for Vertical high Scale:, type 0.5 . my 1 by 1 map though).
Finally, click the location of the bottom X again when CC3+ asks for Horizontal center of
Projection:.
Transform
So, what did we really set up above? The two positions are used to establish base values for the
Note that the shape of the
perspective scaling. By setting the bottom point to 1.5 and the top point to 0.5, we told CC3+ that
transform depends on
symbols based at the same vertical position as the bottom point should be scaled at 1.5 times the
where you placed the
value listed in the symbol parameters dialog, while symbols placed at the same vertical position as
location of the horizontal
the top point will be 0.5 times the symbol parameters scale value. The scale between those two
center of the projection
points will be scaled linearly, so the closer you get to the top point, the smaller the symbol gets,
when prompted. If you
while the closer to the bottom point, the larger the symbol. When perspective scaling is enabled,
place it in the center, you
you can see this visually on the symbol preview on the mouse cursor, it will shrink and grow as you
will get a result like in my
move the mouse up and down.
example map, while moving
With the values set up, we can now transform our mapping area. This is optional, as a perspective it to the left or right will
map can work fine even if placed in a square frame, but transforming it like in my image on the cause the transformation to
previous page also looks nice. This is done using the PSCALEX command. Before running it, ide the skew towards that point.
MAP BORDER layer. Simply run the command, select all entities in the map when prompted, o
It, and Zoom Extents . The map will now be transformed using the same values as the symbol
will be scaled by.

Note that you need to transform the map before you start drawing. The transform will only transform
map entities like polygons, this can’t be used on symbols, and if you already have placed symbols
in the map, they will probably not match the new map shape at all after the transform is done. Center

You may also feel like the perspective transform of the drawing area is too much with a 3 to 1 ratio,
even if you want the symbols at that ratio. To handle this, use PSCALESETUP to set up values with a
smaller difference first, like 2 to 1, then run PSCALEX, and finally use PSCALESETUP again to set up
the correct scaling for the symbols. This is what I did for my own example map here.

Near left edge

Near Right edge

179
 Now, if you intend to draw anything on your map using drawing tools (like the lake I placed on my
map), there is one issue you need to handle. You may remember that most drawing tools are
Drawing Tools configured to not draw past the map border. This is fine for a square/rectangular map, but this
You can actually draw feature does not support borders at an angle, so you may find that drawing tools stop in the middle
anything you want with of the map.
drawing tools before
The actual map borders that this feature looks for are not the visible graphical map borders of your
issuing the transform, as
map, but rather a set on entities on the MAP BORDER layer, usually just a set of simple lines or a
the transform will happily
rectangle. For the Mike Schley template, these are just simple lines, so what I did was to just move
take care of those entities
the left and right lines out a bit, so they matched the outer edges of the map, but keep them vertical.
for you, and transform them
Don’t bother with the top/bottom ones, it doesn’t matter if they are too short. Once you have done
into a perspective view just
this, hide the MAP BORDER layer again (the reason we hid it before was to prevent PSCALEX from
like the map area.
transforming it.)

You could also just delete the entities on the MAP BORDER layer, but this messes with some drawing
tools which have their size specified in percent of map width, and with effects specified the same
way.

Drawing the Map

Now, this is the simple part. Since CC3+ scales the symbols correctly, basically all you have to do is
place them.

First, start by running the command PSCALEON. This command activates perspective scaling. You’ll
easily notice when this command is on, as when you start placing a symbol and move your mouse
up or down, the symbol will scale. Note that there are several actions that will result in perspective
scale being turned off again, so be prepared to turn it back on with PSCALEON each time this happens.
(PSCALEOFF turns the scaling off again).

Now, since overland symbols are not

accurately scaled, you may wish to
experiment a bit with the scale (as
listed in the Symbol Parameters
dialog). The default scale on an
Default Scale overland map is map width divided by
1000, so that is 0.001. That is way to
Once you have found the
small for the kind of map we are
appropriate scale for your
drawing here. For my map, I found that
symbols, you should set it
0.005 was a good value. Keep the
as the default scale for the
perspective scaling in mind here
map, this way CC3+ will
though, remember that it will be 1.5
remember it the next time
times that size at the bottom of the
you open this map. Setting
map, and 0.5 times the size at the top
the default symbol scale is
of the map. Keep the symbol at the
done by clicking Drawing
cursor and watch the size as you move it around the map (make sure you have turned on
Properties .
perspective scaling with PSCALEON first).

Once you have found the appropriate scaling, all you have to do is to place those symbols. It is best
to place symbols from top to bottom so you don’t get them overlapping in the wrong order, but
remember that even if you did place them the wrong way around (I did this with my example map
because it was easiest to start at the sea), you have the Symbols → Sort Symbols in Map command
to help you out.

Don’t be afraid to draw map elements using drawing tools either, just remember that shapes may
need to be a bit different when the map is in perspective.

180
Exclusion Commands
A handful of the commands from CC3+ also has an exclusion version of the command. These
exclusion versions behave the same way as the regular versions of the commands, but they request
that you select entities two times. The first selection allows you to select the entities that should be
affected by the command as usual, while the entities selected in the second step define an exclusion
zone. In practice, this means that areas where the two sets of entities overlap will NOT be affected
by the command. This is a very helpful feature to exclude part of a polygon from processing. Dialog

The commands which currently have an exclusion version are Fill with Symbols, Symbols in Area, The commands will either
and Contours; all of which have been detailed earlier in this chapter. All of these commands are use the last settings used
text-only, and need to be entered on the command line. The relevant commands are FORESTX, the last time you used the
SYMFILLX/SYMFILLXM and CONTOURSMX. dialog, or you can load
settings from file using
Using the exclusion versions are just like using the regular commands, so I’ll only demonstrate with either the FORESTLOAD
Symbols in Area here. Note that FORESTX and SYMFILLXM don’t pop up a dialog when used. or the SYMFILLLOAD
So, I am going to use the map and settings from the image below as a base. The map has a darkened commands respectively.
forest background, this is the area I want to fill with trees, but I wish to avoid placing trees on top SYMFILLX will show the
of the river, road and settlement. dialog when used.
Contours doesn’t have a
configuration dialog at all,
both CONTOURSM and
CONTORUSMX takes all
their input on the command
line anyway.

Now, to use the command, type SYMFILLX on the command

line. You’ll be prompted to select the entity to fill, so select
the dark forest background. One you hit o It, you’ll notice
that CC3+ asks you to select entities again. This time, select
the rivers, lake, village background and road and hit o It
again. The result will look similar to my screenshot to the
right. For comparison, I’ve also included a screenshot below
from the result of running the regular Symbols in Area
command.

As you can see from the exclusion screenshot, the forest fill
avoided the river, road and settlement perfectly, no manual
interaction required afterwards, while the regular command
just filled the area,
overlapping everything.

181
 Additional Details Fractalize / Simplify
Note that the additional The Fractalise command is a great tool to add additional details to a polygon, such as a
definition added by coastline. It does this by adding additional nodes in between existing nodes, and offsets these, which
fractalize has its price. To servers to shorten the length of straight segments, making everything look more detailed. For a
add more detail, more simple example, look at the line below, which have been fractalized to various degrees.
nodes need to be added.
While you can create quite
complex entities without
problems, CC3+ (as well as Applying fractalize can make a landmass look much better, such as in the images below, showing
the underlying graphics before/after fractalize.
subsystem in Windows
itself) can get into problems
if the entity gets too
complex. I recommend
keeping entities below
10000 nodes.

Nodes
Use the List command on an
entity to see how many
nodes it has.

The Dialog
Running the fractalize command is easy enough, but
let us look at the dialog and discuss what the various
options will do.

Strength controls how far from the

centerline between the existing nodes the
new nodes get placed. Small values for
strength mean that the new line get just a
small bend, while larger values means that
larger spikes can form. Note that strength
is a maximum value, so even with a large
strength value, you’ll also see minor
adjustments.

Depth controls how many extra nodes gets added to the entity. A depth of one means
that the number of nodes will be doubled, as one node is placed between each existing
node. A depth of two basically needs that the fractalization is performed twice; the first
pass will double the number of nodes, while the second pass will double it again, for a
total of four times the nodes. Increasing the depth to three will result in 8 times as many
nodes and so on, all the way up to 32768 times as many nodes for a depth of 15. Be
very careful with this value as too many nodes can get problematic (see the additional
details sidebar). Normally, you would keep this on 1 or 2, maybe going to 3. Going
beyond this will usually only result in improved visuals for deep zooms.

182
 The Wave options allows for a more complicated fractalization of the entity. It does this
by setting up a waveform that varies the maximum strength used by the function.

Minimum strength is the smallest value for strength that will be used along the
entity (The maximum strength is the basic Strength value)

Frequency controls how many segments there should be between the use of
maximum and minimum strength. The lower this value, the more often the
waveform will repeat along the entity.

Random Seed is used as a randomizer for the fractalize function. If the same value is
used for the seed, the fractalize will give the same result each time (given the same
entity in the same position). If you didn’t like the first result you got, try to just undo,
change the seed and try again.

If Smoothing is checked, the resulting entity will be a smooth entity instead of a straight
one. This can easily be changed by using the Straight to Smooth or Smooth to Straight
commands later.
Identical

Handling Coastlines Keeping the random seed

identical will often allow
One common problem when fractalizing a landmass that has the coastline as a separate entity is you to end up with identical
that fractalize only handles one of them at a time, and after you have tried to fractalize both, the landmass and coastline
end result may not be identical. after fractalizing both, you
only need to continue with
this procedure if that
doesn’t happen.

Fixing this is fortunately quite simple. Just Erase the

coastline, then right click Change Properties and pick
Change Like Draw Tool. The command line will prompt you
for Drawtool name [dialog]:, simply right click inside the
drawing area to bring up the Select drawing tool dialog, pick
the Land, Default one, and when asked to select entities, select
the landmass and Do It. This should immediately update our
new fractalized landmass with a new coastline.
Number of Nodes
Use Info -> List on an entity
Simplifying an Entity to check the number of
Earlier, I warned about too complex entities, as these can lead nodes.
to slowdown, and even instability if taken too far. A complex
line is also more likely to show the weird spikes mentioned on page 176, especially if you want a
thicker line. So, how can we easily reduce the number of nodes in an entity?

There are two commands for this, Reduce Nodes and Simplify. Reduce nodes is an older command,
and simply removes half the nodes of the entity without any considerations; it just deletes every
second node. You can find this command by right clicking Explode .

Simplify is a newer and much better command. When run, it will ask for a Simplification distance,
this is the size of the smallest feature you want in your map. For example, if you set the feature
distance to 1, details smaller than one mile (assuming an overland map) will be removed. Thus,

183
 Simplify reduces the number of nodes in a path in a smart way, only removing those that create
unnecessary detail instead of blindly removing nodes like Reduce Nodes. Simplify isn’t found in the
menu, but you can start the command by typing SIMPLIFY on the command line.

Obviously, the entity affected will lose detail no matter what command you run. I recommend that
Regional Maps you always consider how much detail you really need in a map. Remember, a continent map is
meant to be viewed as a continent, don’t get too hung up on the fact that the coastline won’t look
Check out the The Big Edit -
as good when doing a deep zoom. You cannot make a map that will look good at all zoom levels,
Making a Local Map from a
so I recommend always considering the primary zoom level of a map when considering details.
Regional Map on page 56
Leave those detailed coastlines for separate regional maps you make from the continent map, don’t
for more information about
try to cram too much detail into the higher level maps. CC3+ maps work best when you create
creating detail level maps
individual maps for each detail level.
from higher level ones. Also
check out Tying your World
Together – Making an
Interactive Atlas on page
132.

Lost Mines
This isometric dungeon was
made by Jim Pierce using
Perspectives 3 as well as the
Isometric Dungeons (2012)
and Temple of Bones (2016)
annual issues.
The map is available in the
Community Atlas
(http://atlas.monsen.cc)

184
WORKING EFFICIENTLY WITH CC3+
It is no secret that CC3+ works differently from most other Windows© programs you may have
used. That is, unless you are experienced with CAD (Computer Assisted Design) software. CC3+ is
built upon a fully featured CAD software package called FastCAD©, and all the basic functionality
of CC3+ is inherited from this software.

While this gives CC3+ a steeper learning curve due to the difference from a regular image editor, it
also makes CC3+ quite a powerful software package. To get the most out of CC3+, you should learn
to use it efficiently. So far, you have learned a lot about how to use the different tools of CC3+, and
this chapter will give you some hint and tips on how to work most efficiently with the program. For
getting the most out of the program, you should also consult the chapters about macros and
customizing CC3+ later in this book.

The Command Line Command Line

The command line is one of your most important ways to communicate with CC3+. CC3+ uses it to CC3+ also introduced the
tell you what it expects you to do next, and what options you might have. You can use it provide floating command prompt.
answers to CC3+’s questions, as well as typing your commands, instead of selecting them from the You can toggle this on or off
menu or toolbars. from the Options dialog
found in the Tools menu.
Note that the text in the
Lesson 1: Reading the command line floating prompt says the
Reading the command line is vital to understanding what CC3+ wants you to do. Always look at same thing as the command
the command line when you are executing commands. There might be a step you have forgotten, line, but sometimes it is
and the command line can remind you what that is. slightly different or contains
a bit more information.
The command line can basically be in one of two states:
Because the command line
1. The natural state of the command line, when you are not in the middle of a command. is always visible, while the
floating prompt is optional,
In this state, the command line will read
this book will always use
Command [SOMETHING]:
the text from the command
The first word, Command, indicates that CC3+ is waiting for a command from you. Behind it line, but the text in the
will be a word in square brackets. This is the last command executed. If you left-click inside floating prompt is usually
your drawing with the Command line in this state, the last command will be repeated. This very similar.
is a quick way of executing the same command several times in a row.
You can also execute any command in this state by just typing the command into the
command line and hit .

2. The command line in mid-command.

Typing the Command
In this state, the command line tells you what to do next. Generally, the command line will
Note that you don't have to
consist of up to three parts. Let us use the following prompt, which can be seen when placing
place your cursor into the
text, as an example:
command line to type into
Place (Shift=15˚ Rot, Shift+Ctrl=Rot, Ctrl=Scale, Justify) [below prior]
it. Whenever you type
The first part is the word Place. This is basically the instructions for this step. In our anything inside CC3+ it will
example, this is short and to the point. It basically asks us to place an item into the map. go into the command line.
Your initial reaction might be to left-click somewhere inside the map, which does indeed The exceptions are if you
accomplish the task of placing the entity. However, you have more options. For example, have a dialog window open,
you can use the modifier commands (Endpoint, Midpoint, Intersection, etc.) by clicking or if what you type is
the appropriate modifier button before clicking in the map. This will allow you to place interpreted as a shortcut
it with a perfect precision in relation to another entity. But another, sometimes command by CC3+ in the
overlooked option is to place the item by typing in the exact coordinates. So instead of current context.
clicking to place the text, you can type 300,400 to place the text at those exact
coordinates. Also, remember that in addition to using absolute coordinates, you can also
type in relative or angular coordinates.

185
 Of course, other commands might expect something else than coordinates. Some
commands might require you to select another entity for example, or to provide some
other kinds of value. This first part of the command line will always explain what it needs

The second part of the command is the part in parenthesis. This part is optional, and will
not appear in all commands. This gives you the options and modifier keys you can use
with this command. In this example, we can see that the and keys, when used
in different combinations, will serve to rotate and scale the text you are placing.

The last part of the command is the part in square brackets, and is also optional. If it
appears, it tells you what would happen if you press the right mouse button at this point.
For this example, clicking the right mouse button will cause the text to be placed just
below the last text we placed. If this part does not appear, clicking the right mouse
button typically end the command, or if you are currently selecting entities, will bring up
the selection menu.

Lesson 2: Typing commands

Almost all of CC3+’s command can be found in the menu, on the toolbar, or as an option in a dialog
box. This makes most commands easy to find when you explore the interface, but it doesn’t
necessarily make them quick to use. This is where the power of the command line comes into play.
When the command line is not in a mid-command state, it will read Command [SOMETHING]:
which indicates that it is ready to accept a command from you. All you have to do is to type in the
command on the command line, and hit . This will cause CC3+ to execute the command just as
if you had selected it from the menu. For an example of a time-saving command, turning on/off
effects requires you to click the Sheets and Effects button, then place a checkmark in Activate
Sheet Effects, and finally clicking OK. You can execute the same command by simply typing
EFFECTSON into the command line. The EFFECTSOFF command obviously turns off the effects
again.

Note that the commands are not case sensitive. CC3+ will always show them using uppercase, but
you can type the command in lowercase, or even mixed-case without any issues.

You can find a complete list of the text commands at the end of each section. Note that some
commands are from the various add-ons, so unless you own them all, you might find that some of
the commands are not available in your installation.

Lesson 3: Answering the prompt

When you are in the middle of a command, the command line prompt tells you what CC3+ expects
from you. Most of CC3+’s prompts can be answered by a click of the mouse, but you can also give
it information by typing the values into the command prompt

If CC3 wants you to place an entity.

In this case, clicking the mouse in the drawing will place the entity wherever you click,
but for more precise control, you can type the coordinates directly into the command
line. For example, if you try to draw a rectangle, CC3+ will prompt you for two diagonal
corners. You can easily do this by two mouse clicks, but if you need an exact size and/or
position, you can simply type in the coordinates instead. A coordinate is the x-value,
followed by a comma, followed by the y-value, for example 3.5,7.8
You can of course also use relative coordinates (prefixed by the @-sign), or angular
coordinates (prefixed by the <-sign). More about coordinates later in this chapter.

If CC3+ wants you to select something, there is a host of modifier keys available to help
you select entities. For example, pressing causes every visible entity to be selected,
pressing activates selection by color, and finishes the selection process (Do It).
More of these are explained in detail in the Shortcut Keys section below.

186
 CC3+ may also prompt you for data that must be typed, like the length of a line. When
CC3+ needs a single piece of data, it will almost always use the command prompt to
ask for it, rather than pop up a dialog box.

Shortcut Keys
While this isn’t specific to CC3+, but applies to any program you intend to spend a lot of time
working with; you should always spend some time learning the shortcut keys of the software.

Most of CC3+’s basic shortcut keys can be found by examining

the various menus. Just as in most other programs, if a menu
item has a shortcut key associated with it, the key combination
is listed to the right of the menu item. Menu Item

In addition to the shortcut keys found in the menus, it is worth memorizing the selection shortcuts. You can customize the
As you already know, CC3+ has some rather advanced selection options, allowing us to select shortcut keys used in CC3+
entities by a wide variety of properties. These can be accessed by right-clicking, and selecting the by modifying the menu files.
appropriate item from the pop-up menu, but using the keyboard allows you to work much more This is explained in the
efficiently. The available keys are as follows: Modifiers chapter on page
190.
Do It -

Cancel -

Combine → And (Both) -

Combine → Or -

Combine → Not -

All -

Prior -

Window -

Color -

Layer -

Entity Type -

More → Line Style -

More → Fill Style -

More → Entity Tag # -

Remember that after choosing a property, CC3+ will ask you for the value of that property (color
number, name of layer, etc.). While you can right-click to get up a dialog to choose the item, you
can also simply type it on the command line.

Letting CC3+ do the Calculations

So, you have scanned in one of your old hand drawn map, and inserted it as a background image
into CC3+ to trace over it. But the scale is all wrong. You use the distance tool to measure a known
distance in the map, the distance between the peaks of Mt. Snowtop and Mt. Starpeak. CC3+ tells
you that the distance is 5.38, but according to your old notes, this is supposed to be 8.13 miles.
Obviously, you are going have the rescale the image before you start tracing, using the scale
command. The formula for calculating the scale factor is real distance divided by measured
distance, so you bring up your calculator, plot in the measurements and get 1.511 which you
provide as argument for the scale command.

187
 Well, that is one way of doing it anyway. However, with CC3+, you do not really need that calculator.
Instead of first doing the calculation, then punching the result into CC3+, just type in the formula
when CC3+ asks for the scale; in this case 8.13/5.38. CC3+ will do the calculation internally, and
simply use the result. You can use this trick whenever the Command Line asks you for a number,
like the scale or distance, and you can also use it inside several dialog boxes, like the scale values
in the print dialog.

While CC3+ isn’t limitless in the complexity of the math it can perform, it should be able to do all
the calculation you need for mapmaking and the like. Just remember, CC3+ won’t show you the
result, it will just calculate it and use it.

Understanding Coordinates
If you look in the top left corner of the CC3+ window, you will see the Tracking Indicator. This
indicator shows the current coordinate of your mouse pointer in the map. Normally, this display
uses the standard drawing unit as its scale, but it can also be set to use other units, like meters or
feet. Using this indicator, you can quickly judge distances and positions in your map, without
resorting to other commands.

The tracking indicator can actually be set in one of four different modes. You can change the mode
simply by clicking on the indicator. This causes it to cycle through the available modes:

Absolute Coordinates: This is the default style of the indicator. When in this mode, the
tracking indicator shows the current location of your mouse pointer in the map using
regular Cartesian coordinates. If you are in the middle of placing a point, clicking will
place it at the exact coordinate displayed in this box (Unless Snap is enabled). This mode
can be recognized by the letter T at the start of the display.

By default, almost all templates have their origin (0,0) a the bottom left of the map. The
X-coordinate increases as you go right, and the Y-coordinate increases as you go up,
just as you would expect from a regular Cartesian coordinate system. This means that
all coordinates inside a standard map will be positive.

Relative Coordinates: These coordinates are relative to the last point/entity placed.
The X/Y values shown are the distance from that point. Positive values indicate that
current position is to the right and/or top of the last point, while negative values indicate
that it is to the left and/or below the last point. This mode can be recognized by @T at
the start of the display.

Polar Coordinates: Polar coordinates are also relative to the last point/entity. However,
instead of the displaying the distance as separate X and Y values, this mode instead
displays the angle of a straight line between that point and the current position, as well
as the distance between the points. Note that these values will never be negative. The
angle will always be between 0 and 360 degrees, and the distance between two points
can never be less than zero. Polar mode is recognized by <T.

None: This mode does not display anything in the tracking indicator at all.

Finding coordinates
The Absolute coordinates of a point or entity in the drawing can be found in a few different ways.
The first is simply to view the Tracking Indicator as you wave the cursor over the point. As you
move the cursor over the drawing, watch the numbers change in the Tracking Indicator.

Coordinates can also be extracted by using List.

1. From the Info menu, select List.

2. Select the entity for which you wish to find coordinates.
3. Right click, then select Do It.

188
The List window that opens
shows all properties for that Properties
entity including the If the entity was a polygon
coordinates. or a path, there would be a
list of coordinates. Each
Another command in the
node in the entity would
Info menu is Coordinate.
have a coordinate.
Select Coordinate, then click
in the drawing on the spot for
which you want the
coordinates. A dialog box will
appear giving the exact coordinates of that point. Coordinate can be used with the various
modifiers, like Endpoint, to find the precise location of a node in a polygon.

Using coordinates
Instead of clicking the mouse button inside the map to place a point or entity, you can input the
coordinates directly. This allows you to place points with perfect precision.

4. Open our Tariga map from earlier (@Tutorials\Tome\Overland\Windclaw 10.FCW)

5. Click Zoom Window .
The Command Prompt at the bottom of the screen reads zoom window: and the pointer
changes to crosshairs. Do not click in the drawing.
6. Type 340,300 then hit .

The prompt reads Opposite corner:.

7. Type 470,180 then hit .

CC3+ zooms in to the region around Snowport.

8. Let us draw some simple entities using coordinate input. Start a new CC3 Standard
Overland map with dimensions 100×100.
9. Click the Box button.

10. The command line reads 1st corner:. Instead of clicking in the map, type 40,40 .

11. The prompt now reads Opposite corner:. Type 60,60 . A nice square box should appear
in the center of our map, using whatever fill/line style you had currently set.
12. Let us draw another box. Follow the instructions above, but for the first point, type 10,10 and
for the second point, type @20,20. Notice the @-sign in the second coordinate pair. That told
CC3+ that the second point should be relative to the first one, and not absolute map
coordinates. If you use the List tool on the last box, you’ll notice that it’s top right corner is
at coordinates 30,30.
13. For our last box, we will use Polar coordinates. Again, repeat the command, and use 70,70
for the first coordinate pair. For the second, use <45,28.28. Yet again, we end up with a box
the same size as the previous two, but this time we used polar coordinates to specify the
angle and distance between the opposite corners.
The first two boxes we drew using coordinates should be pretty straight forward. For the first one,
we typed in the actual coordinates of the corners directly, and the box appeared at the precise
coordinates we provided. For the second box, the second set of coordinates were relative to the
first, so the second corner is really the sum of the individual coordinates (10,10 + 20,20 = 30,30).

189
 However, the last one might be a bit trickier to understand. To do this, we will need to take a closer
look at the math involved. First, the angle; why did we choose 45 degrees? Well, that one is simple.
We wanted a square, and since each of the 4 corners of a square is exactly 90 degrees, and a line
drawn between two opposite corners in a square will divide it into two equal parts, the angle will
be 45 degrees. Note that this was only this simple because we used a square. If we wanted a
ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
rectangle we would need to use the formula tan 𝜃 = . So for the example rectangle, we would
𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ
20 2 2
have that tan 𝜃 = = , which gives us that 𝜃 = tan−1 = 33.7°
30 3 3

To get the length, we use the Pythagorean theorem, which states that 𝑎2 + 𝑏2 = 𝑐 2 . In our example,
a and b are the height and width, which are known values, while c is the hypotenuse, the unknown
line in our equations. This gives us that 𝑐 2 = 202 + 202 = 800. This means that 𝑐 = √800 = 28.28 which
was the value we used when we drew the square. For the rectangle example, we would have that
𝑐 = √202 + 302 = √1300 = 36.06.

If you believe that this looks like the trigonometry math from school, you are completely right. Turns
out it has a real world use after all.

Note that in the example above, we treated the angle and the hypotenuse as unknowns, but
depending on what you know about the map, it might just as well be the height/and or width that
are unknown, which means that using polar coordinates makes a whole lot more sense, because
you can just give CC3+ what you know, instead of applying the formulas above in reverse to get
the proper values for use with absolute coordinates. Remember that part of being efficient with
CC3+ is to use the right tool for the job. You shouldn’t calculate the polar coordinates just for the
sake of it if you already got what you need for absolute/relative coordinates, but you should also
remember that CC3+ can just as well handle polar coordinates when you know the angle and
distance. Bottom line is, leave all the calculations to CC3+. If you use the right tools and options, you
never need to bring out your calculator or old math books.

Northwest Ithon
This example was created by
using the Campaign
Cartographer Annual April
2012, Herwin Wielink
Overland style. Cartography
by Stephen Manuele. The
map is a local region of a
fantasy world (Ithon) being
developed for works of
fiction.
You can see the main Ithon
map on page 574.

190
Modifiers
There are many times when working with CC3+ where you need precise placement of nodes. We
discussed coordinates earlier in this chapter, and the use of these to specify precise positions, but
there are times when you need to be precise in relation to another entity, like you may need to end
the river precisely at the coastline, you want your wall to line up exactly with another wall, or you
want to place that torch exactly at the midpoint of that wall. Whenever you need to place something
in CC3, be it a node, and entity or a symbol, you can always use CC3+’s modifiers to help you get a
precise position in relation to some other entity.

You’ll find the most common modifiers at the bottom of the

right-hand toolbar set, but there are more if you open up the
Snaps submenu in the tools menu.

Endpoint Midpoint

On Intersection

Perpendicular Center

These modifiers are not commands in themselves, but rather helpers that
you are supposed to use along with other commands. Therefore, modifiers
are something you need to activate mid-command. For example, if you wish
to place a symbol at the midpoint of a line, first select the symbol from the Selecting
symbol catalog normally, but instead of placing it right away, click the When selecting an entity for
Midpoint modifier. You’ll notice that the command line changes from the regular symbol placement the modifier, normal
commands to asking for an entity instead. Now, simply click anywhere on the line, in the same selection rules must be
manner as you would if you were selecting it, and the symbol should be immediately placed at the observed, i.e. lines are
midpoint of the line. If the line is part of an entity, only that particular line segment will be selected by their centerline,
considered. polygons and symbols by
Note that using a modifier to place an entity will not attach the entity permanently to the target, it their outline, and text by it’s
is just used for positioning there and then, but they do not keep a relationship afterwards. baseline.

Example

Draw an Arc Select a symbol Click the Click anywhere Symbol ends up
Midpoint along the line in the middle of
modifier the arc

List of Modifiers
Midpoint
The midpoint modifier will make the position halfway along the length of the selected segment. If
you select an entity consisting of multiple segments, like a polygon, only the current segment will
be considered.

Center
Center makes the position in the middle of the selected entity. This considers the entire entity
selected, so the actual position will normally not be on an edge.

191
 Endpoint
The endpoint modifier will make the position the end of the selected segment. This is very helpful
when you need to target a node in a polygon

Intersection of
This modifier makes the target the intersection points between two entities. When using it, if you
manage to target an actual intersection with your pick cursor, it will use that intersection as the
target position, if not you will need to select each entity individually, and the position will be where
they intersect. Note that the lines selected doesn’t actually need to intersect, CC3+ will calculate
the point where they would have intersected had they been longer.

Distance Along
This modifier allows you to set the position a specified distance along another entity, like 100 map
units from the end.

Nearest Point ON
This modifier ensures that the target is precisely on another entity, but at no particular point along
it.

Parallel To
This is used to make two lines parallel to each other. Use this when placing the second point for a
line, the modifier will ensure that it can only be placed in such a way to make the line parallel to
the selected line

Perpendicular To
Used in much the same way as Parallel to, but ensures that the secondary line is Perpendicular to
the first.

Like
This modifier is similar to the Like command. Basically, it allows you to retrieve the properties of
another entity and make these the current settings mid command. When the current command
ends, the settings revert.

% Along
Like Distance Along, but specified using a percentage value.

Degrees On
Used to specify degrees along a circle (or similar)

Angle To
Similar to Perpendicular To, but lets you specify the angle between entities.

Bearing Angle
Forces a specific bearing.

Tangent To
Use on a circle to position the second point of a line on the circle edge in such a way that the line
becomes a tangent to the circle.

@ Ref. Point
Changes the references point for where this is needed for the modifiers (Same X, Same Y, (Ortho)).

192
Same X, Same Y
These two modifers forces the next point to be either the same X or same Y coordinate as the
previous point. This is the same behavior you may have experienced with Ortho.

Attach
At the bottom right of the CC3+ interface, you may have noticed the Attach button. This is basically
an “automatic modifier” button. If it is enabled, and you place a point in a position where a modifier
would make sense (for example you place the end of a river on a coastline), CC3+ would act as if
you had activated that modifer. Right click on the Attach button to set the active modifier used.
Note that having this enabled may cause weird placements that might seem unexplainable if you
are not aware of how this works, much like the Snap button.

Customizing Menu and Toolbars

As you have already seen, CC3+ contains a large number of menus and toolbars. You have probably
also noticed that when you switch between the different add-ons, the menus and toolbars change.
This ensures that you always have the proper tools at hand for the type of map you are making,
while keeping unneeded tools out of the way. After all, why would you have a dungeon corridor
button in the toolbar when you are working with an overland map?

While each add-on comes with its own customized menu, you can also modify the menus yourself.
Either to add a completely new menu specialized for your own use, or more frequently, make small
changes to existing menus

The menu files

The menu files lives primarily in the CC3+ data directory. Inside here, you will find several files with
the extension .mnu. If you only have the base product, you will only have one of these files,
fcw32.mnu, which is the base menu file for CC3+, but almost every add-on you install will add its
own menu file here. As of this writing, the following files are known:

CC3+ base menu (Overland Maps): fcw32.mnu

Dungeon Designer: dungeon.mnu

City Designer; city.mnu

Character Artist Pro: ca.mnu

Character Artist 3: ca3.mnu

Dioramas: dioramas.mnu

Perspectives: per.mnu

Symbol Set 3: ss3.mnu

Symbol Set 4: ss4.mnu

Source Maps: Castles: castle.mnu

Cosmographer (Deckplans): cosmo3.mnu

Cosmographer (Overland): cosmo_land.mnu

Cosmographer (Starmaps): cosmo_star.mnu

World War 2 Interactive Atlas: wwii.mnu

In CC3+, only one of these files is loaded at a time, which means that each of these files contains a
complete set of menus and toolbars. This means that if you change something in one of the files, it
will only show up when that file is loaded.

193
 In addition to these files, there is a global menu file named fcw32.imn. The contents of this file will
be loaded in addition to the menu file used. By default, this file does not exist, but you can create it
yourself. This file might also be created by an add-on. This file is edited just like any other menu file,
but it usually contains far less entries, since only global entries should go in this file.

Editing menu files

All the menu files are plain text files. You can open them for editing in Notepad, or any other text
editor.

A menu file is divided into two sections, toolbars and menus. You can easily see which is which,
because all toolbar entries start with a hash sign (#) and a number, while the menu entries do not.

Each line in the menu files defines exactly one element, which can be a toolbar, a toolbar button, a
menu, a submenu or a menu item.
Built-in Icons
When editing the menu files, make sure you do not leave any blank lines in the menu file, neither
You can find a list of all the inside nor at the end of the file. There should be a new line after the last line of text in the file,
built-in icons in CC3+ in enabling you to move the cursor down to the empty line below, but nothing more than that. CC3+
@Documentation\Tome\CC is very sensitive to this, and adding an additional blank line may cause CC3+ to crash on startup.
3+ Toolbar Icons.pdf.
You should also be careful with extra space characters in the command lines. For most commands,
a space terminates the command or the current parameter.
Bitmap file
Toolbars
Bitmap files have the file
extension .bmp. A typical toolbar entry looks like this (should appear as a single line in the file):
Because CC3+ must
#501,CC2LAND:[Default Landmass]{|DRAWTOOLSM;Land*;}|DRAWTOOLSM;Land, Default*;
support multiple toolbar
sizes and screen Each of the parts of this line has a specific meaning, so let us examine the parts in the example line
resolutions, four files are above:
required for each icon, but
#501: This indicates the position of the toolbar button. The first digit (5) indicates which
the reference in the menu
toolbar the button goes on, the rest of the digits indicates the position on the toolbar.
file should only reference
Note that only one button can occupy each position, so if two lines define a button on
the base version.
the same position, only one will show up.
The four versions required
are: Note that the special position 99 is reserved for defining the name of the toolbar. You
16x16 pixel icon can’t put a button in this position.
24x24 pixel icon
The following toolbars are available:
32x32 pixel icon
48x48 pixel icon 0 : Right Toolbar 2 (Note that leading zeros are dropped in the numbers)
1 : Right Toolbar 1
If the base name is
BitmapA.bmp, the four files 2 : Left Toolbar 2
should be named: 3 : Left Toolbar 1
BitmapA.bmp 4 : File Toolbar
BitmapA24.bmp
5 : Custom Toolbar (Not shown in the user interface by default, use the Screen
BitmapA32.bmp
Tools button to show it)
BitmapA48.bmp
6 : Symbol Toolbar
Note that the menu file 7 : Custom Toolbar (Not shown in the user interface by default)
must always reference the
base version (the 16x16 CC2LAND: This is the name of the icon to show on the toolbar button. These refer to
one, the omission of 16 built-in icons inside CC3+. This entry can also be a file path to a bitmap file. It can be
from the file name is stored anywhere, but @Bitmaps\Icons is the default location.
intentional), CC3+ will find Example: #309,@Bitmaps\Icons\BitmapA.bmp:[Erase]|ERA;
and use the other versions
as needed. [Default Landmass]: This is the tooltip text that appears when you hover your mouse
pointer over the toolbar button. It must appear inside square brackets like here. This part
is optional.

194
 {|DRAWTOOLSM;Land*;}: The part inside curly brackets define the right click action of
the button. If you do not need a right click action, you can skip this element.
This particular command loads the Drawing tool that starts with Land. If there are more
than one that matches this (there usually is), the drawing tool selection window is shown,
using Land* as the filter.

Notice the syntax. You need both the curly brackets and the vertical line.

|DRAWTOOLSM;Land, Default*;: The final part of the line, this defines the left-click
action of the button. This works just like the right-click action, the only difference is that
it is not in curly brackets. Other than that, the syntax is identical. Transparent
The meaning of the specific command shown here is also very similar to the right-click A transparent command is a
command. Note however that the filter is more specific in this case, meaning that there command that can be
will usually be only one drawing tool matching this filter, so that drawing tool will be executed in the middle of
started automatically instead of showing the selection dialog. another command, like the
zoom commands and the
Note the vertical bar (|) that appears in both the left and right click commands. This indicates that
attach commands.
the previous command should be canceled before starting this command. If the command you are
specifying is a transparent command, you can prefix it with a tilde (~) symbol, like this
{~Command;}. Note that you can include multiple commands that will be executed in sequence,
Macro
just separate them with a semicolon. Also, if the command needs arguments, these follow the
command, also separated by semicolons. See the chapter on macros
starting on page 198 for
The command can be either a built-in CC3+ command, or a macro. instructions on how to write
your own macros.
Menus
While toolbar items can be defined in any order, for menus, order is important. A typical menu entry
looks like this: Accelerator Key
An accelerator key is the key
&Print... ^P:|PRINT;
you can hit to activate that
Let us examine this line: menu element while the
menu is open. It is different
&Print…: This is the text that appears in the menu. Notice the &-sign. This is placed
from a shortcut key, since a
before the accelerator key for this menu entry, often before the first characters, but it
shortcut key can be used
can also appear in the middle of the text. If your system is configured to show
without activating the
accelerator keys, it will be shown with an underscore in the menu, like this: Print…. Try
menu. Accelerator keys
opening the file menu by pressing + instead of opening it with your mouse, and
need to be unique within
you should see the accelerator keys revealed. If you don’t want an accelerator key, the menu they appear in.
simply do not include an &-symbol.

^P: This indicates the shortcut key for this menu item. The caret (^) symbol means that
you need to press the key in addition to the indicated letter to activate this shortcut. Shortcut Key
Note that there should be a character between the menu text and the shortcut key, A shortcut key allows you to
or it won’t work. execute a menu item
without opening the menu.
In addition to assign + letter combinations, you can also assign function keys. Simply For example, +
write F1 to assign as a shortcut key. SF1 means + , CF1 means + and saves the current map.
SCF1 is + + . Shortcut keys needs to be
globally unique within a
Currently assigned shortcuts are visible right-aligned in the menus. program. Note however
that since CC3+ only have
|PRINT;: This is the command to execute when this menu element is activated. This can
one of the menu files loaded
be a built-in command or a macro.
at a time, you can reuse the
Note that you should use the vertical bar (|) in front of the command. If you are making same shortcut (even for
a transparent command, prefix it with a tilde (~) character instead. different purposes) for each
menu file.
Main Menus
Each menu element belongs to one menu, like the File, View or Symbol menu. You can create your
own menus by simply having the name of the menu followed by a colon on a separate line, like
this:

195
 &File:

All menu elements following this statement will be part of that menu, up to the next menu definition.
Note that menus also usually have accelerator keys.

Submenus
You can also define your own submenus. These are defined much the same way as full menus, but
with a >-sign at the end of the name to indicate that this is a submenu.

&Trims>:

Elements belonging to this submenu are indicated by indenting them by a single space. The
submenu ends once you stop indenting the entries.

Separator Lines
A separator line is made by putting 12 dashes followed by a colon on a line:

------------:

Special Entries
If you look through the menu files, you will see some rather odd lines looking like this:

!1,0:|;

These lines are hooks that are used by CC3+’s program code to insert special elements. For example,
the example above will be replaced by the list of recently opened maps. Others represent the
checkmarks that shows if a menu option is enabled or not.

Unless you are into XP development for CC3+, you won’t be able to do much about these, other than
move them around in the menu files. Usually, you’ll wish to leave these alone.

Popup menus
You might have noticed that when you right-click some toolbar buttons, you get a popup menu
instead of immediately executing a command. Each of these popup menus are defined in their own
file. These are regular menu files, but they can only contain menu elements.

Normally, these files are stored in the @system folder, with the file extension mnc. To call a popup
menu, use the CMENU command, like this:

#428,SMC:[Castles Menu]{~|CMENU @SYSTEM\smc.mnc;}

~|SYMICONMR;SYMICONFLOAD Castle;MENUDM @castle.mnu;

Note that while a popup menu is usually associated with a right click, it is perfectly legal to assign
it to a left click as well.

The default right click menu

When you right click in CC3+’s drawing area between commands, you get a menu with some
commonly used options, including the option to repeat the last command, some zoom options,
erase and undo. This menu is defined in the @system\rclick.mnc menu file. You can edit this file
and add additional commands to it for quick access, just as with any other menu file. In the image
I have added the options to turn on and off effects to the menu, by adding the following three lines
at the bottom.

------:

Effects Off:EFFECTSOFF;
Between Commands
Right clicking in the middle Effects On:EFFECTSON;
of a command executes a
command-dependent action Loading a menu set
instead, often ending the If you have created your own menu set, you also wish to create some way to access it. This is done
command. by creating a menu element or toolbar button that uses the MENUDM command to load your menu
file. Your custom menu should also have a way to return to the core CC3+ menu, so it should also

196
have an element using MENUDM to load fcw32.mnu. The following example is the button used to
load the Dungeon Designer Menu

#420,DD2:[Dungeon Menu]{~|CMENU @system\dungeon.mnc;}

~|LOADDDPRO;MENUDM @dungeon.mnu;

Example
Let us create a button that we can use to load a symbol catalog. For this example, I’ll be using Ralf
Schemmann’s Dark Fantasy Symbol. The CC3+ version is installed along with this Tome, but if you Create a Folder
are running CC3 you can get them from http://www.mapsandmore.com/?p=17. I like to create a folder to
keep my personal menu files
When you install these symbols, they are integrated with the SS1 Fantasy Color style, so they are
in, instead of using the
already available. So, why create a button for them? To be honest, the prime reason for this for the
default directories. This also
sake of the example, but also because this makes the symbols easier accessible in other map styles
makes it easier to backup
as well. In my personal CC3+ install, I’ve had a button for just these symbols for years, along with
the files and move it to a
buttons for several other third-party symbol sets that also can be used with multiple styles.
new installation.
1. Download and install the symbols mentioned above.
2. Create a folder called menu in your main CC3+ data directory.
3. Create a text file in @menu called dark_fantasy.mnc, and add the following lines to it
Dark Fantasy Symbols:
--------------------:
Mountains:|CATALOG @Symbols\Maps\SS1\Fantasy\Color\DFMountains.FSC;
Structures:|CATALOG @Symbols\Maps\SS1\Fantasy\Color\DFStructures.FSC;
Vegetation:|CATALOG @Symbols\Maps\SS1\Fantasy\Color\DFVegetation.FSC;

The first line is a heading for the menu. It will appear in the menu, but selecting it doesn’t do
anything. The second line creates a menu separator, a thin horizontal line. The three following
lines use the CATALOG command to load the Dark Fantasy symbol catalogs.
4. Open up @fcw32.mnu in a text editor. Add the following line to it:
#610,DD2CAVE:[Dark Fantasy]|CMENU @menu\dark_fantasy.mnc;
This line will add a button to the symbol catalog toolbar which you can click to get access to
the submenu we defined above. The line can be added anywhere in the file, but the file is
easier to manage if you put it where it belongs, that is, right below the line that starts with
#608.
Note that 610 were chosen because the last normal entry for this particular toolbar (The
symbol catalog toolbar) was 608. This will create a space between that button and our new
button. If position 610 is already occupied, just find the next free number in the 600-series.
When you insert the line, make sure that you don’t insert any extra blank lines.
5. Start CC3+ and check that your new button shows up
and works as expected. If CC3+ is already running, you
can just click the Map Menu button to (re)load the
core CC3+ menu, and the button should show up.

197
 AUTOMATING CC3+ USING MACROS
One of the more powerful features of CC3+ is the ability to create and use macros. In this chapter,
we will have a closer look at this feature.

Macros
An Introduction to Macros
You can make our own Do you ever find yourself performing the same commands, over and over again? I do. When I'm
macro file to store your creating a new drawing, I like to sketch out the general shapes first, which sets up the basic layout
macros in while you are of my drawing. I do this with width 0 black lines, on a layer called Temporary. As the drawing
testing them; it’s a good progresses, I am constantly going back to these shapes, editing, adding and deleting. I use the
idea not to mess around shapes as a guide for the final polished drawing.
with the fcw32.mac file However, every time I want to make some additions to my sketches, there are a number of things
until your macros are I have to do first: set the active drawing color to black, set line width to 0, set line style to Solid, set
working flawlessly. You fill style to Hollow, and set the layer to Temporary. This can seriously slow down the drawing
should also keep a copy of process! What I need is a short cut; one command that would do these five things for me. What I
your macros in a separate need is a macro. (Discerning readers may remember that the Keep button allows you to extract
file in any case, so that you properties from an existing entity, but in most cases this macro will be quicker.)
can easily add them to the
fcw32.mac file in a new A macro is simply a collection of commands. Since almost every CC3+ command has a text
CC3+ installation or if the command line equivalent, CC3+ macros are nothing more complicated than lines of text. Each line
fcw32.mac file gets starts with a command, and is followed by the information that is required by that particular
overwritten. command. Macros are not very complicated to make, and can be of enormous help in eliminating
repetitious sequences of commands. In essence, macros are custom commands, tailor made for you!

Find the Text Equivalents A note about command line commands

A complete list of By convention, all command line commands are expressed in UPPERCASE. Note however that this is
commands is found in just a convention, and since CC3+ is not case sensitive when it comes to commands, you can type
Command Reference on them in lowercase if you wish to. This is also why I in this example have a macro with a MixedCase
page 223. If the command name, but still call it from the command line using all UPPERCASE.
you seek cannot be used in
a macro, check Macro
Command Reference on How to Make a Macro
page 267, or look in the I have often found that the best way to learn is by example. So, using the situation I described above,
Help index. You can also try let’s go through the process of solving this problem with a new macro.
this trick: while in CC3+,
trigger the command you First of all, you need to know where the macros are kept. CC3+ stores all its macros in a single text
want to use via the buttons, file, fcw32.mac in the CC3+ data folder. If you want your macros to be available to you all the time,
or the menus. When the this is where they need to go. All you need is a text editor like Notepad.
command is done, look at
Create a new text file called mymacros.mac, save it in the CC3+ data folder, and start editing.
the command line. In
brackets, you will see the Once you have your macro file open, start typing! Begin with MACRO MyMacro. This marks the start
text equivalent of the of your macro, and it also gives your macro a name you can type at the prompt. Now, we start
command you just used. adding commands.
This works for most of the
drawing commands (LINE Macro equivalents of CC3+ commands
and POLY, etc.) but not on
At this point, you may ask, "well, yes, but how do I know what commands I need?" Admittedly, most
the clicks on the Status bar.
of us use the buttons or the menu options in CC3+, but it is possible to type the command at the
With the exception of
Command Prompt to do the same tasks. Each menu command has a text equivalent you can type.
commands which get file
Once we find the text equivalents, we can create our macro.
names from the user and
command which has dialog Now we should know what commands we need. We want to change the current color (that would
box, most commands will be the COLOR command). Then, we want to set the current line width (that's LWIDTH). Next, we set
work in a macro. the current line style (LSTYLE) and the current fill style (FSTYLE). Finally we need to set the current
layer (that's right: you guessed it: LAYER). Now all we have to do is throw those commands into the
text file, save it up, and we're done, right? Well not quite…

198
Each of these commands needs some information to complete it. Figuring out what information is
required is fairly straightforward, too. You can check the Help file, the Macro Command Reference,
or you can try another trick. Again from CC3+ type your command into the command line, then
press . CC3+ will actually tell you what it needs next at the prompt. Just keep typing info (don't
use the mouse), using to separate your values if more than one piece of information is required.
Be sure to pay close attention to every keystroke you use, because this is exactly what we are going
to type into the macro.

OK, now we have data to go along with our commands. Change active color to black (0 is the
numeric value equivalent), change line width to 0, change the line style to Solid and the fill style to
Hollow. The layer will be changed to Temporary. You can throw this into the macro now:
MACRO MyMacro
COLOR 0
LWIDTH 0
LSTYLE Solid
FSTYLE Hollow
LAYER Temporary
ENDM
Load Macros
Note that we finish off the macro with the ENDM command. Also, make sure you leave a blank line
after this ENDM command. Note that when you load a
new macro file, the current
That's it. Save the file, and click Tools → Macros → Load Macros. Select your file, then click Open. one is unloaded. Since a lot
Now, in CC3+, change the color, line width, layer etc. to other values, just as if you had been drawing of CC3+’s functionality is
a bunch of other stuff. Let's test the macro. Type MYMACRO at the prompt, and hit . As if by magic, implemented using macros,
your drawing settings should change! Aren't macros grand? you’ll find that several tools
stop working properly upon
Add your macros to CC3+’s standard macros loading your own macro
file. Therefore, this is just
When you are happy that your macros are working, simply copy them from your macro file, and something you do when
paste them into the beginning of fcw32.mac using a text editor. Save the file. When you start CC3+, testing the Macro. When
the new macros will be ready to use. done testing and you are
happy with the macro, you
An advanced macro example should always copy it to the
standard macro file
One of the most useful ways to learn about macros is to analyze what others have done. Here is a
working macro with each line described in detail. The macro is called RIV, and is used to help
drawing rivers with varying widths and shades.

The macro has four sections, each with its own distinct purpose. We’ll start by defining those
sections, which will give an overview of how the macro generally works. Then, we’ll look at each
line of the macro, one by one. This macro was originally written by Joachim de Ravenbel as part of Section 1
his macro tutorials.
The macro starts by saving
You can find this macro in the file riv.mac in the @Tutorials\Tome\Other folder. the current settings, and
prompting the user for
First, here’s the macro, divided into its four logical sections: required information. The
user provides values for the
river width and color. The
--------------------Section 1---------------------------
MACRO Riv user also picks an entity to
SELSAVE use as a guide, to draw the
SAVESETTINGS stairs along.
GV lw1 2
GV lw1 ^DEnter first width: (2)
GV lw2 lw1/10 Section 2
GV lw2 ^DEnter last line width: (10% of first line width)
GN c1 78 In this step the macro has
GN c1 ^DEnter first color: (78 ligh blue) the user click the various
GN c2 65
GN c2 ^DEnter last color: (65 dark blue) points that will describe the
--------------------Section 2--------------------------- river. It uses a loop that will
GP P0 ^DClick first point
IFERR MacroDone repeat the code for as long
GP PT P0 the user clicks points.
GOLAYER TOERASE
GN PointNb 1

199
 :Clickloop
Section 3 GP PL @0,0
GP PT ^DClick next point (Right click to end)
This section draws the IFERR PointsDone
actual lines for the river. It LINE PL PT;
GL comm GP
uses a loop which will run as APND comm;
many times as the user APND comm P
APND comm PointNb
clicked points in the APND comm;
previous section APND comm PT
APND comm;
comm;
Section 4 GN PointNb PointNb+1
GO Clickloop
The final section of the --------------------Section 3---------------------------
macro cleans up temporary :PointsDone
drawing entities made by GOLAYER WATER/RIVERS
SHEET MYRIVERS
the macro, and restores the GN LineNb 1
settings saved in section 1, GP PI P0
:LineLoop
ensuring that running the GL comm GP
macro don’t change the APND comm;
users drawing settings. APND comm PJ P
APND comm LineNb
APND comm;
comm;
GV lw lw1+(lw2-lw1)*(LineNb-1)/(PointNb)
LWIDTH lw
GN col c1+(c2-c1)*(LineNb-1)/(PointNb)
COLOR col
FPATH PI PJ;
GN LineNb LineNb+1
GP PI PJ
IFP PointNb-LineNb LineLoop
--------------------Section 4---------------------------
LAYER TOERASE
HIDEA
SELBYA
ERA
SHOWA
LAYER WATER/RIVERS
:MacroDone
GETSETTINGS
SELREST
ENDM

Line by line macro deconstruction

MACRO Riv

All macros start with a ‘MACRO’ statement. This defines the name of the macro, and the start
of the macro code. Be sure to use a name CC3+ doesn’t already use, or your command will
replace it!
SELSAVE

Save the current selection method for CC3+ (see Tools → Options → Select Method). We
will be changing the select mode in this macro, so we use this command to save the user’s
current setting first. We can then restore it at the end of the macro.
SAVESETTINGS

This will save the various user settings, like the current color, current sheet, current layer and
current fill style. The macro is going to change these values, so by saving their current values,
we can restore the user’s settings at the end of the macro, leaving the environment
unchanged.
GV lw1 2

Here, we define a real variable lw1. By giving this variable a starting value, we assure that
the variable will have a value, even if the user fails to give it one in the following line.

200
GV lw1 ^DEnter first width: (2)
GV
Prompt the user for a value for the lw1 variable. This variable holds the value for the widest
part of the river. If the user fails to provide a legal value, the value used in the previous line The GV command requires
will be used. Note that the number in parenthesis is just information to the user what the two pieces of input - first
default value will be if none is provided. This information should match the value we actually the variable name to be
defined in the line above. assigned; and second, the
value itself. In the previous
GV lw2 lw1/10
macro line, we assigned the
Here, we define the variable for the width of the narrow part of the river. For this value, we variable a fixed value of 10.
divide lw1 by 10, thus setting the default width for the narrow end at one tenth of the wide In this line, we prompt the
end, whatever that might be set to. user to enter a value by
GV lw2 ^DEnter last line width: (10% of first line width) using the ‘^D’ command.
This allows the user to enter
Again, we prompt the user for a value, this time for the line width at the narrow end of the a value at the CC3+ prompt.
river. The provided value will be stored in lw2. Note that all the text that
GN c1 78 follows the ‘^D’, up until
the first line break, is passed
The variable c1 will hold the color used for the river in the wide end. Note that while GV to the prompt. In this case,
above gets a real number, GN will get an integer. Note that this number will reference the the prompt text is Enter first
colors position in the CC3+ palette, which is why it needs to be an integer. width: (2). The 2 in
GN c1 ^DEnter first color: (78 ligh blue) parenthesis just lets the
user know that a default
We now ask the user for the color to be used for the wide end of the river. We do expect that
value of 2 will be used if
the user is familiar with CC3+’s color numbering. Note that 78 might not actually be a light
they choose not to enter any
blue if the user uses a custom palette, but we won’t deal with this eventuality here, instead
data by right-clicking or
we simply trust that the user knows this and provides color values accordingly.
hitting .
GN c2 65

As with c1 above, we set up c2 to hold the color index for the narrow part of the river. Note Color Position
that the macro will actually use all the values in between the two specified values, so it is The CC3+ palette used
important that both values are from the same row on the color palette. indexed colors, which
GN c2 ^DEnter last color: (65 dark blue) means they are addressed
by their position in the
We ask the user for the final value. As before, if the user fails to provide a valid value, the
palette. The first color is 0,
variable will remain unchanged from the previous line, and use the value of 65.
and the last is 255. Values
GP P0 ^DClick first point outside this range will not
This time we ask the user for a point. GP is used to get a point and store it in a variable. Do produce a valid color.
note that when asked for a point, the user can simply click somewhere in the drawing to set
it, he can type in the coordinates, or he can use one of the modifiers like On or Endpoint
along with the click to ensure it gets placed at a precise position. Note that the first point is Row
the wide end of the river. The color palette is divided
IFERR MacroDone into rows, where each row
represents different shades
If the user failed to provide a valid point, the previous line will rise an error condition. This of the same color. If the
doesn’t necessary stop the macro, we can ignore it and continue on if we desire, which is values specified span color
exactly what we did previously when we asked for widths and colors. However, when we rows, the river will end up
did that, we ensured we had a proper default values, so continuing on was safe. Now, with very weird colors.
however, if we don’t get a point, we don’t have anywhere to start, so we need to abort if this
happens. The IFERR statement checks if the error flag is set (for example if the user right GP
clicked or hit ) and if that is true, the macro will jump to the MacroDone label instead of
GP asks for two pieces of
continuing on to the next line. If you look down to that point in the macro, you will see that input: the variable to be
we start the cleanup at that point to make a clean exit. assigned (PT) and the point
GP PT P0 to assign.

This line sets the PT variable to the same point P0 the user specified. We do this because we
need a copy of the original starting point for later reference, as well as a copy we can modify
during the macro.

201
 GOLAYER TOERASE

During the macro, we need to place some temporary entities. Since CC3+ allows us to erase
entire layers at once, it is much easier to clean up all these entities by putting them on a
temporary layer by themselves. GOLAYER sets the current layer to the layer specified, and
creates it as well if it does not already exist. The regular LAYER command also sets the current
layer, but would fail if the layer didn’t already exist.
GN PointNb 1

The PointNb variable is used to keep a count of the number of points clicked for the river. At
Label this point in the macro we know we only have the starting point, so we initialize the variable
Labels in CC3 macros are to 1.
defined by a unique name. :Clickloop
A label in a macro cannot
share a name with any This line is a label. They don’t have any functionality by their own, but conditional statements
other label in the same (like IFERR above) can cause the macro execution to jump to these lines based on certain
macro. Every label is on its conditions. This particular label will be used each time the user clicks a point to form the
own line, and starts with a river. Since we don’t know exactly how many points the user will click, we need a loop that
colon (:). runs the exact same macro code for each point for as long as the user provides them.
GP PL @0,0

We get another point and store it in PL. Note that the @-symbol in front of the coordinates
means relative coordinates (see Understanding Coordinates on page 188). So 0,0 here
doesn’t mean the origin, but will actually be the exact same location as the previous point.
We do this because we need the previous point when drawing our guide lines below
GP PT ^DClick next point (Right click to end)

We now ask the user for the next point along the river. If the user right clicks instead of
providing a point, this will be handled by the IFERR line below.
IFERR PointsDone

This time, if the error flag is raised, it means that the user has declined to specify more points.
This means that the user is done specifying points, and we can jump to the PointsDone label
to start the actual drawing of the river.
LINE PL PT;

This line draws a line between the previous point clicked and the last point clicked. This is a
simple guideline to show the user where the river will be. The proper lines will be drawn once
we are done collecting points.
GL comm GP

GL gets a line of text (a string) to store in a variable. What we are starting here is manually
building a command line to create a dynamically named variable. This is required because
we do not know the exact number of points the user will click, so we are creating new
variable names on the fly. This first line of this process defines a new string variable called
comm, and starts it off with the text GP. It is important to realize that right now, GP is being
interpreted as text to add to the variable, and not the command GP to be executed. However,
when we later call this dynamic command line we are building, GP will then be executed as
a command.
Currently the comm variable contains “GP”
APND comm;

The APND command is used to add text to the end of an existing variable. We use this
command to continue building our dynamic command line.
When a command line contains multiple input parameters, they are usually separated by a
space or a semicolon(;). If the parameter itself can contain spaces, a semicolon must be used.
By placing a semicolon right after the variable name when using APND and nothing after the
semicolon, we are basically saying that we don’t want to add anything to the text string as
all. However, this is interpreted by CC3+ to mean that we want a parameter separator, so it
inserts a semicolon into the string for us.

202
 Currently the comm variable contains “GP;”
Letter
APND comm P
Note that if P was an
This line will add the letter P to our comm variable. already defined variable,
Currently the comm variable contains “GP;P” the content of the variable
APND comm PointNb would have been inserted
into the string, instead of
This line will append the content of the PointNb variable to comm. Remember that we used the actual letter, so take
this variable to store the number of points clicked, so this will increase by one for each care when defining your
iteration through the loop. For the first round through the loop it will be 1. variable names.
Currently the comm variable contains “GP;P1”
APND comm;

Another separator.
Currently the comm variable contains “GP;P1;”
APND comm PT

We now append the coordinates of the last point clicked to comm. For the sake of example,
we’ll just assume this point is 20,30.
Currently the comm variable contains “GP;P1;20,30”
APND comm;

And the final separator.

Currently the comm variable contains “GP;P1;20,30;”
comm;

By calling a variable by itself, CC3+ tries to execute the text contained within it. If this is not
a valid command, CC3+ will show an error message. However, during the last few lines we
built a valid GP command, so running this should add the coordinates of the last point clicked
to a variable named P1 (then P2 on the next iteration of the loop, and so on).
Note that the semicolon at the end of the variable name is required to properly terminate the
command.
GN PointNb PointNb+1

This line increases the value of PointNb by one by taking the old value, adding one and
assigning it to the same variable name.
GO Clickloop

This line will cause the execution to jump back to the Clickloop label from earlier to ask the
user for the next point. The user can break out of the loop by declining to enter a point as
explained earlier, which would cause the macro to go to section 3.
:PointsDone

This label is where the execution will go to when the users stops providing more points.
GOLAYER WATER/RIVERS

As before, this changes the active layer, and creates it if it doesn’t already exist.
SHEET MYRIVERS

This line sets the current sheet, and also creates it if it doesn’t exist. Do note that new sheets
will always go to the bottom of the drawing order, meaning that everything drawn on them
will end up on top of everything else.
GN LineNb 1

We define a variable to keep track of the current line segment we are drawing. This is used
to retrieve the values of the dynamic named points we created earlier.

203
 GP PI P0

We start drawing our river at the beginning, so we retrieve the first point the user clicked (P0)
and puts it into our PI variable.
:LineLoop

This label is the starting point of the loop that will iterate over all the points and draw proper
line segments between them.
GL comm GP

We build another dynamic command line. The purpose of this is to retrieve the dynamically
named points we stored previously.
Currently the comm variable contains “GP”
APND comm;

Adding the separator.

Currently the comm variable contains “GP;”
APND comm PJ P

Adding the PJ variable name to store the value in and the P that starts the point variable
name. We need to do it this way because PJ is an actual variable, and if we let it be alone on
the line, the value of the variable would be inserted instead, which is not what we want. By
adding the P at the same line, CC3+ sees the complete text, which does not match the
variable name.
Currently the comm variable contains “GP;PJ P”
APND comm LineNb

Adding the number of the current line segment, this also matches the number of the point
that ends it, which is why we can use this value to retrieve the correct point. For the first
iteration this will be 1.
Currently the comm variable contains “GP;PJ P1”
Calculate
APND comm;
The math for calculating the
width of a particular line Adding the separator.
segment Pi is Currently the comm variable contains “GP;PJ P1;”
𝑙𝑤2 − 𝑙𝑤1 comm;
𝑙𝑤1 + (𝑖 − 1)
𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑁𝑏
Running the dynamic command should result in the coordinates from P1 being put into PJ
(then P2 for the next iteration, and so on). Remember the semicolon at the end.
Correct Color
The color for line segment Pi GV lw lw1+(lw2-lw1)*(LineNb-1)/(PointNb)
is calculated using the This line calculates the width of the current line segment, and stores it in the lw variable.
following formula.
𝑐2 − 𝑐1 LWIDTH lw
𝑐1 + (𝑖 − 1)
𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑁𝑏 Here the current width is set. This is the value CC3+ uses when it draws an entity, and is
Note that the color must be normally set by the user through the status bar.
an integer, but since GN
require an integer, this is GN col c1+(c2-c1)*(LineNb-1)/(PointNb)
handled automatically. This will calculate the correct color for the current line segment.
COLOR col

This sets the current color for CC3+ to use.

FPATH PI PJ;

FPATH draws a fractal path between two points. The various commands we ran above should
result in PI and PJ being the respective ends of the current line segment. By using a fractal
path, the river gets additional detail.
GN LineNb LineNb+1

Here we increase the current line segment by 1 for the next iteration of the loop.

204
GP PI PJ

We store the end point value in the starting point value, so that the next segment starts
where the current ended.
IFP PointNb-LineNb LineLoop

The IFP command checks if a value is positive, and if it is, will jump to the label provided.
Here, we check if the number of line segments is equal or less to the number of points
provided. Obviously, we wish to stop drawing once we run out of points. If this test is failed,
the program will continue on to the next line, where we start our cleanup.
LAYER TOERASE

We change the layer back to the temporary layer we created. We could use GOLAYER as well
here, but we know this one exists since we created it earlier in the macro.
HIDEA

This command hides all layers except the current one.

SELBYA

This command changes the selection method to all. Basically this means that whenever a
command that requires selection is executed, everything visible will be selected and the
command will be immediately executed. This is normally only useful in macros.
ERA

This is the Erase command from CC3+. Due to the fact that we changed the selection method
Visible
above, everything on all visible sheets will be erased, instead of going through the normal
selection procedure used when drawing. Note that by doing HIDEA
and then SHOWA, layers
SHOWA
that might have been
This makes all layers visible. hidden before will be shown
as a side effect. To avoid
LAYER WATER/RIVERS
this you could use the
This sets the current layer to WATER/RIVERS SELBYL selection method
:MacroDone instead which selects by
layer, and skip the hiding
This label marks the end of the macro, the rest of the lines cleans up after us and restores the and showing steps.
user’s environment. Note that this is the target of the error handler earlier, to make sure that
we clean up if an error occurs.
GETSETTINGS

Here we restore the user’s settings which we saved earlier. If we didn’t do this, the user’s
current settings would be changed to the layer, line width and color we last set in the macro.
SELREST

This restores the most important setting, the selection method. If we forgot to do this, or the
macro crashed without cleaning up, the user will end up with the select all selection method,
which would be confusing an problematic if the user doesn’t know how to change it back,
since it persists even after restarts.
ENDM

This last line marks the end of the macro. Make sure to leave a blank line in the macro file
between this and the start of the next macro.

205
 Hints for good macro making
Every macro must start with the MACRO statement, and end with an ENDM statement.

Be sure to separate each macro from its neighbors with a blank line or two.

Make sure you leave an extra couple of blank lines at the end of your macro file.

Spaces count! Check your macro for double spaces or spaces at the end of lines. Neither
is good.

If your macro doesn’t do what you think it should do, try typing your macro commands
one by one into the command line. This way, you can see how CC3+ is reacting to your
commands.

Always make the macro clean up after itself. Use SELSAVE to save the user’s select
method at the beginning of the macro, and SELREST to restore it. Use SAVESETTINGS and
GETSETTINGS to restore the user’s settings, and if you turned screen echo off with ECOFF,
remember to turn it back on with ECHON.

Note that if the macro crashes halfway through, these restore commands usually don’t
get called, which means you need to clean up manually. This nice little macro provided
by Joachim de Ravenbel simplifies the cleanup, provided your macro saved the settings
properly in the first place:
MACRO ABORT
SELREST
GETSETTINGS
ECON
ENDM

More information on macro making

The CC3+ help file contains plenty of information on the various macro commands available to you.
Check out the Alphabetical List of Macro Commands; very useful!

Each chapter in this tome also contains an appendix with a command reference. These lists contain
all the information on how to use each command in a macro. This list is also available as a
spreadsheet in @Documentation\Tome\Commands.xlsx.

The September 2009 annual (see Annuals → Other topics on page 212 for details and link) provides
another look at the macro capabilities of CC3. There are also macro tutorials available at the user
tutorials page (http://www.profantasy.com/community/user_tutorials.asp).

For additional help with macros, I suggest that you visit the ProFantasy forums at
http://forums.profantasy.com. Here you can ask questions about making macros, and you can show
off your creations. Remember that if you have made a useful macro, there might be other CC3+
users out there that would love to have a copy of it.

Macro Drawing Tools

Drawing tools offer you a new way of accessing macros. This provides several advantages. For one,
you can make drawing tools that can do very complex operations, not just drawing simple entities.
Second, you also have a new place to store your macros. To have a macro globally available, it
should be stored in fcw32.mac, and that file is large because all of CC3+’s own macros are in there
too. It is also very difficult to find a macro in this file without knowing exactly what you are looking
for. This file may also be overwritten during an update, and if you make a new install of CC3+, you
need to remember to copy over your macros. By putting them in drawing tools instead, you end up
with one tool for each macro which makes them easier to organize, and you can easily get an
overview of the available tools.

This usage is discussed in the Drawing Tools chapter, starting on page 139.

206
Taking it Further – XP Development
So, writing macros still doesn’t completely fill your needs? Perhaps you wish to take this one step
further?

You can actually write your own add-ons for CC3+. This can be minor functionality, like adding an
extra command, or it can be a larger project, the possibilities are endless. Taking this step is not
something I would recommend for everybody though, as it involves actual software development,
but if you feel up to it, I would recommend you give it a go.

I have written a series of articles over at the ProFantasy blog that should get you started, you’ll find
them at http://rpgmaps.profantasy.com/xp-tutorials/

You can also join the developer mailing list, found at http://www.profantasy.com/community/CC2-
DEV.asp. It is not a terrible active list, mainly because the number of people developing for CC3+ is
small, but the people there are knowledgeable and helpful.

You’re also encouraged to come ask your questions in the ProFantasy forum, there is a separate
category available for Macro and XP topics.

Starship Miniatures
This miniature starship
armada was created by Ralf
Schemmann using
Dioramas Pro.
You can find more images
as well as the FCW file in
the ProFantasy forum at
http://forum.profantasy.co
m/comments.php?Discussio
nID=158

207
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
There are plenty of additional resources for CC3+. You have all the various add-ons of course,
allowing you to make all kinds of maps besides fantasy overland maps, such as city maps, dungeon
maps, star maps and so on. However, since all of the add-ons have their own chapter in this book,
let us concentrate on those that provide additional resources for overland mapping.

First, we have Symbol Set 1: Fantasy Overland. This symbol set contains several new overland
map styles for CC3+, with accompanying symbols. This is a great way to provide more variety in
your maps.

Symbol Set 3: Modern provides map styles and symbols for modern overland maps, as well as
other types of maps. This add-on is a great resource if you make modern maps.

We can also continue along the timeline, until we encounter Cosmographer 3. Among the features
of this add-on are futuristic planetary maps and hex-maps. However, many of the overland map
styles from Cos3 works equally well for a fantasy setting, so it is a great product for introducing
some additional variation to your maps.

Yet another great product when it comes to overland maps is Fractal Terrains 3. FT3 is a program
for generating entire planets. The planets can be edited in FT3, or it can be exported to CC3+ for
additional work. If you are planning to map an entire world, FT3 is an excellent starting point.

Annuals
A lot of the annuals contain material suitable for overland mapping. The list below shows the
annuals up to the time of publishing this book. Annuals that directly relate to another add-on are
listed in the section for that add-on instead.

Overland mapping
These annuals cover various aspects of creating overland maps with CC3+

Mercator Historical [January 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 1}

This map style allows you to create maps in the style of 16th and
17th century maps. Today, this is still one of my personal favorites
among the annuals.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/january07.html

Sarah Wroot [April 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 4}

This style pack gives you the tools and resources needed to make
maps in the style of cartographer Sarah Wroot

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/april07.html

208
Parchment & Paper [June 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 6}

This issue provides you with the tools and backgrounds to make
maps on parchment. While the accompanying guide uses a dungeon
as an example, this is equally applicable to overland maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/june07.html

Pete Fenlon [January 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 13}

This style pack allows you to create maps in the style made famous
by Pete Fenlon.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/january08.html

Video Tutorial [June 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 18}

This video tutorial takes you through the creation of a standard CC3
map, and contains lots of tips and tricks.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/june08.html

Overland B&W [August 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 20}

This issue adds an additional black & white overland style to CC3.
This style works very nicely with the Parchment & Paper issue.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/august08.html

Shaded Relief [December 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 24}

Shaded Relief is a technique to use shadows and shading to show

changes in elevation. With this issue you can draw such maps in
CC3.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/december08.html

Fantasy Realms [February 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 26}

This style is based on one of the maps by master mapper Allyn

Bowker.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/february09.html

209
 Fantasy Worlds [April 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 28}

This style is based upon the mapping style of Swedish cartographer

Pär Lindström.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/april09.html

Strip Maps [May 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 29}

Strip maps where created to chart a road or a journey, and focuses

on just that. With this style you can map the terrain and features
along a long road.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/may09.html

Napoleonic Battles [August 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 32}

This is a new map style for creating local area battle maps with unit
positions in the style of the classic maps from the Napoleonic wars.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/august09.html

Modern Atlas [October 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 34}

This is a new overland mapping style, emulating the style used in

modern atlas maps, with a focus on readability. This issue also shows
you how to export maps from FT into this style.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/october09.html

Fantasy Illustrations [January 2010 (Vol 4)] {Issue 37}

This issue provides a black and white style which provides excellent
printable maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/january10.html

210
Modern Political [June 2010 (Vol 4)] {Issue 42}

This modern overland style allows you to make maps that focus on
political information.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/june10.html

Overland Hex [July 2010 (Vol 4)] {Issue 43}

This pack contains a tools and symbols for creating overland hex
maps in classic RPG style.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/july10.html

Landform Maps [August 2010 (Vol 4)] {Issue 44}

With this issue you can create physiographic landform maps.

Inspired by the work of renowned cartographer Erwin Raisz, they
provide a bird's eye view of the actual terrain of the depicted area.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/august10.html

Photoshop Brushes [September 2010 (Vol 4) {Issue 45}

In this issue you can find a new style based on freely available
Photoshop brushes, as well as instructions how you can convert such
brushes to symbols yourself.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/september10.html

Overland Perspectives [January 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 49}

This style lets you create maps in a beautiful bird's eye view that
makes the landscape stretch out before the viewer.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/january11.html

Jon Robert’s Overland [March 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 51}

This issue contains a new overland style created by Jonathan

Roberts for CC3.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/march11.html

211
 Military Operations [September 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 57}

This style pack contains a new style based on the maps of the World
War 2 Interactive Atlas, suitable for all kinds of modern and near
future military operations. This issue contains several of the same
commands WW2IA installs into CC2 Pro, making this an alternative
to using CC2 Pro for the WW2IA maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/september11.html

Treasure Maps [October 2011 (Vol 5)] {issue 58}

This overland style is designed for creating illustrative treasure maps

in a hand drawn style, suitable to be used for example as player
handouts.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/october11.html

Climate Textures [December Extra 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 60a}

This annual contains new bitmap textures created from satellite

photos that can be used with FT3’s texture shader, as well as in CC3,
providing a new look for maps in both programs.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/december11a.html

Overland Satellite Maps [February 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 62}

This issue brings you an overland style for creating maps based on
quasi-realistic satellite imagery.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/february12.html

Djekspek’s Fantasy Lands [April 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 64}

This issue brings another beautiful overland style to CC3, based on

the artwork of Herwin Wielink.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/april12.html

Real World Maps [May 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 65}

This issue comes with a set of real world maps in CC3 format, as
well as instructions on how to make your own with the help of
Fractal Terrains 3.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/may12.html

212
13th Age Overland [September 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 69}

This issue allows you to make maps in a style based on the world
map of the 13th Age role-playing game published by Pelgrane Press.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/september12.html

Djekspek’s Fantasy Lands part 2 [November 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue

71}

This style expands upon the Herwin Wielink style from issue 64.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/november12.html

Pär Lindström’s Fantasy Regions [December 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue

72}

This style by Pär Lindström is especially suited for mapping smaller

regional areas.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/december12.html

Myrr Overland [March 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 75}

This style focus on using fill style and effects to depict terrain
features, rather than symbols.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/march13.html

Midgard World [April 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 76}

This style by Jonathan Roberts is based upon his Midgard Campaign

Setting world map.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/april13.html

Comic Book Maps [June 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 78}

This style is designed to make more light-hearted maps, in a more

comic-style.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/june13.html

213
 Pär Lindström Black and White [July 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 79}

This is a black and white style inspired by classical Tolkien maps and
others.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/july13.html

DeRust Overland [September 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 81}

This style is made by TJ Vandel based on his maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/september13.html

Overland CC3 Hex [November 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 83}

This style converts the basic CC3 Overland style into a hex-mapping
style, allowing you to make quick hex maps with the same look as
the CC3 Overland maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/november13.html

1930s Overland Maps [December 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 84}

This overland style is inspired by the maps from 1930s travel

guides.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/december13.html

DeRust Overland Expansion [December 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue

84b}

This style expands on the DeRust style from issue 81.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/special13.html

World War 2 Area Maps [January 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 85}

This style pack allows you to make WW2/modern area maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/january14.html

214
Map Projections [March 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 87}

Drawing a map of the surface of a sphere on a flat piece of paper

has always been a problem for mapmakers. This issue deals with the
various projections used to overcome this problem.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/march14.html

Volcanic Islands [April 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 88}

This style is well-suited to creating regional maps of forests and

rolling mountains.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/april14.html

Havenland [May 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 89}

This is an overland style by Glynn Seal.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/may14.html

Worthington Historical [July 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 91}

This map style is well-suited for creating overview maps of historical

and quasi-historical sites.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/july14.html

Real-world Vector Data [August 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 92}

This issue deals with importing real-world vector data for use with
overland maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/august14.html

Modern Journeys [September 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 93}

This style lets you depict the itinerary and visited locations for
modern journeys or expeditions as would be found in many modern
horror or pulp adventures.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/september14.html

215
 Alyssa Faden Overland [September 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 95}

This overland style was created by Alyssa Faden based on her maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/november14.html

Classic Fantasy [May 2015 (Vol 9)] {Issue 100}

This style is inspired by classical fantasy maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/may15.html

Local Area Maps [August 2015 (Vol 9)] {Issue 103}

This is a light-hearted style for creating local maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/august15.html

Ancient Realms Part 1 [October 2015 (Vol 9)] {Issue 105}

This overland style by TJ Vandel is designed to depict ancient and

mysterious realms.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/october15.html

Ancient Realms Part 2 [November 2015 (Vol 9)] {Issue 106}

This expansion to issue 105 adds location icons and varicolor

structures.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/november15.html

Here Be Monsters [January 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 109}

This style is designed for world or continent maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/january16.html

216
Empire of the Sun [February 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 110}

This style is inspired by ancient Japanese and Chinese maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/february16.html

Dungeon Worlds [June 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 114}

This style is designed to map underground realms, empires spanning

huge cave networks, filled with the races of the underworld.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/june16.html

Woodcut Maps [July 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 115}

This overland style is designed to be reminiscent of early modern

woodcut prints.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/july16.html

Scorching Sun [August 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 116}

This local style specializes in deserts and desolation, allowing you

to make maps of harsh environments.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/august16.html

Realms of Legend [November 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 119}

A classic overland style by TJ Vandel. This is a great style on its own,

but is designed to also work very well together with the Dark Fantasy
style for even more options.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/november16.html

Dark Realms [December 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 120}

Another style by TJ Vandel, this time a darker style. This works fine
along with the Scorching Sun and Realms of Legend annuals from
the same year.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/december16.html

217
 Black and White Fantasy [January 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 121}

This black and white style is well suited for illustrations, such as
handouts or in books.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/january17.html

Wild West [March 2017 (Vol 11)] {issue 123}

This unique mapping style allows you to create fantasy maps with
an Old West feel to them.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/march17.html

Mercator Revisited [July 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 127}

This issue revisits the style from the very first annual issue and
updating it.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/july17.html

Parchment Maps [August 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 128}

This style expands on the 2015 Classic Fantasy style, giving you
additional symbols and resources to make beautiful parchment
maps.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/august17.html

Marine Maps [October 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 130}

Using this style you can design modern style marine maps.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/october17.html

Mike Schley Hex [January 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 133}

Turns the Mike Schley Overland style into a hex style.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/january18.html

218
 Curse of the Lich King [March 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 135}

This map pack comes with all the maps needed for a complete
adventure.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/march18.html

Myrklund [May 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 137}

Provides a flamboyant map style by Glynn Seal.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/may18.html

Dark Fantasy [August 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 140}

The dark fantasy symbols are back, this time with an entire style to
accompany them.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/august18.html

Overland Video Tutorial [October 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 142}

This video tutorial takes you through making an overland map from
start to finish.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/october18.html

Other topics
The annuals listed here either relate to other topics discussed in this section, or they simply don’t
relate to any standard type of map at all. In the latter case, these annuals are intended for use with
CC3+ without any add-ons, which is why they are listed here.

Connecting Symbols [November 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 11}

This issue goes into details on the creation of connecting symbols.

While normally not used for overland maps, these symbols are very
helpful for city and floorplan maps. Connecting symbols are also
discussed on page 123 of this tome.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/november07.html

219
 Create your own Style Pack [December 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 12}

This annual issue focuses on the process of creating a new drawing

style. It uses an old-school dungeon style as an example, but the
lessons learned apply equally to all kinds of maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/december07.html

Symbol Catalogs [February 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 14}

In this annual symbol creation for CC3, DD3, and CD3 is explained
in further detail.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/february08.html

Heraldic Symbols [March 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 15}

This issue explores the creation of heraldic shields and devices.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/march08.html

Interactive Atlas [May 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 17}

In this issue, map links are further explored and it looks on how to
link maps together to form an interactive atlas.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/may08.html

The Map Border [November 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 23}

The map border is an important visual element of any map. This

pack provides additional options and tools.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/november08.html

Ornamentation [June 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 30}

This issue gives you a loot of ornamentation you can use on your
maps, as well as explaining how to make more.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/june09.html

220
Print and Export [July 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 31}

Here we take a closer look at various ways of printing and exporting

your maps for various uses.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/july09.html

Macros [September 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 33}

This issue provides an in-depth look at the macro language in CC3.

Macros are an advanced topic, and can be difficult to master, but
they also provide great possibilities.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/september09.html

Military Units [November 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 35}

With this issue you can create military units following modern
NATO/US symbology.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/november09.html

Shortcuts [February 2010 (Vol 4)] {Issue 38}

This issue is all about taking advantage of CC3’s user interface, and
customizing it to your needs.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/february10.html

Abstract Maps [May 2010 (Vol 4)] {Issue 41}

This is a tool pack for creating various kind of abstract maps, like a
subway map, flowcharts or other abstract representations.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/may10.html

Cutting and Exporting Map Parts [August 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue
68}

This pack details the process of taking areas form an existing map
to create a detailed map of that section.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/august12.html

221
 Investigation Props [January 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 73}

The style pack contains templates for cork and white boards,
symbols for photograph overlays, computer readouts, file cards and
sticky notes, as well as drawing tools for marker scribblings,
connecting arrows and the like.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/january13.html

Map Markers [May 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 77}

This issue focus on various types of map markers.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/may13.html

Large Exports [September 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 129}

This issue provides you with a macro designed to let you make huge
exports of your map by exporting it in smaller tile. The macro is also
explained in detail to help you write your own macros.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/september17.html

Sue’s Parchments [December 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 132b}

Provides you with a collection of parchments that can be used for

map backgrounds or other decorations.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/bonus17.html

Star Charts [April 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 136}

Contains new tools, symbols and templates for making great looking
star charts.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/april18.html

222
APPENDIX A: CC3+ COMMAND REFERENCE
This table gives you a list of all CC3+’s commands except those used specifically in macros which are found in Appendix B:
Macro Reference. You can also find this file in a handy spreadsheet format in @Documentation\Tome\Commands.xlsx. The
file can also be a bit easier to read since lines doesn’t have to be adapted to a book layout. Commands introduced in Add-
ons are listed in the relevant chapters.

Command gives you the command name found on the CC3+’s menus, the name that appears when you hover
the mouse over a button (tool tip text) or on a right click popup menu. Type the command into CC3+’s Help Index
or Find list to get more details on the command. In order to make alphabetical sorting better, some words have
been rearranged. For example, to make the commands Fractal Polygon and Smooth Polygon appear near each
other, they appear in the list as Polygon, Fractal and Polygon, Smooth. Keep this in mind when searching.

Description explains the command.

Where? Let you know which menu, popup menu or toolbar to find the command. It uses a few keywords; like
menu which mean it refer to one of the program menus, tools which refer to a section on a toolbar (Check the
CC3+ interface diagram on page 14 for the names; button simply means a button, usually on a toolbar, but there
are a few others, and popup means to right click the specified button and then access the option from the popup
menu; the word dialog means that the feature is found somewhere in the dialog that will show, this keyword is
not used when the dialog simply is the feature itself. For example, a 2-point circle can be accessed by right
clicking the Circle button on the Draw toolbar. Do note that some commands are available in multiple places,
this list summarizes all commands, but it doesn’t necessarily list all the ways you can access the command.

The Text Equivalent is what you type at the Command prompt to use the command. Note that this is the direct
command, while the Where column shows you the GUI way of doing the same, but this will not always call the
exact same command as listed here.

The Command Syntax shows the command line parameters for the command where applicable. See Appendix
B: Macro Reference on page 267 for more information on the syntax used here.

Macro If the command is useable in a macro, then Yes, otherwise No. If the command is itself a macro, it says
Macro. Note that all commands are useable as the last line in a macro.

Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro

3D View Loads the Perspectives drawing of Source Maps Navigation 3DVIEW Macro
the current location in the Source tools → 3D View
Maps products
About CC3+ Displays a dialog box showing Help menu → About CC3 ABOUT No
version information about CC3+
VER
About XPs Shows a list of the installed XPs XPCFG No
(add-ons) and lets you show
information about each one
Activate Drawing Activates a drawing tool by name. XPSYMCATDRAWTOOL sTool Yes
Tool Can technically be used in a
macro, but the command line
depends on the drawing tool
called. Syntax is style\tool
Actuate Activates a hotspot in the map. ACT xyLocation Yes
Mostly useful in macros since
normally these can be simply RUN
clicked on
Add Background Adds a solid background in the ADDBACK Macro
current color
Add Grid Overlay Add a grid overlay to the drawing. Draw menu → Hex or ADDGRID No
Available grids are square, hex Square Overlay
and isometric. Optionally also set HEXGRID No
a snap grid to match the grid Overland Tools → Hex Grid
button HEXGRIDM Macro
Align Grid Aligns CC3+'s snap grid to a Tools menu → Snaps → AGRID xyLocation Yes
specific point. This is helpful when Align Grid
you need the grid to match up
with the position of an entity
Align Symbols to Sets the angle for new symbols to LOCKSYMANG xyEntity Yes
Edge match the bearing of an entity,
ensuring symbols align with that
entity

223
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Arc Dialog Brings up a dialog where you can Draw menu → Arc ARCD No
choose which type of arc to draw.
Keep in mind that the choice here Draw tools → Arc popup →
also change the default behavior Options
of the Arc button
Arc with Arrow Draw arc with arrowhead pointing Draw Tools → Arc popup → ARCA xyCenter;xyStart;rEndAngle Yes
in the direction the arc was drawn Arc with arrow
Arc with Arrow, Draw arc with arrowhead pointing ARCAS xyCenter;xyStart;rEndAngle Yes
reverse in the reverse direction
Arc with Double Draw arc with arrowheads at both Draw tools → Arc popup → ARCDA xyCenter;xyStart;rEndAngle Yes
Arrow ends Arc with double arrow
Arc, Center and Draw arcs specifying center, radius Draw menu → Arc dialog ARCR xyCenter;rRadius;rStartAngle[prior No
Radius and angles end];rEnding Angle[1st
Draw tools → Arc popup → Start];…;…;rStartAngle[prior
Center and Radius end];rEnding Angle[1st Start]
Arc, Center, Start Draw arc specifying center, start Draw menu → Arc dialog ARCS xyCenter;xyStart;rEndAngle Yes
and End and end
Draw tools → Arc popup →
Center, Start and End
Arc, Chained Draw a set of arcs in a chain Draw menu → Arc dialog CARC xyStart;xyBulge;xyEnd1;xyEnd2;…;xyEnd Yes
N
Draw tools → Arc popup → CARCD
Chained
Arc, Default Draw an arc using the default Draw menu → Arc dialog ARCI Yes
settings. Change using the Arc
Dialog. While this command can Draw tools → Arc button
technically be used in a macro, it is
not recommended since the
command line depends on what
arc type is the default at the time.
See the entries for the various arc
types for the command lines
Arc, Elliptical Draw an elliptical arc Draw tools → Arc button → ELIPA xyCenter;xyAxis1EndPoint;xyAxis2EndPo Yes
Elliptical Arc int;xyArcStart;xyArcEnd
Arc, Start, Bulge, Draw an arc specifying the start Draw menu → Arc dialog ARC3 xyStart;xyBulge;xyEnd Yes
End point, point on bulge and end
Draw tools → Arc popup →
Start, Bulge and End
Arc, Start, End, Draw an arc specifying the start Draw menu -> Arc dialog ARCB xyStart;xyEnd;xyBulge Yes
Bulge point, end point and point on
bulge Draw tools → Arc popup →
Start, End and Bulge
Arc, Wedge Draw wedges specifying center, Draw menu → Arc dialog ARCW xyCenter;rRadius;rStartAngle[prior No
start and end end];rEnding Angle[1st
Draw tools → Arc popup → Start];…;…;rStartAngle[prior
Wedge end];rEnding Angle[1st Start]
Area Calculates the area covered by a Info menu → Area AREA xyPoint1;…;xyPointN No
polygon
[Enter];selectEntity
Arrow Style Set the style of the arrowheads Tools menu → Set ASTYLE No
used on lines, including shape and Properties → Arrow Style
size
Arrow Style, Set the height of arrow heads ASTYLEH rHeight Yes
Height
Arrow Style, Set the length of arrow heads ASTYLEL rLength Yes
Length
Arrowhead Toggle Toggles the display of AHEAD xyEntity Yes
arrowhead(s) on a line or path.
Toggles the arrowhead on the end
of the entity closest to the
selection point
Attach Off Turn off attach. Attach is like Tools menu → Snaps → ATCHOFF Yes
modifiers, but is used Attach Settings dialog
automatically
Modifier Locks tools →
Attach button
Attach On Turn on attach. Attach is like Tools menu → Snaps → ATCHON Yes
modifiers, but is used Attach Settings dialog
automatically
Modifier Locks tools →
Attach button
Attach Settings Select attach setting to use. Attach Tools menu → Snaps → ATCHMODE No
is like modifiers, but is used Attach Settings
automatically
Modifier Locks tools →
Attach popup

224
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Attach Toggle Toggle attach. Attach is like Tools menu → Snaps → ATCHT Yes
modifiers, but is used Attach Settings dialog
automatically
Modifier Locks tools →
Attach button
Auto Hide All Turns off sheet autohiding Tools menu → Sheets → SAUTOHIDEOFF Yes
Sheets Off Sheets and Effects dialog

Display tools → Sheets and

Effects button dialog
Auto Hide All Turns on sheet autohiding. With Tools menu → Sheets → SAUTOHIDEON Yes
Sheets On this option on, CC3+ will Sheets and Effects dialog
automatically keep all sheets
hidden, except your current sheet. Display tools → Sheets and
If you switch current sheet, the old Effects button dialog
will be hidden and the new shown
Auto Hide All Toggles sheet autohiding on/off Tools menu → Sheets → SAUTOHIDETOG Yes
Sheets Toggle Sheets and Effects dialog

Display tools → Sheets and

Effects button dialog
Auto Save Options Brings up a dialog where you can File menu → Autosave ASAVE No
configure auto save options.
File tools → Save popup →
Autosave
Automatic Cut This command controls the Cut menu → Select CAUTOSELOFF Yes
Selection Off behavior of the rest of the manually
commands in the Cut menu. When
automatic selection is off, you will
first be asked to select the entities
you wish to affect, before you
specify the cut frame
Automatic Cut This command controls the Cut menu → Select by cut CAUTOSELON Yes
Selection On behavior of the rest of the frame
commands in the Cut menu. When
automatic selection is on, it won't
ask you to select which entities to
include in the operation, rather it
will automatically select the
entities that are at least partially
inside the cut frame
Background Color Sets the drawing background color BKGNDSVG sColor Yes
(SVG) using Svg named colors, or the
following color formats: #RRGGBB,
#RGB, rgb(rrr,ggg,bbb)
Batch Conversion Converts multiple files between File → Batch Conversion CONVF No
different formats
Bearing Determine the direction of a line Info menu → Bearing BEARING xyEntity No
(in degrees)
xyPoint1;xyPoint2
Bearing [modifier] Modifier used to make a path Tools menu → Snaps → BRNG xyEntity No
segment have the same bearing as Bearing angle
another entity xyPoint1;xyPoint2 No

rAngle Yes
Bézier Curve Draw a smooth entity based on a Draw tools → Smooth Path BEZ xyStart;xyEnd;xyBulge1;xyBulge2 Yes
bézier curve popup → Bezier Curve
Bitmap Cache List Lists the content of the bitmap EFFECTSCACHE No
cache
Bookmark, Open Opens the currently selected Tools menu → Bookmarks OPENBC No
Current bookmark entry → Edit Bookmarks dialog

File tools → View

Bookmarks button dialog
Bookmark, Open Opens the next bookmark entry Tools menu → Bookmarks OPENBN No
Next → Open Next Bookmark

File tools → Next Bookmark

button
Bookmark, Open Opens the previous bookmark Tools menu → Bookmarks OPENBP No
Previous entry → Open Previous
Bookmark

File tools → Previous

Bookmark button

225
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Bookmarks Show the bookmark dialog, Tools menu → Bookmarks BOOKMARK No
allowing you to open and edit → Edit Bookmarks
bookmarks
Box Draw a basic rectangle. Will Draw menu → Polygon BOX xyFirstCorner;xyOppositeCorner Yes
appear filled if line with is 0, dialog
otherwise will appear hollow with
an outline Draw tools → Box button
Break Remove part of a line/polygon. If Edit menu → Trims → Break BREAK xyEntity;xyBreakStart;xyBreakEnd Yes
used on a polygon, it will turn into
a path Single Edit and Trim tools
→ Break button
Bring Infront Of Changes the ordering of an entity Edit menu → Entity Order ABOVE xyTargetEntity;selectEntities Yes
so that it will appear on top of → Bring in front of
another entity.
Note that sheet order overrides Entity Order Tools → Bring
this, so it only have an effects on infront of Button
entities within the same sheet
Bring to Front Sends an entity to the front of the Edit menu → Entity Order SFRONT selectedEntities Yes
drawing order, allowing it to cover → Bring to Front
other entities. Note that it will still FRONT Macro
stay on the same sheet, so this Entity Order tools → Bring
won't affect it's ordering with to Front button
regards to entities on other sheets
Browse Example These are a set of macros that BROWSECIT Macro
Maps uses Browse Files to show a
predetermined directory BROWSESMC

BROWSETTC

BROWSEWW
Browse Files Bring up the CC3+ browse dialog BROWSE sPath No
which shows thumbnail previews
of all the maps in the folder. BROWSEC sPath Macro
Clicking on a map will open it. By
default, the browse dialog will
show map file (*.fcw) but it will
remember the view settings within
the same CC3+ session. Note that
if there are many previews to
generate, the browse dialog may
take some time to open
Browse Part Similar to Browse Files, but the file BROWSEPART No
you click on will be inserted into
your current drawing instead of
being loaded as a new drawing.
Also see Insert Part and Insert File
Browse Templates Similar to Browse Files, but locks BROWSET sPath No
the view to only show template
files
Browse, Set Set the default folder for Browse BROWSEP No
Default Folder Files
Calculate Calculate an algebraic expression CALC sExpression No
CC2 to CC3 Old drawings from the CC2 era LYRTOSHT fSettings Yes
Conversion relied exclusively on layers. This
command converts these old LYRTOSHTD No
drawings to modern CC3+
standards by putting entities on
sheets based on their layer. This
allows you among other things to
add effects to such maps. Note
that manual tweaking is almost
always required after running this,
but it is a good start
Chamfer Creates a beveled corner between Edit menu → Trims → CHAMFER xyEntity;xyEntity;rChamferDistance[Pr Yes
two entities, keeps corner Chamfer Only ior]
CHAM
Chamfer and Trim Creates a beveled corner between Edit menu → Trims → TCHAM xyEntity1;xyEntity2;dChamferDistance[ Yes
two entities, deletes old corner Chamfer & Trim Prior]

Single Edit and Trim tools

→ Trim popup → Chamfer
& Trim
Chamfer Wide Sets the chamfer angle for wide File menu → Drawing LWCANG rRadius Yes
Lines lines. CC3+ will automatically Properties dialog
chamfer corners that are smaller
than this angle. File tools → Drawing
Properties button dialog

226
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Change Change properties of selection. CHANGE No
Select property to change from
dialog
Change Changes the color of the Edit menu → Change CHANGEBC nColor[Dialog] Macro
Background Color background polygon in the map. If Background Color
the map don't have a background
polygon, this will fail with an error, Edit tools → Change
and if the background polygon Properties popup → Change
employs bitmap fills, this Map Background Color
command will do nothing
Change Color Change color of selected entities Edit tools → Change CHANGEC selectEntities;nColor[dialog] Yes
Properties popup → Change
Color
Change Decimal Change the number of decimal CHDECP selectedEntities;nNumDigits Yes
Places places in a number displayed as a
text entity. The entity can't contain
anything but the number. Note
that excess digits are permanently
dropped, this isn't just for display
Change Fill style Change the fill style of selection Edit tools → Change CHANGEFS selectEntities;sFillStyle[dialog] Yes
Properties popup → Change
Fill Style
Change Interior Change the 2nd (interior) color of Edit tools → Change CHANGEC2 selectEntities;nColor[dialog] Yes
Color selection Properties popup → Change
Interior Color
Change Layer Change layer of selection Edit tools → Change CHANGEL selectEntities;sLayer[dialog] Yes
Properties popup → Change
Layer
Change like Draw Change the properties of an entity Edit tools → Change CHANGEDTM sDrawTool[Dialog];selectedEntities Yes
Tool to match that of a drawing tool. Properties popup → Change
Very helpful if you drew like Draw Tool CHANGEDT selectedEntities
something using one of the basic
drawing commands and want to
turn it into an entity like those
drawn using a drawing tool, if you
copied an entity from another map
in another style, and you wish to
change it to the style used int he
current drawing
Change Line Style Change line style of selection Edit tools → Change CHANGELS selectEntities;sLineStyle[dialog] Yes
Properties popup → Change
Line Style
Change Line Width Change line width of selection Edit tools → Change CHANGELW selectEntities;rWidth[Prior] Yes
Properties popup → Change
Line Width
Change Outline Changes the outline color of an OUTLINE2 selectedEntities;nColor[Dialog] Yes
Color entity. Note that the outline color
of an entity is NOT the same as
adding an outline as a separate
entity like the Outline command
does
Change Pen Change pen thickness of selection. Edit tools → Change CHANGEPT selectEntities;rThickness Yes
Thickness Note that this setting is intended Properties popup → Change
for use when printed using a Pen Thickness
plotter. For all other use, don't
touch this setting, use line width
instead
Change Properties Change entity properties MPEDIT selectedEntities No

PEDIT xyEntity

PEDIT1 xyEntity
Change Symbol Change the color of all entities in CHANGESC nColor Yes
Definition Color all symbol references. Can't be
undone
Change Symbol Change the layer of all entities in CHANGESL sLayer[dialog] Yes
Definition Layer all symbol references to selected
layer. Can't be undone
Change Symbol Change the color of all entities in CHANGESCBB Yes
Definition to all symbol references to varicolor.
Varicolor Can't be undone
Change Text Change all selected text entities to CHANGETX No
entered text
CHANGEX
Change Text Change the text properties of Edit tools → Change CHANGET No
Properties selection Properties popup → Change
Text Properties

227
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Check for Update Checks with the ProFantasy CHECKNEWVERSION No
servers if a new version of CC3+ is
available
Circle Dialog Brings up a dialog where you can Draw menu → Circle CIRCLED No
choose which type of circle to
draw. Keep in mind that the choice Draw tools → Circle popup
here also change the default → Options
behavior of the Circle button
Circle, 2 point Draw circle by specifying 2 points Draw menu → Circle dialog CIR2 xyPoint1;xyPoint2 Yes
on circumference
Draw tools → Circle popup
→ 2 Point Circle
Circle, 3 point Draw circle by specifying 3 points Draw menu → Circle dialog CIR3 xyPoint1;xyPoint2;xyPoint3 Yes
on circumference
Draw tools → Circle popup
→ 3 Point Circle
Circle, Center and Draw a circle by specifying the Draw menu → Circle dialog CIRP xyCenter;xyPoint Yes
Point On center and point on circumference
Draw tools → Circle popup
→ Center and Point On
Circle, Default Draw a circle using the default Draw menu → Circle dialog CIRCLEI Yes
settings. Change using the Circle
Dialog. While this command can Draw tools → Circle button
technically be used in a macro, it is
not recommended since the
command line depends on what
circle type is the default at the
time. See the entries for the
various circle types for the
command lines
Circle, Diameter Draw circle by specifying diameter Draw menu → Circle dialog CIRD dDiameter[Prior];xyCenter;…;xyCenter Yes
and Center and center
Draw tools → Circle popup
→ Diameter and Center
Circle, Donut Draw a donut shape Draw menu → Circle dialog DONUT dInnerDiameter[Prior];dOuterDiameter[ Yes
Prior];xyCenter1;…;xyCenterN
Draw tool → Circle popup
→ Donut
Circle, Radius and Draw circle by specifying radius Draw menu → Circle dialog CIRR dRadius[Prior];xyCenter1;…;xyCenter2 Yes
Center and center
Draw tools → Circle popup
→ Radius and Center
Circle, Tangent to Draw a circle tangent to 2 other CIRTAN2 xyCircleEntity1;xyCircleEntity2 Yes
2 circles
Circle, Tangent to Draw a circle tangent to 3 other CIRTAN3 xyCircleEntity1;xyCircleEntity2;xyCir Yes
3 circles cleEntity3
Circular Array Create a circular array with copies Edit tools → Copy popup → CARY selectEntities;nSpokes[Prior];nRings[ Yes
of the selected entity. Can have Circular Array Prior];xyCenter;xyCopyOrigin;rAngle[E
multiple rings ven];dRingDistance

selectEntities;nSpokes[Prior];1;xyCen
ter;xyCopyOrigin;rAngle[Even]
Circular Part Array Insert a part as a circular array CPARY No

CPARYM fPart[prior];rScale[prior]; Yes

rRotate[prior];nSpokes[prior];
nRings[prior];xyArrayCenter[prior];
xyPartOrigin;rAngle[Even];dBetweenRin
gs
Clear Bitmap Clears the bitmap cached which is View menu → Display CLEARCACHE Yes
Cache a memory cache to speed up Speed Settings dialog
access to bitmaps used in the
current drawing Display tools → Display
Speed Settings button
dialog
Clipboard Copy Copies the selected entities to the Edit menu → Copy CLIPCOPY SelectedEntitites;xyCopyOrigin Yes
clipboard. This is useful for
copying between maps, but also Edit tools → Copy popup →
for pasting into other applications Copy to Clipboard

Key: Control + C
Clipboard Cut Copies the selected entities to the Edit menu → Cut CLIPCUT SelectedEntitites;xyCopyOrigin Yes
clipboard and erases them from
the drawing. This is useful for Key: Control + X
copying between maps, but also
for pasting into other applications

228
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Clipboard Options Set the options for clipboard copy. Tools menu → Options CLIPOPT No
This is primarily intended when dialog
you are copying into other
applications, as copying to another
CC3+ instance just keep the
entities as-is
Clipboard Paste Pastes the contents of the Edit menu → Paste CLIPINS xyLocation1;…;xyLocationN Yes
clipboard into the current drawing
Key: Control + V
Clipboard Paste, Do a non-visual paste of the Edit tools → Copy button → PASTE No
Non-Visual clipboard contents. Non-visual Paste (Non-Visual)
commands don't have a preview
during operation
Color Set the current color used for new Tools menu → Set COLOR nColorIndex[Dialog] Yes
entities Properties → Color
COLORDLG No
Color (SVG) Sets the current color using Svg COLORSVG sColor Yes
named colors, or the following
color formats: #RRGGBB, #RGB,
rgb(rrr,ggg,bbb)
Combine Paths Combines multiple paths into a Edit menu → Transform → CMB xyFirstEntity;xySecondEntity;xyNextEn Yes
single path by joining the end of Combine Paths tity[Finish](F/S);…;xyNthEntity
one path to the start of the next
one. Allows for the direction of Edit tools → Explode popup
paths to be flipped in order for the → Combine Paths
right ends to join up.
Composite Fill Change a single entity into two CFILLC2 selectedEntities Yes
Change entities with composite fill
Composite Fill Draw an entity using any drawing CFILLM2 Yes
Draw command with composite fill
(results in two stacked entities).
Can be used in macro, but the
command line depends on the
drawing tool you specify as the
first parameter, for example POLY
Composite Fill The composite fill commands CFILL2 No
Settings creates entities with a foreground
and background fill. Note that this CFILLCM2 nBackColor[Dialog];sBackStyle[Dialog] Yes
will always result in two entities ;nForeColor[Dialog];sForeStyle[Dialog
stacked on top of each other, since ]
one entity can't have two types of
fill
Connect Scale, move and rotate selection Edit menu → Reshape → CONNECT selectEntities;xyPoint1Src;xyPoint1Ds Yes
so that two points in the selection Connect t;xyPoint2Src;xyPoint2Dst
are in different locations
Connect Copy Scale, copies and rotate selection CONNECTC selectEntities;xyPoint1Src;xyPoint1Ds Yes
so that two points in the selection t;xyPoint2Src;xyPoint2Dst
are in different locations
Context Menu Brings up a context menu. This CMENU fMenuFile No
command is usually associated
with the right click action on a CMENUR
toolbar button
Contours Generate a new entity based on CONTOURSM rDistance[Prior];selectedEntities Yes
the outline (contour) of selected
entities. This works with regular
CC3+ entities, as well as with
bitmaps, making this command
very useful to turn a raster image
(for example a landmass) into a
CC3+ entity. Black
&White/transparent image
recommended.
Contours, Like Contours, but ask you to CONTOURSMX rDistance[Prior];selectedEntities;sel Yes
Exclusion Version select entities twice. The second ectedEntities
selection is used as an exclusion
area. This is useful when you need
a chunk taken out of an entity
Control Points, Add control points to a symbol Symbols menu → Add CTRLP No
Add definition Control Points
Convert Attributes Converts a text attribute to a ATTREXPL selectedEntities Yes
to Text regular text entity. Note that this
must be applied to the attribute ATTRIB2TXT
itself, not a symbol containing an
attribute

229
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Convert Pictures This command converts old CONVERTPICTURES Yes
picture entities to the PICTR2
entity type. This is the preferred
entity type for referencing images
from CC3+. Note that this
command does not do anything
with the image itself
Convert Resource Converts the paths of map CURFILECONVERT No
Paths resources that points to the install
directory (#) to paths pointing to FFIX Macro
the data directory (@) instead. This
is required to make CC3 maps MULTIFILECONVERT No
fully compatible with CC3+. This
command also correctly converts MFFIX Macro
absolute paths into relative paths,
including map-relative ($) where
appropriate
Convert Symbol These commands is used to SYMICONCONVERTSETTINGS Yes
Catalog Settings convert symbol catalog settings
from the registry (where CC3 and SYMICONCONVERTSETTINGSA
earlier stored them) to .sis files in UTOON
the data directory (Where CC3+
stores them). This command is SYMICONCONVERTSETTINGSA
primarily useful when converting UTOOFF
an old add-on/symbol set to CC3+.
Coordinate Show the coordinates of a given Info menu → Coordinate ID xyCoordinate No
point
Copy in Drawing Copies entities in the drawing. Use Edit menu → Copy in COP selectedEntities;xyOrigin;xyDestinati Yes
Clipboard Copy if you wish to copy Drawing on1(Shift,Ctrl);…;xyDestinationN
entities to other instances or other
programs Edit tools → Copy button
Copy inside Box Copies the parts of the selected Cut menu → Copy → Box CBOXC selectEntities;xyCutCorner1;xyCutCorn Yes
entities that are inside a cut box er2;xyPlace1(Control);…;xyPlaceN
and lets you place this copy
elsewhere in the map. Note that xyCutCorner1;xyCutCorner2;xyPlace1(Co
when copying only part of a ntrol);…;xyPlaceN
closed polygon, you will basically
end up with just the part of the
outline that was inside the cut
frame, you'll manually have to
close the path, and probably add a
few corner nodes to get back to a
filled polygon
Copy inside Circle Copies the parts of the selected Cut menu → Copy → Circle CCIRPC selectEntities;xyCenter;xyPoint(Shift Yes
(centre + point) entities that are inside a cut circle (centre + point) );xyPlace1(Control);…;xyPlaceN
and lets you place this copy
elsewhere in the map. Note that xyCenter;xyPoint(Shift);xyPlace1(Cont
when copying only part of a rol);…;xyPlaceN
closed polygon, you will basically
end up with just the part of the
outline that was inside the cut
frame, you'll manually have to
close the path, and probably add a
few corner nodes to get back to a
filled polygon
Copy inside Circle Copies the parts of the selected Cut menu → Copy → Circle CCIRC selectEntities;dDiameter;xyCenter;xyP Yes
(diameter) entities that are inside a cut circle (diameter) lace1(Control);…;xyPlaceN
and lets you place this copy
elsewhere in the map. Note that dDiameter;xyCenter;xyPlace1(Control);
when copying only part of a …;xyPlaceN
closed polygon, you will basically
end up with just the part of the
outline that was inside the cut
frame, you'll manually have to
close the path, and probably add a
few corner nodes to get back to a
filled polygon

230
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Copy inside Copies the parts of the selected Cut menu → Copy → CPOLYC selectEntities;xyEntity;xyPlace1(Cont Yes
Sample entities that are inside an existing Sample (Poly or Circle) rol);…;xyPlaceN
polygon in your map and lets you
place this copy elsewhere in the xyEntity;xyPlace1(Control);…;xyPlaceN
map. Note that when copying only
part of a closed polygon, you will
basically end up with just the part
of the outline that was inside the
cut frame, you'll manually have to
close the path, and probably add a
few corner nodes to get back to a
filled polygon
Copy Text Create a copy of a text entity, TEXCOPY No
including all properties, but allow
you to edit the text itself. Perfect
for using an existing text entity in
your drawing as a template when
placing similar text
Copy to Layer Copies selected entities to Edit tools → Copy popup → LAYERCPY selectEntities;sLayerName[dialog] Yes
specified layer Copy to Layer
Copy to Level Copies entities in the drawing to Cosmographer menu → FLOORPLANCOPY No
the same position in other Multi-Deck Tools → Copy
drawings in the same multi-floor to Level
map set
Copy to Sheet Copies selected entities to Edit tools → Copy popup → COPYSHT No
specified sheet Copy to Sheet
Copy to Visible Copies the selected entities to all Edit tools → Copy popup → COPYVIS selectedEntities Yes
Sheets visible sheets Copy to Visible Sheets
Copy, Non-Visual Make a copy of selected entities. Edit tools → Copy popup → COPY selectEntities;xySourceLocation;xyDes Yes
Non-visual commands do not Non-visual Copy tination1;…;xyDestinationN
previews on mouse cursor
Corner Draws a path that forms a corner CORNER xyEntity1;xyEntity2;xyNode1;…;xyNodeN Macro
where two lines would meet if
they where extended
Correct Fill Styles Removes legacy fill styles from CFS Yes
drawing
Count Counts the selected entities Info menu → Count COUNT selectEntities No
Count All Counts all entities in the drawing Info menu → Count All COUNTA No
Count Pictures Counts the various picture entities COUNTPICTURES No
in the drawing
Create Catalog Creates a drawing with all the Symbols menu → Create SYMOUT No
Thumbnail File symbols from the current drawing Catalog Thumbnail File
ordered in a grid. These are
intended as symbol lookup sheets,
which you can print and put in a
binder (or in a PDF)
Create Index Creates an index for the map City menu → Create Index GAZ selectedEntities;dColumnHeight[OneCol Yes
showing grid coordinates for text umn];xyPosition
entities in the map. Very useful for City tools → Create Index
city maps, for example to make a button
building index or street index.
Obviously these features must be
already labeled
Create Scale Print Generates the hotspot needed for CFIX Macro
Button printing a different miniature
scales. Used with dioramas
Create Search Creates a search index file. This INDEX fFilename Yes
Index file contains all the text entries
from the indexed maps, and is
used to speed up text searches
when you search across multiple
files. Useful for large map
collections, such as interactive
atlases
Create White Filled Creates a copy of the selected WHITEFILL Macro
Entity entities on the TEMPORARY layers
with a solid white fill
Crosshairs off Disables the crosshair cursor for XHOFF Yes
certain operations, such as symbol
placement. It will still be used for
most drawing operations
Crosshairs On Turns on the crosshair cursor XHON Yes
during operations that support it
Crosshairs Toggle Toggle the crosshair cursor Tools menu → Drawing XHTOG Yes
Aids → Toggle Crosshairs

Key: Control + T

231
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Crossroads Create a crossroads by taking two XROAD Macro
sets of wall lines (corridors)
crossing each other, and cutting
out the lines on the inside where
they cross
Cursor Snap Off Turns off cursor snap. When cursor Tols menu → Snaps → Grid CSNAPOFF Yes
snap is on, you'll notice that the Settings dialog
cursor jumps from between snap
points whenever you are working Modifier Locks tools →
in the drawing. If regular snap is Snap popup
on, but cursor snap is off the snap
only happens as you click to place
the node/entity which may look
odd as the entity didn't go where
you clicked
Cursor Snap On Turns on cursor snap. When cursor Tols menu → Snaps → Grid CSNAPON Yes
snap is on, you'll notice that the Settings dialog
cursor jumps from between snap
points whenever you are working Modifier Locks tools →
in the drawing. If regular snap is Snap popup
on, but cursor snap is off the snap
only happens as you click to place
the node/entity which may look
odd as the entity didn't go where
you clicked
Cut inside Box Removes the parts of the selected Cut menu → Cut - keep CBOXI selectEntities;xyCutCorner1;xyCutCorn Yes
entities that are outside a cut box. inside → Box er2
Note that when cutting away part
of a closed polygon, you will xyCutCorner1;xyCutCorner2
basically end up with just the part
of the outline that was inside the
cut frame, you'll manually have to
close the path, and probably add a
few corner nodes to get back to a
filled polygon
Cut inside Circle Removes the parts of the selected Cut menu → Cut - keep CCIRPI selectEntities;xyCenter;xyPoint(Shift Yes
(centre + point) entities that are outside a cut inside → Circle (centre + )
circle. Note that when cutting point)
away part of a closed polygon, you xyCenter;xyPoint(Shift)
will basically end up with just the
part of the outline that was inside
the cut frame, you'll manually
have to close the path, and
probably add a few corner nodes
to get back to a filled polygon
Cut inside Circle Removes the parts of the selected Cut menu → Cut - keep CCIRI selectEntities;dDiameter;xyCenter Yes
(diameter) entities that are outside a cut inside → Circle (diameter)
circle. Note that when cutting dDiameter;xyCenter
away part of a closed polygon, you
will basically end up with just the
part of the outline that was inside
the cut frame, you'll manually
have to close the path, and
probably add a few corner nodes
to get back to a filled polygon
Cut inside Sample Removes the parts of the selected Cut menu → Cut - keep CPOLYI selectEntities;xyEntity Yes
entities that are outside an inside → Sample (Poly or
existing polygon in your map. Circle) xyEntity
Note that when cutting away part
of a closed polygon, you will
basically end up with just the part
of the outline that was inside the
cut frame, you'll manually have to
close the path, and probably add a
few corner nodes to get back to a
filled polygon
Cut Menu Off Hides the Cut menu from the CUTMENUOFF No
menu bar
Cut Menu On Shows the Cut menu in the menu CUTMENUON No
bar
Cut Outline Off Turns off adding an outline for the Cut menu → Copy → COUTLINEOFF Yes
copy commands from the Cut Outline Off
menu
Cut Outline On Adds an outline matching the cut Cut menu → Copy → COUTLINEON Yes
frame for the copy commands Outline On
from the Cut menu

232
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Cut outside Box Removes the parts of the selected Cut menu → Cut - keep CBOXO selectEntities;xyCutCorner1;xyCutCorn Yes
entities that are inside a cut box. outside → Box er2
Note that when cutting away part
of a closed polygon, you will xyCutCorner1;xyCutCorner2
basically end up with just the part
of the outline that was inside the
cut frame, you'll manually have to
close the path, and probably add a
few corner nodes to get back to a
filled polygon
Cut outside Circle Removes the parts of the selected Cut menu → Cut - keep CCIRPO selectEntities;xyCenter;xyPoint(Shift Yes
(centre + point) entities that are inside a cut circle. outside → Circle (centre + )
Note that when cutting away part point)
of a closed polygon, you will xyCenter;xyPoint(Shift)
basically end up with just the part
of the outline that was inside the
cut frame, you'll manually have to
close the path, and probably add a
few corner nodes to get back to a
filled polygon
Cut outside Circle Removes the parts of the selected Cut menu → Cut - keep CCIRO selectEntities;dDiameter;xyCenter Yes
(diameter) entities that are inside a cut circle. outside → Circle (diameter)
Note that when cutting away part dDiameter;xyCenter
of a closed polygon, you will
basically end up with just the part
of the outline that was inside the
cut frame, you'll manually have to
close the path, and probably add a
few corner nodes to get back to a
filled polygon
Cut outside Removes the parts of the selected Cut menu → Cut - keep CPOLYO selectEntities;xyEntity Yes
Sample entities that are inside an existing outside → Sample (Poly or
polygon in your map. Note that Circle) xyEntity
when cutting away part of a
closed polygon, you will basically
end up with just the part of the
outline that was inside the cut
frame, you'll manually have to
close the path, and probably add a
few corner nodes to get back to a
filled polygon
Define Attribute Defines a text attribute for use in a Symbols menu → Define ATTRIB No
symbol Attribute
ATTRIBM sTagText;sPromptText;sValueText;xyLoc Yes
ation
Define Symbol Convert the selected entities into a Symbols menu → Define DEFSYMD No
symbol definition. Note that the Symbol
entities will disappear when DEFSYM sName;xyOrigin;selectEntities Yes
turned into a symbol definition
Delayed Drawn For some effects to work properly, DELAYDRAWSYM nOnOff<0-1>[Prior] Yes
Symbols Toggle the symbols needs to be drawn
again after the effect have been
applied. In some cases, this causes
a weird effect when symbols end
up above certain entities they are
supposed to be below when
effects are turned on. This
command can be used to disable
this behavior. Command is not
persistent, only affects the
currently running CC3+ instance
Delete Duplicates Deletes duplicates from selected DELDUPS selectedEntities Yes
entities
Delete Files Delete selected files DELETE No
Delete Nearby Allows you to delete all symbols SYMDELNEAR rDistance;selectedEntities Yes
Symbols near an entity, for example delete
the trees that are too close to the
river running through the forest
Delete Node Delete node from path or polygon Edit menu → Single Entities DELNODE xyLocation Yes
→ Delete Node

Single Edit and Trim tools

→ Delete Node button
Delete Sheet Delete named sheet DELSHT sName No

233
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Deselect Entities Clears the current selection. DESELECT Yes
Clearing the selection means that
selection by prior won't work,
because there is no selection to
work with. See Store Entity and
Select Entity
Desktop Color Change the color of the CC3+ DSKCOLOR nColorIndex[Dialog] Yes
desktop. This is the color behind
the view window, so it is rarely
seen. To change the background
color of the view window, look at
the View-Window color command
instead
Discard Drawing Discards all edit and resets DISCARD No
drawing to currently selected
template (which is probably NOT
the template the drawing was
based on). Keeps the file name of
the drawing
Display Speed Allow you to configure various View menu → Display RESMODE No
Settings performance related parameters, Speed Settings
such as the quality of the images
to use and the size of the cache View tools → Display Speed
Settings button
Distance Display the distance between two Info menu → Distance DISTANCE xyPoint1;xyPoint2 No
points
DIST2
Distance Along Snaps to specified distance along Tools menu → Snaps → DIST rDistance;xyEntity Yes
[modifier] selected entity. When not used as Distance Along
a modifier, works like Distance
Key: F8
Distance Between Draws a distance line between two Cosmographer menu → STARLINE xyHeightSymbol;xyHeightSymbol Yes
Stars, Draw height symbols showing the Distance between Stars →
correct distance between them in Draw Distance Line LINE3D
3D-space
Cosmographer Tools →
Distance between Stars
button
Distance between Calculates the correct distance Cosmographer menu → DIST3D No
Stars, Show between two height symbols. The Distance between Stars →
normal Distance command doesn't Check Distance STARDIST
understand height symbols and
treats everything as flat, despite Cosmographer Tools →
height symbols illustrating things Distance betwwen Stars
in three dimensions popup → Check distance
Distance Format Changes the format distances are DISTFMT nFormat[Prior] Yes
presented in in various parts of the
interface. Not all commands
accept formatted values as input,
so if you are writing a macro that
will take outputs of other
commands as input to commands,
you may wish to set the distance
format to 0 at the beginning of the
macro. The formats are as follows
0 - Numeric
1 - Decimal Inches
2 -Fractal Inches
3 - Feet and Inches
4 - Meters
5 - Millimeters
Draw Like Draw another entity using the Draw menu → Draw Like DRAWLIKE Yes
same properties and command as
another entity in the drawing. Note Edit tools → Extract
that it will use the basic command Properties popup → Draw
required to draw that entity, it Like
doesn't understand drawing tools.
While this command can be used
in a macro, the actual command
line will differ depending on the
type of entity picked
Draw Like Options Sets options for the Draw Like Edit tools → Extract DRAWLIKEOPT No
command, primarily default tools Properties popup → Draw
for various entity types Like Options
Draw Text Label Place a text entity on the Text DTEXTM sText Macro
Labels layer

234
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Draw using These commands allow you to Overland menu → All Map DRAWTOOLSD No
Drawing Tool start drawing entities using a Drawing Tools
drawing tool. Typically, these DRAWTOOLSL No
commands display a dialog box Overland tools → All Map
first that lets you pick the tool to Drawing Tools button DRAWTOOLSM sFilter[Current] Yes
use if there is more than one
possibility, or if there is just one DRAWTOOLSP Yes
possible options, will start the
drawing procedure immediately DRAWTOOLSR Yes
without showing the dialog. For
macro use, make sure the filter
specified (where appropriate) is
precise enough to pick an exact
tool if you wish to prevent the
dialog being shown. Hit the
Advanced button in the dialog to
edit the tools instead
Drawing Color Use drawing’s line width - color DWGCMAP Yes
Map map
Drawing Presets Brings up the settings for the File menu → Drawing PRESETS No
current drawing Properties

File tools → Drawing

Properties button
Drawtools Style Set the current drawing tool style. Overland menu → All Map DTSTYLEM sStyle Yes
This affects which drawing tools Drawing Tools dialog
are available. This is typically set
in the OnOpenMacro map note to Overland tools → All Map
ensure the drawing tools are set to Drawing Tools button
the correct style for the map dialog
Edit Grid Edit the CC3+ snap grid Tools menu → Snaps → EGRID No
Grid Settings dialog

Modifier Locks tools → Grid

popup dialog
Edit Properties Changes the properties of an Edit menu → Single Entities PEDIT xyEntity No
existing entity. Same as Change → Properties
Properties, but only affects a single
entity Single edit and Trim tools
→ Edit Properties button
Edit Shading Edit the settings of a shaded Edit menu → Single Entites EDITSHADING xyEntity No
polygon. Only works on shaded → Numeric Edit
polygons
Edit tools → Numeric Edit
button
Edit Text Edit multiple text entities Edit menu → Text → Edit TED No
Text
Edit Text Edit multiple text attribute entities TEDATTR No
Attributes in one dialog. Can also edit entities
embedded in symbols
Edit Text Entity This edit command allows you to TEXEDIT No
both edit the text in a text entity,
and then move it
Effects Off Disables effects in the map Tools menu → Sheets → EFFECTSOFF Yes
Sheets and Effects dialog

Display tools → Sheets and

Effects button dialog
Effects On Enables effects in the map Tools menu → Sheets → EFFECTSON Yes
Sheets and Effects dialog

Display tools → Sheets and

Effects button dialog
Effects Toggle Toggles effects in the map Tools menu → Sheets → EFFECTSTOG Yes
Sheets and Effects dialog

Display tools → Sheets and

Effects button dialog
Elipse, Center and Draw ellipse by specifying center, Draw tool → Circle button ELIPP xyCenter[Prior];xyAxis1;xyAxis2 Yes
Axis major and minor axis → Ellipse
Elipse, Center, Draw an ellipse by specifying ELIPI xyCenter[Prior];xyInclination;dFirstD Yes
Inclination and center point, Inclination and iamaeter;dSecondDiameter
Diameters major/minor axis diameters
Ellipse, Center, Draw an ellipse by specifying ELIPC xyCenter[Prior];xyRadius;rAngle Yes
Radius and Angle center point, radius, and screen
angle

235
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Erase Deletes selected entities Edit menu → Erase ERA Yes

Edit tools → Erase button ERASE Macro

Explode Converts selection to more Edit menu → Transform → EXPLODE selectEntities Yes
primitive components Explode

Edit tools → Explode button

Explode Text Turn text into basic entities. Edit menu → Text → TEXPLODE selectedEntities Yes
TrueType text is problematic in Explode Text
CC3+, because the measurement is TEXPLODEMP
not compatible with the internal Edit tools → Explode popup
size representation of entities. → Explode Text
Additionally, text entities requires
the map viewer to have the
correct font installed. By exploding
it, you avoid both these problem,
at the price of not being able to
edit the text
Export All Text Exports all the text in the drawing File menu → Save As dialog TEXPORTMI No
to a text file
File tools → Save popup →
Save As dialog
Export Options, Shows the dialog where you can Tools menu → Options DWGOPT No
DXF/DWG specify options related to dialog
exporting the CC3+ drawing to the ACADOPT
AutoCAD© formats
Export Options, Allow you to configure options for Tools menu → Options EMFOPT No
EMF exporting to Enhanced Meta Files dialog
(EMF)
Export Options, Shows the dialog to configure Tools menu → Options FCWOPT No
FCW options for saving files to the dialog
default FastCAD© file format, the
native format of CC3+
Export Options, Brings up the export options Tools menu → Options JPEGOPT No
Images related to exporting your drawing dialog
to an image file. Lets you control
options like resolution and
antialiasing
Export Settings, Set the antialias value used for Tools menu → Options EXPORTSETAA nPercent[Prior] Yes
Antialias image exports. Note that the value dialog
set here is the internal
representation used by CC3+. NOT File tools → Save popup →
the value shown in the dialog. 75 Save As dialog
here is the same as 100 in the
dialog. It is STRONGLY
recommended never setting this
value above 75
Export Settings, Enables if CC3+ should limit the Tools menu → Options EXPORTSETCROP nOnOff<0-1>[Prior] Yes
Crop to Aspect export size to fir with the export dialog
Ratio ratio of the exported map/section,
or if the output should fit the File tools → Save popup →
specified dimensions exactly Save As dialog
Export Settings, Specify the export height in pixels Tools menu → Options EXPORTSETHEIGHT nPixels[Prior] Yes
Height dialog

File tools → Save popup →

Save As dialog
Export Settings, This setting controls if CC3+ Tools menu → Options EXPORTSETVIEWER nOnOff<0-1>[Prior] Yes
Launch Viewer should launch your default image dialog
viewer to view the image after
exporting it or not File tools → Save popup →
Save As dialog

236
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Export Settings, When exporting large images, EXPORTSETMPPP nPixels[Prior] Yes
Maximum Pixels CC3+ need to export them in parts
Per Pass to fit them in available memory.
This setting controls the size of
each such part. The default setting
of 4000000 is rather conservative
to ensure it works correctly on
even low end computers. If your
computer have at least 8GB of
RAM, you can increase this value
for a far better export
performance. The exact value that
will work best for you depend on
both available memory and
complexity of the map you try to
export, but with 8GB of RAM,
you'll probably handle 20000000
just fine, and can probably go up to
40000000 on most maps. (Keep
in mind that CC3+ is a 32-bit
program and can't use more than
4GB of your ram, so going beyond
40000000-60000000 won't
work no matter how much
memory you have in your
computer). If you experience
crashing after increasing this
value, lower it and try again
Export Settings, Sets the minimum overlap in EXPORTSETMINBPX nPixels[Prior] Yes
Minimum Overlap pixels
Export Settings, When exporting large images, EXPORTSETBPCT nPercent[Prior] Yes
Overlap CC3+ need to export them in parts
to fit them in available memory.
This setting determines the
overlap between parts. The greater
the overlap, the more correct
effects that crosses between parts
will look, but the export will also
take longer. The default value here
is 10
Export Settings, Determines if image exports Tools menu → Options EXPORTSETBORDER nOnOff<0-1>[Prior] Yes
Restrict to Border should stay within the map border dialog
or not
File tools → Save popup →
Save As dialog
Export Settings, Specify the export width in pixels Tools menu → Options EXPORTSETWIDTH nPixels[Prior] Yes
Width dialog

File tools → Save popup →

Save As dialog
Export Symbols to Export symbols in the current EXPORTPNGSYM fDestinationFolder[Prior];nImageSize[ Yes
PNG drawing to png format, allowing Prior]
the symbols to be used with other EXPORTPNGSYM2
software. This is primarily intended fDestinationFoler[Prior];rPixelsPerUn
for use with vector symbols it[Prior]
Export Text Exports selected text entities to a File tools → Save popup → TEXPORT No
file Export Text
TEXPORTM selectedEntities;nExportOrder;fName Yes
Extents Displays the current drawing EXTENTS No
extents
Extract Attributes Retrieves all the text attributes Symbols menu → Extract EXTRACT No
from symbols in the drawing and Attributes
displays them in a list
Extract Properties Extracts the properties of an entity, Tools menu → Set KEEP Macro*
(Keep) and sets these as the current Properties → Exctract
properties to use for new entities. Properties SKEEP xyEntity Yes

Edit tools → Extract

Properties button
File Version, Check Shows information about which CHECKFILEVERSION No
version of CC3+ the current
drawing was made, as well as
which version you have. If the
map is created in a newer version
than you have, it may have new
features not found in your version,
and you are recommended to
update your CC3+ installation

237
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
File Version, Clear Clears the version information CLEARFILEVERSION Yes
from the file. This can be useful if
you know the file don't require any
new features and you know other
users of the file will not use the
same version you do (for example
if you are doing beta testing)
File Version, Updates the program version UPDATEFILEVERSION Yes
Update stored in the drawing to the
current drawing version
Fill style Set fill style for new entities Tools menu → Set FSTYLE sFillStyle[Dialog] Yes
Properties → Fill Style
FSTYLEDLG No
Fill Style Combo Configures which fill styles should FSCOMBOMASK No
Mask be available in the various
dropdowns (combo boxes) in the FSCOMBOMASKM nMask[Prior] Yes
dialogs. CC3+ supports four
different fill styles; Brush Patterns,
Scalable Hatching, Bitmap Files
and Symbol Fill. Each of these
usually contain quite a long list of
available fills, which can make the
list in the dropdowns unwieldy.
Use this command to turn off the
lesser used fill types, hiding them
from display.
The macro version supports these
values (add them together to
select multiple types)
1 - Brush Pattern
2 - Scalable Hatching
4 - Bitmap Files
8 - Symbol Fill
Fill with Symbols Fills an area with symbols. This Draw menu → Fill with FOREST selectedEntities Yes
command is designed to pack the Symbols
area tightly, for example like a
forest
Fill with Symbols, This command is the same as the Draw menu → Fill with FORESTX selectedEntities;selectedEntities Yes
Exclusion regular Fill with Symbols command Symbols (Exclude Areas)
except that it asks you to select
entities twice. The second
selection is used as an exclusion
zone. This is helpful if you want to
fill a polygon with symbols, except
where it is overlapped by another
polygon
Fill with Symbols, Load the settings used for the Fill Draw menu → Fill with FORESTLOAD fSettingsFile Yes
Load Settings with Symbols command from file Symbols
Fill with Symbols, Sets options for the Fill with Draw menu → Fill with FORESTOPT No
Options Symbols command Symbols
Fillet Creates a curved corner, between Edit menu → Trims → Fillet FIL xyEntity1;xyEntity2;xyRadius Yes
two entities, keeps old corner Only
FILLET
Single Edit and Trim tools
→ Break popup → Fillet
Only
Fillet and Trim Creates a curved corner, between Edit menu → Trims → Fillet TFIL xyEntity1;xyEntity2;dFilletRadius[Pri Yes
two entities, removes old corner & Trim or]

Single Edit and Trim tools

→ Trim popup → Fillet &
Trim
Find Text Search for text in the map and TFIND No
Zooms to it. Similar to Zoom to
Text, but contains more advanced
options
Flat Toolbars Configure the use of flat toolbars in SETFLATTOOLBARS nYesNo Yes
CC3+
Flip Undo the last action. Redo the Edit tools → Undo popup → FLIP Yes
action if executed a second time Flip

238
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Flip Shading In older maps, the shading on FLIPSHADING Yes
shaded polygons were configured
the wrong way. If you find that the
shading in your map is wrong
(bright side away from the sun),
you can use this command to flip
the shading around for all shaded
polygons in your map
Floating Prompt Turns off the display of expanded Tools menu → Options TKTIPECHO Yes
Expanded Text Off text on the floating command dialog
prompt. With expanded text off it
displays exactly the same as the
regular command line at the
bottom of the screen
Floating Prompt Turns on the display of expanded Tools menu → Options TKTIPEXPAND Yes
Expanded Text On text on the floating command dialog
prompt. Expanded text have more
explanatory text which make the
options easier to understand, but
do take more space
Floating Prompt Turns off the floating command Tools menu → Options TKTIPOFF Yes
Off prompt dialog
Floating Prompt On Turns on the display of the floating Tools menu → Options TKTIPON Yes
command prompt that follows dialog
your cursor around
Floating Prompt Toggles the display of the floating Tools menu → Options TKTIPTOG Yes
Toggle prompt dialog
Flood Fill Automatically create a multipoly FLOOD selectedEntities;xyInside Yes
from an enclosed area formed by a
set of entities. Entities do not need
to have the start/end nodes match
up like with the regular Multipoly
command, this command
automatically figures out the area
Flood Fill and Generates a multipoly as for Flood FLOODHATCH selectedEntities;xyInside Yes
Hatch Fill, and also fills it with lines like
the Hatch command
Floorplan Creates a floorplan drawing from a City menu → Floorplan FLOORPLAN No
building symbol. The created
floorplan will be a separate City tools → Floorplan
drawing, and based on the outline button
of the selected building, any
interior details must be added
manually
Font to Symbols Create symbols from font. To use Draw tools → Text popup TEXPLSYM sPrefix Yes
this command, set the desired font → Font to Symbols (poly)
using Text Specs first, then run the TEXPLSYMMP
command. It is advisable to start Draw tools → Text popup
from a blank symbol catalog. Hint, → Font to Symbols
you can create nice symbol from (multipoly)
various special fonts
Fractalise Fractalizes a path. Fractalisation Edit menu → Reshape → FRX No
adds more details to a path by Fractalise
adding additional in between FRXM xyEntity;rStrength;nDepth Yes
existing nodes, randomly offset Edit tools → Fractalise
from the straight path between button
them. Note that strength controls
this random distance, while depth
control how many new nodes to
add. Note that the number of
nodes in the entity will double for
each level of depth (So a depth of
3 will multiply the node count by
8)
Frames Off Turn off guide frames. Frames are FRAMEOFF Yes
used to show the actual location of
nodes for smooth entities, which
are very useful when editing these.
Frames appear as thin grey lines
around the smooth entities
Frames On Turn on guide frames. Frames are FRAMEON Yes
used to show the actual location of
nodes for smooth entities, which
are very useful when editing these.
Frames appear as thin grey lines
around the smooth entities

239
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Frames Toggle Toggles guide frames. Frames are Tools menu → Drawing FRAMETOG Yes
used to show the actual location of Aids → Toggle Frames
nodes for smooth entities, which
are very useful when editing these. Key: Control + F
Frames appear as thin grey lines
around the smooth entities
Freehand Options Sets the options to be used with Draw tools → Freehand FREEHANDOPT nPixels[5] Yes
Freehand Sketch Sketch popup
Freehand Sketch Draw a path using freehand. Click Draw tools → Freehand FREEHAND No
the mouse to set the starting point, Sketch button
then move the mouse to draw.
Click again to finish the path
Freeze All Layers Freeze all layers except current Tools menu → Set FREEZEA Yes
layer. Entities on frozen layers are Properties → Layer dialog
protected from manipulation
because they cannot be selected
by selection methods that pick
entities by their location. They can
still be selected by other methods
however, such as selection by All
or selection by entity ID
Freeze Layer Freeze named layer. Entities on Tools menu → Set FREEZE sLayer[dialog] Yes
frozen layers are protected from Properties → Layer dialog
manipulation because they cannot
be selected by selection methods
that pick entities by their location.
They can still be selected by other
methods however, such as
selection by All or selection by
entity ID
Freeze Layer by Freeze all layers matching the FREEZEF sFilter Yes
Filter specified wildcard filter
Global Layer Configure layer settings that GLS No
Settings applies to all maps you open
Global Sun Change the settings related to the Display tools → Sheets and SUNINFO No
global sun, used in calculating Effects popup → Global Sun
shading and shadows SUNINFOM rDirection<0-360>[Prior];rHeight<0- Yes
90>[Prior];nIntensity<0-255>[Prior]
Go to Floor Used in the Source Maps products GOFLOOR Macro
to load the drawing for any given
floor of the current location. Used
by the various Level macros which
tells which floor to load.
Go to Level Used in the Source Maps products LEVEL1 Macro
to have toolbar buttons to load a
specified level directly. Calls the LEVEL2
Go to Floor macro
LEVEL3

LEVEL4

LEVEL5

LEVEL6
Grid Angle Sets the angle of the current snap Tools menu → Snaps → GRIDANG rAngle/xyEntity Yes
grid. Fails if the current snap grid is Grid Angle
not an angled grid
Modifier Locks tools → Grid
popup dialog
Grid Off Turn off the guide grid Tools menu → Snaps → GRIDOFF Yes
Grid Settings

Modifier Locks tools → Grid

popup dialog
Grid On Turn on the guide grid. This is Tools menu → Snaps → GRIDON Yes
represented by a series of dots, Grid Settings
and should not be confused with
an actual map grid, this grid is just Modifier Locks tools → Grid
intended for drawing guidance, popup dialog
and won't print or export
Grid Toggle Toggles the guide grid Tools menu → Snaps → GRIDT Yes
Grid Settings

Modifier Locks tools → Grid

button

240
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Grid Value Sets the distance between grid Tools menu → Snaps → GRIDV dSpacing Yes
points in the guide grid Grid Settings

Modifier Locks tools → Grid

popup dialog
Group Groups multiple entities together. Tools menu → Groups → GROUP selectEntities Yes
A group can then be managed as a Group
single entity (as long as groups are
locked)
Group, Regroup Use on an entity that was a REGROUP xyEntity Yes
member of a now dissolved group
to re-assemble that group
Group, Ungroup Ungroups an existing group Tools menu → Groups → UNGROUP selectEntities Yes
Ungroup
Grouping Off on Turns off grouping the entities NOPARGRPS Yes
Insert when inserting a part
Grouping On on Turns on grouping the entities PARGRPS Yes
Insert when inserting a part
Groups, Lock Locks groups. When groups are Tools menu → Groups → LOCKON Yes
locked, entities in a group are Lock Groups
managed as if they were a single
entity
Groups, Toggle Toggle group locking LOCKT Yes
Lock
Groups, Unlock Unlock groups. When groups are Tools menu → Groups → LOCKOFF Yes
unlocked, you can manipulate Unlock Groups
entities in groups individually, just
as if they were not members of a
group
Hatch Fill Fills selected entities with a hatch HATCHC No
pattern. A hatch pattern is created
from regular CC3+ entities in a HATCHCM sStyle[Prior];nBackColor[Dialog];nYes Yes
pattern pulled from an external NoOutline[0];(nOutlineColor[Dialog];)
file. Hatch fills are stored as files in nYesNoFixedAngle[Prior];(rAngle;)sele
@Hatch Styles ctedEntities
Hatch Options Sets the options for the Line Hatch HATCHOPT dHatchDistance;rHatchAngle Yes
command
HATCHOPT2 dSencondHatchOffsetDistance
Hatch, Cross Fills an entity with hatch lines in a HATCHX selectedEntities Yes
cross pattern. Note that these are
regular lines entities, and not
technically a fill as normally
known in CC3+
Hatch, Lines Fills an entity with hatch lines. HATCH selectedEntities Yes
Note that these are regular lines
entities, and not technically a fill
as normally known in CC3+
Hatch, Scan Allows you to drag the mouse HATCHS No
(scan) over the area to hatch
HATCHS2
Hatched Polygon Draw a regular polygon using a HATCHP No
hatch pattern fill. A hatch pattern
is created from regular CC3+ HATCHPM sStyle[Prior];nBackColor[Dialog];nYes Yes
entities in a pattern pulled from an NoOutline[0];(nOutlineColor[Dialog];)
external file. Hatch fills are stored nYesNoFixedAngle[Prior];(rAngle;)xyNo
as files in @Hatch Styles de1;xyNode2[End/Close];…;xyNodeN
Height Symbol Sets the options used for height Cosmographer menu → HEIGHTSYMOPT No
Options symbol sin the map, such as the Starmap Options
symbols used for Cosmographer STARMAPOPT
3D star maps Cosmographer tools →
Starmap Options button
Height Symbol Loads height symbol options from Cosmographer menu → HEIGHTSYMLOAD fSettingsFile Yes
Options, Load file Starmap Options dialog
STARMAPLOAD
Cosmographer tools →
Starmap Options button
dialog
Help Display the CC3+ help file Help menu → Help HELP No

EXTRUDE
Hex Symbol Scale Set the scale for use with hex HEXSYMSCALE rScale Yes
symbols, in percent of the symbol
scale. Result is only visible when
symbol is placed, not when held at
the cursor

241
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Hex Symbols, Allows hex symbols to be placed HEXSYMINOFF Yes
allow partial in partial hex cells along the map
border
Hex Symbols, Prevents hex symbols to be placed HEXSYMINON Yes
disallow partial in partial hex cells along the map
border
Hide all Buildings Used to hide all buildings in a City City menu → Layers → HB Macro
Designer map Hide all BLDNGs
Hide All Layers Hides all layers except the current. Tools menu → Set HIDEA Yes
Entities on hidden layers are not Properties → Layer dialog
visible in the view window, and
are ignored by most commands.
Note that hiding the MERGE layer
will cause effects to stop working,
and hiding the SYMBOL
DEFINITION layer will cause all
symbols to he hidden no matter
which layer they are on
Hide Layer Hides the specified layer. Entities Tools menu → Set HIDE sLayerName[Dialog] Yes
on hidden layers are not visible in Properties → Layer dialog
the view window, and are ignored
by most commands. Note that
hiding the MERGE layer will cause
effects to stop working, and hiding
the SYMBOL DEFINITION layer will
cause all symbols to he hidden no
matter which layer they are on
Hide Layers by Hides all layers that matches the HIDEF sFilter Yes
Filter specified filter. Remember when
using this command that the
current layer can't be hidden
Hide Sheet Hides a single sheet by name Tools menu → Sheets → HIDESHT sSheetName Yes
Sheets and Effects dialog
Hide Sheets by Hides all sheets that matches the HIDESHTF sFilter Yes
Filter specified filter. If the current sheet
is hidden, the current sheet will be
set to Common
Hide Structure Used to hide the STRUCTURES HH Macro
Layers layers in a City Designer map
Hide Symbol Hides the symbol catalog window View menu → Toolbars CATOFF Yes
Catalog window
Screen tools button
Hide War Hides all the various date-related HIDESTUFF Macro
Information entities in a World War 2
Interactive Atlas map. This is used
for maps that can show different
time periods in the same map
House (CC3+ This is a simple version of the HOUSECC2 No
simple version) House command, intended for use
with simple cities in CC3+ without HOUSECC2M 1;xy1stCorner;xy2ndCorner;xy3rdCorner Yes
owning CD3. It only allows plain
houses and extensions to be 10;xyInHouse;xyEdge;xyEnd;rWidth[Defa
drawn ult]
House Options This is a simple version of the HOUSECC2OPT No
(CC3+ simple House Options command,
version) intended for use with simple cities
in CC3+ without owning CD3
Hyperlinks, Hide Hides all hyperlinks (hotspots) in View menu → Hide ACTHIDE Yes
the map. Note that they continue Hyperlinks
working as normal even if they are
hidden File tools → Link with File
popup → Show Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks, Show Make all hyperlinks (hotspots) in View menu --> Show ACTVIS Yes
the map visible Hyperlinks

File tools → Link with File

popup → Show Hyperlinks
Import Bitmap Fill Import a folder of png files as fill Tools menu → Import IMPORTPNGFILL No
Styles styles in the current drawing Bitmap Fill Styles
Import Drawing Imports drawing tools as symbols Symbols menu → Symbol IMPORTDTOSYM No
Tools to Symbol in the symbol catalog Manager dialog
Catalog
Import Png Import a folder of png files as Symbols menu → Import IMPORTPNGSYM No
Symbols symbols in the current drawing Pngs
Import Symbols Import all symbol definitions from MPARSYM fDrawing lin
specified file
INSSDEF

242
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Increment Color Increments the color of an entity. CINC selectedEntities;nIncrement Yes
Colors in CC3+ are indexed, so
incrementing color 2 (Red) by 1 CINC1
gives color 3 (Blue)
CINC2
Increment Number Increments numbers found in text TINC selectedEntities;nIncrement Yes
entities
Insert File Inserts a file into the drawing. This Draw menu → Insert File INSERT No
command can be used for all file
types CC3+ support
Insert Node Inserts a new node into an existing Edit menu → Single Entities INSNODE xyInsertLocation;xyNewPoint Yes
path or polygon → Insert Node

Single Edit and Trim tools

→ Insert Node button
Insert Part Inserts a Part into the drawing. A PART No
part can be any CC3+ drawing file,
but is usually a stripped down .fcw PARTM fPartFile[Prior];dScale[Prior];rRotat Yes
file without any extra fill style, line ion[Prior];xyPosition1;…;xyPositionN
style and symbol definitions. MPAR Yes
Also see Insert File fPartFile;xyDestination1(Shift,Ctrl)
MPARS Yes
fPartFile;xyDestination1(Shift,Ctrl)
PAR No

PARS No

FILEPART No
Insert Symbol Insert a symbol into the map Symbol Catalog window SYMBOLD No

SYMBOL sSymRefName[Prior];rScaleX[Prior];rSc Yes

aleY[Prior];rRotation[Prior];xyPositi
SYMBOLC on1(Shift,Control,Tab)[Options];…;xyP Yes
ositionN
XPSYMCAT Yes
fSymbolCatalog[Prior];sSymRefName[Pri
or];rScaleX[Prior];rScaleY[Prior];rRo
tation[Prior];xyPosition1(Shift,Contr
ol,Tab)[Options];…;xyPositionN

xyPosition1(Shift,Control,Tab)[Option
s];…;xyPositionN
Insert Symbol, Allows you to insert an isometric SYMBOLISO fCatalog[Prior];sSymRef[Prior];rScale Yes
Isometric symbol X[Prior];rScaleY[Prior];rAngle[Prior]
;nAttribute;xyPosition;xyPosition1(Sh
ift,Control,Tab)[Options];…;xyPositio
nN
Insert Text File Inserts the text from a text file into TFILE No
the drawing as text. Also see
Insert File TFILEM fTextFile Yes
Layer Set the currently layer for use with Tools menu → Set LAYER sLayer[Dialog] Yes
new entities Properties → Layer dialog
LAYERDLG No

SETLAYER sLayer[Dialog] Yes

Layer Update Used by World War 2 Interactive LAYERUPDATE Macro
Atlas to update layers when the
view changes
Length Along Measure the length along an Info menu → Length Along LENGTH xyEntity;xyStartPointOnEntity[entire No
entity Entity];xyEndPointOnEntity
Light, Add Adds a light entity to the drawing Dungeon menu → Lights → ADDLIGHT No
to be used with the Point of Light Add Light
effects for dynamic lighting ADDLIGHTM xyCenter;xyDirectionRadius;rAngle Yes
Lights, Edit All Show a dialog with all the lights in Dungeon menu → Lights → LIGHTS No
the map, allowing you to Edit All Lights
manipulate them
Lights, Hide Hide the light symbols in the map. Dungeon menu → Lights → LIGHTHIDE Yes
Note that don't hide the light effect Hide Light Symbols
itself, only the cross-marker in the
map that shows that there is a
light symbol here.
Lights, Show Show the light symbols in the map. Dungeon menu → Lights → LIGHTSHOW Yes
This shows small X'es to indicate Show Light Symbols
where each light is placed
Lights, Toggle Toggles the visibility of light LIGHTTOG Yes
symbols

243
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Like Sets the current properties to Edit tools → Extract LIKE xyEntity Yes
match an existing entity, for the Properties popup → Like
next drawing operation only
Like (Modifier) This modifier can be used together Tools menu → Snaps → LIKE xyEntity Yes
with one of the various change Like
commands to change the
appropriate property to that of Key: F2
another entity
Line Draw one or more simple line Draw menu → Lines dialog LINE xyStart;xyEnd1;…;xyEndN Yes
segments. Note that while this
command do allow you to draw a Draw tools → Line button
series of line segments, they won't
be connected into a path, but
rather exist as separate entities
Line Dialog Brings up a dialog where you can Draw menu → Line LINED No
choose which type of line to draw.
Keep in mind that the choice here Draw tools → Line popup →
also change the default behavior Options
of the Line button
Line Style Set the line style to be used for Tools → Set Properties → LSTYLE sLinestyle[Dialog] Yes
new entities Line Style
LSTYLEDLG No
Line to Path Converts a series of lines and Cut menu → Create LTP2 selectEntities Yes
paths into a continuous path. Only path/poly
works if all the elements to be
joined are properly chained, i.e. the Edit tools → Explode popup
next entity must start in the exact → Line to Path
same point the previous one
ended. If the elements forms a Perspectives tools → 3D
closed shape, the command will Projection popup →
turn it into a polygon, otherwise it Convert to Polygon
will be a path
Line Width Set the line with for use with new Tools menu → Set LWIDTH rWidth Yes
entities. Keep in mind that if line Properties → Line Width
with is greater than zero, polygons LWIDTHD No
will be drawn as a hollow outline
instead of a filled entity
Line with Arrow Draw a series of line segments Draw tools → Line popup → LINEA xyStart;xyEnd1;…;xyEndN Yes
with arrowheads at the start point Line with Arrow
of the segments. Works like Line
Line with Double Draw a series of line segments Draw tools → Line popup → LINEDA xyStart;xyEnd1;…;xyEndN Yes
Arrow with arrowheads at both ends of Line with Double Arrow
the segments. Works like Line
Line, Default Draw a line using the default Draw menu → Line dialog LINEI Yes
settings. Change using the Line
Dialog. While this command can Draw tools → Line button
technically be used in a macro, it is
not recommended since the
command line depends on what
line type is the default at the time.
See the entries for the various line
types for the command lines
Line, Double Draw a double line Draw menu → Lines dialog DBLN dSeperation;xyPoint1;xyPoint2;…;xyPoi Yes
ntN
Draw tools → Line popup →
Double Line
Line, Draw lines of a specified length Draw tools → Line popup → LNPRPL dLength[Prior];xyEntity;xyEndpointLin Yes
Perpendicualr at perpendicular to another entity Perpendicular at Length e1;…;xyEndpointLineN
Length
Line, Draw lines perpendicular to Draw tools → Line popup → LNPRP xyEntity;xyEndpointLine1;…;xyEndpoint Yes
Perpendicular another entity Perpendicular LineN
Link with File Create a hotspot that links to a file Tools menu → Hyperlinks LINKF Macro
(document). The file will be → Link with File
opened in the default viewer for
that filetype File tools → Link with File
button
Link with Map Create a hotspot that links to Tools menu → Hyperlinks LINKM Macro
another CC3+ map. The map will → Link with Map
open in the same CC3+ instance
File tools → Link with Map
button
List Shows detailed information about Info menu → List LIST selectEntities No
selected entities, such as sheet,
layer, all properties, nodes, IDs and
file names

244
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
List Commands Lists all the commands CC3+ LISTCMDS No
knows about. Useful when making
lists like this one
List Drawing Lists all the entities in the drawing. LISTDWG No
This includes entities that aren't
normally selectable
List Height Lists all the height symbols in the LISTHEIGHTS No
Symbols drawing, along with their
coordinates LISTSTARS
List Image Names Lists all the references to external LISTIMAGENAMESDWG No
in Drawing image files in the drawing
List Image Names Lists all the references to external LISTIMAGENAMES No
in Files images in all drawings in a folder
(recursive)
List Layers Lists all the layers in the drawing LISTLYR No
List Symbol Display information about a Symbols → Symbol LISTSYM No
Definition symbol definition, as well as all Manager dialog
entities it is made up from
Load Addons These macros set up the symbol Tools menu → Addons → ... LOADCAPRO Macro
style needed when switching
between addons File tools → Addon buttons LOADCC3

LOADCD3

LOADCDPRO

LOADCOSMOG

LOADCD3

LOADDDPRO

LOADDD3

LOADDIORAMAS

LOADPER

LOADSMC

LOADSS3

LOADWWII
Load City Designer The classic City Designer catalog CATICON1 Macro
Symbol Catalog buttons covers several catalogs
each, and these macros are the CATICON2
ones that toggle to a new catalog
for each click CATICON3

CATICON4

CATICON5

CATICON6

CATICON7

CATICON8

CATICON9

CATICON10
Load Color Map Loads the line-width color LOADCMAP Yes
mapping from file. Note that color
mapping is not the same as the
palette
Load Drawing Loads a new drawing. The old one File menu → Open FILE No
will be unloaded, and you will be
prompted to save changes LOAD

OPEN

LOADM fFileName

245
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Load Master Filter Loads a predefined list of master Symbols menu → Master SYMICONFLOAD sSetting[Dialog] Yes
List filters. These are stored as .sif files Settings Filters dialog
in the CC3+ data directory
Overland tools → Symbol
Style Toggle popup →
Master Filter Settings dialog
Load Relative File Loads a new drawing using a path LOADREL fRelativePath Yes
relative to the current on
Load Symbol Load a symbol catalog into the Symbol Catalog Window → CATALOG fCatalog[Prior] Yes
Catalog symbol catalog window Load Catalog button
Lock Symbol Angle Set the symbol rotation value used Dungeon menu → Lock LOCKANG xyEntity Yes
when placing new symbols to Symbol Angle
match the angle of the selected
entity
Lock Text Angle Sets the text angle to match that Edit menu → Text → Lock LOCKTEXT Macro
of an entity Text Angle
Make Directory Create a directory in the file MAKEDIR dDirectory Yes
system. Will create any required
parent directories as specified by MKDIR
the path. If the directory already
exists, nothing will happen
Make Hotspot Create a clickable hotspot in the Tools menu → Macros → ACTION No
map that can contain macro Make Hotspot
commands ACTIONM sText;xyCorner1;xyCorner2 Yes
Make Parent Makes the standard hotspot in MP Macro
Hotspot Source Maps products to link to
the parent map
Make Symbols Turns all the maps in the selected MKPARSCAT No
from Bookmarks bookmark file into symbols.
Make Varicolor Change selections color to the Symbols menu → Make CHGCBB selectEntities Yes
symbol reference color (varicolor) Varicolor
Manage Levels Manages the various drawings in a Cosmographer menu → FLOORPLANADD No
multi-floor drawing, such as a Multi-Deck Tools →
starship deck plan. Allows you to Manage Levels
add new levels, delete levels and
rearrange levels. The navigation
links in each of the related
drawings will be updated to the
new configuration
Map Information Shows the information (in html INFO Macro
format) for the current map in the
Source Maps series
Master Filter Allow you to manage the currently Symbols menu → Master SYMICONFOPT No
Settings loaded master filters, or load a Settings Filters
new set SYMICONFOPTM nCount;sFilter1[Empty];…;sfilterN Yes
Overland tools → Symbol
Style Toggle popup →
Master Filter Settings
Menu Loads a menu file with a new set Tools menu → Menu MENU No
of menus and toolbars. CC3+
contains custom menu files for MENUD No
each individual add-on, and you
can also make your own. Note that MENUM fMenuFile Yes
the loaded menu file will replace
the currently loaded one. Note that MENUDM fMenuFile Yes
the "D" version of the commands
sets the loaded file as default for
subsequent program starts
Mirror Mirrors (Flips) an entity along an Edit menu → Reshape → MIRROR selectEntities;xyMirrorLineStart;xyMi Yes
arbitrary axis Mirror rrorLineEnd
Mirrored Copies Creates copies of entities mirrored Edit tools → Mirrored MIRCPY selectEntitites;xyMirrorLineStart;xyM Yes
around a line Copies irrorLineEnd
Move Action Allows a hotspot (Action entity) to MOVACT xyDestination1(Shift,Ctrl) Yes
be moved simply by clicking on it.
Used to make symbols (such as
characters) that can be quickly
moved simply by clicking on them
Move Origin Move the drawing coordinate View menu → Move Origin ORIGIN No
system origin (0,0) in the drawing
Move to Sheet Moves entities to selected sheet Tools menu → Sheets → MOVESHT No
Move to Sheet

Display tools → Sheets and

Effects popup → Move to
Sheet

246
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Move, Non-Visual Move a selection of entities in the Edit tools → Move, Scale, MOVE selectEntities;xyOrigin;xyDestination Yes
drawing. The move is non-visual, Rotate popup → Non-visual
so no previews/outlines are shown Move
during operation. Well suited for
command-line/macro operations.
Move, Scale, Moves entities in the map, and Edit menu → Move, Scale, MOV selectedEntities;xyOrigin;xyDestinati Yes
Rotate lets you scale and rotate them at Rotate on(Shift,Ctrl)
the same time
Edit tools → Move, Scale,
Roate
Multi File Script Allows you to run a CC3+ script MULTIFILESCRIPT No
file on multiple files
Multipoly Multipoly combines several Draw menu → Multipoly MPOLY2 selectEntities Yes
polygons into one shape. Where
multiple polygons overlap holes Draw tools → Multipoly MPOLY
will be generated. The final shape button
will have the current properties
(fill, etc.) of the current setting
when the multipoly is formed, but
the individual entities still retain
their original properties which will
be restored if the multipoly is
disassembled (exploded)
Name Window Give a name to the current view. View menu → Windows → SVNAME No
This will create a named view Name Window
which you later can zoom to using
Zoom Named. The name will also
be visible in the view window title
bar, but only until you change the
view, for example by zooming
Network, Add Adds to a network, or create a NETADD xyNetwork[New];xyCorner1;…;xyCornerN Yes
new one
Network, Center Sets the net insertion point to NETCENTER Yes
center
Network, Change Change the width of a network NETWIDS xyNetworkSpan1;…;xyNetworkSpanN Yes
Node Width node
Network, Change Change the width of a network NETWIDE xyNetworkSpan1;…;xyNetworkSpanN Yes
Span Width span
Network, Change Changes network width, and NETWIDA rWidth;xyNetwork;xyCorner1;…;xyCorner Yes
Width optionally draw additional N
segments
Network, Create Create a network NET xyCorner1;…;xyCornerN Yes
Network, Cut Cuts a section from a network NETCUT xyNetwork;xyCorner1;xyCorner2 Yes
Network, Left Sets the net insertion point to left NETLEFT Yes
Network, Offset Creates an offset copy of a NETOFST xyNetwork;dOffset1;…;dOffsetN Yes
Copy network
Network, Add rectangle to existing or new NETRECT xyNetwork;xyCorner1a;xyCorner1b;…;…; Yes
Rectangle network xyCornerNa;xyCornerNb
Network, Remove Remove a span from a network NETRMV xyNetworkSpan1;…;xyNetworkSpanN Yes
Span
Network, Right Sets the net insertion point to right NETRIGHT Yes
Network, Set Set network width and draw new NETWID rWidth;xyNetwork[New];xyCorner1;…;xyC Yes
Width network/span ornerN
New from Current Closes the active drawing (prompt File tools → New Map NEW No
Template to save changes) and starts a new popup → New from Current
one from the current template. Template
Note that the current template is
set by the Template command, it
does not refer to the template the
current drawing is based upon
New Map Wizard Starts a new map using the new NEWWIZ No
map wizard
New Map Wizard Sets the folder for use with the File menu → New NEWWIZOPT fFolder Yes
Options new map wizard
File tools → New Map
button
New Window Opens a new view window on View menu → Windows → NEWW No
your drawing. Useful to have two New Window
different views on the same map
simultaneously
Node Edit Move, add and delete nodes Edit menu → Single Entities DYNEDIT No
(Dynamic Edit) → Dynamic Edit

Single Edit and Trim tools

→ Node Edit button

247
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Number Label Creates a number label that Draw menu → Number NUMBER nNumber;xyPosition1(Shift,Control)[Be Yes
increments with each placement Label low Prior];…;xyPositionN

Draw tool → Number Label

button
Numeric Edit Allows you to edit entity-specific Edit menu → Single Entities EDIT No
options. The dialog that shows will → Numeric Edit
depend on the type of entity you
use it on. For example, if you use Single Edit and Trim tools
it on a polygon, you can edit the → Numeric Edit button
nodes, on a circle you can edit the
center and radius, and on a text
entity, you can edit the text itself.
Offset Chain Creates an offset of a chain of Draw menu → Offset dialog OFFSET dDistance[Prior];xyEntityChain;xyOffs Yes
entities using the current etSide
properties. An offset is different
from a regular copy in that it is
reshaped to maintain the offset
which is required to get proper
corners/bends.
A chain of entities are defined as
several entities where the next
one has the start node in the same
position as the end node of the
previous entity.
Offset Copy Creates an offset of a single entity, Draw menu → Offset dialog OFFSETCPY dDistance[Prior];xyEntity;xyOffsetSid Yes
copying the properties of that e
entity. An offset is different from a
regular copy in that it is reshaped
to maintain the offset which is
required to get proper
corners/bends
Offset Dialog Brings up a dialog where you can Draw menu → Offset OFFSETD No
choose which type of offset to
draw
Offset One Creates an offset of a single entity Draw menu → Offset dialog OFFSET1 dDistance[Prior];xyEntity;xyOffsetSid Yes
using the current properties. An e
offset is different from a regular
copy in that it is reshaped to
maintain the offset which is
required to get proper
corners/bends
Offset, Default Draw an offset using the default Draw menu → Offset dialog OFFSETI Yes
settings. Change using the Offset
Dialog. While this command can
technically be used in a macro, it is
not recommended since the
command line depends on what
offset type is the default at the
time. See the entries for the
various offset types for the
command lines
Open External Opens a document from the local OPENDOC fDocumentFileName[Prior] Yes
Document computer. Can be any file type
Windows recognizes, and will be
opened in the default application
for that document type.
Open Next Opens the next drawing in the file File tools → Next Drawing OPENND No
Drawing history button
Open Previous Opens the previous drawing in the File tools → Previous OPENPD No
Drawing file history Drawing button
Options Brings up the CC3+ program Tools menu → Options GLOBALOPT No
options dialog
Ortho Off Turns off Orthogonal locking. Modifier Locks tools → ORTHOFF Yes
When Orthogonal locking is on Ortho Button
CC3+ forces the next position to
have either the same X or same Y
as the previous position. For
example, when drawing a path,
you will be locked to only draw
straight vertical or horizontal lines

248
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Ortho On Turns on Orthogonal locking. Modifier Locks tools → ORTHON Yes
When Orthogonal locking is on Ortho Button
CC3+ forces the next position to
have either the same X or same Y
as the previous position. For
example, when drawing a path,
you will be locked to only draw
straight vertical or horizontal lines
Ortho Toggle Toggles Orthogonal locking. When Modifier Locks tools → ORTHT Yes
Orthogonal locking is on CC3+ Ortho Button
forces the next position to have
either the same X or same Y as the
previous position. For example,
when drawing a path, you will be
locked to only draw straight
vertical or horizontal lines
Outline Creates an outline of an entity by OUT Macro
creating a copy on a separate
layer and changing the fill style to
hollow and black
Outline, Black Adds an outline to the selected Draw tools → Outline in OUTLINEB selectedEntities Yes
entities in black Black button
Outline, Current Adds an outline to the selected Draw menu → Outline OUTLINE selectedEntities Yes
Color entities in the current color
Draw tools → Outline in
Black popup → Outline in
current color
Palette, Add to This stores the palette in the File menu → Drawing PALADD Yes
Drawing drawing, allowing the drawing to Properties dialog
use it's own custom palette
instead of the global CC3+ palette File tools → Drawing
Properties button dialog
Palette, Remove This removes the palette stored in File menu → Drawing PALREM Yes
from Drawing the drawing, making the drawing Properties dialog
use the default global CC3+ palette
instead File tools → Drawing
Properties button dialog
Pan View Pan the drawing window by View menu → Zooms → PAN xyFrom;xyTo Yes
indicating distance and direction Pan

View tools → Zoom In

button → Pan View
Pan, Dynamic Pan the drawing by moving the Mouse: Middle button DYNPAN No
mouse
Parent Map Activates the hotspot that loads PARENT Macro
the parent map. Used in Source
Maps products
Path Draw a straight-edged path by Draw menu → Path dialog PATH xyStartNode;;xyNode1;…;xyNodeN Yes
placing a chain of nodes
Draw tools → Path popup
→ Path
Path Dialog Brings up a dialog where you can Draw menu → Path PATHD No
choose which type of path to
draw. Keep in mind that the choice Draw tools → Path popup
here also change the default → Options
behavior of the Path button
Path to Poly Turn a path into a polygon. This Edit tools → Explode popup CLOSEPATH selectedEntities Yes
results in the path being closed by → Path to Poly
adding a line between the start
and end nodes of the path
Path with Arrow Draw a straight path with an Draw tools → Path popup PATHA xyStartNode;;xyNode1;…;xyNodeN Yes
arrowhead at the start → Path with Arrow
Path with Double Draw a straight path with Draw tools → Path popup PATHDA xyStartNode;;xyNode1;…;xyNodeN Yes
Arrow arrowheads at both ends → Path with Double Arrow
Path, Curve with Draw a smooth path with an arrow Draw tools → Smooth Path SPLINEA xyStartNode;;xyNode1;…;xyNodeN Yes
Arrow at the start popup → Curve with Arrow
Path, Curve with Draw a smooth path with an arrow Draw tools → Smooth Path SPLINEDA xyStartNode;;xyNode1;…;xyNodeN Yes
Double Arrow at each end popup → Curve with
Double Arrow

249
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Path, Default Draw a path using the default Draw menu → Path dialog PATHI Yes
settings. Change using the Path
Dialog. While this command can Draw tools → Path button
technically be used in a macro, it is
not recommended since the
command line depends on what
path type is the default at the
time. See the entries for the
various path types for the
command lines
Path, Fractal Draw a fractal path Draw menu → Path dialog FPATH xyNode1;xyNode2(Space,Arrows);…;xyNod Yes
eN
Draw tools → Fractal Path
button
Path, Parabolic Draw a smooth path where the Draw menu → Path dialog PSPLINE xyStartNode;;xyNode1;…;xyNodeN Yes
Curve curve touch all the control points
(nodes). This results in much Draw tools → Smooth Path
sharper curves than a regular popup → Parabolic Curve
smooth path
Path, Smooth Create a smooth path (cubic curve) Draw menu → Path SPLINE xyStartNode;;xyNode1;…;xyNodeN Yes
by drawing a chain of control
points (nodes). Curves will be Draw tools → Smooth Path SPLINE2 xyStartNode;;xyNode1(C);…;xyNodeN
inside the nodes button
Pen Thickness Set the current pen thickness. Pen PTHICK No
thickness is a property (only) used
when printing on a plotter. If you
are not using a plotter (which you
probably aren't), you don't want to
touch this value. For all other uses,
stick to line width instead
Perspective Scale Turns off perspective scaling for PSCALEOFF Yes
Off symbols
Perspective Scale Turns on perspective scaling for PSCALEON Yes
On symbols in the map. This results in
symbols getting smaller the higher
they are placed on the screen
(giving the illusion they are farther
away)
Perspective Scale Configures Perspective Scaling PSCALESETUP xyLowPostion;rLowScale;xyHighPosition Yes
Setup ;rHighScale;xyHorizontalCenter
Perspective Scale, This applies perspective projection PSCALEX selectedEntities Yes
Apply to the entities in a map, such as
reshaping the rectangles to
trapezoids to give them the
illusion of perspective. Uses the
configured perspective scale
options
Pick Cursor Set the size of the pick cursor PICKA nAparture[Prior] Yes
Aparture Size aperture (the "box" on the pick
cursor) in pixels. The larger this is,
the easier it is to pick an entity, but
also easier to accidentally include
additional entities
Point Draw a point. Note that a point is a Draw menu → Point POINT xyLoccation1;…;xyLocationN Yes
zero-sized entity and while
technically visible, is very hard to
see even if you zoom in on it.
Points are usually used to "store"
properties and sheets (sheets
disappear on save if there isn't
anything on them), but they are
pretty useless for adding visual
elements to a map
Polygon Draw a straight-edged polygon. A Draw menu → Polygon POLY xyStartNode;;xyNode1;…;xyNodeN Yes
polygon is similar to a path, but dialog
will always be closed with a line
going from the last to the first Draw tools → Polygon
node. A polygon will appear filled popup → Polygon
if it's line with is set to 0,
otherwise it will appear hollow
with an outline
Polygon Dialog Brings up a dialog where you can Draw menu → Polygon POLYD No
choose which type of polygon to
draw. Keep in mind that the choice Draw tools → Polygon
here also change the default popup → Options
behavior of the Polygon button

250
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Polygon, Default Draw a polygon using the default Draw menu → Polygon POLYI Yes
settings. Change using the Polygon dialog
Dialog. While this command can
technically be used in a macro, it is Draw tools → Polygon
not recommended since the button
command line depends on what
polygon type is the default at the
time. See the entries for the
various polygon types for the
command lines
Polygon, Fractal Draw a fractal polygon Draw menu → Polygon FPOLY xyNode1;xyNode2(Space,Arrows);…;xyNod Yes
dialog eN(Space,Arrows);(Space,Arrows);

Draw tools → Fractal Poly

button
Polygon, Mirrored Draw a mirrored polygon. Uses the MIRRORPOLY rMirrorAngle;xyNode1;xyNode2;…;xyNode Yes
polygon type (Smooth, Straight, N
Fractal) of the last drawing tool
you used
Polygon, Parabolic Draw a smooth polygon where the Draw menu → Polygon PSPOLY xyStartNode;;xyNode1;…;xyNodeN Yes
curve touches the control points dialog
(nodes). The resulting polygon will
thus be slightly larger than the Draw tools → Smooth
straight shape (frame) defined by Polygon popup → Parabolic
the nodes Polygon
Polygon, Regular Draw a regular polygon, i.e. a Draw menu → Polygon RPOLY nSides[Prior];xyCenter[Prior];xyCorne Yes
polygon where all angles are the dialog r
same RPOLY2
Draw tools → Polygon nSides[Prior];xyCenter[Prior];xyCorne
popup → Regular Polygon r(Shift,Arrows,Numbers)
Polygon, Smooth Draw a smooth (cubic) polygon Draw menu → Polygon SPOLY xyStartNode;;xyNode1;…;xyNodeN Yes
where the curve is inside the
control points (nodes). The Draw tools → Smooth Poly SPOLY2 xyStartNode;;xyNode1(C);…;xyNodeN
resulting polygon will thus be button
slightly smaller than the straight
shape (frame) defined by the
nodes
Print Brings up the print dialog from File menu → Print PRINT No
where you can print your map
File tools → Print button
Print Assembly The print assembly commands COPYPA No
allow you to set up print layout on
a single page, such as including DEFPA
more than one drawing on a page
DELPA

EDITPA

LISTPA

PRINTA
Print Center Prints the map at the specified PRINTSM sPrintCenter;rPaperDistance;rDrawingD Yes
center with the specified scale. For istance;sPrintFlags[Landscape]
print flags, 0 = Landscape, 1 =
Portrait
Print Named Prints the named view. Note that PRINTNM sNamedView;sPrintFlags[Landscape] Yes
CC3+ crashes if the named view
doesn't exist. To print the active
window, specify the word active
as the name. For print flags, 0 =
Landscape, 1 = Portrait
Print Window Prints a specified print window, or PRINTWM xyCorner1[Entire Yes
the entire active view. For print View];xyCorner2;sPrintFlags[Landscape
flags, 0 = Landscape, 1 = Portrait ]
Print Wizard Lets you print using the print File menu → Print Wizard PRINTWIZARD No
wizard. The wizard helps you
make the right printing choices, File tools → Print popup →
such as scale, through a series of Print Wizard
dialogs
Print Wizard Loads saved print wizard settings PWSETTINGS fSettings Yes
Settings
Prompt Text Color Sets the color of the command line PCOLOR nColorIndex[Dialog] Yes
(prompt) text. Does not affect the
floating prompt

251
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Protect Protects the drawing with a File menu → Drawing PROTECT No
numeric key (up to 8 digits) from Properties dialog
certain types of manipulation (set
in the protect dialog) File tools → Drawing
Properties button dialog
Purge Font Purges unused font references FONTPURGE Yes
References from the drawing
Purge Symbol Purges all unused symbol Symbols → Symbol PURGESYM No
Definitions definitions from the current Manager dialog
drawing. This is helps clean up the PURGESYMM Yes
symbol definitions in a drawing,
since the symbol definition is left
behind even if the last symbol
reference is erased. DON'T use this
command when editing a symbol
catalog, as it will erase all the
symbols in the catalog
Quick Copy Copies a single entity in the Edit tools → Copy popup → COPQ xyEntity(s);xyDestination1(Shift,Ctrl Yes
drawing. Has fewer prompts than Quick Copy );…;xyDestinationN
the standard Copy in Drawing
command, but otherwise the
same. Intended for faster
operation if you use CC3+ to show
the map during a game session
Quick Move Moves a single entity in the Edit menu → Quick Move MOVQ xyEntity1(s);xyDestination1(Shift,Ctr Yes
drawing. Has fewer prompts than l);…;…;xyEntityN;xyDestinationN
the standard Move command, but Edit tools → Move, Scale,
otherwise the same. Intended for Rotate popup → Quick
faster operation if you use CC3+ to Move
show the map during a game
session Key: Control + Q
Quit (End/Exit) Quits CC3+. Asks to save current File menu → Exit END No
drawing if changes are pending,
otherwise no confirmation EXIT

QUIT
Random Dungeon Create a random dungeon layout Dungeon menu → Random DUNGEON xyDungeon1Corner1;xyDungeon1Corner2;… Yes
using tiles Dungeon ;…;xyDungeonNCorner1(Space);xyDungeon
NCorner2
Random Dungeon Sets the options for the Random Dungeon menu → Random DUNGEONOPT No
Options Dungeon command Dungeon Options
Rectangular Array Copies entities to a rectangular Edit tools → Copy popup → REPEAT selectEntitites;nColums[Prior];nRows[ Yes
array (grid) Rectangular Array Prior];xyOrigin;xy2ndRow2ndColumn
Rectangular Part Insert a part into the drawing PARY No
Array arranged in a rectangular array
PARYM fPartFile[Prior];dScale[Prior];rRotat Yes
ion[Prior];nColumns[Prior];nRows[Prio
r];xyPosition;xy2ndRow2ndCol
Redo Redo the last undo operation. Edit menu → Redo REDO Yes

Edit tools → Undo popup →

Redo

Key: Control + Y
Redo All Redo all undo operations Edit tools → Undo popup → REDOA Yes
Redo All
Redraw Redraws the screen. For View menu → Redraw REDRAW Yes
performance reasons, CC3+ does
not redraw the entire screen after View tools → Redraw
every drawing operation. This button
makes mapping much more
responsive, but also leads to
artifacts such as entities being in
the wrong order, or white "holes"
being left behind. Issuing a redraw
will draw everything properly
Redraw Off Suppresses automatic screen RDOFF Yes
redraws. This prevents screen
flashing when running a macro
executing drawing operations
Redraw On Restores automatic screen RDON Yes
redraws
Redraw Time Measured the redraw time of your REDRAWTIME No
drawing. Helps identifying what
effects are time consuming

252
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Related Events Used by WW2 Interactive Atlas to RELATEDEVENTS Macro
show related events when the
display is updated
Remove Nodes Reduces the complexity of a path Edit menu → Reshape → REDN xyEntity Yes
or poly by removing every second Remove Nodes
node. See also Simplify Path
Edit tools → Explode popup
→ Remove Nodes
Remove Outline This command sets the outline UNOUTLINE selectedEntities Yes
Color color of an entity to the same as
the interior color, effectively
removing the outline. Note that
this does not affect outlines as
separate entities like the Outline
commands adds
Rename Drawing Renames the current drawing RENAME No
without saving it. Can only rename
to an existing file name, but the
existing file is not immediately
overwritten
Rename Symbol Renames a symbol reference. The Symbols → Symbol RENSYM No
Reference effect of this is that one symbol in Manager dialog
the drawing is replaced by another
one. Don't confuse with renaming
the symbol definition
Replace Image Replace image paths in the current REPLACEIMAGENAMESDWG sFindText;sReplaceText Yes
Names in Drawing drawing. Can replace part of the
path or the whole path. Note that
this command DO NOT support
making the name longer than it
was before. Doing so may corrupt
your drawing
Replace Image Allow you to replace the image REPLACEIMAGENAMES No
Names in Files paths for all drawings in a folder
(recursive). Can replace part of the
path or the whole path. Note that
this command DO NOT support
making the name longer than it
was before. Doing so may corrupt
your drawing
Reset Symbol Resets the symbol catalog settings SYMICONMR Yes
Catalog Settings filter to *, meaning all symbol
Filter catalogs for the current style
(master filter) will match
Resize Drawing Resize the drawing area of a map. File menu → Resize SCALEMAPEXT No
Area As you may be aware of, the Drawing Area
canvas in CC3+ is not really SCALEMAPEXTM dWidth;dHeight Yes
limited, but many tools are
configurable to stay within the
boundary of the MAP BORDER
layer. This command resizes the
elements of the map border layer,
the map background, the SCREEN
sheets and a few more things to
change the available drawing area
Resize Program Resizes the program window to RESIZE Yes
Window make space for the Quick Start
Guide next to it
Restore Drawing Restores the drawing to last save RESTORE No
state (reloads drawing from disk
without saving changes first)
Reverse Path Reverses (Flips) the direction of a FLP xyEntity Yes
path. This will have no visual
difference on the screen, but
several commands relies on the
direction on the path, such as Text
along a curve. Only works on
straight paths
Road Width Sets line width to typical road ROADWIDTH Macro
widths. First set to 10, then for
each call it picks the next value in
the list 10, 15, 20 and 30, looping
around when it reaches the end
Roll Die (d6) Generates a random result D6 sAdditionalText1;…;sAddionalTextN Macro
between 1 and 6 and displays it in
a dialog.

253
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Rotate Rotate entities Edit menu → Reshape → ROT selectedEntities;xyOrigin;rAngle[Alig Yes
Rotate n to Object](Shift)

Edit tools → Rotate button

Rotate Align Rotate and align entities Edit tools → Rotate popup ROTALN selectEntities;xyCenter[Prior];xyBear Yes
→ Rotate Align ingTo1;xyBearingTo2
Rotate, Non-Visual Rotate entities. Non-Visual Edit tools → Rotate popup ROTATE selectEntities;xyAngle[Prior];xyCente Yes
commands do not show a preview → Non-Visual Rotate r[Prior]
during the operation
Rotated Copies Create rotated copies of entities Edit tools → Copy popup → ROTCPY selectEntities;xyAngle[Prior];xyCente Yes
Rotated Copies r[Prior]
Run Executable Runs an external executable file. If RUNAPP fDocumentFileName[Prior] Yes
you wish to open a document in
it's default application, use the
Open Document command
instead
Run External This command allow you to call STARTM fFilename Yes
external programs from your map,
for example from a hotspot. Using STARTMU
this command you can call
executables, documents (which
will then open in the default
program) or URL's (which will open
in your default browser. The
difference between the two
programs is that the first will
interpret CC3+ relative paths using
@, # and $, while the second
version don't. Technically, this
program calls the start command
in Windows
Save Saves the current drawing File menu → Save SAVE Yes
Save As (Export) Saves the current drawing under a File menu → Save As EXPORT No
new file name. Also allow saving
to other file types, such as image SAVEAS No
files or other formats. For the
command line variants, file format SAVEASM fFileName Yes
is inferred from the extension
provided
Save As DXF Saves the current drawing in the File menu → Save As SAVEDXF Yes
DXF file format. Uses the same file
name as the current drawing, just
changes the extension to dxf. Note
that you may need to issue a
redraw command after using this
command
Save Color Map Loads the line-width color SAVECMAP Yes
mapping from file. Note that color
mapping is not the same as the
palette
Save Custom Saves the current palette as the Tools menu → Set SAVEPAL Yes
Palette custom palette. Note that if a Properties → Color dialog
custom palette file exists
(@fcw32.pal) all maps that don't
have a palette attached to the
drawing will use this instead of the
default palette
Save Image Exports the current drawing to an File menu → Save As dialog SAVEBMP fFilename Yes
image file. File type is
automatically determined by the File tools → Save popup →
extension you provide as part of Save As dialog
the file name
Save Image, Allows you to export a rectangular File menu → Save As dialog WBS No
Rectangular section of the map as an image
Section file. File type is automatically File tools → Save popup → WBSM fFilename;xyCorner1;xyCorner2 Yes
determined by the extension you Save As dialog
provide as part of the file name
Scale Scale entities Edit menu → Reshape → SCA selectedEntities;xyOrigin;rScale(Shif Yes
Scale t,Ctrl)

Edit tools → Scale button

Scale Symbol Rescale all symbol definitions CHANGESS rScale Yes
Definitions about their origin. Can't be undone.

254
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Scale Symbols in Scales selected symbols in the Tools menu → Scale SCASREF selectedEntities;rScale Yes
Map map. Each symbol is scaled Symbols in Map
individually with relation to its
own origin, as opposed to the Edit tools → Scale popup →
regular Scale command which Scale Symbols in Map
would result in the symbols being
moved if you tried to scale several
at once
Scale, Non-Visual Scale resizes entities. A Non-Visual Edit tools → Scale popup → SCALE selectEntities;rScaleFactor[Prior];xy Yes
operation does not show a Non-Visual Scale Origin[Prior]
preview during the process
Scale, Non-Visual Performs a non-proportional Edit tools → Scale popup → SCALEXY selectEntities;rScaleX[Prior];ScaleY[ Yes
XY scaling of selected entities. A Non- Non-Visual ScaleXY Prior];xyOrigin[Prior]
Visual operation does not show a
preview during the process
Scaled Copies Create scaled copies of entities Edit tools → Copy popup → SCLCPY selectEntities;rScaleFactor[Prior];xy Yes
Scaled Copies Origin[Prior]
Search Files for Searches multiple files for the Tools menu → Search Files SEARCH No
Text given text. Can optionally use a for Text
search index file instead of looking
through each file. The search
results is presented as a bookmark
list
Select Active Sets the active window. Only SELAW No
Window useful if you have more than one
window open
Select By Show the Select by dialog where Tools menu → Options SELBY No
you can set your selection method dialog
Select by 1 Set the selection method to only Tools menu → Options SELBY1 Yes
do a single pick with the pick dialog
cursor (may pick more than one
entity). No selection window is
possible
Select by All Set the selection method to SELBYA Yes
automatically pick all entities
Select by Color Sets the selection method to select SELBYC Yes
by color. Note that all entities do
have a color property, even if it
may be ignored for non-varicolor
symbols and raster filled polygons
Select by Dialog or Sets the selection method to the Tools menu → Options SELBYD Yes
Popup default select method. In this dialog
mode, CC3+ allows picking via the
pick cursor, drawing selection
windows to encompass entities
and using the right-click selection
method to provide a very flexible
selection system. If selections do
not behave normally in CC3+, this
is the command you want to run.
Note that this is the only selection
method that needs confirmation
with Do It, all the others just sets
the selection and move on. This is
a good selection method for
manual mapping, but a poor
choice in macros
Select by Layer Sets the selection method to select SELBYL Yes
all entities on the specified layer
Select by Multiple Selects entities by using the pick Tools menu → Options SELBYE Yes
Each cursor, each click can select dialog
multiple entities. Right clicking
ends the selection process
Select by Prior Sets the selection method to Tools menu → Options SELBYP Yes
automatically select the prior dialog
selection or last drawn entity
Select by Window Sets the selection method to Tools menu → Options SELBYW Yes
always use a selection window. dialog
This can be helpful when you want
a selection window in a densely
packed space and the pick cursor
keep interfering
Select Entity Selects an entity stored in a SELECT vEntity Yes
variable, adding it to the current
selection. This is useful with select
by prior. See Deselect Entities and
Store Entity

255
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Select Grid Set the active guide/snap grid Tools menu → Snaps → SGRID No
Grid Settings

Modifier Locks tools → Grid

popup
Select inside Box Splits entities at a cut box, and Cut menu → Select inside CBOXSI selectEntities;xyCutCorner1;xyCutCorn Yes
adds the parts inside to the current → Box er2
selection. This selection can be
accessed by later commands by xyCutCorner1;xyCutCorner2
doing a selection by prior.
Note that when a filled polygon is
split, it will no longer be a filled
shape, but individual paths
defining the outline of the prior
polygon. To get back the polygon,
you need to close it back up again
manually
Select inside Splits entities at a cut circle, and Cut menu → Select inside CCIRPSI selectEntities;xyCenter;xyPoint(Shift Yes
Circle (centre + adds the parts inside to the current → Circle (centre + point) )
point) selection. This selection can be
accessed by later commands by xyCenter;xyPoint(Shift)
doing a selection by prior.
Note that when a filled polygon is
split, it will no longer be a filled
shape, but individual paths
defining the outline of the prior
polygon. To get back the polygon,
you need to close it back up again
manually
Select inside Splits entities at a cut circle, and Cut menu → Select inside CCIRSI selectEntities;dDiameter;xyCenter Yes
Circle (diameter) adds the parts inside to the current → Circle (diameter)
selection. This selection can be dDiameter;xyCenter
accessed by later commands by
doing a selection by prior.
Note that when a filled polygon is
split, it will no longer be a filled
shape, but individual paths
defining the outline of the prior
polygon. To get back the polygon,
you need to close it back up again
manually
Select inside Splits entities at an existing Cut menu → Select inside CPOLYSI selectEntities;xyEntity Yes
Sample polygon in your map, and adds the → Sample (Poly or Circle)
parts inside to the current xyEntity
selection. This selection can be
accessed by later commands by
doing a selection by prior.
Note that when a filled polygon is
split, it will no longer be a filled
shape, but individual paths
defining the outline of the prior
polygon. To get back the polygon,
you need to close it back up again
manually
Select Nearby Allows you to add symbols that SYMSELNEAR rDistance;selectedEntities Yes
Symbols are near an entity to the selection.
This selection can for example be
accessed by Select by Prior in the
following command
Select outside Box Splits entities at a cut box, and Cut menu → Select outside CBOXSO selectEntities;xyCutCorner1;xyCutCorn Yes
adds the parts outside to the → Box er2
current selection. This selection
can be accessed by later xyCutCorner1;xyCutCorner2
commands by doing a selection by
prior.
Note that when a filled polygon is
split, it will no longer be a filled
shape, but individual paths
defining the outline of the prior
polygon. To get back the polygon,
you need to close it back up again
manually

256
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Select outside Splits entities at a cut circle, and Cut menu → Select outside CCIRPSO selectEntities;xyCenter;xyPoint(Shift Yes
Circle (center + adds the parts outside to the → Circle (center + point) )
point) current selection. This selection
can be accessed by later xyCenter;xyPoint(Shift)
commands by doing a selection by
prior.
Note that when a filled polygon is
split, it will no longer be a filled
shape, but individual paths
defining the outline of the prior
polygon. To get back the polygon,
you need to close it back up again
manually
Select outside Splits entities at a cut circle, and Cut menu → Select outside CCIRSO selectEntities;dDiameter;xyCenter Yes
Circle (diameter) adds the parts outside to the → Circle (diameter)
current selection. This selection dDiameter;xyCenter
can be accessed by later
commands by doing a selection by
prior.
Note that when a filled polygon is
split, it will no longer be a filled
shape, but individual paths
defining the outline of the prior
polygon. To get back the polygon,
you need to close it back up again
manually
Select outside Splits entities at an existing Cut menu → Select outside CPOLYSO selectEntities;xyEntity Yes
Sample polygon in your map, and adds the → Sample (Poly or Circle)
parts outside to the current xyEntity
selection. This selection can be
accessed by later commands by
doing a selection by prior.
Note that when a filled polygon is
split, it will no longer be a filled
shape, but individual paths
defining the outline of the prior
polygon. To get back the polygon,
you need to close it back up again
manually
Select Template Sets the current drawing template File tools → New Map TEMPLATE No
that will be used if New or Discard popup → Select Template
is called. This won't affect the TEMPLATEM fTemplateFileName[none] Yes
current drawing
Selection Color Set the color used to mark MCOLOR nColorIndex[Dialog] Yes
selected entities
Send Behind Changes the ordering of an entity Edit menu → Entity Order BELOW xyTargetEntity;selectEntities Yes
so that it will appear behind → Send Behind
another entity.
Note that sheet order overrides Entity Order tools → Send
this, so it only have an effects on Behind button
entities within the same sheet
Send to Back Sends an entity to the back in the Edit menu → Entity Order SBACK selectedEntities Yes
drawing order, allowing other → Send to Back
entities to cover it. Note that it will BACK Macro
still stay on the same sheet, so this Entity Order tools → Send
won't affect it's ordering with to Back button
regards to entities on other sheets
Set Active Layer Set the named layer as the active Tools menu → Set GOLAYER sLayer Yes
layer. If the named layer doesn't Properties → Layer dialog
exist, it will be created
Set Active Master Sets the active master filter in the Symbols menu → Master SYMICONFSET nIndex Yes*
Filter current list Settings Filters dialog

Overland tools → Symbol

Style Toggle popup →
Master Filter Settings dialog
Set Active Sheet Set the named sheet as the active Tools menu → Sheets → GOSHEET sSheet Yes
layer. If the named sheet doesn't Sheets and Effects dialog
exist, it will be created
Display tools → Sheets and
Effects button dialog
Set Bitmap Cache Set the size of the bitmap cache View menu → Display SETEFFECTSCACHE nSize[Recommended] Yes
Speed Settings dialog

View tools → Display Speed

Settings button dialog
Set Decimal Places Sets the number of decimal places File menu → Drawing SETDECP nDecimalPlaces[Prior] Yes
to be shown in numeric outputs Properties dialog

257
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Set Fraction Controls how fractions should be File menu → Drawing SETFRAC nFractionRoundingCode[Prior] Yes
Rounding rounded in outputs that display Properties dialog
their values in fractions
Set Inches per Unit Sets the number of inches per File menu → Drawing UNITM rInches[Prior] Yes
drawing unit Properties dialog
Set Origin for Sets the symbol origin for all SHTSYMORG No
Visible Sheets visible sheets. For use with
Symbols to Sheets/Sheets to SHTSYMORGM nOriginCode Yes
Symbols
Set Sheet Activates a sheet by name Tools menu → Sheets → SSET sName[Common] Yes
Sheets and Effects dialog

Display tools → Sheets and

Effects button dialog
Set Sheet by Activates a sheet based on an SSETP xyEntity[None] Yes
Pattern Entity entity
Set Symbol Scale Sets the symbol scale to 1 and SYMSCALE Macro
to 1 rotation to 0. Macro uses an old
way of doing it, but is still valid
Set Text Sheet Tells CC3+ which sheet to use for SETTEXTSHEET sSheet Yes
text entities by default for the
current drawing
Shaded Polygon Draw a shaded polygon SHADEP No
Shaded Polygon, Convert a polygon into a shaded Draw tools → Polygon SHADEPOLY selectedEntities;rAngle[Prior];rPitch Yes
Convert polygon popup → Shaded Polygon [Prior]
Shaded Polygon, Convert a polygon into a shaded Draw tools → Polygon SHADEPOLY2 xyLowerEdge1/rPitch;…;xyLowerEdgeN/rP Yes
Convert (Angle By polygon. Calculates the angle of popup → Shaded Polygon itch
Edge) the shaded poly based on the (Angle by Edge)
angle you used to select it
Shaded Polygon, Set the angle of a shaded polygon. Draw tools → Polygon SHADEANGLE selectedEntities;rAngle[Prior] Yes
Set Angle The angle is used along with the popup → Change Shade
pitch and the position of the global Angle SETFSPITCH xyEntity;rAngle[Prior]
sun to calculate the appropriate
shading
Shaded Polygon, Set the dimension of a shaded SETFSDIM Yes
Set Dimensions polygon
Shaded Polygon, Set shaded polygon's dimensions SETFSFLAGS xyEntities;nFlags Yes
Set Flags flags. Flags are defined as the
logical OR of the following values:
DONT_ROTATE_FILL 1
SHADE_AS_VARICOLOR 2
SHEAR_FILL_SIDE 4
SHEAR_FILL_ORIGIN 8
SHEAR_FILL_TOP 16
SHEAR_FILL_SIZE 32
SHADE_ONLY_COPY 64
SHADE_ALIGN_FIRST 128
SHEAR_FILL_TOP_USE_PITCH 256
SHEAR_FILL_FORCE_TOP_CCW
512
SHEAR_FILL_FORCE_TOP_CW
1024
SHEAR_FILL_FORCE_LEFT 2048
SHEAR_FILL_FORCE_RIGHT
4096
NO_DYNAMIC_SCALE 8192
Shaded Polygon, Sets the origin of the shaded SETFSORG xyEntity;xyOrigin[Prior] Yes
Set Origin polygon
Shaded Polygon, Set the pitch of a shaded polygon. Draw tools → Polygon SHADEPITCH selectedEntities;rPitch[Prior] Yes
Set Pitch The pitch is used along with the popup → Change Shade
angle and the position of the Pitch SETFSANGLE xyEntity;rPitch[Prior]
global sun to calculate the
appropriate shading
Shading, Apply Tells CC3+ to use the shading for a SHADEPICT Yes
picture entity. Doesn't do anything
if there isn't a shade file for the
image present
Shading, Remove Removes the shading from a NOSHADEPICT Yes
picture entity. Note that this just
tells it to not use the shading mask
that comes with the image (like
CD3 houses), it doesn't manipulate
the image itself in any way

258
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Sheet Book Takes a list of drawings in the SBOOK No
form of a bookmark file and
imports these into the drawing,
importing one file on each sheet.
New sheets are generated
automatically
Sheets Display the sheet management CA Sheet tools → Previous SHEET No
dialog. Also see the Sheets and Sheet popup → Sheets
Effects command
Sheets and Effects Configure the sheets and effects Tools menu → Sheets → EFFECTS No
for the current drawing Sheets and Effects

Display tools → Sheets and

Effects button
Sheets to Symbol This command is used to turn the Symbols menu → Sheets to SHTTOSYM Yes
Definitions sheets generated by Symbol Symdefs
Definitions to Sheets back into
Symbol Definitions
Sheets, Hide All Hides all sheets (except the Tools menu → Sheets → SHIDEA Yes
current one) Sheets and Effects dialog

Display tools → Sheets and

Effects button dialog
Sheets, Hide by Hide sheet determined by pattern SHIDEP xyPatternEntity[Dialog] Yes
Pattern entity
Sheets, Next Activates the next sheet in the Display tools → Sheets and SNEXT Yes
sheet order Effects popup → Next
Sheet
Sheets, Previous Activates the previous sheet in the Display tools → Sheets and SPREV Yes
sheet order Effects popup → Previous
Sheet
Sheets, Show All Shows (unhides) all sheets Tools menu → Sheets → SSHOWA Yes
Sheets and Effects dialog

Display tools → Sheets and

Effects button dialog
Show All buildings Shows building symbols with City menu → Layers → All SC Macro
with Color demographic colors in a City BLDNGs with Color
Designer map
Show All Buildings Shows building symbols with City menu → Layers → All SB Macro
with Shading shading in a City Designer map BLDNGs with Shading
Show All Layers Shows (unhides) all layers Tools menu → Set SHOWA Yes
Properties → Layer dialog
Show Calendar Shows the correct calendar layers SHOWCALENDAR Macro
in WW2 Interactive Atlas maps
Show Layer Shows (unhides) the specified Tools menu → Set SHOW sLayer[Dialog] Yes
layer Properties → Layer dialog
Show Layers by Shows (unhides) the layers SHOWF sFilter Yes
Filter matching the specified wildcard
filter
Show Map by Shows the correct map for the SHOWMAP Macro
Month specified month in WW2
Interactive Atlas maps
Show Map Note Show a named map note. Useful File menu → Drawing OPENNOTE sNote No
for displaying a note when a Properties dialog
hotspot is clicked
File tools → Map Notes
button
Show Map Notes Opens the map notes dialog from File tools → Map Notes NOTES No
where you can create new notes, button
view notes or delete existing notes
File menu → Drawing
Properties dialog
Show Sheet Shows the specified sheet Tools menu → Sheets → SHOWSHT sSheetName Yes
Sheets and Effects dialog

Display tools → Sheets and

Effects button dialog
Show Sheets by Shows (unhides) the sheets SHOWSHTF sFilter Yes
Filter matching the specified wildcard
filter
Show Symbol Shows the symbol catalog window View menu → Toolbars CATON Yes
Catalog window
Screen Tools button
Show URL Opens the specified URL in the SHOWURL sUrl[https://www.profantasy.com] Yes
default browser

259
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Silhouette Converts the selected entities to SIL selectedEntities Yes
silhouettes. Does not work with
raster symbols
Silhouette, Create a mirrors silhouette of the MIRSIL selectedEntities;xyMirrorStart;xyMirr Yes
Mirrored selected entities. Do not work with orEnd
raster symbols
Simplify Path Simplifies a path by removing SIMPLIFY rDistance;xyEntity1;…;xyEntityN Yes
nodes that are close to each other.
The distance controls which nodes
are eligible for removal
Smooth to Straight Transform a smooth entity into a Edit menu → Transform → CTS selectEntities Yes
straight one Smooth to Straight

Edit tools → Explode popup

→ Smooth to Straight
Snap Off Turns off Snap to grid Tools menu → Snaps → SNAPOFF Yes
Grid Settings

Modifier Locks tools →

Snap button
Snap On Turns on Snap to grid. This will Tools menu → Snaps → SNAPON Yes
make nodes/entities snap to the Grid Settings
snap grid when placed. Note that
unless Cursor Snap is also turned Modifier Locks tools →
on, the snap will only happen as Snap button
you click to place, and won't be
visible during the preview. This
can give the appearance of
entities "jumping" as you try to
place them
Snap Toggle Toggles Snap to grid Tools menu → Snaps → SNAPT Yes
Grid Settings

Modifier Locks tools →

Snap button
Snap Value Sets the number of snap divisions Tools menu → Snaps → SNAPV nDivisions[Current] Yes
in the current grid. Snap divisions Grid Settings dialog
are how many snap points there
are for each visible point in the Modifier Locks tools →
guide grid. If this value is 1, Snap popup dialog
entities will only snap to the
visible grid points
Sort Symbols in Sorts the selected symbols by Symbols menu → Sort SYMSORT selectedEntities Yes
Map arranging the drawing order so Symbols in Map
that symbols to the top are below
those lower down in the drawing Entity Order tools → Bring
order. This ensures that isometric to Front popup → Sort
type symbols (such as the Symbols in Map
overland symbols in most styles)
looks visually correct when they
overlap each other
Split Splits a path at a selected point Edit menu → Trims → Split SPLIT xyEntity;xySplitPoint Yes
into two separate paths, or split
open a polygon (closed path). If Single Edit and Trim tools
used on a polygon, the result will → Split button
still be a single entity, but it is now
a path with start and end points
where the split was placed
Status Message Sets a status message in the STATUSMSG sMessage Yes
status bar. This will replace the
coordinates display, and also turn
the background red. To remove
this message again, run this
command and provide an empty
string
Store Entity Stores a reference to an entity in a STORE vEntity;xyEntity Yes
variable, so it can later be selected
by Select Entity. See Select Entity
and Deselect Entities
Straight to Smooth Transforms a straight entity into a Edit menu → Transform → STC selectedEntities Yes
smooth one Straight to Smooth

Edit tools → Explode popup

→ Straight to Smooth

260
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Stretch Reshapes entity by moving a Edit menu → Reshape → STR selectedEntities;xyStretchWindowCorne Yes
subset of the nodes Stretch r1;xyStretchWindowCorner2;xyOrigin;xy
Destination
Edit tools → Move, Scale,
Rotate popup → Stretch
Stretch, Non- Stretches entities by moving just a EEdit tools → Move, Scale, STRETCH selectEntities;xyNodeWindowCorner[Pic Yes
Visual selection of the nodes Rotate popup → Non-Visual k Window];xyOppositeNodeWindowCorner
Stretch
Surroundings Show the surroundings map for SURROUND Macro
the current location in a Source
Maps series map
SVG, Read Read the geometry from an SVG SVGREAD fSvgFile Yes
Geometry file and create CC3+ entities from
it
Swap City This is the macro that loads the CATSWAP2 Macro
Designer Catalog actual symbol catalog after the
Load City Designer Symbol Catalog CATSWAP3
macro have decided which one
should be loaded CATSWAP4
Symbol Catalog Sets options for the symbol Symbol Catalog Window → CATALOGOPT nYesNoExpandCollections[Prior];nYesNo Yes
Options catalog display and symbol Options button DisablePerspectivesShearing[Prior];xy
placement YesNoDisableRandomTransformations[Pri
or]
Symbol Catalog Shows a list of all symbol catalog Symbols menu → Symbol SYMICOND Yes*
Settings settings matching the current Settings
master and catalog filter. If only SYMICONM sFilter
one symbol catalog setting Overland tools → Symbol
matches the filter, the appropriate Catalog Settings button
symbol catalog is immediately
loaded into the symbol catalog
window. These commands are
used on the symbol catalog
buttons to load the appropriate
catalogs
Symbol Catalog, Sets the symbol catalog window to Symbol Catalog Window → CATDWGMODEOFF Yes
Hide Symbols in show the symbols in the loaded Symbols in Drawing button
Drawing symbol catalog instead of the
symbols in the current drawing
Symbol Catalog, Sets the symbol catalog window to Symbol Catalog Window → CATDWGMODEON Yes
Show Symbols in show the symbols in the current Symbols in Drawing button
Drawing drawing instead of the loaded
symbol catalog
Symbol Definitions Converts all the Symbol Definitions Symbols menu → Symdefs SYMTOSHT Yes
to Sheets in the drawing to sheets. The to Sheets
intention here is to make editing
and managing multiple symbols
easier
Symbol Import Enables or disables point filtering SYMPTFILTER nOnOff<0-1>[Prior] Yes
Point Filtering when importing images and
letting CC3+ generate the various
resolutions. Turning this on
basically disable the anti-aliasing
effect when the lower resolution
versions of the symbols are
created, which technically may
reduce the quality of the lower
resolution versions, but will
improve how they look with
effects
Symbol List, Creates a text file with the names Symbols menu → Rename SYMLST No
Create of all the symbols from the current & Reorder → Create
drawing. This can be used to easily Symdef Name File
rename or reorder symbols, and
then imported back into CC3+
through the Symbol List, Import
Reordered or Symbol List, Import
Renamed commands. Note that
you can only rename OR reorder
in one operation, otherwise CC3+
wouldn't know which line in the
file corresponded to what symbols.
The default file extension for this
file is .lst

261
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Symbol List, Import a list of symbol names Symbols menu → Rename SYMRENAME No
Import Renamed created with Symbol List, Create. & Reorder → Import
CC3+ assumes the list is in the Renamed Symdefs
same order as the symbols in the
drawing, and renames each
symbol to match the new name in
the file
Symbol List, Import a list of symbol names Symbols menu → Rename SYMORDER No
Import Reordered created with Symbol List, Create. & Reorder → Import
CC3+ assumes the names in the Reordered Symdefs
file matches those of the symbols
in the drawing, and reorders the
symbols to match the order in the
file
Symbol Manager Brings up the symbol manager Symbols menu → Symbol SYMMGR No
Manager
Symbol Placement Set the options for new symbol Right click with symbol at SYMBOLOPT rScaleX[Prior];rScaly[Prior];rAngle[P Yes
Options references, like scale and rotation cursor rior]
Symbol Settings Configure the options for the Symbols menu → Symbol SYMINFO No
current symbol. Only makes sense Settings
when called from either the
Symbol Manager, or from within a
symbol editing window
Symbol Style Toggles to the next filter in the Overland menu → Symbol SYMICONFNEXT Yes*
Toggle loaded master filter list. This Style Toggle
typically switches symbol styles
Overland tools → Symbol
Style Toggle button
Symbols Along The symbols along command Draw menu → Symbols ESC No
(Escarpment) draws symbols along an existing Along
path, with options for variation of ESCM xyPath Yes
size along the path
Symbols Along, Loads a premade configuration Draw menu → Symbols ESCLOAD fSettingsFile Yes
Load Settings from file Along dialog
Symbols Along, Shows the options dialog for the Draw menu → Symbols ESCOPT No
Options symbols along command. Same Along
dialog as when you run the normal
command, but won't as for a path
when you exit the dialog
Symbols Along, Saves the current Symbols Along Draw menu → Symbols ESCSAVE fSettingsFile Yes
Save Settings options to a file Along dialog
Symbols in Area This command allows you to fill an Draw menu → Symbols in SYMFILL No
area with symbols. In comparison Area
with Fill with Symbols, this SYMFILLM selectedEntities Yes
command is designed to provide a
more loose placement, with
options for random placement,
instead of packing the symbols as
thigh as possible as Fill with
Symbols is designed for
Symbols in Area, Same as Symbols in Area, but ask Draw menu → Symbols in SYMFILLX No
Exclusion you to select entities twice. The Area (Excldue Area)
second selection works as an SYMFILLXM selectedEntities;selectedEntities Yes
exclusion area, for example
allowing you to fill a polygon, but
exclude the area where it is
overlapped by another polygon
Symbols in Area, Load settings for the command Draw menu → Symbols in SYMFILLLOAD fSettingsFile Yes
Load Settings from a file Area dialog
Symbols in Area, Shows the options dialog for the Draw menu → Symbols in SYMFILLOPT No
Options symbols in area command. Same Area
dialog as when you run the normal
command, but won't run the
command after you've exited the
dialog
Symbols in Area, Saves the current settings to a file Draw menu → Symbols in SYMFILLSAVE fSettingsFile Yes
Save Settings Area dialog
System Colors Configures if CC3+ should use SETSYSCOLORS nYesNo Yes
system colors for interface
elements
Tablet Calibration Calibrates an attached digitizing Tablet menu → Calibrate TABCAL No
tablet
Tablet Configures an attached digitizing Tablet menu → Configure TABCFG No
Configuration tablet
Tablet Off Disables an attached digitizing Tablet menu → Tablet Off TABOFF No
tablet

262
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Tablet On Enables an attached digitizing Tablet menu → Tablet On TABON No
tablet
Tangent to two Draws a line that is tangent to two Draw menu → Lines TANGENT Yes
Entities curves
Draw tools → Line popup →
Tangen to two Entities
Tech Support Shows the help file with technical Help menu → Online TECH Macro
support information Resources → Technical
Support
Test Does nothing. Used to check new TEST Yes
commands
Text Adds a text entity to the drawing Draw menu → Text TEX No

Draw Tools → Text button TEXML No

TEXM sText;xyPosition1(Shift,Control)[Belo Yes

w Prior];…;xyPositionN
Text Along a Curve Arranges text along a curve, Draw menu → Text along a ATTC No
rotating individual letters and curve
adjust spacing so that the text
follows the curve. Note that this Draw tools → Text popup
will break the text up into → Text along a curve
individual letters, so it will not be
considered a single text entity for
searching or editing later
Text along an Arc Similar to Text Along a curve, but TEXTARC No
has a few different options when
placing the text
Text Angle Sets the angle for new text TSPECA rAngle[Prior] Yes
Text Balloon Draw a text balloon with an arrow TBALL sText[Prior];xyArrowEnd[Skip Yes
Leader];xyPoint1(Shift)[Done];…;xyPoi
ntN
Text Font Sets the font for new text TSPECF sFontName Yes
Text Height Sets the height for new text TSPECH dHeight Yes
Text Justification Sets the justification for new text TSPECJ nJustificationCode Yes
Text Spacing Sets the spacing for new text TSPECP rSpacing[Prior] Yes
Text Spesifications Sets the text specifications to use Tools menu → Set TSPEC No
for new text entities Properties → Text

Draw tools → Text Specs

button
Text Stretch Sets the stretch for new text TSPECT rStretch[Prior] Yes
Text Style Sets the style for new text. Value TSPECS nFlags Yes
for flags are as follow (add
together to combine):
1 - Vertical
16 - Bold
32 - Italic
64 - Underline
128 - Strikeout
Text, Find and Finds text in selected entities and Edit menu → Text → Find TREPLACE No
Replace replaces it and Replace
TREPLACEM selectedEntities;sFind;sReplace Yes
Thaw All Thaws (unfreezes) all layers Tools menu → Set THAWA Yes
Properties → Layer dialog
Thaw Layer Thaws (unfreeze) specified layer Tools menu → Set THAW sLayer[Dialog] Yes
Properties → Layer dialog
Thaw Layers by Thaws (unfreezes) all layers that THAWF sFilter Yes
Filter matches the specified filter
Tip of the Day Shows the tip of the day dialog Help menu → Tip of the TIPS No
Day
T-Junction Create a T-junction by taking two TJUNC Macro
sets of wall lines (corridors)
crossing and breaking and
trimming the lines where one set
enter the other, forming a junction
Toggle Colors Toggles between two different COLORTOG Macro
colors. This is a quick way to swap
between colors if you draw
something that requires going
back and forth between colors. Set
Toggle Colors, Set to specify the
colors to toggle between
Toggle Colors, Set Sets the two colors to be used by SETCOLOR nColorLight[Dialog];nColorDark[Dialog Macro
the Toggle Colors command ]
Toggle Fill Styles Toggles between Hollow and Solid FILLTOG Macro
fill styles

263
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Toggle Grid Shows/hides the grid in WW2 SHOWGRID Macro
Interactive atlas maps
Toggle Layer Toggles the visibility of a layer Tools menu → Set TOGL sLayer Yes
Properties → Layer
Toggle Layer by Toggles the visibility of all layers TOGLF sFilter Yes
Filter that matches the filter
Toggle Links Toggles the visibility of the links in SHOWLINKS Macro
WW2 Interactive atlas maps
Toggle Relief Toggles the visibility of height SHOWRELIEF Macro
contours in WW2 Interactive Atlas
maps
Toggle Sheet Toggles the visibility of a sheet Tools menu → Sheets → TOGLSHT sSheet Yes
Sheets and Effects dialog

View tools → Sheets and

Effects button dialog
Toggle Sheet by Toggles the visibility of all sheets TOGLSHTF sFilter Yes
Filter that matches the filter
Toggle World Event Toggles the visibility of the world WORLDEVENTS Macro
Panel event panel in WW2 Interactive
Atlas maps
Toolbars (Screen Set toolbar visibility and location View menu → Toolbars TOOLS No
Tools)
Screen Tools button
Trim Trims an entity. Note that when Edit menu → Trims → Trim TRIM xyEntity;xyTrimPoint[PickPoint] Yes
trimming, CC3+ will keep the part
of the entity where you selected it. Single Edit and Trim Tools
Trimming may be used both to → Trim button
shorten and lengthening an entity
Trim Outside Trims an entity to the outside of Edit menu → Trims → Trim TRIMOE xyBoundingEntity1;xyBoundingEntity2[O Yes
another entity. Note that when Outside ptional];xyEntityToTrim
trimming, CC3+ will keep the part
of the entity where you selected it. Single Edit and Trim tools
Trimming may be used both to → Trim popup → Trim
shorten and lengthening an entity Outside
Trim to Entity Trim entities to another entity Edit menu → Trims → Trim TRIMTO xyTargetEntity;xyEntity1;…;xyEntityN Yes
to Entity

Single Edit and Trim tools

→ Trim popup → Trim to
Entity
Trim to Inside Trims an entity to the inside of Edit menu → Trims → Trim TRIMIE xyBoundingEntity1;xyBoundingEntity2[O Yes
another entity. Note that when Inside ptional];xyEntityToTrim
trimming, CC3+ will keep the part
of the entity where you selected it. Single Edit and Trim tools
Trimming may be used both to → Trim popup → Trim
shorten and lengthening an entity Inside
Trim to Trims two entities where they Edit menu → Trims → Trim TRIMINT xyEntity1;xyEntity2 Yes
Intersection intersects. Note that when to Intersection
trimming, CC3+ will keep the part
of the entity where you selected it. Single Edit and Trim tools
Trimming may be used both to → Trim to Intersect button
shorten and lengthening an entity
Trim to Length Trim an entity to a specific length. Edit menu → Trims → Trim TRIML dLength[Prior];xyEntity1;…;xyEntityN Yes
Note that when trimming, CC3+ to Length
will keep the part of the entity
where you selected it. Trimming Single Edit and Trim tools
may be used both to shorten and → Trim popup → Trim to
lengthening an entity Length
Undo Undo the last action. Edit → Undo UNDO Yes

Edit tools → Undo Button

Key: Control + Z
Units Defines various size and display File menu → Drawing UNITS No
options related to drawing units Properties dialog
View Sets Manage view sets. A view set is a View menu → Windows → VSET No
complete set up of multiple View Sets
windows and zooms that is stored VSETM sViewSetName Yes
to a setting which you can then
switch between
View-Window Sets the background color of your View menu → View- BKGND nColorIndex[Dialog] Yes
Color view window. Note that this only Window Color
affects your CC3+ workspace, and
don't have any impact on exports
or prints of your maps

264
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Wall Break Creates a break in a dungeon wall WBC Macro
with options for breaks of varying
with and either centered on the WBCW
insertion point, or at the edge of it
WBE

WBEW
Wall Width Sets line width to typical wall WALLWIDTH Macro
widths. First set to 0, then for each
call it picks the next value in the
list 0, 0.5, 1 and 2, looping around
when it reaches the end
Web Information Shows a dialog with information WEBINFO No
about the ProFantasy website (note
that clicking yes in the dialog
actually takes you to the Evolution
Computing website instead, the
makers of FastCAD which is the
engine CC3+ uses)
Write Part Save selected entities as a part CPART No

WRITE No

WRITEM fFileName[Prior];selectEntities;xyOri Yes

gin
Zoom Center Changes the current view to be View menu → Zooms → ZCEN xyCenter Yes
centered around the specified Center
location. Does not change the
zoom level View tools → Zoom In
popup → Zoom Center
Zoom Extents Sets zoom level and center so that View menu → Zooms → ZEXT Yes
the entire drawing is visible in the Extents
view window. Based on the
currently visible sheets and layers View tools → Zoom Extents
button
Zoom Height Zooms to show the drawing from View tools → Zoom In ZHGT rViewHeight Yes
a specified height (like if you are popup → Zoom Height
looking down on the drawing from
above)
Zoom In Zooms in by the specified scale View menu → Zooms → In ZIN rZoomScale Yes
(buttons use a factor of 2 by by 2
default)
View tools → Zoom In
button
Zoom In 2x Zoom in by a factor of two View menu → Zooms → In ZIN2 Macro
by 2

View tools → Zoom In

button
Zoom Last Zooms to the previous view View menu → Zooms → ZLAST Yes
Last View

View tools → Zoom Last

button
Zoom Layer Zoom the view to the extent of the ZOOML sLayer Yes
specified layer
Zoom Named Zooms to the named view (see View menu → Zooms → ZNAME sViewName[Dialog] Yes
Name Window) Named
ZNAMEM
View tools → Zoom In
popup → Zoom Named
Zoom Out Zooms out by the specified scale View menu → Zooms → ZOUT rZoomScale Yes
(buttons use a factor of 2 by Out by 2
default)
View tools → Zoom Out
button
Zoom Out 2x Zoom out by a factor of 2 View menu → Zooms → ZOUT2 Macro
Out by 2

View tools → Zoom Out

button
Zoom Selection Zoom the view to the extent of the ZOOMSEL selectedEntities Yes
selection
ZOOMSELM
Zoom Sheet Zoom the view to the extent of the ZOOMS sSheet Yes
specified sheet

265
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Zoom to All Text Shows a dialog with all text entries View menu → Zooms → To ZTEXTA Macro
in the map and lets you pick one All Text
to zoom to. If the map only
contains a single text entry, it will View tools → Zoom In
skip the dialog and zoom to it popup → Zoom to All Text
directly
Zoom to Text Zooms to the text entry in the View menu → Zooms → To ZTEXT sText[Prior] Yes*
drawing containing the specified Text
text. If more than one text entry ZTEXTD No
contains this text, a dialog is View tools → Zoom In
shown to let you pick between the popup → Zoom to Text
matching entries
Zoom to Width Zooms the view window to a View tools → Zoom In ZWID rWidth Yes
specific width popup → Zoom Width
Zoom Window Zoom in to a section of the map View menu → Zooms → ZWIN xyCorner;xyOppositeCorner Yes
specified by drawing a window Window
ZWIN2
View tools → Zoom
Window button

Corgin
Corgin village was made by
me for both the Community
Atlas
(http://atlas.monsen.cc) and
my own campaign world of
Virana
(http://www.virana.cc).
It is made using a variety of
styles, both official
ProFantasy products as well
as community resources
(see
http://forum.profantasy.co
m/comments.php?Discussio
nID=1230).

266
APPENDIX B: MACRO REFERENCE
This table gives you a list of all CC3+’s macro-specific commands. The other commands useable in macros are listed in the
previous section.

Syntax
The syntax column shows how you should construct your macro commands. If in doubt, type the text equivalent of the
command at the keyboard and see what the prompts say.

Delimiters are represented by a semicolon. A delimiter is just like pressing at the command prompt, or pressing the right
mouse button. Syntax strings ending in a semicolon require an extra delimiter. For example, PATH requires you to press
twice to finish it. Commands which require repeated input are shown with an ellipsis, for example xy1;…;xyN;

Some macro commands work on a current selection of entities. This is represented by [selection]. Right click options (in a
macro, two consecutive delimiters) are denoted in square brackets.

(real.expression) is an arithmetic expression. Values stored by these functions are formatted as numeric with 9 decimal
places. They can contain variable names defined above, the math operators (+ - * / ( ) ), and units operators ( ' ,” ,cm
,mm ,m ,km)

Alternative inputs are separated by a /. For example, xyPoint/rDistance means that you can put a point or a real number
in the macro. Where an alternative has more than one prompt, it is put in round brackets ().

Some commands such as HIDEF can have text filters. These are string variables, but * represents any string (including spaces).
? represents any character. The filter is assumed to have a * at the beginning, unless you add an =.

Each type of data has a different prefix:

Data type Prefix Info

File name f Use $ in a macro to represent the map folder; # to represent

the CC3+ installation folder; @ to represent the CC3+ data
folder. Include the suffix.

Point xy xyEntity means that CC3+ expects a point on an entity.

Distance d Distance can either be a real number, or two points. CC3+

calculates and uses the distance between the points.

String s Strings must be delimited by an ENTER in a macro

Real number r A decimal number, entered as xxx.yyy

Integer n A whole number. nColor is a number from 0-255

representing a color.

Variable v A variable. This can be followed by any of the other

prefixes, for example vfOpen would be a file name
variable. Variables are set using the various Get commands.

267
 Example
The syntax for Circular Part Array (macro version) is:
fPart[prior];rScale[prior];rRotate[prior];Spokes[Prior];nRings[Prior];
ArrayCenter[Prior];xyPartOrigin;rAngle[Even];dBetweenRings

The text in your macro might be:

CPARYM;@mypart.fcw;;;5;5;0,0;0,0;;5

In the example, CC3+ inserts the file mypart.fcw from your CC3+ folder, using the same scale and rotation as before (if this
is the first time, it uses the default values 1 and 0), with 5 spokes, 5 rings, centered at 0,0 with an origin at 0,0, an even
angle between the rings, which are 5 units apart. Try typing it at the command prompt, remembering to press where
you see a semicolon, and after the last argument.

Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro

Clear Macros Clears all loaded macros from CLEARM Yes
memory. Note that much CC3+
functionality is implemented through
macros, so if you clear the macros,
expect a lot of features to stop
working until you reload the
standard macro file (fcw32.mac)
Concatenate Concatenates two variables or APND vsVariable;sText Yes
Variables (Append) concatenate (append) text to an
existing variable
Convert Point to Convert a point to isometric CVTPT vxyPoint;xyPoint Yes
Isometric projection suitable for 3D star maps
and puts it into a variable
Convert Point to Configures the isometric offset CVTPTOPT xyPoint Yes
Isometric Offset applied to the Convert Point to
Isometric command
Curve Test Tests for a curve, used by multiple CURVETEST Macro
other macros
Dialog, Yes/No Displays a dialog with custom text ASKBOX sTitle;sText1;…;sTextN Yes*
and Yes/No buttons. If no is clicked,
the error flag will be set and can be
checked in a macro
Echo Off Turns off command echo to the ECOFF Yes
command line. This prevents a lot of
command line flashing when you run
a complex macro. Command line
will appear completely "dead" as
long as this is enabled
Echo On Turns on command echo to the ECON Yes
command line
Edit Macros Edit the macros currently loaded into Tools menu → EDITMAC No
memory. Prompts you to save any Macros → Edit
changes. Be aware that much CC3+ Macros
functionality is implemented in
macros, so be aware that editing
these can impact basic functionality.
Also, if you save your changes, be
aware that fcw32.fcw is the default
macro file CC3+ loads on startup, so
if you save changes to that one,
make sure that you know what you
are doing
Exit All Macros Exit out of all running macros EXITAM Yes
Exit Macro Exit out of the current macro EXITM Yes
Get Angle Stores an angle to a variable GA vrAngle;rAngle Yes
Get Arccosine Calculate the arccosine of a real GACOS vrArccos;rValue Yes
number and stores the angle to a
variable
Get Arcsine Calculate the arcsine of a real GASIN vrArcsine;rValue Yes
number and stores the angle to a
variable
Get Arctangent Calculate the arctangent of a real GATAN vrArctan;rValue Yes
number and stores the angle to a
variable
Get Bearing Stores a bearing (direction) to a GBRNG vrBearing;rDirection Yes
(Direction) variable
Get Color Gets a color and stores it in a GCOL vnColor;nColor Yes
variable
Get Cosine Calculate the cosine from an angle GCOS vrCosine;rAngle Yes
and stores it to a variable

268
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Get Distance Stores a distance to a variable GD vdDistance;dDistance Yes

GDIST
Get Distance Format Gets the current distance format and GETDISTFMT vnFormat Yes
store it in a variable. This is useful if
you need to change the distance
format in a macro, since you can
then later use the stored value to
restore the users original value
Get Drawing Name Gets the filename (including path) of GETDWGNAME vfFile Yes
the current drawing and stores it in a
variable
Get Entity Get a point using a pick cursor and GE vxyEntity;xyEntity Yes
stores it to a variable. Used to store a
location of an entity to manipulate it
later. Note that command will not
fail if no entity is present, it will
simply store the location
Get Extents Get the extents of the drawing GETEXTH vxyUpperRight Yes

GETEXTL vxyLowerLeft

GETEXTX vrWidth

GETEXTY vrHeight
Get Extents, Layer Gets the extents of the entities on a GETLAYERH vxyUpperRight;sLayer Yes
given layer
GETLAYERL vxyLowerLeft;sLayer

GETLAYERX vrWidth;sLayer

GETLAYERY vrHeight;sLayer
Get Extents, Selection Gets the extents of the selected GETSELH vxyUpperRight;selectedEntities Yes
entities
GETSELL vxyLowerLeft;selectedEntities

GETSELX vrWidth;selectedEntities

GETSELY vrHeight;selectedEntities
Get Extents, Sheet Gets the extents of the entities on a GETSHEETH vxyUpperRight;sSheet Yes
given sheet
GETSHEETL vxyLowerLeft;sSheet

GETSHEETX vrWidth;sSheet

GETSHEETY vrHeight;sSheet
Get Extents, View Gets the extents of the current view GETVIEWH vxyUpperRight Yes

GETVIEWL vxyLowerLeft

GETVIEWX vrWidth

GETVIEWY vrHeight
Get Filename (Open Gets a file name via the Open dialog GFNOP vfFilename;sWildcards Yes*
with wildcard) and stores it in a variable. Lets you
specify the wildcard to use as a filter
in the dialog
Get Filename (Open) Gets a file name via the Open dialog GFNO vfFilename Yes*
and stores it in a variable
FILEM
Get Filename (Save Gets a file name via the Save dialog GFNSP vfFilename;sWildcard Yes*
with wildcard) and stores it in a variable. Lets you
specify the wildcard to use as a filter
in the dialog
Get Filename (Save) Gets a file name via the Save dialog GFNS vfFilename Yes*
and stores it in a variable
Get Integer Store an integer number in a GN vnNumber;nNumber Yes
variable. If a real number is provided,
it is converted to an integer by
stripping the decimals
Get Length Gets the length of an entity and GLEN vLength;xyEntity Yes
store it in a variable
Get Point Stores a point in a variable GP vxyPoint;xyPoint Yes
Get Random Sets a variable to a random number RANDOM vNumber Yes
between 0 and 1. Multiply the result
by N to get a number between 0 and
N

269
 Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Get Reference Get reference entity (entity on frozen GR vxyEntity;xyEntity Yes
layer) and store location (point) in a
variable
Get Relative Filename Takes a filename as input and GRFN vfFilename;fFilename Yes
converts it to a relative filename,
using the @, # and $ identifiers
Get Return Code Gets the return code from the GETGXRETCODE vnCode Yes
various Get commands. This is used
to determine if valid data was
received or not, or if the default
value was used. This command
allows for more granular information
and treatment than If Error. The
codes are
0 - operation completed successfully
1 - operation accepted default
2 - operation canceled
3 - bad data input
Get Settings Retrieves the settings previously GETSETTINGS Yes
stored by Save Settings
Get Sheet Name Gets the name of the current sheet SGETNAME vsName Yes
and store it in a variable
Get Sine Calculate the sine from an angle and GSIN vrSine;rAngle Yes
stores it to a variable
Get String Stores a line of text in a variable. GL vsString;sText Yes
Delimiters are not processed, and
can be part of the string
Get Symbol Scale Get the current active symbol scale GETSYMSCALE vrScale Yes
in use in the map and stores it in a
macro
Get Tangent Calculate the tangent from an angle GTAN vrTangent;rAngle Yes
and stores it to a variable
Get Unbroken String Stores a string in the variable. GW vsString;sText Yes
(Word) Delimiters are handled, so both a
space or a semicolon will end input
Get Value Stores a real (decimal) number in a GV vrNumber;rNumber Yes
variable
Get X Gets the X-coordinate of a point and GETX vrX;xyPoint Yes
stores it in a variable
Get Y Gets the Y-coordinate of a point and GETY vrY;xyPoint Yes
stores it in a variable
Goto Label Makes macro execution jumps to GO sLabel Yes
the specified label
GOTO
If Defined Macro control structure. Jump to the IFDEF vVariable;sLabel Yes
specified label if a variable has been
defined
If Error Macro control structure. Jump to the IFERR sLabel Yes
specified label if the error flag is set.
The error flag is set if a command
fails, command input is invalid,
command input is default input. See
also Get Rx Return Code
If Negative Macro control structure. Jump to a IFN vVariable;sLabel Yes
specified label if the specified
variable is less than zero
If Positive Macro control structure. Jump to a IFP vVariable;sLabel Yes
specified label if the specified
variable is larger than zero
If Zero Macro control structure. Jump to a IFZ vVariable;sLabel Yes
specified label if the specified
variable is equal to zero
Init War Variables Used by World War 2 Interactive INITVARS Macro
Atlas to initialize variables needed to
handle the views
List Variables Show all the defined variables in a LISTVARS No
text window
Load Macros Load a new macro file (*.mac). Note LOADMAC No
that this will unload the current
macro file, and since much of CC3+ LOADMACM fMacrofile Yes
functionality relies on the macros in
it, this is not recommended. Instead,
it is better to add these additional
macros to the main macro file, or set
them up in Script files instead of
macro files

270
Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro
Message Box Show a message box with custom MSGBOX sTitle;sText1;…;sTextN Yes*
title and text.
On Entity Test Tests if a point is on an entity, used ONTEST Macro
by multiple other macros
Pause (Wait) Pauses execution for a specified PAUSE nSeconds Yes
number of seconds
Presets, Load Load saved presets PREST Yes
Presets, Save Save the current presets (Layer, Fill, PSAVE Yes
Line, Color). Also see Settings, Save
Receive 20 This macro makes CC3+ execute any RCV20 Macro
text arriving via intercom on id 20,
treating the text as a CC3+
command
Remove Extension Removes the file name extensions NOEXTENSION vfFile;fFilename Yes
from a file name stored in a variable.
Useful if you need to save it to a
different format from a macro
Save Macros Saves the current macros in memory SAVEMAC No
to file. Be aware that fcw32.fcw is
the default macro file CC3+ loads on SAVEMACM fFilename Yes
startup, so if you save changes to
that one, make sure that you know
what you are doing
Save Settings Stores the current settings (current SAVESETTINGS Yes
color, current layer, current sheet,
etc.) so you can later restore them
with Get Settings. This is useful in a
macro before changing any settings,
because you can then clean up by
setting the environment back to
what it was before the macro was
called.
Save Variables Saves the current defined variables SAVEVARS fFilename Yes
to a script file which can later be
loaded to restore the values of these
variables. Can for example be used
to store user choices to file for reuse
in later sessions
Script File Run a macro stored in an external Tools menu → SCRIPT No
script file. Such a script file is just a Macros → Script
list of macro commands that are File SCRIPTM fScriptFile Yes
executed in order. The standard file
extension for script files are .scr
Selection Method, Restores the saved selection method SELREST Yes
Restore
Selection Method, Save the current selection method. SELSAVE Yes
Save Macros often need to change this, so
by saving the current one, we can
restore it at the end of the macro
(users tend to get very confused if
their selection method changes)
Send Message This command is used to send SENDM nCode;sData Yes
instructions and data over Intercom
Stepping, Disable Disable confirmation before running NOSTEP Yes
each line in a macro
Stepping, Enable Enables confirmation of each line in STEP Yes
a macro before it executes. Used to
debug macros by running them step
by step

271
 Green Lady
This Character Artist
drawing was created by
Allyn Bowker
The Green Lady was created
using Character Artist Pro
symbols that were edited
using the techniques
explained in Editing Vector
Symbols on page 106. Her
dress was created using
basic Campaign
Cartographer drawing
commands. Also used were
ornaments converted from
fonts as explained in
Creating symbols from fonts
on page 119.
The Green Lady is available
to view in the
@Examples\Tome\Characte
r Artist folder.

272
DUNGEON DESIGNER 3
 Bel’s Temple
This temple map was created by Gerard Serre, using default Dungeon Designer 3 styles and symbols.

274
INTRODUCTION Dungeon Designer 3

The Dungeon Designer 3™ (DD3™) add-on is the ideal tool for Note that the DD3 product
creating dungeon maps, floor plans and battle maps with CC3+. DD3 for CC3+ is exactly the
contains symbols, fill styles, templates and drawing tools specially same as DD3 for CC3, the
designed for creating these kinds of maps. only differences are those
provided by CC3+ itself.
Don’t let the name Dungeon Designer limit your creativity with this Some people refer to DD3
add-on. You may think of dungeon as man-made underground for CC3+ as DD3+, but this
structures, possibly in multiple levels, and filled with monsters. And is not technically correct,
of course, you are right. But dungeon designer can do so much more. the product is still the same
Dungeon designer is made to handle all kinds of map at the floor plan DD3, just updated to work
level. This includes the classic dungeon, but it also includes floor plan with CC3+.
maps of buildings and battle maps for use with miniatures, both
physical and virtual, as well as cave systems. Note that when I talk
Add Room
about maps made with Dungeon Designer 3, I generally will just say
dungeon maps, even if it can be any kind of map possible with DD3. Default Wall
I’m only going to refer to the subtype when I have a particular kind
of map in mind. Default Water

Dungeon Designer 3 follows suit from CC3+, and is primarily designed to make fantasy maps.
Default Terrain
However, all of the tools in this add-on can be adapted to use with other styles, such as modern or
sci-fi. Symbol Catalog
Settings
Through this section of the Tome, we will examine many tips and tricks for making the most out of
DD3. Note however that if you haven’t done so already, you should read through both the CC3+ Add Corridor
manual and the CC3+ part of this book. The tricks learned there forms the core knowledge you will
Floor
need when working with any type of map in CC3+. Even though the example in those two sources
mainly deals with overland maps, the lessons learned are still vital for using DD3 to its full potential,
Default Cave
and you may find this chapter difficult to understand if you don’t know core CC3+.
All Dungeon
Note that the program you are using is still CC3+. DD3 is simply an add-on that adds additional Drawing Tools
functionality to CC3+. Thus most of the instructions in this section will still refer to CC3+, and not to Symbol Style
DD3, even when working with tools from the DD3 add-on. Do note that to master DD3, you will Toggle
need to master CC3+, so make sure you are familiar with the lessons from the CC3+ section of this
book, even if you don’t plan to make overland maps. Cave

Containers and
Using Dungeon Designer 3 Treasure

DD3 is completely integrated with the main CC3 program, which means that you use many of the Debris
same tools and commands in your dungeon maps as in your overland maps. However, DD3 includes
Elemental
additional symbols and tools ideal for dungeon maps.

Most of these tools are available from the DD3 menus, which are accessed by clicking the Dungeon Furniture
Menu button. This will load the DD3 menus and toolbars which will replace the standard CC3+ Temples and
ones. Note that when you start a new dungeon map or load a dungeon map, CC3+ will normally Statues
load these toolbars automatically. This behavior is coded in each map however, and not the Dungeon
application itself, so if the correct toolbars doesn’t load automatically, you can use this button to (Geomorphs)
load them. Sometimes you may wish to access the normal CC3+ toolbars even when doing a
Traps
dungeon map. To do this, simply click the Map Menu button, use the commands you desire,
then use the Dungeon Menu button to return to your normal toolbars again. Up and Down
To create a new dungeon map, simply click the New button. Under the Dungeons category, you
Wall Features
should find several new options. Just remember that the CC3 dungeon option is a very simple
dungeon preview that came with your CC3+ installation, and not with the DD3 add-on. You normally Weapons
don’t want to use this template, because it is very limited compared to the fully-featured DD3
templates. Walls

Skirmish Symbols

275
 THE BASIC DUNGEON MAP
Just as we did with overland maps, let us start out by creating ourselves a simple dungeon map
using the basic concepts from CC3+, as well as the new tools found in DD3.

Before we start drawing the actual map, let us dwell a moment on the purpose of this map. Having
a clear idea in mind will help you design a better map. For this map, we will make it a regular fantasy
dungeon map. If we start by looking at our King’s Coast (Windclaw Local) map
(@Tutorials\Tome\Overland\King’s Coast.FCW) we can see that we have several locations that
Chapel Maldina
could hold a dungeon, for example beneath the unnamed tower ruin in the hills, or below some
Chapel Maldina is the main location in a city or village such as Snowport. Since Snowport seems to be a nice starting point for
temple of Marcus on the a campaign, having a dungeon suited for low level players here seems like a good idea. So, let us
Windclaw Isles. We’ll create the haunted dungeon beneath Chapel Maldina, the largest church in Snowport.
position this on the city map
when we draw Snowport in The dungeon is a series of catacombs beneath the chapel, used to bury the priests serving the
the CD3 section of the church. The dungeon consists of several large rooms with narrow corridors binding them together.
Tome. Minor priests are buried in niches cut into the walls, while the more important priests were buried
in stone sarcophagi.

Grave robbers, led by an evil necromancer, have been animating the corpses as skeletons and
zombies to keep the priests away while they try to open the vault of the first high priest, Anadar
Magertaal, to get their hands on the legendary treasure within.

Well, that should give us enough background to draw up an appropriate map. Obviously, we are
going to need several rooms, some narrow corridors, a room serving as the temporary lair of the
grave robbers, and a grand tomb. Give that most cultures that bury their dead also honors them in
several ways, it is also reasonable that the dungeon is decorated with some statues, and perhaps
some altars. The important rooms probably also contain some light sources for use in ceremonies.
While probably not really lit at all times (Unless the dungeon is in a world where magic is very
common), the map might look better if we use symbols representing lit light sources. We also opt
to have a completely man-made dungeon with fitted stone walls and floor slabs, as opposed to
simple caves tunneled out of the rock.
Dimensions
In dungeon maps, the The Floor Plan
dimensions of the map are
measured in feet. These 1. Start a new dungeon map using the DD3 Dungeon style. Set the dimensions of the map to
values actually represent 250 × 200. Leave the rest of the settings at their default values.
real-world distance, so if If you wish to follow along using my maps, they are the Chapel Maldina Catacombs maps
you print this map in 1:1 in the @Tutorials\Tome\Dungeon folder.
scale, the printout will It is easier to draw the rooms first, then the corridors. This is because corridors can automatically
actually be 250 times 200 attach to rooms, but not the other way around.
feet. That would require
74787 A4-sized sheets just Before we start drawing, we also wish to consider if we should use a snap grid or not, and if so,
to print your dungeon! which size. I like to use a snap grid when I draw a dungeon that will be used as a battle map, because
Naturally, we usually print this means that the corridors and rooms will match nicely up with the overlay grid used. However,
dungeons at a much smaller using a snap grid can cause the dungeon to look a bit too perfect, with rooms and corridors lining
scale, and CC3+ makes it up perfectly with each other.
very easy to print in the If you do decide to use snaps, you need to decide on an appropriate size for the snap grid. Again,
correct scale. Just remember the larger the snap grid, the more artificial your map will look, but for a battle map, the best snap
to always draw the map grid size equals the overlay grid size, especially for drawing the rooms and corridors.
itself in real-world scale,
and not paper size. Obviously, even if you enable snaps, you can still turn them off whenever you require. This enables
DD3 also supports metric you to draw odd-shaped rooms in an otherwise square dungeon. It is also recommended to turn off
maps. In this case, the snaps when you place dungeon dressing, like furniture, unless you really need these objects to
dimensions are naturally conform perfectly to the grid as well.
expressed in meters. We are going to explore using parts of this map as battle maps later, so I am going to use a 5’ snap
grid when drawing the main rooms and corridors. A 5’ snap grid will match the 5’ battle grid used
by many role playing games.

276
A final word of advice before we start drawing; avoid too much symmetry. Unless the dungeon
architect had a very particular purpose in mind, symmetry usually don’t make much sense in a
dungeon. A dungeon is more often built to fit the existing features of the rock. Existing caves are
made into rooms, and weak points are avoided. Symmetric rooms can be fine, but avoid making the
dungeon itself symmetric.
10’ Grid, 2 snap
2. Right click the button. Select the 10’ Grid, 2 snap. Make sure that the Grid and Snap
This sets up a 10' Grid with
options are selected, and then click OK.
2 snap divisions per cell,
3. Click the Add Room button. The Add Room dialog will thereby creating the 5' snap
appear. This dialog allows you to select shape and style of your grid I wanted. I could
room. Now, the default settings don’t look too good on our instead have opted to create
map, so we will change the floors and walls. Set Floor – a new grid, for example a 5'
foreground to Flagstone B Bitmap, and Wall to Wall Cobble Grid with 1 snap division per
Grey Bitmap. Note that when we select a bitmap fill, the color cell, which would give me a
setting does not matter, since we can’t change the color of similar result. Note that the
bitmap fills. The Floor – Background is set to use a brush grid we talk about here is a
pattern, so technically the color does matter, but since the drawing aid grid, NOT a
foreground is an opaque bitmap fill, we are never going to see visible grid on the map. The
the background color at all, unless we hide the layer the grid is show as small dots in
foreground is drawn on. the corner of each cell, and
will only be shown inside
Keep the default Wall width setting of 2.0, then select
CC3, never on printouts or
a rectangular room before clicking OK.
image exports. Note that
When drawing a room with the rectangular room tool,
you can change the grid dot
the tool will ask you to define the length of one of the
style if you want them to be
walls by providing the points for two adjacent corners.
more visible.
You will then “drag” the room out to define the final size
To create a visible grid, you
of the room. You can draw rooms at any angle, but if
would use the Hex or Square
you want rooms that fit to the battle grid, you should
Overlay option from the
create the first wall either vertical or horizontal. If fitting
Draw menu. This is covered
perfectly to the grid is not a concern, then using some
later in this tutorial.
angled rooms will usually enhance your dungeon.
Another important consideration when drawing your
dungeon rooms is to keep your room sizes believable. A
Believable
room should have a size appropriate to its function. This
is especially true in a dungeon. Building a dungeon is I’ll leave it up to you to
hard work, and if a room is considerably larger than its decide what a believable
function would suggest, there better be a very good room size is in your world,
explanation for it. If the dungeon was built using magic, since this depends on the
larger rooms are usually more reasonable than if it was level of technology and
dug out by hand. magic. The most important
part is to have a conscious
4. Draw two rectangular rooms using the tool like in the relation to this topic.
screenshot. The top room is 50’x40’, which just happen Also, by keeping most of
to be a nice size for a single-sheet battle map. Leave a your world at a proper
40’ distance between the rooms for the corridor. believable scale, then your
5. Click the Add Room button again. This time, select extraordinarily large objects
the polygon shaped room, and set the Floor – are going to stand out that
Foreground to Tile Marble White Bitmap. Leave all the much more. Just look at the
rest of the settings as they are. We will use this tool to real world. The pyramids of
draw the burial chamber of Anadar himself. Use the tool Egypt stand out rather well
to draw a roughly octagonal shaped room approximately now, but if every ruler in the
in the middle of the map, with a radius of about 50’. Note world had a burial chamber
that the room tool will always draw a closed polygon, so of that size, they would
you should not draw the final wall, it will be drawn simply be ordinary.
automatically when you end the command.
We’ll draw some more rooms later, but let us first put in the corridors to connect these first
few rooms.

277
 6. Click the Add Corridor button. We’ll want to
use the same settings as for our rooms, which
should also be the default settings in this dialog.
Since the last room we drew had a marble floor,
remember to set the floor fill back to the Flagstone
B Bitmap. Also make sure the Corridor width is
Wrap Wall Ends set to 10 feet. We don’t want our main corridor to
This setting makes the walls be open-ended, so make sure there is no
a continuous path around checkmark in No end wall, and ensure that Wrap
the dungeon corridor. If this wall ends is checked.
is unchecked, the walls will
We will draw the corridor down the space between
consist of single lines, which
the two rectangular rooms. Start the corridor
cause the corners to look
midway between the rooms, but 10’ to the left of
bad. Look in the preview
the rooms, where the red X is shown in the image.
window to see the effect
After placing the first point, we can see the outline
when turning this off.
of our corridor following the cursor. Now, look at
the command line. It reads End Point (CTRL – Width,
SHIFT – Move handle, B – Connect, C – Connect no
break):. You can press any of the indicated keys to
modify the drawing of the corridor
Command Line
Remember that if you use CTRL: Hold down the key while moving the
the floating prompt, it will mouse to change the width of the corridor. This is
say the same thing as the very useful when you need to change the width in
command line, but it will the middle of a corridor. This creates a gradual
generally be a bit more width change.
verbose about it.
SHIFT: Hold down the key while moving the mouse to change which part of the
This book will always use
the text exactly as it appears corridor appears at your mouse pointer. The default is the middle of the corridor. This is
on the command line at the mostly useful to change when you have snaps on, and you want for example the top of
bottom of the window. your corridor to follow the snap points instead of the middle.

B: Hit to make the corridor connect to another corridor or room. It also makes a break
in the wall where it connects

C: This option also makes the corridor connect to another corridor or room, but it does
not make a break in the wall. This option is activated by hitting .

We are going to connect our corridor to the main burial chamber, so press . Notice now
how the corridor outline snaps to any nearby entity, even if your mouse is not placed
perfectly over them. Move your mouse to the middle of the burial chamber wall (Blue X on
image) and click the mouse.
Notice that the corridor now appears, and that it connects neatly to the burial chamber. A
hole has also been cut in the burial chamber wall the same width as the corridor. The connect
options also ends the drawing of the current corridor. If you don’t use these commands, you
can continue to place points, making the corridor follow any path you desire.
7. Now we need to connect the corridor to the other two rooms. Since we just drew a corridor,
you should be able to left click anywhere in the drawing to repeat the previous command.
Do this, and the Add corridor dialog should show. Click OK.
Instead of placing the first point, have a look at the command line, and notice that the connect
options are available for the start point as well. This is helpful, because it means we can draw
a corridor that both starts and ends in a room or corridor. Press now, then click a point on
the north corridor wall at approximately the middle of the rectangular rooms. Then press
again, and click on the south wall of the northern room, on a point directly north of the
starting point. This should create a straight corridor that connects the room with main
corridor, also creating a break in both walls in the process.

278
 8. Repeat the procedure above to create a corridor to
connect the southern room.
We have now drawn the core part of the dungeon.
It consists of a long corridor connecting three
rooms, all used as burial chambers. Our dungeon
is still missing most of the details, but we have the
basic premise down.

Remember our discussion about room sizes earlier? If we

look at the room we just drew, notice that they are huge.
The large rectangular room is 6600 square feet (613 m2),
while the octagonal room is 8200 square feet (762 m2).
Is it ok to have rooms this large? Well, yes and no. Firstly, if magic is unavailable, the process of
digging out these huge rooms from the surrounding rock would be very time-consuming, and close
to unfeasible.
Valley of the Kings
Let us look at a real-world example of famous burial places for a moment. One of the more known
people that dug dungeon-like graves was the Egyptians. We can see their legacy today in the Valley Visit http://www.
of the Kings. One of the largest rooms in this complex is the central chamber of the tomb known as thebanmappingproject.com
KV 5, the tomb of the sons of Rameses II. This chamber covers an area of 2628 square feet (244 for images and maps from
m2), less than one third of our main chamber. The entire KV 5 tomb complex is 13632 square feet the Valley of the Kings, one
(1266 m²). These figures do show us that a considerable amount of rock can be tunneled out, but of the more famous burial
we also know that the Egyptians used many years digging out these tombs. Our map is also a tomb grounds for Egyptian kings
complex, a holy site. This explains why the chapel is willing to use the resources needed to build besides the pyramids.
the dungeon grander than strictly necessary, but building this dungeon without the help of magic This site is great both from a
doesn’t seem logical. Look especially at the main chamber in our dungeon. Unless the high priest historical perspective, but
ordered this chamber to be started many years before his death, there wouldn’t be time to build also as inspiration for
such a room using conventional methods if you ever wanted him buried. For the other rooms, they mapmaking.
might have been slowly expanded over hundreds of years, perhaps it was the duties of the junior
priests, but if so, the perfectly rectangular form with proper walls doesn’t make sense. In other
words, we need to assume magic was used to aid in the construction of this dungeon. However, in
many fantasy settings, priests are wielders of magic, making it easily accessible to them. Churches
also traditionally have deep coffers, thus being able to pay for outside magical help and magical
items as need,

There is another issue to consider when it comes to the size of these rooms, and that is the risk of
cave-in. Huge holes in the rock tends to collapse. Just remember how dangerous mining used to be
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This problem can also be explained away by magic, but
it is far more reasonable that a one-time effect was used to dig a hole, rather than a permanent
effect to keep up the roof for all eternity. Fortunately, we also have a real-world solution to this
problem, something that can also be seen in the Egyptian burial chambers; pillars. Pillars serve to
stabilize the roof and keep it up. There are some issues that need to be considered when using
pillars however. Firstly, how strong is the roof? A weak roof needs pillars placed closer than a strong
roof. Also, how much press does the roof put on the pillars. If there is little pressure, pillars can be
thin and slender, but more probable, they need to be rather massive. They also need to be able to
survive any earthquakes in the area. If the pillars are destroyed in earthquakes, the roof will probably
soon follow.

So, what can we conclude about our dungeon? Well, the sheer size does imply that magic was used
in the construction. This is plausible, and since the big rooms gives us a nice location to place a big
fight, we are going to accept their size. Obviously, the room shouldn’t be big just because you wish
to run a fight down there, but as long as we can justify the size with an in-game history explanation,
we are good. The rooms are also used for burying the dead priests of the chapel, probably quite a
few over the hundreds of years this chapel has existed, so they need to be somewhat large to
accommodate this. Because of the size, we need to ensure structural integrity, so we will need to
place a large number of pillars in the rooms.

279
 Now, let us add a few smaller tombs. These rooms are a little out of the way, and will serve as a
nice location for the temporary lair of the necromancer. Let us just keep in mind the original intent
for these rooms when we place them.

We will be placing a few of these rooms at an

angle. This makes them a bit trickier to use
directly as a battle map, but it makes the rooms
and the dungeon as a whole look a bit more
believable.

9. Draw a few more rooms like those shown

in the image to the left. Make sure you
leave some room to draw corridors.

Our next big decision is regarding the positioning

of the corridors. Do we want a corridor network
that binds the room together so that each room
have only one door, and to go from one room to
the other you must return back to the network of
corridors, or should the rooms just be linked with the
shortest possible corridor to the nearest room? Both
options have their merits. The keyword here is again
the original ideas behind the design. For this dungeon,
it makes sense to assume that the priests didn’t want
to march through existing burial chambers to get to
Made a Corridor the others, as this can be considered disrespectful to
the dead. Therefore, they made a northbound corridor
Obviously, the priests made
branching out from the main corridor near the main
the corridor before the
burial chamber.
rooms, and not the other
way around. The arguments 10. Draw a corridor using the red markers in the
are still the same, but our image as corners/endpoints.
thought process tends to be
11. Draw corridors to connect
a bit backwards due to the
the new corridor to the two
fact that it is easier for us to
rooms along it. Also connect
draw the rooms fist. Even
the final small room to the
though we draw the rooms
larger room right below it. It
first however, we need to
doesn’t make sense to have
plan where to place the
a long corridor simply to
corridors before placing the
reach this one small room.
rooms. Even though we
draw the corridors last, they
shouldn’t be an after-
thought.

280
Complex Rooms
If you are starting at the tutorial at this point, you can load up the Chapel Maldina Catacombs 05
map in the @Tutorials\Tome\Dungeon folder.

So far, we have been drawing rooms using the standard room tools. This lets us easily draw circular
rooms, square rooms, rectangular rooms and polygonal rooms. The last one offers quite a bit of
flexibility, but what if we wish to draw a rectangular room with a half-circle end? Obviously, the
standard room tools don’t allow us to do this, but that doesn’t mean that CC3+ doesn’t allow us to List
do this. With a little manual work, we can create rooms in any shape we desire.
Remember the List
Before we draw our rooms, let us command found in the Tools
examine the properties of existing menu? It is extremely
rooms. We do this by using the List helpful to find out
command on one of our rooms. If you information about entitles,
select one of the corners of one of the such as the sheet and layer
rooms, the status bar should tell you they are on, colors, fill style,
that you have 3 entities selected, and and so on.
the List output should look like in the
image.

As we can see, a room is built from 3

entities. Two of them are on the
FLOORS sheet and one on the
WALLS sheet. If you remember the
Add Room dialog, this matches with
the choices in that dialog, as you
were prompted to select both a
background and a foreground floor,
and a wall. Since our foreground floor
is completely opaque, the back-
ground entity is never seen, so we
normally don’t concern us about it.
However, if you are using a partially
transparent foreground, you can get
nice effects by combining it with the correct background. We’ll explore this option later though. For
now, we will stick by opaque foreground floors and ignore the background completely.

From the list output, we are going to take with use a few important pieces of information. For each
of our two relevant entities, we need to know what sheet and layer they are on, what fill style they
use, and finally what line width they have.

12. Set the current sheet to FLOORS and the layer to BACKGROUND (FLOOR 2). Set line width to Snap Grid
0, line style to solid, and fill style to solid. Also set the color to something that will be visible
The snap grid is highly
on the background. Whatever color we use will not be visible in the final map, so I tend to
useful for exact placement
use something highly visible, like color 6 (Pink).
of points, especially in this
13. Make sure you have the snap grid from previously (10’ situation where we need
grid, 2 snaps) enabled, then draw two 10’ radius circles multiple entities to match
using the Circle tool below each other (Let there be up perfectly. We could also
40’ between the circle centers) in the empty area in the have used the regular
northwest part of the map. Then, draw two smaller 5’ modifiers (like endpoint) to
radius circles, positioned like in the image. As long as achieve the same goal. The
the snap grid is on, getting these correct is extremely modifiers are especially
simple. My example image uses different colors for the useful when lining up
small and large circles to make the setup clearer, but entities in a manner that
this is not needed. I have also turned off the don't easily fit on a grid, but
BACKGROUND sheet to make the entities easier visible for our purpose, the snap
in the screenshots. grid is perfect.

281
 14. These circles don’t look that much like a room yet, but if you look at
the outline of the circles, you may be getting an idea for what we are
trying to do here. And to make this into a room, that is exactly what
Top Edge we need, the outline. By using the Break tool, we both remove the
When we use the break tool, part of the circle we don’t need, and change it from a filled circle to an
the part of the entity we outline in one step.
click on when we select it is Click the Break button. Now, select the upper large circle by
also the part of the entity clicking on the top edge of it. The command line now asks you for the
we are going to keep. If we break staring point. Click on the left edge of the circle (A little bit above
click in the wrong part of the where it meets the smaller circle). Finally, for the ending point of the
entity, we end up cutting break, click on the right edge of the circle. After executing a
away the piece we want to Redraw , your map should look like the image.
keep instead.
15. Repeat the procedure for the bottom circle.
16. Now, for the smaller circles. Use the Break tool, select the circle by
clicking on the left edge, and the break points at the top and bottom.
This should leave the left halves of the circles.
17. Use the Path tool to draw a path starting at the open end at the top
circle, going 10’ to the right, 30’ down, and 10’ left to meet the open
point of the bottom circle.
Notice how we now have the outline of our room. We have a few gaps, but
these will be closed automatically when we combine the various parts.

We are now going to merge these outlines into a single polygon for our room.
Arc
The first thing we need to do is to change our half-circles into paths. Right
Arcs are a basic type of now they are arc entities, which cannot be a part of a polygon.
CC3+ entities, like a line.
18. Right click the Explode button, and then select the Line to Path
The default arc is defined
using a center point, the command. Select all the 4 arcs, and then hit to complete the
starting angle of the arc, command.
and the size of the arc. Right Each arc has now been converted to a path. If these arcs were
click on the Arc button to touching, they would also have been merged into a single path, but
see other ways you can since they weren’t, they are now 4 separate paths.
define these.
19. Right click the Explode button, and then select the Combine Paths
command.
This command is used to combine several paths into one continuous
path. If the paths are not already connected by sharing a common
point, it will also add a line segment between the paths to make them
continuous. However, when using this command, it won’t always
know which ends of the paths to join. Therefore, after having selected the two paths you
wish to join, the command line will read:
Select Next Path/[Finish] Flip Selections (‘F’ – First, ‘S’ – Second):
Use the and keys to flip the
endpoints used for the joining. Note that
this will actually reverse the order of the
nodes in the entity. There won’t be a
visible effect, but basically the start and
endpoints of the entity is now reversed.
If you use the wrong endpoints, you will
end up with an extra unwanted line
segment. Notice in the Incorrect image
how there is multiple line segments that
shouldn’t be there. This happened
because one or more paths were flipped
the wrong way during the joining. The
Correct image shows what happens when we correctly join the entities. It is also worth

282
 noticing that there appears to be a line missing in the Correct image. This happened because
after joining, we had both the start and ending point of our path in the same spot. To avoid
duplicate points, CC3+ deleted the end point. This will fix itself when we create a polygon
from this path, because a polygon always includes a closing line between the end point and
starting point, as opposed to a path which does not have this.
To use the Combine Paths command, first select the first two paths to combine, use and
to flip the entities to join the correct ends, then select the next path to join with the path.
This completes the merging of the first two paths, and you can use / to fit the new one.
Continue until all the paths have been joined, then right click to finish the command.

20. Right click the Explode button, and then select the Path to
Poly command. Select our path, then hit o it to complete
the command. Except for the fill, we now have a perfect floor.
That is, assuming we joined our paths correctly earlier. If not,
the polygon will look quite weird.
21. Use Change Properties on the entity to change the fill
style to Flagstone B Bitmap.
Now we have the floor in place. We still need the walls, but
notice how the walls should be in the exact same shape as the
floor. This makes that part of the job really easy.
22. Click the Copy button. Select the floor, hit to complete
the selection process. CC3+ now asks for the source position
of the copy, so enter 0,0 on the command line. Now CC3+
asks you to place the copy. Again, type 0,0 . This will place a copy of our floor exactly
on top of the existing one. Finally, right click to end the command. Prior
23. Click Change Properties . However, instead of clicking on the floors to select them, hit If you try to select the
. This stands for Prior, and will automatically select the last entities you had selected, or if entities the normal, way,
we copied entities, the last copy you placed. This is very helpful, since it will select the copy you will find that when you
of the floor we just placed, but not the original. Hit to finalize the selection process, and click on the floor, both the
the Change Properties dialog should show. original and the copy will be
selected. Because they are
Now, change the properties to the correct properties for
in the exact same spot, it is
a Wall entity which we found using the List command
impossible to select only
earlier. These are: one of them. Since they are
Layer: WALLS copies, they are identical in
every regard, except for the
Sheet: WALLS entity tag. So, to select only
Width: 2 one of them, you could also
use list on the entities to
Fill: Wall Cobble Grey Bitmap learn their entity tags, then
select by entity tag to only
get one of them. Suffice to
That’s it. We have created a complex room, using both
say, selecting by Prior is
circles and straight walls. We also made sure to use the
much faster.
correct properties for both walls and floor, so this room
will work exactly like a regular dungeon room. This
means that we can connect corridors to it and break the
walls just as for any other room. Notice that connecting
corridors to the rounded parts does work poorly
however.
24. Connect the room to the neighboring room with a corridor.

283
 Dungeon Furniture
Now that we have our floorplan down, it is time to put something into the dungeon, lest it look
completely naked.

Before adding items to the dungeon, we need to again remember what this dungeon is for. There is
usually not many tables or chests in a burial chamber, and while lava pits look cool, their presence
usually makes no sense except for the most hellish of dungeons. After all, molten lava is not
normally found at the depths man is able to dig down to. Volcanoes are an exception, but even they
do not normally have human-reachable seas of lava. Lava is only pressed up from the deeper
reaches when there is an eruption, and this lava cools of and hardens soon after the eruption has
ended. Of course, most dungeons are made for a fantasy setting, so it is obviously ok if not
everything is 100% realistic, but the best fantasy settings are usually those that adhere the most to
realism. After all, even if magic exists, that doesn’t mean that all the laws of nature suddenly change.

So, what should we put in our dungeon? A couple of sarcophagi for the important graves sound
reasonable. Less important graves are probably just holes in the walls in the larger rooms, allowing
for lots of graves, but these won’t be visible on a top-down map. Since a necromancer has been
animating the corpses, it would make sense that we find some remains of the dead scattered
around, otherwise this would be quite weird. There are probably torches on the walls as well.

We already discussed the need for pillars, these are obviously needed. It also sounds reasonable
that the priests do hold some kind of ceremonies down here for the dead, so perhaps a couple of
altars, and maybe a few statues for decoration and worship, especially in the main burial chamber.
The necromancer probably made some modifications when he moved in, like drawing a magical
pentagram for summoning purposes.

Finally, what about doors? This dungeon is after all below the church, so does it make sense putting
doors in all the rooms? The main burial chamber probably has a large ornate door, but what about
the rest? The dungeon was probably built over generations, with parts being added when needed,
so maybe some parts of the dungeon have doors, and others not. Additionally, since we just stated
that we are beneath the church, we need some steps up.

Another traditional item in dungeons is traps. But in this case, it doesn’t make sense that the priests
installed traps in their burial chamber. Again, perhaps there is something in the main burial chamber,
since there are great values in here. Such a trap is probably located on the door, and triggered if it
wasn’t opened properly. But finding a 10’ spiked pit in a random corridor down here doesn’t seem
remotely sensible.

284
Doors
If you try to place a few 10’ doors, you’ll quickly notice that the ends of the door end up on top of Top of
the walls. The reason for this is that doors are sent to the SYMBOLS WALL sheet by default, and this
Remember that the sheet
sheet is on top of the WALLS sheet. Personally, I don’t think this look particularly good, so I would
order is the reverse of the
like to place my doors on another sheet instead, one that is below the WALLS sheet. In addition to
order they are listed in the
allowing us to hide the door ends, it also allows us to add different effects to the doors from what
dialog. This is because this
we have on other symbols, which is also a good thing.
list shows the sheets in the
To do this correctly, we need to remember how the symbols are assigned to the sheets. If we look drawing order, with the top
at the options for the various door symbols, we see that they are set to go to the SYMBOLS WALL* sheet being drawn first,
sheet. That last asterisk is the important part here. It means that the door will go to any sheet that then the next sheet being
starts with the name SYMBOLS WALL. Exactly which sheet it ends up on is determined by the drawn on top of it, and all
current sheet. If the current sheet is any sheet that starts with SYMBOLS WALL, the symbol will go the way to the bottom sheet
to that sheet, otherwise it will go to the sheet named exactly SYMBOLS WALL. So, to make a new in the list which will be
sheet for our doors, we can name this sheet SYMBOLS WALL DOORS and make sure this is the drawn last, and therefore on
active sheet when we place the doors. Note that we must also make sure that this is NOT the active top of everything else.
sheet when we wish to place other wall symbols, such as torches.

25. Create a new sheet called SYMBOLS WALL DOORS and position it between SYMBOLS and
WALLS in the sheet list. Make this sheet the active sheet.
26. From the Wall Features catalog, select the Door Dbl Metal from the symbol catalog
window. Place this door where the hallway floor meets the floor of the main burial chamber.
If you still have the snaps from earlier enabled, the door should be placed perfectly in the
gap, provided you have rotated it the right way, and have the scale set at the default value
(1.0)
27. Close off all the smaller rooms with a Door Dbl Wood symbol. Note that when placing doors
in the angled corridors, you may wish to turn
of snap to be able to place the doors where
you desire.
If you need to know the angle to use for the
door symbols, use the Bearing command
from the Info menu on one of the walls in
the corridor. Then simply add 90˚ to that
value to get the angle for the door.
When placing the doors, keep in mind that
doors are perfect to hide the seams that can
be visible between floors in some places.
The doors in the image to the right have
been highlighted with a red glow to make
them visible in this screenshot.

Stairs
Stairs are set to go on the SYMBOLS* sheet. As discussed earlier, that means it will end up on any
sheet starting with the word SYMBOLS, which includes the SYMBOLS WALLS sheet, and our new
SYMBOLS WALLS DOORS sheet. So to make sure the stairs ends up on the correct sheet, make sure
to set the active sheet to either SYMBOLS, or any sheet that is not one of the other two mentioned
above.

28. Select an appropriate set of stairs from the Up and Down category. Place it to the far left
in the first corridor we drew.

Pillars
As we discussed previously, some of the larger rooms will need pillars to keep the roof stable. Pillars
are usually placed in a symmetric pattern, both to make them look good, and to provide an even
support of the roof. You’ll find the available pillars in the Temples and Statues category. For my

285
 example, I’ve chose to place pillars so that there are never more than 20’ between roof supports,
either walls or pillars.

Note that instead of using symbols for pillars, you can also use basic shapes, like squares or circles.
For very basic dungeons, elaborate pillars might look a little out of place. Maybe the diggers just left
behind certain spots when they were digging out the room, making the pillars no more than
remaining part of the original rock. Or perhaps the pillars were built from simple bricks, stacked up
and cemented together, much like a brick wall?

29. Place appropriate pillars in the four larger rooms. Remember that pillars are important for
structural integrity, so they usually take precedence over decorations. Again, having snaps
on will help place the pillars in neat rows and columns. Also remember, changing the snap
grid is definitely allowed. If you wish to use 15’ between each pillar, try creating a snap grid
that uses that distance.

Furniture
It is time to decorate our dungeon with the appropriate dungeon furnishings. Since this is a crypt,
we’ll find most of the relevant items in the Temples and Statues and Wall Features
Jon Roberts’ Dungeons categories. Note that I will only use the symbols from the basic DD3 Color set in this example map,
This style pack is a free but if you want more variation, you can find useful symbols from the Symbol Set 2 – Fantasy
sample issue from the Floorplans add-on, as well as from the Jon Roberts’ Dungeons style pack. Both of these are different
Cartographer's Annual styles than the DD3 Color style, but they do fit in with this style.
2011. You can find it at Now, most of our furniture will be sarcophagi for the dead, torches for the walls, and statues for
http://www.profantasy.com decoration. An altar in the most prominent rooms will also look ok.
/annual/
2011/june11.html. Since we have established that there is a necromancer down here, animating the dead, it doesn’t
Read more about annuals seem far-fetched that a few of the sarcophagi are opened as well. That gives us some variations in
suitable for dungeons on the symbols. Also note that there are vari-colored versions of both the regular and the opened
page 347 and more about sarcophagi symbols, which is also very nice to add some variation. Finally, there is also a stone slab
the annuals in general on symbol with a suit of armor on top. Since the armor is gray like the stone below, it is difficult to see
page 753. if it is a stone slab with a knight on top, or it is just an elaborate lid for a coffin, so we should take
advantage of this symbol as well.

As discussed earlier, since there is quite a few people buried here, most of them a buried in simple
niches in the walls. These are not directly visible on our map, but keep this in mind when placing
symbols. Any sarcophagi in the rooms should be placed in the middle of the rooms, not pressed up
against the walls.

30. Place a scattering of sarcophagi around the dungeon rooms. Vary the size a little, and use the
varicolor symbols to ensure the symbols doesn’t all look alike.
31. Place the Sconce with Torch 2 symbol from the Wall Features
catalog along the walls of the corridors and rooms. While these normally
wouldn’t be lit at all times, it looks better on the map to use the lit
variants. Note that when placing these, snaps should be off, or you will
end up placing all of them inside the walls.
Also note that these are smart symbols, they align to the wall automatically. To place them,
first click on the centerline of the wall itself. This will attach them to the wall at the correct
angle. Next, CC3+ needs you to tell it how far from the centerline they should be, so move
the mouse so that the wall edge of the symbol lines up with the outer edge of the wall, then
click again to place the symbol. If placement finishes in one click rather than two, this means
that you didn’t click on the wall, so the symbol couldn’t find anywhere to attach itself, so it
ended up being placed like a normal symbol instead of the attach/offset procedure.
Note that instead of moving the mouse to set the wall offset, you can get more precise
placement by typing the number at the command line instead. We know that our walls are
2’ thick, which means that the edge of the wall is 1’ from the center. Simply type 1 when
CC3+ asks for the offset and the symbol will be placed perfectly. Note that this also works
with walls placed at an angle, without having to resort to trigonometry; CC3+ takes care of
all the difficult stuff for us.

286
 Another issue to consider with these
symbols is the halo. If you place the
torch near a corner, or on a curved
wall, their halo will overlap with the
wall. The best way to handle this is to
move them to a sheet below the walls,
so that the walls hide the halo.
32. Finally, place a few statues and altars,
especially in the main burial chamber.
I also placed a few urns from the
Containers and Treasure
category.

Dungeon debris
Since this dungeon is a holy burial ground for
the priest from the chapel above, it doesn’t make
much sense if this dungeon is full of debris laying
around in the corridor and rooms. Most probably, it
is kept in good repair, and a minimum of objects that
would turn into debris would be brought down here
anyway. Neither is this a place where fighting
typically happens.

However, after the necromancer moved in to

occupy the dungeon, he started animating the dead
to keep the priests away. This has naturally led to
some fighting, causing remains of undead to be
scattered around, as well as object dropped by
priests. In other words, we should throw a few
bodies, skeletons and bones around the dungeon,
and possible some items dropped by priests, like
weapons.

Additionally, the necromancer has

converted one of the stone sarcophagi to
a dark altar, as well as created himself a
summoning circle in one of the smaller
rooms.

33. Add an unholy altar and one of the

pentagrams to the necromancer’s
lair.
34. Drop some bones, blood and bodies
from the Debris catalog,
especially near the entrance. Also
drop a few weapons from the
Weapons category.

287
 Traps and secrets
All dungeons have their secrets, and this one is no exceptions. As we discussed earlier, given the
purpose of this dungeon, it doesn’t make sense to fill this place with traps, but it is also reasonable
to expect that the priests added some extra protection to the main burial chamber, to keep grave
robbers away.

One of the nice features of CC3+ is its layers. Layers serve as a way to group entities, and work
across sheets. This means that multiple entities can belong to the same layer, regardless of their
place in the drawing order. This is especially helpful when we are creating traps and other secrets.
If we add all of these to the same layer, we can easily turn them on and off as we please, switching
between player view and GM view with just a few clicks. All the while, the same entities can still
be added to the appropriate sheets to get the correct effects.

If we look at the layer list for this map, we can see that there are several appropriate layers already
defined that we can use. We have GAME MASTER ONLY, TRAPS and SECRET. Now, which of these
we use (or if we create a new one) doesn’t really matter that much. The important is to be consistent
here, so that we only have one layer to turn off to hide all the secret stuff. Personally, I like to use
the GAME MASTER ONLY layer, so I will be using this for our traps and any other secrets we might
end up adding.

35. Select the Wall Spikes

symbols from Traps .
Before placing it, change the
active layer to GAME
MASTER ONLY. Now place
this symbol on both the
north and south wall directly
outside the metal door to
the main burial chamber.
These symbolize retractable
spikes that shoot out of the
wall if someone trips the
trap on the door.
36. Try hiding the GAME
MASTER ONLY layer, and
see that the spikes disappear, leaving no trace that they were ever there. Show the layer
again afterwards.

Finishing touches
I am not quite happy with the main burial chamber yet, but my designs for it require effects, so we
will finish that chamber later. When we look at effects, we will also have a look at improving other
areas of the dungeon.

Grids
Almost every dungeon map has a grid. These grids can serve various purposes, most commonly to
easily judge distances in the dungeon, and also as battle grids for miniatures. When creating a grid,
we need to have two things in mind:

Visibility of the grid. For there to be any point in the grid, it must be visible on the map.

Map esthetics. We do not want our grid to ruin the look of our map.

Let us start with a basic map grid.

37. Start by setting the current color to the desired color for the grid. The dungeon is mainly dark,
so we should use a light color. I chose a light gray (color 16).

288
 38. Select Hex or Square Overlay… from the Draw menu. Set the grid type to Square grid, and
turn off all labeling. Let us start by adding a 10’ grid to the map. Labeling

Once you have clicked Apply, the grid should appear over the map like in the image. Grid labels have their place,
but on most dungeon maps,
they are just unnecessary.
Note that to turn of labeling
completely, you need to
uncheck all the check boxes.
Just unchecking the main
Labeling check box will grey
out the two others, but they
are still in effect, so make
sure you uncheck them first.

Apply
The Apply button causes the
If we look at the image, we can grid to be drawn over the
see that the grid fits perfectly entire map. If you desire a
to all the rooms, but not the partial grid, click select
corridors. This is because we did not draw points instead, and CC3 will
the map with a grid in mind. This was fully ask you to define a
intentional, because forcing everything to fit rectangle for the grid
perfectly to a grid often causes the map to placement.
look artificial. However, if you look at the
map, it is obvious that a 5’ grid will fit every
part of the map perfectly (except for the
angled rooms and corridors)
5’ Grid
39. Delete the previous grid using Erase , and
A 5’ grid is also the most
then add a new one, using the same settings,
frequently used grid size for
except set the grid spacing to 5’ instead of
battle maps in RPGs.
10’.
Looking at this map, we can see that the grid
fit perfectly. In addition, 5’ is the correct size for a battle map under most role playing
systems. However, all those grid lines ruin the look of the map in many ways. There are many
of them, and lots of light lines are covering up
symbols. Let us try to make this a little better.
The first that comes to mind is sheet order. When we
draw a new grid, it ends up on the GRID sheet by
default, and this sheet is one of the last in the
drawing order, meaning it will be drawn on top of
everything else. What if we moved it a little lower in
the pile, allowing symbols and walls to be drawn on
top of the grid instead of below it?
40. Move the GRID sheet towards the top of the list, so
that it appears right after the WATER sheet.
There are still a lot of grid lines in the map, but they
no longer cover up the details of the map. I would
say that for this map, this is definitely an
improvement.

Floor grid
Instead of covering the whole map in a grid, another option is to only cover the floor sections with
a grid. This makes the grid look less intrusive, and for combat grids, it shows only the places where

289
 it is possible to go. Making such a grid is slightly more involved than creating a regular grid, but it
isn’t difficult.

The symbol we will need to create such a grid is already included in the dungeon template we are
using. However, the current symbol is only for 10’ grids, and we want a 5’ grid, so we need to modify
it a little.

41. Delete the 5’ grid we made earlier.

42. Click the Fill Style indicator, and go to the
Symbol Fills tab. From the list of defined styles,
New select Square Grid 10’. Click New, and name the
new style Square Grid 5’. Basically, the settings
Sometimes when you click
should be identical to the 10’ version, just with
New in the Fill Style dialog,
all the values divided by 2, as shown in the
the new fill style name
image.
dialog doesn't show, and
the entire program appears 43. Click the Copy button, then hit (for
blocked. The easiest way to selection by layer), right click, and select
fix this is usually to use the BACKGROUND (FLOOR 2) from the layer list.
+ combination This should select all the floor entities in our
to switch to another dungeon. Hit (for Do It). When CC3+ asks for
window, then back again. the Copy from point, enter 0,0 . When asked
to place the entity, type 0,0 again, then right click to finish the command.

44. Click the Change Properties button, then hit (Prior). This selects the floor copies we
Prior just placed. Hit to finish selecting to get up the Change Properties dialog.
Remember that Prior works Change the following properties:
on the last entity you
selected/placed, so if you Layer: HEX/SQUARE GRID
deviate from these Color: 16
instructions, prior might not
select the correct entity, so Fill Style: Square Grid, 5’
make sure to don’t do
Sheet: Grid
anything else between the
previous step and this one. Click ok, then issue a Redraw command.
Obviously, there are other After doing this, we can see that the grid is a little on the light side for the main burial
ways to grab the correct chamber. However, since we created this grid by copying the individual floor pieces, and
entity, such as selecting by changing the fill style to a grid, each room has its own grid, so we can easily change the color
entity tag. Check out the of the grid in that room only.
Editing chapter on page 47
45. Use Change Properties on the grid in the main burial chamber, and change the color to
for a refresher on selections
color 0. Note that to select the grid, you need to click on the border of the entity, and not the
if needed.
grid lines. This is because the grid lines are part of the fill style, and not separate entities like
the lines of a regular grid. The easiest way to select this entity without selecting any other
entities is simply hiding all sheets but the GRID sheet. Another option is to use the And
selection modifier to only select entities you clicked on that are also on the HEX/SQUARE
GRID layer.

Solid lines?
Do you wish to have solid lines instead of dashed lines for the grid? If you wish the grid to be visible
when zoomed out, the dashed lines might be difficult to see. Zoomed in, the dashed lines look nice
though. But if you wish to use solid lines instead, the recipe is quick and painless.

46. Select Symbol Manager from the Symbols menu. Make sure that Show fill style symbols
is checked.

290
 47. Select Square Fill from the list,
then hit the Edit button. Define
the edit window when
requested.
You should now see the symbol
used for the grid in the drawing
window.
48. Use Change Properties to
change the line style of the
lines. For example, to solid or
any other available style you
prefer. Close the edit window
when done, and tell CC3+ it is
ok to keep the changes. Issue a
map redraw.

Hex grids
So far, we have only experimented with rectangular grids, as this is the most common grid used for
dungeons and floor plans. However, a hex grid also has its advantages. One example is angled
entities, where a hex grid fits much better than a rectangular grid. Character movement is also
handles easier on a hex grid, especially when handling diagonal movement.

A hex grid can be added in much the same manner as we added our rectangular grid. It can either
be added as an overlay (Draw → Hex or Square Overlay…), or you can use the fill style Hex Grid
X’ to only fill the floor area, as we did with the rectangular grid.

However, for the last option, there are some issues

that we need to handle for the hex grid to work.
Since most of the steps are the same as for adding
a rectangular floor grid, we will simply modify our
existing grid. If you have just skipped to this
section, you need to start from the Floor grid
heading on page 289 since we will continue with
what we started there.

First, let us create a new fill style for 5’ Hex Grids.

49. Create a new Symbol Fill Style called Hex

Grid, 5’, and set the options as in the image.
50. Click the Change Properties button,
then hit (Fill style). Now CC3+ prompts
you to select a fill style. Right click to get up
the list, then select Square Grid, 5’ from the Symbol Fills Square Grid, 5’
tab and hit OK. All our grid segments should now be
This is the fill style we used
selected. Hit to complete the selection, and in the
for our original grid. If you
Change Properties dialog, change the fill style to our used another fill style, use
newly created Hex Grid, 5’ fill style. that instead to select the
However, the grids created by this method don’t match correct entities.
up properly between the rooms, as is evident in the image
to the right. The reason for this is that hex grids and
rectangular grids cannot match up with each other, and
our dungeon is designed with the basis in a 5’ square grid.
Actually, you may have seen some minor issues with the square grid as well. These can be
fixed the same way we do with the hex grid now.

291
 51. Set the current fill style to Hex Grid, 5’ and the current color to 40 (Brown). Also set the
Color current sheet to GRID, and the layer to HEX/SQUARE GRID. The reason we set all these
Why did we need to change properties is that when we combine the entities, they will lose their existing properties, and
the color? take on the current properties.
When we combine the
Click Multipoly , then select all entities with the Hex Grid, 5’ fill style. Finally, hit to
entities, we end up with just
complete the command. All the individual floor entries are now grouped into one entity, and
one grid, and only one color.
the fill should flow flawlessly between rooms.
We cannot have one grid
color in some room, and Note that if you wish to have solid lines instead of dashed ones in the grid, you can follow
another in others. So we the Solid lines? part of the tutorial on page 290, just edit the Hexagon, horizontal symbol
picked a color that will be instead of the Square fill symbol.
visible on both light and Also note that you can also use this technique to merge floor segments to create seamless
dark backgrounds. transitions between the rooms. However, once you multipoly them, they get harder to edit,
so be careful with this functionality. An improper multipoly can also leak, causing strange
visual effects in the map.

Labeling
All maps need labels. Without labels, a map is just a pretty picture. With labels, it is a source of
information. The only question is how we should label it.

Dungeons typically follow two different naming schemes. Either we can label the rooms directly on
the map, or we can use numbers. Which one to use depends heavily on what you need of the map.
Numbered rooms are typically used if you need to associate a longer description for each room. In
this case, the numbers allow you to easily reference the appropriate location in the accompanying
text. On the other hand, if you do not need long descriptions, labeling the rooms right on the map
makes the map much easier to read, since we can see the room function at a glance. However, full
text labels to take up more room on the map, maybe covering up symbols and obscuring the details
of the map.

Everything we discussed about text in the CC3+ part of this book (All About Text on page 37) still
applies to dungeon maps. However, for dungeon maps we do have some additional issues to worry
about in regard to where we place the text. After all, on overland maps, what does it matter if the
text covers some tree symbols in the middle of a forest or a couple of mountains in a mountain
range? The viewer always knows what is covered by the text because he can see the surrounding
symbols. However, a dungeon map is not like that. Symbols don’t appear in clusters of identical
symbols. Each and every symbol potentially has its own meaning and message to the viewer, so
we need to be careful about the size and position of the text we place.

292
Map title
No matter how we are labeling our map, we should add a title to our map. For my example map, I
am going to need the space in the top left corner to put the map key, so I am going to use the empty
area in the bottom left for this purpose.

1. Load up our dungeon map (Chapel Mandina Catacombs 11.FCW). Shrewsbury

This font should be installed
2. Click Text Specs . Set the height to 8.5,
along with the support files
enable Bold, and select the Shrewsbury
for this book. It won't be in
font. Leave the rest of the options at their
the font list, so click More
default values.
Fonts to add it.
3. Set the current color to black.
4. Click Text , check the multi-line
checkbox, and type in
Catacombs Below
Chapel Medina
in the text box. Place the text in the open
space in the bottom left of our map. With
effects off, the black text is not very visible
on the brownish background. If you wish to have easily visible text also when the effects are
off, try simply using a lighter color.

Map Key
A map key is simply a list of
all the numbered location
on the map, along with their
Numeric labels name. If this map was a part
Let us start by exploring the use of numbered labels (See page 41 for details about this feature). We of a role-playing module,
will also place a map key on the map for these numbers. the map key might also
have been embedded in the
5. Load up our dungeon map (Chapel Mandina Catacombs 12.FCW). text of the module, in
6. Click Text Specs . Set the height to 7, leave the rest of the options as we set them under addition to, or instead of on
Map title above, and ensure that the current color is still black. the map.
7. Click Number Label . Ensure that the
command line suggest 1 as the starting
number, if not just type 1. Then hit
to start placing the number.
Place one number on the stairs, one in
the main corridor, and one in each of
the rooms. Try to place the numbers so
that they do not cover any symbols. Do
not worry if some of them are hard to
see, we will be using effects to make
them more visible later. The image to
the left already has the effects turned
on to make the text visible in the
example.
Also remember to finish the command
by pressing when you have placed the last number. If you right-click, the number on your
cursor will be thrown into your map.

293
 8. Create two new sheets, MAP KEY and TEXT MAP KEY. Place MAP KEY right below the TEXT
New Sheets sheet in the list, and TEXT MAP KEY below that again.
Why do we need new sheets 9. Set MAP KEY as the active sheet, color 16 as the current color, Solid as fill style, and line
for this? Right now, it is not width to 0. Set 5’ Grid, 2 Snaps as the current
that important, but when snap grid.
we are adding effects later,
we wish to be able to create 10. Draw a 5’ radius circle in the top left corner
using the Circle tool. Using the snap grid,
different effects for the text
in the key and the text in the this is trivial.
map. 11. Use the Split tool to divide the circle into
four line segments. Place the cut point at the
top, left, right and bottom points of the circle.
Again, our snap grid makes this task very
simple.
These circle quarters will form the rounded
corners of our map key. The next step is
therefore to move them to the appropriate
corner positions. When deciding for the
appropriate positions, keep in mind that we
are going to draw lines between them, and
that these lines shouldn’t cross into our
dungeon rooms.
12. Use Move, Scale, Rotate to move the
circle quarters to their new positions. Make
sure they are placed in the appropriate corner
positions for a proper rectangle. The snap grid
will ensure that these are precisely placed.
13. Right click the Explode button, then select
Line to Path. Use this on all the four circle
quarters.
14. Right click the Explode button and select
Combine Paths. Click first on the top left
corner piece, then the bottom left, bottom
right, and finally top right. This should cause
the paths to join in the appropriate order
without having to flip the line segments. If the
joining looks strange, then flip the segment as
required, using the / keys as indicated
by the command line.
15. Finally, right click Explode one last time,
and select Path to Poly. Use this on our line,
and you should end up with a nice rectangle
with rounded corners.
16. Click Copy and then select our new
polygon. Hit (Do It) to finish selection, and
then type 0,0 for both the copy from point
and place point. Then right click to end the
command.
17. Click the Change Properties button. Then
hit (Prior) and (Do It). In the properties
box, change the color to black and the width
to 1. Hit ok. Our rectangle should now have a
black border.

294
 18. Click Text Specs . Turn off bold, and set the height to an appropriate value that will let
us fit the entire list inside the box. If your box is the same size as mine, 2.5 work well. Set
Justify to Bottom Left.
Also set the current color to color 0 (Black), the sheet to TEXT MAP KEY and turn of snap.
19. Click Text , and type in

1. Stairs up to Chapel
in the text box. Place the text near the top of
the box.
20. Left click inside the drawing to repeat the
previous command, and type in
2. Main Corridor Place the Text
in the box. After clicking OK, instead of Instead of using this trick,
placing the text manually, simply right click. we could also have checked
This will place the text just below the previous the multi-line checkbox in
text we placed. the Edit Text dialog and
Repeat the instructions in this step once for added all the text in one go.
each number we wish to add to the key. However, I find it easier to
manage the text later if
each line is its own entity.
For example, it is now very
easy to move line 10 a little
to the left to get the lines
aligned on the period
instead of a simple left-
align, something that would
have been impossible with a
multi-line text entity.

Full text labels

Instead of using numbers and a key, we can also label our dungeon with text labels right on the
map. As discussed earlier, these do take up more space, and thus have a greater chance of covering
up symbols and other map elements, but they can also serve to make the map more readable.

21. Load up our dungeon map (Chapel Mandina Catacombs 12.FCW).

22. Click Text Specs . Set the height to 3, uncheck bold, then leave the rest of the options as
we set them under Map title above, and ensure that the current color is still black.
Notice that we need to use a considerable smaller text size compared to number labels to be
able to fit our text in the rooms.

295
 23. Click Text , and type in

Tomb of Anadar Magertaal

in the text box. Place the text in the main burial chamber.
24. Use the Text tool to place the following
texts

Common Burial Chamber in the large

room to the south-west.

Necromancer’s Lair in the

necromancer’s lair

High Priest Burial Chambers

placed so that it covers both of the
room north of the main corridor, as
shown in the screenshot to the right.
Note that effects have been turned on to make this legible in the screenshots in this
book. We will discuss effects later.

I’ve opted not to place text labels in every room, since most of them are self-explanatory, and filling
the map with too many text labels makes it illegible. Also note that labels such as these really need
to have proper effects enabled. The plain black text against the background fill doesn’t really look
good at all.

Cleanup
If you pay close attention to detail, you might have noticed that there are some imperfections where
the walls from the rooms meet with the walls from the corridors. Same goes for where the floor
meets. This happens because these are different entities that meet, and fill style origin is not shared
Hex Grid between entities. However, we can fix this by merging the entities. The floors are actually fixed in
exactly the same way we fixed the hex grid, so we will only concern ourselves with the walls now.
From the Hex grids tutorial
on page 291. If we look at the following screenshots from the map, we can easily spot many oddities where the
different walls meet.

296
All of this is due to the fact that the walls are formed from many
different entities. To fix this, we need to merge all our walls into
a single continuous entity. This is a rather easy procedure, but
it will take some clicks to fix all the joins. Note that this issue
only occurs where different entities meet, by default all the
walls for a single room are already one single entity, so corners
inside rooms aren’t affected.

25. Hide all the sheets except the WALLS sheet.

26. Zoom into one of the affected corners.
27. Right click Explode and select Combine Paths. Use this on the
two line segments. Remember that when selecting a line, you have
to click on the center of the line. When we are zoomed way out,
this is not normally a problem, since the pick cursor covers the
entire width of the line anyway, but when zoomed in, it becomes
more difficult to select a wide line like this properly. You’ll
immediately notice if you didn’t click in the right spot, since this
will terminate the Combine Paths command. Obviously, you don’t
have to zoom as far in as my screenshot shows; it can be easier to work with the lines if you
can see a bit further than the immediate corner.
Once selected, you may need to use the / keys to flip the
line segments to make sure the right ends are connected. If you
connect the wrong ends, you will get weird results. We
discussed this command in greater detail in the Complex
Rooms tutorial on page 281.
At this point, your corner either looks perfect and you can
move on to the next corner, or it looks weird, like in the image.
This weirdness is because there is an extra node in the corner. A
continuous path should only have one node at each position, but
this path now has two. Fortunately, all we have to do is to use
Delete Node to remove the extra node. It can be a bit difficult
to target, but it is placed exactly where the centerlines of the walls
meet. Once you delete the node, you should see that the corner
reverts to looking normal.

297
 If you have problems selecting the node, remember that you can use the On modifier to
targeting easier, or you can simply zoom out, since this makes the pick cursor larger relative
Pick Cursor to the entities.
You can also increase the
size of the pick cursor by What about the last corner?
going to Tools → Options
You might have noticed that the last join is impossible to fix using this method. This is because our
and set the Pick cursor
wall is now one continuous line, and the combine command combines two lines, not the two ends
aperture size. The value
of one line. Trying to use the combine commands on the two ends will cause the line to merge with
here is the size of the pick
itself, something that causes unpredictable results.
cursor in pixels.
What we need to do is to create a polygon from this path. You’ll find the Path to Poly command by
right clicking on Explode . Simply use Path to Poly on the walls, and they will turn into a polygon,
turning that last errant corner into a proper-looking one. Make sure that all the walls are connected
into a path before you use Path to Poly, or the closing of the path will create strange connecting
lines.

It is impossible to create a good screenshot in this book to showcase these little details, but compare
Chapel Mandina Catacombs 12.FCW with Chapel Mandina Catacombs 13.FCW to see the
differences before and after walls have been merged.

The Basic Dungeon Map Review

Use the Room and Corridor tools to do the basic layouts of your dungeon

Dungeon rooms/corridors consist of 3 different entities, the background floor, the

foreground floor and the walls. When creating rooms manually, make sure to create the
same entities, and on the same sheets/layers as those created using the room/corridor
tools. This will ensure that your custom rooms behave just like the standard rooms.

You can create custom rooms by combining line segments to a completed path using
Combine Paths, then convert the path to a polygon by using Path to Poly. Then simply
apply the appropriate properties, such as sheet, layer and fill style to your polygon.

Take advantage of the various possibilities for grids. It is easy to apply a hex or square
grid to your map, as well as apply a grid that only covers the actual floors.

Use Combine Paths to fix visual problems with corners.

Modern Political
This example map comes
from the June 2010 issue of
the Cartographer’s Annual.
This issue deals with
making modern political
maps with Campaign
Cartographer.

298
FLOORPLAN EFFECTS
Effects can enhance almost any map when used properly, and dungeons are no exception to this
rule. In the CC3+ part of this book, we discussed all the available effects for CC3+, and how to use
them. Dungeon Designer 3 doesn’t bring any new effects to the table, but we will explore other
effects than those we used for overland maps, and you may also find that some of the effects can
easily be used on both types of maps, but often with different parameters.

A few common effects on floorplan maps do not make much sense on overland maps at all. Firstly,
we have wall shadows which help provide a nice illusion of depth in dungeon maps. We can make
both walls and symbols cast nice shadows, providing atmosphere to the map.

There is also another effect specialized for floorplans; lighting. When lighting is used, we can define
light sources that cast light, and shadows that are calculated from the strength and direction of
these light sources. Areas that are not inside the light radius of a light source are bathed in darkness.
This effect is the most involved effect found in CC3+, and does require a bit of work to set up
correctly, but the result is rewarding.

Effects can also be used to create features, like raised steps and pits.

DD3 comes with some predefined effects settings for dungeons which you can use, and which gives
a generally good starting point. However, for this tutorial, we will start at scratch, and examine each Hard to Read
effect we add in detail, to get a more complete understanding of the whole process. In fact, I had to turn on text
effects just to make proper
Text screenshots for this book.
With the effects off, it
Let us start by looking at the text in our map. One problem with text labels is that text rarely looks became difficult to see the
good against a multi-colored background. If the background is a single color (or very similar colors) main points of many of the
we can change the text color to make it visible against the background. But if the background images.
consists of both lighter and darker parts, it becomes impossible to find a color for the text that will
work properly. We have already seen that in the example map used so far; the text partially
disappears into the background, making it hard to read, and not particularly pretty.
Glow or Outer Glow
The preferred effect to use on text is either Glow or Outer Glow. Using a light color for dark text
and vice versa, along with a rather small blur radius will make the text visible in almost any These two effects are
circumstance. Personally, I am rather fond of keeping the text in a single color, usually black, so I similar, but Glow appears
mostly use black text with a white glow. Too many colors on the text usually make the map look more like a soft glow
cluttered. appearing from the center
of the text entity, while
1. Load up our numeric labeled map (Chapel Mandina Catacombs 13.FCW). Outer Glow makes more of
2. Click the Sheets and Effects button. Place a check mark in the Activate Sheet Effects a clear outline on each
checkbox. letter. Outer Glow is the
most used effect for
3. Add the Glow effect to the TEXT sheet.
highlighting text, but this is
Now, we need to decide how exactly we wish our glow a newer effect, so for maps
to look. With the glow effect, there are two basic results with a pre-CC3+ origin, they
we can aim for. We can go for either a rather clear would generally use Glow.
outline on each letter, or a softer glow that looks more
like a background for the entire text string. Basically,
this depends on the blur radius we use for the effect. In
the example to the left, I used a blur radius of 1.0, while in the image to the right, 3.0 was used. In
both images, a strength of 25% was used.

Obviously, the blur radius should be set relative to the text size to get the appropriate effect. The
text in example image is using a height of 3.0, which means that the blur radius on the left example
is one third of the text height, while the right image uses a one-to-one ratio.

4. Set the glow parameters. I am using an outside white glow, with a strength of 25% and blur
radius of 2.0, which looks good on my example map.

299
 This takes care of the text on the map, and the map title, but we still have the map key. This text is
on another sheet, so it wasn’t affected by the effect we just defined. Since we are on the topic of
the map key, we can also conclude that the box doesn’t blend
too well in with the map, so we will also remedy this by using
an effect.

There are two effects in particular that can work well with this
box. One is to use a drop shadow. A drop shadow clearly
indicates that the key is separate from the map. Due to this, if
you are making a map that is supposed to actually look like it
was drawn on paper, a drop shadow is a bad idea. Otherwise,
a drop shadow can look quite good. The image uses a drop
shadow with both offsets at 3, opacity at 75 and blur radius of
3.

For this tutorial however, I will use the Transparency effect. By making the box partly transparent,
it will blend better in with the background of the map.

5. Add the Transparency effect to the MAP KEY sheet. Use an Opacity value of 50.
Notice how this makes the box blend in with the background. The light grey color now looks
more brow than grey, and it has the same texture as the earth background. Since we started
out with a light grey, the background is still light enough for the text to look good against it.
So, what about the text in the box? Does it need any effects at all? Well, it does look ok as it is, so
we don’t really need anything, but a slight drop shadow
can serve to enhance the text a little. Note that since we
are applying a black shadow on black text here, the
shadow must be very soft to avoid disturbing the legibility
of the text.

6. Add a drop shadow to the TEXT MAP KEY sheet.

Use 0.5 for both offsets, opacity of 50 and a blur
radius of 0.75. This creates a drop shadow very
close to the entities, while keeping it rather soft.

Walls
One feature every dungeon has is walls. The kind of walls can vary, but there will still be walls. And
there are several good effects we can use on the walls to enhance the map.

Bevel
When used on walls, the bevel effect creates the illusion of three dimensions, which makes our
dungeon look much more real. Before using this effect, there are some issues to consider. Firstly,
three dimensions is something we associate with the real object, not a flat map on paper, which is
two-dimensional in nature. So, we need to consider what our current drawing represents. Is it
basically “real map” of the dungeon, or is it a representation of the dungeon itself? The realistic
nature of the bitmap fills and symbols point more to the latter than the former, so a three-
dimensional look is probably ok for this map. But if you are drawing a map that is to be used as a
handout representing an actual in-game map, effects like these are usually a miss.

Another issue to remember is that we do this to create an illusion of a three-dimensional wall. Last
I checked, none of my basement walls were beveled at the top. Quite the contrary, they are quite
flat on the top, with the roof resting on them. So obviously, we are not trying to replicate real
conditions perfectly here, but rather use tricks that visually create a more realistic look than the real
thing.

7. Add the Bevel effect to the WALLS sheet.

300
 8. You may need to experiment a little with the effect values. The best values depend a bit on
the zoom level you are primarily intending to view the map in. A smaller value for length
can get almost invisible when zoomed out, while a larger value can look dominating when
zoomed in close. The strength value controls how pronounced the effect is. Too small a value,
and the effect almost disappears, and too high a value causes the effect to look more like
borders than a bevel effect.
For my map, I used 1.5 for Length, 30 for Strength, 0 for Invert colors, and 2 for Fade.
Experiment a bit, and you can easily find other values that look good as well.

Shadows
Shadows can add atmosphere to the dungeon, but it is also one of the effects were realism and
good visuals can collide. Having walls cast shadows definitely looks good, and also enhance the
effect that walls are three-dimensional objects but in reality shadows are cast from objects because
they block out light. If there is no way for the light to shine through, either through holes in the
object, or around the edges, we don’t have shadows, we have complete darkness, and walls
generally belong to this class of objects. So, shadows from most walls are generally unrealistic, but
the visual effect is usually quite pleasing, thus defending their inclusion.

9. Add the Wall Shadow effect to the WALLS sheet.

10. Technically, the length of the shadow from the wall should be infinite, and the opacity 100%,
representing the fact that the wall blocks out all light from behind it. However, this wouldn’t
look very good on the map. Generally, we don’t want the shadow to be more than half the
width of an average corridor, which should equal 5’ in our case. Also, if we make our shadow
too dark, it will completely hide items on our map, so we need to set the opacity a little
lighter. FLOORS MASK
To accomplish this, I’ve set the Length to 4, Opacity to 75 and Blur Radius to 2. The DD3 Dungeon style
We can immediately spot a few issues however. First one is that there are also shadows outside of includes this sheet by
the dungeon rooms. Since this is supposed to be solid rock (or earth), that doesn’t make much sense. default, but in other styles
We can fix this quite easily by multipolying our background with our dungeon outline (The walls), you may need to make this
but it will impact the look of our dungeon a little bit. However, this change can actually improve the yourself. Place the sheet
look of the dungeon, depending on what you are after. right below the WALLS
sheet in the list.
11. Make a copy of the map background on the FLOORS MASK sheet.

301
 12. Make a copy of our walls to the FLOORS MASK sheet. Before you do this, make sure that the
walls form a proper closed polygon, which we did earlier in the Cleanup chapter on page
296.
13. Use Extract Properties to use the properties of the copy of the map background as the
current properties.
14. Use Multipoly to combine the two polygons we copied to the FLOORS MASK sheet. The
result of this should be that the FLOORS MASK sheet contains a copy of the map background,
but with a dungeon-sized hole in it.
15. Issue the Redraw command.
Now all the shadows on the outside of the dungeon have been covered up, but also notice how this
makes the rooms look like they have been dug out of the dirt around them, instead of looking like
the room rests on top of it. The map now gives quite the illusion that this dungeon is a three-
dimensional space. This effect comes from the combined shadows, bevel and mask sheet.

You have probably noticed one thing about this map, and that is that the walls have halved in width.
Why is that? The reason for that behavior is that the actual line that forms the walls is a zero-width
line that runs at the exact center of the wall. When the entity has width, this is visualized by adding
half of that width to each side of this line. However, when we do operations on the entity, it is the
position of the actual line that is used. That means that when we used multipoly to cut a hole in the
background, it used that line as a basis, which is in the middle of the wall. This again means that the
cutout starts from the center of the wall, and neither from the inner nor outer edges.

There is no easy way to change this behavior. However, this did cause the outer bevel of the wall
to disappear, and this actually serves to enhance the effect of this room being dug into the earth.
So even though our walls got thinner, the visual effect got better.

You should note that once this mask has been created, it gets harder to add new rooms and
corridors. The cutout in the mask won’t change automatically when we add a new room, so any
new room actually won’t show up at all, as it will be completely covered by the mask. If you wish
to edit the dungeon later, you need to delete this mask, edit the dungeon, and then recreate the
mask. Obviously, this means that you shouldn’t make this mask until you are done with the dungeon
floor plan, to save yourself from unnecessary work.

Another issue you might have noticed with our shadows is that some of our torches are actually
dimmed because the shadow from the walls falls on them. We can leave them as they are of course,
arguing that they have to be weaker than the others, considering they don’t dispel the shadows
nearby (yea, that is a weak excuse, but this is the price we pay for having shadows that enhance
visual look, but shouldn’t really be there in the first place). But even if you wish keep them this way,
let us examine why this happened.

The reason behind this is the sheet order. If you remember from earlier, when we started placing
symbols in the dungeon, we moved the SYMBOLS WALL sheet so that it would be drawn below the
WALLS sheet. We did this so that for example door ends would disappear into the wall, and not rest
on top of it. However, by default, torches also appear on this sheet. This actually suited us just fine,
because otherwise the two torches on the inside of the circular walls would have a light radius that
actually appeared on top of the walls, and this looks bad. Try for yourself to move SYMBOLS WALL
just after WALLS in the list, and zoom in on these torches and the doors to see the difference. In my
opinion, that is not a good way to fix the problem with the shadows on the torches.

So, how can we fix it? Well, we do have a problem, since the torches in the inside half-circles needs
to be below the walls, and the ones in the shadows needs to be above them in the drawing order.
One fix here is to simply make multiple sheets to keep the torches on. You need to keep a closer
eye on which sheet you are using, and you need to make sure that effects that apply to torches are
set on both sheets that contain torches, but other than that, it is a simple solution. Because entities
are strictly drawn in sheet order, this is a fix that you will probably apply in other situations later as
well. Since the template actually has a sheet called SYMBOLS TORCHES, I am simply going to move
all the torch symbols to this sheet, except for the two torches in the half-circles. During this process,

302
you may also wish to move or erase some torches which look particularly bad placed due to the
shadows. I moved a couple in rooms 8 and 9 in my drawing, but it certainly won’t be a problem if
you wish to move more of them.

Symbols
Our symbols can also benefit from effects. One especially obvious effect here is shadows, but glow
can also be used to our advantage.

When using shadows on symbols, we need to consider our symbols carefully. After all, in this
drawing alone, we have very tall symbols (pillars, doors), somewhat tall symbols (statues), low
symbols (sarcophagi, altars) and symbols flat on the floor. Obviously, we shouldn’t use the same
length on the shadows from the various types of symbols. By using different lengths on the shadows,
we clue in the viewer on the size of the objects casting the shadow, helping to build a more correct
understanding of the environment the map details.

To be able to handle different shadows, we will need to place the symbols on different sheets and
configure the appropriate shadows on each of these sheets. Adding several extra sheets allow us
to fine-tune the effects and make a better-looking map. However, there is also a downside adding
extra sheets, and that is that editing the map takes more effort, because you need to make sure
everything goes to the right sheet. With a default sheet setup, you don’t really need to pay that
much attention, because almost everything goes to the correct sheet by default, but once we add
multiple sheets, we no longer wish for everything to go to its default sheet, and that needs to be
handled manually. We can make this process easier by using appropriate sheet names, because
almost all tools and symbols look for sheets starting with specific words, and not the entire sheet
name. So the sheet for the tall symbols should be named SYMBOLS TALL, and the sheet used for
symbols that lie flat on the ground should be SYMBOLS FLAT. This way, when we use tools that
tries to operate on the SYMBOLS* sheet, they will operate on the currently active sheet instead of
the default SYMBOLS sheet, as long as the active sheet starts with the word SYMBOLS.

303
 Columns
We have two symbol types that go from floor to ceiling, doors and columns, and thus cast a shadow
of infinite length. However, because such shadows don’t stop at walls or other obstacles, infinite
length is not really a good idea, because it would continue all over the map, into every room in its
path, and that is not really appropriate behavior for a shadow. Besides, while the technical length
might be infinite, in practice, a shadow is faded by other light sources, or it disappears into total
darkness if there are no other light sources, so it is perfectly fine to define these shadows with a
fixed length.

Also, closed doors behave more like walls, so even though they too are technically tall symbols, we
will not group them with our columns.

Wall Shadow 16. Create a new sheet called SYMBOLS TALL. Position this sheet between SYMBOLS and
SYMBOLS WALL DOORS.
Why are we using a wall
shadow? These are 17. Move all the column symbols to the new sheet.
columns, not a wall. 18. Add a Wall Shadow effect to the new sheet. Too many long shadows won’t look very good,
Simply put, the wall shadow so I set a length of 20, opacity of 35, and a blur radius of 5. This creates shadows that are
effects represent the effect neither too long nor to dark.
of any object casting a
shadow, not only walls. We
use the Length attribute of
Doors
the wall shadow to say We moved our doors to the SYMBOLS WALL DOORS sheet earlier, so we already have our doors
something about the height isolated. All that remains are to add some appropriate effects. As we mentioned earlier, closed doors
of the object casting the act the same ways as walls in regard to blocking light, so it makes sense adding the exact same
shadow. The taller the shadow effect to them.
object, the longer the
At this point, you may wonder, why are we adding a shorter shadow effects on walls/doors than
shadow it will cast.
on columns? The answer is simply visual appearance. If we add that much shadow to the walls,
An alternative to using wall
most of the map would be covered in shadow. Also consider where the light is coming from. Each
shadow is the drop shadow.
room is lighted by light from inside the room itself, not by outside light that is blocked by the walls.
This can also cast a nice
Therefore, the walls shouldn’t cast long shadows (Actually, they shouldn’t cast shadows at all, as we
shadow, and is very
discussed in the Walls section, but adding the shadows does make the map look better). Columns,
appropriate if the light
on the other hand, do block the light. Obviously, we are ignoring the fact that multiple light sources
source is almost straight
should be casting multiple shadows. We will look into that later, but for now we are concerning
overhead. You should
ourselves with making semi-realistic effects that enhance the map.
experiment using the drop
shadow instead of the Wall 19. Add a Wall Shadow effect to the SYMBOLS WALL DOORS sheet. Use the same settings as
Shadow in places. for the WALLS sheet (4, 75 and 2).
Just by adding this shadow, we made the doors much more visible in the map. Without the shadows,
it can be difficult to spot where the doors are when the map is zoomed out, but once the shadows
are added, we know that a shadow blocking the corridor basically have to mean that there is a door
there.

If you wish the doors to be a bit more visible, you can also apply a small glow to them. Be careful
with this option though, as it might make the doors look more important that they really are.

Statues, sarcophagi and altars

These items should have some shadows, but shorter shadows than the columns. Additionally,
statues are taller than altars, and should have longer shadows. To accomplish this, we need two
different sheets; one for the taller objects and another sheet for the shorter objects.

20. Create a new sheet called SYMBOLS MEDIUM. Place it below SYMBOLS TALL in the sheet
list. Add a Wall Shadow effect to this new sheet, and use 10 for length, 35 for opacity and
a blur radius of 2. Move all the statues to this sheet.
21. Create a new sheet called SYMBOLS LOW. Place it below SYMBOLS MEDIUM in the sheet
list. Add a Wall Shadow effect to this new sheet, and use 5 for length, 35 for opacity and
a blur radius of 2. Move all the sarcophagi and altars to this sheet.

304
We should now have a map with varying shadow lengths based on the relative height of our objects.
This makes it much easier for the map viewer to see the height difference between these objects,
and thus better interpret the map.

While we won’t do it for this dungeon, adding a little glow to an object can enhance it, making it
seem special or mystical. Since effects apply to all entities on a sheet, this means that we will need
to create a separate sheet for this item. If you do this, remember to copy over all the effects from
the sheet the entity would otherwise be placed on, otherwise it will look out of place because it is
missing obvious effects.

Corpses and rubble

We also placed some corpses and skeletal parts on our map, representing the struggles when the
priests first encountered the undead raised by the necromancer. These items are flat on the floor,
but they still have some height. Instead of using a Wall Shadow, a Drop Shadow fits these items.

Before we add shadows to these items, we need to separate them in two classes. Most of these
items should have a small shadow, but there are also some items that definitely do not cast shadows
at all, like blood stains and other completely flat items.

22. Move any symbols that should not cast shadows at all to the SYMBOLS FLAT sheet. This
should include the blood stains and the summoning circle, but you may consider moving
other very small items as well.
23. Add a Drop Shadow effect to the SYMBOLS sheet. Use 0.25 for both offsets, an opacity
value of 50 and a blur radius of 2.

Floorplan Effects Review

We often use effects to increase the visual appeal of the map. This sometimes means
adding effects that doesn’t quite make sense from a realistic standpoint, while still
actually make the map look more realistic.

Don’t be afraid to create additional sheets. This gives you more flexibility with the effects.

Don’t overdo the effects. Sometimes simple, subtle effects are better than bright flashy
ones.

Experimentation is key. Try out various effects and find a setup you like. Don’t simply
rely on the default setup.

305
 CREATING FEATURES USING EFFECTS
So far, we have been looking at using effects to enhance existing features on the map, like applying
Impossible shadows and glow effects to walls and symbols. However, we can take this a step further, and use
effects to create dungeon features that would be impossible without using effects.
It would be possible using
raster symbols to
accomplish the same, but Raised Dais
using effects is a more
flexible solution. Using A raised dais is used to elevate important items
raster symbols also requires above ground level. It can be for an exhibition,
that you have the a speaker, a performance, or just about anything
appropriate symbols on else. It can also consist of one or more steps. For
hand, or have the skill to our dungeon, creating a raised dais in the
draw them. central burial chamber to hold the sarcophagus
will make it even more prominent, fitting for the
final resting place of an important person.

Creating this dais is accomplished by drawing

three rectangular polygons and applying bevel
and shadow effects to each of them. To do this,
we need to use three separate sheets.

So, why do we need three separate sheets when the effects we are applying should be the same
for each entity? The reason for this is that most effects are applied to the outline of the combined
entities on that sheet. Because of this, it is impossible to create a set of overlapping stairs on just
one sheet. For this tutorial, we have three steps, so we need three sheets.

If you look at the example image, you will see that I have drawn the steps to not match up with the
gridlines. I did this because the gridlines obscured the effects, so it looks better this way. However,
if you are going to use this with a battle map, you probably wish to do the exact opposite to avoid
having squares that span steps. In this case, you may need to increase the strength of the effects.

1. Open up Chapel Mandina Catacombs 16.FCW.

2. Create three new sheets named DIAS 1, DIAS 2 and DIAS
3. Place these sheets right after the FLOORS sheet in the
sheet order.
3. Set the current fill style to Stone Grey Flat Bitmap, Width
to 0 and Layer to FLOORS.
4. Use the Box tool to draw one rectangle on each of the
three DIAS sheets. The large bottom one on the DIAS 1
sheet, the middle one on the DIAS 2 sheet, and the small
top one on the DIAS 3 sheet. In the example image I
have used three different colors so that the outline of
each separate polygon is visible, but this is not needed
for your drawing, since the effects will take care of this
when applied.
5. For each of the three DIAS sheets, add a Wall Shadow
effect with length 0.5, opacity 75% and blur radius
0.2.
This will add short, dark shadows, making the
rectangles look more like steps. However, this only
serves to highlight two of the four edges. We still need
somehow to highlight the other sides. We don’t want to
add more shadows, since having shadows on the other
side will crash with the rest of the shadows in the room. Instead, let us apply a little bevel.

306
6. Add the Bevel effect to each of the three
sheets.

Length: 0.5

Strength: 10

Invert Colors: Unchecked

Fade: 0

As you can see from the image, the application

of bevel on overlapping sheets like this causes
a strange side effect. The plain stone fills
suddenly have a rather rough texture. You may
like this effect, but in case it is not what you
want, let us fix it. Side Effects
7. Create two new sheets, SEPERATOR 1 and Having multiple entities
SEPERATOR 2, and place them in between the DIAS sheets. Copy right on top of each other
the small, top rectangle from DIAS 3 to SEPERATOR 2 and the like this unfortunately
middle rectangle from DIAS 2 to SEPERATOR 1. Do not apply any causes this side effect with
effects to the two separator sheets. the bevel effect everywhere
the colors of the
By doing this, we inserted entities that separate the three beveled ones. The copies we made
overlapping pixels are
will never be seen, because they are placed below an entity of the same size.
identical. But by creating
intermediate sheets, and
putting copies of the entities
on these sheets, we ensured
that the beveled entities did
not appear directly on top of
each other, herby fixing the
problem.
Also, by copying the small
top rectangle from DIAS 3 to
SEPERATOR 2, we inserted
an entity of the exact right
size. If it had been smaller
than the top step, we would
have seen the bevel
problem on the areas it
didn’t cover, and if it were
larger, it would have been
visible in the drawing.

Note that you can also place a very small black glow around each polygon. This will also
serve to highlight each step, with a more powerful separation than just the bevel effect. Just
make sure that the size of the glow is much smaller than the shadow effect.
The size of the shadow effect also dictates how tall the stairs seem, so if you wish to have
taller steps, increase the size of the shadow.

307
 Pits
Another feature frequently found in dungeons is pits. There are some pit symbols available, but with
a few polygons and effects, we can also design our own pits. We don’t really need any pits in our
Chapel Medina map, so let us make a new map for the occasion.

1. Make a new 100’ × 100’ dungeon based on the DD3 dungeon style. For a change of scenery,
set the background to Stone Grey Flat Bitmap. My finished map for this tutorial is saved
under Dungeon Pits.FCW.
2. Use the Add Room and Add Corridor tools to
add a few rooms and corridors to the map, as shown
in the image to the right. Exact dimensions are not
important. I used Stone Grey Flat Bitmap for the
floor background, solid 30 bitmap for the floor
foreground, and Flagstone1 Bitmap for the walls.
3. Set the snap grid to 10’ Grid, 4 Snaps. You will need
to create this snap grid yourself.
4. Create 3 new sheets, PIT FLOOR, PIT WALLS and PIT
CORNERS. Place them below the WATER sheet in the
same order.
5. Draw a 10’ square polygon in the middle of one of
the rooms. Use the Stone Grey Flat Bitmap fill style. Make sure
the polygon goes to the PIT FLOOR sheet and the TRAPS layer.
This rectangle will form our pit. Both the top and the bottom of
Illusion of Depth the pit are really 10’ squares, but we will create visible walls
and a smaller bottom to create an illusion of depth.
If you wish to make the pit
appear deeper, make the 6. Set the sheet to PIT WALLS. Draw 4 trapezoids on the on top of
trapezoids end closer to the the pit square from above using the Polygon tool, as shown
center of the pit. The using a pink outline in the image to the right. The bottom and right
opposite effect, a shallower trapezoid should be drawn using the solid 40 bitmap fill style. The
pit is accomplished by other two should use solid 80 bitmap. This is a semi-transparent
drawing the trapezoid ends bitmap, which will serve to change the hue of the background. By
closer to the walls. using different hues, the walls that are in the shadow side look
darker. The result should look like the second image.
As you can see, our pit starts to actually look like one, but we still
Trapezoids have some work to do. The next step is to make the corners of the
The easiest way to draw a pit look more pronounced.
trapezoid is to have snap 7. Set the line width to 0.02 and draw black lines on the PIT CORNERS
turned on. The trapezoids in sheet along each of the corners inside the pit.
the image are drawn with 4
8. Add a Glow effect to the PIT CORNERS sheet. Use the following
snaps per 10'. This can
parameters; Mode: Outside, Color: Black, Strength:12.5%, Blur
either be accomplished by
Radius: 1.
using a 10' grid with 4
snaps, or a 5' grid with 2 This will cause the lines to look more like shadows in the corner
snaps. rather than actual lines.
If you need another ratio for 9. To complete the illusion we will place a scaled down skeleton at the
the trapezoid, for example bottom of the pit, and a full-sized one at the top. In the example
to make the pit walls taller image I placed a scale 1.0 skeleton at the top of the pit, and a scale
or shorter, you will need 0.4 skeleton and some bones at the bottom of the pit. By reducing
more fine-grained snaps. the scale of the skeleton at the bottom of the pit, we make it look
Try using a grid with double like it is further away and thus that we have a deeper pit.
the number of snaps, like a
5' Grid, 4 snaps.

308
 Another item that can be added to
the pit is the ladder from the Up
and Down symbol catalog. It is
drawn in an appropriate
perspective which makes it
excellent for use with the pit.
Obviously, a ladder is not the
appropriate item for every pit, but
it does make the pit itself look even
better.

Shadows
Getting proper shadows into the pit can be a bit tricky. One problem here is that we drew the pit
on top of the floor, so any shadows we create risk spilling out of the pit and unto the floor, which
will ruin the illusion. In our pit above, instead of shadows, we instead opted to use darker surfaces
for the two walls in the shadow-side of the pit. This works, but it could have been better.

However, if we wish proper shadows, we must also take steps to ensure that they do not spill out
over the edge of the pit. The only way to ensure this is to place the pit under the floor instead of
above it, which means that we must cut a hole in the floor. This is a bit more involved, but can yield
better results.

Instead of drawing a closed in pit, let us make a hole in the floor in which we can see the room
below. Most of this procedure is identical to the pit, but we won’t make four visible walls.

Note that this part of the tutorial is based on the setup we made above, but we are going to move
the sheets around a bit, making problems for the pit we created above. This means that you either
need to cut the floor like we do below for that pit too or you will need to setup a separate set of
sheets for it. Both those options should be trivial after following this tutorial.

10. Draw a 10’ square polygon in the middle of one of the rooms. Use the
Stone Grey Flat Bitmap fill style. Make sure the polygon goes to the
PIT FLOOR sheet and the TRAPS layer.
11. Set the sheet to PIT WALLS, width to 0 and fill style to solid 40
bitmap. Draw two polygons as shown by the pink outlines in the
image.
12. Set the line width to 0.02 and draw black lines on the PIT CORNERS
sheet along each of the corners inside the pit. Do not draw any lines
along the edges.
13. Create a new sheet called PIT SHADOWS. Arrange the list so that it
appears right below PIT CORNERS in the list. Make this the active
sheet. Also add a Wall Shadow effect to this sheet (Length: 5, Opacity:
50, Blur radius: 1).
Set line width to 0, color to black, and fill style to solid.
Now draw a line along the top and left side of the pit.
The shadows don’t look bad, except for the fact that they spill over
onto the floor above. This certainly breaks the illusion. This is why we
need to place the pit below the floor instead of on top of it. And to do
that, we will also need a hole in the floor, or it would just totally obscure
the pit.
14. Delete the floor in the room. Make sure you don’t delete the floor in
the joined corridors, or the walls of the room.

15. Click Add Room . The dialog should still have the settings we used to draw this dungeon.
Now, we only need to replace a floor; we already have all the walls we need. So simply

309
 remove the checkmark for Walls,
make sure to select the irregular
polygon shape, then click OK.
Now, draw the floor by placing
the nodes according to the image.
This will draw a new floor with a
hole in the middle for our pit. Note
that technically, there is now a
break in the floor along the line
between point 5 and 6, but this
won’t be visible in the map.
We could have achieved the
same by using a multipoly
instead, but recreating the floor
using the room tool is just as
simple, and it is generally easier
to deal with regular polygons.
Note that it is best to have snaps
on when you do this, to make sure
that the nodes are placed
perfectly. Otherwise, you’ll probably end up with
edges that don’t properly match up to the walls, pit
and seam.
16. Now, move all our PIT sheets up above the FLOORS
sheet in the list. Make sure you keep the internal
order among the PIT sheets.
17. Finally, draw a dark grey outline around the pit (line
width 0.01), and put some symbols into the pit to
populate it.

Creating Features using Effects

Review
By creative application of effects, you can create your own dungeon features without
using symbols. This is generally a much more flexible solution.

Doing this usually require you to create several sheets for each type of feature.
Obviously, if you make multiple pits the same way, they can all share the same sheets.

By varying the scale of symbols, you can easily create the effects that the bottom of the
pit is far below floor level.

310
SHADOWS AND LIGHTING
From the tutorials so far, you have already seen that shadows are an important part of the floorplan
effects. These shadows are also presumably caused by objects blocking a light source.

In the tutorials so far, we took the easy way out, and created simple shadows. Our main focus was
to make a good-looking map, but we did make some compromises in the shadow department to
do so. Some compromises were made because this actually made the map look better, while others
were due to limitations in CC3+.

In this chapter, we will look closer at the options for shadow and lighting found in DD3.

Directional Shadows
The default Wall Shadow effect makes shadows that point toward the bottom right. In other words,
the imaginary light source that creates these shadows is located at the top left of the map (an angle Position
of 135 degrees). However, there is another effect, Wall Shadow, Directional, which lets you A position of 0 degrees
specify the position of the light source. Use this effect to create shadows at different angles than places the light source to
the default angle. the right of the map. 90
degrees is the top of the
Global Sun map, 180 degrees equals
the left side, and 270
The Wall Shadow, Directional effect also have the option to use the current global sun direction
degrees is the bottom. Note
instead of specifying a value. The Global Sun is a light source with several configuration options,
that the light source is
but the Wall Shadow, Directional effect only considers the position of the sun. In the City
defined to be an infinite
Designer 3 (CD3) chapter we will look more at how we can use the other options of the Global Sun.
distance away; making all
Access the Global Sun configuration dialog by right clicking shadows the same length.
Display Speed Settings and select Global Sun from the Also remember that
popup menu. shadows appear at the
opposite side of the light
The only value we need to care about right now is Azimuth,
source, so if you place the
which is basically the sun’s position. This value directly
light source at 225 degrees
corresponds to the Sun Direction setting in the Wall Shadow,
(bottom left), the shadows
Directional effect. The Inclination value is also used by other
will point diagonally
effects.
upwards to the right.
Using Global Sun ensures that all the shadows point in the same
direction. While this is not terribly difficult to ensure when setting
up the effect, using the Global Sun is great if you later wish to Inclination
change the angle of the shadows. With Global Sun, you only have Inclination tells you how
to change the value in a single place, assuming you set up all the high the sun is in the sky. A
shadows to use the Global Sun from the beginning. Obviously, that also means that you should only value of 90 degrees means
use Wall Shadow, Directional, and not the regular Wall Shadow effect. that it is right above you,
Unfortunately, not all effects have the option of using the Global Sun. For example, if you use the while 0 degrees means that
Drop Shadow effect, it won’t follow the sun direction. it is lined up with the
horizon.
Another effect that can take advantage of the Global Sun is the Bevel, Lighted effect. This is an
advanced version of the Bevel effect, which uses the Global Sun position to determine the shading
of the bevel.
Annual
Lighted Dungeons If you have the annual,
you’ll get access to a few
So far, our light sources and our shadows have been two completely different concepts entirely, extra light source symbols
with no relation between them. Obviously, this is not particularly realistic, although the results do (regular DD3 symbols with
look pretty good, as long as we can look past this issue. However, DD3 contains the tools for creating light sources embedded for
dynamic shadows that are generated from entities blocking light sources, just like real shadows. easy use)
This functionality was first introduced in The Cartographer’s Annual volume 2, but the functionality
is now built into DD3, and can be used even without that issue.

311
 The image to the right shows a room from our
example dungeon using the light effect. Each of the
torches is set to cast a certain amount of light, and
objects in the path of the light cast shadows. If the
light from several torches overlap, it results in a
brighter light. This is why the room is brighter lit than
the corridor outside, as the room has overlapping
light from three different torches, while the corridor
section is only lit by one.

Components
To set up a lighted dungeon, you need four
Menu components.
Editing CC3+ menu Lights: A light is a point-sized entity that serves as the source of the light. Each light has
files is covered in the a defined color, radius, intensity, angle and direction. This means that you can combine
Modifiers chapter on different types of light sources in the dungeon. You can have torches casting a medium
page 190. yellow light, magical items casting a faint purple light, and bull’s eye lanterns casting a
strong directional beam of light, all in the same dungeon. Lights are strongest at the
center point, and fade gradually into nothingness as it reaches the edge of the defined
radius.

You’ll find the commands to manage lights in the Dungeon → Lights menu.

Add Light [ADDLIGHT]: This command lets you add a light to the map, and specify
radius and angle.

Show Light Symbols [LIGHTSHOW]: Shows the position of all light symbols in the
map as a cross. The color of the cross matches the current active color when the
lights were placed. It will often be the same as the color of the light, but they are
not connected.

Hide Light Symbols [LIGHTHIDE]: Hides the light position indicators.

Edit All Lights [LIGHTS]: Brings up a list of all the lights in the map for easy editing.

Wall Shadow, Point Light Setup: This is a sheet effect that is applied to the first sheet
in the list that contains light-blocking entities. When you define this effect, you can set
a length for the shadows, and a color for the shadows. This effect will persist for all the
subsequent sheets until the Wall Shadow, Point Light Finalize effect is encountered.
Note that you can define this effect on multiple sheets if you need different shadow
lengths on each. This mirrors what we did with the Wall Shadow effect previously; using
different sheets with different effect parameters for entities of different heights.

Wall Shadow, Point Light Finalize: This effect ends the shadow generation. Entities on
sheets after the sheet where this effect is applied does not block the light, and therefore
does not cast shadows. Neither is it affected by existing shadows. Typically, this is
entities like grid, labels and map borders. Place this effect on the last sheet that contains
shadow-casting entities

Global Sun: The lighted dungeons take advantage of some of the settings in the global
sun dialog, namely the Activate Lighting setting, and its sub-settings.

Activate lighting: This needs to be enabled for lighting effects to be used at all.

Shadow – blur: This value controls the blur value of the shadows cast by entities
blocking the light sources. This is the same value as you would configure in the
Wall Shadow Effect if you were using that instead of the lighting effect. This value
is measured in map units.

Shadow – transparency: This is the transparency value for the shadows. The
higher value, the lighter the shadows. A value of 100% makes the shadows
invisible.

312
Setting up lights
1. Open up Chapel Mandina Catacombs 18.FCW.
Note that all the torch with halo symbols have been replaced with a torch without halo
symbol. This is because we are going to make these torches cast actual light, and the symbols
with a built-in halo do not look good when combined with the light effect.
If you have the Lighted Dungeons annual, you will have available torch symbols with built-in
lights, but for now we will set up the lights manually. We’ll look at how to make symbols with
built-in lights in a later chapter.
2. Set the current color to yellow (#135). Lights take on the current color by default when you
place them so it is easier to change this now, than to set it manually for each light.
3. Set the current sheet to SYMBOLS TORCHES. The actual sheet for the light entities doesn’t
really matter, but for the sake of organization, it makes sense to put the light entities on the
same sheet as the torches. Likewise, since the torches are on the WALL FEATURES layer, it
makes sense to use this as well.
4. Make sure snaps are turned off. If you try to do this with snaps on, you won’t get the light
positions right.
5. Type ADDLIGHT on the command line. Click the flame on the
top torch in room 6 to put the center of the light. Move your
mouse to define the radius and center direction of the light (or
type in the coordinates on the command line). Next, CC3+ needs
the angle width of the light. Simply right click to have the light
radiate in a complete circle, or use your mouse to define the
desired angle width. Note that it uses the center direction you
specified when you set the light radius.
For this light, use a light radius of 40. The easiest way to
accomplish this is to simply type in @40,0 as the coordinates.
Other appropriate coordinates would be @0,40, @28.28,28.28
Coordinates
or any other point on a circle with radius 40. We desire a 360-
degree light, so the center direction is not important. If it were, Wait. Why is @28.28,28.28
we would need to use the appropriate coordinates for the center an appropriate coordinate?
direction we wanted, instead of any valid coordinate on the It doesn't seem to have
circle. anything with the desired
radius of 40 at all.
6. Once you have placed the light and provided the radius and angle,
The answer is simple
the Light dialog appears. This dialog shows all the options we just
trigonometry, the
set when we placed the light, in addition to a couple of extra
Pythagorean theorem to be
options. The most important here is the Intensity. Since torches
precise. This is discussed in
aren’t particularly bright, reduce this value to 30. If you did
more detail in the
anything wrong when creating the light, you can also correct the
Understanding Coordinates
value here.
chapter on page 188. An
The varicolor option is great when you embed the light in a equivalent value to
symbol, since this allows you to set the light color when you place @28.28,28.28 is <45,40
the symbol, instead of limiting the light of the symbol to a set
color. This works the same way as with varicolor symbols.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each of the four torches in the room.
8. You won’t be seeing any effects from the lights just yet, but you
can use the LIGHTSHOW command to show markers where the
lights are placed. Use LIGHTHIDE to hide the markers again.

313
 9. Open up Sheets and Effects. Add the Wall
Shadow, Point Light Setup effect to the
WALLS sheet. Use a shadow length of 0
(Infinite).
Also add the Wall Shadow, Point Light
Finalize effect to this sheet. This ensures that
the rest of the sheets after this one are not
affected by the light. Note that in this case, we
put the Setup and the Finalize effect on the
same sheet, thus ensuring that only entities on
this sheet block the light and cast shadow. If we
had placed them on different sheets, the
entities on all sheets starting with the one with
the Setup effect, and ending with the one with
the Finalize effect would have blocked the light.
Notice how all the rooms now are in complete
darkness, except for room 6 where we set up
the light effect. Note that the whole reason we
can see the map background is because we
created a copy of it on the FLOORS MASK sheet
earlier to hide shadows that fell outside the
walls. If you look at the sheet list you’ll notice
that FLOORS MASK appears after the WALLS
sheet where we set up the Finalize effect, and it
is therefore not affected by the shadows. If we
hadn’t done this, the entire background would have been covered in darkness, like in the
second image.
We can still see the torches. This is because they too appear on a sheet after the Finalize
effect. This is intentional, since we want to place a light on all of these torches to light up the
entire dungeon. If you intend to create a dungeon where you light up the rooms as the players
explore it, create a separate sheet for each room, and put the light and torch symbols for that
Hotspots room on that sheet. That way, you can turn on or off the light in any particular room simply
Hotspots are detailed in by hiding/showing that sheet. You can even create hotspots on the map key so that you
Creating Hotspots on page show the lights simply by clicking on the room in the key.
132. The macro command If we look at the image, we can clearly see that the light from our torches is being blocked
to show a sheet is by the walls. This is because we set up the Setup effect on the WALLS sheet where our walls
SHOWSHT. HIDESHT will are. As we can see, the entire room is lighted, but the light levels vary. This is because every
hide a sheet. Both of these part in the room is lit by at least one torch, but the walls block some of the light so not every
commands take the name of part of the room is lit by all the torches. Obviously, the more light that hits a particular spot,
the sheet as an argument. the brighter it will be.
Currently, only the walls cast shadows, so we don’t get any
shadows from the other items in the room.
10. Now, let us add some shadows to the various items in the
room as well. Add the Wall Shadow, Point Light Setup effect
to the following sheets. The number in parenthesis after each
sheet is the shadow length to use.
SYMBOLS (1), SYMBOLS TALL (20), SYMBOLS MEDIUM (10),
SYMBOLS LOW (5), and SYMBOLS WALLS DOORS (0).
Notice how each of the items in the room now cast shadows.
Due to the fact that there are multiple torches, the shadows
can be a bit light, making them difficult to see. Also, each item
casts one shadow from each light source that hits it, so in this
room, each item should cast four shadows, the strength of
each being dependent on the distance from the light source,
and the intensity of that light.

314
 11. I’d like the torches themselves to stand out a little bit more, so I added a moderate yellow
Glow effect to the SYMBOLS TORCHES sheet. Remember that if you used my earlier
suggestion on putting the torches for each room along with their light sources on individual
sheets, you need to add this Glow effect on each of these sheets.
12. Now add light sources to the rest of the torches in the dungeon. In my example image, I also
added a light source to the sarcophagus in the main burial chamber; otherwise it would be
in complete darkness due to the distance from the torches. A better way might be to add
some braziers or similar near the sarcophagus, which would contain a stronger light than the
torches. We’ll do this in the next section, so just leave your own sarcophagus in the darkness
for now.
13. Right click the Display Speed Settings button, and select Global Sun from the pop-up
menu. In the configuration dialog, make sure Enable lighting is checked, and then set the blur
value to 1 and the transparency to 10. This will soften the edges of the shadows a bit, and
make them look more natural.

Symbols with Light Sources

We can also make symbols with built-in light sources. This is a great way of handling this, because
we don’t need to think about defining lights, we just place out a new torch and it will automatically
be a light source.

The easiest way to create such a symbol is to simply edit an existing symbol.

14. Open up the Furniture catalog.

15. Click the Fire 2 symbol, but do not place it in the map. This will copy the symbol definition
to the map, so that we can work with it.
16. Bring up the Symbol Manager. Select the Fire 2 symbol in the list, then hit the Clone button.
Give the symbol the new name Fire Lighted.
17. Select the Fire Lighted symbol, then click Edit. Define the edit window when requested.

315
 18. Use the ADDLIGHT command to add a light source to the center of the symbol. Give it a Light
Radius of 60 and an Intensity of 50. The color should be yellow, and it should cast a 360-
degree light.
19. Close the symbol edit window and say yes to save the changes.
Create That is all. You now have a fire symbol with a built-in light. You can modify any symbols in this way,
Symbol creation is discussed and obviously, you can also add light to symbols you create yourself. The symbol is now available
in the Symbols and Symbol from the symbols in the drawing, accessible by clicking the Symbols in Drawing button to
Management chapter switch the symbol catalog window between symbols in the symbol catalog and symbols in the map.
starting on page 89. This 20. Place a copy of the new symbol on each of the
chapter details the creation sides of the sarcophagus in the main burial
of new symbols, as well as chamber. Thanks to the built-in light sources,
how to add symbols to these symbols will light up the room without
symbol catalogs. You may manually defining additional light sources.
wish to create your own
series of lighted symbols Notice how these additional light sources
and save them all to a dramatically change the shadows in the room.
separate catalog. One of the main reasons for this is that these
fires are defined to be much brighter than the
torches, and with a larger radius. Shadow
lengths stay the same however, since this is
defined as a fixed value for the entities casting
the shadow, and not depending on the light
source.

Are the adventurers carrying a torch?

In addition to fixed light sources, you can also consider mobile light sources. So, how should you
handle this? One good option is to simply define a character position token with a built-in light
source, as we just did with the fire above. Then you can simply move this token with the Move,
Scale, Rotate command, and the light source will follow. You can then use one marker for the
entire party, or one marker for each party member. You can even configure custom individual
markers with varying light values depending on the light source each party member is carrying.

Note that you can also use the Quick Move ( + ) to quickly move the token. This is a
specialized command for just such circumstances. It is designed to be a very simple way to move
a single entity. You will need to redraw after using this command, but you will normally need to do
this anyway to get the shadows on the map updated according to the new position of the light
source.

316
MORE DUNGEON DESIGNS
There are a number of other designs options that we did not explore in our The Basic Dungeon Map
chapter. This is only natural, since a map gets cluttered if we try to explore every single option in
one map. Also, some of the options did not fit the purpose of that map. Let us explore some of these
options now.

Corridors
Throughout the basic dungeon map, we stuck to 10’ wide
corridors. Sticking to a set width did make sense for that map,
given its purpose, but obviously, that is not true for all maps. The
basic way of changing the corridor width is obviously through the
Add Corridor dialog, but a more interesting option is changing the
corridor width midway. This allows us to create a corridor that
gradually widens from 5’ to 10’ rather than a sudden change. The
lesson here is, as always, to keep an eye on the CC3+ command
line. One of the options listed there is CTRL – Width. All you have
to do is to hold down the key while moving the mouse and
you can see the outline of the next corridor segment widens or
narrows at the end. Be careful with sharp
corners combined with very wide corridors, as
this can cause undesirable effects, like a
runaway wall. This is possible with narrower
corridors as well, but the acceptable angle
decreases with the width of the corridor. This
effect can happen both with a single sharp
corner, or with multiple very short segments
that combined form a sharp corner.

The example image shows a corridor created

with a single corridor command, just widened
and narrowed multiple times.

Caves
Not all dungeons are completely man made. They can be natural caves, either in part or in whole,
or they can be caved tunneled out by man, but without adding proper floors and walls, leaving the
cave walls as they are. Perhaps even a cave of ice carved out in a glacier. Let us explore our options
here

A classic cave
For our first cave, we’ll create a basic natural cave, complete with an exit to the outside.

The floorplan
1. Start a new DD3 dungeon map, size 500×400 using the
Dirt Gray 2 Bitmap fill for the background.
2. Make sure snaps are not turned on.
3. Click the Default Cave button to get the cave drawing
tool, and draw a nice cave somewhere in the map. Note
that this is a fractal drawing tool, so you can use Space to
re-randomize the suggested lines before you place them,
to get the shape you desire.

317
 The cave looks ok, but I miss some kind of wall here. I’d like to add a wall to the drawing
tool, both because the wall gives us a clearer separation from the surrounding area, but also
because this wall can be used with effects to produce a shadow.
Now, I could easily have created a wall for our existing cave by making a copy of the cave
polygon and placing it on the WALLS sheet, changing the fill style to something stone-like,
and change the width to 1.0. However, since I am going to modify the drawing tool, I am just
going to draw it again, so just go ahead and erase the cave entity we just drew.
4. Click the All Dungeon Drawing Tools button. In the Select drawing tool dialog, click
the Advanced button to go into editing mode. Now, find Cave, Default in the list, and select
it.
Click the New button, and give our new tool the name
Cave, Walled. This new tool should now be selected in
the list, and be a copy of the Cave, Default tool.
5. Click the Outline button, set the option button to Extra
Entity, then click Properties.
Set the options in the dialog the same as in the image
to the right, before closing all the dialogs by clicking
OK in each one and saying Yes to any questions about
saving changes.
The new drawing tool should be activated
immediately, but if you need it again in the future, you
can easily find it by right clicking on the Default Cave
button. This will show a filtered list of all cave
types.
6. Use the new drawing tool to draw a cave much like the
one we did previously. Fill most of the top left quarter of
the available space with the cave.
Cave segments cannot be connected the same way we do with
rooms and corridors, so if we wish to add more caves and
caverns, we need to do so by editing the existing polygon.
Fortunately, using drawing tools, this is a very simple process.

7. Activate our Cave, Walled drawing tool. Instead of

starting drawing with the
Edit tool however, press to
edit an existing entity.
You would see this option if
CC3+ now asks you to pick
you look at the command
a start node. Click on the
line after starting the draw
edge of our cave, at the
tool.
position of the leftmost X
in the image, then draw an
additional section like in
the second image. Place
your last node a little
below the second X, then
right click to finish the command. CC3+ now prompts you for
an end node to connect to, so indicate the edge of the polygon at the position of the second
X.
Remember that the drawing tool is restricted to the map border, so the part in the lower left
is very easy to draw by just clicking outside the map border for your nodes, and the polygon
will follow the map border exactly.
8. Repeat the procedure to create a cave to the lower right, with a connecting corridor.

318
Outside
A cave usually connects to some point from which you can enter the cave. If it
doesn’t, it isn’t much likely that anyone will ever explore it. For our cave, we wish
to connect it to the outside world, so let us put some grass and bushes in the lower
left corner.

9. Click the All Dungeon Drawing Tools button, and find the Terrain,
Grass Green 2, Fractal drawing tool.
Now, place the first point at the location marked 1 in the illustration. Then
hit to start a trace. CC3+ now asks for the entity to trace. Select the wall
by clicking on it at the location marked 2. For the starting point of the trace,
click at the entity at point 3, and for the ending point of the trace, click on
the location marked 4. Finally, place a node at location 5, and then right
click to end the command. You should now have a nice grass triangle,
indicating that this corner of the map represents the outside world.
Note that if you redraw your map, the grass will disappear. Why is that?
This is simply the sheet order at work. The grass drawing tool we used
places the entity on a sheet called OUTSIDE. Unfortunately, this is below the
FLOORS sheet in the drawing order. Simply fix this by changing the sheet
order so that FLOORS appear above OUTSIDE in the sheet list. Another way
of handling this would have been to not draw a cave floor where we wanted
our grass to grow. Doing this would have complicated some parts of the
procedure, and simplified others, so it is entirely up to you how you wish to
handle this.
10. Add some trees and bushes to the grassy section. You’ll find the vegetation
catalog by clicking the Skirmish Symbols button and selecting the
Vegetation catalog from the list.

Water
Let’s add a little lake to our cave to have some diversity in all the grey. The default
water tool uses straight edges, but for this situation, a smooth polygon looks better.

11. Right click the Default Water button and select the Water, Blue 5,
Curved tool. Use this to draw in a small lake in a corner of the cave, like in
the image. Remember to use the trace option of the drawing tool to have it
follow the cave wall, just as we did with the grass above.
12. The water ends up on the FLOORS sheet, so move it to the WATER sheet so
we can apply separate effects to it.

Decorating the cave

13. Use rocks and columns from the Cave catalog to add some natural
features to the cave.
14. Add items from the Debris and Furniture catalogs to add some
human elements to the cave

Connecting to a dungeon
Finally, let us explore our options for connecting a dungeon to this cave.

15. Use the room tool to add a room to an appropriate spot. On my map, I used the empty space
in the top right quadrant of the spot.
Next, we wish to create a corridor that links this room to our caves. There are a few points to
consider here though.

First, we cannot use the Connect to Wall feature of the corridor tool to connect it to the cave.
Technically it works, but it will only connect to a single segment of the wall. Since the cave wall is

319
 fractalised, it consists of many very small segments. If we connect the corridor to one of these, it
will most probably be connected at a wrong angle, and the cave wall won’t be properly cut either.
This means that we need to handle the cave wall on our own.

Since we can’t use the connect option, this means that the corridor will have an end wall here,
something we do not desire. So we also need to turn off the option for end walls on corridors.

16. Start a new corridor. Before accepting the options in the Add
Corridor dialog, check the option for No end wall.
Connect the corridor to the room as usual, and use the corridor outline
to find a good spot to place the end at the corridor wall. Make sure
that the end is placed just inside the actual cave, so that we don’t get
any gaps when we later remove the cave wall.
17. Hide all sheets but the WALLS sheet. This makes the next task easier.
18. Use the Break command to cut a hole in the cave wall. Click
at point 1 to select the entity, point 2 for the start of the break,
and point 3 for the end of the break. When using the break
command, it is important to select the entity by clicking on the
part of the entity we wish to keep. So if we had selected the
cave wall by first clicking at a point between the two cut points,
we would have been left with that little part of the wall, and the
rest would have disappeared.
19. Show all the sheets again.
If you are not completely happy with how your corridor meets
with the cave and the cave wall, you can use Node Edit to
manipulate the cave to fit.
20. Populate the dungeon room with some furniture, and lay a few traps in the corridor to prevent
unwanted visitors.
That’s it. We now have a cave system, connected both to the outside and to its own little micro-
dungeon. Note that this was just a very simple example, and it is not completely realistic. For
example, the cave sizes are probably a bit too large to be so close to the surface. But the example
serves to illustrate the basic points of creating caves.

320
A different approach – The ice cave
Let us explore a slightly different approach to making caves. For this tutorial, we will be creating a
cave system set in a glacier, but it can just as well be applied to a regular stone cave.

1. Start a new DD3 dungeon map, size 250×200 using the Water sludge 1 Bitmap fill for the
background.
2. Turn off snaps.
DD3 didn’t come with any ice fills, but there is
one that came with CC3+. To be able to use it, we
just need to define it in this map.

3. Click the fill style indicator in the status

bar, and go to the Bitmap Files tab. Click
the New button, and give the new style
the name Ice.
4. Set the file path to
@Bitmaps\Tiles\Overland\ice_VH.png,
and make sure the fill is set to be scaled
to 10×10. The fill should also be set up to
use Tile to fill, and Alpha Transparency.
5. Before closing the box, make sure that this
is the currently selected fill style.
6. Click the All Dungeon Drawing Tools button, and select the Cave Wall, Current Fill, Drawing Tool
Current Width drawing tool. Since this tool uses the current values for fill and width, we do Remember that the fill style
no need to create a new drawing tool to handle we defined will only be
our ice fill. Obviously, if you plan on drawing available in this single map,
with this fill a lot, making a drawing tool for it so the drawing tool won’t
will make it simpler to use. work in any other maps. For
When we now draw with this drawing tool, we will that to work, you should
use it to create the solid walls of the glacier, and not include the fill style in the
the traversable corridors which we are used to draw. template. Read the
So in this drawing, the background image will end up Templates and Map Styles
being the ground, and we will draw the solid areas. chapter starting on page
146 for more information on
7. Use the drawing tool to draw a set of polygons,
how to create and modify
creating a map somewhat like the one in the
templates.
image.

Effects
With the basic map down, let us add some effects to make this look a little better.

8. To the WALLS sheet, add a Bevel effect (Length 3, Strength 30, Invert colors 0, Fade 0), and
a Transparency effect (Opacity 75). The bevel effect will give the ice walls a three-
dimensional look, while the transparency ensures that the walls have the same general look
as the floors.
I am not too pleased about the background right now, so we’ll use a series of effects on the
BACKGROUND sheet to make it better.
RGB Matrix Process
9. First, add a RGB Matrix Process effect. We use this to change the colors of the background
a little bit, by adding some more blue to it. I used the following values, which will double the Read more on how this
blue component: effect works on page 80.
1, 0, 0, 0
0, 1, 0, 0
0, 0, 2, 0

10. Add a Transparency effect with Opacity 50. Since this sheet rests on a white background,
it will server to weaken the wave lines and colors a bit.

321
 11. Add a Texturize effect. Use @Bitmaps\Tiles\Overland\ice_VH.png as the texture, and an
intensity of 1. This will give the background the same roughness as the ice walls.
12. Add an Adjust Hue/Saturation effect, with a lightness value of 25. Leave the other values
at 0. This will lighten the overall color of the background

Finishing Touches
That yellow map border doesn’t fit too well with this map. I would think that something closer to
blue would be better.

The yellow part of the map border consists of 2 polygons, one for the dark color, and one for the
light color.

13. Change the colors of each of the two yellow polygons. Change the color of the dark polygon
to color 65, and the color of the light polygon to 69.
14. Add the Texturize effect to the MAP BORDER sheet to remove the flat look. Use
@Bitmaps\Tiles\Overland\ice_VH.png as the texture, and an intensity of 1.
There you go; a nice cool ice cave for your adventures. Notice how we drew this one “backwards”.
Instead of drawing rooms and corridors, we actually drew the solid areas instead.

322
Symbols
There are two types of symbols that are especially important when creating dungeon maps. These
are cutting symbols and symbols that align to walls. The usages of both these symbol types deserves
special mention here because of their usability, although both symbols fall under the smart symbol
category, discussed in the Symbols with control points / smart symbols chapter on page 121. We
will discuss their usage here, but for the creation of these symbols, you are referred to that chapter.

Cutting symbols
Cutting symbols are symbols that when placed over a line (such as a wall), they automatically cut Catalog
that line to make room for themselves. Note that this refers to the
All the doors and windows in the Wall Features catalog are examples of such symbols. standard DD3 color style. In
other styles, these symbols
1. Start a new dungeon map based on the DD3 dungeon style. Use the default options in the might or might not be
new map wizard. cutting.
2. Turn off snaps. Snaps interfere with the placement of smart
symbols.
3. Use the room tool to draw 2 rooms, and the corridor tool to
draw a corridor between them. Draw everything at an angle,
this makes it easier to observe the behavior of the symbols.
4. Select the Door Metal from the Wall Features symbol
catalog. Orientation
5. With the door at the cursor, hover the mouse over one of the Didn't the door behave as
walls, and observe that the door automatically changes its orientation to match the wall. expected? Check that smart
6. When the door is in position, click to place the door. The door symbol tracking is on, and
should cut a nice hole in the wall, just wide enough for the that smart symbols haven't
door to fit. been disabled. You can
check both these in the
Most other symbols in that catalog have the same behavior. Symbol Parameters dialog.
There is also a special Wall Cutter symbol in that catalog,
which can be used to cut the wall with a predetermined size.
Even though the wall cutter does have a symbol in the
symbol catalog window, it won’t actually place a symbol, it
Place a Symbol
will only cut the wall using the indicated width.
Truth be told, the wall cutter
does actually place that
Aligning symbols with offset scissors symbol. But the
Another useful feature that is incorporated in some of the symbols is the ability to align with a line, symbol has the Delete on
but be placed at an offset from the line. This feature makes it very easy to have symbols correctly Placement option set, which
aligned with any line, without manually having to rotate it, but at the same time, you don’t have to means that the symbol will
place the symbol at the line itself. be deleted immediately
when placed, only leaving
This is especially useful when using a line with a width (like a dungeon wall), because the actual
the gap it created behind.
line that the symbol must align to is always at the very center of a line with a width, but if the
symbol were placed there, it would be partially inside the wall. For example, a 2’ wide dungeon wall
extends 1’ in both directions from its center, so everything that is supposed to look like it is attached
to the wall, should be placed exactly 1’ away from the line. You may remember that we did this
when we placed the torches in our initial dungeon map.

There aren’t many of these symbols in the default DD3 style, but several other styles have more of
these symbols.

7. Zoom in close to a wall

8. Select the Sconce with Torch symbol.
9. With the symbol at the cursor, hover over the center of the wall. Notice how the symbol
switches from the left to the right side of the wall as you move the cursor across the walls
center.

323
 10. Make sure the symbol is pointing the right way, then click
once to attach it to that point on the wall.
Now, you can either move your mouse to change the offset
from the wall and then click when you are happy to place
the symbol, or you can simply type in the offset value on the
command line. If you know the value, this is the most precise
way of doing it, and it makes it easy to place the symbol
without having to zoom in close for each symbol. Remember
that this value is the offset from the center of the wall, so if
you need something to be attached to the wall, the correct value is always half the wall
width.
A positive value is the offset from the wall in the direction the symbol is facing. So no matter
what side of the wall you are placing the symbol, the offset value is always positive.

Building Floorplans
Another important type of map we can create with DD3 is the building floor plan. I won’t include a
tutorial here, since the principles are the same as for other dungeon maps (Just add more windows),
but there is a tutorial used as an example with Symbol Set 2: Fantasy Floorplans, found on page 589.
This tutorial can be followed even without SS2, simply replace the tools and symbols with
equivalent DD3 standard artwork. I also touch on the subject of building floorplans in the chapter
about Automatic Floorplans in City Designer 3. That tutorial is found on page 403.

HMS Relentless
This example drawing
comes from the March 2009
annual – “Sailing Ships”.
The annual also contains
overhead view and deck
plans of the ship, as well as
instructions for how to draw
your own ships.

324
BATTLE MAPS
One of the most frequent usages of DD3 is
to draw battle maps for use with miniatures.
In principle, a battle map is no different from
any ordinary map, but there are a few things
we should keep in mind when designing
such a map.

Points of Interest
The most important items to consider when
drawing a battle map are the size and scale
of the map, and how to place the entities on
the map. These points are discussed below.

Scale
One of the nice features of CC3+ is that you work in real world units. Your dungeon map is measured
in feet (or meters), not pixels or paper distances (cm/inches). Same with overland maps, which are
measured in miles or km, and star maps which can be measured in parsecs (pc), light years (ly) or
astronomical units (au). This means that when you work with your map, you don’t have to keep
translating distances and sizes. For example, you would never draw a 1-inch-wide road in DD3. You
draw it 5 feet wide, and leave it to the printing process to print at a scale so that it will end up being
1 inch on the paper.

The only time you need to think about paper distance, is when you start your map, and when you
print your map. Except for those two circumstances, a foot is a foot, not 10 pixels or a quarter-inch.

Creating your map

So, why do you need to think about paper size when creating your map? Well, simply to make sure
that the map size is appropriate for your printing needs. If you are not planning on printing the map,
then it doesn’t matter. Also, for most map types, you simply wish to print them in a fit to page scale.
For this setting, you still might think a little about map size and detail level. If your printer is using Fit to Page
A5 paper, a highly-detailed map might be illegible on this small format, while a sparse map might
A map printed using the fit
look horrible on A3 because it would end up with too large empty spaces.
to page setting will enlarge
However, for battle maps we have a rather particular agenda when it comes to map size and paper or shrink to fit the available
size. If you are going to use this map for miniature battles, it means that the grid on the map must paper size. CC3+ uses the
fit the miniatures used. The most frequently used miniatures for this purpose is the 30 mm scale margins supplied by your
miniatures, and these have bases that fit nicely on a 1” grid. printer driver to fit the map
as best as possible to the
The most common paper sizes encountered today is A4 (210×297 mm, 8.2×11.6 inches), A3
page.
(297×420 mm, 11.6×16.5 Inches) and Letter (8.5×11 inches, 216×279 mm). Knowing that almost
all printers require some margins, we should be able to fit the following 1” grid sizes: A4: 8×11
squares, A3: 11×16 squares and Letter: 8×10 squares. Note that if you plan on creating a map to
be released internationally, you should probably go for a 8×10 square grid, since this will fit on both
Letter and A4 paper sizes, which is what most people have available at home.

Translating this back to the map size, we have to know the grid size used by our rules system. Some
systems use 5’ squares, other uses 10’ squares, while some systems use 1m or 2m squares. For the
sake of this tutorial, we will go with a grid size of 5’, which is a very common value. Multiplying the
number of squares with our grid size yields a map size of 40×50 feet. This is the largest battle map
you can fit on one piece of paper.

If you need larger battle maps than this, you have two options. Either use a large format printer (an
A3 sheet could fit a 55×80 feet map), or take advantage of CC3+’s tiling options. When printing, a
larger battle map can be tiled over several sheets of paper, which can then be glued together to
form a complete map. Even though this means that your map can be practically unlimited in size, it

325
 is still wise to figure out how many sheets of paper you wish to use (limited, for example, by table
size), and define the map size based on that.

Printing your map

Obviously, when you are printing your map,
Proper Print Size paper distance is vital. Fortunately, CC3+ can
automatically scale the map to the proper print
I’m using the classical print
size to ensure that you get the printout in the
dialog here because I find it
exact scale you want, without the need for trial
faster to use than the print
and error. For this to work as desired, it is
wizard, but the print wizard
important that your map is designed in real
is great if you are the least
world units, like we discussed earlier. Some
bit unsure what values to
people sometimes think it a good idea to map
use (and it also lets you pick
in square sizes instead of real world sizes, so
exactly which tiles to print if
that when measured, 1 square would show up
you don’t want them all).
at the length of 1, instead of 5’ (assuming this
The print wizard is
is our grid size). You are strongly
documented in the CC3+
recommended to NOT do this, as it can cause
User Manual if you need an
problems with several features and lead to
explanation, but it is mostly
more manual calculations. Instead, create your
self-explanatory. To access
map in real world units (feet or meters for floor
the print wizard, right click
plans), and let CC3+ handle the scaling when
on Print .
printing or exporting.

The most important part when printing your battle map is to print with a fixed scale. This is done
by checking the Scale Factor under Scaling, and inputting the distances. The neat thing here is that
CC3+ does the actual calculation. I know that the actual scale required to print our 5’ squares as 1”
Paper distance squares on paper is 1:0.016666, but this value, or how to calculate it, is completely irrelevant. All
we have to input is which distance in our drawing should equal which distance on paper. And since
The paper distance tells us
CC3+ even understands the symbols for feet and inches, you can simply enter 1” in the Paper
how large a given distance
distance box, and 5’ in the Drawing distance box.
in the map should be when
printing on paper. So when If you desire to print on multiple pages, just enter the desired values under Tiling. Remember that
we put 1” in paper distance, these values are multiplied with each other to determine the total number of pages, so if you use 5
and 5’ in Drawing distance, pages vertically and 5 pages horizontally, your total printout would be 25 pages. Make sure your
it means that a distance of map is exactly as you want it before starting such a large print job.
5’ in our map will be 1” on
our printout. Placement of entities
We can use the same trick to
print overland maps to a Most entities on a battle map represent some kind of hindrance. While on a normal map, it usually
given scale. For example, if looks strange to make features fit exactly with the grid, but on a battle map, we often do this on
you need 25 miles on your purpose to avoid any confusion as to if there is an obstruction in the grid square or not. Take for
drawing to appear as 1 inch example a step that fills only half a square, while the rest is an empty floor. Does a miniature
in paper, simply type 1” into standing in this square have higher ground? Do the steps hinder movement in that square, or does
Paper distance, and 25 into it behave like an ordinary empty square?
Drawing distance. By using Due to this, the grid is usually one of the first items we set up on a battle map to make sure we
a fixed distance on overland place the rest of the entities to fit with the grid.
maps, it is much easier to
measure distances later
using a ruler. Creating and Printing Battle Maps
When we create battle maps, we can either create these from scratch, or we can create them from
an existing map, if the source map is detailed enough. An overland map doesn’t have the detail
level needed to extract a battle map from it, but if you look at the dungeon map we created in the
first part of the DD3 section, you can see that the detail level is more than good enough for this
purpose. Let us look at both options.

326
Effects on Battle Map
A battle map covers a very small area, and a lot of the entities we draw will be very small. This
means that the default values for several of the effects are a poor fit. For example, the default width
of the Edge Fade, Inner effect is 8, which are almost two full squares. In other words, using this
value on anything less than an entity of size 2×2 squares will make it almost completely disappear.
Therefore, it is very important to use the correct values for this effect. For example, for the Edge
Fade, Inner effect mentioned, a better value in most cases would be between 1 and 2.

This applies to most effects that have some kind of user-configurable length.

Also note that effects that look good on the screen does not necessarily look just as good on print.
In general, you need sharper contrasts when printing than on the screen. For example, you might
need to use a larger opacity value for Transparency effects.

From an existing map

1. Open Chapel Mandina Catacombs 17.FCW.
2. Zoom in to room number 5. Note how this room is conveniently 8×10 squares. As discussed
earlier, this is a very good size, because it will fit on both a Letter and an A4 sized sheet of
paper, assuming we print the squares as 1”.
Note that this room is not ideal. It does conflict with the issues we discussed under Placement
of entities. If I had initially made this as a battle map, instead of simply exporting an
appropriate-sized room from an existing dungeon, I would probably have placed the columns
in the middle of a square, and made sure each of the sarcophagi were exactly 2 squares in
size, and placed accordingly.
Don’t be afraid to move things around if it will result in a better battle map though. You can
always assume the overview map wasn’t completely perfect in regards to details. You could
also plan the main map for a battle map from the beginning, but as we did discuss back when
we started on that map, that often leads to a map with unrealistic features. This is a trade-off
obviously, and if the main map is not going to be used for anything else than extract sections
for battle maps, then that approach can actually be a good one. This is why you should always
have a clear plan in mind for your maps from the beginning whenever possible.
3. Hide the TEXT sheet.
4. Resize the CC3+ window so that you can see
the room, and nothing else.
I do this to ensure that my view contains only
the part I wish to print. I know that CC3+ will
add a little more to the left and right when
printing, because there is room for a little
more on the sheet. However, this view
ensures me that my desired part is in the
center of the map. If I include a bit too much
in my view, I risk that CC3+ have to actually
cut a bit because it ends up being too large for
the sheet of paper, and I do not particularly
care to risk having part of my room cut.
5. While our grid lines look good on screen, they
won’t look as good on the printout. The reason
for this is that these are of hairline width,
which will always show as 1 pixel wide on our
screen. However, a printer has a much higher
resolution that your screen, so a hairline width
line will be almost invisible on the printout.
To fix this, I’ve added a white glow to the GRID sheet, using a strength value of 4 and a blur
radius of 0.5. This doesn’t look too good on the screen, but it looks much better on the
printout.

327
 6. Click the Print button. In the print dialog, set these options

View to print: Active Window

Scale: Scale Factor Paper distance 1” = Drawing distance 5’

Tiling: 1 by 1, 0% overlap

Orientation: Landscape

Note that we can easily use the larger rooms, such as 4 or 6, but to do so, we would need to print
it on multiple sheets, unless you have a large format printer. The procedure is exactly the same, but
Overlap
for room 4 you would need a 3 by 1 tile setup, using portrait orientation. When printing multiple
When printing on multiple pages, you may also wish to use an overlap.
pages, it is usually a good
idea to set the overlap to a
From Scratch
high enough value so that
you don’t end up with grid For this map, let us explore DD3’s
squares that are divided outdoor capabilities and create a simple
over the sheets. As long as battle map for a muddy trail going
the overlap is large enough, through the forest.
you will see half-squares on
1. Start a new DD3 dungeon map,
one of the sheets, but you
using the following settings:
should have a complete
version of it on the next Size: 70 × 50. This size
sheet. Ensuring that you allows for a grid of 14 × 10
always have whole versions squares. This will fit very
of each square makes it nicely on two sheets of
easier to assemble and play paper (or a single A3 sheet).
on the battle map later.
Background: Dirt and Grass
Light Bitmap

You’ll find my finished map as Forest Encounter.FCW in the Dungeon tutorial folder.
Now, as we discussed earlier, each square on a battle map should be clear as to what it
contains. If a square is half clear and half obstacle, there is bound to be questions during the
game on how to count that square. Therefore, it is easiest to add the grid first, since this
makes it much easier to place our entities.
Obviously, this is not an absolute rule. If we try to be too rigid about this, the map is going to
look artificial. One way to combat this is to make some entities go just beyond the border of
the square, but not far enough to cause confusion about the contents of that square.

328
 2. Create a white 5’ square grid.
The grid looks a bit bright, so to blend it in with the map, I added a transparency effect to it.
Additionally, I don’t like the grid appearing on top of everything, so I also moved the GRID
sheet to right below the WATER sheet in the list.
3. Create a new sheet named TRAIL. Place this sheet between FLOOR and WATER in the list.
Add the Edge Fade, Inner effect to this sheet with an Edge width of 1, and the Transparency
effect with 85% opacity. Set this sheet as the active sheet.
4. Use the Smooth Path command to draw a 3’ wide dark brown (Color #33) line from the
left edge to the right edge. Make some gentle curves on it to avoid the look of a straight line.
5. Use Smooth Poly to draw a few small mud puddles along and crossing the trail.
Remember to set the width back to 0 first.
Note that the Edge Fade, Inner effect we have applied will make these puddles a bit smaller,
so if you make them too small, they will disappear when the effects are on. So make sure to
give them some size.
6. Use the Terrain, Dirt and Grass drawing tool to draw a large polygon south of the road. The
fill is basically the same as our background, just a bit darker. To blend it better in, use an Edge
Fade, Inner effect on the OUTSIDE sheet.
Adding this provided some nice variation to our background.
7. Use the Terrain, Water Blue 5, Curved drawing tool to add a few puddles of water to the
map. Make one of them cover up the road a little. The puddles end up on the OUTSIDE sheet
by default, but since we need different effects on the water than the other entities on this
sheet, you need to move the puddles to the WATER sheet.
8. Add an Edge Fader, Inner and a Transparency effect to the WATER sheet. Adjust the
Transparency so that you can see the trail through the water.
9. Add some trees to the map. You’ll find the trees by clicking the Skirmish Symbols button
and selecting the Vegetation catalog. Because we want different shadows from the tall trees
than from most other symbols, create a separate sheet for these trees. Also add a Drop
Shadow effect to this sheet, using 2 for both offsets.
Remember that you can use different shades of greens for your trees by using the varicolor
ones.
10. Decorate the map with some bushes, rocks and other items. You can find the bushes in the
same symbol catalog as the trees, while
rocks are found in the Cave catalog.
The Debris catalog contains several
items that can be used on this map, and
the Furniture catalog contains a
fireplace you can use.
When printing this map, use the same settings
as we used for the battle map from existing map
above, but change the tiling options to 2 × 1, and
the orientation to portrait. I prefer to be able to
glue the two sheets together along a gridline, so
we also need some overlap. I used an overlap of
5%, which gave me what I needed. Remember,
you can use the preview feature to inspect the
result before you print, to help you find an
appropriate overlay.

Exporting the map

Exporting maps is probably more common than printing these days. While exporting is thoroughly
documented in the CC3+ manual, there are some special considerations when it comes to battle
maps.

329
 These considerations are especially important when you wish to use the map with virtual table top
software. If you just intend to display it on a web site, the regular export instructions will cover your
need.

Virtual Table Top software

Virtual Table Top (VTT) programs are becoming more and more popular. These programs allow
people to run a gaming session over the Internet, by providing a way for everybody to see and
interact with maps and other game data, even if they are in separate locations. These programs can
Virtual Table Top also be used in other ways; I am using such software to share the maps on my GM computer with
another computer connected to a projector. Because such programs usually support separate GM
There are several programs
and Player views, this allows me to have the player view on the projector, and GM view on my own
of this type available. One
laptop.
good free alternative is
MapTool which is available Resolution
from www.rptools.net. This The first thing you need to know before exporting a battle map is the resolution needed for the
program has a built-in map virtual table top software. This is usually expressed as a number of pixels per grid square (cell). A
editor, but you can also common value is 50 pixels/cell, but most programs let you change this on a map-by-map basis if
import images, for example you wish to use a different value. If you wish to be able to do close zooms, you may need to increase
an exported image from a this value to avoid pixilation, but remember images will always have limits, you will never be able
CC3+ map. to zoom as close in an exported image as in CC3+ itself.

Calculating Export Size

Next step is to calculate the export size of the CC3+ map. This is calculated simply by multiplying
the number of horizontal and vertical grid squares with the resolution we found above. If we use
the resolution of 50 pixels/cell from above, and the outdoor map we drew (14×10 cells), we end
up with an export resolution of 700×500 pixels.

Selecting Area to Export

One of the most common problems
Border when using an exported map in a
There are two reasons for virtual table top program is that the
why having the border in grid from the program does not match
the images causes this. The up with the grid in your map. The
first one is that the grid in reason for this is that the virtual table
the virtual table top top program starts the grid in the
application will start at the upper left corner of the image, but if
outside of the border, and you export the map as it is from CC3+,
not at the inside like CC3+'s you also get the map border in the
grid, so the grid will be image, and it is this border that causes
offset by the size of the the grids to fail to match up. To
border. The next problem is correct this problem, it is important
the export size. We that we export just the map itself, and
calculated the export size not the map border or anything else
based on the number of grid outside the map.
squares, to ensure that the To do this, make sure you select Rectangular Section PNG as the export file type. Hit options, and
cells are the correct size. But set up the correct export size as we calculated above.
if we also include the map
border, it will take up part of When you click OK in the save dialog, instead of exporting the image directly, CC3+ asks you to
the size we set up, causing define the rectangle you wish to export. What is important is that your rectangle has to be precisely
each of the grid cells to be the correct size and position. If it isn’t, you will still get problems with lining up the grid in the virtual
slightly smaller than we table top application.
wanted. To ensure that you get a perfect rectangle, there are two options. The first option is to have snap
turned on. If you use this option, make sure your snap grid is set to the same size as your actual
map grid. Assuming that it is, using snaps is a quick way of defining the rectangle. Just click near
the top left corner of the map, then near the bottom right corner to define the rectangle. The snaps
should ensure that the actual points picked are perfectly placed in the corners of the map.

The other option is to use the Endpoint modifier. Simply use the endpoint modifier with the
inside line of the map border, first near the top left corner of the map, then near the bottom right

330
corner. Just as when using snaps, the endpoint modifier should ensure that you get your selection
rectangle perfectly positioned.

Note that if your map contains partial squares, usually caused by your map size not being evenly
divisible by your grid size, you should only export the whole squares, and leave the rest of the map
out. Exporting a map with partial squares can cause the same problems with the grid lineup as
exporting a map which includes the map border.

Exporting the Grid

You also need to decide if you wish to export the map with the
grid or not. Most virtual table top programs have their own grid
that you can turn on and off. Due to this, it is usually best to
export the CC3+ map without the grid, and use the grid in the
virtual table top application instead.

However, when we made the map in CC3+, we placed the grid

so that it wouldn’t be placed on top of everything. The grid in the
virtual table top application cannot be placed like this, so if we
wish to have this effect, we should instead keep the grid in the
CC3+ export, and turn it off in the application instead.

Note that you shouldn’t use both grids. MapTool, for example,
places the grid lines in between two pixels of the image, so as
not to cover up anything in the map. This means that no matter
how good the grids line up, the CC3+ grid will always be visible
right next to the grid from the application. This is visible in the
image above, where the white grid is from CC3+, and the black grid from MapTool. However, as
long as the grids line up properly, all the grid-based commands and utilities in your VTT should work
fine no matter which one of the grids you are using.

Battle Maps Review

Use the scaling options in the print dialog to print the map in the correct scale for your
miniatures.

Always draw the map in real world scale (feet or meters), not in paper scale.

Use the Rectangular Section export option to export parts of the map.

Use Snaps or modifiers to make sure your export rectangle is precise.

Plan your battle map sizes properly. You don’t want to have to split the map over two
pages because of one row of squares.

331
 Vector
TILED DUNGEONS
In addition to using the vector based room and corridor tools to create your dungeons floor plans,
You may wonder why I
DD3 also comes with a couple of tile-based option for creating dungeons, dungeon geomorphs, and
called the corridor and room
random dungeons.
tools vector based. After all,
they use raster artwork, do
they not? Well, this is true, Geomorph Dungeons
but the rooms and corridors
are still vector entities, but An alternate way to using the room and
with a raster fill style. Them corridor tools to create your dungeons is to
being vectors is the reason use the dungeon geomorphs. The geomorphs
why they are so easy to is a set of pieces in different shapes that can
manipulate, for example by be combined to form rooms and corridors.
connecting corridors to Just as with the room and corridor tools we
rooms. A raster symbol used earlier, these geomorphs helps you
cannot be changed within build the basic floor plan of your dungeon,
CC3+ (except for varicolor which you can then populate with symbols
coloration), but a vector and effects just like any other dungeon.
entity is completely
editable, even if it contains Using geomorphs
a raster fill style.
The first thing to set up when using
geomorphs is the snap grid. Without a snap grid on, placing the geomorphs correctly is almost
impossible.

1. Enable a snap grid with 5’ grid, 2 snaps. You may wish to double check the grid settings to
make sure the settings match the name of the grid, since the name is only a free-text
description, and not tied to the actual setting.
2. Click the Dungeon Geomorph button. This should bring up the usual symbol catalog
chooser. Simply select the desired style from the list. Note that not all dungeon map styles
have geomorphs available, but you’ll at least find them in the regular DD3 dungeon style, and
the DD Pro dungeon style.
3. Before placing your first symbol, make sure that the symbol scale is correct (1.0). If the symbol
scale is wrong, the geomorphs won’t line up properly. To do this, simply click on one of the
symbols in the list, then right click in the map to get the Symbol Parameters dialog, and set
the Scale to 1.0.
Note that if you really wish to use a different symbol scale, you can do so, but in that case,
you will also need to multiply your snap grid size with the scale. So, if you wish to use symbol
scale 3.5, you need to use a snap grid of size 17.5 (3.5 × 5 = 17.5). Always use 2 snaps, no
matter the size. The wrong snap grid value may appear to work in the beginning, but once
you try to apply corners or rotate pieces, you often find that the pieces doesn’t fit like they
should.
4. Now simply select symbols from the catalog and place
them on the map to form your dungeon. These
Cursor Keys
symbols are intended to be rotated to fit where you
When you have a symbol at need them. For example, there is only one 5’ square
your cursor, pressing the corner available, it needs to be rotated 90, 180 or 270
cursor keys will rotate this degrees to get the other three matching corners. For
symbol to straight angles (0, this purpose, remember that you can use the cursor
90, 180 and 270 degrees). keys to do this.
Left=0, Up=90, Right=180,
The tiles are organized into categories. To access all
Down=270.
the symbols in the category, click the little plus sign in
the top left of the symbol preview window. For
example, if you expand the corner collection, you will
find rounded and triangular corners in addition to the
default square corner.

332
Creating geomorph tiles
Geomorphs are in principle normal symbols, and are created as such. So for creating these
geomorphs, you are referred to the Symbols and Symbol Management chapter starting on page 89,
which details everything about symbol creation, including how to organize them in catalogs and
setting up collections.

There are a few special considerations when it comes to geomorphs however. First of these is that
they should normally be 5 or 10 feet wide, and their length should be in increments of 5 feet. Most
pieces are square, either 5’×5’ or 10’×10’, with some longer corridor sections available.

The origin of the symbol should be middle left, this is to ensure it will be placed properly on the
snap grid to match up with the other symbols.

To take proper advantage of effects, your geomorphs should occupy several sheets; normally the
floor part should be on the FLOORS sheet, and the wall part on the WALLS sheet. This ensures that
the geomorph symbols will be affected by effects the same way as rooms drawn with the Add
Room tool.

As long as you keep this in mind, creating geomorphs is very simple.

Random Dungeons
Random Dungeons If you don't have these
DD3 contains a nice tool for creating random commands in your DD3
dungeons. This is especially useful when you just menus, please make sure to
need a new dungeon in a hurry, but you can also install the latest CC3+
use it as a starting point, and modify it to make it update, downloadable from
your own. The tool only creates the floor plan itself; your registration page at
it does not insert doors or other symbols. profantasy.com.

Creating a basic dungeon

Setting options
Before creating your random dungeon, you need to
set the option for layout and tile set to be used with
the tool.

1. Select Random Dungeon Options from the

Dungeon menu.
From this dialog, you can set the parameters that
will be used by the random dungeon function

Symbol Catalog: Select the desired look of

your dungeon here. Note that all the symbol
catalogs that come with the command are
vector catalogs, but if you desire, you can make
your own raster catalogs. We will cover this in
a bit.

Fill Ratio: When you draw a random dungeon,

you define a rectangle for it to occupy. This
value controls how big percentage of that
rectangle is filled. Higher values give more and
larger rooms, while lower values result in long
corridors

Straight Corridors: This is the percentage change for a corridor to be straight

Angled Corridors: This is the percentage change that a corridor will be created at an
angle. Note that not all the symbol catalogs support angled corridors.

333
 Avoid Edges: This option causes the dungeon to avoid the edges of the rectangle you
define, causing it to be a bit smaller and more compact, mostly centered in the defined
area.

The best way to set these options is normally by experimentation. Creating these dungeons
is very quick, so just experiment with the values until you find something you like.

Creating the dungeon

Once you have set the desired option, you can tell CC3+ to generate the dungeon.

2. Select Random Dungeon from the Dungeon menu.

CC3+ now asks for two corners to define a rectangle. This rectangle is the area the random
dungeon will be drawn within. Once you have set the two corners, CC3+ will generate a
random dungeon within that area. The calculation can take a few seconds.
Once the dungeon has been draw, the CC3+ command line will prompt you for the first corner
of the next random dungeon. However, it also gives you another option: SPACE –
randomize. At this point, you can hit the Spacebar key to generate the dungeon again. Keep
hitting Space until you get a dungeon you are happy with.

Modifying the dungeon

Once you have a dungeon you are happy with, you can start modifying it. The dungeon is built just
Geomorph like a Geomorph dungeon, so all you have to do is to remove and replace the individual
components. The symbol catalogs used for the random dungeons are found in
See Geomorph Dungeons
#Symbols\Dungeons\Random. Just open up the same symbol catalog from here as the one you set
on page 332 for more
in the random dungeon options to get the components you need.
details on this subject.
To make these pieces snap correctly into place, set a snap grid for 5’ grid, 2 snaps.

After finishing up the floor plan, you can add symbols, like doors, traps, debris and so on to it, to
complete the dungeon. Note that vector symbols work best with the random dungeon tiles, since
these are vectors themselves.

Effects
There are several effects that look good along with
these vector tiles. One of my favorites is to use
Texturize to apply a texture to these symbols. The
image shows an example using the
@Filters\Images\concrete.png file as a texture.

Creating new tile sets

You can create new tile sets for use with the random
dungeon function. The basics behind this are no
different from the standard procedure for creating
symbols and symbol catalogs. There are a few special
Creating Symbols
rules that need to be followed for the command to
See Symbols and Symbol know which symbols to use for which purpose.
Management starting on
page 89 for more detail
Symbol creation guidelines
about how to create both
symbols and symbol The dungeon is built by combining 6 symbols that are restricted to 5' tiles. The symbol
catalogs. names in the selected catalog have to end with one of the following text strings to identify
its purpose to CC3:

334
 CORR — an east-west corridor section

CEND — an eastern dead-end — that is, surrounded by walls except on the west

REDGE — a tile with a single wall on the left

RC1 — a north-east corner piece

RC3 — a diagonal piece with the lower left filled, and a wall from NW to SE

ROOM — a square with no walls

The name can be followed by a space then a number if there is more than one of each
symbol type.
The origin for all the symbols should be the middle left on each symbol.

Optional Shading
You can optionally add a separate symbol with shading on top of each floor tile. To do this, Symbol
create symbols which are named as follows:
If there are more than one
symbol for each type a
symbol is randomly picked
for each placement. Up to
16 symbols can be assigned
for each type.

The SHADE symbol is placed on top of all square tiles and the rest are used for the different
rotations of the RC3-tile.

Raster Sets
As with the vector sets, creating raster sets is really no different from regular symbol creation. All
you have to do is to create at least one image for each of the 6 required symbols mentioned above,
then import them as symbols and add them to a symbol catalog as usual. Just keep in mind that the
symbol catalogs need to go to @Symbols\Dungeons\Random for them to be available for the
random dungeon command, so make sure you copy the images to the correct location before
importing them.

An example raster tile set can be found in @Tutorials\Tome\Symbols\Random Dungeon. Copy

both the chequered.FSC file and the chequered directory to @Symbols\Dungeons\Random to use
it with the random dungeon command.

Note however that this example is very simple.

Firstly, it only contains one variant of each
required tile. Secondly, it is made up from pure
raster images, meaning the wall and floor is
integrated into one image, so it is not possible to
use an effect on the wall, like a Wall Shadow
effect. A better option when designing these
tiles is to create vector entities with raster fill
instead of raster symbols. Such symbols will
consist of at least two entities, the wall and the
floor, and they will each be on a separate sheet.
Separate Sheets
The dungeon geomorph symbols from the
previous chapter are examples of such symbols. See the chapter on Multi-
part symbols on page 125
Actually, the Geomorph tiles are perfect for use for more details on how to
with the random dungeon feature as well. The only issues are that there are many symbols in these create these types of
catalogs that the random dungeon feature does not need, and that the names of the relevant symbols.
symbols are not correct. However, it is easy to create a random dungeon tile set from them. First,
copy the 6 needed symbols to a new symbol catalog, then open this catalog for editing, and rename
the symbols as required to follow the naming standard listed on the previous page. Remember that
the random dungeon function uses 5’ tiles, so remember to grab the right tiles, since the geomorph

335
 catalogs generally have both 5’ and 10’ tiles. An example of this is the
@Tutorials\Tome\Symbols\Random Dungeon\Bitmap Tiles.FSC catalog, which are symbols
straight from the geomorph catalog. Just copy this catalog to @Symbols\Dungeons\Random to use
it with the random dungeon function. Note that this symbol catalog does not have any
accompanying artwork folder, since it simply uses standard fill styles already found in the DD3
dungeon template.

Village of Bryn
This village map was made by Gerri Broman for the Community Atlas
(http://atlas.monsen.cc). Note how the map uses effects to depict elevation.

336
DD3 MACRO EXAMPLE
DD3 presents a unique opportunity to macro writers. With dungeon floorplans, the mapping scale Macro Writers
is comparatively larger than overland or city maps, and therefore DD3 maps can contain much more
This chapter assumes a
'real world' detail. Just look at the symbols provided for dressing your dungeons: tables and chairs,
certain degree of familiarity
weapons and treasure, even bits of trash for the floor. The expectations for detail within the dungeon
with CC3+ macros. If you
are high, and so too are the expectations for detail in the dungeons themselves. The depiction of
are new to macro writing,
walls, caves and the other physical elements of a dungeon design can be given the same attention
start by reviewing the
to detail as the dungeon dressings. This is where macros can play a part.
chapter on macros in the
CC3+ section regarding
Staircase Macro macros on page 198.

Let us start by analyzing the Staircase macro. This is a working macro with each line described in
detail. The macro is called STAIRCASE, and it draws a rudimentary staircase, following the contours
of an object that the user selects. You’ll need to understand very basic programming concepts to
get this macro. It also uses a few concepts, some of them described earlier in this book, others only
in the help file.

The Percent modifier — snaps a point to a percentage along an entity.

Relative Polar coordinates — sets a point at a specified angle and distance from the
current reference point. Section 1
The Reference Point modifier — sets the reference point. The macro starts by setting
up the necessary drawing
The macro has four sections, each with its own distinct purpose. We’ll start by defining those
settings, and prompting the
sections, which will give an overview of how the macro generally works. Then, we’ll look at each
user for required
line of the macro, one by one.
information. The user
You can find this macro in the file staircase.mac in the #Tutorials\Tome\Other folder. provides values for the
staircase width, and the
First, here’s the macro, divided into its four logical sections: step depth. The user also
--------------------Section 1--------------------------- picks an entity to use as a
MACRO STAIRCASE guide, to draw the stairs
ECOFF
SELSAVE along.
LWIDTH 0;LSTYLE solid;FSTYLE solid
GV varStepWidth 10
GV varStepWidth ^DEnter the stairway width: (10) Section 2
GV varStepDepth 1 Calculations are made on
GV varStepDepth ^DEnter the step spacing (1):
GE varEntity ^DSelect object to draw the staircase along: the data that was provided
IFERR MacroDone by the user. Here, the macro
--------------------Section 2---------------------------
GLEN varEntityLen varEntity determines other values
GN varStepNum varEntityLen/varStepDepth that it will need, and it
GV varUnit 100/varStepNum draws the first stair step.
GV varCurStep 0
GP varP1 % 0 varEntity
GBRNG varB1 varP1 % .01 varEntity Section 3
LINE REF varP1 <varB1+90,(varStepWidth/2) REF varP1 <varB1-90,(varStepWidth/2);
--------------------Section 3--------------------------- This section is looped; each
:Loop stair step is drawn in turn.
GV varCurStep varCurStep+1
GP varP1 % (varCurStep*varUnit) varEntity Once all the steps are
GBRNG varB1 varP1 % (varCurStep*varUnit)-.01 varEntity drawn, the loop quits, and
LINE REF varP1 <varB1-90,(varStepWidth/2) REF varP1<varB1+90,(varStepWidth/2); the macro continues.
IFP varStepNum-varCurStep Loop
--------------------Section 4-----------------------------
SELBYP Section 4
OFFSETCPY (varStepWidth/2) varEntity REF varP1 <varB1+90,1
OFFSETCPY (varStepWidth/2) varEntity REF varP1 <varB1-90,1 The final elements of the
:MacroDone staircase are drawn, and the
SELREST
ECON macro cleans up a few CC3+
ENDM configuration changes it
made.

337
 Line by line macro deconstruction
Variable
MACRO STAIRCASE
Notice that all the variables
in this macro start with the All macros start with a ‘MACRO’ statement. This defines the name of the macro, and the start
characters var. This is not a of the macro code. Be sure to use a name CC3 doesn’t already use, or your command will
requirement; indeed, your replace it!
variables can be called just ECOFF
about anything, as long as
they do not conflict with any This turns off the command line ‘echo’; in other words, you won’t see all the commands of
command names, or contain the macro flashing by on the command line as you run the macro. This makes the macro run
restricted characters. cleaner and faster, but if the macro fails halfway through, you will have to manually enter the
However, this practice helps ECON command to start seeing what you type at the command line. You should add this line
to identify variables only after you have tested your macro.
amongst the other code, SELSAVE
and also helps to ensure
Save the current selection method for CC3+ (see Tools → Options → Select Method). We
that your variable names are
will be changing the select mode in this macro, so we use this command to save the user’s
unique.
current setting first. We can then restore it at the end of the macro.

GV LWIDTH 0;LSTYLE solid;FSTYLE solid

The GV command requires Set up the drawing properties to use in this macro. Line width of 0, line style of Solid, and a
two pieces of input - first the fill style of Solid. Macro commands are usually separated by new lines (i.e. one command
variable name to be per line), but you can also separate many commands by a semicolon.
assigned; and second, the GV varStepWidth 10
value itself. In the previous
macro line, we assigned the Here, we define a real variable varStepWidth. By giving this variable a starting value, we
variable a fixed value of 10. assure that the variable will have a value, even if the user fails to give it one in the following
In this line, we prompt the line.
user to enter a value by GV varStepWidth ^DEnter the stairway width[10]:
using the ‘^D’ command.
Prompt the user for a value for the varStepWidth variable. This variable holds the value for
This allows the user to enter
the overall width of the staircase.
a value at the CC3+ prompt.
Note that all the text that GV varStepDepth 1
follows the ‘^D’, up until
As with the previous variable, we define a default value.
the first line break, is passed
to the prompt. In this case, GV varStepDepth ^DEnter the step spacing[1]:
the prompt text is Enter the The varStepDepth variable defines the desired distance between steps. The actual distance
stairway width: [10]. The 10 used in the macro will be slightly different, because we will modify this value so that a whole
in brackets just lets the user number of steps will be drawn so that there will be no fraction of a step left at the end of the
know that a default value of staircase. This calculation comes later.
10 will be used if they
GE varEntity ^DSelect object to draw the staircase along:
choose not to enter any data
by right-clicking or hitting The Get Entity command GE gets a point from the user with a selection pick box — it’s asking
. for an entity. In this case, the object that we need is the guide entity that we will use to define
the path of the staircase. The macro will draw the stairs along the length of the entity that is
Label selected. A line, smooth path, or arc would be good choices as a guide entity, but it is up to
the user to pick an object to use
Labels in CC3+ macros are
defined by a unique name. A IFERR MacroDone
label in a macro cannot This line does a bit of error checking. Basically, if the user does not pick an object in the
share a name with any other previous line (either by right clicking, or clicking in empty space), CC3+ sets an internal error
label in the same macro. flag. The IFERR command checks for this flag. If it finds that a selection error has occurred,
Every label is on its own the flow of the macro branches to the MacroDone label.
line, and starts with a colon
This mean the macro execution jumps to the line immediately after the given label (see the
(:).
end of the macro).
GLEN varEntityLen varEntity

338
 This line, and two that follow, contain a series of calculations that determine the actual step
depth that will be used based on the total length of the selected entity. First, the GLEN Percentage Value
command gets the overall length of the entity varEntity, and stores it in varEntityLen. This percentage value is
GN varStepNum varEntityLen/varStepDepth ‘equivalent’ to the user
defined step width value,
Now that we know how long the guide entity is, we need to determine the number of steps but certainly not equal.
that will fit along its length. To do this, we divide the total length by the depth of one step. Remember, we have
This gives us the number of steps that will be needed. Since we don’t want any fractions of rounded off the number of
steps, we need to round this number to the nearest whole number. This is easily achieved by steps so as to avoid any
using the Get Number command GN rather than the GV command. This automatically rounds fractions, so this new
the input value to a whole number by removing anything after the decimal point. We assign distance for step widths will
this rounded value to the variable varStepNum. be slightly modified, but still
GV varUnit 100/varStepNum fairly close.

This step is tricky. Since we will be using the Percent Along modifier to get points along the
GP
entity, and since the spacing of these points is defined by a distance, we need to express the
step depth as the equivalent percentage of the total length. We do this by dividing the GP asks for two pieces of
number of percent in a whole length (100) by the number of steps. This gives us a percentage input: the variable to be
value for one step, assigned to varUnit. assigned (varP1) and the
point to assign (% 0
GV varCurStep 0
varEntity, or 0% along the
Set up a counter variable. This will keep track of how many times we have gone through the entity stored in varEntity.
loop.
GP varP1 % 0 varEntity Angle
We can approximate this by
Get the first drawing point. This will be where the first step LINE will be drawn, and is at the
getting the angle from 0%
0% mark of the guide entity.
along the entity varP1 to
GBRNG varB1 varP1 % .01 varEntity .01% (% .01 varEntity); a
Now we set up to draw the first step line. First, we need an angle at which to draw the line. very short distance, but
This angle should be perpendicular to the entity, but since this entity could be curved, we enough to give us an angle.
should say that the angle must be perpendicular to the entity at the point the LINE will
intersect. Break it Down
We draw this first line while we are outside of the loop because of the way we obtain angles REF varP1<varB1+90,
inside the loop--by getting a point just before the current point. This technique would not (varStepWidth/2) REF is the
work for the first point (0%) because there can be no point at less than 0%. That’s why we reference modifier (see
get the angle in this line of the macro by getting a point just a little beyond our starting point. Reference Point in the Help
index), this code sets the
LINE REF varP1 <varB1+90,(varStepWidth/2) REF varP1 <varB1- 90,(varStepWidth/2);
current reference point to
Draw a line entity using the LINE command. The LINE command requires a series of points, varP1. The second part sets
with a semicolon (;) to finish the line. In this line of the macro, we provide the command with a point at angle (varB1+90)
two points, using the current point on the entity as a reference. The two points are REF varP1 and distance
<varB1+90,(varStepWidth/2) and REF varP1<varB1-90, (varStepWidth/2). This may look (varStepWidth/2) from the
complicated, but it makes sense when you break it down. reference point.
:Loop varB1 is the angle parallel
to the entity, so varB1 plus
This line is a label; it marks the start of our loop. 90º, is perpendicular to the
angle of the entity.
varStepWidth/2 is equal to
With the lines that follow, remember that each line will not just execute once, but rather multiple
half of the value of
times, with certain variables changing for each iteration.
varStepWidth, which is the
GV varCurStep varCurStep+1 desired width for the
This is an example of a variable that will change for each loop iteration. The counter variable staircase.
varCurStep is incremented by 1, preparing us to draw the next step. Notice that the other point
is derived the same way,
GP varP1 % (varCurStep*varUnit) varEntity
except we subtract 90º from
Get a point on the entity that will be the reference for the current step. varP1 will hold a point the angle instead of adding,
that is a percentage along varEntity equal to the percentage of a single step varUnit so that the second point is
multiplied by the number of steps we have drawn varCurStep. on the other side of the
guide entity.

339
 GBRNG varB1 varP1 % (varCurStep*varUnit)-.01 varEntity

Just like we did for the first line entity before the loop, we get the angle of the guide entity at
the point of the reference point. This time, however, we get a second point that is slightly
behind the reference, rather than ahead. We do this so that when we finally arrive at the last
step to be drawn (at 100% of the entity), we do not try to get a point that is 100.01% along
the entity.
LINE REF varP1 <varB1-90,(varStepWidth/2) REF varP1 <varB1+90,(varStepWidth/2);

Draw a line using the same technique that we used for the first line we drew before the loop.
This time, since the reference angle is derived in the opposite direction (a point before the
reference, not after), we subtract 90º from the first point rather than the second. This way, all
our lines will be drawn the same way in the same relative direction. In this macro, this does
not make much difference, but it is an important lesson to remember for other macros that
may be more demanding.
IFP varStepNum-varCurStep Loop

Here is the end of our loop. The IFP statement tests for a positive value. If varStepNum-
varCurStep is positive (which it would be until the current step number equals the total
number of steps), the macro will branch back to the Loop label, starting the loop again.

Input SELBYP

In this case, we provide the After drawing all the step LINEs, we just need to draw some edges for the staircase. We do
command with: this by creating offset copies of the guide entity. First, this line changes the select by setting
varStepWidth/2 (half of the to previous, meaning that any time a command needs an entity to act upon, it will
total width of the staircase), automatically use the last entity to have been selected, prior to the command. In this case,
varEntity (the guide entity), the last entity to have been selected is our guide entity.
and REF varP1 <varB1+90,1 OFFSETCPY (varStepWidth/2) varEntity REF varP1 <varB1+90,1
(a point on one side of the
entity, using the last value OFFSETCPY requires three pieces of input - the distance of the offset, the entity to be copied,
for varP1 (100% along the and a point that indicates on which side of the original entity to copy
entity) as a reference, the OFFSETCPY (varStepWidth/2) varEntity REF varP1 <varB1-90,1
last value for varB1 plus 90º
Creates another offset copy, this time on the other side of the guide entity.
as an angle, and an arbitrary
value of 1
:MacroDone

Another label. This one marks a place to which the macro can jump if the user fails to select
an entity. See the 10th line of this macro.
SELREST

This will restore the ‘select by’ settings that were in place before this macro ran. Otherwise,
the user of this macro would find that suddenly every command that requires an entity (like
ERASE, etc.) would automatically act upon the last selected entity (such as the last entity to
be drawn).
ECON

Turn on the echo feature of the command line. The macro is over, and now the user will be
able to see text that is entered at the command line.
ENDM

Add a couple of blank lines here, and that’s it. We’re done.

340
CliffFace Macro Deconstruction
The CliffFace macro is an example of attention to detail. Instead of using a jagged line to depict a Cliff Face
cliff drop-off, or the wall of a natural cave, this macro will create an 'artistic' rendering of a broken, This macro was written to
stone cliff face. The macro uses a 'guide' entity to trace the cliff along; a line, curve or smooth path create a cliff face in an old-
will do. There are a few advanced macro features at work here: the user can configure the macro, style CC2 vector map. If you
accepting customized settings for the colors used, and the general dimensions of the drawing. These try this macro, don’t expect
settings are even remembered from session to session. This macro also demonstrates two important a pretty cliff face that
uses of the RANDOM macro command: modifying the position of points to obtain a random blends in on a map using
placement, and using random variables to make decisions. raster artwork.
Even if the macro doesn’t
Presented below is a section by section breakdown of the inner workings of the CliffFace macro.
have the visual appeal on
Note that some long lines got wrapped in the text below. If you wish to copy this macro into your
most modern map, it still
CC3+ install, use the CliffFace.mac text file from the Macro tutorial directory.
serves as a nice tutorial on
Standard beginning to a macro: turn how to plan and construct
MACRO CliffFace
ecoff off the command line echo and the macros.
rdoff screen redraw. Drop a point in an out-
point 10001,10001;
golayer MacroConstruction of-the way place; we will use this at
the end for restoring the user's
drawing settings by way of the KEEP
command. Last, go to the
MacroConstruction layer; we'll
move the finish drawing to the current
layer once we're done, using that
point we dropped and the LIKE
command.

scriptm #vars-CliffFace.scr This section sets up the variables we

ifdef mcoCliffFaceVarsOK will need during the execution of the
mcoDoneVarCheck macro. First we load a script which
:mcoDefineVars
gv mcoCol1 250 holds the values that were used last
gv mcoCol2 251 time the macro ran. If this script file
gv mcoCol3 252 exists, it will load, amongst others, a
gv mcoCOut 0
gcol mcoCol1 ^DColor 1: (250) variable called 'mcoCliffFaceVarsOK'.
gcol mcoCol2 ^DColor 2: (251) After attempting to load the script file,
gcol mcoCol3 ^DColor 3: (252)
gcol mcoCOut ^DOutline color: (0) we check to see if this
gv mcoCW 6 'mcoCliffFaceVarsOK' variable exists
gv mcoCW ^DCliff Width: (6) (IFDEF command), which indicates
gv mcoCW mcoCW/2
gv mcoVA .5 whether we have our set of
gv mcoVA ^DWidth variance: (.5) predefined variables in memory or
gv mcoSL 10 not.
gv mcoSL ^DSegment length: (10)
gw mcoCliffFaceVarsOK OK
savevars #vars-CliffFace If we do, then the macro asks the user
go mcoStart if they would like to use the saved
:mcoDoneVarCheck values. If so, the macro skips the rest
gv mcoUseDefault 1
gv mcoUseDefault ^Duse saved settings? (1=yes - of this section and continues. If the
default - click) (0=no) user does not want to use the saved
ifz mcoUseDefault setting, or if the settings are not in
mcoDefineVars
memory at all, then the macro
proceeds to prompt the user for all the
necessary variable values. Note that
we first set a default value before
asking the user. This is not only good
manners, but it also saves us from
potential problems if the user chooses
not to enter any values at the
prompts.

341
 :mcoStart Here's where the real work begins.
ge mcoentity ^DSelect object to draw a Since the macro is going to 'crawl'
cliff/cave wall along: alone a guide entity, we are going to
iferr mcodone
gdist mcoentitylen % 0 mcoentity % .1 mcoentity have to use a loop. But first, there are
gv mcoentitylen mcoentitylen*1000 a few things we have to do. That is
gv mcounit 100/mcoentitylen what this section does.
gv mcoCur 0
gp mcoP1 % 0 mcoentity
gbrng mcoB1 mcoP1 % .01 mcoentity To start with, we need to get the guide
RANDOM mcoR1 entity. We prompt the user for the
RANDOM mcoR2 object to use as a guide, checking
gp mcoPa ref mcoP1 <mcoB1+90,((mcoR1-
.5)*(mcoCW*mcoVA))+mcoCW afterward (with the IFERR statement) if
gp mcoPa2 mcoPa they really clicked on something. If
gp mcoPb ref mcoP1 <mcoB1-90,((mcoR2- they did not, the script jumps to the
.5)*(mcoCW*mcoVA))+mcoCW
gp mcoPb2 mcoPb end (see below). If they did select
color 0 something, then we need to get a few
lwidth 0
fstyle solid bits of information before we proceed
selbyp with the loop.

We need the overall length of the

entity. We could use the GLEN
command to determine this, but for
various reasons that I won't go into
here, there is a less accurate, but more
stable way of getting this value, even
GLEN on curvy entities. We can
Get Length. Stores the approximate the length of an entity by
length of an object in a measuring a very small part of it, then
variable. extrapolating that distance along the
entire entity. We get two points: one
at the 0% mark, and the second at the
.1% mark. Even very curvy entities
will probably have very little curving
if you look a small segment, only
1/1000th of the total length.

Since we will be crawling along this entity using the '% Along' modifier, we now need to know how
to express our linear distances as a percentage of the entities total length. We'll do this by
determining the percentage for 1 unit (by dividing 100% by the overall length), then later we can
use this value ('mcoUnit') to multiply with other distances to calculate their relative percentage.

Next we set up our first 4 reference points, ready for entering into the loop. mcoPa and mcoPb are
two corners of the poly that makes up a segment of the drawing. mcoPa2 and mcoPb2 are used for
the 'chip' polys that can be added to the drawing. More on that later. Note that we are using two
random values to set these points up. This means that the exact position of these points will be
different each time the macro is run; even it is run on the exact same guide entity. Random values
are the best way to add some variation to macro generated drawings.

Last, we set up our starting drawing settings: color, line width and style, and select mode 'Previous'.

:mcoLOOP1 Now, we start the loop.

Loop
Once we start the loop, Each time through the loop (or 'iteration'), the macro draws one segment of the cliff wall. As you
these points will be can see by the macro deconstruction diagram, each segment consists of a 4 sided polygon,
recalculated each time we randomly colored, and the possibility of a second 'chip' poly on the edge of the segment, simulating
repeat, but for the first time a broken corner.
though we must set them up Figuring out where are all the points of these polys will go is not a simple task.
manually.

342
RANDOM mcoR1 Grab some random values; we will
RANDOM mcoR2 use these from modifying the position
RANDOM mcoR3 of points, and for making random
RANDOM mcoR4
RANDOM mcoR5 decisions.

gv mcoCur As we crawl along the guide entity,

mcoCur+(((mcoR1*mcoSL)+(mcoSL*.3))*mcoUnit) we use a marker to keep track of
ifn 100-mcoCur mcoDONELOOP1 where we are. The variable 'mcoCur'
holds this position, expressed as a
percentage of the total length.

At the beginning of the loop, we advance this marker by adding a calculated value to itself. The
amount to advance the marker is based on the user setting for the Segment Length. This value is
varied by up to 30% more, or up to 70% less by multiplying the 'mcoSL' variable with a random
value (from 0 to 1), then adding a fixed 30% of the Segment Length. Finally, we convert the value
to a percentage of the total guide entity length by multiplying with 'mcoUnit', calculated earlier. As
the macro continues, you will notice this technique for modifying values used often.

After advancing the counter, we check to see if it is now larger than 100. (remember, this part of
the macro will be executed over and over again) If so, then we have reached then end of the guide
entity (over 100% along the guide), then we quit the loop by jumping to the end of it. See the section
'DONELOOP1' below.

gbrng mcoB1 mcoP1 % mcoCur+.01 mcoentity Using our newly advanced position
gp mcoP1 % mcoCur mcoentity marker, we calculate the bearing
gp mcoP2 ref mcoP1 <mcoB1-180,(mcoR2*3) (mcoB1) of the guide entity at the
ifn mcoR3-.5 mcoControl1
gp mcoP2 % mcoCur mcoentity position of the marker. We also
gp mcoP1 ref mcoP2 <mcoB1-180,(mcoR2*3) establish two points on the guide,
'mcoP1' and 'mcoP2', slightly offset
from each other. Again, we use a
random value to calculate these
points.

We also make a 'random' decision here: after setting P1 and P2, 50% chance we leave them alone,
50% chance we swap the two points. We occasionally swap the points so that P1 is not always
further along than P2, thus preventing the end of the segment from slanting the same way every
time.

Here we get the segment endpoints Swap the Points

:mcoControl1
gp mcoPc ref mcoP1 <mcoB1-90,((mcoR4- (Pc and Pd). We use P1 and P2 as Why do we do this? We
.5)*(mcoCW*mcoVA))+mcoCW references, obtaining points at an need these two points to
gp mcoPd ref mcoP2 <mcoB1+90,((mcoR5-
.5)*(mcoCW*mcoVA))+mcoCW angle perpendicular to the guide (at later establish the two end
that point, using the bearing B1 we points of the segment poly.
calculated earlier), and a distance By offsetting these points,
based on the user preferences for the we create a segment end
cliff width, modified by random that is not necessarily
values. perpendicular to the guide
entity.
poly mcoPa mcoPb mcoPc mcoPd; Finally, we draw the poly. Points
mcoPa and mcoPb are left over from
the last iteration of the loop (or set
manually before the loop begins,
depending on if this the first time
through). Pa and Pb are set at the end
of the loop, and are essentially points
Pc and Pd from the previous iteration.
This way, each segment joins with the
preceding one.

343
 RANDOM mcoR1 Another random decision. This time,
changec2 mcoCol1 we are setting the color of the poly we
ifn mcoR1-.3 mcoColBreak1 just created. We change it to Color 1,
changec2 mcoCol2
ifn mcoR1-.6 mcoColBreak1 then test a random variable to see if it
changec2 mcoCol3 is less than .3 (mcoR1-.3). If so (30%
:mcoColBreak1 chance), then jump to the end of this
section (ColBreak1). If not, we
continue, changing the color again,
this time to Color 2. And again, we
test: if the same random variable is
less than .6 (30% chance, since we
know that it is more then .3), then we
jump to ColBreak1. If we are still here
(40% chance) then we change the
color one final time to Color 3. By
testing a single random variable for
different value ranges, we cause the
macro to perform any number of
possible outcomes.

RANDOM mcoRTEST Random decision: do we draw a 'chip'

ifn mcoRTEST-.8 mcoBreak2 on one side of this segment (20%), on
the other side (20%), or no chip at all
gbrng mcoBbc mcoPb mcoPc
gdist mcoDbc mcoPb mcoPc (60%) for this segment.
gbrng mcoBba mcoPb mcoPa
gdist mcoDba mcoPb mcoPa If the first test fails (20%), we draw the
RANDOM mcoR1 'chip' here. We get points around the
RANDOM mcoR2
poly ref mcoPb left end of the segment, and draw a
<mcoBba,(mcoDba*mcoR1*.5)+(mcoDba*.3) mcoPb2 poly to represent the 'chip'. Then we
mcoPb ref mcoPb set the color of that poly using the
<mcoBbc,((mcoDbc*mcoR2*.3)+(mcoDbc*.1))*(mcoCW/1
0); same random method described
above. Last, we jump to the end of the
RANDOM mcoR1 'chip' drawing section (Break3, below).
changec2 mcoCol1
ifn mcoR1-.3 mcoColBreak2
changec2 mcoCol2 If the test is true (80%) then we jump
ifn mcoR1-.6 mcoColBreak2 to the next section.
changec2 mcoCol3
:mcoColBreak2
go mcoBreak3

:mcoBreak2 Just like the section above, we test the

ifn mcoRTEST-.6 mcoBreak3 random variable. If the test passes
gbrng mcoBad mcoPa mcoPd (60%), then jump to the end of the
gdist mcoDad mcoPa mcoPd
gbrng mcoBab mcoPa mcoPb section. If not (20%), then draw the
gdist mcoDab mcoPa mcoPb chip as above, only on the right end of
RANDOM mcoR1 the segment. Then set the color, as
RANDOM mcoR2
poly ref mcoPa before.
<mcoBab,(mcoDab*mcoR1*.5)+(mcoDab*.3) mcoPa2
mcoPa ref mcoPa
<mcoBad,((mcoDad*mcoR2*.3)+(mcoDad*.1))*(mcoCW/1
0);
RANDOM mcoR1
changec2 mcoCol1
ifn mcoR1-.3 mcoBreak3
changec2 mcoCol2
ifn mcoR1-.6 mcoBreak3
changec2 mcoCol3

344
:mcoBreak3 This section is tricky. Here we are
gbrng mcoBda mcoPd mcoPa preparing for the next time through
gdist mcoDda mcoPd mcoPa the loop. You may have noticed that
gbrng mcoBcb mcoPc mcoPb
gdist mcoDcb mcoPc mcoPb in the 'chip' drawing sections above,
RANDOM mcoR1 we make reference to some points:
gp mcoPa2 ref mcoPd mcoPa2 and mcoPb2. These points
<mcoBda,((mcoDda*mcoR1*.3)+(mcoDda*.1))*(mcoCW/1
0) are based on the previous segment of
gp mcoPb2 ref mcoPc the drawing, so here we set up the
<mcoBcb,((mcoDcb*mcoR1*.3)+(mcoDcb*.1))*(mcoCW/1
0) points in case the next segment needs
them for drawing 'chips'.

When you create loops like this one,

often your macro will need
information from the previous
iterations of the loop. In those cases,
you need to plan ahead, and set up
variables like these to carry those
values into the next loop.

gp mcoPa mcoPd Our loop is almost done. We want the

gp mcoPb mcoPc ends of the drawing segments to
go mcoLOOP1 match each other, so we set up the
first two points of the next segment
poly (Pa and Pb) to be the same as the
last two points from this segment.

Now, we go back to the beginning of

the loop.

:mcoDONELOOP1 Here is where we go when the loop is

gp mcoP1 % 100 mcoentity done. But the macro is not over; there
gp mcoPc ref mcoP1 <mcoB1-90,((mcoR4- is still work to be done. Just because
.5)*(mcoCW*mcoVA))+mcoCW
gp mcoPd ref mcoP1 <mcoB1+90,((mcoR5- our guide marker has advanced
.5)*(mcoCW*mcoVA))+mcoCW beyond the end of the guide entity, it
poly mcoPa mcoPb mcoPc mcoPd; doesn't mean that the last segment
RANDOM mcoR1
changec2 mcoCol1 reaches to the end of the guide. The
ifn mcoR1-.3 mcodone last segment is still short. We have to
changec2 mcoCol2
ifn mcoR1-.6 mcodone now draw a single segment to
changec2 mcoCol3 complete the gap between the end of
the last segment from the loops, and
the end of the guide.

We calculate the two end points Pc

and Pd using the end of the guide as a
reference, and draw the poly. The
color is set in the same way as all the
other times.

345
 :mcodone Now, all that is left to do is clean up.
selby1
keep 10001,10001 The KEEP command sets CC3+'s
selbyl drawing settings to the same as the
changel MacroConstruction point we dropped at the beginning of
like
10001,10001 the macro. Next, we move everything
selbyp on the 'MacroConstruction' layer to
group
selby1 the same layer as the point (the same
erase 10001,10001 layer that the user was on when the
selrest macro began). Then we group
rdon
econ everything that we just moved.
ENDM
Finally, delete the point, restore the
'select by' method that was set before
the macro started, and turn on screen
redraw and command line echo.

And that's it.

Great Britain
Great Britain is a detailed
relief map of Britain
exported from the real
world data included with
Fractal Terrains. Using real
world data is explained in
Worlds from Real World
Data on page 718.
Great Britain is available in
the ProFantasy Download
Library.

346
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
One of the primary additional resources for DD3 is Symbol Set 2: Fantasy Floorplans. This symbol
set brings new map styles to your DD3 experience, enabling you to create dungeon maps, floor
plans and battle maps in a variety of new styles. Likewise, Symbol Set 4: Dungeons of Schley bring
new style to your repertoire.

Symbol Set 3: Modern contains the tools to draw floor plans in a modern style, and Cosmographer
3 allows the same for futuristic floor plans. Neither of these two needs DD3 to function, but they
offer the possibility of creating the same types of maps for other settings.

Three of the Source Maps products, namely Castles, Cities and Temples, Tombs & Catacombs
also contain a lot of floor plans for buildings and dungeons. Community Members
By community members, I
Community Symbols am referring to the mapping
community here, not just
You can find a lot of images on the net that you can use as a basis for DD3 symbols, but there are the Campaign Cartographer
also a couple of community packs out there. These are images that are made, collected, processed community. In particular,
and organized by talented community members, and provided with symbol catalogs, menu entries members of the Dundjinni
and everything needed to integrate them properly into DD3, just like one of the symbol sets. and Fractal Mapper
community have been
Obviously, since these packs are not made by ProFantasy, ProFantasy have no official support for
invaluable in the creation of
them, nor are they responsible for any issues related to their use. Feel free to discuss these in the
these packs, and while I link
official ProFantasy forums however, and get help from the community.
to the CC3+ version here,
Note that these packs do not use the same license as CC3+, so make sure you read the individual these packs also exists for
licenses of each pack to learn how you are legally allowed to use them. Dundjinni and Fractal
Mapper.
CSUAC

This is a huge collection of floorplan-level symbol. Originally created

for the Dundjinni software, these can also be used in CC3+. Read this
forum post for how to install this pack into CC3+.

http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=6307

Bogie’s Mapping Objects

This is a large collection of beautiful floorplan level symbols created

by artist Bogie. Because this pack is created by a single artist, the
symbols are of a consistent style and contains everything needed
for complete maps. This forum post provides the details for
downloading and installing this pack.

http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=6129

Dundjinni Archives

Another huge collection of symbols originally created by Dundjinni

users, and collected into an installable package for CC3+.

http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=6553

347
 Annuals
If you are looking for additional DD3 resources among the annuals, you are in luck, because there
is quite a bit of interesting material in there.

Fantasy Tavern [March 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 3}

This issue provides you with a complete, ready to use map of a

fantasy tavern, along with a guide that helps you get the most out
of effects on floorplans.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/march07.html

Parchment & Paper [June 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 6}

This issue provides you with the tools and backgrounds to make
maps on parchment.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/june07.html

Caves and Caverns [July 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 7}

This contains the tools and artwork to map two different styles of
caves in DD3, one in the standard DD3 style, while the other style is
suitable for modern cave maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/july07.html

Cathedral [October 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 10}

This issue contains the detailed floorplan of a gothic cathedral using

SS2 symbols.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/october07.html

Connecting Symbols [November 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 11}

This issue goes into details on the creation of connecting symbols.

These symbols can often be used as an alternative to drawing tools,
for example for creating a river or wagon tracks. Connecting
symbols are also discussed on page 123 of this tome.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/november07.html

348
Create your own Style Pack [December 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 12}

This annual issue focuses on the process of creating a new drawing

style. It uses an old-school dungeon style as an example, but the
lessons learned apply equally to all kinds of maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/december07.html

Symbol Catalogs [February 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 14}

In this annual symbol creation for CC3, DD3, and CD3 is explained
in further detail.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/february08.html

Lighted Dungeons [July 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 19}

Lighted dungeons introduced the concepts of light sources

generating shadows in dungeons. This concept is now a standard
feature in DD3, but it was originally introduced with this annual. The
annual is still useful, as it creates menu items for this features, as
well as containing a guide for using lights.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/july08.html

Battle Maps [September 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 21}

This issue focuses on creating battle maps to be used with

miniatures.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/september08.html

Sailing Ships [March 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 27}

With this issue you can create detailed deck plans for sailing ships.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/march09.html

Print and Export [July 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 31}

Here we take a closer look at various ways of printing and exporting

your maps for various uses, for example for use as a battle map,
either for use with miniatures, or for use in a virtual table top
program.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/july09.html

349
 Side Views [December 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 36A}

This issue provides tools and guides on how to create side views
and cross-section maps for buildings.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/december09.html

Battle Tiles [December Extra 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 36B}

This issue contains a tutorials and templates to create battle tiles,

printable dungeon tiles that can be used to assemble a dungeon for
miniature play.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/special09.html

Dungeon Geomorphs [March 2010 (Vol 4)] {Issue 39}

With this issue, you get new dungeon geomorphs for quickly
creating your dungeons.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/march10.html

Castle Walls [October 2010 (Vol 4)] {Issue 46}

This issue contains new drawing commands that make creating

complex castle wall shapes very easy.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/october10.html

B&W Dungeons [December 2010 (Vol 4) {Issue 48}

This is a black and white dungeon style. This style works excellently
with printing and publication.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/december10.html

Dungeon Symbols [February 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 50}

This is a huge collection of new dungeon symbols for your maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/february11.html

350
1930s Travel Guide [April 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 52}

This is a floor plan style inspired by travel guides from the 1930s.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/april11.html

Jon Roberts Dungeons [June 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 54}

This is a new dungeon drawing style containing new templates,

symbols and fills.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/june11.html

Vertical Dungeons [August 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 56}

Did you believe the only way to map a dungeon was from above?
Think again, and prepare to dive into vertical mapping.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/august11.html

Moe’s Dive [November 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 59}

This detailed floor plan and street map of a seedy tavern combines
DD3 and CD3 features for creating a street map for miniature use.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/november11.html

Diorama Dungeon Tiles [January 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 61}

This pack provides geomorphic tiles that can be printed both for a
flat dungeon map, but also in Diorama style.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/january12.html

351
 Herwin Wielink Isometric Dungeons [June 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue
66}

This style pack allows you to create your dungeons in a nice

isometric view.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/june12.html

HighSpace SciFi Tiles [July 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 67}

This style pack contains the fills and symbols for creating futuristic
floorplans.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/july12.html

HighSpace SciFi Tiles – Aliens [October 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 70}

This annual adds additional symbols and fill styles for your futuristic
needs.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/october12.html

Pär Lindström’s Black and White Dungeons [October 2013 (Vol

7)] {Issue 82}

This annual will provide you with a Black and White dungeon style.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/october13.html

Black and White Battlemaps [June 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 90}

With the resources from this annual you can easily create black and
white battle maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/june14.html

Dwarven Dungeons [October 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 94}

This annual provides additional symbols matching the Symbol Set 4

style, but it can also be used without SS4.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/october14.html

352
OSR Dungeon Maps [January 2015 (Vol 9)] {Issue 97}

This style pack allows you to draw dungeons in an old-school

design.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/january15.html

Deluxe Battle Maps [December 2015 (Vol 9)] {Issue 108}

This tutorial packs contains tips and tricks for creating better battle
maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/december 15.html

1800s Floorplans [April 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 112}

This annual provides a combined map and style pack for creating
architectural drawings of period buildings, ideal for many games of
the horror-genre.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/april16.html

Naomi VanDoren’s Floorplans [May 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 113}

This style pack contains a beautiful new floorplan style.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/may16.html

City Streets [September 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 117}

This style is designed for a high-detail view of your city streets, for
example to use as battle maps, but it is also well suited for mapping
whole cities.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/september16.html

Horror House [October 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 118}

This black and white style allows you to design indoor floorplans
suited for horror and mystery genres.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/october16.html

353
 Wizard’s Tower [February 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 122}

This map and tutorial pack focuses on updating old maps.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/february17.html

Munson’s Mines [May 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 125}

This symbol pack by Jon C Munson II is designed to fit in with the

Mike Schley symbols from SS4.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/may17.html

Village Battle Maps [November 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 131}

This issue provides you with a nice collection of battle maps ready
for use.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/november17.html

Dungeon Walls [February 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 134}

This issue provides tools for making walls much more interesting
and better-looking.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/february18.html

Curse of the Lich King [March 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 135}

This map pack comes with all the maps needed for a complete
adventure.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/march18.html

354
APPENDIX A: DD3 COMMAND REFERENCE
This table gives you a list of all DD3’s commands. Note that this section only lists the commands that are added by DD3. The
general CC3+ commands are listed on page 223, you can also check back there for an explanation of the columns in this
table.

Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro

Add Walls Add dungeon walls to DDADDWALLS selectedEntities Yes
a polygon. Wall style
will be the same as
configured for
rooms/corridors
Corridor Draw a dungeon Dungeon menu CORRIDOR No
corridor with walls → Add
and floor. Can Corridor CORRIDORM xyStart(B,C);xyEnd1(Ctrl,Shift,B,C);…;xyEndN Yes
connect to other
rooms and corridors Dungeon tools
and break walls → Add
Corridor button
Floor Options Configure the floor DDFLOOR sFillForeground[Dialog];nColorForeground[Dialog];sFillBackgro Yes
properties for the und[Dialog];nColorBackground[Dialog]
room/corridor
commands
Room Draw a dungeon room ROOM No
with configurable
walls and floors ROOMM nType<1- Yes
4>;(xyCorner1;xyCorner2;…;…;xyCornerN;xyCornerM)/(xyCorner1;
xyCorner2;xyCorner3;…;…;…;xyCornerN;xyCornerM;xyCornerO)/(x
yCenter1;xyPoint1(Shift)/rRadius1;…;…;xyCenterN;xyPointN/xyR
adiusN)/((xyNode1;xyNode2;…;xyNodeN);…;(xyNode1;xyNode2;…;x
yNodeN))
Wall Options Configure the wall DDWALL rWidth[Prior];nColorWall[Dialog];nYesNoNoWallEnds[Prior] Yes
properties for the
room/corridor
commands

Draped Cartouche
This is a close-up detail
view of a draped cartouche
made by Allyn Bowker
using basic Campaign
Cartographer drawing
techniques and converted
into a symbol.
A shaded varicolor version
is available in the
@Examples\Tome\Other\
ABDrapedCartouche.FSC
symbol catalog

355
 Egyptian Tomb
This drawing depicting the inside of an Egyptian Pyramid was made by Joachim de Ravenbel in Perspectives 3. The main image (upper left) was made entirely in
Perspectives 3, but using some custom symbols and fills, while the lights and shadows where added using post-production techniques in external programs.
Check out his highly recommended tutorials on https://jdr68.jimdo.com/

356
CITY DESIGNER 3
 Gwynnin
This city map in City Designer 3 style was released as part of the 2008 annual. It was released before City Designer 3 itself, to showcase the
upcoming add-on. The map file is available in the 2008 annual. The annual also contains all the symbols and fills for this map, allowing it to be
used even without owning CD3.

358
INTRODUCTION
City Designer 3™ (CD3™) is the ultimate add-on to Campaign
Cartographer 3+ for designing settlements of any size, from small
villages to huge cities. CD3 contains the tools to map a city down to
the individual street level and up to overview maps of complete cities.

CD3 contains house symbols in many different styles, ensuring that

your houses match the culture of the setting, as well as ensuring
variety of cities.

Furthermore, with tools such as the random street generator, CD3 lets
you create large cities with a minimum of effort. There is no need to
individually select and place every house in your city, although you
can obviously plan and place all the important buildings yourself.

Using City Designer 3

As with most the add-ons, the CD3 menus and toolbars should load
automatically when you load or start a new CD3 map. If you ever find
yourself with the wrong toolset, you can click the City Menu button to load the toolbars.

The city designer toolbars

House Default Road
Bitmap A Style Catalogs
Random Street Floorplan
Bitmap B Style Catalogs
Color layers Create Index

Grid All City Drawing Tools

Symbol Catalog Settings Symbol Style Toggle Default / Miscellaneous

Fantasy / Hovel

The symbol toolbar works a little bit different than you might be used Igloo / Nomad
to from core CC3 and other add-ons. While the buttons normally load
symbol catalogs based on the current master filter, these buttons do Modern Blue / Grey / Red
not behave quite like this.

The two leftmost buttons load the Bitmap A and Bitmap B style Vehicles / Roads
symbols respectively. A click on either of these buttons will list all the
catalogs available in this style. Thatched / Gothic

The rest of the buttons are used to load the vector style symbols. Each
Classic / Middle East
button is associated with at least two different symbol catalogs, and
clicking the button repeatedly will toggle which of these catalogs are
Orc / Halfling / Elf
shown in the symbol catalog window. You can also right-click any of
the buttons to select the desired catalog directly from a pop-up menu.
Skyscrapers / Modern

Futuristic / Cyberpunk / Moon

359
 CREATING A CITY
In this tutorial, I will take you through
the design and creation of a somewhat
large city, Snowport on the south-east
coast of Windclaw.

Planning the City

I have previously talked about the
importance of planning your map
before you draw it. With a city, this is
doubly important. While you can draw
a small village without thinking too
much beforehand, you should never
just start on a larger city before
knowing in what direction you wish to
take it. So, what do we need to think
about?

The following paragraphs talks a little

about issues to think about before planning the city, and some words about how Snowport handles
all of this. Note that the text is by no means exhaustive, and there are a lot more issues to consider
when it comes to making a complete and believable city, but these points should help you get
started.

Type of City
Which type of city is this? One of the important reasons people moved to cities was to find work
there. If there weren’t any work, people would never come, and the city wouldn’t form in the first
place. Many cities are therefore located around places that generate work. For example, a place
with a good natural harbor (or the best harbor in the area) offers lots of opportunities. Fishermen will
come, because they need a harbor for their boats. A port will be used by cargo ships coming to the
area; either they have cargo for the city itself, or to be shipped inland. These ships need dock
workers to load and unload the ships. The port will also attract traders to trade with the ships. Ships
will need repair, so the city finds work for shipwrights, sail makers and blacksmiths. As the number
of these people grows their need for services grow, which will bring various businesses to the city,
and more and more people actually find work supporting the other people in the city.

A mining town will have a similar basic history. Starting with miners and metalworkers, basic
support facilities followed by traders and additional support facilities.

Another reason for forming a city is defensibility. It is much easier to defend a city than a large
sparsely populated area, especially if you add city walls and fortifications.

On the other hand, you won’t find a city whose core business is farming. Farming by its very nature
needs large open fields to grow produce, and the farmers need to live close to their fields so they
don’t have to spend most of the day just travelling out to them. Farmers typically live on individual
farms or clustered in small villages. If these villages grow to cities, it is on the expense of the farming,
not in support of it.

Modern cities are no exception to this, but most of them have replaced their original reasons for
existing with new ones. But remember, even modern cities are more than just people storage.

When planning a city, you should think of the primary reason for the city to exist. The original reason
has probably been watered down over time, so you might need to consider both the reason for the
forming of the city, and the reason for its continued existence today.

As already stated, we will be using Snowport for our tutorial. Snowport was the first city founded
on the Windclaw Isle. The location was selected because of the natural harbor located here. This
harbor was the ideal location for ships to land troops and cargo, and it didn’t take long after the first

360
ships arrived before proper docks and facilities were set up. Because of the excellent harbor, and
the fact that is the only real harbor on the Windclaw Isles that doesn’t freeze over on normal winters,
all cargo and people going to and from the mainland soon passed through Snowport, which only
served to increase the growth of the city. Windclaw at the time of settling was a dangerous place,
and to keep out undesirables, mostly monsters, Snowport was also fortified with a city wall, making
it a military stronghold as well as an important port.

History
By deciding the type of city, we already started to explore the history of the city. But you should dig
deeper, exploring events that could affect the design and layout of your city. For example, have
there been any wars? Perhaps these wars destroyed part of the city.

Does the city have city walls? If so, how old are they? If the city walls are quite old, it is likely that
the city have outgrown them, leading to part of the city being outside the walls. Perhaps multiple
walls have been built over time to support the ever-growing city. There is also a good change that
old city walls have been torn down to provide building materials for the expanding city.

Did the king live in the city at any point? Kings, higher nobles and other rulers tend to build great
palaces which remain in the city even if their ruler does not live there anymore. These buildings
might then have been converted to administrative use at a later time.

How old is the city? A city usually has buildings from all the various time periods in which it has
existed. An old city will have a mix of new and old buildings, sometimes intermixed, other times
more clearly separated in city quarters.

Snowport has a rich history. It was founded close to 400 years ago, when settlers from the mainland
first came to the Windclaw Isles. A proper dock was constructed almost immediately, and a small
village grew up around it, providing services to the ships and their crews. As time passed, more and
more people and cargo started to pass through the city, providing a boost in the need for ship
services, warehousing, food and lodging. What once was a small dockside village grew into a
moderately sized city.

When humans settled Windclaw, the elves and dwarves were already in decline, providing little or
no resistance to humans claiming their former lands. In fact, those lands were mostly already
overrun with monster, both tribal societies like goblinoid, as well as the more feral predators. Early
life was not easy, seeing many monster incursions into the young city. Thus, a city wall was built.
Originally, it was built with lot of ample space, to allow for growth, but as the city grew, it has come
to completely fill this area. Because of dangers still lurking on the isle, the populace has been
hesitant about building outside the wall, although in later times, King Godar Eralin has made a good
job of keeping the countryside clear, and it is only a matter of time before people starts building
outside the safety of the city walls.

Terrain, environment and climate

Another important factor for the city is the surrounding terrain. Is it located on a flat plain, or is it
sprawled across a steep hillside? How is the weather and temperature? Is there a river running
straight through the city? Is it located in a desert where water is a rare commodity, or do we see
2250 mm rain a year (Actual data from my hometown). All of these factors affect the design of
your city. For example, if there are long periods without water, the city might have large reservoirs
to trap the water when it rains, for use in the dry months. If it rains all year round, this is hardly a
concern, and people might be more interested in protecting themselves from large amounts of Located
water instead, by walling off and securing areas that are prone to landslides. Using the Distance
command, we get that
I won’t even try to list all the possibilities here, as they are countless. But I want you to think through
Snowport is about 50 miles
this, and come up with various issues for your city regarding these factors.
away from the nearest hill
Looking at the local overland map we made earlier (@Tutorials\Tome\Overland\King’s symbol.
Coast.FCW), we can see that Snowport is located quite a bit away from the hilly region. What’s
more, there is a river between Snowport and the hills, and since rivers run towards the lowland, it
doesn’t make sense for it to run into the sea in the middle of a hilly region. From this, we can

361
 conclude that Snowport is located on rather flat terrain. This doesn’t have to mean perfectly flat
obviously, coastlines rarely are.

North For our climate, let us again refer to the overland map. If we look at the forests we made, we’ll see
that there are some mixed forests consisting of both coniferous and deciduous trees near the
Since I live on the northern
southern end of the island, but most of the island is dominated by coniferous forests. There are some
hemisphere myself, it feels
farming areas near the city, but they are rather small in the big picture. From this, we can conclude
more natural for me to think
that we are quite a way north, probably similar to Norway on Earth. The trees and farms, as well as
cold north, warm south, so I
the rivers and swamp also indicate that there seem to be a reasonable amount of rain here. We can
am assuming Windclaw is
also assume that the island experience a full range of seasons. We don’t need to know the exact
on the northern hemisphere
details, but this map analysis has given us some ideas about our city.
as well.
Obviously, this entire analysis was just an exercise to help us determine the characteristics of the
city. I already know exactly where it is located, down to the latitude/longitude thanks to creating
this world in Fractal Terrains 3. You’ll find the world file in @Tutorials\Tome\FT\Virana.FTW.

Size
Before we start drawing, we also need to know a bit about the size of our city. Actual size obviously
depends on the number of inhabitants, but that is not the only factor. Standard of living and family
sizes are also very important here. If the standard of living is high, each family generally takes up
Each
more space than with a lower standard. Obviously, the standard does not need to be equal all over
While 100m2 immediately your city, so you will probably have districts of varying standards. The average family size is also
sounds like a lot of space, often a factor of the standard, but it is also helpful to look at it separately. If the average family size
remember that this figure is 3, you need double the amount of living units compared to a family size of 6. That family of 6
also includes the space they might have a bigger house than the family of 3, but probably not twice as big.
take up at work and their
share of public areas, like The type of housing is also important. Modern New York have ~8 million inhabitants just in the city
shops, parks, streets and so itself, taking up an area of ~800 km2. That is a population density of 10,000/km2, or 0.01/m2.
on. Obviously, each person takes up more than 100m2 each, and a look at a picture of New York
immediately reveal how this is possible. Most of New York is tall skyscrapers with tens of floors
each. If you are designing a medieval city, you obviously can’t have houses as tall as you would find
in modern New York (and neither would you have a population that large), but each extra floor in
the average house of your city will severely impact the required area needed for your city. To get a
Ground Area ballpark value for this area, multiply the average family size with the number of floors in the average
home, then divide this value by the average apartment size. Now, take the population of your city,
If you compare this number
and divide it by this number. That is the area of your city reserved for housing alone. You can at
to the New York number
least double this to get a size that includes streets, businesses, warehouses and so on. Even if many
above, it might seem that
of your citizens operated their business out of their own homes, that usually meant that their homes
Snowport is impossible
were larger than average, to accommodate the business needs.
tightly packed. There are
two factors here. First, When assigning the population level, keep in mind that most medieval cities were nowhere near
remember the number here today’s numbers. For example, London in the year 1300 had a population of about 80,000, a huge
is for housing alone, the city by the standards of the time. Today, the city itself is about 100 times that value, or over 150
New York number was times the value if you count the entire metropolitan area.
based on the entire city size,
Windclaw is a big island, but it is sparsely populated, so it doesn’t make sense with a huge
including businesses and
metropolis here. For Snowport, about 25,000 people sound right. Snowport will have city walls, and
public areas, both of which
since everyone wants to live inside the walls the living spaces is cramped. Let us assume a family
are enormous compared to
size of 4, which shares on average 30m2. Average number of floors is 3 (some houses are taller, but
similar facilities in a
there is also often a business on the bottom floor). This should result in a ground area of ~62,500m2
medieval city.
(about 670,000 sq. ft.) needed for housing alone.
Also, housing was much
more cramped in medieval
times, especially inside the Divisions
confines of a restricting city Many cities are divided into districts, where each district usually has a specific flavor and functions.
wall, many apartments Examples of this is the new district, the old district, the docks district, the market district, the noble
wasn’t more than a single district, the industrial district, the academic district, and so on. The districts vary from city to city,
room shared with the entire and each of them usually has some historical reason for becoming a district.
family.

362
The docks district for example, is normally the area close to the docks, and it is strongly influenced
by its business. The district tends to contain warehouses for the cargo for the ships, and lots of seedy
taverns frequented by the sailors currently in town, as well as dock workers. Housing is generally
cheap, but small and low standard.

When planning your districts, think of what kinds of houses and businesses belong in the area.
Which people live here? How do they live? Which people work here? Where do they work? Which
people tend to visit the district? Why are they visiting?

Snowport has been an important port from the earliest history of the city. So it is only natural that
there is large dock district here. Additionally, the King of the Isles has always lived in Snowport,
attracting the wealthier citizens to that part of the city, forming the government district. Around the
eastern gate in the city wall, we find the warriors district, named after the eastern gate, which is
again named the Warriors Gate because it was through this gate the city’s warrior would return
triumphantly after taking care of whatever threat the city was experiencing. Lastly, we have the
river district to the west, around the River Gate.

Mapping the City

Now that we have a plan, we are ready to start mapping
the city.

Now, where to start our mapping? I prefer to start

mapping a city by getting the bigger details into place,
like the terrain, and let the city flow around them rather
than shaping the terrain to the city.

Terrain
The most important terrain features of this particular city
are the coastline and river. We already established that
the city had a natural harbor, so let us ensure that our
coastline represents this.

If we look at the local map of the region, you can see that
the river seems to run just to the southwest of the city.
However, this is really just due to the fact that a symbol
on the overland map just represents the location of the
city, but doesn’t properly represent the exact dimensions
of the city. Additionally, it would have obscured the river
if I placed it on top of it, so I left it next to the river, but
when mapping the actual city, I fully intend to let the river
flow through it. The same is true with regards to the coastline. It looks bad if I try to place the
overland symbol on the actual coastline itself, and it makes the map harder to read. If I wanted the
overland map to be 100% exact in this matter, I would have needed to resort to a colored polygon CD3 Bitmap A
for my city instead of a symbol. For a modern type of map, that would probably have been the way I base this city on the CD3
to go, but for a fantasy map, we must often compromise a bit between visual looks and complete Bitmap A style, but I am
accuracy. going to use several
elements from the CD3
1. Start a new City map based on the CD3 Bitmap A style. Use a map size of 2000×1600 feet,
Bitmap B style too,
and use CD3B_Grass Dark 3 as the background fill. To follow along with my tutorial maps,
especially fills.
check out the numbered Snowport maps in @Tutorials\Tome\City.
Note that this style relies a bit on effects to make everything look right. The effect setting
CD3 Bitmap A should be loaded with the template, if not, you should load this setting. Do
note that this city map is much more resource demanding than any of the other maps we
have drawn so far in this book, so you may wish to leave effects disabled when drawing.
Additionally, if you feel things are going a bit slow, you may reduce the setting for the
Automatic bitmap quality under Speed Settings. Checking the various options under
Shading in this dialog also speeds up drawing considerably, at the expense of visual look.
Just remember to reset the settings before printing or exporting the map.

363
 Start with City Wall 2. Use the Water, Smooth drawing tool to add a coastline.
I start with the city wall Remember that this is an extreme close-up of the coastline
because I already have a compared to the King’s Coast local map, so we should add
rough vison on how this city additional details, but we should also give the local map a quick
looks. By starting with the glance to make sure we get the overall shape and positioning
city wall, I find it easier to correct.
show a city where the city Now, I also said that the river flows through the city, so we need to add
wall has been a limiting that. There are no separate drawing tools in this style to make larger
factor in expansion, which rivers, but neither do we need one, as we can continue using the same drawing tool as we did for
often was the case. the sea.
However, if you have not
3. Use the Water, Smooth drawing tool again to draw a river coming
decided on the layout of
in from the upper half of the left edge and running into the bay.
your city, you may find that
Remember that you now need to draw the river as a polygon,
building the city first, and
effectively drawing each river bank individually as opposed to
then encircling it with a wall
drawing a single line using the overland river drawing tools.
later may also work,
although this approach can In the screenshot to the right, I made the river pink to show
lead to an “unnatural” exactly how I drew it, but yours will be the same color as the sea.
spacious city. In the end, Note that I used the node edit tools (See page 50) to make the
choose the approach that river extend slightly beyond the map border. I did this because the river is set up with an
fits you and the current city edge effect, and I didn’t want that effect to appear where the river exited the map. Remember
best. that the white polygons on the SCREEN sheet will cover up anything that extends slightly
beyond the map border, so this part of the river will not be seen in the final map. Also note
Copy that you don’t need to be concerned by the edge where the river touches the ocean, since
the river and ocean will be one surface as far as effects are concerned.
For more details on how to
create and edit drawing
tools, see Editing and Partitioning the City
Creating Drawing Tools on From our discussion, we decided that the city should have a city wall,
page 141. and that it consists of 4 districts (docks district, government district,
warriors district and river district). I like to set up the area used by the
Merge Seamlessly city and the partitioning first, so that I know how to treat each area. Let
The reason for this behavior us start with the city wall.
is that the outline and main
There is a drawing tool called City Wall 20’, which is excellent for the
entity is on two different
wall itself. However, I do like to add some towers to my wall as well; something there is no drawing
sheets for this tool. This will
tool for. Fortunately, we can define our own drawing tools, so let us take care of this little issue
cause the outline for the
immediately.
walls to appear on top of
your tower walls, even if 4. Make a copy of the City Wall 20’ drawing tool, and name it City
you draw the tower on top Wall Tower. Edit your new drawing tool, and set the Draw method
of the wall. Just remember to Ellipse/Circle. Hit the Options button, and set Eccentricity to
to do a reload after placing 1.0. This will ensure that our towers are circular and not elliptical.
the tower to observe the Click the Properties button, and set the Width to the fixed value
behavior. of 8.0. Finally, click the Outline button, then the Properties button
in that dialog. Set the width of the outline to a fixed value of 0.0.
Construction Line That’s it. You now have a tower uses the exact same settings as
A construction line is a the rest of the wall. When placing a tower, simply draw it on top
temporary line used to aid of the wall where you want it, and it will merge seamlessly with
in drawing, but which is not the wall.
part of the final drawing. A
5. I also created a tool to draw simple gatehouses for the city gates.
construction line is usually
This tool is made the exact same way as the tower tool above, the
set up on its own layer so
only difference is that the Draw method is set to Path/polygon,
that it is easy to hide these
and the Closure option is set to Closed. If you wish to make perfect
lines. To make it contrast
rectangles with this tool, I recommend using some construction
with the map and easy to
lines first to set up the rectangle, then using these as a guide when
spot, I usually use bright
drawing the gatehouse (the Endpoint modifier is helpful here.)
green or pink for these lines.

364
 6. Draw the wall, towers and gates to surround the area
occupied by your city. I like to leave a little room
outside the city to show the surrounding area. This
also makes it easier to make the city the shape you
actually want, going to close to the map border often
results in an unnatural square city.
At this point, we also need to consider the size of the
city. You may remember from our deliberations
earlier that the city needed 670,000 sq. ft for housing
alone. This is just a ballpark value, and the size is also
influenced by other elements in the city. For
Measured
Snowport I am aiming for a city size of roughly 1 million square feet. Since my entire map is
4 million sq. ft (2000’x2000’), that means my city will take up roughly a quarter of the map. You can measure an area in
I measured the sea on my map and found it to be about 650,000 sq. ft., so the city should be CC3+ using the Area
roughly 50% larger than the sea, which gives us a nice visual clue to start with. command found in the Info
menu.
Don’t hesitate to draw your city wall multiple times until you find a shape you are happy
with.
Note that we just made a simple city wall here. If we look at the city walls of real world cities, we
Trace
often find that the city wall was built in stages, and old city walls were (partially) tore town when
the newer ones were built. This means that some cities have layers of city walls, from various Trace allows us to have a
periods in the city’s development. drawing tool follow the
outline of another entity
Before continuing, we should also indicate the separation between our districts. Depending on the exactly. The Big Edit -
geographical features of your city, these might be very clear separations, or they might be rather Making a Local Map from a
fuzzy. For the purpose of indicating the districts I prefer to use a construction line. When using a Regional Map on page 56
construction line, I normally just set the properties manually each time and just use the basic path includes a trace tutorial.
tool, but this style has a drawing tool for this purpose, called Construction, Default, which we can
use. You may wish to change their color though, I opted for purple to make them visible in my
screenshots.

7. Use the Construction, Default drawing tool to draw a construction

line that will divide the docks district from the rest of the city. For
this purpose, I elected to make a line roughly between my two
northerly city gates. I then made a line dividing off the west side
of the city, this will be the river district, and finally a line to the east
defining the warriors district.
For this city, these lines will only serve to provide a loose guideline, I am
not planning to have much variations between the different districts in
this city, but depending on the city, certain districts could have
larger/smaller buildings (differences in wealth, business districts), different architecture (Elventown,
the fantasy equivalent of Chinatown) or other variations.

Later, when you do not need the construction line anymore, instead of deleting it, just hide the
CONSTRUCTION layer.

I’d also like a different background color inside the city walls instead of the grass.

8. Change the current sheet to BACKGROUND CITY. Use the

Terrain, City Background Brown to draw a filled polygon within
the area bordered by the sea and the city walls.
The best way to draw this polygon is to use the trace
functionality of the drawing tool. Just place the first point inside
one of the towers next to the sea, then trace the city wall all the
way to the tower at the other end, and finally trace the coastline
back to the first tower. Just ignore the river
I prefer to have a slightly more textured background for the city,
saving the plain brown for roads and gathering places, so use
Change Properties to change the fill style of the newly create polygon to
CD3B_Earth_Brown_1.

365
 As a final touch before we start mapping the city proper I want to add a little beach to the coastline.
You can do this to a certain degree with effects from the sea, but I want something a little bigger
and bit more flexible. For example, since the actual harbor is a deep natural harbor, I want a more
sudden transition there than on the rest of the coastline.

So, to add a beach, I am simply going to use a polygon with a sand

fill. However, this map style doesn’t contain an appropriate fill style.
Fortunately, Dungeon Designer 3 comes with a fill style we can use.

9. Click the Fill Style indicator to the top left, and head to the
Dungeon Designer 3 Bitmap Files tab. Hit New to create a new fill style, and name
If you don’t own DD3, either it Sand. Make sure your new fill style is the currently selected
skip the beach, missing it one, then change the file to @Bitmaps\Tiles\Dungeon\DD3\
won’t affect the rest of the DD3 Color\Sand 1_LO.PNG and the Scaled values to 100’
tutorial, or import a sand each.
texture from another add- 10. Start by creating a new sheet called TERRAIN BEACH.
on or found on the internet. Position this between the FIELDS and WATER/RIVERS
sheets. Set this sheet as the current sheet, the current
fill style as Sand.
11. Use the Smooth Poly tool to draw a sandy polygon
around the lake, just a bit bigger than the lake itself.
Since we are going to use edge fade effects on this one,
it is important that you draw it a little bit outside the
map borders, or it will fade at the edge of the map,
which looks strange. Remember that anything you
draw outside the map border will be covered by the
white polygons on the SCREEN sheet.
12. Finally, use an Edge Fade, Inner effect on the TERRAIN
BEACH sheet, set the Edge Width to 50 units, Inner
Opacity to 75, Outer Opacity to 0 and Effect Units to
map units.

This finishes up the initial terrain and layout for our city. We
are now ready to start mapping what’s inside those city walls.

Main Roads
This city will use two types of streets. Most of
the streets will be simple dirt roads without
any paving. These are simple and cheap, still
functional to an acceptable degree, and was
the standard in many a medieval city. In
addition, there will be a couple of main roads
running through the city. These main roads are
the roads that handle most of the traffic in the
city, as well as tying important locations
together. The main roads will be of the paved
variety.

The main streets of Snowport are basically the

streets that runs between the three city gates.

13. Use the Road, Paved 10’ Smooth

drawing tool to draw the main streets.
To get nice-looking Y-intersections, use
the On modifier to make sure the
second road starts exactly on the first

366
 one, then make the second road follow along the first for a short section before slowly
breaking away.
If you try to follow along closely with my city, you’ll notice that I have ended one of these roads
Paved
rather abruptly. This is simply because there is going to be a large open area here, near the
warehouses and the docks. If I hadn’t known about this beforehand, I would just have gone ahead The current civilization on
and drawn the road now, and removed it later when I found it to be in my way. You’ll also notice the Windclaw Isles is not at
that I plan to have a bridge over the river, which we will address next. a level where expensive
roads is a priority, so large
Several of my main roads follow roughly the paths of the construction lines. This is done on purpose, stretches of paved roads
because the wide separation introduced by the major roads serves as natural separations and doesn’t make sense here.
partially explains why the city is divided as it is. Obviously, this is highly
dependent on the setting
and the feel you try to
Obviously, there will be roads outside the city walls as well. These won’t be paved like inside the
convey with your maps, for
city, but they will be maintained for easy travel by carts and the like, so there might be some gravel
your world, paved, high-
or similar to keep the worst of the mud at bay. So, for this map I will use gray roads to indicate a
quality roads might be the
maintained road, but I also wish to put in a bit more detail, showing dirt along the outside of the
norm. I am just calling your
road to indicate wear on the nearby terrain and the fact that the road might not be wide enough for
attention to this detail now
two carts to pass comfortably, thus wearing away grass and vegetation.
to showcase how any detail
14. Use the Road, Dust 10’ Smooth drawing tool to draw roads from the gates to the edges of you put into the map
the map. conveys information.
15. Create a new sheet called ROAD BEHIND. Position this between WATER/RIVERS and ROADS
and make it the active sheet.
16. We want the content of the new sheet to blend in with the grass
behind it, so set up an Edge Fade, Inner effect on the ROAD BEHIND
sheet. Set the Edge Width to 1.5 map units, Inner Opacity to 65%
and Outer Opacity to 0%. This will make it partially transparent
with a fading edge.
17. Set the current fill style to CDA_Dirt 1 and the Width to 0. Use
Smooth Poly to draw a polygon behind the road, but a bit wider
than the road. Try to vary the width a bit to create a more organic
feel, and widen it around the city gate, to indicate that this area sees
additional traffic.

Bridge
There is no good bridge symbols included with CD3, but drawing a simple bridge ourselves is not
difficult. We just need to set up a few sheets, a few effects, and draw a few polygons. Since one of Unnecessary Math
the main roads in the city will cross here, we will make it a proper stone bridge.
Instead of calculating the
Note that I am using a couple of sheets here to make this look nice, but if you want more than one coordinates, we can easily
bridge in the city, you can of course reuse the same sheets. draw a rectangle at an
angle using polar
When drawing the bridge, it is easier to draw it at a right angle, then rotate and place it afterward.
coordinates. If drawing a
By drawing at a right angle, we can use the Box tool to draw the base rectangle for the bridge.
rectangle at an angle was
To draw a rectangle at an angle, we would instead need to use the Polygon tool, and calculating
all we had to do, I would
the proper points to place would just have been a bunch of unnecessary math.
probably go that route, but
18. Start by measuring the distance the bridge needs to span. Remember that the bridge should the rest of the bridge design
probably extend a bit onto the riverbanks. Use the Distance tool from the Info menu to is also easier if I start with a
measure the distance. On my map, the distance is about 70 feet. rectangle at a right angle.
You can read more about
19. Create two new sheets, BRIDGE BASE and BRIDGE RAILING. Position
polar coordinates on page
these after ROADS in the sheet list. Make BRIDGE BASE the active
188.
sheet.
20. Set the current fill style to CD3A_Cobbles, make sure the current width is 0, and draw a
rectangle 70’ wide and 15’ tall using the Box tool. It doesn’t matter where you draw this,
since we are going to move it, but somewhere nearby the place it will span is ideal.

367
 21. Make BRIDGE RAILING the active sheet and
Measuring the Width set the fill style to CD#A_Stone 2.
I prefer to do this by using 22. Draw two polygons along the rectangle, these
the Info → Distance, and will be the railing for the bridge.
then use the Endpoint
modifier to ensure I Now, if I just wanted a very simple bridge, I could
measure from the exact just rotate and position this, and call it a day.
corner points. I don’t Remember that we are working on a way higher zoom level than the map will normally be viewed,
recommend just eyeballing so the lack of detail will probably not be visible at all when the map is viewed as a whole. However,
it. for this tutorial, I want to be a bit fancier by adding supports and ends for the railing.

23. Create a circle with a radius equal to the width of the railing. To do this, start by measuring
Exact Diameter the width of the railing. Once this is done, create a Circle of that exact radius. Just place
Remember that after the circle somewhere near our bridge under construction.
clicking to place the center 24. Now, Copy this circle to the edges of a railing, making it looks like half-circles extend
point of the circle, you can from it, forming the bridge supports. You can place these by eyeballing it, but for precise
either place the second positioning, I recommend using the Center
point visually, or you can modifier when copying the circle to get the exact
type in a coordinate that circle center as the reference point, then using the
will be on the circle. This is On modifier to place the circle center exactly
an excellent opportunity to on the edge of the railing. This will ensure that you
use relative coordinates. get precisely a half-circle sticking out. Ortho can
Say that our railing is 2.75 also be helpful.
feet, you can simply input
the point on the circle as 25. To make the ends of our railings, we are going to
do it the same way. Start my making a circle at
@0,2.75
exactly half the size we did in the previous step,
If you are unsure about how
and then position them at the edges of the railings.
relative coordinates work,
Instead of using the On modifier as we did above,
check out Understanding use the Midpoint modifier to ensure the circle
Coordinates on page 188.
center is position exactly at the middle of the ends.
26. Use Move, Scale, Rotate to move our bridge into position. For this step, eyeballing it
works best. Note that this command allows you to both rotate and scale while you move, so
make sure you don’t perform undesirable actions while doing this, keep an eye on the
command line for the different keys to use.
27. Finally, we need some effects to make the bridge look a little less flat.
BRIDGE BASE

Edge Fade, Inner (Edge Width 2, Inner

Opacity 100%, Outer Opacity 0%,
Effect Units = Map Units, High Quality)

BRIDGE RAILING

Bevel, Lighted (Bevel Size 1, Intensity

100%, Lightness Base 50%, Lightness
Range 50%, Smoothing 0,3, Slope
Curve 1. Effect Units = Map Units,
High Quality, Global Sun Direction)

Wall Shadow, Directional (Shadow

Color Black, Opacity 50%, Length 4,
Blur Radius 2, Effect Units = Map
Units, Global Sun Direction)

And that’s it, we’ve drawn a bridge of a user-definable length and width. You should be able to draw
a wooden bridge using similar techniques, and railings/supports can be made more interesting by
changing the shape and fill of the polygon used.

368
Important Locations
The layout of our city is starting to come into view, and it is time for the next step. At this point I’d
like to focus on important areas and buildings in the city. Housing in a medieval city is by its very
nature more transient than the important sites, and will tend to form up around these places. For
this city, there are several important sites I want to include; Chapel Maldina (The chapel from our
DD3 tutorial map), the Royal Palace, parade square, the docks, the marketplace, barracks and civic
buildings.

Most of these locations are rather simple to make, so we won’t go into great detail on how to make
them, you should be familiar with the required techniques by now.

Palace, Temple and Parade Square

While these take up quite a large piece of the city, they
are really easy to make. All the houses are normal CD3
Bitmap A symbols. I used varicolor symbols to get the
roof colors I wanted, and also scaled them a bit to get
the sizes I wanted.
The grass backgrounds are drawn using the Polygon
tool, using the CD3B_Grass Bright 2 fill and placed on
the BACKGROUND CITY sheet.

The roads, parade square, wall, hedge and threes are all
drawn using standard CD3 Bitmap A drawing tools.

The three statues were all taken from DD3, you’ll find
them in the Statues, Temples and Idols symbol catalog.

Market and Gathering Places

There are several places in a city people tend to gather,
like near the docks, the market and around the city
gates. In keeping with the general wealth and New Drawing Tool
technology level of my city, all of these places will be
If you need a refresher in
dirt, like most roads, but I want
how to create and edit
to identify them with a
drawing tools, check out
different texture than the city
Editing and Creating
background itself. To make
Drawing Tools on page 141.
these, I needed a smooth
polygon with the same fill as
the dirt road. No drawing tool
exists for this, but we have the
quite similar Road, Dirt
drawing tool which creates a
regular polygon. So to get the
tool I needed, I just created a
new drawing tool based on
this, and changed the options
for the Draw method from
Straight to Smooth.
Since I drew this after my roads, I also needed to use Bring to Front to get the roads back on
top.

Docks
I’d like to make some wooden docks along the harbor. Just as with the bridge, there are no symbol
for this, which is probably just as well, because we need to make it in the proper shape to fit the
coastline anyway. I am going to use a simple wooden floor fill as the base for these docks, but one

369
 of the challenges here is to align the fill with the direction of the dock, to make the planks appear
to go the right way. The secret to doing this lies in the Shaded Polygon command.

Since my dock is running along a curved coast, it will have a couple of bends along it, and we
always want the fill style to be aligned in such a way that the planks run in parallel to the edge of
the dock. Because of this, we need to draw the dock in multiple segments, so I’d like to start by
drawing some construction lines to get the layout right.

28. Create two new sheets, DOCK and DOCK SUPPORTS, and place them right above WALLS
DIKE in the list. Make DOCK the active sheet.
29. Set the current color to purple (#6), width to 1’ and fill style to Solid.
Now, start by drawing the outline of the dock. I decided to eyeball
this, mainly to reflect the fact that the various terrain considerations
Shaded Polygon would probably not allow perfect shapes anyway, but it also saves
Shaded polygons are me some work.
primarily meant to be used 30. Use the Polygon tool to draw an outline. Try to keep widths
for roofing, allowing the fill reasonably consistent, and edge angles reasonably straight.
to properly align with the
direction of the roof, and Now, we need to divide up our outline into individual sections. If we
also setting a proper light tried to align the fill to one of the edges right now, it would keep the same alignment through the
level based on the pitch of entire polygon, which means it would be miss-aligned to all the other edges.
the roof and the direction it Time to draw some more construction lines. For the next few operation, the Endpoint modifier
is facing relative to the sun. is critical. We will use the Polygon tool along with this modifier to
Right now, we’ll only go create individual sections. The endpoint modifier is great, because it
through what we need to allows us to place the node at the exact end of another line, without
do to make this work with having to select the line at the exact endpoint ourselves.
our docks, but check out the
chapter on Shading on page 31. Click on Polygon . Now click Endpoint and click on our
379 for more details on this construction line near . Click on Endpoint again, and this time click on the construction
feature. line near . Repeat for  and .
32. Repeat the step above for the rest of the section for the
Reasonably dock. When done, the dock should consist of 4 individual
If you don’t want to eyeball pieces.
it, but instead prefer to have 33. Erase the original outline, but make sure the individual
perfect angles and parallel pieces we just drew remains. If you have problems
edges, try using the Line selecting just the outline, refer to the selection procedures
tool instead. This draws starting on page 47.
the line segments one by
Now, we need a decent fill for our docks, something plank-like. The city template doesn’t have
one, which means you can
anything fitting for my docks, but there is a floorboard one in SS2 that looks quite ok (There are
use the various modifiers
some in DD3 to, but I think the SS2 one is a better fit), so we will import that into our current map
(Endpoint, Parallel to and
and use it.
Perpendicular to are real
helpful here). 34. Click the FS: fill style indicator in the top left of the window. This brings up the Fill Style
I chose to eyeball it simply Properties dialog. Select the Bitmap Files tab, then click New.
because terrain doesn’t
You can call this new fill style whatever you want, but I went with SS2_Floorboards.
always allow for complete
perfection. 35. Make sure that your new fill style is the one actually
selected in the Fill Style Name dropdown. Then, change
the file to @Bitmaps\Tiles\Dungeon\SS2\Bitmap
A\Floorboards Rough_LO.PNG. Make sure it is set to
Tile to Fill and Alpha Transparency, and set the Scaled
values to 40’ Height and Width.
36. Use Change Properties to change the fill of our dock
outlines to our new fill, and make sure to change the line
width to 0 at the same time.

370
The dock is now filled with an appropriate fill, but it is a bit off. We expect the planks on a dock to
be parallel with the edge, but currently, our planks do no such thing. Who would build a dock like
that?

As promised earlier, we will use shading to rotate the fill. Before we start, know that there is a small
caveat however. The shading system was made to make roofs appear angled, by lighting them
Shading
differently based on if they faced the sun or not, considering the pitch. Because of this, once we
implement shading on our docks, the coloration of the fill will change, and it will become dependent It is also possible to turn off
on our global sun. So even if I manage to find a lightness level I like right now, if I move the sun, the shading of the docks,
this will change in the future. Because of this, I am going to set the global sun direction now, even while still keep the fill
though we haven’t really discussed this feature yet. (It will be discussed in the Effects in City Maps aligned, but note that this is
chapter later) an unsupported option.
Check Aligned Fills on page
37. Right click Sheets and Effects and select Global Sun. Set Azimuth to 340 and click OK. 382 for details.
You should notice that the shadows in the map changed position, because the sun now
comes in from a different angle.
38. Right click on Polygon and select Shaded Polygon (Angle by Edge). The
command line should read Select lowest straight edge of polygon (Pitch
<45.000˚>):. If the value for pitch is anything but 45˚, then enter 45 on the
command line and hit .

39. Click on the long edge (the one over the water) of our first dock polygon. The fill
should angle to match the direction of this edge.
40. The command line should continue with the same prompt, allowing you to
continue selecting the edges of the polygons. If you ever abort the command,
just start it again as described above. Note that the pier sticking out into the
waters should be shaded based on its north-eastern edge, otherwise the
lightness level will seem wrong (This is based on the direction of the global
sun).
As a finishing touch, I want to add support pillars to the pier. Obviously, we could
claim that these are hidden beneath the floorboards, and that wouldn’t be illogical,
but I think it would look better with these visible. If I had a standing log symbol, I could
have used that, but since I don’t, I’ll just make some simple ones using the Woodgrain
Bitmap fill. The pattern in this fill is not correct, but I am not designing this for extreme
close-up views, so from the normal city view, they will look ok, especially after we add
shadows and bevel effects later on.

41. Set the current sheet to DOCKS SUPPORT, the current fill style to Woodgrain
Bitmap, and make sure Width is 0.
42. Use Circle to draw a small circle, a little more than 1’ in diameter.
43. Use Copy to copy your circle to various positions around the edge
of the dock. For precision placement, use Center when you select
the origin point for the copy, and the Endpoint and On to place
them. This ensures that the center point of the support is always on the
edge of the dock.
44. Repeat what you did above to create the dock south of the river.
Again, describing this procedure and breaking it down into steps make it seem
a bit more complicated than it really is. After all, all we did was draw four polygons with a
plank fill, applied shading to them, then copied a circle repeatedly along the edge. The
main difficulty here is knowing that you can do this in the first place, the steps aren’t really
difficult. Once you have done operations like this a few times, you hardly think about the
steps any more.

Note that you can change the brightness of the shading by

changing pitch or angle. You may prefer the darker version that
was created simply by selecting the opposite long side when
applying the shading.

371
 Finally, we will add the effects to our pier. What we need here is shadows cast from the pier itself,
as long as slightly longer shadows from the supports, and a small bevel effect on the supports to
make them more like real logs.

45. Click Sheets and Effects and set up the following effects
DOCK

Wall Shadow, Directional. Color: Black, Opacity: 50%, Length 4, Blur 2, Units as Map
Units, Global Sun Direction checked.

DOCK SUPPORTS

Bevel. Length: 0.3 units, Strength 30%, Fade 0%, Effect Units as Map Units

Wall Shadow, Directional. Color: Black, Opacity: 50%, Length 5, Blur 2, Units as Map
Units, Global Sun Direction checked.

This should take care of our dock. Note that a lot of the shadows appear over land, and will be
cloaked by our buildings. This is really a result of Snowport being such a northern city, and fully
expected. If you wish to have the shadows out over the sea, you can change the direction of the
sun as we did earlier, but remember this will affect the shading of the dock polygons, which is why
we set it before we created those. Obviously, changing sun direction will also change the direction
of the shadows on everything else.

Major Buildings
A lot of the city is now in place, but before we start placing the regular housing, I like to get a few
major buildings into place, buildings such as inns, barracks, warehouses, major shops, etc. Any
additional landmarks should also be placed at this point. Most of my buildings comes from the CD3
Bitmap A Default catalog.

46. Place 30 or so buildings around the city, focus on the areas along the main roads, along the
river, near the gates and around the open areas.
When you place buildings along a road, note that the building
automatically rotates to align with the road when you hover over the
actual road. When in this position, clicking once will not place the
building directly, but will instead ask you to define the offset from the
road, clicking a second time will place the building at that offset. If the
building was placed on the first click, it is an indication that you were
not holding it properly over a road (or any other line really). Make sure
you take full advantage of this when placing your buildings, since it
saves you a lot of work when compared to rotating them manually.
Also remember that you can use the varicolor buildings to create
buildings with other roof colors, typically indicating different
materials. A cheap building may have simple brown wooden slates on
the roof, while a higher-class dwelling may have stone slates instead,
easily accomplice by using a varicolor building with a gray color.
You may wish to go back and place more major buildings later, when
you are working on your street network, as all positions might not be
immediately clear. Some of my buildings may look a bit out of place
in my screenshot, but that is simply because I already know where my
streets are going to be, and it doesn’t make sense to keep revisiting
this particular topic multiple times throughout the tutorial.
Also remember that buildings can be easily moved, so don’t be afraid
to plop down a building in an approximate location, then just nudge it
a little when you know more about the surrounding streets.

Streets and Houses

Inside a medieval-type city, especially one with a city wall, space is going to be at a premium.
Expect houses to be really packed together, and very little open room expect for the established

372
spaces, like the parade square, the market and other defined public areas. Most streets are usually
also very narrow, often also obscured from above because in many cities, the second floor of a
building often extended beyond the walls of the first floor. This particular fact is difficult to show in
an overhead map, but keep this in mind, because it means that the street will be a bit wider than
the actual distance seen between the houses from above.

For my road grid for this city, I’ve gone for a design that allows most houses to touch one street,
which means that the backs of houses will meet, often allowing for a small common backyard.

I’ll admit that most of the streets in my city is perhaps a bit too straight, it is just much harder to
properly utilize curved spaces.

For this tutorial, I’ll describe the north-west section of the city, the rest is done in the same way.

Streets
Let us start by drawing the streets. As was common in many medieval cities, most streets
were made of packed dirt, paving of any kind was rare. So for this job, I elected to use the
Road, Dirt 5’ drawing tool.

47. Draw your road network.

While my road network is certainly gridlike, I try to not make it too perfect, I vary
the distances a little bit, and the streets are not perfectly parallel. This indicates
that some sort of guidelines is certainly in place, but generally precision
instruments and measurements were not used for this. Make sure that the distance
between the streets are close enough, for my area, the largest distance is about
60’, but even this may be a bit too large as you can see in the final result. However,
this area near the palace is one of the better areas in the city, so letting them have
a bit of extra space may be justified. Do make sure to draw the roads in such a way
as to maximize the available building space in the area.
Note that I have already applied some additional effects to my roads to make them
a bit more visible. Effects
Obviously, dirt roads atop
Random Street dirt is not going to be
extremely visible, however,
The Random Street command is used to place houses along a street. This command actually
to symbolize that this is
draws random houses from scratch, in a style that matches our house symbols, but it do not simply
backed dirt, we do use a
place existing symbols. This means that we get a lot more flexibility than symbols could provide.
different bitmap for the
When using this command, there are several parameters we can change to create houses to our road when compared to the
liking, so let us make sure that everything is set to our needs. underlying dirt fill, and I’ve
also added an outline effect
48. Right click Random Street . This will bring up the Street options dialog.
to the road to make it more
prominent. We’ll discuss
this when we talk about
effects in city maps on page
378, but I added the effect
now to make my streets
visible in the screenshots.

This dialog is explained in detail in the Random Streets chapter on page 392. For now, let us
just focus on the setting we need for our map.

Street settings: CD3A Default. This setting uses house designs that matches the
symbols from the CD3 Bitmap A Default catalog we used earlier.

House Shapes: Make sure Random house types are selected, this will make CC3+ pick
randomly from the different house shapes in the list below. The three bottom shapes
don’t work too well with narrow and tight-packed city streets, so we don’t want those
generated randomly, so set the percentages to 85% for the top shape, 15% for the
second, and 0 for the rest.

373
 Houses on: should be set to Select side for each street. This is the fastest approach when
Ignore this creating many streets.
One of messages you get is
Roof type: Select the one you want, but I prefer the first one for the main bulk of the
that the street width is less
houses.
than the length of a house.
CC3+ sees this as a Options: Align to road needs to be on, draw gardens should be off.
problem, because houses
More Settings: Click the Street settings button. This will bring up yet another dialog
might be oriented with the
where we can define the dimensions of our street.
short edge along the road,
and thus the street size
should allow for the houses
of the max length.
However, if we do this,
there will be way too much
empty space around the
houses following along the
road. Basically, what the
warning is really about is
Saved Settings: Place a check mark in the second row to enable it, and select CD3 A
CC3+ saying that it won’t
Classic. Set the percentages to 95% and 5%. This will mean that some classic houses
be able to draw all their
will show up in our city, breaking up monotony a bit.
houses to the full variation
with these settings, but that House Width: Set min as 14 and max as 20. This is the variation we allow in the width
is fine for us. of the randomly generated houses.

House Length. Set min as 16 and max as 26. This gives CC3+ room to provide a little
All the Settings
variation in house length
You may be overwhelmed
by all the settings we Distance between houses: This is a packed city, so set it to 0 for min, and 5 for max.
needed to set to make a Street Width: This is basically the total size we allocate for a house and its garden (our
random street, after all, property). It should be at least as large as the max house width, perhaps a bit wider. I set
shouldn’t this be a quick mine to 22.
way to build streets?
As with a lot of software, Distance from center of road: This determines how far from the center of the street
this is an example that our property should start. Since the road is 5’ wide, I set this to 2.5 to start the property
putting in some effort at the exactly at the edge of the road. Note that the house won’t necessary be touching the
beginning greatly simplifies road, as it is smaller than the property, but it will be close.
things as we go along.
Determining and setting all
When you click OK, CC3+ will warn you that a few of our values are not appropriate. You
those settings is a bit of
can safely ignore this (just click Yes). Click OK again to close the main dialog.
work, but once they are set,
the random street
command lets us draw With all the settings configured properly, we are now ready to actually draw our streets.
streets extremely quickly in
the future. You could 49. Click Random Street . The command prompt says First
probably populate five
end of street:, and it allows us to either pick a line, or click
complete streets with
anywhere to start a straight street. We wish it to follow
symbols in the time it took
our existing road network, so click with the pick cursor on
us to determine and set
a road to select it.
these settings, but once
that is done, we quickly The command line now asks you to Pick start position:.
overtake the manual Do as it say by clicking with your mouse near one of the
process. ends of our street.
Now, move your mouse down toward the other end of the
Happy with the Preview street. You should see CC3+ drawing house outlines along
the road. You can switch which side of your road these
You can force CC3+ to
appear on simply by moving your mouse across the road
generate another layout by
to the other side.
moving your mouse back to
the beginning of the street,
and then back to the end.

374
 Once you are happy with the preview, click your mouse to finish the
command and have CC3+ draw the actual houses.
50. Now, keep repeating the step above for each side of each street. You
may get a few collisions between houses, but ignore these for now, for
a tight-packed layout like this we will need to do some manual cleanup.
51. Delete any houses that overlap another house or the road, or which you
simply do not like. Don’t fret over a small overlap though, medieval
houses next to each other might have the taller one slightly extending
in over a lower building.

Now, you may find yourself with several odd-shaped spots where you can
neither find a symbol that fits, nor use the random street command.
Fortunately, we can also draw houses manually, and when doing so, we have
access to a wide variety of shapes.

For this, we will use the House command. With this command we can draw buildings that are
similar to the one drawn by the random street command. This command is described in detail in
the House Tool chapter on page 384, but it is really simple to use, and we don’t need to set a bunch
of parameters first.

52. Click House . In the Insert building dialog that appears,

select the third shape in the second column, select the third
roof type, make sure House settings is set to CD3 A Default,
and click OK.
The building shape we selected here is the many-sided shape,
which allows you to make the building any shape you like,
much like a standard polygon. This is a great shape to fit in odd spaces. See Appendix A:
House Shapes on page 424 for a list and description of these shapes.
53. Create the house by clicking in each place that needs a corner.
Once done, right click, and place a final point in the center of the
house where the top of the roof will be.
54. Repeat the above to place more houses. Try to experiment with
the different shapes. You should also consider replacing some of
the random generated houses with custom houses just to provide
a bit more variety, and make some houses feel a bit more special.
55. Once you are done with this district, continue on with the rest of
the city. While working with the rest of the city, consider replacing
some random buildings with regular symbols, and some with custom houses. Random streets
are great for the grunt work for such a large city as this, but it is the manual attention to detail
that makes it great.

375
 250
Most scale bars in CC3+ are
Final Touches
scaled to be 100 long. So if At this point, our city is mostly complete. However, there are a few more elements to add.
we place a scale bar at 1.0
scale, the value should be Map Title
100. However, since that Most maps need a title. We’ve already discussed text at length in All About Text on page 37, and
would have made the scale there is nothing special about this text that warrants further discussion. We will get to more city
bar ridiculously small on specific text later however, when we get to Labeling Cities on page 396. For now, we will just place
this map, I opted for a scale the title and move on.
of 2.5, and this means that
it will cover 2.5 times the 56. Place the text Snowport in the top left corner. I used the font CasablancaAntique, with a
distance as well. And 2.5 height of 124 and stretch of 1.2. It should go to the TEXT sheet automatically.
times 100 is obviously 250.
Note that the units of the Scale Bar and Compass Rose
length of the scale bar Of course, most maps should have these as well. A compass rose is vital to determine directions on
depends on map type. In the map, and without a scale bar, it is very difficult to get a true understanding of the size of the
dungeon and city maps, it is map.
in feet (or meters for metric
maps), and on overland I am going to use the symbols that are already in the template for this, but feel free to use any other
maps it is in miles (or km). you may have.
But regardless of unit, you
57. Click Symbols in Drawing to switch the symbol catalog to show symbols definitions
can always assume the
in our map.
scale bar is 100 in whatever
unit the map is in. If you are 58. Pick a compass rose (I used Compass Rose 3 n), set the symbol scale to 3.0, and place it in
ever unsure if you have a the bottom left corner.
scale bar that do not 59. Pick a scale bar (I used Scale Bar City f3), set the symbol scale to 2.5, and place it in the
conform to this, simply bottom right corner.
place it in your map at a
When you place it, CC3+ will pop up the Attributes dialog, asking for the Scale. Provide the
scale of 1.0, then use the
value 250 and click OK.
Distance tool from the Info
menu to measure it.

376
Trees
The terrain outside the city is a bit uniform right now. Let us add some trees to it.

60. Use the City Tree drawing tool to place some trees around the countryside. Remember that
you define the size of the tree when you first start using the drawing tool, and then place
trees that are the same size that you defined, but with a different shape. To get different
sizes, simply end and restart the drawing tool, which will let you define a new size.

Ships
I like to have some ships in the harbor, gives an illusion of an active city. CD3 doesn’t come with
any good ships unfortunately, but since I had access to the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas, I
grabbed some from there. Granted, they are vector artwork, so they don’t look quite as good as the
rest of the city, but I think they will do. If you don’t have the Forgotten Realms Atlas, you could
probably find some nice symbols on the internet, Finding and Importing New Symbols from the Forgotten Realms Atlas
Internet on page 116 explain how to import images you find. The Forgotten Realms
Interactive Atlas was a
product created by
ProFantasy and published
by Wizards of the Coast. It
contained all the maps from
the Forgotten Realms RPG
campaign setting in
Campaign Cartographer
format, as wells additional
symbols. The maps were
made with CC2 Pro, an
earlier version of Campaign
Cartographer. As such, all
the maps and symbols are
pure vector maps, without
raster fill styles or symbols,
nor any sheet effects. Both
the maps and symbols from
this product can be used
with CC3+.
This product is no longer
available, but it does turn
up on auction sites
regularly.

377
 EFFECTS IN CITY MAPS
Obviously, we can use all the same effects in city maps as we can do in regular maps, so we won’t
repeat these here. There is one particular element that is very important in city maps however. We
touch briefly upon this in dungeon maps too, but it is much more important here. That element is
the Global Sun.

Shaded Polygons
Global Sun
Shaded polygons are The Global Sun is a configurable light source which determines
primarily used for the the directions of shadows and intensity and direction of roof
rooftops on city maps to shading on city maps. Several effects use the direction of the
indicate how a roof is global sun to determine how the effect will look, and shaded
sloping, which again polygons use it to determine if it is in shadow or sunlight.
determines if a particular To show the configuration dialog for the Global Sun, right click
roof section is in shadow or the Sheets and Effects button, and select Global Sun from
sunlight. More about this in the pop-up menu. This dialog contains all the global lighting
the following chapter. settings for the map.

Azimuth: This is the location of the sun in the sky.

Middle Right A value of 0 means that the sun is placed outside
the middle right of the map (Due east assuming
Note that just like the real
your map uses the regular notation of North on the
sun, this sun is both large
top of the map). 90 means top middle, 180 middle
enough and far enough
left, and 270 bottom middle before we have completed a circle with 360 degrees, which
away that all the shadow on
is the same as 0. Shadows (Using the Wall Shadow, Directional effect) will always point
the map are parallel to each
away from the sun.
other, the same behavior
that you would see in the Inclination: This value controls the sun’s height in the sky. A low value means that it is
real world. close to the horizon, while 90 mean that it is straight overhead. This determines how
the shaded polygons are affected. If the sun is straight overhead, all of them are in direct
sunlight no matter their direction, while a sun that is low in the sky will only cast light
on the shaded polygons that actually face it.

Intensity: This controls the intensity of the sunlight. 100 is the normal value, 200 is
extremely bright, while 0 means no sunlight at all. The brighter the sunlight, the greater
the difference between the shaded polygons on the shadow side compared to those in
direct sunlight. A value of 0 means that they are identical.

Aligned Fill Styles Activate lighting: This enabled lighting in lighted dungeons. It is not normally used in
Aligned fill styles are fills city maps, although it is certainly possible to do so.
that are rotated with the Shadow – blur: This value controls the blur value of the shadows cast by entities
entity. Normal fills keep the blocking the light sources. This is the same value as you would configure in the
same orientation, no matter Wall Shadow Effect if you were using that instead of the lighting effect. This value
how much you rotate the is measured in map units.
filled entity, while aligned
fill styles will rotate to the Shadow – Transparency: This is the transparency value for the shadows. The
same angle as the entity. higher value, the lighter the shadows. A value of 100% makes the shadows
This is primarily used for the invisible.
rooftops of houses for CD3,
Disable Shading: This option disables the shading effect on the shaded polygons. This
so that the roof looks right
means that they will all use their basic colors, and not be darkened from being outside
when you rotate the house.
of direct sunlight. Enabling this option makes map redraws faster.
Without aligned fill styles,
we would need a separate Disable aligned fillstyles: Enabling this will turn off aligned fill styles, causing all fills
fill style for each direction to have a rotation value of 0 degrees. Enabling this option makes map redraws faster.
we desire to rotate the
Draw aligned fill styles as solid: This option replaces all aligned fill styles with a solid
houses in.
color fill. Enabling this option makes map redraws much faster.

378
Shadows and Shading
CD3 uses two kinds of shadows. These are normal wall shadows that are used for entities that cast
shadows on the ground. The second is shading, which is used to darken the parts of the rooftops
that are in shadow, and lighten the part that is in direct sunlight. Both of these effects take advantage
of the global sun setting.

Wall Shadows
All entities that are supposed to block sunlight and cast a shadow on the ground (or other entities)
should use the Wall Shadow, Directional effect. When used in city maps, it is very important that
this effect is set up to use the global sun direction, and not a fixed direction. If the effect is set to
use a fixed direction, the shadows won’t move when the sun is moved, causing shadows to point
in conflicting directions.

Note that you need to hard code the shadow length in this dialog. It is not affected by the inclination
of the Global Sun. This means, that even if you put the sun straight overhead, the wall shadows will
still have a length and direction.

Shading
Shading is used to darken roof segments that are
turned away from the sun, and lighten the ones that
face the sun. The shading is not a regular effect that
can be turned on and off the normal way, and
shading is normally enabled even if effects are
turned off. To turn on and off shading, use the
Global Sun configuration dialog. This dialog also
configures all of the parameters associated with
shading. Additionally, shading applies to all shaded
polygon, no matter what sheet they are on.

All the buildings that come with CD3 already have

built-in shading, so you do not need to do anything
to use this. If you look at the city map we just made,
you’ll see that shading is visible on all buildings, yet
we never configured anything relating to it yet.

If you create your own raster symbols for use with cities, you need to configure the shading for each
symbol. We will look at this later when we talk about CD3 symbol creation.

379
 Examples
The following table shows several examples of how the global sun option affects shadows and
shading.

Setting Image Setting Image

Azimuth: 315 Azimuth: 315

Inclination: 60 Inclination: 90

Intensity: 100 Intensity: 100

(Default Settings)

Azimuth: 315 Azimuth: 225

Inclination: 60 Inclination: 60

Intensity: 180 Intensity: 100

Azimuth: 315 Azimuth: 315

Inclination: 60 Inclination: 60

Intensity: 100 Intensity: 100

Disable aligned Draw aligned fill

fillstyles styles as solid

380
Shaded Polygons
Shaded Polygon (Angle by
Normally, when you rotate a polygon, the fill doesn’t rotate with it, but Edge)
rather keeps it original alignment, as seen in the top example to the
The Shaded Polygon (Angle
left. However, CC3+ also supports shaded polygons, that is polygons
by Edge) is the simplest way
that take on shading as described above, and where the fill is also
to create shaded polygons,
aligned to the edge of the polygon (or at any angle you want), as seen
since it calculates the
in the bottom example.
direction the sloped surface
While all buildings in CD3 comes with built-in shading, you can also is facing automatically
manually make any polygon shaded. This is helpful if you build a house (determined by the edge
from individual polygons in your map, and can also be used to simply you clicked on when it
rotate the fill of a polygon if that is required (Like we did when creating asked you for the lower
our dock in the city tutorial). edge). However, if you
prefer to input these
1. To create a shaded polygon, first draw your polygon using
numbers yourself, you could
any of the available tools, such as Box or Polygon .
just use the regular Shaded
Either define the fill settings up front, or use Change
Polygon command instead.
Properties to give it the fill style you desire.
The angle you need for the
2. If necessary, Rotate the polygon. direction in this case is the
3. Right click Polygon and select Shaded Polygon (Angle bearing of a line
perpendicular to the lower
by Edge). The command line reads Select lowest straight
edge and in the direction of
edge of polygon (Pitch <45.000>):.
the upper edge.
Remember that shaded polygons are designed to handle the Remember that even if this
shading of sloped entities, like a roof. To function properly, it version of the command
needs to know a few details about the slope of this entity, like allows you to select
the pitch of the slope and the direction it is facing. It combines multiple entities, take care
this information with the global sun settings to generate the to only select entities that
shade for the polygon. The default pitch is 45, but if you need are supposed to have the
a different pitch, just type in the value on the command line same angle and pitch.
now, and hit .
Once you have the pitch set to the value you want, click on
edge of the polygon representing the bottom of the slope. This
will immediately rotate the fill of the polygon, and apply
shading. As a result of the shading, the polygon will probably
become darker or lighter than it originally was, because it is
no effected by the global sun. The exact lightness is
determined by the pitch, the intensity of the global sun, the height of the global sun in the
sky (Inclination) and the direction of the polygon relative to the direction of the global sun
(Azimuth).
You can continue clicking on polygons if you have more than one you wish to make shaded,
just make sure to keep clicking on the bottom of the slope, or the shading will face the wrong
way, and thus react wrongly to the global sun. When you are done, hit to end the
command.
Note that once a polygon has been made shaded, you can rotate it using regular CC3+ commands,
and the shading will rotate correctly with it. If you change the properties of the global sun, your
shaded polygon will also react to that, just like the standard CD3 houses.

If you need to change the pitch or direction afterwards, do not try to use the Shaded Polygon
command on an already shaded polygon, but use the Change Shade Angle and Change Shade
Pitch, also found by right clicking Polygon .

If you are trying to apply shading and aligned fills to a complex entity, I recommend breaking it up
into multiple parts, like with did with our docks on page 369.

Note that if you have older city maps and find that the shading is wrong when loading them into
CC3+, you can issue the command FLIPSHADING to fix the shading. A necessary fix caused the
shading for old maps to be wrong.

381
 Aligned Fills
Sometimes, you just wish to have the fill aligned, but you do not
wish it to be shaded, for example for a flat floor. Even if you set
the pitch to 0, shading will still change the apparent lightness of
the fill. However, it is possible to disable the shading, but still leave
the fill itself aligned. However, this is an advanced command, only
available from the command line. Also note that this is an
unsupported option, this functionality may change in the future.

To use this, create a shaded polygon as described on the previous

page. Once done, click Numeric Edit . The cursor should
change to a pick cursor, and the command line should read Entity
to edit. Now, pick any shaded polygon, and the Roof shaded
polygon dialog should show up. Most of the options in this dialog is for handling shading correctly
for Perspectives 3, but the option we are after is the Shade Only Copy option. Check this, and click
OK. Now the entity should keep the alignment of the fill, but it is no longer shaded, and therefore
not affected by the global sun.

If you look at the example images to the left, you can see how applying shading changes the
coloration of the original polygon, but applying this setting returns it to a normal, non-shaded state.

The Halls of Ughri-Dax

This map by Ralf
Schemmann shows the old-
school dungeon map style
crated using the ‘Create
your own Style Pack’ annual
issue (December 2007)

382
STREETS AND HOUSES
When we made our city map, we used both the random street tool and the house tool to quickly
create buildings for our city. In this chapter we will look closer on the various ways to draw houses
with CD3, and go into more details on these tools.

Symbols
Symbols are the obvious way of placing buildings in your cities. After all, symbols are one of the
most important elements in a CC3 map, so it is easy to turn to symbols when we make city maps
as well. At first glance however, it is easy to be disappointed by the number of symbols available,
as it looks like it is very limited. There are two reasons for this. First, the symbols are all organized
into random collections, so if you are on the lookout for a particular type shape of building, you must
expand the collection to be able to see all the buildings included.

Secondly, symbols are not the main method of placing buildings in CD3. Symbols are normally only
intended for special buildings, especially in large cities. The symbols are important, but they are
intended to supplement the house drawing tools in CD3, and not stand alone.

Symbol Styles
CD3 comes with 2 different bitmap styles. The Bitmap A style looks more realistic, while the
Bitmap B style looks more hand drawn. Each of these two styles has a subset of building styles.
Some of these building styles may be mixed on the same map, but not all of them look good
together.

In addition to the bitmap styles, CD3 also comes with a vector style. Just as with the bitmap styles,
the vector style comes with a subset of building styles. The vector style has more variation options
than the bitmap styles, so you may be able to design maps in this style not available in the raster
styles, for example a modern or futuristic style.

In the CD3 symbol toolbar, the first button is used to access all the house styles of the Bitmap A
style. The second button is for the Bitmap B style, and the rest of the buttons are for the various
house styles belonging to the vector style.

Generally, you do not wish to mix between the three main styles, as their style is too different.
Typed in Manually
Placing the symbols If you type in the offset
The houses from CD3 are smart symbols, designed to align with lines (usually roads). manually, remember that
the offset is calculated by
When placing these symbols, if you hover your mouse cursor above a road, the house will align to
finding the distance from
have its entry point facing the road. Additionally, after you click to place the house, you will be
the center of the road. So for
asked to define the offset from the line you aligned it to. This allows you to align it to a wide road,
a 10' wide road, a 5' offset
and have it offset enough from the center of the road so that the house doesn’t overlap the road,
will place the house at the
but rather sits close to it. This offset can either be typed in manually, or you can define it using the
exact edge of the road.
mouse. If you have made dungeon maps, you have probably seen the same feature when placing
However, if you place it on
torches on the walls.
an inside curve, note that
Note that if you do not align the symbol to a line, you won’t be prompted for an offset either. the offset is from the exact
point where you aligned it
to the road, so the curve in
the road may cause the road
to disappear under the
house if you try placing the
house too close to the road.

383
 House Tool
The house tool lets you draw a house in just about any shape you desire. This tool comes with a
large amount of preset house styles you can draw, and most of these styles match the house styles
you can find in the symbols discussed above. This means that houses created with this tool will
blend in perfectly with houses placed from symbols, be this bitmap or raster symbols.

Placing Houses
1. Click the House button to see the Insert Building dialog.

This dialog has the following components:

House Shape: This defines the shape of the house you wish to draw. This is basically
anything from a basic rectangle, to a free-form polygon. An overview of how each of
these shapes looks and behaves is included at the end of the CD3 section of this book
(Appendix A: House Shapes on page 424).

In addition to the houses, the Extra section contains two shapes. These are add-ons you
can use to enhance existing buildings. The leftmost of these two options is the Extension,
which allows you to add another section to your building. The second option is the
Connection option, which is used to connect two houses and combine them into one.
These options will be discussed shortly.

Roof Type: CD3 houses support 4 different roof types. Note that not all building shapes
can use all of the roof types. The quickest way to see this is to select a specific roof type,
and check the preview window.

Gabled: This type creates houses with a sloping roof, which has gables. A gable is
Roof Options a triangular bit of wall face at the end of the roof. This roof type affects all house
Roof Options are discussed shapes except the many-sided and regular polygon roofs.
in the House Styles chapter
Hip Roof: This roof slopes up from a wall on all sides, rather than having a gable.
on page 387.
The angle of the hip is determined by the current Roof Options for this type on the
House Settings dialog box.

Central Point: This type only affects the rectangular house shape and the four-
sided irregular house type. It creates a roof that slopes up from four sides to a
central point. Other house shapes give a Hip Roof instead, except for many-sided
and regular polygon houses, which will always have a Central Point roof.

Flat Roof: This creates a house with a hip roof sloping up to a flat area. It works
with all house shapes. The color of the roof is controlled by the Flat Roof Color of
the current house setting. The distance between the edge of the roof and the flat
area is controlled by the Roof Options for this type in the current house settings.
This can be used to create Arabic-style buildings, skyscrapers and houses with
roof-gardens.

Group Building: A building consists of many different entities. Checking this option will
groups these entities, making it far easier to manipulate the building as one entity.

384
 House Settings: This is a list of house styles you can select from for your building. If you
are creating a vector style map, you may wish to enable the Show CD2 Styles checkbox;
these are the old styles used in the CC2 version of this add-on. The Settings button will
bring up a new dialog where you can configure these styles. That dialog is discussed in
detail a bit later in this chapter.

Sheet: This is the sheet that the building will be placed on. The default value here is
BUILDINGS*. Remember that the asterisk means that if the current sheet starts with the
word BUILDINGS, it will be placed on the current sheet; otherwise it will be placed on
the main BUILDINGS sheet.

Preview: This shows a preview image of a house created with the selected settings.
Remember that this is just an example; each of the house styles allows great variation.

2. Once you have set the desired option, click Insert to start placing your building. For this
example, I am using the Irregular T shape, with a Hip Roof, using the CD3A Gothic
setting.
3. Watch the Command Line. Some shapes request additional information at this point, such
as the number of sides for the regular polygon shape. If the command line asks for data,
provide it.
After providing any additional information, the command line will ask you to place the first
point of the house. The command line will also tell you what house shape is
currently selected. You can press the key to cycle trough the available types.
Continue watching the Command Line through the entire process, it will always
tell you what to do next.
4. Place the first point. Note that as with most CC3+ commands, you can type in the
coordinates (relative or absolute), instead of placing it by clicking in the map.
For our currently selected shape, the first point is the top right point of the crossbar
on the T.
5. The command line now requests the second point. Place it as desired. This point
is the top left of the crossbar on the T. After placing the two first points, you have
set the length of the crossbar, as well as the orientation of the house.
6. CC3+ now needs the third point for the house. This point determines the width of
the crossbar section. The point can be anywhere along the bottom line of the
crossbar.
7. Finally, CC3+ needs the fourth point. This point becomes the bottom center of the
upright. This will determine both the length of the upright, and the place where it
connects to the crossbar.
8. Once you have placed all the points, you have a house. Notice how this house
matches the style of the raster symbols included with CD3. The raster symbols do
usually contain a few more details, which makes them better for special buildings.

385
 House Extensions
You can use the extension shapes to add sections to your house. Note that these can be used both
on manually created houses, and those generated by the random street tool.

9. Use the House tool to draw a standard rectangular house.

10. Click the House button, and select the Extension shape.
11. Click a point within the roof of the house. This point represents the starting point of the
extension. If you wish the roof of the extension to look the same height as the rest of the
house, place the point at the roof ridge.
12. Click on any edge of the roof. The direction of the extension will be from the starting point
and toward this edge. The exact point on the edge is irrelevant.
13. The next point placed defines the length of the extension. Note that you will be allowed to
define the width later, so do not worry if the extension looks
narrower or wider than you desire in the preview. If you are
not perfectly happy with the placement of the extension, you
can also hold down the key at this point to slide it along
the edge.
14. Last point defines the width of the extension. Use the
preview as a guide to get the desired width.
Note that the extension is a separate entity, and is not
grouped with the house.

House Connections
Connections are used to connect two houses together into
one house. For this to work, the houses need to be roughly
parallel, and it is probably a good idea to keep them in the
same style as well.

15. Use the House tool to draw a standard

rectangular house roughly parallel to the one from
the previous section.
16. Click the House button, and select the
Connection shape.
17. Click any point within the roof section on the first
house that faces the second. Just as with the extension, this determines the starting point of
the connection. Same rule also applies here, if you wish the extension to appear the same
height as the rest of the house, click on the roof ridge.
There is one other consideration here though. The distance between the starting point of the
connection and the roof edge is also used as the distance on the second building, so you
should always start on the building with the narrowest roof, or ensure that the length is short
enough to fit both roofs. If you fail to do this, you
risk the extension crossing the roof ridge on the
second house, something that looks very
unnatural.
18. Click on the roof edge of the same house as you
placed the starting point. Make sure to click on
the edge facing the second house.
19. Click on the edge of the second house. Make
sure you click on an edge facing the first house.
20. The last point defines the width of the
extension.

386
 21. Once the width is defined, you have connected the
two houses with an extension. Note that as with the
extension, the connection is a separate entity, and
not grouped with the houses. Each of the houses is
also still separate entities.

Frills
To enhance your buildings, you can also add frills to them.
Frills are such items as chimneys, smoke, domes, awnings
and other details.

These frills are symbols, and found in the same symbol

catalog as the house symbols of the relevant style. The
exact frills available depend on the house style, and how
they behave depends on their type. For example, the
awning symbol will align to the house, while the
chimney and smoke are intended to rotate freely. The
images show the same building with and without frills.

Just as with house symbols, you would normally only use

frills on important buildings that need to stand out from
the rest. Note that frills can be used on houses created
with the house tool, those created with the random
street tool, and also the house symbols.

House Styles
The list of house styles contains quite a few styles, and other
add-ons and annual issues add even more styles to this list.
However, you can also create your own style, or modify an
existing style to better suit your needs.

To do this, click the Settings button in the Insert Building

dialog. This will bring up the House settings dialog. Just note
that when you return to the Insert Building dialog, your new
style will not be automatically selected, so remember to select
it from the House style list if you wish to use it immediately.

Settings: This dropdown allows you to select

between all the defined house styles. If you are
going to define a new style, first select the style
from this list that is the closest to the style you
wish to define.

Save: The Save button saves the current

style. When clicking this button, you are
prompted for the name of the style. To save
a style under a new name, for example to
create a new style, change the name in this
box to something that doesn’t match an
existing style. If you use the name of an
existing style, it will be overwritten.

Delete: Deletes the currently selected style, no questions asked.

387
 House style: This is the base house style used for this building. It determines the
following properties of your building:

The appearance of the edge of the outline of a building (straight, jagged, wobbly)

The style of the roof ridge (rectangular, a single block like Thatched, or a row of
tiles like Gothic)

The appearance of the internal lines of a house. (straight, jagged, wobbly)

The Roof Hatching style, which can be different for the Flat Roof area and the
Medium, Dark and Light colored areas of the roof.

These house styles are regular CC3+ drawings, and can be found in the
@Symbols\Cities\House Styles folder. The different aspects of the houses are placed
in various layers in these files. Turn on/off the various layers to see each feature. Note
that if you turn on too many layers at once, the entire drawing will look more very
confusing.

See Creating House Styles on page 390 for further details.

Fills and Colors: Here you can select between CD3 style and CD Pro style. The CD3
style is more advanced, and support options like varicolor and aligned fill styles, which
is not available in the older CD Pro Style. Note that you only need the older CD Pro Style
if you have a CD Pro map you wish to continue working on. For all newer maps you’ll
want the CD3 style. This holds true even if you are making a vector style map, as even
with these maps you wish the new features CD3 has to offer.

For all the color choices below, there is a color swatch and a drop-down list. The drop-
down contains a list of available fill styles. If you have selected a bitmap fill style in this
dialog, the color is basically ignored. If you wish to use a color instead of a bitmap fill
style, select Solid as the fill style, or any other vector-based fill style, then click the color
swatch to set the desired color.

Roof Color: This is the fill of the main roof sections. If shading is enabled, this color
will be modified depending on how much light the roof section it appears on is in.

Flat Color: This is the fill of flat roof sections. As with the Roof Color, it is affected
by shading.

Ridge Color: This is the color of the roof ridge.

Aligned: This check box controls whether or not the fill style selected is aligned to
the direction the building is facing. See the Shading chapter on page 379 for
examples on how the house roof looks with aligned fill styles on and off.

Roof color is varicolor: Checking this box will cause the roof color to be varicolor.
This will force the roof to use a solid fill style, overriding any fill type you might
have selected for the roof.

Frills: Frills are extra features on a building, such as a chimney or a dome. Buildings with
frills look much more like their symbol counterparts than plain buildings without frills.

Edge Symbol: The edge symbol is added to the corners of the house. Considering
houses can have complex shapes, you may wish to place a mark in the Acute
Angles only checkbox, as this will cause the selected symbol to only appear on
outside corners.

Top Symbol: The symbol selected here will appear on the top of the roof. This is
usually used for stuff like chimneys and domes

Catalog: This button allows you to pick the catalog this house will get its frill
symbols from.

388
Roof Options: These specify the appearance of houses
when a Hip Roof or Flat Roof type is selected from the
house dialog box.

The Hip Roof width is the angle of the slope, with

100 being 45°

The Flat Roof width is the offset of the flat roof from
the roof edge.

Roof Ridge: This checkbox lets you set if your house style
should have a ridge or not. If you are using a ridge, there are two values controlling it:

Width: This is the width of the roof ridge. It should be greater than zero.

Overlap: This value controls how much the ridge overhangs the roof. This value
can be both positive and negative. A value of zero means that the roof ridge ends
at the exact same place the roof does.

Only top ridge: Several roof styles have sloping ridges, for example any building
using the hip roof . Checking this option means that a ridge will only be drawn
for the ridge on top of the building, not the sloping ones at the corners. If this option
is unchecked, ridges are drawn for both the top ridge and the sloping ones.

Roof Pitch: This controls the steepness of the roofs. The steeper the roof is, the stronger
the shading effect on the roof is.

Roof Hatching: This is a pattern that appears on top of the roof. For hatching to be
available, it must be defined in the style file used for the house, or this option won’t have
any effect. Hatching is normally used only on houses using a solid color, as an alternative
to a raster fill, although it can appear on top of a raster fill as well. Hatching is the only
way to have a patterned fill on the roof if you are using varicolor houses.

Width: This is basically a scale value for the hatching. A small value will shrink the
pattern, while a large value will enlarge it

Distance: This is the distance from the edges of the roof. Use this if you do not
wish the pattern to go all the way to the edges.

Line Colors: These two color options define the colors of the hatch pattern and the
outline. They only have an effect if their corresponding option is enabled. Click the color
swatches to change the colors used.

Outlines: If you wish to have certain parts of your building outlined in solid colors, set
the required options here:

Exterior: This places an outline around the entire building. You can also specify the
desired width of this outline.

Flat Roof: This places an outline around the flat roof section of the building. This is
only applicable when drawing a building with the Flat Roof roof type. As with
the exterior line, you can use a custom width for the line.

Interior: This draws an outline around interior elements, such as around each roof
section. Note that if you have ridges turned on, they will cover up most of the lines
drawn with this option

Ridges: This will draw an outline on top of the ridges.

Preview: The preview window shows a preview of the house with the currently selected
settings. Note that the shape used in the preview window depends on the house shape
and roof type you selected in the Insert Building dialog, before clicking the Settings
button in that dialog. Use this to your advantage when you need to configure your new
house style for a particular shape/roof.

389
 Creating House Styles
CD3 comes with many pre-defined house styles, but if this isn’t enough you can define your own.

Starting a new house style

All the House Styles are defined in CC3+ files stored in the @Symbols\Cities\House Styles folder.
By adding entities to a file in this folder, you can create your own house styles.

Default Style You can open blank.fcw from the @Symbols\Cities\House Styles folder to start a new House
Style drawing. You could also open an existing, similar house style file, save it under a new name
The Default house style is
and work on that instead.
hardcoded into CD3. It
produces house with This drawing has many layers. Adding entities to these layers has a different effect on the house
straight edges, rectangular style. If you don’t add anything to a particular layer, then CD3 uses the default style. For example, if
roof edges and a simple fill you add nothing to the ROOF EDGE layers, you will get straight roof edges.
style.
Defining a roof edge
CD3 makes roof edges by repeating a 5-foot section, then adding and scaling a 1-foot section. These
Adding and Scaling
sections must be made from continuous lines or paths.
For example, if you drew a
33-foot long roof, CD3 1. The current layer is ROOF EDGE 5. Snap is on. Select Path .
would join 6 of the 5’ 2. Start the path at 0,0. At this stage you can turn Snap off if you want an irregular house edge.
sections and add 3 of the 1’
3. Continue the path, staying below the gray line (Y axis) until you near 5,0.
sections. The 5’ section is
drawn on the ROOF EDGE 5
layer, the 1’ section on the
ROOF EDGE 1 layer. If you
don’t draw anything on
these layers, CD3 defaults to
a straight edge.
4. At this point, either turn Snap on and select the grid point at 5,0 or type 5,0 and press .

5. Set the layer to ROOF EDGE 1. Optionally, hide ROOF EDGE 5. Start a Path at 0,0 draw below
the gray line and end up at 1,0.

Defining the roof external section

The roof external section determines the appearance of the short ends of gabled building types and
the edge of the roof ridge (unless you have drawn on the ROOF RIDGE layer, too). This allows you
to create houses with solid roof ridges, such as Thatched. These are drawn in exactly the same way
as roof edges, with a 5’ section on the ROOF EXTERNAL 5 layer and a 1’ section on the ROOF
EXTERNAL 1 layer.

Defining the roof internal section

The roof internal section determines the appearance of the internal lines of the building. These are
drawn in exactly the same way as roof edges, with a 5’ section on ROOF INTERNAL 5 layer and a
1’ section on the ROOF INTERNAL 1 layer.

Defining the roof ridge

If you want a roof ridge that consists of repeating sections (like roof tiles, slates or whatever), draw
it in two sections, a 5’ section on the ROOF RIDGE 5 layer and a 1’ section on the ROOF RIDGE 1
layer. These must be drawn with polygons.

390
 6. Make the ROOF RIDGE 5 layer current. Draw a series of polygons or boxes, starting at 0,0
and ending at 5,0.
7. Make the ROOF RIDGE 1 layer current. Draw a series of polygons or boxes, starting at 0,0
and ending at 1,0.

Defining the roof hatching

Roof hatching is the fill pattern found on roofs. Each different area of the roof can have a different
hatching pattern. If you don’t add anything to the roof hatching layers, you won’t get roof hatching.
CD3 starts at 0,0 and puts whatever is there in the lower left corner of the area to be hatched. It
then works right, adding and trimming entities that fall within the roof boundaries.

The pattern does not tile. This prevents huge roofs being added to drawings accidentally.

The easiest way to see how to draw roof hatching is to look at the examples in the
@Symbols\Cities\House Styles folder.

Hatching can be drawn using any entities that can be trimmed, but we recommend that you avoid
ellipses and very complex shapes, as they will take a long time to trim when you insert a house
using this house style.

Draw on the HATCHING (DARK) layer for the hatch pattern for the Dark colored roof
areas.

Draw on the HATCHING (MEDIUM) layer for the hatch pattern for the Medium colored
roof areas,

Draw on the HATCHING (LIGHT) layer for the hatch pattern for the Dark colored roof
areas.

Draw on the HATCHING (FLAT ROOF) layer for the hatch pattern for the Flat Roof areas.

Simply set the appropriate layer then add entities.

Pirates Cove
This map is from the
October 2011 annual issue
– “Treasure Maps”.
This issue explains how you
can make your own maps in
this style.

391
 Random Streets
Random streets is a quick way to generate rows upon rows of random houses. This allows you to
very quickly fill a large city with houses, without having to manually place every single house. This
will save you a lot of work, and because the random house looks just like the other houses, you can
fill out and customize any special areas of your city using the house tool and house symbols.

Random streets have much in common with the house tool that we just described. Actually, random
street simply generates several of these houses automatically, and places them along a street, but
the houses themselves are no different from the houses you draw individually with the house tool.
This means that you can place extensions and connections on these building, just as if you had
placed them manually with the house tool. Random streets utilize the same house styles as well, so
if you have developed a new style for use with the house tool, you can use this style with the
random street command.

Placing random streets

Random streets can either be placed in a straight line on the map, or they can follow an existing
guideline, such as a road, even through curves.

1. Start a new city map.

Placing houses in a straight line

2. Click the Random Street button.
3. The Command Line asks you for the starting point of
the street. Click anywhere in the map.
4. Move the mouse. Notice how an outline of the street
is drawn.
Note that if you do not like the suggestion, just move
your mouse back toward the starting point, and then towards the end point again, and CC3+
will generate new random buildings for that stretch.
5. Once you are happy with the look of the street,
click to place the endpoint. CC3+ now draws the
complete buildings you saw in the outline.

Placing houses along a road

Default Road
6. Use the Default Road tool to draw a road with some
Note that on some map
curves.
types, the default road
button will give you a 7. Click the Random Street button.
regular path instead of a 8. The command line asks you for the starting point of the
smooth path. If this is the street. Notice that even though the command line doesn’t tell us that we can select an entity
case, right click the icon at this step, the cursor is the pick cursor, the one we use to select entities with. So instead of
instead, and choose a clicking anywhere in the map, click on the road to select it.
smooth path road from the
9. The command line now asks us for the start position. This start position will always be
available drawing tools, or
somewhere along the line (or polygon) we just selected, so you can click anywhere in the
simply use Smooth Path
map, and CC3+ will figure out the closest point on the entity in relation to where we clicked.
instead.
To get our desired position, we should obviously click as close to it as possible, but there is
no need to actually click on the line itself in this step.
The command prompt also offers another option; right click to set the start position to the
nearest endpoint. This is great when you wish the starting position to be at the very beginning
of the road. Note that the nearest endpoint is determined from the point on the entity you
clicked to select it in the previous step. So keep this in mind when using this tool.
Right click to have the street start at the end of the road.

392
 10. Move your mouse along the road and see the outline preview being drawn.
If you move your mouse past the end of the road, you will see that CC3+
will stop the random street there, no matter if you continue to move your
mouse. Notice that depending on the options set, houses may appear on
one or both sides of the road. You may also see that the houses switches
sides as you move your mouse. We will explore this closer when we look
at the settings.
11. When happy with the look of your street, click the mouse button to place
the end point and have CC3+ draw the houses.

Random street options

To set the random street options, right click the Random Street button. This brings up the Street
options dialog.

Street settings: This list contains saved settings for the random street options. A set of
predefined styles comes with CD3, but you can also make your own settings.

Save: This let you save the current settings. When you click the button, CC3+ will
request a name for the setting. If you wish to create a new setting instead of saving
the current one, just provide a new name instead of using the existing one.

Delete: Deletes the currently selected style

More settings:

Street settings: This button opens up advanced options for your random street,
such as house sizes. This dialog is explained right after this one.

House settings: This will bring up the House settings dialog (Detailed in the House
Styles chapter on page 387.

House shapes: These options control the shape of the houses placed with the random
Percentage Chance
street command. The shapes available are a subset of the ones used for the House
tool. See Appendix A: House Shapes for a list and description of these. To exclude a house shape,
simply set the percentage
Random house types: If this radio button is selected, the random street command chance to zero. Note that
will generate houses of random sizes and shapes. You can set the percentage CC3+ will automatically
chance for each of the house shapes just below, and you can set up the random recalculate the percentages
sizes for the buildings by clicking the Street Settings button. to always leave the total at
All houses are the same size: This causes all the houses to be the same size and 100%, so you should set the
shape. Use the radio buttons below to set the shape to use, and click the Street percentages from top to
Settings button to set the house size to use. When this setting is in effect, the house bottom to ensure CC3+
sizes are set to the midpoint between the max and min values defined in the don't change a value you
advanced street setting dialog. just set.

393
 Houses on: These checkboxes allow you to define which side
of the street the buildings should appear on. Note that left and
right are relative to the direction of the road, which is
determined by the direction you drew it in. The image shows
two roads with random streets, both on the left side of the
road. The reason for the final result is that I drew the leftmost
road from top to bottom, while the rightmost road was drawn
bottom to top.

If you wish to have houses on both sides of the road, simply

check both left and right. The final option, Select side for each
Select Side for each Street street allows you to select the side of the road to place the houses for each street you
draw.
When this option is in effect,
the position of your mouse Roof Type: These are the same roof types as used by the House tool. See Placing
when you place the ending Houses found on page 384 for descriptions of these.
point of the street
Options:
determines which side of
the road the houses ends up Align to road: If this option is checked,
on. Just move your mouse, the distance between the road-facing
keep an eye on the preview side of the house and the road will be
and place the point when the same for all the houses in the street.
the houses are correctly If this option is not checked, the houses
positioned. will be aligned along their centers
instead. The street above the road in the
image has this option turned on, while the bottom street was drawn with this
option off.

Draw gardens: This option draws a box

around each house to give each house
its own individual garden. The lines for
the garden are drawn in the current
color.

Sheet: This is the sheet to put the generated buildings on. As usual, the asterisk means
that if the current sheet starts with the name provided, it will be used, if not, they will be
placed on the sheet actually matching the name.

Advanced Street Settings

When you click the Street Settings button in the Street Options dialog, you open the advanced
street options dialog. From this dialog, you can specify house styles, sizes and distances.

House settings: If you select the Use current setting, the random street will draw
houses in whatever style is currently selected. This is especially nice in the vector style
that comes with CC3+, because the vector catalog buttons will also switch the current
house style at the same time they load the matching symbol catalog. This is also useful

394
 with other styles, since you can just go in and change house style, and the random street
style will follow without any more configuration.

If you select the Saved settings option, you can define up to four different house styles
and a percentage chance for each of these types. Note that this applies to each
individual house in the random street, so you can use this option to have a mix of
different house styles.

House Width: This specifies the legal range for house widths. If your house shapes are
set to random, the width will be picked randomly from within this interval. If your shape
option is set to make all the houses identical, it will use a value that is exactly midway
between the max and min.

House Length: This is the possible range for the length of the house. Just as with the
width, if you are using random shapes it will use a random value in the specified interval;
otherwise it will use the value halfway between these. Note that the minimum length
should be at least as large as the maximum width for the random street option to work
correctly. If you wish a house with the narrow end towards the road, simply use the
second shape in the list instead of trying to swap length and width.

Distance between houses: This value is the distance between the facing sides of
neighboring houses. A value of 0 means that the walls are touching. Just as with the
previous two values, if you have selected to use all identical houses, the value used is
the average of these two numbers, otherwise a random value in the interval is used.

Street width: This is the width allocated to the houses. The houses will take as much
length as they need along the road, but this value needs to be large enough to
accommodate any possible house. Generally, this means that it needs to be larger than
the maximum house length. If you are not using the second shape in the list (rotated
rectangle), it is enough that this value is larger than the maximum house width, but CC3+
will give you a dialog box informing you of the issue in that case, but you can safely
ignore it.

CC3+ will place the houses in the middle of this space, so if this value is considerably
larger than the house width, houses will be far from the road, even Distance from center
of road value is low. For a tight street, keep this value as low as possible within legal
limits.

If you have Draw Gardens turned on, it is the area specified by the street width, and
whatever length the house needs, that will be outlined. You can say that the street width
defines the property of each house.

Distance from center of road: This defines the distance from the center of the road to
where the house property (defined by Street width) starts. A low value will cause the
house properties to be close to the road, although the actual houses may be far from the
road if the street width is much larger than the houses.

Streets and Houses Review

Use the house tool to quickly draw houses of any shape for use in your city.

Use the random street tool to quickly fill entire streets with houses.

House symbols should be reserved for special buildings. Use the house and random
street tools for the majority of the city.

Both random streets and houses have a variety of settings which makes these extremely
flexible.

395
 LABELING CITIES
As with all our maps, we should add some labels to our map. I won’t repeat what we already
discussed in the main CC3+ section of this book, but do remember that the techniques we discussed
there is also relevant for city maps.

However, city map usually contains far more information than an overland map. Just take street
names for example. How should we handle these?
Google Maps
You can find Google Maps One way to label cities is to just accept that you cannot label all your streets, and at the same time
at http://maps.google.com. be able to read them when zoomed out to display the entire map. This is basically how most modern
Google maps is ©2017 city maps are made. Look at the city of London in Google Maps for example. If you zoom far enough
Google. out to see the entire city, you can’t see any street names, but as you zoom far in to parts of the city,
you start to see them. Paper maps usually address this issue differently. Detailed maps are usually
printed on very large sheets of papers, or if printed on smaller sheets, only the most important
names are included.

Obviously, both of these approaches can be taken with CD3, depending on what you intend to do
with the map. If you intend to print it to an A4 sheet, or use it as an illustration in a book, the latter
approach is probably the most sensible, but if you plan to use it in CC3+, you can go for the first
approach. Using CC3+’s search features, you can search for and automatically zoom to text in the
map, and you can also automatically generate a clickable index for your city. We will explore these
options in more detail in this chapter.

In addition to text labels, it is also possible to use color coding instead of (or in addition to) text
labels to visualize elements in the city. This will also be explored in this chapter.

Text Labels
We should use text labels to label important buildings and roads in the city, as well as other
interesting features. As mentioned above, this will result in quite a lot of text labels, more than we
can possibly make legible on the zoomed out view of the city. So, we will focus on smaller labels
instead, which will be readable when we zoom in to section of the city.

Note that legibility is important for these small labels, so we should use a relatively simple font for
this. For my map, I used Times New Roman for my labels, but you may also consider a sans-serif
font like Arial or Tahoma.

Roads
Italic When labeling roads, the text size should be small enough to fit the text inside the road. I used a
I am using Italic on the road text height of 7’ for the major roads, and 5’for the minor ones.
labels to separate them 1. Click the Text Specs button and set the font to Times New Roman, the text height to 7,
from the labels used on
and enable Bold and Italic.
buildings and features.
2. Set the current layer to TEXT (ROADS). By using a dedicated layer, we make it easy to turn
on and off the road labels, while still keeping them all on the TEXT sheet for easy handling of
effects. Also note that since CC3+ has methods of selecting entities by layer, we can also
easily select all of the road labels later, without selecting other labels at the same time.
3. Use the Text tool to add labels to the major roads. When placing the labels, rotate them
to fit the direction of the road.
Text Attribute
When placing this many labels, I find it the quickest to just approximate the angle visually,
Note that text attributes of by holding down and while placing the text for free rotation. For more accurate
symbols won’t work with
placement, you can use the Bearing command from the Info menu, and then input the angle
the Index feature (page
manually for each label, but this is a lot of work when you are placing lots of labels.
398), so don’t go for this
The final option is to create a symbol with a text attribute and control points. Such a symbol
approach if you want to
will align to the road, and the text attribute will cause the symbol to ask you for a street name
create an index later.
each time you place it. There is such a symbol defined in @Tutorials\Tome\City\Snowport

396
 Labeled.fcw. Just click the Symbols in Drawing
button, and look for the Street Label
symbol. Unfortunately, a symbol which only
consists of a text attribute is invisible in the cursor
preview, so you won’t get an idea how it looks
until after you have placed it. But it will align to the
correctly, even if you can’t see it in a preview.
The downside with both an aligning symbol and
the Bearing command is that it uses the angle of
the road at the exact point of placement. This
works perfectly for straight roads, but curved
roads present a problem here, since they
constantly change their bearing. Also note that the
direction of the road also matters, a straight road
drawn from left to right has a bearing of 0, while
one drawn from right to left has a bearing of 180.
When using that bearing for the text, it will appear
upside-down on the latter road.
One option for curved roads is obviously the Text Along
a Curve command from page 40. This option work, but the problem is that the text is distributed
over the entire length of the road, which doesn’t always look good, especially for long roads. To
handle this, we can use construction lines, which can be made by making a copy of the actual
road, and then removing the parts we do not need, to ensure perfect text placement, but this also
requires a bit of work for each and every label. I find that this procedure is best saved for when
you really need curved text, and the rest of the time I just find the straightest possible part of the
road, and manually rotate the text to fit as best I can.
4. Change the text height to 5’, and proceed with adding labels to the minor roads.
You may not want to label every single street in your city. For larger cities, I usually
tend to only label the streets have some kind of prominence, but exactly how
much to label depends on the size of the city, and how you intend to use it. For
Snowport, I’ve left most minor streets unlabeled.

Locations
Important locations in the city should also be labeled. We wish these labels to look a bit
different from the labels used for the roads, so we are going to change the text specs a
bit.

5. Click the Text Specs button and set the font to Times New Roman, the
text height to 7, and enable Bold. Make sure Italic is disabled. Set the Angle
to 0 degrees, as we wish this text to be horizontal.
6. Set the current layer to TEXT (LABELS). We’ll use this layer for all the labels
that are not street names.
7. Now place text labels on the important buildings in the city. I have only
labeled a handful in my map; among them the Harbormaster’s Office, Chapel
Maldina, the City Guard HQ, the Barracks and a couple more. Keep the text
labels straight, this serves as one of the differences from the road labels.

Reading the Map

Note that when you do a Zoom Extents you can hardly see that any of the labels at all. Obviously,
the labels were a waste of time if we are only going to use the map like this. However, once we
zoom in to a section of the city, these labels become very helpful and informative, especially if this
was a real city map and we should navigate by it.

397
 However, trying to find something in the city this way is cumbersome. We have to zoom in to a
small section, read all the labels we can find, and if what we are looking for aren’t here, we move
on to the next section. However, CC3+ have excellent facilities for searching in the map.

1. Load up @Tutorials\Tome\City\Snowport Labeled.FCW. Note that I am going to use the

text from my map in these examples, so if you are using your own map instead, remember
to replace my search strings with appropriate names from your map.
2. Select Views → Zooms → To Text….
In the dialog the comes up, enter the
word inn, then click OK. If this
matches multiple entries, a dialog will
come up listing all the matches. You
can then click on the desired match to
zoom to that area. If there were only a
single match, CC3+ would have
zoomed to that directly instead of
showing the selection dialog.
Click on The Silver Queen (Inn) in the
list to zoom to that location.

You can read more about text searching in the Finding Text chapter starting on page 45.

Creating an Index
Searching is well and good when you know the name of what you want, but that is obviously not
always the case. Often, you’d just like a list of your available choices. CD3 can automatically create
an index of your city for you, based on the text labels in the map. This index contains both grid
coordinates, which makes it very helpful on a print map, since you can find the location by using
the index, even if you can’t find the tiny text label at the actual position of the location. The index
entries are also clickable within CC3+, so clicking on an index entry will automatically zoom to that
location.

The Grid
An index is keyed to the grid coordinates, so to have an index; we need to have a grid first.
Outside
To hide entities that extend 1. Select an appropriate grid color, such as black.
partially beyond the map 2. Click the Grid button. Set up a square grid with spacing 100 and labels on the outside.
border, most CC3+
templates are set up with a
SCREEN sheet containing a
white polygon to cover such
entities. Unfortunately, this
will also cover the outside
grid numbering.
The easiest way to fix this is
to open the Drawing Sheets
and Effects dialog, and
simply move the SCREEN
sheet up a couple of places,
so that it appears right
above the TEXT sheet in the
list. In this position, it
should still do its intended
function, but won’t hide
text or grid entities.

398
 3. Click Text Specs and set the text height to 25 and the angle to 0. The index uses the
specifications set here, so it is important that these are sensible before creating the index.
4. Click the Create Index button.
CC3+ will now prompt you to select entities. You should now select all the text entities that
will appear in the index. Let us create an index that only contains the locations in the map,
since it can be difficult finding the correct entries in the index if we mix locations and streets.
5. Instead of selecting any entities manually, hit the key to start selection by layer. We only
want the labels that are on the TEXT (LABELS) layer, so you can now either type in the name
of this layer, or right click to get the layers dialog and select it from there.
6. The command line should now say that 16 entities were selected, if you are using my
example map. Hit to complete the selection process.

7. The command line will now ask for the maximum height of the index. If there are more lines
than will fit inside this height, the index will take up multiple columns. You can also simply
right click to tell CC3+ that the index should only be a single column, no matter how large.
This works for us, so click the right mouse button now.
8. Finally, CC3+ asks you to place the index. A rectangular
outline will show you the size. There are many places to put
an index, but since our map is getting a bit crowded by now,
let us place it right outside the right edge of the map. Place
it near the top, as this generally make it look more orderly.
We could probably arrange for a place on the map itself for
the index, like over the sea or the outside the east wall. If
you place the index on the map itself, you also probably
want to make a box to hold it, something similar like we did
with the dungeon map labels in the Numeric labels section
on page 293.
You’ll notice that any text labels that are set up to use two
lines on the map itself, will also use two lines in the index. Consider the effects of this when
labeling your city if you wish to use an index.

The index we created has two functions. First, the numbers to the right of each entry refers to the
grid square the text entry is located in; first the x (horizontal) coordinate, then the y (vertical)
coordinate. This is useful on print maps, since it lets you find the correct location on the map very
quickly. The second unction is that it is clickable. As long as you use the map within CC3+, you can
click on the text label to zoom directly to the location.

Note that the index lists the location of the text label in the map. Therefore, it is important that the
text label is placed where the actual feature is. If you place the text label off to the side for example,
you risk that the text label ends up in another grid cell than that of the location itself.

The index is grouped, which makes it very easy to move or delete the index later, but you need to
ungroup it (or unlock groups) if you wish to manually modify elements of it.

9. Try making an index for the roads in the map, following the same procedure as above.
However, when CC3+ asks for the column height, enter 400. Notice that the index should
now take up 2 columns, at least as long as you used my example map. These two columns
were probably a bad choice for this particular map, but it serves as a decent example.
You may have noticed that some streets appear multiple times in the index. This is because
I placed the same label multiple times along some long roads. If you wish to avoid this when
placing labels, you could for example use a separate layer for the extra duplicates. That way,
these won’t be selected when you select by layer. Just make sure that you place the main
label in the most appropriate location, since it will be this label the index then references.

399
 Color Coding Your City
Colors can infer a lot of information. One way of adding information to your map besides text labels
are color coding. Let us have a look on two ways to use colors to add information to your map. First,
let us use simple transparent colored polygons to outline our city districts, then we will look at how
CD3 can color code individual buildings based on functionality.

Outline the districts

This is a rather simple procedure, but it gives a nice way to separate the different city districts.

1. Create a new sheet named DISTRICTS and a new layer by the same name. Place the sheet
New Drawing Tool right above the TEXT sheet in the list, and give it a Transparency effect with an opacity value
of 50.
Refer to Editing and
Creating Drawing Tools on 2. Create a new drawing tool. It should be a closed smooth polygon, should not have an outline,
page 141 for more the fill style should be Solid, the width should be fixed to 0.0 and the color should be set to
information about creating use the current color. Sheet and layer should both be set to DISTRICTS. Name the new
and editing drawing tools. drawing tool City District.
3. Unhide the CONSTRUCTION
layer, so you can see the
construction line we placed
earlier to separate the
districts.
4. Set the current color to a
medium blue. Draw a polygon
covering the docks district
using the City District
drawing tool. Use the
construction line as a guide,
but do not trace it. You should
however trace the coastline
to have the polygon follow it.
5. Continue coloring the other
districts, using a different
color for each.

400
 6. Use Text Specs to change the text height to 30. Make sure the angle is set to 0.
7. Change the active Sheet to TEXT, and make sure the active layer is DISTRICTS.
8. Create a text label for each district, and place it somewhere in the middle of the colored
polygon. Since we placed the text on the same layer as the polygons, we can turn on/off
both just by changing the visibility of the DISTRICTS layer.

Color coded buildings

CD3 comes with a tool to color-code buildings based on their functionality. This is a great way to
get control of the demographics of the city.

By using different layers for your different kinds of buildings, you tell CD3 which kind of building
this is. CD3 can then use this information to color-code your buildings. For example, you can place
all inns on one layer and have them take on one color, while all temples are on another layer and
takes on another color.

Note that this color does not replace the buildings original color. This is an additional color which
can be shown instead of the buildings normal color. You can change back and forth between these
at any time.

1. Open up @Tutorials\Tome\City\Snowport Colored.FCW. For this example, you should use

this file instead of your own, since this file has already been prepared by using the tools we
will look at next.

Color setup
2. Click the Color Layers button. This brings up the Color
Buildings dialog. This dialog contains a list of the layers which
contains buildings you wish to color. The dialog may be pre-
populated by layers depending on the template; some
templates will start with an empty list here, while others will
have a long list of layers pre-populated.
The layers you set up here are saved with the map, so if you
open up this dialog from my example map, it should show the
seven layers shown in the image.
In this dialog, use the Add button to add additional layers, if
needed. By convention, the buildings should be on one of the
BLDNG (SOMETHING) layers, so normally, these would be the
only layers in this box, although technically any layer can be Special Properties
used. Be aware that this dialog takes advantage of special
Each CD3 building, either
properties with the CD3 buildings, so you cannot use it to color
from symbol or house tool
arbitrary entities.
contains a solid filled
For each layer in the dialog, you can set the desired color by clicking on the small color polygon which is a
swatch. Additionally, the checkbox determines if coloring should happen on this layer or not. silhouette of the building. It
Once you have set up the layers and colors, simply click Change now. Note that this will is the color of this polygon
permanently change the color of the building, so even if you disable the layer or remove it that is changed when you
from the Color Buildings dialog later, the building will still keep the color assigned. use this function. Note that
Also note that this affects the color of varicolor buildings. The color of the building will change this polygon is normally
from the one you originally defined to the one set up for the layer. hidden, because the roof
3. We are happy with the setup in this dialog for now, so click the Change now button. This polygons appear on top of
will change the color of all the buildings, and the map will temporarily show the buildings it.
with their colors. This is only until the next redraw however, as the city is still set up to show
the real buildings, and not the color.
4. Select City → Layers → All BLDNGs with color. This will switch the map display to display
the color of the building instead of their normal fill/shading. This is accomplished by hiding

401
 the layers that contain the shading and fills of the buildings. You can revert back to the normal
building view by using the All BLDNGs with shading option.

5. To move a building to another layer, use the City → Change house layer command on the
houses you wish to move. It is very important that you use this command, and not the regular
Change Properties command, because the building is a very complicated structure, and this
command ensures that all the parts of the building are handled correctly, something which
is not guaranteed by other commands.
Use the Change house layer command on a couple
of the pink buildings in the map, and move them to
the BLDNG (CRIMINAL) layer. Note how their color
does not change, even after a redraw.

Color does not Change 6. Click the Color Layers button. Use the Add button
The colors will only change to add the BLDNG (CRIMINAL) layer, and give it a nice
after going through the black color. Make sure it has a checkmark, then click
Color Building dialog and Change now, and notice your selected buildings
hitting Change now. Simply turning black.
changing the building layer
does not immediately
This is all you need to do to color code your buildings. However, to make this procedure as simple
change the color, even if
as possible, it is recommended that you remember to change the current layer before placing your
you change to a layer with
buildings, so you don’t have to go around moving them all afterwards. Note that the building will
another color defined in the
also take on the current color when you place it, so buildings that haven’t been changed by the
dialog.
Color Building dialog, will have whatever color you had as the current color when placing it.

402
AUTOMATIC FLOORPLANS Bitmap Symbol
Automatic floorplan
Another great feature of City Designer 3 is the ability to automatically generate floor plans from
generation from bitmap
your buildings. These floor plans can then be edited in Dungeon Designer 3. You can edit these basic
symbols only works if the
floor plans even without DD3, but using it will give you more options. We’ll stick to using the CD3
bitmap symbol is a proper
floorplans in this section though, since this book have a complete section on using DD3.
CD3 symbol. Creating
The floorplans generated by CD3 will only contain the outline of the building. It is up to you to proper CD3 symbols is a bit
populate it with interior walls, doors, windows, furniture and so on, but having CD3 generate the more involved than the
basics ensures that you get a floor plan that exactly matches the shape of your house, no matter if regular bitmap symbols
that house originated as a bitmap symbol, from the house tool or from a random street. used in overland or dungeon
maps, so even if you can use
In addition to setting up the basic floorplans, CD3 also adds a link around the house on the city map, any image you find on the
which you can click to get to the floor plan. The floor plan will also have a link back to the map. To internet as symbols in your
preserve the integrity of these links, it is best to place the floor plan drawings in a subfolder in the city maps, they do require
same location of the city map. That way, CC3 can create relative links which will work even if you some extra preparation if
later move the map files, just remember to move both the city map and the subfolder with the you wish to take
floorplans to the same location. advantages of the CD3
features like automatic
Creating the Floorplan floorplans, demographic
coloring and roof shading.
Creating the automatic floorplan is a quick and simple procedure. See the City Symbols
chapter starting on page
1. Open up @Tutorials\Tome\City\Snowport Labeled.FCW. (For the finished result check out
407 for details on how to
@Tutorials\Tome\City\Snowport Linked.FCW).
crate fully featured CD3
2. Zoom in to the house you wish to create floorplans for. This can be any CD3 house; from a symbols.
symbol, from the house tool, or from a random street.
Note that you need to use proper CD3 houses. If you
have imported custom house images for use as Relative Links
houses, they must be specially prepared to work as
Read more about map links
proper house symbols. The same goes for manually
in the Tying your World
drawn houses. As long as they are drawn with the
House tool or the Random Street tool you are Together – Making an
Interactive Atlas chapter on
fine, but if you manually drew it using regular tools,
page 132.
it won’t work properly as a CD3 house.
3. Click the Floorplan button. CC3+ will now ask you
to select the buildings you wish to create floorplans for. Normally, you would select only one
building, but you can include more buildings if you wish. If you select more than one building,
they will all be part of the same floorplan.
4. Once you have selected the desired
building(s), hit (Do It) to complete the
selection. This will bring up the Floorplan
creator dialog.

Template: This is a list of the floorplan

templates you have available in your
CC3+ installation. Add-ons may
provide additional templates.

Title: The title is included on the map,

and is also used for the file names for
this floorplan.

Folder: This is the folder the floorplan

files will be stored within. Remember
that the $-symbol refers to the location
of the current map. So in the example
from the dialog screenshot, this will create a subfolder called Snowport_floorplans

403
 inside the folder our city map is located. It is preferable to do it this way, as it will ensure
that the links will continue to work even if you move the maps to a different location
later.

Rotate building: This option let us control how the building will be oriented in the
floorplan map.

Align to a straight edge: When this option is in effect, CC3+ will pick one of the
straight lines of the building and make this line horizontal. This option is usually
the best, because this will make the floorplan use mostly straight horizontal and
vertical lines which is a good option since it makes the floorplan easier adaptable
to square grids. Note that when using this option, north will not necessarily be on
top of the map.

North straight up: Using this option will always put north at the top of the map. In
other words, the building will be rotated in the floorplan just as it was on the city
map. Note that the reason the floorplan looks smaller in this image is simply that
the map is bigger to accommodate the angled floorplan, so when I shrank the
screenshots down to the same size, it naturally appears smaller (notice how the
scale bar is also smaller), but they are identical in size.

Note that when these options talk about north, they assume that north was straight up
on our city map. If it wasn’t, the compass rose on the generated floorplans will be wrong,
and need to be manually rotated.

Number of floors: This option controls the number of floors in the floorplan map. One
separate file will be generated for each floor.

Above ground: This is the number of floors above the ground.

Below ground: This is the number of floors below the ground, like the basement.

Add Roof Drawing: This will add a separate map which contains the roof of the
building. This is especially interesting with flat-roofed buildings.

Naming Scheme: This sets up the naming scheme used for the floors. American
Correctly Rotated style names the floor at ground level as 1st floor, and the floor above it as 2nd floor,
Note that CD3 assumes that while British naming uses Ground floor for the floor at ground level, and 1st floor
your city map was oriented for the floor above it. German uses the same scheme as British, just in the German
with north on the top. If this language. The Deck style is for starship deck plans, and the Dungeon style is made
isn't the case, the rotation for (surprise) Dungeons.
of the floorplan compass
Features: This adds additional elements to the map, such as a scale bar and compass
rose will not be correct. To
rose. The compass rose will be correctly rotated to indicate north, and the scale bar will
fix it, simply add the
also use the correct scale automatically so that the floorplan is the same size as the
rotational angle of the main
building on your map.
city compass rose to this
one. Sheet: The sheet set up here is used for the hyperlinks, both for the links on the floorplan
maps that links the different floors, and the link on the city map leading to the floorplan.

Open floorplan now: Checking this box makes the floorplan open immediately. You
will then be prompted to save your city map. Remember to say yes to this, since you
want to keep the link to the floorplan that was just added to the map.

5. Set the following options in the dialog (Leave the rest at their defaults):
Template: DD3 Bitmap Floorplan (If you don’t own DD3, you can use the CD3 Bitmap
Floorplan option instead. This style contains tools, fills and symbols for a basic floorplan
in the same style as DD3.)

Title: The Ancient Oak

Folder: $Snowport_floorplans

Rotate building: Align to a straight edge

404
 Number of floors: 2 above, 1 below

Features: Compass Rose and Scale Bar

Open floorplan now: Checked.

Click OK and say yes to save the city map when prompted. Your new
floorplan will now open up.
The zoom is usually off when the map first opens, so click the Zoom
Extents button.
Notice the navigation links in the bottom right corner of the map. These
can be used to navigate to the other floors, or back to the city map. All
the floors contain a list like this.

If you don’t have DD3, and opted to use the CD3 Bitmap floorplan style, you’ll
find the drawing tools you need by clicking the All City Drawing Tools
button. The basic floorplan symbol catalog should already be loaded into the
symbol catalog window, but if you need to manually open it, you can load it
using the Open Symbol Catalog button and find the
@Symbols\Dungeons\CC3\basic.fsc catalog file. Otherwise, if you have DD3
and created the floorplan using the DD3 Bitmap Floorplan style, you have
access to the full set of DD3 features.

For reference, there is a building in @Tutorials\Tome\City\Snowport_floorplans called Barracks, All City Drawing Tools
which only uses the CD3 Bitmap Floorplan style. This was written for an older tutorial, so it isn’t Wait. Why are we clicking
linked to the current city map. The one made for this tutorial using the DD3 Bitmap floorplan style All City Drawing Tools to get
is found in the same folder, with The Ancient Oak name. floorplan tools? The
I won’t go into details about how to make the floorplan here, there is already a detailed DD3 explanation is simple. This
floorplan tutorial on page 276, and you can also find a multi-floored building floorplan tutorial in button is named according
the SS2 section on page 589, but here are a few things you may wish to consider: to the map type menu
active. Since we were
Change the fill style of the walls to a wooden fill, at least for the two aboveground levels. designing a city map, this
Change the fill style of the floor to planks for the two aboveground floors. button is labeled All City
Drawing Tool, but no matter
Draw interior walls using the appropriate tools. its name, this button always
loads all drawing tools for
CD3 creates the same outline for the floorplan for every level, but some buildings have
the current style. You can
extensions that might only exist on a single floor. Customize the floorplan by removing
test this out yourself by
the shapes from extensions not existing on the current floor.
clicking the Dungeon Menu
Add doors, windows, stairs and other symbols. button while you are
Change the map background to a dirt background similar to the one in the city map designing a city map. When
(Hint: you can import this fill to your dungeon map and thus use the exact same texture). you then click the All
Dungeon Drawing Tools
Remember to populate all three floors. button, it will still bring up
the city drawing tools.

405
 Different styles for floorplans
You may wish to create a floorplan in a different style than the ones provided in the Floorplan
Creator dialog. After all, there are multiple annuals and other products you can use for floorplans
that do not show up in that dialog.

Fortunately, it is not really difficult to use a different style.

1. Create an automatic floorplan as described above. This will generate some map files.
2. Use the new map wizard to create a set of floorplans in your desired style, creating the same
number of floors. Save these maps with the exact same name as the automatically generated
ones, but in a different folder.
3. Show Hyperlinks (View → Show Hyperlinks)
4. Use Clipboard Copy (Edit → Copy) To copy the floor, walls and navigation box including
hyperlinks to your new maps. (Delete the navigation box already there first).
5. Use Change Properties to change the fill style of your walls and floors to a fill style in
the new map (They may currently be showing up with the missing bitmap red X symbol).
6. Copy your new maps to the folder containing the auto generated ones, overwriting them.
This should make all links work, including the one from the city.
7. Continue drawing your floorplans in your new style.

Automatic Floorplans Review

CD3 can automatically generate a floorplan for your city buildings, provided the building
is a proper CD3 building (Either a proper CD3 symbol, or a house drawn using either the
house or the random street tool).

Generated floorplans can be in a variety of styles, for example the DD3 Bitmap style.

Generated floorplans are only generated with the outer walls, you need to create the
rest of the drawing yourself.

Navigation links are automatically generated, making it easy to move between the city
map and the building floorplan, as well as the various floors in the building.

406
CITY SYMBOLS
City maps use symbols just as other CC3+ maps, but if you have been following the CD3 section up
to now, you also know that house symbols contain elements not found in other symbols, shading
and demographic color in particular. In this chapter we will look closer at how to make these
symbols from scratch. This chapter assumes that you know the basics of symbol management
creation, as described in the Symbols and Symbol Management chapter on page 89.

As with ordinary symbols, raster and vector symbols are used the exact same way, but there are
significant differences in how these are created, so we will cover both. For both of these symbol
types we will add roof shading and support for the color buildings command to make these symbols
into true CD3 building symbols

Raster Buildings
The base of the raster building symbol is a png image as usual. However, we need extra information
to make them work properly as city buildings. First, we need an additional png image that maps the
shading. This is similar to the how we created varicolor raster symbols, but with some critical
differences which we will explore now. Additionally, the symbol also needs to have control points
to handle placement, and a vector polygon to handle coloring.

For this tutorial, we will start with an appropriate house symbol, and then prepare it for use with
CD3. To prepare the symbol we will use the same program we used earlier, GIMP. As before, you
can use your favorite image editor instead for these parts.

Note that this procedure is much simpler if you are making the symbol from scratch, or if you have
the image stored in a layered image file. Layered image files are the native formats of the most
popular image editor, and by keeping images in a layered format, it is usually easier to extract
individual components, such as the roof. While the final image must be stored in png format for use
with CC3+ (or for example in web pages), most people usually keep a working copy in the editor’s
native format for later editing. However, most symbols you get from the internet are already in the
png format, so that is what we will use as our starting point here. Just keep in mind that if you make
the images from scratch, take advantage of your editor’s capabilities of using layers.

1. Copy House.png from @Tutorials\Tome\Symbols\City to @Symbols\User\House Art. Do

NOT copy the House_map.png in the same folder, unless you wish to skip the image editing
part of this tutorial.
2. Make another copy of House.png in the same folder, but
name this second copy House_map.png. Again, do not copy
the House_map.png from the tutorial folder, this is the finished
version, for now, you want both of your files to be copies of
House.png.
The checkerboard pattern in the screenshots is how transparent
sections appear in many image editors.

3. Open GIMP.
4. Open your House_map.png from @Symbols\User\House
Art. We will use this image as a base for creating the shading
map for the image.
When making shading maps for images, the name of the file should
be the same as the main image file, but with _map appended after the name (but before the
extension). So the shade map for House.png will be House_map.png, while the map file for Castle
Rosehaven.png would be Castle Rosehaven_map.png.

5. The map file should only contain the part of the image that should be shaded. Normally, that
includes the roof, but it excludes the ridge and chimneys. We will start by removing the parts
of the image that should not be shaded.

407
 For this, start by using the Rectangle Select Tool to select rectangular elements, such as
the chimneys and the straight ridges. Simply select an area, then hit the key on the
keyboard to delete that section.
The diagonal ridges are a bit trickier, but not that difficult.
Use the Free Select Tool . This tool behaves a little like
CC3+’s tools, in that you place the nodes for the area, and
GIMP will draw lines between them. You even have a
preview line as you move your mouse to see how the line
will end up. Use this tool to select the area of the diagonal
ridges by clicking in one of the corners of the ridge, then
in the next corner, and so on. Use the preview line to
make sure the points are positioned properly to cover the
entire ridge. You end the selection by placing the last
point in the same spot you placed the first. GIMP will
show a small circle around this point when your mouse pointer is close. It is good enough to
click within that circle; you don’t have to manage to click on the same pixel.
6. There is also a small awning or minor
extension at the top and bottom of this
building, and since this needs different
Separating shading from the nearby roof, we can use
Later, we are going to fill the Rectangle Select Tool to select a
each area with a solid color, pixel-thin line between these and delete it,
so it is very important that thereby separating them from each other.
each area is properly Once these parts have been deleted, you
separated from each other should have an image that only contains
area, so that the flood fill roof segments, and nothing else.
commands only fill the
desired area. We could also
We now need to make these areas solid-
handle this by doing some
colored for our map. Fortunately, this is very
manual steps when filling
easy. There are several ways of doing this,
the area later, but it is much
so we’ll just use one of them
easier to separate them
now. 7. Select Colorize from the Colors menu. Set
Note that since the Lightness to -100. This will turn the roof
separation line we used is sections a solid black.
only 1 pixel wide, it is
almost impossible to see in
the image to the left.

Direction
Unfortunately, each color
channel has a max value of
255, so we cannot represent
the 360 degrees of the Now, we need to add colors to the individual segments. The colors required for the segments are
compass directly. The values based on the facing of each segment, the steepness of the roof and if the segment should be
are also based in CC3+'s varicolored or not. Each of these conditions is coded into one of the color components:
coordinate system, which
The Red channel defines the direction the roof is facing: East = 0 or 255, North = 64,
goes the opposite way
West = 128, South = 192; use any number in between to set non-cardinal directions.
around compared to a
normal compass, so take The Green channel defines whether the shaded area is varicolor and only has two
care when you calculate this options: 1 if the area is varicolor, 0 if it is not.
value for a non-cardinal
direction. The Blue channel defines the slope of the roof. Vertical Wall = 128, Flat Roof = 255.
Values below 128 are theoretically possible but would denote inwards sloping roofs (e.g.

408
 the bottom of a sphere), and would therefore not be visible on a top-down map. Blue Channel
Common values: 30 degree slope = 213, 45° = 191, 60° = 170, 75° = 149. How did we calculate this?
First, we know that a flat
To set the colors in GIMP, click the top color swatch in the toolbox. This will
roof has an angle of 0, while
bring up the Change Foreground Color dialog.
an angle of 90 means a roof
Simply set the R, G and B channel values to that stands straight up (A
the desired values. For example, the top wall basically). 60 is two
segment of the two leftmost segments has a thirds of 90, so we know
roof angle of 60 (This value is arbitrarily that the value we seek is
selected, but it is a sensible roof angle). Using two thirds along the way
the rules defined above, this means that it from 255 (flat roof) to 128
should have a blue channel of 170. The (vertical wall). The
segment faces straight north, which gives us difference between these
a red channel of 64. We don’t need varicolor two numbers is 127, and
on this symbol, so set the green channel to two thirds of 127 is
0. Don’t worry if the H, S and V values approximately 85. This just
changes when you change the R, G and B leaves us to calculate 255
values. Those are only a different way of (flat roof) - 85 (60 degree
expressing the color value. angle) = 170.
Another way to calculate it
8. Use the Bucket Fill Tool to fill the
is to use the fact that each
segment with the chosen color.
degree of slope equals 1.41,
9. Continue to fill all the segments. The slope of so the component should be
the awnings should be less than the roofs, 255 – 1.41 * Angle. Using
say 30 degrees. The numbers in the image is our values, we get 255 –
the Red, Green and Blue channels 1.41*60 ~= 170.
respectively
10. To save the image in GIMP, select Highest Resolution
Overwrite House_map.png from the File CD3 house symbols use a
menu. resolution of 40 for symbols
11. Start CC3+, and load up a Bitmap A style in the VH quality, but this
city map, such as our Snowport map, or symbol is actually just in the
simply use a blank map. HI quality, which have a
resolution of 16. It is
12. Select Import pngs… from the Symbols
perfectly fine to use a
menu. This will open the import dialog.
symbol even if we don't
Set the following settings in this dialog: have it in VH. The VH quality
is only needed for very close
Source folder: @Symbols\User\House Art
zooms, so normal city maps
Make path: Relative to CC3 path will never use the VH
symbols. If you have your
Highest resolution: 16
image in the VH quality, you
Create other resolutions: checked should set the highest
resolution value to 40, and
Files are: High set Files are Very high
Symbol Origin: Down Center instead of just High as we
did here.
Add symbol information: Checked. Also, make sure to hit the Set button, and in the
Smart Symbols Options dialog that shows, check the Force Sheet option and set the Add Symbol Information
value to SYMBOLS*. Note that if the image were varicolor, you would also need to
There is currently a bug in
activate the CD3 Roof entities are varicolor option.
CC3+ preventing the
13. Click OK. The symbol will be imported (along with any other symbols in that folder). You options you set here from
should get a dialog telling you how many symbols were imported. Unless you have placed taking effect. You may
other images in the House Art folder, that number should be 1. instead set the same options
Note that if CC3+ pops up a dialog informing you that you have symbols definitions with from the Options dialog in
invalid bitmap paths and asks you if you wish to delete them, just say No. the Symbol Manager after
importing the symbols.

409
 The symbol is now defined, and you can use it by going to Symbols in Drawing . If you try
to place it on the city map, you should see that the size is correct (compare it with the CD3A Wooden
X 1 symbol), and that shading works as desired. The house still misses control points to align it to
the road on placement, and it still doesn’t work with the Color buildings command.

14. Open the Symbol Manager.

Control Points
15. Find the House symbol we just imported in the list. It should be at the bottom. Select the
Symbols with control points
symbol, hit the Edit button, and define the edit window.
are explained in the
Symbols with control points 16. From the Symbols menu, select Add
/ smart symbols chapter on Control Points. Now add a control line
page 121. along the bottom edge of the building.
This will be the end that aligns to the
road.
In the dialog that comes up after placing
STRUCTURES (COLORS) the ending point for the control line,
Many templates contain an make sure that Align on Insertion,
erroneous named layer Keep DynTrak Scale and Offset from
called STRUCTURES Place Point is checked, and the rest
(COLOR). Do not use this unchecked.
one for this polygon. No 17. Change the layer of the raster image to
matter how similar the STRUCTURES (SHADING).
names looks and sounds,
this needs to be exact, not
18. Draw a solid filled polygon on the STRUCTURES (COLORS) layer using the Polygon tool.
similar. If your template This polygon should appear immediately inside the outline of the raster image, and follow
doesn't already have the the outline of the raster image as close as possible. This is the polygon we will see when we
STRUCTURES (COLORS) show house colors.
layer in it, simply create it. 19. Make the new polygon varicolor (Symbols → Make Varicolor), and then move it behind the
raster image using the Send to Back command.
20. Use Outline in Black on the new polygon, then move this outline to the STRUCTURES
Outline
(OUTLINE) layer. Make sure you only move the outline, and not the polygon itself.
To be more precise, it should
This outline will be used as the frill track for the building.
follow the outlines of the
building walls in the image. 21. Close the editor window and confirm that you wish to save the changes to the symbol.
Do not include minor details
that stick out from the
building in this outline, like You have now defined a city house that behaves just as the other CD3 buildings. Try it out, and
roof details, outdoor lamps, check that it aligns properly to roads, that the roof shading is correct, and that it reacts properly to
cranes or similar. This the Color Buildings command. You can also use the automatic floorplan command on it, and the
outline should also be made floorplan will come out with the correct outline.
using a single polygon, not
Remember that the symbol currently only exists in the current drawing, so you may wish to save it
multiple.
to a symbol catalog for later use.

Frill Track
This is an outline placed just
inside the edge of buildings
with complex outlines to
allow frills and extensions
to attach correctly to the
edge of such building
without being hampered by
jagged or irregular edges.

410
Vector Buildings Rectangle
When creating vector symbols for use as buildings, we have a range of other considerations Note that the outline can be
compared to the raster symbols. The most important of these are shaded polygons and aligned fills, far more complex than a
both of which we will set up now. simple rectangle. It may be
a completely different
1. Either continue with the map file from the Raster Buildings tutorial above, load
shape, and the edges can be
@Tutorials\Tome\City\Snowport.FCW or start a new city map.
jagged, like for example a
It doesn’t matter which sheet we draw our house entities on, but do make sure that all the entities thatched roof would be. You
we draw/place ends up on the same sheet. can use any tool to draw this
outline, just make sure it is
2. Set the current fill style to hollow and the current layer to
properly closed. To achieve
STRUCTURES (COLORS). Now use the Box tool to draw a
this, use grids, snaps and
20’×15’ rectangle. This is the outline of our new building.
modifiers.
3. Next, we need a solid area for use with the Color Buildings If you are drawing a
command. Make a copy the outline we just drew, then change building shape with uneven
the fill style of the copy to solid. Finally, make this polygon edges, you also need to add
varicolor (Symbols → Make Varicolor) and then use Send to a frill track. The frill track is
Back to place it behind the outline. another hollow polygon
right inside the complex
Now, we need to add the actual building. This is also referred to as the
outline. The frill track should
shading. For this building, we will use a simple roof consisting of two
be a simple polygon with
entities (Gabled roof type).
straight edges.
4. Set the current fill style to CD3_Tile_Roof Bitmap. Draw two
polygons on the STRUCTURES (SHADING) layer. Each of these
should cover one half of the area inside the outline and be 20’×7.5’ Outline
in size. You may wish to use snaps or modifiers to make sure these
If the outline was made of
fits the outline exactly.
more than one entity, you
These polygons represent the roof sections on the building. will need to use multipoly to
I’ve changed the colors in the screenshot to the right to visually combine it into one entity.
differentiate between these two polygons, but on your screen,
they should be identical. Behind the Outline
5. Hide the STRUCTURES (COLORS) layer for now, this makes working with the next few steps If you have a frill track, use
easier. the Send to Back command
on it now, to send it behind
6. Right click on the Polygon button and select Shaded Polygon.
the solid polygon.
7. Use this command on the top polygon first. CC3+ will first ask for the angle. This is the angle
of the slope of the roof, in the direction from the lowest point to the highest. The top section
is facing towards the north, which means the slope points upward in the opposite direction, Angle
i.e. south, which equals to 270 degrees. Next, CC3+ requests the pitch of the roof. Set it to
Remember that CC3 uses a
60.
regular rectangular grid, so
Once completed, you should see the shading take effect. Note that this procedure will change right/east = 0 degrees (and
the fill style of the polygon to the solid fill style and set the color to the current color, but it 360), top/north = 90
will be darkened or lighted based on the shading settings we just provided and the location degrees, left/west = 180
of the global sun. degrees and bottom/south
This procedure also enabled aligned fills on the affected polygon. We can’t see it right now = 270 degrees.
because the polygon uses a solid fill, but we will change
the fill style later and see the effect. Pitch
8. Repeat the procedure for the bottom polygon. The angle A pitch value of 0 equals a
should be 90 degrees, and the pitch should be the same flat roof, while 90 degrees is
as the other polygon. a vertical wall. A roof will
normally have a value
Notice how the fill rotated to match the direction of the slope
anywhere between these
of the roof, and how one part is darker than the other (lightness
extremes.
is calculated by the azimuth (direction), inclination (height) and
intensity of the global sun.

411
 If you wish to use a roof hatching, like tiles, you can add this to the STRUCTURES (FILL STYLE) layer.
We don’t need hatching for this building, since we used a raster fill style for the roof polygons, but
if you wish to make a pure vector symbols not dependent on raster fills, you would use hatching
instead.

9. Show the STRUCTURES (COLORS) layer again.

Finally, let us add a few extra details to the building. These should also go on the STRUCTURES
(SHADING) layer.

10. Change the current fill style to Woodgrain Bitmap. Now draw a thin polygon across the top
Control Points of the roof, covering the meeting point of the two polygons. This will serve as the roof ridge.
Symbols with control points
11. Then, add a Chimney from the CD3 Bitmap A Wooden catalog.
are explained in the
Symbols with control points 12. Finally, from the Symbols menu, select Add Control Points. Now
/ smart symbols chapter on add a control line along the bottom edge of the building. This will
page 121. be the end that aligns to the road.
In the dialog that comes up after placing the ending point for the
control line, make sure that Align on Insertion, Keep DynTrack
Scale and Offset from Place Point is checked, and the
rest unchecked.
13. Now, all that is left to do is to use Define Symbol from
the Symbols menu on our new house. Give the symbol
a name, and set the Origin to bottom center.
14. Use the Symbol Manager to change the options for
your new symbol. Set the Force Sheet option to
SYMBOLS*.

You now have a new vector-based symbol. Note that it does use raster fill styles, so the symbol will
only work in maps which have the required fill styles defined. These styles should already be defined
in all the city templates. If you wish to use them in a template without the required fill styles, you
must simply import these fill styles. See Fill Styles on page 127 for more details about this. Of course,
this problem could also have been avoided by using pure vector fills on the houses. This does
Save it to a Symbol Catalog depend on the map we wish to use the house in obviously. The house we just defined works nicely
with the Bitmap A style city map, due to the usage of these bitmap fills. A pure vector symbol would
Refer to the Symbols and
fit better on a map based on a vector template.
Symbol Management
chapter on page 89 for more Again, the symbol is only in the current map. Use the Symbol Manager to save it to a symbol catalog
details about this file if you wish to keep it and use it in other maps.
procedure.

Frills
Frills are features that can be added to existing buildings, such as chimneys and awnings. Some frills
are designed to align to the outline of buildings, while others are intended to allow arbitrary
positioning.

Simple Frills
Simple frills are frills that do not need to be rotated or positioned along an edge. These are basically
regular symbols without any control points at all. Simply create and define them as you would for
any ordinary symbol.

Outside building frills

Frills that are intended to go outside of a building, such
as awnings and conservatories, should align to the
building edge, but they should not offset from it. These
symbols need control points to control how they align
to a building.

412
 1. Align the symbol so that the part that faces the building edge goes up the screen.
2. Select Symbols → Add Control Points. These are drawn from right to left along the edge of
the symbol that will align with the building.
3. Select the Align on Insertion and Keep DynTrack Scale options. Uncheck the others. These
control points align to other entities, but should not offset.
4. Define the origin as the center of the control points.

Inside Building Frills

Symbols such as roof windows and square chimneys are placed by selecting a roof edge then
offsetting the symbol inside the building.

1. Align the symbol so that the side that faces the roof edge is facing down the screen.
2. Select Symbols → Add Control Points. These should run from left to right along
horizontal edge at the bottom of the screen.
3. Select the Align on Insertion and Keep DynTrack Scale options and Offset from place
point. Uncheck the others. These control points align to other entities and then offset.

City Symbols Review

City symbols comes in both vector and raster flavors, like regular CC3+ symbols.

City symbols are basically created the exact same way as ordinary CC3+ symbols, but
they do need a few extra entities to enable all CD3 functionality to work with these
symbols.

Raster symbols use a map file to define shading for a building. This is similar to the
varicolor mask file, but it is color-coded to indicate the angle and pitch of the roof
sections in the symbol.

Vector symbols achieve shading by using shaded polygons.

Building frills are symbols with control points that are meant to snap to the frill track of
buildings. These can be used to customize individual buildings.

Temple of Clangeddin in
Hermachkhaz
The temple is a Perspectives
drawing by ProFantasy. The
drawing is available in the
@Examples\
Tome\Perspectives
directory.
If you own DD3, you will
also have the floorplan for
the dungeon where this
section comes from in
$Examples\DD3.

413
 CD3 MACRO EXAMPLE
CurtainWall Macro With every type and style of map, there is ample opportunity to automate certain drawing processes
with CC3. City maps are no exception. The elements of an average city map can provide much
You can find this macro in
inspiration for macros — random tree placement, drawing escarpments or palisades, perhaps even
the @Tutorials\Tome\Macro
generating a random block of houses. Perennial favorites are the “City Wall” series of macros. These
folder. To use it, go to the
macros provide automation for producing a drawing of a fortified wall. Presented here is an
Tools menu, enter the
overview of one incarnation of this idea — the more appropriately named CurtainWall macro.
Macro submenu and choose
the Script command. This chapter uses the CurtainWall macro as a springboard for discussing some advanced macro
Note that the file has a .scr techniques. If you have not already done so, I would recommend reading the chapter on macros in
extension, which Windows the CC3+ section starting on page 198. That chapter covers the basics of macro creation, and
may interpret as a screen provides the groundwork for the ideas discussed here.
saver, and will probably give
an error if you try to double-
click it. If you wish to open Anatomy of the CurtainWall
it up outside CC3+, you can The CurtainWall macro draws a crenellated wall of a style very similar to some of the vector symbols
open it up in any text editor, included with CD3. The final wall compliments those symbols, and should look perfectly matched
like Notepad. when combined on a city map.

Like most CC3+ drawings, the curtain wall is actually composed of a

series of simple entities. The basic wall and parapet are connected 4-
sided polygons, and the crenellation is composed of rows of thick line
elements, with 3-node paths for the corners.

This examination of the base elements of the final macro output

emphasizes one of the most important parts of macro writing--start
with the art. Before the first line of code, you must know what the
final drawing will look like. Moreover, you must be able to visualize,
not just the simplest method of assembling that drawing, but also the
most appropriate method considering the user's input. In this case,
the easiest way to create this design would be to draw three paths--one wide, light colored path to
form the entire base of the wall, and two darker, narrow paths on either side of the first to form the
basis of the parapet. Short lengths of line and path entities would complete the crenellation.

However, this method would be problematic in the context of a macro. Since the layout of the wall
is dictated by the points chosen by the user, you would not have all the points necessary to draw
the paths until the user is finished selecting. In addition, since we would never know exactly how
many points the user will select, it becomes very difficult to store all these points until the end.
Therefore, we must draw each segment as the user defines it; and to do this, we can't use a path.

This is why polygons are used. We can draw a polygon for each segment that the user defines,
beveling the ends of each one so the next one will join seamlessly. Of course, this presents a whole
new problem: since the user is selecting the center line of the wall, how to we determine the outer
corners? To do this, we must think back to our Geometry classes; or if you have not yet had the
pleasure, you're about to get a crash course!

Trigonometric identities and CC3+

The easiest way to understand the problem we're facing here is to play with the Double Line [DBLN]
drawing tool in CC3+. Notice, as you select each point, two lines is being drawn on either side of
the path you are tracing. Also notice that, the greater the angle between the segments that you
draw, the greater the distance is between the two corners of the two paths being drawn.

In the case of our macro, we only know a few pieces of information. We know the points that the
user selects. Therefore, we know the angles between them. CC3+ will let us determine this with the
get bearing [GBRNG] command. Also, we know the desired width of the final wall. Using this data,
we must calculate the position of the two outer points that define the beveled end of each segment.

414
As it happens, this is just enough information. We can use the
central point selected by the user as a reference point to
determine the outer points. All we need is the bearing (the
angle) and the distance to that point from our reference. Then
we can use the bearing angle modifier to get the point:
GP (new point) REF (reference point)
<(angle),(distance)

So, our goal is to obtain these two unknown values: angle and
distance to the corner point. The angle value is easy. We know the bearings of the segments on
either side of the reference point, and we can see by observation that the bearing from the reference
to the corner point is halfway between the two segment angles. So, by averaging the two segment
angles, we can calculate the angle to the corner point.
(Bearing1+Bearing2)/2 + 90 = (angle to left side corner)
(Bearing1+Bearing2)/2 - 90 = (angle to right side corner)

Now all we need is the distance from the reference point to the corner points. As we have seen this
distance is related to the angles of the two segments. To understand exactly how they are related,
we look to a trigonometric identity.
Trigonometric
The equation (or 'identity') that we will use is well known.
Trigonometry is the
1 / cos(A) = c / b mathematics of triangles,
and the relationship
or
between the angles and
1 / cos(A) x b = c sides of said triangles. By
or, in macro terms, using trig functions like
sine, cosine and tangent, we
GCOS varCOSA (angle from reference to corner)
GV varDISTC 1/varCOSA*varDISTB can create equations to
relate these variables. While
That's generally how it works. If you look again at the a full explanation of these
diagram of the wall's parts, you will note that we functions is a little out of the
actually require three corner points on each side. This scope of this manual, let it
will define the end points for the two parapet polygons, simply be said that trig
and the one wall polygon. We can use the same method functions can be applied to
as above to determine all of these points, simply by a number in a similar
using the same angles, with a different figure for the manner as you would a
width (varDISTB). square root or the like. For
With these points known, drawing the wall entities more information on
becomes an easier matter. The three polygons of each trigonometry, refer to a
segment are drawn with single commands each, as are the two paths that create the corner textbook or a web site.
crenellation. The line entities that form the straight lengths of crenellation are drawn with a loop
very similar to the one used by the Staircase macro detailed in the DD3+ section on page 337.

Macro etiquette
Sometimes, just creating the finished product is not enough. Tools like macros are not only judged
by their functionality, but also by their user friendliness. The CurtainWall macro contains several
features that make it more polite to the user.

Restored drawing settings

During the execution of a macro, many of CC3+'s drawing setting can become altered. In order to
draw the required entities, a macro will often need to change the current drawing color, line width,
fill style etc. Then, when the macro is complete, these setting are left in a state different than when
the macro started. From a user perspective, this can become quite annoying. However, with a little
bit of effort, we can design our macro to restore all of CC3+'s drawing settings to the way they were
before the macro started.

415
 There are two techniques we can use to save, and then restore drawing settings. First of all, we can
use the SELSAVE and SELREST commands that respectively save, and restore CC3+'s select by
setting. Since our macro will change this setting, it's only polite to put it back the way we found it.

To save all the other setting, we must use a more complicated procedure. Every entity in a drawing
contains a full set of the drawing settings that were active when it was drawn. For example, a simple
LINE entity contains many properties, including Color, 2nd Color, Line Width, Line Style, Fill Style,
and Layer.

If we draw an entity at the start of the macro, before we change any settings, we know that this
entity's properties will be the same as all the active drawing setting. In essence, we have saved
these settings.

In our macro, we do not have to draw anything large to save the drawing settings. A single point
entity will do. So that it doesn't get in the way, our macro will draw a point that will (hopefully!) be
far away from the used drawing area. Coordinates (10001,10001) should be far enough. Then,
when the macro is finished, we can use the CC3+ command Keep on that point. KEEP is a command
that changes all the current drawing setting to be like a selected entity; exactly what we are looking
for. Once we have restored the drawing settings, the last step is to delete the point we placed. Here
are the relevant macro lines:
SELSAVE
POINT 10001,10001;
...(rest of the macro)...
SELBY1
KEEP 10001,10001
ERASE 10001,10001
SELREST

Grouping entities
When the CurtainWall macro has finished running, it will have created a large number of entities,
which together form the fortified wall. Consider what would happen if the user made a mistake and
placed the wall in the wrong place, or used the wrong settings? The user would now have to delete
all of these individual entities to erase the wall. If the wall is overlapping other existing entities, the
user must be careful not to delete those in the process! Wouldn't it be nice if the macro produced a
Layer single, wall entity?
Change the current layer to Well, we can do the next best thing and group all of the parts of the wall together. This way, the
one that you think will not wall can be selected as a single entity. The trick is, how can the macro select all of the parts of the
be used by any user. (i.e. wall, in order to GROUP them? One way is to use the select by layer method. If we draw all the
Macro Construction). We wall entities on their own layer, then we can select them all for grouping using the SELBYL setting.
want to be sure that this When we are done, we can move the finished wall back to the original layer. We know which layer
layer is empty, so we choose that is, because we saved it in a point, remember? (see above) So, here are the steps we need to
a layer name that is unlikely take:
to be used by anyone else.
Since this layer will probably Save setting using SELSAVE and a POINT.
not exist on the user's map, Run the rest of the macro. All the entities drawn will be on our temporary layer.
we use the GOLAYER
command, which creates a GROUP all the entities on this temporary layer.
new layer if it doesn't find
Move the Grouped entity to the user's original layer. We do this with the LIKE modifier,
one by that name.
which we apply to an entity which is on the original layer (i.e. our setting saving POINT)

Restore all settings.

In terms of the macro, here are the relevant lines:

SELSAVE
POINT 10001,10001;
GOLAYER MacroConstruction
...(rest of the macro)...
SELBYL
CHANGEL MacroConstruction
LIKE
10001,10001
SELBYP

416
GROUP
SELBY1
KEEP 10001,10001
ERASE 10001,10001
SELREST

To group the entities, we first change the select by method to select by layer. We issue the change
layer command [CHANGEL]; since we are selected by layer, CHANGEL asks for a layer name, which
we provide (MacroConstruction). Now CHANGEL wants to know what layer to change the selected
entities to: we tell it to change to a layer LIKE the entity at coordinates (10001,10001). Next we
change the 'select by' method to 'prior', which selects the last entity you worked on. In this way, the
GROUP command automatically works on all of our wall entities. Then, we restore the settings, and
we're done!

Saving the macro parameters

Since the CurtainWall macro is fairly complex, it stands to reason that there will be a fair number of
user definable parameters that can be selected. This is a good thing. It allows users to tweak the
look of the wall to suit their map. The parameters for the CurtainWall macro are Dark stone color,
Light stone color, Wall width, Right side crenellation, and Left side crenellation

Macro parameters are a great feature, but there is a down side. It can become a little tiresome if
you have to enter these parameters each and every time you run the macro. However, there is a
way that we can save these parameters. This way, the user only has to answer one question: 'Use
SAVEVARS
the previous settings?' If yes, the previous settings apply. If no, then the user is prompted for new
parameters. The key to this feature is the SAVEVARS command. This command creates a
script file that contains the
In our macro, before we prompt the user for parameter values, we run a specific script (i.e. vars- values for all variables that
CurtainWall.scr), in case it was saved during a previous macro execution. If the script is present, it are currently in memory. If
will load all the variables we need, including a special one that we put there just for testing purposes. you run the script, it resets
If this test variable is defined, then we give the user the option to skip the parameters section and all of the variables to the
use the saved values. If the test variable is not there, then the user has probably never used this values that it contains. In
macro before, and we automatically prompt for parameters. After we prompt the user for parameter essence, SAVEVARS creates
values, we issue the SAVEVARS command, and save all variable values to the CurtainWall- a snapshot of all of the
vars.scr script. currently defined variables,
Here's the order of operations: and running the resulting
script restores CC3+ to the
Load the vars-CurtainWall.scr script. variables and values
If the test variable is set (i.e. the script was there), then give the user the option to accept contained in that snapshot.
the saved values. If they choose to skip, then we're done. If not, or if the test variable is
not defined (i.e. no script present), then continue.

Set up default values for all the parameters. This suggests to the user possible values
that will result in a good looking wall, and it ensures that all of our variables actually do
have values, regardless if the user sets them or not.

Prompt the user for the parameter values, indicating what the defaults are.

Set the test variable.

Save all variables to the script file vars-CurtainWall.scr

In terms of the script, here are the relevant lines:

SCRIPTM @vars-CurtainWall.scr
IFDEF varCurtainWallVarsOK DoneVarCheck
:DefineVars
GV varWW 10
GV varRCren 1
GV varLCren 1
GV varColDS 14
GV varColLS 251
GCOL varColDS ^DDark stone colour? (14)
GCOL varColLS ^DLight stone colour? (251)
GV varWW ^DWall width (10)
GV varRCren ^DRight side crenellation? (1=yes, 0=no)
GV varLCren ^DLeft side crenellation? (1=yes, 0=no)

417
 GW varCurtainWallVarsOK OK
SAVEVARS @vars-CurtainWall
GO MacroStart
:DoneVarCheck
GV varUseDefault 1
GV varUseDefault ^DUse saved settings? (1=yes - default - click) (0=no)
IFZ varUseDefault DefineVars
:MacroStart

The macro runs the vars-CurtainWall script which, if present, loads all the necessary variables into
memory. If the test variable (varCurtainWallVarsOK) is defined (use the IFDEF function to test this),
jump to the DoneVarCheck. If not, then continue defining the variables. We assign default values
to the five variables, then prompt the user to re-define them if desired. Then we save the variables
using the SAVEVARS command. Now we're done, so we jump to the start of the macro (MacroStart
label).

If the variables were already set, then we end up at the DoneVarCheck section. Here we prompt
the user, asking if they would like to use the saved settings. If yes, then we are done, and the macro
continues. If no, then we jump to the DefineVars section, as described above.

The complete CurtainWall macro

This chapter has discussed some of the more complex aspects of the CurtainWall macro. Of course,
there is much more to it; but with this basic understanding of its form, and its more complicated
features, you should be able to piece the rest of it together.

Polaris
This star system example
map was created using the
Star Systems issue from the
2008 annual.

418
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
One interesting resource for CD3 is the Source Maps series. Source Maps: Cities is quite obvious
here, but both Source Maps: Castles and Source Maps: Temples, Tombs and Catacombs have
maps with the surrounding view, which are basically city maps.

Additional Reading
If you need some insight to city design or understanding how cities work, the following books may
be helpful:

Medieval Towns (Schofield and Vince: ISBN 0-8264-6130-1

Medieval Town Plans (Hindle: ISBN 0-7478-0065-0)

Life in a Medieval City (Gies and Gies: ISBN 0-06-090880-7)

Life in a Medieval Village (Gies and Gies: ISBN 0-06-092046-7)

The Ancient City (Connolly: ISBN 0-19-521582-6)

Community Symbols Community Members

By community members, I
You can find a lot of images on the net that you can use as a basis for CD3 symbols, but there are am referring to the mapping
also a community pack out there. These are images that are made, collected, processed and community here, not just
organized by talented community members, and provided with symbol catalogs, menu entries and the Campaign Cartographer
everything needed to integrate them properly into CD3, just like one of the official symbol sets community. In particular,
integrates with other addons. members of the Dundjinni
Obviously, since this pack is not made by ProFantasy, ProFantasy have no official support for them, and Fractal Mapper
nor are they responsible for any issues related to their use. Feel free to discuss these in the official community have been
ProFantasy forums however, and get help from the community. invaluable in the creation of
these packs, and while I link
Note that this pack does not use the same license as CC3+, so make sure you read the license of to the CC3+ version here,
the pack to learn how you are legally allowed to use it. these packs also exists for
Dundjinni and Fractal
Vintyri Cartographic Collection Mapper.
This is a huge collection of buildings and other symbols. This
package is compatible with CD3, but can also be used to create cities
without it.

http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=5715

Annuals
There are several annuals available which adds interesting city options to your repertoire:

John Speed City [February 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 2}

The style pack will enable you create beautiful black-and-white

maps of any type of settlement, that capture the flair and detail of
John Speed's cartographic work.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/february07.html

419
 Panicale [May 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 5}

This is a complete map of the Italian settlement Panicale, containing

both 2D and 3D views in Source Maps: Cities style.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/may07.html

Parchment & Paper [June 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 6}

This issue provides you with the tools and backgrounds to make
maps on parchment. While the included guide uses dungeons as
example, it works very well with city maps too. Try for example to
combine it with the symbols from the John Speed annual.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/june07.html

Modern City [September 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 9}

Here you get two styles for creating modern cities. One styles covers
18th to 19th century maps, while the other style is for contemporary
maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/september07.html

Connecting Symbols [November 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 11}

This issue goes into details on the creation of connecting symbols.

These symbols can often be used as an alternative to drawing tools,
for example for creating a city wall. Connecting symbols are also
discussed on page 123 of this tome.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/november07.html

Symbol Catalogs [February 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 14}

In this annual symbol creation for CC3, DD3, and CD3 is explained
in further detail.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/february08.html

420
City Example [April 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 16}

This issue predates CD3, and is a city map created to show the
upcoming CD3. This map thus does not require CD3 to use. This
finished map is ready to use in your campaign.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/april08.html

Fantasy Cities [January 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 25}

This annual issue provides a new beautiful city style for you to use.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/january09.html

Print and Export [July 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 31}

Here we take a closer look at various ways of printing and exporting

your maps for various uses.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/july09.html

B&W Cities [April 2010 (Vol 4)] {Issue 40}

This style pack lets you create beautiful cities in CD3.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/april10.html

Roofs and Frills [November 2010 (Vol 4) {Issue 47}

This issue goes into detail on how to draw roof and frills for your city
buildings.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/november10.html

Modern Road [May 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 53}

This issue contains a drawing style for creating modern road and
city street maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/may11.html

421
 Moe’s Dive [November 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 59}

This detailed floor plan and street map of a seedy tavern combines
DD3 and CD3 features for creating a street map for miniature use.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/november11.html

1930s Street Maps [December 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 60}

This is a companion style to the 1930s floorplans issue: city maps

in the same Baedeker travel guide style for your modern horror and
pulp-style games.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/december11.html

Jon Roberts Cities [March 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 63}

This issue contains a complete new city style created by fantasy

cartographer Jonathan Roberts specifically for CC3.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/march12.html

Black and White Towns [April 2015 (Vol 9)] {Issue 100}

This Black and White style is designed for towns and villages, using
symbols based on the work of Pär Lindstöm.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/april15.html

City Panormas [July 2015 (Vol 9)] {Issue 103}

A very different style from the usual city maps, this style allows you
to assemble panoramic city views, emulating the style of the 16th-
century publishers and engravers Braun and Hogenberg.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/july15.html

City Streets [September 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 117}

This style is designed for a high-detail view of your city streets, for
example to use as battle maps, but it is also well suited for mapping
whole cities.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/september16.html

422
Random Cities [June 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 126}

This tutorial pack takes you through the random city command for
CD3.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/june17.html

Cthulhu City [December 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 132}

A city style that allows you to map those 1920’s style fantasy cities.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/december17.html

City Ruins [June 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 138}

Adds tools and symbols to add ruins to your city maps.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/june18.html

Japanese Temple [September 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 141}

This style allows you to make Japanese style temple complexes. This
is companion style to the Asian Town issue from November 2018.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/september18.html

Asian Town [November 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 143}

The November issue lets you create an Asian-style town. This is a

companion style to the Japanese Temples from September.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/november18.html

City Domes [December 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 144b}

This symbol pack adds a collection of domes you can use on your
city buildings.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/bonus18.html

423
 APPENDIX A: HOUSE SHAPES
See the House Tool chapter on 384 for details on using these.

Shape Notes Clicks

Rectangular This shape creates a basic rectangular house.

Regular L This shape creates an L-shaped house, using the same width
for both sections.

Irregular L With this shape you can draw an L-shaped house, using
different width for the two sections

Regular V This shape creates a house with two sections at any angle.
Both sections have the same width

Irregular V Similar to the shape above, but the sections can have different
width.

Irregular U This creates a U-shaped house. The width is the same on all
sections, but the length of each arm can be different.

Irregular T Creates a T-shaped house. The width of the two sections is

the same, but their lengths are set individually, and the
second section can meet the first one anywhere along its
length.

Many-Sided This gives you a house with any shape you desire. This is
useful for irregularly shaped buildings. Note that this give you
total freedom and does not stop you from creating impossible
shapes.

Four-Sided This produces irregular four-sided houses with no restraints.

Regular This creates a house shaped as a regular polygon with as

Polygon many sides as you desire. By setting the number of sides to a
large number, you can use this to draw circular or almost-
circular buildings.

When using this shape, note that the command line will ask
you for the number of sides before you start placing any
points. Just input the number you need, then start drawing.

424
APPENDIX B: CD3 COMMAND REFERENCE
This table gives you a list of all CD3’s commands. Note that this section only lists the commands that are added by CD3. The
general CC3+ commands are listed on page 223. You can also check there for an explanation of the columns in this table.

Command Description Where? Text Command Syntax Macro

Equivalent
Change House Changes the layer a City menu → Change CHANGEHL selectEntites;sLayer[Dialog] Yes
Layer building is located on, house layer
for use with
demographic coloring.
Because a building is a
complex entity, you
should use this
command to change
the building layer
rather than simply use
Change Properties on
it
Color Sets the demographic City menu → Color CCL No
Buildings color of building Buildings
(Layers) symbols in the map
based on the layer City tools → Color
they occupy Layers button
House (Insert Lets you draw a City menu → House HOUSE No
Building) custom building (for
city maps). For the City tools → House HOUSEM 1;xy1stCorner;xy2ndCorner;xy3rdCorner Yes
macro version, the button
first parameter 2;xy1stCorner;xy2ndCorner;xy3rdCorner;xy4thCorner
determines house
type, and the rest of 3;xy1stCorner;xy2ndCorner;xy3rdCorner;xy4thCorner;xy5thCorner
the parameters
depends on this 4;xy1stCorner;xy2ndCorner;xy3rdCorner;xy4thCorner
choice. The different
values are: 5;xy1stCorner;xy2ndCorner;xy3rdCorner;xy4thCorner;xy5thCorner
1 - Rectangular
2 - Regular L 6;xy1stCorner;xy2ndCorner;xy3rdCorner;xy4thCorner;xy5thCorner
3 - Irregular L
4 - Regular V 7;xy1stCorner;xy2ndCorner;xy3rdCorner;xy4thCorner
5 - Irregular V
6 - Irregular U 8;xy1stCorner;…;xyNthCorner;xyCenter
7 - Irregular T
8 - Many-sided 9;xy1stCorner;xy2ndCorner;xy3rdCorner;xy4thCorner
9 - Irregular 4-Sided
10 - Extension 10;xyInHouse;xyEdge;xyEnd;rWidth[Default]
11 - Connection
11;xyInHouse;xyEdge1;xyEdge2;rWidth[Default]
House Settings Configure house City menu → House HOUSEOPT No
settings Settings

City tools → House

popup → House
Settings
Load House Tells CC3+ which HOUSELOAD sSavedSettingName Yes
Settings house style to use
when drawing houses.
Commonly used in the
OnLoadMacro map
note to ensure the
correct setting is
loaded for the current
map style
Load Street Tells CC3+ which STREETLOAD sStreetSetting Yes
Options options to use for the
random street
command. Commonly
used in the
OnLoadMacro map
note to set up the
proper options for the
current map style
Random Street Draw randomly City menu → Random STREET (xyFirstEnd;xySecondEnd)/(xyRoadEntity;xyFirstEnd[Nearest Yes
generated houses Street Endpoint];xySecondEnd)
along a road
City tools → Random
Street button

425
 Random Street Configure the options City menu → Random STREETOPT No
Options used for the Random Street Options
Street command
City tools → Random
Street popup

Forest Ruin
This battlemap by Ralf
Schemmann was created
using DD3 and the Dungeon
Symbols from the 2011
annual.
You can download a high-
resolution image from his
website,
www.mapsandmore.com.

426
COSMOGRAPHER 3
 The Meriwether Lewis
This gunboat was drawn by Andrew Cutts using standard Cosmographer 3 tools and symbols.

428
INTRODUCTION
Cosmographer 3 (COS3) is the ultimate add-on for sci-fi mapping.
COS3 contains the tools you need for creating futuristic floorplans,
such as starship decks and building interiors; star maps of various
types, as well as overland maps.

COS3 is designed to make it easy to create beautiful futuristic maps

in CC3+, and contains a lot of tools to help you do just that. During
this section of the Tome, we will explore the different map types
you can create, and provide many tips and tricks for making better
maps.
Throughout this section, we will look at the following map types:

Starship deck plans: These maps are designed to make deck plans for spaceships. These
types of maps can serve several purposes, such as schematics and battle maps. Note
that this style is also well suited to other types of futuristic floor plans as well, such as
space stations and ordinary buildings.

Overland maps. Here we will be looking at how to make overland maps. Mostly, these
will be planetary maps, but we can also make regional and local maps. We’ll explore
several different styles of overland maps, all provided by COS3.
Traveller®
Star maps. With COS3 you can make various kinds of star maps, such as local system
maps, sector maps and galactic maps. COS3 also contains a feature for automatically Traveller is a registered
importing data from the Traveller® system and creating a star map from that data, trademark of Far Future
including the details you decide. Enterprises.

COS3 isn’t just futuristic though, even if that is the main focus. Especially some of the overland maps
also fit well even for non-futuristic settings. The hex maps can be used for any kind of gaming, and
the satellite maps are also suitable for modern gaming.

The Cosmographer Toolbars

When it comes to the toolbars, COS3 is a little different from the other add-ons. Because it can
create 3 very different types of maps, COS3 actually comes with 3 different menu sets. The correct
menu should, as usual, be automatically loaded when you load or start a new map, but you can also
cycle through them by clicking the Cosmographer Menu button. By right clicking the same
button, you get a pop-up menu where you can select the desired menu set directly.

Note that in the images on the next page, I’ve moved the symbol toolbars to a vertical position
when taking the screenshot, because it is easier to add descriptive text to it when oriented that
way. Normally, these are found in a horizontal position right above the drawing window, as usual
for the symbol toolbars.

429
 Deckplans
Draw Hull Terrain Passageways

Deck Plan Bulkheads Up and Down

Engineering Conduits Grid Wall Features

Apply Fill to Selection All Deckplan Tools Command Stations

Engineering Systems

Weapon Systems

Pipes and Cables

Furniture

Medical Systems

Cargo

Personal Items

Space Geomorph
All Starmap Tools
The tooltip for this button is
wrong, labeling it as All Starmaps
Deckplan Tools. As
Sector Tools Orbit Tools Stars
mentioned elsewhere in this
book, the actual name of Background Tools Border Tools Planets
this button doesn’t matter.
All the add-ons have one Starmap Options Distance Between Stars
with their own name, but in
Grid All Starmap Tools Traveller Symbols
reality, this button always
loads all drawing tools for
the current style of map, so
even if you switch to the city Overland (Planetary)
designer toolbar in the
These toolbars look and function almost identical to the standard CC3 overland toolbars.
middle of designing a
starship, and click the All Default Landmass Default Sea Borders/Political
City Drawing Tools, you will
still get the deckplan tools, Default Contour Line Default River Coast/Sea
not city tools.
Default Road Default Terrain Minerals/Mountains

Hex Grid All Map Drawing Tools Natural Features

Structures

Vegetation

Hex Symbols

430
DECKPLANS
Let us start our journey through Cosmographer 3 by looking at starship deckplans. These are most
frequently used for drawing starship plans, but they are also well suited to draw any futuristic floor
plan or battle map.

A Basic Deckplan
Let us start with the most commonly used option, a deckplan for a small starship.
Before we start however, let us make sure we know what we want. Just as for other
map types, planning a bit ahead greatly assists us in making the map the way we
want it.

So, what do we want? I can think of plenty of possibilities off the top of my head,
like a huge battleship that fights for supremacy amongst the stars, perhaps a carrier
loaded with thousands of fighter crafts. A generation ship, travelling slowly the vast
distance between the stars, hoping one day to arrive at a better destination where
the descendants of the original crew can find a new and better place to live, and to
found a new civilization. The possibilities are endless. However, the techniques
needed for drawing our ship doesn’t differ that much between a small and a large
vessel, so to make this tutorial manageable, let us opt for something smaller.

Let us draw a long-range survey/explorer ship. This is a small ship, with a small
crew, which is designed to operate alone in the far regions of space for months,
maybe years at a time. Space is a dangerous place, so the ship is armed with some
kind of energy weapon, like laser weapons or similar. Inside the ship, there are a lot
of details to consider. For example, for such a long trip, the crew will need some
recreational facilities. Unless your world has some kind of instant sub-space
communication systems, this ship is going to be out of contact with other beings
for months at a time. Recreational facilities help the crew deal with this. Limited
space means we need to keep this at a minimum though. The ship will also need
stores for food, water and oxygen for the journey. The size of these stores will
depend heavily on the effectiveness of the recycling technologies used. I’m
assuming rather advanced technology here, meaning I can keep these small
enough to hide between decks.

The images show the final plans for this ship. You can find the tutorial maps under
@Tutorials\Cosmographer. The files are all named starting with the name Eagle,
then followed by the deck number. The completed maps are the ones without a
number at the end, while the numbered ones show progress through the tutorial as
usual.

A word about effects

The deckplans of Cosmographer 3 are rather effects-heavy. This
means that you may consider if you want to draw your maps with the
effects turned off to avoid the slow redraws that effects cause. Another
issue with effect-heavy maps is that they do not look very good with
the effects turned off. I have configured my finished maps to always
have effects on when you load them, but if you load these and turn off
the effects, you will quickly see what I mean. By subtly changing some
of the drawing tools, you can make the map look a bit better without
effects if you so desire, but I would recommend you to simply leave
them as they are, and instead turn on effects whenever you need to
present the finished map. The effects are what make a Cosmographer
deckplan map really stand out.

431
 Starting the map
1. Start a new map based on the Cosmographer Deckplan Bitmap map style. Since this is a
rather small ship, I set my map size to 100’×80’. Choose an appropriate star field fill for the
Naming Scheme background, such as Starfield_06 which I used for my map.
The naming scheme not When you get to the levels page of the wizard, make sure to enable multiple levels, and
only changes the text in the set the Naming Scheme to Deck. Now, set the number of Decks to 2, subdecks to 0, and
dialog box, but it affects the since we’re going to draw an outside drawing as well, check the Add Hull Drawing
file names of the created checkbox.
files, as well as the text in Hit OK, then give the new drawing the file name Eagle. This will create four files,
the navigation links in the Eagle_Hull.FCW, Eagle_Deck 1.FCW, Eagle_Deck 2.FCW and Eagle_blank.FCW. The
map. latter is a blank map of the same size as the others, and the same background, but without
the navigational links. You can use this as a starting point if you need to add more decks
later.
2. Use Zoom Extents to bring the map into proper view.
Number of Decks
Decks are named from the
bottom and upward, just
The hull
like a house. If you wish to I like to start with the outer hull, and find a shape I like before proceeding to mapping the interiors
have them numbered from of the ship. However, before starting on the hull, you should have a good idea of the interior. Before
top to bottom, you can set drawing this ship, I used some graph paper to sketch out the interior, and made some thoughts
number of decks to 0, and about the design.
enter a number in the
I decided on an aircraft-like shape for my
subdecks field instead.
craft, with the main part of the hull formed
These are named like a
much like the fuselage on a passenger
basement or dungeon, with
aircraft. I also wanted some wings to the
subdeck 1 at the top, then
design, since these are good for mounting
going down. Obviously, this
weapons on, and it also indicates that the
will cause the navigation
craft can handle atmospheric flight. The two
links and filenames to call
decks should be the main deck and the cargo
them subdecks instead of
deck respectively. While not very visible on
decks though.
my hull map, I was thinking that the front of
the craft is cone-shaped. That means that the
cockpit must be lower than the main deck to have a proper roof height and that there won’t be
room for cargo below the cockpit area. Note that the side view drawing is just a rough concept
drawing, and not to scale in any direction.

The ship should house four people, so

that means that we need four rooms for
use as quarters (Separate quarters are
good for very long journeys), and we
also need bathroom, kitchen and a
common/recreation room. The image
4’ Grid shows the layout of these rooms in the final drawing, but my original layout was simply sketched
on graph paper.
A 4' grid is probably not very
compatible with your Now, with a plan at the ready, let us get to work.
gaming system, so you may
wish to rethink this if you 3. Click the Hull navigation link in the map to go to the Hull file.
are going to use the ship
plan as a battle map. Do Snap grid
note however, that for For more than one reason, I like to have the center of my ship along a grid line. This isn’t required,
printing purposes, it is just but it is helpful. With a 5’ grid, that meant that my ship would have to be 10’ or 20’ wide (Either 2
as easy to make a 4' grid or 4 squares. An even number of squares is required if you want the center to be on a gridline and
come out as a one inch grid not the middle of a square). I felt that neither of these two options were perfect, as I had more like
on paper as it is for a 5' grid. 15’ in mind when I sketch the ship. So, in the end I decided to use a 4’ grid instead. Not only did this
give me the width I was after (4 squares × 4’ = 16’), but it also illustrates grid customization in CC3+
in a good way.

432
 4. Right click the Grid button. Now, create a new 2d Rectangular grid, using a 4’ grid with 4
snap divisions. Make sure this grid is the active one, and enable Snap and Grid options.
New
Remember that you need to set up this grid on all three of the map files for this ship.
There is a bug in CC3+ that
causes it to crash on some
Drawing the hull
templates when trying to
When drawing the hull, we will use the Hull, Sleek Silver drawing tool. If you look in the drawing create a new snap grid on
tool window, you will see there are two versions of this tool. We have Hull, Sleek Silver, and Hull, certain templates. If you
Sleek Silver Irreg (Irregular). The first of these uses a mirrored polygon for drawing. This means experience this crash on this
that we simply draw one side of the ship (For example the Port side), and the other side will be an template, and are thus
identical mirror of first. What’s even better, we see the mirror side being drawn the same time we unable to create the 4' grid,
draw the other side. If you look at the preview, you can see a red line running through the preview. edit the existing 5' grid, 5
This is the mirror line, and its position shows the orientation of the mirror line. So, for this tool, the snaps grid instead and just
line is horizontal, and everything we draw above this line is mirrored below, and vice versa. All the change the values to 4' and
default tools come with a horizontal mirror line, meaning the ship must be drawn facing either left 4 snaps. Remember to
or right. If you want a ship with the front at the change the name of the grid
top or bottom of the window instead, you can as well.
edit the drawing tool. When you click the
Options button in drawing tool that uses the
Mirrored Polygon as the Draw Method, you can
set the angle of the mirror line. Image
The other drawing tool type, those with an Irreg The grid in the image is
postfix is simply ordinary non-mirrored polygons. These are used for drawing shapes that shouldn’t simply to make it easier to
be mirrored. read. You don’t need to add
a square grid to your
5. Right click the Draw Hull button to bring up the list of hull drawing tools, and select the
drawing, but if you feel it is
Hull, Sleek Silver tool.
helpful, go ahead and create
Use this tool to draw a hull shape it. Just remember it should
like in the image. Note that to draw match the 4’ snap grid.
the curved sections, you can hold
down the key. Holding down
this key causes CC3+ to treat the
previous placed point as a smooth
point. The net effect of this is that
when you hold down and click
to place a point, you will have a
curve starting at the point before
the previous point, and leading up
to the point you just placed. Do
remember that the line will
normally not go through the
smooth point itself. You may find
this a little bit confusing at first, so
you may wish to practice drawing
a few shapes just to get the hang of
it.
Note that the first point you place also places the mirror line, so you must start with either
the nose tip of the ship, or the aft center point.
Make sure to leave some free space behind the ship, as we will be adding engines and engine
glow.

433
 Working with effects
Ok, time to enable the effects to see how our hull looks.

6. Either go to the Sheets and Effects dialog

and thick the activate sheet effects box as
usual, or for the far quicker option, just type
in EFFECTSON on the command line. The
latter is my preferred method, since I turn
effects on and off a lot.

I’ll admit that my first reaction when I saw

that was ouch! The glow was nice, but the
bevel looked just plain wrong. The reason
for this is that these effects are set up with
larger ships in mind. It is easy to fix the
scale of the effects to fit with our ship size,
but I am not actually after a bevel effect at
all. I previously stated that my design was a little bit reminiscent of a passenger airplane (and
also the now decommissioned space shuttle), so I am aiming for a more rounded look, and
not the flat look with beveled edges we have here. Let us go to work.
7. On the HULL sheet, do the following changes:
Delete (or disable) the Bevel effect.

Delete the topmost Glow effect (The one that is set to use an Inside mode, as opposed
to the Outside mode used by the two remaining Glows).

Add a new Inner Glow effect to the sheet. Set Blur Size to 4, the three Glow Color
components to 0 (Black), Opacity to 100 and Brightness to 4. Also make sure to set
Effect Units to Map Units.

Add a second Inner Glow, with

the same settings as above,
except Blur Size should be 2.

Optionally, you can use 8 and 4 for

the Blur radiuses for the two Inner
Glow effects; this will create a more
pronounced effect. Once applied,
this should cause the hull to have a
more rounded look.

Still, I am not quite happy with this. On most

airplanes, the wings aren’t at the top of the
craft like they look to be here. Right now, it
is difficult to tell if the wings are just thin
wings like on an aircraft, or if the ship
actually have a wider section at the rear. It doesn’t really look right that the wings have the same
curvature as the main body either. So, it is back to work.

8. Create a new sheet called HULL OUTLINE, and move it so that it is right above the HULL
sheet in the sheet list.
9. Create copies on HULL OUTLINE of all the effects from the HULL sheet; make sure to use the
exact same settings.
10. Right click Sheets and Effects and select Copy to sheet. Use this command to copy our
hull polygon to the HULL OUTLINE sheet.

434
 11. Now, edit the polygon on the HULL sheet to remove the wings, leaving the main body behind.
This move clearly separated the main hull from the wings. Only some minor tweaking to the
Edit
effects now, and we are done
The easiest way of doing
12. Disable the two Glow effects on the this is with the edit
HULL sheet. The HULL OUTLINE sheet functionality of a drawing
is more suited for this effect, since this tool. Simply start the tool,
is where the complete outline of the then hit (as listed on the
ship now resides.
command line) to start
13. Edit the two Inner Glow effects on the editing an existing shape.
HULL OUTLINE sheet, and halve the Note that the mirrored tools
Blur setting for these. This makes the are very unpractical for
curvature effect less pronounced; editing, but you can use for
clearly indicating that the wings don’t example the Hull, Sleek
have the same curved shape as the Silver Irreg tool to do the
main hull. editing, even if the shape
This takes care of the shape of our craft. It wasn't originally made with
looks rather empty though, so let us add some this tool.
symbols to spice it up a bit For this particular edit, you
could also have used the
Weapons node editing tools, or simply
drawn a new shape instead
Let us arm the ship. I am thinking some beam weapons would be nice. I’d like a laser weapon on of copying and editing.
each wing. However, I don’t really like any of the existing beam weapons in the catalog. The symbols
are nice enough, but they simply do not fit on the wings of this small craft. However, I do like the
tip of the COSA Cannon sml 1 symbol. The name says it is a cannon, but to me it looks like it can
be used to symbolize a beam weapon too, so let us use it.

14. Click Weapon Systems to open the Weapons catalog. Place

one of the COSA Cannon sml 1 symbols on each wing, near the
tip.
This place the weapons on top of the wing, not exactly what I had
in mind. I would like these to appear as if they protrude from the
wing itself.
15. Create a new sheet called WEAPONS. Move this sheet up above
HULL OUTLINE in the sheet list, and then move the cannon
symbols to this sheet.
This made the weapon look quite nice. Now, let us add some action to
the drawing by making the weapon fire a laser beam. Because I want the
ability to easily hide this part, we should put the beam on a separate
sheet. This also gives us the opportunity of using other effects on it than for the cannon itself.
Energy Buildup
16. Create a sheet called WEAPONS FIRE. Position this sheet right below the WEAPONS sheet in
Yes, I know a laser weapon
the list. Set this sheet as the active sheet.
wouldn’t have anything like
17. The Engineering Systems catalog has a nice varicolor this. But it does look good.
symbol called CosA Energy Cloud 2. This would look good at And I am merely using the
the tip of the laser weapon, symbolizing the energy buildup. word laser here, because it
Change the current color to 166, rotate the symbol 90 is a familiar term for most
degrees, then place it at the tip of the weapon. people, not because this
Finally move the symbol to the WEAPONS FIRE sheet. weapon necessarily is based
on actual laser technology.
18. Set line width to 0.5, then use the Line tool to draw a line
from the edge of the symbol (the one opposite the weapon) to the edge of the map.
19. Repeat the two previous steps for the second weapon.

435
 20. Add an Edge Fade, Inner (Edge Width: 0.5, Inner Opacity: 50,
Outer Opacity 0, Map Units) and a Glow (Mode: Outside,
Color: 230 (Purple), Strength: 0, Blur radius: 0.5) effect to the
WEAPONS FIRE sheet.

Engines
Most ships have visible engines, and we don’t want ours to be an
exception. In addition, we can add a bit of glow behind the engines to visually indicate that they
are running. This will make it look like the ship is currently moving.

21. Select the CosA Thruster Drive 1 symbol

from the Engineering Systems catalog.
Now, this symbol is way too large for our
ship, so scale it to a factor of 0.4 before
placing it behind the aft section of the ship.
22. Click Engineering Conduits and select
the Engine, Thruster Glow tool. Use it do
draw a trapezoid-like shape behind the
engines.
Once drawn, turn on effects to see the result.

Great Symbols Additional details

Note that I don’t really The main parts are now in place, but that hull sure does look a bit empty. Let us add some additional
know what all of these details to it.
symbols are supposed to
represent, and I also used 23. Use the Hull, Glass drawing tool do draw a window right at
some symbols to represent the front of the ship.
very different things from 24. Add some extra symbols to the hull. The Engineering Systems
what they were originally catalog contains lots of great symbols to put on top of the
intended. Don't be afraid to ship. In my drawing, I used CosA Plasma Injector 2, CosA
do this. Even if a symbol has Sensor 5, CosA Sensor 6, CosA Part Irregular 1, CosA Dish1
a name indicating its use, and COSA Warp Tank 1.
fell free to use it for what
I am rather symmetrically minded, so all the symbols that are
you think it looks like, don't
not placed along the center line have been mirror copied to
feel too attached to the
make the symmetry perfect. If you don’t like symmetric placement, feel free to place the
given name. Note that if you
symbols as you see fit.
make several starship
drawings, you should be
consistent throughout. It The SYMBOL sheet, where all these symbols end up by default, is set up with a Drop Shadow effect.
may look strange if one For this drawing, I don’t like how this turned out. The Drop Shadow makes the symbols look like
symbol represents a plasma they are raised much higher above the hull than I
drive in one drawing, and a wanted, and it also indicates that there is a light
cat-carrier in another. source in the direction of the top left corner, while
the absence of shadows from the main hull tells
another story. Obviously, we can simply add a
shadow effect to the main hull to fix this problem,
but I think I am going to replace the Drop Shadow
effect on the symbols with something else
instead.

25. Remove the Drop Shadow effect from the

SYMBOLS sheet, and replace it with a
Glow (Mode: Outside, Color: 0 (Black),
Strength: 0, Blur radius: 1) effect instead.

436
Labeling
For the final part of the hull drawing, let us add some information. I chose to add a box containing
the name and the class of the ship.

26. Draw a Color 228 (Purple) 32’×12 polygon with rounded corners on the KEY sheet.
Drawing a polygon with rounded corners is explained on page 294 (Steps 10 to 15).
27. Create a new sheet names TITLE. Leave it at the bottom of the sheet list.
28. Add the text Eagle (Arial, Height 4, Spacing 150%, Stretch 1.5) on this sheet, inside our
purple polygon.
29. Add the text Long Range Explorer Class (Arial, Height 1.5, Spacing 150%, Stretch 1) on
the same sheet, right below the name, also inside the purple polygon.
30. On the KEY sheet, add an Edge Fade, Inner (Edge Width: 1, Inner Opacity: 25, Outer Opacity
100) effect.
31. Add a Drop Shadow (Offset X&Y: 1, Opacity: 75, Blur: 0.5) effect to the TITLE sheet.
That’s it. The outer hull is done. This was actually the most complex part of our design; the inner
decks are much simpler.

437
 Main deck
The main deck is the topmost deck on our ship. Since the decks are counted from the bottom and
up, this means that CC3+ refers to this as Deck 2.

Let us start by copying the relevant parts from the Hull map to the Deck 2 map.

Cosmographer deckplan tools

Cosmographer contains tools for managing the decks, which includes automatic creation of new
decks and copying of entities to other decks. Both of these processes can be done manually as well,
but it is much better to let CC3+ do the boring work for you.

Deck management
You can manage the decks by going to Cosmographer → Multi-
deck Tools → Manage Levels. This will bring up a dialog box
listing all the levels for the current deckplan. From this dialog, you
can add a Hull drawing (If you don’t already have one), you can
add empty decks (above or below the selected deck), or you can
make copies of existing decks. From here, you can also delete
decks. All of these operations are executed by clicking on the
self-explaining buttons to the right, just note that above/below is
in relation to the currently selected deck in the dialog, NOT the
currently open drawing.

If you use the Add buttons, and empty deck is generated. This
empty deck is actually a copy of the _blank.FCW file we
mentioned at the beginning of this tutorial. If you use the Copy buttons instead, you end up with a
copy of the currently selected deck. No matter what operation you choose, note that all the
navigation links in all the deckplans are modified. Files will also be renamed, so if you insert a new
deck between deck 1 and 2, the new deck will be called deck 2, and the previous deck 2 will be
renamed to deck 3, both the file name and the text in the navigation box.

Do note that any custom changes to the navigation links text will be lost if you do this, so if you are
going to rename the decks, this should only be done when you are sure you have all the decks you
want. On a similar note, renaming the files breaks this command, so if you have renamed the files,
this command won’t work. I had to rename the files to provide numbered versions for the tutorial,
so it won’t work properly if you load up my files either.

Copying entities between levels

To copy entities from one level to another, go to Cosmographer
→ Multi-deck Tools → Copy to level. This command lets you
copy entities from one deck to another, and it even inserts new
sheets into the correct order, instead of at the bottom, which will
happen if you copy via the clipboard.

After selecting this command, CC3+’s command line will tell you
to select entities. Select the entities you wish to copy to another
level, then o It. Assuming you selected any entities, the Copy
to level dialog will show. Select the level to copy the entities to,
and click OK. The entities are copied, and end up in the exact
same position on the destination deck as they were on this deck.

Copying entities and effects

32. Use the Copy to Level command discussed above to copy both the main hull and the outline
hull with the wings, the engine, the engine glow, the weapons and the map title to Deck 2.
33. Active effects. You’ll notice that the copy procedure did not copy over the effects from the
hull drawing.
34. Load up the Hull map again. Enter the Sheets and Effects dialog, and hit the New button. Give
it the name Cos Deckplan Eagle.

438
 We just saved our current sheet effects setting, so that we can use it in other maps. Note that
this also saves all the sheets in the list, but it does not preserve sheet order. If you try to apply
this saved effect to another map, any sheets that does not already exist in the target map
will be created, but at the bottom of the list.
35. Switch back to the Deck 2 drawing, and enter the Sheets and Effects dialog. Now simply
select the setting we saved above from the dropdown list.
If CC3+ asks you to save the current settings, say No. It will also ask you if you wish to add
any missing sheets. In our case, that was the WEAPONS FIRE sheet, but we won’t need that
one for this drawing, so you can safely say No to this as well. If you wanted to have the firing
weapons on this map as well, you should say Yes, since this sheet contains the effect settings
for the beam.
Now, the effects on Deck 2 should be just as the one for the Hull.
36. The sheet order is not correct though, as the HULL OUTLINE and WEAPONS sheets did not
exist in the target drawing, thus they were placed last in the drawing order. Move them to
their proper positions, as we did when we created them on the Hull drawing earlier.

Floors and bulkheads

37. Remember to set up and activate our 4’ snap grid.
38. Draw up the rooms like in the image. From the front to the back, these rooms are
Bridge/Cockpit, CO quarters, XO quarters, crewman quarters and shower, crewman quarters
and toilet, galley, common/dining/recreation room.
For the outer walls, I used the Bulkhead, Polished 0.5’ tool, while the interior walls are
Bulkhead, Polished 0.25’. Both these tools are available by right clicking on the Bulkheads
button.

The floors are Deck, Plastic Irreg and Deck, Plastic Tiles Irreg found by right-clicking Deck
Plan . I used the irreg versions because I traced the walls rather than drew the floor shape
manually. For these simple floors, either option should be equally easy though.
Fixing the corners
Sometimes, you will end up with corners like in the image to the right.

This happens because the different walls meet here, so seen from CC3+’s
point of view, this isn’t really a corner at all. To fix this, use the Combine
Paths [CMB] command on the walls. This will merge the two separate
walls into one continuous wall, and CC3+ will make a nice corner for you
here. The command is found by right clicking Explode .

This command is discussed in greater detail in the DD3 section, check out
the Cleanup chapter on page 296.

Doors and windows

You can find both doors and windows in the wall features Wall Features catalog.

I used CosA Door Open 1 (scaled to 0.3) for the doors, and CosA Window 1 (Scaled to 0.3) for the
windows. Remember that this is a spaceship, and not a medieval building, so make sure to place
the windows symmetrical and with a regular distance between them.

39. Set the current sheet to SYMBOLS WALL.

439
 40. Place the doors and windows.
Notice how the windows are placed, one window in each room. The rooms that do not need
windows (shower, toilet) are placed in the middle of the ship, allowing the quarters to get the
windows. Due to the symmetry, the lengthwise corridor also gets a lot of windows, but the ship is
too small to have this in the center of the ship with rooms on each side.

Symbols
This is a small ship, with cramped conditions. Due to this, most of the furniture symbols are simply
a bit too large. So for this drawing, I set the default symbol scale to 0.9. If you measure for example
the beds at this scale, you’ll see that they still have an acceptable length, although they do rule out
extra tall people. Even at this scale the beds are quite wide though, so even if I haven’t done so in
this map, narrowing them by 20% more is definitely not illogical, but they shouldn’t be shortened
any more (Assuming a human crew).

41. Select Drawing Properties from the File menu. Set the default symbol scale to 0.9.
42. Move the BULKHEAD sheet right below SYMBOLS in the sheet list. This allows you to place
symbols slightly into the wall, since the wall now will overlap the symbols, and not the other
way around.
Into the Wall
43. Fill the floorplan with symbols from the Furniture and Command Stations catalogs.
Placing symbols slightly into Remember that each quarter must have a bed, and should definitely have a couple of lockers,
the wall gives us two visual a writing desk, and a chair. The bridge should have a console for each of the four crew
clues. Firstly, by placing it members. I put a shower and a sink in one of the smallest rooms, and a toilet and a sink in
into the wall, you cut off the the other. The kitchen needs some cabinets, a sink and a kitchen counter with a stove. Finally,
edge of the symbol a little the aft room should have a dining table, a couch, some kind of big screen (TV) and one or
bit. This makes it look like it more lockers to store stuff in, like games.
was designed to fit in
Don’t be afraid to scale the symbols as needed. For example, the shower is huge. I scaled it
exactly that spot, even
down so that it will fit perfectly inside the room intended for it. It is not exactly large, but
against a curve or corner.
there is still room for a person in there. I also needed to resize the writing desks for the
Secondly, a lot of the
smaller quarters a bit to fit them in. The important point is to be conscious about exactly how
furniture in a space-ship is
much you resize them, i.e. can a normal human being still use them? If your resized chair
probably integrated with
ends up being only 8 inches across, it might be too small to be realistically usable.
the walls of the ship
anyway, as opposed to 44. Finally, open the Up and Down catalog. Place a hatch at the end of the side corridor. This
being free-standing. hatch will lead down to the cargo deck below. Also, as I previously mentioned, the bridge is
lower than the rest of the main deck, so we need some steps just at the start of the long
corridor.

440
The cargo hold
The final part of our ship is the cargo hold. This is also the simplest of them all.

45. Set up and activate the 4’ snap grid on the Deck 1 map.
46. Repeat steps 32 to 36 of this tutorial to copy the hull and effects to the Deck 1 map.
47. Copy the outer walls from Deck 2 to Deck 1. We will be using these as a guide.
48. Draw a new outer wall using the Bulkhead, Polished 0.5’ tool. Since there shouldn’t be a
cargo hold beneath the bridge, simply end the deck with a straight wall at the point where
the Deck 2 wall has its first bend.
Once the new outer wall has been drawn, delete the one we copied from Deck 2.
49. Put in a floor using the Hull, Lattice Irreg tool.

50. Add some symbols to the cargo hold. The Cargo catalog contains crates and barrels that Edited the Symbol
fit here. I also grabbed some spacesuits from Personal Items . This is one of the great
advantages of vector
The last item I put in was a space vehicle. I initially grabbed one from a City Designer catalog
symbols over raster
(@Symbols\Cities\CD3\Vector Shaded\CD3C Moon Dwellings.FSC), but I later found that it was also
symbols. You can actually
available in a Cosmographer catalog (@Symbols\Cosmographer\Overland\Vehicles.FSC). This vector
edit a vector symbol,
symbol didn’t fit to well initially, but I edited the symbol, replacing the original plain fill used for the
replacing parts and making
hull with a bitmap fill from COS3, and made some other color changes to make it fit better. I only
minor (or major) tweaks to
did some very quick and simple changes; you can easily make it fit much better if you spend a little
them. See the Editing Vector
more time on it.
Symbols chapter on page
106 for details.

Final touches
This drawing is basically complete, but there is one final change I would like to do. Right now, the
navigation links lists the decks as Hull, Deck 1 and Deck 2. It would look better with proper names
on the decks.

51. On each of the maps, use Numeric Edit to change the link text from Deck 1 to Cargo
Hold, and from Deck 2 to Main Deck. Also, change the heading in the navigation box.
However, with the current font size, Cargo Hold and Main Deck doesn’t fit in the box, so just
use Cargo and Main respectively (Or change the font size, or resize the box).

441
 Well, that is it. You have now drawn a basic floorplan for a Cosmographer ship, and have touched
many of the important techniques in the process. We didn’t touch on absolutely everything, because
the map tends to be too cluttered if you try to use absolutely everything on it. One interesting
feature we didn’t touch is wires and pipes (The Pipes and Cables catalog and the Engineering
Conduits tools), but these are simple enough that you should figure them out yourself. One thing
worth mentioning is that most symbols from the Pipes and Cables catalog are connecting
symbols, that is symbols that lets you draw a continuous path using them, without placing each
individual symbol manually. Both the use and creation of these connecting symbols are discussed
in the Symbols and Symbol Management chapter on page 89.

I didn’t put in a scale bar either. If you want one, you can find one by clicking on the Symbols in
Drawing button. Note that the symbol is white, and the symbol catalog window background
is white, so at first glance, it might look like the symbol is missing. It is way too big for our small
ship though, so you need to properly rescale it.

Rescale It
We discussed rescaling the
scale bar in the City
Designer section. See the
bottom section of page 376
for details.

442
Other Types of Deckplans
Drawing a spaceship like we did in the previous chapter is just one way to take advantage of the
deckplans feature in Cosmographer 3. There are several other interesting things we can design with
it.

Space stations
The tools and symbols available work just as well for huge space stations as they do for space ships.
Except that distances are bound to be much greater, the same tricks and techniques we used for
the Eagle will also be applicable for a space station. When designing huge buildings in space, keep
in mind how they get their food, water, air and power supply. Logistics is generally more and more
important the larger the structure is. If your universe contains multiple species, you might even
need to think about having sections in your space station with different kinds of atmosphere for the
various species.

Planetary buildings
With Cosmographer, you can also design floor plans for any kind of modern or futuristic building,
that being a spaceport, a mall, or a simple house. Granted, a lot of the symbols are for spaceship
specific items, but there are also a lot of symbols that work equally well planetside. The
Cosmographer templates come with multiple fill styles and drawing tools designed for planetary
installations.

Battle maps
If you wish to design futuristic battle maps, deckplans are the way to go. Basically, everything
discussed in the Dungeon Designer Battle Maps chapter on page 325 holds true also for futuristic
battle maps, except that you will use the tools from Cosmographer to design them instead of DD3.
Remember that if you own DD3, you can take advantage of the symbols from it. For example, I
doubt trees will be very different in the future, and caves probably still exist. Perhaps even your
modern space-faring culture also visits less developed planets that still build dungeons and castles.

Deckplan Styles
Cosmographer 3 offers three different styles for drawing
deckplans. These are one bitmap style, which is the default style
in Cosmographer 3, and 2 vector styles, originally created for
Cosmographer Pro, but updated for Cos3.

Cosmographer Deckplan Bitmap

This is the default style in Cosmographer 3. It uses raster
artwork and fill styles, and can be used to create a wide range
of maps.

Cosmographer Deckplan
This is the main vector style from Cosmographer Pro.
It uses solid fills and vector symbols. Just as with the
new raster style, you can use this style for a wide
range of maps. It is advisable to pick a pre-defined
template rather than to define settings yourself when
using this style, as the pre-defined templates are a bit
more varied and elaborate than the wizard ones. This
is due to the fact that they contain parts that don’t
look too good when rescaled, which the wizard does
to create the requested size, so the wizard uses a
slightly simpler template. Because of this, the wizard

443
 is also restricted to sizes that keep the default 5:4 ratio (landscape format), while the predefined
templates are also available in portrait format.

Cosmographer Deckplan Traveller

This style is designed to match the style used in the
Traveller role playing game. This is also a vector style,
using solid fills and vector symbols. Just as for the
standard vector style, you should use the pre-defined
template option when creating new maps in this style.

You can download extra example ships in this style

from your registration page at the ProFantasy
homepage.

Mexican Fort
This Perspectives style Mexican fort was drawn by Ralf Schemmann using Perspectives Pro. A diorama version of the same fort can be seen on page 538.

444
OVERLAND MAPS
Cosmographer 3 is also very adept at drawing overland maps, especially for planetary maps. With
Cos3, we have several different styles of maps available. One observation is worth noting as well
when it comes to these maps; what makes a planetary map futuristic? Not much, really, it is more
in the usage and labeling of the map than the map itself. With that in mind, it is easy to see that
many of the overland maps made with Cosmographer can easily fit in both a modern and a fantasy
setting as well, making Cos3 a versatile product indeed.

Hex Maps
One of the more interesting styles of overland maps from Cos3 is the hex maps, since they represent
a significant change from the regular CC3+ overland styles.

Hex maps have a rich history when it comes to role-playing. Quite a lot of the old published
campaign settings used hex maps for their overland maps. Note that there is a subtle difference
between a hex map and a map using a hex grid. The former fills each hex with exactly one kind of
terrain, so that you have forest hexes, mountain hexes, ocean hexes, and so on. The latter only uses
a hex grid on top of a regular map, so that each hex may contain several types of terrain. The former
variety, the true hex maps, really shines in their simplicity. Because each hex only contains one
terrain type, it is never any question on what kind of terrain the characters are in right now, how
fast they can move, and what kind of monsters are likely to hang around looking for a meal. These
hex maps are also very quick to draw, and it is simplicity itself to correct mistakes. The downside
is that by their very nature, they are a bit less detailed than other types of maps. A mountain range
is either one hex or two hexes wide, but nothing in-between and its shape are limited by the hex
grid.

Hexes are also great for calculating distances. Ever tried calculating distance for a 30 degree angle
line on a square grid? I’ve had to, because my players figured out that casting a lighting bolt in that
angle was the best way to hit the most opponents. Now, using Pythagoras’ theorem, calculating it
isn’t that difficult, but it is not the kind of calculations you wish to do in the middle of combat. To
simplify, we often use several conventions, for example that diagonal movement counts alternating
1 and 2 (average of 1.5) or similar, but that too gives a headache when we introduce the 30 degree
angle above. All of this is much simpler on the hex grid, due to its layout. For any line, in any
direction, simply count the number of hexes it passes through, and you have your answer. This is a
much better approximation than the 1.5 cost for diagonal on square grids, and it also works quite
well for basically any angle. Obviously, it is still an approximation, but a better one. The same
principle also applies for overland movement; counting hexes is a very simple, and also acceptable
accurate, way of determining distance. If you are using a true hex map, then each hex also
represents only one kind of terrain, making it even easier to calculate the terrain movement cost.

A basic hex map Hex Grid

If you do not have a hex grid
Designing hex maps is really simple, so this is a rather short tutorial.
in your map, CC3+ will
You’ll find my map in @Tutorials\Tome\Cosmographer\Overland Hex.FCW. generate a virtual grid for
you when placing hex
1. Start a new Cosmographer map, but instead of deciding settings ourselves, select the Pick
symbols. However, we have
a pre-defined template option instead.
no control over this virtual
In the Browse Files dialog that appear, you will see a lot of templates for starmaps. However, grid, so the hex symbols
the overland maps we desire are not here. Click the Select Path button, and enter the usually end up way to small
Overland folder. Click Open. if you use this. Therefore,
Select the Overland 1200x900 miles template. you should always create a
hex grid first. If you don't
2. Now, this template comes with a square grid already on it, and since we wish to do a hex
want the grid, you can
map, let us delete this. Simply use Erase on the gridlines to get rid of them.
always hide or delete it
Now, all hex maps must have a hex grid, and since this one didn’t come with one as default, we when you are done with it.
must create it before we continue. The main purpose of this hex grid is that CC3+ will automatically

445
 scale and rotate the hex symbols to fit with the grid, so we do not need to think about symbol scale
when we work with these maps.

3. Click Hex Grid .

Set up a Vertical Hex grid using a spacing of 50. This will set up hexes that are 50 miles
across. If you need a more finely-detailed hex map, lower this number.
Note that the grid is drawn in the current color, so if you need another color for your grid,
change it before creating the grid.
4. Click the Hex Symbols button to open the catalog containing the hex symbols. Note that
this will open the Traveller Hex symbols. I prefer the regular Cosmographer ones, but to open
Snaps these, you need to click the Open Symbol Catalog button and load
If it doesn't seem to snap @Symbols\Cosmographer\Overland\Hex.FSC.
into place correctly, or it
didn't scale and rotate to fit, Placing Symbols
make sure that smart To place hex symbols, simply select the symbol from the symbol catalog as usual, and place it on
tracking is enabled, and that the map. Notice how it snaps perfectly into place in the hex grid. It also automatically rotates and
you haven't disabled smart scales to fit the grid, but this is more difficult to see visually since it happens the moment you select
symbols. You can check this the symbol, before you bring it into the map.
by right clicking in the view
area to show the symbol 5. Place the various symbols to form a complete map
parameters dialog.
Note that if you change the
grid midway, the symbol
parameters might not
change to conform to the
new grid immediately. If this
happens, simply right click
to get the symbol
parameters dialog, then
click Set Normal and
Finished. Now select the
symbol from the symbol
catalog again, and it should
be correct. Already placed
symbols will never be
affected by grid changes.

What about the edges?

Hex symbols only place correctly as long as the center snap point of the hex is inside available
inside the map border. Once you have the correct size and rotation of the symbols, you can however
disable smart symbols, and then use the regular Snap functionality of CC3+ to place the remaining
symbols.

If you do, you may find that the white polygon on the SCREEN sheet is not large enough to cover
the entire part of the hex symbol outside the map border (Especially when using 50 mile grid like
we did in this tutorial), so you may see part of it sticking out. In this case, simply increase the size
of the screen polygon a bit.

Also note that not all of the vector templates contain a screen at all. One way to handle this is to
simply draw one (It is a white polygon on a sheet that is near the bottom of the sheet list, so that it

446
covers up stuff). For vector hexes you can also use the Polygon tool to fill in the partial area
instead of placing a hex symbol, thereby not having to deal with symbols past the map border at
all. Combine with Snap turned on for the hex corners, and the Intersection modifier for where
the grid meets the map border, and it is a snap to draw these. Normally, you will simply use the
Solid fill style for these, but you are free to get more advanced if desired.

You can also edit the vector symbols to fit in these spaces, see Editing Vector Symbols on page 106,
but this is probably overkill.

Replacing symbols
Another nice feature of the hex symbols is that they if you place a new symbol in the same hex as
another symbol, the previous symbol will be automatically deleted. This way, you don’t have to Add Features
worry about deleting the existing symbols before placing new ones. This makes it even easier to When adding no-hex
plan and draw these maps. For example, I usually place large area of basic solid-filled hexes to build feature, consider how you
the general layout of my map, then I simply place symbol hexes on top of these where appropriate. place them on the map. The
These will then erase the previous hex symbols in that hex, preventing any potential problems from beauty of a hex map is to
having two symbols on top of each other. always know the exact
contents of hex, so when
Mixing hex symbols with regular symbols and tools adding stuff like roads and
rivers, you should make
Remember, there is no rule that says you can only use hex symbols on a hex map. The basic layout
sure to make it just as clear.
of the map should be hex-based, but it is certainly possible to place additional symbols on top of a
Don’t add a road that barely
hex. You can also use regular drawing tools to add features, such as roads and rivers.
crosses the top corner of a
Be careful with sheet order when you add non-hex features though. When drawing a hex map, the hex or anything like that.
entire map is covered in symbols. The default behavior for roads is to appear below symbols, but if Personally, I see two main
you let your road appear below the symbols on a hex map, they will be completely covered up. approaches. The first one is
to make the path of such
features go very clearly
Overland Map Styles through the hexes,
Cosmographer 3 comes with a nice selection of overland map styles. In addition, several of the preferably through the
styles can be used either for hex maps or for the more regular maps, drawn the same way as center point of each hex
standard CC3+ maps. involved. The second option
is to have the feature
There are a couple of these styles containing the name Traveller. These styles were designed to fit following the edges of the
the Traveller role playing game, but that shouldn’t discourage you from using them for other hexes. In the latter case, a
purposes. river would only be an
obstacle if moving between
Overland Cosmographer hexes with a river in the
This is a map style utilizing vector symbols and solid fill styles. This template can either be used for middle, and no hex would
hex maps, using the hex symbols, or it can be used like a standard map, using drawing tools to be a river hex.
create the features. Futuristic symbols are available, but you can just as well use this style for a
fantasy map if you just avoid the futuristic symbols, and instead use fantasy symbols, for example
the Fantasy style vector symbols from Symbol Set 1.

Note that whether you use hex symbols or not, this map style works best with a hex grid.

447
 Overland Cosmographer Local
This is just a template designed for local maps in the overland cosmographer style. It uses the same
symbols and fill styles, but it is designed for smaller scale maps.

If you are mapping a rather small area, the symbols found in the Planet Connectors.FCW,
Streets.FCW and Vehicles.FCW catalogs from @Symbols\Cosmographer\Overland might be of
particular interest.

Overland Satellite Map

Just as with the Overland Cosmographer style, this style can be used with both hex symbols and/or
standard drawing tools. This map style uses bitmap fill styles, available in both hex form and
drawing tools using raster fill. The symbols used for this map style are the same vector symbols
used for the Overland Cosmographer style. Vector symbols are used because they are clear and
crisp, just like symbols used on modern maps. Vector symbols are also more flexible and easier to
edit compared to raster symbols.

Projection
A sphere (like a planet)
cannot be accurately
mapped to a flat surface,
like a rectangular map. So,
when a planet is put on a
map, some distortion will
always occur. Several ways
of projecting the sphere to a
flat map surface exist; all
Traveller World Satellite
with some advantages and This map style is designed for drawing entire planets. This style uses an approximation to a split
some disadvantages. A split projection to display the map. It uses the same fill styles and symbols as the Overland Satellite Map
projection serves to style. Note however when using this style that a city or other feature should probably be very
minimize the distortions on important to justify being placed on a planetary map. Also remember that the “resolution” is quite
the map, but at the cost of poor on such a hex map, so it becomes difficult to represent two very close features simultaneously
having what looks like (for example a large city with a spaceport).
triangular pieces cut out of
When using this style, you should choose one of the pre-defined templates instead of defining your
the map. Nothing is missing
own settings, as the pre-defined templates are created to match specific planet sizes per the
however, and everything
Traveller system.
along the left leg of the
triangle is connected to the When drawing on this template, remember that the hexes “split” due to the projection are intended
entities along the right leg to be one hex, so you should use the
of the triangle. This map same hex on both sides of the “gap”.
projection may look a little The world is also a sphere, so make
weird, but it ensures that sure the split hexes on the opposite
distances and directions are end of the map join up in the same
accurate. fashion.
For more about map
Note that while this is style is primarily
projections, check out the
intended for hexes, you also have
FT3 section of this book, and
drawing tools available to create the
especially the Projections
landmasses and terrain with if you so
chapter on page 740.
prefer. Obviously, if you do this, you
must take care to have the land mass
properly line up at each side of the
splits.

448
Traveller World Vector
This is the vector equivalent of the Traveller World Satellite style. Instead of using raster hexes and
fill, it uses vector hexes and solid fills.

All the notes and advice from the Traveller World Satellite style above also applies to this style.

Traveller World Fractal Terrains Export

You can also export from Fractal Terrains 3 to the Traveller template. This is accomplished by
exporting the FT world as an image, and using it as a background image in the template, which you
can then add details like cities, star ports and labels on top of. Note that since the world is exported
from FT as an image, you can’t edit the landmasses. As such, you should ensure that you have a
complete, finished world in FT, so that you won’t need any edits.

Fractal Terrains 3 takes care of generate the split projection correctly during the export, as can be
seen in the below image. The world file used for this export can be found at @Tutorials\FT\Virana.ftw

449
 Represent 3D STAR MAPS
Many computer games let
The third major map type in Cosmographer is the star maps. This is also a very diverse category,
you move around in 3-
which lets you make anything from planetary system maps to galactic maps, all in a variety of
dimensional space. And
styles.
while the internal represen-
tation of the game is true There is a couple of templates here that targets specific gaming systems, but do not let that scare
3D, you cannot show that you. Even if you do not play that system, the maps can still be highly usable. There are also several
on a flat computer monitor. generic styles which are not designed around any particular gaming system.
What happens is that the 3D
image is projected into 2D Let us draw a few simple maps to showcase the different styles and their usage.
space. This makes it look 3-
Dimensional. The same
techniques are used in
A Basic 3D Starmap
Perspectives Pro to generate One of the issues with star maps when compared to space itself is that space is three-dimensional,
3D objects, but if you look while computer monitors and sheets of paper are rather two-dimensional. For an overland map, the
closely, there is really two-dimensional aspect isn’t that big of a problem, because a map is supposed to be a
nothing 3D about it, it is just representation of the world as viewed from above, and that works fairly well. True, it can sometimes
that one uses ellipses be difficult to see the true terrain shape based on a map. But generally, two-dimensional maps work
instead of circles and angled rather well.
lines instead of straight lines
Moving out into space, this suddenly becomes a problem. Firstly, we have our point of view. Where
to fool the brain into seeing
are we watching from? If we watch from earth, you have probably noticed that there tends to be
it in 3D.
stars in every direction. How do we map that? Of course, we can map the view in only one direction,
Lately, another kind of 3D
but that gets troublesome when we are talking space travel. The next problem is the distance
has been gaining popularity;
between the stars. On the Earth, in almost all cases, two points that are very close on a map, will
the one used for movies
almost always be very close in real world distances as well. True, we have some tall cliff sides, but
where you have to put on
they are an exception rather than the norm. But when it comes to space, two stars that look like
special glasses to see the
they are right next to each other in the sky can be incredible huge distances apart. This is because
effect, and which makes
one star can be rather close to our position, but the other is very far away, but they are still in the
objects appear to come out
same direction from earth.
of the screen itself. This is a
very different effect, and is These are some of the problems the 3D Starmap helps alleviate. It is not a true 3D-representation
accomplished by using two obviously, because you cannot properly represent 3D on a 2D object like a piece of paper or a
different images at the same computer screen, and “real” 3-dimensional maps are pretty hard to read anyways, which defeats
time. The glasses ensure the purpose of the map. Instead, these maps are represented on a perspective grid, and using visual
that each eye only sees one clues to determine if the system is above or below the map plane. This way, it is easy to visualize
of the two images, and since that stars that appear right next to each other in the plane may be far away from each other, often
these are slightly different, much further away then two stars that appears to a good distance away from each other.
it tricks the brain into seeing
1. Start a new Cosmographer 3d Starmap. Let us map out the immediate vicinity around our
the objects in front of the
own system, so use a size of 5×5.
screen. This effect can also
be achieved without This starts a new map. Note that this map type uses parsecs as the map unit.
glasses, but so far this You’ll find my map in @Tutorial\s\Tome\COS3\3D Starmap.FCW.
requires the viewer to be in 2. If the stars aren’t already loaded in the symbol catalog window, click the Stars button.
an exact position relative to
This should pop up the catalog chooser window, with two nearly identically named catalogs,
the screen, which is
except one ends in 3D, while the other ends in Flat. Choose the Cosmo Bitmap A Stars 3D
generally problematic,
one.
especially for more than one
viewer. 3. Click Grid and set up an Isometric (3D) grid. It is close to impossible to read this kind of
Note that while we use the map without a grid for reference. Since we have a small map, a grid size of 0.5 should be
word 3D about both these appropriate.
techniques discussed above, 4. Change the current layer to SYSTEMS, and freeze the HEX/SQUARE GRID layer.
they are in reality two very
5. Let us place a test star, just to see if our settings look reasonable.
different things.
Select the first star in the catalog, then click in the center of the map to place it. Once you
have placed it, you will notice that the command line reads Height [0.00]:. This is because
this is a height symbol, and CC3+ now wishes to know the distance from the plane of the
Continued on next page… map and to this star. Simply move your mouse a little towards the top of the screen, and you

450
 should see that the star follows the vertical mouse movement. You’ll also notice that a line
goes from the star and down toward the point you actually placed the star. Parsecs
Move the mouse approximately 2 squares up, then click to place the star. This will cause a 1 parsec (pc) = 3.26 light
dialog to appear, asking you for the name of years (ly) = 206 260
the star. Since this was just a testing symbol, Astronomical Units (AU) =
name it Test and click OK. 31 000 000 000 000
Well, from that result, we can safely assume kilometers (km) = 19 000
that our settings are not ok. The star is a 000 000 000 miles.
little on the smallish side, while the height
line and the text is way larger than we wish Map Unit
them to be. The current settings were Drawing Units for this map
obviously set up with a much larger system scale is more a name than
in mind, so let us explore them a bit. anything else. If you prefer
light years, simply put light
Starmap options years on your scale bar and
don't worry more about it. If
6. Click Starmap Options .
you are making a system
This will bring up the Options dialog. map, you may wish to use
AU as the unit, simply
Symbol Catalog: This setting allows you
handle it the same way.
to select a different symbol catalog for
Please do not try to use km
use with the height symbol. This catalog
or miles directly on such a
should contain the markers placed at the
map. If you wish to have
position of your star in the grid plane, and
distances in km, define one
the symbols used for the height lines.
map unit to be a million km
Above/Below plane properties: These or something in that range.
settings control which settings are used
for when a star is placed above and below Flat
the plane respectively. Except that one The symbols in the flat
deals with above and the other with catalog are the same as the
below, the settings and their functions are ones in the 3D catalog, but
identical. these symbols do not
Base Symbol: This is the symbol that contain the height markers
is used as the base of the start, that that are used to indicate the
is, the point that is placed in the height relative to the plane.
plane. This is usually an ellipse (a Use these for "normal"
3D-projected circle). Click the … maps.
button to see the symbols in the
catalog select at the top, and select a symbol from it. Note that if you ever load a Point
new symbol catalog, the symbol names might be different, so make sure to set The point where you first
these symbols again in that case. placed the star is its location
in the X-Y plane, the point it
Base Symbol Scale: Use this to set the scale of the base symbol. If Automatically
would have appeared to be
scale base symbol is checked, this box is grayed out, and the base symbol is
if this was a regular flat map
scaled according to the scale of the star (or planet) you just placed.
seen from above.
Height indicator symbol: This is the symbol used for the height indicator line. As
for the Base symbol, you can click the … button to browse symbols in the currently Edit the Symbol
set catalog. Unfortunately, you cannot scale these symbols from this dialog, so if See the chapter on Editing
the symbol is too large, as it were in our case, you need to edit the symbols in the Vector Symbols on page
source catalog. 106.
Offset: The offset value is the distance between the center of the symbol and the
end of the height line, measured in percentage of the symbol size. Use a value
grater than 100% to leave a gap between the symbol and the height line.

Text: Controls which side of the symbol the system name and height should be
displayed

451
 G Color: If the symbols used for base and height line are varicolored, this controls the
The letter G in the symbol color of these symbols. It also controls the color of the text.
name indicates the spectral Text: This section controls the appearance of the system name and the height value.
class of the star. Our own Note that the checkboxes controls whether these info labels are created at all, you
sun is spectral class G. More cannot later go back in to hide existing labels, or make labels appear if you had these
accurately, our sun is unchecked during creation.
spectral type G2V, which
indicates that it is a G-class System Text: If this is checked, the name of the system is displayed next to the
star, two tenths on the way system. The Properties button allows you to set the text properties used for this
to the next spectral class text, and the Sheet box allows you to specify which sheet this text should be
(K), and a Main Sequence placed.
star Display Height: If this is checked, a label which shows the distance from the plane
to the symbol is created. The Properties button allows you to set the text
Height [2.00]: properties for this text, and the Sheet field can be used to control which sheet the
The value 2.00 I the last text should be placed upon. The Suffix is placed behind the number, so you can
height value you used, and add units like ly, pc, km or miles here, make sure to use the same unit the map is
if it already shows the based upon. The Decimals value simply controls how many decimals the height
desired value, simply right number should have. If you are using light year, parsecs or astronomical units, one
click to accept it. or two decimals should be fine.

Settings: The buttons here allow you to Save or Load the current settings, including the
Sol
settings for the text Properties.
Sol is the Latin name for the
sun, and frequently used 7. I have included a pre-defined setting with the tome for use with small maps such as this one,
when the sun is named in along with a symbol catalog which contains rescaled height line symbols that fit better on
context with other stars, this map.
such as a starmap. Note that Click Load, and load the @Tutorials\Tome\Cosmographer\Starmap 3d Small.SMO file.
the word Sol also appear in This will set up the correct settings, including the new symbol catalog. Feel free to inspect
the term “Solar System”. the new settings, and change any values you are not completely happy with.
8. Click Drawing Properties and set the Default symbol scale to 0.01.
Coordinates
To make sure future symbols uses this scale, click the first symbol in the symbol catalog, right
These are galactic
click inside the drawing window to bring up the Symbols Parameters dialog, click Set
coordinates as seen from
normal, then Finished.
the Earth. However, on this
scale, the distance between 9. Erase the test symbol and any other symbols you may have placed. Make sure to get all
the earth and the sun is too the entities, including the star symbol, the text entities, the height line, and the base symbol.
small to matter (less than
0.00005 pc difference). Placing stars
Besides, since I rounded
these numbers to two
10. Select the CosA G Star h 2 symbol. Click to place it in the exact center of the map.
decimals, it is also well Once you click to place it, the command line will read Height [2.00]:. Since we wish to place
within the margin of error. the sun exactly in the plane, we wish to use a value of 0. Simply enter 0 on the command
line, or you can use your mouse to place the symbol. Note that using the mouse is not very
X, Y accurate unless you have snaps enabled, something you usually don’t want on this type of
Note that I actually place map.
the stars according to a 11. Once you have provided the height, CC3+ will pop up the dialog asking you for the name of
regular rectangular grid the system. Enter Sol, then click OK.
now, and not the isometric
12. Since we are using the sun as the center of the map, it makes sense to also make that the
grid we placed. I do this out
center of the grid, the origin.
of simplicity, because that
saves me from having to Select View → Move Origin and place the origin in the same spot you placed the sun.
transform the coordinates
to fit with the isometric grid.
The closest star to our sun is Proxima Centauri, about 4.2 light years away, or 1.29 parsecs. The star
Note that this makes no
is of spectral class M5V, and is positioned at the coordinates (-0.47,-0.36, -1.15). These coordinates
impact on the correctness of
are given in parsecs and shows the distance from our solar system. Since we just changed the origin
the map, the distances are
of the coordinate system, we can use these values directly in CC3+. We can simply use the first two
still accurate.
coordinates as (X, Y) coordinates in CC3+, and the third for the height value.

452
 13. Select the CosA M Star h nCor 2 symbol from
the symbol catalog (a M-class star). Instead of
placing it by using the mouse, type
in -0.47,-0.36 on the command line. Now,
the command line will ask for the height, type
in the last coordinate: -1.15 . When the
System Text dialog shows up type in Proxima
Centauri as the name, and click OK.
By typing inn all these coordinates, we ensure
an accurate placement. Do note that these
coordinates have been rounded to two
decimals, so the placement will not be scientific
accurate.

Measuring distances
Now that we have two systems on our map, we can also measure the distance between them. The
regular Distance tool from the Info menu is no good for this, since it doesn’t understand the three-
dimensional state of our map. However, Cosmographer 3 comes with the Distance Between Stars
tool for this purpose. When using this tool, make sure snaps is turned off, otherwise it disrupts
the usage of this tool.

14. Right-click Distance Between Stars and select Check Distance. The command line
reads Select Height Symbol:. Click on the star representing Sol to select it. Note that there
is no visual indication that it has been selected, and the command line still reads Select
Height Symbol:.
Now, move your mouse toward the Proxima Centauri star. Note that as the cursor gets close,
a thin line will appear between the symbols. This line indicates that the measurement will
take place between these two stars. Once this line appears, you can click the mouse button.
This will cause a Distance dialog to pop
up, telling you the distance between these
two stars in 3D-space, in whatever unit
your map uses. My dialog told me that the
distance was 1.31. This is slightly more
than the correct value of 1.29, and is
probably caused by the fact that I rounded
the coordinates to two decimals. In any
case, it is more than close enough for our
needs.
Note that in the view afforded by this kind
of map, two stars are only relatively close
if both the star symbols and their
corresponding base symbols are relatively
close.

453
 More stars
The following table contains a list of other stars that are close to our own system. Only stars that
Gl would have both their base and the star system itself inside the map border were included in this
map, which excludes some of the nearby stars, such as Sirius.
Gl is short for Gliese,
astronomer and publisher Star Distance (pc) Spectral Class X Y Height
of Catalouge of Nearby
Stars, a catalog of stars Sol 0.00 G2V 0.00 0.00 0.00
located within 20pc of
Proxima Centauri 1.29 M5V -0.47 -0.36 -1.15
earth. The numbers
following Gl are the Rigel Kentaurus A 1.35 K1V -0.50 -0.42 -1.18
designation of the star in
the catalog. Barnard's Star 1.82 M4 -0.02 -1.82 0.15
Gl 406 2.39 M6 -2.28 0.65 0.29
Lalande 21185 2.55 M2V -2.00 0.50 1.50
Gl 65 A 2.63 M5 2.27 1.04 -0.81
Gl 905 3.17 M6 2.26 -0.18 2.21
Gl 820 A 3.48 K5V 1.98 -1.86 2.18
Gl 725 A 3.57 K5 0.33 -1.77 3.08

15. Place the stars according to the table

16. Move the text labels to prevent overlaps as much as possible.
After placing all these stars, the distances can be interesting. In the map, it looks like Gl 820 A and
Gl 65 A is really close, but if you use the Distance Between Stars tool, you can see they are
actually over 5 parsecs away from each other. (In contrast, Info → Distance would say they are
only 0.3 parsecs apart)

What about star sizes?

For this tutorial, I ignored the relative sizes of the stars.
This is a map, and the main objective of a map is to show
distances and directions. Obviously, there is nothing
wrong with also including relative star sizes. Do note
however, that if you aim to be realistic about sizes, all of
the stars are so small that none of them would be any
more than a single point in the map anyway, even in a
map as small in scale as this one. Actually, the largest
known star in the universe, VY Canis Majoris, would only
be 1/100th of a pixel in size if this map was exported to
a resolution of 10000×10000 pixels. This star also has a
radius about 2000 times that of our own sun, which can
also be a problem for relative sizes, since either this star
would basically fill the entire map, or the sun wouldn’t be
visible at all. Don’t let this stop you from using relative
sizes however, it can certainly make the map look better;
just make sure to think things through before you
actually do it. For example, consider using a logarithmic
scale.

454
Effects
If you turn on effects in this map, you will find that they do not work particularly well. The cause is
the same as what happened in our deckplan tutorial earlier, the effects are made for a much larger
map. To fit this map, you’ll need to divide all distances used in effects (radiuses, widths, lengths,
etc.) by approximately 100. A blur radius of 25 becomes 0.25 and so on.

Once you have set up the effects in a way you are happy with, don’t forget to save the settings so
you have them ready if you wish to create another small scale map in the future.

Additional details
A map like this can always use some additional details to make it nicer, so let us explore out options
a little bit.

Scale bar
I am weary of putting a compass rose on such a map, for a multitude of reasons, but the map need
a good scale bar.

17. Symbols in Drawing to access the symbols in the drawing. This includes a few
symbols that are embedded in the template. There is a compass rose here if you want one,
and more importantly, there is a scale bar. Select the Scalebar symbol, and place it in the
map.
Now, this particular scale bar happens to be 100 map units long, so at our current symbol
scale of 0.01 that makes it 1 map unit long. So when the Attributes dialog pops up as you
place the symbol, enter a scale of 1.
But wait, the scale bar says Light Years, and we mapped in Parsecs. We need to fix that.
18. Use Explode on the scale bar. This will separate the symbol into the single entities it is
built from. That means that the text is now editable.
19. Use Numeric Edit on the text to change
it from Light Years to Parsec.

Nebulae
There are no nebulae or other stellar phenomena
within the 5 parsecs this map represents, but do not
forget that the map offers us a basically unlimited
view into the space below the plane, so large
objects may actually be visible even if they are very
far away.

Even if they weren’t, you might consider adding

them just to decorate the map a little. I am not trying
to accurately depict any of the nebulae visible from
earth in any case, so for my map, these will simply
be decoration.

20. Use the drawing tools from Background

Tools to draw a few nebulae in the map.
When sheet effects are turned on, these will
look rather nice, provided you edited the
sheet effects as discussed earlier.

Borders and routes

I won’t add any of them to this map, but the Border
Tools and Sector Tools buttons provide
access to drawing tools you can use to draw borders
and travel routes for your map. Use these to draw

455
 the areas controlled by the galactic empires in your world, and add the safe travel routs through the
galaxy.

Labels
The stars are already labeled, and we didn’t add any borders or sections that need labeling. If you
added anything of this kind, you should give it a text label. I did add some nebulae, but these were
just map decorations, I did not try to depict a real feature. If I had done so, it would be appropriate
to label these.

However, a map title is always a good idea. For this map, I added a label using the Century Gothic
font (The default font for this template) in a height of 0.25 and Bold. Remember that font height is
measured in map units, so that 0.25 mean the font will be a quarter parsec in height.

Star Map Styles

Cosmographer contains a wide variety of different styles for creating star maps, from system maps
covering a single system and all the way out to galactic maps.

Several of the styles listed here have a short tutorial in the Cosmographer 3 Essentials Guide. I
recommend that you have a look at those tutorials if you haven’t done so already. This essentials
guide is available as a download from your registration page if you own (and have registered)
Cosmographer 3.

Note that several of these styles are specifically designed with the Traveller role playing system in
mind. Do not let this discourage you from using them for other systems and purposes. The fact that
they were designed for Traveller doesn’t limit their usefulness to Traveller.

Cosmographer 3D Starmap
This style is designed to map stars in 3D space. By using
height symbols, you can easily see if a star is above or below
the plane of the map, and how far away it is. This style can
be used to map both small sections of space, as well as larger
areas, but it is not particularly well suited to galactic maps,
due to the number of stars needed.

This style can also be used to map a planetary system,

although in this case it will show a snapshot of a particular
time, given the speed the planets move in relation to each
other. While the stars also move quite fast in relations to each
other, the distances involved make them look like they are standing still compared to planetary
movement.

You can use either bitmap symbols or vector symbols with this style, although the Bitmap symbols
is the default. Note however that the vector symbols have a much richer selection of symbols for
the different spectral classes available, making them quite nice

Cosmographer Galactic
This style is designed to make truly galactic maps. This style is
meant to detail a large part of, or an entire galaxy. As such, these
maps usually don’t show every individual star, but rather uses
polygons of various brightness to indicate the relative amount of
stars in that location. Individual stars may be marked either
because they are important, or because they stand out due to their
sheer size or another special feature. Some stars may also be
randomly scattered around in the polygon simply to visualize that
it is filled with stars. This style uses solid fill styles and vector
symbols, and uses several varicolor tools, making it easy to design
the galactic map in your own color scheme.

456
Cosmographer Galactic Traveller
This style has much in common with the generic galactic style
above, and is built on the same principles. It also uses the same
tools and symbols.

This map style is intended to use with a 28×40 grid, so that

each grid cell represents one Traveller Sector.

Cosmographer Sector
This is a hex symbol style, using
hexes to map out a galactic sector. There are various
templates available, but the default size is a 28×40 parsec
sector, the one used by Traveller.

Symbol types have various set positions within a sector,

thus enabling each sector to contain a multitude of
information, as opposed to for example the hex overland
style, where a hex could contain either a city or a starport,
but not both (Unless you made a new symbol
for the combination).

This style exists in both a bitmap and a vector variant. While

the visual look does differ a bit between these, they are used
in exactly the same way. There are various templates
available for mapping both sectors and subsectors.

Cosmographer Sector Mindjammer

This vector style is designed for creating maps for the
Mindjammer roleplaying game. This is a rather simple style,
creating very clean maps that are easy to read, but lack the
wealth of information found in other styles. This style is ideal
if you are after a simple, yet attractive way to map a section
of space.

Traveller System Bitmap

This style is designed to map planetary systems. It uses
bitmap symbols for the star(s) and planets of the system, and
it contains drawing tools for drawing the planetary orbits
around the sun, as well as the orbits of satellites around their
planets.

There are two templates for use with this style. The default
template you get if you use the new map wizard is designed
for smaller planetary systems, usually those with few planets.

However, due to the extreme differences in sizes for planetary orbits, it is often difficult to map
them all on the same map. For example, try to map both the orbits of Mercury and Neptune on the
same map. Mercury orbits 57 910 000 km from the sun, while Neptune orbits at a distance of
4 497 070 000 km. That is nearly 78 times greater. Considering planets need some room, both for
their actual symbol, and for the orbits of any moons they might have, this usually makes it very
difficult to have both of these planets on screen and legible at the same time if the orbital radiuses
should be kept to scale. To map such systems, there is a second template which is divided into
three strips. The intention with this is that you map the inner solar system on the first strip, then you
“zoom out” for the middle strip, fitting the middle solar system, and finally, the outer system fits on

457
 the right strip. This allows you to keep the orbits to scale within a strip, but each strip uses a different
scale.

To get this second template, you need to use the Pre-defined template option instead of decide
settings yourself.

Traveller System Vector

This is the vector equivalent of the style discussed above. All
the same information applies to this style as well, the only
difference is that this style uses vector symbols instead of
bitmap symbols for stars, planets and other objects. By
default, this style also uses a white background, but that can
easily be changed to black or any other you might prefer.

Traveller Sector Import

Cosmographer contains a tool that can automatically import official Traveller sector data and
generate a sector map from this data. This import will generate maps in the Cosmographer Sector
style, both bitmap and vector variants are available.

1. To use this tool, simply select either Traveller Sector Import or Traveller Sector Import Vector
from the Map Style list, then click Next. Now, do not change any settings in the map wizard,
but simply click Finish. You will now be prompted to save your new map as usual, and after
that is done, the new map will open, and a dialog titled Create CC3 from Traveller Sector
and MetaSector data will appear.

Chose a sector to convert for CC3:

This dropdown allows you to select
which of the official Traveller sectors
you wish to create a map for.

Symbols: This setting control which

style of symbols you wish to use.
Simple symbols are basically just a solid
filled circle in various colors, while
Depictive is a prettier symbol, in either
vector or bitmap style. Also, if you
chose depictive, you can add extra information regarding atmosphere and size.

Change Export Settings: The currently loaded export setting appears over this button.
Note that the default setting uses bitmap symbols, even if you chose to use a vector
template. To change the setting, simply click the button, and a dialog box will appear
allowing you to browse for another setting. These settings are normally stored in
@System\Traveller, and use the .cfg file extension. Select the white_background.cfg
setting if you wish to use vector symbols.

Note that these settings files are just regular text files, so you can open them in a text
editor to see how they look, and use them as a starting point for creating your own
custom settings.

Save CC3 Script file: This button collects all the sector data, but instead of actually
creating the map, it saves the CC3+ commands required to generate the sector into a
script file. This script file is basically a long list of CC3+ commands, all the commands
needed to place the various entities that make up the sector. This file can be edited in
any text editor, and then later manually run from within CC3+ through Tools → Macros
→ Script file…

2. Once the settings have been set up correctly, click the Create Sector Map button.
This will download the sector data from the website, and then import it into CC3+. Note that
the import process will take some time, so have patience. Output is disabled while the sector
map is generated, so it may at times appear that CC3+ isn’t doing anything, but you can

458
usually see that it is working by the fact that the sheet indicator in the status bar keeps
changing all the time. Once the sector import is done, you should see that the command line
reads Command [XHTOG]:.

Effects are off by default for the new map, so you may wish to turn them on to appreciate
the new sector.

Command Line
Not that this particular
command line text has any
real meaning for us, but it
does indicate that CC3+ is
done working. The reason
we know this is that the
importer turns off visual
updating while it runs,
causing the command line
to not change during the
entire procedure. When it is
done, it turns updates back
on, resulting in that the
command line finally
updates itself, and displays
the last command executed
(Which in this case will
always be XHTOG – the
command to toggle
crosshairs).

459
 SYMBOLS
Cosmographer 3 utilizes two types of symbols not found in any other add-on, Hex symbols and
Height symbols. Originally, the connecting symbols were also developed for use in Cosmographer,
but these symbols are now more frequently used outside of Cosmographer than inside, so the use
and creation of these symbols is detailed in the Symbols and Symbol Management in the CC3+
section of this book (section starts on page 89, creation of connecting symbols is detailed on page
123).

For the symbol creation tutorials in this chapter, I assume that you are familiar with the basics of
symbol creation. If not, refer to the Symbols and Symbol Management first to familiarize yourself
with this process.

Hex Symbols
Hex symbols are special symbols that are designed to be used on a hex grid. These symbols have
several properties that make them very quick and easy to use when mapping:

Hex symbols automatically rotate to fit the current hex grid. This means that the same
symbols work just as fine no matter if you use a vertical or horizontal hex grid. Obviously,
symbols designed for a vertical hex grid will need to be rotated 30 degrees to fit the
horizontal one, which might be quite noticeable, but the rotation happens automatically,
with no need for user intervention.

Hex symbols resize to fit the current grid, so you don’t have to think about the scale of
the symbols.

Hex symbols snap into place in the hex grid,

ensuring that you always place them perfectly.

Hex symbols erase previous hex symbols in the

hex. This means you can simply put down a
new hex symbol without worrying about
deleting the previous one first.

Hex symbols require a hex grid in the map to be

used properly. Note that means a visible grid in
the map, not a snap grid. (A snap grid should be
created as well, but it won’t do to just have the
snap grid).

Creating hex symbols

1. Start a new map from the Symbol Catalogs category. Use the Blank Overland Catalog
style, and leave the rest of the settings at their default values.
Note that this style doesn’t switch toolbar set automatically, so click the Map Menu button
to load the standard CC3+ toolbars.
2. Click Grid and set up a vertical hex grid with a grid spacing of 1. Turn off labeling.
Draw the grid large enough so that you get an 8-10 grid cells. You may need to zoom out a
little to do this, since the symbol templates use a rather close zoom by default. Remember
you can zoom out in the middle of drawing the grid, no need to cancel that command first.
3. Make sure Common Sheet is set as our active sheet, and that SYMBOL DEFINITION is our
active layer.
4. Freeze the HEX/SQUARE GRID layer so that the grid doesn’t get in the way later.
5. Make sure Snap is enabled. The snap setting should be user hexgrid (This setting was
automatically created when we placed our grid).

460
 6. Load the @Symbols\Cosmographer\Overland\Hex.FSC symbol catalog into the catalog
window. Symbol Catalog

Then place the Hx Rocks at Sea symbol into one of our hexes. We’ll use this as a visual Even if you don’t have
reference. Notice how it snaps into place on our grid. Cosmographer, you can still
create hex symbols. The
7. Set the current color to 78 (The same color as our reference hex symbol background). only issue here is that you
8. Use Polygon to draw a hex shape in one of the empty hexes. Since snap is enabled, it won’t have any reference
should be trivial to place points in each of the corners of the hex. Remember that polygons symbols, but if you look at
close themselves, so the last point you place should not be in the same spot as the first point, the images in this chapter,
but rather the corner before. you should be able to use
them as a visual guide.
9. Open up the symbol catalog @Symbols\Maps\SS1\Fantasy\Color\Coast and River.FSC in
If you own the 2010 annual,
the symbol catalog window.
the July issue contains
10. Turn off Snap, then place the Sea Monster 1 a approximately in the center of the hex. Note symbols for overland hex
that at the default symbol scale (1.0), this symbol is enormous compared to our hex. I found maps which you can use
that a symbol scale of 0.015 works pretty well. instead of the
11. Use Explode on the sea monster symbol. This will reduce it from a symbol to its cosmographer ones.
component parts. This is important because we shouldn’t have a symbol within a symbol.
If you did this correctly, when using List on all the entities that make up our new symbol,
SS1
everything should be on the Common Sheet and the SYMBOL DEFINITON layer. If not, simply
move the entities to the correct sheet and layer. This symbol catalog is from
Symbol Set 1: Fantasy
12. Use Define Symbol from the Symbols menu to define the hex polygon and exploded Overland. If you don’t have
monster symbol as a new symbol. Make sure you set the symbol Origin to be Middle Center.
this, you can use the
13. Open the Symbol Manager, select your new symbol, and click Options. Check the Hex @Symbols\Maps\Filled\Coa
Symbol, and Hex is vertical options. Also check Force Sheet, and set the value to st and River.FSC catalog
SYMBOLS*. instead. It has mainly the
same symbols, but the SS1
14. Click Symbols in Drawing to have the symbol catalog display the symbols in the
ones look a bit better.
current drawing, and test out your new symbol. Our reference symbol should be there as
I chose those symbols
well, allowing you to test that it delete other symbols in the same hex as it should.
because they are vector
15. Once you are done testing, you can save your new hex symbol to a new symbol catalog, or symbols, and fit in with the
add it to an existing one, for example the Hex catalog where we found our reference symbol. style of the existing hex
You can find my version of the symbol in @Tutorials\Tome\Cosmographer\Hex Symbol.FCW. symbol I am using as a
reference. However, there is
nothing wrong with using a
raster symbol on the hex
instead. The procedure for
doing this is identical to
using vector symbols.

Turn off Snap

The origin of this symbol is
in the middle bottom of the
symbol. This means that if
we place it with snaps on,
the bottom center of the
symbol will snap to the
center of the hex, making
the symbol only appear in
the top half of the hex,
probably also having parts
outside the hex border.

461
 Height Symbols
Height symbols are symbols that are intended to use on an isometric (3D) map.
These symbols use indicators to show if they are placed above or below the
plane of the drawing. The indicator is always placed in the plane, and then the
actual symbol is placed above or below this indicator at the desired distance,
using a line to link them together.

You can access the properties for the height symbols by clicking on the Options
button above the symbol catalog window, then on the Height Symbol Options
button inside the dialog. Note that the height symbol options are global options
that are not saved with the individual symbols, nor are they saved with the
current map. Instead, these settings can be saved in their own configuration
files. How to use the Height Symbol Options dialog is described on page 451
under the Starmap options heading.

Creating height symbols

Creating Height symbols is really very simple. The main reason for this is that the behavior is
controlled by a global setting, described above, instead of being embedded in the individual
symbols. This means that to make height symbols is no different from creating ordinary CC3+
symbols.

1. Start a new map from the Symbol Catalogs category. Use the Blank Overland Catalog
style, and leave the rest of the settings at their default values.
2. Set the current color to yellow, and draw a Circle with a radius of 1 drawing unit.
3. Use Define Symbol from the Symbols menu to make a symbol out of this circle. The Origin
should be Middle Center.
4. Access the Symbol Manager, and bring up the Options dialog on our new symbol. Check
the option for Height Symbol. As usual, you should also Force Sheet to SYMBOLS*
5. Test out your new symbol. It should behave like the other height symbols automatically,
including asking for a system name and so on. Remember that the appearance of the text,
the base symbol and the height line are controlled via a global setting, so if you
don’t like the appearance of these, they are controlled separately from your
symbol. You may also notice that the height line appears on top of the star
symbol when testing. Remember that this is down to sheet order, and it is
affected by the sheet order in the drawing you use the symbol, so this is not
something you should worry about right now.

You can find my version of the symbol in @Tutorials\Tome\Cosmographer\Height Symbol.FCW.

Symbols Review
Cosmographer 3 provides two new symbol types, height symbols and hex symbols.

Hex symbols are designed to make hex mapping quick and simple, as they
automatically scale, rotate and snap to your hex grid.

Height symbols are used to provide 3D-information for symbols, by providing a way to
indicate distance away from the map plane.

Both of these symbols are created just like regular symbols, you only have to set the Hex
Symbol or Height symbol option in the symbol options dialog.

462
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Fractal Terrains 3 is an excellent companion resource to COS3. Not only can FT3 export overland
maps to the format used in the COS3 templates, but considering that many Sci-Fi settings, being for
a series of books or a role playing game, involve a lot of planet-hopping, you are going to need
many planetary maps. With FT3 you are able to quickly generate these planets, and you can then
export them to COS3 to add the finishing touches.

City Designer 3 primarily contains fantasy buildings, but it also contains vector format symbols for
futuristic cities and moon bases.

Many Sci-Fi settings also keep around everyday items from our time. You can find a lot of these in
the Symbol Set 3: Modern add-on.

Annuals
Being a rather new product, there are not so many annual issues available for Cosmographer 3 yet,
but there are some interesting ones out there. Note that all of of these actually works quite nicely
even without Cosmographer 3 itself, but several works better when combined with COS3.

Starship Deckplans [August 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 8}

This annual issue details the creation of starship deck plans. This
annual predates COS3, so it doesn’t require it to be installed, but the
style used is basically the same as you find in COS3

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/august07.html

Connecting Symbols [November 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 11}

This issue goes into detail on the creation of connecting symbols.

These symbols can often be used as an alternative to drawing tools,
for example for creating wiring and pipes. Connecting symbols are
also discussed on page 123 of this tome.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/november07.html

Star Systems [October 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 22}

How about creating a beautiful view of a star system? This is exactly

what this issue provides. It contains beautiful symbols for planets
and stars, and tools to create orbits.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/october08.html

Overland Satellite Maps [February 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 62}

This issue brings you an overland style for creating maps based on
quasi-realistic satellite imagery. Perfect for mapping new planets.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/february12.html

463
 High Space SciFi Tiles [July 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 67}

July brings you a huge collection of raster artwork for science-fiction

floorplans.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/july12.html

High Space SciFi Tiles - Aliens [October 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 70}

This issue builds on the previous High Space issue, adding truly alien
textures.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/october12.html

High Space Star Systems [August 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 80}

Another entry into the High Space series, this one brings you tools
and artwork to draw star systems.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/august13.html

Starports [March 2015 (Vol 9)] {Issue 98}

This issue provides symbols, fills and tools designed to draw

starports.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/march15.html

Alien Starship [June 2015 (Vol 9)] {Issue 101}

This issue contains deckplans for a 4-deck starship from the Ashen
Stars system.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/june15.html

HighSpace Galaxy [April 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 124}

A style pack for making galactic and star cluster maps in the
HighSpace style.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/april17.html

464
Deckplan Geomorphs [December 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 144}

Provides nice geomorphs to quickly build starship or starbase

deckplans.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/december18.html

Vertshusen Region
This great map in the Local
Area style from the 2015
annual by Quenten Walker
was made for the
Community Atlas
(http://atlas.monsen.cc)

465
 APPENDIX A: COS3 COMMAND REFERENCE
This table gives you a list of all Cos3’s commands. Note that this section only lists the commands that are added by Cos3.
The general CC3+ commands are listed on page 223. You can also check there for an explanation of the columns in this
table.

Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro

Traveller Sector Import Imports traveller sector data and TSECIMPORT No
populates your map based on these
data. This command should only be TSECIMPORTM sSectorName Yes
run on a proper traveller sector
template
Traveller Sector Import Picks the configuration file to be TSECCFGFILE fConfigFile Yes
Configuration File used for the traveller sector import
wizard
Traveller Sector Import Loads the sector import TSECCFGNOTE sMapNote Yes
Configuration Note configuration from a map note

Travelers Rest
This inn was drawn by me
using Perspectives Pro.
This inn was owned by the
players in the campaign I
was running at the time.
Travelers Rest is available in
the
@Examples\Tome\Perspecti
ves directory.
The floorplan view from
which I based this
Perspectives drawing is
available by going to the
@Examples\Tome\Dungeon
Designer directory. Note
that this floorplan was
drawn using CC2 Pro and
DD2 Pro, using additional
symbols from the Forgotten
Realms® Atlas. The stairs in
the floorplan (but not the
Perspectives drawing) are
hyperlinked, click near the
ends to navigate up/down
between floors.

466
PERSPECTIVES 3
 Wizard’s Tower
This nice tower was made by
John McKelvy using
Perspectives 3 and some
advanced techniques.
Check out the map threads
in the forums:
http://forum.profantasy.co
m/comments.php?Discussio
nID=9149

468
INTRODUCTION
Perspectives 3 (Per3) is an add-on for CC3+ that allows you to create Isometric
3D dungeon floorplans as well as buildings in a fixed view called
In an isometric drawing,
isometric.
vertical lines are drawn
After completing these tutorials, you will be able to create walls, straight up the screen, and
floors and buildings and add symbols to build your designs. the horizontal lines in the
width and depth planes are
You can draw a top-down 2D view of your floorplan or shown at 30 degrees to the
take an existing 2D drawing, then convert it into a Per3 horizontal. The lines parallel
view. to these three axes are at
You can draw floors, walls and rooms (floors and walls their true lengths. Lines that
combined) directly in isometric view. are not parallel to these
axes will not be of their true
You can add solids and holes using cones, cylinders, 3D
length.
boxes and polygons.
You can give 2D objects depth by extruding them.
You can control the appearance of surfaces using
predefined settings, and create your own.
You can add a wide variety of symbols.
You can create your own Per3 symbols.

Perspectives 3 Overview Tutorials

Finished examples of the
The Perspectives 3 toolbar tutorials are found in the
@Tutorials\Tome\Perspectiv
The Perspectives Pro toolbar includes almost all the features you need to create your maps. es folder.
Perspective Settings Rectangular Floor Left click on a button to choose the
most commonly used option; right
Wall Rectangular Room click on a button to see a context
3D Box House menu of other tools. For example, a
right click on 3D Box to see a menu
3D Projections Solid Extrude with other solid shape tools such as
Cylinders and 3D Polygons.

Command overview
Perspective Settings controls the appearance of the 3D entities you add to your map. Note that
this does not affect houses, which have their own settings.
Rectangular Floor adds a hatched flat area to your map. Right click for more floor options
including Polygonal Floor and Make Into Floor.
Wall adds a hatched wall in the current thickness. Right click to select walls of a specific width
or to choose a thickness.

Rectangular Room adds a floor surrounded by a wall with the current thickness. Right click to
select options such as Polygonal and Circular Rooms

3D Box adds a hatched solid or hole. Right click for other solids.

House adds a building in the current style. Right click to choose styles or create them.

3D Projection takes a top down view and converts it into an isometric one. Right click to add
isometric circles and lines.
Solid Extrude takes a projected shape and gives it height and solidity, with hatched sides.

469
 Isometric Grid PERSPECTIVE BASICS
Isometric Maps
Perspectives 3 lets you make maps in an isometric view, which is a kind of 3-dimensional view of
your map. This makes for a great view of map objects, but it also means we must adjust our
techniques a little bit to get the best results.
Each grid square in the
above grid may appear to
be simply rotated, but if you
Grids
look closer, you will find From earlier, we are used to deal with square and hex grids. When working with a square grid, we
that the width and height usually have North at the top of the map, and the grid running straight across the map. However,
are not equal. In a normal Perspective 3 maps uses an isometric grid, which have several special properties. First of all, the
square grid, each grid cell grid is at an angle. This means that lines that go straight north-south will actually run diagonally
has four 90° angles, while across the map. If you are unfamiliar with isometric views, you may find this a bit strange, but this
on an isometric view, they is actually required to be able to produce this kind of view, it simply don’t work on a straight grid.
are made up from two 120°
angles, and two 60° ones. The second important property of an isometric view is that it isn’t just angled in the X-Y plane, but
also in the Z-plane. Usually, we don’t deal with the Z-plane in CC3+ maps, because they are just 2D-
representations, but with a 3D-representation, the Z-plane come into use. Obviously, our computer
monitor is a flat 2D-surface, so anything not 2D will need to be projected onto the screen in a way
that makes it appear 3D. So, when we angle our grid along the Z-axis, it will actually make the 2D
representation of it look a bit squashed.

Fortunately, CC3+ handles all of this for us, it can both create the isometric grid, and provide snap
points that follow it, making it easy for us to use it even without knowing the details.

Note that most templates don’t have a grid defined. I recommend you always add one (Either from
the New Map Wizard when defining the map, or later by using Draw → Hex or Square Overlay)
to make working with the map easier. You can always hide or remove it when you are done. Just
make sure to make it an Isometric (3D) grid.

Directions
Because of the angled grids, directions in the map are as shown in the compass illustration. In
addition to the normal compass directions, you will also have to deal with up and down. In an
isometric map these are the simplest directions, since they are represented by lines going straight
up or straight down respectively.

You shouldn’t put too much importance on the actual compass directions however, it is more
important to realize that a line which would go straight from top to bottom on a flat, overhead map,
would instead go from bottom right to top left on an isometric map. While a house can of course be
in any angle on an isometric map, everything generally looks the best if you adhere to these
directions, as in the example image to the left.

Height and Positioning

Placing entities in a 3-dimensional space can be a bit confusing. For example, how do you specify
if the candelabra you are going to place will be placed on the floor, or on a table? How to specify
how high up on a wall a torch is mounted? For all these questions, remember that the 3D-
appearance of the scene is nothing more than an illusion. A candelabra will appear to be in table
height if you position it above a table symbol, if not, it will appear to be at floor height, there is
nothing in the symbol or its properties that determines this information, it is just an illusion, you are
still placing everything in a 2D space, and it is the relative positioning between entities that provides
the illusion. Similarly, if something is placed in a weird position, you may break the illusion.
Obviously, keeping items on appropriate sheets, and have a good sheet order is vital to make
entities appear on top of each other correctly. You’ll also need to frequently use the Bring Infront
of and Send Behind commands to order entities properly.

470
Objects
In this chapter, the term Object will be used to refer to isometric shapes. Each such
shape is a collection of multiple CC3+ entities, often with their own fill styles and
shading.

In CC3+ terms, these are just grouped entities, which means that they can be
manipulated as a single entity as long as groups are , and you don’t
manually ungroup the entities. If you need to manipulate the individual entities in
an object, I recommend you temporary unlock groups, rather than ungroup the
entities.

Do note however, that even if you can unlock group and manipulate individual
entities in the object, you cannot easily replace the fill. Because of this is an
isometric object, the fill has to be stretched and skewed to provide the proper view,
but if you simply replace the fill, you will end up with a straight fill that does not
look right. That means that if you want to have a different fill for your object, you
should probably delete the old one and draw a new one instead.

Newcastle upon Grannog

This example map show-
cases the Black & White
Cities style from the 2010
annual.

471
 A BASIC FLOORPLAN
Let us start this tutorial by creating
a simple floorplan, like the
floorplan for a small house. Since
this will be in isometric view, there
is one thing we need to be
particularly mindful of, and that is
our grid. A perspectives grid is an
isometric grid, which means
straight lines usually runs diagonal
over the map. This means that
lines that normally would run
straight left to right or down to up
will now run diagonal across our
screen. The details behind this is
explained on the previous page,
Grid
but it is important to remember,
Because of the orientation otherwise not all symbols will fit
of perspective maps, using properly, and the drawing can also
a grid when working on the look unnatural, not to forget that
map is strongly drawing straight corners becomes difficult.
recommended. You can
hide the GRID sheet when You can find my maps for this tutorial by accessing the numbered Basic Floorplan maps in the
done if you don’t want it in @Tutorials\Tome\Perspective folder.
your final map.
Starting Out
P3A
1. Start a new Perspectives map in the Perspectives Dungeon Bitmap A style. Make it
Settings starting with P3A 100x80 in size, using the Grass Green 1 P3A background fill.
are for the Bitmap A
Also, add an Isometric (3D) grid, using a grid spacing of 5.
Perspective style, those
starting with P3B for the 2. I’d like to make the background grass show a little bit more close. This also has the advantage
Bitmap B style, and those of reducing repetition as well.
starting with P3V for the Click the Fill Style indicator, select the Bitmap Files tab, and select the Grass Green 1 P3A
vector style. Note that the in the dropdown. Set the Scaled values to 25 for both height and width.
raster settings only work on
a template of the
appropriate style, so you
cannot simply use a P3B
Setting the Style
style in a Bitmap style A Like the DD3 corridor and room tools and the CD3 house tools, Per3 has a dialog where you define
map. This is for the same the fill style used by walls and floors to draw these elements. From here we can define the default
reason that drawing tools fill used by our walls and floors. Let us start this tutorial by exploring this dialog, and defining our
can only be used in the own style.
template they are designed
3. Click the Perspective Settings button. This will
for, the bitmap fills required
bring up the Solid objects setting dialog.
are simply not present in the
template. If you preview We’ll talk more about this dialog later in the book, but
P3B settings while working the short explanation is that you can pick the setting
on a Bitmap A style map, you wish from the list, and see a preview of it.
they will look plain and Click through all the settings starting with P3A, to see
uninspiring. what styles are available.
Note that the filter on the While there are several nice settings here, I couldn’t find
top normally only shows exactly what I wanted for my little house. So, let us take this
appropriate settings, but opportunity to define our own style.
you can change it.

472
 4. Click the Advanced dialog >> button.
This opens the Perspective Settings dialog. From here,
we can define various fills used for the isometric
objects, namely the top, side and end for walls, and top
for the floor. This cover all the sides we normally see
on a perspective object.
5. Set the following options:
Outline: Outline Color 0 (Black)

Top: Stone Grey Flat P3A

Floor: Wood Floor Pine h P3A

Side: Stonework Cobble P3A

Wall end: Stonework Cobble P3A

6. Hit the New… button, and give your new setting the
name P3A Stonework Cobble Wall, Wood Floor.
Click OK.
New
As is common in similar
Drawing the floorplan CC3+ dialogs, hitting New
Note that in the screenshots for the rest of this tutorial, I have changed the width and color of the will save the current
grid to make it easier to see. Since the grid can be pretty important when drawing isometric entities, settings under a new name,
you may wish to do the same with your own grid if you feel it is difficult to see, or alternatively add while Save will just
a glow effect to it and enable effects. overwrite the currently
selected setting. In this
7. Before starting our drawing, make sure the button is depressed. We’ll definitely want
regard, New is what would
precision placement on the isometric grid here.
be labeled Save As in other
8. Click Rectangular Room . This tool programs.
allows you to draw a complete room
with walls and a floor. We’ll use this to
draw the outline of our house. For this Name
tutorial, we’ll draw a small 10 by 6 Remember that the name
square house (50’ by 30’). must start with P3A, or the
The command line will now ask you to filter won’t pick it up, and it
place a total of three points. Place the won’t be shown in the Solid
points approximately as shown in the Objects Settings dialog
image. The most important is that point later.
1 and 2 resides on the same gridline, and
that point 2 and 3 also resides on a
common gridline. Failing to this will skew Type In
the house, and while Perspectives 3 can Just as with most CC3+
deal with this just fine, it can create commands, you could have
problems with some of the symbols because they assume straight edges along the grid. Also typed in the coordinates for
notice that when placing the third point, CC3+ will include the walls in the preview, so make the first corner, then typed
sure it is your crosshairs that is positioned in each location, and not the outline of the preview. in the lengths of the walls
9. After placing the three points, the command line will instead of clicking. Just
ask for the height of the house. You can just eyeball keep watching the
this, and move the mouse until you get a preview command line to see what it
that suits you, but for this tutorial we want a 10’ wall, needs from you.
so type in 10 on the command line.

You should be greeted with a result like the one in the

screenshot to the right. If you misplaced any points, or got
the wrong fills, delete it, click Perspective Settings and
make sure the correct setting is enabled, and redraw it.

473
 There is one important feature noticeable now, the front walls are much lower than the back walls.
This is done so that you can get a proper view into the room, if all walls were full height, most of
the inside of the room would be hidden by the outer wall. If you don’t want this, you can right-click
Perspective Settings and select Room Options. The dialog that pops up allows you to control
this behavior.

Another interesting behavior is that the walls seems to extend beyond the gridlines. This is because
the room tool allows you to define the floor, and draws the actual walls outside of this. This has the
advantage that the inside walls match the gridline exactly, which are the walls we’ll be most
concerned with, but be aware of this behavior when considering sizes. If you draw floor and walls
separately, you can control this while drawing.

10. Use the Wall tool to draw an inner wall, dividing the house into two rooms. Place the first
point next to the back wall and the second point where the base of the front wall meet the
floor. Once those two points have been placed, right click to finish drawing, and when asked
Height
to define the height of the new wall, simply enter 2 on the command line. We used a
If you didn’t already know height of 2, because that matches the height of the low foreground wall.
the height of the low wall,
you could have measured it When drawing this wall, you may notice two things:
using the distance tool. It is difficult to place the wall points to avoid gaps. Because of the
Remember, height in an way isometric objects blocks the view, placing points that are
isometric map is behind another wall can be difficult to get correctly. This is usually
represented straight a matter of training, but do make sure to let the snap grid guide
up/down in the map, so the you, it will help.
easiest point to measure the
height is at the lower The new wall will appear on top of the existing wall. In a “flat”
corner. Use the Endpoint floorplan map, most of the ordering is handled by sheets. As long
modifier to get an exact as entities go to the correct sheet, this takes care of itself.
measurement. However, with an isometric map, this isn’t quite as simple. As
explained earlier, the isometric view is fake, because in the end,
Image an image on a computer screen is always two-dimensional.
However, the ordering of objects make the scene appear to be three-dimensional. This
As you probably already
ordering is very difficult to do automatically though, so we need to process this
know, CC3+ can also utilize
manually.
vector symbols. However,
even if CC3+ is based on a To do this, we should consider the relative ordering of the three objects involved (the
CAD-engine, the engine back wall, the interior wall, and the front wall). This example is rather simple, and it
used by CC3+ is two- should be easy to realize that the interior wall needs to be on top of the back wall
dimensional, which means (Because we want the interior wall to obscure parts of the back wall, and not the other
it cannot use three- way around), and we need the front wall to be on top of the interior wall. As always, the
dimensional symbols, that last entity drawn in CC3+ is the one on top, so going by that knowledge, we know the
is the realm of much more interior wall is currently on top of both the rear and the front wall. So, all we need to do
expensive CAD engines. So, right now is to use Bring to Front on the front wall. However, I do recommend that
for most practical purposes, you also try using Send to Back on the interior wall, just to observe the effect.
vector symbols have the
same limitations as raster Symbols
symbols when used in
Symbols have their own challenges in an isometric map. After all, a symbol is made up from a two-
Perspectives 3.
dimensional image, and you cannot simply rotate that to see it from the side or the back, that is
simply not the way images work. So, Perspectives 3 introduces two solutions to this problem, both
with advantages, disadvantages and different use cases.

Sheared symbols: These symbols are flat symbols that will properly align and deform
(shear) to fit an existing surface. This is perfect for doors and windows and other flat
objects (like paintings) that will be placed on a wall. The symbols can fit a wall of any
angle.

The downside of these symbols is that they must be flat. The symbol itself doesn’t have
a three-dimensional appearance, that happens when it is aligned to a wall. Thus, this
kind of symbol doesn’t work too well as a free-standing symbol.

474
 Isometric Symbols: These symbols are simply drawn in an isometric view. However,
since they are flat images, they are not rotatable, so these symbols need to exist in a
separate version for each possible rotation. Normal Per3 symbols usually come in sets
of 4 or 8 directions. These symbols work very well as stand-alone symbols, as well as
well-aligned symbols, but because of the limited number of rotation options, they can’t
fit wall of any angle (Which is part of the reason I insisted earlier on keeping walls
running along the grid lines whenever possible)

Doors and Windows

Depending on the current map style, doors and windows often comes in both the sheared variant
and the isometric variant. Generally, the isometric variant allows for the symbol to have a greater
Arrow Up
sense of depth built into it, but again, those only works if the wall is at an appropriate angle.
Additionally, when we use a door symbol on the lower front wall, it is going to extend above the When using the isometric
height of the wall. This helps maintaining the illusion that the wall is really higher, and that this is a symbols, you can use the
cutaway view, but I find that the isometric version looks a little bit weird when used this way, but arrow keys ( , , ,
your mileage may vary. So, for my map, I will be using isometric symbols on the back wall, and ) to orient a symbol to
shearing symbols for the doors on the front and interior wall. that compass direction
11. Click the Wall Features button. Select the P3a Door Wood a P symbol (This is a shearing (North, East, South, West).
symbol). Move your mouse cursor over the lower edge of the front wall. Notice how the door For the 8-directional
shears and aligns to the wall. When you are happy with the position, simply click to place it. symbols, , , and
Place another door in the interior wall so people can move between rooms. select the remaining 4
Note that these doors happily align along the lines of your grid as well, so if you feel that get directions.
in the way, hide the GRID sheet.
12. Now, select the P3a Door Wood a 1 (An isometric
symbol). We are going to place this along the back wall,
but currently the orientation is wrong. So, with the symbol
on the cursor, press (arrow up) to select north
orientation.
Place the door on the back wall. If you wish to have it
partially obscured by the interior door, like in my
screenshot, you’ll need to use Bring to Front to
rearrange their ordering.
13. Pick the P3a Windows rnd c 1 symbol and place it along
both back walls. Make sure to take advantages of the
snap points to place these accurately and in the same
height all around the wall. Remember that there are many
snap points, so even if you utilize these, you may be placing it wrongly, so keep an eye on
Snap Points
the placement to make sure it looks visually ok.
I used the isometric
Furniture symbols, which uses snap
points for placement, but if
Placing symbols in a Perspectives 3 map is mostly
you use the shearing
straight-forward. However, there are some tricky
window symbols instead,
situations. For example, how some objects obscure
they have control points
others. For example, if I place a cupboard symbol inside
that align to the bottom
the house, up against the back wall, it will obscure
edge of the wall, then uses
parts of the wall as expected. But what if I wanted to
offset to set the height with
place the same cupboard inside the room, but against
a second click (like CD3
the front wall? We would expect the symbol to be
houses along a road or DD3
partially hidden by that wall, but once we place the
torches on a wall).
symbol, we see that this is not the case. Unfortunately,
ordering of sheets is not so simple when we deal with
an isometric view. We’ll discuss this later when we get
to the final touches part at the end of this tutorial, but
for now, if you open the sheets list for the drawing, you
will notice that there are three floor sheets, three wall

475
 sheets and three symbol sheets. You’ll need to manually assign objects to these
sheets depending on their placements to ensure objects overlap each other correctly.
For example, to ensure that the cupboard is partially obscured by the front wall, the
front wall need to be on the WALLS 01 sheet (This also forces us to move our front
door symbol to the SYMBOLS HIGHER sheet).

For now, let us keep it simple.

14. Populate the floorplan with symbols from

the Wall Features , Furniture and
Up and Down catalogs. My screenshot
shows an example arrangement, but feel
free to do your own layout.
When placing the isometric symbols,
remember to use the arrow keys to rotate
the symbol to the desired direction. This is
much quicker than manually expanding
the collection and manually picking the
correctly facing symbol all the time. If you
want to hide symbols partially behind
walls, remember to manually assign sheets as discussed above.

Outside
I’d like to make the outside look a bit nicer too, with some vegetation, a path, some stray rocks, a
well, a few benches and the edge of a pond.

Nothing of this is particularly difficult, so I won’t explain in detail.

The path is drawn using a Smooth Poly , using the Dirt Brown 3 P3A bitmap fill on a
new sheet called PATH with an Edge Fade, Inner effect.

The pond was drawn with the Water, Sludge 2, Curved drawing tool

Symbols were placed and rearranged where necessary, as described earlier

476
Final Touches
All in all, I am quite happy with the drawing. We could have added a map title, a compass rose and
a scale bar, but for this little home in the woods, I don’t think it is necessary. Also, note that this style
doesn’t come with symbols for the latter two either, so this is more of an advanced topic for later
discussion.

There is one thing I wish to take care of here though, I’d like to cut holes in my front and interior
walls for the doors. Right now, the wall clearly continues behind the door, which doesn’t look good.
I’ll also want to add a little step in front of the outer door.

In DD3, doors cut walls automatically. Here, this was easy to do, because DD3 walls are just a simple
line width a with and a fill style, so making a break in it is really easy, basically just split the line into
two halves, and assign the correct segment of the list of nodes to each part, and thus symbols can
be set to do this automatically.

In an isometric drawing, this is much trickier. A wall object consists of multiple entities and
attributes, and creating a break is much more complex. If we want this, we will need to do it
ourselves.

The easiest way to accomplish this is to erase the current wall and draw a new one. When doing
this, I am going to take advantage of the fact that erasing an entity leaves behind a white hole until
the next redraw. This white hole is going to help me accurately place my replacement walls, but for
this trick to work, it is important that all zooming and panning have been done before we start,
because if we zoom or pan during the middle of the operation, a redraw will be triggered.

Let us start with the interior wall.

15. Check Perspective Settings to make sure we still have the correct settings. This is
especially important if you haven’t done this entire tutorial in one sitting.
16. Zoom in on the interior wall, make sure to have the whole wall in the view.
17. Move the Door symbol to the middle of the wall.
18. Erase the wall.

19. Make sure is on.

20. Draw a new Wall to the left of the door. Start by the back wall, use the white hole
as a guide.
Once you have placed the first point, you need to turn off, or you won’t be able
match up with the edge of the door properly. This means that the second point will be
far more difficult to place, but you can match the outline of the new wall up with the
white hole, and the vertical line from the crosshairs with the edge of the door to get a
very good fit.
Remember that this wall needs to be 2' tall.
21. Now draw the wall on the right side of the door. This is done the same way as the left
side, but start from the end by the outer wall. Remember to turn snap back on.
As before, use the white hole and the door edge as your guide.
Now, after doing this and issuing a redraw, you’ll notice that things doesn’t overlap correctly. The
door overlaps both the left and right walls, and the right wall overlaps the outer wall. We’ll ignore
the outer wall since it needs to be redrawn, but let us fix the door.

22. First, you may need to make a minor adjustment to the door, making sure that the bottom of
the door matches up with the bottom of the left wall, otherwise it may appear to be floating.
23. Change the sheet ordering, move the SYMBOLS WALLS sheet so it appears between the
WALLS and SYMBOLS sheets.
24. Move the right wall to the WALLS 01 sheet.
This fixed the ordering among the door and walls, but unfortunately, any symbol up against the right
wall, such as my stove, now appear below it.

477
 25. Move the stove and any other symbols along the wall to the SYMBOLS HIGHER sheet.
Now, we are left with the outer wall. Even if the procedure is similar to the previous door, make sure
to not skip this part, because we will address one important aspect regarding the drawing of walls.

For this part, we have our floor as a guide, so we are not as dependent on the white hole left behind
by erasing the old wall.

26. Zoom on to the region containing the wall to the left of the door, and the door itself.
27. Move the door to the middle of the wall.
28. Erase the wall and issue a redraw.
Now, when we draw the new wall, we will take advantage of the fact that you can change the
handle point of the wall. So far, all walls we have drawn manually have had its handle point along
the middle of the wall. However, now we wish the wall to follow the edge of our floor. For straight
wall segments, like the wall to the left of our door, this doesn’t make much of a difference, because
we can accomplish the same result anyway, but once the wall needs to have a corner, like the wall
to the right of the door, this becomes very important.

29. Turn off snap.

30. Start drawing a new wall, and place the first point in the corner where the floor meets the
tall back wall. There won’t be a snap point here, so use a modifier, like Endpoint to place
this point precisely.
You’ll notice that the outline now wants to place the centerline of the wall along the floor edge, but
this is not what we want, we want the inside of the wall to follow the floor.

31. Notice that the command line offers us the option SHIFT – move
Visual Preview handle.

Don’t use the crosshairs for Hold down the key and move your mouse cursor near the
the door this time, it won’t inner corner of the wall outline, then release the mouse. Move
match up after we moved the mouse a little to update the preview, and notice how it now
the handle, but since we aligns the inner edge of the wall instead of the centerline.
don’t have the white hole 32. Complete the wall segment, use the visual preview to align it
blocking, you should be against the floor and door.
able to line the outline up
against the door visually. 33. Now, draw the wall on the right side of the door. Start the wall
at the inner corner at the end of the tall back wall, and move
the handle as we did above.
This wall does include a corner however, so to make sure you
place the corner accurately, turn snap back on for this
placement, then turn it back off again when placing the end
near the door. Remember that you can zoom in the middle of a
command, this can be quite helpful here because of the detail
work at the ends.
34. Move the new wall to the WALLS 01 sheet.
35. For the Doorstep, I simply accessed Perspective Settings and selected a setting with a
Flagstone floor. I then used the Rectangular Floor command to draw it. (It can be easier
to draw if you let it extend a tiny bit into the room, the door symbol and walls will hide this
anyway. I then applied the following changes

Created a new sheet, DOORSTEP, and placed it between the FLOOR and WALLS sheets.

Added a Bevel, Lighted effect to this sheet (Size 0.1 units, Intensity 100%, Lightness
Base 50%, Lightness Range 50%, Smoothing 0.05 units, Effect Units as Map Units)

Moved the doorstep to this sheet.

Accessed the Fill Style dialog and changed the scaling of the Flagstone G P3A fill from
10 to 5.

478
And that’s it. Our Perspective 3 floorplan is now finished

A Basic Floorplan Review

Sheet order is important in isometric drawings, but you’ll usually need to use multiple
sheets, as well as use internal sheet ordering (Send Behind/Bring in front of) to get the
ordering you need.

Use arrow keys to select orientation for perspective symbols.

Remember the wall handle future, it is vital when you are drawing walls with corners
along other entities.

Isometric symbols are drawn with a 3D-look, requiring individual symbols for each
direction

Shearing symbols are normal flat symbols that deform to fit the angle of the surface they
“attach” to.

479
 MAKING SOLID SHAPES AND HOLES
Other Solids Perspectives 3 includes some solid entities
to create platforms, stairs, balconies, towers
Other solids are available,
and holes. Cylinders, 3D Boxes and 3D
but these are currently beta
Polygons and other solids are all available.
versions. They do not hatch
properly. Type in their text After you’ve drawn the base of a solid, you
equivalents to use them – are asked for its height — if you select a
but remember they are point above the base, you will get a solid, if
betas. We recommend that you select a point below the base, a hole.
you use them with a
Perspective Setting that
does not have a hatch 3D Boxes
pattern (for example, To show the use of solids, we are going to
Current Color, Solid) To use add a raised pool to an existing room using
them, type the text 3D Box.
equivalent at the Command
1. Open ShapesHoles 01.FCW. This
prompt.
shows a room drawn in the P3B
Stone Wall, Flagstone Floor style.
Solid Text
Equivalent 2. Click Perspective Settings . Click P3B Brick
Pyramid IPYRAMID G Wall, Water Floor.
Cone ICONE
Note that the floor area thumbnail looks like a
Sphere IPSPHERE
watery surface.
Spherical IPSPHERA
Section 3. On the Perspectives 3 toolbar click 3D Box .
Slope IBOXA
The prompt reads First Corner:
4. Click the first point for the box about one-and-
half grid squares away from the north-west
corner of the room.
The prompt reads Second corner or enter length.
5. Click a point in the north-east corner of the
room. The cursor should be parallel to the
north wall.
Floor Level
The prompt reads Third corner or enter
If you want to work on a
length [square]:
horizontal surface that is
not at floor level, you have 6. Click the final point for the room near the
three choices: south-east corner.
▪ Work by eye, that is, The prompt reads Height or Depth[6]:
guess.
▪ Work at floor level, then 7. Type 2’ and press for a 2’ high raised area.
move the entities to the (ShapesHoles 02.fcw)
correct height (a move up
or down in Per3, is a move
up or down the screen)
3D Regular Polygon
▪ Move the entire snap grid Now we’ll make an indented area filled with water to go on the raised floor.
upwards. Right-click the 8. Set the current sheet to FLOOR 01.
Grid button then edit the
current grid settings. 9. Zoom in to an empty area to the side of the floor plan. We are going to draw this hole at floor
Increase or decreasing the level, then move the center over the raised area.
Y value of the grid center 10. Right click 3D Box . Click 3D Regular Poly.
to change the height.
The prompt reads Number of nodes [6]:
11. Type 8 for an octagonal hole. Press .

The prompt reads Center:

480
 12. Click a point on the corner of a grid square.
The prompt reads First Corner (or enter
distance):
13. Click a point two grid squares away.
The prompt reads Height or depth:
14. Type -2 then press for a 2’ gap between the
edge and the surface of the water.
You’ve drawn the pool. We’ll move it by eye.
15. Click Move, Scale, Rotate . Deactivate
then select and move the pool across to
the surface. (ShapesHoles 03.fcw)

Adding Rooms
Per3 provides a shortcut for adding rooms with walls included to your drawings. If you right click,
you can choose between rooms of the current wall width, and setting your own wall thickness.

When you add a room, you draw the floor, then type or click a point for the wall height.

You can add a square or rectangular room by clicking Rectangular Room

You can add polygonal, circular or regular polygonal rooms by right-clicking Rectangular
Room

Arkham
This example map comes
from the 2011 annual –
“1930s Street Maps”.

481
 3D Projection CONVERTING AN EXISTING PLAN VIEW
3D Projection takes a flat
You may find it easier to draw your floor plan from above, and then convert it into a Per3 map. Per3
shape and projects it into
provides tools to convert these plan views into isometric ones. This technique, with a bit of work,
isometric view, as if it were
can also be used to create your existing CC3+ and DD3 drawings into Per3 floor plans.
viewed from above or from
the side.
It’s mainly used for Projecting a Floorplan into Isometric View
converting existing floor
plans to isometric view In this example, we can draw a simple plan view
ready to be made into a straight onto the Per Pro template. We then use 3D
floor, but you can also use it Projection to convert it into an isometric floor.
for creating symbols. 1. Start a new 160×120 Perspectives map.
(PlanView 01.FCW)
Isometric Projection
2. Add a 5’ Isometric grid to the map (Draw → Hex
▪ If you are converting a or Square Overlay). Make sure to have Set
floorplan with North Snap Grid checked.
straight up the screen,
choose Top, Counter- 3. Right click the Snap button, then select the 5’
clockwise) Square.
▪ If you are converting a When you draw in plan view, you need a square
floorplan with North left grid.
across the screen, choose
4. Use the scroll bars to navigate to an area to
Top, Clockwise
one side of the template.
▪ If you want to project onto
a North or South wall, 5. Click Polygon . Click points to form a floor
choose Right plan. (PlanView02.FCW)
▪ If you want to project onto 6. Click 3D Projection .
an East or West wall,
You can see the Isometric Projection dialog
choose Left.
box.
7. Click Top, Counter-clockwise and Leave as
Original Entity. Select the floor plan
polygon we just drew.
In almost every case where you are creating an isometric floorplan, you will use the Top,
Counter-clockwise option.
The prompt reads Iso view Origin:
8. Click a point on a corner of your polygon.
You can see a dynamic cursor of the
isometric version. The prompt reads To:
Leave as Original Entity
9. Right click the Snap button, then select the
If you wish to use the Isometric 5’ grid.
projected-entity as-is in the
We want to align the floor plan to the
drawing, you can enable
isometric grid.
Make Shaded Polygon to
have fill style be 10. Click a point on the grid to place your basic
automatically aligned to the floor plan.
projection (Just as when
drawing Objects like those
in the previous chapter.
However, if you are going to
manipulate it further, you
may wish to just leave it as
it is.

482
Converting the Basic Floor Plan
You can convert the projected isometric shape into a filled floor.

11. Right click Rectangular Floor , then click Make into Floor. Select
the polygon.
The floor is complete, and you can add walls at this stage. (PlanView
03.FCW)

Converting DD3 Floorplans

You can convert floor plans created with DD3 into isometric view. It’s fairly
straightforward, but you will probably need to refer to this example. Note that
the dungeon map we use in this example won’t be properly viewable unless you have DD3.

Polygon
1. Start a new 160×120 Perspectives map. On the Draw menu, click Insert File.
You can make floors with
2. Select Dungeon.FCW. Place the inserted file somewhere outside the map border. Note that “holes” in by projecting the
the fill styles look completely wrong in the inserted floorplan as compared to when you open hole shape, then change the
the map normally in CC3. This is because the perspectives map has different fill styles defined fill style and color to match
compared with the DD3 map, the background.
3. Click the Layer indicator then Thaw All layers.
4. Click Erase then erase all entities from the inserted floorplan except the rooms, corridors And (Both)
and symbols. When you are selecting, you
can right click at any time to
5. Click 3D Projection . Select the Top, Counter-clockwise option.
see additional selection
We want to project only the gray background on BACKGROUND (FLOOR 1) so that Make options.
into Floor has something to work with. The Combine submenu
6. Click two points forming a window around the entire dungeon, And (Both), Layer, gives you the option to
BACKGROUND (FLOOR 1). restrict your selection to
entities that pass two tests,
The dungeon is ready to place.
in this case, entities you
7. Click a point on the template to place the floor plan. have selected in the window
8. Right click Rectangular Floor , then click Make into Floor. Select the floor plan. which are also on the
BACKGROUND (FLOOR 1)
You can refer to the dungeon to add symbols. If the dungeon map used vector symbols, you could
layer.
even explode them and then project them onto the isometric version for more precision.

Converting Geomorph Floor plans Enclosed

Some DD3 floor plans are made from plugging geomorph symbols together. You can convert An enclosed shape has an
these into Per Pro floorplans as in the example above, but first you need to use Explode to unbroken outline with no
convert the symbols into their constituent parts. Then you can just follow the instructions in the overlaps.
previous example to make a floorplan. You can ensure that your
ends connect by:
▪ Using Snap as in this
Converting More Complex Shapes example.
Make into Floor can only convert polygons or projected circles into filled floors. To deal with this ▪ Right clicking the Attach
limitation, Per Pro provides you with the tools to make complex shapes into polygons. button and choosing
1. Start a new 160×120 Perspectives map. Nearest Endpoint.
▪ Using the Endpoint
2. Right click the Snap button, then select the 5’ Square grid. modifier.
We’ve turned snap on to ensure that the shape you are about to create is enclosed. ▪ Using the various Trim
commands to ensure that
3. Use Path , Arc , and Smooth Path to create an enclosed shape.
everything lines up.
4. Right-click 3D Projection . Click Convert to Polygon.
Select the shape you’ve drawn.

483
 5. Click 3D Projection . Select the Top, Counter-clockwise option. Use this to put a
projection of your shape into the map.
6. Right click Rectangular Floor , then click Make into Floor. Select the floor plan.

Adding walls to curves

You need to add walls to the completed floors. This process was described on page 478.
This section shows you how to add walls around a curve.

7. Right click the Attach button. Select Nearest Endpoint and Attach Enabled. Turn off Snap
if enabled.
8. Click Wall . Press then move the drawing handle to the inside edge of the wall.

9. Click the Layer indicator then hide the FLOORS, HATCHING layer.
10. Where the wall is curved, click points at regular intervals along the curve. When you reach a
straight section, click near its endpoint. (ComplexShape.FCW)

Creating solids from projected shapes

You can create solid shapes from the projected shapes you make. This enables you to create
shapes that are hard to make with the usual solids such as 3D Box and 3D Polygon. This process is
called extrusion. We’ll use the shape in the previous section as an example.
1. Open Extrude01.fcw.
2. Click Solid Extrude . Select the shape on the grid.
The prompt reads Extrude from:
3. Click a point.
The prompt reads Extrude to or enter distance [prior]:
Type 5 then press . The floor extrudes to give you a solid shape. Unlike with solids, a
downward extrude does not give you a hole.

Projecting Text
You can label your drawings using Text . However, it can look good to make your text appear
as if it is on the surface of your map, or vertically on a wall.
1. Click Text . Add some text outside the border of your drawing.
2. Right click Text . Click Explode Text. Select the text you’ve just added.
The text, when exploded, is converted into polygons and multipolies.
3. Click 3D Projection . Choose a suitable projection. Select the text. Click a location for the
text on the map.

484
HOUSE CREATION
Per3 also lets you create houses for outdoor scenes, all the way from a cozy cottage in the forest, House
to villages, and to large cities; see the chapters on Source Maps: Castles, Source Maps: Temple,
Tower & Tomb and Source Maps: Cities later in this book for example of outdoor Perspectives There is a little glitch in
scenes. Perspectives: Sometimes
Per3 contains a small Outdoor symbol catalog. You can combine these with buildings made when you open the Insert
with the House command. Building dialog. the black
outlines are not shown
correctly.
A Basic House If your house looks like this

1. Start a new 160×120 Perspectives map in the

Perspectives Dungeon Bitmap A style, using
the Grass Green 1 P3A background fill and a 5’
Isometric grid.
2. Right-click House .
The dialog box shows a selection of house in the preview window,
settings, a preview of the current house settings cancel the dialog, open the
and some roof type options. Perspective Settings
3. Select P3A Stone House, Board Roof. Select dialog, close it, and then
the first roof type. open the Insert Building
dialog again. This fixes the
Click Insert.
glitch
The prompt reads First Corner:. You’ll be
drawing the edge perpendicular to the gable.
Roof Type
4. Click a point.
The roof types are gabled
The prompt reads Second corner or enter and hip .
length[prior]
5. Click another point about 40 feet (8 grid
squares) away to the east.
The prompt reads Third corner or enter length[square]:
6. Move the mouse to the north a little, then type 30.
If you had right clicked instead, you would have a square based house.
The prompt reads Wall height [12.0].
7. Click a point about 20 feet up.
The prompt reads Roof Height[6]:
8. Right click to accept the default roof height (6 feet).

Default
The house command has
lots of default options
shown at the command
prompt. As always, you get
the default values by right
clicking. This makes is very
easy to create many houses
with a similar size and
shape. Do note that the
default values are the last
one you used in this CC3+
session, so if they are not
appropriate, simply type in a
new value instead.

485
 A House with an Extension
You can use the Hip Roof option to add an extension to a house. For this to work, you need a
house which does not have an overhanging roof.
1. Right-click House .
2. Select a suitable style. Make sure the hip roof is selected, then click Advanced dialog >>.
Change the Roof Overhang to 0. Click OK, then click Insert.
3. Draw a house like the one in the previous example.
4. Right-click House .
5. Click Hip Roof then uncheck Both Ends the same.
You need to draw the extension away from the house.

Hold Down
If you press it will let
the hip roof overhang the
wall so that you can make
extensions and connections.
Otherwise, Per3 prevents
you from overhanging, as
this would make an odd-
looking roof under normal 6. Click a point on the edge of the house where it meets the ground. Click another point two
circumstances. square to the south. Click a point two squares to the east.
You’ve formed the footprint of the extension.
7. Right click to accept the default wall height. Right click to accept the default roof height.
The prompt reads Left distance [10] (SHIFT allow outside):
8. Depress Snap.
9. Press and hold down . Move the cursor on to the top edge of the roof, keeping down
and then click.

The prompt reads Right distance [symmetric] (SHIFT allow outside)

10. Release . Click a point to form the other end of the hip roof.

More to Do
Click Outdoor then add some symbols.

Add rivers, grass and other surfaces using appropriate Perspectives Settings.

Create a map of the interior using Floors and Walls.

486
CONTROLLING THE APPEARANCE
As we described on page 470, the color and pattern of Per3’s entities are controlled by the current
perspectives settings. To choose one of the pre-existing settings just click on Perspective Settings
and choose from the list.

Creating Your Own Settings P3A

However, the default settings Existing settings in Per3 are
might not be exactly what we are prefixed by P3A, P3B, P3V
looking for, so you often wish to or P3M. This prefix indicates
customize these, or to create what kind of map style this
completely new settings. To setting is made for. If it
access the settings, either right includes raster fills, it will
click the Perspective Settings only work in a map of the
button, or click it, and then appropriate style, apart
click the Advanced dialog >> from that it is just an issue
button. of esthetics.
From this dialog, you can set the Per3 filters the dialog based
settings for Wall Top, Wall Side, on the map style, so by
Wall End and Floor individually. using the correct prefix for
These main categories should be your own settings will
self, explanatory, but we’ll talk a ensure they show up in the
little about the settings in each dialog for the appropriate
category. maps.
P3A – Bitmap style A
P3B – Bitmap style B
Fill Style P3V – Vector Style
This dropdown lists all the fill styles defined in the map, the same you would see in the Change P3M – Vector Style (Mono)
Properties dialog among others. Generally, every fill style in this list except for the Solid setting are
raster fills, while Solid is used for settings for Vector maps.

Note that the selected fill will be shaded base on the direction of the filled object compared to the
direction of the global sun. This means that some surfaces will be lighter and other darker.

Some fill styles work better on floors, others on the walls. It is up to you to combine them as you
see fit. Do note that in most cases, you would want the wall end fill style to be the same as for the
wall, unless you have a special fill style intended to depict wall ends (for example a fill style Varicolor Hatch Styles
depicting horizontal logs for the walls, and a fill style depicting log ends for the wall ends). Also, in
Varicolor hatch style change
most cases I would recommend a flat-looking fill style for the wall tops. This generally looks better,
color according to the color
and provides the illusion that this is a cutaway view, and that there really is something on top of
of the surface to which they
these walls (another floor, a roof, etc.).
are applied.
Create a hatch style as
Color described in the next
As you probably have learned previously, the color of an entity doesn’t matter when you are using section, but with layers the
raster fills. This is no different here, this value is primarily useful when making vector styles, in which same as those for varicolor
case you would have set the Fill Style to Solid. Here, you can either set a specific color value, or symbols. See Shaded
tell it to use the current color, which means that whatever color is currently active will be used varicolor on page 112 for
when a shape is drawn using these settings. details.

If you have used previous version of Perspectives, you may remember that you could set a complete
color scheme, usually with different shades of the same color. This system was removed, as shading
based on the global sun properties provides a better system. Now, the single color chosen will be
shaded depending on the orientation of the object.

487
 Hatch styles
Align to First Edge
Hatch styles are also usually only used along
If you set the Align to First
with vector style settings, and provides a way to
Edge option, when you use
give texture to surfaces without using raster fills.
the Floor or Room tools, the
They will then look like brick walls, rough-hewn
pattern aligns to the first
stone or wood paneling. A hatch style is a
two points you click. This is
tileable shape stored in a CC3+ file. A hatch style
useful for example if you
can be set to Align to First Edge or use a Fixed
want floorboards that align
Angle.
with the edge of a room.
You can create your own hatch styles, including
varicolor hatch styles.

Creating hatch styles

Each hatch style is stored in its own file and contains a rectangular shape that
tiles with itself. The files are stored in the @Symbols\Perspectives\Styles folder.
Hatch styles for roofs (created in the same way) are found in the
Fixed Angle @Symbols\Perspectives\Roof Styles folder.
If you use the fixed angle 1. Click New . Select Symbol Catalogs as the map type, and make sure to
option, the pattern always
set the Decide Settings myself option. Click Next.
aligns to a particular
direction. This is useful for 2. Select the Blank Overland Catalog template, then use the default settings for the rest of the
hex or square grids with a wizard.
fixed direction. 3. (Optional) On the Template layer, draw a solid box of the color of a typical background color
for the style.
4. Click the layer indicator, then set the Standard layer as the current layer.
5. Using CC3+’s drawing tools create a tileable, front-on pattern
Draw using only Polygon , Path or Line .

Use only Hollow or Solid fill styles

You can use entities of any line width or color

Tileable
Entities on the TEMPLATE layer are ignored
A tileable shape is one in
which the overall 6. Copy the tile to the left of the template box. Adjust the left-hand
appearance is uniform when side of the tile so that it matches. Repeat this for each side.
the image used as a hatch 7. Delete any copies you have made
style. The edges of the tiles,
8. On the File menu, click Save As then save the file in the
when adjacent, mate
@Symbols\Perspectives\Styles folder.
seamlessly together.
▪ It’s much easier to start
with an existing hatch To use the created hatch style
style pattern, or even a fill To save time, CC3+ only checks for hatch styles on start-up. You need to let CC3+ know that you
style symbol than start have changed or added a hatch style.
from scratch.
9. In an existing drawing, right click the Perspective Settings button.
▪ For a quick hatch style,
draw a tile, mirror copy it 10. Click Update Hatch Styles.
vertically, then mirror 11. Select an existing saved setting, or start a new setting.
copy both tiles
horizontally. 12. Pull down any hatch style list — your new file will be there.
▪ Don’t use too many nodes
– hatch styles can grow
rapidly and slow down
your drawings.

488
PERSPECTIVE SYMBOLS
Symbols for Perspectives 3 are rather special compared to the symbols used for ordinary maps. Our
main challenge is the isometric view of the symbols. When looking
at an isometric symbol, because of its 3-dimensional appearance,
it is easy to simply imagine rotating the symbol around its z-axis
would provide a view from a different angle. Unfortunately, it is not
this easy. Symbols in CC3+ are not 3d-objects, they are just 2d-
objects drawn in such a way as to appear 3-dimensional. If you try
to rotate one of these symbols, you’ll quickly realize that this wasn’t Compass Direction
really a good idea.
A reminder of the compass
Neither is it possible to create a special rotate command that rotates it around a different axis, directions. Symbols are
simply because the symbol does not contain the information required to see it from a different labeled according to the
direction. CC3+ is not a 3D-modelling software, and symbols are not 3D objects, so there is no easy way they face, so an east
way to add such functionality to symbols either. symbol faces east.

So, with that in mind, let us look at how perspective symbols are made and used.

Symbol Variations
We have looked at different symbol types during the previous tutorials, so let us divide them into
categories and explore the similarities and differences.

Free-standing Symbols
Free-standing symbols are symbols that are meant to be just placed
down on the floor/ground, and that are not attached to something.
They may be designed to be placed up against a wall, but they do not
really attach to the wall. Furniture, like chairs, tables, chests and the like
are good examples of symbols from this category.

These symbols come in two variants, 4-way and 8-way. The 4-way
variant is simply 4 individual symbols, each drawn to represent the
object facing in one of the four cardinal directions (North, South, East
and West), and grouped together in a collection.

The 8-way variant additionally contains symbols drawn facing NE, NW,
SE and SW.

To make the directions easy to switch between, each symbol direction

is mapped to one of the arrow keys on your keyboard. The 8-way
symbols also employ the Page Up/Down, Home and End keys. Note that the naming conventions of
the symbols are a little bit different between 4-way and 8-way symbols, 4-way uses one letter for
the direction at the end, 8-way uses the numbers from 1 to 8.

Note that these symbols behave just like ordinary CC3+ symbols, except for the fact that arrow keys
select different symbols in the collection rather than rotate the symbol. Conceptually, switching
perspective symbols is rotating them, so in that regard, arrow keys still rotate the symbol.

Attaching Symbols
Some symbols are meant to attach to a wall or similar construct. These symbols
are very similar to the free-standing symbols discussed above, and exists in the
same 4/8-way variants. The main difference is that these symbols have control
points that allows them to be correctly positioned at the wall. Generally, the
symbol is placed at the bottom edge of the wall (the control points needs to have
a line to attach to), then an offset is specified to control how high up on the wall
it is placed. An example of this kind of symbols is a torch (in a holder), but also doors and windows
(if they are not Shearing symbols, see below).

489
 Shearing Symbols
Some symbols that should lay flat against a wall, such as doors and windows,
are shearing symbols. These symbols automatically deform to fit the bearing of
the wall they are placed against. These symbols have a great advantage over
the symbols discussed above, as shearing symbols can be fitted to a wall at any
angle, while free-standing symbols are limited to 45/90 degree angles.

However, the deformation being applied only works on symbols that would be
flat against a wall. Doors and windows fulfill this, but a symbol such as a torch
that extend out from the wall does not.

Since these symbols deform to fit any wall angle, only one version of each
symbol exists, we don’t need to have one for each direction.

As with the attaching symbols above, these symbols are usually also placed against the base of the
wall, and then, if appropriate, an offset is requested to position it higher up on the wall.

You can easily identify these symbols in the symbol catalog. While free-standing symbols are clearly
isometric, shearing symbols looks like seen from straight ahead.

Note that some symbol catalogs will contain doors and windows that are attaching symbols instead
of or in addition to shearing symbols. This is done because you can create a better illusion of depth
with an isometric symbol, while shearing symbols look a bit flat, but then you lose the advantage of
attaching to any angle the shearing symbols have.

Creating Perspective Symbols

Perspectives 3 symbol creation requires a good understanding of CC3+ and a grasp of isometric
drawing that comes with practice. It is for advanced users. Before creating isometric symbols, make
sure you are familiar with basic CC3+ symbol creation. See page 105 and onward for details.

As with regular CC3+ symbols, perspective symbols can be vector or raster. While the usage is
identical, making the two symbol types is very different, just as with regular CC3+ symbols.

Free-standing vector symbols

As discussed earlier, free-standing symbols can be either 4-way or 8-way. This means that you will
need to create either 4 or 8 drawings for each symbol. For 4-way symbols this means one version
of the symbol for each compass direction, while the 8-way requires additional symbols for the four
ordinal directions as well.

We’ll start by creating a 4-way symbol, and discuss the additional

steps for an 8-way symbol at the end.

1. Click New . Select Symbol Catalogs as the map type,

Blank Overland Catalog and make sure to set the Decide Settings Myself option.
We use the overland symbol Click Next.
catalog template because 2. Select Blank Overland Catalog. Finish the wizard with the
Perspectives 3 doesn’t ship default choices.
with its own. Note that it
3. Click the Perspectives Menu button to load the correct
isn’t anything about the
menu.
overland symbol catalog
template that ties it to the 4. Click the Layer Indicator then set the current layer to
overland style, so this SYMBOL DEFINITION.
template is suited to almost 5. Draw two views of the symbol, one facing east, the other
anything. west. Depending on their symmetry, these may be identical.
You may wish to add a
Use 3D Projection , 3D Line and 3D Circle tools to make
perspective grid to it to aid
the symbols.
isometric drawing.
6. Right click Copy then click Mirror Copy.

490
 7. Select both symbols then click two points forming a vertical mirror line. This gives you the
four symbols you need. You still need four, even if they are all identical. Mirror Line
Using Mirror Copy is a quick
Defining the symbol way of generating the
perspective symbols since
8. First, you need to determine the symbol origin.
you only need to draw two
Imagine the symbol facing away from the wall. The origin of the four, then mirror
is the bottom center where the symbol aligns with the wall. them. Do be aware that
If the symbol has infinite rotational symmetry (a barrel or depending on the symbol,
column), then use the center of the base for all four this may be very noticeable
symbols. in the drawing. For
9. If necessary, draw some lines along the lower base of each example, if you drew a car
symbol, then move the symbol from the center of this line and mirrored it, the steering
to a Snap point to make it easy for you to define the origin. wheel would be on the
wrong side in the mirror
10. Type DEFSYM on the command line. Use the origin for each
copy. So, it is up to you for
symbol you determined above. Define each symbol, in the
each symbol if you wish to
following order:
draw all the four directions
The East-facing symbol (the name must end by a individually, or draw two
space followed by E, e.g. P-Vanity E), and then mirror it.

The North-facing symbol (e.g. P-Vanity N)

The West-facing symbol (e.g. P-Vanity W) DEFSYM

We need to use the old
The South-facing symbol (e.g. P-Vanity S)
command to define symbols
rather than selecting Define
Adding free-standing symbol information
Symbol from the Symbols
For CC3+ to know that your four symbols are Perspective 3 menu. This is because the
symbols, you need add information to each definition. dialog provided by the new
command only provides a
11. On the Symbols menu, click Symbol Manager.
few simple alternatives for
12. Click the first Perspective 3 symbol you have defined. the symbol origin, but for
13. Hold down and click the last of the four symbols. This isometric symbols we need
should select them all. precise control.
Simply follow the requests
14. Click Options. from the command line to
15. Select Symbol is one of a collection. complete this command.
If you prefer to use the
16. Select One letter at the end.
dialog to define the
17. Select Arrow keys select different symbols. symbols, you must instead
18. Unselect Perspectives Wall symbol (sheared). edit them from the Symbol
Manager, and manually
19. Check Force Sheet and type in SYMBOLS* as the value.
move their origin after
defining them.
Differences for 8-way symbols
Creating an 8-way vector symbol is very similar, but here are the additional steps/considerations

Obviously, you will need to draw and define 8 symbols instead of 4.

Symbols needs to be named using numbers instead of lettering at the end. Again, based
on the direction the symbol is facing, West is 1, SW is 2, South is 3, SE is 4, East is 5, NE
is 6, N is 7 and NW is 8.

Symbol options should be set to Numbers at the end instead of One letter at the end.

Apart from this, everything is the same as with 4-way symbols.

491
 Raster Symbols
Raster symbols work just like vector symbol, but the way of creating them is slightly different.

Instead of drawing the symbols in CC3+, you will draw them in your image editor of choice, and
then import them into CC3+. You still need to obey the same considerations, such as drawing 4 or
8 versions of the symbol from various angles, as well as making sure the drawings are in a proper
isometric format and view angle.

While actual image editing is beyond the scope of this book, keep the isometric perspective in mind.
Basic things to consider here is the compass directions and the angles. Seen from straight above, a
square will have four 90-degree angles, but in an isometric view, the angles are 120 degrees and
Various Angles 60 degrees respectively. This way of drawing angles creates an illusion of perspective.

If you use a 3D-graphics The illustrations below show relative distances and angles on a perspectives plane and box. Use
package instead of an these as a guide when drawing your own symbols outside CC3+.
image editor, you could
create a true 3D-
representation of the
symbol, then just rotate it
and render the 4 (or 8) views
needed for CC3+. This is a
great way of making
symbols for perspectives if
3D-modelling is your thing
(or if you have an existing
3D model you wish to use).
The procedure inside CC3+
is still the same though, you
will still need 4/8 images for
the symbol no matter if you
drew them in an image
editor or rendered them
from a 3D object.

Before drawing isometric symbols, you should be familiar with how regular raster symbols work in
CC3+. See the Creating Raster Symbols chapter on page 108 for details.

1. Create the images for your symbols in your favorite image editor or 3D-renderer. Remember
that you need either 4 or 8 images, one for each possible orientation.
Note that there isn’t a specific recommended resolution for Perspective 3 symbols, the
resolution will depend on your requirements for details. But for reference, the Bitmap A style
symbols are about 120 pixels/map unit for VH versions, while the Bitmap B style is about 60.
If you make your own symbols, I recommend you stick to a common resolution for all of
them.
2. Name the image files per their direction as described in the section about creating vector
symbol on the previous pages, and put copies of the files in an appropriate folder, such as
@Symbols\User\Perspectives\Artwork in png format.
3. In CC3+, click New . Select Symbol Catalogs as the map type, and make sure to set the
Decide Settings Myself option. Click Next.
4. Select Blank Overland Catalog. Finish the wizard with the default choices.
5. Click the Perspectives Menu button to load the correct menu.
6. Use Symbols → Import pngs to import your images as symbols.

492
 Provide the dialog with the correct
path to your art files, make sure the
path is relative to the CC3 path, and
that Create other resolutions is
checked. Make sure that the value for
Highest Resolution matches the actual
size of your images. For example, if
your image is 250 pixels wide, and
that is supposed to represent a
distance of 5 feet in the map, the
resolution would be 50 pixels per
drawing unit. If this value is wrong,
your symbols will appear the wrong
size in the map.
You can ignore the Symbol origin for now, we need to fix this
manually for each symbol later because of the special nature
of isometric symbols.
7. Open the Symbol Manager.
8. Select all your symbols in the list, and click Options.
Select Symbol is one of a collection.

Select One letter at the end. (Or Numbers at the end

for 8-way symbols)

Select Arrow keys select different symbols.

Unselect Perspectives Wall symbol (sheared).

Check Force Sheet and type in SYMBOLS* as the value.

The last task is to fix the origin of the symbols. Because of the nature of isometric symbols, this
means that you must edit each symbol individually.

9. In the Symbol Manager, select the first symbol,

and hit Edit. CC3+ will then ask you to define the
edit window by defining two opposite corners.
Do this, and a symbol editing window will open
showing the selected symbol.
Determine where the origin of the symbol should be.
Imagine the symbol facing away from the wall. The
origin is the bottom center where the symbol aligns
with the wall. If the symbol has infinite rotational
symmetry (a barrel or column), then use the center of
the base for all four symbols. Draw construction lines to
help you if necessary.

10. Select View → Move Origin, and place the origin

point at the appropriate location for the symbol.
11. Close the symbol edit window, and answer Yes when CC3+ asks if you wish to keep your
changes.
12. Repeat the above procedure for each individual symbol.
13. From the Symbol Manager, select all your symbols and click Save as catalog. Save it
somewhere reasonable, usually one level up from where the images themselves are stored,
something like @Symbols\User\Perspectives\My Cool Symbols.fsc
You should now have a new symbol catalog with your raster symbols in them.

493
 Creating Shearing (Wall Feature) symbols
Wall features symbols are those placed against walls such as doors and windows. These are much
easier to draw than free-standing symbols; you just need to create a front-on view.

1. Click New . Select Symbol Catalogs as the map type, and make sure to set the Decide
Settings Myself option. Click Next.
2. Select Blank Overland Catalog. Finish the wizard with the default choices.
3. Click the Perspectives Menu button to load the correct menu.
4. Click the Layer Indicator then set the current layer to SYMBOL
DEFINITION.
5. Draw a front-on view of the symbol.
6. In the Symbols menu, click Add Control Points.
7. Click one point on the left of the base, one in the middle.
8. Set the control points to Align on Insertion and Keep DynTrak Scale.
Uncheck the others. If you are making a window or other symbol that should not have their
base at the floor level, also check Offset from Place Point.
9. Type DEFSYM on the command line. Type a name, then click an origin point in the center of
the base of the symbol.

Adding wall features symbol information

Follow the instructions in Adding free-standing symbol information above but with only the
Perspectives Wall Symbol (sheared) setting and the Force Sheet setting selected in the Add
Symbol Information dialog box.

Raster Symbols
You can use raster artwork for shearing symbols as well. Just as we did when we talked about free-
standing symbols above, first import the symbols using Symbols → Import pngs, then edit the
symbols as described in that section. Move the origin to the center of the base of the symbol, and
add control points as described for the vector symbols above.

Symbol Catalogs
After creating the symbols, you should add them to a symbol catalog and save it for future use. The
easiest way to do this is to open the Symbol Manager (Symbols → Symbol Manager), select the
desired symbols in the list, and hit the Save as catalog button. This will save the currently selected
symbol as a CC3+ symbol catalog (.fsc file).

494
Making a Symbol - an Example True 3D
Perspectives 3 isn’t true 3D. It is a specific angled view of our created realms. The challenge of CC3+ does not have a fully-
creating a symbol in that specific angled view isn’t as hard as it might seem. fledged 3D viewing engine.
Perspectives 3 allows you to
The tutorial makes certain assumptions about your abilities with CC3+ but the tools provided in
create floorplans from a
Perspectives 3 makes creating that angled view easy. We’re going to make a simple wagon using
fixed viewpoint which you
these tools.
can’t change. It is not a true
Note that we are creating a vector symbol here, using vector fills. We won’t go through the detailed 3D editing package – in
creation of a raster symbol, but see page 492 for important information about lengths and angles CAD terms it is “2½D.”
for a raster drawing. Also, keep in mind that if you use raster fills instead of vector fills, even a vector When you are adding solid
symbol like this can have a raster look. entities such as rooms,
solids or walls, Perspectives
Creating a wagon works with 3D coordinates,
hiding areas hidden from
To create our wagon symbol, we’re going to use a special view and shading surfaces
template. appropriately. However,
1. Click Open then in the Files of Type field select once added, the entities do
CC3/CC2 FCT Template, then navigate to the not have real 3D qualities –
@Tutorials\Tome\Perspectives folder. Select just imagine them as 2D
drawings of 3D objects.
PerSymbol.FCT. (Wagon 01.FCW)
Perspectives symbols are
2. Click Perspective Settings then scroll down the restricted to four views –
Saved Settings to P3V Log Cabin, Board Floor. effectively we’ve had to
Click OK. produce 4 symbols for each
3. Click Sheets and Effects . Make a new sheet object. For some symbols
called WAGON. Make this the active sheet. with infinite rotational
symmetry (an upright
4. Click Rectangular Floor . Pick a point on the
barrel) this makes no
template to begin. Each square on the template is
difference, for others such
1 foot. With Snap enabled, draw a rectangle 5 feet
as beds, you are restricted
(north to south) by 8 feet (east to west).
to four angles when placing
(Wagon 02.FCW)
them. Note that this
5. Right click Wall then select Wall, choose particular limitation only
thickness. Type affects symbols. Only a true
2” . Click each 3D representation of every
corner of our ‘floor’ symbol would overcome
in turn and then this difficultly.
click on the corner The advantage is that Per 3
that we began is fast, inexpensive and easy
with. Right click to to use – highly suited for its
end drawing walls purpose.
and then type 2’ to
raise the wall Assumptions
height. (Wagon 03.FCW) This tutorial assumes that
6. Click 3D Box then click the two front corners of our you are familiar with Snap
wagon floor (points 1 and 4 in the diagram above). Pull and other basic CC3+
the ‘box’ out 3 feet east and then click again. Right click, features so that you can
then type 2” . This will make the floor for the seating accurately move and place
entities. Snaps are covered
area. (Wagon 04.FCW)
in multiple places in this
tome, and also in the help
system.

495
 7. Click 3D Box then click the two top front corners of
our wagon walls. Pull the ‘box’ 2 feet west and then click
again. Right click then type 2” . This will make the
seat for the driver of our wagon.
8. Use Change Properties to put all the entities that
make up the wagon on the WAGON sheet.
(Wagon 05.FCW)

Making wheels
9. Change the settings on the toolbar to match these:
Line Width: 3”, Color: #40 (medium brown), Fill Style: Solid
10. Click Circle then draw a circle 3 feet wide on the template to the
side of our wagon body.
11. Change the settings on the toolbar to match these:
Line Width: 1”, Color: #40 (medium brown), Fill Style: Solid
12. Click Path then draw a path across the center of our circle.
13. Right click Copy then click Circular Array.
Click the path we drew across the center of our circle. Right click, Do
Circular Array it.
This command makes Now watch the command line. Type 3 for the number of spokes.
multiple copies arranged in Type 1 for the number of rings. Click the center of the circle for the
rings. Usually, you create a
Array center. Click the center of the circle again for the copy origin,
section of an object forming
then right click to accept the calculated angle of the spokes. (Wagon
a “piece of pie” in a circle,
06.FCW)
then make a circular array
with one ring and the 14. Change the settings on the toolbar to match these:
default angle (even). Line Width: 0”, Color: #40 (medium brown), Fill Style: Solid
15. Click Circle then click the center of our wheel. Click to unselect
Snap, then draw a smaller circle on the middle of the spokes for the
hub.
16. Click Bring to Front then select the outer circle of our wheel. Right click, Do it.
17. Change the settings on the toolbar to match these:
Line Width: .5”, Color: #247 (medium grey), Fill Style: Solid
18. Click Circle then click Snap to enable it. Click the center of our wheel. Click Snap again
to disable it, then draw a small circle on the hub to designate the axle.
19. Click Circle then click Snap to select it. Click the center of our wheel. Draw a grey circle
on the outer circle of our wheel that we drew in step 8.
20. Click Outline in Black then select all the entities that make up our
wheel. Right click, Do it. (Wagon 07.FCW)
21. Click 3D Projection then select Right and Leave as Original
Entity. Click OK. Select all the entities that make up our wheel, then
right click, Do it. Click in the middle of the wheel for the Iso View Origin,
and then click nearby to place the projected version of our wheel.
22. In the Tools menu, scroll down to Groups and then in the side menu select Group.
Select all the entities that make up our projected wheel. Right click, Do it.

496
 23. Click Erase then select all the entities that make up our
original wheel. Right click, Do it. Opposite View

24. Click Copy then select our projected wheel. Place one For some symbols like
columns or barrels, this is
wheel at the front of the wagon and one on the back of the
easy because all four views
wagon.
are essentially the same.
25. Click Erase then select all the entities that make up our Some symbols are complex
projected wheel. Right click, Do it. (Wagon 08.FCW) and each view will require a
Now we have a wagon. Since this is Perspectives 3 and all separate drawing. Our
symbols are given in all four views, we’ll need to make the opposite view of our wagon. This will wagon, however, is in the
be easy. middle. By drawing the
opposite view of the wagon
Opposite view we already have, we can
provide all four Perspective
26. Click Copy then select all the entities that make up our wagon. Right click, Do it. Set a views.
copy of the wagon down under the first one.
27. Click Move, Scale, Rotate then select the floor section for the seating area. Right click,
Do it. Move the section to the far end of the wagon.
28. Click Send Behind then select a wall of our wagon. Select the floor area we just moved, Floor Area
then right click, Do it. The sections of the wagon
we drew using the floor and
29. Click Move, Scale, Rotate then select the seat of the wagon. Right click, Do it. Move the
walls tools are grouped
section to the far end of the wagon. (Wagon 09.FCW)
entities. The entire section
Because our wagon is not complex, by moving a few sections, we were able to turn our will be selected when we
wagon around. From this view, however, we would see both back wheels. Let’s add a wheel select any part of it.
to the other side of the wagon.
30. Click Copy then select the back wheel. Right click, Do it. Place the copy of the wheel on
the far side of the wagon.
Place the Copy
31. Click Send Behind then select the floor of our wagon. Select the wheel we just placed,
then right click, Do it. (Wagon 10.FCW) If you need help positioning
the wheel on the far side of
We’re almost done now. We have to make the other two views and do a little clean up. Then the wagon, go to the
we can define them as symbols. Perspectives menu then
select 3D Line. Select a bold
Four views color from the color palette
32. Click Ortho to enable it. and then use 3D Line to
draw a line from the near
33. Right click Copy then select Mirrored Copies. Select all the entities that make up our
wheel hub center to the far
wagons. Right click, Do it. Click to the left of the wagons and then draw a straight line down. side of the wagon -
Click again to end the line. (Wagon 11.FCW) essentially drawing a ghost
axle. Use that guideline to
Symbol preparations place the center of the
wheel hub on the far side of
34. Click the Layers indicator. Click to put an F in the Freeze box for the HEX/SQUARE GRID
the wagon.
layer.
35. In the Tools menu, scroll down to Groups and then select Ungroup. Select all the entities for
all of our wagons. Right click, Do it.
36. Click Change Properties . Right click, then select Prior. Right click, Do it. In the dialog,
change the layer to SYMBOL DEFINITION. Click OK.
37. Click the Layers indicator then click Purge Unused.

Now that we’ve ungrouped all the sections and purged all the extra layers, we’re ready to define
our wagons as symbols. Please refer to page 491 for instructions on defining Perspective symbols.

Continued on next page…

497
 Straight Line ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
This line is our reference line
For additional maps in Perspectives Pro format, check out the Source Maps series. Source Maps:
for the mirrored copies. All
Castles, Source Maps: Temples, Tombs & Catacombs and Source Maps: Cities all contain
the entities we have
Perspective Pro maps of all their locations, in addition to many other maps. These products also
selected will be mirror
contain extra tools and symbols for use in perspective maps.
copied on the other side of
this line. We turned Ortho
on to ensure that our line is Overland Maps
absolutely straight. Any
deviation in the reference The symbols for most overland map styles are actually drawn in an isometric perspective. Because
line will cause our copied of the high quality of these symbols, they look good even when zoomed in quite far. These symbols
entities to be tilted. can thus be used to make various perspective scenes, such as a simple village or the like.

Extra Layers
Annuals
These are the annuals that have content related to Perspectives 3 and isometric drawings in general.
Where did those extra layers
come from? The
Panicale [May 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 5}
Perspectives Settings add
their entities to specific This is a complete map of the Italian settlement Panicale, containing
layers in the drawing. This both 2D and 3D views in Source Maps: Cities style.
makes it easier to
manipulate the entities http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/may07.html
when we draw, but in order
to define the end result as a
symbol, we want to put all Herwin Wielink Isometric Dungeons [June 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue
those bits and pieces on the 66}
Symbol Definition layer.
Once moved to the Symbol This style pack allows you to create your dungeons in a nice isometric
Definition layer, those extra view.
layers can be purged. http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/june12.html

Perspective Buildings [February 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 74}

This annual provides a drawing style for drawing isometric buildings.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/february13.html

City Panoramas [July 2015 (Vol 9)] {Issue 102}

Here you will find tools for drawing panoramic city and island views
in a semi-isometric perspective.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2015/july15.html

Temple of Bones [March 2016 (Vol 10)] {Issue 111}

This style pack by TJ Vandel provides a style for drawing isometric

dungeons. It expands upon the Wielink style from Perspectives 3, but
can also be used alone.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/march16.html

498
APPENDIX A: PERSPECTIVES 3 COMMAND REFERENCE
This table gives you a list of all Perspective 3’s commands. Note that this section only lists the commands that are added by
Per 3. The general CC3+ commands are listed on page 223.

Command Description Where? Text Command Syntax Macro

Equivalent
3D Box Draw an isometric Perspectives IBOX xyCorner1;xyCorner2/rLength;xyCorner3/rLength[Square];rHeight Yes
box (cube). Note that menu → 3D Box
a negative number for
the final parameter Perspectives
will make a hole/pit tools → 3D Box
in the ground instead button
of a box. Uses current
perspective settings
3D Circle, Draw a regular circle Perspectives ICIRL dRadius[Prior];xyCenter1;…;xyCenter2 Yes
Left in the left isometric tools → 3D
Projection projection Projection popup
→ 3D Circle Left
3D Circle, Draw a regular circle Perspectives ICIRR dRadius[Prior];xyCenter1;…;xyCenter2 Yes
Right in the right isometric tools → 3D
Projection projection Projection popup
→ 3D Circle Right
3D Circle, Top Draw a regular circle Perspectives ICIRT dRadius[Prior];xyCenter1;…;xyCenter2 Yes
Projection in the top isometric tools → 3D
projection Projection popup
→ 3D Circle Left
3D Cone Draw an isometric ICONE xyCenter;xyEdge/rRadius[Prior];rHeight[Prior] Yes
cone. Uses current
perspective settings
3D Cylinder Draw an isometric Perspectives ICYL xyCenter;xyEdge/rRadius[Prior];rHeight[Prior] Yes
cylinder. Uses current menu → Cylinder
perspective settings
3D Floor, Draw a flat isometric Perspectives ICIRF xyCenter;xyEdge/rRadius[Prior] Yes
Circular circular floor. Uses menu → Floors →
current perspective Circular
settings
Perspectives
tools →
Rectangular Floor
popup → Circular
Floor
3D Floor, Draw a flat isometric Perspectives IPOLYF xyStart;xyPoint1;…;xyPointN Yes
Polygonal polygonal floor. Uses menu → Floors →
current perspective Polygonal
settings
Perspectives
tools →
Rectangular Floor
popup →
Polygonal Floor
3D Floor, Draw a flat isometric Perspectives IBOXF xyCorner1;xyCorner2/rLength;xyCorner3/rLength[Square] Yes
Rectangular rectangular floor. Uses menu → Floors →
current perspective Rectangular
settings
Perspectives
tools →
Rectangular Floor
button
3D Floor, Draw a flat isometric Perspectives IRPOLYF nSides[Prior];xyCenter[Prior];xyCorner/dRadius Yes
Regular regular polygonal tools →
Polygon floor. Uses current Rectangular Floor
perspective settings popup → Regular
Poly Floor

499
 Command Description Where? Text Command Syntax Macro
Equivalent
3D House Insert a house using Perspectives IHOUSE (xyCorner1;xyCorner2/dLength;xyCorner3/dLength[Square];rWallHeigh Yes
the current menu → Building t;rRoofHeight[Prior]);…;(xyCorner1;xyCorner2/dLength;xyCorner3/d
perspective house Length[Square];rWallHeight;rRoofHeight[Prior])
settings. Note that Perspectives
command line options tools → Current (xyCorner1;xyCorner2/dLength;xyCorner3/dLength[Square];rWallHeigh
depends on house 3D house button t;rRoofHeight[Prior];dRoofDistance[Prior](Shift));…;(xyCorner1;x
style yCorner2/dLength;xyCorner3/dLength[Square];rWallHeight;rRoofHeigh
t[Prior];dRoofDistance[Prior](Shift))

(xyCorner1;xyCorner2/dLength;xyCorner3/dLength[Square];rWallHeigh
t;rRoofHeight[Prior];dLeftRoofDistance[Prior](Shift);dRightRoofDi
stance[Symmetric](Shift));…;(xyCorner1;xyCorner2/dLength;xyCorne
r3/dLength[Square];rWallHeight;rRoofHeight[Prior];dRoofDistance[P
rior](Shift);dRightRoofDistance[Symmetric](Shift))
3D House Allows you to pick Perspectives IHOUSEP No
Settings and/or configure the menu → Building
style of the house Options
drawn with the 3D
house command Perspectives
tools → Current
3D house popup
3D Line Draw a series of Perspectives ILINE xyStart;xyPoint1;…;xyPointN Yes
simple line in a menu → 3D Line
isometric projection.
Bearings are Perspectives
constricted to tools → 3D
standard isometric Projection popup
values → 3D Line
3D Polygon Draw a straight Perspectives IPOLY xyStart;xyPoint1;…;xyPointN;rHeight[Prior] Yes
isometric polygon. If menu → 3D Poly
height is negative, it
will make a hollow pit Perspectives
instead of a solid tools → 3D Box
shape. Uses current popup → 3D Poly
perspective settings
3D Polygon, Draw a regular Perspectives IRPOLY nSides[Prior];xyCenter[Prior];xyCorner/dRadius;dHeight[Prior] Yes
Regular isometric polygon. If menu → 3D
height is negative, it Regular Poly
will make a hollow pit
instead of a solid Perspectives
shape. Uses current tools → 3D Box
perspective settings popup → 3D
Regular Poly
3D Projection Projects a normal flat Perspectives IPROJ No
drawing into an menu →
isometric view. This Projection
isometric view is still
flat, but can be used Perspectives
either as guidelines tools → 3D
when drawing Projection
isometric entities, or
as the basis for the
Solid Extrude
command
3D Pyramid Draw an isometric IPYRAMID xyCorner1;xyCorner2/rLength;xyCorner3/rLength[Square];rHeight Yes
pyramid. Uses current
perspective settings
3D Room Sets the options for Perspectives IROOMOPT No
Options isometric rooms, such menu → Rooms
as how to handle wall → Room Options

Perspectives
tools →
Rectangular
Room popup →
Room Options

500
Command Description Where? Text Command Syntax Macro
Equivalent
3D Room, Draw a circular Perspectives ICYLW dWallWidth;xyCenter;xyEdge/rRadius[Prior](Tab);rHeight Yes
Circular isometric room with menu → Rooms
floor and walls. Uses → Circular Room ICYLWC xyCenter;xyEdge/rRadius[Prior](Tab);rHeight Macro
current perspective
settings Perspectives
tools →
Rectangular
Room popup →
Circular Room,
Choose Width

Perspectives
tools →
Rectangular
Room popup →
Circular Room,
Current Width
3D Room, Draw a polygonal Perspectives IPOLYW dWallWidth;xyStart;xyPoint1;…;xyPointN;rHeight[Prior] Yes
Polygonal isometric room with menu → Rooms
floor and walls. Uses → Polygonal IPOLYWC xyStart;xyPoint1;…;xyPointN;rHeight[Prior] Macro
current perspective Room
settings
Perspectives
tools →
Rectangular
Room popup →
Polygonal Room,
Choose Width

Perspectives
tools →
Rectangular
Room popup →
Polygonal Room,
Current Width
3D Room, Draw an isometric Perspectives IBOXW dWidth;xyCorner1;xyCorner2/rLength;xyCorner3/rLength[Square](Tab) Yes
Rectangular room with floor and menu → Rooms ;rHeight
walls. Uses current → Rectangular IBOXWC Macro
perspective settings Room xyCorner1;xyCorner2/rLength;xyCorner3/rLength[Square](Tab);rHeigh
t
Perspectives
tools →
Rectangular
Room popup →
Rectangular
Room, Choose
Width

Perspective tools
→ Rectangular
Room, Current
Wall width
button
3D Room, Draw a regular Perspectives IRPOLYW dWallWidth;nSides[Prior];xyStart;xyPoint1;…;xyPointN;rHeight[Pri Yes
Regular polygonal isometric menu → Rooms or]
Polygon room with floor and → Regular Poly IRPOLYWC
walls. Uses current Room nSides[Prior];xyStart;xyPoint1;…;xyPointN;rHeight[Prior]
perspective settings
Perspectives
tools →
Rectangular
Room popup →
Regular Poly
Room, Choose
Width

Perspectives
tools →
Rectangular
Room popup →
Regular Poly
Room, Current
Width
3D Slope Draw an isometric IBOXA xyCorner1;xyCorner2/rLength;xyCorner3/rLength[Square];rHeight1;rH Yes
box with a sloped top. eigh2;rHeight3[Previous]
Uses current
perspective settings

501
 Command Description Where? Text Command Syntax Macro
Equivalent
3D Wall Draw an isometric Perspectives IWALL dThickness;xyPoint1;…;xyPointN Yes
wall menu → Wall
IWALLC xyPoint1;…;xyPointN Macro
Perspectives
tools → Wall IWALL1
popup → Wall,
Choose IWALL2
Thickness

Perspectives
tools → Wall
button
3D Wall, Draw a wireframe Perspectives IWALLW dThickness;xyPoint1;…;xyPointN Yes
Wireframe wall in isometric menu → Wall
perspective Wireframe

Perspectives
tools → Wall
popup → Wall,
Wireframe
Iso Fillet Fillet blend between ITFILL xyFirstEntity;xySecondEntity;dRadius Yes
two lines in iso
projection. ITFILR
Commands are for
Left, Right and Top ITFILT
projections
Make into Make a flat polygon Perspectives IFLOOR selectEntities Yes
Floor into a proper menu → Make
perspective floor. into Floor
Uses current
perspective settings. Perspectives
The polygon should tools →
already be in the Rectangular Floor
isometric projection, popup → Make
see 3D Projection Into Floor
Perspectives Pick a predefined Perspectives PEROPTB No
Settings perspective style menu →
Perspectives PEROPTM sPreset Yes
Settings

Perspectives
tools →
Perspectives
Settings button
Perspectives Sets the filter that is Perspectives PERSETFILTER sFilter Yes
Settings filter used to control which menu →
presets are shown in Perspectives
the Perspectives Settings
Settings dialogs
Perspectives
tools →
Perspectives
Settings button
Perspectives Show the advanced Perspectives PEROPTA No
Settings, perspective setting menu →
Advanced dialog where you can Perspectives
edit or make your Settings
own preset
Perspectives
tools →
Perspectives
Settings popup
Solid Extrude Make a flat polygon Perspectives IEXTRUDE selectEntities;xyExtrudePoint;xyExtrudeTo/dHeight[Prior] Yes
into a proper menu → Extrude
isometric shape. Uses
current perspective Perspectives
settings. The polygon tools → Solid
should already be in Extrude button
the isometric
projection, see 3D
Projection

502
CHARACTER ARTIST 3
 Ariana Milawere
Ariana is the queen of Asalia, a country
that looks fine on the surface, but has
some deep rooted problems. Here she
appears as her alter ego, the rogue
Ashien Mylar, a role she takes on when
she needs to meet people without
being observed.
This drawing can be found in the
@Examples\Tome\Character Artist
folder.

504
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Character Artist 3 (CA3). CA3 is an add-on product
for CC3+ that enables you to create attractive full-length
portraits of the characters and humanoid monsters in your game.
The portraits can then be exported for use with character sheets,
added to CC3+ drawings, made into counters, or card stand-up
figures. CA3 also includes symbols for a wide range of monsters,
treasure and magical effects.

Character Artist 3 Overview

As with all of CC3+’s add-ons, CA3 builds on knowledge of the core
product. Even if you are not interested in overland maps, you should
still read through the CC3+ section of this book and work through the
tutorials to get to know the basics which is needed to work with the
add-ons. Even if creating character portraits doesn’t sound much like
mapping, you’ll find that you need the exact same skills as when you
make regular maps in CC3+.

The Character Artist 3 Toolbar

The CA3 toolbar contains all the specialized tools for creating character portraits. These buttons
allow you to select race, sex and body type, and to load catalogs for different body parts matching
the selected race and sex. Note that this toolbar has two different states, depending on if you are
doing a raster style (CA3 style) portrait, or a vector style (CA Pro style) portrait. The main difference
here is the menu you get when clicking the Choose Race and Sex button, it will either show CA2 or
CA3 options. You can choose between the different toolbars by right-clicking the Character Menu
button and select the desired toolbar.

Choose Race and Sex All Catalog Settings

Torsos Heads

Right Arms Position 1 Left Arms Position 1

Right Arms Position 2 Left Arms Position 2

Right Arms Position 3 Left Arms Position 3

Legs Two Arms

Other Humanoid Monster

Next Sheet Previous Sheet

Body Type
Different body types are
Command Overview only available for Humans,
and only for CA3 style
Chose Race and Sex allows you to set the current set of symbol catalogs to use with your
portraits.
portrait. Clicking this button will bring up a popup menu with the available race/sex/body type
combinations. When you select a combination, CC3+ will present you with the complete list of
Race and Sex
catalogs that matches the selected race and sex. It doesn’t matter which catalog you select
however, as once you have selected your race/sex combination, the different body parts buttons Catalog symbols for one
(Torsos, Arms, Legs, etc.) can be used to access the appropriate catalogs. race or sex don’t fit with
another race or sex.

505
 The Catalog buttons open a new catalog of the current race and sex in the symbol catalog
window. For example, if you had the female Human Left Leg catalog open, and you clicked
Torsos , the Female Human Torso catalog would open. Note that the arms have several
poses. It is important that you use equipment from the same arm pose, for example a
sword from the Right Arms Position 3 won’t fit with the hand from the Right Arms Position
1 and so on. If you right-click any of these buttons, you will get a popup menu which gives
you easy access to the catalogs from a different race/sex without having to change the
main race/sex setting for your portrait.

Other Symbols
Along with body parts, CA3 also
contains lots of other useful symbol
libraries. There are monsters, weapons,
magical effects, and treasure available.
The vector versions are available as
square counters, hex counters or
Select Path without constraint, while the raster
ones are only available as free standing
Using Select Path to find the
versions. It is easy to put the raster
templates were more
images on a counter background if you
common in the days of CC2,
want to however. They can enhance
before the New Map
existing CC3 or DD3 designs.
Wizard, so if you used to use
CC2, this procedure is
The Symbol Catalog toolbar gives you access to the symbols. Click for the
probably very familiar. If you
freestanding catalogs, or right click to get the other catalogs (CA Pro toolbar only).
started your journey with
CC3+, odds are that you
have never even used the Templates
Select Path button before. The New Drawing Wizard only contains a few generic character portrait templates for CA3; these
Note however that some are one CA3 (raster) style template, one CA Pro (vector) style template, and metric versions of these
templates are stored in two. If you are creating anything other than a basic CA3 portrait, it is recommended that you choose
subfolders, even if the Pick a pre-defined template when starting a new map, instead of Decide settings myself.
browse dialog shows some
templates, so even if you However, when you get the Browse Files dialog that lets you select the template to use, it will
see a selection of templates initially only show the CA3 style templates. If you wish to use CA Pro style templates, you will need
for a particular add-on, this to click the Select Path button. This will show a standard Windows browse dialog. You will need to
may let you find even more. browse to @Templates\Character\CAPro, where you should see three folders listed: CardFigures,
Note that the Wizard folder Counters, and Portraits. These are different types of maps you can crate with CA Pro. Navigate
contains the templates used into the desired folder, then into the desired subfolder, and you should see a list of template files.
by the New Map Wizard; Just click the Open button, and you will be returned to the template browser which now shows
you shouldn't select the preview of all the templates in the folder you selected.
templates in this folder Unless particularly difficult to find, the tutorials in this section will only tell you which template you
manually. need, and not the complete path. For example, when the tutorials ask you to start a new plain human
portrait, you would go to the @Templates\Character\CAPro\Portraits\HumanElfOrc folder and
select the Portrait Plain.FCT template file. The trick is simply to pick the most obvious folder at any
time. From the above path, it should also be obvious that the same template is used for all of Human,
Elf and Orc portraits, so even if I say human portrait, it is because I intend to draw a human, not
because there is a special template that only works for humans. Writing only the intended use
(Human), rather than all the possible uses (Human, Elf or Orc) makes the tutorial cleaner and easier
to read and follow. This is primarily a concern when doing CA Pro style portraits however, as CA3
doesn’t use as many different types of templates.

Tutorial Files
All the files used by the tutorials in this section is found in @Tutorials\Character Artist, unless
otherwise specified in the tutorial.

506
PORTRAITS Plain
I am using the plain
One of the primary features of CA3 is to draw portraits of humanoid figures which can be used for
backgrounds for all the
a variety of purposes, such as character sheet illustrations, stand-up paper tokens, web or book
tutorials because they are
illustrations, or as I do, create illustrations of major NPC’s and show them using a projector during
better for the screenshots
gaming sessions.
for this book. For your own
characters, feel free to
The Basic Portrait select the background you
find appropriate. Most
The basic features of CA3 are incredibly easy to use. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to choose the portraits do look better with
race and sex of your character, add body parts and clothes and select custom colors. a nice background.

Starting the portrait CA3

1. Start a new CA3 Standard Portrait using the new map wizard. Choose whatever background If this menu only lists CA2
you wish, but I am going with a plain solid white background. (Basic Elf 01.FCW) options, you need to right
click the Character Menu
Choosing the race and sex button and activate the
Character Artist 3 Menu.
CA3 has a lot of catalogs, with male and female versions of different races; Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Half-
Orc, Human and Monster. Rather than have you use the Catalog button to choose your catalog, Elf
we’ve given you some easy shortcuts to choose the exact catalog you want.
You’ll notice that the elf
2. Click Chose Race and Sex . Choose CA3 Elf Female from the list. catalogs also have some
symbols that look more like
3. From the Select Catalog Setting dialog that pops up, chose any of the catalogs, the exact one
human than elf. These are
doesn’t matter right now.
intended for use when
creating half-elves, which
Placing symbols doesn’t have their own
This is very easy. You don’t even have to aim, because of the templates’ snap settings. Just click category in CA3.
symbol from the catalog window, move the mouse to the drawing window, then click.
Snap Settings
4. Click Torsos .
The template has a single
5. Click the EFT Torso Elf W symbol. Note that you can use one of the other colors if snap point in the middle of
you wish, but make sure to use the same color for legs, arms and head in that case.
the drawing window which
6. Move the mouse into the drawing window. causes the symbols to snap
7. Click to place the symbol. into the correct position. If
something doesn’t fit, make
8. Then place the following symbols: sure Snap is actually on, and
- Heads : EFH Head Blank W that the symbol scale is
- Legs : EFL Legs W correct (Should normally be
1.0). You can use a different
That’s how simple it is! All you need to do now is click body part catalogs one at a time and add symbol scale if you wish, but
symbols until you’ve created a character portrait. Because of the sheet setup, you rarely have to remember that all symbols
think about ordering. (Basic Elf 02.FCW) MUST use the same scale, or
they won’t fit with each
Facial features and eye color other.
9. Zoom in on the head to see the details better, then click the Heads button.
If you look at the EFH Eyes Elf 2 symbol in the symbol catalog windows, you’ll notice
that these are the same color as your current color, since this is a varicolor
symbol.
10. Set the current color to green. Notice how the eyes in the symbol catalog
changes color. Place the EFH Eyes Elf 2 symbol on the body.
11. Now we need to add the rest of the facial details, such as ears, mouth, nose and
brows. For my drawing, I used the following symbols: EFH Ears Elf W, EFH Brows
Elf, EFH Nose Elf, EFH Lips Elf.

507
 That’s all for the face for now. The only major feature missing is the hair, which we will handle later
Catalog Window (Basic Elf 03.FCW)
Some of the symbol names
in CA3 are quite long. To Adding clothes
widen the window, click
Clothes that match body parts are found in the catalogs for each body part, for example
then type
sleeves are found in the Arms catalogs. Add clothes for each body part after you have
115 in width of symbols.
inserted the body part.

12. Click Torsos . Scroll down the list until you see the HFtT Gown 1 symbol in
the catalog window (the first blue-colored item on the list.). Hit the plus sign, and
Arm Buttons select the varicolor variant, select color 2 (red), then place the gown.
There are 3 catalogs for 13. Click Legs . Find and place the EFL Socks 1, and then the EFL Sandals 1.
each arm, plus a 2-handed Remember that the sheets take care of the ordering, so even if these appear on
catalog, giving a total of 10 top of the gown at first, they will appear correctly after the next redraw.
possible left and right arm
14. Click Other . Click the EFO Belt c 1 belt and place it. (Basic Elf 04.FCW)
combinations. Click one of
the arm buttons for the
desired catalog.
Adding arms and weapons
The symbols that are The Arm buttons lets you select arms positions, weapons and sleeves for your character.
designed for two-handed
15. Click Right Arms Position 3 .
weapons can be found in
the Two Arms . 16. Select and place the EFAR3 Arm W arm symbol.
Note that the CA Pro style Make sure your color is still set to 2 (Red), then select and place the EFAR3 Gown
does contain several more Sleeve 2 symbol. Also place the EFAR3 Ivory Staff 1.
arm variations, so each
17. Click Left Arms Position 2 , then select and place the EFAL2 Arm W and
button generally gives you a
choice of two different EFAL2 Gown Sleeve 3 symbols. (Basic Elf 05.FCW)
positions. Note that these
positions are separate, you Finishing touches
cannot use the sleeves from We are getting there, but the character still needs some additional detailing.
one position on the arms
from the other position (but
18. From the Heads catalog, add EFH Hair short strght 4.
in general, all sleeves and 19. From Other , add EFO Cloak Hood 1, EFO Cloak Hood Back 1,
other items exists for all EFO Cloak Front 1, EFO Cloak Back 1, EFO Clasp b 1 and EFO
positions) Pouch d 1. The pouch doesn’t align properly with the belt we used,
so temporarily turn off Snap when placing it.
Finally, I’d like to put an item into her left hand. There is nothing
appropriate for what I want in the hand catalog, but I’d like to use the Holy
Symbol found among the other CA3 symbols. To use this, we will need to
size and position it manually.

20. Create a new sheet called ARM LEFT BACK and position it right
above ARM LEFT in the sheet list. Leave this as the active sheet.
21. Turn off Snap.
22. Click Weapons and select the CA3 Holy Symbol. I think this is
a bit big, so right click and set the scale to 0.7.
23. Place the symbol so she is holding it by the strap.
24. Finally, use Weapons to move the holy symbol to the new sheet
we created earlier.
All done. We have now created a quick character portrait. Most of the
symbols were placed precisely automatically, thanks to the snap settings
of the template. We also used varicolor symbols to customize the coloring,
and we did a minor addition using a non-portrait aware item on our
portrait. (Basic Elf 06.FCW)

508
CA Pro Style Portraits
In the previous chapter, we looked at how to design a basic portrait using the CA3 style raster
artwork. CA3 also contains the vector style artwork if you wish to create CA Pro style portraits.
Now, why would you want to make a CA Pro style portraits when the CA3 style is visually much
better looking? One of the main reasons in my opinion is flexibility and ease of customization.
Editing a vector symbol is easy and can be done from within CC3+. Editing a raster symbol requires
the use of an external image editor, and some artistic talent. There are also things that can be done
within CA3 that can only be done with vector artwork, such as creating silhouettes. In the end, you
may find that is helpful to choose style based on your customization needs (and skills), not just the
visual look.

Creating a CA Pro style portrait is really not much different from a standard CA3 style portrait.
However, it is recommended that you use a pre-defined template instead of the new map wizard
when starting your map.

1. Click New , make sure to select Character as the map type, and select the Pick a pre-
defined template option. Click Next.
@Templates
Now, several templates will show, but these are not the ones we want. Let us browse to the proper
You do remember the @-
templates.
notation, right? If not,
2. Click Select Path. The Browse folder dialog that shows should start in review the CC3+ path
@Templates\Character. If it doesn’t, start by navigating there. references chapter on page
12
3. Now, enter the CAPro folder and then the Portraits folder. Inside this folder you should see
a couple of folders (DwarfGnomeHalfling, HumanElfOrc, Monsters and Other). These
represents the various portrait types. Enter the HumanElfOrc for now. Double click on any
of the template files in this folder, this will close the Browse folder dialog and return you to
the Browse files dialog where you can see previews of all the templates from the folder.
4. Click on the desired template to start a new map based on it.
5. Make sure you have the CA Pro toolbar active and not the CA3 one. You can see if you have
the CA Pro toolbar if the symbol toolbar contains four buttons (as compared to three for CA3).
If you have the wrong toolbars, simply right-click the Character Menu to select the
correct one.
From this point onward, designing the portrait is
basically the same as with the CA3 style portrait
we did in the previous chapter. You can check
out the 5MinuteElf tutorial files if you wish to
look at an example.

As mentioned above, the result is not as visually

pleasing as the CA3 style, but there is some
additional flexibility with this style that let us do
things we cannot easily do with the CA3 style.
We will explore some of these features later.

509
 Reordering
If you have used previous versions of this add-on, you might remember that the
order you placed the items were extremely important, since otherwise you would
have incorrect overlaps. However, this version uses sheets, which ensures that
everything appears in the correct order, no matter what items you place first and
last.

If you find that the item ordering seems wrong, you should check your sheets
Right Sheet setup. The sheet order should match the list to the right (CA3 style, CA Pro uses
a slightly different setup).
Most CC3+ symbols are set
up to go to a particular Also, usage of the Info → List command on entities will tell you what sheet they
sheet. You can always check are on. While the symbols should always go to the right sheet, there may be
which sheet this is by going symbols with incorrect settings. Some rarely used symbols also have sheets that
to the Symbol Manager and are not a part of the standard template. When you add these symbols,, these
check the symbol Options sheets will be automatically created, but they end up at the bottom of the list,
for each individual symbol. meaning they appear on top of everything. This may be fine, but in case it isn’t,
The Force Sheet option sets move the sheet from the bottom of the list to a more appropriate position.
the sheet used by the
symbol. If you use custom parts (see page 515) you may need to change the sheet order
It is also possible to turn off to fit your needs.
this behavior for all symbols If you have multiple entities on the same sheet, remember that you can use the
by clicking the Options Bring to Front and Send to Back commands to reorder the entities within
button above the symbol a single sheet.
catalog window, and
unchecking Symbols choose
their own sheet. Reshaping Your Portrait
Once you’ve completed your figure, you might want to change the scale and
proportions, to give a little variation between races. Be sure to do this only when
you have finished your portrait, as it is more difficult to change a figure once
Finished your Portrait you’ve rescaled it.
If you are going to reshape
If you aren’t following on from the previous section, start by loading Basic Elf
your portrait, I recommend
06.FCW.
that you keep the original.
Make any later changes on
the original then redo the Rescaling visually
reshaping. 6. Click Scale . Click two points to make a window around the entire figure
to select all the parts, Do it.
The prompt reads Scale origin:
CC3+ is asking for a point around which to scale the figure.
X and Y directions 7. Click the snap point in the middle of the figure’s chest.
If you click Ortho button 8. You don’t want the scale to be restricted by snap points,
(near the Snap button) so click the Snap button to turn snap off.
when you are scaling in the
9. Start by positioning the mouse cursor in between the
X and Y directions, you can
character’s feet. Move the mouse up and down.
more easily control the X
and Y scale independently. The prompt reads Scale to (Shift = change ref, Ctrl =
independent X/Y):
The dynamic cursor of the figure scales up and down.
Note the red indicator in the top left of the screen
showing you the scale.
10. Press and move the mouse around. The figure
scales in both the X and Y directions.
11. When you are happy with the appearance of the figure,
click the left button.

510
 12. Unless you are making a giant, usually only a small cursor movement is required. It’s often
helpful to scale next to another example of the same race.
X Scale
Rescaling non-visually CC3+ is asking for the
horizontal scale factor; 1
If you want a precise scale factor, you can use CC3+’s
means no change, 2 would
non-visual editing commands.
mean twice as wide and 0.5
13. Right-click Scale , click Non-visual half as wide.
ScaleXY. If you type in a negative
number, the character will
14. Click two points to enclose the entire figure in
become a mirror image.
a window, Do it.
The prompt reads Scale X by [1.00]: CC3+
now expects you to type in the X scale.
15. Type in 1.1 then press .

The prompt reads Scale Y by [1.00]: We are

going to make her shorter, and wider.
16. Type in 0.95 then press .

The figure will be 10% wider and 5% shorter.

The prompt reads Scale center:
17. Click the snap point in the middle of the
figure’s chest.
The figure has been scaled.

Unfortunately, because of the precise fitting required by many of the components, it is very difficult
to rescale individual parts, for example to make the staff the same size for both our elves in the
picture above.

Creating Humanoid Monsters

In addition to your standard humans and demi-humans, CA3 can also be used to create humanoid
monsters.

Since monsters are built using the same way as regular characters, you can combine the parts to
build whatever kind of monster you want.

Monster styles
Just as with your regular characters, monsters also come in both the CA3 and CA Pro styles. The
same advantages and disadvantages regarding these styles in relation to ordinary character
portraits also applies to the monster portraits. In fact, seen from the perspective of the CC3+
software itself, there is no actual distinction between character portraits and monster portraits, but
from a user perspective, there are some minor differences it is worth to take a look at.

CA3 style monster portraits

CA3 monster portraits come in one of two basic modes, either you can create a full-blown monster,
or you can create humanoids with monster parts. These modes are pretty interchangeable though.

Starting a new monster portrait is just like starting a character portrait (see The Basic Portrait on
page 507), using the default CA3 Standard Portrait template.
After starting the drawing, click the Chose Race and Sex button as usual. To make a full-blown
monster, simply select the monster option. All the different parts buttons (hands, feet, head, etc.)

511
 will now show you various monster parts you can use with your monster, and if you click the
Monster Parts button, you will get a selection of complete monster bodies. On the other hand,
if you select one of the other humanoids instead of the monsters, the Monster Parts button will
bring up a list of monster parts that will fit on your selected race, allowing you to use monster parts
on an ordinary portrait.

Monster parts and scaling

Monster parts are designed to fit the regular character portraits, so that you can mix and match as
you please. However, since not all characters are equal (Dwarf parts doesn’t fit to well on an Elf for
example), you will need to use monster parts that actually fit your character. This is also true in
reverse, if you create a full-blown monster, you can still grab a humanoid arm and stick on it, but
you will need to figure out the correct one to use. Monsters themselves also exist in different scales,
so you’ll also need to look out for this even if you only use monster parts.

To help you identify the scale of a part, the symbol

catalog includes text markers to identify the scale of
the symbols following it. You should already have
seen these markers earlier when we were creating
the basic portrait in the earlier tutorial, but we didn’t
pay them any attention back then, since they weren’t
that important at the time. These markers identify the
race these symbols are meant for, and in the case of
monster parts, what scale they are in. For example,
the marker reading Male Monster Human Strong
Scale identify these symbols as being symbols
intended for a male monster, and that they are scaled
to match the Strong Human parts, and are therefore
interchangeable with these. Parts intended for
another scale will obviously not fit.

Because of the fact that the parts are interchangeable, you may wish to use the Chose Race and
Sex button repeatedly when doing your portrait, to swap back and forth between the monster
catalogs and the racial catalog that matches your monster scale.

512
CA Pro style monster portraits
As with the CA3 style monster portraits, you can combine symbols from various catalogs to create
your own personalized monster design. You can create humanoid monsters ranging from kobolds
to snake creatures, and everything in between. There are two monster catalogs, one male and one Monster Portrait
female all designed to fit on the basic human torso. Combine the monster pieces with the human
Remember that you’ll need
pieces, reshape and you’ve got some pretty nifty foes for your player’s characters.
to use the Select Path
button to find the correct
Using the pre-defined template template. Review the CA
There are two methods of creating humanoid Pro Style Portraits chapter
monsters. The first is to design them at human on page 509 if you need a
size, then scale them afterwards, the second is refresher.
to use a specially designed template that sets
the scale and even the suggested varicolors for
you. We’ll use this method first. Tabaxi Button
1. Start a new plain monster portrait. Note that this will change
the loaded symbol catalog
You can see a template with buttons by
to the male variant.
the side, each one for a monster type.
To return to the correct
2. Right-click the Character Menu and catalog, simply click
select the Character Artist Pro Menu Monster Parts . This will
3. Click Chose Race and Sex and select reload the monster catalog
CA2 Human Male. with the appropriate sex
based on what you selected
4. On the template, click the Tabaxi button. earlier.
An arrow points at the Tabaxi button.
5. Click Monster Parts .
You can see the monster catalog. This consists of various symbols, many
varicolored that can be combined with human pieces. Finished
You should see that the color has been set to a light tan (the suggested
You can hide the buttons by
light varicolor for this creature).
hiding the BUTTON sheet.
6. Scroll down the monster catalog until you see the Tabaxi head. Click it. This is the same that
Right click, just to see the scale. happens if you click the
Click here to Print hotspot
7. Choose More then place the head. over the portrait.
8. Click the Tabaxi legs and place them.
The head and the legs are the only two symbols specifically for Tabaxi; the rest of the figure
needs to be made from other symbols.
Other monsters have more body parts. Scroll down the list to see.
9. Click Torsos , find and place the varicolor torso.
10. Click Right Arms Position 2 and select CA2HM RightArm2 b. This
shows the HMAR6 symbols.
11. Click then place the light varicolor arm, HMAR6 Closed 1.
12. Scroll down and place the HMAR6 Spear symbol.
13. Click Left Arms Position 3 and select CA2HM LeftArm3 a.
14. Add the varicolor arm with the closed hand, HMAL2 Closed 1.
15. Click Monster Parts .
16. Click color 24 (dark red) on the color bar.
17. Select and place the first loincloth symbol MM Loin Ragged 1.
Your Tabaxi is finished.

513
 Using the standard template
If you prefer, you can create your monster at human scale, then scale it after you’ve finished. Start
a plain human portrait, and create the monster at human scale.

When you have completely finished creating the monster, reshape it to the correct size. Right click
Scale then click Non-visual Scale XY.

Type in the X and Y scale factors using the suggested values from the table below.

Creature Type X Scale Y Scale Dark Varicolor Light Varicolor

Birdman 0.9 0.9 38 41

Cyclopskin 1.25 1.2 Use normal skin Use normal skin

tones tones

Gnoll 1.1 1.15 42 44

Goblin 0.7 0.65 84 86

Hobgoblin 1.1 1.05 161 164

Kobold 0.5 0.5 146 148

Lizardman 1.15 1.15 82 84

Orc 1 0.95 144 147

Tabaxi 1 0.95 42 44

Finishing Touches (CA Pro Style)

You can use CC3+’s power to customize your characters so that no two are alike. Many examples
of this are given in the example drawing found in the drawing @Examples\Tome\Character
Artist\Characters\Creative Use Ideas.FCW.

In this chapter we will look at various ways to modify the vector symbols to enhance your
characters. Because raster and vector symbols work quite differently, you cannot use these tricks
with CA3 style characters, but check the Sheet Effects [page 517] for tricks that work with that
style.

Making a silhouette
CA3 has two ways for making your portraits into solid black shapes. These can then be used as
silhouettes, or as shadows for your figure. The silhouettes can also be used to represent the back of
your figures when used to make stand up card figures.

1. Open Silhouette 01.FCW.

2. Type SIL on the command line and hit .

The prompt reads Select entities [0 picked]:

3. Click two points to select the portrait using a window, Do it.
The portrait is converted into a silhouette.

Making a shadow
1. Open Silhouette 02.FCW.
This is an elf portrait. Notice that there is a small shadow disk in place from the Other .

2. Type MIRSIL on the command line and hit .

The prompt reads Select entities [0 picked]:

514
 3. Turn Snap off.
The shadow will come from the feet.
4. Click points to select the portrait in a window, Do it.
The prompt reads Start of mirror line:
The basic shadow shape is a silhouette of the figure mirrored about the feet.
5. Zoom in to an area that includes both feet.
6. Click Endpoint .
The prompt reads entity:
7. Click the lowest node on the figure’s right foot.
The prompt reads end of mirror line:
8. Enable Ortho.
9. Click a point to the side of the first point.
A mirrored silhouette is created.
10. Click Change Properties . Select the shadow by Prior, Do it.
Change the color to 14 and the sheet to ACCENTS BACK.
11. Right click Scale then click Non-visual Scale XY. Select by Prior, Weapons
Do it. This catalog contains
12. Type in value of 1 for X and 0.1 for Y. The scale center is between the weapons that are designed
character’s feet. for use on dungeon maps, or
for custom characters like
Your character now has a detailed shadow. this one. They won’t
automatically fit into
Using Custom Parts position.
We’ll follow a couple of these examples to show you the versatility of CA Pro style portraits.

1. Open Custom 01.FCW.

2. Click All Catalog Settings and select the DA2DM RightArm6 male
dwarf right arm catalog.
3. Find DMAR6 Sleeve Blue 2 then place it.
4. Scroll down the list and place one of the right arm armor sections.
5. Place the DMAL1 Closed 2 left hand symbol.
6. Scroll down the catalog list until you see the DMAL1 Sleeve Blue 2
symbol then place it
7. Scroll down the list and place the left arm armor section that matches the right arm.
8. Turn Snap off.
9. On the Symbol Catalog toolbar, Click Weapons .

10. Click the Bardiche a symbol, press and move the mouse until the bardiche is more Dwarf
size.

515
 11. Press + and move the mouse to rotate
it as in the picture.
12. Click correct left arm catalog, scroll down
then click, but don’t place, the first bare hand
symbol you see.
13. Right-click, click Normal, then click More.
Turn Snap on. Place the symbol.
This hand seemingly overlapped the weapon
handle correctly, but once you redraw the
map, it disappears. This is because of sheet
order. Body parts are normally below
weapons. This is the reason that the weapons
designed for the portraits have strange breaks
in them.
To fix this, let us do some changes to the
sheets

Create a new sheet called WEAPON FRONT and place it below SHIELD in the sheet list,
then move the Bardiche to that sheet.

Move the HAND HIGH sheet below the WEAPON FRONT sheet. Single hands are located
on that sheet, as opposed to complete arms, which are located on the BODY ARMS
sheet.

Note that these sheet changes do have their consequences. For example, you cannot now
place a ring on the left hand without moving the RING sheet. There is a reason for the original
Explode sheet order, so only rearrange when you must, like now. The changes we did are not
Explode takes an entity and something you’d want to place as defaults in the template.
converts it into its individual 14. Click Right Arm until you see the correct right arm catalog, scroll
components. down, then click the DMAR6 Closed Hand 2 symbol.
These entities are added to
the drawing on top of 15. Press + and move the mouse to rotate it as in the picture.
everything else on the The finished figure has arm positions that are not available in the
current sheet, ignoring the standard catalogs.
entity’s original sheet. In
this case, the head is
converted from a symbol
Customizing a Portrait
into its constituent parts, You can change the appearance of elements within character portraits using CC3+’s drawing
which are added at to the commands, changing expressions, or adding new items.
drawing – the front of the
1. Open Custom 03.fcw
current sheet.
It is therefore very You can see two versions of a dwarf character; the one on the left has had some additional
important to set the current finishing touches to give personality
sheet to the correct sheet 2. Set the current sheet to BODY.
before using explode.
3. Click Explode , click the head symbol on the right-hand figure. Don’t include the beard.
4. Select the Dwarven Head catalog, scroll down and choose the Smile symbol, place it.
5. Zoom into the face. Right-click Move, Scale,
Rotate then click Mirror to turn the smile
into a frown, clicking the mirror line points
above.

516
 6. Zoom in to the head and click Move,
Scale, Rotate . Select an eyebrow, Do it.

7. Choose a move from point. Hold down

and and move the mouse to get a
suitably jaunty angle for the eyebrow, then
release and .

8. On the color bar, click color 11 (Tan.), and

set the sheet to BEARD. Click Line to
give the character some body hair, just like
in the left half of the picture.

Sheet Effects
New Sheet
While Character Portraits are really quite different from maps, we still use the same tools and
There is already a sheet
procedures to create these as we would to make a map. It comes to sheets however, there are some
available called FIGURE
differences. In CA3, sheets are much more important for their ordering properties, rather than the
GLOW which has the same
effect. Actually, using effects on individual sheets are quite rare because the way CA3 divides parts
intention. This sheet already
of the whole over different sheets.
comes with a Glow effect,
This doesn’t mean that we won’t be using sheet effects with CA3 however, but most of them will but this is easy to replace, so
be whole drawing effects. go ahead and use this sheet
instead if you prefer.
If you examine the standard portrait template, you can see that there are only a few preset effects,
a glow on the background, and a bevel on the border. Both of these are rather subtle, and won’t
make any major impact on your portrait if you activate them. Let us have a look at other ways to
use effects with your portrait.

Where to place the effects

If you wish to use effects on your character, you normally want to do it on the entire character, and
not the individual parts, since this typically will not yield the desired result. One way of handling
this, as I will be using for several of the effect suggestions below, is to make a copy of the entire
character on a separate sheet. This allows us to add effects that apply to the character as a whole.
Do note that this will make the character less easy to edit, since if you make an edit, you will also
need to update the copy.

1. Create a new sheet, called EFFECTS, and place it right below BACKGROUND in the list
2. Right click Sheets and Effects and select Copy to Sheet. Use this command to copy our
entire character, not including background and border, to your new sheet. The net result of
this is that we have a single sheet containing the entirety of your character allowing us to
apply effects to the character as a whole instead of individual parts.
In the following chapters, I will assume that this sheet exists and holds a copy of your character.

General advice
Because of the large scale of the CA3 drawings, you’ll want to use very small
values for most of the effects, otherwise you risk them completely
overpower the drawing, or in other instances, not be visible at all. For
example, the default distance for a drop shadow is 10. On an overland map,
this is fine, perhaps even a little too small, but on a character portrait it causes
the effect to be placed way off, outside the actual portrait, and only visible if
you zoom out. The default blur radius value also ensures that the shadow is
just an unrecognizable blob. Therefore, no matter the effect, watch the
values, and in general, keep them small, most values that represent a
distance should be 1 or less.

517
 Glow
A soft glow can serve to outline and enhance the character against the background.
A black glow can be used to make your character stand out just a bit more from
the background, while a colored glow can serve to enhance the portrait a bit more,
maybe hinting on magical effects. No matter the color, I recommend an outside
glow, with a blur radius of 1 or less. If you just want to make it stand out from the
background, a value of 0.25 is fine, but if you are going for more of a halo effect,
you may wish to approach 1. For the Strength value, you’ll want to use 20% or less
most of the time, otherwise the glow gets to overpowering.

The image shows a Glow effect, color 230, Strength 0 and Blur radius 0.75.

This effect needs to be placed on the EFFECTS sheet discussed on the previous page.

Shadows
There are two kinds of shadows available in the effects library drop shadows and
wall shadows. Note that both of these will generate a shadow which looks like the
character is standing against a wall, so they may not be usable in all circumstances,
but if you are not trying to place the portrait in a specific setting, they will enhance
the portrait and make it look more real, if not necessarily realistic.

For the drop shadows, I would recommend setting the X and Y offsets to 0.5 or less
(remember they don’t have to be the same value), and the blur radius to less than
0.2, and always less than the lesser offset. The best-looking values do depend a bit
on your character and their outfit and equipment. My example image uses 0.1 for x
offset, 0.2 for y offset, and a blur radius of 0.05.

While drop shadows appear as a separate entity from the object that casts them,
wall shadows give the effect of coming from the object itself. They can look very
much alike to drop shadows if you use small values for the offsets and lengths of
the respective effects, but you’ll quickly note the difference if you increase the
values a bit. As for drop shadows, the length of the wall shadow should not exceed
0.5, but should in most cases be less than this. Similarly, the blur radius should be
0.2 or less, and always lesser than half the length You can use a directional wall
shadow if you wish, but the standard one generally have a nice direction for most
portraits. The example to the right uses a length of 0.2 and a blur radius of 0.1.

For both kind of shadows, adjust the opacity as you see fit. I highly recommend you
experiment a bit and not rely solely on the example images.

These effect needs to be placed on the EFFECTS sheet discussed on the previous page.

Color manipulation
If you want to use the character portrait as an in-game picture, you may
wish to apply certain effects, like sepia to make it look like an old picture,
or perhaps greyscale to make it look like an old black & white photo.

To do this, you’ll want to use the RGB Matrix Process. This effect is best
used as a whole drawing effect, rather than a single sheet effect.

For a detailed description of this effect, I recommend you check out its
description on page 80.

518
Highlight parts
ARM LEFT BACK
Sometimes you’ll only want to highlight a part of
Remember that this was a
your portrait. For example, your character may
custom sheet we added,
possess a magical weapon that exhibits a soft
you won’t find this in the
glow. In this case, you may wish to apply an effect
default template. If you are
to just the appropriate sheet. For example, to
working on another
make the holy symbol of our example elf to glow,
character than the one from
let us apply a soft glow effect to the ARM LEFT
our tutorial, try the ARM
BACK sheet.
RIGHT WEAPON or ARM
Note that the same general advice as for LEFT WEAPON sheets to
character glow applies, keep the values small. affect the character’s
weapon.

Using Your Character

Portraits
So, you’ve made your character portraits, now what can you do with them? Well, obviously, you can
print them out from CC3+, but you can also add them to counters, make stand-up card figures, put
them on character sheets or even make symbol libraries from them. Counters and stand-up figures
are discussed in the next chapter.

Adding your portrait to a character sheet

Via the clipboard
The clipboard is a quick and painless way of exporting your
images, but lacks fine control; it doesn’t crop the images for
you, for example.

1. Open Basic Elf 06.FCW.

2. On the Tools menu Options and hit the
BMP,JPEG,PNG button in the dialog.
The values under Maximum Image Dimensions
determine the size of the image on the clipboard. Set
these values to the approximate size of the slot on
the character sheet where you are going to place the
portrait. Keep in mind that if these images are too
small, the image will be of poor quality, but if they
are too large, the image will make the character
sheet file unnecessary large.
This dialog is discussed in detail in the Printing and
Exporting chapter of the CC3+ Manual.
3. Click the Sheet indicator then hide the BACKGROUND and MAP BORDER sheets.
Most character sheets have a frame for your portrait already.
4. Press , select All, Do it.

The prompt reads clipboard origin[0,0]:

5. Hit to accept the default location of 0,0.

6. Start your favorite word processor and load up your character sheet.
7. Place your cursor in the spot for the character portrait, and click to paste it.

It will be pasted into the application as a bitmap file.

8. Use whatever picture resizing tools your word processor possesses to resize and crop the
image to fit the available area.

519
 By saving the entire drawing to a BMP, JPEG, or PNG file
CC3+ lets you export the entire drawing as a high-resolution JPEG, BMP or PNG file. You can use the
JPEG and PNG formats on the web or any of the formats pasted into you character sheets. You can
also save just a section of your drawing as an image.

These options are all described in detail in the CC3+ Manual, in the Printing and Exporting chapter.

World of Edyn
This map was created by
Ralf Schemmann using the
Fantasy Worlds style from
the 2009 annual.
This map was made on
commission for use in the
fantasy novel "Mythborn,
Fate of the Sovereign" by V.
Lakshman. Please see
www.mythbornbook.com
for details.

520
CREATING STAND-UP PAPER FIGURES AND
COUNTERS
Your characters can also be used to create stand up card figures or counters for use with Dioramas
Pro, DD3, or with miniatures. These can be created on specially designed templates, or else from
characters you have already made. We’ll show you how to do both.

Creating Card Figures from Existing Characters Template

You can simply copy and paste figures you have created into a suitable card figure template. This The card figure templates
example assumes that you want to paste lots of figures onto one template. are designed so that you can
print out as many characters
1. Start a new Card Figure template for 25mm Humans (Or whatever size you want). as possible on one sheet of
2. Start a second copy of CC3+ so that it is running twice. paper. The 25mm in the
template name means that
Arrange the two windows so that you can easily copy and paste between them.
25mm is equal to the height
3. In the new window, open Basic Elf 06.FCW. of a human-sized figure at
4. On the Edit menu click Copy, or press + . this scale. See Miniature
Scale in the Help index for
5. Click points to select the character (not the border) in a window, Do it. more information on what
CC3+ will then ask for the clipboard origin. the various template sizes
mean.
6. Click the Snap point in the middle of the ogre’s chest.
The ogre has now been copied to the clipboard.
7. Click the title bar of the other copy of CC3+ to make it the
current application.
8. Press + to paste, click the red cross in the top left corner
of the miniature template.
The figure is placed.
9. Right click to stop pasting.
10. To add more figures to this template, switch to the other CC3+
window, open the drawing with the new figure, then copy and
paste again.

Creating Card Figures from Scratch Usual Manner

If you are not continuing from the previous example, open Standup.FCW.
Don’t forget that there are
1. Click Zoom Window and click two points to zoom into one of the empty figure templates. other figures on the
template when you are
2. Create your figure in the usual manner.
editing; don’t select by All
3. When you’ve finished, zoom to the next blank stand and start your next portrait. unless you really mean it!

Adding Backs to Card Figures

Unfortunately, since the character portraits are flat drawings, there is no way to flip them around to
see the back, but let us explore the alternatives.

Because of differences between raster (CA 3 style) and vector (CA Pro style) artwork, the procedure
for doing this is very different, and with different advantages and disadvantages.

CA3 Style
1. Open Standup.FCW and zoom in on the top area.

521
 2. Create a new sheet called BACK. Move it up so that it is just below BACKGROUND in the
list, and make it the active sheet.
3. Right click Copy and select Mirrored Copies.
Explode
Exploding a symbol 4. Select the three characters, then o It. Note that
references causes it to turn the template elements are on a frozen layer by
into its component pieces. default, making it easy to select just the characters
These can be modified in without worrying about not selecting the template
ways a symbol reference elements.
can’t. Now CC3+ asks for the mirror line. Draw the mirror
line as shown in the illustration. Using Endpoint is helpful,
and turn off snap, since they do not match the fold lines.
5. Explode the mirror versions we made. Then right click
Color 31
Change Properties and select Change Color. Change the
Color 31 is a special color,
color of all parts of our exploded figures to color 31.
known as the ‘No Change’
color. By changing the color Before printing or exporting the figures, always make sure the current
to color 31, the silhouettes color is appropriate for a shadow (black or grey), as they will always
will take on whatever color take on the currently selected color.
you set as the current color
(you may need to issue a CA Pro Style
redraw after selecting a new
You can create rear views of characters in silhouette to make the backs of card figures. You can
color).
add backs to individual characters, or else do a whole batch at once.
Note that using any other
color but 31 is not going to 1. Open Standup 02.fcw.
work. 2. Change the current sheet. There is no specific sheet in our templates for silhouettes, so feel
free to make one, and position it anywhere in the list, as long as it is below the BACKGROUND
sheet. The one important thing here is that your current sheet is NOT the Common Sheet,
since this will cause the entities to appear below the background.
3. Enter MIRSIL on the command line.

The prompt reads Select entities [0 picked]:

4. Click two points to select the entire top row of figures using a window, Do it.
The prompt reads Start of mirror line: The card figure borders are not selected because they
are on a frozen layer.
5. Click Endpoint , then the Mirror line Start in the
illustration.
Endpoint
6. Click Endpoint , then the Mirror line end in the
As an alternative to using
illustration above,
Endpoint modifier, you can
try Attach. This is like You’ve added shadow to all the figures.
having a modifier turned on
all the time. Depress the
Attach button then right
click it and select Nearest
Endpoint. Remember to turn
Attach off when you have
finished using it.

522
Printing and Assembling Card Figures Settings
The card figure templates are set up to include the The paper distance is set so
correct printer settings for the miniature scale you that 25mm on the paper
have chosen. equals 6 feet in the
drawing. (25mm is 0.08202
Figures can be printed onto paper or card. We find
feet) If you want to
200gsm card works fine, but please check your
customize your templates,
printer manufacturer’s guidelines before printing on
you can type in the scale
card.
factor easily – for this
7. Click Print . Note the settings, especially drawing just type 25mm in
the Scaling options. the Paper Distance and 6’ in
the drawing distance; CC3+
8. Click Preview. If everything looks fine, select
will convert the numbers for
OK.
you. CC3+ also recognizes
9. Take a craft knife following manufacturer’s m for meters.
instructions, or use scissors and cut as
illustrated.
10. Fold each figure as illustrated.
11. 10 Stick the base pieces together using paper glue or clear sticky tape to give you your
counter.

Creating Counters
CA Pro also includes templates for counters. These counters can be used for war gaming, in place
of card figures, or directly on dungeon or overland maps. You can insert portraits into the counter
templates just as you did with the card figures.

Such counters are especially useful if you use a virtual table top program for your battles. See page
330 for more information about such programs, and how to create battle maps for them.

Another use for such counters is to turn them into CC3+ symbols, which you can place on your
maps inside CC3+. These can be battle maps, but can also indicate where the character is on an
overland map for example.

Another thing which may be nice for counter templates is to map just
the head of the character on the counter. This makes the character or
monster more recognizable on tiny counters, whether you print them
out and use them as physical counters, or use them in a virtual table
top environment. To do this, I recommend you map the head normally,
and when you are done, simply scale it up and reposition it in the
center of the counter.

523
 SYMBOL CREATION AND CATALOG
MANAGEMENT
The symbols used in CA3 are regular CC3+ symbols. We are still using raster and vector symbols,
and we use the same properties as we do in CC3+. So, as such, CA3 symbols are not that special.
The special thing about CA3 symbols however is that they need to be designed to fit together. The
arms must fit the body, the sleeve must fit the arm, etc. And, since we want our new symbols to be
used along with the default symbols, they must fit the established variations. This means that sizing
must be precise, and the same with positioning. It also means that for many symbols, we will make
the exact same symbol with slight variations to fit the various arm poses for example.

In addition to creating symbols, this chapter also discusses some of the advanced catalog
management features originally introduced by Character Artist Pro, but now integrated into the core
CC3+ feature set. We’ll discuss these features here because it is combined with CA3 they are most
useful, but remember they can still be used with any symbol catalog.

Creating Raster Symbols

Before you start creating raster symbols for CA3, make sure you are familiar with basic CC3+ symbol
Body Types creation. See Creating Raster Symbols on page 108 for details.
If you are observant, you As with any tutorial covering creation and editing of raster symbols,
may notice that only we will need to start in an image editor. As with the rest of the tutorials
dwarves and humans are in this book, we will use GIMP, since it is free and contains all the
represented here. This is feature we need for the various tutorials, but feel free to use any image
because the other races use editor you prefer. Most editors will have similar features, so even if the
the same body types. For GIMP instructions below don’t fit exactly, you should be able to find
example, elves use the equivalent commands to accomplish the same.
same body types as the thin
human body type, half-orcs To help us draw CA3 symbols at the correct scale, CA3 comes with
use the strong human body full-body figure templates for all the different body types and arm
type, and halflings use the locations supported by CA3. You’ll find these in
normal body type. Monsters @Symbols\CharacterArtist\CA3\BodyParts\temp
also use these core body 1. Open the mal_ref1 reference body in your image editor.
types.
2. Create a new layer for your symbol (Layer → New Layer). Set it
up with a transparent color, and make sure it is set as the active
layer
Now comes the difficult part; creating the new artwork. Some of you
Drawing Unit may find that part quite easy, but for those of us that don’t,
CA3 uses feet for its basic remember that instead of drawing something from scratch,
drawing units. For metric you can use an existing CA3 symbol as a guide, or another
templates, everything is image. An internet search can yield many great images that
rescaled. So, when can be used as starting points for a new symbol. Just make
calculating pixel sizes for sure you have the right to use those images.
your symbols, use 500 3. Draw or insert your artwork on the new layer. For this
pixels/foot as the size and example, we’ll use a hand drawn revolver, found in
let CC3+ handle the metric @Tutorials\Tome\Symbols\Character\Colt
conversion. Peacemaker.png
4. Move and scale the symbol so that it fits with the
character’s posture. For this example, we’ll make the
gun fit the right hand of the character.
Now, because of certain needs for sheets in CC3+, it is
impossible to position hand-held items below the hand, and
still appear above the legs like we can clearly see our gun

524
needs. Therefore, when creating hand-held items, we need to cut out the part of the item
that would be hidden below the hand. You have probably already noticed that regular
CA3 hand-held items have these gaps. You’ll encounter similar situations with other
symbols, like jewelry and belts.

5. Switch to the layer holding the body template. Use the Fuzzy select tool to select
the transparent area around the body, then invert the selection. This should result
in the entire figure being selected.
Deselect the legs of the figure. We are going to use this selection as the base for
removing parts of our gun, and we do not want to remove the part that covers the
legs.
6. Switch to the layer holding our symbol, then hit to delete the selection. This will
remove the part of the gun covered by the hand.
7. Copy (Ctrl+C) the layer with the symbol, then paste it as a new image (Shift + Ctrl +
V). Crop the new image and save it (File → Export As) somewhere inside the CC3+
data folder, such as @Symbols\User\ CA3\Artwork\Colt.png Data Folder
Remember that everything
stored inside CC3+’s data
After creating the raster artwork for our new symbol, we need to import it into CC3+. Normally, I’d folder can be addressed
advocate creating our own symbol catalog for it, but because of the CA3 setup, it is both easier to using relative path
import and easier to use if we import it into the appropriate CA3 symbol catalog instead. references (@). This
8. Start CC3+, and open up the symbol catalog matching our new symbol. In our case, that prevents problems if you
would be @Symbols\CharacterArtist\CA3\BodyParts\HumanMaleArmsR1.FSC later open your
maps/symbol catalogs on a
Once you have opened it up, you should notice that the drawing matches the template we
different machine where
used when making the symbol, and the right arm is highlighted, indicating that this is the
the CC3+ data folder is
right arm catalog for that body.
located somewhere else on
9. Go to Symbols → Import pngs… the computer. If you instead
This brings up the familiar import dialog. The important settings right now is to set: use a path outside the data
directory, such as
Highest Resolution: 500 pixels per drawing unit. d:\mysymbols\colt.png, the
symbol would have to be
Create Other resolutions: checked
copied to that exact path on
Files are: Very High every computer you wish to
use it on (And many
Method: Update (If you select Rebuild All, all the existing symbols in the catalog will be
computers don’t even have
removed)
a D-drive, or there may be a
The correct path to the folder containing your image files. DVD-Rom occupying that
letter).

Artwork
I prefer to not have the
actual image files in the
same folder as my symbol
catalog file, so I always
make some kind of
subfolder to put the images
in below the level where I
plan to put the symbol
catalog.

Matching
Note that a symbol may
match multiple symbol
catalogs because several
races share shape.

525
 10. Click OK, and CC3+ starts processing the images in the folder and creates symbols from them.
Rename This should take but a moment, and unless you added additional images to the folder, CC3+
While not strictly necessary, should report that 1 symbol were created.
using the standard CA3 11. Open the Symbol Manager, find your new symbol at the bottom. Click on it to select it, then
prefixes helps separate click the options button. The important setting right now is the Force Sheet option, this should
symbols made for different be checked and set to ARM RIGHT WEAPON*.
character types, and also
prevents multiple symbols If you intend to import multiple similar symbols, you should
with the same name, which probably group them in a collection as well.
would be a problem if you 12. Rename the symbol to HMR1 Colt Peacemaker, then close the
tried making a drawing Symbol Manager.
containing two different 13. If you enable Snap, switch to Symbols in Drawing and try
types of characters, both
to place the symbol right now, you would see that it is does not
with their version of the
appear in the correct position.
symbol.
In this case, HMR1 means Warning: The symbol catalog doesn’t set scale when loaded, so you
Human, Male, Right Arm 1. might want to right click and select Set Normal in the Symbol
Parameters box before placing the symbol to ensure the scale is
correct.
Symdefs to Sheets Delete the placed symbol when done, and turn Snap back off.
If you get an error message 14. Select Symdefs to Sheets from the Symbols menu. This command
informing you that there are converts all the symbol definitions in your map to sheets, which
no sheets or symbol makes it very easy to edit them.
definitions in your drawing This is especially useful when positioning symbols for use in CA3.
after importing the new
symbols, simply save the 15. Open the Sheets and Effects dialog, and set the HMR1 Colt
symbol catalog. Close Peacekeeper sheet active (Should be at the bottom). Auto hide
CC3+, then reopen the should be on, so the only thing you should see is the body template
program and symbol (It is on the Common sheet) and the revolver symbol.
catalog. 16. Move the revolver symbol so that it fits perfectly in the hand. Be
as preside as possible.
17. Once done, select Symbols → Sheets to symdefs to turn the sheets
back into symbol definitions.
18. Enable Snap and try to place the symbol again. It should now snap
perfectly to the hand, like all other CA3 symbols.
19. Save the Symbol Catalog.

At this point, you have your custom symbol in the official CA3 symbol
catalog. You can now copy this symbol to other symbol catalogs
employing the same body shape. I also recommend having a personal
symbol catalog with only your own custom symbols in them, to easier
insert the symbols into the official symbol catalogs on a new install of
CC3+ or after a patch have updated the official catalogs. But because of
the setup, it was easier to insert it into the official catalog first and do the
modifications there, and then copy it out, rather than doing it the other
way around.

Varicolor Symbols
CA3 symbols can be varicolor, just like ordinary symbols. The procedure
is the same as for regular CC3+ symbols, so it is not repeated here.
Reference the Raster varicolor chapter on page 113 for more
information about varicolor.

526
Creating Vector Symbols
In this section, we will be creating a sash symbol for the Human Male catalog. Later we will clone
the symbol to produce a variety of colors, add the symbols to the Human catalog and make
proportional versions for the other racial catalogs.

The progress of this tutorial is stored in the files starting with Sash files. There are both drawings
(FCW) files showing the drawing in progress, and symbol catalog (FSC) files containing the defined
symbols.

Designing the symbol

1. Open @Symbols\CharacterArtist\CA_Blank.FSC. Note that this is a symbol catalog, so you
must change the Files of type in the open dialog to CC3/CC2 FSC Symbol Catalog to see
it.
2. Use Save As to save the file with the new name Sash.FSC so we don’t overwrite the blank
catalog file by accident.
3. Right click Character Menu and select Character Artist Pro Menu.
4. Click Chose Race and Sex , and select CA2 Human Male.
5. Click Other .
6. Click and place HMO Body 2.
7. Click Explode . Click the symbol you just placed, right click, select Do
it.
We need to erase all but the solid filled area of skin. The skin is color 157
(you could click List on the Info menu to discover this.)
8. Click Erase ll, ot, olor, select color 157, o it.

You could right-click to see the entity selection menu instead of using the
keyboard shortcuts listed if you prefer.
9. Use Change Properties to change the color of the figure to color #6
(magneta), and the fill style to Hollow.
Guideline

To make sure that the sash fits on the standard Human Male, we’ve insert HMO It is easier to see what you
Body 1, exploded it, and we will use it as a guideline. We’ve used this rather are doing and ultimately
garish color to make it easier to see the outline, and we use Hollow so that a fill style doesn’t obscure more accurate to draw your
what’s underneath. entities with Hollow fill style
and a bright color first, then
10. Turn Snap off. change their color and fill
11. Set SHADING as the current layer, the fill style to Hollow, color later.
to #1 (green) and line width to zero.
12. Create a new sheet called SASH, leave it at the bottom of the
sheet list, and make it the active sheet.
13. Right click Attach. Click Nearest point ON. Click Attach
Enabled. Click Polygon . Click points to draw the sash and Draw the Sash
ring.
Avoid using Smooth Paths
You’ll need one polygon for the top sash section, one for the ring and Poly in your symbols as
and another for the lower sash section. they cause a longer redraw.
14. Change the fill style of the sash and the ring to Solid, and the color to 0 (black) Use Paths, Polygons and
Arcs instead.
15. Right click Change Properties and select Change Interior Color. Use this command to
change the interior (2nd) color of the sash to 47 (tan), and the ring to 133 (gold).
16. Click Polygon . Set the fill style to Solid, the color to 45 (tan) and the line width to zero.
Draw shading on the sash.

527
 17. Select color 135 for the ring highlight, draw it with the Poly.
Interior Color
Our shading and highlights are usually 2 color tones lighter
An individual entity in CC3+ or darker than the original color
can display an outline as
well as an interior color. 18. Click Path , set OUTLINE as the current layer, choose color
Whether the outline is 0 (black) and add a partial outline to the shading where it
displayed or not is touches the edge of the sash and ring.
determined by the Outline 19. Turn Snap back on, set SYMBOL DEFINTION as the current
setting for the current fill layer then type DEFSYM on the command line. Enter the
style in the Fill Style symbol’s name as Sash 2A, choose the origin where the
Properties dialog box. cursor snaps, click sash and ring Not color 6 (magenta), Do
Usually the outline and it.
interior color are the same,
20. Save the file with the name Sash.FSC.
however to help make
symbols redraw very fast Congratulations! You’ve just completed the first sash symbol.
you can use two different
colors in a single entity. Creating color variants of symbols
When you use CC3+s select
In this next section, we will clone the sash symbol to create several different colored sash symbols
by color editing option, it is
for addition to the Human Male Other catalog.
the outline color that CC3+
is using to find entities. 21. Open up Sash.FSC as a drawing, not in the symbol catalog window.
22. On the Symbols menu, click Symbol Manager. Click Sash 2A, then click Clone.
Outline
We are going to make copies of Sash 2A with different names to make a set of matching
Because we made use of the
symbols for the catalog.
dual color properties, we
cannot FRONT the black 23. Type a new name for the symbol, in this case Sash 2B. Then select the new symbol and hit
outline as we would just be Edit.
fronting the whole sash. We The Command Prompt reads New window corner:
need to add a partial Black You are being asked to define the corner of a new drawing window in which you can edit
outline to the shading the new symbol.
entities
24. Click in the drawing area
Command Line The Command Prompt says Opposite corner:
Why did we type DEFSYM 25. Click again in the drawing area.
on the command line 26. CC3+ now displays an edit window for Sash 2B, the clone of our original symbol.
instead of using Define
Symbol from the Symbols We need to change the colors of the sash to match the other symbols in the catalog.
menu? When we use Define 27. Right click on Change Properties then click Change Color and change by olor 45 to
Symbol, we are given an color 165.
easy to use dialog.
However, this dialog is not
28. Right click on Change Properties then click Change Interior Color and change the color
very flexible when it comes of the pieces of the sash to color 167.
to symbol origin, which is 29. Close the symbol editing window and choose Yes when asked if you want to save the
very important for CA Pro changes.
symbols. DEFSYM handles
30. Repeat the above steps to clone additional symbols according to this chart on the next page.
everything on the command
line instead of using a
dialog, and it let us define
the symbol origin exactly
where we want it, in our
case the now familiar snap
point in the center of the
portrait. If the origin is
wrong, the symbol won't
place correctly when we try
to use it on our characters.

528
 Symbol Name Light Color Dark Color

Sash 2C #85 #87

Sash 2D #71 #69

Sash 2E #241 #244 Backup

You are now working with
31. Save the drawing. Note that since we have opened the symbol catalog as a drawing, you
CA3's own symbol catalogs.
don’t have to go to the Symbol Manager to save the symbols. All the symbols you can see
Always make backups
in the Symbol Manager are already in the opened catalog, so a standard Save will suffice.
before you modify these, in
case something goes
But I wanted chartreuse! wrong. Having a backup can
CA Pro symbols, like any other CC3+ symbol, have the ability to change color according to the save you from having to
currently selected color on the toolbar. These shaded varicolor symbols add versatility to our reinstall the add-on.
catalogs. In order to create a shaded varicolor symbol of our sash, we can refer to the section Shaded
varicolor on page 112.
Rename or Re-order
Rename and Reorder You can only rename or re-
order symbols, you can’t do
In this section we will add the new sash symbols to the Human Male Other catalog, rename them both at the same time!
and quickly place them into the correct order in the catalog. This technique is equally relevant for CC3+ will not know to
catalogs containing raster symbols, even if we use our vector sash symbol from above for this which symbols to apply
tutorial. which names. Be very
32. Open @Symbols\CharacterArtist\HumanMaleOthers.fsc careful and don’t forget
what you are doing because
33. On the File menu click Save As, and make a backup of this file. it makes a heck of a mess of
34. Open either your own Sash.FSC file, or the Sash 02.FSC tutorial file in the symbol catalog your catalog if you get it
window. mixed up.
35. Click on each of the sashes from the symbol catalog, but do not place them in the drawing.
Simply clicking on them is enough to import the symbol definition into the drawing, and that New List File
is all we want. Yes, if you insist, you can
now rename in the old list
36. On the Symbols menu click Rename & Reorder → Create Symdef name file. Save it as
file without creating a new
Sash.LST in a convenient location. This is just a temporary file which you can delete in a
one. Since we imported this
moment.
one, the symbol catalog has
37. Open the newly created file in a text editor such as Notepad®. You can use the text editor been reordered to match
to either rename or re-order the symbols, not both. this file, so it is safe to use it
38. Cut and paste the symbol names starting with Sash 2 and place for renaming now. If you are
the symbols below the Sash symbol names. the least bit unsure why this
is so, stick to making a new
39. Make sure you save the file in plain text format with the same
file for each operation, that
name when you are done.
is the safest course.
40. On the Symbols menu click Rename & Reorder → Import
reordered symdefs then select the list file. HMO
All the symbol definitions will be moved around to reflect your new HMO stands for Human
order. Male Other. All symbol
names have a prefix
41. On the File menu click Save.
denoting the race and sex
42. Now you can make a new list file to use for renaming the symbols, and placement of the
and use your text editor to rename all the Sash 2 symbols to HMO symbol. When you insert
Sash 2 symbols. After editing the file, import it using Rename & your own symbols, you
Reorder → Import renamed symdefs from the Symbols menu. should always add the
Only one task remains for our symbols, and that is to set them to correct prefix, as all symbols
use the correct sheet. must have a unique name.

529
 43. Open the Symbol Manager, select one of the existing sashes from the list (not the one we
added), and click Options. You can see that the Force Sheet option is enabled, and the sheet
is set to BELT. Our sashes should have the same setting.
44. Select our five sashes in the Symbol Manager list, then click Options. Force them to use the
BELT sheet as we found above. If desired, you can also set them to be one of a collection,
differ by One letter at the end.
Now you have five new sashes available in the Other catalog for Human Males. Since we added
this to the main CA3 symbol catalogs, they will be available for all characters of this type you make
in the future with this install of CC3+. Don’t forget to Save your work.

Pint-Sized Symbols
Character Artist 3 has several different fantasy racial catalogs, all of which are different sizes. In this
section we will outline the steps needed to make and add the Sash 2 symbol to each of the racial
catalogs. Each race has different proportions, and you’ll need to scale your sashes to match these
proportions.

Symdefs to Sheets This different scale values in this tutorial are for the CA Pro style vector symbols and characters.
The procedure for CA3 style raster artwork is similar, but not all symbols can be simply scaled, you
This command allows you to
may need to make different versions in your image editor.
convert symbol definitions
into normal CC3 entities, Please refer to the above section if you need help with cloning, renaming or re-ordering.
each on its own sheet. You
45. Open @Symbols\CharacterArtist\BodyParts\DwarfMaleOthers.fsc as a drawing.
can then change the order
of sheets, rename them, or 46. On the File menu click Save As, and make a backup of this file.
edit the entities on the 47. Open either your own Sash.FSC file, or the Sash 02.FSC tutorial file in the symbol catalog
sheets. When you’ve window.
finished, you can convert all
48. Click on each of the sashes from the symbol catalog, but do not place them in the drawing.
the sheets back into symbol
Simply clicking on them is enough to import the symbol definition into the drawing, and that
definitions again.
is all we want.
If you make all the sheets
visible, you can change 49. On the Symbols menu, click Symdefs to Sheets.
them all at once. This converts all the symbol definitions to sheets, and set all the sheets as hidden. We are
going to work on just the Sash symbols.
50. Click Sheets and Effects . Uncheck the Auto Hide checkbox, then unhide the Sash 2
sheets. Make sure all he other sheets are hidden.
51. Right click Scale , click Non-Visual ScaleXY. Type an X scale of .95 and a Y scale of .80.
Type 0,0 as the scale origin.
These values are correct for a dwarf figure.
52. Select Symbols Menu → Sheets to Symdefs.
We are turning the sheets back into symbols
Male Catalog
To create a female sash, you
So, we’ve selectively scaled all the Sash symbols we’ve inserted, whilst leaving the rest of the
will need to create one from
catalog intact.
scratch then add to the
catalogs and scale as in the 53. Now, Rename, Reorder and add sheet information to the symbols as we did in the Rename
table. and Reorder chapter on the previous page.
54. Start a new drawing and place a Dwarf Torso and the new sash symbol to make sure they
are correctly aligned. If they are not, you will need to move the origin for the sash symbol.

530
Repeat for each male catalog using the following chart for the correct dimensions, use 0,0 as the
origin. All scaling is based on the Human Male:

Race Arms (X/Y) Torso (X/Y) Head (X/Y) Legs (X/Y)

Human (H) 1/1 1/1 1/1 1/1
Half Orc (HO) 1.05/1.05 1.05/1.05 1.05/1.05 1.05/1.05
Elf (E) 0.85/0.9 0.85/0.9 0.9/0.95 0.85/0.9
Half Elf (HE) 0.8925/0.945 0.8925/0.945 0.8925/0.945 0.8925/0.945 Attribute
Gnome (G) 0.75/0.6 0.75/0.6 0.8/0.75 0.75/0.6
Tag Text: Here you enter the
Halfling (Hf) 0.75/0.6 0.75/0.6 0.8/0.75 0.75/0.6
label for each attribute you
Dwarf (D) 0.95/0.8 0.95/0.8 0.95/0.9 0.95/0.65
wish to define. The tag text
is fixed for each attribute,
though it may hold a
My Symbols Need an Attitude variable or constant. An
example would be “Name:”
Attributes are information that you attach to symbols. When you insert the symbol, CC3+ will ask This is used when you use
for this information and include it as text on the counter. In this section we will make a 5’ counter the Symbols Menu →
with attributes. Extract Attributes facility.
1. Open Attributes.FCW. Prompt Text: Here you type
the prompt you wish to see
2. Choose Symbols Menu → Make Varicolor, select color 1 (green), Do it.
when inserting the symbol.
When you have defined the counter as a symbol, the background should be in the current The prompt should ask for
color. appropriate value data. An
3. Right click the Grid button. Click Standard Rectangular grid. example would be “Enter
the Character’s Name:”
4. Click Text Specs . Choose Arial as the font, 0.4 as the font height and Justify as Top Left.
Default value: Here you type
Select OK. the default text value that
5. On the Symbols Menu, click Define Attribute will be assigned to the tag
or leave it blank. If you do
The following text box will appear:
not want to be able to
6. In the Tag text and Prompt text boxes enter Name, leave modify this value, click
the Default value blank. Constant checkbox.
The prompt reads Location: Hidden: Usually unchecked.
Check to hide display of the
tag. Use if the tag does not
Because the Attribute is text, we need to set up the text properties. We will place the Name attribute need to be seen in the
in the upper, left corner of the counter, so we have set the text justification to Top Left. drawing or if there is too
7. Click grid point below and to the right of the top left many tags to draw neatly or
corner. legibly.
Constant: Usually
8. Set the justification as in the diagram and repeat the unchecked. Check to assign
above steps for each Attribute you want to add. In a constant value to the tag.
each case the tag text and prompt text are as in the The default value cannot be
diagram. You can enter a default value if you wish. changed upon insertion.
9. Click Grid button and choose the 5’ Grid, 2 snap This fixes the value.
setting. Display Tag: Check to
display the tag label instead
10. On the Symbol menu, click Define Symbol. Select
of the value assigned to it.
counter and attributes as a symbol, Do it. Set the
For example, display Special
symbol origin in the center of the counter.
instead of Breath, only +2
11. On the File Menu click Save As. Give the file the name Attributes.FSC. weapons do damage
12. Click the Symbols in Drawing button.
13. Place the attribute counter. Type in appropriate values.
You now have a counter symbol onto which you can place any character portrait you like.

531
 Creating a set of symbols from scratch
Now that you have mastered the basics and know a bit about making CA3 symbols it is time to try
something a bit more ambitious. Our next goal is to design a wardrobe for an elf warrior. Bearing in
mind the thousands of readily available symbols, we want to draw as few new symbols as possible
and ensure that the new symbols work well with the old. Here are the steps to develop a set of
interlocking lamellar armor to be worn over Elven robes and chain mail.

Add a blank figure

To start we will add a manikin to use as a “sewing model”:

1. Start a new plain elf portrait.

2. Click color #6 (magenta) on the color bar.
3. Set the race to Elf and the Sex to Male.
4. Open the Other .
5. Click then place the EMO Body 1 symbol in the middle of the drawing

Creating a model for the new symbol

It’s easier to adapt existing symbols than to create symbols from scratch, so we’ll insert some
existing color

6. Click the color indicator, then color #51 (dark blue).

7. Click Torsos then place the varicolor EMT Robe v symbol on the torso.
Place All
To ensure that the armor fits 8. Next, place the EMT Chest Chain Mail shirt on our warrior.
under a cloak and that it 9. Place all the Sleeve Chain Mail sleeves on the elf, except the EMAR6 one. Work through all
works with various sleeve the right arm catalogs to select the sleeves. When we draw the pauldron (a piece of armor
and pant combinations we covering the shoulder at the junction of the body piece and arm piece), we will draw it to
will add a variety of limbs overlap all of these arms.
and clothing pieces.
10. Add all the Sleeve Chain Mail sleeves on the elf except the EMAL6 one. Work through all
the left arm catalogs to add the sleeves to the warrior.
11. Click color #1 (spring green) on the color bar.
12. Click Other .
13. Place an EMO Hood Up v 1 and an EMO Hood Down v 1 on the elf.
14. We wish to have the two last symbols behind the manikin for now, so move the HELM and
COLLAR sheets up above the BODY sheet in the list.
15. Click Legs then place a pair of EML Pants v 1, EML Pants v 2, and EML Pants v 3 on top
of everything else.
You now have a five-armed elf wearing multiple pairs of pants and a robe - oh my! Save your work.

Drawing the symbol

We now have everything in place to create the EM Lamellar Hauberk symbol. Note that
overlapping symbols are drawn to realistically cover and expose underlying symbols. Your new
symbols need to be drawn in a similar fashion.

16. Click on Snap button to deselect the snap feature. Click Fill Style then set the fill style to
Hollow. Click color #7 (purple) on the color bar. Set the sheet to TORSO.
We are going to draw an outline of the hauberk to cover the chain mail, remain under the
cloak, and overlap the various pants and robe.

532
 17. Click Polygon and start drawing the hauberk just below the center of the chain mail’s
collar. Select the polygon’s vertices to expose the chain mail’s collar.
18. Overlap the shoulders while staying below the top of the cloaks.
Since this armor is worn with underlying chain mail, draw the
hauberk to expose the area where the sleeve meets the torso.
19. While staying to the exterior of the torso (chain mail, robe, and
pants), follow the fall of the chain mail to the waist.
20. Flare the hauberk out to overlap the upper hips (and the pants),
round off the bottom and bring the hauberk to a raised center just
above the crotch of the pants. Reverse the process to draw the
other half of the hauberk.
21. Save your work.

Now we will create the interweaved lamellar plates that form the hauberk by drawing a series of
intersecting paths and deleting hidden features.

22. First, click Erase and delete everything but the hauberk outline and chain mail shirt.
Click the Color indicator and select color #131 (bronze)
23. Draw a line connecting the peaked bottom of the collar to the peaked region of the bottom
hem. We will use this as the approximate centerline to overlap the lamellar plates.
24. Click Path . Click On . Click the edge of the hauberk just below the left sleeve.
Draw a path (use two or three intermediate points) sloping to the right upper shoulder and
end the path on the upper edge of the hauberk. The path should intersect approximately one-
third the width of the shoulder from the collar and form a lamellar plate of even width across
the chest.
25. Now repeat Path from just below the right sleeve to the upper
left shoulder. At the point where the two plates intersect, click
On to place a path point on the intersecting line. This point
should be about at the intersection of the vertical line.
26. Click Explode and click the second line you made. Click
Erase and delete the section of the line that passes under
the top lamellar plate. You should now have a pair of crossed
diagonal lamellar plates.
27. Repeat the process for each pair of plates. Remember to add a
path point at each intersection with an overlapping plate. As
you proceed, some plates may pass under multiple plates. For
these lines, you do not have to add a path point at each intersection. Instead only place a
path point at where the plate goes under and reappears. Proceed in this fashion until all the
plates are drawn.
28. Click Erase and delete centerline. Save your work.

Filling in the Armor

Now we will go back and add more detail to the armor.

29. Click the Color indicator then click color #133 (gold).
30. Click Erase and delete the chain mail shirt and the hauberk’s outline leaving the network
of intersecting plates (paths). Now use Polygon to carefully redraw it with a slight curve at
the end of each lamellar plate.

533
 31. Click the Color indicator then click color #135 (deep yellow). Use
Highlights Polygon to draw irregular highlights on each lamellar plate
Assuming the light is segment to show reflected light and indicate the curvature of
coming from the left side of the segment.
the elf (your right). The 32. Click Outline in Black and then select the Hauberk.
highlights should be
irregular and are best drawn 33. Turn Snap back on, set SYMBOL DEFINTION as the current layer
as triangles with the wider then type DEFSYM on the command line. Enter the symbol’s name
ends towards the elf’s left as EM Lamellar Hauberk, choose the origin where the cursor
side. snaps,

Creating the pauldron

At this point you should have a blank template. Now we’ll draw the elf
with the new symbol so you can work on the pauldrons and gauntlets.

34. Click the Color indicator and choose color #51 (a deep blue).
35. Change to the Torsos catalog and place the EMT Chest Chain on our warrior.
36. Change to the male elf arm catalogs. Place all the Sleeve Chain Mail sleeves on the elf, except
the EMAL6 and EMAR6 ones. Toggle through the arm catalogs to find all the sleeves. When
we draw the pauldron, we will draw it to overlap both of these arms.
37. Click the Symbols in Drawing button and place the newly created EM Lamellar
Hauberk on the elf.
38. Place an EMO Hood Up v 1 and an EMO
Hood Down v 1 on the elf.
39. Click the Color indicator then click color #6
(pink). Click the Fill Style indicator and set
the fill style to Hollow. Set the sheet to
GREAVE.
40. Referring to the drawing shown here, click
Polygon and draw a pauldron outline over
the elf’s left shoulder and arms.

Make sure you cover up the underlying hauberk and stay below the edges of the cloaks.
41. Click Erase and delete everything but the pauldron outline to avoid interference during
the next step.
42. Click the Color indicator then click color #131 (bronze). Right click the Attach button and
click Nearest point ON and Attach Enabled.

534
 43. Click Path and draw a series of overlapping lamellar
plates from the bottom to the top of the pauldron.
44. Click Change Properties and set the fill style of the
pauldron to Solid.
45. Click Outline in Black , select by Prior.
46. Click the Color indicator then click color #135 (deep
yellow).
47. Use Polygon to draw irregular highlights on each lamellar
plate segment to show reflected light and indicate the curvature
of the segment.
48. Right click Copy , click Mirror Copy, click a mirror line start
point on the center of the drawing, click Zoom Out and click a
mirror line end point above it.
This will form the right pauldron.
49. Click Explode , select the mirrored copy. and use the symbol
tools to define it as a new symbol, EM Lamellar Pauldron R.
Repeat with the original drawing to create the EM Lamellar L symbol.

Creating the Gauntlets

Following the same approach for the pauldron, draw Lamellar Gauntlets. This time we’ll just give
hints.

50. Add the EMAL2 Closed Glove 7 from the

ElfMaleArmsL2 catalog as a guide area.
51. The colors you need to use are color #133 for
the armor, color #131 for the internal paths,
and 135 for the highlights. The solid area
needs to be outlined in black.
52. When you have defined the glove, you’ll need
to follow the same method to make a gauntlet
for each of the open and closed hands in each
of the arm positions.

Here is our elf with a full set of accoutrements.

535
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Character Artist 3 is a nice companion to Dungeon Designer 3. You can make battle maps in DD3
which can be used with the paper miniatures or tokens from CA3.

Another good companion software to CA3 is a word processor or desktop publishing program. With
these, you can make your own character sheets and insert the character images from CA3 for that
personalized touch. Some people also like to make character sheets in spreadsheet software, since
these can automatically lookup and calculate many values. Spreadsheets should also support
insertion of images.

Annuals
There are no annuals directly targeting CA3 at this point, but there is a couple which is quite
relevant.

Heraldic Symbols [March 2008 (Vol 2)] {Issue 15}

This issue explores the creation of heraldic shields and devices.

While the annual issue doesn’t address this, these are perfect for
creating your own heraldic device for your character

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2008/march08.html

Investigation Props [January 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 73}

Another issue which doesn’t address CA3, but the props here can
certainly benefit from various character artwork.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/january13.html

Monsters & Heroes [February 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 86}

This map pack contains various pre-assembled CA3 paper figures

for you to use.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/february14.html

536
DIORAMAS 3
 Mexican Fort
This Mexican fort was created by Ralf Schemmann using Dioramas Pro. You can see more in the ProFantasy forum at
http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=1556&page=1. You can also view a Perspectives version of this fort on page 444.

538
INTRODUCTION Dioramas 3
Note that Dioramas 3 is only
Welcome to Dioramas 3 (Dio3). This section introduces the Dioramas
compatible with CC3+. If
3 commands, and shows you how to use them to create three-
you wish to use Dioramas
dimensional fold-up structures to enhance your gaming experience.
with CC3, you will need to
Additionally, the example drawings provided with your Dioramas 3
use the compatibility update
installation are explained, and advice is given on the craft of cardboard
of the old Dioramas Pro
engineering.
add-on.
Also note that the
Dioramas 3 Overview compatibility update for the
old Dioramas Pro add-on is
also available for CC3+,
Maps from previous versions which you can use if you
Maps created in older versions of Campaign Cartographer may exhibit only own the old version,
strange behavior with layers and symbols. To fix this, load each old and not Dio3.
map, type CS, press and then save the map. This chapter documents
Dio3 however, so if you try
to follow along using only
The Dioramas 3 toolbar Dio Pro, there will be several
Dioramas Options Change Panel Fill Style differences.

Rectangular Panel Polygonal Panel

Convert to Panel Multipoly Panel

Tab Geomorph Tab

Fold Line Cut Line

Wall Net Multi-Wall Net

Wall Drawing Tools Roof Drawing Tools

Floor Drawing Tools All Map Drawing Tools

The Dioramas 3 symbol toolbar

There are several symbol catalogs available in Dioramas 3. To use these, click on the buttons on the
Symbols toolbar.

Tutorial files
All the tutorial files for this section are stored in @Tutorials\Tome\Dioramas unless otherwise
specified in the tutorial itself.

Templates
The New Map Wizard only contains a single generic Dioramas template in each style. Normally,
you wish to use the Pick a pre-defined template instead of Decide settings myself when you
start a new Dioramas drawing.

Note that you can find a selection of older templates if you hit the Select Path button and navigate
into one of the subfolders presented. These are not set up for the new bitmap artwork style provided
with Dioramas 3, but they do contain a lot of premade stuff that can serve as a nice inspiration.

539
 CREATING DIORAMAS
Paper models can add a nice touch to any game when printed and assembled, but they also need a
bit of planning to get things right. Let us start out by creating a few small components before we
move on to full buildings later in the book.

Starting a new blank diorama

Template 1. Start a new drawing based on the Dio3 Bitmap A Multiple.FCT template.
Note that this is a pre- This template is designed for dioramas of any scale, but note the colored lines, they indicate
defined template, NOT a what area of the template you can use depending on your desired scale. This limitation is
wizard (decide settings simply because the printout needs to fit on a single sheet of paper. If you have a large format
myself) template. For printer you can also make larger items.
Dioramas drawings, you’ll Note that if you already know the miniature scale you are going for, you can start with a
almost always want to use template designed for that particular scale instead. Normal scale for most RPG miniatures are
the pre-defined templates. 25/28mm, but it depends on the game. For wargaming use, the other scales will probably be
more appropriate, but again, it depends on the game.

Instant Print Buttons

Features of the Dioramas 3 template
When you click on one of The Dioramas Pro template comprises eight
these buttons, Dioramas 3 pages, each made of a grid of 5’ squares,
will ask you whether you allowing you to draw several diorama pieces
want to print. If you answer within a single drawing (depending on scale). If
“Yes” to this prompt, the you use the multiple template, you need to
current page (not the entire make sure to only use the area of the drawing
drawing) will be printed, at marked by the color matching the color of the
the miniature scale instant print buttons. If you draw outside this
indicated by the instant area, it won’t fit on a single sheet of paper.
print button that was Each of the template’s pages provide additional
activated. For example, functionality, in the form of a scale bar, a set of
pressing the 15mm instant instant print buttons, and a set of page buttons.
print button will print the
current page correct for use The instant print buttons provide an easy
with 15mm scale method to print your Dioramas 3 drawings at a
miniatures. scale correct for the miniature scale you are
Note that when you click designing for.
one of these buttons, they The page buttons permit easy navigation around your Dioramas 3 drawing. The page on which
are hidden, so as not to you are currently working will be indicated by a red page button. Pressing one of the blue buttons
appear on the printout. To will take you to the indicated page number within your Dioramas Pro drawing.
get them back, simply
unhide the BUTTONS sheet. The scale bar provides a double-check when printing a Dioramas Pro drawing to scale. When
printed, the actual distance between the left-hand edge of the bar to the relevant miniature scale
notch should be 2” (51mm). For example, the entire bar should measure 2” in length when printing
to 15mm miniature scale.

A completed example of the following tutorial can be found by opening Steps.FCW. For convenience,
all of the steps involved in the example are illustrated within the same drawing on separate pages.

540
Planning
Sometimes, diorama drawings can be difficult to work through from a cold start. It is often
worthwhile to quickly sketch the piece you intend to build. This helps prevent the discovery that Sketch
your drawing is impossible to construct or that it is not
Note that such sketches do
possible to draw the piece you want. Sketching will help
not need to be either
you visualize the piece you are drawing. It is a good idea
proportionally accurate or
to draw such sketches, and any other construction lines
to scale, nor do you have to
you draw, in an easily selected color, such as red, to ease
use CC3+ to construct them.
their removal once you have finished with them.
The idea is to simply provide
For the purpose of this example, we will be creating a an aid for visualization of
simple stair section, with 5’ exaggerated steps to allow the object to be drawn - a
easy placement of miniatures. To help us, we might hasty scribble on a piece of
sketch the intended piece thus: scrap paper will serve just as
well.
Drawing panels
When drawing your dioramas object, think of the object in terms of a series of two-dimensional
blocks with each block comprising an area between the corners of the 3D shape. Our stair example
comprises eight such blocks - the front of the lower step, the top of the lower step, the front of the
upper step, the top of the upper step, the back of the stairs object, its base, and two sides.

The easiest method of converting a 3D object into a flat-pack dioramas drawing is to draw each of
these blocks individually such that they join each other where they will be folded to create the final
piece. This method also allows greater flexibility when it comes to selecting fill styles. The most
conservative method is to draw all of the blocks as a single object, or panel, and then add in fold
lines as necessary to divide this object into the separate blocks it represents.

We will start by drawing the stairs as eight individual panels, beginning with the front of the lower
step.

2. Click Dioramas Options .

The Tab Settings dialog box will appear:
It is here that you set the currently used Dioramas
3 drawing options. For now, we’ll just pick the
Dio3A Wall Stone Mortared 3 predefined filter.
We’ll explore how to further fine tune this in the
advanced dialog later.
3. Click Rectangular Panel , and draw a
rectangle 10’ wide and 2.5’ tall.

4. Now go back to the Dioramas Options and pick the Dio3A

Floor Stone Grey 1.
5. Draw another polygon using the Rectangular Panel , this time
making it 10’ wide by 5’ tall.
6. Copy both of the panels you have drawn once, so you now have
two 10’×5’ polygons, and two 10’×2.5’ polygons.
7. Arrange these four polygons so they form a chain.
8. Now we’ll draw the back panel for the stairs. Go back to the
Dioramas Options , and change back to the Dio3A Wall Stone
Mortared 3 setting.

541
 9. Draw a rectangular panel, making this one 10’ wide and 5’ tall.
The back panel needs to be tall enough to accommodate the height of both steps. Since each
step is 2.5’ tall, the back panel needs to be 5’ tall.
Aligned
Now, we need to draw the side panels of the stairs. Because the side-panels we are about to draw
Dioramas Pro used to use
need to be at a right-angle to the panels we have already drawn, the fill style used must also be
different fills for the
aligned to a right angle from the panels we have already drawn to ensure the final drawing looks
different angles. Now, with
right when assembled.
Dio3 and raster fills, we’ll
just use the shaded polygon 10. To draw the side panel, imagine that you are looking at the stairs from the side. Click
commands to rotate the fill Polygonal Panel , and start the panel in the top right corner of the panel representing the
to any angle. top step. Then proceed to draw an L-shape like in the image. The snap points in this template
should be set to half the size of the grid square, allowing you
to easily draw this shape with Snap on.
11. Right click Copy and select Mirrored Copies, click the
panel we have just drawn, and choose a vertical mirror line
that starts at the center of one of the rectangular panel’s sides,
and ends at the center of another.
12. Right click the Polygon button and pick the Shaded
Polygon (Angle by Edge) command. With this command
Mirrored Copies active, click once on the outermost edge of each of our two L-
CC3+ possesses many shapes, this will correctly align the fill in the shapes.
different copy commands Unfortunately, this will also apply roof shading to them, so we
which are of much use when need to get rid of that.
creating Dioramas 13. Activate the Numeric Edit command. Pick the first “L”, and in the Roof shaded polygon
drawings. Two of the most dialog that shows up, check the Shade Only Copy option and hit OK. Repeat this for the
useful for Dioramas other L.
drawings are Mirrored
14. Click on the Dioramas Options again, and change pack to the Dio3A Floor Stone Grey
Copies and Rotated Copies.
1 setting.
We are about to draw a base for our step object. We’ll later learn how to create a new diorama
setting with a white fill that is more suitable to surfaces that
won’t be seen, like this one, so don’t need to waste printer ink
on drawing unnecessary color fill.
15. Draw a 10’×10’ Rectangular Panel , attached to the back
wall panel of the drawing.
The base panel needs to accommodate both the width of the
object, and the combined heights of the panels that will
eventually form the horizontal planes of the steps. Since we
have drawn each step 5’ tall, and there are two steps, the
height of the base panel needs to be 10’.

Fold and cut lines

Fold and cut lines are used to guide the constructor of a dioramas
Fold Line
object. Their specific use is self-explanatory.
By default, cut lines appear
as dashed lines, while fold To draw fold lines, click Fold Line , and draw the line in as you would normally draw a line object.
lines appear as black, solid Similarly, click Cut Line to draw cut lines.
lines. You can change the
16. Click Fold Line , and draw from the top left to the top right of the lower step’s vertical
style used for cut and fold
panel.
lines by clicking on the
Dioramas Options, and 17. Repeat this process for all of the panel intersections.
setting Line Style options
accordingly.

542
Glue tabs
or Keys
Glue tabs are used within the final assembly of a Dioramas 3 object, being the points at which folded
panels are attached to each other. As with all Dioramas Pro drawing functions, tab style drawing When the key is
options may be set through the Dioramas Options dialog. pressed, the number of tabs
Dioramas Pro will draw
18. Click Tab . along the selected edge will
Dioramas Pro will now begin the tab drawing process, and the command prompt reads First increase (you will see the
point (or edge). outline tabs increase in
number). Similarly, pressing
19. Select the long edge of one of the step side panels.
the key will decrease
An outline of the tab to be drawn appears attached to the panel edge selected. By moving the number of tabs to be
the cursor, you will notice the outline extend or contract, from the panel edge to the current drawn, to a minimum of a
cursor position. The command prompt changes to read Set width [default width](+,- adjust single tab. This is useful
tab count). when creating particularly
At this point, you can either left-click to complete the drawing of the tab, type a value at the complex or delicate objects
command prompt to specifically set the width of the tab (this will draw the tab and complete - an increased number of
the command), or press the or keys on the numeric tabs will, for certain objects,
keypad of your keyboard. make assembly of the object
easier to achieve, at the
20. With the cursor positioned so that the outline tab appears
sacrifice of making it harder
outside of the panel it is to be attached to, type 1 at the
to cut out.
command prompt, and press .

Dioramas 3 will draw the tab, with a width of 1’ from the

edge of the panel. Width
Sometimes, the tab command gets confused about what The maximum width of a
is the outside and inside and will draw the tab inside the tab is dependent on the
panel instead of outside it. Generally, if you find that this panel to which it will be
happens, just undo and use a negative value instead (like glued. The tab cannot be of
-1 instead of 1). greater width than this
21. Repeat the process for the remaining four edges of the panel, and it is
side panel. recommended that the tab
is smaller than this. If more
22. Right-click Copy , then select Mirrored Copies
than one tab is to be glued
selecting a mirror line running vertically through the center of the steps object, to copy the
to a single panel, you must
side panel tabs we have drawn across to the opposite side panel.
also consider the area
23. Add a tab to the bottom side of the lower panel. required to accommodate
all such tabs when deciding
the width to use. It is a
trade-off between making
the tab as large as possible
to ease construction, and
ensuring that the tabs will
not interfere with any other
part of the object.
Where you have the option
of placing a tab on one of
two panels that will
ultimately mate, always
choose the narrower of the
two panels on which to
draw the tab. This will allow
you to make the tab as large
as possible.

543
 Complex Objects
The steps object we have drawn in the above example is relatively simple. Of course, Dioramas 3
possesses the functionality to allow you to draw structures with greater complexity than this!

As with any Dioramas 3 object, it is often very helpful to quickly sketch the desired result. This is
especially true with complex objects. Remember that these sketches only need to provide guidance.
Accuracy is not important, as long as the sketch provides a useful visualization guide.

Spend a little time to think about that which you are about to draw. A couple of minutes spent in
Attach
cogitation can often save painful hours spent seeking and correcting errors later.
The Attach button forces
CC3+ to use a function Circles and tubes
similar to that supplied by
the modifiers (Endpoint, On, True circular and tubular objects are almost impossible to achieve in cardboard engineering, unless
etc.) with every click. The said circle or tube is the be-all and end-all of the object you are creating. As soon as you require
major difference between something to be attached to a circle or tube, by way of glue tabs, the practicality of such objects
the two being that, where breaks down.
the modifiers will not place It is better, then, to draw circular and tubular objects as standard polygons; the more sides possessed
a point if you do not click by such polygons, the more circular they will appear. Obviously, the practicalities of assembly
upon an object they can act forego drawing polygons with a huge number of sides. The trick is to create a
upon, use of the attach polygon that represents the object you desire as closely as possible without
mode will allow such point making assembly impossible.
placement (the point, in this
case, will be placed The following process will guide you through the steps necessary to create a
normally). closed tube object (e.g., a circular tower). The steps are illustrated within the
To set the specific attach Circles and tubes.FCW drawing.
mode used, right-click over
1. Draw a circle of the desired radius.
the Attach button, and
select the required mode 2. Click Tab .
from the list that appears. 3. Click the edge of the circle.
The outline tabs will appear around the circle. Note that we are using the tabs here to
ultimately guide the drawing of our circle representing polygon. We will eventually delete
these tabs, along with the circle, so the usual tab drawing guidelines do not apply.
4. Press the or keypad keys until the desired number
of tabs appear.
For the example, I have opted to represent the tube with
a 14-sided polygon. Thus, I have used the key until
14 tabs have appeared surrounding the circle.
5. Click outside the circle to complete tab drawing.
6. Click Erase then delete the circle.

7. Click the Attach button, so it appears depressed.

For our purposes, we require the Nearest Endpoint
attach mode. It is a good idea to right click on the Attach
button now to check that this is indeed the currently selected mode.

544
 8. Click Polygonal Panel , then draw a panel by
clicking on the points at which the tabs meet.
Do not click on any point more than once. When you
reach the last point around the “circle” before the first
point you placed is reached, completing the panel
command by right-clicking will close the polygon
between these points.
9. Erase all of the tab entities.
10. Use Info Menu → Distance to measure the distance
along one side of the panel you have just drawn. Make
a note of the distance CC3+ reports.
Calculate
Keeping the Attach button down at this point allows the
CC3+ possess the capability
Distance command to be used easily - just click on two adjacent corners of the panel. My
to calculate mathematical
example polygon is 2.2252’ per side.
equations used in lieu of
11. Click the Attach button to turn attach mode off. We don’t need it anymore. actual figures. Since we
12. Click Rectangular Panel , then click within the drawing to start a new panel. have 14 sides to our base
polygon, each being
This rectangular panel will form the tube. 2.2252’ long, we can simply
13. Type @14*2.2252,0 at the command prompt. tell CC3+ to use 14*2.2252
as a relative X coordinate
This will place the second point of our tube panel a horizontal distance from the first point
for the second point, and let
clicked equal to the combined “circumference” of our circle representing polygon. We can
CC3+ do the math for us.
let CC3+ calculate this for us.
Obviously, you should
14. Click at a point above or below those already placed to complete the tube panel at the desired replace the values used in
height. this example with those
15. Click Fold Line . that relate to the object you
are working to achieve.
16. Click Tools → Snaps → % Along.
17. At the command prompt, type 100/14.
This is another instance of allowing CC3+ to do the hard math for us. We wish to draw our
fold line so that it is 1/14th of the distance along the tube panel, or 100% divided by 14. The
“14” in this equation should be replaced by the number of sides possessed by your circle
representing polygon, if different.
18. Click on one of the long edges of the tube panel.
19. Repeat steps 16 through 18, this time clicking on the opposite edge of the tube panel.
20. Click Copy , then select the fold line just drawn.
21. Click Endpoint modifier, then click on the closest top corner to the fold line just drawn.
22. Click Endpoint modifier again. This time click on the original fold line, close to its upper
end.
23. Continue placing fold line copies by using the
Endpoint modifier. When you place the
copied line, click on the last fold line copy placed
close to its upper end. Repeat until all necessary
fold lines have been placed (13 in total, or
however many your design requires).
24. Click Tab .

25. Select one of the long sides of the tube panel to start the tab.

545
 26. Use the keypad key to increase the number of tabs drawn to 14 (or however many your
design requires).
27. Type 1 at the command prompt, then
press to complete the tab command.
28. Right click Copy , then select
Mirrored Copies. Copy the tabs to the
opposite side of the tube panel.
29. Click Tab , then draw a 1’ wide tab
along one of the short sides of the tube
panel.
30. Copy the polygon representing our
circle to gain a base for the cylinder.

Multi-page objects
Although it is desirable to keep Dioramas 3 objects to one page as far as possible, particularly large
and/or complex objects may require more than a single page.

For most drawings, it is simply a case of placing different component parts upon different pages
(e.g., placing corridor wall sections on a different page than their base pieces).

However, there may be times when a single piece is too large to fit within a single page. When this
problem occurs, break the intended drawing into more than one logical component (breaking a long
wall section into two wall sections is more logical than, for example, breaking a single wall section
in half lengthways). Keep in mind how easy it would be to re-join the pieces upon assembly,
avoiding breaks that would cause unnecessary complications.

Adding symbols
Dioramas 3 provides several symbol catalogs, which can be used to
add life and detail to your Dioramas Pro designs. These are
accessible from the catalog buttons in the symbol toolbar.
Re-join
Disparate parts of an object Windows, Wall Features and Doors contains symbols that can be added to walls, buildings, etc.,
should be drawn with such including doors, windows, shutters, torch brackets, curtains, and so forth. These symbols are simply
re-joining as a major placed within a given drawing where necessary.
consideration. Thus, some Vegetation contains various trees and bushes. These are primarily intended to place on a wall for
mechanism, whether using decoration, and are not stand-alone vegetation
tabs or as an additional
panel drawn to mate with a Flats contains pre-fabricated parts that, when assembled, form common items of furniture, dungeon
similar panel on another dressing, etc. The best way to use these is to place those required for a given construction on a
component part, must be separate Dioramas 3 page (or, if available, within blank areas of pages that have already been used
provided for. The decision as for drawing). Once printed, these symbols are assembled just as any other Dioramas 3 drawing.
to which joining method is
used must be taken on a
case-for-case basis. As a
rough rule of thumb, use
mating panels when pieces
directly abut each other
(e.g., a walled corner); and
use tabs when one piece is
simply an extension of a
basic shape (e.g., an
extension to a building).

546
THE TAB OPTIONS DIALOG Preview
Note that some of the
When you click the Dioramas Options
previews may appear
button you bring up the Tab
completely white with black
Options dialog. The basic dialog only outlines. This is simply
let you choose from existing presets because the required fill
and see a preview of them and don’t styles used by those presets
contain any interesting options, but if are not available in the
you click the Advanced dialog >> current template. For
button you get to the actual example, the templates for
configuration dialog. the bitmap A style does not
Saved Settings: This contain the fills for the
section contains a bitmap B style and vice
dropdown to select an versa.
existing setting, and
buttons to manage saved Configuration Dialog
settings. If you have used previous
versions of the Dioramas
Tabs: This section contains the various settings that affect the style of the glue tabs.
addon, you may remember
Straight: This tab controls settings for standard straight tabs. that the options button
brought up a dialog similar
▪ % of Edge: This setting controls how wide the tab will be relative to the edge
to the advanced dialog
it is attached to. Note that this is the size used in total by all tabs along the
directly. Previous versions
edge, not the size of each.
didn’t have the ability to
▪ Tab Angle: This is the angle of the edge of the tab. 45 degrees is usually a save presets, making you
good option, since this ensures tabs from both sides of a 90-degree corner set up everything each time
won’t overlap. you needed to change
settings.
Curved: This tab contains the options for how tabs are generated around a curve,
such as a circle.

▪ Segment angle: This controls how large a segment of the curve each tab will
cover. Most settings are set up with 15 degrees here, which means that for a
circle (360 degrees) 24 tabs will be generated. The smaller this angle, the more
tabs are generated, and the closer we get to approximate a true circle, but the
more difficult the assembly becomes.

▪ Minimum length: This setting prevents tabs getting too small on curves with
a small radius.

▪ Tab angle: This is the angle of the tab against the curve. An angle of 0 means
that it will be perpendicular to the curve (measured where the center point of
the tab touches the curve)

Gemomorph: These options apply to geomorph tabs. Geomorph tabs are tabs
intended for making pieces that can be plugged together in various configurations,
such as dungeon geomorphs. Note that there is always a straight glue tab at the
end of the geomorph tabs, the settings for this one follows the straight settings
above.

▪ % Length: This controls the length of the geomorph tab, i.e. how much it
extends from the panel.

▪ Width: This is the width of each geomorph tab. CC3+ will automatically use
enough geomorph tabs to fill the panel width.

▪ Angle: This is the angle of the geomorph tabs. It is usually less steep than the
angle for regular tabs, using 22.5 degrees by default.

▪ Color: Color of the geomorph part of the tabs.

547
 Tab Depth: This is the depth of the tab, i.e. the distance it extends from the panel
it is applied to. In general, the larger the tab is, the easier to glue it, but you should
also make sure that multiple tabs don’t overlap when gluing, so you may need to
make them smaller to avoid this. You should also make sure that the tab isn’t larger
than the panel you plan to glue it to.

Outline: This is the color used for the outline of the tabs.

Fill Style: Controls the fill of the tabs

Fill Color: Controls the color of the tab. This will only have a visible result if the fill
style of the tab is set to a Brush Pattern (Such as Solid) or Scalable Hatching type
fill, if you use bitmap or symbol fills the color won’t make a difference.

Layer: Select which layer the tabs should be on.

Cut Lines & Fold Lines: These groups control the visual appearance of the cut and fold
lines

Line Style: By default, cut lines use a dashed line style, while fold lines use a solid
line. Set the line style you prefer.

Color: This controls the color of the lines

Layer: Controls the layer the lines are placed on.

Panels: These settings control the appearance of diorama panels.

Foreground Fill & Background Fill: Panels use two different fills on two different
sheets. Historically, older version of Dioramas would use a solid color in the
background, and a symbol fill pattern in the foreground, which is still the method
we would use when drawing dioramas using a vector style. But if you use modern
raster fills, these are usually placed as the background fill, and the foreground is
set to a hollow black fill, serving to create an outline.
If you use a vector template, you’ll notice that there are a lot of symbol fills with
the same name, but that ends in the numbers 45, 90 and 135. These are simply
rotated versions of the same fill. Since symbol fill can’t be rotated the way bitmap
fill can, different rotations are needed to get the correct result. Note that only
rotations in 45 degree increments are supported, if you need anything else, you
need to draw the panel itself at an angle instead. The tower roof component to the
left shows why multiple angles are required, note that the roof parts need to be
attached to the white square in the middle, otherwise assembly would be
problematic.

Color: This is the color for each of the fills. As with the tab fills, color only matters
if the chosen fill is a brush pattern or scalable hatching. A raster fill is not affected
by the color setting.

Layer: This controls the layers the two panel parts are placed on.
Multi-wall Net Multi Net Max: This is the longest wall length allowed in a multi-wall net. The reason
Multi-wall nets are for this restriction is simply how much room there is on a sheet of paper when printing
described on page 556. to scale.

Creating new Presets

To create a new preset, simply hit New in the configuration dialog. This will create a copy of the
current setting under a new name. Then simply change the desired settings, and finally click the
Save button. For example, to create a completely white panel, which is helpful when you need a
supporting panel that won’t be visible, create a new setting named White, and change the settings
for the Background Fill to Solid, and the color to White (15). Remember to hit Save.

Note that the presets are global and not per map, so be a bit careful about editing existing presets,
it is better to create a new one.

548
DRAWING BUILDINGS
All of the techniques we have learned thus far can be put forward into drawing buildings of any
type, from the simplest cottage to the most complex fortress.

1. Open Buildings.FCW.
The three relatively simple buildings contained within this drawing have all been drawn using
techniques we have already discussed. Since the chapel in the example drawing comprises
the most complexity, the following tutorial will guide you through the steps necessary to
draw that particular building.

We’ll obviously need to start a new map, since there is no room to draw on the example drawing,
but I recommend you just open a new instance of CC3+ so you can have both open at once. If you
have multiple monitors, it is often helpful to have one CC3+ instance on each, and this document
on the third.

When following this tutorial, don’t be too focused on making your drawing fit within the grid while
working on it, you can move the parts later. Same holds true if a part got larger than you thought
when starting, and it now overlaps another part. Just complete the new part, then Move
afterwards.

Blank
2. Start a new map. The example drawing is based on the Dio3 Bitmap A_Multiple to support
I recommend you create a
printing to multiple resolutions, but it is primarily designed for the 28mm scale, so feel free
new preset for blank/white
to use the Dio3 Bitmap A_28mm instead to get just the grid size you need. You’ll notice in
panels. See the previous
the example drawing that I have stayed within the 28mm border.
page for details.
3. Draw a 10’ square blank (that is, black hollow foreground, white solid background) panel
using the Rectangular Panel .
4. Change the Dioramas Options to Dio3A Roof Slate 1. Shaded Polygon
If you have problems with
5. Draw a regular triangular panel using the Polygonal Panel , with its base against the lower
the shaded polygon
edge of the blank panel, of height 15’.
command, it is usually
6. Continue drawing triangles along the other three edges of the panel. selection problems, for
7. Right click Polygon and select the Shaded Polygon (Angle By Edge) command. With example the wrong entity
this command active, click once on the baseline of each triangle. This should rotate the fill gets selected. For example,
so that the baseline of the triangle is “down”. a Dio3 panel actually
consists of 2 entities on two
Note that this also applies shading to our polygon. different layers, so you may
This is very useful for a top-down city map, as it uses accidentally only affect one
light to show the direction of the roof. This is not very of them. If you have
useful for our paper model however, so we’ll turn off problems, I recommend
the shading but leave the rotation intact. This is done temporarily hiding/moving
by using Numeric Edit on the entities. After other entities. The entity you
activating this command, click on the edge of one of wish to affect is the bitmap
the roofs. I recommend clicking on the side of the fill on the BACKGROUND
triangle instead of the baseline this time, because it sheet., not the hollow
is easier to hit the triangle instead of the white outline on the FILL sheet.
square panel. If everything went according to plan,
you’ll see the Roof Shaded Polygon pop up. There are
lots of options here, but the only one relevant to us Place
now is the Shade Only Copy setting. Enable this and
The tabs must be placed on
click ok. You should see the lighting on the polygon return to normal.
alternate sides so that no
Repeat this for all the triangles.
tab will overlap when the
model is assembled.
8. Click Tab , then place one tab along one side of each of the four spire roof panels, such
that the tabs alternate.

549
 9. Change to another page by pressing one of the blue page buttons.
10. Change the panel options to DIO3A Wall Stone Mortared 2.
11. Draw a Rectangular Panel , 10’ wide and 25’ high. Position this panel towards the left
edge of the page.
12. Draw a second rectangular panel, this one being 30’ wide, and 17.5’ high. Position this panel
immediately to the right of the panel you drew in step (11).
13. Draw another rectangular panel, this one being 10’ wide and 7.5’ high. Position this panel so
that its lower left corner is attached to the upper left corner of the large panel drawn in step
(12), and its upper left corner is attached to the upper right corner of the panel drawn in step
Construction Line (11).

We will use this line to draw 14. Click Tab , then place tabs along the
a tab that will be used to left hand and topmost edges of the panel
marry step (11)’s panel with drawn in step (11), the right hand edge
the chapel’s roof. We of that drawn in step (12), and the
cannot simply add the tab to topmost edge of that drawn in step (13).
the topmost edge of the 15. Draw a 20’ long horizontal line away
step (11) panel, since the from the panels already drawn.
resultant tab would overlap
the panel drawn in step (12) This is a construction line.
16. Add a tab to the line you’ve just drawn,
so that the tab faces upwards.
17. Delete the construction line.
18. Move the tab drawn in step (16), so that its lower right corner is attached to the upper right
corner of the panel drawn in step (12).
19. Click Fold Line , then add a fold line along the leftmost edge of the small panel drawn in
step (13).
20. Click Cut Line , then add a cut line along the lower edge of the small panel drawn in step
(13).

21. Switch to a blank page, and then draw identical panels to the
ones from steps (11) and (12), but this time the taller panel
should be to the right.
22. Use Tab to add tabs to the upper and right edges of the tall,
narrow panel just placed, and to the upper and left edges of the
shorter, long panel.

23. Change to a blank page by clicking on one of the blue page buttons.
24. Click on the Rectangular Panel , then draw a panel that is 25’ tall, and 10’ wide.

25. Click on the Polygonal Panel .

26. Left-click to place the starting point of our new panel. It is advisable to place this point close
to the bottom of the page’s grid.
27. To place the next point, type @0,17.5 at the command prompt, and press .

28. Type @5,5 then press to place the third point.

29. Type @5,-5 then press to place the fourth point.

30. The fifth point is placed by typing @0,-17.5, then pressing .

31. Right-click to close the panel.

32. Use Tab to add tabs to the upper edge of the rectangular panel, and to each of the sloped
edges of the polygonal panel.

550
 33. Change to a blank page by pressing one of the blue page buttons.
Precise Calculations
34. Change panel options to Dio3A Roof Slate 1.
The height of the roof
35. Draw a Rectangular Panel that is 30.5’ panels (7.57107’ in the
wide, and 7.57107’ tall. example) was calculated
Those measurements were arrived at by precise using Pythagoras’ Theorem,
calculations. and adding a 6” gutter
The best way to draw panels with such precise overhang. For a complete
sizes is to input the coordinates on the explanation of this
command line like we did in steps (26) to (31) calculation, refer to End
earlier. Panel Calculation on the
next page.
36. Draw another identical panel next to it so their long sides mate. For most buildings you can
37. Use the Shaded Polygon (Angle by Edge) command and Numeric Edit on the topmost skip the calculations and
panel similar to what we did in step (7). The edge you need to click on to get the right result just use the Info → Distance
is the top edge. command to measure the
length of the sloped line in
the triangle, but knowing
38. Change to a blank page, by pressing one of the blue page buttons. the calculations is helpful
39. Change the panel options to DIO3A Wall Stone Mortared 2. when buildings are made
from multiple parts that
40. Draw a polygonal panel by repeating steps (25) through
make measuring difficult.
(32).
Alternatively, copy the panel you’ve already drawn using
those steps to the page you are now working on.
41. Click Rectangular Panel , then draw a panel that is 5’
wide and 17.5’ tall. Draw the panel so that it is directly
adjacent, and in line with, the polygonal panel.
42. Draw an identical panel on the other side of the polygonal
panel.
Arrived At
43. Click Tab , and place tabs along all external sides of the The values listed in the
panels with the exception of their bases. example for the relative co-
44. Change panel options to Dio3A Roof Slate 1. ordinates of the extension
roof panel were calculated
45. Click Polygonal Panel . Click to start drawing, then use the following point coordinates
using common
(remember to follow each co-ordinate pair with ): trigonometry. For a
@10.5,0 @0,7.57107 @-5.14645,0. complete explanation of
Right-click to complete the panel. this calculation, refer to the
Roof Extension Calculation
Those values were arrived at by precise calculations.
on page 552.
46. Draw a second polygonal panel with the exact same starting point as
the above, but with these coordinates:
@10.5,0 @0,-7.57107 @-5.14645,0.
47. Use the Shaded Polygon (Angle by Edge) command and EDITSHADING
on the topmost panel similar to what we did in step (7). The edge you
need to click on to get the right result is the top edge.

48. Go back to all components of the chapel you have drawn, and add wall feature symbols as
desired.
By using the processes learned here, buildings of virtually any complexity may be created. To add
even more spice to a building, consider adding beams, wall sections using different panel fill styles,
and any other desired frills. You might, for example, wish to draw chimneys to add to your building.
These can easily be drawn using the skills you have learned over the course of these tutorials.

551
 Mathematical revision: Pythagoras Theorem and trigonometry.
End panel calculation
Consider this diagram, depicting a portion of a
house end panel.

Pythagoras states that the square of the

hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares
of the other two sides, thus: 𝐻 2 = 𝐴2 + 𝑂2
or 𝐻 = √𝐴2 + 𝑂2
For the example, this equates to:
√52 + 52 = 7.07107. Adding on the
gutter overhang we require (6”, or 0.5’), the
total height we need for the roof panel is
gained.

The length of the hypotenuse, H, is the minimum height of a single roof panel needed to marry
properly with the sloping edge of the house wall panel. In most cases, it is simpler to use CC3’s Info
Menu → Distance command, using the Endpoint modifier to snap the points measured between to
the ends of the sloped side, to gain this distance. This is, however, not always convenient, and it is
in these cases that Pythagoras can be an invaluable tool.

In other situations, even Pythagoras may not provide the necessary solution. If we cannot measure
side H (or it is inconvenient to do so), and side A or side O are equally problematical, it may be
𝐴 𝑂
useful to make use of common trigonometric formulae, such that 𝐻 = cos 𝑎 and 𝐻 = sin 𝑎. Angle
a can be measured by using Info menu → Bearing, and using the Endpoint modifier to pick up both
ends of the sloping side. Most calculators (including that included with the Windows® operating
system) provide buttons to automatically calculate angle sines (sin) and cosines (cos). For our
5 5
example (given that a is 45°, and lengths A and O are both 5’): = 7.07107 and =
cos 45 sin 45
7.07107
In summary, if using CC3’s measurement functionality is inconvenient for whatever reason, use
Pythagoras to calculate H if A and O are both known.

If O is unknown, but side A and angle a are known, calculate H by dividing side A by the cosine of
angle a.

If A is unknown, but side O and angle a are known, calculate H by dividing side O by the sine of
angle a.

Roof extension calculation

The values listed in the example for the relative co-ordinates of
the extension roof panel were calculated using common
trigonometry. Namely, the one standard trigonometric formula
we have not yet discussed that for the tangent of an angle:
𝑂
tan 𝑎 = 𝐴
Consider this diagram, which represents one panel of an
extension roof net.

To draw this panel without including a gutter overhang is a simple task. Starting from the extreme
left-hand point, we would simply use:

A horizontal co-ordinate (A) representing the sum of the distance the extension juts into the house
(A’’) and the distance it juts out from the house (D). This would be @10,0 in the example, since A’’
and D are both 5’ in length).

552
A vertical co-ordinate (B) equal to the length of the sloped side of the extension’s front wall
(calculated as per standard panels - see Mathematical Revision: Pythagoras and Trigonometry
above). This calculates to @0,7.07107 for our example.

A negative horizontal co-ordinate (D) equal to the distance the extension juts out from the house.
This is @-5,0 in the example.

Right-click to close the panel, which will automatically create side H.

However, if we desire a gutter overhang, things get a little more complicated. In this case, our co-
ordinates would be (again, starting from the extreme left-hand point):

A horizontal co-ordinate (A+A’) representing the sum of the distance the extension juts into the
house (A’’), the distance it juts away from the house (D), and the required frontal overhang (A’). The
co-ordinate used for the example, using a 6” overhang, is thus @10.5,0.

A vertical co-ordinate (B+B’) equal to the length of the sloped side of the extension’s front wall (B),
plus the required side-wall overhang (B’). For our example, this is @0,7.57107.

A negative horizontal co-ordinate (D’) equal the distance the extension juts away from the house
(D), plus the required frontal overhang (A’), less the base of a triangle of height equal to the side
overhang distance (B’), and the resultant extension of the sloped edge of the extension roof panel
′
(D’’). Our example requires a co-ordinate equal to @-5.14645,0, calculated using the formula: 𝐷 =
′ 𝐵′ ×𝐴"
𝐷+𝐴 −( )
𝐵
Right-click to complete the panel, which will automatically draw in the side H+H’.

This co-ordinate formula used for D’ is derived using trigonometry. To calculate D’’, we must apply
the tangent formula twice: first to calculate the value of the tangent of angle a, and second to use
this value to calculate the length of D’’.

𝐵 𝐵′
First, from the diagram: tan 𝑎 = 𝐴" and second: 𝐷" = tan 𝑎
To avoid dealing with messy tangent values, we can combine these two equations to gain: 𝐷" =
𝐵′ ×𝐴"
and, to simplify further, we can combine this into a single equation that can be used to
𝐵
𝐵′ ×𝐴"
calculate D’: 𝐷′ = 𝐷 + 𝐴′ − ( )
𝐵
Using the above theory and formulae, any roof overhang may be calculated, including those for roof
sections that overhang the front and sides by different amounts.

553
 DIORAMAS GEOMORPHS & BUILDINGS
Dioramas 3 provides a library of pre-drawn geomorphic and building diorama pieces that can simply
be opened, modified to your own specifications by adding fill styles and symbols, and then printed
out for final assembly.

The geomorphic dungeon pieces also support a unique plug-in system. When constructed, each
geomorphic piece consists of two or more separate pieces: a floor base, and one or more wall pieces.
The floor bases possess fold-over plugs to which wall pieces may be pushed into place. In play, the
system allows greater flexibility such that geomorph pieces may be mixed and matched at will, and
walls may simply be removed to allow better access to miniatures and battle situations if required.

Dioramas 3 provides two sets of geomorph pieces: a blank set, in template form, allowing you to
create geomorphic pieces for your dungeons; and a set of completed geomorphs that serve as both
examples for the production of your own Dioramas 3 drawings, and as “fire and forget” pieces - that
is, they may simply be opened and printed, ready for use, with a little editing.

Creating a New Drawing using Dioramas 3 Geomorphs

If you want to create a floorplan from plug in sections, adding your own fill styles and symbols,
follow these instructions.

1. Click New .
2. Select Dioramas as the map type, and choose the Pick a pre-defined template option.
Symbol
3. Click Select Path and navigate to the Geomorphs or Buildings folder.
The Dioramas 3 Wall
4. Select any template in the folder and hit OK, this will bring you back to the template browser
Features symbols make use
where you can see previews and pick the desired template.
of smart symbol
functionality. This means 5. The drawing is zoomed in to one of the geomorph areas on this drawing. Click Zoom Extents
that symbols will align to see them all.
themselves to the edges of
drawing entities; Left- Adding symbols to geomorph pieces
clicking when the correct
alignment has been Dioramas 3 provides a symbol catalog of features such as doors, windows, shutters, and curtains
achieved will lock the that can be added to any Dioramas 3 drawing.
symbol’s angle. A second 6. Click any catalog button .
left-click will place the
symbol. Smart symbol The symbol catalog will open in the Symbol Catalog window.
functionality may be 7. Click the required symbol, and place it within the drawing at the appropriate location.
disabled by right-clicking,
and selecting the Disable Changing the fill styles of geomorphs
Smart Symbols check box.
The Dioramas 3 geomorphs start out plain white. You will probably want to add fill style and color
to them. Before we can add fill styles, we need to import the desired fills into the drawing.

8. Use Draw → Insert File to insert either Dioramas 3 Bitmap A.fcw or Dioramas 3 Bitmap
B.fcw from the @System\Fill Styles folder into your drawing. However, when the drawing
is at your cursor and the command line tells you to place it, simply hit instead. This results
in all fill styles from the picked file to be copied into your current map, but none of the entities.
9. Click Change Panel Fill Style .

10. Select the panels you wish to change. o It

when you have selected all required panels.
You see the Change Panel Style dialog box:
11. Use the Foreground drop-list to select the
required foreground fill style. Note that for
normal Dio 3 bitmap drawings, the foreground

554
 should be using the Hollow fill style, black color. Vector style drawings are a bit different,
they contain the pattern as the foreground.
12. Set the background using the Background drop-down. For bitmap style drawings, this is the
actual fill you wish to use, while for vector drawings the fill style is usually set to Solid, and
then a desired color. Remember that the color indicator has no impact on bitmap fill styles.
A certain amount of experimentation is necessary to achieve your desired results.

Other geomorph tips and tricks

As you peruse the geomorph templates and examples, you will notice that some geomorph pieces
are divided across more than one page, and other pages contain more than one geomorph piece.
Do not be afraid to move the pieces around - or even delete them from the drawing - to achieve
the result you desire.

The geomorphs are designed to be flexible to allow you to swap pieces and move them around.
Just because a particular wall section normally “belongs” to a particular geomorph piece, does not
mean you cannot use that wall section to plug into a base piece to which it is not normally
associated.

Finally, keep all of the geomorph pieces you assemble! Because they are generic in design, a store
of pieces will allow you to build rooms, corridors, and so forth as you require during play. Thus there
is thus no need to print and assemble separate pieces for every location in a given dungeon, and
pieces you assemble for one dungeon may work just as well for delving through a different labyrinth
entirely. This philosophy also applies to pieces you create yourself - keep them; your scalpel and
printer will thank you in the long run!

Jhendor
The Jhendor map was
drawn by Ralf Schemmann
using CC2.
An older version of this
map, created in CC-DOS is
available on page 614.
A CC3 version in the
Mercator Historical style
can be viewed on page 126.

555
 WALL NETS
If you are using Dioramas to create dungeon pieces,
you’ll find that you need lots of stand-alone walls. This is
what the Wall Net and Multi-Wall Net
commands are used for.

Using these commands you can create singe wall pieces,

or a set of connected pieces.

Wall Net
Coordinates The wall net command creates a single stand-alone.
Basically, you just give the command the length, height
If you don’t remember how
and thickness of the wall, and it will automatically generate the required panels and glue tabs for
relative coordinates work,
you.
refer back to the
Understanding Coordinates 1. Use Dioramas Options to set the desired style.
chapter on page 188.
2. Click Wall Net and click in the drawing to set the first point for the wall.
3. Now the command line will ask for the other end of the wall. Basically, this step decides the
length of the wall. You can of course click anywhere in the drawing to place it, and if you
have other entities to guide you, such as a floor piece the wall should match, that might be
the simple solution, but if you have a specific wall length in mind, it is better to add it as
Feet coordinates on the command line, for example by typing @20,0 you make a wall that is
Obviously, this distance is 20 feet long.
really map units, 4. CC3+ will then ask for the wall height. Again, you could click in the drawing, but I usually
representing whatever unit prefer to give it the correct number directly. Note that this is the value for height, and not a
of measurement you use in
coordinate, so for a 10’ high wall, simply enter 10 .
the current map, such as
meters or light years. 5. Finally, the width (thickness) for the wall is needed. If you move your mouse in the drawing,
you’ll see that the preview seem to grow in all direction. This is because the width adds four
panels, left and right edges, and top/bottom edges.
Again, I prefer to just enter the number on the command
line, such as 2 for a 2’ thick wall. You’ll probably want
this wall to stand by itself though, so don’t make the wall
too thin.
When you are done, you will get a drawing like the image to the
right. I’ve labelled the parts just to make clear what is what,
CC3+ won’t do that on your drawing.

When you fold up this wall, you will end up with what is
basically a small cardboard box, looking much like one of the
wall segments in the illustration on the top of this page.

Multi-Wall Net
Multi-Wall nets take a regular overhead wall, such as a wall in a DD3 dungeon as a starting point
and make the required wall net panels. This is great for converting your dungeons into playable
dioramas. Be aware that this command creates the wall as
one long wall that are glued together into one final piece, so
if you want smaller pieces that can be re-arranged, you
should chop your wall into smaller pieces before running this
command.

556
For my example here, I have drawn a small dungeon wall segment. This could be copied straight
from a DD3 map for example. Note that the wall segment needs to be a path, not a line, but a line
can always be converted to a path using the Line to Path command.

1. Start a new map using an appropriate template. I’ve selected the Dio3 Bitmap A_Multiple
template which gives me access to the Bitmap A style fills. Feel free to use another template, Tab Width
but you may also need to change which presets you use in that case. Do remember that while
large tabs may look out of
2. Draw a dungeon wall segment that we will convert to a diorama wall. I drew mine 2’ wide
place in the drawing, but
(Dioramas will use this as the default wall width). The fill style doesn’t matter.
larger tabs do often make it
Of course, you could also copy a wall segment from a dungeon map. easier to glue together the
3. Click Dioramas Options and pick an appropriate preset. I picked the DIO3A Wall Brick model unless they are too
Red 1 one, and I also went into advanced settings and set the tab width to 2, which I felt large for the surface they
was enough for this project. are to be glued to, or they
come in conflict with other
4. Click Multi-Wall Net and when prompted, select the wall we just drew.
tabs. If a tab is too large
You will now be prompted for the height of the wall. 10’ is usually a good value, so type 10 after printing however, you
on the command line. can simply cut a piece off it
while assembling, it is going
Next, you are prompted for the width of the wall. The default value here (shown in square
to be hidden anyway, so an
brackets) is the line width of the wall you picked, so if you drew it using the desired width,
“ugly cut” won’t matter.
you can simply right click (inside the drawing area) to accept the default, otherwise type 2e
on the command line.
Finally, you are prompted to place the lower left corner of the wall nets. Click somewhere in
the lower left corner of the drawing area of the current diorama page.

You should now see several wall nets appear. Note that Dioramas doesn’t try to place this on the
grids automatically, so you’ll manually need to move these components so that they fit within the
grids matching your chosen print scale. My screenshot below has them all squished into one page
just for the sake of presentation, but this doesn’t work very well for printing. Check the Walls.fcw
tutorial file if you wish to see how I placed them for printing purposes.

Once made, you can print out the result and assemble the wall piece. Note that the tree pieces
produced from my example drawing are made to be glued together to one long wall, the pieces
cannot be assembled as individual pieces.

557
 Ground Scale PRINTING AND CONSTRUCTION
It is often the case that the
So, you have drawn your Dioramas 3 masterpiece, or simply opened one of the example drawings
nearest manageable
and now you wish to construct the model described therein. What now? How do you make sure the
Imperial unit to the
printed model suits the miniatures you are using? On what should the model be printed to make
miniature’s scale is used as
sure it does not collapse the first time an ogre step onto it? Take heart - these questions are about
representing 5 feet ground
to be answered.
distance, such that (for
example) a 25mm miniature
scale heralds a 1 inch to 5 Miniature scales
feet ground scale. Certain
games condense ground There are several standard scales used for role-playing and wargaming miniatures, which determine
scales for miniature use in two characteristics--the rough height of a miniature depicting a normal human being, and the
outdoor settings - ground scale used when utilizing such miniatures in play. The rough height of a standard miniature
Traveller®, for instance, is directly determined by that miniature’s scale, in that (for example) a 25mm scale figure depicting
suggests a 2-meter grid for a normal human being will roughly stand 25mm tall.
indoor play, and a 10 meter The relationship between miniature scale and ground scale is largely down to the specific game
grid for outdoor play. being played. For most role-playing games where an individual miniature represents a single
Similarly, older versions of character, the scale of the miniature determines a ground distance of 5 feet Imperial, or two meters
Dungeons & Dragons® metric.
suggest a 5’ grid for indoor
play, and a 5-yard (15’) grid Wargames offer slightly different ground scaling options. Since most wargames make use of men-
for outdoor play. Basically, to-miniature ratios (usually one miniature is representative of ten individuals, (this scale may be
this condensing allows the different depending on game system used, and the total number of combatants involved), ground
depiction of the larger fields scale can likewise be adjusted to suit. Taking an example from an old game, at 25mm miniature
of combat available within scale one inch is taken to represent 10 yards - our 4’×2’ table can thus show an area equal to
outdoor settings, without 1,400’×720’. At 15mm miniature scale, where 9/16” represent 10 yards under this system, our
requiring huge amounts of table can show an area of 2,560’×1,280’. By adjusting men-to-miniature ratios, selecting a
floor or table space, while reasonable miniature scale, and deriving a logical ground scale, any battlefield may be represented
retaining the tactical picture by the space available for play. To give a rough idea of the import of such selections, the battle of
miniature use provides. To Agincourt took place over an area of roughly 1,700×2,050 yards, and involved around 40,000
provide an example, a 4’×2’ individual combatants. To show this battle using a scale of 1”=10 yards, at a men-to-miniature ratio
table, using a scale of of 10:1, you would require 4,000 miniatures, and a playing area 14’×17’.
1”=5’, could depict an area
By adjusting the miniature and ground scales, and men-to-miniature ratio, the battle would become
up to 240’×120’. At 1”=5
much easier to represent, and a lot more manageable for game play.
yards, the available ground
area that may be depicted The following summarizes common miniature scales, ground scales for 1:1 men-to-miniature ratios,
on the same table becomes and CC3+ print scale options to achieve correctly scaled counters, Dioramas 3 output, and elevation
720’×360’ view character representations. In all cases, miniature scale is representative of 6’ in elevation.

Miniature Ground Counter/Dioramas Character Elevations

Character
Scale Scale Paper Distance
For those wishing the ability Drawing Paper Drawing
(Representing
to produce inexpensive, Distance Distance Distance
5’ distances)
customized cardboard 1⁄ "
3mm* 1 480 1 576
counters and miniatures, 8
ProFantasy provides 6mm* 1⁄ "
4
1 240 1 288
Character Artist 3 - an add- 9⁄ "
15mm 1 106.667 1 128
on for CC3 consisting of 16
over 17,000 symbols 20mm 13⁄ "
16
1 73.846 1 88.615
allowing quick and easy
25mm 1" 1 60 1 72
production of an almost
infinite variety of character 28mm 1 1⁄16 " 1 56.47 1 67.765
portraits and gaming 30mm 1 3⁄16 " 1 50.526 1 60.632
counters.
* These scales are usually only used when depicting large scale battles on small play areas. Although
CC3+ possesses the capability to print counters, characters, and diorama pieces at these scales, you
may find resultant outputs difficult to use effectively.

558
Tools of the Trade
Before you begin to assemble your Dioramas 3 models, you will need certain tools in order to
facilitate your efforts. A wise adage to heed states that the ease of a task is directly related to the
tools used. Loosen a bolt with a hammer, and expect the worst!

The following tools are recommended:

A steel ruler

A sharp scalpel or craft knife

A thick, sturdy piece of card, or a cutting board

Paperclips

The “right kind” of glue

For those poised with scissors and that plastic ruler left over from your school days, some
explanation may be necessary:

Why a steel ruler?

Simply because scalpels find it harder to cut through steel than they do through wood or plastic.
Using a steel ruler as a cutting guide will ensure your cuts are straight and accurate, rather than
irregular and embedded with ruler-shavings.

Why a scalpel?
The two most common cutting devices - guillotines (paper cutting machines) and scissors - possess
two blades, off-set from each other. They cut via a combination of their sharp edges, and the
interaction between the two blades. Thus, the cuts they make are not as accurate as would be
desired, and they tend to bend the paper as they cut.
Responsibly
By using a scalpel or a craft knife, you can ensure accuracy by cutting in one, smooth motion along Warning: Scalpels that are
the edge of your steel ruler. Because scalpels have only one blade, and the manner in which they capable of cutting through
cut is entirely down to their sharp edge, the inherent problems shown with scissors and guillotines card are also quite capable
are negated. of cutting through you, too.
Whichever sharp tool you choose must be used responsibly and with great care. Always take care when
using scalpels, and never
cut towards any part of your
Why a cutting board? body. If you are the slightest
Basically, because your partner or parent would not thank you for leaving scalpel cut marks on the bit unsure as to your ability
dining table. Remember, when you are cutting things, the scalpel must cut through the paper. It is to use a scalpel, swallow
also desirable to use a cutting board because they are designed to possess a certain amount of give your pride and ask a parent,
- your cuts will be more accurate if you can cut into whatever you are resting your Dioramas 3 print- guardian, or responsible
out upon. friend to do the cutting for
you, or to supervise your
Fairly thick card works well as a substitute cutting board. All you need to remember is that the
own cutting activities.
cutting surface needs to be as flat as possible - if you are disassembling a box to produce a cutting
Always place your scalpel in
board use a single panel of the box. Do not create your cutting board across a corner fold-line.
a safe place, with the
If you plan to do a lot of cutting, you might want to consider purchasing a small rotary cutter pad blade’s guard in place,
(or if someone in your household sews, there may already be one about). Designed to be used with when not using the tool.
rotary cutters, they can be used equally as well with scalpels. They provide a firm, flat surface; and Scalpels are not toys. They
they are durable and self healing. can be dangerous if used
irresponsibly.
What are the paperclips for?
Virtually anything you find use for them. They can be used to hold your drawing still while cutting
it, to “peg up” cut-out parts to avoid losing them, and to hold glued parts together while the glue
dries.

559
 When using paperclips on your model, try and use as large a clip as possible, and open the clip out
a little before use. Basically, you need to engineer the clip to provide as loose a grip as is necessary
to effectively meet its purpose. Too tight, and the clip may bend, distort, or otherwise mar your
model.

Responsibly
A sticky subject...
The “right kind” of glue varies, depending on the purpose to which you wish to set your model.
Warning: Some glues are
Some glues provide stronger bonds than others. Some glues provide bonds that last longer than
toxic, and some give off
others. Other glues simply do not stick cardboard at all. Whichever glue is used, it must be used
toxic fumes. Always wash
responsibly.
your hands thoroughly after
using glue before eating or So what is best? Well, through trial, tribulation, and decades of research, here are some glue related
otherwise placing your pros and cons:
hands near to your face.
Always use glue in a well- Stick glue (the solid stuff that comes in a wind-up, wind-down “lipstick” holder) provides one of the
ventilated room. Avoid quickest bonding times. However, you do need to make sure it is dry before applying weight to your
getting glue in your eyes or model (about an hour should do). Stick glue also becomes brittle over time, so it should not be used
mouth - if you do so by if you wish some kind of permanence to your models.
accident wash the affected Mounting glue (the stuff that comes in spray-cans) provides a very quick fix. It also has the
area thoroughly. advantage of allowing you to re-position glued panels several times, with a relatively low loss of
Always read instructions sticking power. However, it does not provide much in the way of strength, nor does it provide
and warnings provided with permanent bonds.
the glue you are using prior
to such use. Brown water-based paper glue is quite effective for producing strong, permanent bonds. However,
since such glues are usually water-based, glue should be applied conservatively to avoid turning
your model into papermaché.

PVC, or white, glue provides the best bonds as far as strength and permanence. Since it is not water-
based, it also avoids the problem of risking soggy models. On the down side, PVC glue does tend to
take some time to dry properly - it is advisable to leave a model to dry for at least a day before
using it.

Polystyrene and other “thin” glues are the ones normally used for quick household repairs, and those
used to assemble plastic model kits. These glues should not be used for cardboard construction,
since they tend to soak into the card itself (leaving very little on the surface of the card to which to
actually stick anything), and become quite brittle when dry (good for sticking rigid surfaces to each
other, but not so good when gluing flexible surfaces such as card).

Stick-backed plastic tape also deserves a mention. You can get forms of this that are virtually
invisible when applied to objects. Bonds using tape are both strong and reasonably permanent, so
they are good for speedy assembling if you don’t mind having the taped bonds visible.

Instant Print Buttons

The instant print buttons
Printing Dioramas Pages
provide for the five most The first step in constructing your model is to print it out. This can be achieved in one of two ways.
common miniature scales
used within roleplaying and You can use the instant print buttons provided on the Dioramas 3 drawing pages; or Select File
war-games. The section on Menu → Print, and manually set the printing options you require (e.g., scaling)
Miniature Scales, above, To use the instant print buttons, simply click on the button showing the miniature scale you wish to
further discusses CC3+ print print to. You will be prompted to confirm
scale settings. whether you actually want to print or not.
Note that these buttons Instant print buttons on the Dioramas Pro
disappear each time you use drawing page
them. This is to avoid them
showing up on the printout.
If they are missing, simply
Paper & card
unhide the BUTTONS sheet. When you choose the paper or card upon which to print your Dioramas 3 drawing, you must take
into account two factors. First, the material needs to be strong enough so that your models will not

560
collapse when you place miniatures upon them. Second, the material needs to be flexible enough
to not impede construction. Strength
If your model only needs to
Unfortunately, that which provides strength (thick card) is too unwieldy for the type of construction
support paper or cardboard
we require for our Dioramas 3 models; and, in any case, most printers will not accept card of such
miniatures, such as those
thickness.
that can be created using
For use with metal (or substitute metal) miniatures, we have found that 160gsm (approximately 90- Character Artist, it is
110lb) card provides the perfect trade-off solution between printability, strength, and ease of perfectly adequate to
construction. construct your Dioramas 3
models from standard
Printer ink & smudging 80gsm (approx. 20-24lb
cardstock, or 50-60lb paper)
Some printers have the unfortunate tendency to print pages that are easily smudged - which, of paper. However, such
course, is a disadvantage for Dioramas 3 purposes. While most printed pages can avoid the models, if they are to be
smudging issue by simply allowing the ink time to set and dry, some inks are still prone to smudging kept, will need to be stored
even then. carefully to prevent
So how to avoid having your masterpiece ruined by great smudge smears obliterating the detail? crushing.
Several options are open to you, but the ones we have found to work best involve priming, or
varnishing, the surface of your print before you begin construction. Model Varnish
Acrylic varnish is a useful
The cheapest method of priming a drawing uses common garden spray furniture polish. Because
tool, even if your printed
such polish tends to be quite wet (and thus has the potential to turn your print into mush), you need
pages do not exhibit
to be very conservative with its application. Lightly spray the printed page with the polish from a
smudging problems. If such
distance of approximately 18” to 2’, then leave the page for a couple of hours to allow the polish to
varnish is applied to a
dry. If you don’t allow the polish to dry, you will find the smudging problems are increased, rather
finished model, not only will
than eliminated.
it protect the printed
The best, but more expensive, method uses acrylic matte transparent model varnish, which can be surfaces of the model from
purchased from most hobby and modeling stores. Again, apply the varnish conservatively and wait wear and tear, but it will
until it is fully dry before beginning construction. reinforce the structure,
sealing glued edges that
Constructing dioramas objects might otherwise be prone to
coming loose when using
Once you have printed the pages necessary to make your model, and primed them, if necessary,
the model in play.
you can begin construction.

Remember that patience is a virtue - the more patience you display during the construction of your Cut Line
model, the better that model will be. Remember, you need to
accommodate the width of
Cutting out the pieces your scalpel blade when
Remember to avoid injuring yourself in the process of cutting your model out. Not only will the placing the ruler. Putting the
result be painful, big red splodges will also ruin the hard work you have achieved thus far. ruler directly along the cut
line will produce a cut that
1. Place your steel ruler parallel to a cut line in your drawing, slightly below that line. is off-set from the line. It is
2. Holding the ruler firmly in place, draw the scalpel along the cut line in one smooth motion, a good idea to practice a
applying just enough pressure to wholly pierce the drawing. few dummy cuts before
working on the model
3. Repeat the process for all cut lines within the drawing.
proper, so you can get a feel
for the ruler/cut line offset
Scoring fold lines you need to use.
Just because you are not applying pressure to the scalpel during this process, do not relax your Avoid cutting into the
vigilance to avoid being cut yourself. Scalpels are still sharp, and will still be quite capable of drawing proper, but feel
damaging you regardless of how much force is being applied. free to slice into the
surrounding white space. In
4. Place your steel ruler parallel to a fold line in your drawing, slightly below that line.
fact, by cutting into the
5. Holding the ruler firmly in place, draw the scalpel along the fold line in one smooth motion, white space surrounding a
applying only light pressure so as to avoid wholly piercing the drawing. drawing, you can ensure an
All you really need to do when scoring is to break the upper surface of the card. accurate meeting of cuts.
Continued on next page…

561
 Cut Line continued Usually, simply holding the scalpel steady, applying no pressure at all, will achieve this, since
It is sometimes easier to the weight of the scalpel itself will already be applying adequate pressure to the blade.
ignore small cut lines, such
6. Repeat the process for all fold lines within the drawing.
as those necessary to
produce the sloped edges of 7. Replace the guard for your scalpel’s blade, and place the scalpel in a safe place.
glue tabs, until the model
piece has been cut from the Gluing tabs
page. You can then go 8. Fold the tab back along its fold line.
around the piece, with ruler
and scalpel, and trim away 9. Apply glue to the tab, avoiding placing glue on any other part of the piece other than the tab.
the remaining small 10. Attach the tab to the surface to which it marries.
sections. This process
11. Place the model on a flat surface such that the tab is vertically aligned to the surface, and
avoids damaging the model
place your ruler next to it.
while you are cutting it out.
12. Push the model lightly down to make sure the lower portion of the tab/corner join is aligned
Aligned properly.

It is a good idea to use two 13. Push the model lightly into your ruler to make sure the vertical plane of the tab/corner join
rulers, steel or otherwise, is aligned properly.
here, placing one ruler 14. Once the joint is aligned properly, put a paperclip over it to hold the tab in place.
“inside” the join, and the
15. Leave the model to dry.
other outside so that it
overhangs the tab/corner 16. Repeat as necessary until all joints have been glued, and your model is completed!
join. The join alignment can Take the completed model to your gaming session, and amaze your fellow players with the
then be achieved accurately enhanced visualization it provides.
by pushing the rulers
together over the join.
Mounting models
Models can be made into more permanent, stronger structures by mounting them onto baseboards
Hold the Tab
of modeling board, stiff cardboard, oil painting board, balsa wood, or plywood.
Weak paper masking or
medical tape, of a type that Of course, doing so precludes the use of your assembled model pieces in the more modular or
will not damage your model geomorphic methods so far discussed. Once the model is mounted, you can further decorate the
by pulling the ink away from baseboard with other scenery modeling pieces, such as those available from most model and craft
the card when it is removed, stores.
can often provide better
You can also reinforce Dioramas 3 pieces with board and so forth to give them added strength and
stability than a paperclip.
durability should you wish them to withstand the rigors of many play sessions. For example, you
The advantage of using
could insert blocks of balsa wood, cut to size, inside wall pieces to reinforce them. If you follow this
paperclips is that they are
method for geomorph walls to use with the plug-in tabs, remember to leave room for the tabs!
generally cheaper, and can
be re-used.

Dry
Note that it is always better
to leave each individual
joint made for a single piece
to dry before moving on to
the next one. While this
does extend the time
required to assemble the
model somewhat, the final
results will be better for it.
Always remember,
patience! Also, for multi-
part constructions, you can
always move on to another
section of the model while
waiting for one section to
dry.

562
EXAMPLE: ONE STAR INN
This section will take you through the steps to convert a building symbol to a working three-
dimensional model. When you complete this section, you will have reviewed most of the practical
information in this manual, and learned a few tricks about making more complex models. Symbol
This tutorial uses a vector
Getting Started symbol, which have the
advantage that we can pull
1. Start a new drawing based on the Dio3 Bitmap it apart inside CC3+. For
B_28mm.FCT template. raster symbols, we wouldn’t
2. Use Draw → Insert File to insert House.FCW into your be able to do this, so the
drawing. Place it in the file anywhere to the side of the procedure would be slightly
template. We will use that as our model for the exercise. different.

This is a building from City Designer 3. If you have the add-

on, you can use a building directly from the CD3 symbol
catalogs instead, but it is included as a separate file here,
so you can do the tutorial even if you don’t have CD3.

Overview
We are going to complete five broad steps to convert this overhead view of a Mediterranean house
into a wonderful inn.

Planning — There are a lot of decisions to be made before we ever start drawing.

Panel Layout — Each broad panel of the building will be drawn

Test Assembly — You do not have to include this step, but it will save you a lot of rework on any
complex project

Detailing — Putting in all the details that make the building appear real.

Final Assembly — We will not spend any time on assembly in this chapter, but by following the
suggestions in Printing and Construction, you will have a beautiful inn.

Planning
Style, Modularity and
The first step in building any model must be some thought about what the model will look like and
Strength
how it will be used. A little work here can spare you a lot of rework and frustration later. Since we
are starting with a symbol, we also need to spend some time looking at the symbol to determine Style: What materials are
style. The decisions we must make are style, modularity and strength. used for the building (and
what corresponding colors
Ultimately all of these decisions come together to determine how the Diorama should be laid out. and textures to use) as well
This may look like a lot of work, but it really isn’t — most of it you will know immediately once you as the style to use for
begin. ornamentation and details.
Let’s look at the symbol we are converting: Modularity: How can the
piece be taken apart, either
Style: The flat roof, light color and overall style of the symbol look like dried brick or adobe, possibly to access an interior space,
a building from Asia Minor or Central America. Stylistically, we will build using the light brown stone for storage, or to increase its
bitmap fill for stucco and some wood for bracing and window beams. We will use some of the flexibility.
wooden symbols from the Dioramas 3 library, but windows will be open. Strength: How strong does
the piece need to be, and
The symbol shows rows of bumps on the right and left side — they look like the ends of beams used
how should it be
to support a ceiling or roof. For simplicity we will show those on the proper walls but not try to have
constructed based on the
them extend beyond the wall the way a real beam would.
planned use.
We will interpret the rectangular extension at the bottom of the symbol to be the top of a porch or
veranda, and the stairs at the back probably go from the bottom floor to the top floor. The building
overall will be two stories in height. For visual interest, we will have the second floor overhang the

563
 first floor by 2.5 feet on the other three sides, but simplify construction by keeping the back flat. For
use with miniatures, we will simplify the outdoor stairs into a few steps, each of which is 5 feet
wide.

The symbol in the middle of the roof looks like a tent, maybe over poorer sleeping areas, so we will
depict it as a slightly raised area, covered with a cloth hanging from the four corners. The black
squares on the roof could be for light, a chimney for an oven, or a ladder to the roof. For this model,
we will just leave them as dark squares on the roof.

Overall, the building should look like a poorer residence or an inn in a middle-eastern town. We will
name it the “One Star Inn”.

Modularity: This building is not very large, so storage of the finished building should not be a
particular issue. On the other hand, players might want to be able to lift the second floor off the first,
or lift off the roof to get access. For either of those, the building should be constructed as separate
pieces, one per floor. For simplicity, we will assume that this building will be used for exterior work,
and will not construct it to come apart. This will allow us to strengthen the building by using one
piece for the back of both stories and allow us to glue both stories together to make it rigid.

Strength: The building is 40 feet by 30 feet in size, which will

cover about 2/3 of one 8½” x 11” (A4) piece of paper when
printed at 25mm scale. At this size, as long as the roof has bent
tabs on it (which stiffen the cardstock), it should be strong enough
for normal use. If you need something sturdier, you could glue one
or more vertical pieces across each floor to support the roof or
floor above.

When the planning is complete, a quick sketch can help solidify

the plan, and make the layout easier. For a complex model,
quickly drawing side elevations on paper can make the planning
easier. A quick isometric sketch can also be completed in CC3+.

Panel Layout
I like to start with the base of the building, to give me something to build on, but for the One Star
Inn we have the most information about the roof, so we will start with that. Bring up the diorama
file into which you put the building. We need to draw a panel that is the right color, texture, and
size for the roof:

3. Click Dioramas Options . Go to the advanced dialog, pick the Dio3B Wall Stone Brown
2 preset.
4. Get the dimensions of the roof of the house using the Distance Command (Info → Distance).
Click a point on the top left corner, and another on the top right corner of the symbol. The
distance is 40 feet. Click to repeat the command and measure the right side, close to 30 feet.
5. Click Rectangular Panel . Click points to create a panel 40
feet by 30 feet for the building roof. When it is time to assemble
the building, we will print this twice — once for the roof and once
for the bottom of the upper floor.
6. Now go to the second page of the template and create a
Tabs Rectangular Panel that is 35 feet x 27.5 feet. There is an overhang
We will place all of the tabs of 2.5 feet on the building, and this will be the smaller cross
at one time to ensure that section of the bottom floor of the building.
each joint is covered. The Note that we have not placed any of the tabs or details on the panels.
details will be added last,
We will create all of the walls on pages 3-6 of the template. To save
after we are sure the
space and paper, page 3 will have one copy of the lower and upper floor
building will assemble
side walls that must be printed twice. The bottom floor we will make
correctly.
12.5 feet high, and the upper floor we will make 17.5 feet high (to
include space for the joists that stick out of the sides).

564
 7. We will make the walls slightly lighter than the roof, so we change the preset to Dio3B Wall
Stone Brown 2 which is a slightly lighter version but the same texture.
8. Since the top of the roof is 30 feet wide, make one
Relative Coordinates
Rectangular Panel , 30 feet x 17.5 feet for the upper side
These coordinates tell CC3+
wall. Click a point for one corner then type @17.5,30. These are
to draw from the reference
relative coordinates. If you align the panel with its long side on
point (last selected point) to
the page vertically, you will be able to put a second panel on
a coordinate location a
the same page that is 27.5 feet x 12.5 feet, for the lower floor.
relative x,y distance away.
This will be for the side of the lower level — it is 2.5 feet
Instead of clicking a point,
narrower to allow for the front overhang of the building. Leave
type the "at" sign (@),
at least 5 feet between the panels so that you will be able to
followed by the x,y distance
add tabs as needed.
to the desired point.
9. A nice detail is to include an extra textured tab at the top of all upper walls that can be folded Relative coordinates can be
over to form the printed inside of the parapet. To create this, add a Rectangular Panel , typed in wherever you are
along the top of the second floor panel (the 17.5 foot tall one) on this page. Use the endpoint asked for a point at the
modifiers to set the length equal to the panel you just completed, then use relative CC3+ Command prompt.
coordinates (type @-2.5,0) to make it 2.5 feet high. Instead of typing relative
10. On the 4th page of the template, place the two long walls of the coordinates, you can add a
two floors, one above the other. Each panel is a Rectangular snap grid 2.5 feet wide, and
Panel , the lower story is 35 feet x 12.5 feet (it is shorter by observe the Tracking
5 feet to allow for a 2.5 foot overhang on each side); the upper Indicator on the status bar
story is 40 feet x 17.5 feet. Remember to leave room between to make sure your clicks are
the panels to allow for tabs and the special parapet fold-over accurate. To add a new grid,
panel (5 feet should be enough). right click on the Snap
button, click New, then 2D
11. The 5th page will be used for the back of the Inn. Since at the back of the Inn, both the bottom Rectangular and make the
and top floor walls are flush with each other, we will use a single panel for the back. We need settings as those shown
a 35-foot wide first floor and a 40-foot wide second floor. You could just copy the two panels here.
you placed on the previous page, and center them one above the each other. Instead for
practice we will use the Polygonal Panel. Click Polygonal Panel . Click a first point, then
use the following relative commands to complete the panel (just type them in as written
below):
@35,0 (this forms the bottom)

@0,12.5 (this forms the side of the bottom)

@2.5,0 (the overhang)

@0,17.5 (the side of the upper floor)

@-40,0 (the top of the upper floor)

@0,-17.5 (reversing our way down the other side)

@2.5,0 (the second overhang)

Right click to complete the command.

When finished with this panel, all of the walls for the main inn should be complete.

On the 6th page we will place the walls for the veranda. The veranda is just a square box that sits
in front of the rest of the house, but there are a few things to consider. To save space, we will make
it without a back, and the sidepieces need to have a notch cut out to allow for the overhang for the
top floor over the bottom floor. The front of the veranda is a simple rectangular panel 20 feet x 17.5
feet.

12. Click Rectangular Panel . Create a 20-foot by 17.5-foot panel, aligned so that the 20-
foot side goes up the page. This will be the front of the veranda.

565
 13. Below the front, create the side wall of the veranda, which will be 12.5 feet by 17.5 feet with
a notch cut out of the top corner for the inn wall overhang. Click Polygonal Panel . We
will start on the lower left corner of the veranda front panel and use relative coordinates:

Click Endpoint , or use , and select the lower

left corner of the veranda front. This will ensure that
the new panel will be attached to the old panel
@17.5,0

@0,-10

@-5,0

@0,-2.5

@-12.5,0

Right click to complete the command.

14. Create a mirror copy of the panel you just completed. Right click Copy and select
Mirrored Copies. Select the panel you just created, and o It. Create a vertical mirror line
to its right and complete the command. If necessary, move the new panel to an open space
on the page.
15. Create the roof for the veranda. Click Rectangular Panel . Create a panel that is 20 feet
by 10 feet. We really need a second copy to use as a base, but there is no room here. There
will be room on page 8 though, so you can make a copy there.
16. If desired, create a fold-over panel at the top of all of the veranda walls. The fold-over should
be a Rectangular Panel that is 2.5 feet wide and runs the length of the wall.
17. When done, the veranda will look like this. We will return and add the tabs in a minute.
There are two special pieces that need to be laid out on the last two sheets of the Diorama.

The first is the rooftop sleeping area. We will create walls for two sides of it, then print it twice.
Rather than create narrow tubes to match the symbol, we will make upright square pillars to hold
the tent.

The long sides of the platform are 22.5 feet long, the shorter sides are 12.5 feet long, and all uprights
are 12.5 feet tall.

18. Click Polygonal Panel to draw the sides of the room, again using relative coordinates,
starting with the longer wall.
Click a first point in the lower left corner of page 7
@22.5,0

@0,12.5

@-2.5,0

@0,-10

@-17.5,0

@0,10

@-2.5,0

Right click to complete the command.

566
 19. Place another Polygonal Panel next to it that is only 12.5 feet long, but it similar in all
other respects. Using relative coordinates:
Use Endpoint to connect this panel to the previous one.
@12.5,0

@0,12.5

@-2.5,0

@0,-10
Copy the Cloth
@-7.5,0 You will need to explode the
symbol, then copy the cloth
@0,10
from the symbol to the
@-2.5,0 proper page of the diorama.
When you copy the cloth,
Right click to complete the panel
increase its size by 10-25%
20. At the top of each of the shorter side pillars, add Rectangular Panel each of which is 2.5 to allow provide an overlap
feet on a side. These will form the tops of the uprights. to allow you to glue it to the
21. For the cloth at the top of the roof area, copy the cloth from the original house symbol. Place uprights
it on page 7 wherever it will best fit.
22. Also put in a Rectangular Panel for the bottom of the sleeping area. The rectangle should be
22.5 feet x 12.5 feet.
The final set of panels to include is a set of stairs, similar to the
one you made earlier in the book. Here the stairs need to rise 15 Rule for Tab Placement
feet and run 15 feet, with steps for miniatures every 5 feet. Create My default approach is to
the sides of the stairs using the current option settings for panels, put tabs on all edges of the
then change the panel options to Dio3B Floor Wood v to roof and floor (this helps to
complete the trends and risers of the stairs. strengthen them and ensure
that they are flat), and to
Before we are done with the panels, there are several additional
put tabs on the right side of
features to make assembly easier.
each wall.
23. Access the diorama options and set tab depth to 2.
24. Click Tab to add tabs to all of the panels at the appropriate place. The most important
thing to remember is to ensure you have a tab for each place two panels connect, and to
ensure that the tabs correctly overlap. The easiest way to ensure this is to have a rule for tab
placement. Note that ins some spots you may need to place tabs slightly smaller than the
default of 2 that we set, remember you can set the width of each tab as you place it.
When placing tabs on the sides of the upper walls, do not use the tab default to place the tabs. You
do not want tabs to cover the fold-over panel at the top of the upper walls, so we must leave the
top 2.5 of the panel free of tabs (in addition to leaving the 2.5 foot fold-over flap clear). Instead of
selecting the edge of the panel to which the tab should be attached, instead select a point away Label each Panel
from any other object. A freestanding tab will begin. Use relative coordinates to make it 15 feet long
You can either label the
(instead of the full wall height of 17.5 feet). Then copy the tab to the appropriate wall locations (one
panels on the page next to
front panel, one side panel and the back panel).
each one, or put its label on
25. Make another shorter tab to place on the side and front of the veranda panels. a tab on each piece. Putting
the label on the tab means
26. Once the tabs are in place, click Fold Line to place fold lines where needed. Since we
it is still available after
drew all sides as individual panels, and panels by default have a black outline, the only places
cutting out the pieces,
this is really needed is the stairs.
which is nice when you are
Congratulations, you have now completed the panel layout. If you wish, while the structure of the going to assemble a
panels is still clear in your mind, you might want to go back and label each panel. complicated model.
When you are done, the first 6 pages of your diorama should look like the diagram on the next page.

567
 Test Fit
To illustrate the importance
of this test fitting, when this
model was put together for
the first time, we identified
the following issues (all
corrected now):
▪ We needed two copies of
the top roof (the upper
floor needed a floor) –
somehow we had missed
that
▪ We mis-sized one of the
upper walls.
▪ The tabs and the parapet
folds overlapped, so the
tabs were visible on the
inside of the parapet.
▪ We forgot the stairs at the Test Assembly
back. Really, it’s quit easy If this were a new model that you were creating from scratch, it would be a good idea to print a
to forget a critical piece. small version of the model now and try to assemble it. Changes to the panel layouts are much easier
▪ The ‘cheap sleeping’ area to make now, before additional details are added to each panel. Anyone can omit parts or misjudge
on the roof looked too something. Test fit the model before a lot of work has gone into detailing the panels.
short, so we lengthened
the uprights by 2.5 feet

568
Detailing
The details of the building are what make it unique and bring it to life. Right now this inn looks like
a light brown cardboard box, hardly better than you could create freehand. We now have the
opportunity to bring the building to life. Here are the steps I took, but you can do something different
if you want a different look for your building. Changing the details is also a great way to take one
stock building and use it in multiple places.

27. Bring the roof details over to the roof. You can just copy the two black squares from the
original symbol (set your reference point at the corner of the building using the endpoint
modifier to ensure the squares on the model are in the same location as the symbol). I
changed these to orange roof tiles by first selecting the Dio3B Roof Orange Tiles preset, and
then used Convert to Panel on it. Rotate Fills
Many buildings sit on solid foundations of a different material, and adding them to the building can We discussed fill rotation on
make it look much more realistic. The easiest way to do this is by adding panels. page 542 when we made
the siding for the stairs, but
28. Click Dioramas Options . Select the Dio3B Wall Stonework Grey preset. Click
the short of it is that you
Rectangular Panel then go to each panel that will sit on the ground (all bottom story right click the Polygon
wall panels, the ones that are 12.5 feet high) and add a 2.5 feet wide panel across the bottom
button to access the Shaded
width of the wall. Do the same for the Veranda wall sections. In all, there should be 5 places
Polygon (Angle by Edge)
where you do this: One side wall that is printed twice, one front wall, one back wall, one command, and then use this
piece that is the front and side of the veranda, and one side wall for the veranda. by clicking on the edge of
Note that you need to rotate the fill of some of the panels, so the stonework runs the right the polygon that is
way. supposed to be closest to
29. The original symbol showed the ends of the ceiling beams emerging from the walls on the the ground in the finished
sides and on the veranda. For simplicity, we will add these as squares on the appropriate wall model.
panels, using the Wall_wood_oak_D3B fill. The beams in the original symbol are 0.6 feet, Then, you use Numeric Edit
so make a single box that size. We are going to make multiple copies of the box, putting on the entity, and
them along the bottom of the upper wall side panel, and along the top of the veranda front check the Shade Only Copy
panel. I placed them 2.5 feet from the bottom of the side wall, and 3 feet apart. The easiest option.
way to do this is using relative coordinates. Place the first box, then use @0,3 to place each Most of the problems with
successive box 3 feet above the previous one. this command comes from
clicking on the wrong
30. Doors come next. Click Doors then select appropriate doors. I placed a reinforced curved entity, for example, we
door in the middle of the front panel of the building, just at the top of the stone foundation have multiple panels
panel. This is the front door. I placed two doors in the back wall, one at the top of where the stacked on top of each
stairs will go--15 feet above the base of the panel, and flush with the side of the bottom floor. other here, and each panel
The other I placed just above the foundation, between 15 and 20 feet from the right wall. is composed of 2 different
One the stair is in place, these two doors will be at the top and bottom of the outdoor entities, so if you have
stairway. problems you should just
Finally, we have windows to place. You can easily select from the many beautiful symbols in the move away or hide any
Wall Features Catalog, but I chose to have something more rustic, and in keeping with the conflicting entity so you can
construction of a poor building in a hot climate. I made windows with no glass, and very little operate on the entity
framing. actually holding the fill to
rotate. A typical example of
31. To make a similar window, we’ll use a couple of plain polygons and some sheet effects. First, the wrong entity being
create the sheets WINDOW and WINDOW2 and place them right below WALLS in the sheet
picked during the last step
list.
is that a different dialog
On the WINDOW sheet, add a Bevel effect with a bevel size of 1 and colors inverted, leaving appears, for example the
the other settings at the default. Then, add a Transparency effect to the WINDOW sheet, Edit Polygon one instead of
with an opacity value of 50%. the Roof Shaded Polygon
32. Set the color to a dark gray (244) and draw a Box on the WINDOW sheet of size 3 feet dialog you expected.
by 4.8 feet. Redraw so you can see the effects being applied.
33. Draw a smaller box inside it on the WINDOW2 sheet. This box should be 2.2 by 4 feet, and
should cover up the inner part of our previous polygon, only leaving the beveled edges
visible.

569
 You now have a basic empty window.

To create the header board, you can use a Polygon with a wood fill,
such as Floor_wood_D3B. It is easiest to draw it away from the other
parts of the window and move it to the final location.

Click Polygon . Click your first point, then move 3.5 feet to the right
(it should be slightly wider than your window), now go up 1 feet and to
the right 0.2 feet (this gives you a little visual interest to the header), the
next point is to the left 3.9 feet (to allow for the overlap again) and right
click to finish the polygon. You should now have a board that is slightly
longer across the top than the bottom. Move the panel that you just
made to the middle of the top of the rest of the window.

You should now have a window that you can place anywhere you want it. Some of the panels are
laid out vertically, and for these you may need to change the fill in the window header foreground
to the Floor_wood_vert_D3B instead to keep the grain of the windows correctly lined up. In
placing windows, try to keep the windows on one floor lined up, and avoid placing them where
they will be covered by the back staircase or front veranda.

34. The final detailing step is to provide openings into

the veranda. I did this by creating a white box that
is 7.5 feet high and 5 feet narrower than the
panel, centered along the top of the foundation of
each veranda wall panel, like this:
Rounded
Of course, rounded shapes To make the tops of the openings rounded, place
are much harder to cut out a solid white ellipse across the top of each
properly, and can look bad opening, centered on the middle of the top of the
if not done properly, so opening, with major axis the width of the opening.
you’ll have to decide if you You can then select the height of the arch to
really want it. include. Remember to allow space for the tabs in
If you plan to print out my the veranda roof to attach to the wall.
example drawing without
rounded shapes, simply Once you are done with the basic model, there are always significant additional changes or
delete the ellipses (but upgrades that can be made. Here are some of the ones you should consider:
leave the rectangles)
Change the color of the roof tent to add a splash of color to a drab building.

Add wall sconces by the front door.

Add a sign or flag at the front of the building.

Change the tent supports on the roof to cylinders, or something smaller.

Add interior detail.

Add dirt to the model using an overlay layer. Weathering can make the model look
much more realistic.

Add vegetation such as bushes and grass.

Make the top-layer parapet 1 foot wide to match the symbol.

I am sure other ideas will suggest themselves to you as you build this, and other models.

570
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Dioramas 3 work well together with Dungeon Designer 3. Especially the fill styles from DD3 can be
used to spice up your dioramas. Many symbols from DD3 can also be used, but remember that DD3
only provides symbols seen from above, so you can’t use doors, windows, torches and the like.

Objects designed with Perspectives 3 are excellent for converting into dioramas. These entities are
already in a 3D-view, making it easy to visualize the final diorama before you start. You can also
use Per3 to draw your concept sketches for dioramas. Perspectives 3 also contain several symbols
that can be used directly in Dioramas

The Source Maps: Castles, Source Maps: Temples, Tombs & Catacombs and Source Maps: Cities
products all contain maps in perspective formats, which can be great ideas for dioramas.

Annuals
Mine Dioramas [July 2011 (Vol 5) {Issue 55}

This issue contains a customizable mine diorama which you can

print and assemble.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/july11.html

Diorama Dungeon Tiles [January 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 61}

This pack provides geomorphic tiles that can be printed both for a
flat dungeon map, but also in Diorama style.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/january12.html

Krom Village Diorama [December 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 96}

This issue contains a complete village for you to print and assemble,
including tools and bitmap fills to make your own buildings in this
style.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/december14.html

Village Barn [December 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 96B}

This free issue provides a village barn in the same style as the Krom
Village Diorama.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/bonus14.html

Bridge Diorama [July 2018 (Vol 12)] {Issue 139}

Contains an elaborate bridge that is ready to print and assemble. This

was released at the same time as Dioramas 3, and uses the new
tools and fills.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2018/july18.html

571
 APPENDIX A: DIORAMAS 3 COMMAND REFERENCE
This table gives you a list of all Dioramas 3’s commands. Note that this section only lists the commands that are added by
Dio 3. The general CC3+ commands are listed on page 223, where you can also read about the columns in this table.

Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro

Change Panel Fill Change the fill style of a Dioramas menu → Panel → Change CPANEL No
Style Dioramas panel Panel Fill Style

Dioramas tools → Change Panel Fill

Style button
Convert to Panel Convert a polygon to a Dioramas menu → Panel → Change PANELCHANGE selectEntities Yes
dioramas panel to Panel

Dioramas tools → Change to Panel

button
Cut Line Draw a line representing a Dioramas menu → Cut Line CUTLINE xyPoint1;xyPoint2;…;xyPointN Yes
line to cut along in the
printout Dioramas tools → Cut Line button
Diorama Print Prints the current drawing DPRINT No
using the settings
specified by Diorama Print
Scale and Diorama Print
View
Diorma Print Sets the scale used by the DPRINTS nPrintScale;rPaperScale;rDrawingScale Yes
Scale Diorama Print command
nPrintScale
Diorma Print View Sets the view used by the DPRINTV nViewType;sViewName Yes
Dioramas Print command
nViewType
Fold Line Draw a line representing a Dioramas menu → Fold Line FOLDLINE xyPoint1;xyPoint2;…;xyPointN Yes
line to fold/score on the
printout Dioramas tools → Fold Line button
Geomorph Tab Adds a geomorph tab to Dioramas menu → Tab → GTAB xyEdge;xySide Yes
the drawing Geomorph Tab
xyPoint1;xyPoint2;xySide
Dioramas tools → Geomorph Tab
button
Panel, Multipoly Create a multipoly panel Dioramas menu → Panel → PMPOLY2 selectEntities Yes
from existing polygons in Multipoly Panel
the drawing. Note that
these should NOT be Dioramas tool → Multipoly Panel
panels, but rather plain
polygons
Panel, Polygonal Draw a polygonal diorama Dioramas menu → Panel → PANELPOLY xyPoint1;xyPoint2;…;xyPointN Yes
panel Polygonal Panel

Dioramas tools → Polygonal Panel

button
Panel, Draw a rectangular Dioramas menu → Panel → PANEL xyCorner1;xyCorner2;xyCorner3 Yes
Rectangular diorama panel Rectangular Panel

Dioramas tools → Rectangular

Panel button
Tab Draw one or more diorama Dioramas menu → Tab → Tab TAB xyEdge;rWidth[Default](+,-) Yes
glue tabs
Dioramas tools → Tab button xyPoint1;xyPoint2;rWidth[Default](+,-)
Tab Options, Allow you to configure Dioramas menu → Diorama TABOPT No
Advanced individual details Options (Advanced)
regarding dioramas TABOPTA
entities Dioramas tools -> Diorama Options
popup
Tab Options, Allows you to select the Dioramas menu → Diorama TABOPTB No
Select Preset desired preset for the Options (Basic)
appearance of dioramas TABOPTM sPreset Yes
entities, like panels and Dioramas tools → Diorama Options
tabs button
Wall Net Draw a complete set of Dioramas menu → Wall Net WNET xyEnd1;xyEnd2;rHeight;rWidth(o) Yes
panels and glue tab for a
single wall segment in one Dioramas tools → Wall Net button
operation
Wall Net, Multi Draw a set of panel and Dioramas tools → Multi-wall Net WMNET xyWall;rHeight;rWidth;xyPosition Yes
glue tabs for multiple button
connected wall segments

572
SYMBOL SET 1: FANTASY
OVERLAND
 Ithon
This continent map is created using the Bitmap B style from Symbol Set 1: Fantasy Overland. Cartography by Stephen Manuele. The map is of a fantasy
world being developed for works of fiction.

574
INTRODUCTION
Symbol Set 1: Fantasy Overland (SS1) adds several more styles to
CC3+’s overland capabilities. This set is designed to give you a
greater variety of possible map styles. SS1 brings you four new map
styles, 2 vector and 2 raster styles, providing you with the tools to
create even more great maps.

Using SS1
SS1 does not have a separate button on the toolbar to activate it like
most other add-ons. This add-on uses the same buttons and
commands as the default CC3+ Overland tools. Which symbols you
see, CC3+ standard overland, or SS1 depends on the map style you
are using, which again is based upon the template you used for your
map.
Master Filter
To draw a map in one of the SS1 styles, simply select Overland
Maps as the map type in the New Drawing Wizard. On the next Filters are discussed in the
page, where you select the map style, look for the styles that start Understanding the Symbol
with SS1. Each of these styles are introduced later in this section Filters chapter on page 103.

Usage on Standard Overland Maps

While the symbols look best when used on the appropriate template along with other SS1 symbols,
it is also possible to use them on other maps. Depending on the Master Filter setup, you should be
able to get to the SS1 symbols by clicking Symbol Style Toggle until the SS1 symbols shows up
in the symbol catalog, or you can use the Open Symbol Catalog button and browse for the
catalogs instead. They are all stored in @Symbols\Maps\SS1. Obviously, this works both ways. You
can use the same techniques to add regular CC3+ symbols to your SS1 maps.

Terra Nova
This luxury liner, from the
Ashen Stars adventure of
the same name, was created
by Ralf Schemmann.
More information about this
map can be found on his
website:
www.mapsandmore.com.

575
 STYLES OF SS1
SS1 brings you four extra map styles to play with. 2 of these are vector styles, and if you are an old
CC2 user, you might remember these from the original SS1 set. Just as CC3+ itself still provides you
with the older styles from previous versions, so do SS1. There are also two brand new raster styles
supplied with this version of SS1.

Each of these styles is designed to stand on their own, and let you create a map wholly in that style.
In this regard, SS1 does not provide new symbols for CC3+, but the same symbols in a different
style. There is some variation as to exactly which symbols are contained in each style, but they all
contain a wide range of the necessary symbols to draw a complete map.

If you already have a standard CC3+ map (or any other style for that matter) that you wish to convert
to an SS1 style (or any other style), check out the Changing Map Styles chapter on page 149.

SS1 Fantasy A
The SS1 Fantasy A style is a raster style. The symbols and
drawing tools used for this map have a hand-drawn look,
although detailed enough that they look like they have been
drawn by someone with a lot skill, attention to detail, and a lot
of time. This is a perfect map style for something that is
supposed to be drawn by an in-game skilled cartographer,
although the style looks great for almost any kind of map.

SS1 Fantasy B
This raster style is intended to be more realistic looking. The
symbols are very detailed, and it makes for a very visually
pleasing map-style. However, it is probably too realistic to be
an in-game map, but then again, not all maps should be in-
game anyway.

SS1 Fantasy Color

This vector style contains symbols and drawing tools which are
more detailed than the original vector symbols. If you look
closer, you will see that these symbols are the origin of the
default CC3 Overland style raster symbols. They are simpler,
being vector symbols, but they are drawn in basically the same
style. If you wish to go for a vector map, this style is a very
good choice for a regular map.

Note that there are no pre-defined sheet effects for this style,
but at this point you should be able to easily add the desired
effects yourself.

SS1 Fantasy Handdrawn

If you are looking to do a simple hand-drawn map, this is the
vector style for you. It might not immediately appear the most
visually stunning style for a generic map, but when used
correctly, you can get very nice results. Styles such as this are
especially nice for in-game maps. These symbols have a
simpler look than the Bitmap A style, and can therefore be
used to realistically represent a slightly simpler map. This
style comes with filled color, varicolor and hollow varicolor
symbols. The hollow varicolor symbols are especially nice

576
when drawing parchment maps. There is a tutorial on just this later in this section.
Cartographers Annual
Due to the three different variations of symbols in this style, you can create very different maps. In The Cartographer's Annual
addition to the example maps here, you should have a look at the parchment map tutorial on the
is a premium service which
next page for a completely different way of utilizing this style. Also, if you have the 2007
gives you new material each
Cartographers Annual available, look at issue 4, Sara Wroot. That style is basically a simplified
version of this one, but with good usage of effects. month, such as new styles,
finished maps, symbols and
great tutorials. There is a
section in this book
dedicated to this product,
where you can find more
information.
Note that even if you don't
The Town have the annual, you can
This four-piece town map was drawn by Gerard Serre using Dungeon Designer 3. see example images on the
web site.

577
 HAND DRAWN PARCHMENT MAP
In this tutorial, we will draw a parchment map using the SS1 Fantasy Handdrawn map style. You
can find the tutorial files in @Tutorials\Tome\SS1\

Fill Style Name Dialog

Starting the Map
For some reason, this dialog
sometimes fails to appear, 1. Start a new 125×100 map on the SS1 Fantasy Handdrawn overland style. In the New Map
and CC3+ appear frozen. Wizard, uncheck the Background option.
What happened is that it 2. Set BACKGROUND as both the current sheet and layer.
appears under the Fill Style
3. Erase everything but the black map border.
Properties dialog instead of
on top of it. The simply way 4. Click the Fill Style indicator then select the Bitmap Files tab.
of fixing this is to just press
Click New, then type Parchment into the New Fill Style Name dialog. Click OK.
+ to switch to
5. Set the path to the file to @Bitmaps\Tiles\Parchment-Lt.bmp. You can either hit the Find
another program, then
button and browse for the path, or you can simply type it in.
+ again to switch
back to CC3+. Now the Uncheck the Outlined and Scaled boxes, then click OK.
dialog should be visible. 6. Click Box then draw a box a little bigger than the map
border.
We should add a scale bar to our map. This being a hand drawn
Browse map, none of the existing symbols will do however.
Note that if you browse for
the file, CC3+ will insert the
full path to the file rather 7. Add a new layer called SCALEBAR. Make this the current
than the relative path from layer. Set MAP BORDER as the current sheet.
the CC3+ data directory. To 8. Select Color 0 (Black) on the color bar.
ensure that others can open
this map later, even if they
9. Set the fill style to Solid and the line width to 0.2.
have CC3+ installed in a 10. Use the Line tool to draw a 25 mile long horizontal line. The easiest way of accomplishing
different location, you this is to click to place the start of the line, then type in @25,0 into the command line as the
should erase everything of coordinate for the second and final point.
the path up to and including
Draw a small hatch line tracing each end of the scale bar.
CC3Plus\ and replace it with
the @-sign. 11. Click Text then type 25 Miles. Click Properties. Set the properties as:

Height: 2.00

Coordinate Angle: 000

The use of manually entered Spacing%: 150.00

coordinates is discussed in
Stretch: 2.00
the Understanding
Coordinates chapter on Character Style: Italic
page 188.
Font: Times New Roman

Justify: Bottom Center

Place the text centered on the scale bar

12. Right click on Explode then select Explode Text from the menu. Select the text we just
placed on the scale bar. Right click, Do It.
13. From the Tools menu, scroll down to Groups, then select Ungroup from the menu.
Select the text we placed on the scale bar. Right click, Do it.

578
Starting to Draw
I’m going to draw a piece of a mainland and a few islands. One of the techniques being
emphasized in this tutorial is the depiction of shallow water. When you draw your landmasses,
make sure you have plenty of coast line. Current Properties
14. In the Overland menu, select Landmass. Throughout
Using this option makes our
The Land, Default looks good, but we don’t want it filled. There is another tool for this, the
tool into a multi-tool. It has
Land, Coast Outline, but the fractalization on
all the advantages of a
this tool is far too coarse (try it and see for
drawing tool (easy editing,
yourself). I don’t like to change the default
snaps to map border,
drawing tools, so let us create a new one. Simply
tracing, etc), but you can
create copy of the Land, Default drawing tool,
dynamically change the
naming it Land, Parchment. Change the
properties from the status
properties of this tool to use Current Properties
bar without creating a
Throughout, and set it to not use an Outline.
separate drawing tool for
15. Create a new layer named LAND, and set it as the everything. Obviously, it is
current layer. Set the fill style to Solid, and the more work using it, since
line width to 0.5. you must mind the
16. Draw a landmass and a few islands. properties all the time, so
this is a tool for special
occasions. For normal map
Creating Water
drawing, you will want to
17. Set COAST/SEA as the current layer. have a set of individual tools
18. Set the fill style to Solid 10 Bitmap and line preconfigured with their
width to 0. own properties.

This is going to be our most shallow water.

Using the Land, Parchment tool, draw a poly that
contains the coast line and the islands.
19. Our latest poly ended up on the LAND sheet,
because this is what the drawing tool was
configured for. Obviously, since this represents
shallow water, it would fit better on the
CONTOURS (SEA) sheet, so move it there.
20. Set the current layer to HEX/SQUARE GRID and the
current sheet to GRID.
Set the current fill style to Solid.
21. Explode the black map border line.
22. In the Draw menu, select Symbols Along. Change the
escarpment settings to

Symbols Currently Available in Map: select esc

line endpoint

Distance: 1

Symbol Angle: Perpendicular (middle option), check

the Invert Symbol box

% Chance: 100

Symbol Scaling: Default

Symbol Scales: set all to 500

Click OK, then click the right side Map Border line.

579
 23. Click the Layers indicator then click Freeze
All. Click to uncheck the Freeze box for the
SYMBOL DEFINITION layer. Click OK.
Note that this also leaves HEX/SQUARE GRID
unfrozen, since we cannot freeze our current
layer.
24. Click Explode then right click. Select All.
Right click, Do it.
25. Click Change Properties then right click.
Select Prior. Right click, Do It. Set
HEX/SQUARE GRID as the layer, click OK.
In order to trim those water lines, we need to make a reference line.

26. Click color 2 (Red) on the color bar.

27. Click Fractalise . Change the Fractalization settings to

Strength: 30

Depth: 5

Click OK.
Paths
28. Click Fractal Path then draw a path or paths where
These are temporary lines.
we want the next deeper contours of water to be.
They don’t have to be neat
nor do they have to stay 29. Move the GRID sheet up in the sheet list so it appears
within the map border. right above the LAND sheet in the list.
We’ll be deleting them later. 30. Click color 0 (Black) on the color bar.
We’re going to use Break and Trim to Entity to trim
the water lines. If the water line goes uninterrupted from the
reference line straight to the edge, we can use Trim To Entity. If the water line goes from the
Select reference line and is crossed by the reference line again before it reaches the edge, we’ll have to
The red line may be a bit use Break.
difficult to see after you 31. Click the Layers indicator then select HEX/SQUARE GRID as the current layer.
have selected it, since it
32. Click Trim to Entity then select a red reference line. Trim all the lines that go
turns a light grey. However,
uninterrupted from the reference line to the map border. Note that the red reference lines
you can change the
stays selected and you can just keep clicking on the lines to trim them. Note that if you click
selection color by typing the
outside a line by mistake, the command end, and you will need to restart the command,
MCOLOR command on the
including selecting the red reference line again to continue.
command line. Note that
you must do this before If some of the lines do not respond correctly to the Trim to Entity command, simply use
starting the Trim to Entity Break on them at a part of the line you wanted to trim away. Now the Trim to Entity
command; it cannot be used command should work, and you can use Erase to get rid of the remaining part.
in mid-command. 33. Click Break then cut away the section of our water lines that are re-crossed by the
reference line.
34. Click the Layers indicator then create a new layer named OUTLINE.
Select OUTLINE as the current layer. Click Freeze All, then click to unfreeze the LAND layer.
35. Right click Copy then select Copy to Layer. Right click, select All. Right click, Do it.
Right click, click OK.
36. Click the Layers indicator then select LAND as the current layer. Click Freeze All and click
Hide All.
37. For all our visible entities (The landmasses), change line width to 0 and Fill style to Parchment.
38. Click the Layers indicator then click Show All and click Thaw All.

580
 39. Erase the reference lines we
used to trim the water lines.

Now we’re going to feather the ends of

those lines.
40. Click Break . One at a time,
select each water line and take
small bites out of the ends.
The gaps should be small and
random to feather the ends of
each line.

Working the Land

41. Click Open Symbol Catalog then open the Mountains.FSC symbol catalog found at
@Symbols\Maps\SS1\Handdrawn\Hollow.
42. Click the Layers indicator then select MINERALS/MOUNTAINS as the current layer. Click to
uncheck the Freeze box for the SYMBOL DEFINITION then click OK.
43. Select a symbol from the Mountains catalog. I selected HD Hills 9 as my first symbol. While
holding the symbol, right click. In the Scale X and Y field, type .25 then click More.
Place the symbol on the map. Use that symbol and a few others to make a nice little mountain
range. I’m going to stay away from the spiky mountain range symbols and stick to single
mountains and hills to make my range.
Once we’ve finished placing the mountain and hills symbols, we can make it
look better. The lines of the symbols are too narrow for the look of the map.
We’re going to fix that.

44. In the Symbols menu, select Symbol Manager. Click to highlight the
first mountain symbol, and then click Edit. Define the symbol edit
window when requested.
45. Use Change Properties to change the line width of all the lines in
the symbol to 2. Close the Edit window. Click Yes to keep changes on
exit.

Repeat the two previous for each of your mountain symbols in the Symbol
Manager.

Rivers and Roads

I’m not going to do rivers and roads in this tutorial. Those are covered elsewhere in the manual.
When you do them in this style of map, just remember to stick with the single ink color and Following Changes
differentiate between rivers and roads with different line styles. The change properties box
defaults to the currently
Adding Vegetation active settings, and not the
actual properties of the
46. Click Open Symbol Catalog then open the Vegetation.FSC catalog found at
selected entity. Instead of
@Symbols\Maps\Line. changing it manually in the
Out of the catalog, click on each of Pine Fill Tree, Jungle Fill Tree, Jungle Copse, Jungle Wood, box for each symbol, just set
Shrub. Don’t place them in the drawing. Just click on them for now. They are added as these settings as the current
definitions to the drawing. settings, then just place the
checkmarks in the dialog for
47. In the Symbols menu, select Symbol Manager. Click to check the box for Show Fill Style
the settings to apply, since
Symbols.
the values are now already
48. For each of the Vegetation symbols we selected in the previous step, as well as the Meadow set to the correct value.
fill style symbol, edit the symbol and perform the following changes on all entities in the
symbol:

581
 Change the color to black.

Change the line width to 1 (0.5 for the Shrub)

Change the Fill style to Solid.

49. Click the Layers indicator then select VEGETATION as the current layer.
50. Click Symbols in Drawing then scroll down the catalog to the vegetation symbols
we edited.
Add some trees and some vegetation symbols to the map.

Labels
I’m not going to do too much labeling on this map. Adding text is covered elsewhere in the manual
so I’m just going to add a title label to demonstrate a technique. To keep the tutorial simple, I’m
using Times New Roman, but you can use a fancier font.

51. Click the Layers indicator then click Add. Type TEXT, then click OK.
Click Add, then type TEXT SHADE. Click OK. Select TEXT as the current layer, then click
Freeze All. Uncheck the Freeze box for TEXT SHADE. Click OK.
52. Set the current sheet to TEXT.
53. Click Text then type OUR REALM. Click Properties. Set your text properties to:
Height: 6.0

Angle: 0

Spacing%: 150.0

Stretch: 2.0

Character Style: Bold and Italic

Click OK, then click OK. Place the text on the map. I’ve placed mine in the upper right area
of the map.
54. Right click Explode then select Explode Text.
Select the OUR REALM text. Right click, Do it.
55. In the Tools menu, scroll down to Groups, then select Ungroup. Select the OUR REALM text.
Right click, Do it.
56. Right click Copy then select Copy to Layer.
Right click then select All. Right click, Do it. Right click then select the TEXT SHADE layer.
57. Click the Layers indicator then select TEXT as the current layer. Click Freeze All, then click
to put a check in the Hide box for the TEXT SHADE layer. Click OK.
58. Click the Fill Style indicator then select the Bitmap Files tab.
Click New, then type Parchment Med into the New Fill Style Name dialog. Click OK.
59. Set the path to the file to @Bitmaps\Tiles\Parchment-Med.bmp. You can either hit the Find
button and browse for the path, or you can simply type it in.
Check the Outlined and uncheck the Scaled box, then click OK.
60. Click Change Properties then right click. Select All, then right click, Do It. Change the fill
style to Parchment Med.
61. Click the Layers indicator then select TEXT SHADE as the current layer.
Click Freeze All, then click OK.
62. Click Move, Scale, Rotate then right click. Select All, then right click, Do it. Click near
the title text entities to pick them up. Move the entities just a little to the right and a little
down. Once they are in position, click again to put them down.

582
 63. Click Open Symbol Catalog then navigate to @Symbols\Maps\Other\Compass
Roses.FSC.
64. Select Compass Rose 12 b. While holding the symbol, right click. In the Scale X and Y field,
type .125 then click More. Set the compass pointer on the map. I put mine in the lower right
corner.

In Conclusion
The term Hand Drawn covers a lot of different styles of maps. This is just one, and what we’ve done
here is certainly not the only way to create these effects.

In this tutorial, we’ve looked at a few techniques that can be used to give hand drawn maps some
visual interest. To add city or town symbols, you’d use the same techniques that we used for the
vegetation by editing existing symbols to suit the map style.

Here are a few points that I’d like you to come away with:

If you do a hand drawn map on parchment, start with a nice parchment bitmap.

A pen has thickness. If you do a hand drawn map, you should consider giving the lines
a width greater than 0. That includes the symbol lines.

Don’t be afraid to edit existing symbols to suit you. Explore all those hand drawn and
line symbols. Don’t just look at what they are. Look at what you can make them.

Using Freeze on layers is very helpful. Using it, you can select and manipulate only the
correct entities, while at the same time see how they look in the map.

583
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Symbol Set 1 is an additional resource itself, and as such, there isn’t really anything SS1 needs
directly, except for Campaign Cartographer 3+ itself. You should look in this chapter in the main
CC3+ section for relevant resources, as these will also apply for SS1.

Annuals
No annuals are associated directly with SS1. However, there are plenty of annuals in the main CC3+
section, which are still relevant even when using SS1.

Die Freien Lande

This map of “Die Freien Lande” (“The Free Lands”) was drawn by Ralf Schemmann for use with the Dungeonslayers game (dungeonslayers.de). It is drawn in the
Jon Roberts Overland style from the 2011 annual.

584
SYMBOL SET 2: FANTASY
FLOORPLANS
 Gothic Cathedral
This map from the
Cartographer’s Annual is
drawn using symbols from
Symbol Set 2: Fantasy
Floorplans.
You can get the maps for
this cathedral as part of the
2007 annual.

586
INTRODUCTION
Symbol Set 2: Fantasy Floorplans (SS2) adds several new styles to
DD3’s floorplan capabilities. While this add-on certainly can be used
without DD3, you will get the most out of this symbol set when used
together with DD3.

SS2 brings you four new map styles, 2 vector and 2 raster styles,
providing you with the tools to create even more great maps.

Using SS2
Just like SS1, SS2 does not have a separate button on the toolbar to
activate it like most other add-ons. This add-on uses the same buttons
and commands as the default DD3 Dungeon tools. If you don’t have
DD3, you can still use this set, but you will lack the dungeon tools to
unlock its full potential. There is a chapter near the end of the CC3+
manual which explains how to do dungeons without DD3. You should
be able to use this as a help to make dungeons using SS2 without DD3
as well, but we won’t expand on that in this book.

Which symbols you have available in the symbol catalog window, DD3
standard, or SS2 depends on the map style you are using, which again is based upon the template
you used for your map. Master Filter
Filters are discussed in the
To draw a map in one of the SS2 styles, simply select Dungeons as the map type in the New Drawing
Understanding the Symbol
Wizard. On the next page, where you select map style, look for the styles which start with SS2. Each
Filters chapter on page 103.
of these styles are detailed later in this section

Usage on Standard Dungeon Maps

While the symbols look best when used on the appropriate template along with other SS2 symbols,
it is also possible to use them on other maps. Depending on the Master Filter setup, you should be
able to get to the SS2 symbols by clicking Symbol Style Toggle until the SS2 symbols shows up
in the symbol catalog, or you can use the Open Symbol Catalog button and browse for the
catalogs instead. They are all stored in @Symbols\Dungeons\SS2. Obviously, this works both ways.
You can use the same techniques to add regular DD3 symbols to your SS2 maps.

587
 STYLES OF SS2
SS2 contains four new styles for your floor plan maps. Of these, two are brand new styles based on
raster artwork, while the remaining two are vector styles, the same one which shipped with the
previous version of SS2.

Each of these styles are primarily designed for you to create complete dungeon maps in that styles,
as opposed to being just additional symbols to the existing DD3 style. While you can use symbols
from one style on a map in another style, they generally look their best when used on a map in their
only style. However, there are certainly exceptions to this, using your imagination you might find
many reasons for using symbols belonging to another style.

SS2 Dungeon A
This raster style is designed to give you a realistic look, closer to
a picture of a location than a drawn map. The result is a very
visually pleasing style with a lot of nice details. Due to the
details, this type of map is not very believable as an in-game
map made by an in-game NPC, but if you simply wish to create
a gorgeous dungeon map for the viewer to enjoy, this is the
perfect style.

SS2 Dungeon B
The second raster style from SS2, this style has a more hand-
drawn look about it. The symbols are very detailed however, so
it looks more like the work of a hard-working dedicated
cartographer rather than a quick hand-drawn affair. Given the
nature of the style, these maps are more believable as in-game
maps than the SS2 Dungeon A style, but they still look very good
due to the amount of detail.

SS2 Dungeon Vector

This is a very detailed vector style, which produce rather good-
looking vector maps. If you look closer at the symbols, you can
see this style is the basis for the default raster style in DD3.

One of the great advantages of vector styles is that it is much

easier to create your own good looking symbols compared to
raster artwork, especially when you remember how easy it is to
make modifications to an existing vector symbol. This fact,
compared with the fact that these symbols do look very nice
due to their details, this is an excellent map style to use for
almost any dungeon map.

SS2 Dungeon Handdrawn

This hand drawn vector style is especially great for in-game
maps. If you wish to present a set of similarily styled maps, for
example from a certain in-game cartographer, this style works
well with the overland handdrawn style from SS1.

The symbols of this style is simpler than the vector symbol style,
and it has very few straight lines, indicating the hand drawn
nature of these symbols.

588
EXAMPLE MAP: THE RAT TAIL INN
In this short tutorial, we will be using the SS2 Dungeon A map style to create a simple 2-story inn
with a basement, examining some nice techniques at the same time. Note that this tutorial can
easily be completed in DD3 even if you don’t have SS2, simply use similar or equivalent tools and
symbols.

My finished map can be found in @Tutorials\Tome\SS2\The Rat Tail Inn.FCW

1. Start a new dungeon map based on the SS2 Dungeon A metric style. Make the map 20x16
meters. Use the Grass Medium SS2 for the background. Enable Multiple Levels, and make
2 levels above ground, and 1 below.
Note that I am using the American naming convention, so Floor 1 (or 1st floor) is the one
located at ground level.
This action will create 4 map files in the location you specify. One for each floor, and one
Hyperlinks
blank, which you can copy if you need an additional floor later. All of these maps use the file
name you specified, but with the floor name/number appended to the file name. When you Hyperlinks are discussed in
create maps this way, a navigation area with hyperlinks is also added to each of the maps, the Tying your World
which you can sue to navigate between the different maps in the set. If you move this Together – Making an
navigation area, make sure you also move the invisible hyperlinks. Interactive Atlas chapter on
page 132.
2. I am not really happy about the scale of background fill for this map, it makes the building
look unreasonably small against it. So, click the Fill Style indicator, and change the scale of
the Grass Medium SS2 fill style to 5 instead of 25.

Floor 1
3. Start by editing Floor 1. Use the Add Room
tool to draw the entire outline of the inn.
I want a wooden wall, but there are no wood-like
fills that looks the way I wish when used as a
wall. However, the Dark Stone, Brown bitmap
fill has a color that can work convincingly as a
wooden wall, so use this for the Wall fill style. For
the floors, use Floorboards Rough SS2. Use 0.3m Symbol Scale
for the wall width. The value used comes from
4. The floorboards look gigantic now. Scale them the fact that 1 foot = 0.3048
the same way you scaled the background fill. meters. All the symbols are
originally created in feet;
Note that since we are using a metric template, the
therefore we need this value
default symbol scale is 0.3048. You can click Drawing Properties to check this.
to use them on metric
Let us think a little bit on the layout before adding the interior walls. What features do we need? templates.
Obviously, we need an entrance, straits up to the 2nd floor, and stairs down to the basement. The
other floors don’t need entrances, but they also need the stairs. The stairs up should be publicly
accessible to let people go to their rooms, but the stairs down are probably closed.

It is an inn, so we need rooms for guests. The inn also probably serves food and drink, so we need
a common room with tables and a bar, and a kitchen to provide the food, probably with their own
back entrance. In addition to the guest rooms, the proprietor also needs his own room, and maybe
some rooms for the staff. We could add toilets, but this is medieval times, so let them use chamber
pots and an outdoor toilet in the back yard (not on the map). There is also a stable in the back yard,
also not on the map.

The basement is used mostly for storage, and might very well be quite a bit smaller than the floors
above.

Keep in mind that most guest rooms are bound to be small, with only basic furniture. The proprietor
lives here, so he probably has a bit more space for himself, but do remember that the more space
he reserves for himself, the less space available for renting out.

589
 5. Set the current fill style to Dark Stone, Brown, and the current width to 0.2. Use the Wall,
Current Fill, Current Width drawing tool to draw a solid load-bearing wall down the center
of the main section of the inn
6. Change the current width to 0.1 and draw inn walls for the rest of the rooms for the 1st floor.
7. Put in doors, windows and stair symbols to complete the main features of the floor. I made
the kitchen stairs a little bit smaller than the other one.
8. Finally, add some furniture to the various rooms.
Everything in my map comes from the SS2 A catalogs, except for the stove and the rug,
which I got from the standard DD3 catalog.
9. The effects are designed for a much larger map than this. I divided all the distances by about
3 to make them better fit this map. I also reduced the opacity of the wall shadows because
they made the map too dark. You can open up my map, The Rat Tail Inn_Floor 1.FCW if
you wish to inspect the exact values I used.
10. For a subtle light from each of the windows, also add the SS2A Glow 2’ Light 1 symbol to
each of the windows. You can find this symbol in the Elemental catalog.

Floor 2
When we create the 2nd floor, we wish the outline to be the same as for our ground floor. The stairs
down also need to be in the same spot as the stairs up were, obviously. The load bearing center
wall needs to remain in the same spot, and I also like keeping the windows in the same place, as
this makes the building look more natural from the outside.

In my drawing, I also placed a couple of fireplaces. There needs to be some kind of a chimney on
the floor above them.

11. Change the scale of the fill styles like we did for Floor 1.
12. Change the effects to match the effects on floor 1. Note that the easiest way to do this is to
first set up the effects the way you want them on floor 1, then hit the New button in the
Drawing Sheets and Effects dialog to save the current setting under a new name. Now,
when you return to the Floor 2 drawing, you should be able to select the effects setting you

590
 just saved from the drop-down, making the effects on this floor identical. This saves you from
manually tweaking the effects on all floors.
13. Use Clipboard Copy to copy all the entities of the BACKGROUND (FLOOR 1), BACKGROUND
(FLOOR2), WALLS, UP AND DOWN, WALL FEATURES layers, as well as the two fireplaces
from the Floor 1 map, and past them into the floor 2 map in the same position.
The easiest way to ensure they end up in the same spot is to manually type 0,0 when CC3+
asks for the clipboard origin, and then type 0,0 when you paste them again, instead of
clicking a position with your mouse.
14. Delete the internal walls, except for the central load bearing one. Also delete the stairs in the
kitchen.
15. Replace the stairs up symbol with a stairs down symbol. Also, if you have a wall around the
stairs, change it so that the opening is at the top of the stairs and not the bottom.
16. Delete the outside doors, and replace them with wall segment. The wall is already
fragmented due to the windows, so it is ok to simply fill in the holes from the doors instead
of drawing a completely new outline. When filling in these holes, Endpoint is your friend.
17. I used the Floor, Cobbles tool to draw a pipe that covered the relevant part of the fireplaces.
I then moved the resulting polygon to the Walls sheet. You also need to rescale the Cobbles
SS2 fill style.
18. Draw inner walls to form the rooms. Keep in mind that these are usually small, since smaller
rooms also means more rooms, which translates to more earnings. An inn is usually a simple
stop for the night, not luxurious accommodations anyway, so guests expect this. Also,
remember that all rooms need to be accessible from the corridor connected to the stairs. We
can’t have guests having to go through each other’s rooms to reach their own.
People typically prefer a room with a view as well, so the rooms should be along the outside
wall, with the corridor in the center. Some rooms without windows are certainly permissible
though, you wish to take full advantage of the space.
19. Add some beds, chests and tables to the rooms, perhaps a bit of other furniture if you so
desire.
It is difficult to get the feel that this map represents the 2nd floor, because it looks like it rests just
above the grass. Let us fix this by fading the grass out a bit.

20. Create a new sheet named FADE, and place it right above the FLOORS sheet in the list.
21. To this sheet, add a solid white polygon the same size as the background image.
22. Add a Transparency effect to the FADE sheet, with an opacity value of 50.
Note that if you later add entities to the outside on Floor 1, like trees and bushes, paths, or anything
else, you should also copy these to Floor 2. The fading we set up will also make these items faded
out, which will enhance the illusion that Floor 2 is indeed above Floor 1. If you do not copy these
outside entities to the Floor 2 file, they will seem to disappear when navigate between the files,
which look strange.

591
 Basement
It is perfectly fine for the basement to be much smaller than the aboveground structure. However,
we need to ensure that the stairs appear in the same spot, and also that we don’t have a huge hole
right below the load-bearing wall.

23. Use Clipboard Copy to copy the kitchen stairs form Floor 1 down to the basement. Use the
same method to get an accurate placement as we used with the walls when we copied them
to Floor 2.
24. Grass background does not look well on a below ground level. Change the background fill
style to something appropriate, like Dirt Dark SS2A.
Hint: The background entity is the only entity on the BACKGROUND layer.
25. Use the room tool to draw a simple rectangular room for the basement. Note that if you
placed your symbols as I did, the stairs to the basement lines up with the north wall in the
house above, so this should be the north wall of our basement as well.
I used Flagstone SS2A for the foreground floor, and Cobbles SS2A for the Wall. Remember
that you may need to rescale these fills as well. Draw the room first, then do the rescale to
easier test your settings.
26. Replace the stairs down symbol with a stairs up symbol if needed. Note that if you did like
me, and changed the scale to make it smaller, make sure the replacement stair uses the same
scale.
You can always check the scale of any symbol by using the List command on it. The output
from list will show position, scale and rotation.
27. Fill the basement with some barrels and crates, and perhaps a few spare chairs.

592
Finishing Touches
Obviously, there is a lot more we can do with this map, like labeling, decorating the outside of the
inn, and so on. All of this has been covered in the DD3 section of this book, so we will not repeat it
here. The main focus of this section was:

To utilize the SS2 map styles.

To explore the creation of multi-floor floorplans.

To explore creating floorplans for buildings with DD3, which do use some techniques
separate from both dungeons and battle maps.

593
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Since SS2 contains additional styles and artwork for Dungeon/Floorplan maps, it is dependent on
Dungeon Designer 3. While the symbols and artwork can certainly be used even without DD3, you
won’t have the proper tools to make these floor plans if you don’t have DD3.

Annuals
Only one annual is directly associated with SS2. Most of the annuals listed in the DD3 section of
this tome are also relevant for SS2 however.

Cathedral [October 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 10}

This issue contains the detailed floorplan of a gothic cathedral using

SS2 symbols.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/october07.html

Mars
This map of the planet Mars
was generated in Fractal
Terrains 3 using the
accompanying mars data-
set.

594
SYMBOL SET 3: MODERN
 SS3 Example
This SS3 example map was
made by ProFantasy
software, and showcases
the floorplan capabilities of
SS3. The map is available in
@Examples\Symbol Set 3.

596
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Symbol Set 3: Modern (SS3). SS3 is the ultimate resource
for taking CC3+ into the modern era. This add-on contains tools and
symbols for creating modern overland, floor plan and battle maps.

Note that SS3 differs quite a bit from SS1 and SS2. While SS1 and SS2
mainly provided new artwork for use with the existing tools
(Overland tools from core CC3+ and Dungeon tools from DD3
respectively), SS3 is a complete add-on in its own right. In addition to
providing modern artwork, it also contains tools and menus for
creating modern maps.

SS3 Overview
SS3 is designed for two types of maps, overland maps, and floor plans
(also used for battle maps). These two map types use different tools,
but you will find the buttons for both types of maps in the same toolbar.

Starting a New Map

In the new map wizard, you will find the map styles for modern overland maps in the Overland
Maps category, while the modern floorplans are found in the Floorplans category.

Overland Maps
The overland map type is set up to look like a real-
world paper map. The template consists of a map
area with a square grid, and a map key to the left.
Note that these maps are intended to be regional
or local maps, they are not designed to be used to
mapping entire countries and worlds, mostly
because a world map won’t be detailed enough to
contain any of the relevant modern symbols. You
can still draw maps of this size using the drawing
tools in SS3 obviously, but you would normally not
use any symbols at this scale.

The symbols used in this kind of map are simple and concise, designed for easy reading rather than
look pretty, just like any other contemporary map you can obtain.

While these maps certainly look different than the more common fantasy maps, the mapping
techniques are quite the same, and most tasks are done the same way as described in the CC3+
section of this book.

Floorplan maps
A modern floorplan map is basically the same as a Dungeon map, just with modern fill styles and
symbols. SS3 doesn’t contain the DD3 Room and Corridor tools, but if you own DD3, you can switch
to the DD3 toolbars and use these commands in your modern floorplan if you so desire. Just set
appropriate modern floor and wall fills, and they work like a charm.

Just as with overland maps, mapping modern floorplans are not really that different from mapping
dungeon maps. So, to make the tutorial in this chapter a bit more interesting, we will be exploring
how to combine modern floorplans with fantasy ones to create a more unique map.

597
 Toolbars
SS3 contains its own set of toolbars, and provide the following specialized buttons in addition to
the standard CC3+ ones. Note that some of these duplicate existing overland buttons, but they are
still listed here for easy reference

Floor Wall Debris

Terrain Road Furniture

Water Up/Down
Style Toggle
Grid All Drawing Tools
This button toggles Wall Features
between filled color symbols Symbol Catalog Settings Symbol Style Toggle
Weapons
and black & white hollow
outlined symbols. Street Furniture

Vehicles

Warning Signs

St. Aurelius
This map comes from the
Jonathan Roberts Cities
issue of the 2012 annual.
If you wish to look closer at
this map, there is a high-
detail pdf freely available at
the annual site:
(http://www.profantasy.co
m/annual/2012/march12.ht
ml)

598
STYLES OF SYMBOL SET 3
Just as with other add-ons, SS3 contains several different styles for you to use. Similar to the
Cosmographer 3 add-on, SS3 contains styles for different types of maps, both overland and floorplan
level. Included with SS3 there are 2 overland styles and 4 floorplan styles.

Just as with styles provided by other add-ons, these styles are complete styles meant to be used on
their own, and not just additional symbols and fill for existing styles. This does not mean that they
can’t be used together with other styles obviously, but you’ll have to decide for yourself what styles
look good together.

The next chapter in this section includes a tutorial that shows how to use the SS3 Bitmap A floorplan
style from this addon together with the DD3 Dungeon style.

Overland Styles
SS3 Modern Political
This overland style allows you to draw maps in a style
similar to real modern maps, with a focus on providing
political information.

The style uses simple vector symbols combined with

raster fills and effects to create the map.

The usage of symbols is kept to a minimum in modern

map. This is intentional because these maps are more
focused on accurate information instead of pretty visuals.
For example, a CC3 Standard overland style mountain
symbol does clearly indicate that there are mountains
here, but it does a poor job of defining the exact area the mountains cover, as well as depicting how
many mountain tops are there. This style uses fills, contour, and a single minimalistic symbol to
identify the peak instead.

SS3 Pro Standard Overland

This is an older overland style from before
Campaign Cartographer supported raster
artwork. It relies on vector symbols and symbol
fills to design the map, and does not include
effects by default, although you can certainly
add some.

Just as with the SS3 Modern Political style, this

style is intended to draw modern maps more
focused on accurate representation of features
than using pretty illustrations.

599
 Floorplan Styles
SS3 Modern Bitmap A
The first of the two bitmap styles, this style focuses on a more
realistic drawing style of the symbols. This style is designed to
make several different types of floorplan level maps, such as
building interiors and street views.

Using this style, you should be able to map out both public
buildings as well as private homes.

SS3 Modern Bitmap B

This is the second bitmap style from SS3. The style is a bit
more cartoony than the Bitmap A style, although it is still
pretty detailed.

It is worth noting that this style shares the fills with the Bitmap
A style. You’ll noticed that there are no separate fills for the
SS3B style.

Generally, the usage is as for SS3A; you can use it for private
and public floorplans, as well as street views.

SS3 Modern Vector

This is the old vector style from the CC Pro version of SS3.
This style utilizes only vector symbols and fills, and do not
use effects by default.

While not as visually attractive as the bitmap styles,

because most modern styles rely on clean and simple
lines, it can still be used to make decent floorplan and
street level maps.

Do not let the fact that it doesn’t ship with effects by

default stop you from adding them, there are a lot of
effects that can be used to enhance a vector map, such as,
but not limited to transparencies, glows and shadows.

SS3 Modern Blueprint

This style varies greatly from the other floorplan styles,
as this is designed to make architectural blueprints of
building floors/rooms.

This is a very simple style, and mimics how real

architectural blueprints looks.

It is worth noting that this is still a style for fantasy

mapping, it doesn’t turn CC3+ into a fully-fledged
architectural design software. (Technically, CC3+ is a
CAD program and does have all the features needed to
draw true architectural drawings, but software designed
for this purpose have specialized tools that make it easier,
while CC3+ have tools that make fantasy mapping easier instead)

600
MIXING MAP STYLES
In this floorplan tutorial, we will look at how
to mix map styles for good effect. We will
draw a modern map in the SS3 Bitmap A
floorplan style, but we will also use elements
from the DD3 dungeon style and the SS2
Bitmap A style as well. The result should be
a very unique map.

For this map, we will make a small street

scene, where some strange demonic
platform has broken through from below.
The general layout will contain a road, a
parking lot, two buildings, an area behind the
buildings with a park, which also is the
location where our demonic platform will
break through.

Do beware that this tutorial contains a lot of tiny details, but the I think the result is quite pleasing.
Insert
Consider this an advanced tutorial. I will explain how to accomplish everything in this map, but I
won’t tell you every button you need to press or every symbol to place. By now, you should have So, why did we start to
more than enough grasp on the basics to understand what I am talking about at the various stages. insert this file into the map,
Also, If I tell you do something on a sheet or layer you don’t have, create it. Refer to the complete but aborted before placing
sheet list on the next page for the complete sheet order. it? The secret is how CC3+
handles fill styles. When you
You can find tutorial maps for various stages through this tutorial in the @Tutorials\Tome\SS3 folder, insert one map into another
under the Breaking Through filename. Be warned that this map is rather heavy on the effects, so a map, all the fill style
reasonably fast computer is recommended. definitions from the map is
also inserted into the
Getting Started current map. However, this
happens immediately,
First, let us start a new map, and set it up with all the fill styles we will be using. I already know what before we place the file we
fill styles the map will use, so I am adding them now, but there is nothing wrong with doing this at tried to insert. Since we
a later point if you need to include more fill styles. were only doing this to get
the fill style definitions,
1. Start a new map in the SS3 Bitmap A floorplan style. Size should be 150 by 80, and the
placing the actual content
background should be Concrete_SS3A.
of the file was unnecessary.
2. Use Draw → Insert file, and insert @System\Fill Styles\DD3 Dungeon Color.FCW into your Note that if you need to
map. However, when asked to place it in your map, don’t, simply hit to end the command include fill styles from a
instead. style where no file exists in
@System\Fill styles, all you
Repeat for @System\Fill Styles\SS2 Bitmap A.FCW.
need to do is to start a new
map in that style, save it
Laying down the groundwork somewhere, and then insert
this file into a map the same
Since we started with the concrete background, we way.
need to lay down some grass, a parking lot and a If you don’t want all the fill
road. styles imported, you can
3. Used the Terrain, Asphalt Cracked 1 drawing instead manually create
tool for the road, and Terrain, Asphalt new fill styles one by one in
Cracked 2 for the parking lot. the fill style dialog, or use
Tools → Import Bitmap Fill
For the grass, I wanted the Grass_SS3A fill styles to import all the fill
style. However, there are no straight polygon styles in one directory.
drawing tools for this grass, so I found it
easier to just draw the grass using Box .
Make sure everything we just drew ended up on the OUTSIDE sheet.

601
 Complete Sheet List Detailing the Roads
BAKGROUND Some of you may prefer to wait with the detailing until later in the process. For
OUTSIDE this map however, I prefer to work on it roughly one section at a time. Of
OUTSIDE DETAILS course, this requires you to have a good plan on the general layout of the map,
OUTSIDE ROAD or you may need to redo the detailing later.
LINES
OUTSIDE EDGE Kerb stones
STONE BASE
First, let us start with the kerb stones that separate the road from the grass and
OUTSIDE ROAD
pavement. There are multiple issues that face us here. We want these to look
EDGE STONES
like individual stones, and we also want to have rounded corners. However,
OUTSIDE ROAD
for the rounded corners, we need to be careful not to expose the straight
EDGE STONE
corners of the texture below, like the grass in our example.
DIVIDERS
PLATFORM For the rounded corners, we will use smooth paths, but we need to place our
BREAKTHROUGH nodes carefully to get the curvature we need. And to be able to do that, we
LAVA should use some construction lines. You could get away with just using snaps,
CONCRETE PIECES but I usually don’t like to have to size everything to fit snap points, I feel the result gets more natural
HOUSE BASE if you don’t. This is a battle map, so I have tried to make the map roughly follow the grid, but I don’t
FLOORS want everything to come in 5’ sizes.
SYMBOLS FLAT
SYMBOLS
4. First, on the CONSTRUCTION sheet, draw two 1x1 squares (Box ) in
WALLS the inside lower corners of the grass. To position these correctly, use
STEPS1 the Endpoint modifier to position one corner exactly in the grass
STEPS2 corner, and then specify the size on the command line by typing
STEPS3 @0.5,0.5 (and @-0.5,0.5 for the second). This method allows us
PLATFORM to do precise placements without relying on snaps.
SYMBOLS
PLATFORM
Draw to more boxes right above the first ones.
BANNISTER 5. Switch to the OUTSIDE ROAD EDGE STONES sheet, set the fill style to
BANNISTER END Concrete cracked_SS3A and line width to 5”
PILLAR
6. Use Smooth Path to draw our line of stones. Start with the first
BANNISTER END
node in the upper left corner of the strip of grass and place one
ORB
node at every point where the corners of the construction boxes
FLOORS MASK
meet the edge of the grass. If you did this correctly, the result should
SYMBOLS WALL
look like in the image. Note that we need all those nodes, or the line
LIGHTS
will start sloping prematurely.
SYMBOLS LIGHTS
STAIRCASE I found that I didn’t like the size of the cracks in the texture, so I also
STAIRCASE RAILING went in and changed the texture scale to 2’ by 2’.
HOUSE1 Additionally, to give it the look of actual stones, I added two effects
HOUSE2 to the OUTSIDE ROAD EDGE STONES sheet:
ROOF1
Bevel, Lighted: Bevel Size, 0.1 map units
ROOF2
SYMBOLS ABOVE Glow: Outside, Black, strength 12,5%, Blur radius 0.2 map units
FLAT
One of the important aspects of these rounded corners is to make them in such a way that they
SYMBOLS ABOVE
hide the square grass corner below them. We could have made the grass polygon the same way
GRID
however, which is also a good way to solve the problem. This might have been necessary if the
TEXT
edge stones were thinner or we wanted a larger corner radius.
SCREEN
MAP BORDER Now for the separators that will make them look like individual stones. These are just a simple thin
CARTOUCHES line, but they need to have their own sheet so we can apply appropriate effects to them.
CONSTRUCTION
7. Draw a 0.5” wide Line across the edge stone line, using the solid 50 Bitmap fill, on the
OUTSIDE ROAD EDGE STONE DIVIDERS sheet. Use Ortho to make sure it is straight
8. Add a Bevel to the sheet
Length 0.05 map units, strength 30%, Invert Colors, Fade 50%

602
When effects are enabled, this should create the illusion of a small gap between two
stones. Note that this is set up to make it look good when you view the map at a Endpoint
“normal” zoom level. It won’t look quite as good if you do an extremely close zoom. If you have problems with
using the endpoint modifier
Of course, now we need to repeat this along the line. There are a few ways, but I’ll
with the smooth path, try
just handle it using Copy and command line entry of some coordinates. You
moving the construction
could also use a Rectangular Array.
sheet up in the sheet list so
9. Start the Copy command, select the line we just drew, hit o It and pick that it is above the sheet
a Copy from Point somewhere on the line. Now, instead of trying to place it manually, type you are currently drawing
on. This should make the
in @0,3 on the command line. This will place a copy exactly 3 map units above the one
modifier work properly.
you copied.

10. You should note that the line is still on your cursor, ready to place again. Type @0,3 @0,3
again, and the next copy will be placed 3 map units above the previous one. Keep doing this Remember that coordinates
until you have placed dividers along the entire length of the line. For the other sides, you’ll starting with @ are relative
need to place the initial line manually, and then repeat this procedure. coordinates, an offset value
from the last coordinate
There is one small issue you may have noted, especially if you zoom close in,
used (typed or clicked with
and that is weird “holes” in the texture. This is a side-effect of the effects system
the mouse). @0,3 will put
that happens when you apply certain effects (Such as Bevel) to a pixel that is
the next point 3 map units
the same color as the pixel on the sheet below. The best way to fix this is simply
above the previous one,
to have solid-colored copy of the entity on a separate sheet below. By using a
while @0,-3 will put it 3
color that is guaranteed to not be in the texture, this eliminates the effect.
map units below. @3,0 and
11. Create a copy of the main edge stone line to the OUTSIDE EDGE STONE BASE sheet. Change @-3,0 will place it 3 map
the fill to a solid color, and pick a color not in the concrete texture, such as green (85). Do units to the right or left
not apply any effects to this sheet. Note that this entity will never be visible, since the edge respectively.
stone line will always appear on top of it, hiding it, but make sure to not set this sheet as
hidden. Pixel
That’s all the techniques required to do Even if CC3+ mapping
the kerb stones. All that remains is to doesn’t happen in pixels,
but similar stones along the border of the effects subsystem must
the parking lot and the edge of the render everything to an
road, as well as along the edge of the image before applying
park. effects, so effects actually
work on pixels.
12. Use the techniques described
above to do the remaining kerb
lines.

Road Markings
This part is pretty simple, but the drawing tools for these are not set up appropriately
for what I need, so I am just going to draw them using a Path . I’m not going to
give you step by step details, as you should easily be able to draw these, but here is
a list of the things to pay attention to.

They should all be drawn on the OUTSIDE ROAD LINES sheet.

I found the lines too blurry, so I changed the blur radius of the Blur effect
on this sheet to 0.1 (Instead of 0.2).

I used color 15 for the white line and color 135 for the yellow ones

The dashed line at the parking lot exit are drawn using the Dash line
style, but I edited it and set the pattern length to 2’ (NOT 2”) and
unchecked Paper Scale.

The triangles are just simple filled polygons.

603
 Buildings
Next on our list is a couple of buildings. For this map, I want a couple of flat-roofed concrete
buildings, with a low concrete parapet wall around the roof. These kinds of buildings are great for
battle maps, since the roof area could be used for a lot of interesting purposes.

Now, I do want to have painted buildings, as a gray concrete building next to a gray concrete
pavement is a recipe for invisible buildings, which is not what we want. Now, we don’t have any
colored concrete fills available. You could of course edit the existing concrete fill in an image editor
and import that as a new fill, but I’m going to use effects instead. Of course, this heavy reliance on
effects means that the map cannot be used without effects on, but generally, I am willing to accept
that limitation to make a better map. In many maps, effects as just as integral a part of the map as
symbols or fills.

13. Use the Box tool to draw a house with

the following properties. Extend the house
slightly off the edge of the map. The part
that extends past the map border will be
hidden by the screen, but it will also hide
edge effects at that end, ensuring that the
house really looks like it extends outside
the current map view.
Copy
You can create a copy of an Sheet: HOUSE1
existing fill style by Fill: Concrete2. This is a copy of the Concrete_SS3 fill style, but with the scaling changed
selecting it in the list in the to 5’
fill style dialog, and then hit
the New button. This Width: 0
creates a copy of the 14. Add the following effects to the HOUSE1 sheet (All values not mentioned set to default)
selected fill style under the
new name you specify. This Bevel, Lighted: Bevel Size: 0.1 map units.
is highly useful when you
Glow: Outside, Black, Blur Radius 0.2 map units
need to reuse the same fill
but in different scales for RGB Matrix Process: R = 1.5 * R + 0 * G + 0 *B + 0, G = 1.5 * R + 0 * G + 0 *B + 0,
different entities. B = 1.5 * R + 0 * G + 0 *B + 0 (This should result in a white hue)

15. You’ll probably see that the roof is filled with the same mysterious holes as we experienced
Same Effects
with our kerb stones. The solution is the same, add a solid filled copy of the house on the
Remember that you can HOUSE BASE sheet.
copy sheet effects from one
16. Use the Polygon tool to draw a parapet wall
sheet to another. Simply
around the edge of the roof. As you can see in
select the effects you need
the image, I left a small gap where I will put an
to copy, and click the Copy
button. access stairway later. Make sure you extend the
edges of the wall outside the map border to
Remember that you select
avoid seeing edge effects at the map border.
the effects by clicking on
the name (hold down Sheet: ROOF1
to do multi-select), the
checkboxes are for Fill: Concrete Cracked 2 (This is a copy of the
enabling/disabling them, Concrete Cracked_SS3A fill, with the scaling changed to 20.
not selecting them. Width: 0

17. Add the same effects to the ROOF1 sheet as we did to HOUSE1, but set the bevel size to
0.25 map units instead of 0.1.
18. Create the second building in the same way as we did the first one, but use the HOUSE2 and
ROOF2 sheets instead. Additionally, we want a different color, so set up the RBG Matrix
process for these sheets using the following values: R = 1 * R + 0 * G + 0 *B + 0,
G = 1 * R + 0 * G + 0 *B + 0, B = 1.5 * R + 0 * G + 0 *B + 0

604
Accessing DD3 resources
So far, we have been designing the SS3 part of the map, but we are now starting to get into the
combining map style territory. From now on, we will need to help CC3+ out a little. CC3+ is designed
to let us work in a single map style, and provides a lot of features to make mapping in that single
map style as easy as possible. This is absolutely great when we work in a single style, but when
working in multiple styles, this won’t always work too well, requiring us to do some manual work. Catalog Setting

For example, when we click the various add-on buttons, like the Dungeon Menu button or the The Managing Symbol
Catalogs chapter on page
SS3 Menu CC3+ actually changes various active settings to support our choice. Unfortunately,
102 details how to create
this isn’t always helpful when we wish to go back and forth because it changes the symbol filters
your own catalog settings.
we use.
You can for example create
For this map, the only real reason to activate the dungeon menu is to access the symbol catalog catalog settings for your
buttons for the dungeon symbols. Here, I am going to show you another way easily accessing the own custom catalogs to
dungeon symbols instead of activating the dungeon menu at all. This method does require a bit make them appear in these
more of an initial setup, but it is worth it in the long run. We’ll do this by setting up a dedicated catalog lists, or you can
master filter for this map. create an additional catalog
setting for an existing
19. Right click the Symbol Style Toggle button and select Master Filter Settings….
catalog to make it easier
20. In the Master Filters dialog, set it up to use 2 filters. The first available in another style.
filter should be set to ss3a and the second to DD3 Color.
Ignore any text in the grayed-out boxes.
21. Click the Save button, and give it the name SS3aDD3.
We now have a master filter that allows us to switch between SS3A and DD3 Color style symbols
only. These filters we set up are called the master filters, and they determine the basic style of the
symbols. In addition, there is a Catalog Settings filter that specifies the symbol type. This is normally
set by the symbol catalog buttons when you click on them, and this causes the correct symbol
catalog to be loaded into the symbol catalog window.

With this filter in place, we can now switch between dungeon and modern symbols by clicking the
Symbol Style Toggle button. Clicking this button will switch the master filter to the next style
in the list, effectively toggling between the two we have. When this happens, the Select Catalog
Setting dialog will show. At this point, it will usually either be empty, or it will show a list of all the
symbol catalog in the style we switched to. If it is empty, it is because a catalog setting filter was
already set, and generally the available filters for SS3 is not compatible with those of DD3, so no
catalogs was found, and the dialog is empty. The fast way to fix this is to simply erase any text in
the Catalog Settings Filter text box and hitting Find now, and all the catalogs will show.

Of course, when you are already in the correct style, you can simply hit the Symbol Catalog
Settings button to show all the catalogs of that style, you don’t have to keep hitting the toggle
button twice. Also note that since we are not switching menu sets, the SS3 catalog buttons will
always be available, but they will only work properly when the filter is in the SS3a position, so if

605
 you are working with dungeon symbols, you must toggle to SS3 symbols before using the catalog
Combine the Paths buttons.
There is a more detailed
You can add other symbol styles to the master filter the same way, but remember that the more
tutorial on combining paths
styles you add, the more clicks you will have to do to toggle through them, so I recommend adding
to make complex room in
only the ones you need.
the DD3 dungeon tutorial
on page 281. Now, we have created our own master filter list for this drawing, but we would like to load this
automatically each time we open this drawing. Let us do that.

22. Click the Map Notes button. Select the OnOpenMacro note, and hit Edit.
The OnOpenMacro map note is a special macro that is run each time the map is opened. Here we
can add commands needed for this map. It is this macro that sets up the styles and menus correctly
for us when we open a map, such as loading the dungeon menu when we open a dungeon map.

23. Find the line that reads SYMICONMR;SYMICONFLOAD SS3a and change it to
SYMICONMR;SYMICONFLOAD SS3aDD3
The SYMICONFLOAD command is the command that loads the list of master filters, and we
changed this from loading the default (for this map type) SS3a filter list to our custom list
which we named SS3aDD3.
Note that this custom list only exists in our CC3+ installation, a detail worth keeping in mind
if we give this map to others or try to edit it on a different CC3+ installation. Of course, this
move was primarily to aid us in the creation effort of a multi-style map, other people won’t
need this filter list to simply enjoy the map.

Platform
It is time to start working on the mystical platform that broke through into our city streets. Because
I wanted to clearly indicate that this is a foreign element, I used the DD3 fills here and only here,
they don’t appear in other parts of the map. Likewise, the platform does not use any SS3 fills or
symbols. Generally, I think these two styles work nicely together. They are clearly different, but not
in a way that clash (as long as the map intends to mix two styles in the way I have used here, a
cultist symbol would surely clash if it was used as a normal pedestrian on a city street)

Main Platform
The shape of the main platform is a rectangle rounded in one end and flat in the other. There are
several ways to draw a shape like this, but I prefer to draw the component shapes and combine the
paths.

24. Set the current fill to Stone Grey Flat Bitmap, the line width to 0, and the sheet to PLATFORM.
(Note that I made my lines a bit wider to be visible in this tutorial, but remember that if your
line width is not 0, you will get a hollow instead of filled shape when you are done)
25. Use the Path tool to draw the bottom half of the platform. I recommend using Snap to
align it to the grid.
26. Use the Arc tool to draw the top half.

The few next commands are all found by right clicking Explode .

27. Use Line to Path on the arc to turn it into a path.

28. Use Combine Paths to combine the arc and path into one continuous shape.
29. Finally, use Path to Poly to turn the shape into a polygon instead of a path. Since a polygon
is a closed shape, this will make it fill properly.
In addition to the platform itself, I also wanted some stairs up to reach it. Because effects work on
the combined shape on a sheet, and not the outline of each individual entity, we need to have one
sheet for each step. Apart from that, the steps are just simple Box shapes using the same fill as
the main platform. Note that these do not look much like stairs until we add the appropriate effects,
but we will get to that in just a moment.

606
 30. Add 3 steps to the platform, one each on the STEPS1, STEPS2 and STEPS3 sheets, using the
same settings as for the platform. STEPS3 should hold the step nearest the platform, while
STEP1 holds the one furthest away.
31. You’ll also want to add a solid polygon on the HOUSE BASE sheet to prevent the holes we
were talking about earlier.
32. Now, let us add a few effects to make the platform and stairs look better. We’ll add glows to
everything and a bevel to the platform. For the steps, we will use RGB Matrix Process to
slightly darken the stairs on each level as well.
For the PLATFORM sheet, add these effects (as before, unmentioned settings should just be
left at their default values):

Glow: Outside, black, blur radius 0.5 map units

Bevel, Lighted: Bevel size 1 map unit, smoothing

0.5 map units

All of STEPS1, STEPS2, STEPS3:

Glow: Outside, Black, Strength 25%, Blur Radius

0.6 map units

RGB Matrix Process: (STEPS1 uses 0.7 as written

below, STEPS2 should use 0.8 instead, and STEPS3
uses 0.9, the other numbers are the same for all)

R = 0.7 * R + 0 *G + 0 * B + 0

G = 0 * R + 0.7 * G + 0 * B + 0

B = 0 * R + 0 * G + 0.7 * B + 0

Breaking Through
Now, let us make it look like the platform actually broke through the ground and not like it was
dropped from space. We’ll add broken concrete, a hole showing use the rock below, and some lave
for effect.
Cancel
33. Set the fill style to Cliffs SS2A, the line width to 0 and the sheet to PLATFORM
BREAKTHROUGH. When you click the
Fractalise button, CC3+
Click Fractalise and set the Strength to 30% and Depth to 7. When you click ok, CC3+
expects that you want to
will ask you to select a polyline, but just hit to cancel. fractalize something.
Use the Fractal Polygon tool to draw a polygon around the platform. Vary the distance a However, the values
bit to account for the unpredictable result of entered in the dialog will
something breaking through with great force. also be used for subsequent
use of fractal path and
34. Change fill style to Lava SS2A and the sheet to
polygon commands, which
LAVA. Draw a few lava pools flowing out from under
is what we want. Therefore,
the platform, again using Fractal Polygon .
we just cancel the
35. Add a Glow effect to the PLATFORM fractalization now. Make
BREAKTHROUGH sheet. This will give the sure to click OK in the
appearance that the concrete ends in a broken edge dialog, and then hit to
with the stone below. cancel, DON’T just hit
Glow: Inside, Black, Strength 15%, Blur Radius 2 Cancel in the dialog.
map units

36. Add a Glow effect to the LAVA sheet.

Glow: Inside, Black, Strength 50%, Blur Radius
0.25 map units.

607
 Bannister
To make the stairs even more obvious, I want to put bannisters on it. To get the effects I want, I set
it up over 3 sheets.

37. Draw the bannisters themselves as two rectangles on the BANNISTER sheet, and add these
effects:

Inner Glow: Black, 50% Opacity, 100% Brightness, Blur Size 0.2 map units.

Inner Glow: Black, 50% Opacity, 100% Brightness, Blur Size 0.4 Map units.

Inner Glow: Black, 100% Opacity, 100% Brightness, Blur Size 0.6 Map units.

38. Draw square pillars at the end of the bannisters on the BANNISTER END PILLAR sheet with
this effect:

Bevel: Length 0.4 map units, Strength 30%.

39. Draw a circle on top of the pillars, on the BANNISTER END ORB sheet, with these effects:
Drop Shadow: Offset X: 0.1 map units, Offset Y: 0.1 map units, Opacity 50%, Blur Radius
0.1 map units.

Inner Glow: Black, 50% Opacity, 100% Brightness, Blur Size 0.3 map units.

Inner Glow: Black, 50% Opacity, 100% Brightness, Blur Size 0.6 map units.

Inner Glow: Black, 100% Opacity, 100% Brightness, Blur Size 0.9 map units.

Scattered Concrete and Debris

To further identify the fact that this platform broke through from below, I’ve added several pieces
of broken concrete around the platform. I’ve also added some dirt patches on the grass to indicate
damage.

40. Set the fill to Concrete Cracked 2 and use the Fractal Polygon tool to draw broken and
scattered pieces of concrete around the platform on the CONCRETE PIECES sheet. The sheet
should have this effect:

Glow: Outside, Dark Gray (#242), Strength 25%, Blur Radius 0.4 map units.

41. Change the fill style to Dirt Brown_SS3A and draw some patches on the grass near the
platform on the OUTSIDE DETAILS sheet using Smooth Poly . This sheet should have this
effect:

Edge Fade, Inner: Edge width 0.3 map units

42. Also draw a small puddle of water using the Water Blue_SS3A fill on the OUTSIDE DETAILS
sheet.

Adding Details
We are now done with the base map, but so far it looks quite barren. It is time to start adding
symbols. I won’t detail the placement of every symbol here, you can examine the tutorial maps to
see how I placed them, and you can use the List command on any symbol to identify it.

There are a few things to keep in mind if you wish to stick to how I envisioned the map.

First of all, these symbols require a couple of sheets. Some symbols will be on the street level, others
on the platform, and yet others on the roof of the buildings. Because of this, we need to treat them
differently for correct use of shadows, so we need a couple of different sheets. Refer to the complete
sheet list presented earlier for the ordering and where they fit in between other sheets, but here is
their purpose. Do note that you may wish to add additional sheets to this setup, this only covers my
use in this map, but you may want an additional sheet for extra tall symbols for example. There are
also some simplifications in my map.

608
 SYMBOLS FLAT: This sheet is for street level symbols that lay flat on the ground, and
thus should cast a very short shadow if any at all.

SYMBOLS: This is for regular symbols on the street level.

SYMBOLS PLATFORM: This handles the symbols placed on the platform itself

SYMBOLS ABOVE FLAT: This is for flat symbols on the building roof.

SYMBOLS ABOVE: This is for regular symbols on the building roof

Since I wanted the platform to be something that just broke through, I also made sure to only use
the DD3 symbols on the platform itself, all other symbols in the map are SS3 symbols. This is done
to clearly show how this platform is a foreign entity.

I wanted the neighborhood shown in the map to be in the bad part of town, so I’ve added several
pieces of junk, a gun, a corpse and other elements to show this. I guess these things could either be
explained by the platform breaking through in a bad neighborhood, or perhaps it was the arrival of
the platform that killed the man and caused the trashcan to fall over. Perhaps the gun was placed
there by someone knowing the platform would arrive, so they had prepared? The scene as I have
laid it out is open to interpretation.

Note that you should turn off the default Wall Shadow, Directional effect on the SYMBOLS sheet.

You may note a metal staircase and some climbing rungs mounted on the wall of a building. These
are not symbols, but entities I drew myself and added effects. The effects to make rounded
appearance is the same as we used for the bannisters, just with a smaller radius, and the rounded
corners are made in the same way we did with the kerb stones earlier.

Dungeon Lighting
The lighting system itself is
Lighting explained in the Lighted
There is just one more thing remaining with this map, and that is lighting (and shadows). I wanted Dungeons chapter on page
to make this a nighttime scene, and for that purpose, I wanted to show how the dungeon lighting 311, I recommend you go
system can be used to light an outdoor map. back and read that if you
are unfamiliar with the
43. To get access to the Lighting commands, click the Dungeon Menu button. You now have basics of this system.
the various light commands under Dungeon → Lights
44. Set the sheet to LIGHTS, and use the Add Light command to add various lights to the map.
I won’t list all my 25 lights here, but my general placements are as follows:

Purple 360-degree lights from all the candles on the platform, for a more mysterious
lighting (radius 15, intensity 40)

609
 Orange 360-degree lights from the braziers (radius 40, intensity 50).

Red 360-degree light from the lava (radius 25, intensity 75)

Bright Yellow 180-degree lights form the shop windows (radius 25, intensity 50)

Yellow 360-degree light from the road lights (radius 25, intensity 50)

Blue 360-degree light from the alarm bulb (radius 15, intensity 40)

45. Set up the following sheets with the Wall Shadow, Point of Light Setup effect. The number in
parenthesis is the shadow length for the effect.

SYMBOLS (2)

SYMBOLS PLATFORM (2)

BANNISTER END PILLAR (2)

HOUSE1 (0)

HOUSE2 (0)

ROOF1 (0)

ROOF2 (0)

SYMBOLS ABOVE (2)

46. Add the Wall Shadow, Point of Light Finalize effect to the SYMBOLS ABOVE sheet, and set
the shadow color to black.
47. Right click Sheets and Effects and select Global Sun.
Make sure Activate lighting is enabled, and set Shadow – blur to 1 and Shadow –
transparency to 20.

And that is it, we are done. This map now uses symbols and fills from all of DD3, SS2 and SS3. Note
that I didn’t use the drawing tools from these add-ons, but those also work fine after we imported
the fill styles, which we did in the very beginning of this tutorial.

610
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
There are not that many additional resources for SS3, considering that it is in itself an additional
resource for other products. However, owning Dungeon Designer 3 gives you extra options and
artwork for your modern floor plans, even though a lot of the art from this add-on is obviously not
suitable for modern maps. Likewise, some of the fills and symbols from Cosmographer 3 can also
be used in modern maps, although many of the symbols might be a bit too futuristic.

Annuals
There are a couple of the annuals that provide useful tools and artwork for modern maps. Note that
these work fine without SS3.

Caves and Caverns [July 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 7}

This contains the tools and artwork to map two different styles of
caves, one in the standard DD3 style, while the other style is suitable
for modern cave maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/july07.html

Modern City [September 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 9}

Here you get two styles for creating modern cities. One styles covers
18th to 19th century maps, while the other style is for contemporary
maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/september07.html

Modern Political [June 2010 (Vol 4)] {Issue 42}

This modern overland style allows you to make maps that focus on
political information.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/june10.html

1930s Travel Guide [April 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 52}

This is a floor plan style inspired by travel guides from the 1930s.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/april11.html

611
 Modern Road [May 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 53}

This issue contains a drawing style for creating modern road and
city street maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/may11.html

Military Operations [September 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 57}

This style is inspired by the maps in the World War 2 Interactive

Atlas, and is designed to modern military maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/september11.html

1930s Street Maps [December 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 60}

This is a companion style to the 1930s floorplans issue: city maps

in the same Baedeker travel guide style for your modern horror and
pulp-style games.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/december11.html

Overland Satellite Maps [February 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 62}

This issue brings you an overland style for creating maps based on
quasi-realistic satellite imagery.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/february12.html

Real World maps in FT3 and CC3 [May 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 65}

This issue contains real world maps, ready for use in CC3+, perfect
when you play a game set in the real world

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/may12.html

1930’s Overland Maps [December 2013 (Vol 7)] {Issue 84}

This overland style is inspired by the maps in travel guides from the
1930’s.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2013/december13.html

612
World War 2 Maps [January 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 85}

This style is well suited for various kinds of modern maps, such as
military and steampunk.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/january14.html

Real World Vector Data [August 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 92}

This issue contains resources and tutorials for importing real world
data into CC3+

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/august14.html

Modern Journeys [September 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 93}

This style lets you depict the itinerary and visited locations for
modern journeys or expeditions as would be found in many modern
horror or pulp adventures.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/september14.html

1800’s Floorplans [April 2016 (Vol 9)] {Issue 112}

This issue provides you with the tools to make architectural

drawings of 1800’s buildings.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2016/april16.html

613
 Classic Jhendor
This nostalgic Jhendor map was drawn more than 20 years ago by Ralf Schemmann, using Campaign Cartographer for DOS (CC-
DOS), the very first version of Campaign Cartographer. The corner inserts show zoomed in details from the map.
Note that this version of Campaign Cartographer could not do solid fill styles, which is why both land and sea are completely white.
Check out pages 555 and 126 for CC2 and CC3 versions of Jhendor maps.

614
 SYMBOL SET 4:
DUNGEONS OF SCHLEY
 Temple of the Horned God
This map of a ruined temple
was made by cartographer
Lorelei in the Symbol Set 4:
Dungeons of Schley map style
for the community atlas at
atlas.monsen.cc.
You can download the .fcw
file for this map from the atlas
site.
You can see more of Lorelei’s
work at
www.loreleicartography.com

616
INTRODUCTION
Symbol Set 4: Dungeons of Schley (SS4) adds a new dungeon style to
CC3+. This symbol set features artwork by Mike Schley, the same artist
behind the CC3 Schley Overland style.

Similar to SS2, this add-on provides new options for dungeons, but SS4
also comes with its own toolbar set, for use without DD3. Note that this
do not contain all the tools from DD3. If you do own DD3, you may wish
to click the Dungeon Menu to switch to the dungeon tool set, as DD3
makes several things much easier.

As of this writing, SS4 is the newest addition to the Campaign Power

Cartographer series, and this is the first iteration of it. As such, it does not The drawing tools may be
have any legacy content from earlier versions, and only contain the easier to use immediately,
Schley Dungeon raster styles, available in full color as well as a greyscale inks style, just like the because they are ready to
overland styles. pick up and use
immediately, while the
Using SS4 rooms
configuration.
require

As with all other add-ons, the way to create a new map using the styles they provide is to choose However, the way the room
their map type in the New map wizard. SS4 adds four template to the wizard in the Dungeons and corridor tools manages
category, SS4 Dungeons of Schley and SS4 Dungeons of Schley Inks, with metric and imperial both walls and floors
versions of both. simultaneously, and with
the break/connect features
You can always bring up the SS4 menu set by clicking the SS4 Menu button.
of these tools, they provide
a much better experience,
Toolbars especially for larger
The SS4 toolbars looks almost identical to their DD3 counterparts. The only visual difference is a dungeons.
Symbol Catalog Settings button at the start of the symbol toolbar. However, in SS4, all the
buttons lead to ordinary drawing tools, and while these are rather powerful, they don’t have the
power of the Corridor and Room tools. So, if you have DD3, I recommend always switching Loading a Map
to it by clicking Dungeon Menu immediately upon starting or loading a map. You can change which
toolbars load by default
with a map by editing the
Temple and OnOpenMacro map note in
Default Room Default Corridor All Catalogs
Statues that map. Simply change it
from
Default Wall Default Floor Traps
MENUDM @SS4.mnu
Default Water Default Cave Cave To
Up and Down
MENUDM @Dungeon.mnu
All Dungeon Containers
Default Terrain Wall Features
Drawing Tools and Treasure
Symbol Catalog Symbol Style
Debris Weapons
Settings Toggle
Elemental
Vegetation
and Magic
Furniture

Using with DD3

The symbols and fills provided with SS4 are complete styles by themselves, and not additional
symbols for the existing DD3 style. As such, they are not intended to be combined with DD3 (or
SS2) resources. There are no problems from a technical problem mixing the styles, but you may find
that they don’t look quite right together because of the different artistic style. This is especially true
for the symbols, the fills are generally easier to mix.

617
 STYLES OF SS4
SS4 contains two new dungeon styles. One full-color and one greyscale. Both are raster styles by
Mike Schley.

SS4 Dungeons of Schley

This is a fully-featured full-color style for mapping
dungeons and floorplans. As with all dungeon styles, the
symbols are highly detailed, meaning it is also nice for
making close zoom maps, like battle maps.

There won’t be any tutorials using this style, mostly since

it behaves pretty similar to other dungeon styles. It is the
visuals that separates it, not the behavior. If you have DD3,
I suggest simply running through the DD3 tutorials in this
book, but using this style instead. There is also a helpful
tutorial in the SS4 mapping guide (found in @Documentation) that does the sunken effect a bit
differently than we did in the DD3 tutorial. It also explains the drawing tools if you don’t have DD3,
but we also look at those in the Inks tutorial on the next page.

SS4 Dungeons of Schley Inks

The symbols and fills from this style is very similar to their
color counterparts, but here the symbols are black and white
only, with greyscale fills. This style is especially suited for
printing on a black and white printer, or as an illustration in a
black and white book. When effects are turned on, this is a
very nice style in its own however that provides a very nice
and clear result, so it is certainly suitable for making maps
even if colors are available.

The main challenge when making maps in this style is to

make it clear what areas are what terrain. When everything
is in greyscale, it can be difficult to see the difference between grass and stone at a glance, so make
sure to use other clues as well.

Note that there is one very common problem you will encounter in this style. Because of how CC3+
effects are computed, some effects have problems when applying effects to a rendered pixel when
the pixel at the same position at the sheet below has the exact same color. In a greyscale map like
this, this is going to be a common occurrence. You can see this problem with some of the walls in
the example image, they look like they have some weird “holes”. If you did the SS3 tutorial, we
worked around this a couple of times, and we also did this when we made the raised dais in the
DD3 tutorial, but the short of it is to just put an intermediate sheet in between the two sheets with
a copy of the entity on the upper sheet on it, but in a solid color that do not crash with the pixel
color. Since this entity will be completely covered up by the entity above it, it is save to use
whatever color you want, such as color 6 (pink).

618
EXAMPLE MAP: INKS BATTLE MAP
For this mini-tutorial we will be looking at creating a very simple battle map using the SS4 Dungeon
of Schley Inks. I’ll also cover both using the SS4 tools only, as well as using the DD3 tools to illustrate DD3 Tools
the difference.
If you don’t have DD3,
We discussed scaling for battle maps back in the Battle Maps chapter on page 325. For this map, I simply keep using the SS4
am planning on using it in a Virtual Table Top (VTT), so I don’t need to concern myself about paper tools and procedures
sizes. If you do plan to print the map, I recommend you re-visit that chapter. explained for these instead.

I don’t want to make the map too large, so I am sticking with a 20 by 16 square map. I’m making
this a metric map, and using 2m squares, so that should equate to a 40 by 32 map unit map.

Before we start, let us just talk a bit about symbol scale. Most dungeon symbols are scaled to match
their appropriate size, but some elements, doors in particular are made in friendly 5’ sizes to fit one
of the more commonly used grid sizes. Now, 5’ is a pretty large door, probably unrealistically so for
most purposes, but let us leave that fact be for a few sentences.

For metric maps, symbol sizes are automatically scaled accordingly, which is usually fine, because
this means that the symbol ends up being the correct size. However, for doors, this will have a bit
of a strange effect. That 5’ door being scaled ends up being 1.524m. This door won’t really fit
anything. Common grid sizes for metric grids are 1m, 1.5m and 2m. For the
first two, scaling the door down is probably the best, after all, we did point out Scaled Accordingly
that a 5’ door was unnaturally large, so scaling it down sounds fine. But how
One foot equals 0.3048
about our 2m grid? As I see it, we have two options, leaving the door the size
meters, so for a metric map
it is, which won’t fill the entire grid, or scaling it up, which will make it fir the
all symbols are scaled to
grid, but making it absolutely huge. For this map, I opted keeping it at the
0.3048 by default.
standard 1.524, since I think it looks more natural, but this may raise the
questions how the small wall ends next to the door affects sight, cover and
movement in the map.

Staring the Map

You’ll find my map as @Tutorials\SS4\Battlemap.FCW

1. Start a new Dungeon map in the SS4 Mike Schley Inks style. Make it 40 by 32 in size, and
set the background fill to Grass and Dirt_SS4I
2. Add a 2m grid to the map.

Note that I am going to use Snap and the grid to help me draw the elements of the map. Since this
is a battle map, I try to make features match up to the grid to make it easier to determine what each
square contains. It is always a tradeoff how tight you will follow the grid, as if you follow it too tight,
you may end up with very unnatural-looking features.

Adding Buildings Select

I’ll add two buildings to the map, one using the DD3 tools, one using the drawing tools that There is a bug with early
accompany this map. Note that we do not really take advantage of the DD3 features here, so this versions of the Ink template
tutorial is not a good showcase why the DD3 tools are better, it just shows how to use the tools with that uses the wrong
this style. To see these tools properly in action, I refer you to the main DD3 tutorial. drawing tools, so if the style
is listed as SS4 Dungeons of
Adding a building using SS4 tools Schley, manually change it
to SS4 Dungeons of Schley
3. Click Default Room and select the Room, Default Stone tool. Use it to draw a 5 by 5 Inks before selecting the
square room in the lower right corner. tool.
This is a standard drawing tool which uses the feature of drawing tools to draw two entities
simultaneously to draw both a wall and a floor.

619
 Adding a building using DD3 tools
4. Click Dungeon Menu to activate the DD3 menus.
5. Click Add Room . This brings up the DD3 room dialog. Initially, the preview will look pretty
Isn’t Set Up
weird, because it isn’t set up with SS4 fills.
The room tool doesn’t store
Enable the Floor – background and Wall options. Set floor to Wood Floor v_SS4I and the
its settings in the map, but
wall to Brick_SS4I. Set the Wall width to 0.5
uses a single global setting.
This means that when Use the tool to draw a square 5 by 5 room in the upper left corner. Remember that the room
starting a new map, it is tool works differently from a drawing tool, you don’t have to place each corner, just the first
almost never going to be and the second one (for square room anyways). Watch the preview to figure out where to
correctly set up with place the second corner.
appropriate fills. 6. Add doors to the buildings, and windows for the top one. You’ll find these symbols under
It may seem to be a hassle Wall Features .
setting this dialog up
compared to just using a
ready to use drawing tool,
and for this particular map,
you are right.
However, for larger
dungeons, the connecting
features between rooms
and corridors makes it much
easier to draw larger
dungeons with these tools
when compared to standard
drawing tools, making this
configuration step worth
the effort.

Looking at Fills and Effects

7. Right click Default Terrain and select the Terrain, Dirt tool. Use it to draw a path between
the two houses, and also exiting out to the top right.

Fill styles At this point, you may have noticed that the path seemingly disappeared almost entirely, and the
different fill styles are difficult to tell apart. You may also notice unnaturally long shadows from the
You’ll get better results if
doors. This is because the fills and effects aren’t really set up for this small of a map. Let us fix this.
you resize each individually
and find the scale that fits 8. For all fill styles we are using, change
best. For example, the the horizontal and vertical scaling
planks might be a bit too from 3 to 10. This is done on the
large now. Bitmap Files tab of the fill style dialog.
Doing this should make the texture of
the fill style much clearer, and make
them easier to differentiate.
9. For all the Wall Shadow, Directional
effects (Mainly on the symbol sheets),
divide the Length by 3.
10. For the outside sheet, reduce the edge
width of the Edge Fade, Inner effect to
0.25.
This should result in a much-improved look
for our map.

620
Symbols Simple Hut
Finally, let us add some symbols to flesh out the map. For my map, I made the top building be a Note that as far as huts go,
simple hut and put in some furniture and a corpse. The other building was filled with crates and this thing is 10 by 10
barrels, and some various things, making it a storage shed. meters, so it is pretty huge.
When making battle maps,
Finally, I added some trees and bushes to the outside.
you must often compromise
11. Add whatever symbols you feel will fit the map. between realism and a
functional map, because
you do want some
That’s it. We’ve made a very simple battle map in just a few minutes. You could make this map movement spaces for
much prettier, but I think part of its appeal is its simplicity. Once you start populating it with charters and monsters.
enemies, there will be enough going on here anyway. I do encourage you to be
aware of sizes when
mapping though, I’ve seen
Note that I made a few additional tweaks not described in the tutorial; moving the grid below the dungeons with rooms
symbols, and adding a separator sheet below the walls and the map border with solid filled copies described as small quarters,
of the entities on this sheet to prevent the holes that turns up in the bevel effect. but represented on the map
with dimensions the size of
my house. It is easy to
forget how large a single 5’
square (25 square feet)
really is.

621
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The best resource for use with SS4 is Dungeon Designer 3. While SS4 does contain tools that allow
you to make dungeons without DD3, having the full DD3 toolset is definitely an advantage.

Apart from that, there are no other resources that targets SS4 specifically, but since this is a dungeon
style, mostly everything intended for DD3 would also be helpful for SS4.

Annuals
There are several annuals that contain useful resources for dungeon maps, but few that targets SS4
specifically. For annuals that targets dungeon mapping in general, check out the annual listing in
the DD3 section of this Tome.

Munson’s Mines [May 2017 (Vol 11)] {Issue 125}

This symbol pack by Jon C Munson II is designed to fit in with the

Mike Schley symbols from SS4.

https://www.profantasy.com/annual/2017/may17.html

St. Aurelius
This map comes from the
Jonathan Roberts Cities
issue of the 2012 annual.
If you wish to look closer at
this map, there is a high-
detail pdf freely available at
the annual site:
(http://www.profantasy.co
m/annual/2012/march12.ht
ml)

622
SOURCE MAPS: CASTLES
 Crusader Fortress
This is an example map in
Perspectives view from
Source Maps: Castles!

624
INTRODUCTION Source Maps: Castles
Source Maps: Castles (SMC) can be used both as a stand-alone
This is one of the old add-
product, and an addition to CC3+. If you don’t have CC3+, you can
ons for CC2 which haven't
install it as a separate viewer which can be used to view the maps
been updated to full version
included in the product. If you have CC3+, it will instead be
3 support yet. A
integrated with it, and will install additional tools for CC3+.
compatibility update exists
that lets you use it with
What is Source Maps? CC3+, but it doesn't contain
any new CC3+-style
The source maps is a series of ready to use maps in CC3+ format. artwork but sticks to the
Each product in this series comes with multiple views of each vector art style from CC2.
subject. These maps can be used as they are, or you can edit them
in CC3+.

Contents Stand-alone
I won’t address the stand-
SMC contain floorplans of twenty-five castles. All castles are presented with an overhead view,
alone viewer here, as I
floor plans for each floor, and an external view of the castle in Perspectives 3 format. Many of these
assume every owner of this
castles are based on historical castles, while others are fantasy castles.
book already owns CC3+.
SMC also contains a detailed description and history of each castle, real-world images as well as Using the viewer is very
adventure notes and NPC’s. similar to viewing the maps
in CC3+.

Viewing the Maps

To start viewing the maps, right click the Castles Menu button and select Browse Castles.
Web Page
This will bring up the browse dialog, showing all the castle maps available. Be aware that it might
take a little while for CC3+ to generate preview for all these maps, and it might seem like CC3+ just The web page is a locally
hangs, doing nothing, during this process. This information is cached however, so it should only take installed html-file, so it will
a while the first time. Once there, select one of the maps from the desired castle. be available even if you
don’t have an internet
Another starting point is to start with the web page. From CC3+, you can go there by right-clicking connection.
the Castles Menu button and select Background and Adventures. Note that some web
browsers, most notably
When you have a castle map open, you will see that there are a few extra buttons right below your
Google Chrome, no longer
add-on buttons. These buttons are navigation buttons that help you navigate the Source Maps:
treats local files as they used
Castles product, and only show up when you open one of the maps from this product. These buttons
to, and instead
will not show up for your own custom castle maps. More about that later.
“downloads” the already
Castle Information: Brings up a html page with information about the current castle local file to your download
with images, adventure hooks and more directory and open it from
there. This unfortunately
3D Castle View: Loads the Perspective view map of the current castle.
means that map navigation
Castle Surroundings Map: Loads an overhead view of the castle and the immediate doesn’t work in this
surroundings. “downloaded” map, since
this copy don’t sit in the
Floor buttons: Loads the maps for the various floors of the castle. Note that since CC3+ same directory as the other
toolbars are static, the number of buttons won’t change with the number of available maps. If you use Chrome as
floors, buttons trying to load non-existent floors will simply not work. your web browser, I
recommend that you rely on
opening the maps from
inside CC3+ and not via the
information page.

625
 USAGE IN CC3+
When installed, SMC will add tools for designing castles to the program. These tools are also referred
to as Castle Designer, or simply Castles. These tools are the same one used to design the castle
maps in this product.

Castle Symbols
Castle Designer Toolbars
The Wall catalog includes
new connecting symbols – SMC comes with a new toolbar containing tools especially appropriate for designing castles.
choose a tower, and you’ll
be able to start drawing
outer walls straight away.
Main Toolbar Symbol Toolbar
Click points, and it will leave The following buttons are used for SMC. As usual, you can The Symbol Toolbar lets you load
a tower at each corner. right-click these buttons to see more tools. castle symbols into the catalog
The Siege catalog includes window. Click on a button to open a
connecting siege work symbol catalog.
trenches, too. The T-
junctions and crossroads Default Water Default Contours
Castle Symbol Settings
will align to the connected
Default Wall Default Forest
trenches.
Default Contour Lines Default Grass Walls

Default Floor Castle Drawing Tools Wall Features

Castle Symbol settings Symbol Style Toggle Furniture & Fixtures

Vegetation

Siege

Draw Drawing a Simple Castle

This tutorial assumes you
Let’s draw a small castle on a hill. If you wish to look at the example maps, you can find these in
have a good understanding
@Tutorials\Tome\SMC. Note that this tutorial uses a vector style.
of CC3+ and know where to
find things.
The First Level
1. Start a new 120×160 Castle Floorplan.
Vector Style
2. On the layer CONSTRUCTION draw the basic layout of your
SMC is an old add-on, from castle. [Castle 01.FCW]
before Campaign
Cartographer used raster 3. Use Offset [OFFSET1] on the inside of the construction lines
artwork, therefore the to create walls of the appropriate thickness. We’ll be using 3’
tutorial is done in the same wide walls throughout this example. [Castle 02.FCW]
style as the maps 4. With the various trim commands (Break, Trim To Entity, etc.)
accompanying the product. and Combine Paths create closed polygons or multipolies
However, there is nothing for each of your buildings, towers and wall sections.
stopping you from using
As an example, let us use the two rectangles forming the
raster fills and symbols
building adjoining the round tower [Castle 03.FCW]:
instead. All of DD3, SS2, SS4
Use Break [BREAK] on each of the rectangles, marking the
and most dungeon annuals
break points with the help of the Intersection modifier
should have both fills and
symbols that should work ( ). [Castle 04.FCW]
nicely with your castle.

626
 Use Combine Paths [CMB] to connect to the remaining parts of
the rectangles and close the resulting entity [EDIT]. [Castle
05.FCW]
5. Copy all entities to the layer WALLS then hide and freeze the
layer CONSTRUCTION. Change all entities to color black (0)
and fill style Solid. Draw some interior walls for your castle.
[Castle 06.FCW]
We will now use drawing tools to draw several components in your
castle. These tools are not set up to automatically go to the
appropriate sheet, so before using any of the tools, you should edit
them to make sure both the main entity and any outline entity is set
up to go to the correct sheet (check the sheet list to find an appropriate sheet. Keep in mind where
in the drawing order this entity should go compared to other entities in the drawing.). If the tools
are not set up to go to the correct sheet, they will be drawn on top of the walls instead of below
them or vice versa. Exits and Entries

6. With the drawing tool Castles Doorstep, Grey draw the spaces for the exits and entries to In this simple example, we
your castle over walls. Add door symbols to these doorsteps. [Castle 07.fcw] will not create true breaks in
the outer walls, but will
7. Using the drawing tool Castle Floor, Tiles Grey Hatch, create a floor for your castle buildings.
create “doorsteps” instead
(Hint: You may wish to set the current line width to 0 before
which just covers the wall.
using the tool)
For interior doors you can
Draw a floor for the courtyard with the tool Castle Dirt, use cutting doors from the
Brown Hatch. [Castle 08.FCW] DD3 Wall Features catalog.
8. The drawing tool Castle Windowsill, Grey lets you easily (You'll probably wish to use
add some windows and/or arrow slits to the walls. Simply the vector doors from DD3
use the tool to draw trapezoids on top of the existing walls, instead of the raster ones)
so it looks like holes.
9. Add some stairs to connect the different levels. Add
furniture and other symbols to taste.
Congratulations. The first castle level is done. Remember to save
it before we continue [Castle 09.fcw]

The Second Level Second Level

If your second level will be
10. Save the drawing again under a different name (e.g.
quite similar to the previous
Level2). This will be our second level.
one, simply erase all the
stuff that changes and keep
In the tutorial castle, I have removed some parts, added a few the rest.
windows and doorsteps and replaced the “up” stairs with their If it is very different, it might
“down” counterparts. [Castle 10.FCW] better to erase everything
but the CONSTRUCTION
11. Add a different floor to the rectangular building to show layer and redo the level
that it is open to the sky, e.g. with the Castle Paving, Grey starting from step 5 of the
tool. First Level.
12. Change the Interior Color of the rectangular building’s walls
and of the connecting walls to the towers to color 248. Add
stairs leading to the 3rd Level. [Castle 11.FCW] Interior Color

13. Save the drawing. Change the Interior Color by

right clicking on the Change
Properties button.
This way we show that we
are looking at the top of the
wall and not at its cross-
section.

627
 The Third Level
14. Save your map again. This time save it under a new name (e.g. Level3).
Delete everything but the round tower walls, its windows, its floor and
Draw a Roof the upward leading stairs. [Castle 12.FCW]
The CD3 House Command is 15. Show the layer CONSTRUCTION and use the outline of the rectangular
handy for this. tower to draw a roof.
16. Add windows to the round tower as required. [Castle 13.fcw]
17. Save the drawing.
Congratulations. The floorplans for your castle are complete. We will continue
Clipboard with a map of the castle’s surroundings.
The best way to handle this
is to have two instances of The Map of the Surroundings
CC3+ open. This way you From now on we will often be copying map parts via the clipboard.
don't have to load and save
the map for every copy 18. Start a new Castle Surroundings 120x160 map.
operation. 19. Open a second instance of CC3+ then open the first level of your castle.
20. Using the Copy to Clipboard and Paste commands copy all entities on the layer
CONSTRUCTION from the floorplan map over to the new one.
Place the copies where you want your castle to be on the
Copy
surroundings map. [Castle 14.FCW]
Use significant points and
any appropriate modifiers 21. Open the second level floorplan in your second instance of
(e.g. Endpoint or Center) to CC3+.
place the copies exactly on 22. Copy the parts visible from above (i.e. the connecting walls and
top of the construction lines. the roof of the rectangular building) to the surroundings map.
[Castle 15.FCW]
23. Open the third and final level floorplan in your second instance
of CC3+.
24. Copy the roof of the rectangular tower
into the surroundings map. [Castle
16.FCW]
25. Change the layer to CONSTRUCTION
and the drawing color to 7.
26. Draw an 8-sided regular polygon on top
of the round tower so that the tower’s
outline is completely covered. [Castle
17.FCW]
27. Using the regular polygon as a guide,
draw a roof for the round tower. [Castle
18.FCW]
28. With the drawing tool Castle Contour,
Default 0 draw a green background to
your map.
29. Using the additional contour drawing
tools (Castle Contour, Default #),
create a hill underneath your castle.
[Castle 19.FCW]
30. Add a few more details to the
surroundings map, e.g. a dirt floor for the
courtyard, a path leading up to the castle
and some trees. [Castle 20.FCW]

628
That is our surroundings map of the castle. Let’s move on to the 3D view now.

3D view
3D View
Note that you need
31. Start a new map based on the Castle 3d 120x160.FCT template. Note that this template is Perspectives 3 to follow this
not available in the wizard, so you need to tell CC3+ to make the new map from a pre-defined part of the tutorial.
template instead.
32. Open a second instance of CC3+, then load the surroundings map.
33. Copy the layer RELIEF/CONTOUR over to the
new isometric map. Use 0,0 both as reference
and insertion point.
34. Activate the Perspectives 3 menu and use 3D
Projection (IPROJ) to project the contours
onto the isometric map. Move
35. Erase the unprojected contours. [Castle You can use the grid or type
21.FCW] in the coordinates @0,10.
36. Move all contours except the lowest one 10 feet in y direction Note how many times we
moved the highest contour.
Do the same again, (select by Prior) but leave out
In this example, it was four
the second lowest contour (the lowest one of
times or 40 feet in total. We
those you have moved). Repeat until you have
will need this number later.
moved the highest contour on its own. Your
contours should now look like the approximation
of a hill. [Castle 22.FCW]
Further Work
37. Use Smooth To Straight on all contours. This You can make the illusion of
makes further work with them much easier.
an actual hill much more
[Castle 24.FCW]
convincing by inserting
38. Copy the layer CONSTRUCTION from the nodes into the contour
surroundings map into the isometric one. Use 0,0 polygons at the left and
for both reference and insertion point. right edges of the hill and
39. Use 3d Projection to project the construction connecting these nodes to
lines. Use 0,0 for both Iso view origin and the next higher contour.
insertion point. You can use Endpoint,
Attach mode to make this
40. Erase the unprojected construction lines. easier. [Castle 23.FCW]
41. Move the construction entities 40 feet in y
direction to bring them on top of the hill
(remember that we moved the topmost contour
by that distance.) [Castle 25.FCW]
42. Hide the layers RELIEF/CONTOUR and MAP BORDER. They will just get in the way for the
following.
43. Set the CONSTRUCTION layer as current.
44. Explode any multipolies on the construction layer, set the
Perspective settings to Castle, Simple Grey then Extrude the
outer construction circle of the round tower. Give it a height
of 45’. [Castle 26.FCW]
45. Change the Perspective Settings to Castle, Simple Grey
Paving top and draw a 3D Polygon along the outline of the
rectangular building.
Give it a height of 15’.
46. Move the construction lines for the rectangular building 15’
vertically upwards.

629
 47. Change the Perspective settings back to Castle, Simple Grey
then draw battlements (a low 3d polygon) along the top of the
Draw Behind building using the construction lines as a guide. Do not draw
Be sure NOT to draw behind the round tower. [Castle 28.FCW]
“behind” the round tower 48. Extrude the connecting walls by 20’ and the square tower by
or the whole thing will look 30’. [Castle 29.FCW]
wrong. You can use the
Intersection modifier ( ) 49. From the Castle 3d Walls catalog in the @Symbols\Castles
folder, place an octagonal roof on top of the round tower and a
to accurately draw the
square one on the square tower.
polygon up to the round
tower walls. [Castle 50. Add windows and doors from the Perspectives Pro or Castles
27.FCW] Wall Features catalogs to the castle.
51. Show all layers then erase everything on the layer
CONSTRUCTION. [Castle 30.FCW]
52. Add the road leading up to the castle and some trees and then
you are finished. Well, except for labeling and linking the maps,
but that has been covered in multiple other tutorials in this book.
[Castle 31.FCW]

What About Effects?

For this tutorial, we focused on the technical parts of creating the castle, but that doesn’t mean that
your drawing cannot benefit from effects. For example, Edge Fade can make the hill look much nicer
(remember each contour will need to be on a different sheet for this effect to work). Walls and
symbols can have shadows and so on. Remember the castle floorplan is just a standard dungeon
map, so everything we discussed there applies here too. Same goes for the 3D-view, everything we
learned in the Perspectives chapter of this book applies here too.

630
SOURCE MAPS NAVIGATION BUTTONS
As we discussed earlier in this chapter, SMC (and the rest of the Source Maps series) comes with a
set of navigational buttons that lets you easily jump between the different views of the map, as well
as bring up the informational web page with images and background and more.

This quickly rises the questions of Why and How.

Why do these buttons only show on the premade maps shipped with the products? Wouldn’t
these buttons be immensely useful in your own custom castle maps?
How is this accomplished? How can we make these buttons appear on some maps but not
others? How can we make maps that take advantage of these buttons?

Why?
Let us start with the question of why these buttons only show up on the maps shipped with the
atlas. The reason here is simply that for these buttons to work, they require special preparation of
your map. You cannot just make a map and have these buttons work out of the box. Instead, you
will need to place multiple hotspots in your map with the links to the various maps these buttons
will activate. Since these will need to be different for every map set you make, this is not something
that can be included in the template by default, leading to most custom map not supporting them
anyway. And since these buttons generate error messages if they are used with a map open that
do not have this setup, it makes more sense to hide them, to avoid unnecessary confusion.

How?
Of course, an advanced user may wish to enable these buttons for their own maps, so let us explore
how this can be done.

The way the buttons are only visible on certain maps is handled by having two different toolbars,
@castle.mnu and @castle_nav.mnu, the latter contains the navigational buttons. As you may already
be familiar with, CC3+ executes the macro stored in the OnOpenMacro map note whenever you
load a map, and this macro is used to set up the environment, such as setting up symbol styles and
loading the correct toolbar. So, for all the official source maps, this macro is set up to load
@castle_nav.mnu, while all templates shipped with the product which the users use to make maps
have the macro set up to load @castle.mnu instead. So, for your own map to load the navigation
button, simply change which menu file the macro loads. Note that clicking the Castles Menu
button always loads the menu without the buttons. There is no way to have this button figure out if
a map supporting the buttons or not, and this button is usually clicked when working on a castle
map, not when browsing the existing ones (and if you browse existing ones, the correct menu will
immediately be shown upon loading the next castle map anyway).

However, just showing the buttons doesn’t make them work, you also need to prepare the map. The
way this is done is to place hotspots with macro command sin your map. Each of these buttons are
designed to activate a hotspot in a particular position of the map when clicked, and it is this hotspot
that actually determines what happens when you click the button.

Let us look at these hotspots. If you look at the image to the right, you can see a
zoomed in view of the lower left corner of a Castles map, where you can see the
hotspots lined up as purple rectangles. The actual hotspot text is a bit difficult to
read due to the text from multiple hotspots overlapping, but we’ll look closer on
the commands in a moment anyway.

Note that there are two important aspects here, the first is the position of the
hotspots, since the buttons activate these by coordinates. If the hotspots aren’t
correctly placed, the buttons simply won’t work. This is just about having the
hotspot neatly tucked away in the lower left corner, it is about positioning them
on the exact right coordinates. The other aspect is having the correct command
associated with each hotspot.

631
 The buttons also expect the hotspots to be on a layer named HIDDEN LINKS. If this layer is not
present in your map, the buttons will generate errors.

The following table lists the hotspot associated with each button, including the command required
for each. Note that since the map name is embedded in the hotspot, you don’t need any particular
naming conventions for the maps of the set, although I do recommend you follow some kind of
convention, even if not necessarily the one from the Source Maps series.

Note that if you don’t need all the buttons, you can leave out hotspots. This will simply result in
those buttons not doing anything when pressed, while the rest will work as intended. Error messages
will only be thrown if the HIDDEN LINKS layer doesn’t exist.

Button Function Coordinates Command

Bottom Top
Right Left

Information; brings -0.5,-0.5 0,0 ~OPENDOC $Info\mapname.htm;

up the webpage

Opens 3D View 0,0 1,1 ~LOADM $mapname3d.fcw;

Opens 1,0 2,1 ~LOADM $mapname_surroundings.fcw;

Surrounding View

Opens Floor 1 2,0 3,1 ~LOADM $mapname1.fcw;

Opens Floor 2 3,0 4,1 ~LOADM $mapname2.fcw;

Opens Floor 3 4,0 5,1 ~LOADM $mapname3.fcw;

Opens Floor 4 5,0 6,1 ~LOADM $mapname4.fcw;

Opens Floor 5 6,0 7,1 ~LOADM $mapname5.fcw;

Remember to edit the OnOpenMacro map note and create the hotspots on every map in the set.

For even more advanced use, you should also be able to take the information presented here to
create your own customized navigational toolbar if you want, instead of using the default one
explained above. You’ll find more information about menu editing on page 193. If you dig further
into this, also note that the buttons don’t call the hotspots directly, but instead calls a macro which
again calls the hotspots. You can examine the 3DVIEW, SURROUND, INFO, GOFLOOR, LEVEL1,
LEVEL2, LEVEL3, LEVEL4, LEVEL5 and LEVEL6 macros in the @fcw32.mac macro file for the macros
used by the Source Maps series, and then use these as a basis for your own macros for creating
your own navbars like this.

632
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
If you wish to edit and create maps for SMC, you will need to have Campaign Cartographer 3+,
Dungeon Designer 3 and Perspectives 3. City Designer 3 is also helpful when mapping the castle
environments. Note that strictly speaking, you can manage with only CC3+, but the mapping is far
easier if you have the mentioned add-ons.

SMC have very much in common with Source Maps: Temples, Tombs & Catacombs however, so
those two make excellent companion products.

Annuals
No annuals are associated directly with SMC. You should look in the section for the various add-
ons to discover annuals for these add-ons that you might be able to use when designing those maps.
For example, several of the DD3 annuals are also helpful when creating castle floorplans with DD3.
The annual listed below is highly relevant for castle maps however.

Castle Walls [October 2010 (Vol 4)] {Issue 46}

This issue contains new drawing commands that make creating

complex castle wall shapes very easy.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2010/october10.html

Subway Map
This subway map was
created using the Abstract
Maps issue from the 2010
annual.

633
 Daelund - Getting a Physical Map into CC3
This collection of images shows some of the work by Kendall Byington to get his old campaign map into CC3, while making some changes along the way. Note
that these images represent work in progress, and not a finished result.
The image to the top left shows the full view of the old map, the rest of the images are zoomed in sections from the original map and the CC3 recreation.

634
SOURCE MAPS: TEMPLES, TOMBS
& CATACOMBS
 Scandinavian Stave Church
This is an example from
Source Maps: Temples,
Tombs & Catacombs in
Perspectives format.
You can find further maps
and information about this
church in the actual
product. If you search for
“Borgund” in Wikipedia you
can also read more about
the church that inspired this
map.

636
INTRODUCTION Source Maps: Temples,
Tombs & Catacombs
Source Maps: Temples, Tombs & Catacombs (TTC) can be used both
This is one of the old add-
as a stand-alone product, and an addition to CC3+. If you don’t have
ons for CC2 which haven't
CC3+, you can install it as a separate viewer which can be used to
been updated to full version
view the maps included in the product. If you have CC3+, it will
3 support yet. A
instead be integrated with it, and will install additional tools for CC3+.
compatibility update exists
that lets you use it with
What is Source Maps? CC3+, but it doesn't contain
any new CC3+-style
The source maps is a series of ready to use maps in CC3+ format. artwork but sticks to the
Each product in this series comes with multiple views of each subject. vector art style from CC2.
These maps can be used as they are, or you can edit them in CC3+.
Stand-alone
Contents I won’t address the stand-
alone viewer here, as I
TTC contain floorplans of twenty-five temples. All temples are presented with an overhead view,
assume every owner of this
floor plans for each floor, and an external view of the temple in Perspectives 3 format. Many of
book already owns CC3+.
these temples are based on historical sites, while others are fantasy temples.
Using the viewer is very
TTC also contains a detailed description and history of each temple, real-world images as well as similar to viewing the maps
adventure notes and NPC’s. in CC3+.

Viewing the Maps

To start viewing the maps, click the Temples Menu button and select Browse temples. Temples
The various sites in this
This will bring up the browse dialog, showing all the temple maps available. Be aware that it might
product are not only
take a little while for CC3+ to generate preview for all these maps. This information is cached
temples, but catacombs,
however, so it should only take a while the first time. Once there, select one of the maps from the
burial sites, churches and
desired temple. The navigation links in the map will allow you to navigate to the other views.
much more. There is no
Another starting point is to start with the web page. From CC3+, you can go there by right-clicking single word that accurately
the Temples Menu button and select Background and Adventures. describes this collection, but
temple comes the closest, so
When you open a map from TTC, you’ll notice a few extra navigation buttons right below your add-
I’ll stick with that word each
on buttons. These are used to navigate between the different maps belonging to a single temple.
time I refer to maps for this
Note that these buttons are only available along with the official TTC maps, and not custom maps
product.
unless you do some extra preparation. See Source Maps Navigation Buttons on page 631 for details.

Temple Information: Brings up a html page with information about the current temple
with images, adventure hooks and more

3D Temple View: Loads the Perspective view map of the current temple.

Temple Surroundings Map: Loads an overhead view of the temple and the immediate
surroundings.

Floor button: Loads the map for the ground floor of the temple. If the temple has more
than one floor, use the navigational links found in the map itself to go further.

More on next page…

637
 Web Page
USAGE IN CC3+
When installed, TTC will add tools for designing temples to the program. These tools are also
The web page is a locally
referred to as Temple Designer, or simply Temples. These tools are the same one used to design the
installed html-file, so it will
temple maps in this product. Note that these tools are designed to complement the tools and
be available even if you
symbols already found in DD3. You may find the options a bit limited if you use TTC by itself. You
don’t have an internet
can also find some use in combining the tools with those from Source Maps: Castles.
connection.
Note that some web TTC is based on the vector (DDPro) dungeon style from DD3, and all tools and symbols are designed
browsers, most notably to fit with this style.
Google Chrome, no longer
Temples also adds new house settings both to Perspectives 3 and City Designer 3.
treats local files as they used
to, and instead
“downloads” the already Temple Designer Toolbars
local file to your download
directory and open it from TTC comes with a new toolbar containing tools especially appropriate for designing temples.
there. This unfortunately
means that map navigation
doesn’t work in this
Main Toolbar Symbol Toolbar
“downloaded” map, since The following buttons are used for TTC. As usual, you can The Symbol Toolbar lets you load
this copy don’t sit in the right-click these buttons to see more tools. temple symbols into the catalog
same directory as the other window. Click on a button to open a
maps. If you use Chrome as symbol catalog.
your web browser, I
recommend that you rely on Default Water Default Contours
Temple Symbol Settings
opening the maps from
Default Wall Default Forest
inside CC3+ and not via the
information page. Default Contour Lines Default Grass Map Parts

Default Floor Castle Drawing Tools Floorplan Symbols

Tutorial
Castle Symbol settings Symbol Style Toggle Perspective Symbols
This tutorial requires a good
grasp of both CC3+, and of
Perspectives 3 (for the 3D-
view of the temple). If
needed, you should brush
Creating a Greek Temple
up on those before With CC3+, you can create your own temples to compliment those in TTC. In this tutorial we will
attempting this tutorial. create an ancient Greek or Roman style temple with both an interior and an exterior view of the
building. The example files for this tutorial can be found in @Tutorials\Tome\TTC.

Note that some of the images in this tutorial have been digitally enhanced to easier see some details.
This often affects the colors in the image, so don’t worry of the colors doesn’t always look like your
Create
map. Check the tutorial map files to see the unprocessed original maps if you need to.
Enabling Snap makes
spacing the columns quick 1. Start a new 160×120 Temple Floorplan. The Pre-defined
and easy. template has a prettier border, so you may wish to use
that.
2. Click All Temple Drawing Tools then select the
Construction, Default tool.
3. Draw a rectangle encompassing the outer bounds of
your temple [Greek Temple 01.FCW].
4. Draw two successively smaller rectangles inside the first
one. These will represent the step leading up to the
temple itself.

638
 5. Using the commands Circle and Copy ,
create a line of encircling columns around the
inner edge of the third rectangle. [Greek
Temple 02.FCW]
6. Draw another rectangle inside the line of Rectangle
columns.
This is the elevated platform
7. Draw the walls of the temple, leaving open the temple building rests on.
porches at the front and back and an entrance.
8. Add some columns to the interior of the
temple. [Greek Temple 03.FCW]

The 2D Floorplan - Interior View

9. Select the Stairs, Grey drawing tool. Use the
construction rectangles as guidelines to draw
the steps and platform of the temple. [Greek
Temple 04.FCW]
10. Copy the construction walls and columns
to the WALLS sheet.
11. Use Change Properties on everything on
the WALLS sheet. Set the following properties:

Color: 0 (Black)

Fill Style: Solid

Layer: WALLS

12. Hide the CONSTRUCTION layer. [Greek Temple

05.FCW]
13. With the drawing tool Floor, Marble Grey
Small, add a marble floor to the interior of the
Statue
temple.
If you don’t have the Temple
14. With the drawing tool Doorstep, Grey draw a
toolbar open, you can also
doorstep into the entrance. [Greek Temple
easily access Temple
06.FCW]
symbols can be found by
15. Add a statue to the back wall of the temple clicking the Temples Menu
interior and a few other symbols like braziers. button and selecting
[Greek Temple 07.FCW] Floorplan Symbols. For
16. Save your map. The 2d floorplan is done. other symbols, use the
symbols from DD3 and SS2.

639
 The 3D Floorplan
Erase
Obviously, these steps need 17. Erase all the entities that make up the temple, but leave the CONSTRUCTION layer alone.
to be performed on a copy 18. Create a new sheet named BASE. Place it above the FLOOR sheet in the sheet list. Set BASE
of your original map, so just as your current sheet. [Greek Temple 08.FCW]
use Save As and save it
19. Switch to the Perspectives menu then use 3D
under another name before
Projection to project the construction lines into
proceeding.
isometric view.
20. Set Perspective Settings to Temple, Simple
Grey.
21. Solid Extrude the outermost rectangle to a
height of 1’.
22. Move all entities on layer CONSTRUCTION 1’
upwards to match up with the elevated temple
platform again.
23. Repeat the two previous steps with the two inner
rectangles. [Greek Temple 09.FCW]
24. Solid Extrude the eastern and northern lines of
columns by 18’. [Greek Temple 10.FCW]
25. Solid Extrude the innermost rectangle by 1’.
26. Move the construction entities within this rectangle
by 1’ upwards to line them up with the floor again.
Do not move the constructions lines outside this
rectangle! [Greek Temple 11.FCW]
27. Select the Floor, Marble Grey Small P to draw the
temple floor. Add the entrance doorstep with the
tool Doorstep, Grey. [Greek Temple 12.FCW]
28. Use 3D Box to draw the north wall of the temple
to a height of 17’.
29. Solid Extrude the rearmost inner columns to a
height of 17’. [Greek Temple 13.FCW]
30. Add another sheet named INTERIOR to the drawing.
Place it below the FLOOR sheet in the list. Make it the
current sheet.
31. Set the Perspective Settings to Temple, Simple
Grey Black Top.

Draw 32. Use 3D Box and Solid Extrude to draw the

remaining walls and inner columns to a height of 2’
Make sure to draw columns
(to allow a view inside the building). [Greek Temple
and straight wall sections
14.FCW]
one at a time, so that they
do not become one 33. Solid Extrude the remaining outer columns to a height of 2’.
inseparable group of
34. Add the 3d versions of the statue and the other symbols to the temple interior. Make sure
entities. Otherwise it will be
the symbols end up on the INTERIOR sheet (Most symbols default to the PERSPECTIVES
difficult later to put more
sheet)
symbols in between the
columns and walls. 35. Use Bring Infront of and Send Behind to put the symbols in the correct place behind
or in front of columns and or walls. [Greek Temple 15.FCW]

640
36. Save your map. The 3d floorplan is done.

The 3D Floorplan — Exterior View

Hide the Sheet
37. Add a new sheet to the drawing.
Note that we are actually
Name it EXTERIOR, then make it current. drawing both interior and
Place the sheet right below INTERIOR in exterior view on the same
the sheet list. Hide the sheet INTERIOR. map here. Do not start a
[Greek Temple 16.FCW] new map.
38. Set the Perspective Settings to
Temple, Simple Grey.
39. Use 3D Box and Solid Extrude to
draw the temple walls and inner Temple Walls
columns at the temple entrance to a
Do not leave a gap for the
height of 17’. [Greek Temple 17.FCW]
temple door and do not
40. Solid Extrude the southern and western bother about the interior
line of columns to a height of 18’. columns. They will not be
41. Move the two smaller outer construction visible anyway.
rectangles upwards by 18’ (to serve as
the outline of the roof). [Greek Temple
18.FCW]
42. Solid Extrude the inner of these two
rectangles to a height of 4’.
43. Move the outer of the two rectangles
upwards by 4’. [Greek Temple 19.FCW]
44. Right-click on House then change
the settings to Temple Grey, Brick Roof.
Use the left (simple) roof type.
45. Click Insert then use the outer
construction rectangle as a guide to
draw the roof.

641
 Enter a Wall Height of 0’ and a Roof Height of 12’.
46. Erase the layer CONSTRUCTION. [Greek Temple 20.FCW]

47. Save your map. The Exterior View is done.

Hyperlinks
Finally, let us add some hyperlinks to our map that lets us switch easily between the interior and
exterior view.

48. Change the current sheet to TEXT, drawing color to black (Color 0), and current layer to
HYPERLINKS.
49. Set the Text Specs to font Bookman Old Style and Height 5’.
50. Add the text
Interior View
Exterior View
to the drawing. [Greek Temple 21.FCW]
51. Change the current color to purple (Color 7)
and the text properties to font Arial and
height 1’.
52. Select Tools → Macros → Make Hotspot
then enter the text
Empty Line
SSHOWA
Be sure to include an empty
HIDESHT EXTERIOR
carriage return at the end or
<empty line>
the hotspot will not function
as expected. in the edit box. Click OK.
53. Draw the hotspot rectangle around the line “Interior View”.

642
 54. Do the same for a hotspot around “Exterior View” with the
macro text
SSHOWA
HIDESHT INTERIOR
<empty line>
[Greek Temple 22.FCW]

55. Use 3D Projection to project the Compass rose and

scale bar into the isometric view.
56. Select View → Hide Hyperlink.
57. Clicking on the text Interior View or Exterior View should
toggle between the two views. [Greek Temple 23.FCW]

That’s it. Your ancient Greek style temple is finished. Add title,
labels, effects, etc. to taste.

643
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
If you wish to edit and create maps for TTC, you will need to have Campaign Cartographer 3+,
Dungeon Designer 3 and Perspectives 3. City Designer 3 is also helpful when mapping the
temple environments. Note that strictly speaking, you can manage with only CC3+, but the mapping
is far easier if you have the mentioned add-ons.

TTC have very much in common with Source Maps: Castles however, so those two make excellent
companion products.

Annuals
No annuals are associated directly with TTC. You should look in the section for the various add-ons
to discover annuals for these add-ons that you might be able to use when designing those maps.
For example, several of the DD3 annuals are also helpful when creating temple floorplans with DD3.

Heraldry
Sample heraldry made with
the Heraldic Symbols issue
from the 2008 annual.

644
SOURCE MAPS: CITIES
 Medieval English City
This city map based on 15th century York is an example of the maps you can find in Source Maps: Cities. In addition to overhead view, the same city map is also
available in Perspectives format.

646
INTRODUCTION
Source Maps: Cities (CIT) can be used both as a stand-alone product, Source Maps: Cities
and an addition to CC3+. If you don’t have CC3+, you can install it as
This is one of the old add-
a separate viewer which can be used to view the maps included in
ons for CC2 which haven't
the product. If you have CC3+, it will instead be integrated with it, and
been updated to full version
will install additional tools for CC3+.
3 support yet. A
compatibility update exists
What is Source Maps? that lets you use it with
CC3+, but it doesn't contain
The source maps is a series of ready to use maps in CC3+ format. Each product in this series comes any new CC3+-style
with multiple views of each subject. These maps can be used as they are, or you can edit them in artwork but sticks to the
CC3+. vector art style from CC2.

Contents Stand-alone
CIT contain city maps of 8 historical cities, both in traditional CD3 overhead view, and in
I won’t address the stand-
Perspectives 3 3D view. In addition, it contains 78 floorplans for select buildings from the various
alone viewer here, as I
cities.
assume every owner of this
CIT also contains a detailed description and history of each city, real-world images as well as book already owns CC3+.
adventure notes and NPC’s. Using the viewer is very
similar to viewing the maps
in CC3+.
Viewing the Maps
To start viewing the maps, right-click the Cities Menu button and select Browse Cities.
Web Page
This will bring up the browse dialog, showing all the city maps available. Be aware that it might take
The web page is a locally
a little while for CC3+ to generate preview for all these maps. This information is cached however,
installed html-file, so it will
so it should only take a while the first time. Once there, select one of the maps from the desired city
be available even if you
(or floorplan). The navigation links in the map will allow you to navigate to the other views.
don’t have an internet
Another starting point is to start with the web page. From CC3+, you can go there by right-clicking connection.
the Cities Menu button and select Background and Adventures. Note that some web
browsers, most notably
When you open a map from CIT, you’ll notice a few extra navigation buttons right below your add- Google Chrome, no longer
on buttons. These are used to navigate between the different maps belonging to a single city. Note treats local files as they used
that these buttons are only available along with the official CIT maps, and not custom maps unless to, and instead
you do some extra preparation. See Source Maps Navigation Buttons on page 631 for details. “downloads” the already
City Information: Brings up a html page with information about the current city with local file to your download
images, adventure hooks and more directory and open it from
there instead of opening it
3D City View: Loads the Perspective view map of the current temple. directly. This unfortunately
2D City Map: Loads an overhead view of the temple and the immediate surroundings. means that map navigation
doesn’t work in this
Floorplan buttons: Loads the floorplan maps for the various buildings in the city. Note “downloaded” map, since
that these doesn’t refer to floors of a single building, but rather individual buildings. If a this copy don’t sit in the
building has more than one floor, you’ll find further navigation links on the map itself. same directory as the other
maps. If you use Chrome as
your web browser, I
recommend that you rely on
opening the maps from
inside CC3+ and not via the
information page.

647
 USAGE IN CC3+
CIT adds new tools and toolbars to CC3+ for designing cities. However, it is primarily intended to
be used not as a separate product, but together with City Designer 3 (for the city maps), Dungeon
Designer 3 (for the floorplans) and Perspectives 3 (for the 3D views), the tools provided with CIT is
better treated as add-ons to these rather than a complete set.
As such, even if you don’t have the CIT toolbar open, you can easily access the new symbol
catalogs simply by right-clicking the Cities Menu button.

Cities also add new house settings both to Perspectives 3 and City Designer 3.

CIT Toolbars
CIT comes with a new toolbar containing tools to help you design cities.

City Symbols Main Toolbar Symbol Toolbar

The symbols from CIT can The following buttons are used for CIT. As usual, you can The Symbol Toolbar lets you load
also be easily accessed by right-click these buttons to see more tools. city symbols into the catalog
right-clicking the Cities window. Click on a button to open a
Menu button. This is symbol catalog.
very helpful when you work
in another add-on, like CD3 Default Water Default Contours
Temple Symbol Settings
or Per3.
Default Wall Default Forest

Default Contour Lines Default Grass Map Parts

Default Floor Castle Drawing Tools Floorplan Symbols

Castle Symbol settings Symbol Style Toggle Perspective Symbols

Creating a Small Town

In this tutorial, we will go through the creation of a small city in the same style as the other maps
included in CIT. To complete this tutorial, you will need to have both City Designer 3 and
Perspectives 3 installed, in addition to CC3+. This tutorial assumes that you are familiar with the
basics of all these products.

You’ll find the files for this tutorial in @Tutorials\Tome\CIT

The basic layout

1. Start a new 1000×800 city map. Use the SM Cities City Map Imperial map style, from the
Cities map type.
Save the map under a name of your choice in a
convenient location. [City 01.FCW]
2. Create a new sheet, CONSTRUCTION. Leave it at the
end of the sheet list, then set it as the active sheet.
Use the Drawing Tool Construction to draw a very
rough outline of your town, just to give a general idea
where buildings will be and where not. Cover a good
portion of the drawing area, but leave room to give
the town some surroundings. It should look very
roughly like this: [City 02.FCW]

648
On the waterfront
Cities do not grow to importance out of nothing. You will always find a reason why a settlement
outgrew its neighbors, be it because it is situated at the meeting of two trade routes, has important
resources nearby or sports a good harbor. It is usually a good idea to think of one or more reasons
your city has become a city.

For our project, we will assume the town is located next to

an important river crossing. Originally it was perhaps a ford,
but by now a bridge has been built across the river.

This means we will need a river.

3. Use the Drawing Tool Water to draw a river along one

edge of your potential town. Here is an example how
the result might look: [City 03.FCW]

The lie of the land

Now we need a little background for the city, the ground it stands on. To keep it simple we will not
create a hilly country. Instead we will only set off the river with some meadows.

There are no contour tools with the right color, so let us make one.

4. Use the drawing tool Contour 0 to add a green

background to our map. Simply click four times,
slightly beyond all four corners of the map.
5. The select the drawing tool Contour 1 and use it to add
some slightly higher areas of land to both sides of the
river. The map should now look something like this:
[City 04.FCW]

Getting streetwise
Now we turn to setting up the streets of our little town.

6. Start the Drawing Tool City Background Brown.

Follow our rough city outline to give the whole city a
background of dusty or muddy ground.
Let's add some country roads meeting the town from the
south and east.

7. Use the Drawing Tool Roads Brown for this. And we

will need another road approaching the river from the
opposite bank. Add that using the same tool.
I have assumed here that the roads leading to the town are
dirt roads, fitting for the medieval period. If you have
something else in mind, perhaps well-engineered Roman roads, use a different tool instead.

Now for the cobbled streets of the town itself (we assume it is wealthy enough to afford such a
luxury).

8. Edit the Streets Paved 10" drawing tool. Make sure that the fill style for the outline entity is
set to Paving 31 Symbol.

649
 9. Start the Drawing Tool Streets Paved 10". This will add
the major thoroughfares through the town, so start at
places where the outside roads meet the town and let
the streets meet in the center.
10. Next up are the smaller streets and back alleys. Use the
Drawing Tool Streets Paved 5' (check the fill style for
this one too) to create a network of back streets
through the town. The end result could look like this:
[City 05.FCW]

Building the houses

It is time to add the meat to the town, i.e. the actual buildings and structures. We will start out with
the city wall. As a typical quasi-medieval fantasy settlement, our town just begs for one.

11. Open the Symbol Catalog City Map Symbols (SMC

Symbols.FSC) in the catalog window. It contains a
variety of connecting wall symbols (see the image in
the sidebar). We want the Wall ST 5' (10:5) symbol.
Click on it and start drawing the wall around our town
area. Leave a little space for each of the city gates at
the places where the roads meet the town. Do not
worry about matching these exactly; we will cover the
spaces with symbols for the city gates anyway. [City
06.FCW]

12. Switch to the City Designer 3 interface, right click the Default/Miscellaneous button
Default
and select Default. Set the current drawing layer to BLDNG (MILITARY) and the drawing
The default house style is color to 1 (bright green).
the one used in CIT maps.
13. Select the symbol CD3C Barbican a from the catalog.
Feel free to use another
Right click to see the Symbol Options and check the
house style if you prefer.
Disable smart symbols option. Place instances of the
Note however that these
symbol over the gaps in the city wall, rotating it
simple buildings are better
manually by holding down the and keys and
for redraw times, and
therefore better for a very moving the mouse until it fits.
large city, even if they are If necessary, resize it a little by holding down only.
not as visually pleasing as
the newer bitmap symbols.
Important landmarks
The next step is to add the most important buildings to the map; the landmarks if you want. For
Current Drawing Layer
these I will be using symbols from the default City Designer
You could continue to place catalog only (the one we already have opened), but nothing
all houses on their correct should stop you from using the full range of symbols from the
layers like BLDNG City Designer or SMC catalogs.
(RELIGIOUS), BLDNG (INN),
etc., but it breaks the 14. Set the current drawing layer to BLDNG (HOUSE 1).
workflow to do that every 15. Add a variety of buildings symbols to your map; for
time you place a symbol or example, I am including a keep, a church, a temple and
draw a house and is several others. I also add a bridge symbol to cross the
extremely easy to forget. I river.
use a default layer for all
houses and change their
Crowding the city
layer location after drawing
all of them (usually, I will Now we need to add the rest of buildings. We will use City Designer's excellent House command
skip this step for this for this.
tutorial).

650
 16. Click the House button. Select the house setting CD3C Default, the first Roof Type, and
the Four-Sided House Shape.
Click Ok.
17. Zoom into one of the blocks surrounded by streets and
start drawing houses into it. As a rough rule of thumb, Roof
keep the narrow side of the houses towards the street, To get the exact same roof
uses snap options (On, Endpoint) to connect the houses design as in the images and
to each other, and leave an area in the middle of the tutorial maps, you will also
block free for yards and gardens. Do not worry about need to click Settings and
house not being exactly rectangular. Medieval houses disable the roof ridge.
often were not. This is how a block can look:

If you want to get fancy, insert a few houses with different

shapes (switch these by interrupting and restarting the
House command).

Continue to fill in the blocks with houses and also draw some
between the streets and the city wall. Whether these butts up
against the wall is a matter of your taste and how rigid your
town government is about defense and safety regulations.
Add a few houses along the roads outside town.

This is my result:

Open spaces - public squares, yards, gardens and fields

The backbone of our town is done; now we need to fill in some details.

18. Start the Drawing Tool Square Paved. Again, make

sure that the fill style of the outline is set to Paving 31
Symbol before using it.
Use it to add some more spacious cobbled areas to the
center of town (the market square), inside the gates,
and to other areas you want.
That takes care of public squares; now for some
private gardens and yards.
19. Start the Drawing Tool Garden. Zoom to one of the
empty parts within a block of houses and fill it in with
gardens. Alternate the gardens with the Drawing Tool
Yard to vary the appearance of the properties. Use the
On ( ) and Endpoint ( ) modifiers to attach the
gardens and yards to the houses, but do not worry if
some seems to overlap the houses at first. The sheet
order makes sure the buildings will always be in front
of the gardens and yards. Fill in most of the remaining
empty town areas in this way. Leave a few parts clear
to indicate uncobbled alleys and unused areas.

651
 Feeding the populace
A medieval town would be surrounded by fields and pastures.

20. The Drawing Tools Fields and Pasture provide an easy

way to add these around the town. Before using these
two tools, make sure that the fill style for the outline is
set to Field Fill.
21. Finally open up the Symbol Catalog City Map Symbols
(SMC Symbols.FSC), set the drawing layer to
Vegetation and the drawing color to color 100 and add
some trees along the roads, between the fields and in
gardens within the city. The tutorial map now looks
like this: [City 07.FCW]

Finding our way around - labeling

It is time to make our little project into a good reference map and label some of our buildings for
what they are. The first step in this direction is adding a grid.

22. Set the Color to dark gray (Color 244). From the City menu choose Add Grid Overlay and
set the grid type to a square grid and the Grid Spacing to 50. Leave the other values at
default. Click Select Points.
Accept the default starting point of 0,0 (the lower left of our map) by right clicking, and draw
the grid all the way up to the upper right corner of the map.
23. Set both current Sheet and Layer to LABELS and Color to black (color 0).
Open the Text Specs and set the Text Height to 15' and Justify to Mid Center.
With the Text command, add some labels to buildings on your map. Preface each label
with sequential numbers like 1 Market Square. Do not worry if the text sprawls far away
from the building you try to label (or even overlaps with other text), simply place it squarely
on the symbol or house. Later we will only keep the leading number in this place, but for now
we need the whole label. Continue placing labels until you are satisfied.
24. Now choose "Create Index" from the City menu. Select all the labels you have placed (the
easiest way is to select by Layer LABELS), and execute the command (Do It).
CC3+ will now ask for the height of the index. Right click to indicate the index should only
be a single column (allowing it to take whatever height it requires). A bounding box will
appear attached to your cursor. Place this to the right of your map, outside the map border.
An index of all your labels, keyed to the grid, will appear there. Try clicking on one of the
entries; the map view will zoom right to the labeled building.
That is all nice and dandy, but the labels on the actual map are really hard to see and read.
We need to change that.
25. Open the Layer dialog and hide all layers except the current one (LABELS).
26. Use Numeric Edit on each of the labels within the map and delete everything but the
leading number. Leave the index on the right intact. This way, with only the numbers on the
map itself, it is less cluttered. But we still need to outline the numbers to make them readable.
This can be done by adding a glow effect to the LABELS sheet, or by adding an outline to the
text. See Making Text Visible on page 42 for details on how to create an outline. [City
08.FCW]

652
Finishing up
Only a few little things remain to be done to complete the map.

27. Erase our outline sketch on the layer CONSTRUCTION.

28. To add a title to the map. set the Text Specs to Height
30' and Justify to Below Left.
Set the current Layer to TITLE. And add your title with the
Text command above the map border.
29. Change the Layer to MAP BORDER and the current Sheet to MAP BORDER FRONT, and from
the symbol catalog Map Parts (SMC Map Parts.FSC) add a suitable Scale Bar and Compass
Rose to the map.
That's it. The map is complete. If you have followed the tutorial closely, your map will look similar
to the image below. [City 09.FCW]

653
 But remember this is only one of myriad ways a town or city can look when mapped with Campaign
Cartographer. Perhaps yours looks very different and a lot better.

In any case we will continue to work with it. In the next tutorial I will take you through the steps to
create an isometric view from this map. It is easier than you think, especially with the way we have
setup this town on a variety of sheets.

Creating a City 3D View

Building on the map we have created in the first tutorial, we will create an isometric view of our
town. You will need the add-on Perspectives 3 for Campaign Cartographer 3+ to work through this
tutorial - many of the necessary commands are only included there.

Projecting the landscape

Well, we have a full city map now, but it is flat. How do we get it into the third dimension? We will
start simple.

We will use the fact that CC3+ places entities on different sheets to our advantage now.

30. Open your last version of the city map and save it under a new file name - we do not want
to overwrite our hard work so far after all.
31. Open the Sheets and Effects dialog.
Check the Auto Hide option at the top and select the BACKGROUND sheet as the active one
and click Ok.
You will only see a bright green rectangle. This is from the original template and defines our
map border and drawing area. Since we will change the layout for the 3d map, we will not
need it; it might even get in our way. So simply Erase
it.
32. Open the Sheet dialog again and switch to the next
sheet: RELIEF/CONTOURS. Now you will only see the
height contours as show in the image on the right.
33. Now switch to the Perspectives 3 interface
Click on 3D Projection , leave the dialog box
choice at Top CCW and start the command with OK.
Select everything visible and Do It. The command line
asks you for the Iso View Origin. Type in 0,0 and hit
. CC3+ now wants to know To
where we want to put the projected
entities. We want it somewhere
outside the currently used area, but we
also need it at a reference point that
we can easily use again later. The
easiest way is to simply type in a
suitable coordinate, like 0,1000 in our
example town map. Or you can enable
the grid (click on Grid and Snap at the
bottom of the screen), and use a snap
point above the existing contours. Do a
Zoom Extents to show the whole
drawing.
The result should look similar to the
image to the left. [City 10.FCW]

34. Erase the old, unprojected

contours: we do not need them anymore.

654
 If you wanted to create a true height relief at this point, you would need to move the higher
contours on the y axis, but this would go too far for this tutorial. If you are interested in how
to do it, take a look at the tutorial Drawing a Simple Castle starting on 626 from Source Maps:
Castles for a tutorial exploring this.
35. We do the same steps (switch to Sheet, project entities, delete old ones) with each of the
sheets WATER/RIVERS, ROADS and VEGETATION. Why not do them all in one go you ask?
Because we would lose the sheet
information that way; all new projected
entities would end up on the current
sheet. Make sure you always use the
same coordinates for the projection
origin 0,0 and its destination (0,1000 in
our example).
36. If you show only the sheets
RELIEF/CONTOURS, WATER/RIVERS,
ROADS and VEGETATION our map now
looks like this: [City 11.FCW]

Building up the houses

We turn to the most important and complex of the
sheets: the BUILDINGS. Hide all sheets but this one.
You should see the map as shown on the right. For
most of the buildings and structures we will only need
the outlines, as we have to redraw their 3d versions.
So let's get rid of some of the superfluous stuff.

37. Unlock Groups by clicking the button Locked in

the lower-right corner of the screen. Now Erase
all entities on the layers STRUCTURES
(COLORS), STRUCTURES (FILL STYLE),
STRUCTURES (OUTLINES) and STRUCTURES
(SHADING). This will leave only the outlines of
all the houses you have drawn with the house
command. The symbols for the special
buildings will remain as they are. Use Change
Properties to change Fill Style of all the outlines to Hollow.
38. Now project the buildings into the isometric
view as you have done with the previous
sheets. Remember, Origin is 0,0 and To is
0,1000. Erase the old, unprojected entities.
You should see something like this: [City
12.FCW]

Now we will have to start drawing individual houses

and structures. To make things easier, you should
always start drawing these from the back (the top of
the drawing) to the front (the bottom). So, zoom in on
the small group of buildings at the top outside the city
wall.

39. Right-click on the House button. The Insert

Building dialog appears. Choose the setting
Cities Medieval Grey, the second of the two
roof options, and uncheck the Both ends the same option.

655
 Simple buildings
40. Click on Insert, and the command prompt now asks you
for the first corner. Use the Endpoint ( ) to choose the
rear left corner of the topmost green building outline
(point 1 in the picture), then Endpoint again for the
second corner (point Z) and a final time for the third
corner (point 3).
CC3+ now asks you for the Wall Height of the house.
You can eyeball one you like, accept the default value
of 12’ or enter any value that seems fitting to you. I will
just accept the default.
For the Roof Height I want something a little steeper, so
I type in 9’ instead accepting the default height of 6'.
For the Left and Right Distance of the roof gable, I just
choose the default 0’, resulting in this house.
Most simple houses based on the green outlines will be
drawn this way. You can vary Wall Height, Roof Height, and the roof gables as you want, but
I usually find it convenient to use a standard set of values in most places.

Complex buildings
Special buildings are a little more difficult. You can
either use one of the 3d house symbols from the SM:
Cities! Symbol catalog, if it fits, or build the house
from several perspective houses and shapes. Let's
take a look at the building just below the house we
drew.

It is composed of two normal houses, two 3D Boxes

(Perspective Setting Cities, Medieval

Wall) and a few sections of 3D Walls with settings of

either Cities, Medieval Wall or Cities, Stone Plinth.

The trick is to use the symbol for the building as a guideline and attach the corners of the 3d shapes
and houses to the symbol's outline with the Endpoint or On modifiers.

The city wall

41. After we have drawn the little cluster of houses
outside the town, it is time to turn to the city wall.
Zoom to the town gate at the top edge.
42. Click Perspective Settings . Make a copy of the
Cities, Stone Plinth, saving it as Cities, Stone
Wall. Set the top color of the new setting to 246.
Make this the active setting.
43. Draw a 3D Box with the left tower of the gate as
the base. Make it a height of 24'. ON top of that
box draw another, slightly smaller box and make its height -3', i.e. negative. You get a simple
tower as shown on in the image.

656
Draw another 3D box atop the gate section between the
two towers with a height of 18'. On top of it draw a second
box that is a little thinner (as shown in the left picture). Use
the On modifier ( ) to attach it to the smaller side of the
box below. It should also have a negative height, e.g. -3'.

44. Copy the left tower over to the right, using the
Endpoint modifier (e.g. on the lower right corner of
each tower) to fit it to the symbol at the correct
position.
45. Use a symbol from the Perspective Wall
Features catalog to put in the actual gate. It
could look like this:

46. Now right-click on the Wall and select

Wall, choose thickness. Type in 10' at the
command prompt for the Wall Width. Start to
draw the wall behind the left tower of the gate
and follow the flat outline of the wall up to the
gate in the lower-left of the map. Give it at height
of 18' and use the Send Behind command to
put the wall behind the gate tower.
47. Draw the other side of the wall up to the right-most
extension of the flat wall. We need to break the wall
at this point so that we can put the buildings in the
town in front of the upper and behind the lower
sections of the wall. Leave this part of the city wall
in front of the right gate tower. Our town map looks
like this now: [City 13.FCW]

Annexes
Quite a few houses will be L-shaped or have an annex on one side.
We can draw these in Perspectives the following way.

48. Zoom to the house outline to the right of the gate. Draw a
3D House with the corners as shown. Use the default values
for wall and roof height, as well as the left and right distance
of the roof gables.
49. Start the house command again, draw the corners as shown
on the left, and use the same wall and roof height again.
When CC3+ asks you for the Left distance, hit for the On Modifier, hold
down the key and click on the roof gable of the previous house.
The key allows to extend the roof beyond the house below and this
way we attach it to the roof of the other house. Type in "0" for the Right
distance and hit to finish the house. We now have an L-shaped house.

657
 50. Let's do the same with the house on the other side of
the gate (to the left). If you follow the same steps, you
will end up with a house like this:
You can see that it did not come out quite the way we
wanted. This is because a part of the annex should be
behind the original house (the right wall) and another in
front of it (the roof). There is no way we can draw this
correctly in one go, so we have to fix it afterwards.
Fortunately, that is easy.
51. Unlock Groups by depressing the Locked button in the
lower-right corner of the screen. Erase the offending
polygons (the darker wall and roof sections). You might
have to do a little trial and error to ensure that you do
not select incorrect parts, but it should be easy if you
use the And or Not selection combinations. Don't worry
if you delete entities that are not visible anyway.
In the end the house should look like the one on the
right.

Irregular houses
Now start filling in the houses within the town walls, using
shapes or combinations of shapes as necessary. Do one
block at a time and remember to work from the back to front.

Many times you will encounter houses which do not have a

regular rectangular outline. Unfortunately the 3D House
function in Perspectives cannot create such houses, but we
can approximate and "fake" them. Let's take a look at this
block of houses.

We start from the top right corner with the first house. If you
use the lower lines of the outline (the red lines in the image
on the left) as your base, the fact that house does not fit the
outline at the back will remain hidden. And don't worry if
you can't match the outline 100%.

This is the order in which I drew the houses of the block

(house number 6 has an annex at the back): [City 14.FCW]

Continue drawing the houses until you have filled the town,
then draw the rest of the city wall and the two other gates
as described above. Draw the few remaining houses outside
the walls.

Delete the old house outlines and remove the old (flat)
symbols. The easiest way is to simply open the Symbol
Manager and delete the symbols you do not need any more from the list.

658
This is the current state of our 3d town: [City 15.FCW]

Labels, map border and hyperlinks

We move on to the next sheet: LABELS.

52. Do the same procedure of projections as for the other sheets, but only with the outlined
numbers. Don't project the title and the key with the building names.
53. You'll see that the projected labels are now skewed. Use Numeric Edit on the labels to
set the Angle of the text back to 0. Set the text height to about 150% of what it was before.
54. On to the next sheets, MAP BORDER BACK, MAP BORDER FRONT, and GRID. Again project
them from 0,0 to 0,1000 and delete the old versions.
55. Now show all sheets. Move and resize the
title and key to suitable places next to the
map border.
56. Select Show Hyperlinks from the View
menu and Unlock Groups by depressing the
Locked button. Erase the hyperlinks in the
map key (Select by Entity Type → Action:
2d Hotspot) as they will not function
correctly anymore.
57. There are a few 2d Points left over from the
map template (used to make empty sheets
permanent). Erase these as well.
Your map should look like this:

Final Touches
We are almost done; only a little tidying up is left to do. You can see that our trees on the map are
still flat.

58. Use Extract Properties on one of the trees (to quickly switch to their layer) and set the
current sheet to BUILDINGS. Replace the trees with symbols from the Perspectives Outdoor
symbol catalog.
59. Within the city you will have to use the Send Behind and Bring Infront of commands
to place the trees correctly in relation to the buildings.
60. Erase the old flat tree symbols through the Symbol Manager

659
 You can see that the upper map border partially obscures some of the trees (or even buildings
if you have some close to the borders) in an unseemly way. That’s why the border is
conveniently separated into two sheets.
61. Simply move the sheet MAB BORDER BACK upwards in the sheet list until it is at the very
top, just right below COMMON.

Personally, I prefer the grid being not quite that obvious. I move its sheet upwards behind
BUILDINGS. That makes it somewhat harder to find within the city, so I will leave it to your taste
whether you want to do the same. If you do so, you need to move the grid lettering on the edge to
the sheet MAP BORDER FRONT otherwise it will be obscured.

And that’s it. Our small 3D town is complete [City 16.FCW]

660
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The most obvious additional resource is of course City Designer 3. CD3 is required to draw the city
maps for this product. In addition to CD3, Perspectives 3 is also required to draw the 3D-
representaions of the city.

However, there is also a large set of floor plans in this product, which are best made by Dungeon
Designer 3. If you are creating more modern cities, Symbol Set 3: Modern and Cosmographer 3
also contain tools that will be helpful with both the floor plans, and the city maps themselves, mostly
because many of the symbols from these two products can be used as street furniture.

Annuals
Not many annuals deal with CIT directly, but many of the annuals for CD3 and DD3 are highly
relevant since you use these products to actually design the maps. Check each of those products
for relevant annuals.

Panicale [May 2007 (Vol 1)] {Issue 5}

This is a complete map of the Italian settlement Panicale, containing

both 2D and 3D views in Source Maps: Cities style.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2007/may07.html

661
 World Map
This image depicts an authentic world map from 1626.
The Mercator Historical annual issue from 2007 provides a new map style inspired by maps such as this one.

662
SOURCE MAPS: WORLD WAR II
INTERACTIVE ATLAS
 Western Europe
This map from the Source
Maps: World War II
Interactive Atlas shows the
state of the war in Western
Europe May 1943.
Navigation buttons allows
you to change the date
displayed.

664
INTRODUCTION World War II Interactive
Atlas
The Source Maps: World War II Interactive Atlas (WW2IA) can be
This is one of the old add-
used both as an addition to CC3+ or as a stand-alone product. It
ons for CC2 which haven't
contains various maps showing campaigns and troop deployment
been updated to full version
during World War II. This atlas covers the war month by month
3 support yet. A
through the entire war.
compatibility update exists
that lets you use it with
What is Source Maps? CC3+, but it doesn't contain
any new CC3+-style
The source maps are a series of ready to use maps in CC3+ format. artwork but sticks to the
Each product in this series comes with multiple views of each subject. These maps can be used as vector art style from CC2.
they are, or you can edit them in CC3.

Contents Stand-alone
I won’t address the stand-
WW2IA contain global, regional and local overland maps of all the engagement zones and other
alone viewer here, as I
interesting area in WW2. These maps are presented according to the month they took place, so you
assume every owner of this
can easily check a specific region at a specific time.
book already owns CC3+.
Using the viewer is very
Viewing the Maps similar to viewing the maps
in CC3+.
To start viewing the maps, right-click the World War Menu button and select Browse World
War II Maps.

This will bring up the browse dialog, showing all the maps available. Be aware that it might take a CC3 Format
little while for CC3+ to generate preview for all these maps. This information is cached however, so In reality, this is the FastCad
it should only take a while the first time. Once there, select your desired map. The navigation links file format, which is the file
in the map will allow you to navigate to the other views. A great place to start is the World format used in both CC2
Overview.FCW map. and CC3/CC3+. Any map
made in CC2 can be loaded
If you prefer, you can also just open maps the regular way, you’ll find all the WW2IA maps in the
in CC3(+), and any CC3(+)
@WWII folder.
map can be loaded in CC2,
When you open a map from WWIA, you’ll notice a few extra navigation buttons above the map, although in the latter case,
right below your add-on buttons. These are used to navigate between the different maps in the CC2 won't show effects and
product. Note that these buttons are only available along with the official WWIA maps, and not raster artwork.
custom maps unless you do some extra preparation. See Source Maps Navigation Buttons on page
631 for details. The buttons described there are a bit different from the WWIA ones, but the principle
is exactly the same.

Information: Displays basic information and instructions

Browse WW2 Maps: Brings up the map browser showing all WW2 maps.

Parent: Goes back up to the parent map.

665
 USAGE IN CC3+
Mapping using the tools from WW2IA is basically the same as making regular overland maps in
CC3+, and as you can see, the buttons on the toolbars are mainly the same. What the WW2IA mainly
provides is a new style specialized for making World War 2 era maps. It does contain one new very
interesting tool however, the Unit Arrows command.

Toolbars
WW2 specialized mapping commands are found on the WWII menu and on the left toolbars.

A click on a toolbar button gives you the default value, a right click gives other choices.

Landmass Contours

Road Rivers

Body of Water Fronts

Hex Grid Unit Arrows

Symbol Catalogs Drawing Tools

Add Arrows
Press then choose a WW2IA also adds three symbol catalog buttons . These represent Flags, WWII units and
start point on an existing NATO APP-6 counters respectively.
arrow to do this.
Unit Arrows
Click the Unit Arrows button to add an arrow using the current setting, or right-click the button
Parameters to bring up the configuration dialog.
By default, unit movement This command lets you add a unit movement arrow to your drawing. Click a start point (the base of
arrows in the Atlas are not the arrow), click more points, then right click to finish. You can also add arrows to existing arrows
outlined, have a color for a double or triple-headed arrow.
matching the national origin
of the units to which the The Unit Arrow settings dialog allows you to configure parameters for drawing arrows:
arrow pertain, and have Width is the width, in drawing units, of the arrow’s base
both head and base swept
to 45°. Angle is the angle of the arrow’s sweep, if Swept styles are selected

Color is the color the arrow will be drawn with. Click this box to open CC2 Pro’s color
dialog

Fill Style lists all available fill styles existing within the current template. Arrows will be
drawn using the selected fill style

Layer is the layer to which the arrow will be

drawn. *current settings* indicates the arrow
will be drawn to the current working layer

Check the Outline box to draw arrows which

have outlines. The outline color box indicates
the color with which the outline will be drawn.
Click the box to open CC2 Pro’s color dialog

The Arrow Head settings allow you to set the

length and width of the arrow’s head in
relation to the width of its base

The Style options allow you to specify flat or

swept styles for the arrow’s base and head

666
Creating APP-6 NATO counters
APP-6 is the NATO standard for unit symbols. WW2IA comes with all the needed symbols for you
to create your own unit markers according to this standard.

1. Click World War Menu to load the WW2IA toolset.

2. Click New . Select the WWII map type and check the Pick a pre-defined template option.
3. Click the Unit Counter Maker template.
4. Click NATO APP-6 counters .
5. Add symbols from the catalog. Place them in the center of the template. They will be
positioned around the center according to NATO App-6 specs.
6. You may be asked to supply text info; for example, unit names; type it in.
7. When you have finished, copy the counter to the clipboard, and paste it into another map, or
add it to a symbol catalog.

Boston 1842
This map by Allyn Bowker is
a historically accurate map
of the city of Boston in
1842.
The Boston drawing uses
bitmap fill techniques,
shallow water hatching,
symbol editing techniques
and text effects that can all
be found in Hand Drawn
Parchment Map on page
578. It also uses map
decorations created from
fonts as described in
Creating symbols from fonts
on page 119.
Boston 1842 is available in
the ProFantasy Download
Library.

667
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
There are a few annuals relevant to making war maps. Note that these annuals don’t require
WW2IA.

Annuals
There are a few annuals available that allows you to use CC3+ to make similar maps to the map
included in this atlas.

Napoleonic Battles [August 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 32}

This is a new map style for creating local area battle maps with unit
positions in the style of the classic maps from the Napoleonic wars.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/august09.html

Military Units [November 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 35}

With this issue you can create military units following modern
NATO/US symbology.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/november09.html

Military Operations [September 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 57}

This style pack contains a new style based on the maps of the World
War 2 Interactive Atlas, suitable for all kinds of modern and near
future military operations. This issue installs mostly the same tools
as WW2IA, but doesn’t contain any of the maps.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/september11.html

World War 2 Maps [January 2014 (Vol 8)] {Issue 85}

This style is well suited for various kinds of modern maps, such as
military and steampunk.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2014/january14.html

668
APPENDIX A: WW2IA COMMAND
REFERENCE
This table gives you a list of all WW2IA’s commands. Note that this section only lists the commands
that are added by WW2IA. The general CC3+ commands are listed on page 223, where you can
also find an explanation of the columns in this table.

Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro

War Arrow Draw an arrow. This WWII menu → Unit Arrows WARROW xyArrowBase(C);xyPoint1(Ctrl,Shift,Del,C)[Done]; Yes
command was designed …;xyPointN
to draw unit movement WWII tools → Unit Arrows WARROWD No
arrows for war maps, but
creates a nice highly
configurable arrow that
can be used for many
purposes
War Arrow Change settings for the WWII menu → Unit Arrows WARROWM rBaseWidth[Prior];rSweepAngle[Prior];nColor[Prio Yes
Settings War Arrow Command r];nYesNoOutline;nOutlineColor[Prior];rArrowHead
WWII tools → Unit Arrows WARROWD Width[Prior];rArrowHeadLength[Prior];nHeadStyle; No
nBaseStyle;sFillStyle[Dialog];sLayer[Dialog]

The Town of Elmire

This example map from the
2007 annual shows a small
town drawn in the John
Speed style.

669
 Malvin
This character was created
by Ralf Schemmann using
Character Artist Pro.
This drawing can be found
in the
@Examples\Tome\Characte
r Artist folder.

670
TOKEN TREASURY
 Battle at Tenrock Hold
Can the Orcs hold against
the attacking Giants? With
one of the gates already
knocked down, things look
grim.
The map is from the Free
Annual 2016 bonus issue.

672
INTRODUCTION
The Token Treasury is a series of products focused on bringing tokens to your
maps, such as monsters and heroes. These tokens can then be used to
represent players and opponents on battle maps, either in CC3+, or in any
other software that accepts image files, such as Virtual Table Top solutions.

In CC3+ terms, these tokens are of course symbols, but most other software
will probably use the term token.

As of this writing, only the first pack, Token Treasury: Monsters, has been
released. More will be released later.

Use in other Software Point your Software

When you install Token Treasury packs, they will allow you to pick a location to put the image files. Exact procedure will of
You should choose this option if you want to use them outside of CC3+. After that, it is all you have course depend on the
to do is to point your software to that directory and use the tokens. The tokens are all provided in software, some will let you
.png image format and should be compatible with almost any software that supports image files. open the files in the folder
on a one for one basis,
Use in CC3+ others will present the
folder much like CC3+
As long as CC3+ is installed when you install the Toke Treasury packs, they will integrate with your presents a symbol catalog,
CC3+ installation like any other add-on. while others will require
that you import the folder in
You’ll find a few templates for the Token Treasure in the New Map Wizard. These templates are
some manner first.
intended to help you design your own token symbols by combining the monster images with
different frames.

Token Treasury also has its own tool bar, which you can always get to by clicking the Token
Treasury Menu button.

The toolbar contains the following buttons

Monsters with Frames

Monsters without Frames

Frames Only

Use Symbol Style Toggle to switch between square and

circular tokens.

These tokens are obviously not made to create maps of their

own, but to add to existing floorplan level maps, such as
dungeon or battle maps. In this example image, I show how
the tokens look in a room in the dungeon from the DD3 part
of this book.

Note that the tokens are sized to fit a 5’ grid (Large tokens
will take up 4 grid spaces), but if you add frames, they
extend beyond the token into the nearby spaces. If this is an
issue, just change the scale a bit. Keeping the snap grid
active with cursor snap enabled makes it very easy to place
this correctly on the grid

673
 QUICK MOVE
If you use CC3+ at the table, the quick move command is especially well suited for moving tokens.
It works much like the regular move commands, but is designed to skip some of the extra questions.

To start the command, either select Quick Move from the Edit menu, or simply hit + . Once
the command is started, simply click on the edge of an entity to select it as usual, and you’ll find
that it is picked up immediately and can be placed somewhere else. Furthermore, the quick move
stays active, allowing you to continue on moving more tokens, the command won’t end until you
hit . This makes it very easy to move multiple tokes quickly.

Built In
There is a way to make quick move even better though, it can be built into the tokens themselves.
Map
Token treasury don’t come with the tokens set up with this by default, but it is easy to set up yourself,
I’ll just work with the tokens although it does require editing each symbol.
in the current map, but you
can of course edit the Token Let us assume that you have a map going and have added the tokens you need to the map. Now,
Treasury symbol catalogs to add quick move functionality to the tokens, open up the Symbol Manager and select one of the
themselves (or a copy of tokens in the list. Hit Edit and define the edit window as normal.
them) to have this feature Now all you have to do is to embed a hotspot in the
by default for future use. symbol. Go to Tools → Macros → Make Hotspot and in
the text input window type MOVACT; and hit OK. Now
place the hotspot around the token. Remember that the
token is designed to fit the grid pretty tightly, so make sure
the hotspot is a tight fit, it is usually better to make it a bit
too small than too large.
Hide Hotspots
Hide the hotspot from View → Hide Hyperlinks and close
Of course, if you are editing
the editing window, confirming that you want to save the changes.
multiple tokens, you don’t
need to hide the hotspots From now on, you can simply click on the token to pick it up and place it wherever you want,
after each edit, you only without needing to execute a command. Also saves you from selecting the wrong thing, since there
have to do it at the end. is no selection process involved.

Note that hotspots don’t rotate well, and

simply stops working when rotated, so if you
are planning to rotate the tokens, you must
create one hotspot for each allowed rotation
(just rotate the token in the edit window step
by step, and make a new hotspot between
each rotation)

674
FRACTAL TERRAINS 3
 Work in Progress
This FT3 map is going to be
the world map for my new
fantasy campaign setting.
I was aiming for an earth-
like world with lots of
water, and the landmass
joined in a few large
continents rather than lots
of smaller islands.
The image to the left shows
a globe showing one hemi-
sphere at the top, and an
equirectangular projection
of the whole world at the
bottom.
This world was randomly
generated by FT3, with just
a few edits by me to make a
clearer separation between
some of the landmasses.
The world file is available in
@Tutorials/Tome/FT/Virana.
ftw

676
INTRODUCTION Fractal Terrains
Welcome to Fractal Terrains 3 (FT3). This book contains step-by-
Fractal Terrains 3 is not an
step examples that show you how to create pseudo-realistic
add-on for CC3+, but rather
worlds, quickly and easily, that can be exported for further
a separate stand-alone
enhancement into CC3+. While CC3+ is not required to make use
program. Creating and
of FT3, the two when used together, can produce some startling
editing worlds in FT3 is
results. Complete the tutorials and you will be creating your own
nothing like working with
worlds in minutes.
CC3+, so forget all your
CC3+ workflows for now.
Real World Data FT3 also have its own data
format for map files, which
Real world topographical datasets are cannot be used directly with
included with FT3. You can find these in the CC3+. It does contain
Terrain Data folder inside your FT3 extensive export features
installation directory. These real-world however, which allows you
datasets can be used to create Earth or Mars, to create a complete world
which you then can modify according to in FT3, then export it to
your needs. Tutorials on how to use this real CC3+ to flesh out the
world data is included later in this section. details.

Wilbur CC3+
While this chapter mainly
Wilbur is a fairly comprehensive fractal world generation tool that possesses a less advanced CC3+ refers to CC3+, FT3 works
export capability. While FT3 is ideal for quick generation of worlds, shielding you somewhat from equally well with CC3 and
the fractal theory the software uses, CC3+.

Wilbur is an excellent tool for those wishing to explore this theory to greater depth. You can find a
Wilbur folder inside your FT3 installation directory. This folder contains the program itself, and the
documentation.

You can also download the program directly from http://www.fracterra.com/software.html. This
version may be more up to date than the one included with FT3.

Note that while Wilbur is not released by ProFantasy software, it is written by the main FT3
developer.

Spacefarers
This image is composed by
Bill Roach, using planets he
created in FT3.

677
 A BASIC FT3 WORLD
FT3 can be as simple or as complex as you wish it to be. For
our first tutorial, we shall explore only the important points.
The reference section forming the bulk of this section
explains some of the more complex capabilities of the
software.

To create a new world:

1. On the File menu, click New.

You see the Select World Type dialog box.
For now, we shall create a synthetic (random) world.
Tutorials covering flat worlds and those created using binary
files can be found later in this section.

2. Ensure that the Synthetic World radio button is

checked and click Next.
You see the Synthetic World dialog box.
This dialog contains the basic settings used to
generate a world. These parameters are similar to
those found in the World Settings property page on
the Map menu.
3. Click Next.
You see a dialog box summarizing the world settings
you have chosen and providing some reminders as
to where the main world and coloring settings can be
changed.
4. Click Finish to complete your world. FT3 will spend a
few moments calculating and will then draw the
world into the main screen.
Congratulations! You have just created your first world.

Navigating the World

FT3 possesses functionality allowing you to move about your world, and to zoom into and out of
areas within it. It is a good idea to become familiar with these various functions, as they will be
useful when you come to edit and otherwise play with your new creation.

Zooming in and out

To change the zoomed view of your world:

Click Zoom In to change the view so that it is zoomed in by a factor of two.

Click Zoom Out to change the view so that it is zoomed out by a factor of two.

Click Zoom Extents to change the view so that the entire world fits within the display
window.

Click Zoom Window , then click a point, move the mouse, click another point forming
a box. The view will change to show a zoomed view of the area within that box.

Moving around on the main map

You can change the viewed world area at the current zoom level by either panning, or by rotating
the small globe in the upper right hand corner of the main FT3 window.

678
To pan the current view
1. Click Pan .
The mouse pointer will change to show a hand.
Projection
2. Click and hold the mouse button down within the world view.
You can read more about
The mouse pointer will appear to “grab”.
Map Projections on pages
3. Move the mouse in the desired pan direction. 692 and 740.
The world view will move with the mouse. Notice that, as you move the mouse around, the
small globe will appear to rotate in the desired direction.
4. When the desired view appears, release the mouse button.
Globe
FT3 will re-draw the world to show the new view. Using the globe can be
Holding down while using the pan tool will change the map center of projection rather than the useful at times, especially
offset parameters. when editing. Note that if
the map center has been
Moving around using the Globe offset from 0,0 using the
pan tool or the Map
The small globe may also be rotated directly to achieve the view you desire.
Projection dialog, moving
5. Click and hold the mouse button down within the world view. the globe may not exactly
The mouse pointer will appear to “grab”. position the central part of
the main map at the same
6. Move the mouse in the desired pan direction. part as the center of the
The world view will move with the mouse. Notice that, as you move the mouse around, the globe.
small globe will appear to rotate in the desired direction.
7. When the desired view appears, release the mouse button.
FT3 will re-draw the world to show the new view.

Named views
You can create named views for your world. When a named view is created, map projection, scale,
and position are stored within it. Named views can be used for world navigation and to export
sections of worlds. They are especially useful for outputting consistent images of the same portions
of a world using different settings and during different FT3 sessions.
Context Menu
Creating named views The Context menu provides
a quick mouse shortcut to
8. Right-click within FT3’s main screen.
some of the more commonly
9. Click Add View from the context menu. used commands.
10. The Enter View Name dialog box appears. Enter a view name for your view, then click OK. You can use it by right-
clicking instead of using the
The View management commands are available from the View menu as well as from the context standard menu and buttons
menu. to access these commands.

View Name
View names are case
sensitive, and can have a
maximum of 60 characters.
If you intend to export saved
views, it is advisable to use
legal Windows® file names.

679
 Using named views
Once you have created named views for your
world, you can access them via the Context
menu. The Show View Window command
opens the View Management dialog box.

Multiple named views can be selected by

holding down while clicking to select, and
selecting names individually, or holding down
to select a range of view names.

Show will change the current world view to reflect the settings stored within the
selected named view. Double-clicking on a named view’s list entry has the same effect.

Add Current View will add the current world view as a named view. This function
works in the same way as the Context menu → Add View command.

Delete will remove the selected named views.

Export As CC3 exports the

currently selected named views
as CC3+ and/or image files:

Checking the Generate

CC3 Files box will export
Export File the selected named views
See Exporting to CC3+ on as CC3+ maps. When checked, FT3 will prompt for selection of an existing CC3
page 710 for more details export file.
about CC3 export files.
Checking the Generate JPEG Files box will export the selected named views as
JPEG images. The JPEG Size entry is used to determine the width of the exported
JPEG images.

Output Directory allows selection of the directory in which the exported files will
be saved. If no directory is specified, then the current one will be used.

Exported named views carry file names that reflect their view names. If you wish
to use named views for export, you should take care to use only names that are
valid Windows® file names, and back up or change the names of existing images
and maps that may be affected.

680
WORLD SETTINGS
The World Settings dialog contains all the important parameters for your world. When you click
Apply in this dialog, the map in the view window immediately update to reflect the settings in the
dialog, making it easy to tweak world setting without having to open and close a dialog all the time.
Also note that you can continue working on the map using the editing tools while this dialog is
open.

Selection
World Setting definitions may be stored on disk and recalled later from the
Selections property page. Loading a world setting will not apply the setting to your
world until the Apply button is clicked.

Selections settings
The … button will change the directory where the definition files are
stored. The current directory is shown to the left of this button.

The list area shows the settings available in this directory.

Delete removed the currently selected world setting.

Save saves the current world settings data from the property sheets to
disk. You will be presented with a dialog asking for the name of the
settings. This name may contain any characters allowable for a file
name.

Load loads the currently selected world settings file into the property
sheet. These settings will not be applied to your world until the Apply
button is clicked.

Update will save the current data in the property sheet into a file with the same name
as the currently-selected settings file in the list.

Primary
The Primary settings page contains the main settings that control the appearance
of your world. As with all pages on this property sheet, changes will not take effect
on your world until you click the Apply button.

Highest Peak sets the maximum altitude for the world. Sometimes the generated
world may exceed this value by a small percentage, but it usually keeps within
bounds.

Lowest Depth sets the lowest point in the ocean. Sometimes the generated world
may exceed this value by a small percentage, but it usually keeps within bounds.

Circumference (or Diameter) sets the size of the world. If circumference is

selected, the value is the distance around the world at the equator. If it’s diameter,
the value is the distance through the north and south poles. All worlds are assumed
to be perfectly spherical, not an oblate spheroid like the earth.

World Seed is the world number to generate. It sets the random number seed for
the internal generators. Values for this seed can range from negative
2,147,483,648 to positive 2,147,483,647. The button next to the seed with a die
on it selects a random see value when pressed.

The Roughness slider controls the level of roughness in a surface. This value is
roughly the fractal dimension of the surface. The sequence below shows how Roughness affects the
surface from high (0.01) to low (1.49).

681
 0.01 0.38 0.75 1.13 1.49

The Percent Sea slider sets the rough amount of sea that will be found on the map. While the system
may not always generate exactly the right amount of ocean, it will often be fairly close.

The Land Size slider sets the size of the land masses. The sequence below shows how changing
the setting changes the landmass size.

1.00 2.14 3.25 5.50 10.0

If checked, Apply to Current World will apply any changes in the world parameters to the current
world, preserving any terrain editing. If unchecked, all editing will be lost.

Secondary
The Secondary settings page contains minor settings that control the appearance of
your world. As with all pages on this property sheet, changes will not take effect on
your world until you click the Apply button.

Raw height Field

This indicates if the surface should be treated as a raw height field rather than a fractal
function.

A raw height field gets its data only from a linear interpolation of the offset channel; it
ignores any fractal data or scaling.

Using this option and an equirectangular projection makes FT3 perform like a
traditional height field tool.

FT3 usually operates with editing data being used to adjust a preexisting fractal
function. The offset and roughness editing values are interpolated using a cubic spline
and composited with the fractal function to yield a final result. Using the Burn Into
Surface tool in version 1 would allow the fractal function to be placed evaluated and
placed into the offset channel, resulting in an effect similar to a raw height field.
However, the fractal function could be added back into the surface by using the
roughness tools. The Raw Height Field option always ignores the roughness data and fractal
function, performing a simple linear interpolation of the offset channel. This option gives a result
closer in appearance to traditional height field editing tools while retaining many of the features of
FT3 such as map projections.

682
 Basic FT3 result After Burn Into Surface After Raw Height Field
checked

Using the raw height field option prevents creation of excessive detail and prevents excessive
smoothing due to the cubic interpolation. These features can be useful for output to external
programs such as ray tracers.

Metric Units
If checked, changes all measurements to metric (kilometers, meters, centimeters, and degrees
Celsius). If unchecked, measurements will be in English units (miles, feet, inches, and degrees
Fahrenheit).

Continental Shelves
If checked, this indicates that the continental margins will be computed. The pair of images below
shows how a world appears with and without continental shelves. Note how turning on Continental
Shelves can reduce the relative altitudes of some parts of the map.

With Continental Shelves Without Continental Shelves

683
 Editing
The Editing settings page controls how detailed user
editing can be. As with all pages on this property sheet,
changes will not take effect on your world until you click
the Apply button.

The Editing Size group sets the resolution at

which editing will be accomplished.

Small, Medium, and Large set 256,

512, and 1024 samples horizontally,
respectively.

Resolution and Memory indicate how big

each sample will be at the equator and how
much memory the editing surface will
Physical Memory require. Specifying an editing resolution that
Keep in mind that FT3 is a takes much more than a sixth of the
32-bit program, so it cannot machine’s physical memory size can result in
access more than 3GB of poor performance during editing.
memory (2GB under 32-bit Custom sets a custom editing size in case
Windows), no matter the one of the preset size settings isn’t to your liking. It has a maximum value of 8190,
amount you have. giving a maximum editing detail of roughly 5 miles at a cost of potentially 900 MB of
memory.

Allow Prescale Offset Editing allows for better control over editing continental shelves
at the cost of additional memory and the use of irregular values for editing.

Fractal Function
The Fractal Function page controls the basic function
used to create worlds. Different functions have different
properties and appearance. As with all pages on this
property sheet, changes will not take effect on your
world until you click the Apply button.

Method
The method drop list selects the basic computation
method used for FT3. This list contains the old fractal
New Ones
functions used with previous versions of FT, as well as
The latest addition to the new ones specifically for FT3. Unless you are editing an
fractal functions are fBM old world, you generally get best results with the new
with Perlin’s Improved ones.
Noise and RMF with Perlin’s
Improved Noise.
fBM stands for Fractional
Brownian Motion, while
RMF is Ridged Multifractal.

684
 Ridged Multifractal Brownian Noise FT2 fBm

FT2 Ridged Multifractal fBm with Perlin’s Improved Noise RMF with Perlin’s Improved Noise

Voronoi Ridged Multifractal Wilbur Fractional Brownian Motion Wilbur Ridged Multifractal

Other settings
Planar Function Evaluation causes the fractal function to be evaluated on a plane
instead of a sphere

The Parms button controls the settings specific to each method. These provide a little
extra fine control over certain aspects of the fractal functions.

The Flip Fractal Function checkboxes allow the function to be inverted vertically and/or
horizontally.

If Automatically Compute Parms is checked (the default), then FT3 will automatically
place the center of your world and the radii of your world in accordance with its internal
algorithm. If unchecked, you have direct control over these values. However, taking
control of the radii values means that the Land Size slider on the Primary page will no
longer work. There is no reason for most users to edit these values directly, but editing
them gives you an extra few hundred trillion worlds.

685
 Temperature
The Temperature settings page controls the temperature
climate model operations. As with all pages on this
property sheet, changes will not take effect on your world
until you click the Apply button.

Axis Tilt specifies the axial tilt of the planet, which affects
the temperature distribution of the world. A planet with
an axis tilt of 0 will have no seasonal temperature
variations, while a planet with an axial tilt of 90 will have
average yearly temperatures at the pole greater than at
the equator.

Physically-based Base Temperature: With

this setting, FT3 will generate the base
temperature depending on the physics of the
world

Albedo is the amount of reflectance that

the world has (sum of all factors
including clouds, land, and sea); an
earthlike world will have a value near
0.3.

Light indicates the amount of sunlight at all wavelengths reaching the planet in
terms of solar radiation units (the Sun = 1).

Greenhouse indicates the greenhouse warming effect due to atmospheric effects;

Earth has a value of approximately 1.1 (warms the planet). Values less than 1 have
a cooling effect; values greater than 1.0 have a warming effect.

Specify Base Temperature: This option lets you manually specify a base temperature
for your world.

Variance is a factor that determines how much the temperature varies from the equator
to the poles. Earth has roughly a 32 degree Celsius (90 F) variance value.

Random is the amount that a random field will be scaled by to give local temperature
disturbances.

Rainfall
The Rainfall settings page controls the rainfall climate
model operations. As with all pages on this property sheet,
changes will not take effect on your world until you click
the Apply button.

Base is the global amount of rainfall

Random is a scaling factor that adjusts a fractal

field that adds to the Base value to give the
final result.

686
VIEWING WORLD INFORMATION Colors Representing
Contours
From what we have explored thus far, we know that FT3 can
Many CC3+ maps use
calculate and show height contours for a world. The clever
textured bitmaps for the
little beastie does not stop at that, however.
different contours, but these
When a world is created, FT3 will automatically determine its are easy to change to solid
climate, temperature, and rainfall, as well as its general colors in CC3+ to be able to
geography. While these calculations are based more on theory use the map this way.
than any “true to life” scenario (for example, viewing the
climate for your world will very likely reveal huge expanses of Color to Altitude
forestland - such factors as deforestation and axe-wielding Load will load a saved set of
settlers are not figured in the climate calculations), they can be conversion data from disk.
very useful when it comes to adding the finishing touches. As Save will save the current
we shall see later, any of these factors that do not suit your set of conversion data to a
concept can easily be changed. file on disk.
Generate will perform the
Click Show Altitudes to show your world’s
listed color to altitude
height contours and general geography (this is the
conversions on the
default view).
displayed image overlays.
Click Show Climate to show the climate zones Help shows the help topic
FT3 has calculated for your world. for this dialog.
Add adds a color to altitude
Click Show Temperature to show the correspondence using the
temperature zones FT3 has calculated for your Color to Altitude
world. Correspondence dialog (see
Click Show Rainfall to show precipitation below).
Pick adds a color to altitude
levels FT3 has calculated for your world.
correspondence by
For each of these views, different colors are used to indicate changing the tool to a
the different values FT3 has calculated. The colors and their dropper and allowing a
associated values are shown within the Color Key window. color on the main display
window to be picked. After
When you change the view mode, the Color Key window will
you have clicked on the
change accordingly. You can also measure linear distances
main image to pick a color,
across a world. Click Distance , and then click both ends of
the Color to Altitude
the linear distance you wish to measure. FT3 will report the
Correspondence dialog will
measurement.
appear to finish the add
operation (see below).
Color to Altitude Conversion Edit brings up the Color to
Altitude Correspondence
Many data sets are available on the Internet that provides color-coded altitudes. In addition, many dialog, loaded with data for
CC3+ files are created with colors representing contours. To make it easier to import that data into the currently-selected item.
FT3, the color to altitude conversion tool was created. This tool allows you to define colors, associate Delete removes the
altitudes with those colors, and then convert the colors in the displayed overlays into altitudes in currently selected item from
the offset channel. the list.
The first step is to create a set of colors and assign Close dismisses this
altitudes to those colors. To ease this task, FT3 window.
provides the Color to Altitude window shown here.
The main portion of this dialog shows the list of color Color to Altitude Window
items. Double-clicking on an item has the same effect You can find this window in
as selecting that item and clicking the Edit button. the Image Overlays menu.

687
 Editing color items
Clicking on the Color area brings up the color picker dialog
to select a color.

Altitude specifies the altitude of the color selected above.

Type is the operation that will be performed on this color.

Roughness is the value that will be placed in the

roughness channel for the color operation.

Exponent is the amount of non-linearity introduced into

the peaks and basins. Values less than 1 will lead to
rounded tops, while values greater than 1 will lead to more
pointed tops.

Ki’Harm Brood Ship

This alien vessel was designed by Andrew Cutts using Cosmographer 3.

688
LIGHTING AND COLOR
Just as with the World Settings, this dialog does not block the map behind it. With this dialog open,
you can continue working on your map, and you can immediately see the results of the changes
you made in this dialog once you click the Apply button, without having to close the dialog. This
makes it much easier to tweak and experiment with the settings. Note that for all the sheets in this
dialog, nothing takes effect until you click Apply.

Select Coloring Scheme

Coloring schemes may be stored on disk and recalled later. FT3 offers a preview
of the coloring schemes before loading. Selecting a coloring scheme from the list
will display a quick preview on the right-hand side of the property page. This
scheme is not loaded into the rest of the property sheet until the Load button is
clicked.

The … button will change the directory where the definition files are
stored. The current directory is shown to the left of this button.

The list area shows the settings available in this directory.

The color area to the right of the list shows a preview of the altitude
data from the currently selected color scheme.

Delete removes the currently selected color scheme.

Save saves the current color data from the property sheet to disk. You
will be presented with a dialog asking for the name of the scheme. This
name may contain any characters allowable for a file name.

Load loads the currently selected color scheme into the property sheet.
This color scheme will not be applied to your world until the Apply
button is clicked.

Update will save the current data in the property sheet into a file with the same name
as the currently-selected scheme in the list.

Intensity
The intensity property page controls the appearance of the shading that is
modulated with the coloring data. The data on this property page will not be
applied to the world until the Apply button is checked.

The Light Direction group controls the direction of the lighting.

Azimuth is the compass direction of the lighting in degrees

clockwise from up. It may also be controlled via the horizontal
slider in the Light Direction group.

Elevation is the altitude direction of the lighting in degrees above

the horizon. 0 is horizontal, while 90 is straight down from above.
This value may also be controlled via the vertical slider in the
Light Direction group.

Vertical Exaggeration is a measure of the intensity of the lighting

effect. Smaller values will yield a less pronounced shading effect, while
larger values will yield a much darker and dramatic image.

The Shadows slider controls the amount of the lighting effect applied
to the world display. Setting the slider all the way to None will turn off
the shading effect.

689
 Altitude
The Altitude property page controls the coloring of the
surface when the Show Altitude display option is
checked in the Map menu. As with all pages in this dialog,
changes made will not be applied to the world until the
Apply button is clicked.

The Land group controls the land coloration

(altitude above water level). Colors are the
number of colors between altitude zero and
the world maximum altitude. The colors in the
color list will be interpolated between the Sea
Level and Highest Peak colors, subject to the
available CC3+ palette. If the high and low
colors are fairly close together the number of
visible colors may be less than that specified.
This apparent color reduction occurs because
the CC3 palette has only 256 colors.

Highest Peak is a color picker that sets the

coloring for the highest altitude in the world
and above. Changing this color will redo the
color list to smoothly interpolate the CC3+
colors between Highest Peak and Sea level.

Sea Level is a color picker that sets the coloring for land at or below sea level. Changing
this color will redo the color list to smoothly interpolate the CC3+ colors between Highest
Peak and Sea level.

The color list between Highest Peak and Sea Level can be used to change individual
colors. Moving the mouse cursor over this area causes the cursor to change to a dropper.
Clicking the left mouse buttons brings up the CC3+ color picker and allows the color
under the cursor to be changed. Changing the Sea level or Highest Peak color will lose
any edits to the color list.

Blended indicates if the color should smoothly blend from one color to another on the
main map display. If checked, the colors will smoothly flow from one to another. If not
checked, the colors will abruptly transition from one to the next.

Shaded indicates if light/dark shading should

be applied to the world.

The Default button loads the program default

values back into the property page.

Temperature
The Temperature property page controls the coloring of
the surface when the Show Temperature display option
is checked in the Map menu. As with all pages in this
dialog, changes made will not be applied to the world until
the Apply button is clicked.

The Load button will load a coloring file into

the list.

The Save button will save the current coloring

definition to a coloring file.

The Default button loads the program default

color list back into the property page.

690
 Highest Temperature is a color picker that sets the coloring for the highest defined
temperature and above. Changing this color will redo the color list to smoothly
interpolate the CC3 colors between Highest Temperature and Lowest Temperature.

Lowest Temperature is a color picker that sets the coloring for the lowest defined
temperature and below. Changing this color will redo the color list to smoothly
interpolate the CC3 colors between Highest Temperature and Lowest Temperature.

Individual colors may be set on the color list by moving the cursor over that color and clicking the
left mouse button. Select a color from the color picker that appears and click OK. The color will now
be set.

Rainfall
The Rainfall property page controls the coloring of the surface when the Show
Rainfall display option is checked in the Map menu. As with all pages in this
dialog, changes made will not be applied to the world until the Apply button is
clicked.

The Load button will load a coloring file into the list.

The Save button will save the current coloring definition to a coloring
file.

The Default button loads the program default color list back into the
property page.

Highest Rain is a color picker that sets the coloring for the highest
defined rainfall and above. Changing this color will redo the color list
to smoothly interpolate the CC3+ colors between Highest Rain and
Lowest Rain.

Lowest Rain is a color picker that sets the coloring for the lowest
defined rainfall and below. Changing this color will redo the color list
to smoothly interpolate the CC3+ colors between Highest Rain and
Lowest Rain.

Individual colors may be set on the color list by moving the cursor over that color
and clicking the left mouse button. Select a color from the color picker that appears and click OK.
The color will now be set.

Climate
The Climate property page controls the coloring of the surface when the Show
Climate display option is checked in the Map menu. As with all pages on this
property sheet, changes made will not be applied to the world until the Apply
button is clicked.

The main portion of the page is occupied by the data list. This list contains the
names of climates and the RGB values of their associated colors.

The Load button will load a coloring file into the list.

The Save button will save the current coloring definition to a coloring
file.

The Default button loads the program default color list back into the
property page.

The Edit button will bring up the color picker for the currently selected
climate type. Double clicking on a list element will have the same
effect.

691
 WORLD PROJECTIONS
Projection Displaying a globe on a flat surface poses a challenging problem. Over the years, several different
methods of achieving this have been devised. Such methods produce flat-map views, or projections,
See the Projections chapter
of the globe. FT3 has the capability to display your world using many of these.
on page 740 for more
details on the individual To change the projection used to display your world:
projections.
1. Click Change Projection .
You see the Map Projection dialog box.
2. Click one of the listed map projections.
The preview of the world will change to
reflect the selected projection.
3. Keep cycling through the available map
projections until you find one that you
like.
4. Press OK.
The view of your world will be updated
to reflect the new projection.
The Map Projection dialog has three basic
sets of parameters:

Projection Center, represented by

the values Lat (latitude) and Lon
(longitude), defines the central point for the projection display.

View Offset (represented by X Ofs and Y Ofs) defines the offset from the projection
center to the center of the area of interest. View Offsets can be used to center a view to
a particular latitude and longitude co-ordinate. To calculate the values required to do
this when showing the Equirectangular projection, use the following formulae:
−𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 −𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒
𝑋 𝑂𝑓𝑠 = 𝑌 𝑂𝑓𝑠 =
180 180

For example, to center the view to longitude -117, latitude 35 the values used would be
0.65 (XOfs) and -0.19444 (YOfs). This trick works only for the equirectangular
projection. Other projections have more complex formulae.

Scale, expressed as a zoom ratio (e.g., a Scale of 1 will display the entire world, 0.5 will
zoom in by a factor of ×2, 4 will zoom out by a factor of ×1/4, and so on).

Conic Parameters, represented by Conic Lat0 and Conic Lat1, give the two standard
parallels for conic projections. Most projections (that is, the non-conic ones) do not use
these parameters.

692
GRIDS
FT3 supports as many grids as you would like to define.

Add brings up the Grid Settings dialog (see below) to

allow a new grid to be created.

Edit brings up the Grid Settings dialog with the currently

selected grid info shown in the dialog.

Delete removes the currently selected grid.

Load loads a grid definition file from disk.

Save saved a grid definition file to disk.

Show shows the currently selected grid on the displayed

image.

Hide hides the currently selected grid on the displayed

image.

Up moves the grid up in the drawing order.

Down moves the grid down in the drawing order.

Latitude Polar Endcaps is a global setting that will prevent grids from approaching to
within the inidcated number of degrees of the poles. This setting is a holdover from
version 1.X. It can be simulated by setting each grid to a smaller display area.

Subdivision level is the basic subdivision level. This setting is a holdover from version
1.X. Enabling Adaptive Grid Resolution is usually a better solution than increasing this
value.

Adaptive Grid Resolution enables the adaptive grid resolution setting. This operation
will use as many subdivisions as are required to yield a smoothly-curving gridline.

The main area shows any defined grids. The columns in this area are:
Column Description
# Shows the grid number. Grids are drawn with the highest number at the top of the
drawn grids (drawn from lowest number to highest).
Show Indicates if the grid is visible. This value may be changed by selecting the grid
record and using the Show and Hide buttons or by editing the grid record and using
the Visible checkbox.
Lat The latitude spacing of the grid
Lon The longitude spacing of the grid
Color The color of the grid being displayed. The color is represented as a hex RGB value.
Line The thickness of the line. This value ranges from 0 to 2.54 mm (1 to 10 pixels
onscreen).
Altitude The altitude at which the grid will be displayed. This value is only relevant for CC3+
output, when it will indicate at what altitude the grid should be drawn.
Top The top edge (largest latitude) at which the grid is defined.
Left The left edge (smallest longitude) at which the grid is defined.
Right The right edge (largest longitude) at which the grid is defined.
Bottom The bottom edge (smallest latitude) at which the grid is defined.

693
 Editing Grid Settings
Click on any grid setting then click Edit to change that
setting.

To add a grid to your world:

1. Click Grid Settings .

You will see the Grid Settings dialog box.
2. Click the Add button to bring up the Grid Edit dialog.
It is named Grid Settings like the main dialog, but don’t
let that confuse you.
3. Click the Color box.
You will see the CC3+ Color Picker dialog box.
4. Click red (color 2) picker box then press OK.
The Color box will change to reflect your choice.
5. Check the Enable Grid box the press OK.
The main Grid Settings dialog will show your new grid.
6. Click OK.
The world will re-draw to reflect your grid settings.

694
SIMPLE CREATE MODE
Simple Create Mode is a simplified way to create a world with the exact contours that you define.
The process is to paint areas you want on your world (land, sea, mountains, hills) and then using the
Simple Create Settings, tell FT3 to go to work. It’s that simple. The operation has three major phases:
setup (FT3 makes a workspace for you to do your drawing), drawing (you draw the land you’re
interested in), and Execution (FT3 does the works of setting up the surface.

Setup
Use Tools→Actions→Set Up Simple Create Mode. That’s it. FT3 will give you a message telling
you what to do at that point and to remind you what to do next.

When you click OK, FT3 will create your layer and make certain that the climates toolbar is visible.

Drawing
Use Image Overlays→Overlay Paint Tool to load the paint tool. When painting, it is often easiest
to paint in the following order:

1. Abyssal Plain to lay down the basic lowest sea level

2. Shallow Ocean and Deep Ocean to bound the lowest and highest sea areas.
3. Climate types other than mountains and hills.
4. Mountains and Hills.
It is very important that at least some of each category above is painted on the map.

An example painted world map is shown below:

Execution
After painting the areas of your world map, you must tell FT3 a little about the height values that
you would like to use to create the elevations. Use Tools → Actions → Execute Simple Create to
tell FT3 that you are done, which will bring up the following dialog:

695
 Mountain Peak Height is the value of the
highest mountain peak in the world.

Mountain Base Height is the height of the

base of all mountains. Mountains start at the
base and grow upward to the peak value.

Hill Peak Height is the value of the highest Hill

peak in the world.

Hill Base Height is the height of the base of all

Hills. Hills start at the base and grow upward to
the peak value.

Sea Level is always fixed at 0 altitude.

Shallow Sea Depth is the depth of areas

marked as Shallow Ocean. This area is
Compute approximately the continental depth.
Setting both of these sliders Abyssal Plain Depth is the depth of the average low parts of the ocean.
to slower can result in
worlds that take 10 minutes Trench Depth is the depth of the lowest parts of the ocean. The trench extends from
or more to compute – but it just below the abyssal plain depth to the trench depth in a manner similar to mountains
is more likely to be worth extending from the mountain base height to the mountain peak height.
the wait! Quality Settings brings up the Simple
Create Quality Settings dialog, which
allows control over the quality of the
output image vs. the time it takes to
compute the world.

Image resolution is the resolution

of the world computation. Smaller
values go faster, but yield a much
chunkier result.

Per-Sample Quality is the number of samples taken per point during the
deterracing operation. Larger values yield slower computations, but can result in
fewer artifacts.

The results for the map example above is shown here (the vertical exaggeration has been increased
to 12 in the lighting for this image to show more details):

696
EDITING YOUR WORLD
Note that the World Settings dialog (page 681) contains several pages that affects your editing
world editing.

The Editing Tools

FT3 possesses ten editing tools, all of which are available in the Tools toolbar. The tools are:

Raise increases the altitude of the painted area.

Lower decreases the altitude of the painted area.

Raise Prescale Offset will raise the prescale offset of the painted area. Note that
this button is only active if Allow Prescale Offset Editing is enabled in World Settings.

Lower Prescale Offset will lower the prescale offset of the painted area. Note that
this button is only active if Allow Prescale Offset Editing is enabled in World Settings.

Rougher increases the height variation (roughness) of the painted area.

Smoother decreases the height variation (roughness) of the painted area.

Wetter increases the level of rainfall within the painted area.

Drier decreases the level of rainfall within the painted area.

Warmer increases the temperature of the painted area.

Colder decreases the temperature of the painted area.

Water Level will adjust the painted area so that its water level is set at a given
altitude. All terrain of an altitude lower than that set for the Water Level tool will be
adjusted to depict water. Higher altitude terrain will not be affected. You can
dynamically select the altitude to be used by this tool by holding down while clicking
within the world map on an area of the desired altitude.

Paint Climate will replace the current climate of the area painted with that chosen
from the Climate Selector toolbar.
Edit
Using the editing tools Editing tools only affect the
FT3’s editing functions are all performed in basically the same way. To edit your world: current selection. If you
haven’t selected any
1. Click the button representing the editing function you wish to use. particular region of your
The mouse cursor will change to show a paintbrush surrounded by a dashed circle. The circle map, then the tool will
indicates the area that will be affected by your edit. affect any area it touches.
For more on selection, see
2. Move the mouse to the region you wish to edit within your world.
Selection Functions on page
3. Click and hold the mouse button down. 698.
4. Move the mouse across the area you wish to edit. Your edit will be “painted”
onto the world as you move
5. Once you have painted all of the desired area, release the mouse button. the cursor. Since FT3 needs
to calculate edits in order to
apply them, it is a good idea
to move the mouse slowly
to ensure that the edit is
applied to the whole region
desired.

697
 Changing the editing tools
Paintbrush Options The area of effect and amount of change of the tools may be modified using the Paintbrush options
toolbar.
Note that the name of this
toolbar changes depending
on the currently selected
tool. Selection Options and
Climate options are other
common names.
The basic options should be self-explanatory, but you can
click the C button for a dialog which contains more
advanced setting for the brush. Note that you can also save
presets for easy access to commonly used settings.

When setting the parameters, make sure you use a sensible

value. It probably doesn’t make much sense to increase the
height of a mountain one meter at a time. Especially at high
zoom levels, you might be unable to see any discernible
effects when using low values.

Also note that there is a peculiarity in the way brush sizes

are set in FT3. The software requires that sizes, internally,
should be odd values. As a result, it adjusts user-entered
values, as per:

Entered Value Actual Size of Brush

0-1 0

2-3 1

4-5 3
Climate Types
6-7 5
Mountain
Hills 8-9 7

Bare Rock 10-11 9

Ice 32-33 31
Tropical Deciduous
64-65 63
Forest
Tropical Evergreen
Climate painting
Forest
Tropical Shrubland The Paint Climate is used to change the climate settings for an area painted. To use this tool,
you must first select the type of climate you wish to paint from the Climate Selector toolbar.
Savannah
Eighteen climate types are available.
Temperate Forest
Desert Global painting
Chaparral The Raise, Lower, Rougher, Smoother, Warmer, Colder, Wetter, and Drier tools may be applied
Temperate Grassland globally (i.e., so that they affect the entire world (or current selection) in one fell swoop) by holding
Boreal or Alpine down , and clicking on the desired tool.
Forest
Tundra Selection Functions
Shallow Ocean
FT3 provides a number of selection tools that can be used to mask portions of a world.
Abyssal Plain
When a selection mask is applied, all edits will only affect currently selected portions of a world.
Deep Ocean Trench For example, if you paint a climate to the world, areas outside the current selection will not have
No Climate their climates changed, even if the climate-painting tool overlaps the selection border.

698
When global painting, edits will be applied to all areas within the selection, and areas outside the
selection will remain untouched.

Basic selection functions

Three basic functions are accessed from the Select menu. These are:

All selects the entire world

Deselect deselects all current selections

Inverse inverts the current selection, so that everything currently selected is now
Selection
deselected, and everything that was outside the current selection becomes selected
These selection tools can
also be used to add to or
Selection tools subtract from the current
Four tools are provided which allow selection by shape. These tools can be found on the Tools selection. Holding down
toolbar, as well as in the Select menu. when completing the

Click Select Rectangle to create a rectangular selection. Click in the main window selection will add the area
to place the rectangle’s first corner, move the mouse, then Click again to place the to the current selection, and
opposite corner when the preview displays the rectangle desired holding down will
remove the area drawn from
Click Select Ellipse to create an elliptical selection. Click in the main window to start the current selection.
the selection, move the mouse, then click again to complete when the preview displays
the ellipse required

Click Select Freehand to manually draw a selection mask. Click in the main window
to start the selection. Draw the required selection by moving the mouse. Once the
desired selection has been outlined, click to complete

Click Select Polygon to create a polygonal selection. Click in the main window to
start the selection, then click to place further points as desired. To complete the
selection, either triple-click (effectively clicking once to place the final point, then
double-clicking in the same location to complete), or press .

Range selection functions

The Select menu provides four functions that are used to
select portions of the world that conform to given
parameters. With the exception of the Climate Range
function, these tools prompt for the range required via a
dialog box. The Altitude Range Selection dialog is shown
to serve as an example.

Low and High form the range to be processed

by the selection. For example, entering 0 in the Low box, and 500 in the High box when
selecting by Altitude Range will consider all portions of the map that fall between 0’ and
500’ in altitude. Units differ for each range selection function (e.g., Temperature Range
expects values in °C/F).

The first drop-list determines how the selection relates to the given range: Between
considers all portions between the Low and High values; Not Between considers those
outside (either lower or higher) the given range; Above considers those portions of the
world that are higher in respective value than the provided High value; and Below
considers those portions that fall below the Low value.

The lower drop-list determines how the selection is to be used: Replace Selection will
clear the current selection, creating a new one based on the parameters given; Add to
Selection will retain the current selection, adding to it according to the given
parameters; Subtract from Selection will remove those portions conforming to the
given parameters from the current selection.

699
 The four range selection functions are:

Altitude Range selects by altitude, in feet (or meters)

Temperature Range selects by temperature, in °F (°C)

Rainfall Range selects by rainfall,

in inches per year (or cm)

Climate Range selects by climate.

This opens a dialog box (see
image) which lists all of the
climates FT3 recognizes. Click
boxes to the left of the listed
climates to place or clear tick
marks. A tick indicates that all
regions conforming to that climate
will be selected. Selecting by
Climate Range always replaces
the current selection

Selection mask modification

The current selection mask can be further modified:

Binarize will “harden” the selection, so that each pixel is either fully selected or fully
deselected. You will be prompted for a threshold value which will determine which
pixels remain selected, and which will be deselected, depending on their current
selection status. The range of this threshold is from 1 to 255. A value of 1 will fully select
all pixels in the current selection, regardless of their partially selected state; a value of
255 will only consider those pixels that are already fully selected; a value of 127 will
consider those pixels that are currently from 50% to 100% selected; and so on. Binarized
selections cannot have partially selected pixels.

Feather will “soften” the selection mask, blurring it around the edges. You will be
prompted to enter the amount by which the selection is to be smoothed. Feathered
selections can have partially selected pixels.

Modify → Expand will increase the size of the current selection by one pixel in all
directions.

Modify → Contract will decrease the size of the current selection by one pixel in all
directions.

Modify → Border will change the selection to only select the border of your current
selection. A dialog will ask you for the size of the border.

Modify → Distance converts the selection into distances from the edge of the selection.
This change makes the selection look strange, but allows an operation similar to the
mound operation to be performed when the setting a value.

More Editing Features

All of the features below can be found in the Tools menu, many of them in the Actions submenu of
that menu..

Mound
The Mound function takes parameters you provide, then adjusts the altitude values within a
selection accordingly. It is useful for creating mountains, plateaus, etc.

To use the Mound function:

1. Use the selection functions and tools to select the area you wish to be affected.

700
 2. Select Tools → Actions and pick one of the three
available options: Create Mound, Create Mound Settings
Moundtain or Create Profiled Mound Min: is the value that will be
You see the Mound Settings dialog box. applied to the edge of the
selection, in feet (or meters).
3. Enter the parameters as required then press OK.
Max: is the value that will
The Mound function will be applied to the selection. be applied to the center of
the selection, in feet (or
meters).
Deterrace If Replace Offset is checked,
the current values of the
The deterrace tool will smooth out flat areas in the editing surfaces, interpolating between adjacent
selection will be replaced by
values. This tool is designed to keep as much information as possible while still giving reasonable
the Mound function. If
results. It takes as a parameter the number of samples to compute for each interpolated point. Larger
unchecked, the Mound
values take longer to calculate but yield better results:
function will add to the
Raw terraced data Deterrace, value = 64 Deterrace, value = 5 current values.
Gamma indicates the
linearity of the mound’s
slope. A value of 1.0 will
produce a mound with fairly
shallow-sloping sides.
Values less than 1.0 will
provide flatter tops and
steeper sides. Values
greater than 1.0 will
produce shallower sides and
more pointed center ridges.

Global Noise
Many operations give a result that is too smooth to look good. The
global noise tool generates random values and adds them to the
surface. Invoking the tool produces the following dialog:

Raw terraced data Uniform Noise Gaussian Noise

Continued on next page…

701
 Basin Fill
Global Noise
The algorithms used in FT3 result in little hollows at all levels of detail. In real worlds, these hollows
Noise Type is the type of
tend to be filled with sediments deposited by rivers. To offer a first approximation to this process
algorithm to use for noise.
that runs in a reasonable amount of time, the Basin Fill tool is provided.
Uniform noise is distributed
evenly between Mean- The Basin Fill Tool fills all hollows in a surface except those hollows that have water at a deeper
Variance and Mean point. The differences can be subtle, but they make a serious difference in how rivers are routed.
+Variance while Gaussian
Raw Data Basin Filled
noise follows a Gaussian
distribution between Mean-
Variance and Mean
+Variance (values near
Mean are more likely than
extreme values).
Mean is the average value
added to the surface. A
value of 0 means that values
added to the surface are
likely to average to 0.
Variance is the magnitude
of the maximum value that
could be added to the
surface.
Except is a value below
which noise will not be
added. In the following images, note how the rivers routed on unfilled basins tend to have straight
Seed is the random number segments. These segments are caused by the internal basin-fill process in the river-finding
that will be used to start the algorithm, which doesn’t impart the same level of roughness as the Basin Fill algorithm. This
random number generator. roughness forces the rivers to wander a bit, giving a more realistic appearance.
Using the same value results Rivers routed on raw data Rivers routed on filled data
in the same noise pattern.
For best effect, it is a good
idea to use a different
number each time noise is
applied.

702
Expand Land
During development of some of the processing algorithms, a small coding mistake resulted in a
process that caused the land areas to expand at relatively low altitude. This process conveniently
results in low areas at sea level, much like continents here on earth tend to have. The expanded
land tends to be a bit rough and probably would benefit from a light application of the global
smoothing tool. Also, this action fills in basins in the same manner as the basin fill tool.

Raw Data Expanded land, value = 16

Fill Basins as Lakes Filling Basins

The Fill Basins as Lakes operation fills basins, but it fills them using the water channel rather than Using Fill Basins as Lakes
the offset channel. This operation therefore gives the effect of filling basins with lakes. Unfortunately, after using the Fill Basins
the fractal surfaces have small basins at all levels of detail. Using this operation with a fine editing command can result in
grid can result in little lakes all over the world. Also, because rivers stop when they hit water, these strange square lakes.
little lakes can make river routing difficult.

Raw Data Lakes in basins

703
 Paint Crater
Crater
The crater tool available from Tools → Paint Crater places a single crater at the cursor position.
You can change the size of
The outline shown around the cursor shows two circles: the center circle shows the area occupied
the crater by using your
by the bowl and the area between the inner and outer circle is the outer sloping area. Click the left
mouse wheel.
mouse button to place a crater.

Planetary Bombardment Planetary Bombardment

Total Craters is the number
In contrast to the Crater tool which only places a single
of craters to be placed.
crater at a time, the Planetary Bombardment tool allows
More craters will result in
multiple craters to be placed. Selecting the Tools →
longer execution times.
Actions → Planetary Bombardment menu item brings up
Largest Crater is the
the following dialog to control the bombardment.
diameter of the largest
crater to be placed. When used with a selection, this tool will place craters
Smallest Crater is the over the entire world surface, but only those parts of the
diameter of the smallest crater that overlap the selection will show. This means
crater to be placed. that if you select a small area and specify 1000 craters,
Smooth by indicates a those 1000 craters will be spread over the entire world,
smoothing value to be not just over the selected area.
applied after the number of
craters specified. Before Bombardment After Bombardment
Distribution Exponent
describes the proportion of
smaller craters to larger
ones. Values larger than 1
will favor smaller craters,
while values less than one
will favor larger craters.
Typical cratered worlds such
as Mars display an exponent
around 50.
The Draw from largest to
smallest checkbox controls
which craters will be drawn
first. If unchecked, larger
craters can be drawn on top
of smaller ones, resulting on
obliteration of the smaller Pre-scale offset editing
craters previously drawn in
FT3 has a pre-scale offset tool. This has a profound impact on the system operations — changing
the same area. When using
the equations by which FT works. When enabled via the Editing page of the World Settings property
the smoothing option it is
sheet, surfaces now consume an additional 18% memory above and beyond the prior amounts. Due
best to leave this option
to this increase in data size, systems with limited memory may experience a significant slowdown.
unchecked.
However, the results of the tool can be very nice to see. Continental shelf results can now appear
as expected when raising or lowering land. Roughness tools can now work regardless of the initial
altitude of the land.

The biggest problem with the prescale offset is that many of the more obtuse processing in FT3
does not work with prescale offsets. In addition, the editing values are applied before initial scaling
and so there is not an obvious connection between the editing value and the results. The images
below show an example of the difference between the prescale offset editing tool and the regular
offset painting tool and how editing the roughness values affects the two types of data differently:

704
 Original Data Regular Offset Editing Prescale Offset Editing
Equations
Versions prior to FT Pro
worked according to
equation:
Altitude =
Offset(lat,lon) +
Roughness(lat,lon)*
Shelf(Scale(Fractal(lat
,lon)))

Basically, the raw fractal

function was scaled by a
conversion factor to get the
user’s desired altitude range
Roughness Editing Only Regular Offset + Roughness Prescale Offset + and the adjusted for
Editing Roughness Editing continental shelf (if
required). This result was
scaled by the roughness
factor and then the offset
value was added to it. With
FT3 Pro, a prescale offset
has been added. The
equation now has the
option to read:
Altitude =
Offset(lat,lon) +
Roughness(lat,lon) *
Shelf(Scale(Fractal(lat
,lon) +
Prescale(lat,lon)))
Roughness images were Regular Offset images were Prescale Offset images were
painted with a painted with a raise/lower painted with a prescale
roughen/smooth value of 0.1 value of 50 feet. raise/lower value of 0.002.

Notice how the prescale offset editing has raised the continental shelf levels, while the regular offset
editing kept the original continental shelf level but raised that edge into a peculiar crusty ridge
running around the island. The roughness editing of an area that started below sea level caused the
regular offset data to push back below sea level, while the prescale offset data was roughened in a
manner that might be expected. However, note that the values used are very different.

Quick commands
+Arrow moves the map center of projection in the indicated direction.

Arrow keys pan 10% of the projection size in the direction indicated.

and Keys zoom in and out.

Mouse wheel resizes tools during operations.

Pan operation available at any time by holding down the Space bar.

New color option

Holding down the key when selecting a color will bring up the Windows color picker instead
of the CC3+ color picker.

705
 SAVING AND EXPORTING
Once you have edited your world so that everything matches your desires, you may now wish to
export it to an image file, a series of image files, or even to a Virtual Reality Modeling Language
(VRML) model.

File Formats
Saving Your World
The BMP, JPEG, PNG, and FT3 can save your world directly to several different file formats, these being:
Wilbur (MDR) formats all FT3 native format (FTW)
save the current display
image as either a color map Bitmap image format (BMP)
or as a height field readable
JPEG image format (JPG)
by Wilbur. These formats
have limits on the size of an Color PNG Picture Files (PNG)
image that can be saved.
Wilbur format (MDR)
The Special MDR format, on
the other hand, has no limit Special MDR (MDR)
on the size of the output
Raw Binary File (RAW)
image and always outputs
its information using a 16-bit grayscale PNG Height Files (PNG)
simple Equirectangular
projection. This format is You should always save your world in FT3’s own format, especially if you intend to use FT3 to further
very useful when exporting edit and refine it.
a high resolution image To save your world:
from FT3 to use as a binary
image within FT3 or as an 1. Select File menu → Save As.
input file within Wilbur. You will see the Save As dialog box.
2. Type a name for your world in the File Name box.
3. Select the format you desire from the Save as type drop-list.
4. Click Save button.

Exporting an Icosahedral Projection

Icosahedral projections are commonly used to depict worlds within science fiction role-playing
games. Basically, an icosahedral projection takes the form of a flat-view exploded 20-sided shape.

To save your world as an icosahedral projection:

1. Select File menu → Export World → Icosahedral Image.

You will see the icosahedral Save As dialog box.
2. Change the Width value if desired.
The higher the Width setting, the larger the output file will be. The height will be calculated
automatically to preserve the aspect ratio of the map.
3. Click the Background Color button.
You will see the standard Windows® color palette.
4. Choose the color you wish to use for the output file’s background and click on OK.
The background color is used to fill the rectangular space within the image that is not
occupied by the icosahedral projection.
5. Type a name for the file in the File Name box.
6. Select the desired file format from the drop-list.
Bitmap, PNG and JPEG formats are available for icosahedral export.

706
 7. Click Save button.
FT3 will calculate and create the icosahedral image file.
8. This icosahedral projection is a simple linear transformation of an equirectangular map as
shown here.

Exporting To Multiple Image Files

FT3 can output your world to several image files, each comprising a smaller, tiled section of the
map. It is often useful to do this, since attempting to depict a detailed world map within a single
image can result in an unmanageably huge file.

To export your world to several image files:

1. Select File menu → Export World → Multiple Files.

You will see the Multiple Image
Export dialog box. CC3 Files
FCW files are the file format
2. Select Generate PNG files in the
used by CC3+.
dropdown. Ensure that the
Generate CC3 Files box is
unchecked (this we shall cover
later).
You can create HTML files linked
to the generated JPEG images if
you so desire by checking the
Generate HTML files box. FT3 will Map Levels
generate hypertext links and
The Map Levels option is
navigation buttons linking the
used to determine the
generated HTML files together.
number of image sets that
3. Change the Map Levels and Map will be created.
Level Info settings to those
desired.
Note that to be able to set Map
Levels, Generate CC3 files or Generate HTML files needs to be checked. Map Level Info
Map Level Info is set as per: The Map Level Info settings
determines the form those
Map Level: The map level to which the information row pertains.
levels take. Each map level
Files Wide: The number of files used to depict the world’s horizontal axis at this level. set will comprise a number
of images that tile together
Files High: The number of files used to depict the world’s vertical axis at this level.
to form the whole world. For
The total number of maps that will be produced for the level is equal to the Files Wide example, if two map levels
value multiplied by the Files High value (i.e., a level set to 5 files wide by 2 files high will are chosen, you will gain
produce 10 images). two separate depictions of
the world, each comprising
Percentage Overlap: The extent to which each file of a given level overlaps with those
a set of image files.
adjacent to it.

Image Resolution: The pixel resolution of the resultant images. The higher this value is,
the larger the resultant files will be.

707
 FCW Links: This will create links in the generated HTML pages that lead to the CC3+
files. Only works when you export both HTML and CC3+ files.

Per-Level FCW: When this item is checked, the button at each level can be used set the
CC3 settings that are used for export for that image file level.

4. To choose a location for the output files, Click the … button to select the directory. If a
directory name is entered that does not exist, that directory will be created.
Files
5. Click on OK to start the export.
The files will have a
filename consisting of a FT3 will generate the files to the specifications you have set, and an overview file depicting the
letter and a number. The entire world. This process may take some time, depending on the number and nature of levels you
letter refers to the map level have chosen.
(the overview map will be
“A”, level one will be “B”,
and so on). The number
Exporting a Spin View
refers to the row and A spin view is a series of image files that depict the globe in a period of rotation. These files may
column of the map’s tile. be then combined to form a rotating globe animation.

To export your world to a spin view:

Spin View Export 1. Select File menu → Export World → Spin View.
FT does not export directly You will see the Spin View Export dialog box.
to a GIF-based spin view
2. Set up the export parameters desired.
animation because of the
additional licensing costs For spin view exports, the parameters are:
involved. There are several Size: The size of each frame in pixels. The higher this value is, the larger the output files
software packages that will be.
allow individual files, such
as those created by FT’s spin # Frames: The number of images that will be created. Each image depicts the world at
view export function, to be a different stage in its period of rotation. If used for animation, the higher this value is
tied together in a single the smoother the resultant animation will be.
animation file, including
Latitude: The degree of latitude that will form the center point of the rotational view.
GIMP which we use for this
tutorial, and which has been Appear to be Shaded: Check this box if you wish the views to appear shaded.
used for various tasks in the
3. Type a name for the file in the File Name box.
other sections of this book
as well. 4. Select the desired file format from the drop-list.
Bitmap, PNG and JPEG formats are available for spin view export. I highly recommend using
PNG files because they support transparent backgrounds.
5. Click Save button.
FT3 will calculate and create the spin view image files. Each file will consist of the selected
filename, plus a numerical suffix indicating where in the rotational sequence the file occurs.

Animating the files

After exporting the spin view sequence, you have a set of images showing your world in the
different stages of rotation. Let us use GIMP to create the final animation.

Note that this is a very basic tutorial; you may wish to apply additional edits when working with
your world in GIMP.

6. Start GIMP,
7. Choose File → Open as Layers.
This let us open multiple files at once, and assign each of them to a separate layer. These
layers are later converted to animation frames
8. In the Open Image dialog, click the first image in the sequence, then press and hold
while clicking on the last image in the sequence. This should select all the files. If you have

708
 additional files in the directory, make sure you don’t accidentally select files that are not part
of the sequence. Click Open.
You should now see one of the views of the globe in the edit window, and if you look at the
layers, there should be one layer for each file you loaded.
Name
9. To play the animation inside GIMP, go to Filters → Animation → Playback. You can name the file
This opens a separate window with some animation controls, including a Play button. Close whatever you want, but it
this window when done viewing, but make sure to not close the main editor window. must end in .gif. The reason
for this is that GIMP by
10. Click File → Export As.
default chooses the file type
Give your file the name world.gif. by the extension you
GIMP will now bring up the Export File dialog. provide, and animations
Make sure that you enable the As Animation and needs to be GIF files.
then click Export.
11. Next, the Save as GIF dialog opens. You can set various
options here, but the important ones are Loop Forever Loop Forever
and Delay between frames. This causes the animation to
play in an infinite loop. If
Now you have a single GIF file containing an animated world.
this is unchecked, the
The simplest way to play it right now is to open it in a web
animation will play once,
browser, since these can play animated GIF’s. Simply
then stop. When you loop
dragging the file into the web browser’s view window should do the trick.
forever, the animation will
There is an example of a spin-view sequence exported from FT3 along with the final animation jump from the last frame to
stored in @Tutorials\Tome\FT\spin. The World###.png files are the files as exported from FT3, the the first, so make sure the
Spinning-World.gif file is the finished animation. rotation distance between
these two are the same as
between any other frame to
Exporting To VRML prevent jumping. When
VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) is a modeling language that can be used to depict using the images exported
interactive 3D objects and environments. To use a VRML file, you will need a viewer capable of from FT3, this is already ok.
understanding the language (there are many such viewers available, including plug-ins for Internet
browsers).
Delay between Frames
To export your world to a VRML file:
This sets the number of
1. Select File menu → Export World → VRML. milliseconds between each
You will see the VRML Save As dialog box. frame. The lower this
number, the faster and
2. Set the desired width for the output file.
smoother the world will
The greater the width, the higher the resolution of the resultant model, but also the larger the spin. For a nice, smooth
file size. animation, make sure to
3. Type a name for the file in the File Name box. export a large number of
frames from FT3, then set
4. Click Save button. this to a low number.
FT3 will calculate and create the VRML file. To view the file, open it with a VRML viewer.

Google Earth
Exporting to Google Earth Google Earth is © Google.
KMZ files are overlay files that can be used with the Google Earth program. When you save your
world in this format, you can open it in Google Earth, and rotate and zoom your world just as you
can normally do with the Earth in that program. This is a great way to distribute your world to other
people who do not have FT3, and therefore cannot use the native FT3 format.

Note that when using a KMZ file in Google Earth, it is just an overlay, so you may need to disable
other overlays that show Earth features. Or you can leave them on, to compare Earth with your own
world. As an example, I left the country outlines on, which helped me compare the continents of
Earth with my own world.

709
 When exporting to Google Earth, note that the more pixels you use for width, the better quality the
image will have when loaded into Google Earth, but the larger the file size will be as well.

Exporting to CC3+
CC3+ is a powerful cartographical tool that can be used to further enhance and manipulate your
world. Before you can do so, you must first export the world to one or more CC3+ map files.

FT3 to CC3+ export options

Whenever you export worlds from FT3 to CC3+ maps,
you will be presented with a series of options that will
determine what will comprise the resultant CC3+ map
file. Once you have determined these options, they
may be saved for future use. You must create and save
options before you can use them to export to CC3+ files.

When you must choose CC3+ export options, you will

see the Campaign Cartographer Export dialog box.

Available export settings files will appear in the list.

Other features of the dialog box are:

Create: Clicking on this button will start the

CC3+ Export Filter wizard (see below).

Edit: This will start the CC3+ Export Filter

wizard, using the currently selected export options file. Changes you make to the
settings during the course of the wizard will be saved to this file.

Delete: Deletes the currently selected export file.

Rename: Allows you to rename the currently selected export file.

Duplicate: This creates a duplicate of the currently selected export file. The duplicate
file will default to a “Copy of..” filename. You can then use the Rename function to
change this.

Export World: This will export the current world, using the options set within the
currently selected export file.
Export Options
The checkboxes indicate To create a new CC3+ export file:
which parts of the FT3 world 1. Click Create.
data you wish to export to
You will see the CC3+ Export Filter wizard’s
CC3+. Each information
introductory dialog box.
level will be written to a
separate CC3+ drawing 2. Check the export options you require.
sheet and layer. 3. Click Next, and choose the settings you desire for
The Basic/Advanced radio contour output.
button option is used to
determine the options you If you opted for Basic contour options, you will be
will be presented with presented with the Basic Contour Settings dialog
respect to contour output. box.
The Basic option will Draw Filled Contour: Selecting this option will
provide a simple set of create solid-filled contour entities.
options. If you need to use
non-standard contours, Draw Contour Outline: Selecting this option will draw an outline around each contour.
contour labeling, etc., then Contour Outline Color: Clicking on this color box will bring up the CC3+ Color Picker,
choose the Advanced from which you may select the color to use for contour outlines.
option.

710
 Line Style: Change this option to use a different
line style for contour outlines. How Many Contours
A word of advice and
Draw Coast Outline: Selecting this option will
warning:
draw an outline around the world’s coasts.
The more contours you
Coastline Outline Color: Clicking on this color define, the larger the CC3+
box will bring up the CC3+ Color Picker, from output file will be. The
which you may select the color to use for coastal potential exists to produce
outlines. very large output files
indeed. The larger a file, the
Contour Intervals: This setting will determine
longer CC3+ will take to
how many contours will be drawn, and the
load and redraw the map.
altitude represented by each. The lower this is,
Depending on your system’s
the higher the number of altitude contours that
resources, CC3+ may not
will be produced.
even be able to open the file
The thumbnail view will provide a simple overview of the options you have selected. in question.
To be reasonably useable,
If you opted for Advanced contour options, you will you should aim to produce
be presented with the Advanced Contour Settings output files of 10Mb or less.
dialog box. If this does not provide the
This dialog contains the following elements: level of contour detail you
require, consider using the
A List of all the defined contours. This list shows
Multiple File export function
the altitude the contour is defined for, as well as
to split your world up across
the properties for the contour. We’ll examine the
more than one CC3+ map.
properties when we look at the settings box later.

Edit Selected button. Click this button to edit the

selected contours. This will bring up the Edit Selected Contours
Contour Settings dialog.
You can select more than
Fill one contour at a time by
clicking on the first contour
▪ Filled: Selecting this option will you wish to select, then
create contours with a solid fill
holding down and
style.
click on the last contour you
▪ Match Altitude Color: Select wish to select. Additionally,
this option to use the colors set holding down lets you
for this world when creating the toggle the selection of
CC3+ file. Uncheck it to choose individual contours.
another color.

▪ Fill Color: If Match Altitude Color is not selected, then you can click on this
color box to choose the contour color you wish to use.

Outline

▪ Outline: Check this to produce contour outlines in the resultant CC3+ map.

▪ Match Altitude Color: Uncheck this box to use a color other than those set
for the world when creating contour outlines.

▪ Outline Color: If Match Altitude Color is not selected, you can click on this
color box to set outline color.

▪ Line Thickness: Adjust this slider bar to achieve the line width you wish to
use for contour outlines in the CC3+ map.

▪ Line Style: Choose a line style for contour outlines from this drop list.

711
 Text Label

▪ Show Label: Select this box to produce a text label for each contour. For very
rough worlds, this may cause your CC3+ output to be smothered in text.

▪ Label Position: Use this drop list to set the desired position for contour
labels, in relation to the contours.

Delete Selected deletes the selected contour lines.

Add Multiple lets you add multiple contour lines to

the list. This pops up a dialog that lets you choose the
altitude for the Lowest contour line to add, the
altitude for the Highest one, and the Interval
between them. The bottom of this box also contains
the same settings as you find in the Edit Contour
Settings dialog. The settings you specify here is
added to each of the created contours.

Remove multiple is used to delete contours based

on range and interval. Just as with the Add Multiple
command, you get to specify the Lowest contour, the
Highest contour, and the interval. Note that it only
deletes the contours that matches the interval, so you
can use this to delete every second contour in a given
interval.

4. Click Next, and select the detail level options you wish to use.
You will see the Detail Level dialog box.

The slider bar is used to set the level of detail within the
resultant CC3+ map.

Coarse maps may appear blocky when zoomed in, and

are suitable for world overviews. Fine maps will appear
more realistic, but will create larger sized files and are
thus only suitable for local area views (created using the
Multiple Files export, see below).

Multipoly Each Contour Level: Selecting this option will

multipoly all contours of a given level together into a
single entity. This will provide greater accuracy, but will
slow down load and re-draw times.

Outlines as Separate Entities: By selecting this option, the solid-fill and outlined
contour components will be separated into individual entities. If this is unchecked,
contour outlines will be created by using the second color functionality of CC3+ - contour
and outline will be defined within a single entity. Since entities that use this function are
selected by their outline colors, this can cause problems when editing a map (in effect,
all contours with the same outline color will be treated as if they were the same overall
color). Checking Outlines as Separate Entities will eliminate this problem, but will double
the number of contour entities created, thus slowing re-draw and load times down and
increasing the output file size.

Altitude Relative to Water Level: By selecting this option, the altitude of exports will
be calculated relative to the water level user editing layer. If unchecked, all contours
will be computed relative to 0 altitude, not the currently-set sea level. If user-drawn
lakes are to appear in the CC3+ output, this item must be checked.

712
5. Click Next, and select other items you wish to include in your map.
You will see the Other Items dialog box.
The items selected here will be drawn into the CC3+ map. The
possible items are:

Contour bars show the meaning of individual colors for a

given information set. A separate contour bar will be
added for each information level you have chosen to
create.

Scale bars show actual distances represented by a

smaller, scaled distances on a map.

If you opt to include a grid, you will be presented with the

Grid Settings dialog box when you click Next. If this is
unchecked, the Next button will say Finish instead. The
grid will be drawn to the settings you choose.

A compass rose shows in which direction north lies. When outputting multiple, linked
maps, the compass rose will include links to other files created. Clicking on one of the
compass points will load the map that lies in the selected direction at the current map’s
level. Clicking in the center of the rose will load the next lowest level map.

Selecting the Border check box will produce a map border in the output file. The Fit
border tightly to map checkbox can be used to ensure that there is no white space visible
between the exported map and the border.

Layer switch buttons allow you to navigate easily between the different information
levels you have selected to create, along with their respective scale bars. Click on “A”
for Altitude, “T” for Temperature, “C” for Climate, and “R” for Rainfall.

The Title check box will produce a cartouche containing text entered into the edit box.

Sheet Setup: Clicking this button will open the

Sheets and Features dialog. Through this dialog, you
can control which sheets the exported CC3+
drawing should have, and which elements from
your FT3 map goes on which sheet.

Sheets: This list shows the sheets that will be

included in the exported drawing, and the
order they will appear in. If you add new
sheets, make sure they are placed
appropriately in the sheet order, or elements
may appear in the incorrectly placed in the
map (such as the scale bar being below the
landmass)

Map Features: This list contains all the various

features of FT3, and to which sheet they are
assigned in the CC3+ export. Click close to the
end of the sheet cell to access the dropdown
to select the desired sheet for a feature.

6. Click Next. Simply skip this step if you did not check the
Rectangular Grid option.
The Grid Settings dialog will show. Use this to add grids to your world that will be included
with the export. This dialog is detailed in the Grids chapter found on page 693.
7. Click Finish.
8. Enter a name for your CC3+ export setting, and click OK.
You will be returned to the Campaign Cartographer Export dialog box.

713
 Exporting to a Single CC3+ Map
To export your world to a single CC3+ file:

9. Choose File menu >> Save Campaign Cartographer File.

You will see the Campaign Cartographer Export dialog box.
Current FT3 View 10. Select the desired export file, or create a new one, and press Export World.
Thus, to produce a CC3+ You will see the Save As dialog box.
map covering a small area
11. Give the file a name, and press Save.
of your world, just zoom
into the area required and FT3 will now create your CC3+ file.
follow the steps above. To This command saves the current FT3 view to CC3+.
ensure that the same view
can be exported during Exporting to Multiple CC3+ Maps
different FT3 sessions be
certain to use the Named Just as you can export worlds to multiple tiled image files, you can export them to multiple CC3+
View features available maps. The procedure is virtually the same as that for multiple image exports:
from the View menu. 12. Choose File menu >> Export World >> Multiple Files.
The Multiple Image Export dialog box will appear.

Generate 13. Click to check the Generate CC3 Files box.

You can also select an 14. Set map level options as desired.
image export and check the These are the same as per multiple image file export (see above). However, one further Map
HTML option to Level Info option becomes available. Check the FCW Links box to add a compass rose and
simultaneously export your map links between the generated maps. You can also check the Per-Level FCW option, which
map to all three formats. lets you set separate Export Settings for each map level, for example to use a more detailed
export for the deeper levels.
15. Type the name of an existing directory to which the map files will be written in the Output
Export
Directory box, or click … button to select the directory from a dialog box.
FT3 will generate map files
to the specifications you 16. Click on OK to start the export.
have set, and an overview
map depicting the entire Standard CC3+ sheets and layers for FT3 exports
world. As with multiple When FT3 exports a map to CC3+, it places entities on particular sheets and layers. You can change
image exports, this process the sheets by editing the export settings, but the layers are fixed.
may take some time
depending on the CC3+ Entities Layer Entities Layer
export options set.
Climate Contours Climate Climate Contour Bar CBAR CLIMATE

Rainfall Contours RAINFALL Rainfall Contour Bar CBAR RAINFALL

Temperature Contours TEMPERATURE Temperature Contour Bar CBAR TEMPERATURE

Altitude Contours RELIEF/CONTOURS Altitude Contour Bar CBAR ALTITUDE

Coast Outline COAST/SEA Contour Outlines CONTOUR OUTLINES

Layer Buttons MAP BORDER Altitude Labels RELIEF/CONTOURS

Map Border MAP BORDER Grid HEX/SQUARE GRID

Scale Bar SCALE BAR Compass Rose MAP BORDER

Map Title MAP BORDER Links MAP LINKS

714
 Entities Sheet Entities Sheet

Background BACKGROUND Background Image BITMAP

Sea Contours CONTOURS SEA Grid Low GRID LOW

Sea Features SEA FEATURES Coast Contour LAND

Land Contours CONTOURS (LAND) Land features LAND FEATURES

Temperature Contours TEMPERATURE Rainfall Contours RAINFALL

Climate Contours CLIMATE Roads ROADS

Contours Outline CONTOURS (OUTLINE) Rivers RIVERS

Political Borders POLITICAL BORDERS Coastline COASTLINE

Grid High HEX/SQUARE GRID Symbols SYMBOLS

Screen Border SCREEN Text TEXT

Altitude Color Bar INFO Temperature Color Bar INFO

Rainfall Contour Bar INFO Climate Contour Bar INFO

Compass Rose CARTOUCHES Map Title MAP TITLE

Scale Bar SCALE BAR Child Links HYPERLINKS

Layer Buttons LAYER BUTTONS Map Border MAP BORDER

Importing field height from CC3+ maps

Equirectangular

Planning and backing up your CC3+ map Because of the

equirectangular projection,
Decide where you want your map to exist on the world. Note that all overlays are imported into FT
there will be some distortion
in the equirectangular projection.
in the Polar Regions for
Back up your CC3+ map before making any changes. whole-world maps.

There is a very simple tutorial map located in @Tutorials\Tome\FT\Import.FCW which you can use for
this tutorial.

CC3+ map preparation

1. In CC3+, modify your drawing so that each contour
level is a single solid color with no border. Depending
on your style of map, this might already be the case, but
if not, you need to change the fill style of your contours.
Note the requirement for solid color, bitmaps of various
colors will not do, you must change the fill style to solid.
2. Remove or hide any items from the map that are not
contours, including the map border.

Export from CC3+

3. In CC3+, Use File → Save As to export this image as a BMP Bitmap file. Make sure you do
not end up with a thin white border around the image when you do this, as this can cause
you some problems in FT3 later.

Reading an Overlay in FT3

4. In FT3, use Image Overlays → Show Overlay Window to bring up the overlay window.
5. Click Add to bring up the Edit Image Overlay Window.

715
 6. Click Import Color Image and select the BMP file you saved from CC3+. When it asks if the
top left pixel should be transparent, say yes. This is why it is important that the image did
not include a thin white border, since this would have resulted in my border being the
transparent part, and not the sea from the map.
7. Enter the top, left, right, and bottom edges of the map. For a whole-world image, use Top =
90, left = -180, right = 180, and bottom = -90 (BMP images are upside-down).
My tutorial map is just a simple island, so I used Top
= -300, Bottom = -60, Left = -120 and Right = -83 to
position it in an empty area of my current FT3 map.
8. If you get a thin black border around your inserted
image, use Image Overlays → Overlay Erase tool to
erase it. Remember to set the Width and height of the
brush when using this tool, as it is difficult to erase
this border if the brush is too small. I set the height
and width of the brush to 100 myself when I did this.
Just be careful not to erase part of the island itself.
9. Click OK to show the overlay on the main window.

Associating Colors and Altitudes

10. Use Image Overlays → Color to Altitude
conversion to bring up the Color to Altitude
window.
11. Click the Pick button and select a color on
the overlay in the main window. The Color
to Altitude Correspondence window will
appear. Enter the altitude for this color and
click OK. This information will appear in
the Color to Altitude window.
Repeat this step for each color in the imported image that you wish to convert. My map only
contains land contours, so the waters around the island will be very deep. To get a more
natural coast, perhaps a proper continental shelf, the maps should have some sea contours
as well.
12. Save your map before continuing. The next step can’t be undone.

Generating the Altitudes

Editing Resolution
13. Click the Generate button on the Color to Altitude
If you use a low editing
window to create altitudes at your current editing
resolution, the generation
resolution.
will be quick, but the result
will be blocky. A larger 14. On the Image Overlays window, select your overlay and
resolution takes more time click Hide to reveal the altitudes generated.
to process, but gives a
better result.

716
Importing Maps by Using Selection Mask Files
8-bit Grayscale Bitmap
This process can be used to import continental shapes from existing maps that have been drawn
The bitmap should range
using CC3+ or a paint program. It is not as precise, in terms of contours, as the method detailed
from black (grayscale color
above, but it is much easier to use.
value 0) for regions which
1. Create an 8-bit grayscale bitmap of your world. are wholly waterfilled, to
white for regions that are
2. Start FT3.
wholly inland. Using only
If you have the Reload last world file on startup preference option set, you may wish to black and white is possible,
start a new synthetic world before proceeding. which will result in fairly
3. Open the World Settings dialog. chunky coastlines which can
later be edited within FT3
4. Uncheck the Continental Shelves box.
for a nicer effect.
5. Enter 5000 in the Highest Peak box and -20000 for the Lowest Depth. The image size should be
6. Select Tools menu → Global Set → Land Offset Edit, and use a value of -5000 to bring the twice as wide as it is high (in
land below the sea. pixels), and its dimensions
should be divisible by 4. As
7. Select Select menu → Load Selection, and choose the grayscale bitmap you have created a suggested
for your world.
recommendation, an image
8. If desired, smooth the edges of the selection by using Select menu → Feather. size of 1024×512 works
A value of 1.0 or less will produce good results. well. You should also bear
in mind that this process
9. If additional land roughness is desired, select Tools menu >> Global Set >> Land Roughness uses an equirectangular
Edit with a value of 3 to 8. projection, so land
10. Select Tools menu → Global Set → Altitude, with a value of 0. distortions should be
accounted for.
Your continents will now be roughly at sea level.
11. Select Tools menu → Global Smooth → Land Roughness, using a value of 5 to eliminate Bitmap
some of the extremes of roughness in the landscape.
The bitmap will be loaded as
12. Raise the land to bring most of the continents above sea level. a selection mask. You will
13. Edit the world to place mountain ranges and other features. now see your continents
outlined on the world by
selection lines.

Mountain Range
Using the Tools menu →
Actions → Create Mound
function with Min/Max
values of 0/3000, a Gamma
of around 4, and Replace
Offset unchecked, with
mountain range areas
sketched out using the
Select Freehand tool can
produce some good
mountain range effects.

717
 OTHER WORLD TYPES
Let us have a look at other ways of creating worlds in FT3.
Examples
You'll find these example Worlds from Real World Data
data sets in the Terrain Data
folder inside your FT3 As well as being able to create worlds from scratch, FT3 has the ability to import binary data files
installation directory. The that define sections of terrain. You will find examples of such files from the GTOPO30 real world
data files in this directory data sets that you can import into FT3 to produce maps based on Earth.
allow you to create maps To create a world from a binary file:
based on Earth and Mars.
The following datasets are 1. Select File Menu → New.
available: You see the Select World Type dialog box.
ETOPO5 is low-resolution
2. Check the Binary File radio button, then click on Next.
altitude data of the whole
word. You see the first Binary Data Wizard dialog box.
Mola2x2a is altitude data of 3. Click the Choose Elevation File
Mars. button.
USTOPO30 is hi-resolution
altitude data of the United You see the Binary Data dialog box.
States only. 4. Click … to select the required file from
GOTOPO30 is hi-resolution a dialog box.
data of the complete Earth
Select the file ETOPO5.bin in the
globe. The GOTOPO30 data
Terrain Data folder.
set is too large to be
For the most part, the settings on this
distributed in an unzipped
dialog box will be determined by the
format. Unzip it to a
binary file selected.
location of your choice
before using it. 5. Press OK to return to the Binary Data
wizard.
6. Click Next.
Select
A summary of the map to be
If the selected file has an generated will appear.
associated description, you
will be prompted as to
7. Click Finish to start generation.
whether you wish to use this FT3 will calculate the new map, and display it in the main window.
or not. It is usually a good
idea to use this.

Calculate
In most cases it is better to
copy data files onto your
hard drive before using
them to make maps, as this
improves the speed of FT3.

718
Downloading higher resolution data
In addition to the data sets that are distributed with FT3, you can also download the even higher
resolution data set ETOPO1, available from the National Geophysical Data Centers web site at
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/global/global.html.

The data sets here are available in two versions, the Ice Surface grid, which uses the height of the
ice sheets covering Greenland and the Antarctic in the data, or the Bedrock grid, which shows the
actual height of the land mass below the ice.

No matter which version you want, you should grab it in the cell-registered binary format. This will
again lead you to two different choices. If you look at the file names, one of the ends with f4, while
the other ends with i2. This defines the format used for these files. The f4 one is using a 4-byte float
for the file format, while the i2 version uses a 2-byte integer for this. FT 3 supports both formats, but
I’ll use the i2 version for this description.

Once the file is downloaded, unzip it, and follow the procedure above to load it into FT.

1. Close down and restart FT. This ensures that the import is not hampered by residual data from
previous binary imports. Especially if the result of the import is not what you expected, do
this.
2. Proceed as per the instructions above, but after you have loaded the binary file, and accepted
the use of the header file, we need to do some changes in the Binary Data dialog.

Set Per-Sample Info to 2 byte (remember the discussion about the i2 vs. f4 file format
above). Also make sure both check boxes in this section are checked.

Line Width should be 43200 (This is twice the width, which is 21600 samples. This is
basically the number of samples (width) multiplied with the size of each sample (2 byte),
which yields 43200 bytes)

Under File Data, Width should be 21600 samples, and Height should be 10800
samples. These values should have been loaded automatically from the header file.

Map Edges should be Top: 90, Left: -180, Right: 180

and Bottom -90. This represents the entire globe.

Missing Data: Set the No Data value to -32768. This

is the value used in the binary file to represent areas
where data is missing.

3. Click OK, and finish the wizard. Your new high-resolution

Earth should be ready.
Note that it is important to enter the data exactly. Even minor
errors can cause the world to display complexly wrong, or not at
all. All the data entered above where retrieved from the header
file that accompanied the binary file. You can simply open this
up in notepad, or any other text editor. FT 3 will automatically
insert the values from many header files, unfortunately it doesn’t
completely understand the format used in this one, which forced
us to enter some of the values manually.

Burn in to surface
The Burn in to Surface function takes the current world information and includes the data directly
in the current FT3 drawing. This removes FT3’s reliance on binary data files. In effect, the binary data
is converted into FT3’s native format.

As a side effect, the Burn in to Surface function removes the contribution of the fractal basis
function, resulting in a smoother map. This makes the function useful for worlds that do not use
binary files (e.g., when a surface has been roughened, using the Burn in to Surface command will
set the roughen channel to 1.0 (the default), and transfer all altitude adjustment to the land offset
channel).

719
 To use the Burn in to Surface function, select Tools menu → Actions → Burn In to Surface. Since
the function cannot be undone, FT3 will prompt you to make sure you wish to proceed.

The images below show what can happen with the burn operation at differing editing resolutions.
Notice how the fine details are lost at small resolution.

Original Small (256) Large (1024)

Flat Worlds
If you want to manually draw land patterns, rather than allowing FT3 to randomly generate them
for you, you can create a new world that is a flat, featureless terrain. Using a flat world as a starting
point, you can then use the editing tools to paint terrain features as you wish.

To start a new flat world:

1. On the File menu, click New.

You see the Select World Type dialog box:
2. Check the Flat World radio button, and click on Next.
You see the Synthetic World dialog.
3. Click Next.
You see summary of the world you are to produce.
4. Click on Finish to complete generation setup.
FT3 will calculate and draw the flat world.
5. On the Tools menu, click Global Set → Altitude Value, type 1000 and press OK.
FT has raised the height all over the globe.
Height The world may now be edited as you see fit using FT’s editing tools. See the Editing your World
Because of the way the raise tutorial on page 697 for guidelines.
and lower tools work, it’s
often easier to start with a
raised surface and use the
Planar Worlds
lower tools to make seas If your idea of a flat world is not a featureless spherical world, but one defined on a plane, then FT3
than vice versa. can help you as well.

1. On the File menu, click New.

You see the Select World Type dialog box:
2. Check the Flat World radio button, and click on Next.
You see the Synthetic World dialog.
3. Click Next.

720
 You see summary of the world you are to produce.
4. Click on Finish to complete generation setup.
FT3 will calculate and draw the planar world.

Note that FT3 still have a navigational Globe to navigate the world, and you can still use a Map
Projection that projects this map on a globe, but you will quickly see that the two map ends doesn’t
fit together like they would for a normal synthetic world, just as you would expect from such a
world.

Note that this procedure is the same as going to the Fractal Function tab in the World Settings
dialog, and checking the Planar Function Evaluation checkbox.

Ancient Universal Temple

This map from Source Maps: Temples, Tombs & Catacombs shows a Perspectives drawing of a Roman style temple.

721
 IMAGE OVERLAYS
What are overlays
Image Overlays FT3 provides various physical quantities for your worlds (altitude, temperature, rainfall, climate), but
has provided no easy way to work with user-defined quantities such as political areas. Image
▪ Add creates a new overlay
overlays are user-definable images that can be placed anywhere on the surface and drawn into
via the overlay editing
using simple tools. FT3 supports an arbitrary number of image overlays (subject to your machine’s
dialog (see Creating an
memory limitations). These overlays can be placed on a small area of the world instead of the whole
Overlay).
world as with the regular editing tools. Users can paint into these layers using basic drawing tools.
▪ Edit edits the currently
selected overlay, using the
Edit Image Overlay dialog Transparency
(see Creating an Overlay In addition to regular colors, Image Overlays allow you to define transparency on a per overlay
for more information). basis. This transparency allows for multiple overlay layers to be visible in the same spot at the same
▪ Show shows the currently time.
selected overlay, allowing
it to be seen on the main The Image Overlay window
display.
▪ Hide hides the currently Image Overlays are created and controlled from the
selected overlay, Image Overlays window. You can open this window from
preventing it from being Image Overlays → Show Overlay Window. The main
seen on the main display. portion of the window contains a listing of the current-
▪ Set Active sets the defined overlays and their visibility status. Double-
currently selected overlay clicking on an overlay entry brings up the Image Overlay
for use with the overlay edit dialog (see Creating an Overlay below).
painting and erasing Overlays are drawn in the order shown in the list. The
tools. first entry in the list is drawn first, making the last entry
▪ Close closes this window. shown in the list the topmost overlay drawn on the
▪ Help brings up the help display.
topic for this window.
▪ Move Up button moves
the currently selected
Creating an overlay
overlay up in the list, Overlays are created and edited using the same dialog
moving it down in the box.
drawing order.
Visible indicates if the overlay can be seen.
▪ Move Down moves the
currently selected overlay Name is the name of the overlay shown in the main
down in the list, moving it overlay window.
up in the drawing order.
Show if indicates what parts of the overlay should be
▪ Delete removes the
shown. The options are Always, which always shows
currently selected overlay
all parts of the overlay; Land, which shows only those
from the list.
portions of the overlay which are above water level;
▪ The Active Overlay text
and Sea, which shows only those portions of the
shows which overlay is
overlay which are below water level. Land is useful for
the current active overlay
drawing political boundaries, because it allows the
for painting and erasing.
color to exactly match the area. You can also show the
To set the active overlay,
overlay based on the altitude
select an overlay entry
and click the Set Active The slider controls the transparency of the overlay.
button.
The Size group (Width and Height) controls the
editing resolution of the overlay, which is the fineness of the details allowed.

The Overlay World Edges group controls where on the world the overlay is placed.

Import Color Image reads an image file into the overlay. The size of this image will replace the
current overlay size.

722
Import Opacity Image will add the intensity of an image into the transparency channel. Unlike the
Import Color Image option, this option stretches the image across the currently defined overlay.

Export image exports the current overlay to an image file.

Creating an overlay from a disk image

1. Use Image Overlays → Show Overlay Window to show the Image Overlays window.
2. Click Add to create a new overlay.
3. Click the Import Color Image button to select a BMP file to use for the overlay.
4. Adjust the Overlay World Edges to place the image where you’d like it to go. You may adjust
the transparency of the image using the transparency slider.
5. Click OK to show the image.

Drawing and erasing on an overlay

Drawing on an overlay can be accomplished via brush or by filling a selection. Brushes draw using
the setting for size and color you set on the Tool Options toolbar. The brush is available from Image
Overlays → Overlay Paint Tool. There is also an eraser brush available, Image Overlays → Overlay
Erase Tool.

Filling the current selection operates at the current selection resolution (the system editing
resolution for altitude editing). This potential mismatch of resolutions can result in imprecise fills
and a coarse appearance to the fill. Selection filling draws using the color set via Image Overlays
→ Set Overlay Drawing Color. The fill tool itself is available from Image Overlays → Fill Selection
with Drawing Color. Right now is a good time to remember all the ways to make selections from
the Selection Functions chapter on page 698.

Adding a cloud image

Image Overlays can have transparency images as well as regular color images. We will use an
image as the transparency portion of a solid white overlay to get the effect of clouds partially
obscuring the world. Suitable cloud images can be downloaded from
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/ for use with FT3. The Terraformer
package also contains multiple cloud images you can use.

1. Use Image Overlays → Show Overlay Window to show the Image Overlays window
2. Click Add to create a new overlay. Set a size of 1024 width and 512 height. Terraformer
3. Click OK to show the overlay. See the Additional
4. Select the newly added overlay and click the Set Active button to select the overlay as the Resources chapter on page
active one for drawing. 749 for more details about
the Terraformer package.
5. Use Image Overlays → Set Overlay Drawing Color to bring up the color picker.
6. Pick white (color 15) and click OK.
7. Use Select → All to select the whole world.
8. Use Image Overlays → Fill Selection With Drawing Color to fill the overlay with solid
white.
9. Double-click the overlay in the Image Overlays window to bring up the Image Overlays edit
dialog.
10. Click the Import Transparency Image button to select a BMP file to use for the overlay. There
is an example file, clouds.jpg, stored in the Examples folder in your FT3 installation
directory.
11. Click OK to accept the new transparency data.
The transparency data is added to your overlay. You should see clouds.

723
 BMP file
This bitmap will be
converted to grayscale and A Gaia-shaded world with clouds as described above.
resized to fit the image
before being used as the
transparency channel of the
overlay.

724
ADDING RIVERS Water Flow
Due to the way the process
The Rivers tool in FT3 computes the directions and amounts of water flow in the world and then
is defined, a river will stop
places rivers over the areas of highest flow.
flowing when it hits water,
Once a set of rivers have been computed, these rivers will be stored internally as vectors. To reduce so a small lake can absorb
the processing load during display, FT3’s default display operation is to reduce the number of rivers the entire output of a large
actually shown onscreen depending on the zoom level. Only the rivers with the highest flow will river. In that case, it’s best
be shown at the highest zoom level. As you zoom in, more rivers will be shown. This behavior can to fill in the small lake and
be controlled on the Edit → Preferences dialog via the Top-Level River Importance value. The rerun the rivers tool.
default value of 1 will show only the rivers
with the largest flow at the largest zoom level.

Setting this value to 100 will always show all

rivers. Always showing all of the rivers may
result in a drawing slowdown if many rivers
have been computed, however.

The vector river overlay may be shown and

hidden using the Tools → Rivers → Show
River Overlay.

The vector river overlay may be removed

entirely by using the Tools → Rivers → Clear
River Overlay.

Filling Basins
Not all rivers flow to the sea, but the vast majority do. To ensure that rivers will end up flowing to
the sea in FT3, it is important to fill in the low spots that would prevent those rivers from getting to
the ocean (they would get stuck in the low spots because FT3 will not fill in the low spots with lakes
unless you perform that step yourself.

Select Tools → Actions → Fill Basins in Offset.

You see a progress dialog while FT3 computes the world altitudes and then fills in the low spots
that are not already occupied with water. If you would rather fill these low spots with water than
land, use Tools → Actions → Fill Basins as Lakes instead.

Calculation resolution
FT3 runs rivers on a discrete grid at a defined
resolution. Although FT3 can calculate your
world altitudes to arbitrary resolution, it
cannot run rivers at those same resolutions
due to space and time constraints (not
everyone has tens of gigabytes of memory
and weeks of processing time to spare). The
River Definition Resolution allows you to
select the desired output resolution of the
rivers.

Due to the nature of the discrete sampling of

the world, rivers will run slightly differently
depending on the chosen resolution. The
image to the right shows an example of this
difference for each of the default resolutions:

Notice how the higher resolution rivers give a

better-looking pattern, while the lowest
resolution rivers don’t look as good. FT3

725
 extends rivers one sample out into rivers and bodies of water, and the effect coarse rivers is
noticeable. Use the highest resolution your patience and machine will allow.

Vector Rivers
After the initial computations, the system will display
Select River Length
the Select River Length dialog to let you finalize the
▪ The River Length slider river settings.
controls the length of
rivers. This slider actually FT3 has a habit of displaying perfectly straight
controls the threshold segments of lines from about -180 to -90 longitude on
level of the flow map, so the map when shown in the equirectangular projection.
use the slider to give rivers Using a different projection or ensuring that the -180
the length you desire longitude line is off the display edge will make these
while keeping large areas lines disappear.
of solid color from River computation can be slow and takes a large amount of memory. If you have a slower computer
appearing on the map. or very limited memory resources then the process can take a very long time. If the river routing
▪ The Color block controls appears to have stopped for a very long time, it is possible that the system slowed down. Press
the color of the inserted Cancel on the progress dialog will stop the attempts to route rivers. Stopping the computation will
rivers. reduce the number of river segments computed. Reduce the computation resolution and try again.
▪ The Potential River Flow
checkbox controls
whether to use FT3 Pro’s Adding the rivers
rainfall model to compute
1. Select Tools → Rivers → Find Rivers.
river flow (if checked) or
whether to use a constant You see the River Definition Resolution dialog.
rainfall at every world 2. Select the river resolution your desire then click OK.
point (if unchecked).
Higher resolutions take longer to compute and create bigger output files, but can look better.
Potential river flow
FT3 will show the Operation Progress dialog while computing the flows and then show you
▪ can give longer or shorter
the Select River Length dialog.
rivers in various parts of
the world depending on 3. Move the slider to select the desired river lengths then click OK.
local rainfall conditions. FT3 will show the rivers as you move the slider and will compute the vector rivers and show
▪ The Keep River Image them on your map when you click OK.
Overlay checkbox
indicates if the onscreen
image overlay shown in
this stage will be kept as
part of the world. The
raster image overlay be
discarded and only vector
information will be kept if
this box is unchecked.
▪ The OK button will accept
your current river lengths
and start computing the
vector rivers.

726
CREATING A WORLD FROM SCRATCH
This brief tutorial is designed for FT3 users who wish to create an Earth-like world for use in their Tutorial
campaign. The tutorial is divided into three parts: setting up FT3 parameters to generate a workable
While the tutorial contains
world map, tweaking those results within FT3, and, finally, optimizing FT3’s export tools to generate
some specific guidelines,
suitable maps for further modification within CC3.
your exact results will vary
in accord with FT3’s
Generating the World with Fractal Terrains 3 randomizing factors and
climate model. However,
The purpose of Fractal Terrains 3 is to create entire worlds easily and quickly. However, FT3 does the material herein should
not always produce output that captures the “look and feel” you may desire for the world you’ve be sufficiently informative
envisioned. Many first-time users expect FT3 to generate Earth-like worlds right out of the box, and to help you create relatively
while FT3 is certainly up to the task, it does require some setting adjustment from you. detailed, passably realistic,
While no world randomly created with FT3 can match exactly our own Earth, we can approach and ultimately satisfying
earth-like features with Fractal Terrains 3. The steps below provide a good starting point. worlds with Fractal Terrains
3.
1. Create a new world as outlined in the section A Basic FT3 World (see page 678) of this This tutorial assumes that
manual. you possess familiarity with
2. Depending on your settings, the world thus created FT3’s basics, though
may or may not appear very Earthlike. instructions are provided for
particular menu commands
To push the world toward a more Earth-like look and
and dialog boxes where
feel, click World Settings to show the World Settings
necessary.
dialog.
3. The three settings you want to concentrate on are
located in the Primary tab of the World Settings dialog.
They are Roughness, Percent Sea, and Land Size. I Earth-like Worlds
suggest the following values:
By Earth-like, I refer to the
Roughness: 0.75 general topology of our own
planet: spread out a global
Percent Sea: 50 map to see what I mean.
Land Size: 2.44 Our planet features clearly
distinguishable continents,
4. With the exception of the World Seed value, the separated generally by
remaining settings in the World Settings dialog may be significantly larger bodies of
kept. water. Within some
5. Most of the settings on the rest of the dialog may be left as they are; but depending on the landmasses are lakes or
speed and memory capacity of your PC, you may wish to alter the size of your editing setup, large seas that eventually
which affects the file size of your world and the FT3’s rendering time for map redraws. The connect to larger oceans.
editing settings can be found on the Editing tab of the World Settings dialog. Most modern Various elevations and
computers should be able to handle the Large setting, and if you have a powerful computer, plateaus reach from low
you may even wish to try a custom setting of between 1024-2048. coastal areas to high
mountain peaks; these
6. After you’ve made your Editing Setup choice, click OK to return to the World Settings dialog
peaks are themselves parts
box.
of coherent mountain
7. In the World Settings dialog box, click Apply to set the world parameters. This will redraw ranges.
the world using the settings you’ve just entered.

8. With these settings in place, click Next World a few times to cycle through various world
layouts.
Using the parameters above (with a world seed of 198623990, the Miller Cylindrical
projection, and the Jhendor color scheme), I’ve chosen the following world:

Continued on next page…

727
 Editing Setup
The setting you choose
affects the file size and
detail of the FT3 map
created, and, while file sizes
can be significant (e.g.,
12MB at the Large setting),
the extra detail is worth it.
Therefore, I recommend
selecting the largest Editing
Setup option you’re
comfortable with – if you
have a slow PC but you
don’t mind waiting; by all
means go for the Large
setting.

World Layouts
Continue cycling through
worlds until you find one
that you like. What makes a
world layout interesting
depends on your tastes, and
what you envision going on
in the campaign you’re
designing. There are a few landmasses I want to edit and a few islands I want to raise, but this world
This is entirely subjective, has a good look and feel with well defined continents, large seas, inland bodies of water, and
and for most, it may be a even a good spot for an island archipelago.
simple matter of knowing 9. When FT3 has created the right world for your campaign, save the file.
what you want only after
You’re now ready to use FT3’s editing commands to customize the world.
you see it. Personally, I
evaluate the map in
anticipation of where I want Tweaking the FT3 Output
to base my campaign, and
where I want my There are two phases to tweaking the output that FT3 creates: altering the landmasses, and then
adventurers to travel, all the the climate. The former is accomplished by raising or lowering elevation; the latter by adjusting
while viewing the terrain in climate factors like rainfall and temperature. We’ll start by making a few changes to the existing
terms of what societies and landmasses.
cultures might be located at The first thing I want to do is break apart some of the landmasses to establish clearly separated
any given locale. Remember
continents. To do so, I’ll use Lower to sink some of the land bridges into the sea. I’d also like to
that the world FT3
create a small island archipelago in a tropical region–this area will serve as a setting for a future
generates doesn’t have to
be “perfect”—you can edit pirate campaign. Raising islands requires the Raise tool (page 697), which I’ll use to “paint”
the map later to create over a shallow sea area.
subcontinents, bridge
Before painting new elevations with the Raise and Lower tools, verify the current Tool Settings in
landmasses, or create island
the Paintbrush Options toolbar. Note the Value, this is the increment by which elevation is changed
archipelagos.
every time you apply the Raise or Lower tool. I recommend adjusting this to a small and irregular
number, which allows you to add or subtract altitude a little at a time and also ensures that the
resulting land heights do not appear too artificial. I entered a Value of 164.042 feet.

After my altitude adjustments, my world map looks like this:

Continued on next page…

728
 Adjustments
One last recommendation:
use the Raise/Lower tools
conservatively, especially if
you have a slow PC that
takes time to redraw. This is
especially true when
lowering elevations along
coastal areas—if you gouge
too deeply, you’ll remove
continental shelves, and
your world’s beaches will
abut deep ocean depths
with no realistic gradient or
slope. You can always “fix”
elevation mistakes with the
Raise/Lower tools, but after
too many attempts, the
world may begin to take a
very different shape from
what FT3 originally created.
The sensible practice is to
raise or lower elevation bit
by bit, waiting for results to
appear before continuing.
The next task in our world tweaking is to check the climate settings to verify that the output
contains the climate types desired (for example, if you have a desert-based campaign in mind, you
need to make sure your world contains a desert). The climate view is accessed via the Map → Show
Climate menu command. Here is the climate view of our world (if you’ve adjusted the climate
colors on your system (p.691), the colors you see may not match the colors shown here):

729
 The predominant climate types appear to be Tundra, Alpine forests, Temperate forests, and a
scattering of Tropical Deciduous forest. I’d like to add some desert and grassland areas, and, if there’s
room, add some more tropical jungle.

Rainfall While FT3 provides a climate painting tool (p. 698) for changing climate, you may wish to apply the
more natural method of climate change of adjusting an area’s rainfall or temperature. This makes
Before adjusting rainfall
use of FT3’s built-in climate modeling rules and also “blends” different climates with realistic borders
levels, however, I need to
and gradations. With this in mind, we’ll alter rainfall (leaving temperature ranges as FT3 originally
consider some general
created them) by applying the Wetter/Drier tools (p. 697) to specific areas of the map. The
weather patterns for my
anticipated result is that regional climate will change as rainfall levels fluctuate.
world. To provide earth-like
results, these considerations Climate depends largely on temperature and rainfall, both of which are affected by altitude. Low
need not involve hard elevations are generally warmer and better suited to retaining moisture than high elevations, which
science or exact data, but are colder and hold very little moisture. Wind circulation keeps weather moving by pushing pressure
they should be based on the cells across land and water. For the most part, these cells circulate in a clockwise direction north of
meteorological trends of our the equator; south of the equator, the opposite is true, and they circulate in an anti-clockwise
own planet. Fortunately, direction.
there are a few rules of
Winds that travel over water tend to pick up moisture, while winds that travel over land eventually
thumb we can apply, and,
lose any moisture they were carrying. Thus, a coastal area in the path of a wind current is likely to
while these rules are hardly
receive more rainfall than an area further inland, though an inland area adjacent to a large lake
without exception in the
could conceivably receive a large amount of rain. Lacking large inland bodies of water, however,
real world, they form
deep inland areas are likely to be drier than coastal regions, especially if land elevations increase.
enough of a consistent basis
to help you place climate In this respect, high hills and mountains affect rainfall. When the paths of moisture-laden currents
types realistically. intersect with high-elevation landforms, those currents drop their moisture in the form of
precipitation–the colder air causes latent moisture to condense and fall as rain (or snow, depending
on temperature). On the leeward side of the mountain, however, is found a “rain shadow,” an arid
region that receives little or no annual precipitation.

Reflecting the patterns of prevailing wind currents on the FT3 world map helps determine where
landforms like deserts, grasslands, tropical forests, deciduous forests, etc. are likely to occur. To
simplify the process, imagine a single, predominant current for each large body of water and each
large landmass. Imagine further that the path of each current circumnavigates the rough outline of
its respective body of water or landmass. Recalling that currents over water carry moisture and
deliver rain while currents over land lose moisture and supply little or no precipitation, you can get
a rough idea of where to place certain climate types on the FT3 map.

To illustrate this, the

FT3 map shown here
shows the paths of
my predominant
currents. Arrows
indicate the direction
of flow (clockwise in
the north and anti-
clockwise in the
south); red shows
land currents and
blue shows water
currents; the black
line represents the
equator.

Applying these rules

to the world I’ve
created might
generate something
resembling this
model.

730
From this high-level zoomed out view, the changes may seem slight, but you should note the
addition of much desert, chaparral, and grassland area, as well as slightly increased rain forest where Detailed Maps
appropriate. At this point, you should save your map once more. The next step is to adjust FT3’s Before Fractal Terrains, you
output settings in preparation for export to CC3. had to draw your entire
world in Campaign
Cartographer, then cut out
Exporting to CC3+ individual pieces of your
With your map tweaked to your satisfaction, it’s time to export your map into CC3. There are two map to make smaller, detail
factors within FT3 that will affect the quality of output — the current FT3 view of the map and the maps. This often required
detail level of the export. redrawing coastlines,
recreating ocean and
When an FT3 map is exported to CC3+ using the File → Save Campaign Cartographer File menu landmass polygons and fills,
command, the output consists of the current view. This is a highly advantageous feature of FT3, and replacing scale bars.
because it saves you a great deal of work when creating detailed maps of your campaign world. Fractal Terrains 3, however,
You can use the Save Campaign Cartographer File command to create a detailed CC3 map of automates many of these
whatever FT3 view you like. Now, detail maps are better created by zooming in to specific areas of processes.
your FT3 map and then exporting to CC3+.

For this portion of the tutorial, we’ll create a CC3+ map of a detailed campaign area.

Again, depending on what changes you made in the previous steps, your results may not match
Campaign Cartographer
precisely, but the steps below should get you on track:
Export
10. Zoom into an area of the FT3 map that you would like In the section Exporting to
to detail. Once you find a view you like, I suggest that CC3+ (page 710) contains
you save the current view with the View → Add View detailed instructions
menu command. regarding export
11. Use the File → Save Campaign Cartographer File instructions. The steps
menu command to open the Campaign Cartographer below assume that you have
Export dialog box. a working knowledge of the
CC3+ Export options and
12. Click Create to generate a new export setting.
parameters.
13. In the Introduction dialog box, select the Altitude
Contours checkbox, and the Basic option radio button
to dictate how contours are exported. Contour Settings
14. Click Next to continue. Because this is a detail map,
15. In the Basic Contour Settings screen, you may decrease the
uncheck the Draw Contour Outline Contour Intervals value to
checkbox. Leave the Draw Coast Outline show more contours.
checkbox checked, but click on the black However, for larger maps,
square next to Outline Color to select color you will want to keep the
68 for your coastlines. value high, otherwise your
CC3+ output will contain
16. Click Next to continue. more contours than you
17. In the Detail Level dialog, you may specify probably need at the price
the granularity displayed in your output CC3+ map. This of an unwieldy file size.
aspect of the export is noted most strongly in the
rendering of coastlines and small islands – the higher the ¨
detail value, the rougher the coasts and the more tiny
islands included in the output.
18. Click Next to continue.

Continued on next page…

731
 19. In the Other Items dialog box, you may select additional
Detail accessories or features that FT3 will add to your CC3 map. I
As the warning in the suggest these:
manual states, however, 20. Click Finish to continue. You’ll be prompted to enter a name for
higher detail settings can this export setting; perhaps “Tutorial” is appropriate (you can
create very large CC3+ files always edit or delete it later).
with very long redraw times.
My recommendation is to 21. You are returned to the Campaign Cartographer Export
start at 512 and gauge your dialog box. In the Export Settings options, select the “Tutorial”
PC’s results from there. If setting you just saved, then click on the Export World button.
you are satisfied with the 22. You are prompted to select a destination directory and provide
combination of detail, file a filename for the exported map. Name the map “tutorial.fcw”
size, and redraw speed, you then click on the Save button. Fractal Terrains 3 begins the
may wish to try a higher export process; depending on your PC’s speed and memory,
setting (e.g., 640 or 768). I and the precise level of detail you specified above, this could take up to several minutes to
also suggest that you check complete.
the Multipoly Each Contour
23. When the export is complete, you’re returned to the Campaign Cartographer Export dialog
Level and Altitude Relative
box.
to Water Level options.
Click on the Close button and launch CC3+ to open the tutorial.fcw map you saved above.
24. By default CC3+ saves its files in compressed format. FT3 uses uncompressed files for easy
Output writing. If you have this option set (Tools → Options → FCW, FSC, FCT) the file size will be
A tremendously helpful reduced when you save the map (my tutorial.fcw map opened at 2,247KB but after a quick
timesaver offered by FT3 is save command, the file size was reduced to 1,385KB).
the automatic creation of a For illustrative purposes only, let’s see how adept FT3 is at creating detail maps by returning to the
scale bar sized specifically Fractal Terrains 3 map and zooming into a detail view of the detail view you saved above.
for the map created. For
example, the scale bar in the Follow all the steps as put forth above, using the
first display is 1000 miles Tutorial export setting to create your CC3+
long; in the second detail it output.
is only 200 miles long. Note Here’s what it looks like on my PC:
also the altitude contour bar
on the right has far fewer Be aware that the colors included in the CC3+
contours than the first detail map match whatever scheme present in the FT3
view. If you wanted to view from which the map was exported.
achieve more granularity, Therefore, if you’re using the Jhendor color
you could reduce the scheme for altitude, those colors will manifest in
Contour Interval value the CC3+ output. If you change the climate
specified in Ste p 6 above. colors, for example, and export a Climate Map
While this would not (check Climate Contours in Step 13, above), your
produce contour colors changes will present in your export.
beyond those found in FT3, Regardless, your CC3+ map is ready to edit
it would increase the step
increment of the contour
bar exported to CC3+. Conclusion
This concludes the FT3 tutorial on creating earth-
Colors
like worlds for further development in CC3+. It is
Note that this refers to color hoped that the data above have helped get you
schemes using solid colors. on your way to creating your own, quasi-realistic
FT won’t export the colors worlds for your own campaigns. Despite
from the Gaia view, or the anything found above, though, the best advice
texture from the Image for getting the most out of FT3 and CC3+ is to
Climate Shader or Texture experiment, tweak, and explore with the various
Climate Shader as these options available to find the world output perfect
require external raster files for you.
to view.

732
VIEWING YOUR WORLD – SHADERS
We have already covered how you can view the altitude, temperature, climate and rainfall on your
planet by switching between the different views. In addition to these, there are also a set of views
that are designed to provide a nice view of your planet as opposed to view factual data. These
views show how your planet might look from an onlooker in space.

All of these views are available from the Map menu.

Gaia
The Gaia shader is a very simple shader that simply makes your world look pretty. It has no user-
adjustable parameters, and the coloring is not related to the climate types computed by FT's climate
model.

One of the nice things with this shader is

that it puts polar ice caps on the top and
bottom of your world. However, these are
not configurable, and will appear regardless
of the temperature at the poles. This all
means that this shader is pretty when it suits
the planet, but close to useless for other
planets.

Image Climate
The Image Climate shader uses an image file to provide
coloration based on the climate for each location. One
image file contains all the climate types in a particular
pattern, and FT3 picks the appropriate part of the image
based on temperature and rainfall.

When you select the Image Climate shader view, you are
presented with the Alternate Climate Coloration dialog.
There is one tab for the Land image, and one for the sea
image, but both function identically, so we’ll only explain
the Land one here.

In this first screenshot, no image file has been loaded yet.

The various colors each represent one of the climate types
supported by FT. Hover the mouse over to see Climate, Temperature and Rainfall for each individual
spot. As you can see, all the climate types have a range with allowed temperatures and rainfall
values. This means that the image can provide many variations for each climate type; you can for
example make dry Temperate Forest look different from wet Temperate Forest and so on.

Click the Load Image from Disk button to load an image

file. As ingle image file is provided with FT3,
climate_alternate.jpg. Select this file and open it.

The dialog now shows you the image instead of the

colored sections. If the image is a proper climate image,
you should still easily see how it is separated into the
various sections. You can use the Show Image checkbox
to toggle the display between shoing the image and
showing the plain color version.

Now, click OK to show your map using the Image Climate

shader with the image you just loaded.

733
 This shader provides a far more realistic view of your world than the Gaia shader, and you can
control the appearance yourself through the image, but you won’t get the nice ice caps.

I’ve added a template file called image_climate.jpg to the #Tutorials/Tome/FT directory. You can
use this as a starting point to develop your own climate image climate shader files. Note that the
edges don’t have to bee as sharp in
the final result as they are in the
template. Just look at the sample
climate file shipped with FT3, the
edge between the different climate
type is everything but clean and
straight. Having fuzzy edges
prevents the map from having to
pronounced borders between the
Terraformer climate types.

See the Additional For additional climate images,

Resources chapter on page check out Terraformer.
749 for more details about
the Terraformer package.
Texture Climate
The texture climate is a new option in FT3.
While similar to the Image Climate above,
instead of using a single file and picking parts
from the file depending on temperature and
rainfall, the Texture Climate shader uses a
separate image file for each terrain type, for a
total of 17 different image files.

FT3 comes with one set of such files, stored in

the texclimate folder inside your FT3
installation directory. As with the Image
shader, you can create your own climate
images if you like, but having them as separate
files makes it easier to modify just one or two
of the climate types.
Annuals Select an entity in the list and hit Edit to change it. The Open and Save buttons in the dialog enables
See the Additional you to create and load presets, making it easy to have different pre-defined sets available.
Resources chapter on page
There is an additional set of Texture Climate files in one of the Annuals.
749 for more details about
the available annual issues
for FT3.

734
FT3 REFERENCE Other Values
For instance, the altitude is
Within the tutorials, you have been introduced to all of FT3’s component parts. In this chapter, we
composed of many different
shall discuss the more advanced features of the package, and we’ll explore in detail some of FT3’s
components working
features to which you have already been introduced.
together (the fractal basis
function, internal scaling
Theory and offset factors, user
defined scaling and offset
FT 3 does a lot of very peculiar things internally and it may help the understanding of what the tools factors, and continental
do if you have an understanding of what the program does. shelves) to get the final
altitude value at a point.
The elements The temperature and
rainfall similarly have user-
A map is composed of a number of elements that the user normally doesn’t think about. A user’s
defined scaling factors and
view of the world is that it has an altitude, a temperature, a rainfall value, and a climate derived
offsets, as well as a fractal
from the two. The program uses a number of other values in its work, however.
basis function.

Fractal basis function Minimum and Maximum

The heart of FT3 is the fractal basis function — fractal(). In essence, this is a mathematical entity Values
evaluated in 3D space (the surface of the sphere). All the user ever sees of this
The magnitude of the function is used as the basic altitude. FT3 includes two different basis is the min/max values,
functions: Ridged Multifractal and Brownian Noise. They look somewhat different in terms of their percentage sea slider, and
final output, but they are treated in the same manner internally. choice of basis function.

When a new world is generated, FT3 evaluates the fractal basis function over the sphere. From the Fractal Basis Function
results of this calculation, it figures out what the minimum and maximum values are, as well as
Unfortunately, this can also
scale and offset factors required to get the desired percentage of water and min/max values.
result in very high altitudes -
Because the initial surface evaluation is rather coarse, it is possible that true min/max values won’t it can create a world with
be found and the surface can exceed the defined min/max values. The derived scaling and offset interesting contours that are
values (fsea and fscale) are used to convert the raw basis function value (typically in the range of just a bit too high. Just set
0.2 to 1.5 for the Ridged Multi-fractal model) into the user-defined min/max range. the scaling factor to values
less than 1, and the
Offsets mountains will drop.

The land Raise/Lower tools work directly on the user-defined offset value. The values are painted
Exponent
directly into the offset map. One simple addition, and that’s all there is to it.
The location of the
exponent has some
Scaling consequences. Offsetting
The land Roughen/Smooth tools work on the user-defined scaling value. The values are painted the land doesn’t change the
directly into the offset map. One final multiplication is all it contributes. The roughening effect presence of the continental
comes about because it is scaling the fractal basis function. shelf or keep it at a constant
depth underwater. It would
Continental shelves have to come after the user
adjustments to do that. It
The continental shelves are an exponential post-process applied to the altitude values. The raw
also causes the scaling to be
altitude gets offset downward by the amount of the continental shelf level, and then an exponent
just a hair off, which results
of approximately 2 (or 0.5 in the case of terrain below the shelf level) is applied. After re-scaling to
in dramatic shifts in the
the correct min/max values, the final value is ready for the user-defined offset and scale.
coastlines. Setting the level
to 0 will preserve the
Water level coastlines at the cost of
The Water Level tool works together with the altitude calculation to determine where the water is having very steep ocean
in the world. If the water level at a given point is higher than the altitude, the coloration will use the drop offs.
water rules. Otherwise it will use the land rules. The default water level is 0.0, but it can be locally
changed to get lakes or dry areas. The user tools simply paint values into the map.
Continued on next page…

735
 Rainfall
Paint Values
Rainfall is computed according to the following functions:
To ensure that painted
water levels are properly 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛1 = |𝑓𝐵𝑚(𝑙𝑎𝑡, 𝑙𝑜𝑛)| ∙ 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑚 + 𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒
represented during CC3
export, the Altitudes 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒(𝑙𝑎𝑡, 𝑙𝑜𝑛) + 30
relative to Water Level 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛2 = 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛1 ∙
checkbox must be set in the
60
CC3 Export Detail Level 𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒(𝑙𝑎𝑡, 𝑙𝑜𝑛)
settings page. 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 = 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛2 + + 𝑢𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒(𝑙𝑎𝑡, 𝑙𝑜𝑛)
1000

Rainfall Functions
Temperature
random is Random from the Temperature is computed according to the following functions:
rainfall model.
rbase is the Base value. 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝1 = 374 ∙ 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 ∙ (1 − 𝑎𝑙𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑜) ∙ 4√𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
uvalue() is the user-defined
rainfall value at that point. 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝2 = 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝1 − 0.8 ∙ 𝑡𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 + 𝑡𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 ∙ 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛(𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑡, 𝑙𝑎𝑡)
fBm is the basic Brownian
Noise fractal type.
𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝3 = 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝2 − 0.006491 ∙ 𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒(𝑙𝑎𝑡, 𝑙𝑜𝑛)
𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝 = 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝3 + 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑚 ∗ 𝑓𝐵𝑚(𝑙𝑎𝑡, 𝑙𝑜𝑛)
Temperature Functions
Climate
temp is the final
temperature in Kelvin. Climate is computed directly from rainfall and temperature according to the following table:
greenhouse, albedo, light,
and axistilt are the values
entered by the user in the
temperature model.
tscale is the same as
Variance.
random is the Random
model value.
fBm is one of those pesky
fractal basis functions
again.

Nothing fancy or peculiar, just a straight table lookup.

Climate considerations and descriptions

Bare Rock: This climate type is self-descriptive. Very little in the way of vegetation
exists in these regions, other than hardy low-level plants, lichens, and so forth.

Boreal: Cold forests, usually of spruce and fir. Standing surface water is common in such
regions, and bogs form in areas of saturation.

Chaparral: Low, scrubby brush and grassland. Similar to the hilly regions of California,
and certain areas of Australia.

Desert: Regions which see very little annual precipitation. It is low rainfall, not
temperature, that defines desert - desert areas on Earth are as diverse as the frozen
wastes of Antarctica to the sandy expanses of the Sahara. Because FT3’s rainfall model

736
 does not take into account factors such as weather patterns when computing rainfall,
deserts will appear rarely within generated worlds. As such, if desert regions are
required, they must usually be painted on by the user.

Grassland: Similar to the North American Great Plains - expanses of grassland with little
in the way of large vegetation except along river courses etc. Annual rainfall is not high
enough to support forests and so forth.

Hills & Mountains: Regions of altitude variance; self-explanatory.

Ice: Ice caps and so forth. Similar to the regional ice coverage of the Arctic and Antarctic

Savannah: Tropical grassland, like that found within the African plains.

Temperate Forest: Forestland of a type commonly found across North America and
Europe. They may be deciduous, evergreen, or of mixed composition.

Tropical Deciduous Forest: Like the coastal forests of South America, marked by large
annual rainfalls interspersed with dry seasons, at a relatively constant temperature.

Tropical Evergreen Forest: Similar to the rain forests of equatorial Africa and the
Amazon basin. Consistently high rainfall levels and little temperature fluctuation.

Tundra: Treeless areas with scattered, low-lying vegetation. Tundra freezes hard during
winter and is subject to permafrost for much of the rest of the year.

Earth
This flooded earth is a FT3 map created using real Earth data, then rising the water level by 1000 ft. Is your home still on dry land?

737
 Text Files
SCRIPTS
FT3 supports limited scripting capability. Scripts are text files that describe a set of operations that
Create your scripts in
FT3 will perform. These operations are fairly simple, being primarily limited to such operations as
Notepad or a similar text
selection, adding, subtracting, smoothing, and some simple mound-type operations. The following
editor then save them with
file describes the operations supported and provides some examples of scripts. Operations are
the fsr extension.
shown in bold. Items in rectangular brackets indicate that only one of the listed options can be
specified, while items in italics indicate that a number or text literal should be used.

To run a script, select Tools → Actions → Run Script.

Script Commands
Tool Force [Offset|Scale|Rainfall|Temperature|Prescale] value

Sets the value of the indicated layer to the value given.

Tool Fill_basins

Fills the basins in the surface in the offset channel at the current editing resolution.
Tool Fill_lakes

Fills the basins in the surface in the water channel at the current editing resolution.
Tool Raise [Offset|Scale|Rainfall|Temperature|Prescale] value min max

Raises the value of the indicated layer to the value given. only selected areas are affected.
Min and max are the minimum and maximum values that are allowed in the result. These
values are in the native units for the layer.
Tool Lower [Offset|Scale|Rainfall|Temperature|Prescale] value min max

Lowers the value of the indicated layer to the value given only selected areas are affected.
Min and max are the minimum and maximum values that are allowed in the result. These
values are in the native units for the layer.
Tool Smooth [Offset|Scale|Rainfall|Temperature|Prescale] value

Smooth the values of the indicated layer by the amount given only selected areas are
affected.
Tool Clip [Offset|Scale|Rainfall|Temperature|Prescale] low high

Clips the indicated layer so that all values are between low and high only selected areas are
affected.
Tool Burn_in_to_surface

Copies the current altitude value into the offset channel. All areas are affected regardless of
selection.
Tool Mound min max gamma replace[y|n]

Creates a mound as per the mound command.

Select All

Select all points on the surface.

Select None

Select no points on the surface and inactive the selection (cmds affect all).
Select Invert

Invert the selection.

Select Threshold threshold

Convert the selection to a binary image at the threshold level given.

Select Feather value

738
 Smooth the selection by the value indicated.
Select Expand value

Expand the selection by the value indicated.

Select Contract value

Contract the selection by the value indicated.

Select Load path [Replace|Add|Subtract]

Load a selection from the indicated path (no spaces allowed in the path). The operation
indicates what the selection will do with the load action.
Select Save path

Save the current selection as an 8-bit grayscale BMP image. no spaces are allowed in the
path name.
Select Range [Altitude|Temperature|Rainfall] how what min max
how = [Between|Not_between|Greater_than|Less_than]
what = [Replace|Add|Subtract]
Values
Select world parts on the indicated layer with the indicated mode values.
Note that native units for
the layers are:
Sample Scripts ▪ K for temperature
▪ cm/yr for rain
Following is a couple of sample scripts you can use with FT3. To use these examples, just copy them ▪ m for altitude or offset
into Notepad and save them. These are also stored in #Tutorials\Tome\FT ▪ no units are defined for
scale
Smooth lower altitudes
Before running script
// Sample script to smooth out lower altitudes.
// comment lines start with a '//' digram
# or comments can start with a '#' symbol
// smooth most of the stuff a little
select range altitude between replace 20000 100000
select smooth 2.0 // comments can go on the end of lines
tool lower scale 0.1 0 100000
// note that we don't care about the upper bound
// so use a large value
// lower altitudes a bit more
select range altitude between replace 10000 100000
select smooth 2.0
tool lower scale 0.1 0 100000 After running script

// even lower get a little more

select range altitude between replace 5000 100000
select smooth 2.0
tool lower scale 0.1 0 100000
// and so on
select range altitude between replace 1000 100000
select smooth 2.0
tool lower scale 0.1 0 100000

Save slices of a world to files

// save slices of the world at different elevations to BMP files
// this script has no visible effect on the FT3 world in memory.
select range altitude between replace -1000 100000
save n1000.bmp
select range altitude between replace 0 100000
save sealevel.bmp
select range altitude between replace 1000 100000
save sealevel.bmp

739
 PROJECTIONS
FT works with spherical worlds but your monitor is flat. A sphere won't fit on a flat surface, no matter
how hard you try. Try peeling an orange and getting the peel to lie flat on a table. It won't go flat
unless it tears or distorts. A map projection is the way in which a sphere (the orange rind) is distorted
and torn to fit on a flat surface (the table). Many map projections have been developed down over
the years to suit many tasks. Some preserve relative areas at the cost of distorting shapes, others
preserve shapes at the cost of distorting areas, and others try to compromise between the two.

FT provides many map projections; some are well suited for whole-world maps while others work
best on a local scale. It also includes interrupted projections, which can be used to display pieces of
a world rather than a single contiguous world.

Supported Projections
Albers Equal-Area Conic
This conic projection is named after Heinrich C. Albers. The
projection uses two standard parallels. Shape and scale are not
preserved, but the distortion between the standard parallels is
very small.

It is primarily used for regional area maps.

Azimuthal Equidistant
An azimuthal projection capable of showing the entire world at once.
Scale between any two points along a line passing through the center of
the projection is true. Distorts the shapes and areas of places on the world.
Examples of maps using this projection are found as early as the 16th
century.

Equidistant Conic
This projections is a conic projection using parallels that are equally
spaced. Distortion is the same along any one parallel, but there are both
angular and scale distortions outside the two standard parallels used
for this projection.

Equirectangular
This cylindrical projection has the useful property that the scale
is constant and true along meridians and the equator. It is by far
the simplest projection to construct, being a simple graph of
latitude vs. longitude. It distorts both shape and area, with the
distortions increasing relative to distance from the equator.

The version of the Equirectangular project used by FT3 is actually

a special case called Plate Carree. In this projection, latitude and
longitude are equal in size. It may have been originated by Eratosthenes in ancient Greece, and was
widely used in the 15th and 16th centuries.

740
Gnomonic
This azimuthal projection has several useful properties, but does
not preserve shape or area. It has the useful property that a straight
line on the map will give the shortest distance between those two
points. It cannot display the full world, being limited to less than a
hemisphere.

Another of the projections thought to originate in ancient Greece

(this time with Thales), its name is derived from the gnomon on a
sundial.

Hammer
This equal-area projection is popular because it reduces
distortion in many areas compared to similar projections. It has
an elliptical border, which makes it rather decorative as well as
functional. Developed in 1892 by H. H. Ernst von Hammer, this
projection in widely used where whole-world, equal-area maps
are desired.

Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area

This projection is commonly used in atlases for maps of polar regions
and Northern and Southern hemispheres. The equatorial aspect is
commonly used for maps of the Eastern and Western hemispheres.

This equal-area projection is classified as azimuthal.

Lambert Conformal Conic

This projection is created by basically placing a cone over a
planet and project the map unto the cone.

This kind of projection is often used for aeronautical charts,

because a straight line drawn on a map using this projections
will approximate the great circle route between two points.

This projection is mainly used for maps ranging from local to

continental scale.

Mercator
The Mercator projection is the familiar world map in elementary
schools. This is an unfortunate fact, because the map has severe
distortions of area in the polar regions (which is why Greenland
looks bigger than South America). The Mercator projection, while
conformal, is infinite in extent (the North and South Poles lie at
plus infinity and minus infinity respectively).

This cylindrical map has the useful property that lines of constant
true bearing are straight lines. As such, it is useful for navigation.
It was presented by Gerardus Mercator of Flanders in 1569.

741
 Miller Cylindrical
This cylindrical projection is neither conformal nor equal-area. It is
closely related to the Mercator projection, but manages to keep the
extreme polar distortions a little more under control.

Miller Cylindrical was developed in 1942 by Osborn Maitland Miller

of the American Geographical Society, and was used in many
American atlases.

Mollweide
A pseudocylindrical projection, Mollweide is used in thematic
and atlas maps of the world. Distortions are severe at higher
latitudes and towards the outer edges, but the scale is true at
latitudes 44°40’ north and south.

Mollweide was presented by Carl B. Mollweide of Germany in

1805.

Orthographic
This azimuthal projection shows the world as it would appear if viewed
from infinity. It cannot show more than a single hemisphere at a time.
The small positioning globe on the main FT3 interface is implemented
using the Orthographic projection.

Pointy
The Pointy projection can be used to create an interrupted
projection similar to the icosahedral projection output by FT3.

Sinusoidal
This pseudocylindrical projection has the useful feature that it is
relatively easy to compute and is equal-area. It does suffer from
significant shape distortion, especially at high latitudes and near
the outer edges. It was developed in the 16th century and used
in some atlases in the 17th century, sometimes appearing in
modern articles desiring to show relative areas.

Stereographic
The stereographic projection is a conformal azimuthal projection
commonly used in the polar aspect for topographic maps of the
Polar regions. The equatorial aspect was used in the 17th and 18th
centuries for maps of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. While
the projection cannot show the whole world, it is quite useful for
mapping areas which are roughly circular in extent. Its origins (in
polar aspect) may date to the Egyptians and Greeks by the second
century B.C.

Van Der Grinten

The Van Der Grinten projection is a polyconic projection that is neither
conformal nor equal-area. It encloses the entire world in a circle, but
causes great distortions of area near the poles. The scale is true along
the equator, but increases rapidly towards the poles.

It was presented by Alphons J. van der Grinten of Chicago in 1898.

742
Wagner IV
A pseudocylindrical projection, Wagner IV is equal-area but not
conformal. It was developed in 1934 by Putnins in Latvia, but
was popularized by Wagner of Germany in 1949. Shape
distortion is not as extreme in the polar regions as is that of the
pointed equal-area projections such as sinusoidal, but is still
considerable.

Wagner VII
This projection was developed in 1949 by Karlheinz Wagner as a
modification of the Hammer projection. It is commonly used for
whole-world maps and has enjoyed fairly wide publication in the
United States.

Planar worlds
FT3 provides an option to evaluate the world on a plane instead of a sphere. The climate model
information such as temperature, rainfall, and climate are always computed on a sphere however.
Most tools, such as the ruler tool, also work on spherical worlds.

Computing on a plane gives a world that is not distorted near the poles when viewed in the
equirectangular projection, but when viewed in other projections.

Spherical World, Equirectangular Planar World, Equirectangular

Spherical World, Ortographic over south pole Planar World, Ortographic over south pole

The spherical world is very distorted at the poles when viewed in the equirectangular projection,
while the planar world is not. In contrast, the planar world is puckered and has a vertical
discontinuity in the bottom half of the image, while the spherical world looks fine in an orthographic
projection. In general, using planar worlds means that you won’t want to use a map projection other
than equirectangular.

743
 Interrupted Projections
Interrupted projections are projections that are composed of more than one part. FT3 generalizes
this to the point where a projection can be defined as a group of pieces of other projection types as
well as zones of exclusion to prevent certain parts of a projection from showing.

Interrupted projections do not currently support changes in the center of projection. Each segment
Defined of the projection is defined with a fixed center of projection. Also, note that interrupted projections
are slower than regular projections, with the slowdown being proportional to the number of
Definitions of interrupted
projection segments defined (more segments = slower).
projections are stored in the
file Projection.txt, found in
the FT program directory. File format
Add your projections there. This is the projection file format.
This file is loaded on startup
// projection definition file format
so if any changes are made //
to this file then FT will need // simple text-based file.
to be restarted for those //
// each projection is composed of a number of segments, each having
changes to take effect. // a number of associated exlusion triangles. Each of these segments
// is evaluated in order during a scan. For best performance, the
// segments should be listed in the scanning order of the software:
// across the columns (increasing X) then down the columns (increasing Y).
//
// A segment defines a slice of a projection. It has the basic
// projection parameters (cenlat, cenlon, ofsx, ofsy, zoom, lat0, lon0).
// It also has the offset within the defined image space (image space is
// defined as -1 to +1 in X and Y for the image; offset allows moving
// segments from the 0,0 point of the world). To limit exclusion checks,
// a segment has an area of effect (the edges of a lat/lon bounding box
// on the sphere). All lat, lon values are defined in degrees.
// Projection IDs must be defined between 64 and 191. Projection IDs
// outside this range will be silently rejected by the system even
// though the definition is valid. End users should define their
// projections on 128 to 191 to avoid collisions with potential
// future FT-programmer-defined releases.
//
// Associated with each projection segment are zero or more exclusion
// triangles. These triangles are defined in image space. If a point
// lands within an exclusion triangle it is no part of this segment.
// Exclusion triangles allow for infinite-extent projections to be
// bounded on the image plane (for example, an icosahedral projection
// based on the stereographic projection would have 20 segments, each
// bounded by 3 triangles to limit the area of extent). Note that the
// triangles are defined on the whole plane, not just on the +/- 1 X/Y
// image plane. The points should not be too large (maybe +/- 20), but
// making them too closely-bounded to the plane will leave parts of
// infinite projections exposed to the user's scrutiny.
//
// Projection ID, "Name"
//
// Extent l, t, r, b // screen-space extents for the projection.
// Scale scalefactor // whole-screen scale factor for the projection
//
// Segment "ProjName", cenlat, cenlon, ofsx, ofsy, zoom, lat1, lat2
// Rotate angle // rotation angle in (deg counterclockwise)
// Scale xscale, yscale // scaling factor (deg)
// Offset imgofsx, imgofsy // offset area
// forward projection is computed as
// Rotate( angle, Forward(lat,lon) * scale)+offset
// Effective leftlon, toplat, rightlon, botlat // area of interest
// Exclude type, outside, [data]
// // type == 0, triangle with data as pt1x, pt1y, pt2x, pt2y, pt3x, pt3y
// // type == 1, circle with data as cenx, ceny, radius
// // outside == 1 if data outside the specified zone should be excluded
// // other EXCLUDE definitions go here
// EndSegment // segment def
//
// // other segment definitions go here
//
// EndProjection

744
Example projections
6-way Interrupted Sinusoidal
Projection 64, "6-way Interrupted Sinusoidal"

Extent -3.14159265, 1.57079633, 3.14159265, -1.57079633

Scale 1.57079633
Description "Demonstration of an interrupted projection. No fancy features, just a
basic definition."
Segment "Sinusoidal", 0, -3*60+30, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset -3*0.33333333, 0
Effective -3*60, 90, -3*60+60, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Sinusoidal", 0, -2*60+30, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset -2*0.33333333, 0
Effective -2*60, 90, -2*60+60, -90
EndSegment

Segment "Sinusoidal", 0, -1*60+30, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0

Offset -1*0.33333333, 0
Effective -1*60, 90, -1*60+60, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Sinusoidal", 0, 0*60+30, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 0*0.33333333, 0
Effective 0*60, 90, 0*60+60, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Sinusoidal", 0, 1*60+30, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 1*0.33333333, 0
Effective 1*60, 90, 1*60+60, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Sinusoidal", 0, 2*60+30, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 2*0.33333333, 0
Effective 2*60, 90, 2*60+60, -90
EndSegment
EndProjection

Rotation Demo
Projection 65, "Rotation Demo"
Extent -3.14159265, 1.57079633, 3.14159265, -1.57079633
Scale 1.57079633
Description "Demonstration of interrupted projection with rotations."
Segment "Sinusoidal", 0, -180+45, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Rotate -45
Offset -0.35345, -0.35345
Effective -180, 90, -90, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Sinusoidal", 0, -45, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Rotate 45
Offset 0.35345, -0.35345
Effective -90, 90, 0, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Sinusoidal", 0, 45, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Rotate 135
Offset 0.35345, 0.35345
Effective 0, 90, 90, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Sinusoidal", 0, 180-45, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Rotate -135
Offset -0.35345, 0.35345
Effective 90, 90, 180, -90
EndSegment
EndProjection

745
 Exclusion Test

Projection 66, "Exclusion Test"

//Extent -100, 100, 100, -100
Scale 1.57079633
Description "Demonstration of exclusion zones."
Segment "Stereographic", 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
scale 1, 1
Offset 0.0, 0.0
Effective -120, 60, 120, -60
Rotate 0
Exclude 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.5, 0.86602540378443864676372317075294, 1, 0
Exclude 1, 0, -1, -1, 0.5
EndSegment
EndProjection

18-way Stereographic Gores

Projection 67, "18-way Stereographic Gores"
Extent -3.15, 1.57079633, 3.15, -1.57079633
Scale 1.57079633
Effective -9*20, 90, -9*20+20, -90
Segment "Stereographic", 0, -9*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset -9*0.175, 0
Effective -9*20, 90, -9*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, -8*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset -8*0.175, 0
Effective -8*20, 90, -8*20+20, -90
EndSegment

Segment "Stereographic", 0, -7*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0

Offset -7*0.175, 0
Effective -7*20, 90, -7*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, -6*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset -6*0.175, 0
Effective -6*20, 90, -6*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, -5*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset -5*0.175, 0
Effective -5*20, 90, -5*20+20, -90
EndSegment

Segment "Stereographic", 0, -4*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0

Offset -4*0.175, 0
Effective -4*20, 90, -4*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, -3*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset -3*0.175, 0
Effective -3*20, 90, -3*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, -2*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset -2*0.175, 0
Effective -2*20, 90, -2*20+20, -90
EndSegment

Segment "Stereographic", 0, -1*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0

Offset -1*0.175, 0
Effective -1*20, 90, -1*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, 0*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 0*0.175, 0
Effective 0*20, 90, 0*20+20, -90
EndSegment

746
Segment "Stereographic", 0, 1*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 1*0.175, 0
Effective 1*20, 90, 1*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, 2*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 2*0.175, 0
Effective 2*20, 90, 2*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, 3*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 3*0.175, 0
Effective 3*20, 90, 3*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, 4*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 4*0.175, 0
Effective 4*20, 90, 4*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, 5*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 5*0.175, 0
Effective 5*20, 90, 5*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, 6*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 6*0.175, 0
Effective 6*20, 90, 6*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, 7*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 7*0.175, 0
Effective 7*20, 90, 7*20+20, -90
EndSegment
Segment "Stereographic", 0, 8*20+10, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
Offset 8*0.175, 0
Effective 8*20, 90, 8*20+20, -90
EndSegment
EndProjection

Azimuthal Equidistant Hemispheres

Projection 91, "AE Hemispheres"
Scale 1.0
Description "Azimuthal Equidistant Hemispheres"
Segment "Azimuthal Equidistant", 0, -90, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
scale 1, 1
Offset -0.5, 0.0
Effective -180, 90, 0, -90
Rotate 0
EndSegment

Segment "Azimuthal Equidistant", 0, 90, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0

scale 1, 1
Offset 0.5, 0.0
Effective 0, 90, 180, -90
Rotate 0
EndSegment

EndProjection

747
 Conic Projection Parallels
The standard parallels should generally be placed close to the top and bottom of the desired view
area to minimize distortion. Conic projections can have very different appearances depending on
the values of the standard parallels. The samples below are of a Lambert Conformal Conic projection
with various lat0, lat1 value.

Lat0=89.999, Lat0=60, Lat0=30, Lat0=0.01,

lat1=0.001 lat1=0.001 lat1=0.001 lat1=0.001

The Ogre Cave

This modern-style cave map
is an example map from the
2007 annual.

748
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Fractal Terrains is a stand-alone product, and there are no add-ons for it. One of the key features of
FT3 is the export to CC3+ option however, so owning Campaign Cartographer 3+ along with FT3
gives you a lot more options for your map making. CC3+ has its own section of this book, starting
on page 19.

FT3 can also export files using a Cosmographer template. Comsmographer 3 is an Add-on for CC3+
that focuses on futuristic maps, and is detailed on page 429 of this book.

Joe Slayton have a FT Pro (Almost everything from FT Pro can be used in FT 3 without change) tutorial
over at http://www.fracterra.com/CGTutorial/index.html. He also has a page for Wilbur at
http://www.fracterra.com/wilbur.html

Terraformer
Bill Roach, a community member, has made an excellent package available for FT, called
Terraformer. This package can be downloaded from the downloads tab on your registration page at
the ProFantasy homepage once you have registered your FT3 purchase. This excellent package
contains new images for the Image Climate shader, cloud images, color schemes and much more.
You can access the registration page at https://secure.profantasy.com/service/registry.asp.

More reading about Map Projections

Some books that also can help in the understanding of map projections are:

An Album of Map Projections (Snyder and Voxland; US Geologic Survey Professional Paper 1453)

Map Projections — A Reference Manual (Bugayevskiy and Snyder; ISBN 07484 0304 3)

Flattening the Earth (Snyder; ISBN 0-226-76747-7)

The Album is out of print, but the others should be readily available.

Annuals
Most of the Cartographer’s Annuals are designed for CC3 and its add-ons, but there are a few issues
that also contains content for FT3. Read more about the annuals on page 753.

Modern Atlas [October 2009 (Vol 3)] {Issue 34}

This annual issue provides a new overland mapping style for CC3,
and it also contains a tutorial for exporting FT maps into this new
style. It contains an additional coloring scheme for FT.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/october09.html

Military Operations [September 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 57}

This style pack contains a new style based on the maps of the World
War 2 Interactive Atlas, suitable for all kinds of modern and near
future military operations. This issue also contains FT export settings
so you can easy create military maps from views in FT.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/september11.html

749
 Climate Textures [December Extra 2011 (Vol 5)] {Issue 60a}

This annual contains new bitmap textures crated from satellite

photos that can be used with FT3’s texture shader, as well as in CC3,
providing a new look for maps in both programs.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2011/december11a.html

Real World Maps [May 2012 (Vol 6)] {Issue 65}

This issue comes with a set of real world maps in CC3 format, as
well as instructions on how to make your own with the help of
Fractal Terrains 3.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2012/may12.html

World Map
th
This is an early 17 century world map by Willem and Johannes Blaeu.

750
THE CARTOGRAPHER’S ANNUAL
 The Barony of Mendovia
This excellent map by Joe Bardales was made using the Satellite Maps annual from the 2012 Cartographer's Annual. Additionally, the urban bitmap fill from
Cosmographer 3 was used to make the cities.
The Barony of Mendovia is a small, old world country ruled with an iron hand by The Black Baron, one of the major arch-villains in his Grimm City supers campaign
world featured on his blog, "Just Add Heroes".

752
INTRODUCTION
The Cartographer’s Annual (The Annual) is a premium subscription-
based product that helps you get the most out of your ProFantasy
software suite. The annual contains maps, new drawing styles, new
symbols and much more additional content. But perhaps most
important of all, the annual provides tutorials on how to use this new
material. You might remember my words at the beginning of the book,
the insistence that even if you do not care about overland maps, you
should still read that section in this book, because it provides you with
a lot of basic knowledge that you will need no matter if you create
overland maps, dungeon, cities or spaceships. The annuals are more
of the same. Even if you don’t really need that particular style one
issue of the annual provides that doesn’t make that issue worthless to
you, because the lessons learned from that issue can usually be
applied in other circumstances.

What is The Cartographer’s Annual

The Cartographer’s Annual is a subscription product. If you subscribe to the current year’s annual,
you get one new issue each month, for a total of twelve issues. The annuals from the previous years
can also be purchased, but in this case, you get all the twelve issues at once.

The Annual started in 2007 (Volume 1) and has been released every year since then. At the time
of writing, 147 standard issues plus 7 bonus issues have been released.

Free Samples
If you wish to see for yourself how the annual issues look, there are several issues you can download
free of charge. You can check these out and download them from
https://www.profantasy.com/products/subsamples.asp.

More Information
Most of the main sections in this book have a chapter called Additional Resources. This chapter
lists, among other things, the relevant annual issues for that type of map. Look there if you are after
an annual issue for a particular type of map. Note that the annuals are listed where they naturally
belong, but most of the annual issues are actually usable without having the add-on in questions.
So if you are looking at drawing a city map, but don’t have CD3, you should still look at the annuals
listed there. They are listed in that section because they provide additional city mapping facilities,
but many of them can be used without CD3. Same goes for the annuals associated with the other
add-ons.

Please do remember that the annuals are only sold on a year by year basis, with each year containing
12 issues. Even if the issues are listed individually here and grouped with the add-on they most
closely belong to, if you want one of the issues, you will still need to buy the entire year. To see
what other issues are available in the same year as the one you are looking at, simply visit the link
given for each issue. This will take you directly to the web page for that issue, but the menu to the
left contains a complete listing of the other issues from the same year.

More details about the annuals can be found at the product page located at
http://www.profantasy.com/products/sub.asp. Here, you can find links to all the volumes, and from
the volume pages, you can read about each individual issue.

753
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The annuals are a never-ending source of inspiration. As such, many users have been inspired to
create their own maps using the information in the annuals. If you visit the ProFantasy forums at
http://forum.profantasy.com you should find plenty of maps created using the annuals.

Annuals
So, which annuals are suited for use with the Annuals? All of them, actually. It is very easy to see
each annual as a separate entity, each of them capable of giving you one style or one map. But most
of the annuals can be combined in various ways to further enhance your maps. For example, most
of the annuals that provide black & white maps styles work very nicely with the Parchment & Paper
annual, and the Dungeon Geomorphs annual can easily be used together with the Dungeon Symbols
annual. Even annuals “belonging” to different add-ons may be used together. Also, don’t only look
at the subject of the annual, but what lessons it learns you instead. A very good example of this is
annual issue 12: Create your own style pack. If you look at the information for this annual, a quick
glance makes it look like an annual suited for DD3, and indeed, the examples used in it are for a
dungeon style for DD3. However, the lessons learned in that annual are just as relevant in CC3, CD3,
COS3, or any other add-on. Also, remember that you are only limited by your imagination, so put it
to good use to make sure your limitations are imagined in a location where they can’t reach you.

Crossing the Marles

This example map from the
2009 annual showcases the
Napoleonic Battles style.

754
APPENDIX A: ANNUAL COMMAND REFERENCE
This table gives you a list of all the new commands from the Annuals. Note that this section only lists the commands that
are added by the Annuals. The general CC3+ commands are listed on page 223, where you can also find an explanation of
the columns in this table.

Command Description Where? Text Equivalent Command Syntax Macro

Alcove, Inserts a square alcove Wall tools → Inserts an BAL1 rWidth[Prior];rDepth[Prior];xyLineMid Yes
Boxed into a wall alcove button point1;xySide1;…;xyLineMidpointN;xyS
ideN
Alcove, Inserts a square alcove Wall tools → Inserts an BAL3 rColumnRadius[Prior];rWidth[Prior];rD Yes
Boxed with into a wall with rounded alcove popup → Boxed epth[Prior];xyLineMidpoint1;xySide1;
Rounded columns on the sides alcove with round columns …;xyLineMidpointN;xySideN
Columns
Alcove, Inserts a square alcove Wall tools → Inserts an BAL2 rColumnWidth[Prior];rWidth[Prior];rDe Yes
Boxed with into a wall with square alcove popup → Boxed pth[Prior];xyLineMidpoint1;xySide1;…
Square columns on the sides alcove with square columns ;xyLineMidpointN;xySideN
Columns
Alcove, Inserts a half-circle alcove Wall tools → Inserts an CAL1 rAlcoveWidth[Prior];xyLineMidpoint1;x Yes
Circular into a wall alcove popup → Arc alcove ySide1;…;xyLineMidpointN;xySideN
Alcove, Inserts a half-circle alcove Wall tools → Inserts an CAL3 rColumnRadius[Prior];rAlcoveWidth[Pri Yes
Circular with into a wall with rounded alcove popup → Arc alcove or];xyLineMidpoint1;xySide1;…;xyLine
Rounded columns on the sides with round columns MidpointN;xySideN
Columns
Alcove, Inserts a half-circle alcove Wall tools → Inserts an CAL2 rColumnWidth[Prior];rAlcoveWidth[Prio Yes
Circular with into a wall with square alcove popup → Arc alcove r];xyLineMidpoint1;xySide1;…;xyLineM
Square columns on the sides with square columns idpointN;xySideN
Columns
Alcove, Inserts a half regular- Wall tools → Inserts an RAL1 nNumberSides[Prior];rWidth[Prior];xyL Yes
Regular polygon shaped alcove alcove popup → Regular ineMidpoint1;xySide1;…;xyLineMidpoin
Polygon into a wall sided alcove tN;xySideN
Alcove, Inserts a half regular- Wall tools → Inserts an RAL3 rColumnRadius[Prior];rWidth[Prior];xy Yes
Regular polygon shaped alcove alcove popup → Regular LineMidpoint1;xySide1;…;xyLineMidpoi
Polygon with into a wall with rounded sided alcove with round ntN;xySideN
Rounded columns on the sides columns
Columns
Alcove, Inserts a half regular- Wall tools → Inserts an RAL2 nNumberSides[Prior];rColumnWisth[Prio Yes
Regular polygon shaped alcove alcove popup → Regular r];rWidth[Prior];xyLineMidpoint1;xySi
Polygon with into a wall with square sided alcove with square de1;…;xyLineMidpointN;xySideN
Square columns on the sides columns
Columns
Arrow Slit Inserts an arrow slit into a Wall tools → Inserts an ASL1 rDepth[Prior];rWidth[Prior];rInnerWid Yes
wall. arrows slit button th[Prior];rOuterWidth[Prior];xyInnerL
ineMidpoint1;xyOuterLine1;…;xyInnerL
ineMidpointN;xyOuterLineN
Arrow Slit Inserts an arrow slit into a Wall tools → Inserts an ASL3 rColumnRadius[Prior];rDepth[Prior];rW Yes
with Rounded wall with rounded arrows slit popup → Arrow idth[Prior];rInnerWidth[Prior];rOuter
Columns columns on the sides slit with round columns Width[Prior];xyInnerLineMidpoint1;xyO
uterLine1;…;xyInnerLineMidpointN;xyO
uterLineN
Arrow Slit Inserts an arrow slit into a Wall tools → Inserts an ASL2 rColumnWidth[Prior];rDepth[Prior];rWi Yes
with Square wall with square columns arrows slit popup → Arrow dth[Prior];rInnerWidth[Prior];rOuterW
Columns on the sides slit with square columns idth[Prior];xyInnerLineMidpoint1;xyOu
terLine1;…;xyInnerLineMidpointN;xyOu
terLineN
Center line Scales a line to half the Wall tools → Center line CSCA xyEntity1;…;xyEntity2 Yes
scaling previous length. Scale scaling button
center is in the middle of
the line
Crenellations Adds crenellations to a Wall tools → Crenelations CREN No
wall button
Door Cuts a hole for a door in Wall tools → Inserts a door DOR1 rInnerWidth[Prior];rOuterWidth[Prior] Yes
the wall button ;xyInnerLineMidpoint1;xyOuterLine1;…
;xyInnerLineMidpointN;xyOuterLineN
Door with Cuts a hole for a door in Wall tools → Inserts a door DOR3 rColumnRadius[Prior];rInnerWidth[Prio Yes
Rounded the wall with rounded popup → Door with round r];rOuterWidth[Prior];xyInnerLineMidp
Columns columns on the sides columns oint1;xyOuterLine1;…;xyInnerLineMidp
ointN;xyOuterLineN
Door with Cuts a hole for a door in Wall tools → Inserts a door DOR2 rColumnWidth[Prior];rInnerWidth[Prior Yes
Square the wall with square popup → Door with square ];rOuterWidth[Prior];xyInnerLineMidpo
Columns columns on the sides columns int1;xyOuterLine1;…;xyInnerLineMidpo
intN;xyOuterLineN
Door, Half Cuts a hole for a door in Wall tools → Inserts a door HDR1 rInnerWidth[Prior];rOuterWidth[Prior] Yes
one of the lines of the wall popup → Half door ;xyInnerLineMidpoint1;xyOuterLine1;…
;xyInnerLineMidpointN;xyOuterLineN

755
 Door, Half Cuts a hole for a door in Wall tools → Inserts a door HDR3 rColumnRadius[Prior];rInnerWidth[Prio Yes
with Rounded one of the lines of the wall popup → Half door with r];rOuterWidth[Prior];xyInnerLineMidp
Columns with rounded columns on roun columns oint1;xyOuterLine1;…;xyInnerLineMidp
the sides ointN;xyOuterLineN
Door, Half Cuts a hole for a door in Wall tools → Inserts a door HDR2 rColumnWidth[Prior];rInnerWidth[Prior Yes
with Square one of the lines of the wall popup → Half door with ];rOuterWidth[Prior];xyInnerLineMidpo
Columns with square columns on square columns int1;xyOuterLine1;…;xyInnerLineMidpo
the sides intN;xyOuterLineN
Double Line Draws a arc using double Wall tools → Double Arc DBLA rLineWidth[Prior];xyStart;xyEnd;xyBul Yes
Arc lines button ge
Double Line Draw a chain of double Wall tools → Double Line DBLL rLineWidth[Prior];xyPoint1;xyPoint2; Yes
Chain lines button …;xyPointN
Double Line Draw a circle using double Wall tools → Double Circle DBLC rLineWidth[Prior];xyCenter;xyPoint Yes
Circle lines button
Double Line Draw a polygon using Wall tools → Double line, DBLP rLineWidth[Prior];xyPoint1;xyPoint2;x Yes
Polygon double lines. Note that this closing button yPoint3;…;xyPointN
isn't a polygon entity, just
a closed polygon shape
made from individual lines
Double Line Draw a regular polygon Wall tools → Double line, DBLR rLineWidth[Prior];xyCenter1;xyPoint1; Yes
Regular using double lines. Note closing popup → Closing …;xyCenterN;xyPointN
Polygon that this isn't a polygon double regular
entity, just a closed
polygon shape made from
individual lines
Panel Adds a panel for PANL xyStart1;xyEnd1;…;xyStartN;xyEndN Yes
windows/doors
Stairs Add stairs along a line, arc Wall tools → Stairs button STER rGoing[Prior];rWidth[Prior];xyEntity1 Yes
or circle ;xySide1;nSteps1[Prior];…;xyEntityN;
xySideN;nStepsN
Window Cuts a hole for a window Wall tools → Inserts a WIN1 rWidth[Prior];rDepth[Prior];nSeperato Yes
in the wall window button rs[Prior];rSeperatorWidth[Prior];xyIn
nerEntity1;xyOuterEntity1;…;xyInnerE
ntityN;xyOuterEntityN
Window with Cuts a hole for a window Wall tools → Inserts a WIN2 rColumnWidth[Prior];rWidth[Prior];rDe Yes
Square in the wall with square window popup → Windows pth[Prior];nSeperators[Prior];rSepera
Columns columns on the sides with square columns torWidth[Prior];xyInnerEntity1;xyOute
rEntity1;…;xyInnerEntityN;xyOuterEnt
ityN
Windows Cuts a hole for a window Wall tools → Inserts a WIN3 rColumnRadius[Prior];rWidth[Prior];rD Yes
with Rounded in the wall with rounded window popup → Windows epth[Prior];nSeperators[Prior];rSeper
Columns columns on the sides with round columns atorWidth[Prior];xyInnerEntity1;xyOut
erEntity1;…;xyInnerEntityN;xyOuterEn
tityN

756
INDEX
Command line and macro commands are in ALL CAPS. Normal entries are in lowercase.

Didn’t you find what you were looking for using the index? Send us a note telling what you were looking for, which words
you expected this to be found under in the index, and if possible, on which page /chapter you found it. See page 10 for
contact information. We will then add it to the index if appropriate.

basin fill, 702 city symbols, 407 cosine, 552

# battle map, 275, 325, 326 city wall, 364, 365, 414 counter, 521, 523
bearing angle, 415 climate, 687, 730, 736 create symdef name file, 100
#, 12, 46 bevel. See effects, bevel clipboard, 56, 57 creating symbol catalog, 99
bevel, lighted. See effects, bevel, clone symbol, 96 CTS, 165
$ lighted clouds, 723 current properties, 579
bias, 83 CMB, 439 cut line, 542
$, 12, 133, 134, 136, 403 binarize, 700 coastline, 54 cut on insertion, 122
binary data, 718 collection, 91, 92, 97, 98 cutting, 561
* bitmap files, 128, 129 COLOR, 198 cutting symbols, 323
blend, 72 color bar, 65
*, 102, 385, 394 blur, 82, See effects, blur color buildings, 401 D
alpha. See effects, blur, alpha color coding, 400, 401
@ blur color data, 73 color components, 80 darken, 83
blur radius, 72 color opacity, 79 DBLN, 414
@, 12 bookmark, 45 color to altitude, 687 debris, 287
bounding entity, 105 color wheel, 69 deck management, 438
3 break, 320 coloring scheme, 689 deckplan, 431
bridge, 367 column, 304 default symbol scale, 59, 162
3d, 450, 495, 541 define symbol, 105
brightness, 82 combine, 48, 282
3d projection, 482 DEFSYM, 491, 494, 528
brush pattern, 127, 129 combine paths, 282, 283, 294,
building, 383, 549 297, 439 delete symbol, 96
A bump map, 74 combining map styles, 601 delta, 27
burn in to surface, 719 command line, 185, 198 deterrace, 701
absolute coordinates, 188
common (sheet), 63 disable perspectives shearing, 91
ADDLIGHT, 312, 313, 316
adjust hue/saturation. See effects,
C compatibility updates, 13 disable random transformation,
complex room, 283 91
adjust hue/saturation
cad, 185 complex rooms, 177, 281 disable smart symbols, 91, 95
albedo, 686
calc divisor, 83 connect, 278 displace. See effects, displace
align on insertion, 122
calculations, 187, 188 connecting symbol, 93, 98, 123 displacement, 75, 82
align to edge, 95
card figure, 514, 519, 521, 522, connection, 384, 386, 392 division factor, 82, 83
aligned fill, 371, 382
523 construction line, 365 door, 285, 304
aligned fillstyle, 378
CARY, 173 continental shelf, 735 double line, 414
alpha blur. See effects, blur, alpha
castle, 625 continental shelves, 683 drawing distance, 326
alpha transparency, 110, 129
CATALOG, 197 contours, 175 drawing properties, 59, 94
altitude, 687, 690
catalog settings filter, 102, 103, control point, 494 drawing tools, 54, 63, 139, 140,
animation, 708
104 control points, 99, 121, 407 141, 142, 144, 151, 157, 318,
anti-alias, 110, 117
cave, 275, 317, 318 convert, 89 321
arc, 282
center scale, 164 convert images, 116 drop shadow. See effects, drop
array, 173
change house layer, 402 convert style, 149 shadow
asterisk, 385
change like draw tool, 151 convert to perspective, 482 dungeon, 275, 276
attribute, 120, 531
change properties, 50 coordinates, 188, 189 dungeon corridor, 278
automatic floorplan, 403
change shade angle, 381 copy between drawings, 438 dungeon room, 277
axis tilt, 686
change shade pitch, 381 copy effects, 438
azimuth, 71, 84, 311, 378
change style, 149 copy to deck, 438 E
circle, 142 copy to level, 438
B circular array, 496 copyright, 13 earth, 677
Circular Array, 173 corner, 439 echo, 341
basin, 725
city gate, 364 corridor, 278, 317 ECOFF, 338

757
 ECON, 340 endpoint, 50 frills, 412 hyperlink, 589
edge detect, 83 entity, 52 FSTYLE, 198, 338 hyperlinks. See hotspots
edge effects, 81, 82 entity order, 63 futuristic overland, 445 hypotenuse, 552
edge fade. See effects, edge fade entity tag, 49
inner. See effects, edge fade, ESC, 163 G I
inner escarpment, 163
edit, 54, 55, 56 examples, 12 gaia, 733 ice cave, 321
node, 50 exclusion, 181 galactic maps, 456 icon, 194
polygon, 51 expand all collections, 91 gatehouse, 364 IFDEF, 418
using drawing tools, 54 expand land, 703 GBRNG, 339, 340, 414 IFERR, 338, 342
edit fill styles, 128 explode symbols, 98 GE, 338 IFP, 340
edit symbol, 96, 106, 107 export, 731 geomorp, 554 image climate, 733
editing size, 684 export view, 680 geomorph, 332, 333, 335, 483 image editor, 15
effects, 63, 66, 299, 306, 378, 431, extension, 384, 386, 392, 486 get bearing, 414 image overlay, 722
438, 439, 455 extensions, 13 GETX, 145 import fill styles, 130
add, 66 extra node, 297 GLEN, 338, 342 import image, 110
adjust hue/saturation, 69 extrusion, 484 global noise, 701 import symbols, 97, 116, 118
bevel, 70, 300 global sun, 71, 86, 311, 312, 378 inclination, 311, 378
bevel, lighted, 71, 311 F globe, 679 index, 398, 399
blur, 72, 82 glow, 67, 73, See effects, glow inner color, 81
blur, alpha, 73 fade, 66, 70 inner. See effects, inner glow inner glow. See effects, inner glow
brightness, 82 file system, 11 glue, 560 inner opacity, 77, 81
default, 66 file types, 13 glue tab, 543 insert building, 375
displace, 74 fill scale, 129 gluing, 562 interior color, 527, 627
displacement, 82 fill style, 554 GN, 339 intersection, 52
drop shadow, 67, 75, 300, 305 fill styles, 12, 127, 156, 321 GP, 145, 339 invert colors, 70
edge fade, 76 bitmap files, 128, 129 gravity, 27 IPROJ, 629
edge fade, inner, 77 brush pattern, 129 grayscale, 80 isometric, 93, 469, 470
emboss, 82 brush patterns, 127 greenhouse, 686 isometric Symbol, 475
glow, 78, 299, 308 edit, 128 grid, 277, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292,
inner glow, 79 import, 130 326, 330, 331, 398, 432, 693 J
rgb matrix process, 80, 321 scalable hatching, 127, 129 labels, 65
screen border, 81 scale, 129 grid fill, 290 justification, 38
spatial matrix process, 82 symbol fill, 128, 130 group, 292
texture overblend, 84 fill with symbols, 160 GROUP, 416 K
texturize, 84 filter, 102, 157 guide line, 40
transparency, 85, 300 filter matrix, 82, 83 GV, 338, 339 keep, 416
wall shadow, 85, 301, 304, 306, filters, 102 KEEP, 140, 346, 416
311 flat world, 720 H
wall shadow, directional, 86, flip, 165 L
311 FLIPSHADING, 381 halo, 78
wall shadow, point light floorplan, 275, 324, 403 handdrawn, 578 labels, 37, 292, 293, 295, 296,
finalize, 312 floorplan effects, 299 hatching, 391 396, 397

wall shadow, point light setup, floorplan lighting, 86 height symbols, 460, 462 number, 41, 292, 293

312 floors, 404 hex grid, 291, 445 visibility, 293

wall shadow, point of light FLP, 165 hex map, 445 lake, 27

finalize, 86 fold line, 542 hex symbol, 98 land size, 682

wall shadow, point of light fonts, 38, 43, 119, 120 hex symbols, 446 LAYER, 198
setup, 86 forest, 29 hex, 460 layers, 63, 288

whole drawing, 68 FOREST, 160 hidden attributes, 121 level management, 438

EFFECTSOFF, 186 FORESTLOAD, 160 highlight, 66 license agreement, 13

EFFECTSON, 186, 434 FORESTOPT, 160 hole, 480 light, 686

elevation, 71 forum, 15 horizontal displacement, 75 light azimuth, 71

elevation file, 718 fractal, 142 hotspots, 132, 133, 136 light direction, 86, 689

ellipse, 142 fractal basis function, 735 house, 375, 383, 384, 386, 392, light elevation, 71

emboss, 82, 83 fractalize, 182 393, 485 light source, 86, 311, 312, 315,

ending scale, 164 freehand, 142 house style, 387 316

ENDM, 199, 340 frill, 388 hull, 432, 433 lighted dungeon, 311

758
lighten, 83 multipoly, 292 png, 89 river, 27, 364
LIGHTHIDE, 312, 313 polar coordinates, 188, 189, 337 rivers, 27, 40, 55, 725
lightness, 71 N poly, 145 editing, 55
LIGHTS, 312 polygon, 51, 141, 151 resolution, 725
LIGHTSHOW, 312, 313 named views, 679 editing, 51 width, 55
LINE, 339, 340 navigate, 132 popup menu, 196 roleplaying, 11
line styles, 125 navigation, 405 portrait, 507, 519 roof, 390
line to path, 282, 294 node, 50, 51 prescale offset, 704 roof direction, 408
link, 403, 405 edit, 50 prescale offset editing, 684 roof options, 389
link to file, 137 non-visual scale. See scale, non- primary, 681 roof slope, 408
links, 132 visual print scale, 325, 326 roof type, 384
list, 51, 96, 281 number labels, 41, 293 prior, 42, 283 roof varicolor, 408
LOADM, 133 projection, 448, 692, 740 room, 277, 281, 481
local map, 56 O purpose, 276 rotation, 94
LSTYLE, 198, 338 pythagoras, 552 rounded corners, 294
LWIDTH, 338 object, 471 pythagorean theorem, 190
offset, 122, 323, 626, 735
S
M OFFSET1, 626
OFFSETCPY, 340
Q
save effects, 438, 439
macro, 137, 142, 144, 157, 198, opacity, 85, 86 quick move, 316, 674 save sheets, 438
337, 414 open symbol catalog, 92 save symbol catalog, 100, 115
make varicolor, 111 outer color, 81
R SAVEVARS, 417, 418
manage levels, 438 outer opacity, 77, 81 scalable hatching, 127, 129
managing decks, 438 outline, 42, 49, 143 rail, 167 scale, 94
managing sheets, 64 overland, 445 rainfall, 686, 687, 730, 736 non-visual, 59
map key, 293, 294 overland maps, 19 raised dais, 306 scale factor, 326
Map Menu, 197 overlap, 328 random collection, 91, 93, 97 scale to fit, 122
map note, 157, 159 overlay, 722 random dungeon, 333 scalpel, 559
map purpose, 276 random street, 373, 383, 392, 393 scoring, 561
map scale, 325 P random transformation, 91, 93, screen border. See effects, screen
map style, 102, 139, 147, 148, 98 border
149, 154 palette, 112 random world, 678 search
map styles, 576 pan, 679 range selection, 699 wildcards, 45
mars, 677 panel, 541 raster files, 128 sector import, 458
mask, 114 paper distance, 325, 326 raster fill, 129 sector maps, 457
master filter, 102, 103, 104, 157 paper size, 325 raster symbol, 108 SELBYL, 416
master filter settings, 104 parallels, 748 raster symbols, 89, 90, 108, 407 SELBYP, 144, 340
matrix process. See effects, rgb parchment, 578 raw height field, 682 select
matrix process paste, 57 real world data, 718 by color, 47
menu, 429 path, 11, 12, 141, 282, 283 Rectangular Array, 173, 174 by entity tag, 49
menu files, 193, 194 path reference, 12 rectangular section, 330 by fill style, 48
MENUDM, 196 path to poly, 283, 294, 298 REF, 339, 340 by layer, 399
menus, 193, 195 percent modifier, 337 reference point modifier, 337 using and (both), 48
merge, 292 perspective settings, 472, 473, relative coordinates, 188, 189 using not, 49
merge walls, 297 487 relative path, 109 select path, 506
metric units, 683 perspective symbols, 489 relative polar coordinates, 337 selection, 47, 681, 698
miniature, 521 perspectives settings, 487 rename & reorder, 100 selection mask, 700
miniature scale, 558 pick cursor, 47 rename symbol, 96 selection menu, 47
minus sign, 92 pillar, 279, 285 rename symbols, 100 selection shortcuts, 187
MIRCPY, 144 pit, 308 reorder, 63 SELREST, 144, 340, 416
mirror, 433 pixel, 82 reorder symbols, 100 SELSAVE, 144, 200, 338, 416
mirrored polygon, 142, 433 placement point, 57 REPEAT, 173 sepia, 68, 80
mobile light, 316 placing symbols, 93 replace symbol, 97 shaded polygon, 379, 381
modifier, 191 planar function evaluation, 685 resolution, 108, 110, 117, 128 shaded varicolor, 93, 98, 112, 529
monster, 513 planar world, 720 restore image, 73 shader, 733
mound, 700 plane, 451, 452, 462, 720 rgb matrix process, 68, See shading, 378, 379, 689
mounting, 562 planning, 360 effects, rgb matrix process shading map, 407
multi-part symbols, 125 plus sign, 92 right click menu, 196

759
 shadow, 75, 85, 86, 299, 301, 302, street options, 373 wall feature, 494 transparency, 70, 85, 86, 108,
303, 309, 312, 314, 316, 379, style, 139, 140, 147, 148, 149, 154 symbols along, 163, 166, 579 110, 116, 117, 129, See
515 styles symbols choose their own sheet, effects, transparency
shadow color, 86 combining, 601 92 trap, 288
shadow length, 87 submenu, 196 Symbols in Area, 170 trim, 52
sharpen, 83 sun, 311, 378 symbols in drawing, 92 to entity, 52
shear, 474 sun direction, 86 symdef name file, 100 tube, 544
sheared symbol, 474 support, 10 SYMFILL, 170 tutorial, 12
shearing symbols, 490 symbol catalog, 89, 90, 91, 95, 99, SYMFILLM, 170 directory, 8
sheet effects, 38, 42, 63, 299 100, 102, 103, 161 SYMFILLOAD, 170 maps, 8
activating, 67 searching, 102 SYMFILLOPT, 170
sheet order, 63 symbol catalog buttons, 102, 103 SYMFILLSAVE, 170 U
sheets, 63, 64, 66, 92 symbol catalog setting, 103, 104 symmetry, 277
adding, 64 symbol catalog window, 91, 92 synthetic world, 678 udf. See effects, spatial matrix
common, 63 symbol collection, 97, 98 system maps, 457 process
creating, 64 symbol creation, 105, 108
deleting, 64 symbol definition, 90, 92, 95, 100 T V
hiding, 64 symbol definitions, 90
managing, 64 symbol fill, 128, 130, 290 tag, 120 varicolor, 93, 98, 408, 529
order, 63 symbol filters, 102 tangent, 552 varicolor mask, 113
rename, 64 symbol manager, 90, 95, 97, 100, technical problems, 15 varicolor symbols, 111, 119
showing, 64 152 temperature, 686, 687, 730, 736 raster, 113, 115
symbols, 63 symbol origin, 105 template, 12, 66, 146, 147, 154, shaded, 112
sheets indicator, 63 symbol parameters, 94 155, 157, 158 vector, 111
shortcut keys, 187 symbol reference, 90 temple, 637 vector symbols, 89, 90, 105, 407,
show symbols size, 92 symbol rotation, 94 text, 37, 38, 41, 42, 43, 45, 58, 411
silhouette, 514 symbol scale, 89, 94 292, 299, 398, 484 vertical displacement, 75
simple create, 695 symbol size, 92 anchor, 38 views, 679
sine, 552 symbolopt, 145 direction, 39 virtual table top, 330
sketch, 142 symbols, 89, 90, 323, 334, 407, find, 45
slow down, 87 460, 462, 489, 494, 524, 527, find all, 45 W
smart symbols, 91, 95, 119, 121, 554 glow, 38, 42
383 attribute, 531 insertion point, 38, 39 wall, 300, 484
smart tracking, 95 attributes, 120, 531 justification, 38 wall shadow, 379, See effects,
smooth to straight, 165 character, 524 outline, 42 wall shadow
smoothing, 71, 72 connecting, 98, 119, 123 properties, 38 directional. See effects, wall
smp. See effects, spatial matrix control points, 99, 121 rotate, 42 shadow, directional
process cutting, 323 search, 45 point of light finalize. See
smudge, 561 drawing tool, 99 zoom, 45 effects, wall shadow, point
snap, 277 explode, 98 text along a curve, 40 of light finalize
snap grid, 276, 281 fonts, 119 text attribute, 120 point of light setup. See effects,
solid entities, 480 force sheet, 98 text equivalent, 198 wall shadow, point of light
solid objects setting, 472 height, 460, 462 texture, 74, 84 setup
solid shapes, 480 hex, 98, 446, 460 texture climate, 734 water level, 735
sort symbols, 26 importing, 116 texture overblend. See effects, wilbur, 677
spacial matrix process. See light source, 315 texture overblend wildcards, 45
effects, spatial matrix multi-part, 125 texture size, 74 window glow, 590
process multiple sheets, 98 texturize. See effects, texturize wizard, 158
speed settings, 363 perspective, 489 tile, 332, 335 world seed, 681
split, 55 perspectives, 494 tiling, 325, 326 world settings, 678, 681
stair, 285 raster, 89, 407, 524 toolbars, 193, 194
stand-up, 521 rename, 529 torch, 286 Z
star map, 450 reorder, 529 tower, 364
starting scale, 164 smart, 91, 121 trace, 29, 57, 60, 140, 152, 319, zoom, 678

STC, 165 text properties, 119 365 Zoom

straight to smooth, 165 varicolor, 98, 529 tracking indicator, 188 Window, 22, 189

street, 392, 393 vector, 89, 105, 411, 524, 527 transformation, 93, 98

760