Has anybody used the pro fantasy map making software?
David C:
Ron, I'm not sure where this is supposed to go, so feel free to move it to [suitable location].
I was thinking about using the Pro Fantasy software to make a world map for my fantasy setting. I watched some of the tutorials, and I think I could learn it fairly quickly. The basic software is only about $50, which certainly beats the time of drawing it by hand. The maps look pretty good. I read over the EULA, and it sounds like they're pretty open to you using maps in commercial content or handing them (your own maps) out for free, which leaves me open to eventual pdf distribution, if I desire.
I'm always a little hesitant with things like this, however. If anybody has any experience with it, I'd like to hear about it. Things like "well, you really need the $200s of expansion packs to make it worth your while" and "it took me 40 hours to learn it.." are the types of things I want to hear about. I haven't had much luck finding information elsewhere, it's almost like this company suddenly popped into existence...
Dementia Games:
David,
My post got lost so here's the short short version.
I first used their software with Campaign Cartographer, part of AD&D Core Rules 2.0 in 1998. It made maps akin to Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms at the time, and I found it fairly easy to use. Of course, Campaign Cartographer probably had much more limited symbols and tiles, but even so I was able to create some great maps over the years. Today's versions are bound to be better and probably easier to pick up. The interface used to be similar to AutoCAD and variants, if you're familiar with that layout. Today, I don't know, since my experience flatlines there. I would say that if they still offer free trials (they used to offer free downloads that were somewhat limited, particularly in the ability to save the map), then you've got nothing to lose in trying it. Things may have changed drastically since then, but it was easy to pick up (a few hours and I was off to the races) and fairly powerful even in that limited state. Give it a try if they offer it.
David C:
Thank you for your input, Dementia. I have a little review for anyone else reading this.
Well, I went ahead and bought it. They don't offer a demo, but they offer a "14 day money back guarantee" which is, imo, a lot worse then a demo. It took me about 8 hours to finish a fairly well done map, but there's still a ton for me to learn and it'll be better for me to start fresh on a new map than use this one for anything. What the tool set offers over a program like Photoshop, are some pre-made icons, as well as what they call "Sheets." Sheets basically find the edges of objects and apply a filter to them to get a map effect. (Like coasts, beaches, and gradients.) A skilled Photoshop user would also know how to apply these filters, although it is handled more elegantly by Fantasy Cartographer.
One flaw with Fantasy Cartographer is that it is very utilitarian in design, and a little outdated. While it has layers that are similar to Photoshop, they are very difficult to work with. I won't go into too much detail, but basically it requires you to go to a different screen to manipulate the layers, whereas Photoshop lets you do all of that from the toolbar.
Having "Enough" to do a project like I want to use it for, requires a much larger investment of time and money, as I feared. There are $500 worth of expansions you can purchase. The biggest two are City Designer and Dungeon Designer which cost $40 each. If you do a "typical" fantasy city (the inside of the buildings, too), you need both expansions. I don't need either of these for my world map, but I had went ahead and tried out City Designer because it sounded fun.
The next big expansions add more icons. There aren't a whole ton to begin with, and they're very generic. Unfortunately, you come back to the problem of doing things by hand, again. You can spend several hundred getting more icons, since most everything else you can purchase comes with at least a few icons (including their yearly magazine.)
If you're looking to use this software for any sort of "professional" project, and you already own Photoshop, you might just consider sticking with that. Everything that Fantasy Cartographer offers can be accomplished with filters and a little copy+paste. If the price of all the software expansions you'd need for your project, plus the time you spend mastering this program and the time spent tooling your icons, seems reasonable, then it might be worth it. If you don't own Photoshop or a similar program, well ProFantasy's huge package is cheaper (although more unwieldly), than buying Photoshop. If you have no artistic talent and hiring an artist for $50 sounds like a bad idea, then Fantasy Cartographer is also a good choice.
I guess, in summary, "Meh."
MatrixGamer:
I use Campaign Cartographer 2 to make board game maps. I think it works well for large scale area maps and they have add ons to do cities and 3D maps. I'm not totally satisfied with the results but it is passable. I'm toying with trying out Adobe Illustrator to do maps but haven't tried it yet.
No matter what program you use I suspect it will be a lot of work. Computers help but art is still art.
Chris Engle
Pelgrane:
Disclosure: I co-own ProFantasy Software.
In answer, it depends what style of map you are looking to make, what style of map you want to make and whether your time or money is at a premium. If you can point me at an existing style you like, I might be able to help.
I recommend that if you are on a budget, and CC3 alone doesn't have a style you like, you take a look at the galleries for our annuals vol 1 and vol 2. If there is a map making style there you like, you won't need anything but CC3 and that annual.
CC3 certainly makes it easier to create good-looking maps, but it won't make you an artist. We don't want people who won't find it useful buying it. You might also consider asking over on the ProFantasy forums. The community members are very helpful, and you'll get an idea what new users can create with CC3 with or without add-ons.
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