CC3 w/ DD3 or Dundjinni

[NeonKnight]

Depends really on your personally tastes. DUnjinni tends to be more photo realistic, while CC3 has a reputation for being 'Cartoony'. CC3 can use all the images from Dunjinni though. The links in my signature are for battlemats that were all done in CC3.

[Scarecrow84]

Thanks for your quick response. I was already leaning towards CC3/DD3, so this has pretty much made up my mind.

How easy is it to get new symbols into CC3, as i had downloaded a huge amout for use in MapTool? Also ive been reading about this thing called CSUAC that i should download for use in CC3, but i cannot find it anywhere on the net.

As pretty much a complete noob to dungeon design and CCS/DD3, what do you recommend that i need to get for it in terms of extra symbols, and the like?

[Mark Oliva]

CC3 can use all the images from Dunjinni though.

That's not quite true. The original Dundjinni symbols and those in the commercial art packs are encrypted and may not be used in other programs. However, the user-made symbols available for free download on the Dundjinni forums will work with other programs.

How easy is it to get new symbols into CC3?

It's easy to get them there, but after you have them, they need to be converted into the multi-resolution files that CC3 uses. If you don't convert, the foreign symbols will not scale correctly. It's been well over a year since I dropped CC3, so I can't tell you how to make those conversions anymore. I've forgotten. But some other guild member may be able to help you there. Or you can E-Mail Ralf Schemmann at:

mailto:ralf@profantasy.com

Also ive been reading about this thing called CSUAC that i should download for use in CC3, but i cannot find it anywhere on the net.

The CSUAC was a compilation of old symbols made by Dundjinni users and posted on the Dundjinni forums. It was available in separate, ready-to-use versions for Dundjinni, Fractal Mapper 8 and CC3. However, the page no longer is available. Owner Cecil Solomon hadn't updated it since 2008, and I suspect that he simply quit, although I hope that's not the case. The address was:

http://www.gmsapprentice.com

However, the address is dead at present.

The good news is, you can download all of these symbols and many more free from the Dundjinni forum at:

http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_topics.asp?FID=8

The best starting point is the entry "Monthly Archive by Sendorian."

The bad news is, if you decide for CC3, you'll have to convert the symbbols you download from this and other sites if you want them to scale correctly in CC3. That's not a problem with Dundjinni or Fractal Mapper 8.

As pretty much a complete noob to dungeon design and CCS/DD3, what do you recommend that i need to get for it in terms of extra symbols, and the like?

Start with the Dundjinni user collection mentioned above.

You'll find great free download collections of symbols too at RPG Map Share from Jeff Albers and Greytale's Nook from Greg Taylor too. You'll find these at:

http://www.rpgmapshare.com/

and

http://greytale.com/joomla/index.php...zoom&Itemid=32

If you want symbols of buildings for cities and villages, you can get them free from our site at:

http://www.vintyri.org/vintyri/vccindex.htm

For all these symbols, conversions also are necessary for CC3, if you want them to scale properly. However, before you pick any program, I would strongly suggest that you also consider Fractal Mapper 8 from NBOS Software. I think that FM8 will do a great job of everything you want to do. The learning curve is about the same as that for Dundjinni and about 10% of that demanded by CC3. In addition, the end costs probably will be lower for FM8 and Dundjinni than for CC3, because you don't have to buy expensive add-ons like DD3 and CD3.

http://www.nbos.com/

You can download the free trial version of FM8 at:

http://www.nbos.com/nox/index.php?action=1001&id=144

The trial version is identical to the full version with two exceptions: You can't save files and the trial version comes with only a small trial symbol library. However, the third party symbols mentioned above all work with FM8 in the full and trial versions. After downloading the trial version, also get the free 160-page PDF manual and tutorial at:

http://www.nbos.com/nox/index.php?action=1001&id=125

If you're still interested in FM8 after going through that, get our follow-up free FM8 raster mapping tutorial at:

http://www.vintyri.com/vintyri/tu1.htm

At that point, your FM8 investment still will be zero. You can evaluate every aspect of he product before deciding whether to buy.

For the record, I used CC DOS, CC2, CC2 Pro and CC3 for many years. At present I use both Fractal Mapper 8 and Dundjinni.

Good luck and good mapping,