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Battlemaps via Campaign Cartographer (short tutorial)

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Ualaa, Dec 10, 2017.

  1. Ualaa

    Ualaa Member

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    Campaign Cartographer (current version is 3 Plus) isn't an easy to learn software, and I've basically just got my toes into the water.
    That said, it is an extremely powerful piece of CAD-like software.

    If you're going the CC3+ route, I'll recommend getting the main program along with City Designer and Dungeon Designer as a bundle.
    With those three, you have the tools for the vast majority of your maps; technically, you can make just about anything from CD3+ and DD3+ with just CC3+, but the two main addons add a lot of tools to make life easier and map making faster.
    The program can be frustrating to learn, in that there are so many options...
    Still, you have a fairly decent trial period length, with the possibility of a full refund.

    The main program was designed for Overland type maps.
    For Battlemaps, we're not going to use the main program as much as we will Dungeon Designer, but learning one piece first before adding additional options is massively easier and much less overwhelming.
    Plus, the software is extremely neat to play with.

    As far as resources go, the ProFantasy forums are full of helpful and experienced users.
    There is also a helpful group on Facebook -- Campaign Cartographer 3+ Facebook User Group, which has been an excellent resource too.

    I'd recommend purchasing the bundle, but only installing the main program initially -- each addon adds a lot of extra buttons.
    YouTube has some tutorials, many of which are a little dated so things aren't exactly the same as the video (in most cases of the Sweeney videos, several functions you needed to manually do are now automatic).
    The Sweeney videos are a superb resource, particularly making Parrot Island; I watched the whole thing once (several smaller videos, linked in a series) and then did the map making process along with the video (lots of pausing and rewinding).
    The doing portion is important.

    Having made Parrot Island, you have an idea of what the buttons do.

    The program comes with two sets of guides.
    There is the "Essentials" guide, which is much faster and less in depth; I believe the best approach is to use that one first.
    But not just to read it, but to follow along and do all of the examples.
    At the end of the Essentials, you have a basic working knowledge of the program.
    The actual "Campaign Cartographer Guide" is around twice the length, and covers additional features, but with some overlap.
    I'd go through both of the guides, probably with a couple of days between the two, and not necessarily in one sitting -- having time to absorb details is good.

    Once you've done that, I'd install DD3+ and CD3+, possibly one and then the other, depending on what you have more of an interest in.
    With the working knowledge of the main program, the addons are a lot easier to learn.
    Both DD3 and CD3 come with their own "Essentials" Guide, but not a main guide.

    Another product, which goes into massive detail on many subjects is the "Tome of Ultimate Mapping".
    Honestly, I'd feel this should have been part of the free guides that come with the software, and not a separate purchase.
    Still, it is an extremely useful learning aid and a frequently referenced item, so despite the extra cost it's worthwhile.

    At this point, I'll recommend an annual, it doesn't matter which one.
    Each year, ProFantasy releases 12 to 13 issues, one per month, with assorted mapping styles.
    Pick one that looks interesting, and has a few styles of maps that look good.
    There are three issues (one month from a given annual) which are free, to sort of showcase what an annual does, so that's also a good start point:
    - Dec 2009 (Annual 3) - Battle Tiles
    - Jun 2011 (Annual 5) - Jon Roberts Dungeons
    - Dec 2015 (Annual 9) - Battle Map Collection
    What the annuals do, is include a dozen new styles, which are methods of making maps.
    A given annual will include new symbols, new tools, new templates, new fills, which the artist created with the base program to create maps of the style that ProFantasy decided to include in the Annual series.
    The main draw here, from a Tutorial point of view is, you have pretty styles to choose from and a step by step guide (1 to 3 PDFs) telling you the process to go through to build that style of map.
    Even if your main interest is "whatever", go through every issue (even those not immediately related to "whatever") of every annual you own; each is an excellent tutorial of the program.

    The Symbol Sets are a major draw of Campaign Cartographer, and are a large reason for the program.
    The base program comes with a lot of symbols, but the sets add a lot more.
    Initially, skip these... the main three programs, any single annual, and potentially the Tome are worth more to the learning process.
    SS1 are symbols for overland maps.
    SS2 are dungeon type symbols.
    SS3 are futuristic/space type symbols.
    SS4 is both different style of Overland Maps and different styles of Dungeons.
    For my personal interest, I'd added SS1, SS2, and SS4, but have little interest in futuristic stuff.
    SS3 and SS4 add toggle buttons to the interface, like CD3 and DD3, which change the interface to display based on the options desired; SS1 and SS2 don't have these toggle buttons, but increase the type of maps you can make.
     
  2. Ualaa

    Ualaa Member

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    My current campaign is in the Underdark.
    We are running 'Rise of the Drow'...
    My main interest is underground style battlemaps.

    To date, my styles are usually:
    - "Caves and Caverns", the July 2007 issue of Annual 1.
    - "Dwarven Dungeons", the Oct 2014 issue of Annual 8.
    - "Dungeons of Schley", part of the SS4 symbol set.

    The Dwarven Dungeons is very similar in style to the SS4 style.
    Mike Schley did a lot of the maps for the 5E edition of D&D, many of which were made within CC3+ using tools you can have access to.

    The Caves and Caverns is a dirtier, grittier looking set of dungeons/caverns.



    My process is something along these lines.
    Open CC3+ and select File > New.
    Choose Dungeons from the window, with the option dot on "Decide Settings Myself".
    Click Next.

    I navigate to either Annual Caves DD3 or to SS4 Dungeons of Schley.
    Highlight the choice and then choose Next.

    In the Top Left box (labelled as such), I place a compass rose there by clicking anywhere within the "Top Left" box.
    I choose the Compass Rose and then, the OK button.

    In the Bottom Left box (again labelled and positioned on the bottom left corner) I place a Scale Bar.
    Select one of the bars, and hit OK.

    The Compass Rose is fairly optional, on a battle map.
    I like it, but you could easily omit it.
    The Scale Bar is more or less essential, when we choose to import our map into D20Pro.

    You can position these in any of the corners, at this stage.
    It's a lot easier to find them here, and at this stage, but you can get them later if you forget the scale bar.
    Once you've done all of the options for the map and are creating it, there are buttons in the next to left most column one with a File Icon above the symbols, and that allows you to navigate the folders/sub-folders until you find scale bars -- with more choice to choose from (all your scale bars, not just those that match the style of the current map).

    The Dimensions section is where you choose the Width and Height of the map.
    This is always in map units.
    A continental map may be 10 miles per unit, a regional map may be 1 mile per unit, and dungeon maps are 1 foot per unit.
    You don't specify how large a unit is here, that is determined when you choose the style of map you're making.
    D20Pro uses one square is five feet (at least for Pathfinder, anyway).
    If I want a battlemap to be 20 squares by 20 squares, I would go 100 width and 100 height.
    It's a lot easier to go too big, and then not use it all, then it is to go too small and need to create a new map and then either start from scratch or copy elements from the old map to the new map.
    Most of my maps are under 1000 x 1000, which is still 200 squares by 200 squares, with the grid enabled in d20Pro.
    We spent two sessions in a Beholder Cave, which was 400 x 600, and essential all of last session on a 150 x 300 map.
    Everyone's computer systems are different, but the larger the map, the longer it's going to take to render -- and if your system is lacking in RAM, then the render process will fail at a certain point due to lack of memory.
    My largest maps took half an hour to render, and due to the size performed poorly within d20Pro; for my system 1000 x 1000 is a comfortable upper limit; experiment and see what works with yours.

    I'll generally name my map something both descriptive "Drider Cave" and technical 400x200.
    The map dimensions being in the title of the map is immensely helpful down the road, unless you can either remember the option you chose or are happy with using the distance measurement tools while within the map later.
    Recent map names are:
    - Beholder Cave 400x600
    - Jorumgard Gate 150x300
    - Slavers 300x150
    Copyright notice is below Map Title.

    Copyright notice is where you would put your name or company, or leave blank.
    Anything you make within CC3+ is yours, and you own full distribution rights should you choose to sell maps -- the only restriction being, ProFantasy won't want you to make maps (which in their opinion) for the purpose of distribution of their symbols... so no maps where you place one each of the hundred and sixty mountain symbols in a nicely lined up grid with spacing around each for easy copy/paste action.
    You can leave this blank if you want.

    Once all that is set, click Next.

    Ensure 'Map Background' is checked.
    And choose a Fill Style that works -- this is going to be default ground color, so ideally you want something that both reflects where you are and that has some kind of contrast from the walls, be they brick, stone, wood, or dirt.
    I'm generally using a mix of dirt and grass, from SS4, for my underground cavern ground but that choice is personal preference.

    At this point I do not check Grid Overlay; I prefer to do that in a later stage.
    If you were to do multiple levels, you could click Next and set however many you would like; for example, your dungeon battlemap is a castle with six floors... mine are one level underground caves, so I click Finish here.

    The program prompts for saving here.

    That, then opens your map up and you're ready to design whatever your needs are.
     
  3. Ualaa

    Ualaa Member

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    I'm doing underground stuff, and the PCs are usually in a tunnel bored by giant Purple Worms, but sometimes within caverns or whatever.
    I'll right click the Cave symbol (near the top left).
    Left click is default options for the current map style, but right click is all options...
    I generally pick either a brown, that differs from the ground (for dirt walls) or a grey that differs from the ground (for stone walls).
    Since this is a dungeon, the wall selection is going to be a fractal line.
    You can use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow to increase/decrease the level of randomness.
    You also want to start the click off of the map, and then work onto the map.
    I'll generally orient the edge I want the group to be on... so perhaps they're traveling along a tunnel (bottom edge of the map), and the cave/cavern/lair is on their left (moving up towards the middle of the map).
    Sometimes, for variety I have the group along a different edge.

    Whichever edge they select, starting off of the map and fairly close to that edge of the map I draw the cave/cavern edge.
    If the group will be traveling left to right, along the bottom of the map, I'll select a point along the bottom edge of my map and either left off of the map or right off of the map.
    Then it's a case of move the mouse, left click on the map, and repeat varying the distance between clicks (to taste) and using the Up/Down arrows to vary the level of fractalization (again to taste).
    I'll click right across the map, in several hops of an inch or three (on my screen) until I've clicked off of the map on say the right edge (if I had started on the left edge).
    Then I click below the bottom edge of the map, still on the right side.
    And move to the left side of the map and click below the map edge and left of the map edge (doesn't have to be far, but you want to be beyond your border).
    Then move up and (left) click fairly close to the initial first click, and once you're very close do a single right click to close the fractal polygon (cave wall).
    If you don't like a node, you can use the Delete key to remove the most recent node (and again for the one before that).
    Also if you place the first item (in my case cavern edge) you can (left) click on the map again and you're on the same tool set.

    You can use the Undo command to undo previous decisions, and press it several times if you want to undo several things.
    Or you can use the Erase tool, if you want to erase something that wasn't necessarily the most recent.
    These are both covered in the Essentials and Main Guide, referenced in the first post.

    With a CAD program, you are selecting the tool first.
    Then you're making choices with the tool on the map.

    At this point, I find it helpful to have a Grid.
    Click on the Draw Menu (windows style menu.. File, Edit, View, Draw, Tools, Symbols, Dungeons, Info, Help).
    Draw > Hex or Square Overlay.
    Check square Grid.
    For Grid Spacing, change it to 5 (for a 5 foot interval between grid lines).
    The top left of the dialogue box, uncheck Labelling.
    Hit Apply.

    I find it easiest to Freeze the grid, so it cannot be selected.
    Along the top of the window, there is a set of definitions.
    One of them reads " L:FLOORS " (well L for layer and : whatever, for your current layer).
    Left click anywhere in that box, then find the Hex/Square Grid Layer.
    There are three boxes to the left of the layers.
    The first box is the current active layer, only one layer will have a check, in my case Floors.
    The middle box, if checked will place an H for Hide, you can hide as many layers as you'd like at any point.
    The far right box, if checked will place an F for Freeze on that layer; again you can freeze as many as you'd like.
    I freeze the grid, but do not Hide it, as I want to see it.
    Apply and then OK.

    I'll again start off of the map, and am generally now creating the width of the tunnel.
    Since I did the bottom edge, I'll estimate how wide I want the tunnel to be... if it's 40 feet wide, then I'll be 8 squares above the first wall, at least on average.
    Click and click and click (left clicks) and adjust the fractalization (Up/Down arrow) to make the opposite edge of their tunnel.
    Most of the time, I'm drawing a cave or edifice of some sort.
    So I'll click along, until I reach where I want the tunnel or opening to be.
    And then move upwards and trace the edge of that cave, counter-clockwise (if I started on the left edge).
    Basically fill in the edges of the cave, until I'm where the upper tunnel wall would be.
    And then continue to the right, left clicking every inch or three or so, until I'm off of the map.
    Then clicking outside of the map, set the an edge off of the map, then off of the Top Right corner, then off of the Top Left Corner, then left click off of the map but near the first left click (that started this cave wall), and right click to finish (close) the polygon.

    If the grid is in the way of your drawing, you can click the LAYERS window, and Hide that layer.
    You can also use the zoom buttons (top right of the interface) to zoom in on a section (that's covered in Essentials too).

    The bottom left, of the six zoom buttons which are in the top right is the Redraw button.
    Anytime you want an update of the map, click that.
    As you're drawing, you're placing symbols or objects onto the map, but the Layer order determines which is placed and when.
    Redraw will have the entirety of a layer drawn and then the next and so on, so you may place something on the floor layer and cover up some of your walls or symbols.
    Upon redraw, the walls will be visible again, since the Wall layer sits on top of the floor layer.

    With the grid frozen, use the Zoom function for the bottom left corner of the map.
    Something like 1/8 or 1/4 of your total map.
    And then re-draw, so the symbols are on top of everything else.
    That will make your Scale Bar visible on top of the walls, floor, etc.
    And the zoom into that section makes it easy to find.

    Along the left edge of the interface, you'll want to use the Move tool and the Resize tool to place your scale bar.
    My 300 x 300 foot map has made certain default assumptions.
    When I placed my grid, and overrode the default (300x300 default) setting of a grid line every 20 feet, and chose to have a grid line every 5 feet, that threw my scale bar off.
    The scale bar would have been perfect, to the default grid settings.
    I use the Resize button (Essentials Guide explains these in detail), to make the bars 50 foot length be across ten squares of my grid overlay (10 squares times 5 feet per square is 50 feet).
    I also position the bar somewhere on the map (Move Command) where the players cannot get to, but where I haven't drawn ground or whatever.
    Sometimes, when I'm doing the bottom edge cave symbols, I'll click around the scale bar to have a section that is not walls/cavern color to make the bar more visible.

    For an underground map, the cavern walls are the main feature.
    On the surface, dungeon walls (another tool button in the top left of the interface) may be the default symbol that is prevalent.
    If I want water, I can place it with the water tool.
    On the horizontal bar, in the top left are a plethora of symbol menu buttons.
    (You can add a massive amount of extra free symbols, such as the CSAUC symbol set, which is free to own and use, but are copyrighted so you cannot sell maps which contain these symbols... the process of adding these, and other free sets is detailed on the ProFantasy forums).
    I generally sprinkle a fair bit of eye candy, such as minor insects (not combat creatures) like scorpions or spiders, webs, fungi and mushrooms, maybe treasure chests, whatever fits the maps about.
    These are artistic, well beyond my capabilities, but free for me to add to the maps and add beauty to it.

    You could add traps, to a trap layer... which you could then enable and print your own copy, and then hide so the player copy of the map does not show that layer...
     
  4. Ualaa

    Ualaa Member

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    Once I've added all the eye candy symbols to the map... and those choice vary drastically from one map to the next...

    For example, an inn (Dungeon Designer is basically rooms, caves, ships, or any smaller scale map) may have tables, chairs, vases, fireplaces, logs, etc... while the underground will have spiders, webs, bones, blood splatter, scorpions, rocks and debris...

    It's time to enable the effects, to see what it all looks like.

    To the left of the Layers window is the Sheets window.
    It is labelled S: Some.Name, which is whatever you were placing most recently.

    In CC3+, sheets are what I would have thought layers were in most graphic editing programs.
    While layers are the order in which objects are placed.
    Still, sheets are special effects, for the most part.

    In the top right, you want to select the square box (left click) that says Activate Sheet Effects.
    You have the option to enable for the "Selected Sheet" or for the "Whole Drawing".
    If you're modifying effects to taste, one at a time and tweaking may be the way to go.
    Personally, I'm not at that level yet, so will just select the whole drawing, and then click Apply and OK.

    That turns on the fancy effects, such as a Bevel in the Wall, the glow of water where an area is deeper and an area is shallow, or shadows and whatever else.
    I'll generally work the map with special effects off, because effects are a major drain on the system and it's a lot easier to work without them.
    But you'll want them on when you save the map into a non-CC3+ format.

    You'll also want to hide the Grid, on the L: LAYERS section.
    It's a lot easier to import the map into d20Pro, enable the d20Pro grid overlay and then adjust the map slightly so that the d20Pro grid is ten grid squares across the length of the scale bar.
    If you have the CC3+ Grid enabled, then in addition to adjusting the scale of the map, you need to align the Grids which is an unnecessary and avoidable step.
    Plus, with only the D20Pro grid enabled, you have the option to disable the grid, when you don't want it.



    At this stage, our CC3+ Scale Bar has been positioned somewhere and has been scaled to match the size of the grid.
    And we have then hidden our Grid within CC3+.
    Our special effects, from the Sheets section has been enabled for the whole drawing.
    Click the refresh button once more, to ensure everything has been drawn in the correct order.

    Select File > Save As.
    Below File Name, there is a drop down box for the type of file (Save as type:).
    It says Campaign Cartographer 3 FCW Drawing.
    Clicking on that, allows us to scroll down and select 'PNG Bitmap File'.
    Then in the bottom right of the dialogue box click on OPTIONS.

    In the Width field, you want a number which is 10x (add a zero to the far right) of your map width.
    In the Height field, the same thing... 10x larger than the height of the map.
    When I created my map, I named it "Beholder Cave 400x600" which gives me the information I need in this stage.
    I would make the width 4000 and the height 6000, because my map is 400 wide and 600 high.

    You want to check "Restrict Image to Map Border".
    I use 24-bit BMP.
    And Maximum PNG Compression.
    I don't believe the JPEG field matters, since I'm saving as a PNG but Quality is set to 80 there and Progressive is not checked.
    If upon export, you'd like to launch your map, in whatever the default viewer of PNG files is, you can check the Launch Image Viewer button.
    I don't have Antialias checked and do not Crop image to an aspect ratio.

    You can save settings at the top of this dialogue box.
    Having saved the 4000 x 6000 settings...
    I saved as 400x600...
    The next time I have a 400x600 map, I can click that drop down under Settings, navigate to 400x600 (my title) and have everything set for a map of that size.

    Click OK.
    Then click Save.
    A black window, with DOS style information appears, as CC3+ renders your image as a PNG.
    The larger the map, and the more symbols and sheet effects, the longer this process.
    It does give an estimated time to complete the rendering.
    If your map requires more resources (RAM) than your system has, the process will crash; you'll still have your FCW but the PNG won't render.
    The power of your CPU determines how quickly it completes the process.

    I have GIMP set as my default viewer of PNG files.
    And I check the Launch Image Viewer button, to have my program auto open.
    If you've not set GIMP as your viewer of PNG files, you view the image with whatever viewer you have and see if you like the quality...
    I've exported many times without sheet effects on, or with a Grid still enabled...
    Which means, make the corrections and re-export the PNG.

    With Windows, you can:
    Right Click on the File and select Open With.
    Then at the bottom select Choose Another App.
    Select GIMP (or another graphical editor program).
    And at the bottom check the box to always use that program for this type of file.

    The map (in PNG Format) launches in GIMP (or whatever program you use).
    GIMP is a free download, and a powerful program.

    In the case of GIMP, there are three windows that open.
    The one with the windows style menus are what we want.
    Click File > Export As.
    To the bottom left, immediately above Help, there is a plus sign and then the text 'Select File_Type (By Extension)'.
    Clicking the + lets you choose the file type.
    Scroll down to JPG Image and select that.
    Then press the Export button.

    Another dialogue box opens.
    You want to drag the window with the PNG view of your map somewhere where it is visible; that makes it a top window in front of the others.
    At the bottom of this window is a dialogue box, for the level of the zoom.
    100% is a good setting, since that is what the map will look like, in d20Pro.

    Also drag the secondary dialogue box somewhere off of that first window (with the PNG view).
    So now you can see both of these windows.

    Click the + symbol immediately to the left of the bold Advanced Options.
    Now we play with features... trading quality away for reduced file size.
    The quality bar is a slider along the top.
    I generally go 30 to 50 percent; 30 loses a lot more image quality, but is still a high enough level for my satisfaction... 50 looks better, of course and generally with 50 the loss in quality is minimal and hard to spot.
    You want Optimize to be checked.
    Progressive doesn't impact the JPG export, but affects how the file will gradually open if it were large enough to take time; I have my progressive checked.
    4:4:4 (best quality) is the default, and I don't generally change this; 4:2:0 (chroma quartered) would be a small gain in file size reduction at a significant quality loss.
    DCT Method Floating-Point is recommended by the GIMP people, but I've not noticed any difference between the three options.
    For Smoothing I generally go with 15 -- the GIMP people suggest that 10-15 won't result in image loss that the naked eye will spot; the higher this number the worse the image will look, but the greater the reduction in file size.

    My goal is somewhere under 2 MB file size.
    For my system, that is smooth play.
    The YouTube vidoes that included this process... the only one to mention file size figured you wanted under 1 MB for d20Pro to have adequate performance.

    Basically the Quality slider and the Smoothing slider are the file size reduction options.

    Check the box below Quality but above Advanced Options.
    It reads "Show preview in image window".
    This sometimes takes a moment to catch up/calculate, but it shows what the JPG export will be (in quality on the image view window) and in size next to the estimated File Size.
    If the quality is fine, you may want to increase reduction options until you hit a threshold were quality was lost -- and to them revert the most recent change slightly so you're at the point where there is no loss in quality but you are at the maximum reduction.
    The smaller the output file, the better d20Pro will perform.

    Essentially, decide on your happy medium.
     
  5. Ualaa

    Ualaa Member

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    Launch d20Pro.

    Log in as a (GM) Host.
    Check the lower of the options for "Enable TCP/IP Networking".
    That restricts your game to the local area network, so no one else will join during your prep work.
    Click OK.

    Click your D20 Icon, and then select Content Library.
    Go to the first (the map) tab.
    Press the Create button, along the bottom of that dialogue box.
    Choose Image from File (the middle button).

    Navigate to where your JPG was just saved.

    Use the slider bars along the right edge and bottom edge of the map window.
    Move to the portion of the map, where your Scale Bar is visible.
    The sizing of the scale bar, while within CC3+, was done by eye so it won't be exactly perfect every time.

    Along the bottom, just above the slider, are three tools.
    One is labelled "Offset", the next is "Rescale" and the last is "Zoom".
    For Rescale, you want the box checked and your value will be very close to 50.
    If your eye-ball of the scale bar, within CC3+ was perfect, then 50 is your exact value.
    I generally fine something in the 48-52 range works for my maps.

    Also, use the offset arrows to move the entire map slightly, in relation to the d20Pro Grid overlay.
    Ideally, you want the Scale Bar to perfectly line up with the Grid Overlay.
    Since the players aren't seeing this, it is for your aesthetics; you won't actually need a scale bar for a battlemap, and d20Pro has the measuring tool as well, but I like it to line up.

    The Grid button will allow you to set the color of the Grid Overlay.
    Something that stands out from the ground color is suggested.
    I'm using some shade of pink/purple, as it contrasts nicely to both my dirt/grass floors and to my grey stone walls.

    The Canvas button, is the color of the surface on which your map will sit.
    Our group preferred a dark green, to the black I initially started with.
    Click next.

    Here you can name your map, it no longer needs the 150x300 (or whatever), but you can retain that for reference purposes.
    You get an extra button here, for FoW (Fog of War).
    I like to set the Fog of War to be the same color as the map canvas.

    Click Finish, and you're done.
     
  6. Ualaa

    Ualaa Member

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    Within d20Pro, click the d20 icon in the top left.
    Then select Draw Tools.

    The tab you want is Draw.
    Ensure you have Wall selected, that it is Closed and Interactive.

    Click along each wall that has been drawn within CC3+.
    That could be the cavern edge, the dungeon or inn wall, or a boulder that was placed as a symbol.
    Anything that blocks line of sight, is going to be defined as a Wall (d20Pro terminology) inside d20Pro.

    You can zoom in quite a ways, via the scroll wheel of the mouse.
    It helps to at times zoom way in, and at other times to zoom out.
    Ideally, if the wall/cave edge (drawn in CC3+) is say one square thick (5 ft. of thickness), the d20Pro Wall (vision blocker) is drawn through the wall in such a way that the PC side of the wall still shows 2 or 3 feet (approximately half a Grid square width) of the wall.
    That way, when the PCs have their vision blocked, they can see that it is a wagon or boulder or an outcropping of the cavern wall which is blocking their line of sight.

    D20Pro uses the same node placement as CC3+ does for it's fractal objects.
    If you dislike the last node placement, you can remove it (or several) with the Delete key.
    Avoid the Escape Key, as that cancels the entire wall placement (in both programs), so you would have to start that object/wall placement from the beginning.
    Fewer clicks is generally going to be easier than a lot of clicks.
    Even if the cavern wall is rather fractilized and has a rough surface which varies greatly, making fewer clicks is easier.
    It doesn't necessarily matter if your vision of the cave edge sometimes shows 2 ft. of cave and other times 4 ft. of cave, it is going to be a lot easier to match three clicks than seventeen.

    D20Pro has a couple of tools that make wall placement easier on you.
    You can Snap to Knot and Snap to Grid.
    A knot is any place you've left clicked with the mouse, to place a wall node.
    And the grid, is every intersection.
    Sometimes you want both of these off, but most often you'll have one or the other enabled.
    Closing a wall is much easier with Knots on, since your mouse gets pulled to the initial opening click, once you're close to it.

    Once all of the walls have been painted, it is time to paint the Masks.
    Click Mask, instead of Wall still leaving Closed and Interacted selected.
    When doing Masks, snap to knot and snap to grid are your friends.
    You can place several smaller Masks, and manually control when an area becomes visible, when in game... use that to control what the players can see, even if one of the players drags their token through a wall, exploring your map outside of combat.
    In my case, we play face to face and players use a laser pointer to show where they want me to move their character on the map... I'm not moving characters to see stuff they shouldn't yet, so a single large Mask is fine.

    Using snap to knot, and tracing your walls slowly allows the Masks to match up to each Knot/Node point in your wall.
    That way, there aren't little streaks of visibility between the Mask and the Wall.
    Fewer nodes, during the Wall placement, makes this much easier; again six nodes to click along the length is easier than seventeen.

    If your adventure takes place on the surface and during the day, you may want to disable your Masks so the players are not limited by Light Source ranges (or the range of their darkvision)...

    Interestingly...
    Walls which block line of sight are purple and crossed out, to be active.
    Masks which limit vision range, to whatever sight range the character has, are green and enabled, to be active.
    You can sort by Type (click the top of the field) to enable and disable Masks and Walls as appropriate.

    You can also play with effects.
    If you make a Wall passive instead of Interactive, it still blocks line of sight preventing seeing what is inside that walled off area.
    But characters can see beyond the Wall...
     
  7. Ualaa

    Ualaa Member

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  8. Ualaa

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  9. Ualaa

    Ualaa Member

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