Ja mei! I've been reminded by private E-Mail that my plain and simple answer was a bit too plain and simple. That's true, unfortunately.
If you make a map and distribute it as a flat map (i.e. JPG, PNG, BMP, etc.) my answer, Yes, is correct. If you make a map with a program other than CC3 and distribute it in its native format (i.e. a GIMP map as a GIMP file, a PhotoShop map as a PhotoShop file) and that program carries the map as a separate, extractable object, you are in violation of ProFantasy's license.
Now, you may wonder what that's all about. ProFantasy uses this method in an attempt to protect its symbols from pirates, but it also does a lot to make them available to users of other programs. If, for instance, you have Fractal Mapper (TM) 8 or Dundjinni (TM) installed on your computer, and you then install ProFantasy programs, they automatically will install all of their symbols in the proper FM8 or Dundjinni folders and menus as well.
However, even in this case, one has to be careful in distributing the maps one makes with these programs. If one uses the cartographic programs to export the end results as flat maps (JPG, PNG, BMP, etc.), there's no problem. That's legal. That's also what the majority of RPG cartographers do.
But then there are wierdos like the three of us in the Vintyri (TM) Project. We make our maps with FM8 and also make our maps available in FM8's native FMP file format. That's part of our open source concept. Anyone can download our maps and edit or modify them to their hearts' content. However, that's not legally possible with FM8 maps that use CC3, CD3, DD3 and/or CA3 symbols and/or fills. If I leave FM8's "noembed" switch turned on, people who don't have the ProFantasy installed symbols that we might have used in our maps would see only blank spaces at the positions where we placed them. That wouldn't happen if we turned FM8's "noembed" switch off, because then the ProFantasy symbols would be embedded in our maps - in violation of the ProFantasy license.
That's what this embedding thing is about. CC3 does not include the symbols (objects) or fill textures that are used in a map in the map file itself. It instead uses references to the hard drive or SSD drive address on the mapper's computer where the symbols are installed, and each time a CC3 map is called up on the screen, CC3 pulls the symbol and texture images up anew into the map from the hard drive or SSD drive. CC3 is not even able to embed objects and textures in a CC3 map. As a result, if one makes a CC3 map and distributes it in the native FCW file format, other CC3 users who open the map will see the objects and textures used only if they have all of these objects and textures installed in exactly the same folders at exactly the same locations as the cartographer did. If any objects or textures are missing, CC3 will show only a box with a red X at the locations where they were placed.
With FM8, one can turn the "noembed" switch on and off as one pleases for each symbol group. But the only legal output with an FM8 map would be with the switch turned on or with an exported flat map.
Finally, some who read this might wonder if I know what I'm talking about or how I know this, etc. When ProFantasy first announced the release of its CC3 products with FM8 and Dundjinni symbol and fill installations, I read the license and came personally to the conclusion that the license prohibits embedding. I then asked our attorney for an opinion, and his conclusion was the same. Finally, to be certain, I asked ProFantasy. I have a written confirmation from Ralf Schemmann of ProFantasy Ltd. that the license does indeed prohibit embedding of its fills (textures) and symbols (objects).
Sorry. It's no longer so simple, but I hope the English still is plain.
As my avatar, Groucho Marx, sang some 80 years ago:
Hello! I must be going. I came to say, I cannot stay, I must be going.
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