Dundjinni for large scale maps?

[Beowulf]

I hope this hasn't been addressed elsewhere- I've dug thru this site and didn't see the answer nor any relevant FAQ sticky that covered it. Anyway, I'm curious as to whether Dundjinni is useful for making campaign/continental type maps. According to what I've read on other sites it's primary use is for dungeon type maps. But they do sell a Campaign Art Pack that's supposed to be for making those types of maps.

I've been shopping for a software suite for awhile but am undecided as to what would suit me best. I of course want good looking maps; they needn't be commercial quality but I want them to look reasonably slick & polished. Simplicity is my main desire. I realize CC2/CC3 is probably the Gold Standard for software but I had the original CC and was never able to figure it out enough to get usable maps from it. Flexibility is 2nd but is fairly important. I want to be able to make overland & continental maps while retaining the ability to do towns, villages & dungeons. Price is relevant, and I don't want to spend a lot of money, at least not without a demo version. I'm pretty computer savvy but have no CAD background at all. And I don't want to spend 3 months of daily study just to make a simple continental map!

Can anyone suggest a good program for my uses? And would Dundjinni with the added Campaign Pack do what I need it to do?

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

[ravells]

Hi Beowulf and welcome to the boards!

I don't use Dunjinni but I do know that RPMiller, one of the community helpers on this board is an expert on it and I think involved in its development, so he should be able to give you the answers to that.

In terms of what software to buy, have a look at this thread where the same question was asked.

All the best!

Ravs

[RobA]

Here is a post in the Dundjinni map forum that shows such a map

Most of the ones I have seen use isometric art as opposed to symbols.

-Rob A>

[pyrandon]

Hi, Beowulf. I once used Dundjinni for some large-scale maps, and it is useable, but IMO not quite as readily-usable as say CC which is set up for that scale mapping. I recommend gettign GIMP (it's a free painting program--not specifically for maps at all), then follow a tutorial to make your large scale maps. There is a learning curve for GIMP--but this is true with every program, and GIMP will be very powerful once you have a few tricks up your sleeve. Oh, and you could also make very nice local/dungeon level maps in GIMP too--especially if you borrow items from our friends over at the Dundjinni forums, where you can find almost anything you could ever want to place on your map.

Otherwise, take a look at that link ravells posted.

Welcome to the Guild!

[RPMiller]

Hi Beowulf and welcome to the boards!

I don't use Dunjinni but I do know that RPMiller, one of the community helpers on this board is an expert on it and I think involved in its development, so he should be able to give you the answers to that.

In terms of what software to buy, have a look at this thread where the same question was asked.

All the best!

Ravs

That's not me. I have made several tokens and objects for it, but I actually don't use it. The person you want to talk to is Kepli. He is a member here and one of the admins at the Dundjinni site.

[Beowulf]

Thanks, all! I've been tempted to try CC3...Sounds like it's easier to use than previous versions. Probably most of my mapping could be handled by DJ but I don't mind mapping dungeons by hand. And I don't really do dungeon crawls much anymore.

[Beowulf]

Okay, I just purchased Fractal Mapper v8.0 from RPGNow and it's downloading. Once I get it installed I'll play around with it and see how it works. It's only $35 so if I don't like it I can always get CC3 and/or DJ. But I tried the demo version of FM v7.0 and really liked it, so hopefully 8.0 is more of the same.

The one thing I'm having trouble figuring out, though, is whether the upgrade add-on Symbol Pack for 7.0 works with 8.0, too, or if 8.0 already contains it. On the company's own website they list them together but nowhere does it mention using them together. Odd...

[Midgardsormr]

Hello there, Beowulf. I'm jumping in rather late in the game, but as a brand-new CC3 user, I thought I'd share my experience.

I purchased CC3 about two months ago, I think, and immediately came here to learn how to use it. Here's my Work In Progress thread: http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=847 I haven't had the time to do anything with either that or my monthly challenge entry the past couple of weeks, unfortunately, but the WIP thread should give you an idea of how long it takes to get up to speed in CC3.

There are still tons of features I haven't even touched in the software, but even with my limited facility, I've turned out a map that is quite attractive to my own eye. (Others may disagree, but they're polite enough not to say so.)

Good luck with Fractal Mapper--I'm looking forward to seeing what can be done with it.