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From: Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Big Campaign Cartographer bundle sale
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2025 10:58:02 -0400
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On Wed, 16 Apr 2025 01:18:23 +0200 (GMT+02:00), kyonshi
<smaug@ereborbbs.duckdns.org> wrote:

>Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> Wrote in message:
>
>> 
>> I guess I'm sort of shilling here, but I like the product and I think
>> it's a good deal, so I hope you'll forgive me (anyway, it's not like I
>> receive any kickbacks for my post).
>> 
>> There's currently a bundle-deal for almost the complete bundle of
>> Campaign Cartographer software suite at HumbleBundle
>> https://www.humblebundle.com/software/map-making-mega-bundle-software
>> Excluding a couple of the newest update packs, you can get all their
>> 'wares for $35 USD, which is a pretty good price.
>> 
>> Campaign Cartographer is, admittedly, not the easiest software to
>> learn. It's basically repackaged CAD software and its interface hasn't
>> changed in more than 20 years. The interface is obtuse and the
>> learning curve is steep, but the reward for all that is an incredibly
>> powerful suite of software. I've used it over the years and while I'm
>> no expert, even with the default symbols and tools, I've made some
>> respectable creations
>> 
>> (here's an old one that I made more than 20 years ago!
>>   https://imgur.com/a/LdVml3t )
>> 
>> The toolset allows you a variety of styles, so you can customise and
>> individualise your creations to your own taste. The add-ons allow
>> everything from dioramas to character models to star maps. I owned the
>> core apps but was glad to round out my collection (and get updated
>> versions of the tools at the same time) with this bundle.
>> 
>> Anyway, I think it's a useful collection for any Dungeon Master,
>> especially those who like a nice map in their adventures. 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>
>Well. Here's the rub: I already bought Campaign Cartographer
> bundles from Humble multiple times, and while it would be nice to
> have e.g. all the Annuals, I'm just not sure if I actually would
> use them.
>I don't even mind the GUI so much, but the maps created do look
> like 3e era at best. That is, unless you go wild and delve so
> deep into creating with the software you easily could spend the
> effort to learn a professional CAD program. So I think these
> bundles have limited returns for the company. Everybody who
> wanted the software already has it, and unless they are
> completionists, I feel like many people won't spend all that much
> money to buy the same stuff again.
>
>For what it's worth i also bought Dungeondraft and Wonderdraft,
> and both were much closer to what I actually needed for use in my
> campaign.

You can give the maps quite varied appearances (I myself tend to aim
at for the 2E look, for obvious reasons) but, yeah, the learning curve
is quite steep and that rabbit hole gets deeper the more you want to
personalize your mapping style. On the other hand, CC3 /does/ give you
that ability to customize, which is something I've not really
something I've found with other mapping tools. (Heck, that
perspectives tool lets you make maps as seen from an angle, and that's
an amazingly neat feature that I've got to give a try). Plus, the
various annuals add so many new symbol sets.

Is Campaign Cartographer better than its competitors? I'm not sure I'd
say that. It's a very rough program, and a lot of other alternatives
are much more accessible.  But you can do so much with CC3, and given
it's price (still available for the next 8 days! ;-) it seems too good
a bargain to miss.

Assuming you don't already own it, of course. Although in my case, it
was still worth it, since the version I had on disk was extremely old
and getting all the expansions made it worth it.