Planetary Updates!

Two of my favourite mapping software has just been updated!  Fractal Terrains 3 and AstroSynthesis v3.0!

The most amazing update for Fractal Terrains 3 is the option to export to Google Earth!  As well as faster refresh and draw time!

So what is new in Fractal Terrains 3?

• CC3, Google Earth, Cosmographer 3 and 16-bit PNG export.
• Screen rendering on mulitcore processors is twice as fast or more.
• The complex mathematical operations used in Fractal Terrains are up to 20% faster.
• Performance scales better with the number of processors available on the system.
• The interface has been improved with a variety of themes.
• Added texture-based climate shader which works on sea areas.
• Added normalize tool to manually fix problems with painting in earlier versions that could cause black areas to appear on the world.
• Many niggles and bugs fixed and export libraries updated.

Price: 32.95 (27.95 for download only)

Fractal Terrains 3 is perfect as stand alone or if you own Campaign Cartographer 3 and any of the add-on software you can export your maps to scale!  This is a HUGE time saver if you are making several different overland maps to scale!

AstroSynthesis allows you to create an entire galaxy all in 3D!  Star Coordinates, System Generator, Planet Maps, Animations, Search Functions and so much more! You can even choose to use the built in Planet Generator or Profantasy’s Fractal Terrains!

So what is new in version 3?

• New Integrated Orbital Display
• Multiple Star System Display
• Flexible System Generator
• Terraforming
• Fixed-Number Star System Generation
• On the Fly Surface Map Generation
• 3D Models
• Background Images
• Anti-Aliased Graphics
• Natural Language Search
• Sector Date and Time Tracking
• Travel Calculator
• Video Recording / Movie Making
• New Storage Engine
• Automatic Updater
• Better Windows 7/ Vista support

Price:  $34.95 US (download only) or $20.00 to upgrade

I have been using both programs since they first came out and I have been pleased to purchase every upgrade that has come out since.  If you play any space faring game such as GURPS, Serenity, Traveller, RIFTS, or any other type of game then these programs are for you!  I even use AstroSynthesis for my Fantasy campaign as I use it to figure out the position of the planets and stars!

Are you a wargamer instead?  I also use AstroSynthesis for campaigns in my Warhammer 40,000 games.  AstroSynthesis is perfect for generating the systems that we play over, distances and travel time then export to CC3 for local maps with Cosmographer 3.  The possibilities of these two products is almost endless!

I would also like to add that both companies have amazing customer service.  I’ve never had a problem with them answering questions that I have had in the past.

Get over to their respected web pages and read more about these amazing products!

Campaign Cartographer July 2011 Annual

Profantasy The Cartographer’s Annual 2011 July issue is a paper diorama of mines.

July ’11

The July issue of the Annual 2010 a customizable mine diorama that you can print and assemble as you need. Created with Dioramas Pro, it also shows off many of that add-ons features without the need of actually owning it!

Mine Cart

The style contains 14 A4/Letter pages of Dioroma goodness. Ech of these can be customized on its own, and together they allow you to build almost any mine layout. The accompanying mapping guide gives hints and tips for customization and assembly.

The map pack Mine Diorama includes

1 new drawing style
2 new template wizards (Imperial and metric units)
2 new symbols
8 bitmap fills
32 new drawing tools
1 new effect setting
15 pages of example diorama parts
15 pages of blank diorama parts
1 4-page mapping guide

You must own Campaign Cartographer 3 and a subscription to the 2011 annual to use them.  I’m hoping that this will mean an upcoming Dioramas 3.

I’ve been pushing for an update for Dioramas and Character Artist (for paper figures) for months now.

The Cartographer’s Annual 2009 March edition

Written by: Highland_Piper

From Profantasy

The March issue contains a detailed multi-deck plan of a sailing ship plus drawing tools and templates to draw your own. Fine-tuned sheet effects make the deckplan come alive and create maps useable both for reference and as a battlemat.

The map pack Sailing Ship includes

• 4 detailed deckplans and a sideview of the ship (png and pdf exports included)
• 1 3-page pdf Sheet and Effects Guide
• 1 5-page pdf Ship Description
• 1 new template wizard
• 1 new template
• 73 new drawing tools
• 1 new symbol catalog containing 7 new symbols
• 8 new bitmap fill styles
• 2 new effect settings

ProFantasy Software – City Designer 3

Read the rest of this entry »

Campaign Cartographer 3

Over ten years ago I drooled over a flyer I got at GenCon.  It was for some software called Campaign Cartographer 2.  Well being the kind of guy I am I bought it. I bought all of it, the Dungeon Designer, the City Designer.  Then they came out with CC2 Pro.  WOW it had gotten better!  So I upgraded all the software to the new CC2 Pro versions.  I used that for years, in fact I was still using CC2 Pro last week.  That is until I purchased CC3 from Dungeon Crawlers.

Read the rest of this entry »

UCW (User Created World)

That’s right, user created world!

Go here to vote o­n what you would like for a Generic RPG/Wargaming world. After enough submissions we will take the most selected and create the world you voted o­n and make the maps!We will start with the over all world then move to nations cities, dungeons. All generic to be used for any setting. Fantasy, Sci-fi, super hero, you name it and its yours.
Read the rest of this entry »

Maps in Minutes

Maps in Minutes you say?

Well yes I did. Nothing has improved my RPG expereince since getting the Campaign Cartographer series of software. Profantasy Software Ltd made it even easier when they came out with Fractal Terrains.

What used to take weeks to build now takes moments. I have made a few example maps to show just how wonderful the product is!

Read the rest of this entry »