Is Campaign Cartographer worth it?

[Kzach]

I have flirted with the idea of buying CC for many years. Part of what has put me off was that I forked out a lot of money (IIRC it was about $110 back then) for CC1 and found it to be so incredibly difficult to use and understand that it ended up being shelved and never touched.

I'm looking at it (CC3) now and thinking that it may have come a long way in terms of usability and that with the internet there may be some community resources I could draw on for help in understanding it.

The other thing that concerns me is that it seems that some integral components of it, namely the source maps and symbol sets, are EXTRA. That's a bit of a "WTF?" to me, especially since it would add up to about $150 worth of extra.

So I'm wondering if I buy only CC3, if I'm going to be left out in the cold and needing those $150 of extras or if I could be perfectly happy without them? Also, any pointers to possible communities that specialise in CC3 usage would be appreciated.

 

[Hand of Evil]

there are a couple of notes:

1. Not everyone maps the same - what I may use and what I map, may not work for you. Try the demos and see if it fits your needs.
2. You get out what you put into it - If you are going to use the program and learn it, it will give back your investment. CC3 is great and it has wonderful support but it does have a learning curve.

There are other programs out there, have you looked at NBOS Fractal Mapper, not as robust as CC3 (and it's add-ons) but a very good mapper.

Also see the Cartographers' Guild - The Front Page

If you go to GenCon, look for their booths, the guys (both NBOS & CC) will let you play and work with the programs.