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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Humoru" data-source="post: 1611485" data-attributes="member: 20568">I have been watching this thread with a great deal of interest over the last few days and thought it about time to throw my hat into the ring... so here goes.Every point of view so far has been right in lines with the feedback given before, during and after the release of DJ by those who haunt the boards over there. Some won't buy, many will. Some want to publish with it comercially, many dont. Some dislike somethings about it, many don't. The great thing about it is that Fluid as a company listens to it all and has been incredibly responsive - both in saying 'yes' and 'no' to discussion points.No product is going to satisfy everyone, this is true of everything I have ever seen published in this arena. Mapping utilities all have their pro's and con's and those who use them alternate between rejoicing at their beauty and cursing them to the depths of hell for their inadequacies. Be that as it may for me, and for many, this program has been a real eye opener and something that makes our gaming experience more vivid and engaging.I am a DM, have been for years. I have the artistic talent of a tick. But I always wanted a program to come out that would start developing my skills in this area because it was linked to an activity I enjoy very, very much. I felt I had a responsibility to my players to make their gaming experience the best I could. But I have, like many people, limited time and resources. I played with CC2, Fractal Mapper and many others talked about here and other places. All gave me a little something but not what I needed. Then came DJ.Let's say upfront that, as it has been pointed out by several posters, is new. It's growing. It's growing fast. And the reason is that the users are growing in skill... and as their level increases so they desire more from the program and more from Fluid. These are people that I can tell have the same talent as me,      little to some. But as they began to use it they found as did I they could begin to create maps that are visually appealing and help them make their gaming experience better... an this is, in some cases, in hours not days, weeks or months (sometimes years). Hours. That must say something for the program.Fluid has created a product with a selection of artwork that is expanding, both by their efforts and those of us who use it. Free downloads from them in addition to many artpacks in development - including campaign world building so wanted by many here and on their boards as well. While the publishing issue is still an active discussion I am impressed by their willingness to talk to anyone who wishes to pursue this line of commercialism and many people who may not have thought to start up a business using other mapping tools can be seen now discussing it. Is this in fact not an endorsement that they have actually created a product that is good enough in what it does that it can make others wish to go into business for themselves using it.The advantages of this software are these (IMHO):It's simple to use. The learning curve in fact is very low. To be honest I barely looked at the manual I was so keen to get started and I had my first map out in an hour.The quality of the artwork is medium to high. And there is more than enough to begin with and the ability to add user created art adds flexibility to any mapping DM that other programs can't. Additonally artwork and mapping functions are being worked on and feedback is regular on it's development. Can't ask for more than that... no program comes out with everything right first time but DJ got damn close and Fluid continues to want to improve it. That's a big plus.The support from the Fluid Staffers is superb. They are friendly, informative, responsive and encouraging. I don't know if many check the times these guys post but most are working long hours and handling large numbers of enquiries on a wide and varied topics with patience and a quality of service I have rarely seen elsewhere.The User community is an incredibly active one and that to me is almost as important as the responsiveness of the Fluid folk. The things that have been fixed or created by the community has been incredible.Now after getting off my soapbox I should end by saying that everyone has the right to say yah or nay on this program. I just say to you watch it develop and see if it gets to level that's in lines with what your after. For  some that may never occur but for many it will. Geez the programs only been out for a few weeks... and look at what it has done to mapping industry for gamers like us. It's made an impact, that can't be denied because we're talking about ti now, and come up with something new that appeals to a broad range of people with a desire to make their games better than before. And guess what ... I don't think it's going away in a hurry so why not watch how it goes.Now as for the maps here's a few that I created - from my first to my most recent - all took from 2 hours to eight and I think I can do much more given time.<a href="http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=565&PN=2" target="_blank">http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=565&PN=2</a><a href="http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=551&PN=2" target="_blank">http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=551&PN=2</a><a href="http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=578&PN=2" target="_blank">http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=578&PN=2</a><a href="http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=591&PN=1" target="_blank">http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=591&PN=1</a>Also check out the DJ website under maps for the growing collection of user maps - and judge them knowing that they were created by people who aren't michaelangelo but are fast coming close.<a href="http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_topics.asp?FID=6&PN=1" target="_blank">http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/forum_topics.asp?FID=6&PN=1</a> <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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