Have you ever drawn a game map?

[Erik_Twice]

I've been fiddling a bit with Wizardry lately and I quickly realized it would be impossible to for me to play the game while commuting because it's absolutely neccessary to draw a map.

It's actually a fun experience, at least until you get really bored of it, and it's amazing to look back and see what you have drawn and all the notes you have taken. One of my biggest gaming regrets is allowing my parents to throw away my father's detailed maps for Transarctica and a couple other games.

So yeah, have you ever done it? And if you still have them, why not share them with us? I really love seeing these maps

[alienjesus]

I've been fiddling a bit with Wizardry lately and I quickly realized it would be impossible to for me to play the game while commuting because it's absolutely neccessary to draw a map.

It's actually a fun experience, at least until you get really bored of it, and it's amazing to look back and see what you have drawn and all the notes you have taken. One of my biggest gaming regrets is allowing my parents to throw away my father's detailed maps for Transarctica and a couple other games.

So yeah, have you ever done it? And if you still have them, why not share them with us? I really love seeing these maps

I drew a map for Blaster Master when I was playing it a few years back. I think it got thrown away though.

Have you ever played Etrian Odyssey? It takes a lot of inspiration from wizardry, and includes a mapping feature on the bottom screen that you draw as you play. It's pretty cool.

[Erik_Twice]

Have you ever played Etrian Odyssey? It takes a lot of inspiration from wizardry, and includes a mapping feature on the bottom screen that you draw as you play. It's pretty cool.

Yeah, though I didn't like EO's mapping, it's too automatized to be fun and not automatized enough to not feel like busywork.

It's a solid game, though, now that I'm in a Dungeon Crawler mood, it's one of the games I'm temped to check out.

Of course, I always regret it when I'm in a dungeon crawler mood so

[BoneSnapDeez]

Yup! Did this all the time during the pre-internet era.

My "best" map was of Enchanted Scepters, an old Mac adventure game. I had almost the entire world mapped but could still never finish the damn thing.

[Jagosaurus]

Those old RPGS require graph paper . I've even drawn them for typical RPGs like Phantasy Star 4.

I'm one the players who goes into a dungeon, fully explores, grabs any items, levels up, exits, buys new gear, then tackles the boss. I hate leaving areas unexplored & nothing worse than fighting "insert RPG monster here" for 40 minutes & dying. Maps help ensure I'm not going in circles in those later, large dungeons.

Regarding catacomb type shooters... good luck with AvP on Jaguar/PC without the maps online. You will get nowhere w/o them lol.

[Luke]

This makes me a tad sad as drawing maps to games was once a hobby of mine, and i have nothing to show of it.

I would draw meticulous maps on graph paper for most of my NES games. I still remember drawing maps for Metal Gear, Blaster Master, Ninja Gaiden, TMNT, Metroid*, and Castlevania II. Any game that gave me grief I would map it out

*My map for Metroid was terrible.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Yup! Did this all the time during the pre-internet era.

My "best" map was of Enchanted Scepters, an old Mac adventure game. I had almost the entire world mapped but could still never finish the damn thing.

Curses! I thought that link would have led me to a scan of your map!

On topic though, I absolutely drew game maps. They are mandatory for titles like The Bard's Tale and Shining in the Darkness. People like to just look at an FAQ now-a-days, but they will inevitably complain about having to grind. Eliminate that grind by meticulously exploring every nook and cranny and documenting the occasion on graph paper!

Seriously...we need to post pictures of our maps if we still have them!

[Key-Glyph]

Alas, the only map I drew was for a MUD sometime in the early 2000s, and I don't have that anymore.

I do have copious amounts of passwords written down in varying degrees of childhood scrawl, though, and some printed out from my Apple IIe as well.

Could we post any of that here? Maps, passwords, walkthroughs, drawings, and whatever from our baby days? I'd love to see other people's stuff, no matter what it is.

[Nemoide]

I made a map of a decent portion of Zork and Zork II. I generally look maps up online for old maze-like dungeon-crawls that don't have automaps.
I found the experience of Ultima IV to be more satisfying - I had a photocopy of the map included with the game, wrote out translations of the runes above them, and added marks and coordinates for dungeons, shrines, and other areas of interest. It was satisfying because I didn't need to actually DRAW OUT A MAP but I had to constantly take notes as my information grew.

[Anapan]

Sadly, all mine are long lost but I used to make them on graph paper, then fill the edges with solid box pixel art from the game in greyscale. I really wish I still had some of them.

I replied to post http://www.metroid-database.com/sm/smart_devmap.jpg
It's the original development map made by the of Super Metroid team. Too cool!