Homemade game maps nostalgia

[kremiso]

I miss that period, when you had to take a pen or better a pencil during gameplay, and draw a basic or detailed map, to better help in reaching some distant locations/objects/characters etc.

Today i have found in a drawer a couple of very old ones, about Ark Pandora and Enigma Force, two great C64 games.
In reality i remember to have drawn a lot of maps during the C64 era, and few less during the Amiga one...

ie on the miggy i remember the Turrican last world map, with the exit position, or Simon the Sorcerer, with the forest little map

on the C64 i remember also the essential Fist 2 map, or Jack the nipper one, with the shops/objects needed details...

Do you remember the first games you need to draw a map, to better proceed into?

[Anubis]

Not much maps as much as level codes and cheats back in Amiga. Once I had printer, this got bit forgotten and I still have somewhere stack of printed instructions, maps and walkthroughs.

Probably that is why I had to play over and over Turrican's last world...

[gimbal]

I didn't do much of that. I drew some maps for Obitus and Ishar 2 and 3 and that's probably about it.

[manossg]

Did quite a few maps for RPGs (Eye of the Beholder, Elvira, Bard's Tale etc) and I still have some of them. I still use my graph paper reluctantly for some adventure games or for the awesome Black Dawn Rebirth, but I strongly dislike the process. I much prefer games with automap.

[jotd]

Moons ago (1984 or 1985) I drew a map for an old Oric adventure game, and sent it to a magazine which published it! (but they completely redrawn it because it was crap)

I like creating maps, but with isometric games where you have several stories (like Raffles) it's difficult because it's not 2D anymore

[hitm4n]

Beautiful maps. I made many like this too but not on Amiga so much, more for adventures on the Spectrum. I did do a map for Zork Zero on Amiga but its loooooooooong gone. The only thing i could show is a droid chart i did for Quazatron on the Spectrum or game maps for games i helped develop like Dots Adventures. Same style though.

[Foebane]

Mercenary: Escape from Targ has a whole bunch of underground complexes accessible via hangars on the surface at various locations in the city that I spent ages mapping on paper, just so I could find all of the items I required. It was quite fun, but took a lot of patience and keeping an eye on the compass so I could draw the maps fairly accurately.

Of course, this was back in the mid-80s, so magazines would not have done it themselves yet.

And no, unfortunately, the maps are long lost. I suppose I only kept them around long enough to finish the game, then ditched them soon after.

[kremiso]

Originally Posted by jotd

...I like creating maps, but with isometric games where you have several stories (like Raffles) it's difficult because it's not 2D anymore

Many times i had issues in drawing also 2d maps; Fist 2 was full of 'jumps' to complete different parts, and i used a strange connecting lines map...
i cannot find it atm, but prolly it would be completely unreadable, similar to an electrocardiogram

Originally Posted by hitm4n

Beautiful maps. I made many like this too but not on Amiga so much, more for adventures on the Spectrum. I did do a map for Zork Zero on Amiga but its loooooooooong gone. The only thing i could show is a droid chart i did for Quazatron on the Spectrum or game maps for games i helped develop like Dots Adventures. Same style though.

Single screens (often very similar) with multi exits without scrolling, many 8 bit games required this approach, to reach to go deep. Good times

Originally Posted by Foebane

Mercenary: Escape from Targ has a whole bunch of underground complexes accessible via hangars on the surface at various locations in the city that I spent ages mapping on paper, just so I could find all of the items I required. It was quite fun, but took a lot of patience and keeping an eye on the compass so I could draw the maps fairly accurately...

I can agree; i preferred drew maps for not too much big games;
some gained points imo, ie now i'm thinking at Galdregon's Domain

[Antiriad_UK]

I wish I still had my Speccy Jet Set Willy colour code map - in black and white!

[malko]

Originally Posted by kremiso

[...] I can agree; i preferred drew maps for not too much big games;
some gained points imo, ie now i'm thinking at Galdregon's Domain

"Dungeon Master" maps or "Faery Tale Adventure" cavern's map were fun to drew also . I also "sketched" most of the Sierra's game I have played. It was a good help.

[Rotareneg]

Here's some maps of the tunnels in Starglider 2 I made a while back on graph paper:

[kremiso]

Originally Posted by malko

...I also "sketched" most of the Sierra's game I have played. It was a good help.

About point'n'click, i can remember a couple of useful ones, and also before ScummVM program on PC :
Zack mc kracken - a couple of temples short maps
Lure of the Temptress - complete map
Legend of Kyrandia - a single little map, useful to not get lost in the cavern

Originally Posted by Rotareneg

Here's some maps of the tunnels in Starglider 2 I made a while back on graph paper

Thanks for sharing, interesting that numbered grid method

EDIT
other games i remember i drew something :

It came from the desert - the final underground part, to reach the queen

Prison - http://hol.abime.net/1152
A detailed map, but i never reached to complete it the same, got stuck later at some point ; i like this game, despite not great technically

Millennium2.2 - more than a map, i remember to have wrote a complete tutorial for this great one

[jdb78]

I made a plan for ZakMcKracken, which airport leads to which airports and how much the flights were. Based upon this I planned my flights accordingly because my cash card was always running low. I scribbled the drawings for the Sphinx for instance. I wrote down the order of the dance of the tribe. Stuff like that.

[DamienD]

In Zak I remember the Mars maze being a nightmare!

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by DamienD

In Zak I remember the Mars maze being a nightmare!

Both the mars and the jungle maze... neither are as horrible to me as the maze in Wrath of the Demon though, that was just ridiculous.

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by gimbal

Both the mars and the jungle maze... neither are as horrible to me as the maze in Wrath of the Demon though, that was just ridiculous.

I haven't played Wrath of the Demon that much, so haven't experienced what you're talking about.

If it's more horrible than Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders mazes then

[Belgarath]

The Mayan maze isn't that bad. You can light the torches to let you know which rooms you've already been in. The martian maze coupled with the fact you can only just see it illuminated by your flashlight, that's an absolute nightmare.

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Belgarath

The martian maze coupled with the fact you can only just see it illuminated by your flashlight, that's an absolute nightmare.

Yup, that's what I remember Belgo

Mind you, I probably haven't fully played this game since the early 90's.

[masteries]

I remember creating some of these for ZX spectrum games such Switchblade,
and HERO (Codemasters game).

[Macca]

Arc and Nodes of Yesod, for me, required a map. It was so easy, especially if you fell, to get lost in those games. Same with most of those style of games like Underwurlde, Robin of the Wood, etc.



M.