What do you use for mapping?

[dax616]

Graph Paper-- White Paper and Ruler -- Is their an app I don't know about -- Keeping it Real on Character Creation but mapping takes so much time.

[Lintire]

I just use some pen and ordinary paper. You could probably use Excel or something like http://pyromancers.com/ for some easy, relatively quick maps but having those strewn about wildly noted maps has its own appeal.

It helps that I'm super lazy and take every shortcut in the book when it comes to making maps. Mine aren't exactly spatially accurate, I just concentrate on the general idea. Much quicker as a result.

[Oliver_Sudden]

I'm trying this Grid Cartographer program (http://www.davidwaltersdevelopment.com/tools/gridcart/) but usually use paper and pencil and do a lot of erasing when things don't line up.

[dax616]

download dos box and play wizardry 1 or old pool of radiance

[sjpaladin]

I played Wiz 1 on an emulator more than a decade after my NES died, and I still had most of the maps memorized, including how many steps to take to navigate through the "dark" areas, same with Wiz 5.

Makes you wonder how much brain space is wasted on all this stuff, lol

[Wirbowsky]

In the time, we used simple paper with squares. The map does not need to be perfect. Sometime we played with my brother, one would play and the other do the map. Then we changed role

[Wraith_Magus]

Back in the day, I used simple lined paper and a pen. If I wanted to now, though, I'd probably use some sort of paint program. Honestly, though, I just use head-mapping, most of the time. I mean, these dungeons aren't THAT complex, and you only need to memorize the path to the parts you need to revisit. "Go five, turn right, go two, turn left, etc." isn't that hard to memorize.

And yeah, I got an emulator bundle of the original Pool of Radience, and it was fantastic. No maps for that one, either.

[Nuee]

Hee. I have grid paper maps of the entire game from when I played it years ago.
Now I cheat and find maps on the internet. Gamefaqs probably has them.
The Auto Map was the most amazing addition to games like this EVER.

[WhispersOfWind]

My mind.

[a1_death]

I also used some pen and paper, but there is a manual in the game directory with all the maps, which even encourages you to make use of it. Instead of self-hurting through the mines, for example, one could just go with that option.

[alation13]

LOL, I can't believe that you guys actually used pen and paper to map. I guess that it would have been more efficient than my memorization method. Yes I did memorize the maps in pool of radiance, curse of the azure bonds etc. Even most of the areas in Bards Tale 3 were commited to memory in my youth. All those years of memorizing maps in my youth all gone within a few years of drinking and partying every weekend during my late teens and eary 20's. Now I am lucky to remember what year it is. :(

[Longhaul]

Many, many years ago...when i first step foot on the docks in Phlan (Pool of Radiance for C64!), i had a stack of graph paper, pencil's, eraser and sharpener. As i adventured through the game, then into Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silverblades and finally into Pools of Darkness, i mapped everything i could...marking set encounters, hidden treasure...everything, for every game!

If i looked hard enough in our storage room i will most likely find the binder packed full of hand drawn maps!...the one map i am really proud of was the map i drew for the Ruins of Old Verdigris just outside of town in Secret of the Silverblades...it was 6 sheets of graph paper taped together...it took a LONG time....going square by square ingame.....if anyone has played Silverblades, you KNOW how big that area was lol...man, those were the days!

I still have all the gold box games for my c64...the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance games, the Bards Tale games......all classics....young people today will never know the classics.

TO THE CLASSICS!!!!

[EolSunder]

well before the invention of the internet of course graph paper to plot out all the darn paths, took forever. Now of course with the internet its already on the web, so i use the internet to have maps instead of plodding again through graph paper. Heck next your going to ask me if i actually do calculator stuff on an old school calculator.

[Critical Failure]

@alation13 - If you memorized everything, what good is the dumapic spell?

[alation13]

Originally posted by Critical Failure:

@alation13 - If you memorized everything, what good is the dumapic spell?

If you read my post you will see that I have since then forgot most of the stuff. That said I never used the dumapic spell because I never needed to know exactly how far away from the stairs I was. Though I am still very OCD and try to learn the game maps even though I am now over 40.

[Cosmic Forge]

I use the automod, but am having problems with it saving my mapped progress, even when I save the game. If I exit the game for any reason, the automap progress is erased. Any ideas?