I've been thinking about maps lately. Fictional maps, specifically. Great fantasy authors like J RR Tolkein, L Frank Baum, George RR Martin and a newcomer named Ian Silva -- have grasped the power of maps to draw a viewer in and to lend a new dimension to a fictional world. I'd like to draw special attention to Ian Silva's Maps as they are the only one of this small collection that are of a Modern design, but they also contain a history of a fictional society, and 100 years of baseball records.
In the case of video games, maps come in different forms. Overworld maps in RPG games are the most prevalent, where players will navigate the continental structures of the given video game world. The navigation of an overworld is often aided by a sub-map which displays the entire planet, highlighting the players current position in a 'you are here' style.
There are also Dungeon maps, made popular in the first Legend of Zelda. And there is another style of map which you can find on a website I just found, called VGMaps.com - The Video Game Atlas. This website uses screen captures to map out entire games, from the NES, SNES and even Nintendo 64, among others. The database is extensive, and if you were a former Nintendo Power subscriber, you might lose some time wandering through their library.
VGMaps is an old site, it just celebrated its Tenth Anniversary. It reminds me of the old internet, when commercial interests hadn't moved in, and everything you could find was put there by dedicated people, doing it out of love. I miss that internet, but I don't think it's ever coming back. Still, there are sites like VGMaps, more like outposts in deep space, or oases in the desert. Or something.
Anyhow, go have a look, have fun. They're doing a Map of the Month thing, and the one for December is from a Japanese Sequel to Paladin's Quest that I never heard of. Enjoy
-D
