Ah, I didn't even think about maps from computer games. Bearing that in mind, then I'd have to include the map from The Witcher Boxed Set. Poster sized and beautifully done.
GW
I remember that Morrowind map, I should dig that out of my stack. Good stuff, thanks for reminding me.
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)
My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps
Ah, I didn't even think about maps from computer games. Bearing that in mind, then I'd have to include the map from The Witcher Boxed Set. Poster sized and beautifully done.
GW
GW
One's worth is not measured by stature, alone. By heart and honor is One's true value weighed.
Current Non-challenge WIP : Beyond Sosnasib
Current Lite Challenge WIP : None
Current Main Challenge WIP : None
Completed Maps : Various Challenges
Tolkien for me again, I was hooked the minute I picked up the hobbit in my local library, i think I was about 8 or 9, never looked back.
My other faves have to be:
Books:
Conan Chronicles: Robert E Howard
The Dragonbone Chair: Tad Williams
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Stephen Donaldson - Especially the ones from the One tree (I think), there was a great City Map included
The Narnia Books. C S Lewis
There are so many others that I'll probably remember later...
Games:
Myth, the fallen lords, this one came up when you started a new battle..
Morrowind & Oblivion
Dungeon Siege had quite a nice map as I remember.
and some oldschool ones...
Sid Mieres Pirates - C64
Tir Na Nog - C64
ahhh... good times...
I found this thread while searching for something else and this is why I am now here.
I have to say that my favorite maps are the ones from George R. R. Martin's series "A Song of Ice and Fire" ... 4 books so far along with 3 games.
But then again, I like the books better than most of the others mentioned here.
dog
Last edited by moondog; 01-01-2010 at 10:03 PM.
Never noticed this thread.
For me, the Tolkien maps (first The Hobbit and later LotR) kicked it off. I reproduced the LotR map with a nib pen on parchment when I was in 7th or 8th grade. The maps and diagrams in Niven's Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring were also big on my list.
In the computer games world the maps and other things in the Infocom games were inspirational as was the map from Below the Root...which I remade on 1/4" graph paper and filled in the missing pieces.
In RPGs, my first inspiration was Tomb of Horrors and, I think, the Hommlet adventure. The stuff in MERP was pretty amazing too. Later, the 2E Planescape stuff (maps and illustrations) just blew me away. I've also been a fan of post-apocalyptic stuff, so the map of Pittsburk in Gamma World (one of the middle editions) was awesome to me.
M
Without a doubt The Prydain Chronicles by Loydd Alexander. Funny thing is the map changes every book, even though it is the same area pretty much.
Glad to see the Shanara series got mentioned
LOTR of course
also, pretty much every fantasy video game has had a noteworthy map, but in my favorite would have to be Guild Wars.
I think the very first map I fell in love with was from the Dragonlance module where the characters are on the ice boats. There was a DM and a Player version of the regional map. It was unlike everything else because it did not (as I recall) have hexes and it was on a sort of parchment looking background. I regret losing those modules years and years ago.
The second map I fell for was the original Forgotten Realms map. It was sold separately from the Forgotten Realms box set and it was huge. My friend bought it and laminated it onto a poster board. Just gorgeous.
But neither of those maps got me into mapping directly. I had decided to build my own campaign world and I decided to draw a map. Not having the faintest clue what I could use, I loaded up Microsoft Paint for Windows 95 and used an advertisement for Might and Magic 3 as my inspiration. Lost that map in a computer mishap not long after I made it. I remember that the mountains were a thing of beauty but I was frustrated by the forests. I digress however. I just wish I could find a copy of that old advertisement to try out that style again; this time with Gimp and layers and all that.
middle earth (tolkien), majipoor (silverberg), ringworld (niven) are the most memorable for me.
>>< drow ><<
while middle-earth is always good, my favorite has to be belgariad/mallorean by eddings.
Middle Earth is number 1 for me too.
Second though is the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. Didn't see anyone mention that, but I love the way all the different ecological niches where she sets the different books are bound together so neatly...
Third, the world of the Pellinor books... though I never read them all, and barely remember them... there's something to do over the Summer, read teenage girls' fiction.
Last edited by domnic; 06-21-2012 at 12:05 PM.