Map Comparisons

You may be asking how are my collection of maps different from others. The most noticeable difference is the consistent formatting of both labels and geometry from original EverQuest zones to the latest expansion.

All labels are consistent in terms of font colors and sizes, documented on my Mapping Standards page. If you find one of my labels too hard to see with a color scheme you are using, it is easy to change every label across every expansion to your preference.

Geometry across all expansions is exactly the same. The same colors are used for all the main geometry and perhaps most importantly, the different heights. Once you familiarize yourself with how second floors, third floors, basements and sub-basements are colored, you can easily understand how to move around, without toggling the height filter. You can easily determine if what you are looking for is above or below you.

Let’s start with first difference on all my maps, a Map Legend!
In the layer 2 map file, I include: a red 0,0 axis with 1000 units measured. I also include: (1) Original author credits, (2) Height Filter, (3) My Notes, (4) Hunter information with placeholder info, (5) Collection information, and (6) a zone-customized guide for traps, fake walls, fake floors, 1-ways, doors, locked doors, teleports, and etc.

Now, let’s see the consistency of my maps through the different expansions.

Original EverQuest – Tutorial
* Cleaned up geometry and additional details over the original. Underwater passage added.

Original EverQuest – Everfrost
* Original map was very low resolution on western side of the zone. Some areas appeared impassible. Remapped entire zone perimeter and Permafrost entrance area.

Original EverQuest – Grobb
* Not sure how anyone would use the original map. None of the colors seem to make much sense and stairs are colored in black making them look like walls.

Original EverQuest – South Qeynos
* Geometry cleanup and standardized colors. Easier to find stairs to other layers. In the water off-shore, you can also see an entrance to the Qeynos Aqueducts in the water.

Original EverQuest – North Qeynos
* Remapped rogue area hidden in Crow’s Bar, along with other changes. Much easier to see layers and the traps.

Original EverQuest – Butcherblock Mountains
* Standardization and geometry cleanup. Much easier to see impassible mountain areas.

Original EverQuest – Cazic-Thule
* After cleaning up geometry, the different layers were recolored. Much easier to see how to get from one major area to another. From the original, you can see there were large numbers of short, highly vertical lines, making the height filter useless in many areas.

Original EverQuest – Erudin Palace
* Fixed all the geometry to add stairs. Recolored all the layers.

Ruins of Kunark – Veksar
* The original was all black and was difficult to see how to move from area to area. After cleaning up the geometry, the different layers were colored and the one-ways were labeled in yellow.

Ruins of Kunark – East Cablis
* Fixed all the upper areas, cleaned up maze, clearly labeled all the one-way walls, fixed buildings, recolored layers, added ladders, etc.

Ruins of Kunark – Warsliks Wood
* Recolor and fixed all the buildings, paths, remapped almost entire zone.

Scars of Velious – Thurgadin
* Large amounts of geometry cleanup, all the walls are straight, stairs, details, and consistent coloring to see different heights.

Scars of Velious – Plane of Mischief
* Fixed all the incorrect walls, clearly labeled all the fake doors and traps (in yellow), clearly labeled teleports. If you look closely, you should be able to see a few missing areas. Main level is black. All the one-ways are labeled in yellow. Easy to see areas above and below.

Shadows of Luclin – Shar Vahl
* Spent quite a bit of time fixing geometry, adding all the missing NPC’s, and then clearly segmenting the different layers into different colors. Much easier to see the top ramparts, buildings with multiple floors, and the basement areas. If you slide back and forth, you should also be able to see the addition of second floors on the houses, especially on right side of the map.

Shadows of Luclin – The Tenebrous Mountains
* Added terrain, added missing houses, and cleaned up existing structures throughout the zone.

Planes of Power – Plane of Fire
* The original map file suffered from horrible z-axis problems. Other areas appear to have been added after the original z-axis problem. Remapped entire zone from scratch.

Planes of Power – Plane of Earth
* Similar to Plane of Fire, the z-axis of the original file rendered the file unusable. Entire zone remapped from scratch.

Planes of Power – Plane of Nightmare
* The original map is upside-down from a z-axis perspective and it also suffers from a large number of near-vertical lines. You can easily see how the river is one of highest features in the zone and you go up into the hobgoblin tunnel, when the opposite is true. The height filter option was completely useless. Aside from completely remapping the zone, the one-way drop-offs are clearly marked.

Lost Dungeons of Norrath – The Shifting Tower (TAKB)
* All the TAK* zones were remapped from scratch. Straight lines and accurate z-axis.

Lost Dungeons of Norrath – The Silent Gallery (MIRA)

* All the MIR* zones were remapped from scratch with straight lines, stairs, and other details.

Gates of Discord – Sewers of Nihilia, Purifying Plant
* Complete redo of the zone, with significantly more detail and layer separation. The other Sewer zones were also redone with a similar level of changes.

Gates of Discord – Txevu, Lair of the Elite
* Another zone where the original map is upside down. Afterwards, it looks like someone tried to add stairs, but they were mapped at wrong height. I remapped entire zone and clearly labeled the locked doors where people are banished to during the raid.

Gates of Discord – Barindu
* Original zone inverted on the z-axis and height-filter was useless. Stairs that show going down are actually going up. Remapped entire zone.

Omens of War – The Bloodfields
* Not sure what all the colors in the original were meant to represent. Aside from remapping most of the zone, my colors follow the consistent standard.

Omens of War – Nobles’ Causeway
* The original was likely done in haste using the automap feature. I redid everything from scratch for accuracy and better look. Took quite a bit of time redoing the entrance areas and the pillars & walls on the paths.

Dragons of Norrath – Lavaspinner’s Lair

* Remapped most of the zone, added secret passage in northeast part of zone, added significant details.

Depths of Darkhollow – Undershore
* Cleanup of all buildings, and making the various levels and networks of bridges easy to see.

Prophecy of Ro – Theater of Blood
* Remap of entire zone to straighten out all the building lines, add zone perimeter, water, paths, and terrain.

The Serpent’s Spine – Ashengate

* Added all the missing areas of the zone, cleaned up all the colors, cleaned all the geometry.

The Buried Sea – Zhisza, the Shissar Sanctuary

* Remapped entire zone from scratch. All the zone walls are accurate, pyramid has straight lines throughout with clean coloring for each layer.

Secrets of Faydwer – Fortress Mechanotus

* Remapped entire zone from scratch.

Seeds of Destruction – Oceangreen Village

Line optimization, cleaned up all the buildings to get straight lines, more details throughout.

Underfoot – Kernagir, the Shining City

* Remapped almost the entire zone to get straight lines. Colored all the levels, stairs, doors, and other details.

House of Thule – Erudin Burning

* Remapped almost the entire zone to straighten lines and get accurate up geometry. Added a hidden shortcut from the shoreline in the north to southern area (see yellow line). Also show the upper tier area in the southern portion of the map.