Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Memories and Maps

Dhruin

SasqWatch
Joined
August 30, 2006
Messages
11,842
Location
Sydney, Australia
Not specifically RPG-related but I have no doubt Fantastic Cartography: Memories and Maps at Rock, Paper, Shotgun will evoke emotions in many of our readers. Adam Smith reminisces about the collectibles you (used to) get with games and his particular passion - maps:
There’s one physical object that came to define the area around my computer desk though. Not tiny figurines, as with many of my friends. They’ve never interested me particularly because they have an opposite effect to the Lurking Horror’s student ID card. Figurines highlight the imaginary nature of the world. If I am holding a statuette of the player character, no matter how finely crafted, it serves to emphasise that the people of that world are collectible objects in the real world. It places me, as the player and collector, in a different relationship with the game world and it’s an entirely different sort of buzz to owning things that appear to be from that game world.
So, no figurines for me. The items that dominated my childhood gamespace were maps.
More information.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
11,842
Location
Sydney, Australia
I obtained (from Corvus Elrod) an original cloth map for Ultima V. I was amused that such a cheaply-made (relatively speaking… a lot of publishers balked at the expense originally) pack-in would become such a collector's item. I spent about $100 to get it mounted and framed. It's now mounted on the wall next to my desk in my basement office.

When I wonder what the heck I'm doing wasting thousands of hours (and thousands of dollars) making RPGs, and writing about them, I swivel my chair around and look at that map. It's a nice visible token of the feeling I want to remember and share with others, to the limits of my meager ability.

Those maps made everything feel a little more real, and helped me invest a little more of myself into the fiction of the game world.
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
624
Yes, I also love game maps. I think the first one that adorned my walls was the map of Enroth from Might & Magic VI. Nowadays, I still have the framed Morrowind map hanging near my desk. It's like a summary of the game.
 
Joined
Mar 28, 2008
Messages
804
Location
Austria
Given the interest this thread got, I know why, nowadays, companies think that paper maps in games are a waste of money.
 
Joined
Mar 28, 2008
Messages
804
Location
Austria
Back
Top Bottom