One last suggestion:
Add arrowheads on the ticket-bell curves (ie the lines: -->--) to show that they're one-way.

Here are some small arrows. Anything else that could be made clearer?


Othesus - Dirge - Lucan DLere
Vaspar - Fury - Lucan DLere

looks great to me... i think we're pretty much done and ready for dolby to push it on the updater.

after seeing the zone connection lines, it make me wonder why lucan doesn't have ships that go straight from freeport to faywer... it looks to be as far away as cuba is from key west.

I think we should get a live event to build a bridge from Freeport over to Faydwer (and tear down the wall to Unrest on the way). :)

And regarding the map I agree, this looks like release quality. Good job!

I've been away from EQ2 for a long while (recently came back), but where is the Isle of Mara on the world map?

It is not on the map which SOE supplied, the one island without a name is the Isle of Refuge.

Someone more familiar with the lore than I would need to answer where the Isle of Mara is supposedly located (I do not even have that adventure pack).

Frankly, the "world map" is only a guide. It's not size-accurate and I doubt it's distance accurate. I imagine Faydwer is both farther away than it appears, and I know it has to be much larger than it appears on that map.

As for building a bridge... I imagine that would be even more difficult ;)

Anyone want to see Butcherblock labeled. After all, it is a departure/destination zone, much like Thundering Steppes and Nektulos Forest and more so than even Isle of Ro (carpets only)!

And if any of the lore meisters could come up with a location for the Isle of Mara, that would be a great addition, beyond what even SOE has provided via their maps!

BB was labled at one point, but it was removed. It's not really needed, and if anything I'd have TS + Antonica replaced with that continent's name (which for the life of me escapes me) and Commonlands + Nek replaced with "D'Lere".

The WMap isn't a zone-connection map, it's more of a connection between the major island/continents map.

As for the location of the isle of Mara... theres nowhere near enough info given for us to be able to pick a spot for it hehe =)

I just tried the map auto-updater. For some reason, you're pushing the overlay as a DXT1 file instead of a DXT3 file. The DXT1 is smaller but it only has a 1 bit alpha channel so all the lines and everything is very jaggy looking. All the other overlays are DXT3s with a 4 bit alpha channel. Would it be possible to put it back as a DXT3?


If you need to save file space, there are a few maps that have all the mip maps generated, making them about 342K instead of 129K like most of the maps.


Othesus - Dirge - Lucan DLere
Vaspar - Fury - Lucan DLere

The name of the Antonica+TS continent is Karan.

Faydwer should be WELL to the Northwest on the map.

The Isle of Mara would be a speck on the map somewhere due south of the Isle of Ro in a small archipelago. (Hint: Where was the EQ1 Gulf of Gunthak? /grin)

A DXT3 overlay was given to Dolby but it looks like maybe he resaved it in the smaller format. Also doesn't look like my modified map (includes Isle of Mara) is being pushed.

The map image is based on what SOE provided, which may not be entirely acurate but does serve the main purpose of letting ppl know generally where stuff is. Also keep in mind this is well after EQ1 and the planet has been reshaped by a major cataclism. Land masses have moved.

Likewise the zone connections may not be an accurate depiction of travel routes, but it serves the purpose of showing how to get from one place to another. Labels are also what SOE provided with Mara added. Since its a "Zone" connection map, it's probably better to show zone names rather than the actual contenent names.

Aye.

Thats one reason I said we don't know where Mara is... it could have (and given the destruction and splitting of old Antonica, most likely did move).

I can accept the current directional relationship of the shattered lands (old antonica) and Faydwer, but continents don't shrink and probably don't move that close (it's just a pet peeve, I'm not suggesting anything just ranting a bit at SOE ;) )

And thanks Florence! I kept thinking like "Kerran? No, thats a race" -- good to know I was at least close =)

Oh, did you paint an island for where you think Mara might be? I don't have that on my map. Could you just put it up here so I can update the connections? Someone put connections to Mara from Qeynos and Freeport, but the bells are on the Nektulos and Steppes docks. I honestly didn't think it was necessary since anyone high enough level to go to Mara would know how to get there.

It just looks really clunky in DXT1 format. The edges are all jaggy and the compression artifacts are much worse from being compressed a second time.


Othesus - Dirge - Lucan DLere
Vaspar - Fury - Lucan DLere

IIRC, you can zone to Mara from the Commonlands and Antonica dock bells, so I set the connections from Freeport and Qeynos to avoid uhgly overlaps. The version I uploaded does use DXT3 for nice anti-aliasing.

I'll double check those bells and revise the overlay if need be.

Mara info does say the isle lies across the Buried Sea, which was historicaly south and jives with the rough location of Gunthak. I placed the isle in a graphically convenient spot ;)

Ok, how's this?


Othesus - Dirge - Lucan DLere
Vaspar - Fury - Lucan DLere

Did you check the CL and Ant bells for Mara? I Coulda swore those bells went to Mara. Can't check them from the office :o

Otherwise looks good.

i've only gone to mara from nek docks... i didn't think u could get there from anywhere else.. i'll check tonight.

btw, it's not hard to add the text for "isle of mara" onto the map. just find the coordinate in the image and add the xml line for it. very very easy, except i don't think it'll light up red when you're there.

how does one get to SS from BB? i can't seem to find the carpet.

There is a carpet at the docks, turn left as you come down the ramp into the docks area towards the left hand pier and the carpet is just beyond the dock master :)

sweet... this will save me a lot of time... hell, i may even just take the carpet to SS, then take the carpet there to BB, as a quick way to get to feydwer.


as for the continents... there's karan, d'lere, feydwer... and the rest are their own islands

You can only do SS -> BB if you are a Kelethin citizen. ;)

well there go my plans for fast transportation... i'll just keep oocing for a kind druid or sorceror to port me.

hmm... bet you can do SS -> BB if you're a Ro citizen ;)

Ro citizens don't renounce their FP or Qeynos citizenship, so I doubt it. And exiles take the carpet to TS, as I recall. So I think it's only for Kelethin citizens =)

Does anyone have a current updated core_mapstyles.xml and zones_world.xml for the final product (or are they not needed)? Fairly new to EQ2 and didn't happen to see any beyond the first submitted set and they were posted before a lot of the current adds to this map.

It also seems like I don't have either file in any of my EQ2 directories from the original install, which folder do they belong in? Thanks for great job you've all done

I think I saw them yesterday in the autoupdater ;)

Greetz

I know there are bells on the Nektulos and Steppes docks to Mara. I actually don't own the Fallen Dynasty because none of my characters are high enough to really use it.

For the carpets to the Isle of Ro, you can take any of them to go there but they only take you back to your home city, and Exiles get sent to the Steppes docks.


Othesus - Dirge - Lucan DLere
Vaspar - Fury - Lucan DLere

So....? Has anyone tested where you can connect to Mara? I can ask someone in game I suppose.

It's exactly as the map looks... a bell from TS and a bell from Nek.

Yep, I tested and looks like I was wrong. The T2 doc bells don't go to IoM :(

You would think that wouldn't you. I've had the adventure pack since it came out but I just reached high enough level to check it out. Needless to say I couldn't find a bell in QH that would get me there.

So if I understand this correctly and just to clarify the Island of Mara can be reached via bells in Antonica, Commonlands, Nek Forest and TS and not from Qeynos or Freeport.

Oh, and is the Isle of Ro the Refuge Island?

i have only found a bell to mara in NEKTULOS FOREST and nowhere else. i don't know why there are zone lines from qeynos and freeport. i have yet to find those bells.

isle of ro is what used to be the desert of ro... it is what most ppl will know was "desert of flames"

the isle of refuge is somewhat between the continents of karan and d'lere...

The Isle of Refuge was the name of what is now the Queen's Colony and Overlord's (Outpost? That sounds right but also seems too allliterative). You used to have Qeynos and FP version of it before they renamed the two sides.

It's also where you're sent to kill Darathar, as the final step of the Prismatic quest line.

Isle of Ro is all of Desert of Flames.

And I know theres a Nek bell to Mara, and I think thers a TS bell (but its kinda outa the way, I always forget where it is I think). There is no Ant or CL bell there. Nor is there a QH or FP bell there.

the overlay needs to be fixed.

What's wrong with it? It looks fine to me now.

you cannot get to the isle of mara from qeynos nor freeport, like the overlay shows. the only dock i have ever seen leading to mara is in nek forest. it seems there is one in steppes as well, but there is definately no way to get to mara from qeynos/freeport as shown on the overlay.

I just sent a PM to Dolby about the last map overlay I posted. He's probably just missed the latest changes.

Othesus - Dirge - Lucan DLere
Vaspar - Fury - Lucan DLere

awesome... btw, where is the bell in TS to get to mara? i haven't been able to find it yet

at the end of the docks by the F/EF bells and the BB boat there are some steps up and a walkway that goes round the back of a large rock. there is a hut up there and the mara bell is behind that hut.

about here on the eq2map