Temporary Blank Maps?
 

I know it's a long process to make a full accurate map of a zone. So, what I was wondering is if was possible to make blank temporary maps files with no locs or images, but just a blank slate that would let map features appear like groupmate dots, quest feathers/books, and custom POIs appear.

If so, how would I go about doing this easily? I'd like to create one then copy it for every zone that has not been mapped yet. Even a blank parchment that shows where my groupmates are and nearby quest feathers would be more helpful that the "Sorry, no map exists" message.

I read through the mapping tutorial but couldn't quite pick out where I could skip the mapping and go straight to file creation.

Thanks!

You can't show group members without calculating a zonerect , and to do that you need to map the place. sorry.

Yes, and no, IMHO. While true that you do need to do some mapping to come up with a reasonable zonerect, even a crappy zonerect from running the zone once can be extrapolated out say 25% to provide a buffer. That should be all that is necessary for a blank map to be added.

With that said, for them to be done officially via the updater I think we would need a few more controls on them -- for example, sometimes might not want people submitting POIs to a zone with only a temporary blank map, especially if the zone were to be split up into individual regions later.

But if you can come up with reasonable /locs for the four boundary planes of the zone (ie the westernmost point, easternmost point, northernmost point, and southernmost point) then a reasonable zonerect could be calculated and then a buffer added. Then all you'd need is the zone's name and it would be relatively easy to add the blank parchment map. That's far less 'mapping' that would need to be done to have the actual walls etc. on the map and would be sufficient for getting a general idea of where people are.