User:Chénier/Mapping BattleMaster

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BattleMaster has a bunch of maps already. Good old geographical maps. Shows you where the hills are, the seas are. Even shows you the main settlements, the administrative divisions, and the political entities. Ah, the deliciousness of maps, what fun it is to have these documents readily available.

But wait, those aren't the only kinds of maps one can do, are they? Maps are an amazing tool, for those who know how to produce and analyze them. They can represent any phenomenon through space and time, even concepts and idea. Mapping isn't just about knowing where the hills are and where the North is.

So? My point? Well, BattleMaster has a lot of data just begging to be mapped! Begging for it, I tell you. And since we don't all have the artistic talents of Gods and time without end to produce such an artwork as paper maps, that's where GIS software kicks in and we start looking at Computer-assisted cartography.

There are many free open source GIS software on the web, but hey, being in the awesome program that I am (Geography), I have access to ESRI's ArcGIS software, so why not? I know that others have used Excel in the past to ease realm management, I'm bringing it to the next step. Thematic maps at the tip of one's hands. By saving the textures and symbols, I'd even be able to reproduce the political maps without even using any of the game's maps as a background, though this would make the coasts rather unappealing.

So this is my project. I will start by mapping Beluaterra (during my free time), and will possibly then do other continents as well. Should you be interested in any kind of maps, you can contact me on the talk page and we can work something out. However, since I don't have direct access to the database, it'll likely take some time of field study to get all the variables that could be of interest, though a lot of stuff is readily available.