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#1
Maps Of The Month / Re: 2026/09: Quest 64 (N64) - ...
Last post by VGCartography - Today at 07:38:55 AMHere's a secret. I never played Quest 64 before I made these maps. I just wanted to play with some N64 polygons. And if I didn't have some Gameshark cheats to skip the grind, I wouldn't have gotten through it 
Some interesting ideas but just not enough juice. Minimal combat system and no dungeon design to speak of. The outdoor areas are OK.
Some interesting ideas but just not enough juice. Minimal combat system and no dungeon design to speak of. The outdoor areas are OK.
#2
Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: What map-making feature wo...
Last post by TerraEsperZ - Yesterday at 09:11:45 PMQuote from: ReyVGM on Yesterday at 07:36:14 AM6) I took a screenshot of SMW in the title screen using both BSNES, SNES9X and SuperSNES9X and the colors looked exactly the same. Do you have any pics that show otherwise?
Regarding screenshots, you'd have to compare the RGB values of the same pixels, preferably as close to dark and white as possible, as the differences wouldn't really be obvious visually.
Apparently, BSNES also does gamma correction by default, so that might also affect the video output.
#3
Maps Of The Month / 2026/09: Quest 64 (N64) - VGCa...
Last post by JonLeung - Yesterday at 08:19:58 PM
For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to VGCartography's Quest 64 (N64) maps.
The Nintendo 64's release in North America was 30 years ago from the end of this month! This would be a great time to honour the map set for Super Mario 64... but we did that already. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time? Mario Kart 64? Super Smash Bros.? Paper Mario? Already recognized. What else is iconic on the Nintendo 64 that we could praise on this milestone anniversary?
Why, Quest 64, of course!
That's a bit of a joke, of course, but though derided for being short and simplistic, Quest 64 is also acknowledged as being the first (of very few) RPGs on the Nintendo 64. Perhaps because of, and despite, its infamy, it has its fans, and not all for irony.
One such fan is VGCartography, who has mapped out all of the polygons of the island of Celtland. The apprentice Spirit Tamer, Brian, sets off to find his father, who disappeared while searching for Eletale's Book, a powerful tome of magic that has been stolen and misused. With these maps covering Kennishire all the way to Brannoch Castle, all marked with elemental gem locations and monster stats, you may be able to help Brian save Celtland!
So to recognize the effort put into mapping this infamous Nintendo 64 RPG, VGCartography's Quest 64 (N64) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for September 2026.
#4
Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: What map-making feature wo...
Last post by ReyVGM - Yesterday at 07:36:14 AMQuote from: Cyartog959 on August 29, 2026, 09:57:58 PMOther than that, there are other emulators that may need familiar features added, such as MelonDS, VisualBoyAdvance, to make mapping games quite easier. Can't forget them.
I know I asked an open ended question, but SuperSNES9X is the only emulator in which I talk to the author directly and I can push for features to be added.
Quote from: Guard Master on August 29, 2026, 10:37:29 PM1. All layers have priority in SNES games. You can think of priorities as "layers" themselves. Even though order layer is technically BG1 then BG2, with priorities, the order is actually BG1 priority 1, BG2 priority 1, BG1 priority 0, BG2 priority 0. Thus, if the game very effectively used priorities for the background, simply putting BG1 over BG2 may not have an accurate result. This seems especially true in later developed games. In BSNES, you can turn priorities on and off in the emulation screen but not in any of the viewers.
https://nesdoug.com/2020/05/22/layers-priority/
https://snes.nesdev.org/wiki/Backgrounds#Priority
3. Managing image files isn't always ideal for all situations. When you want to do something at the moment, quickly, and only once, copying to clipboard is the approach. Using print screen is one approach, but why not implement a feature that captures just exactly what you want? Having a hotkey (especially one you can manually set) would be even more useful than right clicking. BizHawk effectively does this.
4. Rather than capturing the full view, you may just want a specific portion of tiles or sprites, especially to patch any mistakes or grabbing specific sprites. This saves the effort to have to take extra steps in the paint software. BSNES sprite viewer already allows multiple objects to be selected (but not copied/saved).
6. Palettes for SNES emulation should be more aligned with BSNES. The original SNES9x appears to be inaccurate.
1-4) I'll keep this in mind.
6) I took a screenshot of SMW in the title screen using both BSNES, SNES9X and SuperSNES9X and the colors looked exactly the same. Do you have any pics that show otherwise?
#5
Gaming / Trine, The Series, and Trine 6...
Last post by Cyartog959 - August 30, 2026, 10:31:13 AMAs a fond Trine series fan, I enjoyed the games from the first to the more recent Trine 5, and I was looking forward to Trine 6, the soon to be latest game in the series.
However, I came across recent news about that game. After its demo launched, and many players feeling... unsatisfied of its present state and specific mechanics that derived from what they enjoyed in many past games, it got delayed, by 6 months, after being close to its former release date, which was September 2026.
For those at VGMaps that don't know, Trine is a 2.5D series created and developed by Frozenbyte, stationed in Finland. It features three heroes, Amadeus the Wizard, who mainly does boxes, Zoya, a thief who prefers to be called an entrepreneur, and Pontius, an aspiring knight who longs to fight off evil by becoming one.
The first game, launched in 2009, had them as regular people with their own lives, but in a kingdom that was prosperous fell into darkness because its Old King died with no planned descendant to rule it, and more than just domestic life alone was destabilized, it was under siege by an evil undead horde that took advantage of the madness. At the midst of the mayhem, these people met at the particular spot beneath the abandoned Astral Academy's pile of treasure and laid physical contact of an ancient artifact that dragged them together into its grasp, leaving them unable to leave each other's company. There, they would be later tasked in saving the kingdom from that horde and restoring peace and order in it, and that would be the first of their adventures to come.
After the first Trine did well, Trine 2 was made and launched in 2011, and continued the 2.5D gameplay and placed the now established heroes on a new adventure in a different land, held under siege by a wicked witch and her jealousy of a particular sister... and goblins. Many goblins. It had a story expansion, The Goblin Menace, months later, and gave additional levels focusing on the goblins' attempts to take over the kingdom, with new powers that are retroactively applied to all past levels.
Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power, released in 2015, would follow, but this game went full 3D and featured the backstory beneath the being called Trine and her sister, Rona, and their struggle against the vile sorcerer, Sarek the Deathless. However, an experiment with Steam's Early Access, and underestimating the costs of a 3D game left the story incomplete... and the series on a hiatus.
But, that ended with not only a spin-off set in the same universe, but Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince, released in 2019, and returned to its proper blueprint the previous two games set, and focuses on a particular student seen in said spin-off, Prince Selius himself, whose attempt to learn magic by himself created a crisis involving nightmares manifesting to life, and placing the heroes on a new quest to save him, which leads them to confront their own nightmares in the midst. It received its story DLC, "Melody of Mystery", centering on the Astral Academy's students under deep sleep by a particular music box, and under Selius' guidance, the heroes trek through the students' dreams to save them from the box's influence. Its on PC, but still not on consoles YET. I really hope it can be brought to consoles before anything else happens.
Later, Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy, launched in 2023, and it thrusts the heroes into an evil scheme of royal intrigue and treachery involving the use of mechanical constructs, not robots; completely different, and tarnishing the heroes' name through psychological manipulation and some essence exploitation. With their good images smeared, and allies in danger, its up to the heroes to stop the villains, Lady Sunny, a self-proclaimed royal mistress who seeks dominance, and Lord Goderic, the inventor of the Clockwork Knights, and her criminal accomplice, and come to the rescue... and keep their morale together.
That brings up to Trine 6: Together in Time, and it not only continues the blueprint, but adds in two new characters to add in the hero roster, and have more characters for multiplayer to play, rather than using color-swatched clones of the three heroes, who have fallen into the exact grip by messing with Trine's magic and properties the three heroes still feel, and they will have no choice but to cooperate, whether they like it or not, and save the kingdom from a villainous warlock.
Now, I don't like delays to games for numerous reasons, but in such a case as Trine 6's, I can understand why it is so; there's much revising work to be done to make sure its better than before. Now, its set to March 2027. Honestly, the delay will do that game good. I saw and like how it continues the blueprint, but I couldn't bear to play it in its present state.
So, while we wait, I'll ask you this; have any of you played Trine's games before? If so, what do you like about the series, the heroes, and their adventures?
However, I came across recent news about that game. After its demo launched, and many players feeling... unsatisfied of its present state and specific mechanics that derived from what they enjoyed in many past games, it got delayed, by 6 months, after being close to its former release date, which was September 2026.
For those at VGMaps that don't know, Trine is a 2.5D series created and developed by Frozenbyte, stationed in Finland. It features three heroes, Amadeus the Wizard, who mainly does boxes, Zoya, a thief who prefers to be called an entrepreneur, and Pontius, an aspiring knight who longs to fight off evil by becoming one.
The first game, launched in 2009, had them as regular people with their own lives, but in a kingdom that was prosperous fell into darkness because its Old King died with no planned descendant to rule it, and more than just domestic life alone was destabilized, it was under siege by an evil undead horde that took advantage of the madness. At the midst of the mayhem, these people met at the particular spot beneath the abandoned Astral Academy's pile of treasure and laid physical contact of an ancient artifact that dragged them together into its grasp, leaving them unable to leave each other's company. There, they would be later tasked in saving the kingdom from that horde and restoring peace and order in it, and that would be the first of their adventures to come.
After the first Trine did well, Trine 2 was made and launched in 2011, and continued the 2.5D gameplay and placed the now established heroes on a new adventure in a different land, held under siege by a wicked witch and her jealousy of a particular sister... and goblins. Many goblins. It had a story expansion, The Goblin Menace, months later, and gave additional levels focusing on the goblins' attempts to take over the kingdom, with new powers that are retroactively applied to all past levels.
Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power, released in 2015, would follow, but this game went full 3D and featured the backstory beneath the being called Trine and her sister, Rona, and their struggle against the vile sorcerer, Sarek the Deathless. However, an experiment with Steam's Early Access, and underestimating the costs of a 3D game left the story incomplete... and the series on a hiatus.
But, that ended with not only a spin-off set in the same universe, but Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince, released in 2019, and returned to its proper blueprint the previous two games set, and focuses on a particular student seen in said spin-off, Prince Selius himself, whose attempt to learn magic by himself created a crisis involving nightmares manifesting to life, and placing the heroes on a new quest to save him, which leads them to confront their own nightmares in the midst. It received its story DLC, "Melody of Mystery", centering on the Astral Academy's students under deep sleep by a particular music box, and under Selius' guidance, the heroes trek through the students' dreams to save them from the box's influence. Its on PC, but still not on consoles YET. I really hope it can be brought to consoles before anything else happens.
Later, Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy, launched in 2023, and it thrusts the heroes into an evil scheme of royal intrigue and treachery involving the use of mechanical constructs, not robots; completely different, and tarnishing the heroes' name through psychological manipulation and some essence exploitation. With their good images smeared, and allies in danger, its up to the heroes to stop the villains, Lady Sunny, a self-proclaimed royal mistress who seeks dominance, and Lord Goderic, the inventor of the Clockwork Knights, and her criminal accomplice, and come to the rescue... and keep their morale together.
That brings up to Trine 6: Together in Time, and it not only continues the blueprint, but adds in two new characters to add in the hero roster, and have more characters for multiplayer to play, rather than using color-swatched clones of the three heroes, who have fallen into the exact grip by messing with Trine's magic and properties the three heroes still feel, and they will have no choice but to cooperate, whether they like it or not, and save the kingdom from a villainous warlock.
Now, I don't like delays to games for numerous reasons, but in such a case as Trine 6's, I can understand why it is so; there's much revising work to be done to make sure its better than before. Now, its set to March 2027. Honestly, the delay will do that game good. I saw and like how it continues the blueprint, but I couldn't bear to play it in its present state.
So, while we wait, I'll ask you this; have any of you played Trine's games before? If so, what do you like about the series, the heroes, and their adventures?
#6
Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: What map-making feature wo...
Last post by Guard Master - August 29, 2026, 10:37:29 PMQuote from: ReyVGM on August 29, 2026, 06:11:32 AM1) Explain, post an example
2) You can do that with supersnes9x
3) Copy to clipboard meaning ctrl+c? You can already right click and save the entire image, that's not better?
4) Sort of like how you can do in windows paint?
5) I'll add it to the request page.
6) ss9x only emulates SNES and GB. For snes it already emulates the real colors. Now, if you mean how colors look on a TV, then it does haven an option for NTSC colors or something along those lines. Never tried it though.
1. All layers have priority in SNES games. You can think of priorities as "layers" themselves. Even though order layer is technically BG1 then BG2, with priorities, the order is actually BG1 priority 1, BG2 priority 1, BG1 priority 0, BG2 priority 0. Thus, if the game very effectively used priorities for the background, simply putting BG1 over BG2 may not have an accurate result. This seems especially true in later developed games. In BSNES, you can turn priorities on and off in the emulation screen but not in any of the viewers.
https://nesdoug.com/2020/05/22/layers-priority/
https://snes.nesdev.org/wiki/Backgrounds#Priority
3. Managing image files isn't always ideal for all situations. When you want to do something at the moment, quickly, and only once, copying to clipboard is the approach. Using print screen is one approach, but why not implement a feature that captures just exactly what you want? Having a hotkey (especially one you can manually set) would be even more useful than right clicking. BizHawk effectively does this.
4. Rather than capturing the full view, you may just want a specific portion of tiles or sprites, especially to patch any mistakes or grabbing specific sprites. This saves the effort to have to take extra steps in the paint software. BSNES sprite viewer already allows multiple objects to be selected (but not copied/saved).
6. Palettes for SNES emulation should be more aligned with BSNES. The original SNES9x appears to be inaccurate.
#7
Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: What map-making feature wo...
Last post by Cyartog959 - August 29, 2026, 09:57:58 PMQuote from: ReyVGM on August 29, 2026, 06:11:32 AMQuote from: Guard Master on August 27, 2026, 07:55:01 PMSome features I'd like to have in an emulator in use for map-making are:
-Not only having the ability to control displaying of individual layers in the tilemap viewer but also the ability to control the priorities.
1) Explain, post an example
I think priorities are referred to render priorities for tilesets and foregrounds, like "FG High" and "FG Low", sprites, and so on.
Remember the bushes in many levels that characters go through, or hide in? The cave corridor walls for indoors?
Yeah. They're the basic examples of render priorities; foliage top, characters and enemies lower, et cetera.
I've been watching Strafefox's YouTube videos about how games were made from time to time. They're really informative, and interesting to learn about how our past games were made. Give them a watch sometime, if you haven't yet. You'll like them.
Other than that, there are other emulators that may need familiar features added, such as MelonDS, VisualBoyAdvance, to make mapping games quite easier. Can't forget them.
#8
Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: What map-making feature wo...
Last post by ReyVGM - August 29, 2026, 06:11:32 AMQuote from: Guard Master on August 27, 2026, 07:55:01 PMSome features I'd like to have in an emulator in use for map-making are:
-Not only having the ability to control displaying of individual layers in the tilemap viewer but also the ability to control the priorities.
-The ability to set watches to draw directly on the emulation screen.
-The ability to directly copy to clipboard, whether the emulation screen, the tilemap viewer, sprite viewer, or tile viewer.
-The ability to select a portion within any of the viewers for copying to clipboard or saving as image.
-The option to automatically save program settings to file after changing them. How many emulators I've experienced that don't do this but tend to crash every so often especially while modifying values.
-Not necessarily a "feature", but accurate palette colors to true hardware.
1) Explain, post an example
2) You can do that with supersnes9x
3) Copy to clipboard meaning ctrl+c? You can already right click and save the entire image, that's not better?
4) Sort of like how you can do in windows paint?
5) I'll add it to the request page.
6) ss9x only emulates SNES and GB. For snes it already emulates the real colors. Now, if you mean how colors look on a TV, then it does haven an option for NTSC colors or something along those lines. Never tried it though.
#9
Mapping Tips/Guides / Any advice on how to get start...
Last post by Kayato - August 28, 2026, 03:57:02 AMHello everyone!
After years of admiring the beautiful works collected here, I thought I'd start and try to contribute.
I tried to look at the pinned topic about it but I saw that it is very old with some dead links.
So I'm asking for some advice and programs to get started with. I was thinking of starting with something simple like map editors from games like "Warcraft" or "C&C" just to practice.
How can I do this? Do I take screenshots, perhaps using macros to automatically move the images to the right distance, and then recompose them using a graphics program? I already use OBS Studio and GIMP.
Thanks in advance everyone!
After years of admiring the beautiful works collected here, I thought I'd start and try to contribute.
I tried to look at the pinned topic about it but I saw that it is very old with some dead links.
So I'm asking for some advice and programs to get started with. I was thinking of starting with something simple like map editors from games like "Warcraft" or "C&C" just to practice.
How can I do this? Do I take screenshots, perhaps using macros to automatically move the images to the right distance, and then recompose them using a graphics program? I already use OBS Studio and GIMP.
Thanks in advance everyone!
#10
Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: What map-making feature wo...
Last post by Guard Master - August 27, 2026, 07:55:01 PMSome features I'd like to have in an emulator in use for map-making are:
-Not only having the ability to control displaying of individual layers in the tilemap viewer but also the ability to control the priorities.
-The ability to set watches to draw directly on the emulation screen.
-The ability to directly copy to clipboard, whether the emulation screen, the tilemap viewer, sprite viewer, or tile viewer.
-The ability to select a portion within any of the viewers for copying to clipboard or saving as image.
-The option to automatically save program settings to file after changing them. How many emulators I've experienced that don't do this but tend to crash every so often especially while modifying values.
-Not necessarily a "feature", but accurate palette colors to true hardware.
-Not only having the ability to control displaying of individual layers in the tilemap viewer but also the ability to control the priorities.
-The ability to set watches to draw directly on the emulation screen.
-The ability to directly copy to clipboard, whether the emulation screen, the tilemap viewer, sprite viewer, or tile viewer.
-The ability to select a portion within any of the viewers for copying to clipboard or saving as image.
-The option to automatically save program settings to file after changing them. How many emulators I've experienced that don't do this but tend to crash every so often especially while modifying values.
-Not necessarily a "feature", but accurate palette colors to true hardware.