Mapping out The City.

MorbusG on 22/1/2006 at 17:30

Quote Posted by str8g8

Have you considered moving yr South Quarter Ambush map down to line up with Shalebridge/Shalebridge Cradle? That would give us a nice basis for a Sola flavoured map.

Sure thing, but I'm not sure how you meant to move it?

str8g8 on 23/1/2006 at 11:22

The way I am reading your map, then Ambush SQ is siutated just above the "SOUTH" label in yr map. If the note on the Ambush map points NW to Shalebridge, then it needs to be moved down. Basically I would just swap it's location with the T3 SQ ... they line up much better in other ways this way too, for instance, the T3 cutscene locates the fountain a bit further north, and it brings the Crippled Burrick closer to the Docks. :)

scumble on 25/1/2006 at 12:33

Still working on this eh?

The whole problem for getting an "accurate" map is the fact that the game is deliberately vague where it comes to maps and so on. If we go way back to 2001 when Randy posted (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=155752#post155752) this, we know there is a consistent map but not adhered to strictly.

Personally I think it's fine for there to be several maps and people can each decide for themselves what's best.

str8g8 on 25/1/2006 at 14:57

There will never be an "accurate" map in the sense of reproducing the one LGS used (I think your map, scumble, came closest in this respect). What we have tried to do is pull together all the various information from all 3 games and put together a coherent picture of the City. This doesn't look like the LGS map that Randy refers to, but it is consistent with all the evidence.

That's always been my goal, anyway.

Mugla on 25/1/2006 at 15:32

So, to say it shortly;

There is no 'One and Real Map', because they never stuck to it.

There is an 'Optimal representation of current evidence', which is what we're after.

To say the least, we've found out, that after considering all the evidence, there isn't really *that* much choice on how the map *can* evolve. We're here to show people which these versions are, so that they don't have to stumble on discrepancies on their works after a while.

Mr.Teatime on 25/1/2006 at 23:03

Will it ever come to a point where you start incoroprating assumed or projected locations, such as ones from high-end FMs to flesh things out a bit?

I'd be curious to see that happen, and since there's no indication of a future Thief game I don't see what would be stopping you.
Apart from the fact that it'd probably take even longer to agree on where and how to place non-canon material than it has been to get the official bits right.

That's a scary prospect.

Mugla on 26/1/2006 at 09:38

Luckily, that will be left for each author to decide by themselves. ;)

sprenger5 on 31/1/2006 at 01:55

so what map have we come to the most agreed upon conclusion that this thing is close to what the city really looks like...

On another note, maps in this time weren't exactly accurate and many map makers of history did have conflicting parts in their map, so actually the problem we have come to in our mapping of the city is actually in character to the time we are trying to map the City :P

Mugla on 31/1/2006 at 11:37

The problem with such attitude towards this kind of mapping comes in, as we found out:
Which part of the evidence should we claim inaccurate due to inaccurate mapping methods?
The official maps from the City archives?
Or the inofficial maps of the locals, who actually live their whole lives there?

Should we consider the era of the map too?
Well, on the few cases we could, we did, which helped us decide atleast a little in the favor of another choice. Lost City briefing, Keeper Map and Sealed Sections maps come in mind.

Anyways, the newest version should look something like (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/str8g8/city_map_complete_new03.png) A or (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/str8g8/City_new.png) B.
I like (http://whitecortex.net/~mikko/thief/mikko_t3_12_small.jpg) this too, but a few addresses are still discussed in it. Scroll a few posts above to see the discussion.

So, anyways, where are you guys going currently? This has been silent for a while now, excluding my own drop-ins as a thread-guide (contrary to my claims of busyness, I suppose :cheeky: ).

str8g8 on 31/1/2006 at 14:26

I'm out of ideas :( I suspect everyone else is too.

I could live with (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/str8g8/City_new.png) this as long as Shalebridge isn't part of Old Quarter and all that. Although there is no need to split Shalebridge across the rver - I'll just forget about the servant's conversation (probably made too much of it in the first place).

What we really need to do is move on, and put some detail back in!