Topic: Awesome Mushroom Kingdom & Hyrule Map Poster by artist Bill Mudron

[TerraEsperZ]

You've probably seen the following two as they've been doing the rounds of the Internet for the last few months if not a little more. But if you haven't, then take a look at artist Bill Mudron's map works:





The map arrangements aren't canonical but they still look great and work well if you start with the idea that the maps as seen in the games look literally like they do instead of being abstractions. It's not like the Mario and Zelda series have made any real attempts at reconciling their worlds and that's alright. I've always felt that it was better to concentrate on making each game map perfect for said game instead of constantly worrying that it won't match what was seen in earlier representations as long as you don't contradict them too much.

Anyway, I'm posting this because I forgot to when I first heard of these posters and I just ordered both after learning that he was doing a new printing of the Zelda one which had been sold out for a while.

[Peardian]

Ah, yes, this. Looking over the Mushroom Kingdom one made me so happy, in spite of glaring flaws. (Why is the Donut Plains race track not in Donut Plains?) It reminds me of my own attempts to make unified maps.

[Paco]

Isn't there any bigger Hyrule Map? 900x600 is way too small.

[TerraEsperZ]

Sorry, I just remembered that the biggest version of that map isn't linked to his store. You can check it out here. It's 1500 x 1000 so it's almost twice as big

[LTIan]

Can you post the full sized version of the map so that I can get a better view of what those labels say?

[TerraEsperZ]

Unfortunately, there are no full size versions of those maps, only the two I've already posted; hence why you have to buy them as posters. Believe me, I would *love* this as a digital map but that's not likely to happen anytime soon, or at all.

[TerraEsperZ]

I finally received both posters yesterday and I can't wait to have them laminated! Also, I really hope he turns the attached map into a poster too.

(Hint: it's all three NES Castlevania game together!)

[TerraEsperZ]

Here's another update to the unified Castlevania map.

You'll have to zoom quite a bit but he's managed to incorporate the actual maps for the first game and appears to have cleverly used the stairs break to distance everything and make the parts fit with the actual in-game mini-map. I'm really looking forward to the finished result!

[TerraEsperZ]

It's finished! Though there's no comment to indicate if it will eventually be sold as a poster...

[JonLeung]

He's done it again with an awesome map of The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past.

If you compare it to the original game maps, you may see a number of aesthetic differences.  Besides the "tops" of Hyrule Castle and the Pyramid Of Power, and the clouds around Death Mountain, there are also subtle touches like fixes to the rock walls in some areas which were screwy in the game though not readily apparent because they were on screen edges.  You know I already considered this printworthy as it was despite its quirks, but now we have this option too!

[Revned]

Pretty cool, but I find that one less impressive than the others, because aside from the fixes you mention, it looks like he just used the source maps directly.

[TerraEsperZ]

It's still impressive in that it's basically a "polished" version of the in-game map without the various discontinuities between regions. It's what I wish I had the artistic skills to pull off when mapping some games. If you're going to print a poster of those overworld maps, these corrections are kind of needed for a more "finished" result.

[TerraEsperZ]

Pretty cool, but I find that one less impressive than the others, because aside from the fixes you mention, it looks like he just used the source maps directly.

Revned, just in case you felt like being proven wrong (and in this case, you probably do), M. Mudron put up very high resolution versions of those Light and Dark World maps on his Flickr account. You'll be surprised (as I was) to see that although he started with the source map, he's done a lot of touch ups and retexturing on them, essentially ending up with something that could be considered original since very little is left of the source.

Bill Mudron - The Light & Dark Realms of Hyrule (Labeled) - 4000 x 2667 pixels

Bill Mudron - The Light & Dark Realms of Hyrule (Unlabeled) - 4000 x 2667 pixels

[Revned]

Much more detailed than I realized. Don't get me wrong, I think it's very cool and well done, however I stand by my original comment. The others that are almost completely original are more impressive artistically

[TerraEsperZ]

Much more detailed than I realized. Don't get me wrong, I think it's very cool and well done, however I stand by my original comment. The others that are almost completely original are more impressive artistically

Oh I agree. I just wanted to point out that it wasn't the hack job it seemed at first. I especially liked how he did the top of the Pyramid of Power. If you take a look at the closeups of it and compare it to the map from the game, you can see with perfect clarity all the embellishments that were done. Everything looks a lot better from up close even though in poster form, you don't get to notice most of it. I feel this is a map that could only look its best if seen in its original resolution, which we'll never get.