• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Ultima V World Map Poster - Apple II Edition

olePigeon

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
1,259
Location
Silicon Valley
For all you Ultima V fans out there (my favorite of the series.) This one took me a while. My source file for the actual map is about 50 layers or so because it's every glyph + font used on the map. This is the original Apple II version. Since no one ever extracted the tileset for the Apple II version, I had to make it by hand by taking many, many screenshots. I then shaved about 25% of the total work by replacing other auto-generated maps with "patterns" of each of the glyphs. The only problem is that the auto-generated maps will only show "grass," but it doesn't differentiate between all the different glyphs for grass that include things like the shoreline. Same with "shallow water," which includes rivers. But the rivers have 12 different glyphs for each part. So after doing a generic pattern fill, I had to go back in and draw in all the coastal lines, rivers, hills, deserts, and forests, as they all had varying glyphs for their respective terrain types. Took me about a week of work. I started to dream in Ultima V maps after a while :D

However, because each of the individual glyphs have been localized, I can also replace them with other versions such as the C64 and DOS tilesets which have already been extracted. Would still take some time as I'd have to go through all the different layers, but it'd only take me a couple hours versus an entire week.

I couldn't get Illustrator to work correctly given the size of the map file, and it was limited to 300 dpi for raster images. So I composited it using Photoshop. 600 dpi so it doesn't loose the detail of the actual map. Fortunately since it's only 6 colors, it's only 1.6MBs in size despite its gargantuan dimensions.

If you decide to have it printed, let the printer know not to lower the DPI. Keep it at 600. If you drop it any lower it'll start anti-aliasing the map area and it'll look crummy. Make sure to download the actual file. Below is just a preview.

If you like the poster and decide to print one out, I wouldn't mind a donation. Just PM me for my PayPal if you feel like it's worth something to you.

If you would like to see a C64 and/or DOS version, send me a PM. If there's enough interest I'll put one together.

Here is the most up-to-date version.

Preview.png
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Forgot to mention, the only non-standard glyph are the dungeons. I made the beams for the opening orange instead of white so they're easier to spot on the map.
 
Here's the new version. I figured I'd use a link instead of uploading a new one every time incase I need to make some revisions.

This one is exactly 432 ppi, making it pixel perfect. The other one was 600 ppi, which introduced some interpolation artifacts in a few areas of the poster. So this new one should look perfect. Just make sure to tell your printer 432 ppi. It seems weird, but it's exactly 6x 72 ppi.

http://wreckcenter.com/posters/New-Ultima-5-World-Map-Poster.png
 
Maybe a moderator could delete the attachment in the first post, and put the above link up there instead? That way people don't accidentally download the old one.
 
@magnusfalkirk @vol.2 Thanks very much.
@VERAULT I'll probably do Ultima III next as that's my second favorite Ultima. :)

Speaking of which, if you guys also like vintage Mac (and one DOS) games and software, I've made a few posters for those as well:

http://wreckcenter.com/posters/

That includes a 24x36 Denis Loubet approved Ultima III poster that I made. :) It's the only one of its type. If you ever see a 24x36 Ultima III poster for sale, it's a fake.

Most of these posters you'll want semi-gloss finish, except for one. The Darklands poster looks awesome printed on matte poster finish. Looks just like the manual cover.
 
I had some sort of customer reward points with a poster company called Poster Burner that let me get a free poster. I was highly dissatisfied with the quality of the prints from Poster Burner when I had other posters made, so I had stopped using them. But I couldn't argue with free. I had one of these posters made up, but what I feared would happen happened. Their automated poster system with no option for additional directions made a mess. Instead of using the fixed DPI that would make it 1:1 and exactly 24x36, their system must have converted it to something else, then resized to fit. So the edges of the graphics were blurry and the map was kind of a mess.

I highly recommend that if you want to make a poster, make sure to go with a company where you can actually interact with a person. Don't use one of the automated ones like Poster Burner or Vista Print (unless there's some way to contact them before they print it.) It will probably look terrible.

432 ppi is the magic number for this poster.
 
Back
Top