Mapping Standards

There are well over 500 zone files in EverQuest. Done by many different people at different times.  For almost all the files, I’ve taken the time to standardize all the label colors and all the line colors.

The geometry lines within my maps is consistent from original EQ to the latest expansions. The main layer is always black, and depending upon how many layers there are, a different sets of colors are used.

* Line Colors.

  • Main layer lines (Black) – 0,0,0
  • Layer 2 – 255,168,102
  • Layer 3 – 204,102,0
  • Layer 4 – 102,255,102
  • Layer 5 – 0,204,0
  • Layer 6 – 102,255,255
  • Layer 7 – 0, 204,204
  • Layer 8 – 255,102,255
  • Layer 9 – 204,0,204
  • Layer 10 – 178,102,255
  • Layer 11 – 102, 0,204
  • Layer 1 (Bright Green) – 0,255,0
  • Layer 2 (Cyan) – 0,255,255
  • Layer 3 (Green) – 0,127,0
  • Layer 4 (Brick) – 127,0,0
  • Layer 5 (Dark Pink) – 255,0,255
  • Upper Zone Boundaries (Olive) – 127,127,0 (e.g. Mistmoore above castle area, Erudin catwalk area)
  • Zone Lines (Violet Red) – 199, 21,133
  • Steps / Terrain (Grey) – 150,150,150
  • Paths / Trails (Light Brown) – 150,100,0
  • Bridges / Docks (Saddle Brown) – 139,69,19
  • Doors (Peru) – 205,133,63
  • Ladders (Orange) – 255,165,0
  • Traps (Yellow) – 255,255,0
  • Shallow Water (Non-Swimable) (Light Blue) – 70,130,180
  • Water (Blue) – 0,0,255
  • Water Deep (Dark Blue) – 0, 0, 153
  • Lava (Red) – 255,0,0
  • Boat Paths (Off-White) – 240,240,240

* Label Colors:

  • Zone Connections (Red, Large text)  – 255,0,0
  • Succor location (Red, Medium text) – 255,0,0
  • Teleports/ Traps / Secret Doors (Yellow) – 255,255,0
  • Geographic location names (White) – 255,255,255
  • General NPC’s and information (Black) – 0,0,0
  • Bankers (Gold) – 255,210,0
  • Merchants (Green) – 0,127,0
  • Parcels/Special Currency Vendors (Bright Green) – 0,255,0
  • Quest givers (Teal) – 0,127,127
  • Raid givers (Cyan) – 0,240,240
  • Named/Hunter (Brown) – 127,64,0
  • Tradeskill Containers (Purple) – 128,0,128
  • GM’s (Grey) – 128,128,128
  • Informational NPC’s (Grey) – 128,128,128
  • Ground spawns (Blue, Small text) – 0,0,240

* Labeling:

  • Zones Lines labeled as: “to zonename”;  example: to Oggok
  • If a NPC or other object is the zone connection, it is labeled with the to, followed by their name, the color of such NPC’s will be treated as a zone, in large, red text;  example: to Erud’s Crossing (Translocator Sedina)
  • Ground spawns preceded with “GS:”; example: GS: Old Silver Coin
  • If a NPC is a raid giver, they are colored as raid
  • If a NPC can parcel, they are colored as parcel
  • Guild Masters labeled with “(GM classname)” after their name; example: Jusean Evanesque (GM Bard)
  • Hunter mobs will have “(Hunter)” after their name; example: Alpha Naeya (Hunter)
  • Named mobs have “(Named)” after their name; example: Ghoul Cavalier (Named)
  • Traps labeled with “TRAP; example: TRAP: Fake Floor
  • Locks labeled with key, pickability, and skill level; example: Locked Door (Dull Bone Key,Picklock 40)
  • If a vendor takes special currency, the currency is listed after their name; example: Alerynril the Loyal (Crown Currency Merchant)
  • Consistent use of merchant types after their name: Smithing, Jewelcrafting, Posion, etc.
  • Cultural forges labeled with (Cultural); example: Koada’Dal Forge (Cultural)

* Font size for important features, such as zones are large, other labels are medium, and ground spawns are small.

* Coordinates show a red X with 0,0 with all four combinations of positive negative locations.

* Full credits given to original authors if known.

* Files broken out:

  • Base file is zone geometry
  • _1 file is for labels
  • _2 file is for X/Y coordinates and red X showing 0,0. If you prefer a grid format, just create one and replace all the _2 files with yours.

* If you do not like some of the colors, you could always use a tool like NotePad++ to do a search/replace in files to the color of your choosing.

Comments are closed.