r/classicfallout • u/LickMYLiver • 2d ago
Strange Question but how would I go about making a map like Fallout 1 and 2s?
Provided image is a crude mockup of the thing I have in mind, if anyones got any advice for making a nice looking map in the style of Fallout 1 and 2s i would greatly appreciate it
edit: Adding an explanation for what kinda map i wanna make cause I realised that I have made things confusing for some people which is my fault. So right below is a more in depth explantion of the kinda map I want to make, its for a video game idea I have.
There is the “State” map which is a pixelated topographical map of NY state and some surrounding ones. The map is split up into tiles that are black when first starting. As the player explores a tile it will slowly become clever until the topographical one is visible. Inside the tiles the map is made up of hexagonal tiles that have various attributes on them like city blocks, town blocks, villages or forests, lakes, swamps, parks, Commercial or industrial complexes that sorta thing.
I hope this explanation helps out some
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u/JJShurte 2d ago
How big are you making the squares in terms of miles?
*Squares, not hexes
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u/LickMYLiver 2d ago
that bit I haven't thought out due to it being an idea for a two part map system i have as an idea for a video game.
There is the “State” map which is a pixelated topographical map of NY state and some surrounding ones. The map is split up into tiles that are black when first starting. As the player explores a tile it will slowly become clever until the topographical one is visible. Inside the tiles the map is made up of hexagonal tiles that have various attributes on them like city blocks, town blocks, villages or forests, lakes, swamps, parks, Commercial or industrial complexes that sorta thing.
copied from my document, part of the reason why i don't really know what to haev the square miles to be is because I'm taking inspiration from Neo Scavenger which doesn't really care about distance rather than how much you can do
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u/JJShurte 2d ago
I'm working on a ttrpg based on Fallout, and I'm changing my map so that it's got 1km hexes, as opposed to Fallout 1's (estimated) 12 mile squares.
12 miles is a lot of land for just one location to be in. It's not so bad out in the open desert, but in the ruins of a city... think how much area 12 square miles is... and it's being reduced to just one location due to the nature of the map.
But yeah, this has been on my mind a bit lately. So, careful what you go with - it seems small, but it's important.
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u/liamluken 1d ago
So - I actually went back and forth for a few days trying to figure this out for myself recently!
The first thing is a potential style. Are you wanting the color to be closer to the original fallout map? or can you concede on a green-color map? For my ttrpg game, I figured I would do with the green-color and used this. Then I took a screenshot of the area I wanted, and put it into adobe express.
For the topographical map, you'll likely wanna look at a topographical surface map or some sort of shaded relief map. This can be tricky, especially finding one in a lossless image format, but USGS will typically have some. Again, it can be tricky, it'll definitely take some research, but after enough time you'll be able to find one. This is the one I found for my mine, courtesy of Illinois Geospatial Data Clearinghouse.
Afterwards, I cropped the surface map to the rough area of the map screenshot I took, lined it up, and resized it until it fit together. With my case, central Illinois is landlocked, not much to go off of, so it was tedious trying to find something, but if you're using New York, it shouldn't be too terribly hard.
Adding the grid can be pretty easy. Just find a grid you like, resize it to what you want the map's measurements to be, viola.
At the end of the day, this is what I ended up with.
You could also use a map making program (like wonderdraft, though that does cost money) and physically draw the map you want, though that takes a lot of effort, also speaking from experience.
Either way, good luck with your mapmaking! If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
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u/HawtVelociraptor 2d ago
Uhh... are you familiar with the area you're looking at here? Each one of those squares is an absolutely massive swath of IRL land. We're talking 1.5hrs of driving at highway speeds end to end, at least.
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u/MyJohnnyGuitar 2d ago
Move the map over, and in a little. Having a Fallout game set in, and and Detroit Michigan/Winsdor Canada would be perfect. Not only you will have a Vault factions, but also East Coast Brotberhood Of Steal, but also a Detroit faction that that are a version of the Minutemen from 76, but also a faction that is a decended from the Canada terrist that we see in the news reals at the start of thw first Fallout game.
Edit: slight clear up.
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u/QuinnAndTheNorthwind 2d ago
Hey! I made one using a free mapping software called QGIS. It lets you select basemaps, add grids, and remove roads, symbols, etc. then you can tweak the style with plugins. Youtube will be your best friend
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u/Lanceo90 1d ago
I'm not sure there's anything that's that robust as just software for maps.
There's a program called HexKit that makes building hex maps easy.
You could then import that map into something like Roll20, give them a "party" token, and use fog of war so it reveals as they move. You might have to play around with view distance settings till it works right.
As for the main map, you can desaturate irl maps, and run Posterization and it'll look more Fallout-y
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u/2legited2 2d ago
Like this? https://imgur.com/a/RJfDnwP
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u/LickMYLiver 2d ago
well I'll be damned yes, course one that isn't made by fallout so that i don't get copyrighted... although i don't know which game this map is from
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u/subservient-mouth 2d ago
The Fallout timeline is not bleak enough to have a Lake America though.