RuneScape:Maps

Runescape Maps
Runescape is a fairly large game environment. A convenient way to describe a location of the game in a wiki article is by adding a map image. This section explains ways to generate such maps.

Land maps
Surface maps are relatively simple. Such maps are typically about cities or islands. An article usually covers such a well defined area. There are two sources for making maps which are described below.

Java maps
The Java map provides a detailed and clean map of the Runescape world. The Java applet supports navigation and zooming. After finding the relevant map area use a Runescape:Screenshot to capture the relevant area image in a file. There are several graphics utilities that allow editing of the picture (e.g. to add text or symbol or to crop the image). Most of these packages also support other graphical file formats. The wiki prefers a compact file format such as .PNG and .JPG over the simple .BMP format obtained from a simple screenshot. After this process, upload the image and start using it. Don't forget to add a description and to select an image category.

Worldmap File
The download section of the RS website contains link to a downloadable map of Runescape. This JPEG file has a lower resolution and lower quality graphics than the Java map. Using this file, a simple crop in a graphics utility will quickly produce a map ready for upload to the wiki.

Internal Maps
Several areas of Runescape are internal. This means that the area is inside a house, a castle, a cave or a dungeon. These areas can be quite extensive, often covering multiple levels. These maps are not included in the Java map browser and they are not available as a download from the Runescape website. Only the in-game minimap offers a partial view of such an area. The general process involves taking a sequence of Runescape:Screenshots of the minimap screen. In theory, overlapping these minimaps should give the entire area. Unfortunately, the minimap is rotated over a small angle approximately every 30 seconds. This complicates map making considerably. The following methods can be used to make maps under these conditions.

Small internal maps
Small areas can be covered by a few minimaps. Making a rapid succession of screenshots allows covering the entire area in the time between rotations. Rotate the minimap to allign it (nice straight lines) and run through the area making screen captures as you go. Use a simple graphics utility (e.g. MS paint) to cut and paste parts of the minimaps into a larger map of the dungeon. If an internal map has several common lines, minimap rotation can also be used to produce large maps. Example: ]

Large internal maps
These maps will involve longer to navigate, and the various rotations tend to make it hard to account for all the artifacts introduced by small rotations. Some more advanced graphics tools such as |The Gimp (freeware) or |Adobe Photoshop (commercial) can rotate graphics areas over small angles and have a wide range of facilities (layers, filters, touch up) to merge any set of minimaps into a single area map. Example:

Recreating a map
Some larger maps have a relatively simple layout, which can be used to create a map using a basic graphics drawing utility. Depending on the complexity of the area, redrawing the map can be a relatively fast option. Example: