Not much to add on the last three maps, except that all three meteorite maps (Africa, Australia, and Europe) have the exact same layout (that is, all the floors but the last one are identical, and the last one only has a few small differences from the previous floors). The main difference between all these meteorites is the number of floors in each (Africa=4 floors, Australia=2 floors, Europe=7 floors) and items on the last floor.
About the extra map I made at the last minute...there were times in the game that I had to go to a specific location available only through the Paths of God (Lemuria and Luna City), and I got tired of slogging through all the enemies just to reach the Path of God. That's when I mapped out ALL the Path of God portals (on paper only, at first). While finishing up these maps, I thought it would be nice to have ALL the Paths of God in one convenient map, each with their destinations clearly marked for ease of navigation. Oh, and the quickest, easiest way to the Path of God is through the Great Pyramid, since you don't have to fight ANY enemies at all in order to reach that Path of God. From there, you can navigate the portals using the map to reach anywhere (assuming you have both Levistones, that is).
Was going over the maps when I noticed the portal lights at the Chichen Itza Path of God were inactive (off), so I revisited and updated the map with active portals. Not that big a deal, but that's how they will eventually look anyway. While on the subject, I've also added the destinations to all the Path of God portals on the map, that way you'll know at a glance where each one leads.
Also finished the Stonehenge map...looks rather disjointed at the end of area 1, doesn't it? Yet, the map is accurate, as that's exactly how it looks in-game (it's hard to tell in-game because of all the effects darkening the screen). My guess is they probably rushed that map out, as it's the only one that looks like that.
The Japan Meteorite map was a pain...this one was actually worse than Mothership Omega because there's SO MANY STAIRS, and they lead ALL OVER. Due to this, I opted for a top-down layout on the map. Aside from the excessive number of stairs, the map itself is pretty nice, with enough variations throughout the floors to keep things interesting. I think most players will just be glad to get this dungeon over with, however, due to all the jumping around with the stairs.
Mu...*sigh* Mu deserves special mention, since it's in its own "Annoying" class. You see, the entire level of Mu does this color cycling for the border, which (admittedly) looks great, but it makes grabbing matching screenshots a real pain. I ended up taking around 3000 snaps, since I wouldn't settle for having different border colors (even if the color was close). Toward the middle of working on the map, I realized there's a pattern to the color cycling, so I adjusted my timing accordingly when taking the screenshot and things went smoother after that. This one was similar to Mothership Omega, since there's some color cycling there too (but Mothership Omega wasn't as bad). Edit: Before anyone mentions it, yeah, that's a "stray" treasure chest on the second floor of Mu...it cannot be obtained (not without cheating, anyway), as there is no way to get to it on the map. My guess is that it's leftover material from a last minute map change, or it could be that it's just graphics and that there's nothing inside...we'll probably never know. The only reason I left it on the map is because it is VERY much obviously there and can be seen by anyone in the game (provided you stand in the right place, that is, the walkway leading to "Indra's Bolt Gun", as it's the nearest place on the map). My goal was to map the dungeons, so, as much as I dislike leaving unaccounted for treasure chests, it stays on the map. Oh, and in case anyone thinks I missed that specific treasure chest...not a chance. Before I started the dungeon, I linked both Joy and Mind Chakras, which notifies you as soon as you find ALL treasure chests. I continued through the map and made my way to the last treasure chest and got the "All treasure chests found!" message. Then I slogged my way back to the previous area just to check if now that "stray" treasure chest was open...it's still closed, even after I got the "All treasure chests found!" message. At the very least, all treasures which we're supposed to get are obtainable, so it could be worse
Mothership Omega...ugh...there's warps ALL OVER THE PLACE. In order to avoid having so many arrows crossing each other and looking like a road map, I decided to rearrange the map layout a bit (this way, the arrows are in better places and, overall, the map looks cleaner).
Lemuria...what can I say about Lemuria? I was actually looking forward to working on Lemuria, since I figured it would be fun (yeah, I know, remind me never to use the word "fun" in the same sentence where I'm discussing graphics work ever again). Seriously, though, I *like* the level, I mean, there's even a shiny, golden pyramid in the center! Since I figured it would be fun to work on this map, I saved it for (almost) the last. Hmm, come to think of it, the only other "fun" map was Inuyama Zoo. Oh well...if it was fun, everyone would do this.
Finished the Great Pyramid map, then realized I hadn't added in the three smaller pyramids (which you are required to complete before gaining access to the Great Pyramid). Rather than make three small, separate maps for each one, I added them to the Great Pyramid map, off to the side. Also, due to the layout of the Great Pyramid, the rooms were all over the place, so I arranged them in a more organized layout (looks better than it did before and it makes following the map easier, in any case).
Also got Ice Valley done...not much to say about it, except that all the maps should be as straightforward as that one
Was unable to reveal all of Rebun Cape's first screen, which originally ended up with lots of gaps in the mountain borders. I had to get a little creative there, but I think it turned out well.
I finished Tsukubane Mountain (Past), but it turned out to be more work than I expected for that map. Again, I took some creative liberties with the grass borders around the base of the mountain. I'm going to hold off on doing the Tsukubane Mountain (Present) map for now and concentrate on other maps first (the Present map is, aside from a couple of minor differences, a palette swap of the Past map).
About the Geo Tokyo Dungeon map: don't confuse this map with Geo Tokyo right after MC returns from having touched the first God Stone. It
LOOKS the same, but it's
NOT a dungeon, as you'll NEVER be attacked while there. Once you get Croiset's Notes and leave Geo Tokyo, the next time you return to Geo Tokyo it will be a proper dungeon (and yes, you will be attacked then). Once it's a dungeon, there's very few differences: all dead bodies have been removed, there's no longer a 'Shop' NPC in the infirmary, and instead of being 4 patients in the infirmary, there is now only one.
I also changed a couple of words on the Atlantis map ("Start" to "Entrance" and "EXIT" to "Exit"), hence the V2.
Broadway Theater must have been designed by the same person who designed the Vatican Museum, as the room measurements are completely wrong. To complicate things further, there's one room which connects to two separate, side-by-side rooms (right by the stage)...I think it turned out nicely, despite the offset.
Also, Inuyama Zoo...I took some creative liberties with the grass borders there in order to square it off. It was a blocky mess before, with a lot of black gaps all around the grass border (since you can't really reveal the entire map). Now it's all solid grass all around and looks much better. I see what they did there, btw, with the zoo design...cute.
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