world-of-mapcraft
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WoW gets the Google Maps treatment
Being a fantasy world set in a vaguely medieval technology level (the odd gnome or goblin invention or steam tank aside), one does not generally expect all the perks of modern life to invade the World of Warcraft. Today, that's changed a little as Google Maps comes to Azeroth. World of Mapcraft features all of the current lands of WoW (minus Pandaria) from a bird's-eye view using Google technology. You can zoom in and try to find your favorite landmark or city (I looked for the twin pillars of Feralas and the Ruins of Southshore) or finally figure just how Dun Morogh's snow transitions into the green of Wetlands. You can even take a look at your favorite raid, dungeon, or Battleground. Alas, there's no street view, but who knows? Maybe someone out there's just crazy enough to take that task on. It's definitely a fun new way to look at the world. Check it out.
World of MapCraft: explore Azeroth using a Google Maps-style interface
World of MapCraft is an interactive map detailing all of the areas that make up World of Warcraft's Azeroth – think of it as Google Maps for World of Warcraft and its expansions thus far. It's all online right now, the work of Tiny Speck founder Cal Henderson, who extracted textures from the MMO's source files to piece together the interactive map you see above. You may recall Tiny Speck's own MMO, Glitch.Just don't click on the map above and expect to be able to zoom in on the Isle of Conquest. You have to click the source link below for that. And if you're looking for more background on World of MapCraft's creation, Henderson has a pretty thorough blog post explaining it all.
Glitch dev Google Maps all of World of Warcraft
What do MMO developers do on their days off? If you're Tiny Speck co-founder Cal Henderson, you engage in huge projects concerning other MMOs. The man partially responsible for the sleeper hit Glitch spent a gob of time recreating World of Warcraft in Google Maps, and the result is awesome. Henderson was inspired by an earlier attempt to provide a comprehensive map of the game but felt that he could vastly improve upon the project. He details in his blog how he went about converting the entire world of Azeroth into Google Maps, including the dungeons and several off-the-grid areas unseen by most players. Henderson also shares a few interesting tidbits that he dug up in WoW's files, including earlier names for areas. World of Warcraft is a popular target for such crazy projects. We reported earlier this year that a player was working to create a Minecraft version of the entirety of Azeroth.
