FF7 intro sweep is nice and smooth without the train wheel cuts #nintendo64

FF7 intro sweep is nice and smooth without the train wheel cuts #nintendo64

the latter you get with Korcha's sister Mel, QP is in Marbule if you go back later but I never got it either

CHRONO TRIGGER windows colors, for comparison

CHRONO CROSS window frames 🖼️

DA and VGMaps are also up now. www.deviantart.com/vgcartograph...

Alone in the Dark

Mario 64

RE1

Luigi's Mansion

VGC READER'S CHOICE SCARIEST MANSION AWARD WINNERS! if we were to perform such a poll, im confident these would win

enemies from Zelda 1 🐙

finished my MGS2 video last night and uploaded it this morning! a breakdown of the levels and how you progress through them. here is a fun bit at the end comparing MGS1 and MGS2 (ending spoilers!) full video link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEvX...

little dragons drawn for souls maps 🐲

the music is worth it! I think most people end up using about 5 of the 40 characters...

CHRONO CROSS - Dimensional Vortex 🗺️🖌️

CHRONO CROSS - Viper Manor 🗺️. CC is fun because you can actually put little enemies on the map where they patrol, no random encounters. CC gallery so far: drive.google.com/drive/folder...

i first try to find a good top-down reference or sketch one out to get the overall layout of levels first. for example Dark Souls 3, i skewed the guidebook maps to an iso angle as a base (left), and took freecam screenshots as well. draw flat floors, z-separate different heights, fill in-between...

the less references i have, the wonkier the scaling of the end result. i usually try to define grids/pieces to reuse early (boxes of various sizes, long horizontal and vertical lines) so i can align stuff to those and have a reference for the size of doors, trees etc. older games often align nicely

it is frustrating when ive drawn lots of a game and get to a level that looks bad from the angle i've chosen. sometimes i cheat and rotate them a bit if possible. one example - RE1, i regret the angle i used. too much obscured by walls. for RE2, i chose a much higher angle. i hate redrawing anything

i first try to find a good top-down reference or sketch one out to get the overall layout of levels first. for example Dark Souls 3, i skewed the guidebook maps to an iso angle as a base (left), and took freecam screenshots as well. draw flat floors, z-separate different heights, fill in-between...

CHRONO CROSS - Termina 🗺️

🤮

LEGEND OF DRAGOON - last night I finished mapping the whole game after years-long hiatus! lots of cool late-game areas here, and some classic PS1 teleport mazes. they aren't up on DA or VGMaps yet, but check 'em out here if you want! drive.google.com/drive/folder...

I did an interview with Leah below all about VGC! and what drives my continuing efforts 🗺️ check it out, and if you are a level designer take note of the part where I say portfolios need more isometric level renders 😈

thanks again Leah, it was a fun chat and a lovely article!

I did an interview with Leah below all about VGC! and what drives my continuing efforts 🗺️ check it out, and if you are a level designer take note of the part where I say portfolios need more isometric level renders 😈

WILD ARMS ghost ship

GRANDIA ghost ship

LEGEND OF DRAGOON - Phantom Ship 🗺️. riding the wave (ha) of JRPG ghost ship levels in the 90s. drive.google.com/drive/folder...

EXCLUSIVE AMERICAN MONSTERS

RESIDENT EVIL 2 (2019) NEST laboratory 🗺️ featuring poison ivy and flamethrowers and cool lighting setups www.deviantart.com/vgcartograph...

my 7yo was obsessed with Plucky Squire last spring, I think he beat it 3-4 times and we made some little cutouts of the main characters and he went around shouting mojam :)

RESIDENT EVIL 2 (2019) - RPD map! this was fun to finally assemble and appreciate, hoping to do a similar project with sewers and lab. I love OG RE2 but the remake is one of my all-time favorites 🗺️www.deviantart.com/vgcartography/art/Reside...

the reality is that it has become hard to avoid FAST. i build research software and everything from IDEs to sw libraries to platforms like globus, github, docker have agentic stuff now. not chatbots, but under the hood. even if you aren't vibecoding it's trying to sneak in, usually on by default...

RE2 1998 RPD drawing

RE2 2019 RPD render

my Resident Evil Remake map video got a lot more views than i expected. which is great because i was already working on more RE map stuff to follow! after finishing other big projects in next couple weeks, making an RE2 1998 vs 2019 map comparison vid. drawing the old map, rendering the new 🧟