Abstract
Problem: How should game developers think about maps — both as a design element and as a player-facing tool?
Approach: Tim Cain shares his lifelong love of maps, from childhood road trip maps to game development, drawing on his experience shipping Fallout and Arcanum.
Findings: Functionality must come before aesthetics in game map design. Beautiful maps that are hard to use fail the player. The best maps combine visual appeal with practical features like waypoints, annotations, and clear points of interest.
Key insight: Make your map functional first, then make it pretty — too many games prioritize visual beauty at the expense of usability.
Tim's Lifelong Love of Maps
Tim describes himself as someone who has always loved maps. As a kid, his room was covered in them — road maps from family gas station stops, tourist maps (including one to "beautiful Laurier Caverns" with rock formations that looked like eggs and bacon), theme park maps from King's Dominion and Disney World, and even a metal globe.
He was captivated by the maps in the front pages of Lord of the Rings and the Conan books, staring at them and imagining what the unlabeled places might be like — even after finishing the stories.
The Fifth-Grade Map Project
In fifth grade, Tim and two classmates made a hand-drawn map of their neighborhood with the school at the center. Without Google Maps, they went out on the weekend, walked the streets, and sketched directions by hand. One kid lived far on the other side of the school, forcing them to make the map quite large. They got an A. Tim wishes he'd kept it.
Maps in Games Tim Worked On
Ultima Underworld's Annotatable Map
Tim highlights Ultima Underworld as a landmark in game maps. Not only did it look great (styled like papyrus or vellum), but players could click anywhere on the map and type notes. Players would place numbers on locations and create their own keys in the margins. Tim wanted to bring this feature to Fallout, but it never came together.
Fallout's USGS-Based Map
Fallout's world map was built on real data from the US Geological Survey (USGS). All the mountains, valleys, rises, and falls of Southern California are geographically accurate. The world map artist drew the game's visual layer on top of this real topographic data.
Arcanum — Tim's Favorite
Tim's favorite map from any game he made is Arcanum's. He recently framed his Arcanum cloth map — a rare collectible that had been sitting folded in a drawer for almost 25 years. He could only find one copy (having apparently given the rest away over the years).
The visual style was inspired by Judges Guild maps, of which Tim owns dozens. He gave them to the artist as a touchstone for the look he wanted.
Beyond aesthetics, Tim loves how the Arcanum map functions during gameplay — random encounters while traveling, customizable waypoints, and clear navigation. It's his prime example of a map that is both beautiful and functional.
The Core Design Lesson
Tim's central message to developers:
Make your map functional first, then make it pretty.
Too many games ship with gorgeous maps that are hard to use — points of interest are unclear, navigation is confusing, and the designers clearly prioritized aesthetics over usability. Tim doesn't name specific offenders, but notes that "you've all played games with bad maps."
Recommended Resource
Tim recommends the YouTube channel JP Coover, which covers art in games with a focus on maps. Despite calling himself a terrible artist, Tim enjoys the channel for its upbeat tone and inviting map art style. He says JP's maps make him want to play whatever game they're for.