Posted November 24, 2015
I think in theory one should be able to play Eye of the Beholder without a map, if it weren't for those annoying teleporter puzzles and that thing about plot items hidden behind secret walls ...
Grid Cartographer 3 (GC3) has an amazing feature called Game Link (for some games, more in the future I believe).
This feature reflects your character/party's current position in the game onto the GC3 map. You still need to draw the lines (walls, doors, etc.), but your location is automatically displayed (so no need for "counting steps").
Furthermore, the game link knows when you move from region to region (e.g. 16x16 blocks in the Gold Box) and opens a new region tab (with a properly-sized grid and the region name) whenever you do.
Caveat: David Walters (the creator of GC3) actually needs to implement all this game-specific region-identification info into GC3 and for that he either needs to play the whole game or get regular saves from people playing the game.
I am collaborating with David on getting all the regions of "Pool of Radiance" mapped by sending him a save whenever I move to a new region, since I'm anyhow playing the game and mapping it with GC3. We're more than half way through, so the next PoR player should already have a smooth sailing with GC3.
I cannot overemphasise how responsive and cooperative David Walters is (practically all emails are answered within 24 hours) and I highly recommend GC3. I paid full price for the professional version of GC3 (needed for game link) and I do not regret it for a moment.
P.S. You still need to alt-tab, though, or use a tablet. I alt-tab.
P.P.S. The games currently supported by GC3 Game Link are:
Champions of Krynn
Curse of the Azure Bonds
Dragon Wars
Eye of the Beholder
Forgotten Realms : Unlimited Adventures
Might and Magic
Might and Magic II
Pool of Radiance
Wizardry
Wizardry 6
Can't say how complete or incomplete each game's region identification is at the moment.
Post edited November 24, 2015 by mrkgnao
