Screenshot map
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A screenshot map is a map of a location within a video game compiled from various screenshots. The screenshots are usually taken using an emulator in order to achieve pixel perfect quality. Adjacent screens are pasted together in a graphics editing program, and the onscreen sprites are usually removed. The maps allow people to see levels or worlds in their entirety. More accurately, these are maps as much as they are omnipotent views of a location.
Screenshot maps were a common feature of the tips, hints and walkthroughs sections of magazines throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, such as Nintendo Power. They are fairly rare in modern gaming due to the dwindling number of games rendered in two dimensions, but are popular in retrogaming where the two required ingredients—2D and emulators—are both common. The current uncommonality of these maps and the reminiscence of older two-dimensional games lead to the creation of many screenshot maps for nostalgia rather than just navigation.
Some mappers prefer to leave the levels completely untouched, while others prefer to put accompanying strategies directly on the image. Many mappers also fill in areas the original game designers left blank with patterns copied from other sections. It is typically a question of accuracy or aesthetics, depending on whether its purpose is navigational or nostalgic.
[edit] Creation
As their names might suggest, screenshot maps are created by splicing screenshots together in an image editing program.
Some games may use parallax scrolling, so such a basic approach may not lead to an aesthetically pleasing map. The background(s) should be removed, assembled separately, and the foreground would be pasted on top.
Dynamic elements (animated tiles, moving platforms, etc.) should also be harmonized. Sprites, especially the main character sprites, are usually edited out, with some common exceptions, such as bosses.
While screenshots are usually taken while playing, for some games it may be simpler to rip images directly from the data in the game's code. An advantage of this method is that information which would not be visible from screenshots during normal play (eg. invisible objects, difficult-to-reach areas, etc.) may also be extracted. Dynamic elements will typically be automatically harmonized when using this method.
The mapper may also choose to label points of interest.
Due to the highly volatile nature of pixel art it is preferred to use lossless image formats such as PNG.
