MapX

MapX is a simple program that parses .MAP files and lets you view them, with panning and zooming.  Folks have created .MAP files for just about every zone in EverQuest - I've included the best ones I found in the archive.

December 7, 2002: Released Version 1.1, with the ShowEQ project's Planes of Power maps!

To run MapX you need two things:  The MapX archive, and Microsoft's .NET framework runtime (MapX was written in C# using Visual Studio.NET).

    Download MapX here:  mapx-v11.zip
    Download the source code (only) for MapX here: mapx-v11-src.zip

(The source requires the VS.NET 2003 beta to build, but it should build in the previous version if you recreate the solution file).

Here's what you have to do to run it:

1. Install the .NET framework if you don't have it already.  The easiest way to get it is through Windows Update, or you can click here to download a self-extracting archive that has the framework installer in it.
2. Download mapx-v11.zip and unzip it somewhere.. it should create a mapfiles subdirectory with the maps in it.
3. Run mapx.exe

That's it.. No fancy setup, just unzip it somewhere and run it.

Here's a screenshot:

Here's the Tracking Configuration window:

This is where you set up the players on your LAN you want to see on the map.  Each character in the list on the left has an associated log file.. every 3 seconds MapX will open the log file and read the last 100 bytes or so of it looking for a /loc command.. if it finds one, it draws an X on the map with the character's name next to it.

Tracking in action:

One limitation of this (in the current version anyway) is that it goes on location, but it doesn't know what zone you're in.  So if you don't pick the right zone from the list (or if the players are in different zones) the location of the X's on the map won't mean anything.

Where it says "Firiona Vie" on the map, that's an Annotation.  Annotations are stored in a file named the same as the map name but with the extension ".usr".  If you type /loc and then type "/mark here Firiona Vie" you'd add a mark to the map at your current location like the one on this map.

This is not a cheating or hacking tool.  It's a program for viewing maps.

The maps came from the ShowEQ project, and ShowEQ may be illegal, but MapX is not.  You can use MapX simply to view the .map files, or you can use it to parse your log file - but there's no reverse engineering or decrypting or memory reading or anything else going on behind the scenes.  It's a pretty simple program.

Release 1.1

• Planes of Power maps
• Proper centering of the window when you zoom.

Release b4

• Some updated maps (including maps for some formerly missing zones)
• The maps are now drawn the right way up! They were all rendered upside down in every previous version.

Release b3

• Added the ability to annotate maps. Type "/note mark Big doggie" to
  add "Big doggie" to the map where you are. This must follow a /loc
  in the log file (within a few lines) for this to work.
• The Tracking form now fills in the character name from the log filename.
• If the MapFiles directory is missing, you get a message box and the
  program exits (instead of exploding like it used to).

Release b2

• Added Tracking, monitoring .log files for /loc entries and drawing
  the player's position on the map.
• Made the zooming features preserve the center of the window.
• Sped up rendering a bit by caching color names.

Release b1

• Initial release.

Please send comments, feature requests, bug reports,  contract programming opportunities (plug plug), etc., to stevex-mapx@oakburl.net. You can find other stuff I've done here.  Thanks.