Some of the content on this page is outdated as a redesigned mapping tool gadget is now in place

On the Etrian Odyssey Wiki, there is a custom namespace, "Map", for documenting all the Maps for all the games.

These maps are generated through the use of a lot of templates. In order to make the editing of maps an easier process, this article will describe how these templates work, how you can use them to create maps, and which tools can help you with editing maps.

Map Templates

For each game, there are 3 specific templates. Map, Map Quadrant, and Map Tile.

We'll start with the smallest and work our way up from there.

Map Tile

Map Tile represents a single tile on the map. It deals with the color that a specific tile should have. When drawing maps, you don't need to deal with this template. It is only used by the mapping engine itself. On the wiki, a Map Tile will eventually be only a color to be used for the coloring of a table cell.

Map Quadrant

Map Quadrant represents a single quadrant on the map. Maps in the Etrian Odyssey series consist of 5 by 5 tile large "quadrants" marked with A to F and 1 to 7. When drawing maps, you'll work at the level of a single quadrant. On the wiki, a Map Quadrant will eventually be a 5 by 5 table, each cell representing a tile of the map.

Map

The Map template represents the entire map. It imports the map quadrants of a floor to make the whole map. It also adds the map tabs (A-F, 1-7) to the sides of the map. The final result looks very much like a zoomed out ingame map.

Drawing Maps

In order to draw a map, you must draw the map quadrant by quadrant. The quadrants need to be saved under the correct name so the Map template can find them. To help with this, a generic (fits for all games) template, "Map quadrant links", is placed on each map page. This template produces links to all the locations of where the map quadrants should be.

Making a new Map Quadrant

When you've established the basic Map template, you'll be greeted with a grid of red links. You'll need to create the map quadrant by quadrant. Start by clicking on any one red link and input the appropriate "Map quadrant" template while creating the quadrant page. For Etrian Odyssey I, the template is named "Map quadrant", for Etrian Odyssey II, the template is named "Map quadrant EO2".

This will create an empty map quadrant, like so:

Etrian Odyssey I

Etrian Odyssey II

Etrian Odyssey III

If you instead want to edit an already-existing quadrant, the Edit Links underneath the full maps will let you pick the quadrant you want to edit.

Adding Content to a Map Quadrant

There's more to the Map quadrant template! In full, it looks like this:

{{Map quadrant
|a1t=|a1i=|a1w=|a1d=|a1bg=
|a2t=|a2i=|a2w=|a2d=|a2bg=
|a3t=|a3i=|a3w=|a3d=|a3bg=
|a4t=|a4i=|a4w=|a4d=|a4bg=
|a5t=|a5i=|a5w=|a5d=|a5bg=
|b1t=|b1i=|b1w=|b1d=|b1bg=
|b2t=|b2i=|b2w=|b2d=|b2bg=
|b3t=|b3i=|b3w=|b3d=|b3bg=
|b4t=|b4i=|b4w=|b4d=|b4bg=
|b5t=|b5i=|b5w=|b5d=|b5bg=
|c1t=|c1i=|c1w=|c1d=|c1bg=
|c2t=|c2i=|c2w=|c2d=|c2bg=
|c3t=|c3i=|c3w=|c3d=|c3bg=
|c4t=|c4i=|c4w=|c4d=|c4bg=
|c5t=|c5i=|c5w=|c5d=|c5bg=
|d1t=|d1i=|d1w=|d1d=|d1bg=
|d2t=|d2i=|d2w=|d2d=|d2bg=
|d3t=|d3i=|d3w=|d3d=|d3bg=
|d4t=|d4i=|d4w=|d4d=|d4bg=
|d5t=|d5i=|d5w=|d5d=|d5bg=
|e1t=|e1i=|e1w=|e1d=|e1bg=
|e2t=|e2i=|e2w=|e2d=|e2bg=
|e3t=|e3i=|e3w=|e3d=|e3bg=
|e4t=|e4i=|e4w=|e4d=|e4bg=
|e5t=|e5i=|e5w=|e5d=|e5bg=
}}

The Map Quadrant template works by reading in data from a lot of variables. These variables have seemingly strange names (for example, "b3w"), but it's a combination of the following:

• Each line of the variables corresponds to one of the 25 tiles in the quadrant. Alphabets correspond to the row, numbers correspond to the column. "a1" corresponds to the first tile from top and left, "a5" for top-right corner, "c3" corresponds to the tile directly in the middle, "e5" for bottom-right, etc.
• The rest of the variable name, which tends to be one or two characters, in the example "w", stands for the meaning of the variable.
  • The 'w' stands for "Walls". In this variable, the walls of the tile are noted.
  • The 't' stands for "Tile". In this variable, the tile type is noted.
  • The 'i' stands for "Icon". In this variable, any map icons can be added like you would add an image.
  • The 'd' stands for "Description". In this variable, a description can be added. If a description is added, it will pop up when someone mouses over the tile with the description.
  • The 'bg' stands for "BackGround". In this variable, the background image type is noted. This variable is mostly unused - right now, it's only used for adding water.

In order to draw on a Map Quadrant, you must add data to the variables.

The content of the variables needs to follow a strict syntax, however. This is because without a strict syntax, drawing maps would take a very long time because you would need to do everything by hand. By following the syntax, you can draw walls with a single character!

Variable content Syntax

Tile (t)

Tiles, denoted by the 't', follow the following syntax:

• For Etrian Odyssey I Maps:
  • Keep blank for an empty tile.
  • Write a single 'n' for a normal (blue) tile.
  • Write a single 'd' for a red (damage) tile.
  • Write a single 'w' for a light-blue (water) tile.
• For Etrian Odyssey II Maps:
  • Keep blank for an empty tile.
  • Write a single 'n' for a normal (green) tile.
  • Write a single 'd' for a red (damage) tile.
• For Etrian Odyssey III Maps:
  • Keep blank for an empty tile.
  • Write a single 'n' for a normal (blue) tile.
  • Write a single 'r' for a red (looks more orange, actually) tile.
  • Write a single 'y' for a yellow tile.
  • Write a single 'g' for a green tile.

So, if you, for instance, wanted to mark a normal tile in the upper-left corner of the quadrant (tile a1, in this case), you add into the template brackets:

|a1t=n

Icon (i)

Icons, denoted by the 'i', do not follow any specific syntax. Instead, they place their content directly on the tile. As such, you can put an image, like an Event Marker () in the icon variable, and it will display the event marker on the tile. Like so: |a1i=[[File:EO2MapIconEvent.png]]

If you are making specialized icons, scale them to 16px x 16px so they don't distort the quadrants, and try to give them transparent backgrounds.

Walls (w)

For Walls, denoted by the 'w', the Map Quadrant checks whether the following characters are present, and draws a wall accordingly.

• If an N is present, a wall is drawn on the northern side.
• If an W is present, a wall is drawn on the western side.
• If an E is present, a wall is drawn on the eastern side.
• If an S is present, a wall is drawn on the southern side.

Three important notes here:

• Whilst walls are shared between tiles, they still have to be defined by each tile that has a wall. So when a pillar is in the center of a map quadrant, 5 tiles will have walls.
• The characters MUST be uppercase.
• Whilst the order of the characters NWES does not matter, it is a style standard to write them in NWES order. That way, wall syntax remains uniform.

So, for instance, if you're drawing a horizontal wall between tiles a1 and b1, you must have these two in the template:

|a1w=S
|b1w=N

Having just one of the two may cause the wall to look unusually thin, or not display properly at all.

Description (d)

Description, denoted by the 'd', will create a tooltip upon mouse over of the tile that the description is attached to. In the description, you can put any basic wiki syntax like you normally would. No tables can be put in the description, however, as these will break the syntax of the template.

Descriptions can be used for marking the contents of a treasure box, describing events, listing the name and movement pattern of FOEs, the resources that can be gathered at an itempoint... etc.

Background (bg)

Background images, denoted by "bg", will add a background image to the tile. The background image may or may not fully cover the tile, but it is still advised to draw a tile (t) as well - if the image link is broken, or the reader's internet connection is slow, the images will take some time to appear.

For Etrian Odyssey I Maps, write a single character 'w' to add a Water background image.

There are no background images for Etrian Odyssey II or III maps yet.

Examples

Whilst the article could show example upon example, there is already a lot of material you could look at from the already existing Maps!