If you ever feel the urge to draw a map, whether it’s of your favorite story or just your home and yard, do it. Sketch, practice, and don’t worry about what others say. The most important tool is imagination; everything else just supports it.
An interview with Qatlas, creator of map guides for Fighting Fantasy and other Gamebooks. It's the first in a while for Map Interviews, and the latest in a series of gamebook interviews.
Chat with Qatlas, Gamebook Guide Mapper
Qatlas has created maps of many Fighting Fantasy Books and other gamebooks, including one of Nightshift (the current 100 Endings Book). He also has assets for map builder illustrations and other historical maps at the Qatlas site.
We have the first gamebook map, mapping process, tools for making maps, and non-FF gamebook maps. Among other questions.
What was your gaming story before mapping gamebooks?
It all started back in 1991, when the borders finally opened westward from Romania.
One of my classmates walked into class with The Island of the Lizard King, a Fighting Fantasy book, in Hungarian. I was fascinated that something like this even existed. The illustrations and the interactive reading completely captivated me.
I’ve always been a bit of a geek, I loved electronic handheld games, collected whatever I could: the French Rahan comics, Batman, Spider-Man, Matchbox cars, and so on.
The gamebooks were something completely new in the post-communist world, and somehow they also made me fall in love with reading.
How did your first gamebook map come to be?
Since childhood, I’ve been obsessed with maps, first with hand-drawn treasure maps. I even mapped the area around my apartment block. Later I moved on to historical themes.
The Fighting Fantasy books themselves encouraged readers to make maps, so I drew one for every book I played.
At first, my only goal was to finish the adventure successfully, but later I wanted to map out the entire book. The Island of the Lizard King even had a map among the illustrations, which I copied many times.
Later, when I was already selling my fantasy-themed vector art, the idea came to me that I could also sell these gamebook maps.
Which has been the toughest gamebook to map?
It’s hard to say exactly, as each one poses different challenges.
Maybe Secrets of Salamonis was one of the hardest, because it’s highly interactive and the story shifts in both time and space.
House of Hell also stands out, because I really love that book and wanted the map to beperfect, plus, it was my first fully isometric fantasy-style map.
Another challenge is time management, since the Qatlasmap project is basically a one-man show. Between my day job, family, and three kids, it’s sometimes hard to find time for my hobby, but then I roll a die, and if I’m lucky, the creative flow begins.
This year I had the great honor, thanks to Ian Livingstone, of having my Warlock of the Firetop Mountain map (YouTube link) included in the new hardcover edition, a real milestone for me.
What’s the full process for mapping a gamebook?
At first, I mapped books I couldn’t get my hands on when I was younger, combining pleasure with purpose.
That’s how maps like Siege of Sardath, Howl of the Werewolf, and Legend of
Zagor came to be.
Later I moved on to newer titles like Port of Peril and Shadow of the Giants,
and once I found my rhythm, I dared to approach the true classics.
The creative process begins with reading the book and taking handwritten notes and sketches. Then I draw the map with ink or liner, scan it, and digitally retouch it.
Using a digital drawing tablet, I redraw any missing or weaker parts. Sometimes I create vector illustrations from successful elements, which I later release as separate collections. Then come the colors, labels, creature drawings, and icons. Spelling can sometimes be tricky that’s my Achilles’ heel.
My newer maps are all drawn in an isometric “adventure” style, which seems to be what people enjoy most.
Qatlas has Video of the Process at YouTube.
What tools do you recommend to anyone wanting to draw fantasy maps?
Paper, pencils, a digital tablet, lots of patience, and curiosity. You can achieve great results even with budget gear, I still draw with a £50 plug-in tablet, and it works perfectly. I’m pickier about liners, though, I like high-quality brands where the ink flows smoothly.
There are plenty of great videos online about mapmaking and drawing techniques, those helped me a lot too.
If drawing isn’t your strongest skill, there are tools like Wonderdraft or Inkarnate, which are designed specifically for map creation and come with many pre-drawn elements. You can also find tons of cartography art assets here, I have a few packs there myself.
For software, I use CorelDRAW for vector work (though Adobe Illustrator is also excellent), and Photoshop for coloring and digital drawing.
If you ever feel the urge to draw a map, whether it’s of your favorite story or just your home and yard, do it. Sketch, practice, and don’t worry about what others say. The most important tool is imagination; everything else just supports it.
What are the Map Builder Illustrations and how do people use them?
(Found as Map Builder Illustrations on the Qatlas site)
They’re PNG and vector collections I created based on my hand-drawn maps, featuring towns, landscapes, buildings, creatures, and symbols. People who don’t have the time or inspiration to draw can use them for their own maps, book illustrations, game projects, or cards.
Each pack includes both vector (SVG) and PNG versions of the illustrations, so they can be easily used in programs like Wonderdraft, Inkarnate, DungeonDraft, Affinity Designer, Photoshop, or Illustrator.
You simply buy them, unzip the files, and drag the drawings into your design program, where you can resize or arrange them freely. It might look complex at first, but with a little practice, beautiful results are easy to achieve.
What gamebooks have you mapped outside of Fighting Fantasy?
I’ve worked very well with Samuel Isaacson on Escape From Portsrood Forest and The Bradfell Conspiracy. I also made maps for Victoria Hancox’s Nightshift (interview on RR) and The Alchemist’s Folly, Mark Lain’s Mistress of Sorrows, and for Innsmouth: The Stolen Child (by Simon Birks, shop link), Myrrk - Book One: The Blighted Well (drivethrurpg link), Choose Cthulhu 4 - The Nameless City, and several others.
Most of these can be downloaded for free from my website.
Some books are nearly impossible to map, especially the CYOA-style (Choose Your Own Adventure) ones, I often struggle with those.
The Choose Cthulhu series is one of my favorites, but it’s hard to create maps that are both useful and visually pleasing.
There are many exciting independent and Kickstarter projects coming out, but unfortunately, I don’t have as much time to read as I’d like, so fewer maps get made than I wish.
Which is your favourite gamebook?
The Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! series is my absolute favorite, it perfectly combines storytelling, character progression, and John Blanche’s unmatched illustrations.
It might sound a bit masochistic, but Ian Livingstone’s Crypt of the Sorcerer is also a favorite of mine. It has a strange atmosphere I can always recall vividly.
House of Hell by Steve Jackson is also very close to me. In the Hungarian edition, there was a translation issue that forced me to read through a few hundred sections to succeed, but even so, it remains a favorite.
(House of Hell Map Video at YouTube)
In that same eerie tone, I also enjoy Victoria Hancox’s books, their atmosphere feels fresh and unique, and I hope to find time for her other works soon
Where can people find you online?
At www.qatlasmap.com, where I share and sell my maps and illustration packs, and occasionally post blog updates.
Besides gamebook maps, you can find (in the Print Shop) my historical works there as well, such as Map of the Crusader States 1135, Odyssey – A Map of Myth and Legend, Map of Ancient Mesopotamia, The Roman Empire 117 AD, and fantasy pieces like Map of H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Map of Innsmouth, and the Prehistoric World Map – Mesozoic Era.
A new feature coming soon will allow customers to order printed maps directly.
You can also find me under the name Qatlas on Reddit, Instagram, Discord, X, Facebook, Youtube and TikTok, with varying levels of activity.
My printed works can also be ordered through Redbubble.
Is there anything else you would like to talk about?
I’d really like to finish the map of Kharé, the Cityport of Traps, and with it, create a complete Sorcery! map series.
That’s a tough one for me because I’m always torn between making something detailed and ornate or simpler and more readable. I think that’s one of the key virtues of a good mapmaker, finding the balance between functionality, clarity, and mysterious detail.
My next plan is Ian Livingstone’s Return to Firetop Mountain.
I’m truly happy for this interview, and grateful to be part of the Fighting Fantasy world, even if just a small cog in the machine. I never thought it would be possible from here, in the Eastern reaches, and honestly, it wasn’t even planned at first. In the beginning, I naïvely sold maps without any agreements with the authors, a mistake I deeply regret in hindsight.
Thank you for the opportunity, and I wish everyone many hours of play and joyful adventure!
Finishing Up
If you haven't looked at any of the Qatlas maps, take a look now!
There are many more articles on Rand Roll. Plus a Rand Roll Discord and instagram of Random Tables. I also create Generators at Chaos Gen and have a monthly random tools Newsletter.
