Mapfiend is a site I started back in about 2000. It began as my first experiments using the GD library with php to generate dynamic images.

The site deals with the game Everquest. Back around 2000 or so, a tool was released for Everquest, called ShowEq. The program ran on a linux machine on the same network as the machine that the game was being played on. By sniffing EQ packets, ShowEq would show you all kinds of information about the game that you weren't supposed to be able to see. Because of this, ShowEq was considered a "cheat" and it was a bannable offense if you were caught using it.

Well, I wasn't about to risk my EQ account to use a cheat too, but in the screen shots I saw of ShowEq, there were these wonderfully accurate maps. I wanted those maps, even if I had to print them out to use them. I found out that the maps were simple text files, so I downloaded the ShowEq source package, and extracted a few of the maps. With the help oif a few of the members of the ShowEq Forums, I was able to figure out the map format, and write a php script that would literally draw the map as a gif image using teh GD library and display them on a web site.

That's how Mapfiend was born. I wrote a few more scripts to accomodate the uploading of new maps, and Mapfiend became the unofficial repository for ShowEq maps, while at the same time, allowing non-ShowEq users to view and print out these accurate maps.

Since that time, Sony Online Entertainment developed their own map format, and a feature in game that allows players to make their own maps. The feature was released with a few maps, but the rest were left up to the players to create. I created a script that would convert ShowEq maps to the new SOE format and vice versa, as well as upload and display scripts for the new SOE format, and now Mapfiend is considered THE place to get EQ maps. There is now a ratings system, comments system and a daily zip generator that will zip up the highest rated maps for all zones for one easy download.

To check out the site, click the logo at the top of this page.