I want to map the area outside Middlegate except I cannot find where on the grid I am

A-2, C-4 whatever.

Advice please :)

Edit: I went into the Cluebook which gives the coordinates and found out I start in C-2 (again) so I'll just make my way from there. But really, I wish there was a more convenient way in-game to indicate this.

The original game came with a nice paper map. I guess the GOG version doesn't have a scanned map, then?
Anyway, here's a nice map: http://boutillon.free.fr/Docs/Rpg/Scans/Might_And_Magic_II/Might_And_Magic_II_Map.jpg

I'm pretty sure each game in the six-pack has its map included. I've just re-checked for M&M II and yes there is a map included (a PDF), and it looks like that, just not as brightly colored.

Forgot to mention it, but there's also this spell:

Location
Gives precise information on party's location. Shows a map of the current 16xl6 area that the party has mapped and shows your present location on that map. May be critical when party is lost or magically transported. In general, this spell is the key to successful mapping.

Actually, that spell's effect is no different than pressing a certain key (I think it's 'M") to display the automap, and is therefore useless.

It's also annoying that they wasted 2 item slots with items that cast this useless spell, when they could have included items that cast more useful spells (like Power Cure and Bird/Eagle Eye) instead.

That only says the coordinates within the area, not which area I'm in itself.

Also I have the cluebook with maps, I already said that in my post. I have the maps but I want to map out by hand, the location spell is useless to tell me what area I'm in.

<shrug> How hard can it be to work out which area you are in based on the map in the cluebook and the in-game map?

I came here to ask if there was a way to find out the letter/number coordinates in the game itself. If not, I'd use the packaged maps as a last resort.

Regardless I found the answer to my problem :) so never mind.

To be honest, I don't even want to map by hand anymore, as it seems mostly redundant. All I really need to do is mark events on certain squares. Which I can just write down "A-2, 1,1 Castle Pinehurst"

Just to clarify, the cluebook contains maps for each location, but the map being discussed in this thread is the separate world map. It's a hand-drawn map that gives you an idea of the world layout without showing you too much detail. One of its main uses is to find your letter-number coordinates. If you find MIddlegate on that map you can see that it's in C-2.

While the maps in the cluebook are spoilers, the world map is not, it was included in the original game box and you can think of it as part of the manual, in that players would study it before starting to play. GOG includes the world map as a separate PDF from the cluebook. It's not a great scan, though, so it's hard to read. Long ago, people found better scans in the thread linked below, but the links seem to be down, maybe post there and see if someone can re-post those?

https://www.gog.com/forum/might_and_magic_series/better_map_and_manual_scans/page1 The more "open" world map design in MM2 was a disappointment for me for this exact reason. When it's just a grid with no "walls" or other relevant features, there wasn't much enjoyment in mapping it. Sure, forests and mountains act like walls initially, but it's easy to get the relevant skills to cross them, at which point hand-mapping the outdoors became really boring. I still had fun mapping interior areas though.

^^; I missed the "world" map somehow. Thanks :)

And I will continue to map by hand, heck I'll do it with 3 as well and see how that goes :)

3 is much friendlier for mapping :)

I've actually not played 3 yet, but the first MM games I ever played were 4 and 5, and I never made hand maps for those. I gather 3 is similar in terms of its maps. For those who have done hand-made maps for 3-5, how did they like it? I feel that having combat take place on the same maps would distract me from drawing maps.

Any thoughts on hand-drawing maps vs. just using the auto-mapping for MM 3-5?

Thing about MM1 and 2 is that they have almost no auto-mapping (it is implemented very incomveniently) and saving is possible only in inns, while MM4/5 have fully built in-game automap.

MM3 is on middle ground between MM2 and MM4/5 - MM3 has no auto-map on screen, like MM4/5, but it can be activated by Wizard's Eye and you can always use "M" button to see bigger map. Also MM3 has no limits on skills and allows saving anywhere (except few exceptions), while in MM2 you have only 2 slots for skills iirc.

Thanks for the explanation! I didn't realize that MM3's automapping was different to MM4-5. I guess I'll just decide how I want to deal with maps when I play it!

Also, apologies for slightly derailing this thread.

Derailing? My question was finished :) and we're still talking about mapping, which was the initial discussion to behin with.

Personally, I actually don't mind mapping in 2. In fact it's easier than 1. As I map on a 16x16 grid on a word file, and colour in the grid. Really all I have to do is copy the in-game map that I already filled out, as opposed to painstakingly switch to the map file every time I take a few steps.

Before anyone says this is redundant, at least I can add special locations and it keeps me busy :)

Seriously, I once copied an entire Dragon Quest IX strategy guide by hand (From various FAQs and the Wiki) for physical reference just to give me something to do. And anyone who knows how HUGE that game is...