[Tzeentch]

I've begun digitizing all of the Shadowrun borders in ArcGIS and also generating a few maps (more to come, priority is finishing the digitization). You can get the latest news at the Dumpshock thread (http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=39076) and access the country shapefile and PDF maps I've created so far at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8m3vhgcrk9rmebs/q5RxqpYtFC

I don't do maps on demand, but I'll monitor this and the Dumpshock thread if you have any requests. I'm NOT a cartographer (my day job is spatial analysis) so don't expect anything mega fancy.

[Lysanderz]

....... what is this ArcGIS and how do I get one to fuck around with?

[Tzeentch]

ArcGIS is a suite of GIS tools. The actual shapefile format can be read by a number of tools.

It's much more versatile and powerful than KML files (which I find to be practically useless) and will end up being a much higher quality set of data. For those, see http://forums.shadowrun4.com/index.php?topic=5542.0

[Automaton]

Okay, pretent that I don't have a clue what you're talking about and try to explain it to a 10 year old.

Starting with what are GIS tools. Because that has as much meaning to me as ArcGIS.

What is it that the tool does, and what is it that your are doing with it?

[Tzeentch]

Heh. I can't explain everything in a forum post (I do teach a college class on the subject though). Basically, these show the Shadowrun country borders (I've now finished the entire planet minus every Trans-Polar Aleut island) at a very fine detail (c. 50m accuracy) using existing administrative borders and natural features where the Sixth World Atlas map diverged from the real world. If you can use shapefiles this is (AFAIK) by FAR the most accurate Shadowrun map ever created,  and it serves as a base that can then be attached to other data (like population numbers) to allow better visualization of information that is scattered around various sourcebooks. It can also be extended to map the internal political divisions when such information is available.   

Want to overlay rail lines to see if they passed through the Gold and Ivory Coast area you are running in? Want to overlay climate data over the Shadowrun map? Need to see EXACTLY where the Sioux/UCAS border meets? If so, this can help. I've also created a KMZ version of the file that may be of use for those using software that doesn't read shapefiles. 

[ImaginalDisc]

Thanks for the great stuff, seriously.

As a South Floridian and a Shadowrun fan I always found the conflicting information for South Florida meant when I set games here I just went with whatever I wanted. For one thing I flooded the state 1.5 meters deep which inundates parts of the 'Glades and coastal regions.

[Belker]

GIS in this case meaning Geographic Information System.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system

[Tzeentch]

I haven't updated this in a few weeks because I have more pressing projects, but the KMZ and nations should be pretty good to go. It should even have the (AFAIK canonical, provided by Wak) PCC/Aztlan border changes as a result of the land purchase in Storm Front. I'm also trying to clean up some Annotation layers to make automating nice mapbooks easier and better segment different feature layers (e.g. roads, power sites, cities, major towns), so we'll see what happens with that

[mjack]

ArcGIS is a great, but unfortunately commercial piece of software. But in case someone else here would like to work on ESRI Shapefiles and alter or create some own maps I recommend having a look at QGIS. It is free and open source software available for all platforms including nightlies for Android. Public Domain maps in Shapefile format can be found on Natural Earth and GEOFABRIK. Latter one features detailed data from the OSM project.

[squidheadjax]

MapWindow is also fairly straightforward as a basic, no-frills, shapefile-compatible GIS program.  Or at least it was last time I used it; I spend all my time in ArcGIS.

I'm one of those strange people who loves their work but can't stand doing it as a hobby, so I salute you for this effort, OP.