Developer Max Burnette Revives Video Game Cartography as Artistic Practice Through VGCartography

Max Burnette, operating as VGCartography, creates artistic maps of classic video games, reviving a form popularized by gaming magazines. His work involves extracting game data through emulation and hex editing, then presenting it in visually engaging formats. Burnette, who has a background in Geospatial Information Systems, began this hobby during the COVID-19 pandemic. He focuses on games from the 1990s and early 2000s like MediEvil, Spyro: Gateway to Glimmer, Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto, and Tomb Raider. His maps provide top-down or isometric views, highlighting level design, collectibles, and developer creativity. Burnette aims to evoke nostalgia and reveal the clever techniques used by developers working within technical constraints. He sources tools and inspiration from online communities like The Cutting Room Floor and noclip. The artist laments the loss of physical game guides with hand-drawn maps, contrasting them with modern digital guides he finds less artistic. His portfolio includes maps that combine sprites, models, and fonts into cohesive images. Burnette's process involves analyzing game design documents, such as those for Banjo-Kazooie, to inform his artistic choices. He notes that older games often show individual developer styles, while modern titles reflect more committee-based decisions. The project has garnered an online audience appreciative of its nostalgic and insightful qualities.