| ▲ | Show HN: An interactive map of Tolkien's Middle-earth(middle-earth-interactive-map.web.app) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 186 points by frasermarlow 11 hours ago | 37 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An interactive map of Tolkien’s Middle-earth, with events from across the legendarium plotted as markers. I have been commuting a fair bit between the East and West coast, and thanks to American Airlines' free onboard WiFi, I was able to vibe-code a full interactive map of Middle-earth right from my economy seat at the back of the bus. It's rather amazing how much an LLM knows about Tolkien's work, and it was fun to delve into many of the nooks and crannies of Tolkien's lore. Some features: - Plot on the map the journey of the main characters in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. - Follow a list of events in the chronological Timeline - Zoom in on the high-def map and explore many of the off-the-main-plotline places - Use the 'measure distances' feature to see how far apart things are. I also had a lot of fun learning about tiling to allow for efficient zooming. If you are anything like me, this should provide a fun companion to reading the books or watching the movies (note that on this site, I followed the book narrative, and did not include Peter Jackson's many departures) If you get the chance to check it out, I would love more feedback, and if there is demand, I might do the same for Game of Thrones. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | tuom1s 7 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This is amazing, and only recently I started to read the books. So this map will actually be handy to follow through the story! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | ivolimmen 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The first thing that poped in my head when seeing this: it must have taken quite some time to thoroughly go thought all this to make it. The developer must have a huge passion for LOTR. Seeing all the message that it was build using AI it hugely deminishes this feeling. Still a very nice looking map. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | aquir an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It's great but it's the Map of Middle-Earth in the Third Age, right? During the First and Second Ages Middle-Earth looked very different and this makes showing events from the Silmarillion for example very confusing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | freakynit 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As much hate as vibe-coding gets (and most of it is justified), it has also allowed all of us to vibe-code our thoughts to small single-page web apps very easily. Shameless vibe-coded plugs for my own regular usage: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | topherjaynes 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
One doesn't simply vibe code into Mordor!(but seriously love this) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | bananaflag 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I notice the map is the one from the movies (it shows the Orocarni a bit too close, but it's nice they appear on the map). Maybe when describing historical events you should also put the year (it is given only for some of them). Anyway, very nice work! I think it's appropriate especially for casual fans (especially movie fans) to delve (sorry) deeper into the lore. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | chantaiman_fnf an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wish I had this thing when I was young. Like... 25 years ago? lol I had to turn back to the map page over and over... Thanks for the work! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | randomeel 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Amazing ! But it did kind of spoil the rest of the books since i am reading LOTR for the first time... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | 4ndrewl 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Looks really nice. There are tons of interactive Middle Earth maps, but this looks really polished. Did the LLM suggest using some pre-existing standard like MBTiles for the tiles? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | jcstryker 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Great work! A window into one of the most important universe we have created. Any chance you would be willing to share the source code? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | shdh 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Using a tile server for this feels hilarious | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | blevinstein 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arda was supposed to be drastically changed after the First Age. This map is from the Second/Third Ages. Do the events from the First Age map currently into what is shown? Do some have to be excluded? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | balajeekalyan 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wow! this is so detailed. You are putting vibe-code to genuine use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | pants2 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Would love just for fun to feed this through an image generator to make it look like satellite imagery or maybe even Google Maps. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | twostorytower 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This is awesome! Can you make the zoom in and out smoother? I have to pinch every single time to get to the next zoom level instead of continuously zooming as I pinch. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | imwally 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Anyone know a decent place where I can buy a giant print of this for my wall? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | strider_2018 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I made an account just to say thank you. Really great work. I would love to see a map of the first age events. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | vldszn 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Looks very good! Thank you | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | kilbey1 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mad respect; I've been working on building maps and it's a LOT harder than it might seem. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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