I’ve been working on an addon called HiddenMaps that makes a number of WoW’s normally unmapped pre-instance areas behave like properly mapped parts of the world. I originally started developing it for Classic Era, but Forever arrived before I finished, so I pivoted the first release toward the Beta while that’s where most of the current interest is.
When you enter a supported area, such as the caves before Uldaman, the tunnels leading into Blackfathom Deeps or the corridors on the way to Gnomeregan, opening the normal World Map automatically shows the appropriate map and tracks your position and facing with a Blizzard-style player indicator.
There’s no separate map browser and nothing to select manually. You just enter the area, open the World Map, and it behaves as though Blizzard had given that area a normal map.
Most of these layouts already exist inside the client as artwork used by the minimap. HiddenMaps takes that Blizzard-authored map data and integrates it into the normal World Map instead of simply displaying a separate image. Getting that integration and the moving player indicator to work properly was the part I was most interested in building.
When you cross into the actual dungeon, HiddenMaps automatically switches again and displays the appropriate instance map. Where suitable Blizzard artwork exists for Classic/Forever, it uses Blizzard’s native dungeon artwork.
For the few dungeons where that isn’t possible, I’ve handled them separately. The three new Forever dungeons don’t currently have official Blizzard dungeon artwork, so HiddenMaps uses maps by Santiago Reyes under his licence, with his original watermark retained and an additional credit line on each map.
Ragefire Chasm is a different case. Blizzard’s available map represents the materially different Retail version, so rather than use the wrong layout, I built a Classic/Forever map from the dungeon’s actual in-game geometry in the client, then oriented, cropped and annotated it for HiddenMaps.
One important distinction: position tracking applies to the supported pre-instance areas, not to the dungeon interiors themselves. Dungeon interiors use static maps.
The current Beta supports pre-instance areas for: Wailing Caverns, The Deadmines, Blackfathom Deeps, Gnomeregan, Scarlet Monastery Grounds, Razorfen Downs and Uldaman, all with player position and facing.
Supported instances are: Ragefire Chasm, The Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, Wailing Caverns, The Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep, The Stockade, Blackfathom Deeps, Gnomeregan, Razorfen Kraul, all four Scarlet Monastery wings, Razorfen Downs, Uldaman and Excavation Site: Wetlands.
https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/hiddenmaps
AI disclosure: I used ChatGPT extensively for coding, debugging, API research and documentation. I designed the addon and its features and handled all of the in-game testing and map calibration myself.
For that testing I made a Troll Rogue called Nosy Dude and a High Order Skyborne Druid. Between them they have less than 15 levels in total, and dragging these poor souls around Azeroth to every dungeon and pre-instance area has involved rather more patience and corpse-hopping than I originally anticipated. I did discover, conveniently, that both the World Map and HiddenMaps work perfectly well while dead.
So if anyone wants to give them a reprieve, I’d be very grateful for some real-world testing across different dungeons and UI setups and especially to hear about any other pre-instance areas that might be worth adding.
Nosy Dude the Troll Rogue thanks you.
