Automap

In video games, an automap is a navigational aid used mainly for virtual worlds that are expansive or maze-like. An automap is typically an abstract top-down view of nearby areas of the game world, automatically updated as the player character gains knowledge of the environment. Automaps usually display traversable terrain, allies, enemies, and important locations or items.

Automapping was a particularly desirable feature in computer role-playing games, which typically featured a dungeon with many levels for players to explore. Before automapping, players were expected to draw maps by hand as they played the game, so they could navigate through the dungeon levels later (game boxes for early 1980s Wizardrys, for example, included graph paper).