I have always been a fan of the Age of Exploration, late 15th century through the 16th century. I have also wanted to run an RPG set in this era and area. The "New World" was so different from Europe that it seemed to exist in a seperate reality. It alo goes without saying that my avid re-enacting of this era has something to o with my love and interest in this era. One thing I am trying to achieve is the feeling and look of the maps from this era. A good example is this 1572 map of Antwerp-

This map is absolutely gorgeous and I am love this perspective or cities. It is one of my new goals to be able to produce a map like this. I m also gathering data on the ships of this era and plan on publihing that here as well.