i was just wondering what people have been using for road maps/world maps, in their shadowrun games.

so far all i have been going is using google fu and some old street maps from my car, but i find that google hasnt really been able to give me what i am looking for...

does anyone else have this problem or do you guys all have something that i dont know about???

Google maps is awesome. Also, really small scale paper cycling maps and such.

This may be just my own style, but my use of road maps has diminished to nearly nothing at this point.

Any focus on how exactly characters get from scene to scene seems to bog down the game. For me, this has been pushed to the side along with how they brush their teeth at night, which particular flavor of super-crunchy-crispy-nuggets they buy at the stuffer shack for lunch every day and whether the wind is from the west or the east. IF it is relevant or necessary to the game story, I definitely give them that information, but otherwise it is taking away from the fun of the session.

Even traditional "map runs" where characters are planning an ambush on a known route can be broken down to two or three locations that the PCs can use to set up an ambush. After a few descriptions, they pick one and you sketch up a high-level outline on a dry-erase board for them.

YMMV.

That being said... I still love Google Maps. When I use it, it is mostly to give a flavor of the type of neighborhood the characters are in, by giving a closeup of a few blocks.

Unless it's important for your story to have an exact time frame for traveling from Point A to Point B (running against a clock, trying to reach a location to disarm a bomb, etc.) road maps aren't necessary. For all other cases, use Google maps or make a best guess. Anything else, you're slowing down your game by cramming in unnecessary detail. There's a reason why they use jump cuts in films and TV shows.

Sometimes though, the road trip is all that counts.

I've used Google Earth myself for the Denver missions since no one in my area really knows the city that well (with the sectors drawn out and mission points established). Kinda helpful at times so the players know how the sectors are actually laid out, and just how close they might be to a border when they're on a run.

i was just going to use them for chase scenes/smuggleing missions/beat the clock jobs...

i think that google earth will just have to do

If Deepak Chopra is your GM, I have no doubt this is true.