What are the future plans for the map

[cheaptoad]

We all know that the map needs help. It was just wondering what are some of the planned features of tge maps.

[FURY]

We all know that the map needs help.

Could you expand on your post for more specifics?

Which map?

Why does it need help?

[rastaah]

So far the map is working for me though it does not scale well, which would need work. I like that it is pretty basic myself but I understand that others may not and I am ok whether it stays basic or gets more fancy :D I just wish it would scale better, that is my only big request.

[alleryn]

Presumably this will change with the GUI update. The only thing that bothers me is how hard it is to see the player location in Kur/Gazluk, due to white on white (also happens for text when you select an item, it's quite difficult to read what you've selected. -- Maybe it's snow blindness?).

[cheaptoad]

I'm talking more about map labels in and around towns. Being able to zoom in on buildings and maybe even seeing names of the NPC's

[Greyfyn]

I like the way the map markers work. You can put your own labels on--if you haven't found that feature yet. When I first started, I marked and labeled important landmarks and things I needed to find again. Eventually mah brain just took over and I know where every thing is. Having the game not hold my hand in finding quests, npcs, locations, and landmarks made this game fresh. This is one thing that is so different from other games; I would be less satisfied to see it become like all other mmos.

Even the old illimari map with the directional issues was brain work I enjoyed. Heh.

There are of course, some annotated maps available on the wiki.

[rastaah]

Right I like that the map makes you work a bit :) And write your own landmarks, explore and mark etc.

So I agree, I like it to be simple not complex as I would hate to see the game become another spoon fed on the rails game. (This will be an ongoing theme with my posts lol, i apologize in advance)

[ShieldBreaker]

Bit of a far fetched idea but I would like to see layers for the pins to be added to. So you would get a number of layers for you map. You can name them what you like. By selecting a particular layer you could see just those pins. So you could have a landmark layer, a mining layer, a teleports layer, an exits layer. Mainly just want a mining layer so in places like Eltibule I could have a clean slate to drop treasure/mining pins on. Could get something similar if you could toggle the pins to visible or hidden by icon.

I wouldn't mind see something along the lines of a Fog-of-War setup on the map, might actually be helpful because it would show you also where you haven't been.

[Sheawanna]

would be nice just to have different color pins types , like red for dungeons or yellow for caves maybe green for firepits .. then there is not just a bunch of grey pins .
so maybe a option to choice the color pin you lay down .

[srand]

Keep the suggestions coming!

The current map is limited quite a bit by the current UI framework. Once we get that sorted, we should be able to add quite a bit more functionality - it's just a matter (mostly, at least) of deciding what to add. So your thoughts here and going to be really useful when we get there!

[Tagamogi]

would be nice just to have different color pins types , like red for dungeons or yellow for caves maybe green for firepits .. then there is not just a bunch of grey pins .
so maybe a option to choice the color pin you lay down .

This is actually an option if you level treasure cartography. I really miss the different colors if I'm playing an alt that doesn't have them unlocked yet.

I kind of like it that leveling skills gives you more map options, but I wish the starter map making options were less limited. When I started playing, I diligently marked every location of interest on the newbie island and promptly ran out of map pins. :(

I think I'd like it if everyone started out having 2-3 colors available and more map pins than right now, and then leveling foraging or treasure cartography could give you super special stuff like the layers Shieldbreaker suggested (I like that), or maybe just silly frills like pins that look like a flag or something.

[rastaah]

I can see where starting out if the map is not 100% great people may leave too soon to realize how great the game is so what about having a starting island quest that unlocks the very basics on the map that make it more usable :)

Win/win that way, they still have to earn it and figure it out, but it is at least there!! Perhaps they could go on a treasure map hunt or something

[Sheawanna]

This is actually an option if you level treasure cartography. I really miss the different colors if I'm playing an alt that doesn't have them unlocked yet.

I kind of like it that leveling skills gives you more map options, but I wish the starter map making options were less limited. When I started playing, I diligently marked every location of interest on the newbie island and promptly ran out of map pins. :(

I think I'd like it if everyone started out having 2-3 colors available and more map pins than right now, and then leveling foraging or treasure cartography could give you super special stuff like the layers Shieldbreaker suggested (I like that), or maybe just silly frills like pins that look like a flag or something.

Thanks was not aware treasure cartography gave color pins nice .

[Crissa]

Bit of a far fetched idea but I would like to see layers for the pins to be added to. So you would get a number of layers for you map. You can name them what you like. By selecting a particular layer you could see just those pins. So you could have a landmark layer, a mining layer, a teleports layer, an exits layer. Mainly just want a mining layer so in places like Eltibule I could have a clean slate to drop treasure/mining pins on. Could get something similar if you could toggle the pins to visible or hidden by icon.Exactly my suggestion. What layers is open to interpretation... But I don't forget the name of a city or NPC just because I needed to scribble down some dozen markers for a quest (or mining).

I'd like more interaction with pins, so that someone 'nearby' could share a pin with me, or maybe someone could scribe a map to an NPC and hand it over and I could consume it to find my way. I'd really, really like it if I could overload my map pins by reading mining surveys and having those show up on the map until something else overrides them.

Right now it's actually too easy to drop a pin. I end up with superfluous pins all the time. And I don't want to accidentally erase the one or two important pins on the map...

If I've gone through a portal, and have a map fix, can I just have that on the map? Maybe a map skill I can level up by using my mining/scribing/etc to get more permanent features (and maybe unlock maps of dungeons and sand storms?)

[LaRaj]

I have suggested some ideas in a previous post and am adding a link to it here.http://forum.projectgorgon.com/showthread.php?256-Maps-Map-Making

[LaRaj]

I would like to see a zoom in/out feature for the maps as well. This feature would be useful when in a new town/zone/area where you could zoom in on the town to pin certain NPCs or landmarks.

[jackybah]

Like Crissa wrote, as you're doing surveying/geology/mining you're likely to for a short while add a substantial number of map pins on the map. Then run around collecting your Ore/gems/treasure and then remove those map pins.
It would be nice if you were to be able to either save certain collections of pins (where are the dungeon entrances, the portals, the NPC's) , to be able to (temporarily) clear those, make the mining map pins to a couple of hours and to later restore that saved collection of map pins (to again see the dungeon entrances, portals etc)

Another option might be to have 2 'overlays' over the map. And being able to select which set of map pins you want to see at a certain time. (this would enable us to mark the important pins on one overlay. and then temporarily switch to the 2nd for mining/surveying.

[jackybah]

Would it be valuable to have some way to share map pins across a guild ?

[Crissa]

I'd like map pins to be possible to be loaded from an object. Like the flashing dot from a survey or a player or NPC map. It would take alot of the tedium out of it.

[shardelay]

In general - I'm wary of maps at all in a 3d game. Im sure no one will agree because we all like map convenience. But I'd ask this... how often do you run in a zone and look at the little arrow on the map and NOT look at the area around you? When this happens, we stop interacting, we stop looking around, and we just plot the most obviously straight line from here to there - we sprint over water, we run through spawns, we literally walk through other players w'out seeing them.

How many of you have lined up your run from Serb to Elt and then looked away - only to look back 1 minute later and notice you were sprinting headlong into the small wall and didn't actually get anywhere.

I'll be burned at the stake for suggesting it, but I think maps should be removed entirely, and MAYBE added on as a very high level and tedious skill. They pull you out of the world and remove immersion and interaction.

Go ahead, flame on!

[Crissa]

I'll be burned at the stake for suggesting it, but I think maps should be removed entirely, and MAYBE added on as a very high level and tedious skill. They pull you out of the world and remove immersion and interaction.

Go ahead, flame on!Sure. Because every time I click on a spawn and my character gets flipped around, and the landmarks down't load, that will surely increase my enjoyment of the game. Because in the real world I never take a compass reading or look at a far-away landmark and just head straight towards it?

[Lendari]

Is there going to be a dungeon map or is the intent that dungeons don't have maps? I think maybe a "fog of war" style map that uncovers as you explore would be good. This might even apply to outside zones. Perhaps NPC's can sell items that uncover certian areas for you.

[Vinnicombe]

... but I think maps should be removed entirely, and MAYBE added on as a very high level and tedious skill. They pull you out of the world and remove immersion and interaction.
I agree with you to an extent. I like the idea of maps not being something you have access to immediately. It's like "Oh, this is my first time in this area of the world, but I already know there's a river that I can't see over those two hills". I don't think new players should be left completely in the dark (perhaps they can acquire a basic map (as detailed as you could expect from a quick drawing) from an NPC in the towns, rather I'd like to see a way to encourage and reward exploration further.


Is there going to be a dungeon map or is the intent that dungeons don't have maps? I think maybe a "fog of war" style map that uncovers as you explore would be good. This might even apply to outside zones. Perhaps NPC's can sell items that uncover certian areas for you.
I thought it was intentional when I first noticed no map in Kyrulek's Crypt. I loved the idea of a dungeon not being already mapped for me, and I would prefer it to stay that way until my player finds some way to map it, whether that be buying a map from somewhere or mapping it myself.

[rastaah]

Vinnicombe your idea is the happy medium place and I like that. Not too extreme on not having maps but just enough little bit of work is not just handed to you.

Once you unlock or do that area, it is done etc. Though I can get around without it, it for sure is more of a challenge with no good map :D

[Crissa]

I don't mind that the dungeons don't have maps, but it would be nice to have at least a view of what's nearby, or group-members. I don't mind if it's sideways or turns around when you move into different sections of the dungeon or whatever.

I just hate getting lost in the middle of combat because move-to-attack or shove flipped my camera around. I don't mind getting lost - I just hate wasting clicks spinning around.

[Yertle]

I thought it was intentional when I first noticed no map in Kyrulek's Crypt. I loved the idea of a dungeon not being already mapped for me, and I would prefer it to stay that way until my player finds some way to map it, whether that be buying a map from somewhere or mapping it myself.

Perhaps, by finding a Dungeon Map (http://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/Dungeon%20Map) and a Compass (http://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/Compass#Ocarina_of_Time)? :D