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In Game Map, what kind would you prefer or hoping for?

Balrog21Balrog21 Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
What sort of in game map are you hoping for in Ashes? No, not the world map we have seen for a while now, the in game UI map we get to pull up to see where we are, etc? Have we seen any rendition of this so far?
Do you want a WOW style parchment map?
The GW2 style with multiple color swatches all over the place? I will say I like the way it vanished once you went back into the game.
The BDO style map with cartoony looking trees and stuff?
The old Rift style map which was basically a topographical style map?
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Comments

  • CaptnChuckCaptnChuck Member
    edited September 2020
    I really really liked GW2's map. Things on the map only appeared in detail if you were in the area. The map also had a fog of war covering portions of the map that you hadn't cleared yet. It encouraged exploration and gave a sense of discovery.

    I really hope that AoC has a similar system as well.
  • Exiled KingExiled King Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Would like to be able to drop pin markers for solo/group/guild activities.

    Also, I would like to be able to save previous cords for interesting areas. This could simply be a book with saved cords from the pin markers.

    This could also be used to save peoples coordinates for their house locations for different vendors.

    Hate to make another Ultima Online comparison but any old player would agree. UO had a book of saved locations (rune book), you would create a rune and place in the book, you could teleport that location by opening a portal. Was very useful for remembering NPC vendors at player houses who had good items. The same could be used for AoC, but instead of using a teleporter, you could simply save the cords and it would open up on the map and place a pin marker....and off you go on your adventure.
    xKMTkyZ.jpg
  • QuintusQuintus Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I would like a minimalistic, parchment style map with a limited amount of colors or none at all. I don't want to be able to explore the world on the map. I want a feeling of surprise at my destination instead of a feeling of confirmation.
  • Balrog21Balrog21 Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    @CaptnChuck I agree, it is very nice and I love the way it sorta zooms you back into game play.
    If they go the parchment route I hope its realistic as can be and not the cartoony style of wow's.
  • Balrog21Balrog21 Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    @Exiled King I so want an I game log book even if it's as simple as the windows Notepad.
  • DamoklesDamokles Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Okay, hear me out.
    At the beginning it is just a map around your starting node. Everything else is just grey, while the surroundings around the node are really rough sketches only showing rivers, mountains and typical geographic landmarks.
    If you travel, you then get the same kind of rough sketches for the territory that was greyed out before.
    A scribe can get quests to travel all around a node location to collect information and they then learn how to make a map upgrade.

    These map upgrades are one time use only and fill in things like colour, resource spawn locations (like a big blob that says: "Iron ore here", and things like open world dungeons/raids.
    a6XEiIf.gif
  • Balrog21Balrog21 Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    @Damokles I Really like that idea! Can you imagine the bank you could make as a scribe doing that??!
  • XenotorXenotor Member, Alpha Two
    A Varaity of different pins i can place on the map.
    A way to draw on the map, like a route i want to take.

    A way to invite others to watch my map and the ability to have them interact with it.
    Every group, raid, guild leader would love this as it would make planing soooo much smother.
    53ap2sc6pdgv.gif
  • QuintusQuintus Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    @Damokles Resource spawn locations are set to move, nonetheless, interesting idea.
  • In terms of the 'larger map' I want there to be a fog of war.
    In terms of the 'local area map' I want to see what is in my vicinity.
    Locating item types should be tied to crafting skills.
    Things like quest objectives should be given a 'in this region' marking.
  • DamoklesDamokles Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Quintus wrote: »
    @Damokles Resource spawn locations are set to move, nonetheless, interesting idea.

    What I meant was things like ore veins etc. They spawn as many resources as long as they are not depleted.

    And something like a more generalist resource description, like "Ores spawn here."
    "Gatherable resources (raw materials/harvestables) occur in locations where you would expect them to be organically."
    a6XEiIf.gif
  • First of all, I'd love it if they make it more immersive.
    What I am talking about is mapping progression and buying.
    Pros: Money sink, immersion, highly customizable map, one more thing for completionists to be able to show off to others (their map).

    Ideas:

    -You can explore on your own and exploring will clear out a fog of war on your map. You can draw on your map and have the ability to save it so the drawing stays there forever if you want it to and erase it.

    -You can go to a NPC and pay him to copy a section of your map so you can share it with your friends.

    -You can buy maps from NPCs and buy upgrades for your map from certain factions.
    Examples:
    a)Like if you grind reputation with a mining faction, it'll give the ability to buy from them a map of ores which upgrades your maps and gives you rough estimate where you can find ores.

    b)Ask a master cartographer to upgrade your map so you can see coordinates on it.

    c)You go to a new region and want a little bit of a heads start and by accident find some old man somewhere in a village/forest/cave who was an explorer before the apocalypse so he offers to sell you his old map of the region.

    d) Level 3-6 nodes have a NPC who can sell you a basic map of the region/area. (Not much details on it, but enough to give you a head start and an idea.)

    The style:
    DayZ style map (parchment in our case here) where you gotta find yourself on the map. (Keep in mind that the original idea of DayZ was that you had to find a map first and pick it up in order to have a map.)
  • Birthday wrote: »
    First of all, I'd love it if they make it more immersive.
    What I am talking about is mapping progression and buying.
    Pros: Money sink, immersion, highly customizable map, one more thing for completionists to be able to show off to others (their map).

    Ideas:

    -You can explore on your own and exploring will clear out a fog of war on your map. You can draw on your map and have the ability to save it so the drawing stays there forever if you want it to and erase it.

    -You can go to a NPC and pay him to copy a section of your map so you can share it with your friends.

    -You can buy maps from NPCs and buy upgrades for your map from certain factions.
    Examples:
    a)Like if you grind reputation with a mining faction, it'll give the ability to buy from them a map of ores which upgrades your maps and gives you rough estimate where you can find ores.

    b)Ask a master cartographer to upgrade your map so you can see coordinates on it.

    c)You go to a new region and want a little bit of a heads start and by accident find some old man somewhere in a village/forest/cave who was an explorer before the apocalypse so he offers to sell you his old map of the region.

    d) Level 3-6 nodes have a NPC who can sell you a basic map of the region/area. (Not much details on it, but enough to give you a head start and an idea.)

    The style:
    DayZ style map (parchment in our case here) where you gotta find yourself on the map. (Keep in mind that the original idea of DayZ was that you had to find a map first and pick it up in order to have a map.)

    instead of NPCs, it should be players who are scribes
  • Exiled KingExiled King Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Balrog21 wrote: »
    @Exiled King I so want an I game log book even if it's as simple as the windows Notepad.

    that would be nice too, instead of having a separate monitor to look up stuff you wrote down
    xKMTkyZ.jpg
  • Birthday wrote: »
    First of all, I'd love it if they make it more immersive.
    What I am talking about is mapping progression and buying.
    Pros: Money sink, immersion, highly customizable map, one more thing for completionists to be able to show off to others (their map).

    Ideas:

    -You can explore on your own and exploring will clear out a fog of war on your map. You can draw on your map and have the ability to save it so the drawing stays there forever if you want it to and erase it.

    -You can go to a NPC and pay him to copy a section of your map so you can share it with your friends.

    -You can buy maps from NPCs and buy upgrades for your map from certain factions.
    Examples:
    a)Like if you grind reputation with a mining faction, it'll give the ability to buy from them a map of ores which upgrades your maps and gives you rough estimate where you can find ores.

    b)Ask a master cartographer to upgrade your map so you can see coordinates on it.

    c)You go to a new region and want a little bit of a heads start and by accident find some old man somewhere in a village/forest/cave who was an explorer before the apocalypse so he offers to sell you his old map of the region.

    d) Level 3-6 nodes have a NPC who can sell you a basic map of the region/area. (Not much details on it, but enough to give you a head start and an idea.)

    The style:
    DayZ style map (parchment in our case here) where you gotta find yourself on the map. (Keep in mind that the original idea of DayZ was that you had to find a map first and pick it up in order to have a map.)

    instead of NPCs, it should be players who are scribes

    Scribing is a profession.
  • TeaGeekTeaGeek Member
    edited September 2020
    I like a fog of war for detailed elements on a personal map. However, maps exist for places people haven’t been before, so there should be a way to get an idea of landmarks and coastlines. Bulletin boards with vague continent maps or harbor zones giving access to shoreline maps that can be viewed or purchased once the region has been built up enough would make perfect sense. I would like to be able to buy or earn a vague local road map from a traveling merchant, with the surroundings of the road grayed out but the route exposed. This would be really fun if you could get directions from an NPC that are potentially inaccurate, not exposing the route through the fog of war like consulting someone’s road map might, and potentially leading down the wrong fork in a road (later ability to confront the NPC about the mistake or intentional misdirection would be golden).

    I actually really liked the way the map progression worked in Zelda BotW, with vague map borders that could be better resolved by getting better resolution regional information from towers, but needing to come across places to have them identified as actual map locations.
  • CROW3CROW3 Member, Alpha Two
    Damokles wrote: »
    At the beginning it is just a map around your starting node. Everything else is just grey, while the surroundings around the node are really rough sketches only showing rivers, mountains and typical geographic landmarks.
    If you travel, you then get the same kind of rough sketches for the territory that was greyed out before.
    A scribe can get quests to travel all around a node location to collect information and they then learn how to make a map upgrade.
    These map upgrades are one time use only and fill in things like colour, resource spawn locations (like a big blob that says: "Iron ore here", and things like open world dungeons/raids.

    Yes, this. I think knowledge should be hard earned, then shared - not just automatically given. Also, I agree w/@CaptnChuck the GW2 map was beautiful and well implemented. Their watercolor stylization helped the fog of war look intriguing. The changes I would make there would be to hold back the detail until it's fully discovered by the player, or given/sold to them by another player cartographer.

    AoC+Dwarf+750v3.png
  • CaptnChuckCaptnChuck Member
    edited September 2020
    CROW3 wrote: »
    Damokles wrote: »
    At the beginning it is just a map around your starting node. Everything else is just grey, while the surroundings around the node are really rough sketches only showing rivers, mountains and typical geographic landmarks.
    If you travel, you then get the same kind of rough sketches for the territory that was greyed out before.
    A scribe can get quests to travel all around a node location to collect information and they then learn how to make a map upgrade.
    These map upgrades are one time use only and fill in things like colour, resource spawn locations (like a big blob that says: "Iron ore here", and things like open world dungeons/raids.

    Yes, this. I think knowledge should be hard earned, then shared - not just automatically given. Also, I agree w/@CaptnChuck the GW2 map was beautiful and well implemented. Their watercolor stylization helped the fog of war look intriguing. The changes I would make there would be to hold back the detail until it's fully discovered by the player, or given/sold to them by another player cartographer.

    Absolutely. I definitely think that there are ways to even further improve upon GW2's map.

    I would love to see areas on the map that have legendary hidden content, that don't appear on the map unless you have the quest for them. These hidden legendary quests could be hidden in random items in the world. That would provide a cool mysterious feel to the world of Verra. It would give you the urge to explore everything.
  • I feel as though the "open world" part of open-world games often functions more like a loading screen that you have to get through before continuing to play the game rather than an integrated part of the actual game. I think it is primarily because there is a lack of challenge/gameplay related to navigating through the world when so much information is conveyed to you at all times via the map. Having so much information makes it so that the gameplay related to exploration is limited to watching the icon that represents you on the map move closer to the point of interest that is also highlighted on the map. I wonder if it would make the game more fun if you weren't able to see your position on the map and the world was designed in such a way that you had to use landmarks/natural features to navigate through it. Maybe that would be too tedious or maybe there are other, better ways to make exploration more interesting but I know that I, personally, find exploration in other genres (hollow knight comes to mind) significantly more interesting than any MMO I have played.
  • CROW3CROW3 Member, Alpha Two
    edited September 2020
    BDO's map is unacceptably over-engineered (imo). If I have real-time access to military-grade satellite imagery with big data integration that show's me (among other things) humidity maps - then why am I still hitting mobs over the head with a stick?

    12.jpg?1532018623
    AoC+Dwarf+750v3.png
  • Would love a paper map that shows the full world, like we know the general shape of the landscape and vaguely where certain landmarks are but as you explore the finer details get filled in. Like when you first create your character, it's a generic plain map that shows few roads, cities and landmarks and where-ever you visit and quest; the longer you play in a certain area the more detailed and colorful it gets as you familiarize yourself with the land around you.

    Could also be cool that if you were, say, a prominent contributor or ruler in a scientific type node that advances to a city you can unlock a more interact map of the area showing you were specific resources might be located or where hidden paths lay. Or a military node gives a political color coding to your map, indicating what nodes or nations are at war with who and where.
    ezgif-3-b7b5eae89b.gif
  • nidriksnidriks Member, Warrior of Old, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Fog of War. Please make the map have a fog of war to make exploration a thing.

    I doubt it would be well likd, but I'd actually like to have maps be purchaseable for areas and to have no mini map. I look back to EQ and the EQAtlas website. EQ didn't have ingame maps for a long time and players relied on a beautifully drawn online atlas.

    Maybe it is too late,but I would love to see a game like Ashes have some sort of cartographer profession and have players make the maps. Players would then have to buy maps for various areas of the game. To ease players in, starter areas could have maps already (so representing that the area is well known). However, if youw ant to visit a remote area then you might want to buy a map or map the area yourself.

    I guess I just want area that one can get lost in.
  • VyrakaVyraka Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited September 2020
    I don't mind fog of war or not having a mini-map. What I would like to see is some form of a compass overlay in the main UI. It doesn't have to be big, and can be semi-transparent. I'd like to know what direction I am headed without having to go to the map to see what direction my pointer is going.
    Axiom-Guild-Signature-Vyraka.png
  • Balrog21Balrog21 Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    @nidriks Steven already confirmed there will be a fog of war on the map. :)
  • CaptnChuck wrote: »
    Birthday wrote: »
    First of all, I'd love it if they make it more immersive.
    What I am talking about is mapping progression and buying.
    Pros: Money sink, immersion, highly customizable map, one more thing for completionists to be able to show off to others (their map).

    Ideas:

    -You can explore on your own and exploring will clear out a fog of war on your map. You can draw on your map and have the ability to save it so the drawing stays there forever if you want it to and erase it.

    -You can go to a NPC and pay him to copy a section of your map so you can share it with your friends.

    -You can buy maps from NPCs and buy upgrades for your map from certain factions.
    Examples:
    a)Like if you grind reputation with a mining faction, it'll give the ability to buy from them a map of ores which upgrades your maps and gives you rough estimate where you can find ores.

    b)Ask a master cartographer to upgrade your map so you can see coordinates on it.

    c)You go to a new region and want a little bit of a heads start and by accident find some old man somewhere in a village/forest/cave who was an explorer before the apocalypse so he offers to sell you his old map of the region.

    d) Level 3-6 nodes have a NPC who can sell you a basic map of the region/area. (Not much details on it, but enough to give you a head start and an idea.)

    The style:
    DayZ style map (parchment in our case here) where you gotta find yourself on the map. (Keep in mind that the original idea of DayZ was that you had to find a map first and pick it up in order to have a map.)

    instead of NPCs, it should be players who are scribes

    Scribing is a profession.

    thats what I meant
  • nidriksnidriks Member, Warrior of Old, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Balrog21 wrote: »
    @nidriks Steven already confirmed there will be a fog of war on the map. :)

    Thank you. Probably seen it, but I'm old. :o
  • Balrog21Balrog21 Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    @nidriks me too!
  • Balrog21Balrog21 Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    @Jahlon has there been any mention or screen shots of the in game map yet? Or what they are leaning towards for the in game ui map? Not the world map.
  • CaerylCaeryl Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    The "A Quality World Map" mod for Skyrim has a really nice style of map. Realistic but not overly data-intense. I can image a mostly darkened map as fog of war, showing only metros and areas you've found yourself, or "learned" from maps made by Scribes or Cartographers
    755_Defining_Video_Game_Maps_2.jpg

    Something that looks more like a traditional map wouldn't be out of place, just listing basic geographical landmarks and regions, but letting players make their own markers in addition to adding landmarks players discovered. Even better if players can toggle what's displayed.
  • I like Skyrim map, and the old ARK map too.
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