World Map

[Chameleon]

Can we have a proper World map for GD please?

I really dislike the way TQ has the World Map in chunks so you can only see were you are right at that moment. I'd like to be able to see every place I have been to and have it easily accessible. :)

[Kluga]

I've gotta agree. That would make things a lot easier with overall gameplay, especially if this time around there will be more revisited parts as opposed to the linearity of TQ

[harlequ1n]

I actually kinda loved the way TQ handled maps, except for not having access to a worldmap like you guys commented.

[Sasquatch]

TQ linearity was kinda healthy I think, in most games I get annoyed when you have to run back to the quest giver for the 100th time, you spend more time running back then going forward =/

[Kardiophylax]

The need for this really depends on the size and layout of the game world. I never personally found myself annoyed with the map in TQ.

[Starkrun]

TQ was an "explore it all" "unhide the map" and get as much XP as possible type of game. it took hours to uncover it all and move back and forth. missing a quest giver was a pain in the but and the relentless searching every nook and cranny for gear and more monsters took a lot out of you.

The first few play through i didn't really feel that way, but as time moved on the game grew tiring. like i said prior, i rarely make it out of Egypt anymore, and if Grim Dawn is as big as TQ there really needs to be a way to speed up the lower levels or a Command Line parameter to auto load a chapter and boost your char to the app level with base money and or gear and skill points. Then again if i leave it alone for a few months and come back it doesn't bother me that much.

As for the map i loved the simple format, helped keep tracked of quests and i never felt small. The map really exspanded on the game. If you look at oblivion, two worlds, fallout, there overland maps make you feel trapped and small. you have defined boarders. TQ basically never told you where you were going and allowed the game to show you.

Maybe the next area would take you to the coast, or maybe a deep crypt in the jungle. there was only a small dot with a roman numeral on it. I enjoyed not knowing what was next, and not being trapped inside a boarder so i know my limitations.

The only other overworld map i like is one without boarders and a lot bigger then it needs to be and trap the player within the play area by geography in a smart way, not just a big ass mountain. This way the player feels FREE to move about the world but knows there are dangers and it would be a hard to escape the known game play area. Lava pits and goblin walls are a good deterrent.

[Renevent]

I kinda like this idea...and if I am not mistaken I believe the Lilith mod actually did something like this...so it's probably pretty doable.

[irk]

A world map would be something nice to look at for me, but it would tell me nothing; I never needed to look a back on other regions if I moved an act ahead.

[deimos]

A whole world map is useful in some games, but in more linear games not so much probably. I never missed a bigger map in TQ, the map they give you there has been plenty enough.

If you look at oblivion, two worlds, fallout, there overland maps make you feel trapped and small. you have defined boarders. TQ basically never told you where you were going and allowed the game to show you.

I always felt good about the maps in Oblivion etc. Especially the Morrowind map was HUGE, it only boosted my feeling and desire for exploration; i knew it wasn't going to end anytime soon ;)

[MageMaster]

Regarding the two worlds map, It was pretty expansive I thought. I liked being able to go where I wanted to since it was open and not linear. Even The world map In Sacred/ Sacred2 were very huge. It was really nice to be able to put a map pin in and just head that direction.

These all had The Fog of War, even TQ. Made it nice to see where you had been, or been again.:) and made it easy for clearing an area.

I do like the Idea of an Overall World Map, but It doesn't have to be extremely detailed I suppose, just a general idea where things are in relation to everything else.

[TECHNOmancer]

Can we have a proper World map for GD please?

I really dislike the way TQ has the World Map in chunks so you can only see were you are right at that moment. I'd like to be able to see every place I have been to and have it easily accessible. :)

Using the portal map as a basis for discussion, would you be satisfied if you could select the area in which a portal appears, such as the Helios portal in Greece, and then have a listing of the individual maps for each of the areas leading from Helios to the Spartan war camp? Like others here, I did not have any issues with how maps were implemented in TQ because there wasn't any practical need to view the overall map of an act, or the world for that matter, beyond what was offered in the portal selection menu.

If there is going to be more backtracking in GD, and/or more intricate areas, I would like to see a commensurate 'improvement' in the map system. Without knowing if the portal system is going to be more robust, my suggestion would be that any rebirth fountain could serve as a destination for quick travel, hence each act would have 20-40 selectable points within it. While this doesn't directly address having a more global map -- pun not intended? -- it would better justify a more detailed or larger map at least at the level of the individual acts.

Here's another thought: What's to stop us crazy fans from building an atlas of GD's areas within its wiki?

TECHNOmancer

[medierra]

Can we have a proper World map for GD please?

I really dislike the way TQ has the World Map in chunks so you can only see were you are right at that moment. I'd like to be able to see every place I have been to and have it easily accessible. :)

100% agree, I hated that as well. This is something I very much want to do but we haven't had time to implement yet. So yeah, I'll add this to the list.

I think a big, more detailed world map is key to creating a believable and intriguing sense of place. I love looking at a big map in RPGs and thinking about trying to get to some far off, mysterious looking bit of the map to see if anything is there.

[Malpheas]

Also a great way to get hidden portals to areas opened up by mysterious sidequests...

[Roland]

Also a great way to get hidden portals to areas opened up by mysterious sidequests...

I like that idea/mechanic very much :)

[i.n.s.a.n.e]

100% agree, I hated that as well. This is something I very much want to do but we haven't had time to implement yet. So yeah, I'll add this to the list.

I think a big, more detailed world map is key to creating a believable and intriguing sense of place. I love looking at a big map in RPGs and thinking about trying to get to some far off, mysterious looking bit of the map to see if anything is there.

Grave digger! =)

I like it though, well-made world maps are good to look at!

[oyalinkaya]

Clearing fog in a newly explored area is always exciting. Also huge and detailed maps are also intriguing for exploration.

I'll try to indulge my free mind in the light of my game-by-game experience with the maps, in no particular order. Fallout New Vegas and Skyrim both have open design maps and players are allowed go whereever they want in the order they wish. On the other hand, Diablo 2, Fate series and Titan Quest have gameplay designs much more similar to Grim Dawn. I think a combination of advantages of all these games would make a decent map coherence for Grim Dawn.

Falluot New Vegas: The map has no design at all. But key points and roads are so clear that I never got lost in that immense open world. I think the most important aspect of plainness of that map was, I felt excited and curious about my new explorations. Newly discovered places are added to the map as icons appropriate to the properties of the location. Since, very little detail was available in the Pipboy map screen, any new area was exciting and made my explorations entertaining. I still remember the thrill I experienced during my first encounters with unexpected Deathclaws. By the way, even though FNV was designed as a FPS style game, one could play it in third-person view.

Skyrim: Immense and fully detailed map with a 3D imaging. The advantage of viewable undiscovered areas is that it intrigues the player to explore that area which seems so high, or so damp, or so dark, or so green, so anything. It raises questions such as "what kind of monsters or NPCs are around that place?", "Is there a cave in which I can find a new gear that will make me more powerful?", or "May there be a a new dragon and a new shout?". I really felt forced to go to areas I have never gone. Again this game was design as a first person style, yet 3rd person is available.

Diablo 2 & Fate Series: Plain 2D map with borders and some key points. Pretty easy to code for programmer and to use for the player. Yet, I hate that constant fog in Fate series. Also, the dungeons are so much randomly created that I usually found myself at the dead end of a way long corridor and was forced to run back. Time wasting. In Diablo 2, large squarized open area maps always made me feel like a harvester gathering crops on a large square-like farm yard. Ups and downs in the map were the exact shortage of these two games. Some hills, explorable buildings or shallow corridors or must-go-through-to-progress tunnels embedded in the map would have overcome the feeling of terrain-combing.

Titan Quest: Linear and on-going map, with some side passages was the design of this game. As the quests and side-quests supported this design there was no problem with this. Sometimes, interior maps were adjacent to each other if you zoomed far out and travelled around. It was funny though. Yet, being forced to explore the same map in each difficulty setting was disturbing, as if something new was to come along. All in all the same map was presented with respawned fog.

These are the most recent "Oh my God, what a game that was" games I have played. That's why included them.

In the light of all the gibberish I have written down, I can see a sum of thoughts in my mind.

A map which has tecnho feeling in it (FNV effect), with plain monochrome bordered design (Diablo2, Fate effect) which has somewhat geographic details that may intrigue and encourage me to explore any given area (Skyrim effect). The topographic maps in highschool geography lessons come to my mind now.

End of my individual free association brainstorm. :)

[Sargon]

i agree with you, maps are really important (100% explored the map on every difficulty on TQ :D). Btw I think that improving TQ map system should be enough, although i would love to have a map system like there is in skyrim, but it is too expensive to do :)

[Rainier Wolfcastle]

I love looking at a big map in RPGs and thinking about trying to get to some far off, mysterious looking bit of the map to see if anything is there.

I remember the first time I had this was when I first played final fantasy I for the nintendo. Ever since then I do this with every game I play that has a big world map. I also have this weird inherent need to climb things in games even if it makes no sense to try it.