10 replies to this topic

[Eddy]

This is something I've been thinking about recently and I wanted to get input from as many people as possible.

There are two ways I could display the spacebar map in this quest which both have benefits and negatives. I could have the standard whole map, or I could have a fragmented map. The whole map is just where you can see the entire overworld, in this case a full Z1 map. This would be ideal if you want to easily see where you can go next and stuff, but at the same time, some areas will look horribly off coloured and awful to look at due to the wrong palette of the current area you're in. So I thought of the fragmented map where you can only see the spacebar map of the current area you're in and you can't see everything else. I figured this would be a good workaround to the awful palette problems in other areas and could look neater IMO, but there is always that problem of not being able to see the rest of the world and you have to constantly move about to see the maps of other areas. (If you want a good example of a fragmented map, look at The Hero's Memory)

In the expo demo 2 years back or so, I used the fragmented map approach, but now after having second thoughts I'm really torn between these two and I wondered what you guys think. Should I go for a whole map or a fragmented map? Opinions and alternate suggestions are welcome!

[Deedee]

C: Scripted map.

Went for fragment.

[Avaro]

Both would be fine in my opinion, but I prefer fragmented because I dont wanna see screens with wrong colours. It depends on how important it is to see the whole map. If the player constantly has to switch between areas in the quest its better to allow the full map, but if it's possible to focus exploration on one area then you can go for fragmented map.

[Joelmacool]

I went for fragmented. This way you could still see where to go (only in one area) and the map would seem a lot smoother.

[Naru]

This depends a lot on your map. If you have rather multiple small areas that are closed up (clear entrances) I prefer fragmented areas. Like OoT for example, you just can easily remember the areas, how you reach one and which shortcuts you can use. But if I remember it correctly your previous Amy games had few big areas and placed many things around in a way I wasn't always sure in which area you placed the things. Don't know if this is understandable. In short I often had to look up the map to see where the things are I had to visit next. Making the whole map really useful.

To look at it from a slightly different perspective, while it indeed sucks to have messed up colors on the spacemap, if you feel like we will need to use the spacemap you should choose the whole map. But if it is rather just an extra and you feel like we should be able to handle your game well even without spacemap the fragmented is more than enough.

[Eddy]

But if I remember it correctly your previous Amy games had few big areas and placed many things around in a way I wasn't always sure in which area you placed the things. Don't know if this is understandable.

If it makes things easier, this quest uses a slightly altered version of the Labrynna map from Oracle of Ages, so there definitely isn't going to be huge areas this time round, and things are much more clear.

 

 

Poll is looking pretty interesting so far, and feedback is helpful, so keep them coming

[Russ]

I vote whole map.

I know a lot of people will advocate for a fragmented map. I've gotten into lengthy discussions with Aevin about this, for example. The main arguments for it are that it looks prettier, as a whole map can be quite ugly. Granted.

However, I'll almost always take functionality over appearance. Sure, the whole map may be discolored, but it's much, much harder to get around with a fragmented map than with a whole map. Ultimately, I don't care if I'm looking at a volcano covered in green lava and yellow rocks cuz I opened my map in the desert, so long as I can tell how to navigate to said volcano from my current position.

[Shane]

I voted fragmented only because it's something I would do. Otherwise I would rely on making a custom map for the subscreen.

[Anthus]

If you're only using one Z1 Map, I'd go with fragmented, then have the mini map show all screens with the area you're in being a different color. You still can't see other screens, but you won't see color issues either, and you are still given some idea of where you are in relation to the rest of the world. It's the best compromise imo.

I've been wondering about this very thing too, but I'd be using multiple maps. I'm guessing a scripted map system is over a new scripter like me's head though so there's no way I can do it myself.

[Eddy]

Thanks everyone for the input!

 

From the results of the poll and what people have been saying, I'm gonna stick with the fragmented map. I also think Anthus and Shane's ideas might actually work best, which is to have a minimap showing all the areas as well, so I'll do that.

[Mister Snooze]

The whole map is much more useful. Who cares about color for this particular thing it is all about where to go

but anyway I see you will have a whole map of some sort.

Edited by Mister Snooze, 21 March 2017 - 02:46 PM.