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Is this a good mmorpg world map? Why or Why not? -Now with Poll
Eronakis
Member UncommonPosts: 2,249
I have posted this map before. But I am having doubts on it again. I like the map and I am satisfied with it. However, I don't feel like it has that natural realitic flow of envoriments. Don't get me wrong, it still has a nice flow now. One small pet peeve that bothers me, is simply crossing three-four different types of enviroments before you land to the other side of the continent.
A little bit info on the map. It's a seamless world, it's around 875 square miles in real life compared to other world maps.. so you might need a few characters to explore the world fully.
So my question is this.
- Is this a good map based on gameflow? What I mean is can you get a sense of adventure/travel immersion? Why or Why not?
- Does this world map have good zone/enviroment flow? What I mean by this is simply as a character, would the transitions be smooth to you from different enviroments?
-What do you like about this map? What don't you like about this map? This question does not contain my river problem, I already know that, nore does it contain the if this map would work in real life due to climates. Please don't hound me with cartography critiques, I already know what I have to fix which are minor details. This thread is about mmorpg mechanics behind this world map.
Comments
It's still a great map (like last time.) But these questions can't be answered from a fantastic-looking world map.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
FFS I was trying to do level 18 quests in the Crimson Cinders but then this lvl 66 idiot started ganking me! Why isn't this zone flagged for PvE?!? This completely sucks what where the devs thinking omg.
Other than that the map looks nice, but I agree with above user in his comments.
Can't say I care much for their naming. "Vertiko Bluff"? Oy. "Sha'do'son"? Double oy. "Wilkes-Barre Cascade"? Well, it's nice to know the author's from Pennsylvania, I guess...
I am not from Pennsylvania. I was traveling through it and went passed Wilkes-Barre and that name is just awesome lol! To me that sounds like it's just some kind of old wilderness type of place. Some names are kinda dull, I will agree. But my name convention is pretty good I think. Some people like it, some people don't. Like for an example.. in WoW, Wetlands.. blah, Thousand Needles pretty creative. The names for my maps are either named after someone or named to describe that place.
haha actually Crimson Cinders is a higher level place haha. My mmo is mainly a Pve mmo so pvp will be implemented later on. I am trying to go back to the EQ roots somewhat.
You're absolutely right. I went to bed right before making this thread. Maybe I asked the wrong questions. The real question to me is. Does this map actually look like a game world that you want to play compared to others just by looking at the game world's map.
If I re-design this map, I wanted to make it at least 80% land and a possible coast. But my problem is, if that map is 100% land and that is the whole world... how stupid would it look if all four sides and corners were boarded with mountains. I mean, it wouldn't make sense if you was in a desert and it goes off the map with no boarder and you can't explore there simply because it's off the map. It's like in the middle of no where you see an open space and you can't further because there is an invisible wall lol.
I can actually make the map flow better if there is more land with zones making it make a little more sense with the transitions. But it's that damn whole map layout of the world that is bothering me. I would like to create better immersion for the player to feel like they are living in a realistic world with fantasy flavor added to it.
nice looking map
Well I spent all day trying to make a new map with different designs or how to improve on it. On paper, I did find a nice design flow for the enviroment, however it translates horribly into that mapping program. Maybe I want too much. But really, I think this map is good even though it doesn't provide the realistic immersion I am quite looking for. This map would make many adventures and exploration as possible.
WOW has shown me a world map can look like trash* and still be a fun game, and plenty of games with amazing world maps have been extremely boring to me, so I don't tend to judge games by map alone.
(*referring to the actual minimap-based mapping of the continents, not the nicely-drawn map-like maps they have.)
Why more land? More land would tend to make it less "realistic" (using a somewhat biased earth-based viewpoint) and also reduce the amount of terrain variation in any given area.
Yeah of course you don't want land at the edges. Making a MMORPG on a single continent (with the option of additional continents later) obviously makes a lot more sense than artificial boundaries.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
So when do we get to play this game >.>
"The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand."
- Lewis Thomas
WOW has shown me a world map can look like trash* and still be a fun game, and plenty of games with amazing world maps have been extremely boring to me, so I don't tend to judge games by map alone.
(*referring to the actual minimap-based mapping of the continents, not the nicely-drawn map-like maps they have.)
Why more land? More land would tend to make it less "realistic" (using a somewhat biased earth-based viewpoint) and also reduce the amount of terrain variation in any given area.
Yeah of course you don't want land at the edges. Making a MMORPG on a single continent (with the option of additional continents later) obviously makes a lot more sense than artificial boundaries.
Aye I agree. That's why I am just leaving it the way it is. I just hope that if mmo is in production, it will have a phenomenal world map to catch the player in immersion as well as awesome gameplay with a fantastic mature community.
As soon as I can make a damn demo with the small team I have. Make a small version for a single player RPG. as our first shipped title, then we can compose a team to make this mmorpg masterpeice! I long ass time ago, I posted a summery of all of the stuff that I have finished in concept theory. Then I took it down because I thought my team was going to have the go ahead and start on it. But that fell through because we didn't have time for it. But we will. Anything you wanna know about it? You can ask here or ask it in a PM. And yes.. if everyone must know... its a "themepark" and I am taking it back to the EQ roots...
I'm not an expert on geography, but the map looks fantastic. You also seem to have done at least a bit of research into biomes and climates based on some the names (boreal for instance). So I wouldn't worry about the way the map is.
I also like that you have a vision and a goal, but personally, I've been looking for a more "Monster Hunter" type of game because I always get out-leveled by my friends. I've been looking for a game where I can still be useful while playing with friends or just random PUGs. I also want more of a console twitchy style of gameply, not necessarily FPS, but again like Monster Hunter, or maybe Red Faction: Guerilla. But, this is just my personal taste and I am no way trying to bash your game or your idea, espicially considering how much effort you are putting in to it. So while I don't think I'll play, I do wish you all the luck I can.
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The most awesomest after school special T-shirt:
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Back: /\OH --> Bad Decisions
reminds me of the daggerfall map
300+ and 9 votes.. damn
Edit: I had to say someting I was going for a flawless victory! lol
Personally just looking at the map I feel like exploring that world. Out of interest what program did you use to draw the map, and is that program free?
I used Campaign Cartographer 3. It's not free. Its about 80 bucks for the CC3 and Symbol Set 1. I think it's worth it for me
You can find it it profantasy.com
Well I did notice something and would like an opinion. The Black Text means those places are interior and exterior dungeons. Do you feel that I am laking castles/ect ?
Well....
I like the map itself, but it reminds me SO MUCH of the LoTRO map! Maybe it has to do with the fire mountains in the middle with a Moria like peak and entrance to the east of it with a vale shadowed below the "Moria" peak.
Besides that, good looking map and one that I would LOVE to explore!
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Let me make a suggestion regarding this. Since it is a flat world like all game worlds why try to hide that fact? Why not make it official? Have the borders of your world terminate in a huge cliff dropping off into infinity. The edge of the world.
I mean, why not? And if people are stupid enough to jump off the edge...let them. Let them fall for a while and then either run out of breath and die or bounce off the cliffs and die or mayby there is a firey region below your world so they burn up and die.
And don't worry about questions like, "Why doesn't all the ocean run off the edge?" because it is a fantasy world after all. You could just say that the Gods continuously renew the oceans or something.
And this would also open up some interesting possibilities for a later expansion if you wanted to let people explore the underside of the world. Heh, or depending on how you would view gravity in this situation it might be the flip side.
Anyway, I thought the map looked fine and I even felt a little twinge of the old urge to explore when I was looking at it. The only problem I had was the way you layed out some of the rivers but it was no big deal.
I remember this map, very clearly. Not sure if from MMORPG.com or what. But anyways I have seen this before. And yes, it would be good. Seems to be very huge, has everything from Jungle to Desert. I think I would love the snowy place and the waterfalls. More crap to sea and it would be awesome. I have always thought it would be good idea to swim like hell and kill one big boss underwater. Also could have much underground dungeons and underground city, though of course you can't draw them to map.
Yeah I actually posted here before =D
Or they could simply die from the fall damage when they land on the giant turtle or the four huge elephants the world is resting on.
The map is cool, but I do favor those mapes that show more of the terrain in them.
More important than your map is what happens on that map. For example:
How engaging is your lore?
How interesting are the points of interest on that map?
What about races and cultures?
You have some intriguing areas, but I also see vast tracks of nothing.
I cannot stand huge worlds that have little or nothing to do in other than running around. I would prefer a smaller world, that is developed, detailed and chock full of fun things to see and do over a vast but largely empty one.
All said, you seem to be off to a good start.
not bad. looks like it makes more sense than most mmos. I will always remember playing WoW when it first came out, there was a desert zone right next to a forest zone and there was no transition between the two. It was literally salt-flats with sand and dust straight to lush greenery. So bad it makes me laugh every time i think about it.