World Maps

[Guest]

As a player world maps are cool if they are designed right. There has to be a substantial amount of detail and landmarks so that you don't forget where you are going. It does give a feel of openness to the game because they are so big. I like world maps because it gives the player a feel that they can change direction and not have to go through a lot of screen transitions. And you don't have to really think to hard about which doors you went through to reach a certain area. Disadvantages of world maps are that they can easily be done wrong. You can easily get swallowed up in one. I played Dragonball Z legend of the supersayain and got pretty lost in that world map at first. Things like radar really help. The only alternative i know of to a world map is of course a chain of smaller maps. If you have a world map you must have a teleport system of some kind eventually. There has to be a way to transport yourself quickly once you are in the stage of revisiting places you have been before. As a player world maps can be fun. As a designer a world map can be very intimidating because you can mess them up pretty easily. You don't want to have too much blank spaces and you want to make sure there is substantial detail. It's hard enough making a will designed small map but the rewards of a large map can make it definitely worth your time. Well, that's all i have on the subject. Thanks for your time.