Connecting locations: world map, large local areas, areas divided into multiple smaller locations, or...?

[Kaimi]

So I've been working, in text form mostly, over the story of a game I hope to make at some point and am having trouble decided how should towns and dungeons be connected in the game. An important information regarding this is that the story takes place (mostly) on a single continent surrounded by several smaller islands. This is inspired by some recent Tales of games where stories focus on a smaller area, yet are still rich in details.

Like the title suggests there are a few options I'm considering:

1. World map – the classic take on world exploration as in the distant past there were rather significant limits on memory.
2. Large local areas – the best example would be Tales of Zestiria where each field map is a rather large area that connects to various dungeons, towns, and other fields. To a lesser extend Tales of Arise also applies but it generally has much smaller local areas.
3. Areas divided into multiple smaller locations – the best example would be Tales of Berseria with a lesser extend on Tales of Xillia and its sequel since those last two are more of "corridors between mountains" but still applies. In Berseria each field was divided into several areas, allowing for a more varied exploration without excessive open areas like in Zestiria.
4. Select location from a map – this one is rather... bland: you have a world map displayed and on a side a list of available locations, kinda like airships work in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. There's hardly any possibility to add some hidden locations or promote exploration with this option though.

I'm certain that people will be either "world map all the way!!" or "do what you think is right/you're comfortable with".
TBH I'd probably try for something akin to Tales of Arise, but still... I'd like to hear others' opinions on this.

 

[Ami]

i want to choose 3 (Except, Select Location)

• World Map: i love the World Map, i can feel how huge the world is. thing that i like is each of Regions have Theme & Climate (Grassland, Desert, Volcano, Winter, etc), Culture (like Arabian Style of Desert, Wild West American for Wasteland, European for Grassland & Winter, etc) of that Region itself
• Large Local Area: or, you mean... Region, which it's depending on what just happened in the region itself (such as Political Things, Climates, Cultures, Event Happened on that Region, etc)
• Areas Divided: it's work for me since i don't have any idea of my World Map Making

while Select Location is i don't like, you just choose where you want to go & Voila! We're Here!. i don't feel the Sense of Adventurous of that System, so No for that from me.

that's my opinion of World Maps

 

[gstv87]

changing maps takes time in the form of refreshes, updates and reloads from disk.
if you can manage that, you can go with separate areas, of any size you want.
if not, you'll have to have as few area changes as possible, which means, larger individual maps.
if you can manage each area within the tile limit as established by the editor, then... problem solved.

 

[Andar]

It completely depends on what the focus of the game is (beyond the story) and what the player is supposed to do.

a world map is essentiell for a game containing exploration, where the player is supposed to visit locations multiple times and where the player should find things without seven pointers at every corner.

on the other hand if the player is not supposed to backtrack to earlier places, guiding him through connected areas or teleport locations without maps are the better solution.

 

[JacSkulls]

So I've been working, in text form mostly, over the story of a game I hope to make at some point and am having trouble decided how should towns and dungeons be connected in the game. An important information regarding this is that the story takes place (mostly) on a single continent surrounded by several smaller islands. This is inspired by some recent Tales of games where stories focus on a smaller area, yet are still rich in details.

Gotta say, I'm with Andar on this one. I never played any of the "Tales of" series but have been recommended to it. If what you want is this, then maybe a mixture between Large Local Areas and Areas divided into multiple smaller locations.

On the other hand, if this single continent is pretty large, then maybe a World Map would work for you. It all depends, as Andar said, how your story progress and what it's about.

 

[Kaimi]

Thank you for the output so far! There will be backtracking, but I'll implement some kind of workaround in case I'll go with region maps/subdivided region maps to reduce time spending while walking as the whole continent is going to be pretty big by itself TBH. I think it would be something like in recent games where there's a quick travel option using a world map available in the menu or perhaps something like in Berseria which had the ability to teleport to town(s) (entrances) using special bottles.

Well, I do intend, or rather would like to have something akin to Discovery Points, points of interest that are unique/characteristic to many places, making them unique; this kinda ties to the story's theme of "defining yourself", so yeah, they would be "Locale Defining Points" to a degree.

Now that I think about it there's also a possibility of going kelarly route: have those multiple connected maps, like in Berseria, but when the option to use an airship appears you are instead taken to a classic style world map and fly around the world and have to land on a designed spot to enter the area. That could work as well, but I don't plan on having an airship, but then again something else could replace it...

 

[Cymaiden]

I haven't played any of the Tales games, so I needed to look up what is meant by options 2 and 3. My personal instinct for anything that isn't a pastiche of a pre-existing game would be a Zelda-like set-up where everything is linked via one or more hub areas and there simply isn't anything resembling a world map as such. Possibly I'd go with option 4 and have a Final Fantasy X-like map that one can simply select locations from to avoid lengthly backtracking in the event of very long distances. I think Square made the right call in doing away with the world map in FFX since those do make worlds feel smaller by showing you everything from a bird's eye view.

 

[eigwayne]

I don't know if you've made a decision yet, but I wouldn't go with option 2. Zestiria's maps sometimes felt tediously large. Navigating between Pendrago and any other town without using the save points was a real drag, no pun intended at this time. Berseria's levels felt more manageable, most of the time, but I felt like from your description a traditional FF6-style world map wouldn't fit the feel you were going for. So I voted for option 3.

What I did like about Zestiria's maps was when you reached some of the entrances/exits, you could see a bit of the area beyond the transfer points, which made them feel more grandiose but cut down on some of the more tedious parts. It was like you could see the connections between areas, but you weren't forced to actually walk them when you were already mentally and possibly physically ready to move on (if you've got a save in the desert area near the huuuge bridge that I've forgotten the name of, I remember feeling it quite a bit there).

Something like this could help connect smaller, more manageable areas and give a feeling of grandeur without giving the player flashbacks to trudging across Pearloats Pasture.