Continuous Flow Style Mapping

[BigToastie]

Hi Guys,


So I am personally doing a continuous style mapping, so each area is explored rather then fast travel to dungeons etc. you have to walk (or unlock other means to get there).


to get an idea of the question i want to ask:


I have a design of how my map goes, but for my first areas, it goes from an


open forest area > village > mine > a large forest (a lot larger more indepth such as waterfalls, ruins etc.) which goes up a cliffy/mountainside area >another village > to a cove 


I was going to put another forest after the cove which leads to the first main city and a swamp.


The question


with this style of mapping if you keep going into forests would you get sick of seeing a forest environment and expect a vast change in environment consistently: or if the different forest areas are mapped in a unique way so you could tell them apart by just looking at the maps, it wouldn't take away from the game and your own experience of the game?


You see I dont want people to think "oh great another forest (sarcasm!)" but "WOO another area to explore"!

 

[Andar]

that does not depend on what the tileset is but on how you create and present your map.


Even ten forests can be very different as maps, if you be carefull to make it obvious as other parts of the map, and reward exploration.


It only becomes a problem if the player can't even see the difference between forests.


That said, I personally would consider strange and rapid environment changes to be immersion-breaking, unless there is a specific reason for it or there is a transition from one area to another.

 

[TheRiotInside]

I would try and give each forest a certain niche; something that makes it stand out from the rest of them. Even if it's some basic things like what kind of flowers there are, to a subtle screen tint or overlay, it all helps to differentiate one area from the next.


Really though, just strive to make your game as gripping and enjoyable as possible. If I'm invested in the characters and motivated to progress the plot and feeling rewarded with varied battles and exploration, I'm probably not even going to notice or care that half of the game takes place in the woods!

 

[IamGilgamesh]

So are you saying all on one big single map? Or you mean a sequence of maps to get around but no world map to quickly access further areas? Those are my questions because it seems the others covered the rest fairly well. I especially agree with the bit about making each one have standout features.

 

[XIIIthHarbinger]

I suppose it is a question of how many maps you are talking about, & how much distance you are covering.


If your two villages & the mine are all within the same forest, it would make sense for there to be certain degree of uniformity of the vegetation you are going to encounter, because that is how a forest is in real life as well. In which case the differences need to be in how you are drawing out each map, map 1 was a creek going through it & the path takes you east, map 2 was a large rock outcropping that can provide a cave/optional dungeon & the path now heads north, etcetera. Subtle differences like specific terrain features, water bodies, unusual tree formations, all within a more uniform scenery give a feel to a section of maps, while still making each map different.


Depending upon the number of maps, you might want to throw in a scenery map of two. No enemy encounters, just spend sometime making it look pretty & detailed. So long as your provide things that break up the monotony, & you don't copy & paste the same maps over & over. 

 

[LuLingqi1]

I like slight, subtle changes. Perhaps one forest is dreary and always rainy, and another is vibrant and full of wild life and colorful fauna.


Size, stimulation, and necessity all come into play. With continuous flow, back tracking happens a lot. Traveling becomes boring, and sometimes, that lush scenery becomes nothing but a blur. There needs to be something that stops the player from becoming sleepy. It can't be battles either, haha. Exploration is always good. I think though, that three forests are a bit... Much. The time span between them, just from showing us the names of the locales, doesn't seem like very much. I guess, as long as you have something to break the monotony, do whatcha want! I suggest mini-games in each area, like maybe in one forest if you capture like, enough bugs or something, you can get some gold. Stuff like that makes going into the same area tons of times, or an area that looks similar, less boring.