How do you prefer to do transitions between maps?

[Kvich]

I had a talk a while ago, with a friend of mine, regarding half forced transitions from one map to a next, and she seemed to disagree with how I did my transitions at certain places.

While I value her feedback and properly will change the way the transitions are done, I'm also curious how others are handling this subject.

The type of transition in question is what I would call the "get to the edge of the map, transport to next/former map" transition.

No dialogue box, no "do you wish to leave" question, just a fade out - transport - fade in, which I often use(d) at the edge of a city map, leading to the world map, run with a player touched event.

Getting into, and out of, houses, I tend to use a door, and a action button event for the transition.

But as mentioned earlier, I'm curious how others are doing it.

Silly me, posted in the wrong forum, have filed a report on myself, and hopefully will have it moved soon.

 

[Milennin]

I don't like the player seeing map edges. I fill up the parts beyond the boundaries to make it seem like there are no edges. For the transitions themselves I like simple fade in/out. Teleports between two areas are instant player touched, while opening a door or gate requires an input.

 

[Kes]

If you're going to have a choice box for every transfer (do you want to leave here, yes/no) I think the player will become very irritated.  You will have hundreds of these over the course of the game - every time you go into or out of a house, every time you go up or down stairs, every time you go into or out of a town etc. etc. etc.  I think I would hate this after a fairly short time.  The only time I have something like that is where the party has completed a dungeon which is on the road between A and B e.g. mountains, tunnel, forest.  I then give them the option of "Go Through" or "Enter" so that backtracking is not tedious.

Most of my transfers are by player touch, but I am careful to put in a conditional so that the player has to be facing the right way to trigger it.  I don't want them automatically transferred somewhere if they are simply walking along the path outside the house and come level with the door.

 

[seita]

I keep most teleports close to the edges of the map. It's a matter of staying consistent and letting the player know he'll be transitioning to a new area that may possibly lock older areas out, or trigger a cutscene they may not be ready for. Whenever the teleport isn't where a player may commonly find them, that's when I ask if the player is ready to leave/enter, but it's rare.

I handle transfers by fading the screen out using Tint Screen instead of using the "fade out, fade in" or letting the transfer fade it for me. It gives me much more freedom on how I want the transition to go.

 

[Matseb2611]

Normal transitions between maps in the same area I do by player touch and instant transfer. No fading or anything, because I find fading wastes time and can be annoying.

When entering or exiting a house/building, then I use fade, and the door has an action button trigger, because I don't like having to open it by accident by walking into it.

I also use fading if I have the player entering a new area which has a shift in tinting and lighting. That way I have the tint change before the map fades back in.

If the player is about to leave somewhere with no way to return back to the present area, only then I give a dialogue choice asking if they're sure they want to leave.

(Though if it's a boss fight, oftentimes I simply provide visual cues prior to the next room, such as health stations being nearby, automated shops, etc).

It's all personal preference, and there isn't one way that's the best really.

 

[EternalShadow]

Fading on edge of map, no prompts - a quick transfer without sound. You actually have to walk deliberately into doors to open them. No button presses needed.

 

[Celianna]

Moving this to general discussion.

 

[Kvich]

Moving this to general discussion.

Thank you very much, and sorry for the inconvenience.

If you're going to have a choice box for every transfer (do you want to leave here, yes/no) I think the player will become very irritated.  You will have hundreds of these over the course of the game - every time you go into or out of a house, every time you go up or down stairs, every time you go into or out of a town etc. etc. etc.  I think I would hate this after a fairly short time.  The only time I have something like that is where the party has completed a dungeon which is on the road between A and B e.g. mountains, tunnel, forest.  I then give them the option of "Go Through" or "Enter" so that backtracking is not tedious.

Most of my transfers are by player touch, but I am careful to put in a conditional so that the player has to be facing the right way to trigger it.  I don't want them automatically transferred somewhere if they are simply walking along the path outside the house and come level with the door.

I agree that giving a dialogue box every time one attempts to leave a area would become downright annoying, the Microsoft approach..

I do use a door for transition between outside and inside of a house.

I keep most teleports close to the edges of the map. It's a matter of staying consistent and letting the player know he'll be transitioning to a new area that may possibly lock older areas out, or trigger a cutscene they may not be ready for. Whenever the teleport isn't where a player may commonly find them, that's when I ask if the player is ready to leave/enter, but it's rare.

I handle transfers by fading the screen out using Tint Screen instead of using the "fade out, fade in" or letting the transfer fade it for me. It gives me much more freedom on how I want the transition to go.

That's a interesting way to do it.

Normal transitions between maps in the same area I do by player touch and instant transfer. No fading or anything, because I find fading wastes time and can be annoying.

When entering or exiting a house/building, then I use fade, and the door has an action button trigger, because I don't like having to open it by accident by walking into it.

I also use fading if I have the player entering a new area which has a shift in tinting and lighting. That way I have the tint change before the map fades back in.

If the player is about to leave somewhere with no way to return back to the present area, only then I give a dialogue choice asking if they're sure they want to leave.

(Though if it's a boss fight, oftentimes I simply provide visual cues prior to the next room, such as health stations being nearby, automated shops, etc).

It's all personal preference, and there isn't one way that's the best really.

While fading does takes time, I find it useful for immersion, as the scene don't just change "randomly"

I also prefer to have the tinting happen "behind curtains" the fade out provides, primarily for the reason above, but if the tinting happens either because of time, or because of a ongoing cut scene or scripted story part, I tend to avoid using fade out.

I agree there's no "right" way to do things, I find it interesting and inspiring to read about others approach to a certain challenge.

Would you guys add some sort of sparkling effect to "edge of the map" transitions? And/or would you add a short description, explaining transitions at the first map the player visit?

 

[Kes]

I think the sparkling effect is a matter of personal taste.  I never use them, but I know that some people do.  IMO, if you have set up your edge of map transfers so that it is clear where you transfer (road, door, gap between the cliffs etc.) and all other edge tiles are blocked off with good visual reasons for not being able to walk there (so no invisible walls) then there is no reason to give the player yet another hint about where to walk.  That transfer point will be the only place.

I have never added a description explaining transitions, and I can't remember ever seeing one in other peoples' games.  Maybe they are used, but if so I think it would feel like overkill.  Even the most inexperienced player will realise that walking through a door etc. on the edge of a map is going to take you somewhere else.

 

[arekpowalan]

It depends on places and events as well as the tone of the game. Normally, I prefer basic fade-in and out when move between maps, but there are also a lot of situations that other transition works better.

In a dream world, like Magicant or a mental land, over the top transitions or no transition at all can create a "so sudden and weird" feeling that helps influencing the abnormality of the setting. An entrance to special places also have special transition such as fade-to-white or pink to convey special feelings, like something dramatic or surreal is going to happen. I use fade to grey whenever the characters are entering a cursed and monster-filled mist world, and fade to white when they exit it, for example.

Some other transitions seem ugly and useless, like the "Zoom in/Out" in Rm2k3, but I believe they can be used to an effective effect. Zoom in, for example, works really well when your characters are shrinking or growing when they arrive at specific areas. I believe that all types of transition are usable, though it's a matter of creativity and timing to get them right.

 

[Simon D. Aelsi]

More often than not I like doing instant transfers. Touch 'em, move on/back.  The exceptions for me would be sacred places or places that heal...