[Survey] How many people use the overworld maps in their game?

[Kupotepo]

What are the reasons for using overworld maps? [I understand it is there RPG Maker software. I mean another reason. I think is mostly because of convenience and story bound map related. I am guessing as you can see.]
1. Allows a fast travel
2. The story can jump all over the places.
3. create an illusion of a larger game world


Though? Hallucination? Dream? Thank you for sharing the though, new adults, and old adults.

Sorry, another question to throw at you:
Is anyone here still like the land transportation or you like to see the characters walk like titans?

Is the question I would like to ask? But the language is kind of strong. Unless you would like to be direct like that.

The Overworld: Does it Belong in the Past?

WARNING: The following discussion will almost certainly contain opinions, especially ones that may differ from your own. If you encounter such an opinion, proper procedure dictates a calm response to prevent an S-Class Moronic Arrogant Dumbie (or MAD) event. I played a lot of old RPG's in my...

forums.rpgmakerweb.com

 

[MerlinCross]

Well for one, having your game reference a lot of different places, nations, and areas; it can help to actually VISIT those places than just talk about them all the time.

Exploration is also a key factor, going into the unknown and seeing what's out there is a pretty strong driving force so long as there's stuff to find/do.

 

[Kupotepo]

@MerlinCross, yeah that is what people said in the past. So they travel to a distance place faster then create multiple exterior maps. I guess another would be less mapping for the developer. Thank you for letting me know what your thoughts on this topic about mapping.

 

[MerlinCross]

@MerlinCross, yeah that is what people said in the past. So they travel to a distance place faster then create multiple exterior maps. Thank you for letting me know what your thoughts on this topic about mapping.

Well let me give you some quick examples that stand out to me.

Pokemon doesn't have an overworld but still has a lot of area to cover and lots of little things to discover. I think it would lose a lot of the charm if the routes were replaced with just an overworld.

Grandia is one of my favorite games and while it had a world map, it was just little nodes you'd select and move there. Basically teleporting from one to the other. But it was written in such a way that the exploration and into the unknown was still very powerful and the driving force of most the game.

However, you did have moments back in the day where FF7 showed you how big the world is after 10-20 hours in Midgard. And FF6 had several moments on the world map that impressed me. From walking out of Narshe, to the ruined world, to both airships moments.

Overworlds do belong in games but I ask you, does your game need it? My own game takes place at a highschool so there's really no reason to have an overworld that moves them from town to town. Maybe a quick overworld that lets them move about the town but unsure about that.

 

[Kupotepo]

@MerlinCross, yeah that is true on scope of setting and events any games would want to cover.
I think of hybrid mapping I used the overworld map to make the characters move to far distant like FF7. However if the city or town is near each other I just connect it with the exterior grassland or outdoor terrain lol.
Also we are agreeing on the approach then lol. I am wait for more people to shine in be maybe they have new approach on this topic. Thank you for your time explaining to me.

 

[Wavelength]

I've used it in some of my projects, and not in others.

The main benefit of an overworld map is that it allows the player a way to travel a large fraction of the entire world without either the break-of-immersion that an unrealistic "warp" would entail, or the slow, plodding pace (not to mention very large amount of dev work) that a realistic number of transition zones between two faraway places would require. The overworld allows the illusion of a full, coherent world that each location has a realistic place in, while still allowing the player to traverse it in a few minutes.

I'm kind of a fan of when most features have realistic sizes in comparison to the player (things like trees, rivers, and cave entrances), rather than being scaled down to the size where the player looks like a titan. I like the look of fewer, normal-scale trees and rivers much better than lots of Lilliputian trees and rivers. There's nothing wrong with using a similar style and scale on the world map to what you're using on dungeon maps! Cities will need to be scaled down in most cases, obviously, since their interiors are thousands of times bigger than the player, but I think reducing a 50x50 city to 5x5 tiles on the world map is a better option than reducing trees to six pixels in height.

 

[Dororo]

Technically speaking, world maps were once the wilderness, the actual place where combat should happen and you'll risk your precious HP going from town to town.
For a combat oriented game the world map represent a chance. A good conceived world map is cheap to do and add another layer of exploration.
It also add epicness the easy way: three towns, a castle and a couple of dungeons scattered on the map can represent an entire chapter of an epic adventure.
The fact is: I don't see why not.
I'm quite positive about, I usually expect for games to show one (hopefully with a fast travel means in the later sections, when I've already seen a lot of such map).

 

[Kupotepo]

@Wavelength, thank you for your knowledge. Do you have the teleport scroll or device? Or at least the rope from Pokemon to help you run out from the cave lol.

@Dororo, thank you for your input.
Is anyone here still like the land transportation or you like to see the characters walk like titans?

Just asking I like the big characters, I feel powerful to just steps over the trees on the overworld map lol silly me.

 

[Morpheus]

My game ONLY consists of a world map lol

Spoiler: Map

 

[woootbm]

In my first game, I spliced some of the overworld tiles into a normal size tileset. I did this for a scene where the player is standing on a cliff looking at a castle far off in the distance. I didn't use the overworld tiles for their intended use, though.

In my next game I'm going to have a world map that animates where the player is going in the world (like Indiana Jones, basically). It's likely I'll use overworld tiles for that, but we'll see. It's a very similar concept to a normal overworld, just streamlined into a cutscene for a linear game. Most people like knowing where things are in relation to each other so that level changes don't seem so arbitrary. It just helps immerse the player in the setting.

 

[Crusha]

I might be short-sighted, but I can't imagine an RPG not having an over-world map. To me, it's one of the most exciting parts of the game. You never know what monsters you will be fighting in the next woods, or the next desert, etc.. I've seen some over-world maps that also look incredibly beautiful. Like, I'd almost want to find an excuse just to walk around more on the over-world map, than to head into the next town. Granted, not every game can be like this, but I think of how important the world map was for games like FF6 and Lufia. I think it's a great way to utilize the map, to tell your story. If you have a barbaric character, you can tell that back-story some by just the map itself -- have him in a snowy, rough-life spot. Or a character that you don't want to fully reveal their class, but you have their surroundings on the over-world map be a lot of woods, to help tell the backstory -- maybe they're actually an elf, but they wear a cloak and look human to most people (because you can't see their ears). So the lots of woods can help hint at they might have some nature affinity backstory, and you can show the player things instead of having to always be like "this is an elf." Show the surroundings, like the player come to realize it's an elf.

 

[TheoAllen]

None, because my game is a dungeon crawler.

However, I'm fine with a world map that is just basically "you're here now" when you open a menu. Not necessarily a map that you move or (fast) travel.

 

[Kes]

Several people have mentioned the problem of the player looking like a Titan.

What I do is use a much smaller sprite for the overworld. No, it's not perfect. To have an accurately scaled sprite would reduce it to an undefined speck. It does, however, reduce the clash and helps to preserve (at least a little) the illusion of difference in the type of location.

 

[The Stranger]

I don't use an overworld, but I do use a map screen that lets you see where you currently are, and choose where you want to go. One of the best world maps I've ever seen was the one in Arcanum. It was a huge map picture that had a lot of unmarked areas you discovered by either talking to people and learning to coordinates, or by guessing the coordinates and exploring. You could also encounter random events and battles while moving on this map. I really liked it.

This was what the Arcanum map looked like in-game:

Spoiler

 

[Tiamat-86]

world maps can add alot into games. if there is a no encounter possibility it becomes mainly just a fast travel system though.
games that have a dungeon map for every field, forest, mountain and ocean path, the map is just a glorified fast travel at that point. can still make use of world map by having secret locations using invisible events for dungeon entrances NPCs mention but is never shown until player finds it. also gives the player a little general knowlage about the locations.
these 2 places are visibly small towns while the 3rd is a larger image. "Dragon's Fang" was a tower instead of a cave, who knew. this place is right next to the ocean, probably a harbor town.

my current work has enemy levels system, but dungeon maps have enemy level caps and location specific enemies. you can either take the dungeon path, pay for fast travel or risk the world map.
while the world map can give access to any area easily and can be the only way to reach some dungeons, it has higher encounter rate, all possible enemies from same region/terrain dungeons (including dungeons that might not have been to yet), and enemy level = party average level.
(now the issue is over grinding levels but gear is to weak for world map travel. yes the balancing testing is a freaking nightmare)

 

[Kupotepo]

What I do is use a much smaller sprite for the overworld.

Sorry, I do not understand. Which do you refer of spirit to resized? You refer to the walking spirits, correct? Maybe I might ask in RPG Maker MV section if it is complicated. Mostly I probably do not get of you are saying.

 

[Kes]

@Kupotepo yes, that's right, it's the walking sprite of just the party leader resized. This means that the transfer event not only switches to the smaller sprite, but also turns off followers. Entering a town/whatever reverses all that.

 

[duty]

Never got to a point where a world map was necessary, however I like the idea that world map navigation becomes the method for vehicular travel to communicate scale and the improvement over walking.

 

[Kupotepo]

@duty, would you mind explaining further? [Map Travel]
Do you mean like this which you referring to? I am trying to imagine how to execute it, sorry.

MV Scenes/Systems – Galv's RPG Maker Scripts & Plugins

<strong>MV PLUGINS</strong> - <a href="/category/rmmv-plugins/mv-scenessystems/#post-2294">Map Travel</a> - <a href="/category/rmmv-plugins/mv-scenessystems/#post-1867">Quest Log</a> - <a href="…

galvs-scripts.com

 

[duty]

@Kuptepo I'll do my best to clarify.

The player only sees the world map when using a vehicle.

If the player is traveling by foot, the map scale is always the same. Similar to how Pokemon tackles navigation. The player gets from town to town by traveling the connected paths and tunnels.

When the player enters a vehicle, like a boat or an airship, that vehicle is operated on the overworld map.
So when the player sets sail on their boat across the seas, they would go to the dock, choose to disembark, and then be transferred to an overworld map where they pilot the boat.

When the boat docks and the party exits the ship, the player is brought back to the walking scale.