map mode, suggestions

i think there should be a free camera to examine the map or perhaps a separata, plain map which to look.

there could be roads and camp sites on the map.

it would be more realistic if the player didn't know the map already in the beginning. the player would learn new places by visiting taverns of the cities and talking to the folk there. perhaps merchants could have information too.

You can use the arrow buttons to freely explore the world map. If you want to centre on your character again, move him somewhere.

Roads and campsites, along with other paraphernalia have been suggested many times before.

I was also wondering about having a sort of 'fog of war' thing. In my experience, it always made the maps in strategy games more interesting, even though they were actually quite bland.

A sense of discovery!

Fog of war? Meh. If you're quite new to the game, or simply don't know the map very well, and you have to hunt down raiders before they reach Jelkala and you're at Wercheg, imagine searching off the map for Jelkala... They could of course give instructions where Jelkala is roughly at, but still.. I like it the way it is now.

Or they (duke, count, what ever) could "mark" Jelkala on your map by removing a piece of the fog of war (revealing Jelkala). (FO style)

I like the fog of war idea - although I think it would only really work if the towns/cities (and all the other exciting map things to come) are randomly placed... otherwise it would be pretty pointless aprt from the first time you explored.

It would also be cool if areas of the map could be gleaned from found or traded for parchments etc...

GonZ said:

It would also be cool if areas of the map could be gleaned from found or traded for parchments etc...

Click to expand...

Great idea...

It'd also be neat if you could hire a guide - sort of a reverse situation of the merchant caravans, you have to follow them to find the location of a place normally hidden.

Another one that's probably been mentioned before is being able to set up something that transports you across the map through the use of a dialogue/area - this could be used to simulate a ferryman's service across a river, your party travelling through a mountain pass or tunnel...

Yeah, i suppose all the major towns could be marked on the map as towns standing in the middle of darkness. Everything else, like ruins, roads and villages would be obscured. (Maybe because they were randomly placed)