Maps and Compasses addition

[Toby242425]

Hi guys,

I am a huge fan of the game and I love the detail and the beauty of the environment you have created with the game.

One thing I find hard in the game is navigating around the world and area. I feel as though you should be able to find a map in a cabin or look at a map of the area that is on the wall of a house. Or maybe a sign that is covered in snow and you have to melt the snow to see the map. This would allow the player to be able to navigate around the world and have some bearing of where they are. However because I believe that the game should be naturalistic, I don't think you should where the player is on the map, which means that the player has to find where they think they are on the map and figure it out.

Compasses is another thing that I think would be key in your survival game, you should be able to make a compass from things in the environment and the better equipment you have the more accurate the compass is. For example, you could make one out of a leaf and a paperclip and fill it with water, however it wouldn't be as accurate as one that is made with scrap parts and other things in the environment.

These changes would bring a new dynamic to the game and allow the player to travel around better.

[toebar]

Fair suggestion, but learning the lay of the land is part of the game experience imo. It's not a huge world, so exploration is a key part of the game. (That being said, I made my own map as I went when I started). I'm not against having a single map somewhere though, as you suggest, so long as it has very limited details.

Compasses are very frequently requested. The general consensus is that the geomagnetic event that is central to the story would prevent compasses from working properly.

I don't believe that the absence of a map and compass inhibits player travel-- rather it makes it more challenging, and the player really has to pay attention lest they get themselves lost: a nice change from many games

Also, some players adopt other strategies for informing their travel (e.g. marking trail with water bottles or flares; shadow movement can be used to determine direction)

[Rylandish]

I think compasses would be irrelevant if you could definitely, reliably use certain visual cues in the game to work out what direction you're going consistently. What I mean is, put a little more work into the skybox so that the sun & shadow directions can tell you east / west, (maybe even use a wristwatch as a makeshift compass!), stars and constellations for nighttime, and find things like moss growing on the north side of trees!

After many hours of play on just Mystery Lake, I still get lost / go in circles all the time. So I understand the desire for a compass, but if there was a way to work out the cardinal directions yourself, I think that would be even more cool than a compass. And maybe you could find a book to read somewhere in the world that would teach you how to do this (and afterwards, burn it for warmth!)

[toebar]

I think compasses would be irrelevant if you could definitely, reliably use certain visual cues in the game to work out what direction you're going consistently. What I mean is, put a little more work into the skybox so that the sun & shadow directions can tell you east / west, (maybe even use a wristwatch as a makeshift compass!), stars and constellations for nighttime, and find things like moss growing on the north side of trees!

I believe the sun and shadows already move in such a way as to tell you this. Only works when you can see the sun of course!

Not sure about constellations at night, though I know it's been previously requested.

Moss on trees is often very misleading IRL, and in most cases the most mossy portion (the base of the trunk) would be covered by snow in-game anyway.

[AmericanSteel]

If you can see the mountains in the distance, then you can make a compass of sorts. It help to get as high up as you can to get the best view. Get up early enough to see the sun break past the mountains or late enough to see it fall into the horizon. Lets say you watch the sun come up in ML. Mark that as East and look nearby for a distinctive peak (there is one). As long as you can get a bead on that peak, you can find East. While East becomes a point and not a general bearing, it still helps. Put that peak on your right side and you are looking North. Put it on your left side and you are looking South. See if you can find a corresponding cardinal direction peaks (there is a very distinctive North peak) and carry on. You will have to do this for each map, as the skyline is different, it does help.

Next you need to do some general land nav. Find a major feature in the game and follow it from end to end. This may be the train tracks in ML, the highway on CH or the road in PV. When you go exploring, explore in relation to this feature. You don't have to make exact straight lines, but knowing you walked so far to get to that point should take about as long to get back. The undulating terrain in places like ML and PV might make this difficult at times, especially around the high paths near the perimeter of PV, where it is easy to get turned around. Find some high ground, pick a point of reference and try to keep that in your sights. When you loose sight of it, pick another parallel point and keep that one in your sights. If you have to go back you can just find those points and nav your way out.

All of these techniques do little in white out conditions. As such, I always try to keep my head wrapped around a safe location to bed down. I would rather backtrack a good distance than just pray I stumble across something that could be just over the next rise.

[Corruck]

I think the compass is a sort of tired idea. After a few times through the world one has a handle on where they are going and the only time it's a huge problem is when the blizzard rolls in and it's hard to see (and you're probable dying).

But MAPS! I love the idea of a player created map. Imagine if logging locations were an in game player action and as you travel you have to remember to update your map. It would be up to the player to remember where they are in relation to everything else and to update their map when they went somewhere new, and perhaps it takes two or three logs on the same road or location to get the details filled (because of snow, visibility, memory, blah, blah).

It just might be nice to have a way to codify which directions you've traveled or locations you've visited. Especially if you have to walk away from your saved game for a week or so and then want to jump back in without wandering to a building that you've already raided and then getting caught in a blizzard and well, you know the story.

[Rehamk]

When I first started playing this game I suggested both these. IMO now though they would be wasted.

With the geomagnectic event a compass would likely not work. American Steel has said the sun already gives us indications and using landmarks is easy enough.

Map making really would be wasted as the maps are not very big and are fixed so never changes (except for active bear cave's). I say this quite a lot but if Hinterland introduced a random map generation option then map making would be great.

[I_C_Deadpeople]

A compass would be a nice addition (either as a dropped object or as a craftable object, or even added to the HUD).

Loving the game, but still hate dying...just like real life!

[DTR Echo 33]

I believe that if/when a map were to be added into the game that it should be a topographical map. The map would only show the terrain and certain features like roads, railways, lakes, etc. However, it would not show all or any of the buildings (excluding Carter Hydro Dam) and leave the building marking up to the players. The topographic maps should have limited spawns and should be restricted to the Camp Office, Prepper caches, Carter Hydro Dam, corpses, and etc.