Ingame notepad and editable map?

What do you think about having a simple ingame notepad for your own notices?
Also for me, it would be great having the possibility adding your own information onto the map e.g. POIs or other things. It would be cool to link notepad entries with the ingame map and vice versa. Like a url.

 

I totally agree. Especially if there is no Quest Journal, there needs to be an ingame way to put down notes.

 

They hadn't nailed anything down, but there was talk of maybe a notepad that you could write in, as well as having certain important quest clues automatically put there. For example, if the bartender says something about a dungeon just outside of town, the notebook would say that. Just automating the process to take away the tedium without turning it into a mindless click-click-click, run to the guy with the exclamation point, click-click-click.

I do like the editable map idea, but I don't know about linking it to the notes since that is making it closer to a Quest Journal-type system. I would love to see cartography as an in-game skill and then the ability to mark locations when you find something interesting.

 

Notepad is a must; an annotatable map would be an "extremely nice to have."

For the same reasons we're getting multiple comm channels - to keep us from having to task-switch. I also don't want to go AFK to write on a paper notepad/map as I get info worth remembering. My short term memory isn't what it used to be.

 

The notepad could be an integrated part of the red journal book, which we have seen in the backpack

 

I would also like to see an ingame journal to type into. I would go nuts trying to remember all the details anyway, and my handwriting is so bad that my hand-written notes would be illegible 3 days later when I'm trying to decipher them.

A simple journal built into the game where one could categorize things or put notes in different "sections" would be really nice. I get why they don't want to auto-populate everything for you (so then the game becomes a "cross it off the list" itemized quest thing) - but I want to avoid hand written notes.

Even if we can't get a fully annotated map, something simple like placing markers with letters on it (i.e., "A", "B", etc) and then noting what "A" or "B" means in your journal would even help.

 

I still have this ancient notepad that I kept all these years, with notes and info I scribbled down from Ultima games and translations of in-game Runic signs I came across. (I eventually got to the point where I could read Runic without having to look at the key, but that's another story)

I think it's a really good idea to have an in-game notebook. It would be very easy to add to the game and add an inconsequential amount of data storage to each character object. Notes were vital in Ultima, and from the sound of this game, they'll be vital here, too - But if you take a break for a month and come back and can't remember what was going on... or you grab your laptop and go on a vacation or business trip and don't bring your written notes with you... Ouch. The point being that unless this game takes notes for you (which LB has said that he doesn't want, and I agree) you're going to have to do it yourself.

I hope that there is a certain amount of directional guidance of some sort available. Cartography, maps you can purchase, something like that. Because honestly, while I can navigate pretty well in the "real world", something about my sense of direction just doesn't play nicely with a video game. My brain knows I'm still sitting in a chair and facing the same way, so I have a horrible tendency to get turned around and disoriented when playing first person / over the shoulder view games. But, that's just me.

 

I don't remember him being against a notebook, just really, really, really against a quest system that pointed you in the direction of the next goal and flashed an exclamation point of the next NPC to talk to.

A notebook auto-filled out as important information is learned form NPCs would be what I expect out of a game today. It doesn't have to be extremely detailed. I don't think I'm who they talk about when the idea of lazy gamers are mentioned, and I don't think it's a big crutch. I still have to take the clues and decipher them, and figure out exactly where I need to go next and what I need to do there.

If a notebook is lazy, then, well, let's all ask for a refund of our money and go spend it on AD&D books because we're all lazy for using computers.

 

I understand and agree.

The only thing I'm worried about is that when a note system only records the "important discoveries", I no longer have to use my brain to determine what's important and what's not, you know what I mean?

I like to be a gamer that thinks, but even I am guilty of using the crutches and shortcuts when they are provided to me. Despite my leanings to the contrary, I have accepted quests without reading the descriptions and followed the arrows to get where I wanted to go, without even really knowing what it is that I was supposed to do when I got there. So, if there are "notes" I would either like a way to type them in myself, or perhaps just click a button that says "log conversation" so I can look back at it later.

That way, I have to read and pay attention to the NPC conversations, and I decide what is important and choose to record that information if I elect to do so.

Yes, I think that's exactly what I'd like, now that I think about it. I'd like to be able to click a "record conversation" button, or perhaps just a "log" button to save single line or paragraph of a conversation for later retrieval.

 

I'm sure there'll be some sort of notepad/journal to keep notes of conversations. As was stated by Kailef, I hope not just the "important text" was saved because I want to figure these things out, not just be given the "highlights". An editable map... aye, that would be quite nice to have to Mark your known/favorite spots. Perhaps you would need some skill in Cartography or buy a map from a Cartographer (that has himself explored the area and drawn a map of surrounding PoIs).

Oh, and I have moved this thread to the more appropriate "Wish List" section because it is not "Swag".

 

Finding a way to bring cartography into the UI map system is a grand idea. I'd love to see more suggestions along this line.

 

Agree, thats what i had in mind. I like to add text/notes by myself and not automated filled by the game engine. As we had done this in the past at the early beginnnigs of RPGs

 

I'm sure they could play with different levels of auto-note taking. Find out what removes the tedium without going overboard.

 

This would please then everybody

 

Over on a different thread, this was brought up.

I think this is a perfectly valid concern. There may be a few ways to deal with this.

While it is usually desirable to have a walkthrough or a tutorial be as in-game as possible to help immerse the player, it may be wise to have something that drills into the player's head that external or at least player initiated note-taking is not only encouraged, but required in the game. A simple quest chain emphasizing their notebook could teach them.

I do foresee a problem where someone has spent enough time away from the game (or even has a bad memory) and they won't make the connection between NPCs they see and who the guy mentioned in the next town over. Don't know how to fix that without either some kind of kick-in-the-pants or training to refresh your memory.

 

I seem to remember in the second Ultima Underworld game, you could add notes to your map. That was VERY convenient.

I could see a notebook type of thing getting out of hand for an MMO, as everything from everyone would have to be kept up on the server. In EQ2, there were client side add-ons that you could use, so there wasn't anything on the server side

 

Indeed, i think you mean the EQ2 map projekt (http://maps.eq2interface.com/). I also used it, but the data comes from the community and you see all entries which was maintained from everybody. The tool is great, but it should be limited with your own entries (or there could be an optional trigger in the settings). But anyway, its a good example.

 

That EQ2 map projekt sounds very similar to something else I used.

I remember that Asheron's Call had this huge external program written by a third party that watched the packet traffic and overlaid your location on a fully scrollable, zoomable map that resembled Google Maps to a certain degree. It was called "AC Atlas" or something of that nature. You could place notes and points of interest on and they were shared with everyone else using the program. It was certainly quite a feat of coding, and I couldn't argue with it's usefulness - But man, was it a huge spoiler waiting to happen for just about everything.

I liked it because I was (and still am) terrible managing spacial orientation in a first person or third person "over the shoulder" type game. It helped me not get lost. But I really disliked seeing all of the indicators and information placed by other players who had already "done everything" well before I did. They eventually introduced the ability to only view the raw terrain maps and see your own notes, and not all the stuff left by other players, and then I liked it a lot more.

I think I've been spoiled by modern MMOs which have scrolling minimaps and area maps that pinpoint your current location.

 

No, it definately was OU2. Long before EQ2. I remember the EQ2 mapping, also. A lot different, since it was a single player game, and I'm pretty sure you could add notes to it.

 

An ingame notepad would be quite nice. I like the idea of npc's putting an automatic note, but as well as a human involvement on there as well. The map idea sounds like the old UO Automap program which was indeed quite helpful. I do like the idea of having a map like that where one can put the notes down but also have the ability to share it with people nearby if they wanted too in game. Possibly an option for a pickpocket / thief to be able to 'sneak a peek' at it too?