Is game explorable only on the map? ? (Dev) Replied

So my question is will the game be explorable completely in the 3rd person view or are those all instances thus making you have to explore the whole world using the map?

 

I second this question. I really don't want a game where I know where I am at all times. I want to explore, investigate, and get lost!! I want the danger of leaving town, and not being able to find my way back if i'm not careful, at least as an early player anyway. I love coming across things which aren't indicated anywhere and finding something special in it.

 

Well we did see a type of Fog of War in the tech demo. Also it was a tech demo, who is to say that the world in a way isn't scaled up quite dramatically by the end? Let us hope that it does though, because yes it does seem a bit small.

Also, how about a rich feature set for game options, such as turning on renewable fog of war? Example, if you don't go there for X period of time, the Fog of War is regenerated. If there are mini-maps in overworld, town, or dungeons, how about an option to totally turn them off forcing us to make notes with the in-game journal or draw our own maps on paper?

This way, it suits the hard core gamers who seek old school, and the younger generation of gamers who need to be spoon fed.

 

If Garriot didnt create a full open world he will dissapoint me greatly....

 

Won't dissapoint me, it has its pros and cons, just like full scale world.

 

Have you seen the gameplay videa Borg?
It is not full open world, it is dual-view world.

Like the old Ultimas.

 

As I said a non full open world looks to me like a big mistake. The vision I had for an ultimate RPG is not what I have seen in the videos. This is just another RPG and tbh it doesnt look an MMORPG.
In other words this doesnt look like the next UO.

 

@Borg
That's because it is not the next UO.
They already said this is not an MMORPG (on today's ustream).


This is single-player driven game - the online components (houseing, vendoring, PvP) would just be the icing on the cake.

 

Which would still be much better if it would use an immersive open world...

 

I'm good with the current map. Although it would be cool to have random encounters with other players on the main map i.e. you can't see them until you bump into them. Then it could go to the 3d view for either combat or perhaps to trade stuff or just chat.

 

"Which would still be much better if it would use an immersive open world?"

Seconded, the dual-world view is backwards, and breaks immersion.

 

For me it's refreshing to see the old approach of the traditional worldmap with dual scale.

Never the less exploration shouldn't suffer from this technology. That's the big challenge for the developers I think.

 

Exploration will be instead in points of interest in the map. After all that's what people want is fun and exciting places.

I don't think anyone here wants to walk through a boring forest for an hour to get to the exciting point of interest.

 

Have you ever played Ultima VII oder Skyrim, Francis? Do you think it is boring exploring such lush and alive worlds?

 

I like a walk through the forest whether it be outdoors or in games.

 

I too would much prefer an open world style like U6+. One of my favorite things about those games was exploring. Being able to explore and get lost was a key part of the experience in the later Ultima's.

 

I agree. I wish I could wander the wilderness and get lost out there like UO, not a console-style overworld map. But at this point it's probably not happening sadly =(

 

I've kind of heard both sides of this.. it would be good to know for sure. Because some said you can explore the world in either the 2d overhead map or in the 3d map but im not really sure what is true.

 

I'm ok with either.

The problem with Skyrim is that the world is too big for me. It felt like a chore exploring it.

When I first played Ultima 7 or Ultima Underworld, I really loved exploring. I just could not get enough of the world, it had so many interesting things to discover. I finally found the parrot's treasure who told me that the treasure was at 169S 28E. At that time, I was hoping for magic armor, and was disappointed that it was just gold.
It was hilarious finding the unicorn in a cavern west of Trinsic/Paws.

But, 15 years later, exploring feels tedious. I cannot explore like I used to. I may have gotten too used to the instant gratification of games nowadays. I prefer games on rails as opposed to open worlds, because open worlds feel like a chore.

But dual view isn't that bad, because I played an indie game called Mount & Blade, and it was also dual view. It was still a very fun game where I poured hundreds of hours into it. So I feel dual view won't be a problem. Besides, I have a sneaking suspicion that open world will require more effort and resources, and thus mean less time for story.

 

In most cases, exiting a scene will take you back to the Overworld. I expect the Overworld wilderness scenes to be big enough to support exploration.