Compass toggle

I can haz? I am, on occasion, directionally challenged!

 

A compass toggle option would be a great addition! For example, a guard in R3 told me "the shops are on the west side of town" and I wasn't 100% sure which direction west actually was lol.

 

Me too, something to be added later no doubt.

 

Hoping that is should be an object you take out of your backpack and use to orient yourself, and then place back in backpack.

Unless the avatars have bird brains?

 

Well, or at least just have the compass somewhere in your inventory in order to get it on your display, and then have the feature disabled when you don't have it in your inventory. Nothing wrong with having the player get it out, but I don't think that would be necessary if people find it tedious. Same thing with maps. If you have a map of the area in your inventory, you could have a mini-map feature; otherwise, no.

There's a feature in the newer Pokemon games where you collect apps to add to your gear, and you get more options the more apps you get.

I didn't try... but it might be possible to look at the position of the sun?

 

Does the sun even rise in the "east"? It could totally come from the west, north, or south. This isn't Earth.

Yeah, we need a compass. Bad.

 

This.

Seriously. If I have to click on my pack and use my compass all the time, the game will become very tedious very fast. Should I need a compass to use a compass? Yes. Should I have to physically get it out over and over as I get disoriented with every turn: No. It's a game. If I wanted to really use a compass, I would.

 

Me too. However they did mention that they want to add this it's just too early. If New Britannia is anything like earth check to see which direction the sun rises or sets. Also look to see which direction the earth is turning. Put West on your left and East on your right and then you will know that you are facing North.

 

I personally don't expect it would be as tedious as you're thinking it would be... basically you wouldn't need to use your compass more than once or twice in a map, assuming you can't find your way, and hopefully you would be able to get your inventory up quickly... but, as I said, I don't think its necessary. And after all, you can have your bags stay open while you're walking around, so why not your compass? Same thing; its not any different.

Another thing they could do in addition to the compass display is have the compass item graphic in your backpack animate when you change directions.

 

I'm a directional moron. Every time I turn, I lose my bearings in a game (it's not so bad in real life ). I would actually be clicking on it constantly. I'd rather just have it up, thanks.

 

++++1!

Not knowing if the sun and moon rises like ours they very well could be reversed for all we know! Yes Please Haz!

 

This doesn't make sense to me. Why would we want to put in all those extra steps. When you are out in the world do you have to have a compass to know what direction things are? I know I don't. I look around, orient myself based on landmarks and/or the sun, and I know the directions. Do I think we need a compass in the HUD? Yes. Do I think we require an actual compass item? No. It makes no sense to need one.

Having said that, if the Devs did make that decision that you needed to have an item, I do think the last thing we should have to do is check it all the time. The game should be able to assume that you can check your compass and should just show the directions on the HUD.

 

Can't you do that in the game too? I think you would probably need to have an actual compass, the question is whether it would be something you start with or not...

I could see it being an item you use in your off-hand and it shows up in a pane in the corner of the screen or something as long as it's out. While I don't want to necessarily have to open my bags every time I want to know, I don't really want to see a persistent magical "HUD" the whole time either. Unless of course, it was from magic...

 

Make a compass buyable/craftable (like the sextant in U7)

It doesn't have to be part of the UI...

 

The thing is that you can leave your bag open on screen when you're moving, so what's the difference between that and a compass HUD? There's merit to the approach you awnt to take, but to be consistent, they'd have to apply the same logic to bags, and close bags when you start to move.

 

You don't even need to leave a bag open. It can be a separate toggle key to the bags. That gives the option of either leaving it on screen for people who are trying to navigate somewhere, and also for those who don't want it on and prefer to navigate via landmarks etc.

If you really want to go for realism, make your avatar put away your off-hand item to take out the compass.

 

Because a compass HUD is simpler, more elegant and doesn't require me to have my bag open on screen while I move around.

No. I can't. A game is not real life. No directional sound, no heat, no smell to trigger memory. Things are simply not as unique or real in a virtual world and a lot of the tricks a human mind uses don't work or don't work well. That's why we have things like this to help us along.

And even if I could get a game that mimics real life, why would I want it to? What kind of escape is that? Yuck.

 

Well, yea, exactly. I was questioning why it was okay to have your bag stay open, and not a compass on your HUD.

 

Ah. I get confused easily.

 

This might be a great question to ask here: https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/week-of-february-21st-dev-q-a.7870