I miss the original cloth map of SotA

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Duke Gréagóir, May 8, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Duke Gréagóir

    Duke Gréagóir Legend of the Hearth

    Messages:
    5,676
    Likes Received:
    11,810
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Location:
    Dara Brae
    This was the best approach. In game cloth hex map with moving clouds and water. Gave that old ultima vibes.

    I am glad I posted this four years ago as. Now it is just a memory.

     
  2. Rufus D`Asperdi

    Rufus D`Asperdi Avatar

    Messages:
    6,347
    Likes Received:
    15,785
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    I liked it too.
     
    Deadly Habit and Duke Gréagóir like this.
  3. Alley Oop

    Alley Oop Bug Hunter Bug Moderator

    Messages:
    15,680
    Likes Received:
    19,463
    Trophy Points:
    153
    i can't say i feel the same but i do miss the music from the video. there's several early-development songs that were just lovely.
     
  4. Arkah EMPstrike

    Arkah EMPstrike Avatar

    Messages:
    4,542
    Likes Received:
    8,100
    Trophy Points:
    153
    I have that overworld theme as an abc <3
     
  5. Roycestein Kaelstrom

    Roycestein Kaelstrom Avatar

    Messages:
    4,627
    Likes Received:
    10,229
    Trophy Points:
    153
    I wish they would add some more the overworld theme songs into the game. All Hail Britannia is great, but it gets old after hearing it repeatedly, too.
     
  6. Montaigne

    Montaigne Avatar

    Messages:
    380
    Likes Received:
    1,054
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Hobbiton, New Zealand
  7. Deadly Habit

    Deadly Habit Avatar

    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    429
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Virtue Oasis
    Wow this is before my time and share your sentiments on the map design and music.
     
    Baratan likes this.
  8. Tulmar the Barbarian

    Tulmar the Barbarian Avatar

    Messages:
    34
    Likes Received:
    54
    Trophy Points:
    8
    What is the name of this theme? Music is a great part of the game... UO will be forever in my memories also due to music. I wonder if some soundtrack of UO could be used also in SotA.

    I like very much the current main theme of SotA.. but I do not remember very well all the others soundtracks when I'm not playing. :)
     
  9. Deadly Habit

    Deadly Habit Avatar

    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    429
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Virtue Oasis
    Just need youtube running in the background ;)
     
    Jaesun and Tulmar the Barbarian like this.
  10. Parson Barr

    Parson Barr Avatar

    Messages:
    342
    Likes Received:
    657
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Gender:
    Male
    Wow...artistically that's memorable and combined with the music deeply soothing. While I enjoy the overworld we have today, there's something deeply satisfying about this. I want to touch it!
     
  11. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    3,333
    Likes Received:
    11,010
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Washington, DC
    +1 on the music. I would love if we got this back in the rotation. I am little tired of the overland music with the woman singing, "AaaaAAHH AAAaaaHH AaahHH" over and over again.
     
    Thwip and Budner like this.
  12. Rufus D`Asperdi

    Rufus D`Asperdi Avatar

    Messages:
    6,347
    Likes Received:
    15,785
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Early on there was a revolt led by a few backers that led to the originally implemented overland map being entirely scrapped and replaced (at the cost of several releases worth of rework) with what we have today... The cloth map didn't match, exactly what had been shown in Marketing Demo videos, and so they felt betrayed and lied to and were very vocal about their objections to anything differing from what had been originally shown.

    I've often held this up as an example when the Dev Team is accused of not listening to the Backers... They completely reworked an entire major component of the game based on Backer feedback.

    Personally, I think this map, the original map, is much more evocative of the Ultima Series overland maps.
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2018
    Budner, Rada Torment and Jaesun like this.
  13. 3devious

    3devious Avatar

    Messages:
    1,435
    Likes Received:
    2,605
    Trophy Points:
    125
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Virginia
    I've only played Ultima Underworld an I've been here since the Kickstarter. I did not care when the map was changed, what we have now looks better but I bet we would have gotten better performance from the old concept. I appreciate how passionate some of us our about the game but I think that we are the reason we can't have nice things.
    That is the problem with living in a democracy (you're outnumbered by the bastards 'til the day you die!)
     
  14. Rufus D`Asperdi

    Rufus D`Asperdi Avatar

    Messages:
    6,347
    Likes Received:
    15,785
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    When did SotA become a democracy? I've never been given the opportunity to vote on anything...
    Is there an ID requirement?

    I know that some maintain that whales get more votes... if so, then I feel doubly cheated.
     
    Hornpipe likes this.
  15. Bubonic

    Bubonic Avatar

    Messages:
    2,455
    Likes Received:
    7,975
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    sorry but the flat trees, windmills, mountains, and towns on flat cards looks unprofessional and low budget.

    The current one is far superior.
     
  16. Deadly Habit

    Deadly Habit Avatar

    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    429
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Virtue Oasis
    It's subjective but it looks more stylized and an homage to old school stuff like physical cloth maps which seems more appropriate, but again art is subjective.
     
    Budner and Parson Barr like this.
  17. Bubonic

    Bubonic Avatar

    Messages:
    2,455
    Likes Received:
    7,975
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Normally I would agree with you. However, this was not designed for this purpose. The "map" scene in the above video was created by taking an already existing 2d cloth map (created by Stephen Daniele), slapping it on some geo, then taking the "trees" layer and other "detail" layers and sticking them onto cards.

    The art, on its own, was fine... and worked quite well as a flat image.

    This wasn't designed as a 3d map with a retro feel, it was an attempt to shoehorn an existing design into a new purpose to save time and money.
     
    LoneStranger and Sir_Hemlock like this.
  18. Deadly Habit

    Deadly Habit Avatar

    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    429
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Virtue Oasis
    Which may have been time better spent elsewhere resource wise thinking about it. How much of the core gameplay takes place on the overworld map looking at it even currently that couldn't be done in this previous map?
     
  19. Bubonic

    Bubonic Avatar

    Messages:
    2,455
    Likes Received:
    7,975
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Your point is taken, but I nonetheless disagree.
     
    Deadly Habit likes this.
  20. Dermott

    Dermott Avatar

    Messages:
    761
    Likes Received:
    1,346
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Florida
    This was also back when each "hex" was an individual scene (at the time there were only a few scenes, so most hexes had the same scene in them) and even then was ONLY the Hidden Vale which had quite a large number of hexes itself.

    This was later changed to the area system of scenes we have now (probably to help limit the number of repeating scenes).

    Personally, the cloth map World Map was an interesting timeframe of the early development of the game, but as stated above, went against what was shown in the original pitch video for the Kickstarter. The current version makes the world look a lot more alive and still serves the purpose to condense travel times compared to other large 3d worlds without the overuse of shortcuts.

    It was interesting for the time, but I am in the camp that likes the current map better. It would be nice to have <i>some</i> of the early music back. (Though I doubt anyone is clamoring for the music that accompanied Release 1 in Owl's Nest)
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.