Lets talk about the latest Overworld peek-pic's

Whoa, Portalarium has released some more artwork for the overworld and I am deeply interested, both good and bad. Here they are:



and last weeks:




I think they are pretty good, a huge improvement from the cartoon style before.. Definitely getting there but still I have a few concerns.. Hopefully there is still room to improve and that the community, together we can end up with a enjoyable OW.


XXX

 

Those screenshots look fantastic! I can't wait to roam around in Novia.

What is still missing is animals roaming around. Deer, wolves, rabbits, foxes... Also, birds should fly by occasionally. Also low hanging clouds should drift by occasionally. And of course the roving encounters like monsters and NPCs. And I am very excited to see the weather effects on the overland map.

 

On Pen of the Avatar and Portalariums promised "at work" / eye on the wall stuff.


One big question in my head remains, though... Why have they been so secretive about this whole process? My only conclusion so far is that maybe the team feels the game will be devalued if they show to much of the content too fast? That is the case for most companies that I know about but I thought working on SotA would be more open - more engaged right here in the forums.. I know they are hard at work but... ??

Why can we only see these pics and why not more video of it? Can somebody please take a video camera to the HQ and share? WTF happened to Pen of the Avatar? Just because Stephens gone now no artists want to keep the community company no more? Sigh, I really miss Stephen and PotA as well as all the videos released of the team hard at work. I truly hope that Portalarium will not be so shy about posting some new videos I feel that 1 monthly recap is just not enough for us... Sounds like a easy opportunity for us to further get to know the behind the scenes people and for Portalarium to release more videos!

Anyways on to the maps stuff..


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Constructive Criticism below:


In this example I've highlighted the rock cliffs as a example where I see a very large distortion of perspective. The rock cliffs are far to zoomed in and ideally can be 10X smaller (zoomed out) which would work much better.


In this example I find a similar issue with the rocks along the river side - the perspective seems distorted
Trees appear far to large and stand out as single trees. The contrast between a single tree and open grass is fairly stark IMO.

Other notes

• Some names could be too average eg Owl's Head, Dragons Cave, Brittany..
• The avatar begs to show a different style than the "in zone" avatar
• I would like to be able to see the hex's slightly more apparent
• Better locational menu system (eg popup pic and choices)
• Messenger style communication with pictures

Must - please rethink how the party system presently works on the map. Showing the party members individually is not a good thing IMO, the party *should* be represented as a whole unit - and to move as a whole unit. Anything else simply doesn't make sense and is respectfully not "Ultima" style.

I truly beg for the Dev's to open a dialog for us to discuss these issues and features

Hope yall are enjoying R14 as much as I am.

 

Here in the Vale I find the rocks far too bland. The contrast between totally generic and windswept mountain range and single trees is not good IMO.


Same concern here.

 

I borrow forum member Mata's pic thanks

In this example for the Party UI on the OW.. I have to say that I completely hate this and it is wholey looking awful, I regret to say.

I do not see hope for handling players in this manner and that for roleplayings sake, that a party can be a single entity so that players are forced to actually play with one another and not roam about by themselves.

Actually I would like to see other parties of 'interested' players available on the map instead. I believe that this concept would be a much more rewarding method of play and would make more sense. My thinking is that see other groups = seeing monster encounters = seeing other events. These are the things are what I would like to see here and would fit with Ultima and would server the game to roleplay and to have good interaction and the need for party members - not just to fulfill a role of playing together but also being able to support a group.

 

For the party interface I'm wondering if having one icon that is controlled by the party leader might be better....let the whole party see the movement and be able to chat still just not have movement controls.

Also, they haven't done any improvements to the hidden vale, it isn't using the assets the main world is...Abe said he wants to get a chance to fix it up.

 

I would say I disagree with this because sometimes various party members have to go to a different location on the map. If you really have a problem with the names being crowded just turn off the name plates. Although that being said they might could change the scale of the avatar vs the world IDK how well that would go if they did that. Honestly I'm excited to see Novia and how it actually looks in-game so far it looks amazing from the pictures.

 

I would argue that if a party member wants to visit another zone then they can but they cannot travel independently while on the map.
If you are in a group you cannot travel on your own - your leader can.
When you party moves you either move as a group or you stay behind in a zone. You can have a 2:00 timer to join in order to finish what your doing then get pulled if you decline then you stay
I really like the idea of the players moving as a group tbh.. It opens up a bunch of doors for better group play including chat/role playing/special skills etc. All those things will be needed in order to make good "old school rpg" style encounters AND to potentially use for PvP (group vs group encounters) of opposing alignments.

 

I would say this is taking away freedom of individual players but if they wanted to add it optionally sure why not. My thing is sometimes you might want to go to another town via the map to go to the shop, bank, or your house. If you're forced to move as a party that's a pointless inconvenience. I understand you want an old school RPG but this is an online game so it just wouldn't work well. They can still force a whole party into a specific scene and what not heck when they are grouped together close they could have the name turn off and have it just say "John's party".

 

Doing this would mean that party members should have different encounters too? That would detract from encounters as a whole. It is more realistic to travel together, traveling is not a easy task and should be "hard", it's not driving in a car or on the bus.

I think it should be made mandatory to start new parties by being in the same zone too. Doing this would also give some reason for people to group with others they might never have done so with before. More social. If they decide to add some features for traveling such as traveling skills, bartering skills etc value would be added more to group traveling. In fact I see players as needing to "get ready" to travel much more seriously. Pre-buffs and gearing and all that... Dropping off extra goods at the bank to lighted your weight is already added.

Eventually, though, players would have summon spells to overcome hurdles for players who want to group specifically with one another - but costs reagents.

Features for traveling:
Features to add value to party members to travel with like greater sight - through fog/smoke/darkness
quicker movement through rough terrain
Features for players to use charm outcome of encounters which require a group
Intimidate weak foes

 

No all the encounters would be the same if you stay with the group otherwise different. I don't think I'm against having to be in the same scene to form a party together.

 

I really, really hate the idea of having the party be grouped up. I would detest having someone else control me on the world map just because they're the party leader.

I love the fact you can see your party members all on the world map. In single player you will get the experience you want. Leave multiplayer as it is.

 

Perhaps there could be a toggle switch of some kind that allows your party to move as a group as you illustrated, I can see times when it would be beneficial to do that. I would not want to be slaved to that all the time though.

 

I agree with you. I like the idea of showing where each party member is on the OW. They could definitely clean it up a bit but overall it's a nice function. Perhaps just a toggle to turn it off and on?

 

Ummmm overworld = vomit!

I should not have to go through load screens when moving from town to town! What game in today's market forces that! This whole overworld map is very 90's. You have the Gate system use that for fast travel otherwise make it so you physically walk to and from locations in game (not on a map). This takes away from the immersion. I am a fan of the Ultima series and was a hardcore UO gamer; however, this outdated overworld idea has me on the fence.

Summary: overworld map feels old!

 

Regarding the way of travelling around the overworld map, I think both options may be available; as mike11 said travelling in group may report some benefits to people (apart of facing roving encounters as one) while keeping the option of travelling separated.

Both modes are interesting, why don't we have both?

 

These images remind me of a Mount & Blade overworld map, only more hi-res. I like it, tbh

 

I cant fathom any good reason to support your argument and neither are you stating one.

If you want to roam around you should have to leave your group and communicate via Guild chat or tells, Imo.
re my point regarding encounters

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