Lost

The ya that's where I got lost to. It's a loop. I started at Brittany went south,east found my self heading north back to Brittany. From the south west. At some point there's two left exits on the far south ends that's the top loop. Find the exits and u will see the bottom loop that goes threw ardoris

 

Ok I might be wroung. Looking at the map from Brittany instead of going south east it will loop, so go straight east maby a lil north. Look for the desert pvp area. to not loop u want to be east of it not west.

 

This sounds like isometric view in general is a bad thing. And here I disagree. This would mean that all isometric games would lead to confusion and disorientation. Was this the case in Ultima Online or any of the other Ultimas? Is this the case in Divinity: Original Sin or Wasteland 2?
I don't have much problems with orientation on the overland map of SotA. Yes, sometimes I get lost, too but that is ok when exploring a wilderness.

Also I really like the isometric view of the overland map.

I mentioned it last release: If we could play from a third person perspective on the overland map with the same camera as in the scenes then the first complaint would be that the scale would totally look off. From an isometric view it doesn't look that strange having houses and trees that are as big as the hero, but this would really look strange in third person view.

 

I think the comparison to Divinity and Wasteland are excellent examples. I wouldn't suggest that having an isometric aerial view is bad by itself. I would comment that the scale is different in those games however. Wasteland has an overland map, but it's rare that you get lost. In fact I don't ever remember being lost on the overland map because my point of view was expansive. There were always several landmarks to help guide me and if I remember correctly I could scroll my point of view further than my screen might normally allow.

I'm actually in favor of adding a Fog of War to the overland map. Something that would further obscure the point of view - greatly. But I want that to be balanced with having more control of where you're looking and how far you can see in the distance. If I've already visited (for example) the Spectral Mines, I should be able to put a note on the map that tells me "over here stupid" or something like that. Instead, I have to go find the Mad Hermitt's video and figure out which flowers to turn at, the blue ones for the yellow ones.

 

I got a little bit lost myself on the first try.

But I see that as a feature not a defect. It means that the map is big enough to get lost in which is a big yay in my book.

Later when they add scenes/towns it will be much easier to find ones way.

The tip to not getting lost though is the same as always, settle for one cameraview only heading north. Don't turn the camera around to where you are heading.
That way you will never get lost on the overland map.
It is however boring, not immersive and unintuitive so I won't do that myself until I get lost next time...

 

Well, actual ingame map would be nice (maybe several maps for the whole Novia)

And the ability to freely move the camera and see further. It is frustrating going to crossroad and not being able to see which road leads where.

 

Maybe it's also due to the fact that we can rotate the view on the overland map? Maybe a fixed perspective would be better, so that we always know that up is north...

 

Two things:

1. I agree, getting lost can be considered a feature as you describe. However, I think getting lost in the woods, or getting lost in a big town seems more relevant to "fun". Getting lost in Novia? Come on. I can see Blackbone Pass but still have no idea where I'm at because if I walk to the next landmark (in comparison to the map) it doesn't scale well (to me). Like the position of the Spectral Mines based on the Map of Novia we have seems "off" to me. There are several other areas like this, and I think much of it has to do with the fact that we can't see the whole overland map at the same time...like we can't pan the horizon or scroll the map further away from our position in order to see more and gain perspective.

2. Besides being in raged myself when I wrote the OP, I posted this because I feel like anytime someone reaches this level of frustration they should speak up (in the nicest way possible). Because my concern is that other people will also feel this frustrated and stop playing the game outright because of it. We don't want that.

 

I'd prefer road signs at crossroads/intersections.

 

Maybe. I think Spoon's advice there would be helpful.

Currently when you enter and exit scenes it throws you into positions that are not North, so part of this is an active battle at the moment. Having the game lock that down automatically would probably be a big help. I think Wasteland does that, probably for this very reason, although I still say that no one could get lost on their map ever.

 

Road signs would be nice addition as well, but I do not think those would be easy to read on overland map.
I would like to see them more often in game maps. And I would vastly prefer signposts over the compass with POIs we got.

 

That would've been helpful too!

The one time I ran into someone on the road and they were willing to talk to me. Here's how are conversation went...

Person on the road: Hello there!
Me: I'm lost.
Person on the road: Can you tell me where Soltown is?
Me: No, I'm lost.
Person on the road: Follow this road and see if you can find your barrings.
Me. Ok. Well I can tell you that Soltown is between Ardoris and Solace Bridge. But I don't know where either of those places are in relationship to where we are.
Person on the road: Me either.
Me. Ok, thanks for the help.
I then wander off into the wilderness eventually finding Ardoris on my own. The person on the road went the opposite way back into the loop of despair.

 

Agreed on the basic premise. Removing top annoyances or frustrations are a good thing.

But I'd personally prefer other solutions than increasing the scope of the camera, yes it's frustrating and should be better, but I don't think that we should have the power to see too far on our own.

Instead I would like to have :
A
Spell - sky view - giving a from straight up view on a larger than normal bit of the overland map as a 'still' which when you close it is no more.

B
Road signs
Every time I come to an intersection/crossroads the hint text we get for locations should say where they lead (if appropriate)
So at Kingsroad intersection I'd want the hint text
N - to Owl's Head
E - to Kingsport
S - to Braemar

C
Overland map locations just like we have received for in scenes in R16.
They are probably already planned.

D
Overland encounters with village/peasant NPC which you can 'engage' to get directions to places and hints to things off the beaten track.
For instance if I 'engage' a peasant encounter on north Valeyway then they should be able to warn me about Obsidian keep, Greymark forest and if Online directions to Holtrot town as well.

E
Rent NPC mercenary guides (for offline players) in towns who show/lead the way to POI and then leave you.

F
Local/regional maps

 

@Spoon. I like all those suggestions. What I'd like to see in addition to that is a fog of war (as was shown in the original demo for the game's overland map) and then landmarks that either pop up out of the fog of war because they're so big...like a tower or a mountain range. Or they show up because you've been there before. This would allow players to gain more value from exploring while receiving less frustration from not being able to see the equivalent of 10 feet in front of their overland face.

 

I'd love to have a fog-of-war. That would be soo nice.

 

I agree that it is frustrating how it currently works with the camera in the overland map. A free camera movement is a viable solution. But i also like it to have a fog of war.
I just cant get used to it in its current state hence i am all for adjusting it.

 

On overland have characters smaller & be able to zoom out all the way to starcitizen space. Please

 

Traversing a continent should be confusing with roads that lead to unknown places unless you remember the turns and the landmarks. If you have a Novia map in your inventory it should work the same as the town maps.

I think the existing view range is pretty reasonable - once they work out some quirks with the camera and add more landmarks to the map it will be perfect.

 

Not sure that fog of war and getting lost aren't contradictory somehow, but I'm sure you'll rationalize it somehow. Fog of war would only obscure land amrks in the distance, you wouldn't be able to see things like oceans, coastlines, rivers, paths, forests, towns, etc. which are major map landmarks that aid you in figuring out where you are. So I can't see how this would help you from not getting lost.

 

I think they messed with the camera this last patch. You can see greater areas than before and the camera tilts move than before. At least to my recollection.