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[SatelliteOfLove]

Hate any qol impowerment if it goes from "wings" to "chains", and some minimaps are heavy, heavy chains indeed for both devs and players.

This is what you "optional" people are missing: you are chained to it like a prisoner.

 

[herod]

another fucking absolutist argument in videogaming, plus ca change.

 

[rich7sena]

I agree that a toggleable mini map should be the new standard in games. I felt really distracted by it in Shadow of Mordor. That said, the complete absence of a mini map would allow for more interesting and organic mechanics to tell players where to go.

 

[CaptainGyro]

People have been driving around cities for almost 100 years without minimaps or GPS. .

yeah because they would use maps or directions or they knew the area after visiting it so often. Its not like they could just get in their cars and let the environments guide them

 

[OraleeWey]

The Darkness comes to mind. IIRC, no map. You had to actually look at the signs on the street and the subways. I loved it.

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

This is a stupid thing to get all uproarious about.

I say the mini map is dead, long live the mini map. Show me the damn collectables, I have games to play and a life to fit in somewhere.

And have fun with your full driving line, Eurogamer. I see you using it. I'm not going 200 on a straightaway without knowing if their is a hairpin left at the end.

Oh, what's that Eurogamer? I bet you would just hit rewind which you also have on.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

This is a stupid thing to get all uproarious about.

I say the mini map is dead, long live the mini map. Show me the damn collectables, I have games to play and a life to fit in somewhere.

And have fun with your full driving line, Eurogamer. I see you using it. I'm not going 200 on a straightaway without knowing if their is a hairpin left at the end.

Oh, what's that Eurogamer? I bet you would just hit rewind which you also have on.

Elitism is a funny thing, it's assumed to be like Ghost-type, supereffective against itself.

 

[flaxknuckles]

I would prefer a full map (with no loading) and a large colored beam coming down from the sky to your destination rather than a constant minimap, arrows, GPS, and stupid ass on-screen waypoint dot.

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

Elitism is a funny thing, it's assumed to be like Ghost-type, supereffective against itself.

I'll see you at the finish line, no mini map person. I'll be drinking Mich Ultra at a rave while you look for fast travel signs in cardboard box-looking villas.

 

[elohel]

Can you imagine Dark Souls with a minimap? Would've been hilariously bad.

Lol shows enemy locations too

 

[toythatkills]

In 'the olden days' we'd have multiple resources for cross-referencing, plus enough world detail for that to hang together. Are we expecting every residence in every road to be numbered, for instance?

I don't see why the PS4 wouldn't be capable of that. Gotta use all those pixels for something.

I reckon between everyone on GAF we could probably come up with a hundred different ways of getting a player from point A to point B in a game like GTA without the need for a mini-map. Like, what if when you were in a car, it automatically indicated to subtly direct you to your destination? Or if the game knew enough about where you were so that when Michael tells you to meet him at his house, he can say "where are you?" and give you landmark-based directions to his his place or wherever else you're meeting. He could send someone to pick you up. You could ask an NPC for directions.

There are so many ways it could be done, it's just about designing a game to think about all those ways. And of course there's no reason why it couldn't have a mini-map too for people that want to use it anyway.

 

[westman]

But you could get rid of mini maps without getting rid of maps. Simply provide a full map on a separate screen that could be brought up if you are lost. Can be combined with Destiny-style destination markers if needed.

True, but in certain styles of games I feel like people would dislike that a lot. If you're going from point A to point B in GTA, I don't think people are going to want to stop at every turn to check a map and make sure that they're going the right way.

That's why I mentioned Destiny-style destination markers. Once the destination is set, the destination marker shows where the next waypoint is, so you really don't need to check the map to ensure that you are going in the right direction. But in contrast to the mini map, the destination marker is superimposed into the main view, so it doesn't distract you from the environment. It is a good system, but Destiny went too far in that they don't have any usable map at all, so the waypoint system is limited to showing the destination the game has chosen for you.

 

[SystemBug]

Saying that minimaps shouldn't be in games is like the most pretentious thing I have ever heard. Next time you go to an unknown part of the world. Don't take a GPS or map. Learn the environment.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

A lot of fuss over something that can be turned off in the options for 99% of these games.

 

[NullPointer]

Next time you go to an unknown part of the world. Don't take a GPS or map. Learn the environment.

.

A lot of fuss over something that can be turned off in the options for 99% of these games.

An opinion article and a thread on a gaming forum is a fuss?

 

[RyudBoy]

I still haven't found all the boards in Forza Horizon 2 since I refuse to use the minimap.

 

[Blackthorn]

A lot of people getting hung up on the title of the article and not actually engaging with the content.

And yes, "Death to the Mini Map" is a better title than "Why I Feel Open World Exploration is Improved by Disabling the Mini Map but You're Not a Horrible Person if You Leave it Enabled: I Promise Not to Take Away Your Toys"

 

[Welfare]

Make the game world have very recognizable landmarks and make me play through these areas multiple times, then I can agree with turning off the mini-map.

GTA games are very great in this aspect I think, especially with GTA V. Never even looked at that thing in MP to get somewhere.

 

[SystemBug]

.

But that's a map with floating icons. Its all or nothing bruh

 

[HeelPower]

I played Black Flag without mini map, but games need good level/world design to make it rewarding instead of frustrating.

Yeah.

This can't work in giant open world games with not much thought put into making them cohesive.

There needs to be some sort of guidance to minimize time waste.

 

[NullPointer]

But that's a map with floating icons. Its all or nothing bruh

If you say so.

 

[John Kowalski]

remember when people thought that dark souls 2 would have a mini map?

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

.

An opinion article and a thread on a gaming forum is a fuss?

They're just going all Jacob Marley on them chains of theirs, hoping to scare off a non-existant snatching away of those comforting chains.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Maps are good. I love maps, they are important and help you actually find where you're trying to go. Maps make games better, and minimaps make any game that isn't entirely linear better.

So yes, maps in games are great, I love them. It's even better if the map reveals as you explore! I love that, makes me want to explore out all the maps. I don't care much about stuff like collecting loot, but exploring out all the maps, when there's some kind of map to explore? That I like doing!

In short, on-screen maps = good. Period. No map and forcing me to try to wander around and memorize it all = bad. I hate that stuff, give me a map already! The only thing that needs to stop is games which don't have maps but should.

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

GTA V is so much better with the mini-map and the rest of the HUD turned off.

The game world is presented without distraction and you can really appreciate it more. Shootouts are much more fun and challenging, too (combined with manual free aim). Driving is much prettier, too, but sometimes certain missions or events are near impossible without the mini-map because of how despawning, police LOS, etc work. But in general, I try to play as exclusively as possible with the HUD and mini-map turned off.

MMOs are another interesting one here... it's near impossible to turn off the all the HUD but in some MMOs I've created customized HUDs where basically just a few very basic things like target select, HP or ability bars, etc show, and as small as possible. GTA also has the 'Blip' feature for the mini-map which makes it a little more immersive.

Which actually makes me wonder why more games, especially open world games, MMOs and RPGs, more racers (most at least let you turn on/off each piece of the HUD so they're pretty good at this), etc don't offer an 'Immersive Mode' for their HUD. I would love a GTA V map where only mission waypoints show, no store or building icons, and just very small HP bars, or more RPGs over the ability to turn off most of the HUD or at least have a small/immersive version of certain bars, windows, etc that perhaps fade or disappear when not in use.