Base.Map Item - Map Discussion and UI proposal

[JohannesMP]

The Base.Map Item

Looking through the list of items that can be spawned in the current IWBUMS build, I noticed a new item, Base.Map:

 

Does this have any use yet? As far as I can tell you can equip it, but it does not actually do anything yet. I'm curious, what are the plans for this item?

 

 

Current Maps for Project Zomboid

I dislike using online resources such as pzmap or the Wiki because to me that feels like cheating. My character shouldn't magically know where everything is in the world. Unfortunately given how big the map is now, and will continue to expand with future additions, it has become almost impossible to navigate without some sort of map.

 

I think adding an in-game map that a player can 'uncover' by exploring, similar to what Minecraft does, would not only remove the need for an external map 'cheat', but would also provide the player with a useful mechanic for figuring out where they haven't been, and a neat metagame to try and uncover all of the map.

 

 

Proposal for an In-game Map

Ideally, if I equip the Map item, a new UI window should open that shows all the parts of the map that I have explored so far, in a simplified, scaled-down rendering with basic pan/zoom functionality. It doesn't have to be pixel-perfect like pzmap, but clear enough that I can recognize the layout of buildings and such.

 

For an example of what I mean, here's a quick mockup of what the map could look like as the player uncovers it: (click for full size)

 

And what it could look like fully revealed: (click for full size)

 

 

The map should be generated dynamically based on what is currently in the player's view range, so that:

1. Changes to the world, such as a house burning down, or new farms/constructions would only appear when the player can actually see them
2. It would work regardless of what map a server decides to run, even if it's a custom map.
3. The map offers the player a way to figure out where to go: "oh I never went down this street"

 

Other potential mapping mechanics:

1. You can share a map with another player (if they have paper and writing material). To account for the transfer time of the map image data that the client would need to receive from the server, this process could use the same progress-bar UI as when reading a book. After all, copying a map takes a good bit of time anyways.
2. You can only add to the map if there is enough light, so you would need to either map the area during daylight, while streetlights are still on, or with a light-source. The map window would just read "It's too dark to see where you are"
3. A simple marker placement mechanic that allows you to mark points of interests. Right clicking on the map brings up the option to place a marker. A marker stores a short title, and an optional short description. (Aquaria had a similar mechanic)
4. Instead of requiring a Map item, just bind the mapping mechanic to 'M' and just let the player always use it. Similar to Aquaria it could just cover the whole screen while you are looking at it, and M just quickly toggles it on and off. Finding the Map item now just adds a faded out underlay below the map that you've uncovered, so you know where everything is, but can still see where you haven't been.
5. Some server-side settings could include:
   • Enable Mapping
   • Enable Map trading
   • Enable Mapping requiring light
   • Enable Player's position on map
   • Enable Nearby Player positions visible on map (perhaps in conjunction with a radio or other item that enables a 'party'?)

 

 

I would also like to strongly advise the PZ devs against just implementing an in-game version of pzmap. You have the potential for a really fun mechanic here, that will force players to explore, and also help them figure out where they have not explored yet. Just giving players a static image of the current map would be dull, and not nearly as useful.

[daorkboypl]

(Said in Commander Shepeards voice) Nice. Double Nice!

[liongoat]

Really nice idear! Gives players a goal!

[Necromatic_Corgi]

I really love this idea, Nice job! 

[Realmkeeper]

I'm not so keen on an idea like this, or the implementation of it at the very least.

 

As has been discussed extensively in the past, I would be more in favour of some thing a little more 'crude'.

Perhaps a hand-drawn style of map with just iconic features (such as buildings, roads, intersections) for several reasons, including that additional player-drawn notes and POIs would be more visible and stand out.

Even more so, I think the map should be added to or grow much more manually, rather than just automagically adding details as you explore - it would kind of detract from the game if you could be sprinting from a zombie horde through unknown terrain, only to check your map when you reach safety and seem to suddenly have a pretty solid idea of your new surrounds (which again, borders on the discussion that has already happened many times before about how the 'player' may or may not already know his way around Muldraugh or WestPoint if they lived their previous life there...)

[Dr_Cox1911]

+1 for Realmkeepers post.

 

But I would also like a citymap to find. It should be a pretty rare item and only cover the cities/towns itself.

[Suomiboi]

I agree with Cox and Realmkeeper here. I'd think gas stations could spawn road maps of all of the towns as irl. Then have some spiffo's directions in trash cans etc.

[JohannesMP]

... I would be more in favour of some thing a little more 'crude'.

Perhaps a hand-drawn style of map with just iconic features (such as buildings, roads, intersections) for several reasons, including that additional player-drawn notes and POIs would be more visible and stand out...

 

I agree.

 

For my mockup, it was just easiest to take the existing map and apply some quick photoshop filters. I was not intending for the in-game implementation to look like that. It would also be easiest to implement since it literally just uses the existing texture data.

 

I would also like a simplified map that actually looks like a hand-drawn map, but it's difficult to make a reliable enough mapping algorithm that can deal with any custom map you throw at it, while still looking simplified enough, but also informative enough. After all a player needs to be able to, by looking at the map, figure out where they might be on the map.

 

Even more so, I think the map should be added to or grow much more manually, rather than just automagically adding details as you explore - it would kind of detract from the game if you could be sprinting from a zombie horde through unknown terrain, only to check your map when you reach safety and seem to suddenly have a pretty solid idea of your new surrounds

 

Yeah. I think it would make sense that you can only add to the map when you pull it out, and doing so forces you to stand still. I think it would also make sense if your character 'remembered' the last 2-3 screens worth of scenery and would fill that in on the map automatically, but not much more than that, to prevent the scenario you described.

 

I think as with any mechanic, a good middle-ground would need to be found of balancing it so that it's not so tedious that you need to stop and map every 20 steps, but also can't just run from one edge o town to the other and have everything mapped out perfectly.

 

(which again, borders on the discussion that has already happened many times before about how the 'player' may or may not already know his way around Muldraugh or WestPoint if they lived their previous life there...)

 

I think the lore of it is not as important here. If I run a custom map on my server I don't care if a player's character supposedly knew the layout of the town because they lived there; I more care about my players being able to find their way around without getting lost, or having to look up the map online.

 

Currently the only solution seems to be looking up a complete map on the wiki or similar sites, which even from a lore point of view is ridiculous; Even if you live in a town you wouldn't have an encyclopedic knowledge of every single building and what it might contain.

[bvhv]

Why not make it based on profession and spawn location? Because they had jobs and went to and from places from their house to work.

[Suomiboi]

-snip-

Actually it isn't difficult to make a reliable "algorithm" to get an accurate map since the mapping tools already print out a bmp image file of the roads, forests and terrain types. This alone, with some recoloring would fit as a road map. All it would need is to add a feature to the tools that also prints building locations in the same principle to have a full map.

Now to make this work in game the mapper would just need to include that bmp image with the map.

As for the main game, I think you're still thinking about a streaming map? This isn't what we're talking about. When you find a map, you can see the map. Fully. As in real life, but the map would be only of a certain predetermined area ie. Muldraugh town map. Also streaming would be effectively giving you a location of yourself on the map and I'm wholly against that. This could be handled as a map item with scriptable cell coordinates, so that modders could create their own area maps.

When I get back home I'm gonna fiddle around with the bmp file a bit and post what I mean more specifically.

[Realmkeeper]

 

-snip-

Actually it isn't difficult to make a reliable "algorithm" to get an accurate map since the mapping tools already print out a bmp image file of the roads, forests and terrain types.

[...]

It's even more simple than that.

Being isometrically tile based already, the game is ideal for rendering abstract views of the tiles. So the area encompassed by a house could be rendered as a crude 'house' sketch. Road tiles could have the road 'edges' found and hand-drawn road sketchy sprites can replace them. Then, as the player builds/destroys things, or the terrain/flora changes, it can be reflected in the mapped data.

Heck, even internal walls of houses are readily available to render as what might look like a scribbled interior view.

 

From a graphical programming perspective, all the data is already there, and in a nice format, to be used in a 'crudely drawn map' type manner.