My main concern ever since I read the GI article might just be the new map system. In the menu interface, you'll look down, and the camera will zoom out to reveal the entire world as miniature model with topography and everyting visible. It sounds like a really fresh and cool idea, and will no doubt look awesome.

But if you can see everything from the map, what's the point of exploring? The urge to explore is gained from looking at a paper map, like in past TES games, and the horizon. You see all these trails and paths and you wonder what that place might look like. Maybe there's a settlement you haven't visited before located in the mountains, so you're really hyped to see it.

Will the map hide unexplored areas somehow? Or is there something I've missed because I haven't heard anyone worried about this.

EDIT: A quote from the GI article: "You can explore it at your leisure, passing the towering [...] peaks, forests, cities, and tundra."

I don't think the game will (or is even able to) show you all the details of the game world. Have you ever seen the map system in Fable III? I imagine it will be pretty similar to that.

yes it seems exploring isnt a big part of this entry

From where do you know it will have a zoomable map?

It's not going to zoom out and show you a real-time topographical view of Skyrim. The game just wouldn't be able to handle that. I think they're just going to have it zoom out, and look something like a 3 dimensional version of the Elven Maps Redux mod.

For those of you who don't know what I mean, http://clankiller.com/games/oblivion/images/elven_map_redux.png.

For comparison to stock Oblivion map, http://screenshots.filesnetwork.com/95/files2/68276_4.jpg.

My guess is that when you 1st see the map it will be simmilar to Oblivion showing only the cities and roads as well as including the mountains possibly the major reasions but nothing else. They do want us to search the world and find everything ourselves

I just checked some screenshots and that definitely looks less spoiling, but I can recall Pete Hines or somebody saying you'll be able to zoom around and sort of explore in the map interface, in the GI article.

I hope not, it looks so.... colorful. And it's a bit annoying in the end. I don't want a gps, I want something that looks like a map from that time.

It did say the map will zoom out and be explorable, but my takeaway was that it won't show us a lot of detail. Similar to the icons system that we had in OB.

The good thing is that we'll be able to zoom out (and I am assuming zoom in as well) on the map now.

I didn't like the fable 3 map at all. It wasn't even close to being to scale and it showed undiscovered settlements. I would prefer the good old fashioned paper map of morrowind and oblivion.

:goodjob:

It's probably just like Oblivion's map, only shinier, possible with some kind of 3D effect. http://www.tesnexus.com/imageshare/images/57416-1285278806.jpg

You're right, I forgot how cumbersome it was to not be able to zoom, having to switch between different versions of the map.

This is what he says: "You can explore it at your leisure, passing the towering [...] peaks, forests, cities, and tundra."

So it's more than just zoom...

EDIT: Btw beautiful picture, povuholo!

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3002

Hopefully this map thing will be cleared up in the UI feature.

Should be interesting to see.

The map in OB was so broken. Not being able to zoom out to see the whole thing was painful. As was having to switch between "world map" and "local map".

I didn't mean it would necessarily work like the Fable II map (Which I also despised) but you see a map system that handles topography and can be zoomed out into, which doesn't spoil any details of the game. If the Skyrim map will be truly 3D, I imagine that the landmarks will be placed on the map as you explore it. Other than that, I believe the Skyrim map will still facilitate exploration as much as any other. It doesn't matter how detailed a map is, but how much content you show in between the details. If they showed you the location of every single cave, dungeon, and town without you exploring them, then yes, that would kill the fun of exploration. But they don't have to do that, and I don't think they will.

Yeah.

my 2x5970's, 12gb ddr3, and i7-970 can handle it?

DO IT REAL TIME.

I ninja'd you REALLY bad

Double post

Have any of you played Just cause 2? I was imagining that style map when I read that.

The series had to die sometime... My friend told me it would be skyrim :sadvaultboy:

And map speculation told you this or is it just a random post?

I would really prefer an old worn map...