So, was there some kind of meeting at Bethesda HQ, where they all sat down at a table and were like
- "Guys, I've been thinking, and you know what Skyrim really needs? A new type of in-game map."
- "Yes, brilliant! Nobody will see this coming! How about a 3D one?"
- "Hmm.. Yes, like a miniature version of the game world?"
- "Yes, with clouds and everything!!!"
that gave birth to this thing? Honestly, I don't understand what was so bad about good ol' fashioned, functional 2D maps. I'm glad they stopped at clouds and didn't include flying dragons or god knows what else on the map.

Signed.

The OP is spot on .

I'm not sure I understand the point of the map if it's not for navigation.

I don't need everything on there, but the major roads, which shouldn't be a secret to anyone, should be easily seen. It's silly to show the major cities on the map, but no travel routes. What's the point, then?

My first trip from Whiterun to Winterhold was a major PITA because which branch in road to take was pure guesswork.

i don't think the map was designed with the intention of giving you turn by turn navigation info, rather just being a there to see where you are in the world and distance from you destinations. i like it this way, helps with exploring. i use it to look if i am close to destination most of the time, dont really care about the path. It adds an element of surprise of what you might find around the corner. The Local Map can be used if you want a bit more clear path.

:sadvaultboy:

It's a map.

What's it for if not navigation info?

Derp.

Thanks xD

The map isnt useless. It works perfectly. You can zoom in a bit, turn it a bit. It all functions well enough.

So what you can not see roads on it? Just walk and eventually you'll come a cross one. "Hey ... a road, lets see where it leads too." ... If your problem is that you get lost all the time,... well then dont get lost. You can fast travel to any location. You can also get a ride (costing a mere few bucks) to any major city, and when you are on a quest, you will see the location on your map too. And in Whiterun castle, there is a map where you can select all location on the map on the table, and they will get added to your own map, giving you even more locations other then just the major cities.

And almost forgetting, .. You got a big HUGE compass on your screen, telling to exactly what the directions are. It'll also show locations you are close to and you have not explored yet and are not on your map yet.

So what is the problem?... All what I described above is more then enough to navigate around. You dont need roads on the map.

You are just whining! You have tons of ways to navigate... YOU DONT NEED ROADS. You wont be travelling any faster on a road then in the forest also. Roads are just there for the scenery imho, not for traveling. I use shortcuts all the time, always across the plains or through a forest.

Geez you guys,.... I bet you'll just to comfy with that GPS in your car at home,... and you really cant navigate anyway else??

... Silly people. :banghead:

who needs roads? maybe the issue is you dont have your priorities straight. you walk the same speed on a road or not. so just go in the direction you need to go...you will hit a road eventually.

I really dont see how this is an issue.

Not to a location you haven't been to yet.


And... if you want to walk, and you want to *gasp* use the road?
You come to a fork in the road with no signpost. Both forks can feasibly go to the city you want to go to. The marker is exactly in the middle of the screen. For example, the first time heading to Rorikstead from Whiterun, both north or south forks seem plausible Actually, the north fork would seem more likely, since Rorikstead is slightly north of that fork, but the north fork takes you all the way up to Morthal and around almost to Dragonbridge before heading south to Rorikstead. Can't take a carriage there, can't fast travel, since it's the first time. I like to take the roads, since that's what my character would do, since she's weak and doesn't want to fight every wild animal or bandit in front of every dungeon.


I like going by the paths, especially when heading to cities. Besides, there are all sorts of great encounters that only happen on the roads.


Sure, it's 'enough,' but it's not optimal, and it's not efficient.


You do if you want to encounter some questlines.


...what?

Well, it's not as bad as Fallout 3, at least when it comes to interiors.

Clouds on a map. That just cracks me up. Perhaps we're actually connected to some weird alien thing floating high in the skyyyy... ahem... and it looks down and we see what it sees?

And why have a zoom that basically clarifies nothing?

Oh well. I suppose I can always write on my paper map.

i have a digital version, this is not a valid arguement

To be honest I'd rather have i map more like the one we received with the game, flat and 2d. It would make travelings so much better. I hope a mod can accomplish this.

Major roads shown on the map wouldn't be a bad thing, but I honestly don't have much issue with the map. Because it's 3D I can look at the terrain and judge its passability. If there's a nifty little gully going in the direction I want, then chances are extremely good that this is where I need to go through.

I can somewhat understand where the hardcoe roleplayers are coming from in that it makes more sense to stick to roads when you can instead of following a likely-looking lay in the land in the hopes it works out, but on the other hand, most of the places where you are going are tombs, temples, ruins, and bandit camps! Which really shouldn't have paved roads and beaten paths connecting them to anything.

A little annoying that the game won't let me orbit all the way around, though. I'm not really sure why they would make it so you can't, surely it took more code to impose a limit on orbit than to just leave it alone.

I think the map is amazing.

Honestly, the only problem I have with the vanilla map are the clouds. If they were a small effect, and not taking up the entire [censored] visible world, it would be a much cooler and useful map.

Thankfully, though, I do have those ini tweaks to fix that. I do feel for the console players though. That is the top complaint I hear from my PS3/360 playing friends about the game; too much cloud cover on the map.

how is fallout 3 worse?

anyways for the map it fine GET use to exploring that is part of this game/series i didn't like Oblivions it felt like i didn't need to explore cuz most quest were in the city. i like the 3D for the map its new and how will you know what the consumer will like or not like.

Map is fine for me. I get a general heading and start walking in that direction.

The CE Strategy guide comes with a highly detailed one akin to Morrowinds, the problem is it in addition to that map detail gives you SO MANY spoilers.

I use the map to fast travel and get a rough idea of landscape. Other than that...total rubbish.

Clairvoyance says hi.

I don't like that you can't see the roads.

I am a sneak thief/ 1H guy who does not use many spells other than restoration, but I use clairvoyance to find my way to quests. it helps.

Actually, I have a problem with the notion that I can seriously look at a "map", and it will show me all the terrain details of someplace I've never been before, as well.

I actually prefer not knowing much about the terrain until I get there, and that's something Oblivion's maps did well, as well.

Granted, I used one of the mods to make Oblivion's map color, but I generally found no faults with the map in that game.

Fallout 3's local maps were completely illegible. You could see where the doors were, but the rest was just a massive mess of pixels.

As far as Skyrim's map, apart from being the most out-of-place menu mechanic ever designed in any Elder Scrolls game ever, it is very unhelpful. Mountains obscure map marker locations making it difficult to tell where they actually are, as mentioned several times before roads are not shown on the map and the clouds are way too thick, the zoom is pitiful to the point of being completely pointless, and it doesn't even show the Hold borders for the upstart thieves who would like to know when they've hightailed it outta dodge. There is so much information available on the paper map that the game map does not even provide. For PC users who bought a digital copy, that is unfair. Otherwise, it's just another clear example of Bethesda putting flash before functionality in Skyrim's interface.

The only real reason the map exists is so Todd can say "Lookie what my new engine can do!!!" But the entire purpose of a map was lost in translation. I really would like to glance at the game map and see where the Hold borders are, or where the roads go, or the names of rivers and lakes and other landmarks. None of that information is provided in Skyrim's map; such information that was standard even for medieval-era maps. As far as information goes, we are back to Morrowind map standards, only this one now requires astronomical amounts of scrolling in order to see everything.

So my final verdict: it was built solely to wow, with absolutely no thought given to how utterly impractical it is. Ease of obtaining information is a principle rule of design for UIs, and this map breaks that rule.

It's pretty but useless. By tweaking the .INI file, it's possible to reveal more details but a proper drawn map would have been much mroe useful.

It doesn't help that most Skyrim roads make multiple winding turns so it's not easy to guess in which general direction we're going (except for the roadsigns)

I like it.