Author Topic: Labeled vs. Unlabeled Maps  (Read 26908 times)

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Offline MagnetiC

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RE: Labeled vs. Unlabeled Maps
« Reply #15 on: January 09, 2008, 01:26:10 pm »
Ripped and adjusted the header from one of Revned's maps (I hope you don't mind).



http://www.xs4all.nl/~vanhelvo/blaat/MegaMan-CutMan.png



Don't worry about giving advice Rew, I like getting some feedback :)

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Ignorance is bliss.
Ignorance is bliss.

Offline JonLeung

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RE: Labeled vs. Unlabeled Maps
« Reply #16 on: January 09, 2008, 01:56:49 pm »
Grizzly Said:
Sometimes I just have an idea what would look nice and do it, for example I labeled almost everything on my Secret Of Evermore maps. But I don't think the maps were bad because of this.


I would say that in that case, the maps were AWESOME because of that.  As I already stated, labeling items while being as concise as possible avoids "imperfections" such as spelling or grammatical errors or just plain clutter.



Just as I said before, anything remotely RPGish would benefit from some information other than what is already visible.  If you're going to add stuff to a series of maps, go all out.  What mars a map is not so much the stuff that's put on it...it's if it's half-assed and incomplete that looks bad.



Of course what works in one game might not work in another...but as long as you're as consistent as you can be within a single game...



I admit that when it comes to naming areas/sub-areas (especially when it's not made clear by the game or the mapper or any walkthrough) and providing the links to maps (I hate trying to handle in-game maps, usually, or things like sub-areas within sub-areas, or sub-areas that are shared by areas, etc.) I'm not entirely consistent.  But at least within a game, I can certainly do my best to maintain consistency on that smaller scale.

Offline Revned

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RE: Labeled vs. Unlabeled Maps
« Reply #17 on: January 09, 2008, 02:50:39 pm »
MagnetiC Said:
Ripped and adjusted the header from one of Revned's maps (I hope you don't mind).



http://www.xs4all.nl/~vanhelvo/blaat/MegaMan-CutMan.png



Don't worry about giving advice Rew, I like getting some feedback :)

---

Ignorance is bliss.

Not at all, it looks good.

Offline Revned

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RE: Labeled vs. Unlabeled Maps
« Reply #18 on: January 09, 2008, 03:17:16 pm »
I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but for some reason when you quote someone else's message, your post doesn't register in the "Recent Posts" on the front page.

Offline JonLeung

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RE: Labeled vs. Unlabeled Maps
« Reply #19 on: January 12, 2008, 05:01:25 pm »
Noted, Revned.



I like how this topic has brought in some mappers we haven't heard from awhile.

Offline vorpal86

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RE: Labeled vs. Unlabeled Maps
« Reply #20 on: August 10, 2008, 07:54:03 am »
Hey guys. I think, maps should be labeled to a certain extent. Especially if there are several areas. I added names of towns and caves on my maps so you would know what is what, but also included an UN-labeled map as well for those who dislike a lot of labels on their maps. But the goal of the map as a whole is to provide direction.





If you are supposed to go to "Cape Map Me" and there are lots of locations on the map that aren't labeled, you don't know which is which.





It's also a good idea if you wish to label your maps, try and keep it as clean as possible like, for instance, have your maps legend on the map in an area other than where the actual map is. Have them labeled for locations in a nice numbered or lettered list to the right, left, top, bottom. And, instead of writing the whole name of the location above the town/cave etc on the actual map, you can simply use just a letter, or number and it should match that on the map legend.





I didn't do this with my Gargoyle's Quest II world map but to compensate it I also made that UN-labeled or Unmarked world map as well. Sometimes the design of the game map limits you to how organized you can make your map design and that also should be taken into consideration. It's not always possible to make your maps neat and tidy, and understandable without thinking closely about the game maps design.



A game maps design like The Legend of Zelda (NES) is pretty easy to label without cluttering up the actual map cause you can easily use a grid using A1, A2 etc going across the top and left of the map and marking those locations on the Map Legend, making your map nice to look at and easy to navigate. Some other games use oddball designs and you have to compensate for that to make it look presentable, and pretty.



those are my thought on the matter. Hope this helps some for understanding whether labeled or unlabeled is best. But as mentioned, different mappers like to do it certain ways that they feel present the game player with clean, concise direction.

Offline Will

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RE: Labeled vs. Unlabeled Maps
« Reply #21 on: August 10, 2008, 10:33:42 am »
I myself thought which method was best, especially for Megaman Battle Network. I concluded Hardware maps should remain unlabelled and Software maps labelled, even though it means a hassle trying to find a chip in certain places like a locker, cupboard, but GameFAQs has already taken care of that. Maybe it will be one of those days when a list of labelled maps will be noted.