Mini-map or Compass?

[Witchercyberpunk]

I'm honestly conflicted about the decision to go with the mini-map over the compass. I find the mini-map more intrusive than the previous compass. Previously it was explained that the City was designed using a real city planner, and you can use landmarks in the environment to understand your location. Because a compass takes up less space on the screen, it could give the player more Independence in navigating their environment. Some may argue that a mini-map makes sense within cyberpunk, but I do think what matters more is how it affects the gameplay experience overall.

What do you guys think? Do you think the mini-map fits the game better than the compass? Are there any ways they can improve the mini-map to make it less intrusive?

 

[CyberBrett]

I do think a mini map makes more sense in a futuristic setting but Devs have said you can turn the map / compass off .

 

[jt4gov]

I would imagine it being cyberware uploaded into the users vision, similarly with the reticule for weapons.

 

[Sir_Parsifal]

I think it was a poor choice. Compass is always best for RPGs, it makes you more aware of your surroundings instead of just looking at the minimap the whole time. Also, it is less intrusive

 

[Rerezzed]

Neither for me.

Because a wise man once put it quite perfectly:
"Mini-maps are shit. They're shit because you make these multimillion-dollar games, and people play them staring at these little dots."

 

[Sir_Parsifal]

Neither for me.

Because a wise man once put it quite perfectly:
"Mini-maps are shit. They're shit because you make these multimillion-dollar games, and people play them staring at these little dots."

Yeah, well. It's near impossible to do this on big maps. It was possible with maps as small as the one used in Morrowind, but games are far, far bigger now, and it would be simply far too inconvenient, to the point of being a non-stop nuisance.

 

[Witchercyberpunk]

In the Witcher 3 I found the mini-map somewhat distracting. I would always find myself staring at the trail of dots on the mini-map, instead of the environment. The argument of having to turn off the trail of dots is no excuse because in the end, the game is judged off of its original intended experience by the developers. It was the developers default intention for you to use the trail of dots on the mini-map. Seems to be that cyberpunks mini-map still uses a dotted path.

 

[Rawls]

I prefer a minimap ... though technically I would pick neither if it was an option. I dont like relying on HUD to find my way around.

 

[Rerezzed]

Yeah, well. It's near impossible to do this on big maps. It was possible with maps as small as the one used in Morrowind, but games are far, far bigger now, and it would be simply far too inconvenient, to the point of being a non-stop nuisance.

I played through The Witcher 3 two times with most of the UI incl. the minimap deactivated and had no problems whatsoever. I found that it actually added to the immersion having to find your way by landmarks or directions given by NPCs.
In this regard, Night City should be even more easier to navigate without any hand-holding.

 

[wmulls]

Neither for me.

Because a wise man once put it quite perfectly:
"Mini-maps are shit. They're shit because you make these multimillion-dollar games, and people play them staring at these little dots."

I so miss the days when RPG's didn't hold your hand 100% of the time. I loved having to actually use my brain and a map to figure out where I needed to go, or just ask an NPC for directions.

That being said, I think a minimap would totally fit in the setting. I mean your eyes are basically just augmented reality devices. IMO the HUD should be completely blank, with keybinds to bring up menus or overlays that highlight people, points of interest, maps, etc. That would be the perfect implementation I think.

 

[Rawls]

I played through The Witcher 3 two times with most of the UI incl. the minimap deactivated and had no problems whatsoever. I found that it actually added to the immersion having to find your way by landmarks or directions given by NPCs.
In this regard, Night City should be even more easier to navigate without any hand-holding.

Yeah playing TW3 without the minimap is the way to go. Though you almost have to turn it on if you interested in horse racing because the minimap is the only clear way to see the track path when going at full gallop.

 

[Rerezzed]

I so miss the days when RPG's didn't hold your hand 100% of the time. I loved having to actually use my brain and a map to figure out where I needed to go, or just ask an NPC for directions.

Fingers crossed that CDProjektRED put those city planners they brought on-board to good use. And that NPCs always provide enough information for you to get to the objective without having to rely on a minimap or floating objective markers.

 

[Draconifors]

Compass. It's less distracting than a map and also takes up less space vertically. The less % taken up by HUD elements the better.

Compass was the first experience I had with RPGs, for thousand of hours, which may be making me biased. But, considering I've since played thousands of hours with a minimap and prefer to keep the map hidden most of the time... I do think I genuinely prefer a compass.

 

[AlexiaRevan]

I like the mini-map . I relie on the mini-map . I hate asking direction or reading signs .

 

[dogukans]

If compass is going to be like old CoD games, then a big massive NO. Because it only shows where you must go, other than that it's not helping at all

 

[Snowflakez]

Minimap, no question. Both is ideal, or at least a toggle.

 

[Atalvyr]

I'd prefer the compass to be honest. Otherwise I will fall into the bad habit of staring at my mini-map more than those beautiful surroundings.

Hopefully we can toggle between compass/map/nothing by loading the appropriate cyberware.

 

[Suhiira]

Normally I'd say compass.
BUT !
We're talking an urban environment here, lots of corners, rooms, dead ends.

The "problem" is how do you justify if? Yes it's 2077, and chances are you can download the floor plan of any public building on the fly but random buildings? And outside the public areas no Corp office is going to want such information available, it's just inviting a burglary by a rival Corp.

 

[Sild]

Doesn't really matter for me.

Compass is better for open world exploration/discovery but can have people just beelining towards "dots"

Minimap is better for narrow field spatial awareness, positioning and is more tactical.

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

Contrary to TW3, this time we'll have on-screen signs of where we need to go, therefore I think we'll be able to play without neither minimap or screen, which is very good. So I'll probably disable whatever devs has put in the gme and leave that sign.

But, if I need to choose, compass for me, but a compass done right. Minimap 99% is "follow those damn dots, CJ!" which I hate, since it distracts me and doesn't make me enjoy (and live!) the world built by devs. I played RDR2 with minimap off and it was great to open the map, check where I needed to go (IE go to that mountain, follow the river north and you'll get to that city) and get help from sign posts (written in english), but during missions it was almost mandatory. Sometimes NPCs gave you advices where to go, but it was not very efficient.

Regarding driving, I keep saying that we need something like this: