Mini-Map Vs. HUD. We should REALLY have a HUD display (Opinion / Advice)

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Navigating the open world, driving ESPECIALLY, forces you to take your eye off the center of the screen and look at the mini-map. The mini-map should, realistically, be removed or supplemented with a HUD.

From the Batman games, to Saints Row and others, there has been some kind of HUD display to indicated where to traverse the open world to reach your destination. Skyrim had Clairavoyance, Fallout has the Pip-Boy feature. Cyberpunk needs one to guide players from point A to point B, with all the coolness that is Cyberpunk HUD technology.

Taking your eye off the road not only breaks immersion, but just like in real life, leads to crashes and accidents. The mini map is also horribly zoomed in, so if you reach any kind of top speeds, by the time a turn shows up on the map, you have passed it, or can't make the turn in time without smashing into walls.

I STRONGLY SUSPECT this was part of the original plan, but was scrapped. Why? Cause I have SEEN navigation markers pop up in-game on my HUD!

Attached is an image of some navigation dots I found in game. This pic is specifically from Judy's apartment. Interestingly, in-game, the dots move along the wall, towards Judy's door -meaning they are saying "Go this way" towards whatever location I set on the world map.

I've found several dozen of these "glitches" around the city as well. Usually within interiors, or in covered places like garages, alley ways, etc. The lines on the ground are usually only 10 feet or so long, but they look EXACTLY like using Skyrim's Clairvoyance or Fallout's Pip Boy navigation markers.

Whether it's just a "move left" and "move right" marker, or an overlay HUD, we should have a much better way to travel the open world other than the mini map.
Possible Nav.jpg
 
I dunno. I like having a minimap. It's much more discreet than huge navigation arrows visible in the world, akin to what's done in racing games and the like. I do agree with you that the minimap and navigation system needs work. It would definitely be a good idea to zoom the minimap out slightly while you're driving and fix weird minimap navigation pathing problems that happen from time to time.

On a side note, I would really love some low effort quality-of-life improvements on the main map too. Specifically, I would appreciate if they gave vehicle purchase quests and cyberpsycho quests their own unique map icons, just like other types of side-gigs have. I would also suggest to consider if it makes sense to color code some of the quest type icons for improved map readability. Finally, it would be great if all the basic side-gig quests were revealed clearly on the map, instead of some of them being hidden by the "undiscovered" icon type.

I understand and generally support the idea of stimulating people to explore the map, instead of clearing an icon-checklist like in a Ubisoft game. It's just that when most of those "undiscovered" icons lead to just another simple side-gig, it kind of defeats the purpose. I don't expect them to rework and expand the basic side-gigs, considering their sheer number, but keep the more interesting ones that offer some branching behind an "undiscovered" icon and show us the basic ones right off the bat.
 
I dunno. I like having a minimap. It's much more discreet than huge navigation arrows visible in the world, akin to what's done in racing games and the like. I do agree with you that the minimap and navigation system needs work. It would definitely be a good idea to zoom the minimap out slightly while you're driving and fix weird minimap navigation pathing problems that happen from time to time.

On a side note, I would really love some low effort quality-of-life improvements on the main map too. Specifically, I would appreciate if they gave vehicle purchase quests and cyberpsycho quests their own unique map icons, just like other types of side-gigs have. I would also suggest to consider if it makes sense to color code some of the quest type icons for improved map readability. Finally, it would be great if all the basic side-gig quests were revealed clearly on the map, instead of some of them being hidden by the "undiscovered" icon type.

I understand and generally support the idea of stimulating people to explore the map, instead of clearing an icon-checklist like in a Ubisoft game. It's just that when most of those "undiscovered" icons lead to just another simple side-gig, it kind of defeats the purpose. I don't expect them to rework and expand the basic side-gigs, considering their sheer number, but keep the more interesting ones that offer some branching behind an "undiscovered" icon and show us the basic ones right off the bat.

Yeah, we were once told that the map would not be cluttered like other games, but that (like many things) turned out to be untrue....

Even without a HUD showing where to go (my personal favorite is from Saints Row 3), even something on the dashboard in 1st person showing 'turn left' to simulate GPS would make driving a more fun experience IMO.

Heck, even the mini map at 30% transparency in the upper center of the screen would make navigation easier.

Any or all of these options would be amazing. Moreso if you had the options to turn them OFF. So people who want a full immersive experience with no HUD, no mini-map and no quest markers, could do so.

Things like quest markers and navigation markers are small, but important quality of life things in modern games
 
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