when does a map get too big?
I was thinking about how big maps are getting and i was wondering if there was a limit. A point were people might get irritated by how far thay have to go in any game/genre.

I understand that comfortable map sizes can very greatly even in the same genre but in a general sense when is there to much map?
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Showing 1-15 of 16 comments
The Rock God Apr 8, 2017 @ 7:47pm 
About 196.5 million sqaure miles is the most I like to play on. IS the biggest map I've played on, actually.
Washell Apr 9, 2017 @ 4:02am 
As long as there's relatively unique and densely spaced content between point A and B, there's no limit to the size. If there's no content between A and B, an old tiny Wolfenstein map is already too big.
shiel Apr 9, 2017 @ 4:48am 
It's not about size, it's about quality and density. Morrowind has a relatively small map compared to many games but it still feels bigger(in a good way) than most games on the market today. The Ubisoft trend of packing busy work into a large map to keep you distracted is getting really old.
Last edited by shiel; Apr 9, 2017 @ 4:49am
Originally posted by The Rock God:
About 196.5 million sqaure miles is the most I like to play on. IS the biggest map I've played on, actually.
which game was that?
Rhy Apr 9, 2017 @ 4:52am 
Breath of the wild hit the sweetspot
Ogami Apr 9, 2017 @ 4:53am 
Originally posted by shiel:
It's not about size, it's about quality and density.

THIS ^

As long as the map is filled with interesting things to do and not just a vast emptiness filled with busywork to pad out the game ( glaring at you Mass Effect Andromeda) then the size is pretty much irrelevant.
Last edited by Ogami; Apr 9, 2017 @ 4:53am
Rhy Apr 9, 2017 @ 4:54am 
Originally posted by Ogami:
Originally posted by shiel:
It's not about size, it's about quality and density.

THIS ^

As long as the map is filled with interesting things to do and not just busywork to pad out the game ( glaring at you Mass Effect Andromeda) then the size is pretty much irrelevant.
Everything gets overshadowed by the face glitches and animations in andromeda
Last edited by Rhy; Apr 9, 2017 @ 4:54am
The Rock God Apr 9, 2017 @ 4:58am 
Originally posted by Zetikla:
Originally posted by The Rock God:
About 196.5 million sqaure miles is the most I like to play on. IS the biggest map I've played on, actually.
which game was that?

Microsoft Flight Simulator.
cinedine Apr 9, 2017 @ 4:59am 
Originally posted by shiel:
It's not about size, it's about quality and density.

Pretty much this.
A great example is comparing Just Cause 2 and Fuel (yes, it's dated AF ;) ):
JC2 has a size of 400 square miles.Fuel is 5560 square miles. Just Cause was packed with opportunities to cause chaos and destruction. Fuel was a barren wasteland.

On the other hand you have TES: Oblivion with "just" 16 square miles opoosed to the original Azeroth of WoW with 80 square miles. Oblivion had large areas of complete emptiness and often sprinkeld the same old dungeons on the main roads. WoW has quests and stuff to do all over the place - even more so since the Cataclysm overhaul.

FYI:
https://www.giantbomb.com/profile/aperturesilence/blog/a-relative-size-comparison-of-game-world-maps-fasc/49712/
Ogami Apr 9, 2017 @ 5:01am 
Originally posted by Ass Pancakes ||||| blw.tf:
Originally posted by Ogami:

THIS ^

As long as the map is filled with interesting things to do and not just busywork to pad out the game ( glaring at you Mass Effect Andromeda) then the size is pretty much irrelevant.
Everything gets overshadowed by the face glitches and animations in andromeda

I can live with the faces, they got a lot better with the newest patch but the game is basically 10 hours of story padded with 60 hours of mindless open world collection stuff.
I expect to get " scan 5 of those, place 10 of those, find 7 of this plant" and so on quests from Ubisoft but not from a Mass Effect game.
Its not a terrible game but as a Mass Effect game its an disappointment to me.
They made the same error as with Dragon Age Inquisition. Not everything needs to be Open World.
Last edited by Ogami; Apr 9, 2017 @ 5:01am
shiel Apr 9, 2017 @ 5:03am 
Originally posted by Ogami:
Originally posted by Ass Pancakes ||||| blw.tf:
Everything gets overshadowed by the face glitches and animations in andromeda

I can live with the faces, they got a lot better with the newest patch but the game is basically 10 hours of story padded with 60 hours of mindless open world collection stuff.
I expect to get " scan 5 of those, place 10 of those, find 10 of this plant" and so on quests from Ubisoft but not from a Mass Effect game.
Its not a terrible game but as a Mass Effect game its an disappointment to me.
They made the same error as with Dragon Age Inquisition. Open World does not work for any game typ.
I have a buddy who loves that game, I played the trial through Origin Access and was extremely happy I didn't blindly preorder based on his initial glowing review. I don't know what game that was (and maybe it gets better) but it sure as hell wasn't the ME I enjoyed in the first and second game.

I couldn't agree more about DA:I as well. I really thought they'd get it right after completely botching DA2. They managed to make a completely uninteresting game out of it. I was extremely disappointed considering that DA:O is one of the best rpg's I've ever played.
Last edited by shiel; Apr 9, 2017 @ 5:05am
Ogami Apr 9, 2017 @ 5:08am 
Originally posted by shiel:
Originally posted by Ogami:

I can live with the faces, they got a lot better with the newest patch but the game is basically 10 hours of story padded with 60 hours of mindless open world collection stuff.
I expect to get " scan 5 of those, place 10 of those, find 10 of this plant" and so on quests from Ubisoft but not from a Mass Effect game.
Its not a terrible game but as a Mass Effect game its an disappointment to me.
They made the same error as with Dragon Age Inquisition. Open World does not work for any game typ.
I have a buddy who loves that game, I played the trial through Origin Access and was extremely happy I didn't blindly preorder based on his initial glowing review. I don't know what game that was (and maybe it gets better) but it sure as hell wasn't the ME I enjoyed in the first and second game.

Well to its defense, Andromeda gets a lot better after the first 10-15 hours which are definetely the low point of the game. I having decent amount of fun at the moment but its still this constant feeling of " man this could have been sooo good". The 7/10 Metascore is pretty much right on point. As a space exploration RPG its decent fun but i just expect more out of Mass Effect.
I love the original trilogy. I even love Mass Effect 3 ( like it more then 2) so to get me disappointed in a Mass Effect game is not a small feat. :P
Last edited by Ogami; Apr 9, 2017 @ 5:09am
shiel Apr 9, 2017 @ 5:16am 
Originally posted by Ogami:
Originally posted by shiel:
I have a buddy who loves that game, I played the trial through Origin Access and was extremely happy I didn't blindly preorder based on his initial glowing review. I don't know what game that was (and maybe it gets better) but it sure as hell wasn't the ME I enjoyed in the first and second game.

Well to its defense, Andromeda gets a lot better after the first 10-15 hours which are definetely the low point of the game. I having decent amount of fun at the moment but its still this constant feeling of " man this could have been sooo good". The 7/10 Metascore is pretty much right on point. As a space exploration RPG its decent fun but i just expect more out of Mass Effect.
I love the original trilogy. I even love Mass Effect 3 ( like it more then 2) so to get me disappointed in a Mass Effect game is not a small feat. :P
10-15 hours is a LOT of time to invest waiting for a game to get good lol. I get *maybe* that much time in the average week to game so personally I can't justify it. I'll probably play it when it goes in the Vault.
Ogami Apr 9, 2017 @ 5:20am 
Originally posted by shiel:
10-15 hours is a LOT of time to invest waiting for a game to get good lol. I get *maybe* that much time in the average week to game so personally I can't justify it. I'll probably play it when it goes in the Vault.

Yeah its the longest Mass Effect game by far. Like 1+2 and parts of 3 combined.
At least its not as big as Inquisition which took me 117 hours to complete.
shiel Apr 9, 2017 @ 5:22am 
Originally posted by Ogami:
Originally posted by shiel:
10-15 hours is a LOT of time to invest waiting for a game to get good lol. I get *maybe* that much time in the average week to game so personally I can't justify it. I'll probably play it when it goes in the Vault.

Yeah its the longest Mass Effect game by far. Like 1+2 and parts of 3 combined.
At least its not as big as Inquisition which took me 117 hours to complete.
How'd you bring yourself to invesst that much time with DAI? lol.
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Date Posted: Apr 8, 2017 @ 7:15pm
Posts: 16