i have only done 2 dungeons so far, but my partially formed opinion is that it's not so much that they're huge and complicated as that the are moderately complicated but the map makes navigation unnecessarily difficult. (daggerfall)
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Are there any examples of games that did the 3d dungeon map thing really well? I feel like we’ve returned to 2D dungeons en masse because the overlapping paths always make the map display cranky
On reflection, I'll give a shout out to Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor in this context. They have some very complicated level geometry, and the map does a really good job of making it readable
IIRC, it's split into vertical "levels" that you move between with up/down on the d-pad, orbit with the analog stick, and zoom in/out with the shoulder buttons
i think it's not actually a hard problem but it's one where hard failure happens if you miss a few core concepts (like an intuitive way to change rotation center, and possibly clipping or a good floor system.)
i honestly haven't played many modern games other than zelda with dungeon maps! i'm sure there are some.
older armored core games have somewhat confusing but really neat maps. modern doom has a map but it's not great. it seems like people have shied away from them somewhat in favor of streamlining
yeah, the only way I remember playing at the time was doing the dungeon in one go, and actually mentally map it.
Problem is, there were cases with necessary quest items spawing in inaccessible rooms, or entire giant sections behind a single secret door. It was extremely stressful and unfun.
The best hints I can give in brief is that left right and middle mouse buttons all serve different functions in the map screen. I am unsure if there is a recenter key, but there is a persistent line that points to both the player and the exit position that you can use as a guide.
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older armored core games have somewhat confusing but really neat maps. modern doom has a map but it's not great. it seems like people have shied away from them somewhat in favor of streamlining
So I liked to mark areas that were cleared and write how to leave the dungeon too.
Problem is, there were cases with necessary quest items spawing in inaccessible rooms, or entire giant sections behind a single secret door. It was extremely stressful and unfun.
The move to 3D in Daggerfall just doesn't work.