The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I found the maps are not useful from Morrowind or Oblivion. What do I look on the map for? Roads. I need to see where I am. With Skyrim's map, you can't see jack [censored]. Clouds are always blocking the way, and if it happens to be a really clear day then enjoy squinting like mad until you eventually spot a major road. You've got no chance with a small path. Also, being able to see the layout of cities and mountains right from the beginning of the game apparently through complete black magic or some sort of ruins the mystery of what lies ahead.
Reply With Quote
#2
Old 20-11-2011
Enos Enos is offline
Member

Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,611
Re: The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I agree with the map needing roads. Even started a request thread in the mods forum about it. Can't wait until the creation system comes out. Having to open the physical map every time you want to find out if you're somewhere near a road is a pain.
Reply With Quote
#3
Old 20-11-2011
Shikamaru Nara Shikamaru Nara is offline
Member

Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,665
Re: The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
There is an INI tweak that allows you to zoom down to ground level. It won't help you much, though; roads are hardly noticeable even when walking on them because of all the snow. The only thing I use the map for (besides fast travel) is to find passes through mountains when I want to get on the other side of them, without needing to go all the way around them.
Reply With Quote
#4
Old 20-11-2011
Badmannah Badmannah is offline
Member

Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,614
Re: The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I completely agree. And to whoever mentioned the paper map, guess what, most PC gamers do digital download these days and for us there is no paper map. Sure the map looks pretty, but it's no good if you just want to find your way from A to B or navigate back to the nearest road. All shine and no substance, please Bethesda for future games give us a map that is useful for navigation as well as pretty to look at! Or if you can't do both, being useful should take priority. I love Skyrim and it's one of my favorite games ever so far, but I cannot blind myself to the few flaws in the game, this being one.
Reply With Quote
#5
Old 20-11-2011
DevenderD DevenderD is offline
Member

Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,600
Re: The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I agree. The map is bad. Especially in this game where so much of the land is unusable to walk through and you have to use the roads. In Oblivion I could go cross country all the time and rarely get stuck and I had a map that showed me where all the roads were even though I considered them to be mostly optional. In this game, if I'm not on the road, chances are I'm going to have to double back and find a road. So what do they give me? A map without roads marked on it.
Reply With Quote
#6
Old 20-11-2011
Halle Halle is offline
Member

Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,609
Re: The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I like the idea of the map being 3-D. That's a nice touch. But the clouds are really getting on my nerves, I know it's supposed to look realistic but the cloud is just too damn high! I find the map utterly useful.
Reply With Quote
#7
Old 20-11-2011
Daksha90 Daksha90 is offline
Member

Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,485
Re: The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I think it's a cool idea, and looks impressive, but could definitely have been implemented better. Stop rendering the damn clouds for one. Also come up with some way to make the map markers work for people using stereoscopic 3D (if you guys without 3D think the map is bad, you have no idea...). I'd like to be able to rotate my viewpoint in addition to panning around, might help me determine which side of the mountain an objective is on, though I saw a mod (or .ini tweak or something) that lets you zoom in as far as you want, I'm guessing that would help a lot. Some sort of overlay though that made the roads stand out would probably make me use fast travel less - as it is I never walk anywhere because it’s such a hassle figuring out a viable root, which is a shame because it’s such a gorgeous, immersive world.
Reply With Quote
#8
Old 20-11-2011
Chakradevroy Chakradevroy is offline
Member

Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,588
Re: The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The main problem with the map is it doesn't show roads, the zoom is hardly adjustable, and you can't see any trails to where to get up mountains. You pretty much have to use the clear-annoyance spell to find your way up the mountains, which is kind of BS because it eats Magika like crazy and you can't sprint while casting for some dumb reason.
Reply With Quote
#9
Old 20-11-2011
GaganGang GaganGang is offline
Member

Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,535
Re: The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
For PC users, you can remove the map's blur and clouds, allowing you to see more detail (and roads; well ones that aren't covered in snow anyway) by adding this to your Skyrim.ini (not SkyrimPrefs.ini!) file:
Quote:
[MapMenu]
sMapCloudNIF=0
bWorldMapNoSkyDepthBlur=1
fWorldMapNearDepthBlurScale=0
fWorldMapDepthBlurScale=0
fWorldMapMaximumDepthBlur=0
If you want to zoom in further, and rotate in full 360 degrees, add these lines under [MapMenu]:

Quote:
fMapWorldMaxHeight=130000.0000
fMapWorldMinHeight=150.0000
fMapWorldMaxPitch=360.0000
fMapWorldMinPitch=0.0000
fMapWorldZoomSpeed=0.3500
Reply With Quote
#10
Old 20-11-2011
MACALL MACALL is offline
Member

Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,244
Re: The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
i don't think the map was designed with the intention of giving you turn by turn navigation info, rather just being a there to see where you are in the world and distance from you destinations. i like it this way, helps with exploring. i use it to look if i am close to destination most of the time, don’t really care about the path. It adds an element of surprise of what you might find around the corner. The Local Map can be used if you want a bit clearer path.
Reply With Quote
#11
Old 20-11-2011
Irene-I Irene-I is offline
Member

Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,493
Re: The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The map isn’t useless. It works perfectly. You can zoom in a bit, turn it a bit. It all functions well enough. So what you cannot see roads on it? Just walk and eventually you'll come across one. You can fast travel to any location. You can also get a ride (costing a mere few bucks) to any major city, and when you are on a quest, you will see the location on your map too. And in Whiterun castle, there is a map where you can select all location on the map on the table, and they will get added to your own map, giving you even more locations other than just the major cities.
Reply With Quote
#12
Old 21-11-2011
Nimos Nimos is offline
Member

Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,416
Re: The map is not useful in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
As far as Skyrim's map, apart from being the most out-of-place menu mechanic ever designed in any Elder Scrolls game ever, it is very unhelpful. Mountains obscure map marker locations making it difficult to tell where they actually are, as mentioned several times before roads are not shown on the map and the clouds are way too thick, the zoom is pitiful to the point of being completely pointless, and it doesn't even show the Hold borders for the upstart thieves who would like to know when they've hightailed it outtalk dodge. There is so much information available on the paper map that the game map does not even provide. For PC users who bought a digital copy, that is unfair. Otherwise, it's just another clear example of Bethesda putting flash before functionality in Skyrim's interface.
Reply With Quote

If you like this post then consider sharing it with others.