Environment/minor resource distribution and density (and the mini-map)
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I would like to discuss the location and density of 'minor resources' such as small stones and plants, as well as Resource nodes and trees, etc.
Because the view screen is somewhat small, when you need to find small stones for a campfire, flax plants for rope and linen, or stone deposits (outside of resource nodes) one tends to simply wander aimlessly around and pick up what you find, which is fine, and i have noticed that there tends to be larger groupings of stone deposits near land claims and small stones around cliffs or stone deposits, which i like, and is good, but...
Given the small screen size and the lack of detail on the map, both the world map and mini-map, it does get tedious and frustating; you spend ten minutes wandering around grabbing a small stone here and there, and then, when you only need a couple more, you find half a dozen or so. which is, once again, good and realistic and i like it, but...
So, my thought is, that there might be some way to 'predict' where higher density sites might be, for example; if cliffs and roads and mine sites had a increased density and more even distribution of small stones and stone deposits, and if certain plants could be found more reliably in certain geographical locations, ie: next to water, next to stony places (mines, cliffs etc.) fresh water, salt water, lakes compared to rivers, mountainous areas, plains etc.
Included in this would be trees; namely tree types in certain areas, more distinct forests, and so on.I have noticed that there are 'zones' such as coastal, plains, forests etc. but they aren't particularly distinct and there doesnt always seem to be much difference between them.
To make this 'predictive harvesting' work, and for the game in general, particularly travel, a more detailed map would be useful; if you could, when in search of a thing, look at your map and think: what im looking for will be in this general area, and then, when you are in that area, you can use the mini map to determine a more precise location.
A few more points concerning the mini-map: land claims are shown, but not cities?
completed carts are shown, but not cart blueprints, and you need to be very
close for the cart to show, and i think the distance is about the same for party
members? perhaps (for carts) an area marker? or even a time/size related
one? to simulate memory of the location? ( the landscape is a little
monotonous, and since most of it isnt shown on the mini map, it can be hard
to find a cart)
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- The developers want to encourage exploration, and thus, they are not inclined to make deposits of resources too predicable beyond nodes at this time.
- During Alpha testing, there is a general lack of overall varied biomes to choose from, so some of the biome diversity that we should see in the finished game is crammed together under the same types of biomes while we're testing mechanics and not biome situations.
- They are still fine tuning the mini-map, which is, afterall, a QoL enhancement, and thus, not something you generally expect much development on during Alpha/Beta testing. Again, the focus, currently, is on mechanics and where they need to smooth things out or make changes to those, NOT on making the game easier to play or customizable.
- Since there is no limit to the number of blue prints a player can put down, a map could not only quickly become cluttered by these map points, but also, the amount of resources needed to track and plot said map points would double, as now, not only would the game keep track of the blueprints, but also,the minimap rendering software would have to take into account each blueprint, it's owner, and it's detection range for mapping.
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fair enough
