A map in an action-adventure game is composed of several side-scrolling areas. In any area, the camera may face north, west, or east.
These areas are connected by warps. Walking off the left or right side of the map is a warp, as is walking "down" or "up" onto a path. If the player leaves the screen through a down or up path, an animation of walking on that path is played briefly, and then the camera changes to the new area. The same is true if the player enters the screen through a map-side warp that leads to down or up paths.
Many of these up or down paths have a distinctive object near the junction, such as a building or a rock formation. These are displayed from a different angle once the player in the other area.
At the top right corner of the screen, the game also displays the compass direction that the player's character faces. This is "W" or "E" in a N-facing area, or "N" or "S" in a W- or E-facing area, depending on whether the character is facing left or right. It also changes appropriately during exit and entrance transitions: walking on an up path from N-facing area to W-facing area changes the letter from W or E to N during the animation, and then it remains N as the player enters the area facing right.
Could the player maintain a sense of direction and navigate across the warp with just the three cues of exit and entrance animations, common objects between views, and the compass indicator? Would it be enough to add a map in the game's pause menu? Or would the player need an always-on map to make sense of the geography, such as that in the upper left corner of The Legend of Zelda and Super Metroid?
I've included a sample, with a house at the corner of maps 1 and 2 and a rock formation at the corner of maps 2 and 3.
- In N-facing areas, left is west and right is east.
- In W-facing areas, left is south and right is north.
- In E-facing areas, left is north and right is south.
These areas are connected by warps. Walking off the left or right side of the map is a warp, as is walking "down" or "up" onto a path. If the player leaves the screen through a down or up path, an animation of walking on that path is played briefly, and then the camera changes to the new area. The same is true if the player enters the screen through a map-side warp that leads to down or up paths.
Many of these up or down paths have a distinctive object near the junction, such as a building or a rock formation. These are displayed from a different angle once the player in the other area.
At the top right corner of the screen, the game also displays the compass direction that the player's character faces. This is "W" or "E" in a N-facing area, or "N" or "S" in a W- or E-facing area, depending on whether the character is facing left or right. It also changes appropriately during exit and entrance transitions: walking on an up path from N-facing area to W-facing area changes the letter from W or E to N during the animation, and then it remains N as the player enters the area facing right.
Could the player maintain a sense of direction and navigate across the warp with just the three cues of exit and entrance animations, common objects between views, and the compass indicator? Would it be enough to add a map in the game's pause menu? Or would the player need an always-on map to make sense of the geography, such as that in the upper left corner of The Legend of Zelda and Super Metroid?
I've included a sample, with a house at the corner of maps 1 and 2 and a rock formation at the corner of maps 2 and 3.