Video games' map size comparison

[Morbad]

It's not so much the size, but the scale. Trying to make a 4 square kilometer desert look like something other than large sandbox or someone's beachfront property is an exercise in futility. Likewise, making the capital of the the Empire in Oblivion look like a moderately sized fortress (or being able to see the whole country from the walls) and have about the same population, just didn't do it for me.

Smallish maps can work fine for islands or caverns or the like (Crysis was fine, for example), but trying to scale down whole worlds, nations, or major cities to sizes you can jog across in three minutes ends up feeling like this:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMtShnoOvck

But damn, those Daggerfall dungeons! Trying to figure out those 3d maps once the dungeon was huge was impossible for me, especially since they'd lag and usually crash my computer.

Daggerfall's convoluted 3D map system was always a pain to use. I remember getting stuck in some dungeon for the better part of a week (real time) looking for some wizard I was supposed to assassinate. I was right about to give up, having finally found my way back to the entrance after wandering lost for days, and the guy pops out of a secret door directly across the corridor from where I came in!

I've played whole games that were probably smaller than some of Daggerfall's dungeons.

 

[Chris Simon]

It's not so much the size, but the scale. Trying to make a 4 square kilometer desert look like something other than large sandbox or someone's beachfront property is an exercise in futility. Likewise, making the capital of the the Empire in Oblivion look like a moderately sized fortress (or being able to see the whole country from the walls) and have about the same population, just didn't do it for me.

Smallish maps can work fine for islands or caverns or the like (Crysis was fine, for example), but trying to scale down whole worlds, nations, or major cities to sizes you can jog across in three minutes ends up feeling like this:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMtShnoOvck




Daggerfall's convoluted 3D map system was always a pain to use. I remember getting stuck in some dungeon for the better part of a week (real time) looking for some wizard I was supposed to assassinate. I was right about to give up, having finally found my way back to the entrance after wandering lost for days, and the guy pops out of a secret door directly across the corridor from where I came in!

I've played whole games that were probably smaller than some of Daggerfall's dungeons.

Yeah. Verticality and content density are also really important.
For example Fallout 4 has tiny map, compared to other Bethesda games, but it still is the game I've spent most time in, because there's a lot of stuff.
And something like AC Odyssey have half of their map covered by water, so technically they're much smaller than they look as well. Then again, they have content there, too, so I guess it counts. And AC Odyssey is one of those game that have the world scaled down (I think it's something like 10:1 ratio in comparison to the real Greece, but it still works fine as long as the whole game design works with it right.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

It's not so much the size, but the scale. Trying to make a 4 square kilometer desert look like something other than large sandbox or someone's beachfront property is an exercise in futility. Likewise, making the capital of the the Empire in Oblivion look like a moderately sized fortress (or being able to see the whole country from the walls) and have about the same population, just didn't do it for me.

Smallish maps can work fine for islands or caverns or the like (Crysis was fine, for example), but trying to scale down whole worlds, nations, or major cities to sizes you can jog across in three minutes ends up feeling like this:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMtShnoOvck




Daggerfall's convoluted 3D map system was always a pain to use. I remember getting stuck in some dungeon for the better part of a week (real time) looking for some wizard I was supposed to assassinate. I was right about to give up, having finally found my way back to the entrance after wandering lost for days, and the guy pops out of a secret door directly across the corridor from where I came in!

I've played whole games that were probably smaller than some of Daggerfall's dungeons.

I think it depends on the details and means of transportation.

GTAV's map feels small because of cars and other fast vehicles.
Red Dead Redemption felt huge because the fastest thing you had was a horse. Equally, I feel AC Origins big because of the same thing, but with even more added detail. Yesterday as I galloped through a desolate part of the map East of Siwa, it felt awe inspiringly remote even though from almost any high points you can see the pyramids of Giza.

BTW I love endless desolate landscapes, shame Elite's started to feel dated!

 

[lysan]

When you can get out of your ship and walk around Elite should be in these comparisons, until then no need to compare.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

When you can get out of your ship and walk around Elite should be in these comparisons, until then no need to compare.

It will be the biggest and emptiest maps ever created.

 

[Morbad]

When you can get out of your ship and walk around Elite should be in these comparisons, until then no need to compare.

We've been able to get out of our ships and drive around planets for quite some time...and the SRV, while certainly bigger and faster than a person, isn't that big, or that fast.

It will be the biggest and emptiest maps ever created.

I like the idea of large, relatively desolate areas, helps reinforce a sense of scale. I do wish such desolation could be more relevant though. Getting stranded and having to harvest raw materials to repair the SRV then having to carefully drive it a thousand km to the nearest supply cache, transmitter, or reach the optimal location to broadcast from...could be a great adventure. However, with POIs every ten feet, alchemical synthesis, and the ability to just self-destruct and respawn whenever the going gets rough, it sorta takes the wind out of most of these possibilities.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

We've been able to get out of our ships and drive around planets for quite some time...and the SRV, while certainly bigger and faster than a person, isn't that big, or that fast.



I like the idea of large, relatively desolate areas, helps reinforce a sense of scale. I do wish such desolation could be more relevant though. Getting stranded and having to harvest raw materials to repair the SRV then having to carefully drive it a thousand km to the nearest supply cache, transmitter, or reach the optimal location to broadcast from...could be a great adventure. However, with POIs every ten feet, alchemical synthesis, and the ability to just self-destruct and respawn whenever the going gets rough, it sorta takes the wind out of most of these possibilities.

A game built for survival gameplay suits these needs way better.

 

[Morbad]

A game built for survival gameplay suits these needs way better.

The only thing ED lacks in regard to this are some consequences.

Still, if you can point out a massively multiplayer open-world first-person space trade and combat simulator (fantasy, hard sci-fi, or somewhere between) with a compelling flight model and expansive setting to explore, that was built with more survival gameplay elements in mind, I'd be very interested.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

The only thing ED lacks in regard to this are some consequences.

Still, if you can point out a massively multiplayer open-world first-person space trade and combat simulator (fantasy, hard sci-fi, or somewhere between) with a compelling flight model and expansive setting to explore, that was built with more survival gameplay elements in mind, I'd be very interested.

I can't - then again I consider MMOs mostly a waste of time.

 

[Chris Simon]

I really didn't anticipate this turning into another Elite-bashing thread when I was creating it.
I think I'm still way too naive.

 

[EUS]

Does anyone remember Joint Operations? I didn't play often, but when I did I had a great time even though I was absolutely terrible.
I wonder how that (those) maps size(s) compare.