One of the things I like about ODST was that even though you had the free-roaming Mombasa Streets level, Bungie was kind enough to provide a map so you wouldn't get lost. Considering that Destiny has open-world levels as well, yet on a much larger scale (they feel as big as Assault on the Control Room, and the levels we played in the beta aren't even fully unlocked), I think we could really use a map. You would have to spend a lot of time getting really familiar with these sprawling maps so you wouldn't ever get lost. My roommate got stuck in one area of the Cosmodrome for a good while before he found his way back to the beginning, and I spent about an hour yesterday trying to find my way out of the subterranean areas on the moon. Destiny could really use an ODST-style map so that players who don't have a good sense of direction don't end up lost all the time.

The superintendent would of course have access to a map. The map is downloaded as part of the story. I have an immersion question, though: who in the world of Destiny would have created maps of these areas outside the city? It's understandable that guardians would not have a detailed map. We get waypoints, sure, and I see an argument that perhaps we shouldn't have those either, but I can mostly explain those away by your ghost's scanning of the area.

More's the pity, for as much as Halo 3: ODST marks the beginning of the end for Bungie and Microsoft's relationship, it also carries the first seeds of the developer's next grand vision. An experiment in open-world design, a hazy line can be drawn between Destiny's scorched, Fallen-infested Earth and the Covenant occupied New Mombasa.

EG: Halo 3 ODST Retrospective & Comparison.

Nice article. I adore ODST.

Shut up and take my money.

I think Levi should sell a limited edition that includes a sketch of our guardian.

And whichever it was I forgot = Kill specific one enemy

Circle with a star in the center, I believe

I hope this stuff is in the Destiny manual.

I just hope we get a manual.

(A folded sheet of paper or three page insert does not a manual make.)

While, personally, a real-life map wouldn't work for me, logistically, I agree it would be kind of cool.

Y'know, if Bungie really wants to go for that kinda old timey vibe with Destiny, the game should come packaged with a big folder of folded-up maps for each level that we have to sprawl out across our living rooms. Then we'll have to see Guardians stop each other on Sparrows asking how to get to a certain place. Okay, it seems kinda lame when I explain it, but it is totally awesome in my mind.

Yeah, I was thinking the same when this came up last. The classic old PC RPGs always came packaged with a nifty paper map you could reference outside of the game. So many people are ordering digitally these days though. :\

You can. Ever see their name badge go to "..." ? that means they are looking through their inventory or some such thing. :)

Oooh, that's what that means.

I hope this stuff is in the Destiny manual.

You can. Ever see their name badge go to "..." ? that means they are looking through their inventory or some such thing. :)

Ha! I love you :)

I had been wondering what that meant and never really remembered long enough to ask anyone! Thanks for pointing it out

I still get lost in ODST if I don't regularly consult the map and set waypoints. Sometimes I'll get sidetracked by enemies and end up way off from where I wanted and have to turn around. The facts that you're always at street level and can't see but a small part of the level and that the level is symmetrical and modular and thus a lot of it looks the same don't help. I had this problem in some parts of the Cosmodrome as well as the underground part of the Moon. I think I spent half an hour wandering around in circles in the Rocket Yard area, and my roommate was stuck there even longer. It took me about an hour to find my way out from that snarling maze that is Hellmouth. When I get tired of just wandering and want to get some place specific, I really need a map. I have a very poor sense of direction, and with no easily-visible landmarks to view at a distance I get lost easily. It's not so bad on an open surface area where I can see a long ways away, but when you're in a series of small, interlinking, mostly enclosed areas I can get turned around easily.

It's exactly this kind of scenario that demands an in-game map, imho.

Large image.

Things being optional can be problematic if they're foisting what ought to be a design decision onto the end user to make for themselves (see: Linux on the desktop) rather than being opinionated about what's the right way to do something. But I don't think that applies here.

Different people have differing levels of spatial awareness and ability to navigate in a virtual 3D space. Every time I try to get my fiancée to play any 3D-based video game she gets lost; she just can't get her head around it, and I'm sure she's not the only one. Myself however, I'm usually pretty able to memorise places from a single visit and (assuming they're not identikit, copy and pasted terrain) navigate with ease.

What I'm talking about here is a player aid that players who have no interest in using it aren't penalised for not using; if you're happy using nav markers you're fine, but if you need something else (or are just curious to see a spatial overview of the world) then you have that option.

I still get lost in ODST if I don't regularly consult the map and set waypoints. Sometimes I'll get sidetracked by enemies and end up way off from where I wanted and have to turn around. The facts that you're always at street level and can't see but a small part of the level and that the level is symmetrical and modular and thus a lot of it looks the same don't help. I had this problem in some parts of the Cosmodrome as well as the underground part of the Moon. I think I spent half an hour wandering around in circles in the Rocket Yard area, and my roommate was stuck there even longer. It took me about an hour to find my way out from that snarling maze that is Hellmouth. When I get tired of just wandering and want to get some place specific, I really need a map. I have a very poor sense of direction, and with no easily-visible landmarks to view at a distance I get lost easily. It's not so bad on an open surface area where I can see a long ways away, but when you're in a series of small, interlinking, mostly enclosed areas I can get turned around easily.

Any type, I always have, utilitarian and beautiful both, and everything in-between.

You'll probably love this site, then.