#Having the World Trees Obscured At The Start is Terrible Design.

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

leaden fractal
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I discovered that I needed to go to the northeast side of the map. Since I had not been there before, the map was covered in fog. Once I got to that area of the map, I searched for 10ish minutes for the tree to reveal the map. No joy.

At this point, I opened https://soulmap.avakot.org/P13 to find out where the tree was, and discovered I was much too far south.

This is terrible design.

When I think back to the games that had "towers" I had to find to unlock the map, the "towers" themselves were always visible on the map, not obscured. They were also visible from quite a distance away, not obscured by the local terrain.

The current state of the game makes it possible to wander aimlessly just to find the map. Or, I can open a third party website to get information that is vital to playing the game.

Why? What purpose does this serve, beyond frustrating the players?

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regal stratus
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You can see the trees quite clearly through the fog… unless they’ve changed something since earlier preludes, it should be as easy as before.

desert arch
leaden fractal
lunar ermine
# leaden fractal I discovered that I needed to go to the northeast side of the map. Since I had n...

ido have to agree that a "marker" for the tree should be on the map, basically every game i know that uses a similar sistem has a marker, or maybe perhaps npcs that "mark it for you" on the map, anyway some sort of trick to avoid having you walk aimplessly for ages, and in the worst of the cases the objective in question is some big ass thing that perhaps shoots a enormous laser in the sky that can be seen from anywhere or something like that.

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so +1 on this

lunar ermine
regal stratus
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Yeah.. maybe something got changed? I found all the trees through the fog last year.

lunar ermine
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or maybe it's just a bug?

spare lagoon
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Just started playing the game today and I fully agree after hours of looking for any trees and finding a grand total of 1.

gray stirrup
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Idk as someone who also started playing the game 3 days or so ago and just found the 2nd to last tree, I'd have to disagree. I think the trees being hidden encourage you to explore and actually look around at the surroundings instead of just beelining to a marker on the map

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I had fun like guessing where it might be based on the trees around it and runnin around

spare lagoon
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It depends on the person, definitely. I may just be fatigued overall from the game having basically 0 guidance from the get go even on basic mechanics after letting you loose.
Have had the bird bug at least once and had to restart my game because of it. So fighting the game over the trees as well feels like too much

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My first animal cage was buggy and straight up disappeared after refusing to open

agile atlas
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They should be partially obscured, not the full on one that is current. Or, as you get close to them, you're "pulled" toward them (your sparrow leading you toward them). There should be some kind of indicator that there is a map to uncover. When I first joined, because this is pre-alpha, I honestly thought there was just no map introduced yet.

ivory shuttle
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I don't think the map should show where undiscovered trees are as the whole point of that decision seems to be incentivizing exploration. That being said, when I was unlocking them myself I was frustrated by now much they tend to blend into the surrounding woods until you're right next to them. I think making them stand out more from the environment would solve a lot of these problems.

stuck geyser
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+1 op is being overdramatic but there should be a way to determine their general area.

Taller trees that are identifiable from a vantage point would help, along with notes and other in-world hints to lead us to the more obscured trees.

river locust
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+1, i had this issue starting out so i just followed the avakot map,
as for a solution im not experienced enough in game design but in breath of the wild, points of interests stand out somehow, for the towers they have to unlock parts of the map its a tall tower visible from most places and for small "shrines" they glow in a neon color so theyre visible through crowded forest or fogs or faraway places, as for the world trees we have im not sure if anyone else had this issue but i thought they didnt stand out enough, especially in areas with other trees

random pond
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-1 This is good design and fun. You can play as intended and try to find them on your own or check wiki or ask a friend. It's not even that long and you don't need to find them all during your first session. What's next, asking DE to press buttons for us?

maiden trellis
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This sounds very subjective. I personally really dig it, and some agree that it is fine as is. Others, including you, think it is redundant/pointless/a chore, and should just have a marker or remove the fog all together.

Solution is they keep it as is to satisfy both sides. You can use the various tools to get to the trees as soon as possible, and if that is not enough, other players can join you to help out, etc... And we get to enjoy the exploration/discovery aspect of it. Win-win for all.

raw yarrow
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-1 exploration is fun and the trees have a distinct enough shape, I wouldn't mind more visual oomph to make them a bit easier to see (glowing at night for example) but marking them on the map in advance defeats the point

wraith vessel
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I don't think the world trees should unveil the map. It's just an extra layer of nuisance. The map being void of map markers until you physically visit them inworld is still exploring the map. Having to find a specific tree to view your map properly doesn't really add anything to exploration.

ashen osprey
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I agree that they need to be a bit more obvious at least through our direct line of sight. Making them glow in soul sight at a distance would help

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Still encourages exploration, but makes certain ones like the one on top of a mountain with holes around it a little more obvious. Plus lets DE be more creative with locations later

wraith vessel
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Lets be real, this is just the tower system thing from Assassin's Creed. It worked in that game because the towers were visually distinct and provided you with more POIs to chase after on your map, which encouraged you to go after them. This is the opposite. The trees are not visible from a distance and don't reward you with anything to keep seeking them out. You only do it because the map becomes less annoying to deal with. Even if you find places in the fogged out parts of the map, those still show up on your map, under the fog. So the world trees do nothing to encourage exploration and just obscure your ability to view the map until you visit them. The world trees should just act as fast travel points and provide some kind of lore about area you're at.

boreal wolf
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-1 exploring the map is an important part of the early game, making the trees more visible would be reasonable but adding map markers is too much

wraith vessel
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It's not about giving them map markers, it's about how the map is fogged up until you find them. They want the fog gone.

shrewd rampart
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-1 but trees should be taller, or more noticeable in some other manner imho

sand moth
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-1

But I also think @shrewd rampart and other about about the trees being slightly more visible as you are running around. Possibly making that whole tree light up with your Spectral Sight? Seems like a good way to pick out from a distance 🙂

ashen osprey
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Yeah they need to just be more obvious at a glance

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Since for one in the south east I think I remember missing it for ages despite walking by it since it was blending in a little too much

spare lagoon
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This would at least let me know where I've been, as it also obscures the marker letting you know where you are.