Whether simply acting as the player’s primary user interface, a guide, or both, video game maps have long-been a staple of the industry. They have helped generations of players navigate digital worlds, mark important landmarks, and overall progress through the game. But unlike maps, few gamers realize the great important role that video game cartography has played in overall game design.
And regardless of whether you’re playing an old-school 2D side-scroller like the original Super Mario Bros. for NES or a modern 3D open-world game like Skyrim, possessing some form of spatial awareness is necessary for playing most games. Just as games began to advance through the 1980’s and grew in size and scope, so did the need for players to understand the worlds that they were contained within.
Helping Players Navigate the Game World
In a 2010 article from The Guardian, Keith Stuart points out that in early video games, “making your own maps was a vital tool for progression.” It’s true; before in-game maps were considered a staple in modern game design, players had to create their own maps to help themselves better understand and navigate the virtual worlds. Games like Zork and Colossal Quest, which were entirely text-based, didn’t feature any form of visual aid, so the only way for players to physically visualize the game’s world was by crafting their own maps..
Of course, modern games no longer require this amount of work from players; but even though gamers don’t have to draw their own maps, cartography very much plays the same role -assisting the player with better understanding their surroundings world, and helping them navigate it. Modern games like Grand Theft Auto and Skyrim feature GPS-like navigation systems, allowing players to pin-point specific parts of the map and be guided directly to areas of interest using the game’s highly detailed map. Games like this, where the player relies heavily on navigation in order to progress, are defined by maps and wouldn’t be the same without them.
Fitting the Game’s Overall Tone
In an interview with Arch Daily, Spanish architects Enrique Parra and Manuel Saga shared their two cents about video game cartography, explaining that “sometimes the maps represent the actual locations, sometimes made up places, but they always contain a graphical language specifically designed to fit the overall tone of the game.”
Whether it be the foggy, desolate ghost town in Silent Hill 2 or the lush and beautiful dragon realms in Spyro the Dragon, every video game’s tone is reflected by the world that the player traverses through. More often than not, video game maps influenced the game’s story and tone, and vice versa. Good video game cartography not only means giving the player an easy-to-understand world map, but also one that feels right at home with the game’s story, lore, and the characters that inhabit it. For example, Dante’s Inferno takes place in spiraling map of Hell, and fittingly features a depressing tale of death and loss.
Adding an Extra Layer of Authenticity
Not only does video game cartography help with navigation and defining tone, but it also help to add authenticity to games and some can even be influenced by the player. The classic strategy game Civilization franchise takes place on a massive world map, where the player has influence over their civilization, and, in turn, the world map as well. With the ability to grow their civilization and conquer other nations, the player can effectively become the game’s cartographer by changing the map and crafting their own world through various in-game choices. The Fable series features a medieval-inspired fantasy world that can be affected by the players’ choices made throughout the story, becoming grimmer or more pleasant depending on how the player decides to play. This idea of an ever-evolving world map that changes depending on player choices adds an additional layer of immersion into the game world, showing just how integral many video game world maps truly are.
Even modern video games that feature maps that cannot be altered by player choice help to add immersion. The Assassin’s Creed series faithfully recreates maps of ancient civilizations such as Ancient Greece, Egypt, and England that all feel incredibly authentic thanks to historians’ close attention to detail. These games that feel the most alive, accurate, and rich with detail are often created by hired professionals whose sole purpose is to make great video game maps that fit in with the rest of the game. We call these video game cartographers.
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