I am imagining having a 2d worldmap like FF6, except you can "enter" any tile and be taken to a side scroller procedurally generated terraria style map. I was thinking of how to have multiple terraria maps be coherent in a game world, and that is what I came up with. The player could choose a tile and build a village on it, which would change how the tile looks on the world map. I kind of see the micro actions of the player on the local map level affecting macro things on the world map level.

Do you think this kind of system would be fun? I am not sure if I am over thinking it, or if it needs to be more coherent. I am a little scared that switching from a side scroller view to a top down world map will be too weird(thought I loved the way link 2 did this). I want to make the world map be more meaningful instead of just being a tile placeholder for side scroller levels. I guess I could say I am trying to think of ways to make the world map more fun. Thoughts? Thanks.

I am a little scared that switching from a side scroller view to a top down world map will be too weird(thought I loved the way link 2 did this).

I pretty much tried this in a game once, and people (players) egged on me for it.

I am a little scared that switching from a side scroller view to a top down world map will be too weird(thought I loved the way link 2 did this).

I pretty much tried this in a game once, and people (players) egged on me for it.

There's many factors involved in deciding whether or not to egg, - I wouldn't discourage although yeah, perhaps it seems incoherent.

There are games that pulled it off (the sidescroller / 2d overview thing)

Off the top of my head, Elfmania: http://hol.abime.net/2832 and Star Wars for gameboy:

Both are great, albeit not at all similar.

I say give it a go! I can find several possibilities with linking strategic overview and real-time action.

In alot of side scoller games I have seen, the graphics are from a side view. Have you considered making your Graphics from a "Bird's Eye View" ? Arial Conbat Games, where you fly a WWII type Aircraft - Attack Ground Targets or other AirCraft Show all of your objects from a Top-Down View and were essentially a "Side- Scroller", even though The Graphics Scrolled from the Top of the Screen to the Bottom.

Also a Split View Screen or Multiple View-Port Screen, could provide you with both views at the same time.

It is certainly incoherent, but not necessarily so much as to completely break immersion, or fun for that matter. Many games did and do the same, and successfully (you mentioned FF6). In fact, sometimes people don't want to be coherent. Walking 30 miles to the next city takes a whole day of gameplay, and it's boring. Nobody wants to do that. It's enough if you click on a tile on the map and shout out "OK, OK, we all know it's not real, now let me get back to game".

If alltogether it works out as "fun", people will be fine with it. Little girls lifting a 3 meter long falchion single-handedly would put me off a lot more than skipping a long travel, to be honest.

Richard Garriott got $1.9 million of pledges for the Shroud of the Avatar concept movie not too long ago. While it's not precisely a sidescroller, it does more or less the same thing when switching from the 3rd person combat view to the "map travel" view. People do not seem to object that an avatar the size of a house walks several miles from one town to another in 5 seconds, and then pops back into realistic close combat mode. Of course they don't object -- walking over barren lands for 3 hours isn't fun, but beating up skeletons is.

Guild Wars 2 has a "map travel" mode too, and again while being not precisely a sidescroller, this is a huge incoherency with the normal gameplay. Have you heard someone complain about it? I don't think so.

[quote name='ShaneC']
people (players) egged on me for it.[/quote]
There's many factors involved in deciding whether or not to egg,

OT, sorry: I know what it means to "egg someone on," but that doesn't appear to be consistent with either usage above. Shane seems to be saying that people didn't like what he did, and figuratively threw eggs at him? And VGA is saying there are many factors involved in deciding whether to [egg someone on?] [throw eggs at someone?]. Someone please help me understand what this word "egg" means here -- Google couldn't help.

people (players) egged on me for it.

There's many factors involved in deciding whether or not to egg,

OT, sorry: I know what it means to "egg someone on," but that doesn't appear to be consistent with either usage above. Shane seems to be saying that people didn't like what he did, and figuratively threw eggs at him? And VGA is saying there are many factors involved in deciding whether to [egg someone on?] [throw eggs at someone?]. Someone please help me understand what this word "egg" means here -- Google couldn't help.

Hi. To egg on someone is to figuratively throw eggs at them. Like if I called someone an old man and said they are a grouchy, and they are just going about their business, I am egging on them.

please help me understand what this word "egg" means here

I understood "egging" in a sense of (figuratively) "bottling", i.e. throwing stuff (verbally) at someone for being dissatisfied.

Going slightly more OT on that one, since I find "bottling" an entertaining story: Contrary to common belief and contrary to the description page on Wikipedia, bottling is not particularly a heavy metal or punk rock thing, nor a particularly modern phenomen at all.

During the 15th to 18th century, it was allegedly quite common to throw things (including bottles, if you can believe it -- glass was rather expensive at that time, so one may have doubts about that) at badly performing artists in Italy. Though other sources claim that it was common to bind said bottle to a cord and force people (not necessarily artists, but also "misbehaving" women) to wear it around their neck.

In either case -- thrown or worn -- this is almost certainly the origin of the expression "fiasco" (catastrophic failure) which is incidentially the name of a traditional big-bellied straw-bound bottle. It is also the likely origin of the German expression "du Flasche!" (depicting what the person it's directed towards should "receive").

people (players) egged on me for it.

There's many factors involved in deciding whether or not to egg,

OT, sorry: I know what it means to "egg someone on," but that doesn't appear to be consistent with either usage above. Shane seems to be saying that people didn't like what he did, and figuratively threw eggs at him? And VGA is saying there are many factors involved in deciding whether to [egg someone on?] [throw eggs at someone?]. Someone please help me understand what this word "egg" means here -- Google couldn't help.

Hi. To egg on someone is to figuratively throw eggs at them. Like if I called someone an old man and said they are a grouchy, and they are just going about their business, I am egging on them.

I only knew the "encourage/tease to" version of egg before, although I did interpret Shane's wording as "throwing eggs at".

I still think there are many factors involved in either though, and stand by avoiding discouragement of this (overview+sidescroller) concept due to the fact that it has had *any* kind of reception. The one may discourage while the other may make ShadowMan777 underestimate the challenges.

Okay -- sorry for sidetracking the discussion!