Oh, I see, I misunderstood the concern.

2 sounds the simplest, and it's also the most natural.

There was treasures to hunt in Sid Meiers pirates. You did it because the gold found was useful in other parts of the game, but the quest wasnt fun.

You got the general location on the map and had to search for a bit (not too long). Still it seemed just like work, not fun.

You spend so much time with this project. If you suspect it will not be fun to stick to realism dont stick to it!

It's already unrealistic that tribesmen "tell you the grid where there is a treasure". Who told them? Why dont they go and pick it up themselves? Who buried something useful far away during the stoneage? (why would someone do that? Tools and food is what you have and you need to keep it nearby otherwise its pointless)

If you keep it:

Dont give a whole 5x5 mile grid, give a MUCH smaller location to scan. Travelling there (and maybe fighting guards) seems enough of a chore already.

Use dowsing rod or shaman staff or something that glows when pointing towards the goal. Dowsing rods ARE magic. None has ever worked in a lab-test. It seems you are just clinging to the realism dogma that seem to hamper your design.

It's already unrealistic that tribesmen "tell you the grid where there is a treasure". Who told them? Why dont they go and pick it up themselves? Who buried something useful far away during the stoneage? (why would someone do that?

the idea is its supposed to be a legend or old wive's tale, retold over the campfires at night. and you can go chase down the legend if you feel like it. x marks the spot is just an easy way to model the description you would get of where the treasure is supposed to be.

are there more immersive ways to do it? sure. and procedurally generated too? yes - with more work. does immersion == gameplay, no, not really. greater immersion enhances existing gameplay but adds no real new gameplay. like salt and pepper on the dinner table that can enhance the foods there, but doesn't really mean you have more food on the table to eat. so a more immersive way of x marks the spot, such as a trail of landmarks, is just a means to an ends, and doesn't give you more ends to pursue. so i concentrate on adding gameplay first. non-gameplay chrome and bling can come later if i have the time.

random landmarks would probably take a day or two to implement. in the last couple days i've added:

* butchering actions and resource tracking of dead animals on a per resource type basis (IE how much meat , hides, etc left on this carcass, and separate actions to gather each resource type).

* inventories for followers, including tracking of item ownership.

* teepee, teepekit, and bedroll objects, and all associated actions (make, fix, inspect, abandon, pickup, drop, setup, takedown), collision checks, and game effects.

* fixed the MOVETO_QUEST.

* spontaneous talk, trade, ask whats nearby, greet, and exchange news AI behaviors for NPCs.

* new greet and exchange news dialog options when you talk to an NPC.

* new combo defend/maintain distance AI used by all non-predator land animals.

* respond to missile fire on a per animal type basis (shoot one Gazelle, they all flee).

* pets now do graze behavior (stand, wander, flock, migrate) instead of just standing around when nothing is going on.

* added pack hunter AI for predators - predators now attack in co-operative groups when its to their advantage.

i think you'd agree that the above new gameplay features add more value than randomly generated trails of landmarks for MOVTO_QUESTs would. <g>

It seems you are just clinging to the realism dogma that seem to hamper your design.

indeed, that design criteria can be quite a constraint at times.

but that's what makes the difference between a hard core simulation and an arcade game. casual games are a dime a dozen. Rockland Software Productions has always really been about: "Hardcore games, by hardcore gamers, for hardcore gamers".

in my case, i wanted it to be realistic, like a flight sim. not some donkey kong BS (apologies to all donkey kong fans everywhere).

in the end, i placed the treasure in a random direction from the quest location, at a random distance of 700 to 1000 feet, which is just beyond visual range.