I Get Around
No, I’m not planning to lay more lyrics on you. Owlist’s post just left me in a musical mood and the Beach Boys simply provided a title that kinda fits the topic of the day. What topic is that, you ask? Why, “maps!” I answer. That’s right; maps. Be it full map, minimap, scrolling or static, hex-based or square-based; almost every game has got one. Some games don’t, since a map would have no meaning in their context; what good would a map do you in Bejeweled, or Mafia Wars? Some games have maps that are merely a place to write things down; there are no distances in these games, but maps provide a convenient means of separating locations. On the opposite end of the spectrum we have games in which the maps have as much bearing as almost anything else, like most RTS games (e.g., the Command and Conquer series or the pre-WoW Warcraft games), strategy games like Civilization (or Travian, if you’re into browser-based games), and most client-based MMOs. Read the rest of this entry »
