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that reminded me of how I decided to play Zelda BoTW. Zelda has a 'Pro' mode where it hides all UI but the health. I was fully decided on using it through the

that reminded me of how I decided to play Zelda BoTW. Zelda has a 'Pro' mode where it hides all UI but the health. I was fully decided on using it through the whole game and I think it is the best way to play the game. The absence of minimap is the biggest change. When you have your minimap is like when you drive with gps. You only wait til the map says you to turn, and after some turns staring at the minimap you get to your destination missing all that was in between. If you don't have the minimap you actually need to understand the map, know more or less where you are, where the landmarks are, and how to get through to your destination. In the end, the absence of minimap makes you learn better the world and the map, instead of relying on the digested info that the minimap gives you.

Baeocystin 8y ago
That is how I accidentally played the first 20-odd hours of Oblivion. I thought the compass at the bottom of the screen was it for nav, and didn't look at the keymappings and notice the 'map' key until well in to the game. And after the initial wave of feeling dumb passed once I noticed my mistake, I also realized that I was actually having quite a lot of fun playing it that way. Although navigation was confusing at first, I learned my way around the map quite well, and by being forced to just look around instead of relying on, as you put it, GPS nav (a very apt analogy) I had a more immersive, enjoyable experience. There were times walking around where I would just stop and think, 'wow, this is really pretty'. And I am not completely sure I would have had that thought if I hadn't been forced to actually pay attention to where I was going in those early hours of play.
fbnlsr 8y ago
Woah, considering the "exploration" aspect of BoTW, this makes me want to play this game even more.
ajuc 8y ago
That's the only good way of playing The Witcher 3. They put lots of ui customization, but the defaults are overbearing, you watch ui not the world. At least disable the "?" signs on unexplored areas and the path to next quest objective, game is much more enjoyable without them and not too inconvenient.
- jibreel 8y ago
  I quit playing the game 4 hours into the game, because i felt i was just staring into the map most of the time and not being engaged with the game. I might give it another go, how did you go on about it ? did you just disable most UI stuff ? and is it still acutally playable ?
  - ajuc 8y ago
    I left most stuff on, just disabled quest compass (arrows on minimap), gps (paths on minimap), and the question marks on the map/minimap (IMHO it's the most obviously bad setting - it changes exploration from "this looks interesting I go there" to "there's a question mark, let's see what's it about, oh just another smugglers' cache"). When I get a new quest phase I look it up on the fullscreen map and then just go there, it's playable enough. The dialogs describe places where you need to go usually, but not always well enough to get there without looking at the map at all. I've seen people play with all ui disabled, even the health bar, but it wasn't convenient for me. The game is very heavy on plot and characters, it has small tutorial in the castle, and then like 10 hours long bigger tutorial area before the world opens up for real, and you have to understand what's happening and who's who at least a little to enjoy it. Game introduces characters reasonably well, but there's so many of them it's easy to lose track. Also, bonus tip - in some update few months after the premiere they added "alternative movement controls" - be sure to enable that in the settings if you play with keyboard and mouse. It's much more convenient than the default. It makes the animation of movement look less natural, but much more responsive (you can turn instantly instead of making a circle for example).
prolikewh0a 8y ago
Hollow Knight drops you into the world with no maps at all, and it's very disorienting. It's hard to find save points, and when you die it's extremely tough to know where your soul (to get your coins/geo back) is located. You do learn some landmarks, but once you figure out how to get the maps, the game becomes a whole lot easier. Every new area throws you into it without a map.

Baeocystin 8y ago

That is how I accidentally played the first 20-odd hours of Oblivion. I thought the compass at the bottom of the screen was it for nav, and didn't look at the keymappings and notice the 'map' key until well in to the game. And after the initial wave of feeling dumb passed once I noticed my mistake, I also realized that I was actually having quite a lot of fun playing it that way. Although navigation was confusing at first, I learned my way around the map quite well, and by being forced to just look around instead of relying on, as you put it, GPS nav (a very apt analogy) I had a more immersive, enjoyable experience. There were times walking around where I would just stop and think, 'wow, this is really pretty'. And I am not completely sure I would have had that thought if I hadn't been forced to actually pay attention to where I was going in those early hours of play.

fbnlsr 8y ago

Woah, considering the "exploration" aspect of BoTW, this makes me want to play this game even more.

ajuc 8y ago

That's the only good way of playing The Witcher 3. They put lots of ui customization, but the defaults are overbearing, you watch ui not the world. At least disable the "?" signs on unexplored areas and the path to next quest objective, game is much more enjoyable without them and not too inconvenient.

jibreel 8y ago
I quit playing the game 4 hours into the game, because i felt i was just staring into the map most of the time and not being engaged with the game. I might give it another go, how did you go on about it ? did you just disable most UI stuff ? and is it still acutally playable ?
- ajuc 8y ago
  I left most stuff on, just disabled quest compass (arrows on minimap), gps (paths on minimap), and the question marks on the map/minimap (IMHO it's the most obviously bad setting - it changes exploration from "this looks interesting I go there" to "there's a question mark, let's see what's it about, oh just another smugglers' cache"). When I get a new quest phase I look it up on the fullscreen map and then just go there, it's playable enough. The dialogs describe places where you need to go usually, but not always well enough to get there without looking at the map at all. I've seen people play with all ui disabled, even the health bar, but it wasn't convenient for me. The game is very heavy on plot and characters, it has small tutorial in the castle, and then like 10 hours long bigger tutorial area before the world opens up for real, and you have to understand what's happening and who's who at least a little to enjoy it. Game introduces characters reasonably well, but there's so many of them it's easy to lose track. Also, bonus tip - in some update few months after the premiere they added "alternative movement controls" - be sure to enable that in the settings if you play with keyboard and mouse. It's much more convenient than the default. It makes the animation of movement look less natural, but much more responsive (you can turn instantly instead of making a circle for example).

prolikewh0a 8y ago

Hollow Knight drops you into the world with no maps at all, and it's very disorienting. It's hard to find save points, and when you die it's extremely tough to know where your soul (to get your coins/geo back) is located. You do learn some landmarks, but once you figure out how to get the maps, the game becomes a whole lot easier. Every new area throws you into it without a map.