![]() ![]() ![]() In a few instances I took a creative liberty or two with the naming conventions. In some instances of entirely fictional locations with no IRL visual inspiration, such as Stafford Auto Garage, I simply kept the fictional name. Tier One: named locations that are marked in-game (many of which have fictional names, like how the Shard is called Nexus Tower in game - so I tracked down the real-world names wherever possible. Since I knew there would be no easy way to go back and edit hundreds of text passages after the fact, getting this visual grammar established early on was of critical importance.Īs for which buildings to include and which to omit, I've prioritised their inclusion based on three tiers: (You'll also notice in South London how the contractions around Lambeth/Vauxhall interrupt the Ring Road's flow, before it rejoins to the Westernmost Grosvenor Place.)Īnd then there needed to be a clear disambiguation between different categories of POIs, including iconic buildings, green spaces, pubs and bars, waterways, tube stations, etc. The London Inner Ring Road needed to dominate the immediate sightline at a first glance, so that viewers would have an instinctive sense of how its presence so greatly affects the 'skeleton' around which London's innards are formed. Main roads needed to stand out at different zoom levels on different viewing devices, without cannibalising the surrounding real estate or connecting minor streets (London is packed in tight, and its virtual recreation is no different). One of the earliest things I had to figure out in production was the establishing of a consistent visual grammar and hierarchy. As such, you can expect these less developed regions to get painted in with greater levels of fidelity as this project draws closer to its finished state. South London is catching up in the fidelity and density of street names/POIs/public parks etc, but its more contracted and Frankensteined layout presents greater challenges in establishing 1:1 visual references to real world locations. This reflects the fact that these areas are such well-known hotspots, and therefore are likely to get more footfall from the typical player "exploring London" in the game. Likewise, you'll notice that the West End, Westminster, most of Camden, Shoreditch, and the City of London are filled in with far higher level of granularity, including some real obscure streets that are just begging to be compared to their real-world equivalents. You'll notice that Nine Elms is mostly absent of visual information so far, as I haven't turned to that corner of the map with much attention yet. This mapping project is ongoing (hence the WIP tag), and as such, its current state reflects the pace of production. If you have certain places in-game you'd love to visit IRL but couldn't pin them down on Google Maps, then you can just turn to this for a quick and easy reference point. It is my hope then, that not only will this improved map help you make more intuitive sense of Legion's world, so too it will help you translate that in-game map knowledge to real-world understanding of Central London. As Google Maps and Street View have been my weapons of choice for comparing real-world imagery to their in-game equivalents, I've been continually blown away by how even the most minor, easy-to-miss, nondescript-looking side street can bear such a striking resemblance to its real world version.įurthermore, breaking down the map of Legion into an easily readable 'visual hierarchy' of real-world information has, in turn, helped me understand the actual city on a deeper level. My intention for this bit of fan art is that it will help to convey just how much real-world detail is packed into this videogame setting. As London is my home city, I felt honour-bound (or just "too much time on my hands"-bound) to remedy this. ![]() #Watch dogs legion map fullI started working on this sorta 'out of the blue' one day, when it occurred to me that the in-game map wasn't really doing an effective job of portraying the full scope and granularity of the game's virtual recreation of London. Here's a bit more context in case you're interested in how this came about, and what I've learned about Legion's map design in the process (hint: the level designers are SMART!). Thanks for checking out my WIP mapping project for Watch Dogs: Legion! ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |