Permanent and changeable notes and marking on Map and Minimap

[moony.5780]

This idea could make exploration more fun and also will help that more people go back to older maps to have fun there :)

So the idea is to have a marking system similar to Zelda Botw (but with unlimited marks). So to be able to choose between ~10 different type of marks that can be places on the map and will be visible on the minimap. So when you find something unique or fun to do then you can mark it and come back later much easier. So it can be used to mark location of champions, jps, hidden chests, nice farming spot, entrances from caves, favorite events and where they start.Also i think it will be a lot of fun to run around the world and just mark everything fun and nice. Or just mark a place you want to discover and return later (haveing only 1 mark is really not enough for such a big world).

[Danikat.8537]

I like this idea. The ability to annotate the map is something I'd like to have in basically every game.

Personally I'd prefer a system like Phantom Hourglass where you can write or draw on the map, so I can have as many different symbols and signs as I want. I think it would work even better on PC with a mouse and keyboard than on the DS's tiny touchscreen.

But if for whatever reason that sort of system wouldn't work or is too complicated then stamps like Breath of the Wild has would be better than nothing. Ideally I'd like either more stamps or the option for different colours. Even in BotW I wish I had more because I'm using all the symbols and still have to group some things together and I think there's more things I'd want to mark in GW2.

To some extent I can substitute for it with a combination of the Wiki (for things like reminding myself where the entrance to a jumping puzzle is) and a document I use to keep notes for myself on stuff I want to remember. But having it in the game itself would be much more useful.

[ugrakarma.9416]

is a work better suited to add-ons like taco.

[moony.5780]

I think just haveing something like a Paint overlay on the M map would already be great and enough also. It would not be so difficult to implement i guess. And if there is a button to switch between normal map and map+ drawing it would be perfect.

[Danikat.8537]

@ugrakarma.9416 said:is a work better suited to add-ons like taco.

I've never used Taco. How does their version work? What makes you think it's better than anything Anet could come up with?

[moony.5780]

Thanks for the tip about Taco :) it takes some time to get used to it + make own markings...but it have all i want :D (except making easy notes for each mark :()

Now im running around to discover every place in Tyria again ;D

[ugrakarma.9416]

@Danikat.8537 said:

@"ugrakarma.9416" said:is a work better suited to add-ons like taco.

I've never used Taco. How does their version work? What makes you think it's better than anything Anet could come up with?

Is a external "graphic overlay" add-on thats works only in client side. the difference between such add-on to OP suggestion is basically that actually "annotations" are pre-made by the developer of the add-on.

[Strider Pj.2193]

@Danikat.8537 said:

@ugrakarma.9416 said:is a work better suited to add-ons like taco.

I've never used Taco. How does their version work? What makes you think it's better than anything Anet could come up with?

I hadn’t used it until about a month ago. Not trying to be an advert here, but it’s really nice. Gives a lot of info and map completion has never been more painless.

[moony.5780]

Actually it takes a looot of fun away for me if i use Taco completly.....Its no explorering anymore but just walk from A to B. But its great who taco is flexible, so i can remove all pre-made marker and set my own + make my own categorie even :)

[Danikat.8537]

@moony.5780 said:Actually it takes a looot of fun away for me if i use Taco completly.....Its no explorering anymore but just walk from A to B. But its great who taco is flexible, so i can remove all pre-made marker and set my own + make my own categorie even :)

I'm trying it out now and the first thing I did was to disable all the pre-set map markers, and the timers. I don't want any of that, just the ability to set my own markers. But then it seems like the only kind of marker I can set or see is the default gold diamond shape. Is there a way to use the other symbols, but only see ones I've placed them myself?

I'm not sure yet if I'll stick with it. Even if I can get it set up properly it's annoying to have to run a seperate program just for this and I doubt I'll turn it on most of the time...but then will I remember to turn it on when I do want it? It also seems like a waste to have all this other stuff included which I'm never going to touch, just so I can have one relatively simple function.

[moony.5780]

@Danikat.8537 said:

@"moony.5780" said:Actually it takes a looot of fun away for me if i use Taco completly.....Its no explorering anymore but just walk from A to B. But its great who taco is flexible, so i can remove all pre-made marker and set my own + make my own categorie even :)

I'm trying it out now and the first thing I did was to disable all the pre-set map markers, and the timers. I don't want any of that, just the ability to set my own markers. But then it seems like the only kind of marker I can set or see is the default gold diamond shape. Is there a way to use the other symbols, but only see ones I've placed them myself?

I'm not sure yet if I'll stick with it. Even if I can get it set up properly it's annoying to have to run a seperate program just for this and I doubt I'll turn it on most of the time...but then will I remember to turn it on when I do want it? It also seems like a waste to have all this other stuff included which I'm never going to touch, just so I can have one relatively simple function.

It maybe need like 30 min work at the beginning, and then you can use you own marker also in-game whenever u want. They will appear then as the first thing u can add. Its pretty easy, and if u have a lil programming skills done in 5 min.Here is a good guide : http://tekkitsworkshop.net/index.php/gw2-taco/guide-make-your-own-markers (just wondering why its not a https website :astonished: if you r worried to use this website here is a small marker help from me:)

How i made it:

1. First u need to think what different marking types u want to have and make a small icon (around 100x100 pixel as .png is perfect) in paint or any other programm. I usually mark monster nests with big spawns and used a cute monster icon from the internet and it have different backgrounds if there is a champ or not).
2. Then you put the picture files in the Folder "GW2TacO_047r\Data" and give it a good name fitting to the mark
3. Then u open the file "categorydata" (xml file) with the editor (if u want to change a lot notepad++ is better :))
4. Add your own marks between the first and 2nd line and its done :)

I cant post the code in the forum :( but you can find it in the guide i sent you. But its something like this:

_MarkerCategory name=" Name of your category "____MarkerCategory name=" Name of your mark in game " iconFile=" Data\Your Pituces Name.png "/____MarkerCategory

U need to change the bold parts with your own names and datafiles. Also u need to add a < at the beginning and a > at the end of every line (cant do that in the forum :() Also you need to remove the lines and use TAB instead. I just added them that u can see how it should look like later.

If you need more help with the programming part, just tell me :)

[Danikat.8537]

I'm not concerned about what the symbols are, in Breath of the WIld I use the cooking pot icon to mark important locations (like ways into the castle) just because it's the one I wasn't already using. I just want a way to place my own symbols without the default ones which came as part of the download showing up. Either I enable categories and then see things like the entire path through a jumping puzzle or I disable them and can't use those icons.

But deleting all the .xml files in the POIs folder seems to have done it. The icons are still available to place, but none of the defaults show up when I enable the categories. It seems to be saving the ones I place as well.

It's still more hassle to use than something built into the game, but I suppose it's a bit of an improvement over notes in a seperate document.