The current problem with the Overlay Map

[lyravega]

edit: Initial post was a response to a change that happened with TWW; the map got scaled up, but also pushed to the edge of the screen. Now it is repositioned back, but it is still scaled up. Both changes are undocumented.

I think developers cannot grasp why some people prefer Overlay map to the Minimap. With TWW, the overlay map is off; it isn't where it used to be. Also, it is scaled up. Nothing in the patch notes state anything about this... Here are the top two reasons why people like me prefer overlay map to the minimap:

• The minimap is very small on high resolutions, and only shows a tiny fraction. Scale doesn't help as it naturally doesn't affect how much it shows. Overlay map on the other hand, it shows everything (and sometimes occupy the whole screen if big chunks are connected together, but the gains far outweighs the losses)
• The minimap is on the corner of the screen, and overlay is (was) located towards the center. Personally, the information should be spread around the center area as that is the place you look at the most; in any game that I can push UI towards the center, I do it without thinking for this reason.

Now that it is bigger, the cases where the map got so large and occupied a big chunk of your screen is even more worse than before. And it isn't located close to the center of the screen anymore, the player icon is nearly touching the side of the screen... So in essence, you took these 2 points which made Overlay map much better than Minimap, and made them worse.

Also, here is a screenshot of before and after, I tried to take another screenshot from the exactly same chunk. Here are some fun facts about this before and after screenshot (please note that the screens are downscaled to 50% - the default resolution was 2560x1440, and that I am assuming the exact center of the UI is the crosshair, and the center of the overlay map is the player icon):

• Before, the distance between center and the overlay was around 250 pixels, and after the same distance is around 500 pixels (they repositioned it, but even that is undocumented)
• The overlay map is scaled up by around 100%

Here is another screenshot of before and after but it focuses on overlay and shows that the overlay map is scaled up by 100%, on top left it is the old overlay, on top right it is the same but scaled up and rotated a little, on bottom left it is the new overlay, and on bottom right old and new are laid on top of each other at 70% transparency each to show that the overlay map is scaled up.

In my opinion, whomever decided to scale the overlay map up didn't take into account that it may offset alignment. I believe the overlay map has an anchor which isn't located on top of the player icon (which I'd assume as the center of it), but to the left of it. When you increase the scale, the anchor stays at the same position of course, but the center of the object will get pushed. Here is (yet) another link to demonstrate what may happen when things are scaled up but anchor point remains the same. So in short, this last link I've given is what I believe to be the current problem that the overlay map has.

Edited December 18, 2016 by lyravega

[Pinwheelgypsy]

I always used the overlay map because it was much easier to keep an eye on objectives/mobs while playing than with the corner minimap, but now that it's been scaled up it's extremely distracting and covers way more screen space than it needs to. Please give us the option to scale it back down to how it was so we can play with it up and not have it look like a mobile game threw up all it's giant arrows all over the screen.

[Silver-Priest]

New map annoys me so much, that i am considering to stop playing, until it is reversed to the old one. I had no problems with the map before, and now it is unusable to me.

Revert overlay map to the old one and make it a default. Make the scale and position adjustable with sliders.



 

Edited November 12, 2016 by Silver-Priest

[taiiat]

yes, it's huge. needlessly so.

if it was 'too small', that's what scaling is for.
i certainly wasn't wishing that it zoomed in further.

[Malv0isin]

I have the same problem now after TWW.  The overlay map is so huge that it's not visible for me.  I thought it was missing at first because I couldn't see a thing.  Then I started seeing the player icons move on the very right hand side of the screen, and the icons were huge. 

I play at 3840x2160 and without a proper overlay map, the game is unplayable for me.  Using the mini map in the upper left is no good because the scaling is so small at high resolutions.

[dkraptor002]

One idea would be for developers to implement something like an "overlay map scale" in game's Hud options. That would give everyone the zoom control they need over it.

[enizer]

I just had this way worse, on earth, Vay Hek assasination, 1/3rd of the map was off screen.

looking at your screenshots, your "after" looks like it was before for me, now, it's 2x that, this is WAY too big.. :(

also while I'm on this topic, a patch a month or two ago changed the map so that other players, are drawn above you and objectives, on the map, making it hard to spot exactly where YOU stand(with map rotation locked) and sometimes making it unclear where the objectives are.

I dont know how you think of the map, but for me, the location of other people, is not more important than where I am and where I'm going(which at this new map scale is also off screen a lot of the time)

 

To summarize: please add a scale slider to let us choose how far we want to zoom in the map, and I would be really happy if you fixed the object priority on the map along the way.

Edited November 13, 2016 by enizer

[3tomatoes]

The map does not need to be this big.

Edited November 14, 2016 by 3tomatoes

[AhkNemet]

12 minutes ago, 3tomatoes said:

The map does not need to be this big.

lol You're probably right, though I am used to it covering my entire screen.. those of us who still have square screens, don't have extra space to the side for the overlay map, so it covers everything which makes visibility poor at times. I would like to be able to re-position the overlay map so that it's not just tied to my location as a fixed point in the screen.

I can't use the minimap, I still get lost, but I can see how the giant overlay could be really annoying. I find it more annoying that my team mates aren't more distinctively marked- using frame icons is stupid, when you have several people in the team using the same frame, but that's a different issue entirely lol

[enizer]

I use the overlay map because i want to see more information than the minimap, NOT because it want it to show the same information on more of the screen.

49 minutes ago, 3tomatoes said:

The map does not need to be this big.

And wow this is a good example of the problem :)

Notice that you, on that screenshot, are almost on the right edge on the screen, now imagine trying to see the map info if you were on the left part of the map. It goes right off screen..

 

Is this map zoom level made for a TV screen?

I can imagine this working if I hooked my PC up to my living room TV and play from the couch.. this is however far too big for PC.

Edited November 14, 2016 by enizer

[lyravega]

18 hours ago, 3tomatoes said:

The map does not need to be this big.

Hahhahah, what the hell is that thing :D

[ctclonny]

Try the button M on your keyboard while using minimap.

[3tomatoes]

16 minutes ago, ctclonny said:

Try the button M on your keyboard while using minimap.

Please read the thread.

[lyravega]

3 hotfixes, and nothing on this yet. Come on DE :(

[JudgeXion]

Ahh, there is a thread about this. good. Then I can complain here.

I like how the map is bigger, but it's way to big. 100% bigger is to much, 25% would maybe been okay.

I on the other hand do not like how the markers on the map is about 200% bigger then before and covers up way to much on the map.

Suggestion: Just as other said. A Map slider would been nice to choose your own size.

[enizer]

http://i.imgur.com/8exLyCZ.jpg

If the map resize is intentional, I still suspect this isn't.

I lock map rotation because I find that confusing, and now it causes this to happen regularly.

The map center is "a little" too close to the edge of the screen now.

Edited November 15, 2016 by enizer

[AcceptYourDeath]

Hm funny :o) (not for you I guess) I like the bigger scaling on a 19" 16:9 1080p. No clue how this works out on bigger or smaller screens.

[Zharun]

Not only is the map waaay to big to be useful it randomly also does not show the next enemy in exterminate, your teammates if they are to far away, extractors and so on.

For added annoyance transmissions from bosses now show up on the right side of the screen and obscuring the map. All the more reason to hate on Vor's endless blathering. :-/

[lyravega]

On 16/11/2016 at 5:58 AM, AcceptYourDeath said:

Hm funny :o) (not for you I guess) I like the bigger scaling on a 19" 16:9 1080p. No clue how this works out on bigger or smaller screens.

I'm playing on a TV, and I like my icons big. But it should obey the UI Scale and Margin values. Not everyone would like them this big, or this far away. If it needs to be one fixed thing instead of adjustable, then I'd rather have the old map since it is what we all got used to.

On a side thing though, on multi-monitor setups, or 4k resolution I believe, overlay map is completely unusable as it is completely out of screen bounds.

Edited December 6, 2016 by lyravega

[AcceptYourDeath]

Generally speaking the map could still use some work sure, scaling would go along way for all the different screen sizes and console (TV) vs. Monitor (PC). Seems very unlikely there is a compromise possible for all cases with a fixed scale. It could also have transparency towards the middle of the screen, once a map is more explored it likes to obscure the center. At last, the map is often missleading with targets at different heights, making icons jump or update only once several room sections have been crossed.   

[TaylorsContraction]

Thanks for noticing this guys, I use the overlay map occasionally and have noticed that something was off but I couldn't figure out what. Hopefully they'll look into this Q__Q

[GotEmCoooach]

On larger tiles (e.g. Europa, Earth) the objective marker disappears completely from the overlay map because it is so far out. I have to switch to minimap to see where I'm going.

[greymaniac]

I personally like the large overlay map, but I agree it might be a bit too large. Would like it somewhere between the pre-TWW overlay and the current one, so perhaps a slider is needed so people can adjust it however they like?

The corner minimap is, and has always been too friggin small to be of any use.

[lyravega]

20 hours ago, greymaniac said:

The corner minimap is, and has always been too friggin small to be of any use.

Yeah. That's the primary reason I always use Overlay map but it is ridiculous atm.

[3tomatoes]

Something needs to be done. I can't play like this.