Here's an idea that was posted in Draginol's "Gameplay" journal:
Looks great so far! But you know, something about the map doesn't strike me right. I mean, the world was quite scholarly before the Apocalypse, so why not represent the unexplored part of the map as a portrait of what the world looked like before the apocalypse? For instance, what was once known as verdent farmland would become, as you explore it, spoilands and blighted expanses. An impassable mountain range might be what was once known on the old map, but when explored you would find a terrible, jagged hole torn through it. Your map of old would show the location of famous cities and capitals of granduer but when you arrive to explore them, they are nothing more than ruins buried beneath an eon of ashe and dust or bustling dungeons and necropolises.
A feature like this would certainly add a very chilling feel to the game. You could achieve it by taking the game's currend randomly generated map and running a similar but modified generation algorithm on it that favors a more orderly and verdent end result.
Here's how I think it would work best:
I like the idea, but rather than have the "old map" automatically at the start of the game, why not make it a possibility of artifact discovery or research?
"You have uncovered a map of the Old Empire", and then you get to see the valley to the north. You see in the valley there was 2 cities and a mage tower, along with old mines. Obviously, those are devastated. But maybe there'd be a shard in the mager tower? Maybe the cities have now been populated by barbarians? Or refugees?
In short, the "Old Map" would give you focus/hints/pointers to explore, the same way the stars did in GalCiv2. You know there is SOMETHING there. You just don't know what.
Please, discuss these ideas. I'd like the idea of baiting the players with clues and hints of treasures, ruins, or other elements. Maybe you could use said map to send adventurer parties to reclaim lost treasures?
