Journal: Working with Map Markers

Marker Types

We have 3 types of markers. Their type determines their icon on the map.

• Quest Marker: Used in quest objectives.
• Location Marker: Linked to subregions.
• Secret Marker: Used in Osiris and shown/cleared according to custom conditions. These are rarely used, if at all.

The journal system uses quest markers. When an objective (see Objectives) is linked to a known character or location, it's good practice to use a marker. If the player leaves the area, they'll know where to come back to later.

Radius Or No Radius?

If the player doesn’t know the precise location location of something but has been given a general description of where to find it (e.g. "I lost it somewhere along the coast."), you can use a quest marker with a radius. The objective would then imply some sort of a search or an investigation of the area (e.g., "Investigate the coast for the lost item.").

In an example where the player is told to seek a character in a particular location:

• If the intent is to have the player explore the region and eventually find the character and talk to them, a marker with a radius may be used.
• If the intent is rather to redirect the player toward the next quest giver, then it's best to use a quest marker on the character directly with no radius, since exploring the location is neither part of this objective nor part of the design intent. Exploration and figuring things out is not a challenge in this case.

Keep in mind that even if an NPC doesn't mention the precise location and details of how to reach an objective, we may often assume that the directions are given offscreen (if the NPC knows the location of the objective, of course). As such, we may use a precise marker instead of one with a radius.

Using Markers in Osiris

Currently, markers are inaccessible through Osiris. In some cases, however, you may want to hide the markers one by one. This may happen if a broad objective involves interacting with multiple entities (items to collect, characters to talk to, etc.). Once the player does so (or the entity is simply no longer available), it makes sense to remove the marker from the map.

Because the current system doesn’t support this natively, the only way to set this up is, instead of using objective markers, to script your own through Osiris and track them here. This would mean that hovering onto these markers in the UI will not show the quest attached to them, so their naming must be clear.

Osiris Calls

PROC_ShowMarker((CHARACTER)_Player, (STRING)_MarkerID)

PROC_HideMarker((CHARACTER)_Player, (STRING)_MarkerID)

Automatic Teleporters

Automatic teleporters are game entities that, when interacted with, will teleport the character to a subregion. Hatches, certain doors, and cave entrances work this way. We don’t manually place markers to guide the player towards such entrances, nor do we make objectives to do so (unless entering is part of a puzzle and requires some action from the player).

If an objective is located in a subregion, its marker will be automatically placed on the closest teleporter that leads there. If multiple quest markers are located within the same subregion, they will be displayed combined inside the same quest marker’s tooltip.