Does anyone else think that Vintage Story having a always accessable Map, Minimap, and coordinates feels strange?

[Kyle Rick]

I do know Wilderness Survival setting turns it off by default (Or can just change those settings.) but I feel like it gos to the other extreme that I dislike.

One of the first things that I noticed when playing Vintage Story for the very first time was it having a minimap, but not only that but can bring up a full map with good render distance and the game also shows your live coordinates and direction you are facing at all times.

Does anyone else feels like that is very strange? As to me it feels very modded Minecraft like and that throws me off as I dislike such things given to you right away.

Able to easily mark things on the map and such kind of brings a whole new way of playing like being able to mark caves, clay, and all sorts of other things and not think much about it but to me it feels... wrong.

After reaching steel on my first world on default settings I went to try Wilderness Survival settings and it does feel quite different to play without such UI that I like. I tend to pillar up like a 5 block high packed dirt tower to mark anything of use in the world like clay or such that can be easily found again when I don't have a map.

However never even having a map at all, something Minecraft lets you able to craft easily feels wrong. There is other tools in that Other Block Game like a compass that could also help but I would not be surprised if most people just press F3 to enable debug overlay so they can look at their coordinates and I am guilty of doing the same. I believe you can do the same in Vintage Story but it's not as easy to turn on/off.

While I do know the game is still in alpha it feels strange that Vintage Story, a game more focused on survival than Minecraft, has those features in the title enabled by default without a way to actually earn it yourself, as I don't mind those features if you started off with none but over time get more tools to get a better idea where you at and everything else in the world.

Because of such I went around looking for mods, and there is one I use that mostly fixes this problem, Craftable Cartography. (Version I use: Craftable Cartography Fork )

The mod does a good job of doing most of how I would feel progression wise for cartography, but the map feels quite buggy. With a map you can see where the story markings are and can figure out how to get there even without other tools by just loading in more chunks or looking around, however the map does not seem to focus where you are even with a Temporal Compass, meaning I had to keep dragging it to where I actually was and it only loads new chunks when the map is pulled up. (Was really bad during my 10% land world sailing for ages. Was fun without tools and fun with such tools to go back to islands easily, but the map was real annoying to use.)

Overall the Craftable Cartography mod does what I like mostly but it seems a bit janky and wish it was all built into the game and polished out, as I do enjoy using a compass and sextant as it feels immersive and right for a game like Vintage Story. With settings that turn off the UI map the maps that the story gives you tells how far away you are from it so it still gives the item a use  but feels like a hot or cold could work slightly better but unsure.

Curious what others think about such features and how it could be handled in the future, if people like it or not and what changes it might need to improve Vintage Story, and if Wilderness Survival or such settings should still exist once cartography is in the game proper.

[hstone32]

1 minute ago, Kyle Rick said:

As to me it feels very modded Minecraft like and that throws me off as I dislike such things given to you right away.

How much about VSs history are you aware of? It borrows a lot form modded minecraft, because it had its origins in modded minecraft. I could even name a few specific mods that some certain VS features are clearly inspired by: Antique Atlas, better than wolves, chisel 'n bits, primal tech, WAILA...

I guess I'm just confused at how the map of all things feels "modded minecraft" with all this other stuff.

[Kyle Rick]

8 minutes ago, hstone32 said:

How much about VSs history are you aware of? It borrows a lot form modded minecraft, because it had its origins in modded minecraft. I could even name a few specific mods that some certain VS features are clearly inspired by: Antique Atlas, better than wolves, chisel 'n bits, primal tech, WAILA...

I guess I'm just confused at how the map of all things feels "modded minecraft" with all this other stuff.

I know how Vintage Story came to be, but I rarely played modded Minecraft myself, as most modpacks I tired has something I disliked (like the minimap) so I made my own modpack that took a while to get all of what I found fun.

I don't treat Vintage Story as a mod of Minecraft I treat it as its own thing. It just felt strange to me that it has those features by default on what you would think a more survival focused game would not have. I don't play many games myself so I can't say how it compares to others, but it still shocked me seeing such when I played for the first time.

Edited December 1, 2025 by Kyle Rick

[hstone32]

Well different strokes and all that, I suppose.

6 minutes ago, Kyle Rick said:

most modpacked I tired has something I disliked

That's been the same story for me, but instead of being a specific mod, feature, or design element that turned me off, it was the crashes, the framerates, and the instability which caused me to never finish any modpack I started. When I saw Vintage Story, I saw it as "modded minecraft but using an in-house engine. To me, it was perfect. Exactly what I've been looking for all these years.

[LadyWYT]

I'm indifferent about it, I suppose. It's a handy quality-of-life tool that players can turn on/off at their leisure. It does make things easier, however, it's worth bearing in mind that the player still needs to mark down the information themselves. While it might be more realistic to turn off the map/minimap, there's also an awful lot of information the player needs to keep track of, so it's a very nice feature to have.

30 minutes ago, Kyle Rick said:

Curious what others think about such features and how it could be handled in the future, if people like it or not and what changes it might need to improve Vintage Story, and if Wilderness Survival or such settings should still exist once cartography is in the game proper.

I wouldn't be surprised if the map system got overhauled into something like Craftable Cartography. However, I also think the current system is fine, in its own way, since there is a "realistic" map style, a true color map style(this provides a better aerial layout of large builds), and an option to disable the map and/or minimap entirely.

[Venusgate]

54 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

I wouldn't be surprised if the map system got overhauled into something like Craftable Cartography.

I go back and forth on craftable cartography (though i havent played the original since they added drawable maps). Having a map autofill for free (once crafted) really feels a cheat to the amount of skill irl cartography takes. 

I think what I'd like to see is being able to ping visual waypoints in reference to each other, and those waypoints are drawn into the map if you have writing material. Like ping a hill within 25 blocks, that shows up on the map, now there's a lake look at hill, click, look at lake, click, now the map knows where the lake it in reference to the hill.

I've also thought of how to go around making a range finder, a la a discgolf range ruler, just for block heights. if you could estimate range, then you could make manual map entries like "Mountain peak at 170 blocks at heading 272" and the map would illuminate that area it to what it already knows is true if you are within 15 blocks or so.

 

[Arasine]

I know what you mean, but travelling thousands, or tens of thousands of blocks is absolutely required in VS. Often even at the very start for basic materials. 

Without mapping from the start, the new game experience would be slowed to an absolute crawl, with the need to sign post in the world your every expedition. If physical maps were in the game and required, for instance, paper. Do you wait an entire year for your first flax harvest before you can even map the near surroundings? 

Maybe a toggle for the lovers of hardship

 

[Kyle Rick]

1 hour ago, Arasine said:

I know what you mean, but travelling thousands, or tens of thousands of blocks is absolutely required in VS. Often even at the very start for basic materials. 

Without mapping from the start, the new game experience would be slowed to an absolute crawl, with the need to sign post in the world your every expedition. If physical maps were in the game and required, for instance, paper. Do you wait an entire year for your first flax harvest before you can even map the near surroundings? 

Maybe a toggle for the lovers of hardship

 

I feel like a basic sextant is all one needs to not be truly lost by writing down important locations after using a sextant to know the coordinates of that area.

 

Is how I got around on my mostly sea world anyway. I imagine having a high chunk render distance also helps. (I use 800 blocks myself.)

 

Without mods you don't get map or such in wilderness survival mode but still made it work by not going too far unless needed and familiarizing yourself with the landscape. I do think this game is not ment to be QoL focused imo.

 

If traveling extremely far I can think of a few ways to get back home, but it's not free for sure.

[Broccoli Clock]

I would happily lean into a greater survival challenge, no maps at all unless you create paper and at that point you can only draw what you are able to see. There are games that do similar, and I think it would suit VS vibes pretty well. The co-ords I never use, but then I have the map so you know.. it's not like I need to use the co-ords, although I do see people using the co-ords but not either mini or main map. Again I'm happy to lean into realism here, using things like a sextant (a minor nod to gameplay I think that a sextant would need to provide both latitude and longitude as the latter requires precise timings and there isn't something in the game to do that). 

My guilty pleasure is watching people play the game blind, the number of people who (and this is purely down to the "other block game" and its meta) praise the inclusion of not just a map from the get go, but also a mini map and a death icon too, is quite a lot. I think that helps onboarding players into their journey as most people die a lot at the beginning.

 

So, in short, yes I'd like to see additions to the game so that you can manually chart and locate, but that it should not be mandatory or enabled by default. 

 

[LadyWYT]

7 hours ago, Arasine said:

Do you wait an entire year for your first flax harvest before you can even map the near surroundings? 

Nope, you go kill foxes, raccoons, and rabbits, scrape their hides, and turn the result into parchment. Much faster, assuming you have access to tanning, that is.

[Metalton]

15 hours ago, Venusgate said:

I go back and forth on craftable cartography (though i havent played the original since they added drawable maps). Having a map autofill for free (once crafted) really feels a cheat to the amount of skill irl cartography takes. 

Hehe.. I remember back in the day UO launched with an actual cartography skill. Let you create in game maps of your current area with greater detail depending on you cartography skill.. Thought it was really cool, but the game had a detailed full screen map.. Rendering the feature and the skill completely useless.. 'cept maybe to create rp props..

[Venusgate]

13 hours ago, Kyle Rick said:

but still made it work by not going too far unless needed and familiarizing yourself with the landscape. I do think this game is not ment to be QoL focused imo.

Well, the game is QoL focused, since "Standard" mode has minimap on by default.

Basically any suggestion I make I'd like to imply now is meant to be an optional feature. Maps and no maps isn't *bad*, it just feels like there's a logical middle that matches early history reality of "wait, what was that mountain called again? *Checks notees*

[Mowdan]

It's less weird than every minecraft player opening a debug menu like it is a normal part of the game...The reason why full map and the JEI like interface (or whatever they call it these days) is used is because every mod pack had something like this and everyone likes it for the most part. Sure there are some people like me who sometimes play minecraft without f3 or modded map, but that is a rarity. Like games just have maps...For me the lowest I could go is no map, compass, compass marker that always points to 0,0 or to the center of where I last spawned. What is unrealistic is thinking a human can find their way back home when the game just spawned them into a new world and you have lived their for 10 minutes and will find your way home....It varies a lot too, sometimes you are next to a huge landmark and other times you are in some dense forest you can't see but 10 blocks in front of you. Also torches burn out, blocks to mark with are much harder to get and overall how far you can see is much less due to the landscape.

It would be a interesting way to play with no auto map but even for me it would be pushing it and for others it would be unplayable. If I ever play wilderness survival I will need at leas a compass right from the start.Like one that is part of the ui.

Edited December 2, 2025 by Mowdan

[LadyWYT]

16 minutes ago, Mowdan said:

What is unrealistic is thinking a human can find their way back home when the game just spawned them into a new world and you have lived their for 10 minutes and will find your way home..

It really depends on how well one's mind handles pathfinding. Those who have a good sense of direction and/or a photographic-type memory can find their way around without use of a map or man-made markers a lot more easily than those with poor sense of direction. Of course, it's not foolproof either, and all it takes is a brief distraction to forget critical information.

[ArgentLuna]

Nope. map is good. map is life. Waypoints save on endless packed dirt pillars to mark interesting things (and VS has many interesting things). Minimap less so but still useful. 

[Scorpixel]

Depends on the game, in some like Ark or Subnautica i could orient myself without any issue (despite even forgetting to craft the compass until endgame) with just waypoints. In Palworld i'd somehow always veer off-course within fifteen seconds of checking the map due to distractions.

Still, all of those are set maps that become more familiar with time (and playthroughs), with noticeable terrain features and landmarks, the presence/absence of map is more on the side of atmosphere/qol.

Minecraft isn't hard to orient yourself in despite being procedural, but you also just don't move very far most of the time and (without f3) can at least trace back to home/spawn. VS also expects you to note a lot of things and go back to those, prospecting without a map can be hellish as you need to write down on every point of interest and might prospect the same area multiple times by mistake, not to mention ugly pillars across the land unless fancying-up with fences.

I do think the map is a necessity for default settings, and would even advise for the full-colour one as it helps greatly with finding deposits (and stone types) and general readability, a common issue for newer players.

[Venusgate]

13 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

It really depends on how well one's mind handles pathfinding. Those who have a good sense of direction and/or a photographic-type memory can find their way around without use of a map or man-made markers a lot more easily than those with poor sense of direction. Of course, it's not foolproof either, and all it takes is a brief distraction to forget critical information.

I agree with this for up to the first 1000 block radius. But there's an exponential demand on the skill of identifying landmarks in relation to each other, especially if you are heading deep in one direction.

[Mowdan]

40 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

It really depends on how well one's mind handles pathfinding. Those who have a good sense of direction and/or a photographic-type memory can find their way around without use of a map or man-made markers a lot more easily than those with poor sense of direction. Of course, it's not foolproof either, and all it takes is a brief distraction to forget critical information.

Not really my point more as in the time scale is very different. A Human here is meant to represent an average gamer....I didn't say it was impossible I said or meant it was a unrealistic expectation. The point is that a human is able to find their way around familiar places with ease through time and repetition. You could say the game with no map isn't realistic. No man made markers? That is kind of my point that is a game thing. Just by walking you leave footprints, each tree or grass you cut would leave very obvious marks that would take days or weeks to grow back. Then there is time scale, like if you cut that tree down you would be there for awhile and remember more details.Where as in this game it takes a few seconds and nothing other than a missing tree is different. The short time scale is what I am talking about. In the wild every rock is different in this game they all look the same with a few different types. The whole world is made of uniform cubes.Point being a normal human isn't built for a uniform cube world where your traces quickly vanish and are less obvious.

I am up for the challenge  but as stated I would require at least a basic compass. However I don't think most would be.I don't think it is interesting to most people.

[7embre]

I play without minimap and coorditates displayed — adds quite a lot to the immesion, essentially forcing me to memorize paths and landmarks. Playing with minimap feels like I have a car navigator on, plus it distracts my vision and occupies part of the screen.

However, I'm not against using big map, to mark stuff to pick up for later. Having a big map strangely doesn't really affect my immersion, maybe because I need to sit in a quiet spot with no bears in sight to study it and plan the route. Wish that it was less detailed for the most parts, with the ability to add some details/drawings. And also dependent on stuff you've actually seen with your eyes. Like, why am I even able to get a map image of the terrain behind that massive mountain in front of me? Agree that it doesn't really make sence to have satellite image of the terrain in your pocket at all times.

Might as well add this little point that I absolutely love item frame feature (execution is questionable, as dealing with these maps is quite tricky) from the other block game, to make massive maps on the table or on the wall.

[Krougal]

No.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

I don't find it strange. Maps and minimaps are one of the most downloaded features for other block games and some of the more popular mods for this game.

I am absolutely down for anyone who wants to turn it off for a more challenging experience however. That option is there to be used!

[labtop 215]

It would be nice if maps required resources to make and use, and if they were a physical item in the game instead of a feature.  But I would also want that so I could share maps with other players, or if were using the same "map" (i.e. a cloned map) if we could explore together and fill out the map at the same time.

[LadyWYT]

13 minutes ago, labtop 215 said:

But I would also want that so I could share maps with other players, or if were using the same "map" (i.e. a cloned map) if we could explore together and fill out the map at the same time.

That would be a prime opportunity to borrow from Valheim's cartography table concept.

[Heart_Afire]

What about this, with ideas taken from a couple other games and mods:

1) The map is disabled normally, but it can be crafted a la minecraft.
2) Once crafted, it occupies an inventory slot
3) Crafting it requires some basic materials, and updating it requires the usage of a cartography table
3a) The Cartography table also allows sharing between players. Whenever a player puts their map down, their waypoints and explored areas are saved into that table's memory. Any player who updates the map there then gets all of that.
4) Optional: Auto waypoints for certain things, like picking up nodes or marking a fruit tree
5) As a means of nudging the player to make one of their own, the maps to the story location will show only the area around that location and its coordinates

[MKMoose]

6 minutes ago, Heart_Afire said:

1) The map is disabled normally, but it can be crafted a la minecraft.
2) Once crafted, it occupies an inventory slot

While I like the idea of crafting maps, I've never liked Minecraft's way of doing it. I'm not sure how it could be implemented to be sufficiently simple and intuitive for Vintage Story's exploration style, because having to bring a dozen maps with yourself when on a trip could get very inconvenient very fast. The coverage of Minecraft's maps being completely dependent on where they are activated has always frustrated me.

There's a lot of ways to arguably improve upon a more realistic implementation, like by abstracting it away to some extent to avoid constantly taking up inventory slots, by reducing resource consumption to avoid imposing tedious maintenance, and it kind of devolves back into leaving the system as is, because it's just simple and convenient.

It could certainly be immersive to have more realistic maps, and I would appreciate any middleground between full map and no map whatsoever, but I'm just not sure it would fit the standard game experience well enough to justify the effort.

There's also the potential issue that if this system gets added, then many new items could be rendered useless (besides decorative uses) when playing with the map active at all times or completely disabled, which may then have to be addressed in item tooltips or the handbook in some way to avoid confusion. While I typically find myself disliking the "it would be better as a mod" response, in this specific context it seems more appropriate than usual, unless there are other good reasons for craftable maps.

 

26 minutes ago, Heart_Afire said:

3) Crafting it requires some basic materials, and updating it requires the usage of a cartography table
3a) The Cartography table also allows sharing between players. Whenever a player puts their map down, their waypoints and explored areas are saved into that table's memory. Any player who updates the map there then gets all of that.

This part seems very good. The concern about the table losing all functionality when not using realistic maps even gets circumvented with waypoint sharing, and it could even allow sharing prospecting data (which technically are just a bit different waypoints, but still). It may be necessary to do something to avoid the need to clean up dozens if not hundreds of unnecessary waypoints each time after exchanging them, though, while still ideally allowing to transfer specific waypoints.

 

30 minutes ago, Heart_Afire said:

4) Optional: Auto waypoints for certain things, like picking up nodes or marking a fruit tree

I don't know what specific implementation you have in mind, but just in case I'll mention that automatic systems automatically make me stop paying attention to the surroundings. Reducing friction when marking the 76th trader and 134th copper deposit would be great, but the player should still be required to actually notice what gets marked. It could be done just by making automatic waypoint range very short, or perhaps better by having the player get close enough to things and right-click the important blocks (fruit trees, surface nuggets etc.) with a map in hand, or something in that vein.

If that's roughly what you had in mind then I get you, just wanted to be sure because it's a very important point that I've seen people neglect in other contexts and then be surprised that exploration has become boring, after they take away most of the mental stimulation from it.