Maps are a core but often overlooked aspect of game design. Games with any sort of exploration will often include a map for the player to help get their bearings on where they are and where they have to go next. These maps are most helpful in massive open world games likeRed Dead Redemption 2, as players could easily get lost without one. Although some games likeDark SoulsandBloodbornepurposely leave the player without a mapin order to encourage more cautious exploration.
Maps can also reveal a lot about the game itself.Red Dead Redemption 2has an old-fashioned in-game map designed in a style that is suitable for the era the game is set in. The player character, Arthur Morgan, will even draw on points of interest that the player comes across in the game’s open world.
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The era specific detailing ofRed Dead Redemption 2’s map has inspired a cartographer on Reddit named patrickmcgranaghan to create multiple maps of real-world locations in the style ofRDR2’s map. Their latestRDR2inspired map depicts the path of a solar eclipse that is scheduled to happen over Texas in 2024. The map is a faithful depiction of Texas and its surrounding states that is done usingRed Dead Redemption 2’s various distinctive fonts and color schemes. The Reddit user then shows clearly where the path of totality falls across the state which is where the solar eclipse will be visible from.
Patrickmcgranaghan’s map would look right at home inRed Dead Redemption 2’s map screen. The map is also especially suitable sinceRed Dead Redemption 2’s world is a compressed amalgamation of areas from the southern United States, and many of these locations can be seen in the Reddit user’s eclipse map.
A detail that makes the Reddit user’s map even more impressive is the accurate scale bars in the bottom corner to show just how wide the eclipse’s path will be. There are no solar eclipses to be found in game, but one certainly wouldn’t seem out of place among all the other spooky andmysterious Easter eggs that can be found inRed Dead Redemption 2.
Red Dead Redemption 2’s map is representative of the kind of map that could have been used in 1899, while still being user-friendly for the player. Many games will try to be so visually distinct with their in-game maps that it undercuts the main purpose of the map, that is to be easily read and understood.The map inCyberpunk 2077is a 3D digital scan of the Night City, which fits well with the game’s cyberpunk aesthetics, but the deep blues and reds can make it difficult to read clearly.
Red Dead Redemption 2is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
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