Full world map (zoomed-out) partially covered by the "fog of war"
Area map (zoomed in) with claimable areas visible as a grid
Another player (big pink dot) and Claims markings (little square dots) visible even through the "fog of war"
Claims
Map first screenshot revealed on Twitter (02/2016)
Area map when close by
Area map of the same area above, buildings not shown when further away
Template world RW5
Template world RW6
Template world RW7
Template world RW8
Basic Information[]
The Map was introduced as a new feature in the update R29. It was first teased on the Creativerse twitter on February 22nd 2016 and was revealed the following day on February 23rd 2016.
In Creativerse, maps do not have to be crafted; instead the map feature automatically generates 2D images whenever you open the map window, much like in many RPGs.
You can view two types of maps:
- a world map that displays an immovable overview of the whole game world
- and an area map view that you can move by using the arrows on the right side of the map
On both maps, yet unvisited areas will be covered by a "fog of war" (the usual video game term) that will be drawn back area by area as soon as you "discover" the according areas.
How to use[]
You can open the map of the game world you're currently in by pressing "M" as the default key (customizable) ingame.
In the Map Window, you can change from the zoomed-out overview map of whole world in order to have a closer look at the area you're currently in by clicking on the magnifying glass icon on the right side in the right top corner of the compass.
Then the view will zoom in and display the area map, that you can move with the arrows that are displayed in the shape of a compass on the right side of the map.
Your area map will only show you 5×5 claimable regions (with the outer areas being blurred), even though a whole Creativerse "area" would theoretically be 8×8 optional claims in size.
Abilities of the map feature[]
By enabling certain options, you can either show or hide on your map:
- your own position, indicated by a cyan blue arrow
- the positions of other players, indicated by colorful dots (hovering your mouse cursor over these dots will display each player's name)
- the position of your own pets (only on the area map, only when close by, hovering your mouse cursor over their "dots" will display each creature's name). Also all pets will be shown on the area map that are set to a permission level you meet or outrank
- and the position of Checkpoints (only in Adventures) - please note that you cannot use Checkpoints to "mark" areas on your map (yet)
Maps will usually only show you the surface of the current world you're in. There is no way to select a specific layer/level of the game world to be displayed by the map.
However, during the timespan the map needs to load you might sometimes be able to spot the overview of deeper levels, like for the Corruption layer (where red clouds will indicate corrupted leaves) or other underground layers, but only for a short period of time.
This means that the map feature of Creativerse is actually able to generate area maps of many or very likely of all the layers of any game world.
You cannot view maps of game worlds from outside this game world, neither from the main menu or when you're in a different game world. Within Adventures, the map feature is disabled completely in favor of the puzzles that players create for adventures, like labyrinths and the like.
Limitations of the ingame map(s)[]
World overview map[]
The world map is a fixed image that will merely display claimed areas in a color indicating your personal permission rank that you will have in these claims, also your own position and the positions of other players (hovering your mouse cursor over their "dots" will display each player's name). Buildings, arc signs and any alterations to the landscape will not be shown on the world map, but only on the area map when close by.
Area map in close proximity[]
In the area-view of the map you can spot many details on the 5x5 areas in close proximity of your current position.
You will be able to see buildings and all current alterations to the landscape from above, even Creatures moving around if you look closer, also Teleporters and the lights of randomly spawning Treasure Chests although these might be a bit hard to make out.
The area map is an aerial view, so anything that is higher up, like a tree top, is able to "cover" the view of whatever is below. Since they are 2D images, maps cannot be rotated.
At night the landscape on the area map will be shown just as dark on the map as the 3D surrounding is, and regions lit by artificial lighting will become well visible on the map.
As soon as you change the world by building something that is visibly from above, this will also become visible on the area map, but only on all areas that are close to your current position in the game world.
Area maps further away[]
If you are further away from an area that you want to inspect by using the map feature, you can click on the small arrows on the compass in the lower left corner to move to other areas than your current position.
However in this case even already unveiled areas will be shown blurred out, any alterations to the landscape like buildings etc. will not show on area maps that are further away from your position, while mobs and treasure chests are not shown at all (since they will usually only start spawning there when players come close and despawn after all players have left an area).
Game world basics[]
In principle, each Creativerse game world is divided into 20×20 (400) "areas", and each of these areas is divided into 8×8 = 64 possible claims (so 25 600 all in all).
Creativerse game worlds are not generated procedurally nor randomly. If you have created your game world after update R29 on February 24th 2016, your game world will be a (random) copy of one of the current 4 reference/template worlds available for Creativerse.
After update R14 ("biome update") on April 4th 2015 up to update R29 on February 24th 2016, four older template worlds were used, as revealed here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=634088783, where you can see all of their whole surface maps unveiled.
Any game worlds before April 4th 2015 have much less biomes, trees, plants, liquids on them, they are based on Early Access template worlds.
Claims on the map[]
The large overview map will show you players (use mouse-over to see their names) and claimed land - in different colors depending on your personal authorizations there.
Red Claims provide you with mere visitor-rights, so you cannot mine or harvest anything there (except for randomly spawning Treasure Chests and loot bags of creatures that you kill/dismiss there). Yellow claims grant you more rights like building, and blue claims are those that you have claimed yourself, so you're the owner with full authority there.