Lore idea: interactive map

SerBlaise·Sep 17, 2014·42 votes·9,790 views

I think it would be awesome if riot made an interactive lore map for their world. This one just doesn't do the game lore justice: http://leaguetales.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/20120626-174131.jpg

I think it could show character origins and their interactions, along with identifying the locations of the current in game maps. It would also help people get more invested in the lore. Thoughts?

23 Comments

cshakesSep 17, 201416 votes

How about, click on a clickable location and then it sort of zooms in, with some pictures of the region, a short description of what it's like, and some history, plus any champions. Perhaps even small sketch-like images of champions interacting with the environment? (J4 giving a speech, LB and Swain plotting in privacy, etc) And a map that'd show the region in even more detail (Shadow Isles map that shows where the TT is, for ex.)

So, essentially a Region Page for all the pieces of text on the map, showing;

More detailed map
Pictures
Short description
History
Associated champions

Yes, even for Urtistan, the Fyrone Flats, Kumungu, the Plague Jungles, the Ironspike Mountains and all the other places from which no/few champions hail. The regions have histories, there are stories to be told, Ezreal's probably been there, and perhaps the lore team would become inspired enough to pitch a champion lore for a local.

KryktalSep 18, 20144 votes

Agreed. To build upon your points.

More detailed map

The map doesn't have to be too detailed I would say, Simply show major cities and landmarks aswell as SOME minor stuff that has a reason for being there within the region. (I think in my mind im picturing a WoW esk style of map navigation.) Possibly they could secretly add locations to the map when noone is paying attention in order to hint at new lore, or even hint at new champions etc.

Pictures / Videos I envision a sort of tab which is clickable which brings up a media browser where the user can go through champion art/concept art, landscape/concept art, etc. etc. Pretty simple concept here.

Videos can also be stored here, such as the cinematic and lore videos they are coming out with.

Short description -The short description should be SHORT and entice the use enough with rich storytelling to make the user want to click on some form of a "Take a look deeper into the lore of ______" kindof button which is maybe under the short paragraph portion?
History Tieing in with the short description, this could be a very detailed in depth portion of lore, which die hard players would embrace.
Associated champions I believe this should be simply mixed in with the history/short description/overall feel of the region. Possibly little champion portraits next to specific parts of the region which when clicked, bring up some lore and concept art which demonstrates the lore.

Overall I think its a great idea to expand the map. It will allow players to create more space in there mind, and enable a broader connection to be made when the user is in game. Simply a person saying, "hey, I know the lore between me and the character on the other team", will help the game be driven even deeper into players minds, and hearts alike.

cshakesSep 18, 20143 votes

So, like this? https://imgur.com/cyVfWw2

(Please excuse the color scheme and scales, I can't get GIMP 2.6 on Arch, 2.8 is too bizarre for me, and Pinta has very limited features.)

I'm envisioning the "Read more"s being fancy JavaScript to open out more lore onto that page. Maybe some fancy artwork? Also, this'd be a good place to store all characters' promotional material/League Judgements/"full lore" etc.

KryktalSep 18, 20142 votes

I like it, but I think more of an interactive design would assist the younger age group of players who just don't want to read all the history on one page. (obviously your working with your limits, which is good! We need to entice the user with interesting visuals and offer them the opportunity to look into the lore more, don't force it upon them with walls of text, which yours isn't a massive wall of text, but I think a simpler feel to what I'm feeling. Think about when we were kids. I hated reading but LOVED picture books. In my eyes this same concept applies here.

I've went ahead and whipped up some mockups, aswell as expanding upon your concept with a little more detailed analysis.

Here is the basic interactive map screen.

The same as yours, the only difference being that when a region is moused over, the regions borders become slightly outlined, and the background (the rest of the map) becomes slightly faded. This allows the user to know which region he or she is currently mousing over, without confusion.

Here is the region screen.

Upon clicking on a region, a dark black/opaque box fades in and info loads up on top of the box. Here is all the basics for the region. (NOTE: I was kind of doing this quickly so I used some old splash arts and stuff just to get the point across :)
All pictures are clickable and lead into another lore screen.
The only thing I'm not happy with in this screen to a degree is the "Click any of the pictures to the right" sentence, because I feel it could be done a different, more appealing way, but I have to leave my home soon so I'm not going to worry about it much :D.

Here is a specific lore screen (Ashe).

Upon Ashe's screen being clicked, the old content from the region screen fades away, and Ashe's information fades in. Perhaps artist could put a cool loading animation so that all the info loads at once. The loading symbol could be as simple as the classic rotating circle thingy, or could be customized, in this case to be an icicle growing downward until it breaks off and loads the page. (I don't think that would be very simple to do, and most likely would be not a great investment in resources time wise.
In the lore screen, it shows some info about the champion, and some concept art etc etc.

In conclusion

One thing that I think I've learned about this whole idea is that, IF RIOT DOES DO THIS. IT MUST DIFFERENTIATE ITSELF FROM THE WIKI. Essentially this would be just a more interactive wiki. Riot must find a way to make it an experience. If done correctly I do think it will be a great assistant to League players all around the world.

Thanks for reading!

cshakesSep 19, 20141 votes

Yeah, I guess people might like animations and all the visual bells and whistles. I've actually done web page design with JavaScript, so now I'm an ardent minimalist who hates all animations and flashy JS :P (Minimalism is also better for mobile users.) Good idea with the hilighting of the mousover region.

I agree that some differentiation from the Wiki would be good, but I was envisioning that they'd do that by providing more information, a map, and pretty pictures.

ïîïSep 17, 20144 votes

Or they can just make a movie

SerBlaiseSep 17, 20146 votes

with all the high quality animations they've come up with....they probably could. Though I would prefer a TV show i could binge watch on Netflix. =]

JimmyyySep 17, 20146 votes

Any true league of legends fan wishes for a series of movies or television show episodes that they can watch!

XyphiosSep 17, 20145 votes

It should be an anime.

DeDleckSep 18, 20142 votes

Of course we wish for that. It would be the TV show I would prefer to watch over mythbusters.

sp441Sep 17, 20144 votes

I hope you're not talking about stuff like A Twist of Fate, or A New Dawn. As cool as they were, they weren't anything outside of 10 people smacking the crap out of eachother.

SerBlaiseSep 17, 20143 votes

true. but it definitely shows that they have the artistic ability to pull it off. What they really need is a good interwoven story line.

Cptkiller856Sep 18, 20144 votes

Why not both?

MeBuffULongTimeSep 17, 20144 votes

Yes! Definitely! I love maps in general, but I agree that this would definitely help people to understand the connections and relationships between characters, factions, and regions. Please do this Riot!

kitcat300Sep 18, 20144 votes

I would settle with just a new map. The map of Freljord is a good example of the detail that could be used for the rest of Runeterra.

cshakesSep 18, 20143 votes

Highjacking the "new map" comment to say that the current map makes very little climatological sense. Bandle City should be a parched desert, since the Sablestone Mountains would cause all moisture in the air to rain down. (Assuming that Planet Runeterra rotates similarly to the Earth, with the Sun rising in the East.) The map also needs a rescaling; the north-south axis should be elongated. (I keep placing the Great Barrier as equivalent to the Alps, then scaling the Plague Jungles to somewhere around Italy/Spain and the Freljord to be level with the Baltic Sea's southern coast. Might be just me making things too small, though.)

So, here's what I'd change:

Flip East-West
Make Valoran noticeably taller than it is wide (Noxus and Demacia can still march armies at each other, but the north-south separations are large enough to justify different climates in Shurima and Kumungu.)
Kumungu and the Plague Jungles are placed on a protrusion to the south (so that they aren't in the Sablestone Mountains' rain shadow). Shurima extends southward.
Freljord protrudes further north, Piltover and Zaun moved further south. Ionia moved to the south, also.

SerBlaiseSep 18, 20141 votes

I am impressed by your commitment.

AbiwonKenabiSep 18, 20141 votes

Commenting on Bandle City, the Sablestone Mountains could be like the Appalachian Mountains of North America, which is an extremely old mountain range that is not tall enough to cause rain shadow. Of course, there's the whole deal where the Shurima desert and Voodoo lands(presumably a plain-type environment) are very close to the west side of the Sablestones, but I still think this explanation is plausible. I've seen more flawed fantasy maps before.

XyphiosSep 17, 20142 votes

You won the internet.

LegostrikeSep 17, 20142 votes

I thought you meant a playable map that adapted with the lore, like it's a village one patch but the scene of a great battle the next.

AkaiNeko4Sep 19, 20141 votes

I've wanted something like this for a while. Good to see I'm not alone!

freak zombie kidJun 2, 20151 votes

I'm sure this topic has been brought up with Riot. Its going to take a long time if they're going to do this. It's a good a idea and they should. I also like to know more about my favorite Champions home land and how it's like growing up in their homeland Amumu would like that xD