Skyrim - Official Strategy Guide Blog about Maps in Skyrim

Really! It's still lunch, I'm gonna try it. Thanks! :)

EDIT: geunthar, is there something missing from the end of the last line?

No difference.

I'm seriously thinking none of my .ini changes are being recognized by Skyrim.
First I'm unable to equate the vertical mouse sensitivity, and now this.

My changes were in:

\My Documents\My Games\Skyrim\SkyrimPrefs.ini

Wrong file, eh?

EDIT 2: Well the zoom level range is very nice now, BUT the map is unreadable. It's too saturated, as if gamma was turned up too high.
 
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You could try the newer version of this below but for me it is the same and it looks like we will have to wait till the CK comes out to remove the fog covering the map before we can actually see correctly.

[MapMenu]
bWorldMapNoSkyDepthBlur=1
fWorldMapNearDepthBlurScale=0
fWorldMapDepthBlurScale=0
fWorldMapMaximumDepthBlur=0
fMapMenuOverlayNormalStrength=2.2000
fMapMenuOverlayNormalSnowStrength=0.8000
fMapWorldMaxPitch=360.0000
fMapWorldMinPitch=0.0000
fMapWorldYawRange=3600.0000
fMapWorldTransitionHeight=130000.0000
fMapWorldMaxHeight=130000.0000
fMapWorldMinHeight=130.0000
fMapWorldCursorMoveArea=0.9000
fMapWorldHeightAdjustmentForce=100.0000
fMapWorldZoomSpeed=0.0500
fMapLookMouseSpeed=3.0000
fMapMoveKeyboardSpeed=0.0005
fMapZoomMouseSpeed=5.0000
sMapCloudNIF=0

PS. Have you tried turning the Opacity all of the way up in the settings? That took care of readability problems I was having.

PPS. When you put in the mouse sensitivity lines in the ini that I posted before did you make sure to put them in the skyrim.ini since they won't work in the skyrimprefs.ini?
 
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Ah, really about the mouse sensitivity? OK, I can't resist. I'm trying it. Thanks!

It works now. Thanks! I've been told to make the changes in 3 different files, and this is the only one that seems to take. I love the quality of the advice on the internets. ;)

But.... my "HUD Opacity" is turned all the way up within the in-game settings, and the map is still unreadable.
 
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I wouldn't worry about the in-game map too much if you're playing the PC version. I'm sure there will probably be a dozen different map mods by the end of the month.
 
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it is odd that it is unreadable for you since the names and icons are on a different layer above the map so shouldn't be affected by this. The only problem I have that the visibility of the map goes down significantly with these changes. You could try lowering the gamma in the skyrimprefs.ini to see if that helps.
 
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By "unreadable" I was speaking of being able to "read" the map in terms of roads and geography, not the little icons, which are just markers on the map rather than the map itself. I can see the markers fine on the original map. I want to zoom so I can see the roads and geography better.
 
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The whole "clouds clear over what you explored" thing has to be false. I just played some more and over areas I have explored it was cloudy, but over areas I have not it was clear.
 
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I find the in-game world map very hard to read. There are no roads that I can see, just a mess of snow and mountains with towns overlaid. How the hell am I supposed to find my way in Skyrim like that? It took me a long time to travel to that Graybeards hell hole!

Actually there is a spell called Clairvoyance from the College of Illusion that shows you the shortest road to follow to reach the destination of your active quest.
 
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Yes, but it only shows a short distance at a time unless you have high skill. It also burns mana like crazy :)
 
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I saw that spell and thought of Fable 3's golden trail almost immediately. It's good to hear it isn't that powerful. I have it, but refuse to cast the dang thing. I'm finding more stuff if I get lost on my way to my destination or I get sidetracked. I had to force myself to stick to the main quest so that I could learn more about shouts. There were so many places to visit on my way to my destination that sticking to the main quest was very difficult.
 
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I saw that spell and thought of Fable 3's golden trail almost immediately. It's good to hear it isn't that powerful. I have it, but refuse to cast the dang thing. I'm finding more stuff if I get lost on my way to my destination or I get sidetracked. I had to force myself to stick to the main quest so that I could learn more about shouts. There were so many places to visit on my way to my destination that sticking to the main quest was very difficult.

If you're in a cave and there are two routes and you want to know which is the "side route" and which is the "progress route" then that spell is pretty handy.
 
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I am trying to keep my illusion skill up with archery and sneak and one-handed. So I gave in to spamming Clairvoyance a bit to raise my illusion skill. It hardly burns any mana if you hold it for short bursts.

So I have already run into one of the things I don't like. Sometimes you have to do tedious training activities to build yourself the character you want. Boring crap.
 
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Good, wouldn't want to make it too easy. I did run into that spell, but didn't get it.

It also doesn't always work. I was looking for something and just could find it then remembered I had that spell. So I cast it and off I went. However, I got to a certain point and when I cast it again it showed no path and instead gave me a message about "There is no clear path from here" or something like that.
 
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You can find that particular spell early on in a mine.
 
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While much loot is random, some things are placed according to the Strategy Guide.
 
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