I looked through the first few pages and didn't see this, if there is already a thread like this. If one does exist, I'm sorry, and feel free to merge/delete this one

One of my biggest pet peeves is that the roads aren't visible on the ingame map. I am constantly reaching for the physical map to figure out which road I should take. What I would like to see is a map like the physical one ingame instead of the 3d one we currently have. The current one looks pretty, but it's not very useful when trying to figure out which fork in a road you should be taking.

I would also like to place multiple map markers, and hopefully with custom icons. I saw a mod like this for Oblivion, but I don't remember what it was called... it would also be amazing if we could name the markers as well.

Feel free to tack on any more ideas if you have any! I'm hoping this (the first part at least) would be a relatively easy mod to make, but I know nothing about modding except how to download them, lol, so I wouldn't know.

Edit:
Other suggestions by people in this thread (I don't necessarily agree or disagree with all of the suggestions below):

• M'aiq - Ability to zoom out to see the entire map
  
• Proditious - Ability to disable clouds - INI tweak available http://skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=253
  Spoiler

  Remove the cloud textures from your map by entering this value
  
  [MapMenu]
  sMapCloudNIF=0
  
  at the end of your C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Skyrim.ini
  
  (note: not the skyrimprefs ini)
  
  Enjoy =)
• costi - Smaller map markers & smaller 'hitboxes'
  
• sosolidshoe - Make compass markers only appear when you are closer to the target; make compass icons for undiscovered locations generic; option to turn off fast travel; expand carriage network to include Ivarstead.

Yeah, I'm with you on this.

Some people have been proposing a 2D map, but I'm personally more interested in just getting some visual representation for roads on the 3D map. Even just a faint outline overlay with a toggle would be nice.

Agreed, I dont like the map, it has the feeling of zooming out and being god for a bit. I prefer Oblivion where it feels as if the player is opening up an old map to check where they are. I like the visuals of the new 3d map, but practically speaking it doesnt do what I want it to do.

I love the 3D map personally, I worry putting more detail into it would ruin the exploration factor for me but I can see how it could be useful

Should be pretty easy to get an in game map, at the very least as a book in your inventory as there's already the texture of the map in the game. I think I saw it on a table in the keep in Whiterun and it's an exact carbon copy of the physical map you get with the game.

Mind you if you have to open a book out of your inventory it's probably easier just to reach for the physical map

I'm proposing a 2d map because it would be easier than modifying the 3d map, but I'm not picky. I'd prefer the 2d for RP/immersion reasons, but I'm not so nitpicky that I'd turn down a 3d map if someone made one xD

What I'm proposing is just the main roads that go between the main cities, like what we have on the paper map they gave us. Since we already have the icons for the major cities in our map, it wouldn't tell us where anything else is, just how to get there

Yeah, when I go for the physical map I open the ingame one at the same time so I can get an approximate idea of where I am. Switching between two ingame maps is just as much of a pain, if not more so, lol.

My biggest problem with the ingame map is that it doesn't let you zoom out enough to see the entirety of it. Having to pan around all the time is frustrating.

That, and it'd be nice if there was a way to disable the clouds.

http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=145

Added those suggestions to the OP

I never noticed any clouds, but since I'm playing on the lowest graphics settings, that might be why xD I also don't get to see most spell animations

http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=145

No idea if it works or not... but to me it looks like it...

This messed my map up completely, everything was foggy and I couldn't move the camera out towards the edge.

Did you not read the instructions that he left?... that might help fix the problem i belive you have to edit some files. Check again anyway.

I did check and it didn't help.

Ok... well i did say i haven't tested it and didn't know if worked maybe he will fix it though.

Unfortunately, those textures of the map are way too small. They're only 512x512. If only Bethesda would release a very large download of the map image.

This might help you out:

http://paparoach-slowdown.blogspot.com/2011/11/skyrim-map-in-full-3d-by-mikanoshi.html

You can zoom in to crazy levels. Might reveal too much about the world though..

There's a higher res version that shows up on one of the loading screens. Maybe that one could be used? (and while we're at it replace those awful low res ones in game?)

Actually, what I hate most about the new map is the size of the markers - they're rather big, and on top of that have very large "hitboxes", so placing a marker exactly where I want is is quite a challenge...

Re: Clouds, there's an ini tweak here that gets rid of them:
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/forum/183-skyrim-mods/

When I click that link it just takes me back to the main mods forum page.

Edit, think I found what you meant to link to here - http://skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=253

Bump

I really think we need a general navigation overhaul; replacement of the map with a parchment-style one with major roads marked, reduction in size of location icons, reduction of hitbox for location icons, change the icons that appear on the compass so they only appear at a much smaller distance away from the location, and replace the current specific "undiscovered" icons with a single generic one regardless of what type of location it is(I can see the justification for the compass as an abstraction of my character thinking "hmm, that rock formation might have a cave in it" or "hmm, those standing stones in the distance look interesting", but it gives the player too much information). Ideally it would also set the fast travel variable to off, and expand the existing cart+horse network very slightly to include Ivarstead(because otherwise getting to High Hrothgar would be a gigantic pain in the [censored]). It might be worth finding someone who's good with graphic design to redo the entire set of map icons to better fit the new aesthetic.

Added your suggestion to the OP

I agree with most of your suggestions, but I hope any map mod that messes with fast travel would either have two versions (one that allows fast travel and one that doesn't) or an option. I normally walk, but I do occasionally use fast travel, so I would prefer it to stay available for me

Up.