[Feature Request] 2D Map Mode
The 2D view in Ingress is useful. However, it should not be the 'normal' view. Make it a separate 'mode' like the Rocket Radar, instead of the ultimate conclusion to zooming, and lock us to 60 degrees on pinch zoom.
When most of us started playing, 1.x capped out at about 60 degrees. It mean that you were always in an isometric 3D view that helped with depth and the AR feeling.
Under Prime, the game caps out at the full 2D mode. This has it's benefits:
- You can see more area.
- You can plan out links better.
- The UI fades so you can see more that would have been obscured.
However, it also causes some other issues:
- Neutral portals are newly indiscernable from XM and almost unclickable.
- You're so "far" from the ground that you're disconnected and lose some of the AR feeling.
- The UI disappears, so you can't click Cubes or enter menus.
The last point on both lists is a polar opposite, which is why the mode has its supporters and detractors. It has real use but only in certain circumstances.
Therefore, in UX terms, it should be a selectable mode. Use the example of the Rocket Radar in PoGo, where tapping on it changes to a top down map that shows you where a nearby Team Rocket pokestop is. You don't need it all the time, and it would be an annoying thing to have.
By adding as a mode you also have an additional set of possibilities:
- You could allow it to pan and zoom giving you the ability to plan links and fields
- I could even function as a mini Intel allowing you to plot links, which you could return to the normal view to implement.
- Neutral Portals can be represented more clearly without affecting the other portals.
- You could even display names below portals on that 2D map.
This would present and alternate way of looking at the area, which is halfway between gameplay and Intel map, and give relief for all the issues with neutral portals etc.