By name: teleport-map-unlock description: >- Architecture blueprint for fast travel, waypoint networks, and map unlocking: region reveal, fog-of-war data, tower/statue/item/proximity unlocks, waypoint registries, stable IDs, spawn placement, discovery states, atomic teleport sequences, streaming gates, camera warps, large-world precision, networked teleport, and travel policy. Use when designing fast travel, teleports, waypoint activation, map reveal, or when players fall through the world, cameras whiplash, maps drown in icons, or quests leave travel locked.
Teleport & Map Unlock
Build the fast-travel layer of an open-world game: how the map gets revealed, how the waypoint network grows, how a teleport executes, and what travel policy the game adopts. References: BotW/TotK (towers, 142 Travel Gates) and Genshin (638 waypoints, statues, multi-layer maps), with the Morrowind→Oblivion→Ubisoft-tower design lineage and Spider-Man/Rift Apart seamless tech.
The architecture rule
One unlock model, one waypoint registry, one teleport sequence — the map UI and the travel UI both derive from the same flags.
UNLOCK/REVEAL terrain layer (per region) + POI layer (per item) + icon states;
fog as flags/bitmask; choose tower / proximity / item / purchase
WAYPOINT stable ID, type, world+map position + MAP LAYER, DESIGNATED SPAWN
REGISTRY POINT + FACING (never the marker), visibility condition, state
TELEPORT validate → confirm → input lock → fade → CanSave=false → move
SEQUENCE streaming source → AWAIT RESIDENCY (cells+collision+navmesh) →
place at spawn (velocity zeroed, interp reset) → restore → camera
DESIGN POLICY earned-only, the cost/restriction matrix, density, topology
In-world teleport = a streaming jump with all the hard gates of
open-world-streaming. Cross-instance teleport (domains) goes through the
scene-flow-manager handshake — never a raw streaming-source move.
Reference map
| File | Covers |
|---|---|
| unlock-reveal.md | The two-layer unlock model (terrain vs POI), the chained statue unlock, fog-of-war data structures, the reveal-method spectrum (tower / proximity / item / statue / visit / purchase), the Ubisoft-tower lineage and "tower fatigue", icon-soup and decluttering, multi-layer maps, accessibility |
| waypoint-registry.md | The waypoint definition schema, the designated spawn point + facing, network shapes and density, dynamic-lifecycle waypoints, player-placed waypoints, discovery UX |
| teleport-sequence.md | The atomic state-machine sequence, the residency gate (fall-through defenses), physics-safe placement, camera warp, large-world precision (floating origin / LWC), seamless no-loading travel, save integration, networked/anti-cheat teleport |
| design-policy.md | The cost/restriction spectrum (diegetic → free), the history (Morrowind → Oblivion → Ubisoft tower), the cannibalization-vs-respecting-time debate, earned-only, the restriction matrix, density and topology, travel-as-content |
| pitfalls.md | 16 failure modes (symptom → cause → prevention) with real incidents (New World fall-through, BotW softlock, Sumeru layer mismatch, tower fatigue), debugging order, ship checklist |
What the shipped data proves
- Two decoupled reveal layers: BotW towers download terrain only (relief, water, roads) — POI stay hidden until found or scoped. Genshin statues additionally reveal the area's locked waypoints (a chained unlock). Map UI, travel UI, and completion % all derive from the same flags.
- Spawn ≠ marker: Genshin statues teleport to specific per-statue coordinates; BotW Travel Gates spawn Link facing outward. The designated spawn point and facing are data.
- Loading is hardware-dominated (measured): BotW Switch 19–30 s → Switch 2 ~12 s; Genshin NVMe 3–8 s / HDD 20–30 s — neither does seamless teleports, the residency guarantee is worth the screen.
Build order (4 shippable tiers)
Tier 1 — The registry and the sequence
- [ ] Waypoint definitions as data (ID, type, positions, spawn point + facing,
map layer) + activation state in the save
- [ ] The atomic teleport sequence with residency gates and timeout fallback
- [ ] Physics-safe placement: velocity zeroed, interp reset, camera warp notify
- [ ] Map-as-travel-UI: tap pin → confirm → travel
Tier 2 — Unlock and reveal
- [ ] Region unlock flags driving terrain reveal; choose a reveal method
- [ ] Tower/statue activation flow (interact → flag → reveal + waypoint grant)
- [ ] Icon state pipeline (hidden / visible-locked / activated)
- [ ] Discovery UX; decluttering plan (avoid icon soup)
Tier 3 — Policy and edge cases
- [ ] The restriction matrix as data (per-context rules + denial messages)
- [ ] Spawn safety: capsule overlap validation, fallback offsets
- [ ] CanSave=false during the sequence; idempotent requests
- [ ] Large-world precision: floating origin (Unity) or LWC (UE5) at corners
Tier 4 — Layers, instances, player waypoints, online
- [ ] Multi-layer maps: layer is waypoint DATA
- [ ] Cross-instance teleport through the scene-flow handshake
- [ ] Player-placed waypoints (limit, lifetime, placement validation)
- [ ] Networked teleport: server-validated destination, co-op spawn slots
Key numbers (starting points — sourced anchors)
| Parameter | Value | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Network sizes | BotW 120 shrines + 15 towers on 80 km²; Genshin 638 waypoints + 50 statues | wiki/datamine |
| Density | BotW |
derived |
| Load times | BotW Switch 19–30 s → Switch 2 ~12 s; Genshin NVMe 3–8 s / HDD 20–30 s | measured |
| Float precision | Unity jitter from ~2–5 km out; UE5 LWC doubles default since 5.1 | docs |
| Spider-Man streaming | ~800 tiles of 128 m², ~1 tile/sec; fast travel masked by subway anim | PS Blog |
| Discovery pointer | locked-waypoint 3D pointer: appears ≤30 m, gone >40 m (hysteresis) | wiki |
| Player waypoints | 1 (BotW DLC, Genshin 7-day) → 3 (TotK, gated by regions mapped) | wiki |
| Dragon's Dogma 2 | Portcrystal $2.99 MTX backlash; Capcom pointedly did NOT sell Ferrystones | press |
Full sourced tables (with flagged "do-not-invent" gaps) in each reference file.
Engine mapping (summary)
| Generic block | Unity 6 | UE5 (5.4+) |
|---|---|---|
| Body teleport | rb.position (not MovePosition) + Physics.SyncTransforms(); toggle interpolation around the set |
SetActorLocation(..., TeleportPhysics) + zero CharacterMovement->Velocity |
| Camera warp | CinemachineCore.OnTargetObjectWarped (CM3 static) |
toggle SpringArm camera lag (community pattern) |
| AI | NavMeshAgent.Warp() |
destination navmesh streamed (WP per cell) |
| Streaming jump | Addressables + hand-rolled residency gate | WP Streaming Source → IsStreamingCompleted → teleport; bBlockOnSlowLoading |
| Large worlds | floating origin — the teleport fade is the ideal rebase moment | LWC doubles on by default since 5.1 |
| Networked | server validates intent, replicates position | Server RPC + WithValidation |
Full detail in teleport-sequence.md.
Related skills
open-world-streaming— the residency gates this sequence awaits.scene-flow-manager— cross-instance teleports use its handshake.minimap-worldmap— fog rendering, marker registry, map layers UI (this skill owns the unlock data model, that one owns the display).save-persistence— unlock flags, CanSave gate, atomic writes.traversal-system— the teleport-vs-traversal tension; earned-only as the shared principle.quest-system— priority-quest teleport locks; quest-gated waypoint visibility.camera-system— warp notification, post-teleport framing.coop-session— server-authoritative teleport, spawn-slot resolution.