So i want to give as much freedom to the player in my game as possible. My whole game is revolving around your kingdom. The kingdom is set in the middle of the map, and there are 3 different areas surrounding it. Every area is composed of smaller parts (like hexagons), and every part is a 2d part of the world.
Now the main issue is this, not all of the parts and areas should be unlocked. I am thinking something like when you choose a hexagon all surrounding hexagons unlock.
And then its up to player to chose does he want to stay in the area to explore or move on to some other part.
And once he chooses a part where should he start? In the middle of it? And how should he end? Does he have to explore a certain amount of the part he is in or can he just chose when ever he fells like it?
Its very important to me because i want my game to rely mostly on combat, so its gonna be like some hack'n slash, but it will have RPG elements as well.
Hope you understand what I am saying. If you have a better idea that works as an open world I would love to hear it, because I'm not sure what is the best way to make a side-scroller feel big and open.
Thanks in advance.
P.S. they don't have to be hexagons they can be squares .
I would put a link so you can see what type of the map i mean but i cant.