History Main / HighlyVisibleLandmark

These may be used to foreshadow an important future destination as an omnipresent MeaningfulBackgroundEvent. In this case, they tend to be initially inaccessible (or impossibly far away) and may exist moreso to taunt the players' curiosity about how their adventure may eventually lead to these endgame locations.

High visibility structures meant to help the audience (or characters) orient themselves in an open-world setting. Generally these structures can be seen from anywhere within a region, [[NoSenseOfDirection so people are less likely to get spatially confused]] and can judge where things are relative to the landmark. They also tend to be in the center of a given map but don't have to be.

Larger open worlds may have multiple of these landmarks built into the landscape, to make the environment easier to comprehend and navigate visually. These landmarks might also be part of a PortalNetwork to move between regions, or used in CrowsNestCartography.

!! Examples:

* Ride/DisneyThemeParks: In designing Ride/{{Disneyland}}, Walt used highly visible landmarks ("weenies", as he called them, after the way his dog would follow him around the house when he was carrying a hot dog) to draw the guests into the park and then into various sections, with Sleeping Beauty Castle at the center of the park drawing people down Main Street USA, then the rocket ship in Tomorrowland and the pirate ship in Fantasyland to guide them out of the hub. The idea expanded to the rest of the Ride/DisneyThemeParks, with each park having its own iconic landmark: Magic Kingdom parks have their castles, Epcot has Spaceship Earth, and Animal Kingdom has the Tree of Life, for example. In addition, sections of the park still have smaller "weenies" to draw guests in, such as Space Mountain in Tomorrowland, the Millennium Falcon in Galaxy's Edge, the international pavilions around World Showcase Lagoon in Epcot, the Tower of Terror at Disney Studios.

** The game map has surprisingly few traditional examples, only adding about 1 or 2 per nation. This includes Dragonspine's [[SlippySlideyIceWorld icy peak]], Seirai Island's [[PerpetualStorm central storm nexus]], Enkanomiya's [[FantasticLightSource artificial sun]], and [[PyramidPower The Mausoleum of King Deshret]]. Wangshu Inn is a minor example, only notable for being placed across the map to entice the player to venture in the direction Liyue harbor.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks SpiritTracks]]'': The Tower of the Spirits can be seen anywhere in Hyrule.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath O fThe Wild]]'' has these at several different levels of the game. The 4 Divine Beasts are the most obvious examples, being titan-like structures you can see from across the map that help you orient yourself. Visiting and overcoming each of them operates as a major goal of the game. Certain other features, especially Hebra Mountain, Death Mountain, the Dueling Peaks, and Hyrule Castle, dominate their regions and can be seen from literally miles away to peek player interest. The game also lets you place 6 PillarOfLight beacons wherever you choose.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom Tears of the Kingdom]]'': The geographic points from ''Breath Of The Wild'''s map remain, although additions are added such as the sky islands (and their falling debris). In the depths, the glowing Lightroots serve this function as well. Falling Star Fragments and glowing cave entrances are more temporary examples that can be seen vividly at night.

* ''[[VideoGame/SpiderManPS4 Spider-Man]]'': Being in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity it's only natural that there are plenty of tall buildings, but the main three for determining distance/location are the One World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, and Avengers Tower.

In video games, this operates as InstructiveLevelDesign, since players will naturally want to head towards large structures without needing to FollowThePlottedLine. Developers will sometimes subtly drill this into the player's mind using a VideoGameVista to force the camera towards the landmark.

As a destination these landmarks are convenient, since they don't require a map and can be identified on the horizon by eyesight alone. May foreshadow an important future destination as an omnipresent MeaningfulBackgroundEvent.

The location of a game's final boss is usually one of these landmarks. In this case, they tend to be initially inaccessible (or impossibly far away) and may exist moreso to taunt the players' curiosity about how their adventure may eventually lead to these endgame locations.

May foreshadow an important future destination as an omnipresent MeaningfulBackgroundEvent. As a destination they are convenient, since they don't require a map and can be identified on the horizon by eyesight alone.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'': The Tower of the Gods can be seen almost anywhere on the Great Sea once activated and can serve as a navigation point.

** ''VideoGame/SpiritTracks'': The Tower of the Spirits can be seen anywhere in Hyrule.
** ''VideoGame/BreathOfTheWild'' has these at several different levels of the game. The 4 Divine Beasts are the most obvious examples, being titan-like structures you can see from across the map that help you orient yourself. Visiting and overcoming each of them operates as a major goal of the game. Certain other features, especially Hebra Mountain, Death Mountain, the Dueling Peaks, and Hyrule Castle, dominate their regions and can be seen from literally miles away to peek player interest. The game also lets you place 6 PillarOfLight beacons wherever you choose.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom Tears of the Kingdom]]'': The geographic points from Breath Of The Wild's map remain, although additions are added such as the sky islands (and their falling debris). In the depths, the glowing Lightroots serve this function as well. Falling Star Fragments and glowing cave entrances are more temporary examples that can be seen vividly at night.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': The Swordmarch is a gigantic, tower-like sword that was once wielded by [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 The Mechonis]]. It can be seen throughout most of the game's map and acts as the gang's main destination for the first half of the game. It is also where [[HubLevel The City]] is located, [[spoiler:At least until the Moebius destroy the top of the Swordmarch, and the city folk have to relocate ]].

* Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda:

* ''VideoGame/OuterWilds'': ''The Sun'' is this by default, due to being the extremely bright gravitational center of the solar system and having all other planets moving relative to it. Anxiously considering your location relative to the sun takes on additional meaning once [[spoiler: the GroundhogDayLoop begins since it is the nexus from where the supernova begins.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Superhot}}'': A pyramid-shaped building can be seen from every level, looming closer and closer as you progress. [[spoiler: This turns out to be where the Pyramid Core is located at the endgame, which [[AiIsACrapshoot The System]] has brainwashed you into finding, in order to [[BrainUploading upload your mind into it.]] ]]

** The lift going down to Fortuna from the Orb Vallis has a smokestack - while the building itself isn't visible from afar, the black smoke it belches out certainly is.

[[folder: Real Life]]

'''Note: It is not enough to be a large structure, its function (either for the audience or for the characters) has to be its convenient visibility.'''

Large open worlds may have multiple of these landmarks built into the landscape, to make the environment easier to comprehend and navigate visually. These landmarks might also be part of a PortalNetwork to move between regions, or used in CrowsNestCartography.

In video games, this operates as InstructiveLevelDesign, since players will naturally want to head towards large structures without needing to FollowThePlottedLine. Developers will sometimes subtly drill this into the player's mind using a VideoGameVista, indicating where the player is meant to go from a high-up vantage point while also showing off the scenery.

May foreshadow an important future destination as an omnipresent MeaningfulBackgroundEvent. These structures are extremely convenient as destinations since they don't require a map and can be identified on the horizon by eyesight alone.

In video games, this operates as InstructiveLevelDesign, since players will naturally want to head towards large structures even without understanding what they are, making them an easy way to guide open-world adventurers without needing to FollowThePlottedLine. Developers will sometimes subtly drill this into the player's mind using a VideoGameVista, indicating where the player is meant to go from a high-up vantage point while also showing off the scenery.

'''Note: It is not enough to be a large structure, its function (either for the audience or for the characters) has to be its extreme visibility.'''

* the various ''Ride/DisneyThemeParks'' all depend on this concept, with ''Ride/WaltDisneyWorld'' having the most iconic examples. Each of its four parks has a central feature: The Disney Castle for the Magic Kingdom, Spaceship Earth (the giant ball thing) for Epcot, the Tree of Life for Animal Kingdom, and either the Tower of Terror or the Chinese Theater in Hollywood Studios.

In video games, this operates as InstructiveLevelDesign, since players will naturally want to head towards large structures even without understanding what they are, making them an easy way to guide open-world adventurers without needing to FollowThePlottedLine.

High visibility structures meant to help the audience (or characters) orient themselves in an open world setting. Generally these structures can be seen from anywhere within a region, [[NoSenseOfDirection so people are less likely to get spatially confused]] and can judge where things are relative to the landmark. They also tend to be in the center of a given map, but don't have to be.

May foreshadow an important future destination as an omnipresent MeaningfulBackgroundEvent. These structures are extremely convenient as destinations, since they don't require a map and can be identified on the horizon by eyesight alone.

In video games this operates as InstructiveLevelDesign, since players will naturally want to head towards large structures even without understand what they are, making them an easy way to guide open world adventurers without needing to FollowThePlottedLine.

The location of a game's final boss is usually one of these landmarks. In this case they tend to be initially inaccessible (or impossibly far away), and may exist moreso to taunt the players curiosity about how their adventure may eventually lead to this endgame locations.

These landmarks commonly manifest as a WorldTree, EvilTowerOfOminousness, PillarOfLight or DeathMountain. May involve some [[ArtisticLicenseGeography geographic artistic license]].

'''Note: It is not enough to be a large structure, it's function (either for the audience, or for the characters) has to be it's extreme visibility.'''

* Some interpretations of the Literature/BookOfGenesis claim the Tower of Babel was intended as such, to prevent people from getting lost and scattering too wide. Since this conflicted with God's orders for humanity to to spread over the Earth and fill it, he stopped the project.

* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'': Played with in the desert otherworld. Dana discovers the desert has a large mountain with a red blinking light as it's only landmark. Trying to walk away from the mountain or use it as a context clue to orient yourself inside the desert is useless, and leads to AlienGeometry. However, moving ''towards'' the mountain is permitted by the desert, making it at least a valid navigational target.

** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': The Throat of the World, Tamriel's tallest mountain, is visible from almost everywhere else in Skyrim. It is landmark of great historic significance to the native [[HornyVikings Nords]], believed by their old religion to be where the goddess Kyne "exhaled" and created mankind.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'': The Lucky 38, the tallest building in New Vegas, is visible from nearly all of the surrounding Mojave Desert. This is especially true at night, where it lights up like a towering beacon, broadcasting the location of New Vegas itself to all those around.

** The game map has surprisingly few traditional examples, only adding about 1 or 2 per nation. This include Dragonspine's [[SlippySlideyIceWorld icy peak]], Seirai Island's [[PerpetualStorm central storm nexus]], Enkanomiya's [[FantasticLightSource artificial sun]], and [[PyramidPower The Mausoleum of King Deshret]]. Wangshu Inn is a minor example, only notable for being placed across the map to entice the player to venture in the direction Liyue harbor.

* ''VideoGame/{{Journey}}'': Exaggerated. In the games opening, you awaken in an endless desert landscape with ''nothing'' but a solitary mountain in the distance, which becomes your unstated goal to reach.

** ''VideoGame/BreathOfTheWild'': Has these at several different levels of the game. The 4 Divine Beasts are the most obvious examples, being titan like structures you can see from across the map that help you orient yourself. Visiting and overcoming each of them operates as a major goal of the game. Certain other features, especially Hebra Mountain, Death Mountain, the Dueling Peaks, and Hyrule Castle, dominate their regions and can be seen from literally miles away to peek player interest. The game also lets you place 6 PillarOfLight beacons wherever you choose.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom Tears of the Kingdom]]'': The geographic points from Breath Of The Wild's map remain, although additions are added such as the sky islands (and their falling debris). In the depths the glowing Lightroots serve this function as well. Falling Star Fragments and glowing cave entrances are more temporary examples that can be seen vividly at night.

* ''VideoGame/OuterWilds'': ''The Sun'' is this by default, due to being the extremely bright gravitational center of the solar system and having all other planets moving relative to it. Anxiously considering your location relative to the sun takes on additional meaning once [[spoiler: the GroundhogDayLoop begins, since it is the nexus from where the supernova begins.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'': Upon death, your dropped belongings will emit a skyward beacon to help you find the location again. Each of the regions also have a boss that can be found in a highly visible [[EvilTowerOfOminousness menacing tower]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Sable}}'', almost all settlements and ruins are built in high places so they can be seen from far away. Individual [=NPC=]s out in the wild always have a campfire near them, which sends a column of smoke high up. Cartographers' balloons, which provide CrowsNestCartography, are always perched on one of the highest natural features they can find.

* ''VideoGame/{{Unreal|I}}'': The Sunspire is a huge pillar with an hotel crafted in its interior, complete with bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, a church and a wine cellar. It's seen right after the player enters the level "The Trench", roughly a quarter into the game's story, with the maze-like ISV-Kran levels and the Spire Village area prior to it.

* ''VideoGame/TheWitness'': The game is built around a mysterious mountain location, and every completed puzzle shoots a laser beam towards this mountain to further reinforce it's endgame importance. The sky lasers also help you determine which puzzles surrounding the mountain you still haven't done.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': The Cathedral of Light can be seen from just about anywhere in Stormwind City. In the vanilla game, it was actually a clever façade -- a fake 2D version of the cathedral was added to the skyline in various districts. When ''Cataclysm'' allowed players to fly in the old world, the cathedral was subtlety redesigned so the real building was visible from anywhere.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': The Swordmarch is a gigantic, tower-like sword that was once wielded by [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 The Mechonis]]. It can be seen throughout most of the game's map, and acts as the gang's main destination for the first half of the game. It is also where [[HubLevel The City]] is located, [[spoiler:At least until the Moebius destroy the top of the Swordmarch, and the city folk have to relocate ]].

* This used to be the function of [[LighthousePoint lighthouses]] before GPS navigation rendered them obsolete. Many towns have a central clocktower or monument intended to serve this purpose as well.

[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Journey}}'': Exaggerated. In the games opening, you awaken in an endless desert landscape with ''nothing'' but a large mountain in the distance as your unstated goal to reach.

** ''VideoGame/BreathOfTheWild'': Has these at several different levels of the game. The 4 Divine Beasts are the most obvious examples, being titan like structures you can see from across the map that help you orient yourself. Visiting and overcoming each of them operates as a major goal of the game. Certain other features, especially Hebra Mountain, Death Mountain, and Hyrule Castle, dominate their regions and can be seen from literally miles away to peek player interest. The game also lets you place 6 PillarOfLight beacons wherever you choose.

'''Note: This is not for any large structure, it's function (either for the audience, or for the characters) has to be it's extreme visibility.'''

High visibility structures meant to help the audience (or characters) orient themselves in an open world setting. Generally these structures can be seen from anywhere within a region, [[NoSenseOfDirection so people are less likely to get spatially confused]] and can judge where things are relative to the landmark. These tend to be in the center of a given map, but don't have to be.

Can also foreshadow an important future destination as a MeaningfulBackgroundEvent. These structures are extremely convenient as destinations, since they don't require a map and can be identified on the horizon by eyesight alone.

Can also foreshadow an important future destination as a MeaningfulBackgroundEvent. They are also extremely convenient as destinations, since they don't require a map and can be identified on the horizon by eyesight.

Note this is not for any large structure, it's function (either for the audience, or for the characters) has to be it's extreme visibility.

Index: ShowDontTell, DangerousHeights, NavigationTropes, StatuesMonumentsAndMemorials