When "North is always up," isn't the Atlantic *always* going to be on the right?
They don't make a GPS with a GlaDDs voice?
THEY MUST!
LAN3: Yes, whoops. I'd try to explain the mental lapse that led to that and while it might be more complex than one would expect it's likely not as interesting as I think it is.
Nick B: they come pretty darn close with the Garmin nuvi 260, I'll tell you what.
GLaDOS GPS would be very creepy. And you'd be disinclined to follow her directions. "Turn left up ahead for cake!"
Kirk: We'd have believed you if you said it was one of those counter-intuitive things, like how if you start in Detroit and head south, you'll hit Canada.
heheh
well the short of it is: for whatever dumb reason I started describing relative positions AFTER applying the mental rotation I needed to correct the situation. I saw the cape looking "upsidedown", mentally placed myself in the map facing north, and even though my mental avatar was "upside down" he at least had the ocean to his right. Which I then decided to complain about.
Gah. It seemed to make some sort of sense at the time.
Actually, I figured this was the case, rather than a specific left-right transposition. Because the idea of the Atlantic being on the "wrong side" is a little irritating, and you, a gamer, are accustomed already to maps that could scroll in directions other than forward (but this would make more sense in 2-D) so I figured that fixed the problem in your head before you put words to the problem.
I also suspect you're responding to the verbal directions as well. I say this because, well, picture a North-is-up orientation-- suppose you're driving south and it tells you to make a left turn. You have an arrow pointing down (or towards you) and then turning to your right. I think that would disturb a lot of drivers who are screen-watchers. Hmm, I wonder how many accidents are caused not by erroneous GPS maps/data but drivers watching the screen isntead of the road?
(ugh comment spammers must be attracted to talk of current retail products)
LAN3: yeah, you pretty much nailed it.
The 2D-only 2610 had an elegant compromise; at the same time it was announcing the turn the view switched from "up is north" to a zoomed-in "car direction (at start of turn) is up" view that lasted 'til you made it through.
It might well be videogames, and the 2610's Asteroids-ship like car marker, that makes me happier when the whole world is rotating around me. (At least in the GPS sense)