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Outward 2's In-Game Maps Are Genuine Hand-Painted Watercolors — Here's Why That Matters for Exploration

Outward 2's In-Game Maps Are Genuine Hand-Painted Watercolors — Here's Why That Matters for Exploration

Outward 2's In-Game Maps Are Genuine Hand-Painted Watercolors — Here's Why That Matters for Exploration

Most games generate their maps programmatically or commission digital illustrations. Outward 2 did neither. Every map you'll find in the game was painted by hand — ink and watercolor on physical paper — by Italian cartographer Moreno Paissan, then scanned and integrated into the game. Moreno confirmed this himself on Reddit's r/outwardgame community on September 7, 2026, introducing himself as the official cartographer who created all the maps in Outward 2.

For a game series built around survival, hardship, and the feeling that the world doesn't care about you, that choice of medium is not a small detail.

Who Made the Maps

Moreno Paissan (Instagram: @morenopaissanart) is an illustrator and cartographer whose work emphasizes traditional media. His Reddit post was straightforward: "I'm Moreno, the cartographer who drew all the maps you can find in Outward 2! I hope you like the maps; they were hand-painted using ink and watercolor, then scanned!"

This is consistent with the tone Nine Dots Studio has maintained throughout Outward's development — an emphasis on authenticity and craft over polish. The original Outward already leaned into old-school design philosophy, where information wasn't handed to players and navigation required genuine attention. Outsourcing the maps to a traditional artist fits that ethos.

What Hand-Painted Maps Actually Suggest About Outward 2's World Design

This is where it gets interesting for players thinking about Outward 2 exploration and navigation.

Maps as Physical Objects, Not HUD Overlays

In the original Outward, maps were items you obtained in the game world — you didn't spawn with a minimap or a GPS-style tracker. The hand-painted style in Outward 2 strongly suggests the sequel continues this design: maps as tangible objects with real visual weight, not UI elements.

If the maps were simply overlaid on a HUD, the hand-painted quality would be largely wasted — compressed thumbnails on a screen edge don't need to be watercolor originals. The fact that Nine Dots brought in a traditional cartographer implies these maps are meant to be looked at, examined, and used in a way where their visual character matters. That's a navigation system designed around the object itself.

What the Art Style Communicates About Scale

Watercolor and ink cartography has specific visual vocabulary. It implies:

  • Imprecision by design — hand-drawn maps don't have the pixel-perfect accuracy of satellite imagery. Roads curve, distances feel approximate, landmarks are rendered by impression rather than measurement. This creates genuine navigation uncertainty, which Outward has always used as a tension mechanic.
  • Regional character — different areas of Aurai can be rendered in visually distinct styles, with different cartographers' "voices" or different levels of detail suggesting how well-explored or documented a region is. A dense forest might be sketched with heavy ink strokes; a known trade route might be clean and precise; an unmapped wilderness might be blank or marked with only rough landmarks.
  • Lore integration — in a world where information is precious and maps are rare, the fact that someone painted this map is itself a story. Who was the cartographer who mapped this region? When? For whom?

Implications for Outward 2 Navigation Tips

Based on what we know about Outward's navigation design philosophy — and extrapolating from the hand-painted map approach — here are practical things to keep in mind when you're exploring Aurai in Outward 2:

Study your map before you move. In a game where maps are painted objects rather than live GPS overlays, the information they contain is finite and fixed. Before heading into unknown territory, cross-reference what the map shows with in-world landmarks. A painted coastline or mountain range gives you a frame of reference even if the scale isn't perfect.

Landmarks over distances. Hand-drawn cartography is better for relative positioning ("the dungeon is northeast of the old mill, past the ridge") than absolute measurement. Train yourself to navigate by landmark chains rather than trying to estimate exact walking distances.

Maps may be region-specific. The original Outward had separate maps for each major region. Outward 2 will likely follow the same structure — each map covers a defined area, and the edges of that area are where you're on your own. Know what you're walking into before you cross a map's border.

Not all maps may be available from the start. In survival-oriented RPGs, maps are often acquired through merchants, quest rewards, or found in the world. If Outward 2 follows the original's model, you may need to navigate blind in new regions until you find or buy the local map. The hand-painted quality makes these finds feel more meaningful — you're not unlocking a database entry, you're getting someone's physical work.

Why This Matters for the Outward 2 Experience

Outward's core design tension is that the world is indifferent and survival requires preparation, not just combat skill. Maps fit directly into that system. The original game's map design was often cited as one of the more immersive — and occasionally frustrating — aspects of exploration. You had to actually pay attention to where you were going.

By commissioning hand-painted watercolor maps from a real cartographer, Nine Dots is doubling down on that commitment. These aren't quick reference tools. They're artifacts. They belong to a world that has history, where knowledge is something someone had to go out and gather, and where a map means someone walked that ground before you.

For Outward 2 players focused on building out survival strategies, this is relevant beyond aesthetics. Your map is gear. Treating it like gear — acquiring it intentionally, reading it carefully, understanding its limitations — is part of how you survive in Aurai.

What We Don't Know Yet

A few things remain unconfirmed as of this writing:

  • Can maps be annotated or marked by the player? The original Outward had limited map interaction. Whether Outward 2 allows players to add their own notes or waypoints is unconfirmed.
  • How many distinct maps are there? Moreno said he created "all the maps" in the game, but the total count and what regions they cover hasn't been detailed. Community speculation suggests Outward 2 will have a larger world than the original, but specifics are unconfirmed.
  • Are maps obtainable items or part of a menu system? The hand-painted aesthetic suggests physical items, but the actual in-game implementation hasn't been officially detailed beyond Moreno's post.

Where to Follow Moreno's Work

If you want to see more of the cartography behind Outward 2 — including works in progress or additional illustrations Moreno has shared — his Instagram account @morenopaissanart is the place to look. He mentioned following him there to see more maps, and given that the full world of Outward 2 is presumably larger than the original, there may be additional pieces worth examining for environmental context.

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