Topic: Harmony of Dissonance question(s)

[Opium]

I played Harmony of Dissonance via emulator a couple years ago, but quit after a couple of hours.  Now I'm playing it on GBA the way it was meant to be played, and I am committed to finishing it.  I'm several hours into it and enjoying it more than I thought I would.
When I'm playing a game and have a question about it, I try to just keep going and figure it out on my own.  The 'net is a great source for answers, but there's nothing worse than when you're searching for a very specific answer and you end up accidentally seeing a bunch of spoilers.  So I thought it would be better just to ask the questions here. Right now I have some questions about the map(s):

There are 3 maps to display in this game; Map A, Map A+B, and Map B.  Map A fills in places you've visited with dark blue. Map B fills it in with bright green, but also seems to fill in places which exist on both planes with light blue. One question I have is which color am I ultimately trying to fill the map in with?  Is the whole thing supposed to be light blue in the end?  I'm hoping someone can explain this map system so that it makes more sense to me.  It's unique to me and is giving me a headache.  Also, how do I know which castle I am currently in - A or B? 

[KaZudra]

almost the whole thing Light blue, you can also use VGmaps to find secret areas, ect.

[shelverton.]

It's been years since I played this game so I don't remember colors and stuff. I don't think you should worry about the combined map but instead explore each castle seperately and just see what color is filling in. It's probably blue and green as you said. After a while it will make sense. Dissonance IS confusing, and initially you will go from castle A to B without the game telling you. It will all make sense further on.

I hope someone can give a better explanation.

[knightmere]

There is really only 2 maps in the game, the combined one will just confuse the hell out of you.  The main thing to pay attention to is that many actions you do in one castle will have an equal effect in the other castle.  This game requires lots of backtracking which is why it can be very confusing.

[Ghetto-blasteR]

off the top of my head, i believe one map is blue, and the other is green. these two maps are independent of each other because they represent two different layers (with the same geometry). so, whatever you explore in one layer has absolutely no effect on what you see in the other layer.

now for A + B, imagine you superimpose whatever information you have from the two independent maps. if you see a blue square, that's because you've explored that square on the blue map already, but not the corresponding square on the green map. likewise, if you see a green square, you've explored it on the green map but not on the blue. if you see cyan (cyan = blue mixed with green, get it?) then you've explored that square in both layers, and so it makes sense to show it in the third color (cyan).

if you want to think about it in terms of "filling up the map" in a certain color, then you want to fill the blue map with blue and the green map with green, and in doing so, you will fill the combined map with cyan.

EDIT: and to see which map you're currently in, check both map A and map B. (ignore map A + B.) the castle you're in should have the flashing thing that tells you where you are. the other map should have no flash. generally speaking castle A has brighter colors and is more "normal" because it represents normal maxim's mind, while castle B has faded colors and is more "twisted" because it represents evil maxim's mind. or something like that.

[Arma]

It's been a while since I played Harmony of Dissonance so I'm a little rusty but as far as I can remember the thing was rather simple.

Two maps like in Symphony of the night:
Map A = normal castle (blue)
Map B = altered castle (green)
Map A+B = both castles (light blue)

Long story short Map A+B simply pinpoints in light blue the areas you have visited on both castles, when Map A+B is complete it means you completed 100% of the game.