Exploration as a sum of systems
Creatures over the hill and far away,
Exploration in old school games is not just a procedure, it’s all the little bits around that procedure as well.
The point of a wilderness exploration procedure in general is the creation of tension. It’s about pushing your luck, how far can you go on resources, your wit, and skill before having to turn back.
All the things that exploration touches on feeds into this goal: travel pace, tracking rations, random encounters, weather and getting lost checks. Each of these systems seems hollow on it’s own. Boring or even tedious. But, when these systems come together and interoperate, it performs the job of creating tension remarkabley well.
And this tension creates an intense feeling of reward and satisfaction when you find the lost temple of Rozkonoth, delve into it’s depths to retrieve the dragons treasure and escape back to town. And it’s all earned, because it’s all real, and it’s genuinely amazing.
Push your luck, get rewards, find fantastic places or die trying.