I do expect players to need explanation of what’s in front of them for basically all Shmeppy maps. This is a trade-off that I’ve accepted in order to achieve Shmeppy’s goals.
The allusion to point crawl maps is a good one. Shmeppy is sort of trying to be a point crawl map for smaller-scale encounters. The whole “the map isn’t trying to be an art piece, it’s just a logistical tool” idea that point crawl maps embody is the same idea that Shmeppy tries to embody.