Functional Windows

[Mikeloeven]

I would like to see an activator added to interior windows that allow the player to see the weather conditions outside without leaving the shelter

[Vhalkyrie]

Some of the windows you can see out of, others you can't.  It would be nice to clean off the windows.

[SEAplane]

It might be too much to ask for them to change.  The lighting changes and that adds to the feel, but frosted or not would be cool.   

As others have mentioned keeping track of animal movement would be nice too.

What if you thought you saw eyes at night looking back at you? 

[hauteecolerider]

It might be too much to add to the game at this point, but I would rather have the player character comment on the weather, hear the bear/wolf outside, etc when approaching the windows or looking directly at them. Of course, that means adding activators for them all.

PV farmhouse wouldn't need them, though. All one has to do is step onto the side porch and peer out the broken windows. Cool. 

[SteveP]

You may notice that there is a delay while loading data during any transition from an "interior" location to outside. That is because the graphics engine can't render everything in the outside world when indoors. I infer this is because of a limit on the object count and graphics memory. The only places you can view an exterior is when there is no transition screen such as the front porch or the lookout tower. I think it's a great idea to be able to see outdoors but I can only speculate on the technical reasons. Perhaps @Raphael van Lierop has a more satisfying explanation.

[hauteecolerider]

I recall that there is a mod for Oblivion called Immersive Interiors and it used the same principle that is being suggested here. It really adds to the immersion, but also adds to the load on both the processor and the graphics card. The mod author even said how difficult it was to make this work, and in heavily modded games it really puts quite the load on the graphics card and the CPU. It not only has to render what is outside, but also the weather. NPC's moving around outside were not included, for technical reasons. This in addition to a fully detailed and functional interior, really makes it challenging. The mod author basically made a "snapshot" of the scene outside each window then added an algorithm for the outside weather. That was it. Tedious, really. I imagine it would be the same thing here, and I'd rather the devs focus more on the story. It's already immersive enough as it is. 

[Raphael van Lierop]

You can hear the weather outside, and tell time of day based on lighting conditions and in some cases, the position of light shafts.

I would be happy to provide the technical explanation for why the outside world cannot be represented by the windows, but it might ruin some of the game's "magic" for you. 

[cekivi]

On ‎2016‎-‎03‎-‎24 at 9:58 PM, Vhalkyrie said:

Some of the windows you can see out of, others you can't.  It would be nice to clean off the windows.

Perhaps there is a way to abstract the outside world on the windows without needing to render the exterior? Personally, I have a hard time distinguishing between blizzard and just high wind or sunny day versus ice fog when I only have the audio clues. Even a blurry image on an "icy" clean window would be a nice atmospheric and gameplay improvement.

[Rusty_Old_F250]

Maybe an animated 2d "painting" with a bit of depth so it appears 3d? It would be pretty cool to stare out of it and watch the blizzards go by

I have to admit though, if I had to pick between animated windows and a new map, I would take the new map hands down. The windows don't really bother me that much.

Sam

 

[LucidFugue]

The skyrim mod was trying to do something much more dramatic by including entire cities (separate regions entirely) and all of their building interiors in a single contiguous zone with the overworld. This is a bit different. 

The reason I recall being given was that only one person could be working on a discrete environment at a time, and so the fewer "pieces" the world is in, the less flexible you can be about what you are working on and how many resources you can devote to different tasks. It would prevent the team being able to deliver content at the pace they have been. 

Desolation Point and Timberwolf Mountain have both shown seamless interior locations that work really well, but I suspect the team had spent a lot of time thinking about how to offset the limitations of separate interiors - hence the work on sound and light cues to give the player a sense that the world really is just outside. 

[vancopower]

16 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

You can hear the weather outside, and tell time of day based on lighting conditions and in some cases, the position of light shafts.

I would be happy to provide the technical explanation for why the outside world cannot be represented by the windows, but it might ruin some of the game's "magic" for you. 

It doesn't have to be the exact outside world just a representation of the weather, the survivor could just look up at the sky

[SteveP]

20 hours ago, cekivi said:

Perhaps there is a way to abstract the outside world on the windows without needing to render the exterior? Personally, I have a hard time distinguishing between blizzard and just high wind or sunny day versus ice fog when I only have the audio clues. Even a blurry image on an "icy" clean window would be a nice atmospheric and gameplay improvement.

You know that gives me an idea! Remember how the frost used to make patterns on the window glass and how interesting they were? It could be a clue for the weather temperature outdoors!

A static view of the outdoors for any given window could have a weather over-lay and maybe, maybe just any close animals rendered without the entire world being there.

[SEAplane]

20 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

You can hear the weather outside, and tell time of day based on lighting conditions and in some cases, the position of light shafts.

I agree it's all there but maybe it's me, I need to notice more subtle changes.  Quonset for me 'seems' most accurate.  Trailers and Camp Office, I struggle.  Sounds like a blizzard, looks darker like a blizzard but it's just wind and sunny.  Thank you for the mountaineering hut.

I have used sound to navagate in low visibility.  Listening for the sound of the building.  Could there be more unique and distinct sounds for special buildings?  Something to create that investment of story, and functional at the same time?  (House with a wind chime, camp office with a swinging sign, a whistling window gap at a house, etc.)  some things are there but it seems common for all but a few buildings.  

While this isn't functional windows per say it's related to problem space.  "Well if that sign is moving it must be quite the storm."  It's part of what makes the hydro dam spooky, and I know the team gets it.  I'd love more.  As for the sounds, great work on that front.  Pipe stacks, metal roofs etc... they add to the emersion.  

Could sounds be added for precipitation (like sleet) hitting the building, or the 'hush' of snow?  

 

[romerabr]

I love the mountaineering hut for this reason, no loading entering or leaving, you can let the door open and see whats happening outside.

[hauteecolerider]

On March 25, 2016 at 11:41 AM, Raphael van Lierop said:

You can hear the weather outside, and tell time of day based on lighting conditions and in some cases, the position of light shafts. 

This works for me, and I'm quite deaf!

As a few others have remarked, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between high winds on a sunny/cloudy day versus a blizzard, but I just take a peek at the stats menu and check on the "hours daylight/darkness left". Cheating, I know but still . . .

I do notice the lighting and the angles of the light shafts (the whale processing plant is especially valuable, but also in the Hydro Dam) change depending on the weather/time of day, and appreciate that bit of information. For me, that's even more immersive than actually seeing what's outside. Of course, I'm also severely myopic so when I wake up in the morning, the light and angle of falling light is all I see . . .

[6lv1]

 I just share my post on another topic about this, this discussion has more people interested about it

[SteveP]

The two biggest advantages of looking through a window would seem to be weather related (not a big deal since weather systems are "global") and keeping track of the predators that may be stalking you such as wounded and healthy predators. At the moment we don't know how the system models animal movements while we are indoors. I would hazard a guess that they remain in their last location.

One solution to seeing animals outdoors would be to introduce an entirely new mechanic, one of peering out the window. This could have a loading screen of it's own, perhaps without the action of a save game. As long as you are peering out the window, your perspective remains fixed to that window, perhaps permitting some limited movement of shifting side to side.

I would class this as a nice to have feature, less important to features that extend game play or add significantly more player interaction and entertainment value. A user poll would be nice to weigh the relative attractiveness of alternatives however I want to focus my own energy at this point on a flint knapping mechanic design which I've been procrastinating.

[6lv1]

35 minutes ago, SteveP said:

One solution to seeing animals outdoors would be to introduce an entirely new mechanic, one of peering out the window. This could have a loading screen of it's own, perhaps without the action of a save game. As long as you are peering out the window, your perspective remains fixed to that window, perhaps permitting some limited movement of shifting side to side.

+1

I was imagining the exact same. windows should be more or less easy to see through depending on the difference between outside and inside temperatures (with more or less ice on windows)
 

http://wenderly.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ice-window.jpg

 

 

 

 

[Dirmagnos]

Or you could just go out. Im yet meet a wolf who would sit on my front porch. Usually theres more than enough time to turn and get back inside.