MAPS

[FoneBoneJay]

I like the Maps in the game but...

I would like to see even larger maps. Is is possible to make a map 3-4X the size of coastal highway? Id like there to be a few points in the map where you can get up high but see NOTHING but woods all around. Would also like it to be more sparse, right now if you start to freeze with 100% health there is no real danger of you not making it to shelter from any place on that map. That is wildly unrealistic.

We need larger, very open and very difficult maps to travel in. I'd also like to see more items to be found on the maps randomly, stuff that gets uncovered by snow drifts between snows and sublimation. Maybe some larger but more concentrated caches. I also like the custom environments like the dam and misanthropes homestead but we need bigger maps.

What you all think?

[EternityTide]

There is a problem here. You have to balance map size with computing power.

My current computer is butch enough to run Skyrim on Ultra quality graphics, meanwhile, my old PC almost crashed running low resolution Minecraft. The larger the world cell, the more power is required to render it.

hence, massive maps would cope fine on a high-end gaming rig, but your average joe on his laptop would bluescreen.

[EternityTide]

And for those of you who will jump at the chance to attack me on my woeful knowledge of computing, I am aware that the draw distance is designed to combat this effect, however world size will still figure in how many calculations your PC needs to do.

[elloco999]

You have a point there. I think the whole map is loaded into memory when you are outside as it is now. There are ways to work around that but those also take a lot of time to implement correctly. It would be easier to limit the size of the maps and just have more maps.

[FoneBoneJay]

Well I mean by 3-4 times larger is a map more like Mysterylake in that its is mostly level or semi-level ground but more with more open areas, and more closed up wooded areas, fewer structures. It would appear they took a step in this direction with the latest patch by having some structures burned to the ground. WOW nice move guys that is a hell of way to solve that issue. I'd like the landscapes to be just a bit more varied and larger, but yeah I'm not saying we need 8GB worth of data to load into the RAM for a level, I'm saying we need sparser but larger maps, more danger due to exposure, and fewer places you can just bed down for the night. About how often do you sleep outside vs in a shelter? Well I'd say it is possible to sleep indoors right now almost all the time so 6 out of 7 nights if not more. But the realism I think one would experience is that not be the case, lost up north with nothing but wilderness around for miles.

[elloco999]

I never sleep outside. I don't even take the bedroll to save me the 1kg.

They have been experimenting with just the kind of maps you describe:

We've actually been thinking a lot about the density of shelters in Mystery Lake and Coastal Highway, and have started experimenting with some test maps that have things spread out a lot more with much more wilderness between them. It feels pretty good actually, and something that fits with an overall sense of "progression" in the game.

Sounds like we can expect something like that in the future.