Too many destroyed cars in Altis

[.Taffy 10]

I have to agree with the OP I feel there are too many wrecked cars on Altis. Having them dotted around the countryside is fine however in some places there are either too many or there shouldn't be any at all. This is particularly true in the airport terminal car park which is full of burnt out cars. A big part of Arma's appeal is the sandbox nature of it which leaves mission makers with options for their story background setting. As it is, much of Altis looks as though war is either ongoing, or has occurred sometime in the past which gives a great range of options. If needs be there are areas which are pristine and don't appear war damaged or areas where depicted damage could simply be passed off as dereliction.

However, taking the airport car park as a case in point, it is an example of the car wrecks depicting a war in progress, because even a few months after a war had ended such wrecks would have most likely been cleared from such an important location, while more remote wrecks could be left for years, perhaps never moved! My point is, while the volume of wrecks is mostly fine, at certain locations they unnecessarily restrict narrative options and would perhaps be better left to the mission makers discretion...

[dmarkwick 261]

I have to agree with the OP I feel there are too many wrecked cars on Altis. Having them dotted around the countryside is fine however in some places there are either too many or there shouldn't be any at all. This is particularly true in the airport terminal car park which is full of burnt out cars. A big part of Arma's appeal is the sandbox nature of it which leaves mission makers with options for their story background setting. As it is, much of Altis looks as though war is either ongoing, or has occurred sometime in the past which gives a great range of options. If needs be there are areas which are pristine and don't appear war damaged or areas where depicted damage could simply be passed off as dereliction.

However, taking the airport car park as a case in point, it is an example of the car wrecks depicting a war in progress, because even a few months after a war had ended such wrecks would have most likely been cleared from such an important location, while more remote wrecks could be left for years, perhaps never moved! My point is, while the volume of wrecks is mostly fine, at certain locations they unnecessarily restrict narrative options and would perhaps be better left to the mission makers discretion...

As mentioned before, the narrative options are whatever BIS need them to be :)

As far as other reasons - wrecked cars also offer opportunistic cover & concealment opportunities.

[NeMeSiS 11]

I agree. Generally I prefer the island to be a bit more 'vanilla', its easier for mission editors to add flavour than to remove it.

[.Taffy 10]

As mentioned before, the narrative options are whatever BIS need them to be :)

As far as other reasons - wrecked cars also offer opportunistic cover & concealment opportunities.

Oh I don't disagree! :) That BIS have the right backdrop for their narrative is very important for the success of the game. But so is freedom for custom-content creators. You can easily add as many or as few burnt out cars as you want in the mission editor, I don't see why so many of them need to be permanently positioned.

[krycek 349]

I agree,too many of them and this forces a rigidity in scenario making.For people like me that made more mission types in A2CO like small scale ops,vip escorting&attack or instead of military conflict I had some cops vs crims type of missions this design decision is ruining Altis.

After the campaign has run out it's life we'll be stuck in the same "destroyed island" type of feeling.

[Robster 11]

well... it looks like these spammed wrecked cars are the only gap in the entire map, which is a complete delight BTW... dear BIS you might save those models for some kind of light wheatfields/bamboo over there... c'mon, isn't a big deal! c'mon!!!

[2nd ranger 282]

After the campaign has run out it's life we'll be stuck in the same "destroyed island" type of feeling.

Chernarus had the same 'abandoned' feel to it, as well as plenty of wrecks, although obviously not as many. And as kylania has already demonstrated, it is not difficult to remove the wrecks for a mission.

[progamer 14]

Why do people think the storyline includes Altis as abandoned? Altis is we're most of the citizens of Stratis went and is also home to many more Altians that are trying to go about daily life in a war zone.

[liquidpinky 11]

Like I posted earlier, place has been on the recieving end of civil unrest, where cars getting wrecked is a common occurance.

Add to that the price of fuel in the petrol stations, over 20 euros a litre (almost like being in Britain :P) so cars are probably unaffordable for most civvies and will end up abandoned all over the island once they run out of fuel.

[krycek 349]

The prob is that they shouldn't be in such high numbers.I don't say to just remove them,just to tone them down and remove them from some areas(like the example with government building parking lot).If the gas price would be so high I doubt everyone there will enter rage mode and just torch their cars.

With the wrecks all over the place it seems Altis had a zombie apocalypse and everyone fought for the cars.

[inlesco 233]

Devs must introduce lots of new modules for terrain default object manipulation.

Currently, for wrecks removal, hideObject doesn't function properly as hidden objects retain their physical abilities to collide with other vehicles (for infantry it works fine). This is not a solution.

[Varanon 892]

As mentioned before, the narrative options are whatever BIS need them to be :).

If that's the case, why are almost all houses in good condition ? Why aren't there more broken roofs, burned out buildings and general destruction ?

They rebuilt the houses, but left the car wrecks lying around ?

[dale0404 5]

If that's the case, why are almost all houses in good condition ? Why aren't there more broken roofs, burned out buildings and general destruction ?

They rebuilt the houses, but left the car wrecks lying around ?

Resources... :p

[dmarkwick 261]

If that's the case, why are almost all houses in good condition ? Why aren't there more broken roofs, burned out buildings and general destruction ?

They rebuilt the houses, but left the car wrecks lying around ?

The narrative options are whatever BIS need them to be :)

[oldbear 390]

I am living in Marseilles, so burnt vehicles even in town is not surprising as well as trash dumps.

What is more surprising are the destroyed roofs of many stones houses more or less mended with corrugated iron ... that's more a proof of a crisis, the lack of tiles to repair the roof as well as missing roofing workers.

[Varanon 892]

The narrative options are whatever BIS need them to be :)

What narrative options ? There's a secret war against cars going on ? Civilian cars, of course, because there's next to no military wrecks.

Yeah, you can explain everything with "narrative options", even that Altis is overrun by white fluffy bunnies.

[celery 8]

Every mission will have the same car wrecks in the same places, even if they don't share the official campaign's timeline or even general setting. That's going to be a problem, especially since the wrecks can disturb AI and player pathfinding in certain areas, and they're immovable and indestructible to boot.

[frederf 0]

BIS needs campaign details hardcoded at the expense of all else?

[kylania 568]

BIS needs campaign details hardcoded at the expense of all else?

No, they only have time (actually didn't have enough of that) and resources to add things to the game that support their campaign not everything the players would like.

That's why BAF had no Tanks since the story was about a light infantry unit and not the entire British Armed Forces. Same thing here. NATO are already on Altis, so why include the transport plane that got them there? :)

[progamer 14]

No, they only have time (actually didn't have enough of that) and resources to add things to the game that support their campaign not everything the players would like.

That's why BAF had no Tanks since the story was about a light infantry unit and not the entire British Armed Forces. Same thing here. NATO are already on Altis, so why include the transport plane that got them there? :)

Transport plane? :( doesn't have to only used for bring units to the island. Air drops, halo jumps and transportation are uses too.

[kylania 568]

Air drops, halo jumps and transportation are uses too.

I know that. It was sarcasm and a jab at the Devs for not having a transport plane in game (only it's wreck!!) we sorely need with the largest island they've ever given us. :)

[NeMeSiS 11]

No, they only have time (actually didn't have enough of that) and resources to add things to the game that support their campaign not everything the players would like.

But we are asking them to include less on the map. Whoever is making the campaign for BI could easily add those vehicles himself, thus not forcing anyone else to work around them.

[frederf 0]

No, they only have time (actually didn't have enough of that) and resources to add things to the game that support their campaign not everything the players would like.

That's why BAF had no Tanks since the story was about a light infantry unit and not the entire British Armed Forces. Same thing here. NATO are already on Altis, so why include the transport plane that got them there? :)

The lack of objects doesn't besmirch the use of the island for wider use. I don't understand what additional time it takes to click the "New Layer" button, put down the destroyed cars in a removable layer instead of baking them into the map which has to last for half a decade of modding and more general use like every OFP/ArmA game in history. The long-term use of assets is exactly the strong suit of the OFP/ArmA product line.

[suprememodder 11]

that's like saying there are too many bases, guard towers, buildings, etc, etc and the whole map should remain neutral by being bare.

the environment is being designed around a certain context, that of an agrarian war torn country. the various dumps, chapels, wrecks, etc are all part of the atmosphere. the devs can't listen to everyone who requests a new layer for wrecked cars, guard posts, bases, chapels, etc, etc.

[celery 8]

that's like saying there are too many bases, guard towers, buildings, etc, etc and the whole map should remain neutral by being bare.

the environment is being designed around a certain context, that of an agrarian war torn country. the various dumps, chapels, wrecks, etc are all part of the atmosphere. the devs can't listen to everyone who requests a new layer for wrecked cars, guard posts, bases, chapels, etc, etc.

Would countless C-130 wrecks drive the point home to you better?