Altis: Criticism and Suggestions

[trpaslik 10]

Hi guys

My nickname is Trpaslik and I’m one of the environment artists at BI. We welcome every kind of feedback, criticism and suggestions you can give to us about the Altis map so please use this topic to make some.

Please note that unfortunately we can’t promise to have the time to reply but we appreciated every piece of feedback here.

[Placebo 29]

Adding tortuosit's post :)

Hi guys,

the other Altis thread "Altis: Info and Discussion" is pretty huge and Altis received a lot of praise, but also got filled with technical problems. BTW, the <5 FPS problem should go here

I think after the dust of awe settled, we need to discuss what could be better on Altis. Don't get me wrong, I think Altis is the best map BIS has ever done, but there is always room for improvement. I think, BIS does not have to make a map strictly identical to Limnos, but use artistical freedom for the sake of gamers needs. I'm not sure if at this stage of developments improvements can be done, but however...

What I think what could be better on Altis:

• The terrain is pretty flat. OK there are some hills, but anyway. The center of the main island deserves some higher hills or mountains.
  
• One big and thick forest with lots of gras would offer some additional mission possibilities for infantry.
  
• Please make it possible to enter the big hospital building.
  

[joschaap 1]

some more of those bamboo swamps would be cool :)

(over 100kb) http://i.imgur.com/vIaV3Gl.jpg

maybe with some old abbandonned shack's/shed's in there

[EvEnLeaSe44 0]

Suggestion: Other then bug fixes, don't change anything, its beautiful. Good job!

They're are a few bugs here and there, but overall I love the entire maps layout. From hilly, to flat, to wasteland(ish).

I may or may not get a infraction or warning for this post, but I just had to congratulate you on the best island in the series.

[progamer 14]

A big problem for me is the salt lake is dry year round. This should not be the case:http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=13271

[Rolling 1]

First of all, I'd like to say it is my favorite island so far just because of the variety all around it :D

One of my few criticisms would be that a few larger buildings like the hospital don't have enterable second and third floors. I understand you can't model every single room, but I would like to see maybe a few hallways and a some rooms upstairs.

Another might be that some of the vacant buildings are completely empty, one would think there might be some garbage or furniture left behind.

[jeza 5416]

Having the buildings feel more like someone actually lives there would be good, at the moment it seems as if they all moved out or they've just been built. The bamboo swamps are indeed cool, it would be nice to see little bits of variation in the island like that, similar to what sahrani was like. Indeed as mentioned , what's ofp/arma without a nice thick forrest to walk through! Ground details like in Cherno would be great in them as well feels a little bare at the moment.

Many thanks for the map.

[spudly 10]

Hi Trpaslik.

I'm assuming you aren't looking for moaning about the 0FPS bug, so I'll leave my issues with that completely out of it.

First up what I'll say is that the island - from what I've seen of it so far - is unbelievably gorgeous. It's beautiful and you guys have done an amazing job. There are a few things though.

What I have noticed during the times I've been playing is there seem to be a lot of piles of....stuff. Lots of bouys on the beaches. Not just five or six, which might be expected to be dumped, but twenty or thirty in some places. It seems excessive, is all.

Also, there are a lot of rusty old military bases and base structures floating around. They are great and all, but one of the things I really enjoy doing in the editor is actually building my own bases for missions. What seems to have happened is you guys have put bases in place which are either exactly where I would put one, but not as I would put it together, or you have put a base almost, but not quite where I would want it, which makes it a little awkward for me to build a new one nearby.

I'm an unfortunate sufferer of the 0FPS bug, so I haven't had much time to wander around the island, so I'll leave my comment here for the moment. Please note, neither of these criticisms are game changers, they are just something I've noticed.

[BadHabitz 235]

the island is great, but I know many that are having severe performance issues.l

[progamer 14]

Also no hospital interior is another issue. Every building room should be enterable.

[Antorugby 2]

I think that a big mountain would be awesome, 350m is the highest mountain of the game pretty low, even a big forest full of trees would be good, but living in the Mediterranean zone I understand that this kind of terrain is not common in the islands of this part of the world, so I guess it's ok.

About the roads, I drove down a little terrain dirty road from the castle in the north west park, to the main city of the western part of Altis, it was a really awesome road, little, dirt, and not flat, I think that more dirt road should be like this, not flat like the main road, this would be cool.

And I just don't understand one little thing, the big church, why we can't go inside? Is the biggest church in the game and is locked.

Anyway, the map is fantastic and is visible that you guys put a great effort making it, so thank you and great job!

Sorry for my English.

Inviato dal mio GT-I9300 usando Tapatalk 4

Edited August 27, 2013 by Antorugby

[tortuosit 486]

I agree and forgot about this one, everyone expects to enter the big church, which is not possible ATM.

[yanquis 10]

i also agree that there needs to be some excuse made for a dense forested area somewhere. miss that a lot from chernarus.

[sqb-sma 66]

I agree and forgot about this one, everyone expects to enter the big church, which is not possible ATM.

Agreed, the church looks amazing (we took some happy snaps in front of it whilst on mission, screenshots on the screenshot thread), but we were very sad to find it unenterable!

[tortuosit 486]

Greece has forests and I think on higher terrain they would be natural...

[Rolling 1]

Agreed, the church looks amazing (we took some happy snaps in front of it whilst on mission, screenshots on the screenshot thread), but we were very sad to find it unenterable!

I was sad as well

Don't make a really cool building, just to then say "NONE SHALL PASS!" D:

[Antorugby 2]

Greece has forests and I think on higher terrain they would be natural...

Yeah but we are talking about the mainland, not the little Islands.

I would love a big forest too, I said that before, but I understand why they haven't put one big forest in Altis.

[tedbell 0]

The first impression from viewing Altis is stunning, but I noticed it was a little flat. I don't know if this can be adjusted without disturbing all of the perfectly placed objects and buildings.

LESS FLAT would be my only suggestion.

[ric 1]

the environment needs tobe more destructible , i cant destroy the wood planks blocking the windows :(

[byku 13]

Yes, more buildings should be possible to destroy, the island itself is a MASTERPIECE! Oh and the swamp water color could be a bit less blue :P, it's a swamp :)

[Ezcoo 47]

At first, I'd like to thank you for awesome map! I love it. :)

My favourite area on the map is definitely the area of Kavala. Like you might guess, many RP mods and missions will use that area of map in future. That's why I'd like to suggest some things:

New stuff:

- add unique town hall with "town hall square" (like in Chernogorsk) to Kavala and maybe to Pyrgos, it would have a lot of use... no complex interiors needed, just simple interiors and somewhat "expensive" look would be very neat... neat place for it could be eg. at docks of Kavala, where the office building is

- add police station somewhere in or (preferrably) around Kavala and Pyrgos

- add a couple of factories around the area of Kavala

- in general, some larger and rare buildings that are remarkably different from others, like the awesome hospital in Kavala... they serve as the key buildings especially in RP missions and mods, but also often in other missions and mods as well

- larger area with dense forests somewhere on the map

Tweaks:

- make the doors of ambulance garage of hospital openable (preferrably with sound), like in the NBC facs near main airfield

- make the doors in front of ramp of medevac helipad openable and add small interiors there

[LondonLad 13]

the environment needs tobe more destructible , i cant destroy the wood planks blocking the windows :(

I agree - I'd like to see/request a more destructible environment (buildings, walls, objects, etc).

I've no idea how feasible this is with ARMA 3, but one that would very much further enhancement to the realism aspect, if possible, and done correctly :)

[horrorview 10]

I think the island is nothing short of outstanding. I can't recall a time where I've been more impressed by a "video game". LOL.

That being said, as others have mentioned, it'd be great if the homes/stores/buildings had some evidence of human habitation. With everything being emptied out, it's a bit like a Twilight Zone episode. Granted, we can populate these areas on our own, but, without a 3D editor to do so, it's a daunting task. I'm not suggesting that the homes be fully furnished or anything, but cash desks/registers in the stores would be nice; perhaps some medical equipment/beds in the hospitals; a couch/bed here and there.

In any event, what you've achieved with Altis is quite miraculous!

[LondonLad 13]

I think the island is nothing short of outstanding. I can't recall a time where I've been more impressed by a "video game". LOL.

That being said, as others have mentioned, it'd be great if the homes/stores/buildings had some evidence of human habitation. With everything being emptied out, it's a bit like a Twilight Zone episode. Granted, we can populate these areas on our own, but, without a 3D editor to do so, it's a daunting task. I'm not suggesting that the homes be fully furnished or anything, but cash desks/registers in the stores would be nice; perhaps some medical equipment/beds in the hospitals; a couch/bed here and there.

In any event, what you've achieved with Altis is quite miraculous!

With these items being destructible would also be a bonus :)

[trent 14]

Would like some proper rugged terrain and inclines. At the moment there are some hills, but that's it. Don't be afraid to use your imagination when it comes to the heightmaps. No longer constrained by Lemnos's real geography.

Get that you need some wide open ground for tank warfare but it seems the island half that's east of the "bottleneck" is entirely flat. That's about 60% of the landmass.

edit: oh, and an increase in the number of lit streetlamps would be nice. Should be able to trace the routes between towns from the air.