Not using islands?

[CopyCon 1]

If they make the maps about 100x100 km, we will be able to place all the old islands on a single map

[FenderHSS 0]

This is what I think the most practical solution is:

Okay, in Deltaforce 1 trough 3, its just the same terrain repeated over and over. BUT, in Black hawk down, yes, the same system is in place, but in the center of the map, the terrain is unique. This allows a practically endless map, but there is detailed terrain in the center. In OFP 2, the center terrain could be similar to the island terrain in the original, but the outlying "tiles" of terrain could be low-res, lacking vegetation (at least individual trees, but I guess you could still have "forest" tiles) The terrain would have to be much more simplistic as well, or there would be a huge problem with performance. Personally, I'd rather have Islands again. I didn't have a problem with that. I have a BIG problem with repeating terrain tiles, or just endless flat low-res terrain, or invisible walls, (though out of those 3 I dislike the invisible walls the least)

I'm just saying the DF: Black Hawk Down - style terrain would be the next best thing after Islands. I just can't understand how they're going to do it though. Africa would be easy, outside the center of the map it'd be okay to have limitless flat desert, but in central Europe? Come on! I guess there invisible walls would work the best. Outside the center of the map I'd like to see non-repeating terrain, but maybe less detailed, running for a considerable stretch before hitting the invisible wall. This should give planes enough room to fly. In Vietnam, you'd need much of the same, although eventually you'd get to the ocean.

[Drill Sergeant 0]

(Tela portation would be good so if you run off were the map ends you just tela port to the side just like moving around the earth. )

Indless maps are good like on DF but no walls please.

Africa is ok to fight on not many games based on africa.

Water is some thing I personaly want lot's of it mabe one side of a map is all water. Boats we need a few more good boats too.

[Commander-598 0]

I believe that the terrain being unlimmited, means you can make a map as big as you want/need. I'm fairly certain the "end of the map" would be the same as OFP1.

Couple it with streaming terrain, and you could have a whole country I guess.

[Jinef 2]

I know nothing about making this stuff so i'm not going to say anything, just i would like it big enough to have a 20 minute flight in a CH53 Jolly Green to do a CSAR and have Skyraiders flying around dropping napalm and blasting hillsides with their rockets etc. Keeping this game and immersive infantry shooter but having a enough space and flight model to give a good shot at the best helicopter simulation is what i am crossing my legs trying not to wet myself at thinking about it sort of excitement...completely incoherent jabber....it must be the thought of OFP2

[Lt_Damage 0]

With terrain streaming there are still limits but not in the same way. The limits would no longer lay in how much terrain BIS can let you walk around in. They could be now in how much BIS can actually make, how much will fit on the media.

They are working on terrain streaming, so effectively if they are successful with this, its really how much terrain they can create. Or will it be random terrain generation?

As it is the concept allows them to create multiple sections of terrain and allow you to move from one into the next, terrain behind you is cleared from the RAM/Video as new terrain is streamed.

That is the concept anyway, brilliant idea and shows BIS are trying to bring you more bang for your buck.

I would not whine about them spending time on the XBOX, it is the challenging limitations of the XBOX hardware that will allow them to develope the technology to blow your mind with OFP2.

[lonesoldier 0]

Streaming Terrain = SHIT.

Stick with Islands.

How are you going to be able to make missions on terrain that is random?

Keep the Islands BIS. Streaming Terrain sounds fuckin' gay, and is a stupid decision.

[iNeo 0]

Yeah stick to the islands.

[SpecOp9 0]

This is a very interesting topic...

Honestly this is how I think BIS will do this:

Lets say we are inside the nice new mission editor. We can only see the MAIN landform infront of us.

(I would'nt be suprised if the mission editor can be changed to 3D viewing btw)

Remember the Ocean? How it keeps going and going and going? Well, I am not sure how they did this, but they MIGHT use a similar method.

Only the terrain will be alot less detail.

Heke they might even add a little building far far away as a secret

[lonesoldier 0]

Quote[/b] ]Only the terrain will be alot less detail.

No one wants shitty detail BF1942-style landscapes. They look gay, and are gay, as far as im concerned.

Id rather see attention to detail etc.

Put it this way: If BIS aren't using Islands then i am NOT buying the game. No fuckin' way in the world will i waste cash on a bullshit idea like that.

They can add the coolest shit to the game, but if it has no Ilsands then forget about it, i aint buying it, and that's final.

[Lt_Damage 0]

Yes yes everything's gay.

Would terrain streaming still be "gay" if you could walk from one island into the next?

Personally I'd like the idea of being able to take a boat from one island to the next or fly there.

Some people just think too narrowminded and thankfully none of those people work for BIS.

Anyway who knows what they will come up with.. could be something even better who knows.

[lonesoldier 0]

What about Mission makers?

How are they going to make missions on streaming landscape???

I LOVE making missions. I love to make my own play area by adding fields of grass, roads, houses etc... But with streaming landscape is that even possible? The way i see it, NO.

So if BIS do add terrain streaming, that leaves us mission makers out, and then there goes OFP's replayability right out of the fuckin' window, limbs flailing, with an apple lodged in its anus.

50%, if not more, of OFP's replayability is custom missions.

Personally, i think OFP is fine, actually, PERFECT the way it is.

Like someone said earlier, terrain streaming is taking a step backwards, rather than forwards.

Good one BIS

[Dubble0zero 0]

Streaming terrain doesn't mean that we will only have alot of random generated land, it just means that the computor doesn't load the whole map... we could still have islands, but they can be done much larger and have better texture if it doesn't have to be loaded as a whole map...

Or am I wrong now?

A nice way to implen that is to have a couple of Islands in the game, but BIS could allso release new islands on the internet, and in the end we will have a nice quite big group of islands to fly/drive on...

[Guest]

I think streaming means "Not all of it is loaded at one time"....not "Random". Perhaps employing an LOD style system...as has been discussed a million times before. It is incredibly unlikely it would be "random" terrain...as this would make it just as hard for BIS as it would for you.

[lonesoldier 0]

Hmmm, ok.

Say that only part of the map is loaded, what happens when you jump in a plane and decide to go for a long flight? How will it load the rest of the island without affecting gameplay?

Thats the great thing about islands, no crappy load times or conflicts with gameplay.

[Blake 0]

I've got nothing against islands if they are big and are properly made for each theater of operation.

Please stop ranting how bad it was to choose Africa, Europe and Vietnam. They've already decided about them and there is nothing you can do about it. If you don't know what happened in Africa in the seventies, how about countless of civil wars, coups, fighting for natural wealth such as diamonds, foreign mercenaries and Cubans landing in Angola.

If that doesnt sound exciting and new then I don't know what does. They made a mature selection, not relying on hyped modern stuff like Iraq, Somalia etc.

Personally I couldn't have hoped for better era or location.

[suma 8]

Say that only part of the map is loaded, what happens when you jump in a plane and decide to go for a long flight? How will it load the rest of the island without affecting gameplay?

I will not reveal "how", but I can assure you it will.

[Heatseeker 0]

Great, i hope this doesnt mean more quantity and less quality, im starting to fear about loading times on this, or bald/empty terrain , im betting on a oclusion sistem that will alow them to create even larger islands, but still it must be islands no matter how big they are? im a bit scared about this...

[jakerod 254]

How bout we all stop worrying about it and just see what they do. You don't know what they're going to do im sure that whatever it is its going to be the best for everyone.

By the way im 90% sure that streaming means that it doesnt load everything at the same time it loads as you see it meaning if you did take a plane it would load the stuff infront of you delete the stuff behind you.

[Heatseeker 0]

Well i just hope all this size obsession doesnt compromise detail, i want more vegetation, more dense jungle, more bushes, perhaps even grass resulting in even more imersion and realism, use of cover like bushes, trees and rocks, i think the only usefull aspect of gigantic islands would be planes, everything else doesnt really need more than what we already have .

[Heatseeker 0]

How bout we all stop worrying about it and just see what they do.

Damn right, lets all buy a plane ticket to Prague and go to BI studio so we can see what they do, im sure they would be proud to show us .

[Lt_Damage 0]

First you push the boundaries, then you work within them.

[joltan 0]

I wonder how streaming terrain will be handled in MP missions where there may be important stuff going on outside the 'local focus' of the player? At least the server would have to load all regions where players may be active at a time -> leading to lagging missions if the action is spread out over a big area.

Not that I doubt BIS to find a good solution to this, tho.

[=MH=FritzDaKat 0]

I've been waiting on this game "Soldner:Secret wars" to come out, they plan on having a few rather large maps much as they are wanting to do in OFP2 from what I've read.

In that game, their plan is simply to allow the server running it to assign limit's to the borders in accordance to what tat particular server will be able to handle as far as resources / lag is concerned, but then I still dont know what their plan is for when one of those border's is reached.

[SpecOp9 0]

Say that only part of the map is loaded, what happens when you jump in a plane and decide to go for a long flight? How will it load the rest of the island without affecting gameplay?

I will not reveal "how", but I can assure you it will.

Cmon, It's BIStudio, you should know that by now  

I think their goal is straight forward, to make the impossible possible