The Rediculous unused space in Chernarus

[WYZe1 10]

So i was thinking since Chernarus is only 1/4 of the size of the map, how do you think the game would perform if alot of that access nothingness was cut out? and is this possible to do now in the existing map making program for Arma?

For example, i know that in some map making programs you can stamp an existing map and then add more terrian around the existing one to make a bigger version of the map, now with this it would need to be stamped and then placed on a smaller grid, or whatever you call it.

i cant help but think that all that extra nothingness of green hills and lots of ocean is taking up alot of resources, maybe if we got rid of it, chernarus would run better on lower end systems, hell even high end systems would benefit from this since its not really taking anything away.

what do you all think? keep in mind i don't really know much about the technical side of how these things work but i'm learning, so if you know how the outcome might turn out, please explain.

[Windexglow 10]

The terrain is randomly generated, doesn't take up any hardrive space. It's just a fancy algorithm.

[maturin 12]

It's just a blank heightmap controlled by a series of coordinates. It's not terrain that brings performance to its knees, it's 3D objects and AI.

[Bomber_c 0]

People love the R word don't they?

[WYZe1 10]

lol, well i was trying to come up with a decent title, and i just had to throw the R word in there :yay: but seriously i didnt know that all that space has no effect, its kinda hard to believe actually, i figured a smaller sized map, would perform better, guess not.

Edited August 13, 2009 by WYZe1

[ActionMan 10]

i figured a smaller sized map, would perform better

Well the Utes map loads a hell of a lot faster than chenarus does.

[TheHarvesteR 11]

Well the Utes map loads a hell of a lot faster than chenarus does.

Well, Utes has a hell of a lot less objects in it too ;)

the terrain mesh doesn't really affect performance that much as to warrant cutting it out... something like optimizing the grass texture would have a far larger effect in performance than cropping real estate.

One thing I've been meaning to ask though, did anyone ever notice the huge deserted islands that surround Utes? they stretch far off the map, and seem to go on and on forever...

Cheers

[EricM 0]

So i was thinking since Chernarus is only 1/4 of the size of the map, how do you think the game would perform if alot of that access nothingness was cut out?

In Arma2 1.00 (german) the map was smaller and chernarus took all the space of the map (with black borders).

When they introduced random infinite landscape in a later patch, BIS expanded the map with a no man's land to provide for a transition between the random land and the fixed chernarus. That's the unused space you see.

From my experience of both, it performs the same.