01-08-2020, 11:19 AM
Been trying to keep tabs on New World, the Amazon game that's coming. Lots of rumors flying around but apparently one thing they have recently changed is that you can only build in pre-designated locations.
Made me think of this discussion (and Shadowbane). It's probably the smart way to make these games. Limit players to certain areas and while it may force them into large clans because hiding is no longer an option (assuming PvP is a thing), it would let the game designers make much smarter implementations for things like NPC raiders. You'll never get NPCs to smartly attack someone's tree fort that can only be hit by a catapult from one spot on the map but you can certainly get them to assault a designated "settlement" area.
Free form building is probably too much freedom for these games. Certainly it helped lead to the loss of performance in Conan, LIF and Atlas. (LIF limited your building to large pre-fabs but screwed their performance anyway with terraforming. Atlas kills you with 150,000 bricks loading in while LIF killed you with 150,000 terrain adjustments.)
Made me think of this discussion (and Shadowbane). It's probably the smart way to make these games. Limit players to certain areas and while it may force them into large clans because hiding is no longer an option (assuming PvP is a thing), it would let the game designers make much smarter implementations for things like NPC raiders. You'll never get NPCs to smartly attack someone's tree fort that can only be hit by a catapult from one spot on the map but you can certainly get them to assault a designated "settlement" area.
Free form building is probably too much freedom for these games. Certainly it helped lead to the loss of performance in Conan, LIF and Atlas. (LIF limited your building to large pre-fabs but screwed their performance anyway with terraforming. Atlas kills you with 150,000 bricks loading in while LIF killed you with 150,000 terrain adjustments.)