How Big Are The Maps?

[Firefly]

I've seen a few people wondering how big the maps are in Planetside 2, with at least one comment along the lines of, the maps don't look that big because of the bases. Ignoring that, because I think the bases are probably twice as big as the original game, I found this image online whilst researching another MMO.

The image below is a stack of maps that show just how large many video game worlds are. With this comparison, now you can make your own determination as to how large Planetside's continents will be. I'm only posting the link since PSU's forums automatically resize an image.

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets...0d5a70c2c1.jpg

[SuperMorto]

Load of info here about this

http://www.planetside-universe.com/f...ad.php?t=38452

And there is another post somewhere but I cant put my finger on it!

Edit ahhh right I see what you mean, we can only imagine for now, we have a 95% complete map, but thats it, the rest will be speculation for now.

[Vash02]

LOTRO 30,000 square miles? I've played that game alot, its big but it aint that big. I could run end to end in an hour or so.

how many of these figures are actually equivalent to real life?

[bjorntju1]

Originally Posted by Firefly

I've seen a few people wondering how big the maps are in Planetside 2, with at least one comment along the lines of, the maps don't look that big because of the bases. Ignoring that, because I think the bases are probably twice as big as the original game, I found this image online whilst researching another MMO.

The image below is a stack of maps that show just how large many video game worlds are. With this comparison, now you can make your own determination as to how large Planetside's continents will be. I'm only posting the link since PSU's forums automatically resize an image.

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets...0d5a70c2c1.jpg

Wtf? Burnout Paradise's map is bigger than WoW?

But anyway, Higby said in a interview that the continents are 8x8 km in size. As far as i know that is the only info we have at this moment.

[LZachariah]

I believe I heard that each continent is 14 k. sq. That's pretty damn big, especially if each block of it is jam-packed with important terrain (ie, crags, trees, rivers, etc). In the gameplay video, there was one open stretch of flat desert (wherein the Prowler tanks were fighting... each other, it seemed ) but apart from that, the terrain was diverse and complex.

And for the record, 30,000 sq. kilos (for Lord of the Rings) sounds insanely large; I imagine that figure is incorrect.

~Zachariah

[Vash02]

There does seem to be alot of bullshitting in regards to map sizes by game devs. someone with a twitter account pester Higby if his 8x8 km number is actually 8x8 km in the real world.

[EASyEightyEight]

In most cases, it's based on the units of measurement presented in game. 10 meters in Planetside may be a longer distance than 10 meters in WoW. The characters might just travel faster in game A than they do in game B, artificially shrinking the map. Etc.

The maps are to be taken with a grain of salt. I wouldn't consider them very accurate, since it's impossible to maintain any kind of consistency in measurements between them.

[Quantumplation]

Originally Posted by LZachariah

In the gameplay video, there was one open stretch of flat desert (wherein the Prowler tanks were fighting... each other, it seemed ) but apart from that, the terrain was diverse and complex.

~Zachariah

Keep in mind that "diverse and complex" terrain doesn't mean every bit of the terrain is hilly, cliffy, craggy, etc. In order to have good variety, there does need to be large stretches of flat terrain, because something like that has it's own tactical implications and leads to completely different battles (like the prowler fight you saw there vs an infantry invasion of a mountainside.)

[SuperMorto]

Originally Posted by Quantumplation

Keep in mind that "diverse and complex" terrain doesn't mean every bit of the terrain is hilly, cliffy, craggy, etc. In order to have good variety, there does need to be large stretches of flat terrain, because something like that has it's own tactical implications and leads to completely different battles (like the prowler fight you saw there vs an infantry invasion of a mountainside.)

Honestly man, imagine a flat large plane, and your on foot alone, and all you see is a 100 Scythes inbound!

HOLLLYYYY FOOKINGGG HELLL!!!!!

I cant wait for this game!

Sorry to go off topic.

[Hamma]

Cool image Firefly!

I had the same response about LoTRO.. but I havent played it since the first year it came out I know they have added on to it.

[Stevo IRL]

Hopefully though their won't be tons of "dead" space. Other large scale games like Arma do , imo, a decent job of creating a interesting world to observe while driving through or flying over. Hopefully the map won't be littered with generic road to base A,B,C. Would like to see some variation and not giant motorways heading towards all the bases.

[SuperMorto]

I have a strange feeling every map will be very different this time, well they where different is PS, just the PC powers back then couldn't really handle much, but now the brush is much smaller and the canvas is way way bigger. And all of what we have seen so far looks fantastic. I would like to see a baron continent, a place where you would most certainly die if you got caught short.

I still think we are going to have base A, B, C, D on each cont, but they will be better placed and much more detailed. As we all know every base looked the same in PS lol.

[Stevo IRL]

Originally Posted by SuperMorto

I have a strange feeling every map will be very different this time, well they where different is PS, just the PC powers back then couldn't really handle much, but now the brush is much smaller and the canvas is way way bigger. And all of what we have seen so far looks fantastic. I would like to see a baron continent, a place where you would most certainly die if you got caught short.

I still think we are going to have base A, B, C, D on each cont, but they will be better placed and much more detailed. As we all know every base looked the same in PS lol.

Well I do hope they have taken some real world inspirations when designing some of the layouts for the maps. Aesthetics are definitely going to be very different (we'v seen a very Red Faction inspired Cont already) but I would be somewhat disappointed if the layout of routes to bases was a simple node based system where every road was pretty much a straight path. I think this is the harder thing for designers to account for because in other large scale games you could just say "Well this is a straight road but we ll have it run through a small village that will act as a cross roads of some sort" thus giving some form of variation of the landscape while travelling.

At the end of the day you'd want "artificially" create hot spots that may not be player capture able but still hold strategic importance though in PS1 it always seemed to equate to "a bridge". Even if it was something small as a small mining village with two to three buildings next to a road it would add so much in terms of adding atmosphere to the maps but also adding in subtle strategic objectives.

[Miir]

I did my best to recreate the map of Indar based on the screen shots. Assuming the 8km x 8km is correct you can see how it compares to BF3 Caspian Border at the bottom.

On Caspian border from end to end of the 1.7km took (approx):
3 min 30 seconds on foot (full sprint)
1 min 37 seconds in a tank
19 seconds in jet (no afterburner)
30 seconds in a helicopter


http://s224245511.onlinehome.us/INDAR.jpg

[acosmo]

hopefully indar is only a test continent then