3 replies to this topic

[autogyro]

One of the aspects of 'Mech combat that appeals so much to myself, and I'm sure many others, is the feeling you get when you drive a 10 m tall, 80 ton war machine. And of course the weaponry is formidable and all that, but in much of the previous video game incarnations I felt that there was a bit missing in portraying the true scale of both the size of a 'Mech and the scale differences between 'Mechs.

In MW4 I felt that, although the 'Mechs were towering behemoths, so too were the maps and objects scattered within the maps. Given the improved computational power these days, I would hope to see greater object density and better representation of the minutia.

For example,

1) Map design: From my recollections the cities in MW4 felt vast and large, where almost every building felt like it was 5+ stories. The roads felt wide and easily maneuvreable.

How awesome would it be to have a small house or building completely shield a Puma, whilst also providing hull-down capabilities for something like a Catapult, or protect the damaged legs of a Vindicator. Or, to have alleyways in dense urban areas so narrow that a Cicada can traverse, whilst the Atlas can only look in. Or fighting in the suburbs with rows of houses. Have small shrubs and trees, or even gardens. I hope it's not all just a vast plain or desert or large generic urban city. There's endless possibilities for map design.

2) Texture and model quality: With improved processing power, we can hopefully really drill down into the fine details on a 'Mech. To be able to see the individual rivet lines or armour plates, or the small "DO NOT STEP" or "CAUTION" signs near exhaust vents really adds to the sense of proper scale. A hatch or a door or (I hope) grabrails on the 'Mech. Better yet, how about Manufacturer's logos on weapons and modules. It would be great to upgrade a 'Mech's Luxor AC for an Armstrong AC and have it appear visually different.

3) Lighting: I've always found that effective lighting also encourages a sense of scale. Not every street light should be 'Mech sized, as throughout parks you should have low bollard height ambience lighting, or vehicle headlights or even the spotlights on 'Mechs themselves. This also includes dynamic shadowing, which I hope can be used effectively to mask Ravens in a forest or betray an Awesome behind a building.

4) Physics: Part of improving the sense of scale can be done through physics also, small metal shards falling off the 'Mech when it's damaged and exposed circuitry, gyro instability and falls, momentum and collision physics when charging. I actually think pseudo-ragdoll physics is viable, especially for the humanoid 'Mechs.

It is great to see the developers pay attention to a lot of the details and stay true to the universe. And although not this suggestion may not be as important as gameplay design or netcoding, I hope there's some attention paid to represent the Battlemechs as the towering behemoths that they all are.

Edited by autogyro, 24 January 2012 - 02:46 AM.

[Maximilian Thorn]

I hope the Mech details and map details turn out to be awesome; however, it is also my hope that the game can play 4v4 or 8v8 without having lag/latency issues...which many times comes from the graphics being too high. As much as I want awesome design, scale and (relative) realism...I don't want to lose a match due to lag (i.e. the Mechs are rubberbanding or weapons fire appears choppy or Mech movement is too slow).

Edited by Maximilian Thorn, 24 January 2012 - 05:30 AM.

[autogyro]

A new update from the developers from Dev Blog 4:

Quote

Another interesting challenge has been creating a proper sense of scale within the levels. We need a lot of large objects in order to act as view blockers, but if too many things are large then the BattleMechs quickly look like toys. To counteract this, the levels need a large number of easily recognizable small scale objects for our minds to compare scale. On some levels with a ton of manmade objects like a city, this is relatively easy. However, forcing scale in levels with very few manmade objects can be difficult. Rocks and trees can be any scale, so it comes down to adding the right variety of objects and paying attention to each scene as a whole. Ultimately we should be able to take a screenshot of any scene in the level and accurately feel scale - this is easier said than done, but after a few months I think we are getting a pretty good handle on it.

I'm very excited that the developers see the importance of adding objects of scale. With the CryEngine 3 capable of high fidelity textures and objects, it's great to see that we'll get a true sense of scale in the game.

[Exilyth]

*notices a small object on the sidewalk*
"Hey, what's that?"

*makes 'Mech bow down*
"Mhh... still can't identify it."

*engages zoom*
"Holy ****, that's a small soda can!"



Joke aside, with all the large buildings, 'Mechs in MW 4 felt somewhat small in relation.

Edited by Exilyth, 08 February 2012 - 05:47 PM.