PC Xbox 360 PS3

Ubisoft recently released a few images of Far Cry 2's map editor so since I was able to attend a presentation of the PC version in Leipzig, I thought you might want to learn more about it. Get your reading glasses and join me inside.

The first thing that struck me when I saw the game on a huge HD TV set was the impressive graphics. Added to the resolution used – something we’re not quite used to seeing yet on consoles – the game really kicked ass visually speaking. The presentation was divided into two equal parts, 15 minutes of random gameplay with the creative director and 15 minutes to introduce us with the level editor.

Clint Hocking - creative director - played the game in normal mode but despite that he died many times – a lot more than he wished anyway - which tends to prove that the difficulty level isn't that easy. During this demo session we were told about the importance of the buddies we can make in the game and the fact that you can choose among a certain number of them. In fact, the more you use them, the more importance they have in the story. They give you missions and if you stick with them, they will help you when necessary – like for example by helping you recover during a fight when you’ve been hit. There even is some sort of class system and if one of your lieutenants - or captains - happens to die, he will be replaced by the next in line in the hierarchy. Which brings me to an important point: your allies don’t come from the Scottish Highlands, they’re not immortals and once you lose them, you can’t get them back. No need to mention you really want to take care of them, all the more as they grant you new abilities as the game progresses.


Moreover, the game asks you to unlock different safe houses to occupy with your buddies so you can then have access to weapon caches or new missions for example. The map you use in the game looks like a real map as, when you use it to find your way through the African wilderness, you see it in the main character’s hand. It’s rather funny to see him check the map while driving, just like those tourists you see in their car during the summer holidays. Since I’m talking about the driving sequences, it’s worth mentioning that you can repair your vehicle when it gets broken. You simply need to open the hood and fix it with a tool.

Like I said before, the graphics are amazing, the savannah looks real (I was stunned by the way the baobabs look). The build we saw had a few framerate issues but other than that there were few glitches – apart from the occasional pop-up. The sound is great too: the weapons sound perfect and you get to hear the local wild animals depending on where you are – savannah or jungle for example.


But enough with the campaign mode, let’s talk about the editor. I found it not only user-friendly but also very complete with a great amount of possibilities. Because I only saw the PC version, I found the interface looked vey similar to the usual PC stuff but I was guaranteed that the console versions would be just as good and simple. It will probably be a little less practical but anybody should be able to create their own maps easily enough. Don’t worry about bad “architects” though, there will be a ranking system for all the maps created by the players so you don’t waste your time on a very bad one.

The editor actually is the same tool the team has been using to make Far Cry 2 for the last three years. There are several tools you can use like the erosion tool to create mountains for instance. You can then add textures and use the noise tool to make an organic field. You can even select the altitude where you want the textures to be applied, which makes everything a lot easier and faster. The same goes with trees that you can add anywhere you want but the editor places them in a logical way so the savannah you create looks as realistic as possible, all this in just a few minutes time. You can then instantly jump into your map to visit your creation and check that everything looks the way you want it to look.


Now the great thing about the editor is that, say you regret creating a savannah and that you wish you’d gone for a jungle instead. No problem, you simply select the jungle environment and the map is automatically updated to look like a jungle. Even the sounds adapt to the new environment so you won’t hear animals that are not supposed to be there. You can then add roads, decide how big they are and again, it’s all very simple because the terrain adapts itself to the road you build. So there really is no need to anticipate anything, you do whatever you want, whenever you feel like it.

You can also add vehicles, weapons or buildings and again, you can place them anywhere, turn them around, put them above the ground in mid air, it’s really your call. The developers wondered at some point if they should "forbid" people to do such crazy things so the maps stay as realistic as possible but they finally decided it was best to let the players decide – and that’s where the ranking system will come in handy I guess.


To create a river, it is also quite easy. You simple need to cut away a part of the jungle – or savannah – and flatten the terrain. Then you use the texture tool along the river for a more realistic look and finally choose the water level you want. You’re also free to decide the time of day or the type of weather – everything changing in real time with the shadows moving or the wind blowing in the trees, amazing! Like I said, you can visit your map whenever you want and then it feels like you’re in the game, with the environment reacting to your every action – when you fire at the trees for example.

At the end of this presentation, we were shown a map that had been created after five hours of work. It was sort of a warehouse environment or a plant of some sort. Since you can place all the pipes and buildings the way you want, the developer had made a kind of crane. It was not really a crane but it looked good enough to pass for one. I can’t wait to see what the players will be able to invent with a bit of imagination. Lego Far Cry? Close to it. Last but not least, the editor will warn you when something is wrong in your map so you have a bug-free experience when you play online. Hence, it will be impossible to have ill-placed spawn points that would either kill you instantly or prevent you from moving for example.


So that’s basically what I learnt during this interesting presentation. I have to say I’m really looking forward to trying the game at home when it’s released. Just a word on the console versions of the game to finish this very long article. I was able to try the 360 on the showfloor – see the gameplay video from Leipzig - and it’s also technically awesome. I didn’t get to play for too long though as we were in a rush but Lunik attended the presentation of the console versions and he learnt that the physics engine will be more limited than on the PC version. Just like what Snoopers and Pipomantis said in the Ubidays Gamersyde Diaries, throwing a grenade on a fence or a building won’t blow it up. There will be particle effects but that’s about it and though it’s a shame, we’ll still have a huge open environment, an impressive fire engine and a great looking game. Unfortunately, although the editor was supposed to be demoed on consoles too, it didn’t happen because the person supposed to show it didn’t make it on time. So we’ll have to be patient and wait for a dev diary, who knows?

alimokrane
alimokrane
Commented on 2008-08-28 13:14:58
Great read, thanks Drift. I was really looking forward to this game. the level editor came out of nowhere and just made this a MUST HAVE for me. Absolutely brilliant. shame about the limited physics in the console version though.
In reply to
squarejawhero
squarejawhero
Commented on 2008-08-28 13:54:16
Great article, very excited.

(although it's blow it "up", not off ;) )
In reply to
Driftwood - Dictateur en chef
Driftwood
Commented on 2008-08-28 14:08:37 In reply to squarejawhero
My bad, I was bound to make at least one mistake given the length of the article. ^^

Now I just don't know why I wrote "off" instead of "up", I guess I wasn't thinking clearly when I got to the end of it. :D

Thanks, it was pretty inappropriate to say the least, wasn't it? ;)
In reply to
This message and account have been deleted at the user's request
thextreme1
thextreme1
Commented on 2008-08-28 16:40:23
In past videos, fences did blow apart in the console versions of the game. Buildings do to some extent, but not completely.

http://xboxmovies.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/7000/FarCr...
In reply to
INDIGO
INDIGO
Commented on 2008-08-28 18:56:06
Great preview guys.

And I'd just like to say, it's pretty sad that the last console FPS that featured a full map editor was the original Far Cry.
In reply to
Ichi
Ichi
Commented on 2008-08-28 20:49:20 In reply to thextreme1
Posted by thextreme1
In past videos, fences did blow apart in the console versions of the game. Buildings do to some extent, but not completely.

http://xboxmovies.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/7000/FarCr...
Yea I wonder about this, did they just recently take out the feature or did the presenter make a mistake?

I'm kind of curious what specific differences there will be between the PC and console versions visually, it's really amazing for a PC game to be ported to 360 by 3 guys and run this flawlessly, and I haven't even noticed any big glaring deficiencies in the console videos compared to any other content of the game I've seen.
In reply to
alimokrane
alimokrane
Commented on 2008-08-28 20:49:39 In reply to INDIGO
Posted by INDIGO
Great preview guys.

And I'd just like to say, it's pretty sad that the last console FPS that featured a full map editor was the original Far Cry.
Yup. no one else seems to bother. If only Epic would do one for gears ...... :S
In reply to
Ichi
Ichi
Commented on 2008-08-28 20:58:38 In reply to alimokrane
Posted by alimokrane
Yup. no one else seems to bother. If only Epic would do one for gears ...... :S
Well it's easier from both a design standpoint and technical to allow editing in FCIP and FarCry 2 than many other FPS games. FCIP&Far Cry 2 editing take place mostly on a single plane, and you're working with that mesh as well as laying down other meshes on top of it, shadows are done in real time.

With something like Gears or UT3 (I've spent a little time in that editor, completely different level of complexity) you not only work in 3 dimensions but you'll be doing all sorts of crap with each individual surface, laying out brush geometry (which is harder to work with than meshes (which are just used for all detail in UE3 games)), and then you have to do a lot of lighting calculations and crap (because it uses lightmaps, not nearly as many realtime effects) so you have to let your computer sit a while. So basically editing in UT3's editor is WORK while editing in the FCIP editor can be fun.
In reply to
bleachedsmiles
bleachedsmiles
Commented on 2008-08-28 21:02:39
yeah i've seen destruction in the console versions too...strange
In reply to
Driftwood - Dictateur en chef
Driftwood
Commented on 2008-08-28 21:24:54 In reply to bleachedsmiles
I never said there was no destruction at all, I just said the physics engine would be more limited than on PC.
In reply to
BlackAngel
BlackAngel
Commented on 2008-08-29 02:35:27
360 version for me
In reply to
digi_matrix
digi_matrix
Commented on 2008-08-29 10:01:35
Hmm, less destruction on fences and buildings (kinda like Bad Company), might get the PC version. Hopefully, as many people will be playing online too.
In reply to
GriftGFX - He can also<br>ban your ass!
GriftGFX
Commented on 2008-08-29 15:17:14 In reply to digi_matrix
Posted by digi_matrix
Hmm, less destruction on fences and buildings (kinda like Bad Company), might get the PC version. Hopefully, as many people will be playing online too.
I'm getting the PC version (probably), but I don't expect it to have a huge community. I just don't think the brand alone is enough to attract a ton of PC gamers to this game. People know it's an Ubisoft spinoff, and that it's their first real attempt at this genre as a PC developer. Maybe I'm wrong, but I see these as reasons to approach with caution more than anything.

I'm also not nearly as convinced that this will be great as most other people are. I do like the little touches they've added, like the map, but otherwise I have yet to be terribly impressed by the gameplay footage.
In reply to
most_hated
most_hated
Commented on 2008-08-30 07:14:18 In reply to Ichi
Posted by Ichi
Well it's easier from both a design standpoint and technical to allow editing in FCIP and FarCry 2 than many other FPS games. FCIP&Far Cry 2 editing take place mostly on a single plane, and you're working with that mesh as well as laying down other meshes on top of it, shadows are done in real time.

With something like Gears or UT3 (I've spent a little time in that editor, completely different level of complexity) you not only work in 3 dimensions but you'll be doing all sorts of crap with each individual surface, laying out brush geometry (which is harder to work with than meshes (which are just used for all detail in UE3 games)), and then you have to do a lot of lighting calculations and crap (because it uses lightmaps, not nearly as many realtime effects) so you have to let your computer sit a while. So basically editing in UT3's editor is WORK while editing in the FCIP editor can be fun.
What are you talking about. Why would you compare UT3's editor to this one? You do realize that the UT3 editor is basically the same thing the developer uses, whereas this is an editor built for the average console player, which takes a lot more time and resources. Epic could easily build a more noob friendly editor like the FarCry ones, they just don't think it's worth the time.
In reply to
Driftwood - Dictateur en chef
Driftwood
Commented on 2008-08-30 12:54:10 In reply to most_hated
In fact, I'm afraid you're wrong, the PC version of the editor here is really close to what the team uses to develop the game, at least that's what Clint Hocking told us. It's not because it's not over-complicated and is, as you nicely say, noob-friendly that it's not the real thing you know... Now it doesn't mean that the console versions won't be much simpler.
In reply to
Madridista072
Madridista072
Commented on 2008-09-01 14:07:01
Must have for me:D
In reply to
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