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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
All comments (17)
(although it's blow it "up", not off ;) )
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? ;)
http://xboxmovies.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/7000/FarCr...
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.
http://xboxmovies.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/7000/FarCr...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.