Proper Forest!

[Bororm 1156]

I know this thread is old but while searching for people's tents I was up north of Svet, the whole area with the rocks and also the woods is really well done.  The forests up there, while not necessarily denser in terms of trees, have more stuff going on like fallen logs, bushes, even some brambles I haven't really seen too much any where else.  I recommend checking out the area.

 

It's just a shame there's not a ton of reason to go up there, but as tents become more popular and eventually base building/vehicles I'm sure more activity will hit the fringes.

[wud 143]

yeah some undergroth would be georgeous.. even if the fps go down

[Bororm 1156]

Turn your trees+grass to maximum it creates a lot of small plant undergrowth.

[Katana67 2907]

I know this thread is old but while searching for people's tents I was up north of Svet, the whole area with the rocks and also the woods is really well done.  The forests up there, while not necessarily denser in terms of trees, have more stuff going on like fallen logs, bushes, even some brambles I haven't really seen too much any where else.  I recommend checking out the area.

 

It's just a shame there's not a ton of reason to go up there, but as tents become more popular and eventually base building/vehicles I'm sure more activity will hit the fringes.

 

Yeah, they've done a marvelous job up north in making the forests varied. It's awesome.

 

My only qualms are that - they didn't/couldn't expand the wilderness overall (and it's become marginalized as a result), and, they haven't applied the same treatment (in terms of beautifying the forests) to the last untouched wilderness left on the map, the western border forest between Lopatino and Zelenogorsk.

[Bororm 1156]

Yeah, they've done a marvelous job up north in making the forests varied. It's awesome.

 

My only qualms are that - they didn't/couldn't expand the wilderness overall (and it's become marginalized as a result), and, they haven't applied the same treatment (in terms of beautifying the forests) to the last untouched wilderness left on the map, the western border forest between Lopatino and Zelenogorsk.

 

Something I noticed is that even though the area isn't larger, much like what's happened with towns, the usable space is increased.  There's a lot more cliffs/valleys and such going on up in that area, which makes it feel a lot larger than it previously was and also creates a lot more hiding places.  I spent a decent chunk of time combing the area, where as in the mod it probably wouldn't have taken me long at all.

 

I hope they treat that western border in a similar fashion and create some interesting wilderness there as well.

[grindstone50k 208]

Yeah, they've done a marvelous job up north in making the forests varied. It's awesome.

 

My only qualms are that - they didn't/couldn't expand the wilderness overall (and it's become marginalized as a result), and, they haven't applied the same treatment (in terms of beautifying the forests) to the last untouched wilderness left on the map, the western border forest between Lopatino and Zelenogorsk.

They're probably working their way over to that side of the map.

[Katana67 2907]

Something I noticed is that even though the area isn't larger, much like what's happened with towns, the usable space is increased.  There's a lot more cliffs/valleys and such going on up in that area, which makes it feel a lot larger than it previously was and also creates a lot more hiding places.  I spent a decent chunk of time combing the area, where as in the mod it probably wouldn't have taken me long at all.

 

I hope they treat that western border in a similar fashion and create some interesting wilderness there as well.

 

I mean, it's a double-edged sword.

 

It seems larger, because there's more nooks and crannies. But there's less area for those nooks and crannies to exist.

 

That and the more rock formations and the like you add, the smaller and more path-y the wilderness becomes. Hence why Skyrim never really felt as big (and I'd argue it just flat out isn't in terms of usable area) as Cyrodiil from Oblivion to me. But on paper, the map was larger in Skyrim.

[Bororm 1156]

I mean, it's a double-edged sword.

 

It seems larger, because there's more nooks and crannies. But there's less area for those nooks and crannies to exist.

 

That and the more rock formations and the like you add, the smaller and more path-y the wilderness becomes. Hence why Skyrim never really felt as big (and I'd argue it just flat out isn't in terms of usable area) as Cyrodiil from Oblivion to me. But on paper, the map was larger in Skyrim.

 

I think they managed to strike a fine balance.  It's a bit more path-y as a result of more obstructions, but there's still multiple ways around and you could spend a lot of time exploring in that area compared to what it was in the mod.  I didn't feel like I was really on rails in there for the most part.  Depending how bold you want to be with wonky arma physics there's probably a lot of sketchy areas you can get to too.

 

It may be wishful thinking, but if proper base building is implemented I could see some really awesome stuff happening in that sorta place.  Even landing helicopters on some of the rocks, perhaps after some modifications/platforms.

 

Rust features some pretty similar rock formations as well that lead to lots of fun cave bases.

[Katana67 2907]

I think they managed to strike a fine balance.  It's a bit more path-y as a result of more obstructions, but there's still multiple ways around and you could spend a lot of time exploring in that area compared to what it was in the mod.  I didn't feel like I was really on rails in there for the most part.  Depending how bold you want to be with wonky arma physics there's probably a lot of sketchy areas you can get to too.

 

It may be wishful thinking, but if proper base building is implemented I could see some really awesome stuff happening in that sorta place.  Even landing helicopters on some of the rocks, perhaps after some modifications/platforms.

 

Rust features some pretty similar rock formations as well that lead to lots of fun cave bases.

 

For me, at least personally (to say nothing of the practicality of it), 90% of the utility in having a base (be it a humble tent, a tent with a car beside it, or a massive compound) is in being able to hide it. And not just visibly, either. In being able to place it in an area that is less-likely to be traveled in the first place. Physically limiting the area in which I can place a structure (i.e. through the addition of cliffs and such) increases the chances that my stuff will be encountered.

 

Pure and simple. If I can't hide my shit, then I don't really see a point in having it around in the first place. Because in a game like DayZ, people can walk up on your base while you're logged off and ruin everything (which is a fair risk). But any and all advantage that I can exploit to make my base less-likely to be encountered in the first place, I will take any day over locks, fences, boobytraps, etc.

 

Less wilderness = fewer areas which are able to be used for hiding things, no matter how many neat little rock outcroppings there are... my base/tent/whatever is still more likely to be found simply because there's less surface area in which I can hide it.

 

Granted, in the mod, the old sparse woods sure didn't help. But shrinking the wilderness sort of eliminated any gains that would've otherwise been made by making the forest varied.

 

And, lest we forget, much of what used to be densely wooded wilderness is now fields and/or cities (see the east-west axis in the north upon which they're adding the new cities).

 

Making the wilderness landscapes more varied will get us close to where we were in the mod. But I still think that actually expanding the wilderness itself, in terms of surface area, is absolutely necessary if persistent storage/construction is to have any real use.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Katana67

[Bororm 1156]

I think they're aiming to break away from that and go with the whole defenses rather than hiding thing, that's the impression I'm getting so far with talks of barricading and booby traps.  If they don't, and add in camouflage and stuff to hide your tents, and maybe get more lenient on placement rules that only serves to benefit these types of areas more so than primarily empty woods.

 

I do sorta disagree with you however, because as I've mentioned I spent a much longer time in that small area of the map looking for player tents than I would have had to in the mod.  In the mod that area was pretty sparse, you could see fairly far and you knew that a tent was going to be hidden in a pine.  With the multiple levels of elevation and very limited visibility it takes a lot longer to check every corner of the area now.

 

That's just one section of the map though, as you mention most of the map has become less wilderness, and the rest of the map hasn't been given that same level of love (yet?).

 

Now I don't disagree that because there is less space, you are in some ways more likely to stumble upon said tent even if it takes a longer period of time, however in either scenario your tent is going to be found by some one who is dedicating their time to finding it.  More space doesn't necessarily mean more places to hide, and in this case actually means the opposite.

 

Basically it's less space, more hiding places, vs more space and less hiding places.  I find the first one more interesting personally, as the second just leads to "wasted" space.

 

Unfortunately they've said there's no plans to increase surface area.  I think the focus now becomes, what's the best way to make use of the area they have.  Whether it be a focus away from hiding and more towards defense or increased camo options, or even both.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Bororm