Thoughts on population distribution

[MarchmelloMan 16]

Hey guys,

I had some thoughts on this after seeing the post of the map of chernarus on facebook about the population distribution.. it was like zero people in the west, all population in the east. And I think there is really no objective reason to go more west.. The map is pretty big, but after spawning at the coast most people just run, depending on how far in the north or south they spawn, either to berezino and the NE Airfield or to Elektro.

And in exception of the NW Airfield, which needs a pretty long walk compared to the other ones, there is actually nothing that is really drawing the attention in the more western regions. For example that big castle is actually really nice to visit and look at but bears no special value, no cool weapons there or sth.

It's such a big map, I really hope there will be more interesting stuff on the left side of chernarus, so people start to explore more (and not 2/3 of the population concentrated in Berezino / NE Airfield / Elektro or on their way to it)

Edited May 2, 2014 by MarchmelloMan

[Element47 2480]

there will always be hotspots and traffic lines - and should be, those make a map interesting. but do not expect balancing of these aspects until all map (and gameplay) features have been implemented  - so we're talking well into beta.

 

also, once persistent storage is implemented, this will change dramatically, because the least travelled areas become among the most popular for a stash. once hunting is properly introduced and food spawns in cities reduced, we will see more people in the woods. once all map features are in, spawn points will be adjusted.

Edited May 2, 2014 by e47

[the-gadget 0]

The people gravitate towards the spawns. NW airfield easily has the largest potential for loot and that area is mostly unpopulated due to the fact that, if you die, you would have to run all the way back from the east coast. So, the problem is more related to spawn locations than anything.

In another post, I suggested that they break the maps up in to "spawn regions" and if you died in "region 1", you would respawn somewhere in "region 1". Let's say each region was 3,000 meters by 3,000 meters. If you died in one corner of that region and spawned at the furthest corner from your death, it would be a 4,000 meter hike back to that location. The size of the spawn locations would be tweaked of course but I think that 3,000-4,000 meters would be a good starting point.

I think that doing this would allow people to really play all over the map without the excessive run back.

[preacherlr 614]

once persistent storage is implemented, this will change dramatically, because the least travelled areas become among the most popular for a stash. 

These are my thoughts.

 

[hannibaldaplaya 1095]

Tis quite boring up west, I must say. ;_;

[qww 287]

Hey guys,

I had some thoughts on this after seeing the post of the map of chernarus on facebook about the population distribution.. it was like zero people in the west, all population in the east. And I think there is really no objective reason to go more west.. The map is pretty big, but after spawning at the coast most people just run, depending on how far in the north or south they spawn, either to berezino and the NE Airfield or to Elektro.

And in exception of the NW Airfield, which needs a pretty long walk compared to the other ones, there is actually nothing that is really drawing the attention in the more western regions. For example that big castle is actually really nice to visit and look at but bears no special value, no cool weapons there or sth.

It's such a big map, I really hope there will be more interesting stuff on the left side of chernarus, so people start to explore more (and not 2/3 of the population concentrated in Berezino / NE Airfield / Elektro or on their way to it)

moving from east to west is fine, all the high value areas are on west side, except neaf

[Katana67 2907]

moving from east to west is fine, all the high value areas are on west side, except neaf

 

The disparity isn't as significant, though, as it was in the mod, between the non-military loot and military loot (or whatever you choose to deem as high-end).

 

In the mod, aside from a few sparse spawns in Cherno and Elektro, the main juice of the military spawns were inland. Hence why you had a decent (although still not as adequate as I'd like) mobility inland.

 

Whereas now, everything spawns loot. And there isn't much utility in actually finding decent loot. A police station is in every town, if not an outright military base, there are now more barracks.

 

Point being, one doesn't have to travel far (if at all) to get geared to a satisfactory level from where one spawns. Most cities spawn everything up to and including the SKS. One can get 90-100% of what one needs in the cities on the coast.

 

In my opinion, they either need to make the cities/coast so dangerous (through upping the zombie density) that it's imprudent for a newspawn to linger for very long and loot. Or, tweak the loot bias inland.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Katana67

[Irish. 4886]

So....

 

we need moar cool? 

[qww 287]

The disparity isn't as significant, though, as it was in the mod, between the non-military loot and military loot (or whatever you choose to deem as high-end).

 

In the mod, aside from a few sparse spawns in Cherno and Elektro, the main juice of the military spawns were inland. Hence why you had a decent (although still not as adequate as I'd like) mobility inland.

 

Whereas now, everything spawns loot. And there isn't much utility in actually finding decent loot. A police station is in every town, if not an outright military base, there are now more barracks.

 

Point being, one doesn't have to travel far (if at all) to get geared to a satisfactory level from where one spawns. Most cities spawn everything up to and including the SKS. One can get 90-100% of what one needs in the cities on the coast.

 

In my opinion, they either need to make the cities/coast so dangerous (through upping the zombie density) that it's imprudent for a newspawn to linger for very long and loot. Or, tweak the loot bias inland.

sure you can get sorted out in kamishovo or whatever

 

by higher value, i mean you have to move west to go to balota af, nwaf, and the military bases,  

i get your point that some people will never bother, and maybe its made too easy to stay at coast without having to leave,

[Capo 323]

 

In my opinion, they either need to make the cities/coast so dangerous (through upping the zombie density) that it's imprudent for a newspawn to linger for very long and loot. Or, tweak the loot bias inland.

 

Both of these things. 

[MarchmelloMan 16]

The people gravitate towards the spawns. NW airfield easily has the largest potential for loot and that area is mostly unpopulated due to the fact that, if you die, you would have to run all the way back from the east coast. So, the problem is more related to spawn locations than anything.

In another post, I suggested that they break the maps up in to "spawn regions" and if you died in "region 1", you would respawn somewhere in "region 1". Let's say each region was 3,000 meters by 3,000 meters. If you died in one corner of that region and spawned at the furthest corner from your death, it would be a 4,000 meter hike back to that location. The size of the spawn locations would be tweaked of course but I think that 3,000-4,000 meters would be a good starting point.

I think that doing this would allow people to really play all over the map without the excessive run back.

 

I think the same about the spawn points, but that's not all. 

When I'm fully geared, which happens quite fast by now, there is no reason to explore the inland/westside. 

For example that big castle should bear something that makes it more attractive. In my opinion it is really nice designed and stuff, but not nobody cares about visiting it, cause it's just "boring". The same for almost every other village in the west.

[Katana67 2907]

I think the same about the spawn points, but that's not all. 

When I'm fully geared, which happens quite fast by now, there is no reason to explore the inland/westside. 

For example that big castle should bear something that makes it more attractive. In my opinion it is really nice designed and stuff, but not nobody cares about visiting it, cause it's just "boring". The same for almost every other village in the west.

 

In some of the mods (Overwatch, maybe?) the castles spawn military loot or have tents/barracks buried inside. Not really the approach I'd take, but it's a good demonstration. These places become bastions, which is fun.

 

I think player construction and barricading existing structures will add a lot of utility to otherwise un-used locales. I mean, just having all buildings spawn loot is a huge plus.