Were plans to expand the map canceled?

[stielhandgranate 480]

Reading on some forum topics, several users have made claims that the map is not getting expanded according to devs, despite the already developed roads that reach beyond the boundaries and the stated plan by the dev team to expand the map by four times it's current size. Has anyone come across the devs mentioning this subject in recent times? The current map is really over crowded with new cities and towns and can use and expansion.

[Beck (DayZ) 1768]

I've been wondering what happened to the expansion of Utes off the southeast coast of the map. They showed it a dev blog.

[Katana67 2907]

I've been wondering what happened to the expansion of Utes off the southeast coast of the map. They showed it a dev blog.

 

They discarded it because it never looked/felt right, IIRC.

 

As to the subject of this post, they've never ruled it out categorically. But simply because there's roads leading to nowhere, doesn't mean that they intend on expanding the map. The roads have to end somewhere, the limits of the map seem an apt place.

 

I do recall something (though it may be out of context, owing to my lack of knowledge in technical aspects) about how expanding the size of the map wasn't feasible, because all of the objects on the map are linked to one another. So if you proverbially "stretch" the map to be larger, everything will get distorted out of place. I could be way off, but I recall them saying something to that effect.

 

Granted, so long as there's a debug plain, I don't see any issue with just filling that empty space in with detailed landscapes. But I'm sure it's much more complicated than that.

 

I agree, though, that the map needs more wilderness and the only way to do that is via expanding the map. It would be relatively modest as well, a 3x15km expansion on the western edge of the map would work wonders.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Katana67

[Bororm 1156]

http://www.reddit.com/r/dayz/comments/23o3bj/a_dayz_dev_answered_some_questions_on_4chan/cgyz4s7?context=3

 

 

 

Because it would require everything to be reworked. It changes the positioning of everything on the map, various floating point precision reference points and etc... The map construction process is very complicated, as the world is huge. So the data would have to be artificially inflated somehow, repackaged, redeveloped. It's not been done before, but I think it would be possible. A tremendous amount of work however with no firm guarantee of success.

 

 

The map is broken up into parts on two scales, one is used by terrain (how far between verts for the terrain points). The other is used for the generation of materials and how the different land classes overlap.

The hard part is not adjusting the scale, so much as reconciling these two values. They have very dependent relationships on each other, and only specific different combinations can be used. These have a big reference on why the map is the size it is.

 

 

In regards to just filling the edges

 

 

That's procedurally generated.

 

I don't ever remember them saying there were plans to expand the map size.  Adding additional maps yes.

Also, the roads don't go beyond the boundaries, they stop at the edges.  Those empty roads are where they are going to develop additional towns etc.

 

(god this forum sure likes to fuck up posts, had to edit multiple times)

Edited July 27, 2014 by Bororm

[Michaelvoodoo25 3120]

I always thought Utes would have been a fine addition to the map. Then iy happens again......

Change.

[Bororm 1156]

A large theme of the standalone is creating things from the ground up rather than just slapping things in.  I think it would have been a cool addition, but I'd rather they create some original island(s) instead that can be tailored specifically to the experience.

[Zed's Dead 67]

To our horror, more maps probably means more desync.

[Katana67 2907]

I don't ever remember them saying there were plans to expand the map size.

 

This. This is true.

 

They did say "expanding" the map at one point, but IIRC, it was meant to say that they're expanding the northern cities. Not expanding the map as a whole, which is where some confusion arose I believe.

[rybec 339]

You know, the most Northern parts of the map used to be Poeba dam and the NE airfield that nobody cared about? They're filling up space that used to be empty and tent-country area in the mod. That's a good thing, but I think the woods in the center of the map should be largely untouched, apart from maybe some shacks or other little things.

[Dancing.Russian.Man 1631]

Adding more towns can be considered "expanding" even if the total land-area stays the same size.

This is what they've been doing.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Dancing.Russian.Man

[soulfirez 901]

I think i recall something about an idea of transitions from 1 server to the next when crossing from 1 map to the next but it was a bold idea from a long time ago dont know if they seriously persued the idea or where just spitballing..

[DeatHTaX 1217]

Adding more towns can be considered "expanding" even if the total land-area stays the same size.

This is what they've been doing.

 

Meh...i'll have to disagree with you on technicality. If they're referring to expansion, I don't see how adding a town or city is really "expanding" the map. Comes across as a bit ambiguous. 

[boneboys 7988]

It's a delicate affair getting everything right and the map has been vastly expanded.

Every time something is added or expanded, something, somewhere is effected...

 

This goes back to last November (pre-alpha), the whole town was set wrong because terrain had been added to accommodate what is now north of the rail tracks...

*****************************************************************************

All buildings without exception are badly set, or terrain is.
Build: 027.112510

Position...

One example...

 

[Zedertone 378]

 The map needs more wilderness

........

[Bororm 1156]

He's not really wrong, the majority of the map is being converted to have towns/buildings and at the least, roads.  The entire north end of the map used to be largely wilderness, now it is set up to be highly developed.  Some of those roads will likely be back roads and not necessarily have towns around them but they will lead some where and even a road itself means ease of travel in the future, meaning less wilderness.

 

The remaining chunks of wilderness are basically the west end of the map and some of the more centralized woods, but those are surrounded by towns as well.

 

I'm waiting to pass judgement on it myself.  I think one of Katana's major concerns if I'm not mistaken is reduced hiding spaces for things like tents or vehicles.  If the direction they take base building/storage is to barricade existing structures however, then it is possible that additional towns and more houses will lead to a more urban style of hiding your base.  Picking a random house in an out of the way town might be more beneficial than posting a tent in the woods.  It is hard to say at this point though as we don't know what that situation will actually be like.

 

I do still agree regardless though, that it would have been nice to leave a bit more undeveloped land about.

[MarchHare 184]

Map expansion =\= Map enbiggening.

I think the map area is big enough but look forward to map content expansion;)

[svisketyggeren 662]

In regards to a expansion/new map....I dont see myself playing Dayz for much longer unless some new landmass is added. The map we have now is too familiar and makes the game boring for me.

[Katana67 2907]

........

 

http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/185396-save-the-trees-man-marginalized-wilderness/

 

There are fewer isolated wilderness areas than in the mod.