quote: Original post by Dauntless
So I think unlimited maps are a great idea, but technologically, I''m not sure how you can do this. I suppose you could borrow some tricks from flight sims and use fractal generators to generate the terrain, but then you have pseudo-random terrain, which really isn''t feasible. Another possibility is generating maps during runtime rather during compile time. In other words, depending on where you wish to fight, the game engine actually takes a database of the world and constructs it. However, I imagine this would dramatically slow down the game. Still, depending on how it''s done this could be workable. For example, lets say that you are playing a WWII game, and you think that a straight drive from Normandy into Germany is a stupid idea. So you get the idea that if you can drop some airborne divisions into Holland to capture some key bridges and then take the backroad into Germany, this is a much better idea (which was Field Marshall Montgomery''s failed alternative plan to assault Germany). Most games will probably force you into the obvious choice and only generate maps for France and Germany. But in this game, when you chose to drop your forces into Holland, the computer dynamically generates the maps of Holland from a database file.

What''s wrong with psuedo-random terrain? If it is done properly it can be very effective and can be generated very quickly. If you want it to represent the real world, a level designer can place major features in the world (like a top of a mountain) and the generated terrain can be used to fill in the details.

Another way to bound the player in an area is to make the edges of the map extremely hostile, filled with mines, dangerous wildlife, electrified fences etc.

I think that the only *real* sin with RTS map-edge boundaries is maps that let you see a "gray" area. This is most commonly found with diamond shaped maps (like AOE and such). The scrollable area is rectangular, but the viewable area is diamond-like (). I don''t think a "world" or "wrap" type of view would be very practical. I don''t think that RTS''s (as they stand currently) are ready to take advantage of an infinite map (or a MMORPG type map). I mean, unless the game play was changed dramatically, you could spend 90% of your time trying to look for that last building.

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