So I have an idea for terrain generation that I believe would allow the game to have an infinite world while at the same time not adding much (if any) tax on the computer (aside from Hard Drive space) and I don’t believe it would be extremely difficult to implement; but it should be well worth the effort. So I signed up just to tell you guys about it.
So the basic idea is; the map that you are currently viewing would be stored in RAM, and when you leave that map it would take you to a loading screen, save your game to the hard drive, and unload it. Then it would load in the next map either from disk or the terrain generator (perhaps if you are returning to your settlement it may even speed up time and simulate for a minute to emulate the time since a player last viewed it, or not it’s up to you guys. ), and trigger any encounters that may await an adventuring party you may or may not be bringing with you to the next map. This could be expanded infinitely to create much larger worlds and more immersive worlds.
If it is still unclear what I am talking about; I have attached a diagram to help explain it better. Diagram
Edit: Feedback on whether or not this is a viable option for Stonehearth would be much appreciated.
I believe chunks are already built into the world, judging by the fog of war’s shape, so storing large parts of the map may not be necessary. Still, definitely an interesting idea.
I don’t know how the system works right now, but any ideas are worth mentioning because the stonehearth team is an open minded and talented team. For all you know your idea might solve a problem they are dealing with right now, they’ve overhauled some major parts of their programming before, i believe they did that to their pathfinding system and they are constantly changing their UI etc.
Just a quick question, so you are saying that to relieve strain on the PC, the game unloads parts of the map onto the hard drive? Also your diagram (very clearly drawn btw) mentions loading, so does that mean a transition into a loading screen? Would it take long?
The main idea would be to expand the world without adding much if any more tax to the game. It wouldn’t necessarily improve the game’s current performance, but it would allow infinite exploration of the world without the game taking a performance hit because when you are in another “zone” you do not have to calculate things like path finding back at your base, you only have to calculate the path finding for the zone you are in. . The loading screens should not take any longer than it takes to save, and then regenerate your game. You may even be able to get by without a loading screen, but I was thinking just pre-render everything in the zone so you don’t get the “chunk-generation” lag like you get in minecraft.
how about random instance locations around the map you have to find that lead you to special locations you can explore like they do in borderlands use places that might be similiar to the minecraft portal
That would be cool. I was thinking more like bringing up the “Embark” map and allowing you to compile an adventuring party and/or just click on a neighboring zone. or maybe something that you click on, on the 4 edges of the zone? I like that idea too though. Maybe have like “maps” like they do in Torchlight and Torchlight 2 that leads to other zones? The main idea I wanted to express was the ability to explore the world outside your home settlement; I don’t really care how they implement it I would just really like to see it.
I think they do intend to create a relatively seemless and infinite game world. Right now you are allowed to play on a single chunk, but later you’ll be able to explore the full length of ‘the embark screen’ and i believe past that as well. So if that is what you wanted then that’s part of their final vision of stonehearth.
Geoffers747 said “The world is procedurally generated, gameplay will predominately focus on your city so you won’t be trekking hundreds of miles but you should never hit a border.”
That is why I was trying to suggest ways to do it. lol 