So the largest hand crafted open world for an RPG happens to belong to Xenoblade X

Ripper said:
…if you tried to fly from Sol to Alpha Centuri at subluminal speed in-game, I understand that it really would take over four years.
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Wouldn't surprise me if somebody decided to do that.

pibbur who would be even less surprised if he decided to do that.

PS. Thanks for the link. DS.
 
Ripper said:
Good article here. It's partially hand-built, and partiality procedurally generated.
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Couldnt it be also said of Elder Scrolls Arena? About being partially hand crafted that is?
 
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Sometimes distance is also measured in terms of the time it takes to get from one side of the world to another in a straight line and normal game movement speed. So, in Skyrim, you would start at Markath (sp?), turn off clipping, and run straight to Riften. Obviously it's still got plenty of issues (what about Blackreach!?) but it's good for ball park comparisons of games.

P.S. Mass Effect?
 
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I still don't know how size matters at all in any game if it is empty and boring. It could be full and still boring..
 
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I heard that at worst while it isnt empty but the task like setting up beacons etc can get boring. He is hoping it doesnt.
 
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This is useless without details.

Handcrafted can mean anything in terms of actual unique content and detail.

You could make a single room with more unique content than the entirety of Fallout 4 if it was large enough.

All games, handcrafted or not, have generic or repetitive content - as we don't have the technology or resources to create unique materials to build from.

For instance, if you create a thousand wooden tables for a game - chances are they're made up of exactly the same core textures and models - because we're not dealing with trees that have been cut down, but mostly identical 3D table meshes and wood textures.

So, I'd have to play the game to get an idea of how much unique and "interesting" distinct content we're talking about.

Let's just say I'm sceptical this is 3 times bigger than Witcher 3 AND has more handcrafted content than generic repetitive content made to LOOK handcrafted. Handplaced might be a better word :)

That said, if you look past the quests, cutscenes and dialogue for Witcher 3 - a lot of the content is generic and obviously cookie-cutter. As such, the size of Witcher 3 is quite misleading if you expect something with a ton of variety to match it.
 
Ripper said:
Good article here. It's partially hand-built, and partiality procedurally generated.

The game has a fictional hyperspace drive for interstellar travel, but if you tried to fly from Sol to Alpha Centuri at subluminal speed in-game, I understand that it really would take over four years.
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So wait, you can explore our own solar system and the galaxy in Elite, and it uses up-to-date data from… where? Like, from the NASA missions and such?
If that is the case, then I might just grab this just to go cruise and visit Pluto and such!

EDIT:
https://www.edu-gaming.com/e-learning-library/44-sort-by-subject/physics/302-learning-about-our-solar-system-with-elite-dangerous
Looks like not all Pluto's moons made it in either, but nevertheless, that is pretty cool.
 
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DArtagnan said:
For instance, if you create a thousand wooden tables for a game - chances are they're made up of exactly the same core textures and models - because we're not dealing with trees that have been cut down, but mostly identical 3D table meshes and wood textures. So, I'd have to play the game to get an idea of how much unique and "interesting" distinct content we're talking about.
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That's basically been the argument between 'hand painted' isometric backgrounds and the emergence of 3D design.

With something like Baldur's Gate 2 you never see much repetition and each zone can feel unique in and of itself, something which greatly enhances the fantasy aspect of the game. However, when NWN landed and suddenly everything was copy-paste models the game lost a lot of excitement at finding yourself in a new area, as it was not very visually different to the last area, something that can be identified by many people finding the opening city both boring and repetitive, even though it feels larger than Baldur's Gate 2.
 
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lackblogger said:
That's basically been the argument between 'hand painted' isometric backgrounds and the emergence of 3D design.

With something like Baldur's Gate 2 you never see much repetition and each zone can feel unique in and of itself, something which greatly enhances the fantasy aspect of the game. However, when NWN landed and suddenly everything was copy-paste models the game lost a lot of excitement at finding yourself in a new area, as it was not very visually different to the last area, something that can be identified by many people finding the opening city both boring and repetitive, even though it feels larger than Baldur's Gate 2.
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Not really.

NWN is made up of primitive tiles - which in itself has nothing to do with 3D design.

There are countless entirely 2D games made up of similarly repetitive tiles.

Baldur's Gate 2 has a shit-ton of "handpainted" 2D backgrounds - but most of the remaining assets are just as repetitive and generic as 3D assets in modern games.

Should be clear when you remember they're made up of pre-rendered 3D assets - exactly like the assets used in real-time rendering, only with more detail (compared to 3D games of that era) due to the static single-angle environment.

Since you don't have to render the backgrounds from multiple angles - you can get away with more detail - as there's no performance load involved.

That said, I'd say modern 3D game assets have gone FAR beyond anything in Baldur's Gate 2 - at least for AAA games.

Obviously, that won't change the perception of old-school fanatics with a skewed concept of what the past was like.

No, I'm not saying that's you :)
 
Dartagnan, the only person on the internet who looks for every shred of possible disagreement - even with people who supporting what he says :thumbsup:
 
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Agree with DArtagnan: Without an exact definition what handcrafted means a comparison doesn't make too much sense. In addition games just work with different scales.
I need to pull out Avernum as an example again. ^^
The world of Avernum measured in square miles is huge. And the game actually is actually quite big. But just because it's maybe 4 times the square miles then Fallout lets say, it doesn't mean it fills every square mile with as much content. Yes there are maybe 10 cities, but each only has 5 NPCs with rather limited dialogue.

From the MMO Side you can take World of Warcraft, which is just huge and also packed with content.
And to take another example: Fallen Earth. This game has a more realistic approach regarding scale than World of Warcraft, which also means that from time to time you need to run or drive hundreds of meters to get to your new target. So the content in this one is much less dense.
 
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I hear Desert Bus is the largest of all game worlds. Apparently their world in infinite.
 
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But an infinite world can't be hand crafted as you would need infinite numbers of manhours to do so. ^^
 
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First reviews are coming:

The customization options on Xenoblade Chronicles X are awesome! Unfortunately, the options are just a bit slim compared to the amount of customization options we've seen in recent games. Customization opens up just a bit more later on in the game, but as far cosmetics go, it's just a bit limited. That shouldn't steer you off though. If you're a super creative character maker, there's still plenty of tools to make a serious (or incredibly ridiculous) in-game persona!

Character Customization: 7.5/10

Overall, the story is great. The characters are wonderful and diverse, and without giving away too much, the plot is fantastic! Plus, the game does give you a bit of freedom when playing through it.

Story: 8/10

There are a lot more gameplay elements that I didn't talk about, because if I did, this article would become exceedingly lengthy! All I'll say is there's a lot to do in this game, you won't get bored.

Gameplay: 9.5/10

The World is HUGE, and luckily, it's not just a bunch of empty space. There's tons of stuff to do, whether it's fighting enemies, searching for resources, looking for Lifeholds, etc.!"

World 9.5/10

Xenoblade Chronicles X was given the task of bringing the Xeno series to the next generation of Nintendo consoles- and it definitely succeeded! With a world larger than you could ever imagine, and so much to do in it, you'll find yourself playing X for hours on end with ease!

Whether you're an offensive player, taking the fight straight to your enemies, or a defensive player, Xenoblade Chronicles X lets you play it the way you want to play it—all while providing a great story to follow!

Overall 9.6/10!
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http://moviepilot.com/reviews/3652527?lt_source=external,manual,manual,manual,manual
 
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The first xenoblade was a really good game.

Unfortunately this is going to be relegated to a system that not many own.
 
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Handcrafted...that will never be done, considering the size of these types of games.
What impressed me about Witcher is the level of detailing...on clothing, battle fields or just in simply brief moments like this

post-33634-0-14337200-1432477083.jpg
 
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I have Xenoblade X pre-ordered. Can't wait until Friday!
 
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zakhal said:
Wii had two outstanding rpgs. Xenoblade and last story.
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I can understand why someone would enjoy Xenoblade, the setting was interesting, and the writing was not bad at all (though the second half of the game just dragged on, they really could have cut some padding there).
Last story was slideshow city in its later half. It was a game that really should not have been released on the Wii, or the effects should have been scaled down considerably, because the Wii hardware could not handle the game. It quite often went down into single digit FPS during boss battles and larger encounters, making it very much not enjoyable.

I have considered picking up a WiiU, and if reports indicate that Xenoblade X has less padding than Xenoblade, I might well pick it up (as I said, I liked the setting in the first one). But it's not a day one purchase.

lackblogger said:
I hear Desert Bus is the largest of all game worlds. Apparently their world in infinite.
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Desert Bus is not infinite. It's 45*8*the width of the playing area (which is the road +the gravel at the side of the road) square miles
 
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