Environment

[Deithrian]

Hello everyone and happy Holidays!

 

I have a couple of questions, which may seem silly due to my lack of sea knowledge, but I hope I don't get thrown overboard for asking. :Smile_hiding:

 

I want to ask people who already had the chance to play the game, and others, questions about the environment and how much does it affect gameplay, and how much does it matter for you.

 

You see, I'm a big fan of environmental effects, because for me, they are 60% of the fun in a game.

 

For example, back in 1995 to 1997, there were two amazing RTS games released.

One of them was Warcraft 2 and the other one was Dark Colony.

 

One of those games, made me stay awake until 1AM, waiting for everyone to fall asleep, so I can leave my room and spend 30 minutes to walk 3 meters to the outside door (didn't want to wake up anyone), then run across town for 15 minutes, so I can reach my father's office, play the game for 3 hours, and go back home, in my bed, before anyone woke up and noticed I'm gone.

Yes I was that crazy, and I did that for months...

 

And this game was Dark Colony.

It wasn't because it was a better strategy game, or the visuals were that much batter than Warcraft 2.

It was the fact that there were environmental sounds and effects in Dark Colony.

 

I'm talking about random bird sounds, and day and night cycle.

 

For many, this may not seem as much, but for me, when I heard a bird in that game, I was in, I mean I was there!

I was on this alien world with weird creatures lurking in the dark.

During daytime, the visual range of my soldiers was increased and decreased during night time.

 

Warcraft 2, although a better strategy game, never had that effect on me.

 

Call me crazy, but Environment is and must be a big part of any game.

 

So here are my silly questions.

 

1.How will the water "terrain" affect gampleay (please don't say it will not affect it at all).

2.Are there sounds of seagulls, other birds, or other sounds specific to ships?

3.Are there sounds of the waves hitting your ship, or when a shell hits the water near you?

4.What is the level of attention to the Environment in the game so far, or for the future?

5.How important are Environmental effects for you?

 

I hope you would agree that in principal Scorched Earth

is not that much different from World of Tanks.But what makes WoT more enjoyable to play is the level of immersion achieved with 3D graphics and realistic physics.

 

I wonder how much better WoT would be with a little seasoning with Environmental effects like rain, storm clouds, muddy terrain, dust storms to reduce vision, and so on...

[jatzi]

upon release, the game is not yet out so no one has played it yet, there will be very uh crappy enviromental effects but later when they get the game on its feet they'll add the birds, storm clouds etc. Its not a huge priority right now. But I do wish that some time in the future they would add storm clouds, maybe you cant fly aircraft in certain parts of the map due to storms? Reduced visability, reduced accuracy etc. Those kinds of features would be a welcome addition in my opinion but this isnt a sim either so they might not add these effects.

1.not at all upon release probably

2.no other then guns firing and other stuff maybe?

3.shells hitting the water will make a sound probably

4.dont know

5.answered above

READ THE FAQ BTW.

[commando2227]

Deithrian, on 23 December 2012 - 11:40 PM, said:

I want to ask people who already had the chance to play the game,

No one's played it yet,it isn't even in alpha.
However,to try to answer:
1: I'm not sure,it may mess up aim by rolling you ship,tbh idk.
2:Again,idk.
3: Most likely.
4: I'd say 4/10 priority-ish.
5: Not particularly.

[Deithrian]

Thanks for the reply jatzi, no need for caps :)

 

I did read the FAQ before posting this thread, but I found the answers there lacking.

It's my observation that FAQs are not updated regularly, maybe this place is an exception.

 

And I'm afraid that

"Q: Is there going to be weather on release?

A: There is going to be a wheather, but no guarantee for it to be in release version - though later it is very possible.",

sounds more like Environment will be something cosmetic to the game, rather than a real factor that will affect outcomes of battles.

 

I may be terribly wrong about this, due to my lack of knowledge as mentioned, but, shouldn't viewing range limiting factors like storms be included in the early stages of game development?

So they can be tested and tuned appropriately?

 

I mean, on water, you don't have bushes to hide behind, or mountains and planes.

 

My point is, if you don't have those in World of Warships, what's their equivalent for battles at sea?

If it's not big waves or stormy weather, how will combat feel like?

How about water currents?

 

Without the environment, wouldn't battles feel like you're on a flat terrain in World of Tanks, just shooting at each other?

How fun is that?!

 

commando2227, I was under the impression that some forum moderators were able to play the game?!

[Crag_r]

Mods are not playing at the moment, Devs are and they wont tell you anything meaningful out side the Q&A topics

 

All we have got out of GAEA is that there are ships, water and guns  :Smile_trollface:

[alphakaynine]

well remember it is not a Sim so i think they will leave out variables that would make it a simulator IE there will be aesthetic weather hopefully

[Deithrian]

alphakaynine, on 24 December 2012 - 01:09 AM, said:

well remember it is not a Sim so i think they will leave out variables that would make it a simulator IE there will be aesthetic weather hopefully

I understand that it's not a sim.
I'm just wondering how fun encounters will be without bushes, trees, pits, houses, mountains, forests and so on, to diversify gameplay.
Where will strategy and tactics fall, in a "flat" terrain world, with none of the above and no weather too?

[alphakaynine]

Deithrian, on 24 December 2012 - 01:36 AM, said:

I understand that it's not a sim.
I'm just wondering how fun encounters will be without bushes, trees, pits, houses, mountains, forests and so on, to diversify gameplay.
Where will strategy and tactics fall, in a "flat" terrain world, with none of the above and no weather too?

ahh to the extremes we go! lets see tactics will be "shoot, get shot hope to kill him before he kills you"

[Crag_r]

Deithrian, on 24 December 2012 - 01:36 AM, said:

I understand that it's not a sim.
I'm just wondering how fun encounters will be without bushes, trees, pits, houses, mountains, forests and so on, to diversify gameplay.
Where will strategy and tactics fall, in a "flat" terrain world, with none of the above and no weather too?

There will be Islands as well smoke screens to contend with for cover.

Look at the current in game screen shots for more info on that.

[Deithrian]

Crag_r, on 24 December 2012 - 03:14 AM, said:

There will be Islands as well smoke screens to contend with for cover.

Look at the current in game screen shots for more info on that.

Interesting...
They will place mini islands on each map to provide cover, and then you can use smoke....

Can someone that has served in the Navy explain what makes discovering, aiming at and hitting enemy ships, difficult?
To what amount does weather influence those activities?
Does it matter when you have huge waves? A storm with heavy rain? Fog everywhere? Cold or hot environment?
Or weather has so little effect that it's next to nothing and can be ignored?

[Ariecho]

We're all in the same boat right now (pun intended), and we don't know more than what is posted on this forum.  No player has access to the game, and the few employees who have played it are keeping their mouth shut.

[Flakstorm_]

alphakaynine, on 24 December 2012 - 01:09 AM, said:

well remember it is not a Sim so i think they will leave out variables that would make it a simulator IE there will be aesthetic weather hopefully

by the way no, its not a sim but the develpers want it to be as real as possible for a good gaming experience. so yes, there is going to be good "Environment" in the game. when the alpha comes put the game is not going to have good "Environment".as soon as they are done with the more important things i would think that the game would have a good "Environment" like you wanted  :Smile_smile:

[Crag_r]

Deithrian, on 24 December 2012 - 03:35 AM, said:

Can someone that has served in the Navy explain what makes discovering, aiming at and hitting enemy ships, difficult?

I'm not navy, but im a Pilot so i know my physics.

First thing is first is getting the bearing and range of the target right, that cannot always be the simplest of matters with period fire control. Bearing is where the guy is on the horizon relative to your ship, range on the other hand often requires either radar which immediately gives away your location or optics which requires two sights on the target and measuring the angle difference that they make.

When you get all that you then fire a few rounds and see where they hit; too close you increase the gun elevation, too far left you aim right, then fire another salvo and see where they hit and correct again until you get on target and then pump all the rounds you can in. Now if the target is at really long range or over the horizon(needs a spotter plane to see) this process gets tedious to say the least.

Now thats not too hard, right?
Well you also have to contend with the fact that your shell will spend about half a minute in the air depending on the range you are firing at, so you also have use what you had from before AND guess where the enemy is going to be in about half a minutes time, something that gets annoying if he is changing course. Then you have to take into account your own maneuvering not just to dodge enemy shells but enemy aircraft which require different maneuvering. Then on top of that you can take into account changing speeds and winds, humidity and all that.

[NGTM_1R]

alphakaynine, on 24 December 2012 - 01:09 AM, said:

well remember it is not a Sim so i think they will leave out variables that would make it a simulator IE there will be aesthetic weather hopefully

They'd be crazy to not at least include a night combat condition, considering the timeframe they're running the game for; Jutland had a night action after the battle lines clashed, and the Pacific's night actions probably need no introduction.

[Wunderwaffen1945]

I would really want to see a map with storm, i liked that environment in Battlestations pacific

[Super_Dreadnought]

I don't know what sort of environmental effects Wargaming intends to put into WoWs, but I would bet that they are going to be very simplistic like WoT if they are included at all. Bear in mind that there are people who play World of Tanks with laptops from ancient antiquity, and their fps can be crushed by rendering the trees. I remember reading from somewhere in this forum about concern that smokescreens may kill fps.

 

Fog? thunderstorms? huge waves? Night battles with flashing lights everywhere? Including that might very well make WoWs unplayable for a significant number of people, people who might otherwise have bought gold with real money. Wargaming is a company which ultimately exists to make money, and they will cater to the lowest common denominator they can get away with. Sure I'd like to see big waves, rain, and fog, but I don't expect to see them put in.

 

BTW I vote NO to storms. Carriers airwings of the era and storms don't mix too well.  :tongue:

[Wunderwaffen1945]

It would make many kabooms

[sgtpepper500]

I am sure it will all be plenty pretty. Just going to wait for the game and then start judging.

[Wunderwaffen1945]

"Yuuup"

- Dave Hester

[Deithrian]

Crag_r, on 24 December 2012 - 03:47 AM, said:

I'm not navy, but im a Pilot so i know my physics.

That sounds great, but aren't they removing all that with automated AI stuff that will aid you all the way?
And they will increase shell speeds which means you will not have 30 sec. to evade a hit with maneuvering?

Deadnought, on 24 December 2012 - 08:04 AM, said:

I don't know what sort of environmental effects Wargaming intends to put into WoWs, but I would bet that they are going to be very simplistic like WoT if they are included at all.

From the looks of the waves in the screenshots, people with integrated laptop GPUs can't even dream to run this game.
Unless they have some uber low graphic settings or something?!
I'm also a laptop user, but I have dual cards.
The only problem I have with games is they don't offer fps limit options, except vSync which is 30fps more than I need.

For example in Guild Wars 2 and in Diablo III, a fps limit to 30 makes my laptop Fan to turn off.
Games run like kittens.
60 fps however turns on the fan and reaches temps of 65-70C.

I need to see some actual gameplay footage.
For me, huge maps, slow ships, 30 sec. wait for a hit with no weather doesn't mix well :)
I mean, I imagine that you will spot a ship, and you will stare at each other like sitting ducks trying to hit one another and always staying at the edge of detection.
When some nice thunder storm can bring additional cover and add for a few surprises here and there.

That sounds way more fun to me o-o

[Madwolf05]

I want to see some big waves and thunderstorms. Some battles where there is no air power. Would be pretty neat.

[Wunderwaffen1945]

I want it too MadCard