And I am good with that. I see projects, that keep expanding land mass, beautiful empty landmass, while not taking care to let the project/landmass/state of development grow in unison.
Morrowindās map is a perfect example of Danās āpotato landscapeā: There are ravines and steep slopes everywhere: Almost every journey involves some rather significant detour because there are mountains in the way of everything. Create some boots with constant Levitate and youāll be almost anywhere in a matter of minutes (if youāve modded out the cliffracersā¦).
And that kind of landscape does work because of Morrowindās setting: Vvardenfell is a volcanic island, which explains the extreme segmentation of the game world. It also adds to the āweirdā/āstrangeā vibe that sets Morrowind apart from the other games in the TES universe. It also helps mask (in conjunction with Ash Storms and fog) the then-very limited draw distance of the engine. Which in turn helped the world to appear bigger than it is.
Real landscape, however, is much more open (unless youāve got some serious mountains going): Rolling plains, vast forests, huge rivers and bodies of water, and so on.
And that was the first thing I noticed about KCD: The scale of everythingā¦ fits: The roads feel like roads, the forest like a forest, the houses like houses - they do not convey the miniature-like appearance as every other video game. They feel real.
Take rivers, for example: Even the smaller ones are often more than twenty meters wide. When have you last seen such a river in a game? I would wager: Never unless it was used as a boundary for the playable area. Usually, āriversā and āstreamsā in games remind more more of minuscule rivulets. I havenāt yet seen a river in KCD, but I would not be surprised if it was a vast stream, riding into which would probably sweep you and your poor, trusty horsey away.
3 Likes
there are rivulets in kcd, but also proper wide rivers as seen in video footage 
What do you expect of the KC: D map? Do you know the region Sazava, where all takes place? 
I have a hard time keeping me from looking up the place since I know that your map will be based on real life geography (though obviously tailored to the game) - but I want to explore that part of Sazava on foot (maybe even in real life, itās not too far off). I seem to remember from a pic in Danielās blog entry on potato landscape that thereās quite a large river winding its way through some of the landscape, though.
Concerning your first question: I expect half-ways realistic measurements and dimensions (i.e. not quite as compressed as in a lot of other games). I am aware that this can be a problem along the realism-gameplay divide, since Daniel also has already mentioned the problem of having swathes of landscape where thereās nothing āhappeningā, just space to traverse.
Which is where I want to chime in a bit, just voicing my own opinion: I vastly enjoy ājust traversingā landscape as long as that landscape does not feel ādeadā.
If you know SWTOR, you might know what I mean by dead landscape: The weather never changes, the time of day doesnāt either, thereās no interaction, no critters, no nothing. It is like a painting: Pretty to look at for five seconds, and then I get bored.
There are, however, ways of living up the place: Have weather happen (the rain/ground fog in one of your trailers, brilliant!), day/night cycles. Have critters (e.g. hares and rabbits bolting away when they feel you approach), deer sniffing the air. Maybe even have critters display rudimentary AI, like falcons or cats hunting said rabbits and field mice. Have thunderstorms, rain, ground fog, some of them maybe even tied to day/night cycles or areas (ground fog usually builds in lower, wetter areas). āEmergent immersionā, if you will.
edit: I donāt know the capabilities of the CryEngine you use, butā¦ how about wind?
tl;dr: What I would like from the landscape is that it feels ālivingā - I would wager that this also alleviates the problem of ātraversing the land without something to doā a bit. The first thing I do for a lot of games (Skyrim, FO:NV for example) is downloading mods for more immersive weather. Rad storms in NV, for example, even change my gameplay: Either I find shelter ASAP and wait the storm out, or I grit my teeth, swallow some RadX and keep some/a lot RadAways handy. And sand storms? I have to put my long rifles away because I donāt see farther than my feet, and ready my Super Sledge and Riot Shotgun.
On the note of ājust traversing landscape is boringā a quick idea: How about an -optional- mini game for riding? Iām no rider myself, but I am quite sure there are techniques that would help maximize the time spent/distance travelled equation.
3 Likes
Neither I find quite prolonged in game travelling boring (especially if it is not just prolonged following of quest marker, I hate them), but I think this topic is kind of absurd because the map design is probably done. My apologies in case I am mistaken.
Like a hooker once said to me, āitās not the size, itās how you use itā¦ā
Ok, I made that up but it actually pertains to the thread. It can be massive but if itās poorly laid out, it doesnāt matter.
1 Like
Well if itās truly Oblivionās size with all the contents and events they claim there will be in the gameā¦ the map size is perfect indeed, plus Oblivion has a lot of water, not KCD.
Oblivion was kinda big with empty spaces and generic stuff everywhere, so imagine the same map but with everything special and unique with unique characters living their life with no loading screensā¦
For me Skyrim feltā¦ niceā¦ but smallā¦ Donāt why, might have been the Lore that paints Skyrim as this big place, with these 9 Holds all with a good military power and population which is not properly represented in the game. I think it has more to do with Lore > Gameplay implementation more.
On the other hand Gothic 3 despite having a similar problem, but actually having a smaller gap in the Lore > Gameplay implementation part, had a stunningly beautiful map. I canāt put my finger on it, but the map never felt small, never felt big, never felt empty and never felt crowded. Might be that I simply enjoyed that game too much.
And on another note: Mount and Blade II: Bannerlords boosts this: - Larger maps, 225km2 Map size
But then again, it all depends on implementation, rather than size.
Oh, I have a question about the map. In the end of videoupdate #7 Dan says something about a new village on the map. Can you tell us the name of the village? Is it Ćžice? I think it would fit in the map and it have a nice church. Also it would be nice to have this wonderful big forest between Ttalmberk and Ćžice to have some more wilderness.
1 Like
Now I have seen the map in the livestream and yes, it is Ćžice. This is great, I like it. 
Youāre not even a backer and youāre complaining about the game?
Look at the date of the start topic, it was on februar 4. I donĀ“t think he will read about it.
Still felt like that needed to be said.
2 Likes
Soā¦ again an old topic, digged up. Its a hint, or a question about the website.
https://www.kingdomcomerpg.com/game/overview
The map is not only 9kmĀ², it is something around 16kmĀ² now as far as I know (thats nearly twice as big! Amazing!), but as you see on the website, there still is written something about 9kmĀ².
As the mapsize was one of the major points of critique, would it be not useful to show the world now how big the map now is and change the information on the homepage? So people get more interested in the game and not deterred by the āsmall sizeā?
4 Likes
I dont know what you are talking about. Map is currently 16km2 (4x4) which is one of the biggest maps in open world games. Its comparable to Skyrim which could be hardly called small. Map in alpha is very small 500x200m or so and represents only a glimpse at the game.
5 Likes
@Hellboy Dan, look at the date of the thread, how old it is. And he isnĀ“t even a baker. 
Anyway. The information on website still talks about 9kmĀ² and this should be changed.
16kmĀ² is a really good great map, love it! Everyone should know about this. 
3 Likes
if only you could see me grin right now. 
1 Like
you realise that he could?
There is this modern piece of technology that can capture your grin and put it on mr. VĆ”vraās screen.
1 Like
didnt wavra mentioned, that the map size will be increased, after the final release?