Procedural Generation - Concerns - Rust

Hi everyone, Just wondering if anyone could clear this up for me. I've been running around a couple of servers on experimental and I've grown quite concerned about the procedural generation. My main reasoning is there is no common points of interest (POI) admittedly it is a fantastic feature for every server to be different, however is there any plan for the generation to include prefabs of towns/buildings? I only ask because you cannot really rely on player made structures as most of them look the same by design & people like to hide their home and their possessions so you're just going to be looking at empty fields with a couple of lakes here and there. Does anyone have any details as to how the procedural generation is going or the direction its headed?

It's still being worked on. That's why it's called "experimental." [editline]29th May 2014[/editline] They're working on getting buildings (perhaps towns) to spawn in. I don't know what the progress is on it, check the Trello.

[QUOTE=Sievers808;44941445] That's why it's called "experimental." [/QUOTE] That was unnecessary considering what I wrote. I fully understand what is meant by the branch name. [QUOTE] Does anyone have any details as to how the procedural generation is going or the direction its headed? [/QUOTE] Thank you anyhow I had missed that bit of information on the Trello I'll keep my eyes out next time.

They will be adding randomly generated buildings and more stuff that will make the map interesting. I think that not knowing where you are going will be exciting.

the buildings will take a lot of work.. if they want to lvie up to new standards at least, as the current buildings all look like from hl1 in terms of details.

PCG is something I think the game has needed since the beginning. Each server being the same takes a lot out of a feeling of tension and survival. Learning the server you are on should take some time while you explore. Without PCG, exploration is extremely limited. It also allows for easy spoilers online, which can take away a lot of the fun. I would imagine the direction they go in would be to enhance the current system of PCG. Adding in procedurally generated buildings, towns, and points of interest makes a lot of sense. I'm excited to see where they go with it.

[QUOTE=jayfkay;44941920]the buildings will take a lot of work.. if they want to lvie up to new standards at least, as the current buildings all look like from hl1 in terms of details.[/QUOTE] To be fair I think they are limited by the engine. Unity can only take you so far.

[QUOTE=Pieeer1;44942743]To be fair I think they are limited by the engine. Unity can only take you so far.[/QUOTE] Garry saw in someplace they planned to migrate to Unity 5 when it's done. I think he won't start a project unknowing your tool... Or will? :rolleyes:

[QUOTE=GalegO;44942796]Garry saw in someplace they planned to migrate to Unity 5 when it's done. I think he won't start a project unknowing your tool... Or will? :rolleyes:[/QUOTE] Wait. What? He's migrating to unity 5 after all this work?

[QUOTE=Pieeer1;44942827]Wait. What? He's migrating to unity 5 after all this work?[/QUOTE] That's the plan, supposedly.

[QUOTE=Pieeer1;44942827]Wait. What? He's migrating to unity 5 after all this work?[/QUOTE] Yes, but with this new code, this can't take much time... (IMO)

I'm sure there will be some assets that will have to be recreated in Unity 5 but hopefully most things will just port over without many issues. There will likely be a bump in the dev cycle when they start the switch but with some of the awesome features that Unity 5 has I think it'd be worth it.

[QUOTE=Pieeer1;44942827]Wait. What? He's migrating to unity 5 after all this work?[/QUOTE] That does not mean everything has to be done over (i expect), normally it means that all current development is transferred to the new unity version opening a lot of new abilities/features that Unity 5 has to offer.

PBR ftw! Though it will mean redoing model materials. The original buildings where Unity asset store purchases from what I read. Had nothing to do with their art team or Unity4's ability with structures.

I think there should be a big city where with radiation in only some areas, but those areas have the loot. We should be able to fortify those buildings as an alternative to building a massive structure. But we'll still have lots of open wilderness for standard Rust.

[QUOTE=Hallcha;44944010]I think there should be a big city where with radiation in only some areas, but those areas have the loot. We should be able to fortify those buildings as an alternative to building a massive structure. But we'll still have lots of open wilderness for standard Rust.[/QUOTE] I don't like the idea of people being able to "fortify" buildings that are just a part of the map since they would be indestructible. Besides, if only those areas have the loot then whoever fortifies that building first will lock the loot down for no one else to get to.

No, I mean some areas have loot, some areas can be fortified. The fortified builds would only be good for early houses, as they would be each to breach with only one spot for a door.

[QUOTE=Hallcha;44944357]No, I mean some areas have loot, some areas can be fortified. The fortified builds would only be good for early houses, as they would be each to breach with only one spot for a door.[/QUOTE] That makes it [B]harder[/B] to breach. Regular buildings can have the walls blown down if they want to skip the door, the map's buildings are indestructible [B]except[/B] for the door giving only one point of entry and a generally safer building.

The fewer prefab buildings on the map, the better. As far as loot goes I far prefer the idea of having "events" that can distribute non-trivial items into the game economy. By events I mean crazy deadly things like helicopter gunships coming in and wiping people out, ridiculous giants with clubs or maybe the occasional airdrop. Fun stuff like that occurring randomly from time to time. Loot farming in its current state is tedious and silly.

[QUOTE=freefall1103;44941061]I only ask because you cannot really rely on player made structures as most of them look the same by design & people like to hide their home and their possessions so you're just going to be looking at empty fields with a couple of lakes here and there.[/QUOTE] Come on mate, you just have to use a little imagination... once the basics are ironed out (terrain and water etc), then they can look at making it more interesting or 'pretty' - and we're certainly not limited to buildings. You could have points of interest added to the map like rusted-out shells of cars, ruins or burnt-down houses, statues or carvings of some sort, distinctive trees (like particularly big and gnarly ones occasionally), denser sets of trees (small forests etc which are harder to navigate through but which could be used as a POI), pits, caves, outcroppings, blast craters, giant oil pipelines, hell even wrecked ships considering the new ways in which water is being featured. I'm sure others can think of more non-building POIs to add to the list. :) Thoughts?

[QUOTE=Sievers808;44944133]I don't like the idea of people being able to "fortify" buildings that are just a part of the map since they would be indestructible. Besides, if only those areas have the loot then whoever fortifies that building first will lock the loot down for no one else to get to.[/QUOTE] As someone who likes the challenge of building around these things, like building a house over the barn, for example, I don't really see this as a huge issue. These fortifications become targets because of their open location and strategic value, so it's a trade-off. They can design the pre-fab buildings so that they have multiple entry points, etc. to make them less fortifiable, like how the barns in the old map have windows. I would go even farther and make these areas have something of even more value while the area is controlled, like energy sources if electricity is introduced, or machinery that speeds up crafting planks, for example. That would then make these areas even bigger focal points for contention, with lots of factions trying to dislodge the current faction controlling it. I know everyone keeps talking about these 'emergent' 'player cities', but I just don't see how these would ever be more than just temporary points of contention, that once raided and looted once just become decaying ghost towns. Maybe if hugely expensive to craft, fairly indestructible machinery gets added that makes it more valuable to take over structures than to just raid and run? Anyway, my TL;DR point is it seems premature to push for getting rid of the main mechanism (pre-fab loot towns) for conflict until the game evolves to the point where these things aren't needed, if that ever happens.