This post is to suggest advancements for the environment and map dynamics.
Horizon 5 has a great feel for world exploration. I think it could improve a lot still. If we observe games like “GTA5” and/or “The Crew”, we can observe some of their open-world features that create a diverse and dynamic player experience. I believe Horizon 5 captures some of these features on its own, but my post is to enlighten how to make the next Horizon title more advanced by noting similar game title’s open world concepts and bringing those concepts into the next Horizon title.
- Map Size:
Yes, the map size increased from Horizon 4, and yes it is very fun. It can improve though. Looking at GTA5, they seem to be somewhat of a similar map-size feel. Of course it depends on the speed one travels to reach one side to the other, but overall they feel similar to each other. “The crew” seems like it might be a little bigger than these two, but the speeds one travels can make it seem smaller. There’s also less diversity and immersion in The Crew that makes the map size irrelevant to the overall experience.
How much bigger should it be? - In realistic terms for GB size and the newer console’s capabilities, the next title could get away with tripling the size. However, I think with sales, it should be a bit less than triple, so that GB size remains doable and realistic for sales. Roughly double or 2.5x larger seems a bit more realistic for keeping the title new and immersive, while increasing map size.
Now, this post is just raw opinion, layed out in bulletins. There’s a variety of other factors that go into making maps that I can’t get too in-depth with. One, being sheer difficulty of game development. And I understand that. These are just suggestions.
- Map Variety:
Horizon 5 has great map variety, with the desert, jungle, plains, and city-like streets. I do think it could be way better though. I actually am pretty satisfied and appreciate the map diversity that exists already, but I know it could be much better in the future with more advanced consoles and technology. So, I’m going to give my suggestion on how that might look.
When thinking about an open-world environment, I think of variety potentials. There’s many different tire options to choose from, so there needs to be a full/whole map to accommodate for these kinds of tires. Horizon 5 captures this very well. In the future, think of this concept but basically doubled. More roads, more city streets, more mountains, more desert. It can just be more overall.
The biggest way to do this? I believe is making one, centralized city with metropolitan areas. Think GTA5, it captures this concept pretty well and I believe Horizon can do the same in the future. Why do we need a city like that? Well, the more streets, the better. I like the town in Horizon 5, but for the future, something like this doesn’t seem like it would be enough. People like to drift and use city streets for road races etc. The larger the city, the better.
With this central city area being so large, it could be a useful segue between areas. It could even be islands or something similar. People love to explore. And having one large city to explore could make the whole game by itself, for some people. Large overpasses, long tunnels, night-time JDM scene, the possibilities are endless and this would be a HUGE part of the game, imo.
What’s next? Bring back the desert. This openness is incredible for Creative Hub map-building and the dunes by themselves are a ton of fun to jump around on in a Baja Truck. This should be brought back, and even expanded on, possibly doubled in size for baja events etc. I would try to include realistic sand-terrain elements that really test out the suspension, like rapid sand waves jolting the cars/trucks around. Watching any Baja highlights video can explain the kinds of elements I’m referring to.
The jungle: was it fun? Yes the jungle is fun. There are some elements there that make the jungle less appealing to me, like the excess of trees. But hey, that’s realistic. I say it’s my least favorite area, but if it’s planned on being brought back, I’m all for it. (Just work on invisible barriers for PG jumps like in Ek Balam)
The plains: Here, it can really be expanded on. The openness here is kind of what fills in the size of the map with relevance and things to do along the way from point A to point B. Sure, it can be repetitive, but an experienced player knows that sometimes, we have to journey far to get what we want. And I think this should be included in the upcoming title. Make people work their way to rewards. Driving a long way is sometimes ok and should happen once in a while.
- I know I’m leaving off some features, but this post is just to capture the overall point: There could be more. Again, Horizon 5 is great. It by itself is what gives me these ideas to expand upon. And I hope the comments can give even more feedback for possibly making the next Horizon title truly incredible.
