My username (as shown at the beginning of this thread) is Dark-Knight128. As of the 28th of April, I have released a new map on Far Cry 5 Arcade; currently named Trainyard.
Trainyard was in development since May of 2019, with most of the development taking place over the last three months. During this time, a second map was being designed in conjunction with Trainyard. Named Anvil Island, this map was very much an open world style arena, inspired by the modern trend of Battle Royale games like PUBG. Anvil Island was - at its core - a response to the plethora of poorly designed open world levels flooding Far Cry 5 servers under the banner of Battle Royale, in the hope of producing a more natural open world enviroment - where there would always be something to discover. However due to personal commitments outside of Far Cry as well as the prolonged development of Anvil Island (Taking two months to make marginal developments to the map), Anvil Island was later dropped in favour of the much smaller and more mechanically simplistic development of Trainyard.
On the notes of development, Trainyard was originally intended as a spiritual successor to one of the first maps I had ever developed, as well as a homage to one of my favourite arena shooters; Team Fortress 2. One of my first maps created in Far Cry was called SCR4PY4RD (translates into "Scrapyard"), in essence they were a series of custom maps I developed from its inception on Far cry 2 in 2011 on PS3 hardware ( A later redesign was published in 2015), Far Cry 3 on PS3 in 2014, and finally on Far Cry 4 on the Playstation 4 in 2014.
For those who have played those previous maps, on first inspections Trainyard appears entirely different from the previous maps published under Scrapyard. The rough structure of scrapyard is visible (depending on if you, the reader, have played on previous scrapyard maps, later alliterations of scrapyard were labelled under “Scrapyard [FC2]”). Those structures include two major roads between opposing bases, an adjacent path on one’s side of the map, as well as a bridging path that splits the two sides apart. However, as Trainyard is a complete visual overhaul, liberties were taken to better suit the new symmetrical design of trainyard over the original chaotic design of scrapyard, an example of the major changes to the design was the emphasis on more open corridors, which allows players greater mobility while still containing them in a structured enviroment, less emphasis was put on multiple covers that would slow the pace of the game down and create unwanted chokepoints. Much of the architecture of trainyard is custom built using the generic shape examples provided by the far cry arcade editor.
* Due to an unknown glitch with the desktop forum editor, you might have to open these specific images via a new tab to view them correctly.
Gameplay in the level was limited intentionally, with the removal or substantially reduced roles of sniper rifles, scopes and explosive weaponry. The reasoning behind this was based on various playthroughs of other player maps, regardless of their quality. Many of them grant access to the more explosive and more powerful weaponry, I'd wager though that while those weapons are very satisfactory for more experienced player or players on a winning streak, its far less pleasing and more so frustrating when the match become a literal no mans land, with non stop, nausea inducing camera shaking. The removal of sniper rifles and scopes on the other hand were made to even out the playfield. As the paths the player took were relatively clear of protective cover, the game would likely turn into a sniper fest. By removing these weapons, not only does it give players equal chances of winning, it forces players into more close quarter combat at different points in the map.
In conclusion I hope you will all enjoy this map, and though this thread, gain an appreciation for how it was developed. I would find it very useful for any feedback on the map… the more the better....
* Here are samples of the various versions of Scrapyard / Trainyard (Hope you enjoy them)
Far Cry 2 (PS3)
"SCR4PY4RD" by DarkKnightStudi
"Scrapyard[V1.3]" By DarkKnight-128
Far Cry 3 (PS3)
"Scapyard[FC2]" By DarkKnight-128
Far Cry 4 (PS4)
"Scrapyard[FC2][V1.3]" By Dark Knight-128
Far Cry 5 (PC)
"Trainyard" By Dark-Knight128
https://far-cry-arcade.ubi.com/en-us...e1391b2413dce9
Thanks, Steve64b, I am glad you like the screenshots.
For now at least, I am sticking to PC, seeing how good it has been whilst creating more open, detailed & refined map design. I remember someone mentioned on the Far Cry Forums that the PC version of the far cry editor, at least in regards to the object limit, is 3 to 4 times larger than what consoles creators are given, I'm unsure if that is completely true or not? Though if my experience from the Far Cry 4 editor on PS4 was anything to go by, the object limit on PS4 was pitiful, even though the editor was great.
Though its been a while since I released a new map, after an investment into a decent gaming rig, I figured I could give far cry arcade editor a try on the PC. I hope its a good first attempt on a new platform...