Post news Report RSS Far Cry 3 Map Editor

Looks like Far Cry 3 is going to feature a map editor similar to Far Cry 2, based on information which has been leaking out.

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PLEASE NOTE: This information was taken from the forum post here originally written by FallenChamp.

While at the Ubi Massive Studio in Malmo Sweden on the 8th / 9th Nov 4 of us were lucky enough to test drive the map editor on PC - I also had a brief exclusive on the Xbox 360 thanks to Vextor.

We met Håkan who is in the picture below, he helped us with a lot of stuff and explained the changes we now have - For starters here is a list of the Choices we now get.


Thematics
Town 87
Temple 118
Airport 25
Village 47
Mines 49
Radio Tower 54
Native 47
WW2 31
Chinese Tomb 51

Utilities
Accessories 144
Construction 44
Debris 105
Fire Camps 6
Pipes 17
Roads 9
Towers 15
Bridges 35
Corpses 14
Decorations 99
Household 117
Posts 8
Signs 63
Walls 51
Cages 13
Crates 42
Fences 65
Industrial 59
Quays 14
Tents 5

Furniture
Barrels 9
Doors 30
Beds 14
Chairs 29
Storage + Tables 49
Miscellaneous 29

Static Vehicles
Land 5
Sea 24
Air 14

Nature
Trees 39
Plants 11
Vegetation 79

Rocks
Coastal 65
Jungle 42
Grass Land 33
Caverns 31
Coral 16

WATERFALLS 67
Lighting 45
Decals 31

Gameplay
Explosives 10
Ladders 24
Weapons 33
Vehicles 23
Hostile Mercenaries 34
Allied Mercenaries 8
Wildlife 67
Aquatic Wildlife 15

Validation
Terrain Bump
Terrain Raise / Lower
Terrain Flatten
Terrain Set To Height
Terrain Smooth
Terrain Raise
Terrain Ramp
Terrain Noise
Terrain Erosion
Terrain Hole (that's the new one)
Texture Painter
Water Layers (water at different height, this allows from o-255)

Environment
Objects
Collection System
Roads
Map Limits (Playable Zone)

Global Modes
TDM
DOMINATION
FIRESTORM
TRANSMISSION

A.I.
A.I elements can be placed to create a map for yourself, or for recording a cool movie with fraps etc.

A.I. is for playing around and having fun on your own, you can not place A.I. in multiplayer maps (this also goes for vehicles and weapons) and it is not designed as a single player mission creator either, basically you can put Vehicles, Animals, Weapons and A.I. in the map area when editing (A.I. is animals and pirates there are lots of them as well) once you place these in the map you break the validation so the map can be saved but not published for multiplayer.

When going from edit mode to in map mode (while in the editor) the A.I. comes alive and pirates attack each other, animals do the same - you can pick up the weapons and use them and drive the vehicles (all on your own) and you can throw in explosives and stuff - Basically you could make a map with all this stuff and save it but you will not pass multiplayer validation - however it is unclear if you can put the saved file onto a USB flash drive / memory stick and email it to a friend as an attachment, maybe it might open up on their console and work - or it could be locked to the console's unique ID - until we try we won't know. On PC it should be possible to swap raw files between each other and exchange creations made using A.I. - So that is how A.I. works.

We can choose from 67 Wildlife / 15 Aquatic wildlife / 34 Hostile Mercenaries / 8 Allied Mercenaries - That is the A.I.
23 Vehicles to use and 33 Weapons - it is a lot of fun to play around with and watch what they do when they come into contact with each other, crazy stuff.

End Of Match Movies


Right this for map makers could be an even better experience then you actually thought it would be – the End Of Match Movie.
We get an icon in the editor which we place in the map area (inside the playable zone)
So when the match ends and the winner gets to select punish or mercy the actual area in the background will be your map.
You can even make a special eye candy set especially for this feature to make it that little bit special, and as you unlock new movies by playing the game this will be even more fun.

Water Layers

This is something which people have always wanted on the Far Cry games – Water at Multiple Different Heights
So basically you just select the size of the cursor and the height and press the key / button and that’s it done – easy as that.
Then you need to make it all look natural like it should be seen at different height – You can raise the water from 0-255 in height.

Another really welcomed addition is that we can change the color of the water – I am unsure of the exact number of choices, but you can have dark / light / murky / blood etc (Approx 8-10 at a guess)

WATERFALLS

People have wanted these in their maps since back on Instincts 2005 – (speaking for the console crowd there, I am unsure if waterfalls were available in FC1 on PC)
Now we have 67 choices under waterfall, these range from different sizes to some having rocks attached around them – you can even use the rocks to walk down and through the waterfall – There is some selections that show blood instead of water and we also have some choices of Ground Splash that are like a particle effect – think rain splashing on water, that kind of thing.

LADDERS
These work differently from those in FC2 - Now we no longer have to press a key / button to attach to them, simply go straight up / down.
You can not jump off while on the ladder - you have to exit at the top or bottom, Don't expect to be glitching through things with the ladders anymore I don't think it will work - we also have vines which we can climb - I noticed pipes in with the ladders (unsure how that works) We get 24 things to choose in that folder. They look a lot better - Unfortunately I am unsure if you can tilt them like in FC2 or if they only come as straight.

TERRAIN HOLE
This is huge for us map makers - Basically we can punch a hole in terrain, it is not actually a cave tool but it can so easily be used to create caves, access to underground complexes, all kinds of stuff - I will try to explain if I can.


So Terrain Hole has a square which is what you place on the terrain anywhere you want - simply tap a key / button and it takes out that section of terrain.
In the pic above think that the red squares have been removed and that the block is terrain - now imagine building together pieces to link up the doorways - it would be possible to drop into the map or have stairs or even a ladder and a way to exit at the bottom or onto another raised area.


Imagine you have to enter through the bottom red square then linking up to the upper doorway would allow you access over the raised terrain - if that were the only way.


So you follow the arrows and you actually walk inside / underneath the terrain above - It is one big open space under terrain so you have to add in pieces and make it all connect up and feel natural and believable - This is a cool tool to have and will allow us to make all kinds of stuff - No need to use ladders to glitch through terrain any more - Now we create our own entry / exit points and decorate around them. (You could even place a waterfall above so you walk through into a cave and come out at the other side)

Foliage



Looking at the images above from SUBPEN and using those as an example, we can now place vines / plants / creepers onto whatever we want, They look really good and will make a big difference to a lot of maps, The bottom picture in the middle shows lily pads - we also get those and coral and things for making water on top and underneath look more natural and believable.

Grid Square


The image above was from some leaked footage of the FC3 map editor a couple of months ago, basically on the PC they have 3 different choices with the grid square, Large / Medium Small (Don't quote me on all this stuff - I am just making a lot up from what we got to see)
The picture above shows the small grid - The advantages is to be able to maintain even spacing between objects and estimating distances/angles (some smaller maps benefit from this). Also when you play-test your map you can quickly see how long it takes to run a certain distance.
It is not known if this feature is on the consoles - If it makes the transition then this along with the other new features will be decried in better detail once the game releases and some of us can put some tutorials together.

Rotate Items By Degrees
This is another feature which we noticed on the PC but again at this time I am unsure if it made it to the console, simply enter the degrees you want and click the mouse and the piece will then turn to that angle / degree.

Search By Item
This is included on all versions, you can type in the name of an item and if the item is there it will show up and you can select it - This will help out a lot when looking for things and not been able to find them.

Wilderness Generator
The Wilderness Generator is back - this is a quick way to make a map, it auto generates and you simply work with what you get, you can keep trying new designs until you get one that resembles what you want or you can opt out and start with a new map with everything flat - as default in FC2.
There are 2 choices in the Wilderness Generator.

Performance Meter & Item Limit (Consoles)
This won't apply to PC - on consoles with FC2 we had a limit of 40000 to our disposal, unfortunately we also had a cap on how much of that we could use in any one grid square (we could not go over 10000)
That rule has now changed with the FC3 Editor - The limit is global, not regional, so basically you can place items where you want and the only thing you have to worry about is the performance meter and going over your budget which is quite high. (Sorry I didn't get the details)


(The image above is demonstrating on Far Cry 2 how we were capped at 10000 in any one grid square, so what we would do is build the map over the joining grids which allowed us to then make detailed areas all in a small space - No more of that now with FC3)

Occlusion Blocks
Some people used these to their advantage and others loathed them in FC2 - I am on the fence, found them frustrating to be honest and caused a lot more checking of maps - Well no matter what we think OCC are gone from selection in the FC3 editor, the items that need them have them built in.

Playable Zone
This appears to be the same as in Far Cry 2 - speaking with the editor guy he said that touching the outer edge of the map will issue the warning and you have 10 seconds to get back into the zone - On FC2 touching this edge of the map would kill us instantly so that is something I will have to check and confirm just to be sure. But it looks the same on selection.

Sounds while in the editor?
That was annoying in FC2 I am unsure at this stage if there are any bird noises or things like that while editing - I can't remember any but then I wasn't wearing the headphones which would explain why it seemed quiet.

Lightning at night with the weather cranked up
When I was looking at the Xbox 360 Editor with Vextor he cranked up the weather so it was at maximum with clouds and we switched it to night time, it was raining and every now and then I could see a flash of lightning, this is a new addition - As far as I am aware the map will lock the weather chosen for multiplayer so if you pick sunlight and fog that is how it would be seen when playing, I think the day and night cycle while playing MP stays the same (doesn't change - stays as choice when map was saved) but this can be confirmed later.

On Xbox 360 it appeared to be the same type of set up with the editor so my guess is console gamers will quickly feel at home again, there is not a huge learning curve going from the FC2 to the FC3 editor, the controls and the screen look very similar if not the same - with the exception of a few things (I didn't get very long with the 360 as it was in an area where they had to grant permission for me to see it and the other guys were in a different area while I was shown - I got to see the A.I. working and some of the menu and selections - and I asked about Water at different height - Waterfalls and Terrain Hole and they were all on consoles.

I am unsure of what might be on PC and won't be on console but we will find out as time goes on I am sure.

Explosives
These looked similar as those in FC2 - There was the thin propane tank that flies when shot, I think the one that is round which rolls was among the choices and some others - also 2 barrels like in the picture below.


Lighting


I remember seeing a light on a tripod and what could have been a type of hand held oil burning light - there were a few to choose from - 45 to be exact.


Above - I imagine you could so easily re-create that type of look, the signs which some are graffiti based and the color palette allow for that amazing look.


The Temple setting had some amazing items to choose from, I am going to have a blast with this.


A container full of corpses - we can litter our creations with bodies now if we wish to do that


Using the Terrain Hole and placing rocks / terrain around the area we should now be able to create that believable look which emulates a cave with entrance & exit.

A.I Pt-2
I did not play around too much with this but placing various animals into an area and jumping straight in had them running while the predators took them down then they turned on each other, after that a bear came running at me all wounded and covered in blood.
Clover_field. next to me was laughing and I looked at his screen again to see a manta ray going across the land - he was having a crazy time with the A.I. - Later that day Mark said that he placed around 30 deer in a small area and jumped into the map right in the middle of them, at first it didn't seem a problem but once he fired a shot off they all scarpered in different directions.

Short term this is a lot of fun just throwing random things in and watching what happens, long term will it become boring - well I think it could depend on what can be done and how far things can be pushed - If it is possible to share the saved files then there is no reason why you could not make a map full of pitfalls and traps or even an Escape type map with A.I. included, this would unfortunately only work while playing in the editor and for only one person but lets see how far we can take it.

I am sure there are also people already thinking that they will play around and see if they can mod the game to see if they can bypass the validation to see if they can get vehicles and A.I. into their actual MP maps, but then again this time around we have Ubi Massive showing a presence within the community, if they find any maps with offensive material then they will no doubt be pulling them from their servers - how this would work if any maps were modded to include extra things - only they could answer that one.

I am sorry that I don't have any images or tutorials from the game, I will list every single answer and do some pictures with grouped items - maybe throw a few basic tutorials together showing how the new stuff works.

Final Thoughts
Well I struggled a lot with the mouse and keyboard controls and instead of making a map I spent some time looking through some of the items we get and writing down the selections at the start of this post.

I remember a couple of different helicopters and also a crashed one, and Clover_field. on the PC next to me had this big plane but it appeared to be solid / closed - I didn't check to see if there was one which we could get on-board.
The thing that impressed me a lot was the Temple selection and also Walls - there were some big sheets that are kind of terrain walls which could also be used to work as a ceiling or floor and should blend in very well with the right terrain paint selection. Also the signs - these were really jazzy with bold graffiti that will look superb on walls, those of you that commented on the cannabis plants will get to make their own drug fueled hideouts as we get (I think it was) 2 different weed plants and 2 (what looked like) pallets of coke all wrapped up, so I am sure there will be some crazy maps made in this game.

Terrain Paint was a lot better on the eyes and had better choices, the same goes for the roads - Everything IMO seems so much better now with the selections, you guys are going to love the new editor.

Post comment Comments
Wizzrobe
Wizzrobe

This kind of map editor is what keeps me playing. So excited it's improved over FC2's. People were able to do amazing things with FC2's map editor, much the same as Tony Hawk's Underground 1+2.

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JustDaveIsFine
JustDaveIsFine

I really enjoyed FC2's editor. I just hope they alter the weapon system a bit, as a lot of custom maps in FC2 were easily dominated by snipers.

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Wizzrobe
Wizzrobe

People just have to be smarter with making their maps. The 'Terrain Hole' should help with this.

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medve
medve

i hope coop will support custom maps

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MrNord94
MrNord94

will the map editor be released at the same day as the game, or will this be a DLC later?

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Wizzrobe
Wizzrobe

The map editor will come with the game. There are two ways of starting up, depending on where you bought it from.

STEAM: Start up the game by either pressing 'Play Game' or right clicking and selecting 'Play' from the drop-down menu. From there, a small box will pop up with multiple options; Map editor will be one of them. (source: FC2 on Steam, there's no reason it should have changed)

STANDALONE: Go into the main directory file for FC3, it'll be there.

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Z00L
Z00L

YES ! I thought it would be not included

after buying ... CUSTOMIZING A LOT ! :D

also, we can make Coop maps ?

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MindRiot
MindRiot

Nice to know the humble map editor on Modern Games isnt dead.

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KodY
KodY

"Looks like Far Cry 3 is going to feature a map editor similar to Far Cry 2, based on information which has been leaking out."

Was actually confirmed long ago but Ubisoft didn't release more than a general FAQ about it. Pretty odd that they decided not to include it in the marketing effort.

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Wizzrobe
Wizzrobe

I don't think it was included in FC2's, either. Still a very welcome addition, though.

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xalener
xalener

Really? I remember quite a bit of hype surrounding FC2's map editor demo vid. Hell, I'm sure at least 30% of the units they sold were because of that demo.

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medve
medve

99% because you could burned the whole ****** continent down, the 1 percent because the franchise name

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TheUnabridgedGamer
TheUnabridgedGamer

I like what I'm hearing but if the author (INtense!) reads this -- dude, I advise getting a grammar check. For the most part you convey your message properly but there are some blaring errors. The article's content is good, but try to get someone to edit your writing next time.

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Henley
Henley

If you read the start it was taken directly from a forum post on the ubisoft site. It is disappointing that you can't have shark pools in MP that could make for some interesting gameplay.

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TheUnabridgedGamer
TheUnabridgedGamer

How does that make it alright to not correct the text? I bet you guys could even get someone to volunteer to do it, there's enough writers across the DBs (can we call them 'the DBs' now?)

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Henley
Henley

It is hardly a quote if we change the text.

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MattyG
MattyG

I hope the game ends up being something actually enjoyable. Lots of opportunities with a good map maker, but bad gameplay won't compliment it well.

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Chezzlor
Chezzlor

I'm impressed and excited!

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c4ble
c4ble

The FC2 map editor was fun and very intuitive...by far (cry) the most intuitive map editor I used so far (cry)...too bad they didn´t include mod tools of the same intuitive fashion! If FC2 would have had a mod editor people would have judged far (cry) less harsh on the game imho!

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SPY-maps
SPY-maps

great to hear that the FC3 editor has a SP mode in it, i hated that with the FC2 editor, because i don't play and or make MP maps.

i did try the FC2 editor though but thought it was way to easy with much to less options. the same will be the case probebly with this editor, although i do understand why they make it like that. now you can make maps after checking mapping tuts for 15 mins, and that is what most people want. but at the same time this makes that these editors are not at all interesting for those who work with " real" editors like Hammer, Cryengines editor, or the UDK, to name some.

still, am looking forward to play FC3, i LOVED 1 and 2, and 3 will not be simelar!

leon

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canfilik21
canfilik21

Please map editör downlad link

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