what problems

maybe some kind of mountain top island thing

i could picture a DLC where a bunch of survivors have attached a bunch of boats to an iceberg and you have to raid it for supplies, only the Ice Boat people are all dead or mutated or something. (maybe even the unthinkable Co-op with Resistance and Security against the new threat)

So you could be switching between ice and the rusty boatness in this strange land. Maybe the ice itself could become part of the combat?

I like the forest idea... i was also thinking of a park. I dont know why but when i look at the ark i picture parks around the Founders Tower.

There should be a map that is entire on sub or a ship of some kind.

I reckon a level built into a multi story (3/4+) to make use of things such as empty elevator shafts and stairwells.

yes, then the engineers can mine the shafts and when a light comes up, they go boom!

pretty much the whole game takes place on a ship

Meh floating city doesn't = ship. If anyway has ever been on a navy ship say a destroyer, its huge and would be fun I think.

I mean a huge flood that will put everest underwater is possible, but not plausible, there will always be mainland, thats all islands are, very high hills that break the surface of the water :shrug:

what i dont get is how it is so hot on the ark. if all the mountains are flooded then wouldnt the ark be covered with snow considering the altitude?

Well im no expert, but it could be due to the fact that all the air is trapped in a smaller space, because its cant move under water. so its like a high pressure bottle full of air, it somehow makes it hot.

OR the main reason is flooded in the first place is global warming. And i assume the flood hasnt covered every bit of land, just near where the coast and cities were, so there is no real habitable place left.

A hot climate is a good environment though, a nice sunny day gives you a good view, so you dont have trouble seeing enemies and paths, and gives the shadows a mroe important aspect of the game in day missions, because a person may have to hide in a dark corner for a second whilst the enemy pass by. Remember lights are weak so they need to either run and hide, so maps and the environments need places only lights can run to but no else can, or dark corners/rooms to hide in. I hope they a futursitic urban environment, a rusty slum town (already known about, container city), and maybe things that show how bad the conidtions are for the resistacne, like a huge refuse dump, and other indistrial areas that are bad shape.

true true. i just found it confusing. there probably wont be a snow-covered map even though i love maps like that

If they create a story that will take part over a couple of months, we might be able to see some seasons play apart in the levels, i would like a mission near christmas time, where the fighting has stopped for xmas, but both sides are sending out covert squads fro recon or sibterfuge etc. Then we could have teh snow playing a part in free running where if you move too fast on a roof or an edge you could give away your position because of crunching snow or icicles falling. A mission that uses the weather to encourage stealth would be good.

but then it will just be all light operatives. thats probably what every match will be like though

Which if it added an echo throughout the shaft to the different floors from the explosions would be awesome.

Aw, you know what would be a cool map? Maintenence tunnels. Seriously, I hope they have at least one underground map. I know it's a floating island, but there has to be something under the surface right? :shifty:

underground maintenance tunnels? awesome! it would be like a maze of rusty pipes and clouds of steam.

Remember, though, that high altitudes aren't cold because they're far from the center of the Earth, they're cold because they're far above sea level. And sea level has changed.

The Ark gets a lot of direct sunlight, and is probably close to the equator. Before the environment collapsed, it was partly repurposed from a research center to a resort for the super-rich, because the Founders ran out of funding; this means it needed to be in a place where there was not much "bad" weather. Sunlight and warmth are also important for the Ark's food supply, as well; even if they have fish farms, there's no way for them to feed the fish if they don't have enough sunlight for algae or whatever; most aquatic ecosystems are on the coast, and the marine life that does migrate through open ocean still relies on coastal environments, which means for them to support a sustainable fish population they have to feed the fish themselves. In a self-contained, sustainable eco-topia, sunlight is all-important.

Looking at the few screen shots of Aquarium, I think it will be something like this. I'm thinking there will be an overgrown area on the Ark because it is all about going green and what could be greener than that? It would put the "island" in "floating island"

Back to your very first question, Quacko, devs said that every single map will have its own feel to it, so they're pretty varied.

My wish list:

1. Underground maintenance tunnels. Steam, pipes, wires. Could be a Resistance sabotage mission like the Reactor one.

2. Snow covered mountain village on the mainland. Security tracking down Resistance escapees? Possibly...

3. Founders' Tower. Similar to the Citadel in Half Life 2. That would be a great place for the final Resistance mission.

4. Greenhouse level, complete with row after row of plants and trees.

5. Aquarium, complete with smashable glass tanks. Adds a whole new layer to battle when you need to watch the walls for enemies bursting through the glass.

6. Military warship/aircraft carrier, possibly an abandoned one. Lots of fast indoor movement, but with a big deck.

There is a screenshot of a level named "Aquarium" in which a bunch of resistance is running through some large pipes or tunnels of some sort, so that takes care of 1, and possibly 5

2 and 6 do not fit with the story at all.

I can just about guarantee that the founders tower is one of the maps, even though i dont have any information supporting that, but who knows if it will be anywhere close to your vision (chances are no, this isn't a sci-fi game)

4 seems like a likely choice, as food is one of the main issues. It would also be an interesting change of pace with all of the artificial environments in the game.

Glad to see that 1 & 5 are probably in.

2 and 6 might fit, 6 more than 2. 2 is a mountainside village on a high peak on the mainland, while 6 is an abandoned military boat. 6 could work, I'd assume that you'd find people in boats immediately after the floods, only for them to starve soon after. So an abandoned warship floating past the Ark is possible.

I meant that the tower would be full of machinery and gears in the lower levels, with nice apartments up top.


4 is almost certain. It's an obvious choice, and an easy way to create variety. I was using it in a game structure I'd planned.

I think if there is a harbour-map (could host the entry to the "Aquarium"), there could also be a military kind of ship.

But one of the conflicts of the story is that the resistance want to leave and search for some dry land while security don't want to waste their resources to attempt it. The addition of a massive boat in the harbor, a military one no less, wouldn't make it much of a waste. This also is not a military game, security is merely a police force that has grown in proportion to the strife on the Ark.