A deep, engaging...flat world?

It seems to me very odd that in a game aiming revolutionize the RPG, the landscape would be so..flat. By that I mean, all the action appears to take place on a single plane, surrounded by mountains or other inclines designed to block you in.

In other words it looks like this,
http://gyazo.com/ec001db9fdd0eee41f563d99092da14d

As opposed to this,
http://gyazo.com/fd8bcf86e6fc749dbb2352e0a5993909

It would be a shame if this just turned into another MMO style game where you just go from point A to point B across what is essentially a wide open plane littered with NPCs. I think it's much more interesting to be one your way to point B, realize there's a cave on a cliffside above you, and spend the next 15 minutes traversing an interesting, organic landscape trying to get there. A world you can get lost in, run around in, jump in, fall in, not just controlling a piece stuck to the ground in a board game.

Anyhow, I know that it was just early game footage and that things will certainly change, but just wanted to give my two cents.

 

This is based on what I read but here goes.

You have your "world map" but every hex in the game can be entered and explored. Whether each hex is the same everytime, I don't know. But there are also random encounters.

(On a side note, I hope the variety within each hex is high enough so that every plains hex, or mountains hex, or whatever, doesn't look the same).

The world map just facilitates fast travel.

It has also been mentioned that the initial map is only one part of a world that will get expanded upon.

Finally, they have stated that the land will not be partitioned off by level (which is something I would find infuriating if it was so). This bit is particularly important to me. They have also mentioned that any new lands won't be partitioned off that way too.

If every hex is "static" in design, sort of, then you can still wander around and explore. You can wander to a random hex and explore it. But I do know they have said you can enter every hex on the world map.

 

What I think @Kyrieru is saying is what the graphics look like while INSIDE a PoI. From what I saw on the videos, there are inclines and plateaus throughout the world, I think it was in the wolf video. I think you're referring to the city siege where it was relatively flat to be honest.

I do hope there is more terrain not just in the world but also in towns but that will come eventually.

 

Well, yeah, there are hills. But I'm still hoping that there's some more vertical terrain with places you can go oriented across it in various ways. When you look at some of the stills of towns, for instance, all the houses are just in a row on a flat plane.

I'd like to see some drop offs, cliff faces, etc. Towns built around, in, and under terrain, not just on top of flat surfaces.

 

Hopefully it's just a tech-demo issue.
RG said that they've just built it on a standard Unity engine templates.

 

I understand what you mean now, Kyrieru. I think that will be addressed when they come to do the worldbuilding proper. I also hope there are interesting ravines, valleys, craggy/rocky terrain, etc. I think it should be fairly easy to do that because the land is divided into seperate hexes anyway so they aren't building it all at once but in sections.

 

Definitively looking forward to know more about this topic. I actually have the same wish than Kyrieru.

Otherwise SOTA doesn't need to be developped in 3D - let's have it developped in ultima7-2D style with more content ;-)