I’ve been scouring the forums for an answer to this question that doesn’t seem to have any good, concrete answers. Would it be possible to create a Multiplayer survivor-type FPS with a map the size of Landscape Mountains using UE4? Landscape Mountains map is 5x5km. I’m thinking of scaling it down to around 3.5x3.5km and creating a very basic environment and basic FPS - deathmatch type multiplayer with a goal to support 100 players connected to the server. Again, there would be NO AI, NO NPC’s, and NO building mechanics. Just straight up CS-GO type deathmatch with 100 players on a large map.
I understand there are still a lot variable in play here… network connection, texture quality, polycount etc. I also know UE4 doesnt support World Origin Shifting, however, I don’t think that applies to this kind of game, correct?
I also know that CodeSpartan has done amazing work with his MMO Starter Kit solution but again I’m not sure if his map is Landscape Mountain big with enough trees and props to boot. Also, there aren’t 100 players running around shooting eachother needing minimal latency.
Tim Sweeney also commented in this post about max player count with
The whole reason I would want to use UE4 is to leverage its beautiful polish and graphical/VFX capabilities… I really would hate to scale back to a UT3 looking game.
Can anyone possibly give me a “yey” or “neh” on whether this project is feasible without looking last gen? I know Rust uses Unity… but I really don’t want to be forced to use that engine. Someone caress me and tell me UE4 will work perfectly fine and everything’s going to be alright.
No one will have the heart to tell you, that it’s not possible.
You know that ideas are rarely executed. And that one is tough for sure!
However, it’s all about budget, **time **and skills! If you have at least 2 any of these, I would say go for it! But… who am I to tell you!? If you never try, you will never know.
Your terrain size is the easiest thing here. The largest I’ve done was 10kmx10km and I hadn’t reached any kind of limit. I would look into a program called World Machine. As for the Multiplayer aspect I can’t say much because I know very little. Goodluck though and keep us updated.
Been toying around with World Machine since I know that Landscape Mountains was created using it. We do have budget and time, but as for skill? Yeah not so much. One of the reasons we’re looking for a talented team (paid) to help us. It’s lookin like we may end up going with Unity on this one since it’s already been done (Rust) using their engine. Also, their asset store has a TON of stuff we can just fill our world with as placeholders for beginning stages. It’s a big risk to invest in UE4 knowing that even if everything I described can be put together, it can end up running like a slideshow on decent hardware.
I’m gonna keep contacting people in hopes that they can provide a simple solution/answer to this and keep y’all updated. I actually think this is pretty **** important for Epic to look into seeing that the whole big-map survival game craze is gaining tons of traction.
Your problem is going to be making the 3x3km of terrain look current gen simply because it is a massive space. It’s going to take a lot of artistry no matter what engine you want to use - that’s the only problem I see.
Are you concerned if your game is possible? Download the shooter example. Scale the Landscape Mountain scene to 3x3km. Change the player count in code and try it out. Simulate 100 connections and run perf stats. You should be able to prove this out with minimal effort.
This is what I’m working on right now. I’ve written my own master server and set up some basic database communication. I think that the server side part is the most challenging one in such games. You server needs to be a dedicated one, you need to have an efficient way of storing persistent data, you need to have at least a very basic protection from hacking and also to be able to iteratively extend on what you already have. Because it’s really an evergoing process.
Artistic side is important, no doubt, but it is pretty much standardized. And most of the assets you’ll need for a working prototype can be acquired from Marketplace.
