This Early Access roadmap article explores the newly optimized realm of Rend with specifics about the macro and micro adjustments to the map. Our earliest players will recall that this is not Rend’s first map change, however, it is the most significant in terms of scope. Read on for insights from the developers into how the game’s map has changed as of Patch 7 and why!
REMAPPING REND
One of the final steps of Rend’s Winter roadmap was to optimize the game world’s familiar triangle-shaped layout with the goal of creating more interesting terrains from a gameplay perspective; this means introducing terrains full of bottlenecks, choke points, and narrow corridors. While the map is still roughly the same shape and size, there is now less overall landmass available to players. Each biome has been pared down and now features more defined pathways between faction territories, a change intended to increase the map’s player collision (developer terminology for members of opposing factions encountering each other), generating friction between factions and leading to PvP combat.
Click the thumbnails for larger versions of these before and after maps.
When players enter Rend, they are now guided towards other teammates and opponents. Player feedback also indicated that the game needed better points of reference given that Rend doesn’t offer a minimap, instead requiring factions to convey location using shared landmarks. Towards that end, we created terrain-based points of interest to help with navigation and make the placement of creatures and resource nodes feel more natural. As such, biomes are now no longer nebulous and undefined and instead are immediately identifiable: the new gaping chasms are far more visually distinctive than the previous open fields and play into the thematic flavor of Rend being a shattered fragment of Midgard, floating in the ether. Combined with reshaped and well-defined map edges, these changes further cut down on total map real estate which is a positive side effect.
Learn how Rend’s combat has changed with the map in our Combat Reloaded roadmap article!
