Random Gen and POIs

[sgtwisky]

I know that we only have the first version of random generated maps in our hands and the pimps likely have their work cut out for them fleshing it out all the way. But while I was wandering the empty feeling biomes I had an idea that I thought I would share. (TL;DR at bottom) First let me start by saying that I think we need more POI density the closer to a wasteland city you are. AND this density should reduce itself the further away from a city you are. The density should not be tied to biome but rather distance in blocks. The idea is to have a big city (like we have now) as a center point. After citys we would add larger suburban areas to the map. Followed by small towns, then rural areas (like the POIs we seem to get now), followed lastely by wilderness only POI areas. [B] Here is an example of how the system might work.[/B] Lets say for a minute that each wasteland city has to be a minimum distance from one another, and lets just pick 30 KM as an arbitrary number for now. Now that we have spaced them out at a min distance, its time to set a max distance. I would say no more than maybe 50 KM. SO we have large city's that take plenty of time to travel too. Starting maybe 1 KM away from the city and within 3-4 KM away, we could have suburban areas. These would consist of homes, churches and other buildings you might expect to be in residential and small commercial areas. Think Diresville but with more variety in building type. another 2-4 KM after the suburban areas you would get small towns. These would be like the western town on navezgane. Not western themed every time but about that size. After that point you would only find small rural POIs and then camps. Then Wilderness until you start getting closer to a city, at which point the concentration of POIs will increase. The distance for the concentrated POIs would be about 5-8 KM total away from the main city. Leaving at minimum about 14KM in between populated areas, and a max of 34KM. These numbers of course are just arbitrary and I am sure there are better distances. Also The amount of each POI type would likely have to have a min and max number of times it can occur. Otherwise depending on the seed we may end up with so many POIs that its just scary lol. I would also like to mention that certain buildings should NOT spawn in anything less than a small town. For example it doesn't make sense for a church to spawn alone in the middle of no where. Likewise it would not make sense for camp sites to spawn close to the city. I think using such a system for spawning POIs would make them feel more like the real world. As the population doesn't normally go from city to nothing, but rather it normally dwindles in population (and thus buildings) as you get further from the center. This also would be a good reason for cars as it could be a 50KM hike to the next city. What are everyone's thoughts on this? Do you think it would make the world feel more fleshed out? Any issues to this idea I may not see? Please share your feedback. [B]TL;DR[/B] -Make city's the center of POI placement. -POIs reduce in total numbers as they get further from the main city's -City's are set far apart to encourage travel from city to city by car (when we get them) and to also make them feel more important when you find one. -Some POIs do not belong by them selfs.