In a recent installment of the Tom Clancy’s The Division Intelligence Annex #7, the dev team responsible for the game went over some exciting aspects of the weather and world inside their version of New York City, and how the many characters and NPCs would react.
The team who developed The Division did an excellent job at recreating Manhattan, especially since the abandoned apartment buildings, rooftops, and underground tunnels weren’t made purely for looks, as you can fully explore them. The team also did a wonderful job at representing the size of the buildings, as you are supposedly able to feel as if you are walking around the city itself.
You will also be able to recognize landmarks and different areas throughout the faux city. As you can truly tell the difference between neighborhoods. For instance, Times Square is easily recognizable due to the higher buildings, plastered with advertisements, while walking around the hub area, you can tell that it is a residential area.
As an agent in The Division, you can expect to experience a full day, from midnight to midnight, as well as a variety of weather types. Fredrick, the Senior Game Designer, says that visibility is obstructed during a full storm, and the worst storms will affect aim and detection ranges for you, the agent, and NPCs. Agents will even alter themselves in order to defrost their face. Even the civilians and wildlife behave differently depending on the time of day and weather. Sometimes, you won’t even see them at all.
The author of the Intelligence Annex discussed the day and night cycle with the team’s Lead Environment Artist, finding out that there was a significant change in what you see as many lights during the nighttime were more vivid than others. Sometimes, different light sources may attract attention to an important part of the environment, and some areas will be pitch black. Tom from the team stated this: “A mission during the day has a totally different mood than a mission during the night…”
In The Division, agents will also have a world indoors to explore, a world full of hiding spots and detail. After you seamlessly transfer from the harsh outdoors to the indoor environment of The Division, you will experience a unique world, that almost feels separate from the outside. With lighting and effects particular to the environment designed to give you the feeling of being surrounded by walls, The Division includes a very well-built world to explore. I am truly excited for this game.
These details show how the team who developed The Division really created a lively city, wonderful to explore. Stay tuned to ICXM.net for more coverage on The Division, as well as Xbox and Microsoft news!
Source: The Division Intelligence Annex
Ali is a games journalist, Mobile and Tech Reporter at Wccftech. They contributed 51 articles to ICXM between 2015–2016, focused on game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: covers mobile hardware, telecoms, and consumer-tech news for Wccftech.