Conflicting information in previews on the size of "Empire City"

[ArchangelX]

I have read several of the latest previews and one of the things that I noticed was that Gamereactor the Scandinavian gamers magazine have printed that the city in "Mafia 2" will be about 70% the size of "Lost Heaven",
though on the other hand OPM and Gameradar both say that it will be about twize the size ?

The size of the playable area, driving etc means alot to me, and I hoped that it would expand from the original and at least not reverse in size.
On the other hand the graphics looks so good that it is understandable if it is the case but I just wanted to say that there is conflicting information on it.

[Don Memphis]

I have read in czech LEVEL magazine, that Emire City will have 4x4 kilometres (16 square kilometres = 2x bigger than Lost Heaven city) with 20 different districts...

[mak4bd]

I have read in czech LEVEL magazine, that Emire City will have 4x4 kilometres (16 square kilometres = 2x bigger than Lost Heaven city) with 20 different districts...

can u plz scan and post or mail me at: mak4bd@yahoo.com

[KuKuruzas]

I think it says twice as bigger but without countryside

[RaptorM60]

Three sources (LEVEL, PSM, EGM) says Empire City is double size of Lost Heaven, one (GameReactor) says Empire City takes 70% of Lost Heaven area ... absolutley clear situation for me :-)

[2K Elizabeth]

Empire City is 10 square miles!

[Mr. The Big]

I have read in czech LEVEL magazine, that Emire City will have 4x4 kilometres (16 square kilometres = 2x bigger than Lost Heaven city) with 20 different districts...

Empire City is 10 square miles!

If that correct the Empire city is small. Because in Mafa 1 the features says:
Explore over 12 square miles of this 1930's American city.

[Muggy]

If that correct the Empire city is small. Because in Mafa 1 the features says:
Explore over 12 square miles of this 1930's American city.

The 12 square miles also included the countryside.. Lost Heaven City and it's suburbs was only about 5 square miles in size.

[Zamolxe]

i think if the map will be as big as the one from mafia1 it will be ok. i am also interested in exploring the map vertically i mean enter the buildings, go up to the top floor. that would be cool!

[Mr. The Big]

The 12 square miles also included the countryside.. Lost Heaven City and it's suburbs was only about 5 square miles in size.

Well, yeah, I missed that the games had a countryside, fool me.

[Fugue]

always assumed this was just down to optimisation & the 10sq miles might have been a goal but wasn't achievable, either that or something to lost in translation

I would like to know this as well, but it has been asked a lot already...

[Fugue]

always assumed this was just down to optimisation & the 10sq miles might have been a goal but wasn't achievable, either that or something got lost in translation

I would like to know this as well, but it has been asked a lot already...

[Relight]

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I'll agree with the reviving of this thread (one of many on this subject) because I believe there are still a few important points left to address on this topic.

The size of the city really isn't what's important to me. What's more important is, did the city feel large enough? Did the city feel populated? Was the city interesting? Were there enough unique locations? As long as the city is fun in terms of gameplay, and isn't too small, it serves its purpose, and the actual size doesn't really matter, in my opinion.

However, I kept asking about it because I like interesting facts and I'm just interested in things like measuring maps and stuff like that, especially when 2K does such a great job of creating a map for the game, giving it a real scale and putting so much effort into it.

To me, it seemed like the 2K US staff simply never measured the map themselves, and at some point, incorrect information began to be propogated and was never properly verified with 2K Czech (formerly Illusion Softworks). Denby Grace's quote from August 2009 is particularly indicative of this theory:

"The size of the world is approximately 10 square miles in size. I haven't measured it personally, but that's what I'm told..."

While I don't think the actual map size is really important, per what I wrote above, what is important to me is 2K's interaction with fans. When fans are concerned about an issue, it's important, in my opinion, for 2K to treat fans with respect and to address the question seriously.

It seems that it would be a simple thing for 2K to just go back, sit down with the map, do the math, and ask around the office how the "10 square miles" figure ever came up, when the correct figure is just over 4 square miles, less than half the "advertised" size. Because of the frequency that this question was asked and never properly answered, it would just be nice to see a simple statement acknowledging that the fans were correct and that the often-stated (on the forums and in interviews) "10 square miles" figure was incorrect.

Let's not forget that the 4 square miles figure was verified not only according to the scale of the physically printed (and shown in-game) map but also with the actual size of the gameworld according to the in-game statistics. And remember, 4 square miles is the size of the whole map. The size of the explorable city area is closer to 3 square miles.

I hardly need to post this link: http://www.bioshockarchives.com/empi...re-bay-map.php

[2K David]

No need for thread necromancy, guys.