How would you set boundaries in a sandbox game?

[xitel]

I liked Crackdown's way of doing it, where it was an island, and the ocean had an endless loop at a certain point out.

They use that in Morrowind too. It's a great way of going at it.
The border with snipers isn't too bad either. However I don't like it when there's just an invisible wall or mountains so steep you can't get over them. Mountains are just as bad as invisible walls.

Well, I know Shadow of the Colossus had mountains keeping you in and noone minded that.

 

[masterblaze0]

Perhaps something that randomly generates terrain as you go out, with nothing mapped, but also nothing of value?

Like a true uncharted game area?

 

[[Gavo]]

An ocean, I guess.

Or cliffs.

 

[KaZZaP]

Anything besides invisible walls, cliffs, mountains, rivers, all good. I really like when its not an actual obstacle that stops you, like a minefield, or radiation, or a giant fish that eats you.

 

[darktheif28]

paint the walls the color of the sky and in big letters put invisible wall, go away

 

[samsprinkle]

I'd give em' the ol' "hey! You can't go there!" and set up an invisible wall! No seriously...I'd probably have it set up where you could leave the boundaries but it became an inhospitable desert full of raiders and hidden landmines...players wouldn't WANT to leave the main area...mwuhahahahahahahahaahhahahaha

 

[Wicky_42]

Boundaries in a sandbox game get in the way. Heh. but seriously, a serious sandbox game would have no limits - procedurally generate the entire planet. And then build a spaceship by hand, and force your poor system to procedurally generate a galaxy. Make it a MMO game, just to fuck with the guys that look after the servers. It'd be awesome. Best Game Ever.

Or of course set it inside a logically confined space - underground, pressurised space habitat/ship, dyson sphere, a galaxy (looking at Spore here)

 

[theklng]

when you go far enough out, something being will eat you alive. no warning, but you could probably tell you were overdue for it.

 

[Zephirius]

You want sandbox? You get sandbox. You get copypasted desert for miles in every direction with the most advanced sand physics in the world, better than the real world itself (We can rebuild it in our minds. We have the technology).

 

[Rolling 20]

I would use a coast on one side. Mountains on the opposite...

I agree that this is probably the only proper way of doing it. Although I think it would be interesting to show them there IS a way through...in the form of expansion packs and sequals. Rather than doing the standard GTA (okay let's F$#K off over to this end of the world for a while), why not keep expanding. E.g. in the next chapter of the game you're coming FROM the old place past 'THOSE' mountains.

Something like that...

 

[Crowghast]

It depends. The only games I thought of making were alternate reality, mindfuck, travesty of universal law Cthulhu Mythos style games. In this version, you walk into an endless wasteland, made entirely of doors, each door shows you a differnt horror, a different way to death and insanity.

The doors are the boundaries, and the way forward as well.

If it was a fantasy game. I'd have a race of Giant's surrounding the area, pissing their territory lines onto the ground. Step over, get pissed on.

If it was modern, my boundary would be space. I'd discover a way to allow the player to go, literally, ANYWHERE in the world. Except space.

 

[SimuLord]

Make the game world an island and make the ocean full of grotesquely overleveled sea monsters or great white sharks.

 

[Erana]

Attach a morphine drip to the player, and whenever they break the rules, they get high! >=D

 

[M0rp43vs]

-I'm for the high leveled creatures waiting for you at the back o beyond.
-This can be used as a story device, Your wearing a collar, ring, whatever that will explode if you leave the area.
-For a fantasy setting, an giant eagle god thing swoops in and brings you back saying stuff like,"no, little one, you have a job to do" or "you wouldn't want to see what lives beyond". can also be a story device.(sorry, stayed up all night reading lord of the ring)
-the game world is set atop a giant mesa or floating island. Falling=dieing
-Ocean and you can't swim
-Spontaneous Natural disaster appearing when you leave a boundary

 

[Naeo]

Something like what IzisviAziria said. A spherical-seeming world.

But there's an easier way to do this. Set the location on an island or something, like Saints Row 2/Morrowind/Lots of other games did, and like Morrowind, spawn ocean cells automatically after a certain distance from shore. BUT, make it so after you've traveled X cells/miles/whatever offshore it basically spawns you so far away from the island, heading straight towards it, from the other side as if you had just gone around the world.

 

[Varchld]

When the player leaves the desegnated area have harpys descend and lure the player character back like he's being pulled by an invisible rope.

 

[Durhamster]

How about one gate leads out of the city and guarding that gate is a few of those epic creatures from Spore, Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra and the Jackson 5