In an interview with Strategy Informer, Far Cry 4 senior level designer Vincent Ouellette has discussed the changes Ubisoft has made to outposts in the game, why they chose to set the game in Asia, co-op, and more.
One of the criticisms directed at Far Cry 3 was that when an outpost was cleared the area became too safe with threats removed from the region. Addressing this issue, Far Cry 4 will borrow from Assassin's Creed Revelations allow for "Retaliations" and you'll also come across Fortresses.
These are much more heavily defended outposts which are designed to be more challenging to clear in the first place.
He also confirmed that co-op in the story will be limited to two players as they tested various player counts and felt this felt best.
As for why the Himalayas were chosen as the location for the game, Ouellette comments:
"The setting was the first thing we looked at for the game because we treat the world as the main character, it's the one you'll be with for the whole game. We wanted more verticality, that's why we ended up with tools like the grappling hook and gyrocopter and all these abilities that help you traverse more vertical landscapes.
"The animals as well, which everyone loved in Far Cry 3 and we wanted to expand on that. We wanted big animals like elephants as well as more dangerous ones, and that whole area is sprawling with interesting animals. The Honey Badger for example is a pretty badass one."
The developer adds that they're taking steps to ensure that the world they're building is believable. He says Ubisoft did a lot of research on the region and the location of roads and villages in the game will make sense. Ouellette adds that they've introduced the 'Encounter System' which populates the world and is designed to ensure that something different happens each time you pass through an area.
Ubisoft is basing the story of Far Cry 4 around Napal's civil war and you can find out more about their research into that conflict here.
Far Cry 4 is set for release on November 18th in North America and on November 21st in Europe for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
