Planetside 2 Catch-All

Strangeblades wrote:

I'm more worried about network code and how laggy it might be with hundreds of players on at the same time. Maybe they will break up the continent/shard so your computer doesn't get the info for what is happening to individuals ALL over the map at the same time? You'll only get sent data packets (or whatever) to those players who are in your vicinity.

You don't need to break the game up into shards to do that. It's actually a really common thing to do in any kind of multiplayer game from FPS to MMORPG. You just set up the code to only transmit data about players who are near your vicinity.

Strangeblades wrote:

Planetside-Universe has a video and some write ups of my most anticipated multiplayer shooter.

That calls for a IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/squeee_by_jj_o2-d2ybkyl.jpg)

Priority Beta can NOT start soon enough. I look forward to being a Galaxy pilot all over again.

Or a medic. Or an engineer. Or an AA-MAX.

ARGH! So many choices!

Tkyl wrote:
Strangeblades wrote:

I'm more worried about network code and how laggy it might be with hundreds of players on at the same time. Maybe they will break up the continent/shard so your computer doesn't get the info for what is happening to individuals ALL over the map at the same time? You'll only get sent data packets (or whatever) to those players who are in your vicinity.

You don't need to break the game up into shards to do that. It's actually a really common thing to do in any kind of multiplayer game from FPS to MMORPG. You just set up the code to only transmit data about players who are near your vicinity.

Ooo. That's good then. I was afraid SOE bit off more than they could chew with this game. Hey, it's not like that ever happens right?

wolfstar76 wrote:
Strangeblades wrote:

Planetside-Universe has a video and some write ups of my most anticipated multiplayer shooter.

That calls for a IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/squeee_by_jj_o2-d2ybkyl.jpg)

Priority Beta can NOT start soon enough. I look forward to being a Galaxy pilot all over again.

Or a medic. Or an engineer. Or an AA-MAX.

ARGH! So many choices!

I know your pain.

wolfstar76 wrote:

Priority Beta can NOT start soon enough. I look forward to being a Galaxy pilot all over again.

Or a medic. Or an engineer. Or an AA-MAX.

ARGH! So many choices!

Looking at those videos, I think an AA-MAX will be VERY valuable. That's pretty much how I leveled the last time!

[quote=Strangeblades]

Tkyl wrote:
Strangeblades wrote:

I'm more worried about network code and how laggy it might be with hundreds of players on at the same time. Maybe they will break up the continent/shard so your computer doesn't get the info for what is happening to individuals ALL over the map at the same time? You'll only get sent data packets (or whatever) to those players who are in your vicinity.

You don't need to break the game up into shards to do that. It's actually a really common thing to do in any kind of multiplayer game from FPS to MMORPG. You just set up the code to only transmit data about players who are near your vicinity.

Ooo. That's good then. I was afraid SOE bit off more than they could chew with this game. Hey, it's not like that every happens right? Right?[\quote]

The trick is going to be when you have a hunred+ people all within sight. That's when it gets tricky. There are things you can do to reduce network trafic, though most of them involve a degredation in visual quality (be it animation or collision traces).

A planet-sized explosion of Planetside 2 pictures.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b8936236e.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b520510ba.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b54068edf.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b5547eb18.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b996b00a7.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b908c2930.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b96c4add6.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b94f26539.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b92ccfc56.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b8edcee50.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b8d43249b.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b8b561b5f.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120305_4f552c9755c5e.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120305_4f552c7b07410.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120228_4f4d244049571.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120228_4f4d24352be38.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120228_4f4d244c4981d.jpg)

Watched the GDC video today. Tagging thread for future info.

The first one was awesome and this one is looking much better than I expected. The graphics, day/night cycles and weapon tracers, character models look great!

Strangeblades wrote:

That calls for a IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/squeee_by_jj_o2-d2ybkyl.jpg)

Damn, that game footage is looking pretty.

Just watched all four videos. It's looking very good, but I really wish it was also on PS3. Hopefully it'll run well enough on my PC.

Which faction is this:
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Planetside%202%20Catch%20All/20120306_4f56b8936236e.jpg)
Because that's who I want to be.

Thats Terran Republic. The chaingun guys.

Nuean wrote:

Thats Terran Republic. The chaingun guys.

Never played Planetside, so I have no idea what/who that is.

Basically the Terrans get guns that shoot lots of bullets that do less damage per shot. And their vehicles tend to have more guns too. (and take more people to man them) Their empire specific weapon was the chaingun. Like the TF2 heavy has, but skinnier.

The New Conglomerate have slow firing but high damage weapons. They had a 3 barrel shotgun that could shoot all barrels at once. And their empire specific tank did huge damage.

The Vanu Soverignty had lasers. Their main gun was the lasher. It shot a really slow moving orb that could lash out and damage people even if the orb missed. Also their tanks could hover and drive on water.

That's kinda the gist of the strength and weakness of each empire. They each took different tactics to fight against.

I know this sounds a bit weird, but I always played as a tank driver/invisible medic. Tank driver is pretty straightforward. But cloaker medic is hilarious. No one snipes a guy they can't see. I would just run around a battle reviving and healing people. If I came across anyone on the enemy team who wasn't paying attention. Or even better, a MAX with no armour left. POP POP POP, shotgun pistol time.

The new game looks fantastic. The only iffy thing about it is that you can only play for one faction. Unless they changed that. Having a lockout timer like the original would solve that.

Ahh the memories

My favourite thing of all was being the gunner on an NC BFR. They have this particle gun turret that shoots a single big projectile. Basically a railgun. If you got good with it (and I had tons of practice) you could use it to swat moving aircraft out of the sky. Mossies could only stand 2-3 hits. It was REALLY satisfying to watch them hit afterburners and land a shot at 300 meters that turns them into a cloud of wreckage.

To a lesser degree, the magrider also worked like this.

One of my friends was saying he wasn't sure about a design change they made; apparently in the larger tanks the driver also aims and fires the main gun now. I kind of like the idea of having a separate person for the driver and the main gun, but maybe the developers thought in this age of Battlefield 3 tanks people wouldn't accept that?

Well to be perfectly honest, being a tank driver in Planetside was kind of boring. YOU were the one who needed to spend certifications to build and pilot a tank. But then the gunner gets to have all the fun. And you are forced to rely on the skill of your gunner to be successful. Being a gunner wasn't always great either. Most tank drivers were not that smart and didn't seem to understand basic principles like "if the enemy shells are landing on your head, perhaps its time to move".

I think having the pilot control the main gun is great. What would be even better is allowing the pilot to give control over the main gun to a secondary gunner. That would let people team up as a crew. And a 2 man crew would be FAR more effective.

*Begins watching GDC videos* My this looks good. Makes me want to pop in a new video card. Shame I can't really afford another MMO right no.... What?! Its F2P!?
Fracking frack now I have to find a copy of PCGamer!

Those videos are super great. It seems like the devs are doing everything right from gameplay and payment mondels all the way to out of game support. I can't wait to play.

Tamren wrote:

The new game looks fantastic. The only iffy thing about it is that you can only play for one faction. Unless they changed that. Having a lockout timer like the original would solve that.

I hadn't heard this bit yet. That will make me very sad.

Being free to play, I was hoping there'd be a handful of servers, and I could be pick one faction (or even two factions) per server.

Then again, being free to play, it isn't like I'm lacking enough e-mail addresses to make three accounts if I feel the need.

Actually tank driving was a lot of fun. The easiest thing to do from day one in PS was to get a tank cert and run over infantry. If you were perceptive and patient enough, it was a lot like bowling.

Looking good, I'll keep both my eyes on this.

Any kind soul here able to help me out by picking up a copy of PC Gamer US for me with the appropriate beta key? Am on the wrong side of an ocean at the moment and not entirely sure I want to trust to the usual lottery to get beta access. Happy to refund the money via Paypal obviously.

Though am constantly scratching my head as to why I'd pay $9 to get access to a free game. Definitely a psychology study somewhere here.

Caddrel wrote:

Though am constantly scratching my head as to why I'd pay $9 to get access to a free game. Definitely a psychology study somewhere here.

Because the $9 is for the magazine, not some freebie? Because it's not a free game (yet), it's a beta for an un-released product?

Caddrel wrote:

Any kind soul here able to help me out by picking up a copy of PC Gamer US for me with the appropriate beta key? Am on the wrong side of an ocean at the moment and not entirely sure I want to trust to the usual lottery to get beta access. Happy to refund the money via Paypal obviously.

Though am constantly scratching my head as to why I'd pay $9 to get access to a free game. Definitely a psychology study somewhere here.

I actually picked up a second copy "just-in-case" and I've been trying to persuade my best friend to take the key, but he's completely uninterested so far.

I'll make one more attempt at getting him to take the key, and if he remains adamant about not wanting to try out the beta, I'd be happy to do a paypal swap of your $$ for my extra key.

wolfstar76 wrote:
Caddrel wrote:

Any kind soul here able to help me out by picking up a copy of PC Gamer US for me with the appropriate beta key? Am on the wrong side of an ocean at the moment and not entirely sure I want to trust to the usual lottery to get beta access. Happy to refund the money via Paypal obviously.

Though am constantly scratching my head as to why I'd pay $9 to get access to a free game. Definitely a psychology study somewhere here.

I actually picked up a second copy "just-in-case" and I've been trying to persuade my best friend to take the key, but he's completely uninterested so far.

I'll make one more attempt at getting him to take the key, and if he remains adamant about not wanting to try out the beta, I'd be happy to do a paypal swap of your $$ for my extra key. :)

Great, thanks! Give me a yell if your friend proves suitably stubborn.

Is this still planning to make people more powerful as they level? As long as that's the case, I just can't see this as Planetside "2".

BadMojo wrote:

Is this still planning to make people more powerful as they level? As long as that's the case, I just can't see this as Planetside "2".

Wait what? Where'd you read that? Ew!