Remember Continents?

[Headrattle]

Time for a trip into wonderful nostalgia. Remember the planet map instead of the silly interstellar map in Planetside? Remember the clouds and weather? Remember how the continents were spaced out? Weren't those good days?

In my opinion the Interstellar map in Planetside marked the end for me. It was, in my opinion, an unneeded change that only seemed to confuse the issue. With the planet map the information was clearer in my opinion. Instead of the interstellar map where all you look at are the sides. With the planet map the information was more upfront. I don't really understand why they changed it.

But wait! That is not all! The weather! Remember the weather? Now in PS back in the day, you could watch clouds cross your continent and then effect the next one. Now, the weather didn't have that much effect, but it was one of those cool immersion things that I thought was really cool. You should look at the Planet map, see where the fights are, pick a place and then say "And it looks like they are expecting rain." Not only that but I seem to remember dust storms and the like on Solsar (my favorite) and that was pretty cool.

Now... They talked about weather effects, flying around in clouds for cover, and things along those lines. Does anyone know if we are getting something like the old planet map back? Or is it going to be the Interstellar map again? And if it is, please tell me that the cool weather effects will be shown on the map as they effect the planet. That doesn't seem that hard to code, but it was a really cool effect.

[Rbstr]

I hope it's a single planet as well.

I was playing recently and there was a Thunderstorm..so I don't think weather went anywhere.

[Headrattle]

I hope it's a single planet as well.

I was playing recently and there was a Thunderstorm..so I don't think weather went anywhere.

I know. I am talking about how in Planetside the planetary view you could have the clouds shown, and the clouds would actually move across the planet. And what is more, you could go where the massive clouds were, and it would be raining. They got rid of that (or maybe it is still there, we just can't see it because of the interstellar map.)

[Malorn]

They're going back to the PS story around launch time, in which there was only one planet, Auraxis, and it had many continents.

They mentioned the desire for weather systems and such but said it might not make release. I'm sure it'll be in the 3-year plan though.

[Valdae]

I would imagine it's a single planet so long as they are re-imagining the original story line.

[Headrattle]

Thanks. And it is good to know that they are starting over in the storyline too.
Hey! You gotta ask.

[Valdae]

For the record, the weather system is one of the most interesting parts of this game for me, as everyone loved the storms from the first game. Sure clear sky, rain, snow, and heavy cloud etc should be implemented; but elements like heavy fog, lightening storms, or even the occasional meteor shower would really be unforgettable. I'm also desperate to see night make a grand return.

[Rbstr]

This volumetric hide-in-a-cloud thing is one of the neatest features IMO.

I hope they extend it to infantry/vehicle play. Smoke grenades in BC2 were one of the neatest underutilized features.
That shit does a number on frame rates though, it would be tough to balance.

[Hamma]

The weather system originally was awesome.

Can't wait to have Auraxis back.. ;)

[CutterJohn]

I didn't care so much about the bending. Whatever. Its useless RP and didn't change gameplay much. I did miss the ease of viewing the entire planet at once though. That should come back.

[Valdae]

I miss this :( I dunno why, but this moody looking moment of the game required a screenshot.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6017/5945148908_7115527d4e_z.jpg

[LordReaver]

You guys act like there's not weather in the game anymore. It's only gone from the map. If you want to see rain, go to Hossin, it rains all the time there.

[Malorn]

I miss this :( I dunno why, but this moody looking moment of the game required a screenshot.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6017/5945148908_7115527d4e_z.jpg

It pretty sad that by looking at that one screenshot I know exactly where you are standing and facing. (Just East of Shango, Cyssor, standing on the road facing south).

And all the battles I can remember fighting there. In the early days the VS always attacked from Orisha, and the NC fought from the north-> south. The Itan-Shango corridor battles and the Shango-Orisha battles were always heavy tank fights. Lots of magriders, lots of vanguards. Lots of foolish infantry getting mowed trying to footzerg open plains full of tanks.

Talk about nostalgia.

[Valdae]

Talk about nostalgia.

You aint kiddin' mate :D

[Vancha]

I always liked Planetside's rain. While it might not have been great graphically, it always seemed to be the most immersive I'd come across. Maybe it was the sound effect they used or something.

[EightEightEight]

I always liked Planetside's rain. While it might not have been great graphically, it always seemed to be the most immersive I'd come across. Maybe it was the sound effect they used or something.

They had an amazing audio track for it I tried to find it and rip it just to play without being in the game but they compress their audio a certain way and or it might be on the server

[GTGD]

I thought it was awesome to have weather like that. There have been multiple occasions where the empire I was playing had been pushed back to a defensive position, and as we were regrouping and awaiting the attack a storm would move in. Very cinematic.

And I am so glad to have Auraxis back. I still call them continents :P. While the bending was a cool event, it sucked to see Oshur get blown apart (I loved Oshur so much). Plus the lattice and home continents really got messed up. It's been so long that I've forgotten how the lattice was originally set up (though I distinctly remember there were 3 "home" continents, some that multiple empires had links to from their sanctuary).

I'm sure the map will be vastly different from what we're used to seeing, considering the footholds (probably so that players can play on any continent they want). However if home continents make a comeback, I'd love for the NC to have Hossin and Solsar again.

[Hamma]

Here is a real blast from the past from some of our old school exclusive screenshots:

http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=858
http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/main/screenshots/previews/psu_weekly/psu_040703/psuscreenapr07-0034.jpg

No lattice, and weather systems :lol:

[Headrattle]

That! That is exactly what I am talking about. Those things meant weather was coming. What is more, rain wouldn't occur over the entire continent, only the places that the circles were over. It was a very cool effect.

[Geist]

:'( This is a depressing thread. I really miss that weather system...

[Headrattle]

HA!

http://wiki.planetsidesyndicate.com/images/thumb/6/6a/Global_Map.jpg/800px-Global_Map.jpg

That is what I am talking about. Notice two things.
First, everything is easier to see (you could turn the clouds off if you wanted.)
Second, If you look east of Hossin and south of Forseral you will see green circles with an arrow of sorts. Those are rain storms. Over Ishundar there is an orange one. That is a dust storm. The storm on Forseral would occur on Hossin after it left Forseral.

That is so much better then the current PS system, on so many different levels.

And I am old! Nostalgia is all I have!

[Coreldan]

Wow, that indeed looks miles better.

[Hamma]

Yea it was awesome, the only downside was the no lattice thing. ;)

[Headrattle]

AH, but they introduced the lattice before we went live. That stuff was there right up until the "bending" or whatever that horrible thing was called where everything turned into planets.

[TerminatorUK]

Continents were awesome - remember when they added Core Combat ther was a toggle to switch to the underground/cavern view where you'd see the brown earth around the caverns?

It continent map made it much easier to see what was going on and which warpgate connected to what.

Didn't like what the bending event did to the game, nor did the introduction of "Broadcast Warpgates" (static 1-to-1 warpgates added a degree of transport requirement that made being a Galaxy pilot more valued).

Loved the weather system too and I'm hoping the Forge Light engine will really improve on that.

For example, when it's raining, I'd like to see a droplet effect on your visor akin to the rainy boss sequence in the Duke Nukem Forever demo or coming out of the water in Crysis - something meaningful that would make it more difficult to fight in those conditions.

Love the weather fronts too but I recall something about them being removed as the agreement with with the 3rd-party company that implemented the weather fronts ended.

[Valdae]

HA!

http://wiki.planetsidesyndicate.com/images/thumb/6/6a/Global_Map.jpg/800px-Global_Map.jpg



Ahh I'm in love. Why did they change something that would so perfect? Visually interesting, and uncomplicated to boot. I totally forgot about the sand storms too!

[Hamma]

"The Bending" changed it all around. I never understood that event.. such a massive change that made little sense and even less sense if you came into PlanetSide after the fact.