PS2 devlog: China Week!

[Higby]

Not sure if people will care about this or not, let me know and I'll keep it up or knock it off depending. I know folks are longing for new PS2 info, and we're about to start to roll out a bunch of it in the next couple weeks, but, I figured it wouldn't hurt to give you guys some insights into whats up on the dev side.

Today Smed, T-Ray, Ryan (our tech director) myself and a couple other folks are on our way to Shanghai to meet with our Chinese partners at the9. It's capping off a busy few weeks: Last week was the end of one of our internal sprints, which was hectic and awesome as always, and the week before that several members of the SOE team including myself were out at GamesCom in Germany. We're meeting with lots of folks and showing them the game - and there is a lot of excitement all around.

I really can't wait to show you guys more, I think you're going to be amazed at what we've got cooking up here.

Okay, I'm told that our ride to the airport has arrived, so I've got to split! I'll try to have a more dense update next time if you guys actually dig hearing about the game dev process!

-
mh

[Bags]

I really can't wait to show you guys more, I think you're going to be amazed at what we've got cooking up here.


-
mh

I shall be waiting. Maybe The9 will let something slip after this.

[Miir]

Thanks for the update.

[FriendlyFire]

Do want to smell what Higby is cooking.

[FastAndFree]

Thanks for the update Higby, please keep us as informed as you are allowed to :)

Now on to the rabid fan business. They just finished an "Internal sprint" and are now flying to China, obviously the only reason can be that beta is imminent!!! Let's go crazy! Woooo

[Killerobe]

Awesome! Keep it coming Matt. As someone really interested in the dev/business side of games its always interesting to me to hear about the finer points of game development/product cycle. Have fun in Shanghai!

[eebster]

I heard T-Ray speaks Cantonese.

Either way It's nice to hear you're spreading the word and all, but I better see pages of all my favorite pc and gaming mags to have advertisements, and nothing like RIfts awesome idea of "you're not in Azeroth" oO

[Bags]

I heard T-Ray speaks Cantonese.

Either way It's nice to hear you're spreading the word and all, but I better see pages of all my favorite pc and gaming mags to have advertisements, and nothing like RIfts awesome idea of "you're not in Azeroth" oO

"WE'RE NOT IN THE MIDDLE EAST ANY MORE."

[Hamma]

Awesome thanks for the update Higby! We will be keeping our eyes peeled ;)

[Chaff]

TEASE

[TacosWLove]

Hurray! Please gief more info soon! Ps pop is steadily declining and no one to shoot :(

[basti]

Not sure if people will care about this or not, let me know and I'll keep it up or knock it off depending. I know folks are longing for new PS2 info, and we're about to start to roll out a bunch of it in the next couple weeks, but, I figured it wouldn't hurt to give you guys some insights into whats up on the dev side.

Matt, we are not the usual bunch of guys who just want the game and dont care about anything else. We are interrested in what you guys are doing, and if you are just telling us that you get to china for a week, we are still happpy. Its not a screenshot or even a trailer, but hey, we still deeply care. At least some of us do. After all, i spend 130€ on a train ticket for GamesCon i didnt use because i screwed up. Granted, got most of the cash back and just lost about 20 €, but still, i planned to spend a day in a train for the off chance to chat with you guys, knowing that its very very unlikley that i would learn anything new. Still sucks that i jsut screwed up, would have got some Red Bull for you. :D

In short, we care. And tell T-Ray to show up here more often! Same as you, show up here, always! :P


Today Smed, T-Ray, Ryan (our tech director) myself and a couple other folks are on our way to Shanghai to meet with our Chinese partners at the9. It's capping off a busy few weeks: Last week was the end of one of our internal sprints, which was hectic and awesome as always, and the week before that several members of the SOE team including myself were out at GamesCom in Germany. We're meeting with lots of folks and showing them the game - and there is a lot of excitement all around.

Wondering what exactly you gonna do with the9. I was under the impression that the deal is all done and stuff. Making a personal show up at the9 indicates that some serious business is about to happen. Are you showing them how to set up the servers to start their beta, or how to translate the client? Hmmmmmmmm, smells alot like beta soon. :)



I really can't wait to show you guys more, I think you're going to be amazed at what we've got cooking up here.

Okay, I'm told that our ride to the airport has arrived, so I've got to split! I'll try to have a more dense update next time if you guys actually dig hearing about the game dev process!

-
mh


YES ALREADY! I need my fix. :/

[Tigersmith]

Thanks ! will be looking forward to more info soon :)

[Kurtz]

Wish I could see Tony Park's face when you guys ask..."so can you run all this?"

Hoping this game is further along than even I thought - since China releases usually follow US releases. ie WoW.

PS. Thanks for the update.

[GTGD]

Awesome to hear what's been going on! Thanks for keeping us all in the know, especially with the crazy schedule you've been having. It's refreshing to hear from a developer who actually sounds like he loves his job so much!

[Firefly]

Not sure if people will care about this or not, let me know and I'll keep it up or knock it off depending.
I can't speak for anyone else but I am touched by your humility. PLEASE MOAR INFO PLZ.

kthanxstandingby

[demonicale]

keep it up, i like hearing about the process!.

[Westy543]

Awesome! Hope to hear more soon. :) Good luck!

[Atuday]

Say hi to china and if you see the Devs of Welkin 4591 slap them senseless. Dam copy cats.

[WarChimp130]

I am interested in hearing about any detail that you guys have. If Smed eats Kung Pao Chicken, I want to know. If T-Ray see's the Great Wall of China and says "Hmmm, Great Wall of Cyssor..." I want to know.

[Lorgarn]

Great initiative, talk to the community!

:)

[Aractain]

Sup.

Keep dem behind yo scene infos flowin, knawwhatmmmsayin.

[Heaven]

Just bring it higby, you sexy long haired person. ha

[Malorn]

We absolutely love this stuff, thanks Matt!

[morf]

@hig

Just out of curiosity, how long are your development sprint cycles?

[Graywolves]

Quit running rebel scum!!!!!!!!!!


jk!



I always love seeing a blue post and we all pretty much want to be camera's over everyone's desk and office just to know every little thing that's possibly happening. Any news of any kind of progress is amazing awesome news to us.

[DviddLeff]

Cheers for keeping us informed :)

Looking forward to the next couple of weeks as we get more info as well!

[NapalmEnima]

More information is always good, particularly to we poor, info-starved fans. Even something as cryptic "we're on schedule for <ha ha not gonna tell you>" helps to stoke the flames of rabid fans everywhere.

PS: Check your PMs.

[Raymac]

Just droppin in to touch base? I'm feeling alot of love. Thanks for taking the time to give us an update. We love hearing about any little detail no matter how minor you may think it is.

Lookin forward to the next couple weeks here to see the amazing work you guys are doing.

HAIR FOR THE HAIR GOD!

[Grimster]

Thanks for the update. Looking forward to the coming weeks. :)

[Nephilimuk]

Mr H nice post please do keep them up :)

I am in Shanghai next week with work if you guys are still around I would be delighted to buy you a beer and I promise not to post any gossip on here :rolleyes:

I fly in from the UK on Saturday

Oh and watch out for the soup at a banquet always take it from the top NEVER stir it (if you have a poor Western constitution like mine).

[RedKnights]

The9 is relatively notorious for leaks if i recall correctly.

Also, i'm more than excited about any Planetside news, especially gritty details about where you are in the cycle, what you guys have been working on, etc. It's never annoying Matt!

Also, Care to dispel rumors about The9 and China getting first shot at the game and Beta testing? :chill: I don't want Plasma spam as the primary game element =P

[Mod]

Yeah, thanks for taking the time to drop by and throw some blue text at the community, always good :)

[bjorntju1]

if you guys actually dig hearing about the game dev process!

Ofcourse we want to hear more! :D

[Peacemaker]

So, Higby are you saying that this game is to be Epic? That you have played the game, and as a gamer it is epic? Or do you mean that what this game can do in the future... limitless possibilities? That's what I'm carrying away from this.

If so, great news! Very excited for this game. Gonna need to stock up on pizza pockets!

[Crator]

Not sure if people will care about this or not, let me know and I'll keep it up or knock it off depending.

Surprised you even have to ask. Of course we want to know what going on with the dev team. Anything and everything you can tell us, we want to know. If you go to the bathroom, tweet it! :P Just joking...

[p0intman]

Questions for higby: Is your internal clock dead yet? I imagine all of that traveling is murder on you in ways that most people don't get to enjoy all that often.

You ought to do a full blown devblog (http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&nbid=2292) on the development process, give us tech porn (http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&nbid=2347) like they do over at EVE Online.

Also, graphs. Did I mention that tech/dev porn is cool?

[Tcakes]

Thanks for the update. Sometimes I feel like a meth head dope fiend and I'm all out of candy. So any news is way groovy. Looking forward to the next few weeks. Take care

[duck]

Yay more info in 2 weeks woooooooooooooooooooooot

[dachlatte]

i would definetly like to hear/read more about whats going on with your team. thanks for keeping us in the loop matt!

[Vecha]

Anything is better than silence for weeks/months at a time!

Keep it up!

[Senyu]

Make sure you got a good hotel. One I was at in Shangai the showers left a bit of grim on you and you came out feeling dirtier than when you went in.....


Anyways cant wait for the upcoming info, keep up the amazing work!!

[Tycho]

Thanks for dropping in Matt. Im really looking forward to the next couple of weeks. I cant wait to see what you guys have been up too.

[Lonehunter]

I think anything spoken by a Dev here will get people drooling, so it's much appreciated Higby.
I just finished putting my awesome new PC together mainly because of Planetside 2, so I'm getting excited all over again like when we saw those first screens.

[Higby]

We got here last night, grabbed dinner and crashed early.

When you're playing, patching once a week is kind of a hassle... but imagine daily updates of several hundred megs over a slow VPN connection to the USA from China, enormous hassle. Thats why I've been sitting here since 4am watching a progress bar fill at 25k/s. Well, that and the jet lag.

At least I have an awesome view!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/higby/sets/72157627564963722/

[Crator]

Wow, that is a nice view! I'm jealous now. :)

[Sirisian]

Wow, that is a nice view! I'm jealous now. :)
That's not a peaceful morning fog. It's smog. ;)

[Stizzi]

Nice live gameplay show in China


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLApHRg10oM&feature=player_embedded

[Brusi]

haha, yeah nice view!

... and such a nice clear day (for shanghai), too!

[Hamma]

Awesome view for sure! Makes the VPN download slightly less painful.. :lol:

Cool you guys are showing them a gameplay demo also! Great news for everyone.. can't wait till we can see one.. ;)

[Kouza]

Extra points for the updates.... like an eager little girl following miley cirus... I`m watching you.

[dachlatte]

25k/s?! might be faster to send an intern swimming cross the pacific :D

[BorisBlade]

25k/s?! might be faster to send an intern swimming cross the pacific :D

Seriously lol. Reminds me of the days of phone modems and the "high speed" of 56k!

[Kurtz]

Great shots. especially the night version.

Hey if you get bored, get some drinks at the mini bar and feel free to blab away...we're here lol. ;)

[Crazyduckling]

25k/s?! might be faster to send an intern swimming cross the pacific :D

I'll be that intern if I get to see what I was delivering.

[Graywolves]

Instead of staring at a progress bar, look up your AMA post on Reddit. A few new ones have come in, even longer than mine.

[Lunarchild]

We got here last night, grabbed dinner and crashed early.

When you're playing, patching once a week is kind of a hassle... but imagine daily updates of several hundred megs over a slow VPN connection to the USA from China, enormous hassle. Thats why I've been sitting here since 4am watching a progress bar fill at 25k/s. Well, that and the jet lag.

At least I have an awesome view!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/higby/sets/72157627564963722/

Awesome view indeed :) Have a good time over there, and enjoy yourself.

25k? Hotel wireless I bet. I was so surprised when the hotel in Cologne gave me 1 MB/Sec over wifi!

[Firefly]

We got here last night, grabbed dinner and crashed early.

When you're playing, patching once a week is kind of a hassle... but imagine daily updates of several hundred megs over a slow VPN connection to the USA from China, enormous hassle. Thats why I've been sitting here since 4am watching a progress bar fill at 25k/s. Well, that and the jet lag.

At least I have an awesome view!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/higby/sets/72157627564963722/

You should hire me as a localisation dev. I speak Mandarin fluently.

[Glennsnake]

You should hire me as a localisation dev. I speak Mandarin fluently.

They're in China, not Mandoria.

[Firefly]

They're in China, not Mandoria.
http://tinyurl.com/36r856h


(regardless of tongue-in-cheek comment, no one should ever pass up an opportunity for LMGTFY)

[Grimster]

They're in China, not Mandoria.

That comment made me laugh pretty hard.

Have you been living under a rock for the past couple of thousands of years? :)

[Senyu]

Nice, you guys have to check out the mall in that area. Its like a freaking maze and architecturally very interesting. And make sure you haggle when you shop, get those prices down. And hope your doing okay with the smog and sewage smell that comes everytime you walk out of a building, know it took my awhile


EDIT: I beleive it was called the Super Brand Mall. You'll get lost trying to figure out how to get to that mcdonalds 3 floors up. And the McDonalds meat is donkey btw

[Baron]

I head to Beijing this Monday (Labor Day :( ) for work ....

getting

closer

to

Higby

[Graywolves]

There's a place in Japan where everyone has to wear a gas mask at all times.

[Crazyduckling]

Tony Park updated his blog 3 times yesterday. Nothing interesting though. Here's what I got from the engrish google translation:

Basically, SOE is giving a presentation and game demo, Smed told him that we visit his blog for info (I think), and he will not let us down and give more information. He also called us enthusiastic and crazy. I don't understand what the most recent post means.

[Aractain]

It would be better if it translated to "If you are reading this, we have to go deeper".

[Hamma]

Yea I suspect he will release something on there, that dude is crazy when it comes to info leaks :lol:

[stargazer093]

ok..from what I know, Tony Park just update his blog and say he will release some actual gameplay footage of PS2 within a couple of days, lets hope he isn`t lying :D

[AWP]

Tony Park just posted on his blog.

ps2: 500 vs 500 vs 500


Edit: http://t.qq.com/tonypark -Source

[basti]

What? WHAT?

1500 guys? Impossible. HIGBY, CLARIFICATION! NAW! :D

[Bags]

Now where is that gameplay footage?

[Sirisian]

Aww man. Only 1500 people per continent? :lol: That's going to be a lot of initial servers if this game has marketing and releases out of beta with a single continent with no duplicates.

[PrISM]

The only important question regarding China is, "Will they have their own server?"

[Aractain]

That guy could do so amazing trolling. like: "PS2 will feature player mounts such as horses and sparkly ponys".



Id buy one.

[Graywolves]

That guy could do so amazing trolling. like: "PS2 will feature player mounts such as horses and sparkly ponys".



Id buy one.


They're serious

[Miir]

Now where is that gameplay footage?

Yeah... with a 500v500v500 battle. :D

[Crator]

That guy could do so amazing trolling. like: "PS2 will feature player mounts such as horses and sparkly ponys".



Id buy one.

They're serious

Really? Wow, that gonna be some gory battlefields :P

[FastAndFree]

Yeah... with a 500v500v500 battle. :D

All of them using Lashers, Maelstroms, Thumpers or grenades

[Senyu]

1500 players on a map is pretty large. Espically compared to anyother game out there. And I'm sure over time this number can be increased.

[Graywolves]

1500 players on a map is pretty large. Espically compared to anyother game out there. And I'm sure over time this number can be increased.

Someone said thousands, I demand atleast 2k.

[Senyu]

Someone said thousands, I demand atleast 2k.

I'm sure they can get there. First step though is getting that many people in the game.

[Hamma]

Interesting

[WarChimp130]

1500 people is going to be insane if that's true.

[Grimster]

Interesting

I second that :)

[NewSith]

Ox500+
Mx500+
Gx500

M0AR SNIPER KILLZ! WAAAAAGH!

On a side note:

OMFGITSSOAWESOMEIMCUMMINGATMCANTSTOP.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But done with immatureness:

Isn't it a bit too much? Especially if they said that conts are going to be smaller, than in PS1?

[Tigersmith]

amazing. soo excited

[dachlatte]

Isn't it a bit too much? Especially if they said that conts are going to be smaller, than in PS1?
thats crazy talk. there cant be too many players on a cont!

[Dorest0rm]

I suggest all those 1500 players gather in one place, and then mass OS it.
Wonder how the servers would do?

[FIREk]

I don't recall them saying the conts will be smaller than in PS1...

Even if the conts were similar or slightly smaller, keep in mind that:
1) Pop locks used to be (IIRC) 266 per side per continent and that was awesome,
2) In PS1 combat is centered around a few bases at a time - in PS2 we're likely to have a front line, so the population will be more spread out across the terrain,
3) More = better! ;)

[Bags]

Ox500+
Mx500+
Gx500

M0AR SNIPER KILLZ! WAAAAAGH!

On a side note:

OMFGITSSOAWESOMEIMCUMMINGATMCANTSTOP.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But done with immatureness:

Isn't it a bit too much? Especially if they said that conts are going to be smaller, than in PS1?

Like planetside ever had fights at more than 2 - 3 places on each continent at a time.

[Miir]

Will 500v500v500 be the cap per continent? If so what is the total population cap for one server?

[RedKnights]

Will 500v500v500 be the cap per continent? If so what is the total population cap for one server?

Well they did talk about having only a couple maps at release or "less than Planetside" so maybe 6 maps? So a total of ~9000?

[Zulthus]

Well they did talk about having only a couple maps at release or "less than Planetside" so maybe 6 maps? So a total of ~9000?

inb4 over 9k

[Raka Maru]

Ok 1,500/continent

Even if 10 continents... 15,000/server will keep the battle spread out very nicely. I think they should just keep "discovering" more continents and planets instead of using servers or instances.

[cellinaire]

Isn't it a bit too much? Especially if they said that conts are going to be smaller, than in PS1?


....I'm sorry, but do you really think this makes any sense ?
Do the dev team(environment artists) work only a day a week ?

We still don't have any idea how they are going to handle with the launch-day population. And if SOE is really into this 'single continent at launch' idea, then it HAVE TO BE A LOT LARGER, containing various landscapes and climates, right? (since we all know what the Forgelight is capable of, and a lot bigger number of pop-cap per cont' will be available, dev team that's bigger or similar sized with PS1 and faster-faced gameplay :groovy: )


So, I have no doubt that what we saw in the trailer(which I guess about 4*4km, the whole continent just can't be 4*4km) is just one of the regions we will get to travel around in Indar.



Not just hopeful thinking. 'Smaller' than PS1, even when 'single continent at launch' is proven to be wrong, just doesn't make sense IMHO.

[cellinaire]

inb4 over 9k


Well, after seeing all the interviews and article about PS2, I really think that the 'maps' we were all talking about is actually the 'regions' described in the official FAQ. At least this is the impression I got from mr.Higby.

[TacosWLove]

I don't recall them saying the conts will be smaller than in PS1...

Even if the conts were similar or slightly smaller, keep in mind that:
1) Pop locks used to be (IIRC) 266 per side per continent and that was awesome,
2) In PS1 combat is centered around a few bases at a time - in PS2 we're likely to have a front line, so the population will be more spread out across the terrain,
3) More = better! ;)

Not quite, its locked at 133 per side since that patch a while ago(instead of being unlocked for any empire to fill up) bringing it to 400ppl fights. Yes 1500 is gunna be AWESOME! Yay!

[Aractain]

Btw it used to be 166 per side and lowered like Tacos said to 133. It was 500 per cont before...

[FIREk]

Hmm... I'm... In doubt, but not yet convinced. ;)

[Aractain]

Before that it had a 50% faction max (250ish) and then the rest was split between the other two. Then they made it 33% each max.

(This was a long time ago though, anyone back up my numbers?)

[FIREk]

50% per side might make sense... I did some rushed math based on "TR positions left" and the proportion of NC and VS... Or something... I was younger, it was a long time ago, but 266 got engraved in my memory, plus it's a really nice memory, even if it's inaccurate or just plain fake. ;)

[BorisBlade]

Yeah like others have said, it used to be 50% for the initial empire, but then they fixed it for balance and gameplay reasons to 33% per side. And at that point (33%) it was 166 per side. A later patch lowered it to 133 which is its current level. The max cont cap was 500, its now 400. So 1500 is a rather big jump.