Lunch interview with Higby: Complete

[NapalmEnima]

Okay! Good lunch, the interview is recorded, and I'll be able to upload it from my phone when I get home tonight (PDT). I'd like to once again thank Matt for agreeing to the interview and bearing with me through the whole list.

Some highlights:

Health & Armor is no more. It's now Health & Shields. You'll have a variety of shields to choose from, trading off max charge, charge rate, and charge delay.

Galaxies can spawn while airborn, and are not limited to spawning a particular squad or platoon. If the pilot has the right cert, you can even spawn in a MAX.

Equipment timers are still present. MAXes will probably have timers.

Vehicle entrance/exit animations are still under discussion.

Some sort of social networking hooks will be present.

The Sunderer & Jackhammer were specifically named.

My 1-hour/110mb audio file should be up tonight with a little luck.

EDIT: I would like it known that Matt did NOT pound a red bull prior to the interview.

Update: News URL and Audio Recording!

http://www.planetside-universe.com/agn/news-community-interview-with-matt-higby-2546.htm

[basti]

Recharging shields? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

Have you not learned from all those FPS? THEY SUCK! Its going to be hop around corner, fire some shots, recive some shots, back to cover and wait till the shield is auto recharched.

Not fun! :(

[Hamma]

:lol:

Good stuff Napalm! Thanks for taking the time to do this, hope you took the time to soak it all in it's great talking to game developers - not everyone gets the chance to do that. :D

[Sirisian]

Was really hoping to have Health, Armor, and activated Shields of different amounts to vary the armor types.

New question. So EMP grenade is now like a must?

[basti]

Was really hoping to have Health, Armor, and activated Shields of different amounts to vary the armor types.

New question. So EMP grenade is now like a must?

Ohh, didnt think of that. EMP disabeling shields, that could be nice. :)

[LZachariah]

Thanks Napalm :D The Shields thing is unfortunate, but not a deal-breaker for me. Most games nowadays have some system wherein your survivability will recover if you stay out of combat long enough (in this case, Shields recharge). Even Bad Company 2 (a fantastic game, and one to which SOE often compares PS2) has a similar system. However, (like Bad Company 2), your base health doesn't fully recover, you need a medic for that. It isn't good news, but I am still absolutely thrilled with how Higby and Smed and T-Ray are so ACTIVELY working with us and talking with us. I've never heard of a game studio that was this in touch with its fan base, and it's going to pay off for them in our wild support of their amazing game.

~Zachariah


Edit- So, are we assuming that Armor is effectively subsumed into Health? As in, thematically, the heavier your armor, the more damage you can take before you die. IE- wearing heavy armor gives you 250 Health, whereas wearing light armor may only give you 150. And Infiltrators might only have 50.

Something like that? That would be ok with me.

[NapalmEnima]

Recharging shields? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

Have you not learned from all those FPS? THEY SUCK! Its going to be hop around corner, fire some shots, recive some shots, back to cover and wait till the shield is auto recharched.

Not fun! :(

Given the success of Halo & Badlands, I'm not overly worried. I enjoyed playing them. It's simply a difference from PS1.

No more hot glue gun to repair armor. The only thing a squad needs is medics. You won't need an engineer (or two) to keep a squad healthy.

I'm okay with that.

Higby also said there's no ongoing health regeneration, a la CoD. Once you're hurt, you stay that way until someone does something about it (including you, with a med kit).

[basti]

Given the success of Halo & Badlands, I'm not overly worried. I enjoyed playing them. It's simply a difference from PS1.

No more hot glue gun to repair armor. The only thing a squad needs is medics. You won't need an engineer (or two) to keep a squad healthy.

I'm okay with that.

Higby also said there's no ongoing health regeneration, a la CoD. Once you're hurt, you stay that way until someone does something about it (including you, with a med kit).

Well thats at least something.

Depens how shields work out in the end. I guess different armors have different sizes for shields, like max got the super heavy ones, agile the light ones, etc. It could work out, as long as you dont need to go throu the entire shield first before damaging health. We shall see, im still in rage. :/


btw: get that audio file uploaded NAW! :P

[Talek Krell]

New question. So EMP grenade is now like a must?
Oh that is a good question...


I'm willing to entertain the shields instead of armor idea, I don't think it will destroy the game. People are right that we need more details though. I can think of numerous questions already.

1. Will shield strength/charge rate/charge delay vary with armor type then, or will there be variations between shields in each type of armor, or is it both?

2. Will health total vary with armor?

3. Does damage penetrate through shields as it does with armor in the original?

4. Will there be variations to the amount of damage that penetrates depending on what armor or what shield you select?

And that's just off the top of my head.

[NapalmEnima]

I can think of numerous questions already.


The live boadcast today has a chat window, and we've got that IRC ask-the-devs thing going tomorrow.

Now whether or not the questions get answered is another matter... ;)

btw: get that audio file uploaded NAW! :P

I've tried several tricks to get the file off my phone already, to no avail. I'm gonna hit Hamma up and see if he has any suggestions.

[Raymac]

Recharging shields? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

Have you not learned from all those FPS? THEY SUCK! Its going to be hop around corner, fire some shots, recive some shots, back to cover and wait till the shield is auto recharched.

Not fun! :(

I hear ya, but I'm not too freaked out about something like this because all you have to do is look at Planetside 1 now. You pop out, get hit, back behind cover, repair and heal, then pop back out.

I know it's a bit different, but in practice, it sounds extremely similar. No?

EDIT: Oh yeah, and Napalm. you are the freakin MAN! Great job setting this up, organizing it, and then exectuting it. Can't wait to see the whole thing. Well done, sir. Well done.

[DOUBLEXBAUGH]

So with recharging shields replacing the need for engy, if the heavy infantry class has HA/AV I'll be exactly the same as I was in PS 1. The supposedly "one-man-army".

[Raymac]

So with recharging shields replacing the need for engy, if the heavy infantry class has HA/AV I'll be exactly the same as I was in PS 1. The supposedly "one-man-army".

Only if you're a medic too. ;)

[DOUBLEXBAUGH]

I used medkits and the regen implant, never had medic

[Raymac]

I used medkits and the regen implant, never had medic

LMAO, I thought I was the only one that did that! Right on.

I recently switched away from that and certed Med and got PShield. I like the new one better.

[Talek Krell]

Don't think you're going to last long with just medkits.

[basti]

Well, gotta wait and see how those shields work in detail. As said before, lots of questions. :)

[Tigersmith]

So with recharging shields replacing the need for engy, if the heavy infantry class has HA/AV I'll be exactly the same as I was in PS 1. The supposedly "one-man-army".

Pointman will be happy about this one.

[NewSith]

I like the shields idea. Shields are regenerating while health isn't. WH40kSM had rendered this mech worthy of life for me. It allows to have a very fast pacing, while still punishing carefree persons.

It's quite good, because to become one man army (without being a medic) you need to think way more steps ahead than in PS1.

[IceyCold]

Pointman will be happy about this one.

DO NOT TEMPT HIM! We do not need ANOTHER 12 pg thread. D:

[DOUBLEXBAUGH]

Don't think you're going to last long with just medkits.

Faster TTK goes both ways, I may need less medkits because my target wont have time to shoot back ;)

[ikon]

sounds pretty good

[Death2All]

I hate to be a buzz kill. But recharging shields reminds me a lot of Halo :(.

[NapalmEnima]

Begun This Upload Has. It might take quite a while, given the whole 3G connection thing... but it's happening as we speak.

Oh, 1%

Suck it, bitches!

3%! Wa hoo! Burnin up them bits now.

It'll take almost 4 hours at this rate. I strongly suspect it'll be done faster if I start over once I hit my wifi network at home.

5% after 14 minutes. 1% ~= 3 minutes... yep, my <=4 hours estimate is holding. Whee.

[FIREk]

Well, I guess that:
1) Shield technology did exist in PS1, so it makes sense fluff-wise,
2) Regenerative damage-soakers are a modern mechanic that, combined with fast TTK, allow for a fast-paced game,
3) It makes a helluva lot more sense than hyper-regenerating BLOODY SCREEN health ;),
4) It might explain the "eye of Sauron" belt buckles on TR soldiers? :)

I wonder if the different armor types will also provide different levels of damage mitigation once the shields are gone - visibly bulkier armor must count for something other than slowing you down.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Awesome job NapalmEnima, you da man with da plan! :)

[Talek Krell]

4) It might explain the "eye of Sauron" belt buckles on TR soldiers? :)
Nah, that just links them to their Dark Master.

[FIREk]

Nah, that just links them to their Dark Master.

A Personal Crotch Palantir? :O

[Brusi]

The other alternative to max HP's changing based on armor is how much penetration specific weapons do to each armor type i spose.

[Hamma]

Once Napalm gets it uploaded I will need to download it and do just a bit of editing then re-upload it. We will likely post it to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/psumedia).

[NewSith]

Once Napalm gets it uploaded I will need to download it and do just a bit of editing then re-upload it. We will likely post it to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/psumedia).

You're going to ask your lady to make a "You're listening to a content provided by PlanetSide Universe" watermark and set it to repeat every 5 minutes, aren't you?

[Hamma]

Yep, it will break in and stop the interview and yell PSU every few mins. :P

[basti]

In the middle, MArsman will sing "Planetside Universe, YOUR NUMBER ONE SOURCE FOR PLANETSIDE INFORMATION" several times.

[Captain1nsaneo]

You say that like it was a bad thing.

[NapalmEnima]

Ack! Upload failure. It was stuck on 14%. Definitely gonna have to wait till I get home.

[Hamma]

What time do ya roll in PDT?

[basti]

Yea, when do you get home? How many hours till you have that file uploaded? :(

[NapalmEnima]

Yea, when do you get home? How many hours till you have that file uploaded? :(

The file should be up by 7pm PDT... about 90 minutes from now. When I get home I can just slap the SD card in my computer and then upload via my broadband connection, shouldn't take more than a few minutes at that point.

Don't Forget To Be Awesome.

[NapalmEnima]

UPLOAD COMPLETE!

[basti]

Send me a link! :P

[Brusi]

suspense... lol

[basti]

Liiinkk, naawww. Dont want to wait for hamma to put "PLANETSIDE UNIVERSE" every 10 secs! :D

[Bags]

So the shields are like borderlands then?

Happy we got a 50/50 split between regeneration and healing. Not 100% bloody screen and not 100% self heal.

Yay.

[Hamma]

We are processing the audio now I'd estimate 60 minutes at least before we get it posted up.

[Miir]

Hurry... I have to go to bed soon! :(

[NapalmEnima]

Other Stuff I Remember:

DX 9 is out (he thinks: designer not programmer)

You spawn in your load out and there are stations at which you can change your class.

Multiple continents at launch though he wouldn't commit to a number.

Deployable turrets: Manned only. He compared the weapon to a 50 cal. The person who deployed the turret will get some XP every time someone else gets a kill with it, though less than he would have gotten for making the kill himself.

Explosives & deployables will be different branches of the engy cert tree. "something like a boomer".

You can deconstruct in a spawn tube and reconstruct elsewhere.

Jump troops will be cut off from medic/engy support, part of the cost of doing business. No "jump medics".

Out of bounds areas will vary based on empire. The other empires' footholds will be Out Of Bounds. No worries about spies there.

Discussing gun ports for "do nothing" seats in sunderer.

[Bags]

Loving this new information. Liked everything I've heard.

[Sirisian]

Explosives & deployables will be different branches of the engy cert tree. "something like a boomer".
Kind of figured. The question was whether they can be planted on vehicles or maxes. :)

[Hamma]

Almost there :)

[SgtMAD]

are they saying that troops dropping out of gals can't be medics?

[NapalmEnima]

are they saying that troops dropping out of gals can't be medics?

MAXes are an unlock, no rother estrictions were mentioned.

[SgtMAD]

anything about hotdropping out of mossies?

[Bags]

are they saying that troops dropping out of gals can't be medics?

Guys with jetpacks can't be medics.

[kaffis]

DX 9 is out (he thinks: designer not programmer)
Deployable turrets: Manned only. He compared the weapon to a 50 cal. The person who deployed the turret will get some XP every time someone else gets a kill with it, though less than he would have gotten for making the kill himself.
Jump troops will be cut off from medic/engy support, part of the cost of doing business. No "jump medics".
Discussing gun ports for "do nothing" seats in sunderer.
Can I get a bunch of AMENS!!?

[Hamma]

Sorry guys, was done then Mars had a slightly better audio edit so I am adding that in and uploading. ETA 10-15 minutes.

[NapalmEnima]

anything about hotdropping out of mossies?
from all air:
"Yes."

[Aractain]

Sorry guys, was done then Mars had a slightly better audio edit so I am adding that in and uploading. ETA 10-15 minutes.

Listening to dubstep on youtube is good because of the "This is blah blah from blah blah disc recording records and your listening to the blah blah remix from blah blah on you tube WUBUBUWBUWBUWBUUUUUUUUUUUWUWUWUWUBUUBUBUBWUBWBUWBU WBUWB".

So I hope you were serious earlier. :)

[Hamma]

http://www.planetside-universe.com/agn/news-community-interview-with-matt-higby-2546.htm

[Miir]

woot!

[NapalmEnima]

some sort of social networking hooks: in.

[Sirisian]

Omfg. I get to drop my own bombs in my liberator? Or at least that's the impression I got. So a 2 person liberator where the driver gets to use their vehicle because they put the points into it. That's epic and the correct direction for this game. :)

(Note my rethinking vehicles thread).

[Bags]

Omfg. I get to drop my own bombs in my liberator? Or at least that's the impression I got. So a 2 person liberator where the driver gets to use their vehicle because they put the points into it. That's epic and the correct direction for this game. :)

(Note my rethinking vehicles thread).

When I heard that I thought of you.

Aww, Higby loves duke.

[Zulthus]

I didn't listen to all of the audio yet, but if Lib drivers can really drop their own bombs, then this sounds COMPLETELY overpowered. Who needs gunners anyway?

[Bags]

I didn't listen to all of the audio yet, but if Lib drivers can really drop their own bombs, then this sounds COMPLETELY overpowered. Who needs gunners anyway?

But they want to make flying hard so... it balances out. I don't think you'll be able to hover bomb like you can now in ps1.

[Zulthus]

But they want to make flying hard so... it balances out. I don't think you'll be able to hover bomb like you can now in ps1.

Even bombing in BF2 is ridiculously easy, which is kind of what it seems flying will be like. If the driver did not have an aiming reticle, then it might be balanced.

[Sirisian]

I didn't listen to all of the audio yet, but if Lib drivers can really drop their own bombs, then this sounds COMPLETELY overpowered. Who needs gunners anyway?
Even bombing in BF2 is ridiculously easy, which is kind of what it seems flying will be like. If the driver did not have an aiming reticle, then it might be balanced.
You read my other thread so I'll imagine you just disagree with what I want. Whatever it takes to balance the system is fine. Gunners should focus on making up for a weakness in the vehicle and give the gunner their own weapons so everyone is getting kill with no down-time. This is highly debated as seen in the other thread.

For skilled players driving and gunning is not a problem. If they want to keep flying for skilled players only then it's a good move.

[Talek Krell]

Yeeeah. The BF2 jets are all the example you need to explain why one person libs are a bad idea.

I can't seem to get the video to actually work though, is this just me?

[Zulthus]

Yeeeah. The BF2 jets are all the example you need to explain why one person libs are a bad idea.

I can't seem to get the video to actually work though, is this just me?

Libs are bombers. Aircraft will have actual flying physics. I made a prediction. That is all.

[Sirisian]

I can't seem to get the video to actually work though, is this just me?
It's audio only.

[Talek Krell]

Libs are bombers. Aircraft will have actual flying physics. I made a prediction. That is all.
All of these statements are true. I'm not following...

It's audio only.
The only thing there for me is a little white rectangle where the interview should be. Maybe I need to update something.

[Bags]

I'm summarizing it in my big thread atm... will hit edit when done listening.

[Sirisian]

The only thing there for me is a little white rectangle where the interview should be. Maybe I need to update something.
It's just flash.

His TTK comments seem nice.

Hmm other consumables other than medkits. Interesting. He didn't explain what.

Couldn't say if there was a box price. I wasn't buying his F2P explanation. I imagine he doesn't know much about why the decision was made. "The direction the industry is going".

[Bags]

For sgtmad: Hotdropping from mossies: yes

[Aractain]

For sgtmad: Hotdropping from mossies: yes

This makes me excite.

(So I can kill those dropping bastards, FFFUUUUUUUUUU)

[Bags]

@ Higby:

http://i.imgur.com/UVkN4.jpg

Okay, I typed up what higby said. It's in my sticky and here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FNgpAfFR6rubQsdFC5HWTY1iNGOttL1sXLj2QTCeRF8/edit?hl=en_US

[Raymac]

So much to digest there. (pun intended, sorry)

Thanks for asking my question. I really like what Higby had to say about base design. I'm really looking forward to the first glimpses of it.

[Bags]

I think I liked everything he said.

That's a first! Even more pumped now.

Okay, I typed up what higby said. It's in my sticky and here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FNgpAfFR6rubQsdFC5HWTY1iNGOttL1sXLj2QTCeRF8/edit?hl=en_US

[Sirisian]

(Missed the part where he said it might take hours of gameplay to get an upgrade). Not sure what time it was at).

[Raymac]

I can't tell you how disappointed I am that I won't be able to upload pictures of my junk. I'm not sure I'll even play this game now.

[NapalmEnima]

(Missed the part where he said it might take hours of gameplay to get an upgrade). Not sure what time it was at).


Relatively late IIRC. It had to do with permanent resource purchases that were high ticket items vs a slow steady drain for little stuff like a night vision scope per respawn. No examples of what those high-ticket items might be.

One of my own questions didn't make the list: scriptable gui customization al a WoW? Derp.

[Captain1nsaneo]

He said it could take hours to get the resources to unlock a weapon vs spending a smaller amount on getting mod for a tank.

Also: "Thinking about letting you shoot out of a sunderer with your own gun."
BATTLE FORTRESS WOOOO!

Not happy about the reduced number of players needed to man tanks and aircraft though. Don't like the idea of MBTs only taking 1 person to drive them. Number of people required to man vehicles is part of their balancing. Let me put it this way: would you like to both gun and drive the thresher at the same time?

[FIREk]

Not happy about the reduced number of players needed to man tanks and aircraft though. Don't like the idea of MBTs only taking 1 person to drive them. Number of people required to man vehicles is part of their balancing. Let me put it this way: would you like to both gun and drive the thresher at the same time?

I think buggies will be gunned by a separate player - this is pretty much certain, as this is how it works in BFBC2.

I can't argue with the logic behind "if you leveled up the certs to drive a tank you deserve to gun it, not some random guy". Also, i you're zerging in a tank, and end up with a lame gunner, you might as well have never rolled the tank out in the first place.
Guess this means tanks will be a lot softer targets now?

[Graywolves]

Thanks for the doc, Bags

[CrystalViolet]

Admittedly, I'm very liberal about the devs making changes to the original formula, but I've gotta say this interview above all others gives me faith that Higglesworth knows what he's doing.

[Captain1nsaneo]

At the very end Mr.Higby mentions a self kill command. PS used to have the command /suicide, it was removed because players would make a macro for it and hit it just before they died denying BEP to whoever killed them. If PS2 is to have such a command I'd recommend adding a timer to it similar to instant action.

[Grimster]

Awesome pile of information. Sounds really exciting and I love that every week now it seems to pop up some new bit of information. I look forward t oseeing the first gameplay video clip. :)

[Brusi]

I'm guessing the google doc isn't opening, cause it is in high demand?

Anyone else having problems?

[Bags]

I'm guessing the google doc isn't opening, cause it is in high demand?

Anyone else having problems?

>3 viewers

I'll copy paste it for you

Information from PSU Higby Lunch Interview:
• Drivers gun their own vehicles too
• Can spawn in flying galaxy; has equipment terminals, and can spawn maxes
• Each continent will not by 100% one environment
• Trying to use as much space as possible on each continent for fighting
• Big marketing push planned
• Spawn tubes still in for deconstructing
• Death screen allows you to look at certs and choose class; equipment terminals let you change class
• MAX can heal somehow in PS2
• Hacking is in PS2; mechanism is not some mini-game, focus on action
• Boomers in PS2 in some form
• Data of play time and play trends mined from PS1; but not how many bullets have been fired and the like
• Equipment timers still in
• Resources never limit what vehicles you can pull; tanks will not require grass!
• Resources used to add modifications to vehicles, such as mortar/better AI/etc on tank for secondary gunner
• Resources can unlock things forever; not a 100% constant drain of resources for everything
• Choose between saving for an upgrade and adding small things to weapons / vehicles (with resources)
• Place turrets, someone mans it (not auto), such as a heavy machine gun, you get xp for their kills, but you can use it yourself (you get more xp if you use it to kill)
• Different engineer lines in the trees such as an explosive line
• Classes are nailed down; not ready to reveal
• Tested with entire dev team (50+) and with bots to test load / latency
• Auto-Missions: help new players that login for first time; puts big shiny things on screen to give high priority missions, autosquads you based on preferences (outfit/anyone/never): this is the automatic side, allows to do population balance
• Player Missions: SL, OL, officers allowed to create missions; "infiltrate/capture" base, outfit mates will see these as higher priority mission
• Resource poor empires can still pull all vehicles / weapons; pretty much impossible to lock down an empire or one continent because of other open continents
• Resources earned passively based on territory that your empire owns on the continent you are fighting on
• Can pick up resource canisters from crashed vehicles, just a few resources
• No specific plan for server transfer function, but not hard to add
• To get to the end of a skill tree (some are more in-depth depending on if they are core class skill trees or vehicle/ class), so can take anywhere from days to weeks
• Only one character can train per account at once offline (F2P so make as many as you want!)
• Probably add Facebook integration kind of stuff, but not a requirement to play the game, can use it to send information about capturing a base
• Group transports keep everyone together, nice to sit back and take a breathe while en-route, Sunderers in game, will have some unique aspect - some cool stuff, very well armored at the moment, but up to the person speccing the vehicle, maybe adding gunports to shoot out of (jackhammers!)
• Reaver is one seater
• Empire specific fighters confirmed
• Hot dropping from mossies: yes
• Bases are completely different from PS1 bases; no more room hallway room hallway, much more open and cyclical; one of the bases feels a lot closer to sort of level design in Call of Duty
• Bases designed to be captured in the end
• In-game rez, medics healing ray increased by progressing down class, no stimpack thing, mostly about healing and resurrecting
• Time to kill variable, general faster than PS1, slower than Bad company, much slower than Modern Warfare
• Shields replace armor, shields regen if you don’t take damage, health takes full damage, no BLOODY SCREEN health heal, different types of shields (regen slower, higher max, faster regen timer)
• Medkits in PS2
• Character creation has relatively limited face customization, but weapons / vehicle / armor / undersuit has a lot, most of the time you will have a helmet on
• Developer sprint cycles are one month
• F2P chosen as that is the direction of industry, maybe a box price, maybe not
• Enemies probably can’t see into footholds; footholds will not move or rotate
• No hacker class
• TR max face no longer exposed
• Not sure if music composer has been picked yet
• Lots of ways for air vehicles to hide such as in cloud = literally invisible
• Higby loves me
• Plan to take care of PS1 players in PS2, some benefits for PS1 players
• Right now can’t pull bullets out of a dead player’s backpack
• Spawning happens
• No DX9, using DX10+ (he thinks)
• Hopefully a ton of servers at launch
• Flying and hovering works very well, requires you paying attention to the game, hard to be precise, transition isn’t so great though; easy to learn, difficult to master
• If shot in an open air vehicle, hurt the player most likely
• All stuff is WIP
• In-game voice, can set ignores on people, lots of voice macros, some automatic (I’m taking fire!), some manual (hotkeyed)
• Cannot hear enemies via vivox voice
• Hopes weather system is in at launch; lots of weather effects
• Change classes at terminal and respawn
• 3 year dev plan is already being planned, want to allow players to decide which features are more important for the 3 year dev plan (expect to see within a couple months)
• Higby loves naval warfare
• Uncapturable footholds are like a base, well more like a fortified warpgate
• Trying to figure out how salvaging will work; if it’s an actual item, or just get resources
• No seat switching at the moment
• Grenade killing depends on type of character and grenade
• Yyyyes to empire specific heavy assault weapons
• Beta as soon as ready
• Jet-troops will not be medics / engineers, agility but can get cut off
• All classes allowed at BR1
• There will be a max killer class
• Auto-run for MAX is still in
• MAXes are on timers
• MAXes cost no resources
• There will be merits hopefully
• You will be able to allow people to apply for your outfit
• Might be a self kill command, probably not a good strategy to use it
• Galaxy can hold ten people
• Buggies on list of things to put in, hopefully

[Tikuto]

Cloakers with shields? Heeeeeeeeell no.

[FIREk]

Cloakers with shields? Heeeeeeeeell no.

Most likely pathetic and offering almost no protection against anything other than a pot shot or near-miss explosion? I think shields for cloakers are fair. ;)

[Bags]

When did he say cloakers for shields? I'm pretty sure he said cloakers will die almost instantly to anything.

[Traak]

At the very end Mr.Higby mentions a self kill command. PS used to have the command /suicide, it was removed because players would make a macro for it and hit it just before they died denying BEP to whoever killed them. If PS2 is to have such a command I'd recommend adding a timer to it similar to instant action.

Better yet: dish out the xp to whatever enemy damaged you last that you haven't healed from when you kill yourself, so it is as if they made the kill. AND, you get grief for suicides.

[Mirror]

Not sure if many other people in Higby's position would agree to this so well done to him and thanks for the great amount of information you got.

[Shogun]

narf.

i just lost a lot of anticipation...

no spitfires? really? that´s the worst thing i heard about ps2 yet :-(

the only shooters i liked so far were shooters where i could place sentry guns :-(

[FIREk]

no spitfires? really? that´s the worst thing i heard about ps2 yet :-(

Sentry guns slow every game down, so I kind of understand what was the most likely reason behind this move. They were a useful tool, though, slightly dulling an enemy's surprise attacks on facilities, to give you a better shot at responding.

I hope they change their minds eventually.

This also makes me wonder if they keep or remove mines, since they're anything but in-your-face action-oriented.

[NewSith]

GREAT JOB to NapalmEnigma! Very good interview, loads of interesting info.


Also good intro and outro Hamma =))))))))))

[Miir]

Yeah great jobs on the interview!

This has been the best week ever for PS2 information.

[TheBiscuit]

Not sure whether I understood it right but from what I can gather there won't be a situation similar to a tech plant if you don't ever need resources for vehicles?

One of the key ways to alter a fight was to deny bonuses such as being able to pull your prowlers by taking down generators so i'm a little apprehensive if nothing similar is in the game :S

[Draep]

One of the things I liked about vehicular combat in PS1 was the fact that drivers didn't have to worry about gunning. So is every tank going to be a lightning now?

[Graywolves]

Cloakers don't have armor, why would you think cloakers have shields?.


There's a very pretty tree outside my friend's window :D
I wish I brought my camera so I could show everyone.

[Hamma]

GREAT JOB to NapalmEnigma! Very good interview, loads of interesting info.


Also good intro and outro Hamma =))))))))))
Thanks! :D We were able to shuffle a bit of background noise out as well. Napalm did an awesome job in the interview - stayed on task the whole time. Nice work!

Yeah great jobs on the interview!

This has been the best week ever for PS2 information.

Indeed! :D

Also:

http://s224245511.onlinehome.us/raptor.gif

Classic! :rofl:

[kaffis]

Hmm. My defenses question wasn't meant to be exclusively geared towards CE. I've always been disappointed in PS1 that you've got things like wall turrets, but whenever an attacker rolls up, they're all automated because nobody's THERE defending the base (because nobody was attacking it yet).

But manned deployable turrets; I can't complain about the info we got out of the question regardless. :)

But Higby, if you read this, I'm glad I brought up something you hadn't thought of, and I hope you'll also give some thought to making it fun or rewarding to occasionally defend a place where you THINK a fight's going to come, so that when the attackers roll up, they're fighting a manned defense instead of assaulting an empty base with some automated defenses for the first minute or whatever.

[FIREk]

But Higby, if you read this, I'm glad I brought up something you hadn't thought of, and I hope you'll also give some thought to making it fun or rewarding to occasionally defend a place where you THINK a fight's going to come, so that when the attackers roll up, they're fighting a manned defense instead of assaulting an empty base with some automated defenses for the first minute or whatever.

Waiting somewhere in case of an attack seems boring. On the other hand, if the automated mission system were to, for instance, send some TR players to location X a minute or two before it sends a bunch of NC players to attack location X, now that would be awesome. :)

Kind of like the dispatch system in APB.

[Graywolves]

Waiting somewhere in case of an attack seems boring. On the other hand, if the automated mission system were to, for instance, send some TR players to location X a minute or two before it sends a bunch of NC players to attack location X, now that would be awesome. :)

Kind of like the dispatch system in APB.

That'd be interesting but unless they put missions on every hexagon that doesn't have action - Alot of us are just going to go "hey, this fight is getting old, let's attack hexagon H15"

[FIREk]

That'd be interesting but unless they put missions on every hexagon that doesn't have action - Alot of us are just going to go "hey, this fight is getting old, let's attack hexagon H15"

To be honest, I can't even imagine PS2 having a nearby "attackable" hexagon with no action. ;) At least that's how I imagine PS2's frontline hexes - a massive clusterfuck. :P

I wonder if and how the rest of the map will be used, as odds are that the front line won't move much...

[TheRagingGerbil]

Wow, lots of great info. Nicely done.

[SgtMAD]

But Higby, if you read this, I'm glad I brought up something you hadn't thought of, and I hope you'll also give some thought to making it fun or rewarding to occasionally defend a place where you THINK a fight's going to come, so that when the attackers roll up, they're fighting a manned defense instead of assaulting an empty base with some automated defenses for the first minute or whatever.

I am guessing that you have never gone to Tumas(NC) and waited for the TR that just locked the cave link and set up your CE/AA/defenders and waited for TRx and crew to show up?

or done the same thing on oshur when the NC hold it,you know the TR are coming, its just a matter of when.

I estimate i spent 25% of my playing experience waiting in ambush for ppl in situations just like you bring up and i always ran in outfit platoons and we ran full toons every day for 7 years or so,its the best fighting you can find most days.

Thanks to Napalm and Matt for taking the time to do all this,and thx for asking the hotdrop question

[Graywolves]

I am guessing that you have never gone to Tumas(NC) and waited for the TR that just locked the cave link and set up your CE/AA/defenders and waited for TRx and crew to show up?

or done the same thing on oshur when the NC hold it,you know the TR are coming, its just a matter of when.

I estimate i spent 25% of my playing experience waiting in ambush for theTR in situations just like you bring up and i always ran in outfit platoons and we ran full toons every day for 7 years or so,its the best fighting you can find most days.

Thanks to Napalm and Matt for taking the time to do all this,and thx for asking the hotdrop question

ftfy

[kaffis]

One of the things I liked about vehicular combat in PS1 was the fact that drivers didn't have to worry about gunning. So is every tank going to be a lightning now?
This is the only thing in the interview that doesn't immediately resonate with me. I'm not willing to say that it's a make or break issue without playing what they're putting together, but I liked the two-man coordination that the MBTs (and, yes, Liberator) demanded to be effective. Did it suck to get stuck with a lousy gunner/driver/pilot? Sure. But that's not limited to vehicles. It sucks as a medic getting stuck with infantry that can't hit the broad side of the barn, too. That doesn't mean you get rid of support classes.

I like vehicles that require good coordination to be effective, and I like how that demand for higher degrees of participation (and staffing, if you will) provides a good balance point in exchange for high durability. Less than high durability, and, I would think, you start losing the right "feel" for a tank. And a one-man high durability vehicle with optional gunner seat (which makes me think like the prowler's 3rd seat) means you can run alone with 80% of a 2-man vehicle's effectiveness. Does that balance out? My gut says no, but I'm willing to wait and see before I bitch.

The logic does make sense, though. I cert the vehicle, I spend training time and resources on pimping it out, why should a random teammate get the gun? I'd rather see the gun and wheel separated, but have neither require the cert so long as one person in the vehicle is certed for it. That way, if you want to gun, you can pull your tank and climb in the gunner's seat and find a driver.


Waiting somewhere in case of an attack seems boring. On the other hand, if the automated mission system were to, for instance, send some TR players to location X a minute or two before it sends a bunch of NC players to attack location X, now that would be awesome. :)

Kind of like the dispatch system in APB.
This is, yes, the kind of thing I'd like to see. What I found in PS1 was that, indeed, waiting somewhere in case of an attack is boring. However, when the attack comes, the fight that ensues is much more enjoyable for both sides. The attackers get the challenge and excitement of fighting real players (instead of AI turrets and maybe some CE deployables) from the word go, and the defenders get the fun of benefitting from their entrenched positions rather than coming in to "defend" a base that's already crawling with the enemy.

However, in PS1, trying to convince people to do the boring waiting around was like pulling teeth. I had been pushing for some reward system mechanics to help incentivize players to be more receptive to it since late beta. As you say, though, the mission system provides a good opportunity to do this, as well.


I estimate i spent 25% of my playing experience waiting in ambush for ppl in situations just like you bring up and i always ran in outfit platoons and we ran full toons every day for 7 years or so,its the best fighting you can find most days.
I agree about successful ambushes and entrenched positions being the best fighting you can find. However, it shouldn't require full outfit platoons with lots of dedication and discipline to achieve. I want to bring this kind of excitement to the masses, and I think some thoughtful and clever game design can do it.

[SavageB]

Just wanted to say thank you Napalm for asking my questions. Seems they dont have a lot of things final as of yet, I think beta is going to be next year if anything.

[NapalmEnima]

I'd also like to apologize for butchering some of the questions.

There was a question on customization that probably didn't get answered the way it should have. The CE/base defense thing... probably a couple others.

Overall, I think the interview went really well. We got a lot of good, new information, and have plenty of fodder for further questions on the twitter Q&A today.

Good times.

[NapalmEnima]

Cloakers don't have armor, why would you think cloakers have shields?.


I'm expecting that the cloaking field interferes with the normal shield technology or some such explanation for cloakers not having shields.

Which further leads me to believe that shields will vary by class in general. Maybe the heavy assault carries a larger/heavier generator for their shield than light assault, medic, or engineer. And a MAX shield should be pretty epic.

And I imagine that health will vary by class as well. That could leave medics "healing" MAXes for example even though the health points they're replacing represent armor plating rather than flesh and blood.

OTOH, classes may have different damage-reduction-style armor under the shield... so MAX wearers will take less health damage than other classes from a given attack.

Time Will Tell.

EAGER to get into beta.

[kaffis]

I'd also like to apologize for butchering some of the questions.

There was a question on customization that probably didn't get answered the way it should have. The CE/base defense thing... probably a couple others.
No worries. You did a great job, particularly since you weren't reading verbatim from the posts and taking community questions. It was an engaging interview with lots of great information.

I'm still listening on and off; I love "I'm trying to remember what the default helmet for the TR MAX is like..."

[Graywolves]

the audio keeps fucking up...... halp.

Read the stuff Bags' posted. He posted information covered in the interview.

[NapalmEnima]

• Can spawn in flying galaxy; has equipment terminals, and can spawn maxes
But only if the gal pilot has progressed that far in their cert tree.

• Spawn tubes still in for deconstructing

And transportation.

We need to ask if there will be "matrixing panels" in PS2, and what spawn locations will be available when you're dead/deconstructed.


• Death screen allows you to look at certs and choose class; equipment terminals let you change class

*A* terminal will let you change class, I didn't specifically ask about equipment terminals allowing class changes. Might be a standard equipment term, might not.


• MAX can heal somehow in PS2

Huh? They'll have health kits like everyone else, if that's what you mean.

We need to ask about MAXes resupplying their allies.

• Player Missions: SL, OL, officers allowed to create missions; "infiltrate/capture" base, outfit mates will see these as higher priority mission

Missions from higher ranking players give larger XP bonuses. No mention of resource bonuses for completing missions.


• Resources earned passively based on territory that your empire owns on the continent you are fighting on


I fear this will encourage folks to bail on losing continents for continents where their empire is winning.

The auto-mission system can certainly compensate for that.


• Can pick up resource canisters from crashed vehicles, just a few resources


Higby mentioned the crashed Galaxy as a "point of interest". I suspect there will be quite a few, perhaps one per hex? Encouraging exploration.


• Group transports keep everyone together, nice to sit back and take a breathe while en-route, Sunderers in game, will have some unique aspect - some cool stuff, very well armored at the moment, but up to the person speccing the vehicle, maybe adding gunports to shoot out of (jackhammers!)

The way this is written could lead someone to believe that gun ports are part of the way the driver specs their Sunderer. They're under discussion from a design perspective. May be optional if they add 'em, maybe not.


• Hot dropping from mossies: yes

Hot drop from all air: yes


• Bases are completely different from PS1 bases; no more room hallway room hallway, much more open and cyclical; one of the bases feels a lot closer to sort of level design in Call of Duty

closer to CoD design in that there are multiple lanes that are "porous". You can switch lanes in various places and they can "interact" (blow the shit out of each other) to some degree.

I imagine something like a warehouse with several large aisles running its length, but you can still take frequent side paths between the aisles.


• In-game rez, medics healing ray increased by progressing down class, no stimpack thing, mostly about healing and resurrecting

"Buffs" under discussion, but Hard To Balance. I suspect they'll be part of the Three Year Plan.

• TR max face no longer exposed

With the default helmet. I suspect helmet appearance may be more than cosmetic. We'll see.

• Higby loves me

And IDukeNukem1

• Right now can’t pull bullets out of a dead player’s backpack

Still discussing what dead folks leave behind. There's a salvage bullet point later that this could combine with.


• All stuff is WIP

Work In Progress. Mostly. Classes are nailed down.

We know of:
Infiltrator
Light Assault
Heavy Assault
Medic
Engineer
MAX

AV may be a separate class, may not.
Ditto for sniper.


• Grenade killing depends on type of character and grenade

Lots of potential grenade types on the drawing board.

• MAXes are on timers

Not a certainty.

And that's it for my feedback. THANK YOU for typing all this up.

[Majikk]

This is the only thing in the interview that doesn't immediately resonate with me. I'm not willing to say that it's a make or break issue without playing what they're putting together, but I liked the two-man coordination that the MBTs (and, yes, Liberator) demanded to be effective. Did it suck to get stuck with a lousy gunner/driver/pilot? Sure. But that's not limited to vehicles. It sucks as a medic getting stuck with infantry that can't hit the broad side of the barn, too. That doesn't mean you get rid of support classes.

I like vehicles that require good coordination to be effective, and I like how that demand for higher degrees of participation (and staffing, if you will) provides a good balance point in exchange for high durability. Less than high durability, and, I would think, you start losing the right "feel" for a tank. And a one-man high durability vehicle with optional gunner seat (which makes me think like the prowler's 3rd seat) means you can run alone with 80% of a 2-man vehicle's effectiveness. Does that balance out? My gut says no, but I'm willing to wait and see before I bitch.

The logic does make sense, though. I cert the vehicle, I spend training time and resources on pimping it out, why should a random teammate get the gun? I'd rather see the gun and wheel separated, but have neither require the cert so long as one person in the vehicle is certed for it. That way, if you want to gun, you can pull your tank and climb in the gunner's seat and find a driver.The worst part is that even if we're given the option to have a gunner, no one will take it. If a 10 man squad is faced with a choice between fielding five fully crewed tanks and ten tanks with only one crew, they'd be foolish not to opt for the latter. They may be less efficient, but they have 2x the armor, 2x the firepower, 2x the flexibility. This sort of dumbing down of things is awful. I'm all for streamlining things or making improvements to get into the action, but this is just nasty.

[NapalmEnima]

I'm all for streamlining things or making improvements to get into the action, but this is just nasty.

A driver/gunner may be some sort of in-game restriction on their ability that would encourage dedicated gunner seats. (edit: like a reduced rate of fire)

It may also be that all drivers will get *A* gun (like the mag-rider), but not *THE* gun.

Not enough detail yet.

[NapalmEnima]

the only shooters i liked so far were shooters where i could place sentry guns :-(

Tribes? What else?

[Bags]

I updated my info thread with your feedback napalm.

[Shogun]

i hope WIP means that some of this stuff is still subject to massive change.
planetside 1`s concept of multiplayer tanks was great and i would not like to see this go overboard. it added a lot to the coop feeling!
but there is a lot of great stuff also. the sunderer sounds badass and the galaxy spawnship as well.

[NapalmEnima]

I updated my info thread with your feedback napalm.

Not seeing any changes. Maybe need a new link to see the new edition?

[Shogun]

Tribes? What else?

ps1, team fortress classic and 2, borderlands, just to name a few ;-)

never played tribes, ps1 was the only obsession back then ;-)

[Werwolf]

Thx NapalmEnima for the awesome interview.

• Only one character can train per account at once offline (F2P so make as many as you want!)

So Empire Switching is official confirmed? This is a big game design issue! Spies will be everywhere and they will undercut outfits...

• Reaver is one seater

Fantastic and please keep the old design, the new Reaver looks horrible.

• Higby loves naval warfare

Me too, hope we will see some naval warfare ingame.

[Scow2]

I love the addition of Halo-style shields+Non-regenerating health; they allow for both, high lethality/low TTK combat as well as giving a degree of staying-power in a fight.

However, I don't like the All-or-nothing effect shields have: Only once you pass a certain damage threshold do the hits actually start counting. But, I still consider it superior to flat HP or fully-regenerating HP.

I just hope MAX suits have something else other than shields going for them, so they can still be whittled down.

I think I need to start a thread over in suggestions...

[NapalmEnima]

So Empire Switching is official confirmed? This is a big game design issue! Spies will be everywhere and they will undercut outfits...


Err... no. He later kinda-contradicted this, since he didn't know whether or not there would be a box price.

In my mind "box price != F2P", but we'll see how that pans out... hopefully we can get an answer on the twitter Q&A today.

EDIT: If it is really F2P, they may do something to prevent people from spamming accounts precisely to help reduce spying. 1 account per email addy is easy enough to get around, and 1 account per IP could prevent roommates from playing together. Toughy.

[Traak]

Me too, hope we will see some naval warfare ingame.

Not to be confused with belly bucking.

[Sirisian]

Regarding bailing from any air vehicle. Would anyone else prefer that it cost resources and was an upgrade? I was imagining having a real ejection seat where the player is launched vertically. (Or in the direction their plane is facing) before starting their descent.

Basically this would force a player to make a choice if they wanted to put in resources for that vehicle loadout to get the option to bail.

Would be interesting if vehicles had such a feature also, but that might be a bit too ambitious.

Lartnev commented with:
countermeasures too

[Traak]

Ejection and a nice, high-altitude slow-moving parachute would be acceptable.

[Werwolf]

Ejection and a nice, high-altitude slow-moving parachute would be acceptable.


This is Planetside, not ARMA or Operation Flashpoint!

[Bags]

Ejection and a nice, high-altitude slow-moving parachute would be acceptable.

That sounds pointless. Why include it at all?

[SgtMAD]

let us have bailing,

for the first year or so you won't see ppl bailing on you,they will all be off fighting each other because those types will be picking fights and pulling resecures while the rest of the empires all zerg away,it will be glorious and there will plenty of ppl to make this all happen if we don't screw over everyone else's playstyle.

quit trying to make Planetside into something else,I am here because i want to play PS not BFxx

[NapalmEnima]

That sounds pointless. Why include it at all?

One tactic is to bail out as you're about to lose your aircraft in a dog fight, robbing the other player of kill XP. Depending on where they are, the bailer just might live.

I know I used to tote AV specifically so I can take a parting shot or two at whoever shot me down. I was never a very good pilot. :rolleyes:

[FIREk]

That sounds pointless. Why include it at all?

To punish the pilot while he's casually, slowly falling down, but still give him a fleeting chance of surviving, I suppose. ;)

[CrystalViolet]

Why not just give xp for killing/crippling a vehicle? Player does 80% damage to a reaver, pilot bails, reaver crashes, game notes that player X did over 75% damage to the reaver while being manned, game gives player the XP equivalent of a kill after the reaver blows up.

[ikon]

i have to say, im so pumped for ps2

higby definitely seems to know what he wants & that makes me happy

[nathanebht]

Information from PSU Higby Lunch Interview:
• Resources can unlock things forever; not a 100% constant drain of resources for everything
• Choose between saving for an upgrade and adding small things to weapons / vehicles (with resources)

• Can pick up resource canisters from crashed vehicles, just a few resources

• Enemies probably can’t see into footholds; footholds will not move or rotate

• Right now can’t pull bullets out of a dead player’s backpack

• Trying to figure out how salvaging will work; if it’s an actual item, or just get resources


Pulling out the bullets I find interesting.

First 3 provide some new info on resources. I'm wondering if crashed vehicles are a special map feature or just a dead player vehicle.

No clue what this stuff on footholds is about. Can anyone explain?

Ammo must be limited since he is talking about pulling ammo off of the dead. Guess the infinite ammo question is now answered.

Salvaging? Don't remember any prior discussion of "salvaging" something.

[Bags]

You can take crap from dead people in Planetside 1.

[Graywolves]

footholds are sanctuary replacements.

[kaffis]

footholds are sanctuary replacements.
On each continent. That's the key bit of info, there.

[Varium]

They ate Thai food!

[Traak]

narf.

i just lost a lot of anticipation...

no spitfires? really? that´s the worst thing i heard about ps2 yet :-(

the only shooters i liked so far were shooters where i could place sentry guns :-(

I need my deployables. Especially the invisible ones. Being able to put that doubt in the mind of the mossie/PS/SW/HA/High Scorer about whether that tower has any defenses was invaluable in making CE worth it.

I don't want a game where carefully laid traps are impossible to do. Then it leans too much towards UT.

And arguing it slows down the game? Eliminate respawn timers. CE is DESIGNED to slow down enemies. CE is about area denial. Just like base walls "slow down the game" by making it so you can't just drive your tank straight to the CC, there are three elements: firepower, health/armor, and time. All of them need balance to make the game maximally enjoyable for the maximum number of PAYING customers.

CE opens up a world of involvement for many people who just don't have the money for a fast enough computer or net connection to go head-to-head with the guys with the latest hardware. I say yes to CE; it keeps the game from becoming too hardware-centric to the exclusion of many.

[Tikuto]

Joey, did you eat my sandwitch? - YouTube

[klu]

the footholds 'moving or rotating' question was about changing them up if a empire has a geographical advantage on a continent. higby said they talked about it but currently they dont do either.

[Graywolves]

Joey, did you eat my sandwitch? - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gyg9BHLEkBE&feature=related)

lmfaowtf?

[Shogun]

I need my deployables. Especially the invisible ones. Being able to put that doubt in the mind of the mossie/PS/SW/HA/High Scorer about whether that tower has any defenses was invaluable in making CE worth it.

I don't want a game where carefully laid traps are impossible to do. Then it leans too much towards UT.

And arguing it slows down the game? Eliminate respawn timers. CE is DESIGNED to slow down enemies. CE is about area denial. Just like base walls "slow down the game" by making it so you can't just drive your tank straight to the CC, there are three elements: firepower, health/armor, and time. All of them need balance to make the game maximally enjoyable for the maximum number of PAYING customers.

CE opens up a world of involvement for many people who just don't have the money for a fast enough computer or net connection to go head-to-head with the guys with the latest hardware. I say yes to CE; it keeps the game from becoming too hardware-centric to the exclusion of many.

that´s the point. when i started to play ps1, my hardware was too crappy to play it as a shooter, so i choosed to play as a supporter and ce expert.
and when i take a look at the newest screenshots, i am sure that it will be the same situation with ps2. and every missing ce part will be missing for this kind of playstyle

[ShadoViper]

Awesome work Napalm. Very informative, gives a person a much better idea about the new game mechanics and such.

Thanks guys, keep up the good work PSU team.

[atone]

the foothold thing kind of worries me. seems like it would make it more likely that the same battle scenarios would keep playing out on each cont.

[atone]

Awesome work Napalm. Very informative, gives a person a much better idea about the new game mechanics and such.

Thanks guys, keep up the good work PSU team.

Agreed, this is THE place for info on PS2...well other than the devs;)

[Traak]

Isn't this where the devs get their info, like Colin Powell said about CNN in the first Gulf War?

[NapalmEnima]

that´s the point. when i started to play ps1, my hardware was too crappy to play it as a shooter, so i choosed to play as a supporter and ce expert.
and when i take a look at the newest screenshots, i am sure that it will be the same situation with ps2. and every missing ce part will be missing for this kind of playstyle

Everything I'm hearing is saying "more options" not less. So I suspect CE types will have plenty to do.

[FIREk]

• Tested with entire dev team (50+) and with bots to test load / latency

I only just realized this after watching the trailer, pixel-hunting for a better look of the Magrider.

The part about bots would explain the retarded way the hordes of NC and VS moved in the trailer. :)

[NapalmEnima]

I only just realized this after watching the trailer, pixel-hunting for a better look of the Magrider.

The part about bots would explain the retarded way the hordes of NC and VS moved in the trailer. :)

That's entirely possible, yes. I thought he had a bunch of the dev team running around according to some Dramatic Script, but it could have just been bots.

[FIREk]

That's entirely possible, yes. I thought he had a bunch of the dev team running around according to some Dramatic Script, but it could have just been bots.

The TR troopers near or on the tower, the NC running out of their tower, running towards the NC tower, firing on the ridge, plus the stationary VS troops and Magriders - these were likely devs.

The "massive" amounts of troops are most likely bots, or mostly bots. They just move too stupid-like. ;)