Major items from Twitter

[Hamma]

Liberator is now a gunship not a bomber.
Prowler is now two Man
Lightning confirmed
MAX Flamethrowers
The California power grid sucks


And from basti's thread:

Question:
Are there Empire-Specific Implants? If so, what are some TR Implants?
Answer:
not currently. Our new implant system is pretty slick. I think you guys will like it, but, it's nothing like ps1


Question:
Will ESVs(empire specific vehicles) be limited to 2 vehicles per faction?
Answer:
Yup, 2 per faction is the current plan.

Question:
How many seats will the Prowler have?
Answer:
2

Question:
Will Heavy Assault weapons be limited to Rexo, or the PS2 equivalent heavier armor?
Answer:
yes, limited to the PS2 equivalent

Question:
Is the Mosquito shown in this weeks comm-link photo relatively similar to most other variants, or is it a lot longer?

Answer:
Mosquito is the longest, but not by much. I would say they are relatively similar.
All Light Aircraft (Mosquito, Reaver, Scythe) will be similar in size, but they'll look completely different.

Question:
Does the Mosquito have a dual seat variant?
Answer:
Mosquito has 1 seat. No dual seat variant.

Question:
What choices for Max modes (overdrive, lockdown) will TR maxes have?
Answer:
charge, lockdown, and possibly 1 more

Question:
Will there be tank mounted flamethrowers?
Answer:
We'll see, but the max will
flamethrowers are an alternate weapon for the max

Question:
The Prowler has been called a 'Medium Battle Tank', will there be a larger tanks available? Any details on them?
Answer:
It has definitely been discussed, only time will tell. :P

Question:
Is the lightning in game/development?
Answer:
Yes, lightning is in. It will be a little different due to the MBT driver is gunner change.

Question:
Will TR MAXes have similar weapons to what they had in PS1? (Pounder and Burster)
Answer:
Much Better!

Question:
Will we see the return of the TR 4x4 Marauder, some new buggy or as I hope something in between?
Answer:
We want to do a buggy or empire specific buggies, but it will be after launch.

Question:
What are the current alternate weapons for the Mosquito?
Answer:
Classic rocket pods or Air 2 Air Missles. Don't worry, it won't be like the wasp.

Question:
Will the classes be the same across all three empires or will the TR have an empire specific class?
Answer:
classes are the same on each empire

Discuss!

[xSlideShow]

The lib being a gunship now sounds awesome imo. Would love get an idea of what it can do :D

[basti]

And apperently, there are Flamethrowers on maxes. And they want to do buggys, but thats stuff for after release.

[HELLFISH88]

Liberator is now a gunship not a bomber.
Prowler is now two Man
Lightning confirmed
MAX Flamethrowers
The California power grid sucks


Discuss!

We also know that SOE:SD is probably a Bio lab.

[LZachariah]

I actually hope that flamethrowers are a TR MAX exclusive. That would really exemplify the TR's combat philosophy of "overwhelm your opponents with unrelenting force." And I hope that there are NO common-pool MAX weapons!

This was the best Twitter Q&A yet! I can't imagine how exciting it will be when they do one for the Vanu!

[HELLFISH88]

I will add that the Flamethrower was originally the New Conglomerate Heavy assault weapon.

[Bags]

Maxes confirmed for even more annoying than in PS1.

[basti]

I will add that the Flamethrower was originally the New Conglomerate Heavy assault weapon.

Oh, right, remembering that. And if i remember correctly, the JH replaced the flamer because of issues with performance and stuff, or whatever.

Anyway, i didnt went into rage mode after the chat, so its all good. Quite some interresting stuff, want to see how the lib plays now. I would assume that the Mossy/reaver/scyte in PS2 is a potential Mossy/wasp/light gunship mix in PS1 terms, and the Lib is now the Heavy gunship. Wait and see i guess, again. ;)

[Xyntech]

TR MAXes confirmed for having the abilites:

charge, lockdown, and possibly 1 more

Wtf is charge? Is it like overdrive? Is it like a run mode where you can bash through a bunch of enemies? (Chaaaaaarge!)

[Mastachief]

That was an interesting read, with the prowler being faster in terms of speed and rate of fire and now 2man to run it..... the vanguard better pack one hell of a punch.

[Xyntech]

So Heavy Battle Tanks are pretty much confirmed to not be in at launch (not surprising) but are a definite possibility after launch. Sweet.

Lightning sounds like it is already largely developed considering that they stated:
"Yes, lightning is in. It will be a little different due to the MBT driver is gunner change."

I wonder what sort of changes they made?

[Sirisian]

My bomber. :cry: It's probably a good thing that their liberator is a gunship. The design was pretty bad. Hopefully we get a proper common pool dive bomber after release. I hope they don't add bombs to the ES planes which was my original fear when I saw the wing mounted missiles.

[SKYeXile]

TR MAXes confirmed for having the abilites:

charge, lockdown, and possibly 1 more

Wtf is charge? Is it like overdrive? Is it like a run mode where you can bash through a bunch of enemies? (Chaaaaaarge!)

AUTORUN?

[basti]

AUTORUN?

Nah, i guess its more complex this time around. Charge really sounds like pushing through a bloddy wall of enemys. Fits the TR. :>

[xSlideShow]

My bomber. :cry: It's probably a good thing that their liberator is a gunship. The design was pretty bad. Hopefully we get a proper common pool dive bomber after release. I hope they don't add bombs to the ES planes which was my original fear when I saw the wing mounted missiles.

I would like to know what the third guy is going to be doing in the lib... And what you will be able to load it out with. I wouldn't be surprised if you could outfit it was bombs? Dunno. WTB Info on this now as well... Still waiting on my Screen shots for VS. Although the did finally pay up with the bases ^.^

[Xyntech]

Nah, i guess its more complex this time around. Charge really sounds like pushing through a bloddy wall of enemys. Fits the TR. :>

That would be cool. Give the TR MAXes a more offensive ability to compliment the defensive lockdown ability.

I hope that all three empires MAXes get at least one major offensive and one major defensive ability.

[xSlideShow]

That would be cool. Give the TR MAXes a more offensive ability to compliment the defensive lockdown ability.

I hope that all three empires MAXes get at least one major offensive and one major defensive ability.

Charge probably increases movement speed? Maybe let's you fire while in run mode.... Gah. Curse you SOE for faking a power outage. Until I have proof they faked because they weren't ready to release Lib info.

[NapalmEnima]

I'm glad to hear that they're keeping the ES vehicles with the same seat count across empires. Less moaning from the TR when the Magrider splodeses them that way.

MAX Flamethrowers sound epic. Tried And True tech.

Liberator as a 3 seat gunship sounds odd. Tailgunner + pilot + Kaboom Guy? I'd imagine the pilot will get some kind of Warthog-esque chaingun with options to switch out for various Other Things. Or maybe a chin turret a la modern helicopter gunships... though that sounds more like a Kaboom Guy kind of thing.

We'll have to wait and see.

[Xyntech]

I would like to know what the third guy is going to be doing in the lib... And what you will be able to load it out with. I wouldn't be surprised if you could outfit it was bombs? Dunno. WTB Info on this now as well... Still waiting on my Screen shots for VS. Although the did finally pay up with the bases ^.^

Yeah, that seems weird. Why have 3 operators but no bombs?

Pilot, tail gunner, front gunner?

Doesn't that seem to go a little bit against the whole modern design philosophy? A tanks main cannon is now controlled by the driver. A PS1 liberator pilot could control a gun. Now will a liberator pilot be unable to do anything but fly?

Maybe it will look something more like:

Pilot/missile operator
Front Gunner
Rear Gunner

or

Pilot/fixed front gunner
Missile operator
Rear gunner

If they aren't dropping bombs, they at least have got to be unleashing missiles right? Maybe make them like slower, more unwieldy versions of pre nerf Reaverside reavers?

I hope we got a bomber variant though.

[NapalmEnima]

TR MAXes confirmed for having the abilites:

charge, lockdown, and possibly 1 more

Wtf is charge? Is it like overdrive? Is it like a run mode where you can bash through a bunch of enemies? (Chaaaaaarge!)

MODES not abilities. So charge is just "run mode" I imagine. The extra mode might be a submarine or jumpjet option. Could rock.

[basti]

I'm glad to hear that they're keeping the ES vehicles with the same seat count across empires. Less moaning from the TR when the Magrider splodeses them that way.

MAX Flamethrowers sound epic. Tried And True tech.

Liberator as a 3 seat gunship sounds odd. Tailgunner + pilot + Kaboom Guy? I'd imagine the pilot will get some kind of Warthog-esque chaingun with options to switch out for various Other Things. Or maybe a chin turret a la modern helicopter gunships... though that sounds more like a Kaboom Guy kind of thing.

We'll have to wait and see.

Ah, good point, a apache kind of style. Pilot gets the rockets and stuff, Gunner takes the moving machine gun and other neat thingy, and the tailgunner takes the other machine gun at the back, in case their is a tail gunner. :)

[xSlideShow]

Yeah, that seems weird. Why have 3 operators but no bombs?

Pilot, tail gunner, front gunner?

Doesn't that seem to go a little bit against the whole modern design philosophy? A tanks main cannon is now controlled by the driver. A PS1 liberator pilot could control a gun. Now will a liberator pilot be unable to do anything but fly?

Maybe it will look something more like:

Pilot/missile operator
Front Gunner
Rear Gunner

or

Pilot/fixed front gunner
Missile operator
Rear gunner

If they aren't dropping bombs, they at least have got to be unleashing missiles right? Maybe make them like slower, more unwieldy versions of pre nerf Reaverside reavers?

I hope we got a bomber variant though.

Maybe they will give the Lib anti flight missile system and etc and the third guy will be focusing on defensive things? Or shooting remote controlled rockets? Or maybe all 3? Could outfit your gunship like the others no?

QQ to many ways this can be taken...

[Xyntech]

Ah, good point, a apache kind of style. Pilot gets the rockets and stuff, Gunner takes the moving machine gun and other neat thingy, and the tailgunner takes the other machine gun at the back, in case their is a tail gunner. :)

I guess this makes the most sense. I hope that the driver can equip something like the PS1 liberator 35mm gun, only much more warthog like.

I wouldn't mind seeing liberator gunships becoming one of the deadliest and most effective tank killers in the game. Just make them cannon fodder for AA and ES fighters, while ES fighters have a little more survivability against AA and other fighters, but a little less anti tank firepower (relatively speaking).

[basti]

I guess this makes the most sense. I hope that the driver can equip something like the PS1 liberator 35mm gun, only much more warthog like.

I wouldn't mind seeing liberator gunships becoming one of the deadliest and most effective tank killers in the game. Just make them cannon fodder for AA and ES fighters, while ES fighters have a little more survivability against AA and other fighters, but a little less anti tank firepower (relatively speaking).

Nah, keep the rock paper shotgun err siccor stuff out, its no fun. :>

[xSlideShow]

I guess this makes the most sense. I hope that the driver can equip something like the PS1 liberator 35mm gun, only much more warthog like.

I wouldn't mind seeing liberator gunships becoming one of the deadliest and most effective tank killers in the game. Just make them cannon fodder for AA and ES fighters, while ES fighters have a little more survivability against AA and other fighters, but a little less anti tank firepower (relatively speaking).

Pretty sure the Lib will be able to kill tanks more effectively than the ES fighters. Cause you know more armor let's them eat up that tanks AA while the ES fighters are gonna have to dodge around. They will also more guns etc... So yeah... It will also have a harder time running away so multiple AA maxes or targets will still make it more vulnerable to AA overall. All speculation of course...

[Xyntech]

Nah, keep the rock paper shotgun err siccor stuff out, its no fun. :>

It makes for good balance, but I'm not even talking rock paper scissor, just making the Liberator have the fastest TTK's against tanks of any aircraft. That, along with it's high speed (relative to land vehicles) and it's high vantage point would make it a great tank hunter.

Make those tanks be afraid to run around without an AA turret to keep them safe.

[EASyEightyEight]

I like to think the new lib will be the gunship to the ES aircraft fight jets. My impression of the ES aircraft has been that hovering will probably be a very bad idea with increased lethality on weaponry. They're already pretty flimsy in PS1.

Pilot gets missiles or maybe a nose-mounted cannon, main gunner has access to more missiles and a rotary minigun, tiertery gunner has access to coaxial gun ports cover the tail and both sides, though I'd rather the pilot could attach gun pods to the side of his craft, demanding FIVE people for maximum effectiveness.

For the sake of bombs however, there is little need when your gunner has access to other forms of high-yield explosives such as rockets. A bit more precise than bombs, but probably far fewer in quantity can make it on board the craft, making them more of a strategic weapon and less of a spammy weapon.

Basically, lots of guns, lots of firepower, decent staying power, but real fighters will race circles around it.

[Baron]

I like to think the new lib will be the gunship to the ES aircraft fight jets. My impression of the ES aircraft has been that hovering will probably be a very bad idea with increased lethality on weaponry. They're already pretty flimsy in PS1.

Pilot gets missiles or maybe a nose-mounted cannon, main gunner has access to more missiles and a rotary minigun, tiertery gunner has access to coaxial gun ports cover the tail and both sides, though I'd rather the pilot could attach gun pods to the side of his craft, demanding FIVE people for maximum effectiveness.

For the sake of bombs however, there is little need when your gunner has access to other forms of high-yield explosives such as rockets. A bit more precise than bombs, but probably far fewer in quantity can make it on board the craft, making them more of a strategic weapon and less of a spammy weapon.

Basically, lots of guns, lots of firepower, decent staying power, but real fighters will race circles around it.

Kinda the vision in my head as well.

[Captain1nsaneo]

Thinking laser guided or camera guided bombs for the middle gunner on the Lib. If it's just going to be a gunship with no explosives then that seat might be for better radar/countermeasures. Personally sad to see that they're changing my favorite aircraft but if they can keep it as a vehicle that's worth having 3 people man I might not pull too much hair out.

[Graywolves]

I want a flag to stick out the back of my max.

[Malorn]

Not having buggies in at launch concerns me - they must design without buggies in the picture, which means the game is going to be balanced around versatile mbt hordes and versatile ES aircraft hordes. Two one-size-fits-all vehicles, which is just bland gameplay.

Not particularly happy about the lib change. My favorite vehicle converted into a 2-man reaver. I thought that picture looked a lot more like a gunship than a bomber.

I like seeing MAX have more abilities and weaponry options. And I really like the music in that TR video. Great capture of PS1 music in a new style. Rest of the info is rather disappointing.

[TRex]

So Heavy Battle Tanks are pretty much confirmed to not be in at launch (not surprising) but are a definite possibility after launch. Sweet.

Lightning sounds like it is already largely developed considering that they stated:
"Yes, lightning is in. It will be a little different due to the MBT driver is gunner change."

I wonder what sort of changes they made?

so we might get HBT's instead of BFR's. luring us in quietly before they unleash upon us. just joking , as long as they dont have rechargeable shields .

[Xyntech]

so we might get HBT's instead of BFR's. luring us in quietly before they unleash upon us. just joking , as long as they dont have rechargeable shields .

3 man HBTs and a shit ton of armor, no BFR shield bullshit.

And slow as hell too.

[EASyEightyEight]

I don't think anyone expected SHIELDS on BFR's. They may have been better received if they never had them to begin with.

As for buggies, I'm under the impression they want to implement the most commonly used vehicles for release, then work on anything else. It sounds like they want to get the game out the door asap with the essentials covered.

Not saying buggies aren't essential but... they WERE far fewer in number than the tanks, and I'm sure they want to balance them so they're worth pulling over a tank.

[Baron]

BF2142 shield mechanic = awesome

If PS2 blatantly copied that I wouldn't complain ;)

:p

[CutterJohn]

Not having buggies in at launch concerns me - they must design without buggies in the picture, which means the game is going to be balanced around versatile mbt hordes and versatile ES aircraft hordes. Two one-size-fits-all vehicles, which is just bland gameplay.

So.. Pretty much PS1 then? MBTs and aircav were by far the most numerous vehicles.

[Tikuto]

I really am hoping the Wraith if it makes a return becomes something very sexy unlike the PS1 design. God that was awful for a cloaker vehicle... -.-

Liberator changes sounds very intriguing. Would like to know more of its customization.

[Xyntech]

Not saying buggies aren't essential but... they WERE far fewer in number than the tanks, and I'm sure they want to balance them so they're worth pulling over a tank.

I am really hoping they are doing this so that they can devote as much time and attention as is needed to make buggies awesome.

They could be fun in PS1 and I know some people swore by them, but they were not awesome.

Remember the whole 1+1=3 people bring up about PS1's two man tanks? This never applied to buggies in PS1.

Buggies need to be like land based Reavers. Able to pack a huge punch, extremely fast, much better over rough terrain than PS1 buggies, but with lighter armor.

I like the thought of allowing you to hit buggy passengers directly instead of just doing damage to the vehicle. This would allow buggies to have a little bit extra armor while still being balanced.

I'd also like to see them merge buggies with the deliverer and leave only ES buggies and sunderers as mass ground transports. Sunderers would have super heavy armor and be able to transport entire squads and maybe even act as a mobile spawn point like the new galaxy, while the ES buggies could have room for a driver, gunner and a few passengers and get everyone to their destination a lot faster.

[Tikuto]

In the future of humanity, you'd expect efficiency in technology. My opinion with this and buggies brings 'hover buggies' to mind. Why have a light-weight ground vehicle that is greatly hindered by humpy terrain in a game based on futuristic warfare?


Buggies must hover!


Customization of 'hover buggies' wouldn't entirely be necessary either. Bringing your own holstered weapon while driving would just be so sweet... The buggy's weapon would be your character's weapon.

[Xyntech]

In the future of humanity, you'd expect efficiency in technology. My opinion with this and buggies brings 'hover buggies' to mind. Why have a light-weight ground vehicle that is greatly hindered by humpy terrain in a game based on futuristic warfare?


Buggies must hover!


Customization of 'hover buggies' wouldn't entirely be necessary either. Bringing your own holstered weapon while driving would just be so sweet... The buggy's weapon would be your character's weapon.

VS have a copyright on hovering. We will sue any TR or NC infringement.

I want buggies to still have a single vehicle mounted gun that the gunner uses, which has a ton more firepower than PS1 buggy guns had. Like I said in my other post, I want them to have pre nerf reaver levels of firepower. It takes more than one person to operate the buggy, why not?

They could also give the driver a more forward fixed gun, something like the chain guns on a PS1 ATV if they felt that driving wasn't enough. Drivers who didn't want to use them wouldn't have to.

For the rest of the passengers, yes, let them use their own weapons. Maybe with a restriction that anything larger than a rifle is off limits.

It would be funny to see a bunch of rexos with HA having to use their pistols while riding in a buggy.

[IceyCold]

Not having buggies in at launch concerns me - they must design without buggies in the picture, which means the game is going to be balanced around versatile mbt hordes and versatile ES aircraft hordes. Two one-size-fits-all vehicles, which is just bland gameplay.

Not particularly happy about the lib change. My favorite vehicle converted into a 2-man reaver. I thought that picture looked a lot more like a gunship than a bomber.

I like seeing MAX have more abilities and weaponry options. And I really like the music in that TR video. Great capture of PS1 music in a new style. Rest of the info is rather disappointing.

So you missed that the Lightning is still in? And that it will be radically different from the MBT's to make it viable in some role?

I'll put a bet down right now it can be outfitted with weapons much like the original buggies, allowing for a second level of play, light fast vehicles that counter the larger tanks and aircraft.

Second, the Lib is still a 3 man vehicle last I checked from the twitter. I do not get where you got 2 seater unless I missed something?

[Baron]

Some Buggy Armament Ideas: (2 hard points)

(Hardpoint cost) / (Weapon):

(2) MRLS (multiple rocket launching system, dumb-fire similar to PS1 Reaver)
(2) Single Guided Rocet (Empire Specific, NC)
(1) Flak
(2) PBC (Particle Beam Cannon, Empire Specific, VS)
(1) 12mm Gatling
(2) Twin mounted Rotary Cannon (high impact explosive rounts, Empire Specific, TR ...think "phalanx" type of guns on naval ships)
(1) EMP Pulse Launcher (mine sweeping)
(1) HDNRM (High Density Nanite Repair Module) (fast, mobile repair truck ;) , can pull beside vehicles to repair / reload vehicles in the field)
(1) Flamethrower

(I reposted this in the Ideas Forum so we can build on it if people find it interesting enough)

[Tikuto]

VS have a copyright on hovering. We will sue any TR or NC infringement.lol die :evil:


They could also give the driver a more forward fixed gun, something like the chain guns on a PS1 ATV if they felt that driving wasn't enough. Drivers who didn't want to use them wouldn't have to.Forward fixed gun with the speed and maneuverability of a hover buggy.

The weapon variations could all be just aesthetic differences between Empires. TR hover buggy forward-fixed weapon does this effect where the NC's hover buggy would do that. No damage difference between the three factions. And it'd be the only vehicle that does the same damage across empires, just different effects.

Simplified PlanetSide!

[Xyntech]

So you missed that the Lightning is still in? And that it will be radically different from the MBT's to make it viable in some role?

I'll put a bet down right now it can be outfitted with weapons much like the original buggies, allowing for a second level of play, light fast vehicles that counter the larger tanks and aircraft.

Also, some ES buggies put in after launch could still be balanced with lightnings and MBT's and a Sunderer by making it be the fastest way to get a bunch of people around without risking getting shot down by AA like a Galaxy can be.

I'd love to see buggies be so fast and maneuverable that only an ES fighter can effectively hunt one day if the buggy is trying to run away. Give the buggy an optional AA gun to deal with those fighters. That would essentially make buggies the best guarantee for getting it's occupants from point A to point B in a timely fashion without getting killed.

The Sunderer should be the best way to get from point A to point B without getting killed, while the Galaxy should be the best way to get from point A to point B in a timely manner. Buggies would be a balance between the two.

Lightnings only get one person around. A buggy could be designed to get 4 or 5 people around. I would also make buggies way faster than lightnings.

I absolutely think that the game can be balanced in such a way that buggies aren't essential at launch, but are extremely useful while still not being overpowered when implemented after launch.

Edit: No making all buggies hover!

I love the thresher and am not a big fan of the TR or NC buggies, but I'd give my left nut to be able to drive a vehicle like Halo's Warthog around in Planetside 2. Just make sure that the NC and TR buggies are on that level of awesome and can get around on dry land just as effectively as a hover buggy.

[Tikuto]

http://www.jusonne.co.uk/ekmps/shops/jusonneuk/images/phil-and-ted-vibe-twin-pushchair-buggy-with-doubles-seat-black-red-1935-p.jpg http://www.babyboulevard.co.uk/img/p/231-366-large.jpg http://www.angelsandurchins.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Yellow-Submarine-Buggy-Maclaren.jpg

[Captain B]

What's funny is those buggies actually maintain the geometric feel of the empires, haha.

[MasterChief096]

MBT driver is gunner... gay.

[basti]

Just in via twitter, u guys gotta love me. :>

http://twitter.com/#!/mhigby/status/130424672071327744


our heavy assault class has access to multiple different types of weapons, several of which are exclusive to HA.

More! Literally!

http://twitter.com/#!/mhigby/status/130425790826422272

Right now there are 3 empire specific HA weapons planned, with multiple variants of each. subject to change, ofc.

[Bags]

I must see all the HA.

[basti]

One last thing:

http://twitter.com/#!/mhigby/status/130432382615556096


Haha, three empire specific HA weapons per empire. Cool tidbit: HA class does both anti-infantry and anti-vehicle based on loadout

[Bags]

How are you getting these tweets? they aren't on his page or mine... and I have him followed.

Makes me think

Anti-vehicle
Long range HA (Cycler)
Short range HA (MCG)

[Higby]

How are you getting these tweets? they aren't on his page or mine... and I have him followed.

Makes me think

Anti-vehicle
Long range HA (Cycler)
Short range HA (MCG)

Make sure you have replies turned on - sometimes that messed up. I installed tweetdeck for this since the web interface from twitter is garbage.

[Sirisian]

Higby. You skipped my tweet (http://twitter.com/#!/Sirisian2/status/130056507701211138) during the Q&A. Is this holstering thing secret or can you only have one weapon equipped at a time? Like HA or AV and MA or HA?

[Bags]

Getting Twitter to work is so safdaffafaf

Anyone know how to turn replies on?

[Malorn]

Might be....

* MCG renamed to Heavy Cycler
* Heavy Cycler is a Cycler variant
* Heavy Cycler is a MCG variant
* "Heavy" is an ammo type

[Bags]

I doubt it, Higby keeps saying he won't show pictures of an "MCG" to torment me.

[Higby]

Higby. You skipped my tweet (http://twitter.com/#!/Sirisian2/status/130056507701211138) during the Q&A. Is this holstering thing secret or can you only have one weapon equipped at a time? Like HA or AV and MA or HA?

We don't have back holstering right now... it has to do with the number of draw calls that out characters cost, since there is such deep customization for both weapons and armor they were getting way too expensive for us to have hundreds on the screen at once =)

[Bags]

We don't have back holstering right now... it has to do with the number of draw calls that out characters cost, since there is such deep customization for both weapons and armor they were getting way too expensive for us to have hundreds on the screen at once =)

Pinkie Pie - aha, i knew it - YouTube

Sad to see another unique Planetside feature bite the dust in the name of bloom. :(

[Traak]

Quote:

Haha, three empire specific HA weapons per empire. Cool tidbit: HA class does both anti-infantry and anti-vehicle based on loadout

So, this means
A ) Heavy Assault is the class of soldier. The weapons that the HA soldier can handle include the class of weapons that, I am guessing, would be called "heavy weapons". This includes AI and AV weapons, which, for the TR would mean that the Striker, Decimator, MCG and Heavy Cycler are all classed as Heavy weapons, and
B ) The Heavy Assault class of soldier can also handle lighter-assault class weapons, such as the Repeater, Cycler, chainblade, and whatever else they dream up.
C ) Perhaps AV weapons can be handled by other classes, including Heavy Assault-class soldiers, but the Heavy Assault soldiers can handle AI weapons that the other classes can't, or

It would be so appropriate if the Heavy Assault soldier was the only one that had the ability to handle the heavy weapons, both heavy AI and heavy AV.

[EASyEightyEight]

Pinkie Pie - aha, i knew it - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP-jJTqbwXI)

Sad to see another unique Planetside feature bite the dust in the name of bloom. :(

FPS > things we'll miss, but can live without.

At some point, we can't ask them to have a toggle option for every little thing. Not suggesting you're suggesting that, just saying. I'd still like back packs on characters, but I can live without those too.

[Marth Koopa]

We don't have back holstering right now... it has to do with the number of draw calls that out characters cost, since there is such deep customization for both weapons and armor they were getting way too expensive for us to have hundreds on the screen at once =)

Surely you could have a checkbox in the options menu to turn it on and off? I wants maximum eye candy and I'll pay out the nose on hardware to get it!

[Traak]

Might be....

* MCG renamed to Heavy Cycler
* Heavy Cycler is a Cycler variant
* Heavy Cycler is a MCG variant
* "Heavy" is an ammo type

Good points. Semantically correct on all points.

[Higby]

Surely you could have a checkbox in the options menu to turn it on and off? I wants maximum eye candy and I'll pay out the nose on hardware to get it!

I promise you we're squeezing as much in as we can handle.

[Traak]

Looks like "as much in as we can handle" is quite a bit, so far.

Unless the screen stuff we have been seeing is the usual "great concept art, followed by Telepong-level graphics in the real world" so to speak.

[Captain1nsaneo]

Creative director posting on a fan site at 7pm on a Saturday. Awesome.

Graphics don't mean much to me, I'll always take better game play or an advantage ingame over seeing pretty things. Please don't hurt me T-Ray.

[Higby]

Looks like "as much in as we can handle" is quite a bit, so far.

Unless the screen stuff we have been seeing is the usual "great concept art, followed by Telepong-level graphics in the real world" so to speak.

All the screens and videos we've posted are game assets in game engine. Now, of course, if your hardware can't handle the highest settings we'll shift graphical quality downwards, but until you hear otherwise assume everything you see is legit and in the game client.

[TRex]

will heavy assault be an either /or situation with regards loading out in AI /AV ie you can either carry a big mcg or a striker, but not both at same time (since I think we have no backpack to put alt stuff in now) ?

as for the back holstering thing , I'll miss it , but I'll go along with that , anything to reduce lag or keep my frames up will be appreciated . can't buy a new rig for quite a while so I'll have to eek out a half decent game in meantime .

[Traak]

All the screens and videos we've posted are game assets in game engine. Now, of course, if your hardware can't handle the highest settings we'll shift graphical quality downwards, but until you hear otherwise assume everything you see is legit and in the game client.

*quietly slips into a soundproof room*

YAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

*calmly slips out, adjusts tie and Kent glasses, goes back about his business*

[Hamma]

Awesome! :D

[Higby]

will heavy assault be an either /or situation with regards loading out in AI /AV ie you can either carry a big mcg or a striker, but not both at same time (since I think we have no backpack to put alt stuff in now) ?

as for the back holstering thing , I'll miss it , but I'll go along with that , anything to reduce lag or keep my frames up will be appreciated . can't buy a new rig for quite a while so I'll have to eek out a half decent game in meantime .

Yes, most of the classes are setup that way, can spec in a couple really diverse roles but they're making trade offs... so if you want an MCG (yes, there is an mcg) you wouldn't packing any AV equip.

[Bags]

I'll believe there's an MCG when I sees it.

[Higby]

I'll believe there's an MCG when I sees it.

Bags I already sent you this epic playtest screenshot for our fearsome TR HA with a MCG...

http://yfrog.com/kh7hxmvj

[Sirisian]

We don't have back holstering right now... it has to do with the number of draw calls that out characters cost, since there is such deep customization for both weapons and armor they were getting way too expensive for us to have hundreds on the screen at once =)
I usually try not to get technical (http://sirisian.com/pictures/technical.png), but it sounds like this could have been implemented differently.

As a quick example you have 1 weapon and just imagine all the vertices for a second. Those make up the vertex buffer object in model space. Now overlap those vertices with the location of every customization option available for the weapon. Now you have a cloud of vertices that are say 64 bytes each. Say that for a single weapon you have 1000 vertices for the weapon then 100 vertices for each add-on with a total of 50 add-ons for the weapon. (1000 + 100 * 50) * 64 bytes per vertex = 375 kilobytes for the VBO per weapon. The "trick" comes when creating the IBO. Every unique weapon + add-on combination would have their own IBO. Now since making every combination would be silly we can instead just compute the IBO connections if we know where the add-ons merge with the base gun mesh. (Simple operation). So if there are 100 unique weapons that means there are 100 unique IBOs. Let's say each gun has an average of 5 add-ons at a time. That would give us an IBO size of 1500 vertices. That's 2 bytes per index so 3000 bytes. So 3000 * 100 IBOs = 300 KB. So on average for each gun you'd have less than 800 KB of mesh data. And texturing is easy if all weapons have a texture atlas for their own texture and add-ons.

Even assuming 50 guns that's 40 MB of data. Though it could be far less since the program would be recycling and dynamically generating the IBOs when a new weapon entered the player's view. However that makes it 1 draw call per weapon. Assuming holsters that 4 draw calls per player on average probably.

The same idea extends to characters but the cost is higher what with animations. Ignoring bones and other things and still going with 64 bytes per vertex if each is say 10K verts and each upgrade is 500 vertices with a total of 100 ad-ons and 6 classes that's 22 MB VBO. Then for 500 players with unique setups that's say 20,000 indices (2 bytes each) * 500 players = 19 MB for the VBOs for a total of 41 MB of data.

For both weapons and players that's 81 MB without animation data with 5 draw calls per player (1 player + 4 weapons holstered). Actually I can see why that would be troublesome especially with your texture resolutions and animation costs. Then again I think I overestimated the per vertex cost by a lot. Good luck. :)

// edit force programmers to post :lol:

[TRex]

@ Sirisian , haven't a clue what you just said , blew my brain away though, seriously impressed.

[xSlideShow]

Special Assault? This hasn't been mentioned at all. Will Heavy Assault have Special Assault?

[Bags]

Higby, use your hair magic to allow back holstered guns and vehicle animations.

http://i.imgur.com/PLJgM.png

[TRex]

Maybe special assault will be added later , I kinda like the idea of a spam free game for 6 months or so . Wernerites may be in psychological trauma for 6 months as to what to do in the meantime, but I could live without it .

[Marth Koopa]

Yes, most of the classes are setup that way, can spec in a couple really diverse roles but they're making trade offs... so if you want an MCG (yes, there is an mcg) you wouldn't packing any AV equip.

So if I'm lugging a Lancer around, I will need to rely on my teammates to assist me with infantry shooting at me? Or can I have my Pulsar with me too, just not any HA?

[xSlideShow]

Maybe special assault will be added later , I kinda like the idea of a spam free game for 6 months or so . Wernerites may be in psychological trauma for 6 months as to what to do in the meantime, but I could live without it .

I thought special assault was pretty big for gameplay...

[Bags]

Special Assault needs to die in a fire. Plasma fire.

[Higby]

We used to have two seperate classes for what you guys would call "Heavy Assault" and "Special Assault", at a certain point we came to the conclusion that they fit under the same umbrella in Planetside 2 and we merged the classes. That's not to say our heavy assault class will have all that you're thinking of, he can be outfitted to fill those unique battlefield roles.

[Bags]

Can heavy assault pick up enemy tanks?

[xSlideShow]

We used to have two seperate classes for what you guys would call "Heavy Assault" and "Special Assault", at a certain point we came to the conclusion that they fit under the same umbrella in Planetside 2 and we merged the classes. That's not to say our heavy assault class will have all that you're thinking of, he can be outfitted to fill those unique battlefield roles.

Ok, another thing... Since your not going to be able to carry an AV gun and MCG at the same time. Are you going to be able to carry a secondary rifle? Perhaps a cycler? Will the MCG user be able to carry Special Assault weaponry? Or will it be like the MCG, Special Assault, and AV fill up the same equipment slot?

[TRex]

In ps1 sa was used as a method to flush out 3rd person campers .Since there's no 3rd person in ps2 ,maybe there's little use or excuse for sa ,in regards to the thumper anyway . I have faith in this new dev team though , hopefully cheesy stuff from ps1 gets the boot .

[xSlideShow]

In ps1 sa was used as a method to flush out 3rd person campers .Since there's no 3rd person in ps2 ,maybe there's little use or excuse for sa ,in regards to the thumper anyway . I have faith in this new dev team though , hopefully cheesy stuff from ps1 gets the boot .

I did not ever use the thumper to flush out a 3rd person camper. I used handheld plasma for that. I used the thumper for gen holds and defense. The Rocket Rifle was more of a shoot down the hallway to try and decide if it was safe to enter before throwing emps. Since I would only carry 1 stack.

[TRex]

Don't get me wrong , if we had the likes of smoke grenades or similar that would be cool. I've no problem with rocklet rifles ,or grenades . Maybe 3rd person flush was a wrong example . In end it resulted in same thing , it was used as a way to damage or locate via damage flash someone you probably couldn't see directly .Gen holds is a great example , spam it through doorway when it opened to suppress those that come to repair it.
With the coming powered heavy assault suits and max units , I hope emp and jammer grenades have a nice effect against them this time , and replace plasma especially.

[Marth Koopa]

I will be really disappointed if there is no thumper and rocklet rifle. I never saw them as overpowered and spamming the thumper into crowds for suppression is the whole POINT of it. It's not like it has infinite ammo, so it can't be spammed forever.

[Bags]

It was too strong for its ease of use.

[Marth Koopa]

The MCG tears up infantry easily and requires less aim than a thumper.

Your point?

[xSlideShow]

It was too strong for its ease of use.

It required more thought to use than any of the other weapons. You have to be more mindful of your teamates and there positioning and what it was they were doing than if you were using any other weapon type. And You still had to account for lead etc... I don't see how it was any easier than the other weapons?

It's not like a single thumper or rocklet rifle could hold back an onslaught.

[Bags]

It required more thought to use than any of the other weapons. You have to be more mindful of your teamates and there positioning and what it was they were doing than if you were using any other weapon type. And You still had to account for lead etc... I don't see how it was any easier than the other weapons?

It's not like a single thumper or rocklet rifle could hold back an onslaught.

Because it has a massive AOE and grief wasn't an issue in PS1 unless you aimed for teammates.

[xSlideShow]

Because it has a massive AOE and grief wasn't an issue in PS1 unless you aimed for teammates.

Did you use Special Assault? Pretty sure a bad SA user would get grief locked in just a few minutes or he would have to quit using the SA. And it's AoE can be toned down. That shouldn't be an issue in PS2 considering it's a different game. SA is not inherently OP.

[CutterJohn]

Or you can just make them proper indirect fire weapons with a reasonable arming distance so they are not very useful in cramped indoor positions, the only spots they could be possibly be considered overpowered.

The rocklet rifle would be ideal as an anti sniper weapon, placing timed charges over a snipers head like those new 20mm airburst rounds. It would also serve nicely as a light AA weapon carried by infantry.

The thumper would be a good medium range weapon to take on people behind cover and machine gun nests and the like.

Both can be designed so that they simply will not explode within X meters, nor do they need to be able to bounce around corners, which would make them weapons ill suited for indoor combat.

[xSlideShow]

Or you can just make them proper indirect fire weapons with a reasonable arming distance so they are not very useful in cramped indoor positions, the only spots they could be possibly be considered overpowered.

The rocklet rifle would be ideal as an anti sniper weapon, placing timed charges over a snipers head like those new 20mm airburst rounds. It would also serve nicely as a light AA weapon carried by infantry.

The thumper would be a good medium range weapon to take on people behind cover and machine gun nests and the like.

Both can be designed so that they simply will not explode within X meters, nor do they need to be able to bounce around corners, which would make them weapons ill suited for indoor combat.

The sniper rifle serves as a fine Anti sniper weapon too. The point of SA is suppression. Not perform the function of another weapon with a different look. The thumper already does the example you gave in it's current form.

The point of the Rocket Rifle to force enemies to fall back if they are hiding near a corner and you use a rocket rifle they had to retreat or they would die.

[CutterJohn]

The sniper rifle serves as a fine Anti sniper weapon too. The point of SA is suppression. Not perform the function of another weapon with a different look. The thumper already does the example you gave in it's current form.

A weapon should not be its own best counter, and certainly not its only viable counter. The thumper was pretty weak, and was balanced to not be crazy OP inside.

[xSlideShow]

A weapon should not be its own best counter, and certainly not its only viable counter. The thumper was pretty weak, and was balanced to not be crazy OP inside.

Then what's the problem with it being in PS in a similar fashion it's in PS1?

[CutterJohn]

Thumper was an annoying spam weapon and led to a lot of stalemates in stairs. I'd prefer a stronger weapon, with more limited ammo, that was of limited use indoors. Use them like they are used in real life.

[xSlideShow]

Thumper was an annoying spam weapon and led to a lot of stalemates in stairs. I'd prefer a stronger weapon, with more limited ammo, that was of limited use indoors. Use them like they are used in real life.

In all honesty I don't mind if they change the Thumper but I would rather the Rocket Rifle remain the same. It was a very useful gun and I don't feel it was OP in anyway.

[CutterJohn]

In all honesty I don't mind if they change the Thumper but I would rather the Rocket Rifle remain the same. It was a very useful gun and I don't feel it was OP in anyway.

Perhaps. I just love the concept of the XM25 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XM25_CDTE) air burst grenade launcher, and would like to see something similar in the game. There was the scorpion, of course, but that had... Issues. The rocklet seems like it would fit that role perfectly.

[FIREk]

We used to have two seperate classes for what you guys would call "Heavy Assault" and "Special Assault", at a certain point we came to the conclusion that they fit under the same umbrella in Planetside 2 and we merged the classes. That's not to say our heavy assault class will have all that you're thinking of, he can be outfitted to fill those unique battlefield roles.

So a Heavy Assault will be able to equip either an MCG only, or AV+Cycler, or SA+Cycler? I want me a launcher, shotgun and pistol, and don't care if they're slung on my hips/back when I'm not using them. :)

Also, I'm assuming that only Heavy Assaults will be able to carry AV weapons due to their weight and bulkiness (meaning powered armor is required, from a lore perspective), but will I be able to somehow customize my armor to reduce protection and increase mobility?

[Tikuto]

Driver's
I suspect we're going to see a driver's outfit but what would that be named? Autoist?
Automobilist?
Leadfoot?
Operator?



Lancer tracking?
Also, I'd like Lancer to have an additional H.U.D. layer that tracks your target for you. TR and NC have forms of tracking on their AV weapons (PS1) yet VS's AV weapon doesn't, and so this idea really ought to be thought-out for the Lancer.

[TRex]

In all honesty I don't mind if they change the Thumper but I would rather the Rocket Rifle remain the same. It was a very useful gun and I don't feel it was OP in anyway.

I don't mind special assault , back in early planetside it was a choice to cert av or sa. In a squad we might have had 1 , at most 2 with special assault . It was a niche cert and useful in certain situation . The ones useing it were skillful .

Then a few things changed that , firstly they increased rexo armour value , then increased the number of decimators needed to kill a max . Maxes proliferated , and more people wore rexo . Surgile was gone. We had core combat and the maelstrom.

Along with it and especially after they increased br to 23 , it became the bane of all base assaults , especially on Werner. I left to go play on Emerald, there they kill inert objects like generators constantly , but it was a choice. Have noone to fight , or stand in green laggy spam forever. Tough choice.

Hopefully it will go back to its niche speciality with new game , but just on the off-chance I think I'll skip werner this time and go straight to Emerald this time.

[basti]

How are you getting these tweets?

2 Reasons:
1. Tweetdeck, its awesome.
2. Basti, im awesome.

Questions?

[Graywolves]

I WANT TR MAX SCREENSHOTS AND 3D TURNAROUND!? Y IT NO IN 3D TURNAROUND!? GIMME THE MAX! RAWRARWARWARAWRAWRAWRR!

[Xyntech]

I WANT TR MAX SCREENSHOTS AND 3D TURNAROUND!? Y IT NO IN 3D TURNAROUND!? GIMME THE MAX! RAWRARWARWARAWRAWRAWRR!

You can have a MAX turnaround the moment I get something, anything new related to the VS. :p

[Ailos]

I think one thing everyone is forgetting to take into account here with the thumper/rocklet discussion is the idea of destructible environments.
I know SOE hasn't mentioned much on that matter thus far, but I'm confident that at least some level of destructibility built into the buildings and bases.

When you go to a shooting range, apart from policies and rules, there's nothing physically stopping you from using an RPG rather than a handgun or a rifle, but the rules and policies that prevent you from doing so exist because the use of one equates destruction of the building itself.

In PS2 terms that translates to both the thumper and the rocklet being much more tactical weapons. One or two rounds a clear hallway; continious spamming means a cave-in. Yeah, you've killed your enemy, but you've now also blocked your passage in (as for instance in a BD tunnel), so if anything, you've done them a favour. It could, however, be a defensive strategy to make such cave-ins, so that the enemies are funneled through only one pathway, to buy time while re-enforcements arrive. Also given the fact that we're being told each base is being deisgned to have different tactics from all the others, that means there'll be any number of ways such a tactic would be or wouldn't be useful.

Either way, I hope they include as many weapons as possible into the game, all of the options from PS1, and more (what with sidegrades for each one and whatnot).

[BorisBlade]

Driver's
I suspect we're going to see a driver's outfit but what would that be named? Autoist?
Automobilist?
Leadfoot?
Operator?


That would be cool, esp if it allowed us to spec for just driving, not the driver/gunner combo thing they have. I love driving, cant stand driving and gunning at the same time, enough that i would just not even drive those vehicles.

[EASyEightyEight]

I think engineers will be the de-facto pilots. They mentioned 6 classes:

Mobile Assault (jetpack)
Medic
Engineer
Recon (cloaker/sniper)
Heavy Assault
MAX(?)

The last one might count as a vehicle, might count as a class, and I'd bet on the latter. From what I gather, vehicles will have their own skill trees, not a generic, all-rounder tree.

[Graywolves]

I think engineers will be the de-facto pilots. They mentioned 6 classes:

Mobile Assault (jetpack)
Medic
Engineer
Recon (cloaker/sniper)
Heavy Assault
MAX(?)

The last one might count as a vehicle, might count as a class, and I'd bet on the latter. From what I gather, vehicles will have their own skill trees, not a generic, all-rounder tree.


Imagine hot-dropping and jetpacking around for harrassment? Awesome.

[LZachariah]

Higby has already said that there is no "Pilot" class. Therefore, you could conceivably pilot a tank in Infiltrator Armor or Standard or Agile Armor, etc. Obviously, I don't think that anyone expects to be able to pilot a vehicle wearing MAX arrmor (though I believe that Galaxies can carry a few MAX's for hot-drops). Now, I'm not sure whether or not someone in Heavy Assault Armor can get into a vehicle. That, for me is still uncertain. So basically, you'll be able to certificate whatever skills you want (yes, that's a verb now, in honor of Planetside 2), and any pilot skills you have will apply in most of your class-loadouts (ie- a Vanu Medic will be able to jump into a Magrider and pilot it if they have the certification).

~Zachariah

[Marth Koopa]

Lancer tracking?
Also, I'd like Lancer to have an additional H.U.D. layer that tracks your target for you. TR and NC have forms of tracking on their AV weapons (PS1) yet VS's AV weapon doesn't, and so this idea really ought to be thought-out for the Lancer.

That's not necessary. Keep the VS weaponry skill-oriented, the NC and TR can keep their scrub easy mode weaponry.

The Lancer is my favorite weapon in PS1, I don't want it changed one bit. It just feels so good blowing up enemies knowing I did it all with my skill, not with automated or hide-behind-walls-and-camera-guide-it trash.

Using the Lancer to blow up enemy aircraft is especially fun.

[Tikuto]

That's not necessary. Keep the VS weaponry skill-oriented, the NC and TR can keep their scrub easy mode weaponry.

The Lancer is my favorite weapon in PS1, I don't want it changed one bit. It just feels so good blowing up enemies knowing I did it all with my skill, not with automated or hide-behind-walls-and-camera-guide-it trash.

Using the Lancer to blow up enemy aircraft is especially fun.Fascist :P

[Bags]

The Lancer was the best ESAV, despite being the "hardest". I'd take it any day over the Striker.

[Captain1nsaneo]

The Lancer is my favorite weapon in PS1, I don't want it changed one bit. It just feels so good blowing up enemies knowing I did it all with my skill, not with automated or hide-behind-walls-and-camera-guide-it trash.
Listen to this man. We VS like our AV, it's a trade off of chance to miss for higher damage.

SA in PS is currently underpowered and I will explain why. When you talking about dying to the damage you're ignoring the long reload times and small magazine that both the thumper and rocklet have. Though you're not complaining about dying any more since the plazma nerf because it takes 3 hits to the face with frag nades to kill anyone (sans medpack) and good luck killing anyone with the non-existent AOE damage. The rocklet needs all 6 to hit head on if you want to kill any Rexo with a medkit, but you won't do that because the rocklet isn't accurate enough and the Rexo has HA. And when was the last time you were killed by a radiator?

SA only really works when you have the high ground and an enemy out in the open which is almost never. More often than not a MA user will kill you first and heaven help you if you're indoors against anyone with HA. SA is all about where you are and where your enemy is, if you set yourself up right you will win and that's what gets HA users frustrated. They can't win a fight that's setup in an SA users favor.

(If you want to try out SA, as a devout user of not-HA I can only really recommend the EMP thumper with AV or the flacklet with AV for poor man's AA. Sweeper/rocklet/hand plasma can also work but it won't bring you to even footing with HA and depends on situation to work well.)

[BorisBlade]

Listen to this man. We VS like our AV, it's a trade off of chance to miss for higher damage.

SA in PS is currently underpowered and I will explain why. When you talking about dying to the damage you're ignoring the long reload times and small magazine that both the thumper and rocklet have. Though you're not complaining about dying any more since the plazma nerf because it takes 3 hits to the face with frag nades to kill anyone (sans medpack) and good luck killing anyone with the non-existent AOE damage. The rocklet needs all 6 to hit head on if you want to kill any Rexo with a medkit, but you won't do that because the rocklet isn't accurate enough and the Rexo has HA. And when was the last time you were killed by a radiator?

SA only really works when you have the high ground and an enemy out in the open which is almost never. More often than not a MA user will kill you first and heaven help you if you're indoors against anyone with HA. SA is all about where you are and where your enemy is, if you set yourself up right you will win and that's what gets HA users frustrated. They can't win a fight that's setup in an SA users favor.

(If you want to try out SA, as a devout user of not-HA I can only really recommend the EMP thumper with AV or the flacklet with AV for poor man's AA. Sweeper/rocklet/hand plasma can also work but it won't bring you to even footing with HA and depends on situation to work well.)

The radiator is about area denial and the psychological aspect of grenade spam, not about gettin kills and it does it extremely well. Thumper does a great job with its grenade spamming, it helps to slow up progression indoors or clears out clumps (mostly pyschological), one guy with a thumper can stop or dramatically slow the progression of enemies up a staircase, a guy with an mcg cant do that at all. If your goal is to kill whore then go for your mcg, if you want to win, then making good use of SA is key. And you'll still get plenty of kills, dont worry about that.

Now the rocklet....yeah thats uderpowered and not that useful. Not sure what its role should be honestly. Dont need more AI stuff, its just redundant with the thumper, and its not very good for AV, and buffing it for AV just puts it into the ESAV department. Maybe its damage should be buffed a bit getting it close to the ESAV but with its dumbfire only and travel times it wouldnt be as good. Honestly tho it needs somethin to differentiate it from teh pack. Being some combo AI/AV thing sux, rocklets just seem stupid as AI weapons, and it ends up being a crap av and crap ai weapon. But honestly if they cant give it some niche then there's no point in havin it. (i do want it to return but i want it to fit in better, it needs a clearly defined role)

[Bags]

Rocklet rifle is fine.

[xSlideShow]

The radiator is about area denial and the psychological aspect of grenade spam, not about gettin kills and it does it extremely well. Thumper does a great job with its grenade spamming, it helps to slow up progression indoors or clears out clumps (mostly pyschological), one guy with a thumper can stop or dramatically slow the progression of enemies up a staircase, a guy with an mcg cant do that at all. If your goal is to kill whore then go for your mcg, if you want to win, then making good use of SA is key. And you'll still get plenty of kills, dont worry about that.

Now the rocklet....yeah thats uderpowered and not that useful. Not sure what its role should be honestly. Dont need more AI stuff, its just redundant with the thumper, and its not very good for AV, and buffing it for AV just puts it into the ESAV department. Maybe its damage should be buffed a bit getting it close to the ESAV but with its dumbfire only and travel times it wouldnt be as good. Honestly tho it needs somethin to differentiate it from teh pack. Being some combo AI/AV thing sux, rocklets just seem stupid as AI weapons, and it ends up being a crap av and crap ai weapon. But honestly if they cant give it some niche then there's no point in havin it. (i do want it to return but i want it to fit in better, it needs a clearly defined role)

I never really saw SA as something you use to replace HA but something you used to replace AV.

I also thought the Rocket Rifle was an amazing weapon it was my favorite second only to the lasher. It's role was the same as the Thumpers role. To displace enemy troops. I found it's most effective use in the exact opposite situations the thumper was good at. And I really don't think you had to hit them dead on to land a kill... It also has the most max slaying potential if your an agile user since it takes 2 clips to kill a max. You would always have an extra box giving you the ability to kill 2 maxes with relative ease.

I really thought the SA in PS1 was great and I used it quite extensively I would like to see it implemented in much the same fashion. The radiator is the only one that I'm ok with the removal of tbh. Since it performs almost the exact same thing as the Thumper.

[Erendil]

Ok, another thing... Since your not going to be able to carry an AV gun and MCG at the same time. Are you going to be able to carry a secondary rifle? Perhaps a cycler? Will the MCG user be able to carry Special Assault weaponry? Or will it be like the MCG, Special Assault, and AV fill up the same equipment slot?

Yeah I certainly hope the Heavies can carry a secondary light-class weapon like a Cycler. I'd really hate to see the Heavy Assault class limited to carrying just one "two-handed" weapon at a time. For the light classes it's fine since they'll have access to other support/special abilities. But limiting the HA class to just one main weapon would be too crippling for a pure fighter-type IMO.

I'm guessing/hoping that the Heavy Assault class will be able to carry one "heavy" class weapon (HA, AV, Thumper), one "light" class weapon (ESMA or Sweeper), a sidearm, and a couple of nades.

So you could do MCG+Cycler, AV+Cycler, Thumper+Cycler, etc, but since I'm guessing the Thumper will be considered a "heavy" class weapon you couldn't do MCG+Thumper, MCG+AV, or Thumper+AV.

[EASyEightyEight]

Actually... I want to believe SA would fit the light-weapon bill nicely. It's not overly large, it's just a rifle that lobs grenades/rocklets. Everyone could still have access to a sidearm as a primary means of direct fire, however effective that is compared to a real rifle.

But we're getting ahead of our selves. I don't recall any mention of what we'll get in the way of SA. It's probably a sure bet we'll get at least a grenade launcher though.

Basically, while I do want assault rifles and shotguns to be the majority of the small-arms we find in the field, I just don't feel every weapon that ISN'T a rifle or shotgun should be wielded only by guys in power armor.

[BorisBlade]

I never really saw SA as something you use to replace HA but something you used to replace AV.


Thats what i mean, you arent limited by certs like you were in ps1. So if you have access to av then use av, not the rocklet. Honestly if it doesnt bring anything new, then its just duplicating a weapon, thats boring and waste of resources. I really like the idea of the weapon, but it needs a niche. Its kind of half ass thumper and half ass av, its half ass at whatever it does. Maybe some simple extra effects or variation on delivery or whatever. Its SA, so i think it should bring somethin different into play in how it functions and what its good for that someone with AV or a thumper could not do. Honestly tho, esp with customization, they wont put it in alongside a thumper without changin it up a bit. Its just so similar that you cant really customize each of em and have anything unique come out of it, way too much overlap.

In the end, i bet they get combined into one weapon. you choose whether you shoot rocklets or grenades. The weapons are way too similar for them to not just do this and let the customization part determine whether the projectiles are straight or lobbed, which is the only real difference.

[xSlideShow]

Thats what i mean, you arent limited by certs like you were in ps1. So if you have access to av then use av, not the rocklet. Honestly if it doesnt bring anything new, then its just duplicating a weapon, thats boring and waste of resources. I really like the idea of the weapon, but it needs a niche. Its kind of half ass thumper and half ass av, its half ass at whatever it does. Maybe some simple extra effects or variation on delivery or whatever. Its SA, so i think it should bring somethin different into play in how it functions and what its good for that someone with AV or a thumper could not do. Honestly tho, esp with customization, they wont put it in alongside a thumper without changin it up a bit. Its just so similar that you cant really customize each of em and have anything unique come out of it, way too much overlap.

In the end, i bet they get combined into one weapon. you choose whether you shoot rocklets or grenades. The weapons are way too similar for them to not just do this and let the customization part determine whether the projectiles are straight or lobbed, which is the only real difference.

The rocket gave you the same effect as the thumper. But it was useful in the situations the thumper wasn't. It did not serve the same purpose as AV. Which is to kill vechiles and maxes. The Rocket rifle could kill everything. If you by chance had two people with it in a tower drop it did wonders.
This is just not the only situation. The long BD, Hallways, the stair wells up and down. Infantry near walls.

[Talek Krell]

I don't check the forums for two days, and then I come back to confirmed flamethrowers. I can't ever leave you people alone. :lol:

[Hamma]

Nope :D

[SKYeXile]

Yeah I certainly hope the Heavies can carry a secondary light-class weapon like a Cycler. I'd really hate to see the Heavy Assault class limited to carrying just one "two-handed" weapon at a time. For the light classes it's fine since they'll have access to other support/special abilities. But limiting the HA class to just one main weapon would be too crippling for a pure fighter-type IMO.

I'm guessing/hoping that the Heavy Assault class will be able to carry one "heavy" class weapon (HA, AV, Thumper), one "light" class weapon (ESMA or Sweeper), a sidearm, and a couple of nades.

So you could do MCG+Cycler, AV+Cycler, Thumper+Cycler, etc, but since I'm guessing the Thumper will be considered a "heavy" class weapon you couldn't do MCG+Thumper, MCG+AV, or Thumper+AV.

i guess its just their way of promoting teamwork?

though you have to wonder how a assault/HA will stack up against an AI MAX in terms of killing efficiency i presume a max would win that firefight and if it does and also kills regular infantry more effectively, then what the point of assault/HA?

[TRex]

i guess its just their way of promoting teamwork?

though you have to wonder how a assault/HA will stack up against an AI MAX in terms of killing efficiency i presume a max would win that firefight and if it does and also kills regular infantry more effectively, then what the point of assault/HA?

You need to cert heavy into HA to unlock Maxes .
Say your an infil in ps1 , you can just pick unimax. But you have ad hack , engi etc.
Now you need to choose , do you take medic or command or engineering or vehicles . Or put all your certs into HA just so you can use a max.
Likewise if you put all your certs into HA to unlock Maxes , you might not be able to cert much into anything else, especially if you want all the knobs to make available all Max stuff. Maybe AV is default max cert, and AI is higher up the tree.Maybe you need to unlock the duo-weapon arming etc.
Maybe with cert tree , you can add armour to Heavy to be almost as strong as basic max unit , and still be able to open doors ? Maybe light armour can be boosted to be medium armour by same logic.

[Xyntech]

I bet Heavy Assault will still be able to do a lot of things that MAXes can't. I bet a MAX won't have access to some of the command features. MAXes won't be able to drive anything, HA probably can. HA can use grenades, while I assume a MAX can't. I'm sure there will be enough to make them distinct from each other.

[Bags]

They're planning to remove the ability for HA to drive things, Higby told me on Twitter. At the moment they can, though.

[Xyntech]

ATV's though? I can see preventing them from flying aircraft or even driving tanks, but you gotta at least give em ATV's.

Maybe they have no limits of any kind on HA driving every vehicle right now, but will be adding restrictions to them along the lines of Rexo restrictions from PS1.

Yay, more waiting and seeing.

[Bags]

No idea, he just said they will be adding restrictions.

[Raymac]

If HA can't drive ATVs then they better have a "thumb" emote because they are going to be hitching alot of rides.

[Bags]

Or a /leg emote.

[basti]

If HA can't drive ATVs then they better have a "thumb" emote because they are going to be hitching alot of rides.

Well, if ATVS are any like the ones we know, then they blow up pretty fast anyway. So nothing wrong with letting HA guys drive them around. :>

[Raymac]

Or a /leg emote.

haha! Yes, I like your idea better.

[FIREk]

I bet Heavy Assault will still be able to do a lot of things that MAXes can't. I bet a MAX won't have access to some of the command features. MAXes won't be able to drive anything, HA probably can. HA can use grenades, while I assume a MAX can't. I'm sure there will be enough to make them distinct from each other.

The added mobility should be enough to convince some people to go HA over MAXes. Also, there might be timers for MAX suits. Furthermore, if you had to go through the HA tree to play as a MAX, you might find the HA class more familiar and appealing in the end.

[Erendil]

Actually... I want to believe SA would fit the light-weapon bill nicely. It's not overly large, it's just a rifle that lobs grenades/rocklets. Everyone could still have access to a sidearm as a primary means of direct fire, however effective that is compared to a real rifle.

But we're getting ahead of our selves. I don't recall any mention of what we'll get in the way of SA. It's probably a sure bet we'll get at least a grenade launcher though.

Basically, while I do want assault rifles and shotguns to be the majority of the small-arms we find in the field, I just don't feel every weapon that ISN'T a rifle or shotgun should be wielded only by guys in power armor.

Well they were originally planning on making a separate SA class so I'm assuming they'll be giving us at least a few different SA options to choose from.

My gut feeling though is that if they give us multi-round grenade launchers of some sort like the Thumper it'll probably be considered a "heavy" weapon, at least for purposes of pairing it up with other weapons in one loadout. Not because it's not a rifle or shotgun, but because of it's weight.

Compared to assault rifles, grenade launchers are heavy. If we look at RL comparisons (and before anyone says it, I know PS2 is not RL), 6-shot launchers like the MGL140 or the Russion RG6 weigh about twice as much as an M4A1 rifle, or about the same as a BAR. And each single 40mm grenade weighs about 1/2 lb, or about the same as a 30-round mag for the M4A1.

It also makes logistical sense - given their class-system approach and general One-Man-Army phobia - that a specialized weapon like a grenade launcher that gives you abilities above and beyond a simple rifle/shotgun would not be equippable in the same loadout as another specialized weapon like HA or AV.

That's not to say that their won't be a "light assault" class or armour type that'll only have one rifle slot but would still let you use said launcher... :)

[SKYeXile]

You need to cert heavy into HA to unlock Maxes .
Say your an infil in ps1 , you can just pick unimax. But you have ad hack , engi etc.
Now you need to choose , do you take medic or command or engineering or vehicles . Or put all your certs into HA just so you can use a max.
Likewise if you put all your certs into HA to unlock Maxes , you might not be able to cert much into anything else, especially if you want all the knobs to make available all Max stuff. Maybe AV is default max cert, and AI is higher up the tree.Maybe you need to unlock the duo-weapon arming etc.
Maybe with cert tree , you can add armour to Heavy to be almost as strong as basic max unit , and still be able to open doors ? Maybe light armour can be boosted to be medium armour by same logic.

hrm good points, though im still totally confused about their certification offline levelling system and resources.

[TRex]

hrm good points, though im still totally confused about their certification offline levelling system and resources.

I can only guess and say its like starting off at BR1 , and you look at the cert tree.4 classes are unlocked , and you can see the 2 locked ones at the bottom of the tree. You can see whereabouts on the other 4 that you need to spend points to unlock the remaining 2.
Now, you can see that each class is split up by 20 segments or tiers moving up each class tree. Say tier 1 to 2 takes 500'x' , 2 to 3 1000'x and so on. Each tier correlating to the available BR .
So , if i play the game online, I help gain resources by capping territory and getting kills . I click on which skills in class tree I want to work on, say medic right up to advanced medic rezzing at tier 10.
Because I'm playing , I'm also gaining bep and levelling up .So I reach br10 before my class tier thingy has reached its t9 cap.
If I'm offline for a week, my cert tier fills up to it's cap for that tier , and unless I get online and level up , it won't progress any higher.I could just log in each day and click on another class tier to fill up for the next day , but each tier has exponential value so you gain things much slower down each tree.
Each day your faction gains x resources as a whole , and they work out a mean value for every player at end of that day. Those offline get maybe 80% of that mean value the following day, those online get a 20% bonus to whatever resources they gather while online . It's like paying into a pension , and each time you log off you draw out some of that pension.

[NapalmEnima]

I can only guess and say its like starting off at BR1 , and you look at the cert tree.4 classes are unlocked , and you can see the 2 locked ones at the bottom of the tree. You can see whereabouts on the other 4 that you need to spend points to unlock the remaining 2.


Skill training works like EVE. You skills can train up to 50% faster while you're online. You can queue up to 24 hours worth of offline training. Empty queue -> no training.

You only have part of all the possible skills available bqsed on your BR.

Resources are earned in two ways.
1). Passively based on what your empire owns on your current continent.
2). Various. Bonuses. Base captures, maybe drops, you can find them lying around in some places.


All this stuff should be in the info thread.

[Akemo]

Liberator is now a gunship not a bomber.


I didn't catch the actual twitter chat, and didn't (yet) read this whole thread, but it seems like there is a lot of speculation about how the liberator changes will be made/what role each of the three players will have in it. When the change to gunship was announced, did Higby (or another dev) actually say that the liberator will still have three seats? (In my mind at least...) a gunship may very well be a considerably slower flying fortress, with perhaps 3 but perhaps only 2 or 5+ seats.

Again, if this was already addressed, or if it was actually stated in the twitter chat, I'm sorry for taking up space ;p

But, really, I CANNOT WAIT TO PLAY THIS GAME!

[TRex]

I may have missed a bit lump of info somewhere, but am I right in that there's now no Bombing or Artillery in the game so far ?

[Baron]

I may have missed a bit lump of info somewhere, but am I right in that there's now no Bombing or Artillery in the game so far ?

There's apparently no artillery in the sense that we are use to in PS1 (Flail). However the devs have mentioned that there may be options on tanks secondary weapons to be "artillery-like"...probably more like a mortar.

[Traak]

Make the tanks secondary weapon a flak cannon. Then two people in the tank, with the driver on the main gun would become mighty fine indeed.

[Hamma]

I didn't catch the actual twitter chat, and didn't (yet) read this whole thread, but it seems like there is a lot of speculation about how the liberator changes will be made/what role each of the three players will have in it. When the change to gunship was announced, did Higby (or another dev) actually say that the liberator will still have three seats? (In my mind at least...) a gunship may very well be a considerably slower flying fortress, with perhaps 3 but perhaps only 2 or 5+ seats.

Again, if this was already addressed, or if it was actually stated in the twitter chat, I'm sorry for taking up space ;p

But, really, I CANNOT WAIT TO PLAY THIS GAME!

Here is the tweet:

BrewkoPS: @GeckoOBac @planetside2 The Liberator is a 3-Man Gunship, it's not a bomber like it was in in PS1.

https://twitter.com/brewkops/status/130065679658397696

[Marth Koopa]

"This is how I keep the rock hard abs. http://yfrog.com/h26i3qqgj" - Higby

I see a New Conglomerate person with a helmet.

[Talek Krell]

There's apparently no artillery in the sense that we are use to in PS1 (Flail). However the devs have mentioned that there may be options on tanks secondary weapons to be "artillery-like"...probably more like a mortar.The PCG article mentioned "artillery" as one of the things you could do with ground armor. It also included a picture of what I believe was an artillery variant of the prowler. In addition to that, the same article included a mention of at least one weapon system having a 1km range. I can't predict how exactly they intend it to work this time, but I think we're going to see the return of long range artillery.

I see a New Conglomerate person with a helmet.That helmet looks rather....spartan? :cool:

[TRex]

There's apparently no artillery in the sense that we are use to in PS1 (Flail). However the devs have mentioned that there may be options on tanks secondary weapons to be "artillery-like"...probably more like a mortar.

I can see some place strategy wise for artillery , but for the game as a whole, being a spam free zone for the first months would be great for the sake of new players trying the game out. No OS for a while until we get a few with high command certs etc.