PDA

View Full Version : MMO Attack Games Dev interview: Arclegger


Figment
2013-01-09, 05:12 AM
Didn't see this up here yet. Looks like it was taped a few days before launch, but not posted till recently.

MMO Attack Games PS2 Dev Interview: Arclegger

Mox
2013-01-09, 05:45 AM
His greatest achivement is the base design of ps2. He is very proud of what he did....

HAHA!

Figment
2013-01-09, 06:20 AM
His greatest achivement is the base design of ps2. He is very proud of what he did....

HAHA!

You don't know which outposts he built though: he did say there are many level designers. He also said the Bio Dome was one of his personal projects and that's considered the more defensible of bases (even if it has flow issues due to its connectivity with other parts of the base).

Plus, this was pre-launch. Plus, it's a promotional interview. Plus, he's very eager for and responsive to player feedback (lot of direct contact) and I definitely appreciate that.

KaskaMatej
2013-01-09, 06:43 AM
His greatest achivement is the base design of ps2. He is very proud of what he did....

HAHA!

Next time you could at least post a link to the interview...

302 Found

Just to mention, he designed Bio-Labs, not all the small outposts, facilities, towers.

Figment
2013-01-09, 07:04 AM
Mox, that guy is on my ignore and he's got me on ignore. ;) He didn't know who started the thread.

p0intman
2013-01-09, 07:11 AM
not showing any bias at all when I say Arclegger actually knows wtf he is talking about. Mostly.

Except when it comes to knowing how to get on mumble.

Thunderhawk
2013-01-09, 07:23 AM
Mox, that guy is on my ignore and he's got me on ignore. ;) He didn't know who started the thread.

Why would you put anyone or be put on ignore on a forum, cant we just not read the posts ? ;)

Just sayin

NewSith
2013-01-09, 07:36 AM
Oh, DAT GAL PILOT...

Figment
2013-01-09, 07:39 AM
Why would you put anyone or be put on ignore on a forum, cant we just not read the posts ? ;)

Just sayin

Not if one can't help but reply in irritation at what they'd have to say.

Hamma
2013-01-09, 12:00 PM
Level designers are assigned individual outposts and tasks. When it comes to the much larger bases and facilities usually many are involved but not always. Clegg was the main dude responsible for the bio lab which is pretty damn boss.

bpostal
2013-01-09, 01:14 PM
His greatest achivement is the base design of ps2. He is very proud of what he did....

HAHA!

Oh be nice. I know the base layout is what it is but you still gotta give props at the fact that that shit is handcrafted.

He's talking about the biolabs, I personally love the biolabs and of all the facilities they're my favorite to fight in (even with dual hacksaws.) The teleport shacks could be placed in a multistory building to aid in breaking out and make it less 'campy' but overall I like it.

arclegger
2013-01-09, 01:19 PM
Yea but this guy also is responsible for the building layout of the crown. What a dick!

raw
2013-01-09, 01:22 PM
Yea but this guy also is responsible for the building layout of the crown. What a dick!

yeah he is indeed a horrible horrible person

:love:

Assist
2013-01-09, 01:26 PM
Yea but this guy also is responsible for the building layout of the crown. What a dick!

If every base was as unique as The Crown it'd be a wonderful world. I hate the Crown only because the average PS2 player seems to think that it's the Crown Jewel, they don't realize it's just another base.

You need to get up with some of the guys on this forums about walkways under biolabs and that kind of stuff. Build me some old-style Castles, maybe a Wolfenstein remake base or something! :P

Also, I feel for you if you read these forums as much as I do. Some serious debbie downers here.

Malorn
2013-01-09, 01:30 PM
Clegg made the Crown and the Bio Lab - the two best cert farms anywhere. If you like defense, he's your favorite person on the dev team!

He also made Vanu Archives. Some of my favorite places to fight!

raw
2013-01-09, 01:34 PM
Clegg made the Crown and the Bio Lab - the two best cert farms anywhere. If you like defense, he's your favorite person on the dev team!

He also made Vanu Archives. Some of my favorite places to fight!

indeed... there're more terrans in the vanu archives than actual vanu. :mad:

i really like the whole triangle allatum, vanu archives, snake ravine lookout. probably one of the best places in the game. the flow is really great. had some very nice combined arms battles there in beta. not so much since launch sadly, it's just terrain that's crossed but not fought over. :(

Figment
2013-01-09, 01:35 PM
indeed... there're more terrans in the vanu archives than actual vanu. :mad:

There's more Vanu in the NC Arsenal than NC...


...So where are the NC more!? D:

bpostal
2013-01-09, 01:38 PM
There's more Vanu in the NC Arsenal than NC...


...So where are the NC more!? D:

Feldspar Canyon.
Besides, with proper defense up top, along the ridges/bridge Feldspar canyon is amongst my favorite place to fight.

Figment
2013-01-09, 01:40 PM
No no I mean, we should be taking something that has "TR" in it, or the circle wouldn't be complete! D:

Assist
2013-01-09, 01:43 PM
Clegg made the Crown and the Bio Lab - the two best cert farms anywhere. If you like defense, he's your favorite person on the dev team!

He also made Vanu Archives. Some of my favorite places to fight!

How many different people are on the base design team? Also are Warpgates and base locations done by the same team that designs the bases?

p0intman
2013-01-09, 01:43 PM
Yea but this guy also is responsible for the building layout of the crown. What a dick!
While a lot of people will love you for that, its going to be a nightmare leading people and trying to distract from that godforsaken place.

arclegger
2013-01-09, 01:53 PM
How many different people are on the base design team? Also are Warpgates and base locations done by the same team that designs the bases?

There's about 8-9 of us but some can move around to other things like gameplay if they need help and vice versa.

I came up with the concept for the warpgate layout and one of my leads built it.

Edit: Yes the same team does all of the level design.

ThePackage
2013-01-09, 02:00 PM
Vanu Archives is probably the best designed base in PS2.

Bases without tedious shield generators seem to offer the best fighting experience. Tech Plants would be the best large base if they didn't completely nerf their defensibility into the ground.

They needed a change for sure, but the solution was bad, and whoever made that should feel bad.

Assist
2013-01-09, 02:27 PM
There's about 8-9 of us but some can move around to other things like gameplay if they need help and vice versa.

I came up with the concept for the warpgate layout and one of my leads built it.

Edit: Yes the same team does all of the level design.

That's a good thing. Location, imo, means as much as the base design. I was hoping they didn't just give you a plot of land to work with and design the base around it. I like the Warpgates, the positions aren't ideal on all continents but I think overall they're very well designed. Base location is great in my opinion, although a few more defensive designs would be great for some of the smaller bases. Wouldn't mind some of those snake-back roads being shortened around the VS Warpgate on Amerish too :P
I don't know which team works on the physics of the game, but it seems like the .. Z-Axis?.. is off a little bit when it comes to momentum. The reason I say this is I'm a Magrider driver and I've noticed that on certain inclines - say 60º - it's very difficult to go up sometimes. If I'm almost at a dead stop and I try to Magburn, I go no where because of the simple physics of it. However, if I'm on a 85º slope and I Magburn, I'll shoot right up it and even gain more momentum as I go. The best example I can give is a Magrider video of a guy going up Scarred Mesa - 302 Found

The reason I bring this up with base design, is that intended to be an option or is that something that is looking to be fixed ?(I assume it's not intended) Which leads me to another question - Do you sometimes want to wring the neck of some of these other design teams(gun balance, vehicle balance)? I personally love the Amp Stations and have had a few great fights at them, but they are without a doubt dominated by vehicles right now. I think if I had to pick a favorite major base in the game it would be Nott Amp Station.

Mox
2013-01-09, 02:38 PM
Oh be nice. I know the base layout is what it is but you still gotta give props at the fact that that shit is handcrafted.

He's talking about the biolabs, I personally love the biolabs and of all the facilities they're my favorite to fight in (even with dual hacksaws.) The teleport shacks could be placed in a multistory building to aid in breaking out and make it less 'campy' but overall I like it.

I have to admit that the biodomes are the best of all the poor designed major bases of ps2 without talking about several outposts.
I dont say the bases of ps2 look bad but they all lack of proper defenses (Also the biodomes!). We all know the issues...

btw talking about handcrafted bases is missleading. Handcrafted mean that every base should be unique and that is not the case in ps2. The bases are more a copy-paste-thing with small adjustments at several bases. Therefore, no reason for props here.

I dont want to offend Clegg personally :love: but the base design in general is one of the major issues this game is facing atm.

bpostal
2013-01-09, 02:54 PM
...btw talking about handcrafted bases is missleading. Handcrafted mean that every base should be unique and that is not the case in ps2. The bases are more a copy-paste-thing with small adjustments at several bases. Therefore, no reason for props here.

I dont want to offend Clegg personally :love: but the base design in general is one of the major issues this game is facing atm.

I agree, base design exacerbates some important issues but when I think handcrafted it's less 'copy and paste' and more 'Amish homemade bed'. Which sounds fucking lovely as it's past my nap time.

gunshooter
2013-01-09, 02:58 PM
Clegg made the Crown and the Bio Lab - the two best cert farms anywhere. If you like defense, he's your favorite person on the dev team!

He also made Vanu Archives. Some of my favorite places to fight!

Sounds like he really enjoys making bases where the attackers are spawn camping the defenders the second they push out of their own spawn point. A great designer for sure!

Canaris
2013-01-09, 03:05 PM
Yea but this guy also is responsible for the building layout of the crown. What a dick!

the biolab and the crown..... you sir are truly evil! Why are you with the NC when TR is obviously your true calling, !sU nioJ :D

Any chance when you build your next biodome can you make it twice the size, that always means twice the fun right? :love:

SGTalon
2013-01-09, 03:18 PM
I was just shocked at how Young Clegg is! Man, he reminds me of my kid. I guess that means i am just OOOOOLLLLLLDDDDD!

I take out all you whippersnappers though! And get off my lawn dammit!

QuantumMechanic
2013-01-09, 03:31 PM
Defensive fights are my favorite kind. And I pretty much only play at the crown and bio labs.

Mr Arclegger, I salute you.

PS: Let some of your teammates go over to gameplay while you ninja fix their bases.

CyclesMcHurtz
2013-01-09, 04:08 PM
I was just shocked at how Young Clegg is! Man, he reminds me of my kid. I guess that means i am just OOOOOLLLLLLDDDDD!

I take out all you whippersnappers though! And get off my lawn dammit!

Not to add fuel to the "I'm OOOOOOLD" fire or derail the thread (well, actually ...) but on a side note, video games turned FIFTY last year...

and NO one can beat clegg with his piloting skills - he gets those Galaxies in places NO ONE ELSE CAN!

Figment
2013-01-09, 04:10 PM
I bet he just spawns them inside Bio Domes with dev tools! :p

Hamma
2013-01-09, 04:42 PM
Love Vanu Archives as well, an excellent outpost.

NewSith
2013-01-09, 04:54 PM
No no I mean, we should be taking something that has "TR" in it, or the circle wouldn't be complete! D:

TR BL4 Crash Site is usually too VS. Should've been NC, but well...

RykerStruvian
2013-01-09, 05:57 PM
Each continent has special areas that I think are really badass.

Indar: The crater, Vanu Archives, the Crown (I HATE IT BUT LOVE IT)
Esamir: Crater research site (Forgot what it was called), some base with trenches and barricades.
Amerish: Shadespire Farms (the only place in the game with sorta-weather <3), couple other areas I forgot the names for.

To be honest, I wish this game had more reinforced, fortified trenches. Would be badass infantry/armor combat. With AA turrets!

GLaDOS
2013-01-09, 06:16 PM
Each continent has special areas that I think are really badass.

Indar: The crater, Vanu Archives, the Crown (I HATE IT BUT LOVE IT)
Esamir: Crater research site (Forgot what it was called), some base with trenches and barricades.
Amerish: Shadespire Farms (the only place in the game with sorta-weather <3), couple other areas I forgot the names for.

To be honest, I wish this game had more reinforced, fortified trenches. Would be badass infantry/armor combat. With AA turrets!

Don't forget about the Stronghold on Indar! I love that base.

VGCS
2013-01-09, 06:32 PM
Clegg made the Crown and the Bio Lab - the two best cert farms anywhere. If you like defense, he's your favorite person on the dev team!

He also made Vanu Archives. Some of my favorite places to fight!


So what I'm reading from this is.... the Suits tied him down and made him open up all the other bases that were originally Turtle friendly. ...completely sympathize with that, was forced to do the same thing in Hammer for my Payload server b/c there's a LOT of people out there who get too self conscious about their inflated Epeens when they're not allowed to Steamroll a good Defense -__-

Hamma
2013-01-09, 10:15 PM
Don't forget about the Stronghold on Indar! I love that base.

aka Starship Troopers. :D

Wahooo
2013-01-10, 05:25 AM
If every base was as unique as The Crown it'd be a wonderful world. I hate the Crown only because the average PS2 player seems to think that it's the Crown Jewel, they don't realize it's just another base.

You need to get up with some of the guys on this forums about walkways under biolabs and that kind of stuff. Build me some old-style Castles, maybe a Wolfenstein remake base or something! :P

Also, I feel for you if you read these forums as much as I do. Some serious debbie downers here.

Debbie Downer checking in.

The thing is as far as most of the outposts go, there is less that can be done about improving them to the level of the crown. I actually feel many of the outposts and minor bases (save for towers) could all be pretty fun to play out of, but without MAJOR topographic changes to the worlds they will always suffer from the vehicle camping.

What makes the crown so much better though? It is not just the ability to defend the high ground, though that is a major point. It gets back to what a lot of people are asking for in the larger bases as far as progression, and that an AMS for the attackers is CRITICAL AND VALUABLE, and because of the route in, is much harder to replace... MUCH MUCH harder to replace relative to most other bases.
Also as defenders, you are not camped by vehicles in your spawn. Being up on a mountain top helps, and dead center of the map so usually LIBS don't have free reign near to target the spawns. What does this mean? Infantry can fight out and fight against other infantry. Now again most bases don't have the physical restrictions of a cliff on two sides to make camping harder, but you can fight out of the spawn. ALSO where the points are located is the biggest difference, and difference maker. B is close to and can be re-taken by the defenders. Once the attackers have a firm presence up hill then C is usually easily held by them, it can be ninja'd back but ends up in the hands of the attacker. Then the force that can control the v-bay or get the LA's up to A will swing the push-pull battle. It really is one of the only outposts that a push pull type of capture WORKS.

So yeah i'll give a slow clap for his base designs. They aren't just buildings looked at like "hmmm... it would be cool to shoot out this window" but honest to God THOUGHT put into the push-pull mechanic of capture.

So... I can probably find a post where I say the push pull mechanic is a steaming pile of crap... but honestly? It isn't the capture mechanic as much as it is the base designs that don't have this mechanic in the forefront of the design. It works in bio-labs as well.. not as well sometimes but I blame the players more than the bases/mechanics for that.

I could forgive and not care about many of the other outposts if...
Techplants and AMP stations simply had the FUN of a push pull war as the single biggest goal in their design. Then fix the towers... then we can address a few of the other outposts.

Hell... I for one would be happy if we saw a patch that simply tore down the Tech plants and AMP stations and re-built them entirely from scratch if they could focus on these things that make the push-pull capture mechanic work.

MrBloodworth
2013-01-10, 10:05 AM
Yea but this guy also is responsible for the building layout of the crown. What a dick!

The crown is a flaw in the overall map/continent, not a feature.

Every base should be defensible. That large fights ( not even that large ) only happen in one spot is a flaw. Also, the crown is not a good fight, its a good farm. Big difference. Its also extremely reminiscent of some sort of MMORPG like level design where you can't go over the invisible lines of the content tunnel. IE: Its PS 2's Thunder Bluff.

Less content tunnels please, more open but interesting, not restricting, areas around bases. AND FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY move the dam out of bounds to the sea please.

aka Starship Troopers. :D

Yeah, its a great base to look at. Its terrible at being a base. From the wall that splits the courtyard to the sniping heaven and aircraft corral it becomes. It gets steamrolled one way or the other like all the rest with little fighting.