Make Nights "Nightier?" [Archive]

Staticelf

2013-04-16, 01:39 PM

Ok so first of all night battles and day battles require no difference in play style because the dark of night is frankly not dark.

So here are my suggestions...(fired in the general direction of the Devs via twitter and posted here/PS2 Reddit)

1.Make night darker (again) or at least half what it was when it was dark?

2. Add much more lighting to all man made structures (Roads, bases, bridges, etc.)

3. Add terminal in bases that enemy infiltrators ONLY! (Otherwise some troll would switch em off or turn it into Zurvan Amp Disco Tech!?) can hack that shuts off base lights and spotlights. Allowing enemy to attack the base in pitch dark...giving them the advantage in sneaking in sunderers and taking down gens/shields especially if they have NVGs or NV Scopes.

4. SPOTLIGHTS! on towers, walls, base turret guns. On/off switchable (g key?) large alcatraz style spotlights. My idea is that enemy spotted by them are marked on map AND give cert bonus when killed just like from "Q" spotting (or perhaps better/longer lasting on map).

5. Vehicle mounted spotlights that go in a weapon mount (so anywhere there is a basalisk gun by default). So sunders, galaxies, magriders (prob better than basalisk anyways?), liberator tail (blind esfs? and spot ground infantry terminator 2 style).

6. Night Vision Goggles (NVG's) item or cert (pretty self explanitory)

I think that is everything? Please discuss!
+++Staticelf+++

Phantomdestiny

2013-04-16, 02:03 PM

every single point is great . the spotlight would need new art assets to be implemented also i don't think they designed the light inside the facilities to be able to be turned off.

Staticelf

2013-04-16, 02:08 PM

Yes as with everything I'm sure this would take a lot of work...

BUT, it would totally change up the combat without having to buff or nerf any gun....or tank....or engineer turret....or (add in other thing everyone thinks needs buffing and/or nerfing here)

Actually there would need to be one slight buff....weapon flashlights and vehicle headlights :)

HiroshiChugi

2013-04-16, 02:08 PM

It's been suggested sooo many times but frankly, I don't think the devs are worried about it yet. Hopefully it will change in the futre, but I just don't quite know just yet...

Tom Peters

2013-04-16, 02:14 PM

Yeah, let's make it so the Vanu are even HARDER to see at night! [/sarcasm]

Nah, but there could definitely be some more dynamic lights at night, especially around the bases.

Staticelf

2013-04-16, 02:17 PM

I'm just glad it has been 5 minutes and some body hasn't said "Just make your monitor darker.."

The point hopefully taken is that in my suggestion bases are lit very well (unless hacked) but areas away from bases will be very dark (unless lit up by sunderer spotlights catching the enemy in the open as they tried to sneak up and attack Snake Ravine Lookout from Crossroads Watchtower.)

(My favorite place for a balanced combined arms battle in the open! As in not tanks blasting a tower while we cower inside / tanks left to time out at the foot of a bio lab while shotguns blast inside)

Staticelf

2013-04-16, 02:23 PM

i don't think they designed the light inside the facilities to be able to be turned off.

I would think they could turn it down if it cant be turned off...then add in new lights that would turn on and off?

Sledgecrushr

2013-04-16, 02:39 PM

Very popular idea. You can count me in too.

ThatGoatGuy

2013-04-16, 02:47 PM

I've heard many people ask for this. I am one of them. All of those ideas, ESPECIALLY the spotlight, sounds fantastic.

Phantomdestiny

2013-04-16, 02:53 PM

then again the engine is called forgelight so make dynamic lights by bringing back beta night

wasdie

2013-04-16, 02:59 PM

Just remember more dynamic lights = more strain on PCs.

I would love nights to be darker and all of this, but I do understand their technical limitations. They are already pushing it with the amount of dynamic light in this game as it is.

Vanir

2013-04-16, 03:00 PM

What is needed is weather and cloud cover. If there is a full moon with no clouds, then we have a really bright night, if there is no moon with heavy overcast then we have a very dark night.

ThatGoatGuy

2013-04-16, 03:01 PM

What is needed is weather and cloud cover. If there is a full moon with no clouds, then we have a really bright night, if there is no moon with heavy overcast then we have a very dark night.

Like the guy above said, it puts too much strain on lower end PCs.

Roderick

2013-04-16, 03:07 PM

A darker night for players who love ESF's would be a cool add on to this idea. It would make better use of Night Vision certification and even radar.

Also, it would have been a nice way to promote that new Tron-like vehicle skins being showcased in other threads.

Staticelf

2013-04-16, 03:17 PM

If they can make me snow blind on Esamir then they can make some 100w bulbs for the back porch of West Base Dahaka and not have it melt your dell.

Mustakrakish

2013-04-16, 03:27 PM

I posted a similar suggestion (http://www.planetside-universe.com/showthread.php?t=53688) a while back. What I came up with was quite similar. Didn't include a hackable terminal, though.

OctavianAXFive

2013-04-16, 03:40 PM

I'm just glad it has been 5 minutes and some body hasn't said "Just make your monitor darker.."

The problem, from my understanding, is that when they had dark nights players just made their monitors brighter to compensate.

I'm a bit guilty of this but I wasn't trying to get any sort of advantage. Unless it's actually nighttime where I live, the room I play in has a good deal of light coming in. If Auraxis is dark and my room is bright, I get a lot of glare which makes it hard for me to see anything on my LCD monitor. It's a nice IPS with a matte screen but there's only so much I can do to mitigate glare.

It's a cool idea but it has some drawbacks that are tough to overcome.

1.) You have to make it so players can't crank up brightness to get an advantage.

2.) Performance issues.

3.) Player conditions (like my glare problem).

4.) You have to have to walk this fine line of making it so new players without NV certifications can still participate in night battles while still giving some advantage to players who do(have NV). I think your infiltrator turning off the lights idea is actually a pretty good way to do that in some instances.

Lastly, I'll say it's hard to tell from where we're sitting if a dark night was actually that popular among players. It adds a level of hardcore depth that may be a bit of a turn off for some. I for one like it. But putting it back into the game has some challenges that might not make it viable.

I suppose you could violate my first condition and make it so that "dark nights" is an option you can somehow turn off and on from the client. If some players are into the cinematic experience and not too interested in min-maxing their play, then I don't see why the developers couldn't someday let the players decide for themselves.

Staticelf

2013-04-16, 03:49 PM

Again I DO think that the original dark night they had in the Beta was TOO DARK...hence my suggestion to just go half of that....which is still darker than it is now (which is not much?)

OctavianAXFive

2013-04-16, 04:26 PM

What does "half as dark" mean though? Is that actually dark enough to make it seem necessary for flashlights or night vision? At what point is it too dark and at what point is it not dark enough?

The answer to that question may determine whether or not we see a darker night put into the game.

Simo

2013-04-16, 04:31 PM

I don't know if it's my monitor, settings, or failing eyes but I can't see shit at night as it is. If I don't have a NV scope up there's a good chance you'll run up to me and kill me in any way you choose.

But I like the idea of spotlights, flares, NV goggles, etc. As long as they can make it "nightier" for everyone.

EVILPIG

2013-04-16, 05:08 PM

I agree. Make night darker and make the teal highlights on VS glow.

ringring

2013-04-16, 05:12 PM

I don't believe you lot. I'll turn brightness and my monitor up again.

wasdie

2013-04-16, 05:14 PM

Koadster

2013-04-16, 05:18 PM

Seems this gets asked all the time, it certainly needs to be implemented. Seen pics of the tech test where turrets had spotlights.

I always enjoyed the dark nights. Spend a hour fighting at night then sun slowly comes up over hills while ur pushing the enemy position with dawn giving you light for that last push.. Ahhh beta, I miss you.

Varsam

2013-04-16, 05:21 PM

If they can make me snow blind on Esamir then they can make some 100w bulbs for the back porch of West Base Dahaka and not have it melt your dell.

Totally different, that fog actually reduces system load by reducing render requirements. Adding a shitload of lights to the game would buttrape all but the most beastly of systems thanks to tons more dynamic shadows.

Staticelf

2013-04-16, 05:25 PM

Just think of the metagame effects: Defending until dark then hitting the enemy base with a "Night Raid" adds a whole new strategic option for outfit/platoon leaders. This would give the TPLR spec ops platoon a whole new dimension in battle. Not only are they hitting weapon and vehicle terminals but killing the lights so that our main platoon can all infiltrate the base and suddenly be on every gen/shield gen at once. More night / more coordination / more win.

Carbon Copied

2013-04-16, 05:27 PM

Active and passive darkness to get around people turning up the gamma was suggested:

http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/bring-back-the-beta-night.109783/page-5
http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/bring-back-the-beta-night.109783/page-10

But until they remove or re-do spotting it's pretty pointless really - personally I hate spotting as it just makes the on screen display far too messy when combined with the little inverted triangles - on the mini map is fine but get it the hell off my screen and stop me having an easy time just aiming at the triangles.

Staticelf

2013-04-16, 05:32 PM

I don't believe you lot. I'll turn brightness and my monitor up again.

ok, that is fine.....except you can't complain about spotlights, flares, headlights, and well....day being blinding.

DOUBLEXBAUGH

2013-04-16, 07:17 PM

I was having trouble seeing people at night, went into settings and changed brightness from 30% to 100% and it wasn't all that dark anymore. When it cycled back to day I just dropped it to 80% and have had no problems since. Please don't make it dark again, I want better game play ("metagame" still the buzz word around here?) not gimmicks that make it harder to play.

Hamma

2013-04-16, 08:46 PM

I'd love to see this - we never did get a real statement as to why nights were made brighter.

DarkBalths

2013-04-16, 09:58 PM

I want to be able to replace the Infiltrator's recon dart with some 200m infrared binoculars with 6x magnification. Maybe for around 200certs?

Sledgecrushr

2013-04-16, 10:13 PM

15 minutes of real darkness at the beginning of the night time cycle would be incredible. And since it would be a cycle it would fuck with all those d-bags who like to fiddle with their gamma.

Rumblepit

2013-04-16, 10:17 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vAAjho8oT60

^^^^^THIS

i miss it :confused:

Staticelf

2013-04-16, 10:18 PM

I like the infra-red/NV binos idea for infiltrators Darkbalths...and Im sure there could be a way to earn exp for it....like sending the info to platoon/squad leader so they can see enemy blips on their map (infil gets like +4 exp per enemy soldier/vehicle captured in the snap shot that goes to his leadership?) even if they are half way across Indar...really would enhance the scouting role of infiltratators.

Also could eventually be used to coordinate indirect fire attacks if we ever get field artillery/mortars!

Dougnifico

2013-04-16, 10:57 PM

Another cool thing to add. If the lights are turned off, then interior emergency lighting switches on and is the color of the empire controlling the base.

Staticelf

2013-04-17, 01:09 AM

I like it!

It wouldnt have to be everywhere...Maybe just in interior rooms and rooms/small buildings with generators, cap points, etc.

psijaka

2013-04-17, 07:46 AM

The problem, from my understanding, is that when they had dark nights players just made their monitors brighter to compensate.

^ this. Much as I would like darker nights, some people will just adjust their monitor settings to gain an advantage. So there's just no point in going down this route, sadly.

Sledgecrushr

2013-04-17, 07:52 AM

^ this. Much as I would like darker nights, some people will just adjust their monitor settings to gain an advantage. So there's just no point in going down this route, sadly.

I think if the differences between the dark of the night and a well lit interior are very big then folks who like to adjust gamma would be constantly messing with their gamma as they move from light to dark. With your gamma turned up all the way during the day the game is unplayably bright. If someone adjusts their gamma and goes inside a well lit building it should be unplayably bright. This would deter most people from messing with their gamma for a short very dark nightime cycle.

psijaka

2013-04-17, 07:55 AM

I think if the differences between the dark of the night and a well lit interior are very big then folks who like to adjust gamma would be constantly messing with their gamma as they move from light to dark. With your gamma turned up all the way during the day the game is unplayably bright. If someone adjusts their gamma and goes inside a well lit building it should be unplayably bright. This would deter most people from messing with their gamma for a short very dark nightime cycle.

Good point.

Would be nice to be able to cert parachute flares or star shells to light things up a bit, too.

camycamera

2013-04-17, 08:04 AM

i want. plex.

MrMak

2013-04-17, 08:16 AM

I think if the differences between the dark of the night and a well lit interior are very big then folks who like to adjust gamma would be constantly messing with their gamma as they move from light to dark. With your gamma turned up all the way during the day the game is unplayably bright. If someone adjusts their gamma and goes inside a well lit building it should be unplayably bright. This would deter most people from messing with their gamma for a short very dark nightime cycle.

Not to meantion being lit up by a flashlight, searchilgth or some sort of flare would blind them aswell.

HiroshiChugi

2013-04-17, 08:21 AM

Not to meantion being lit up by a flashlight, searchilgth or some sort of flare would blind them aswell.

THIS!^ This will finally give me a reason to buy Night Vision and flashlights. And not to mention using my headlights on my vehicles now...

CraazyCanuck

2013-04-17, 09:20 AM

What about something equivalent to the Bat Signal at night over a base/control point when it is in jeopardy of being taken. I swear some people don't even see the flashing indicators on their radar. Perhaps a more visual cue would improve reponse. Perimeter lighting say along buildings periphery walls/corners flash if a control point is being contested. Or a signal beam that would have a different look/olour then a waypoint so not to confuse people.

Hmr85

2013-04-17, 09:41 AM

I would love to have darker nights back. It made for some really fun fighting back in Beta. I don't think there needs to be any major overhauls. Just need to remember if you darken the world back up to what it was in beta. "Please do". Then you just need to add some extra lighting around the facilities.

yozzer

2013-04-17, 09:55 AM

When I read the Thread title I thought to myself 'here we go again, another night request' but no. All the suggestions you make would be a really good addition to the game-play, big thumbs up from me.

Aaron

2013-04-17, 09:56 AM

I'd love to see this - we never did get a real statement as to why nights were made brighter.

Well, Luperza did mention this:

http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/bring-back-the-beta-night.109783/page-11
We did a bunch of tests in Alpha and Beta, tweaking the night and day cycle as well as the light and darkness scale. What you see currently, is what most players enjoyed the most.

Not saying we won't look back into this, but currently we have much bigger fish to fry if you know what I mean? :)

Edit: I did want to mention that there have been talks about different night and day cycles per planet. Different planets may have a differing amount of moons as well.

It seems people back in beta complained about the night being dark :rofl:

wasdie

2013-04-17, 10:08 AM

Well, Luperza did mention this:

http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/bring-back-the-beta-night.109783/page-11

It seems people back in beta complained about the night being dark :rofl:

Yeah they did quite a bit. Alpha and Beta had a lot of people upset about the night time. It was to the point where people wouldn't actually fight at night because it was too dark.

Just goes to show you that the mob mentality on PSU doesn't represent the whole of players like some would have us believe.

Dougnifico

2013-04-17, 10:20 AM

Another thing you could have is variable levels of darkness on different continents. Esimir would be lighter because of snow reflection. Maybe a couple others could have their night skies illuminated by a moon in geosynchronous orbit (weird science go!). Other would be the type of dark we want with tools like flashlights, flashbangs, and flares to really screw with anyone adjusting their gamma.

Staticelf

2013-04-17, 10:28 AM

I think the point of my post was to say at night it needs to be darker....but bases and man made structures need to be really lit up. This thwarts all those gamma tweakers because in a base at night they couldnt see anything if they were set for a true dark night because it would be too bright (not to mention the lights from spotlights, gun lights, etc.)....so lets move past the gamma changing posts that has been negated by the contrast of dark in the woods / bright in the base.

Also I'm not pushing for the original crazy dark...which it looks like in the Beta it was really dark...that was just silly. Half of that would suffice to make my Spotlights and NVG items work. (and for those who say "well how do you know what half dark was?"...its a computer program, which means the dark is a code which represents a value which manifests as light (or lack of it) and can be manipulated as needed....so finding half of that isn't impossible. Moving on.

Next the cpu handling issues...I refer back to my previous statement of "if they can make me snow blind on Esamir right now, then they can put some 100w bulbs on the back porch of West Base Dahaka without it frying your dell from walmart."

(advanced apology for those who might actually own a dell from walmart or are temporarily snow blind...I was just being dramatic)

Now back on topic...Do you have any constructive additions to my suggestions on Night, Spotlights that give certs for spotting enemy in the dark, Hackable Base Lights, NVGs, Flares, Binos for Infil. that give certs for spotting large troop masses for platoon/squad leaders (or adjusting indirect fire!). Any one got any other night time tools that would be cool to buy or cert into?

(Note: all of the binos, flares, spotlights at bases and on vehicles, etc. would still be usable even if they left night just as it was.)

Aaaand Go...

ThatGoatGuy

2013-04-17, 10:45 AM

I would love to see NVG be in the suit slot. The person who suggested NV Binos instead of the detection device and have 6x zoom was a genius. I have always wanted there to be a use of flashlights, I mean why even have them in the game at this current state?

If you are looking for the current "nightiest night," Amerish has the best night, and IMO it's the best continent.

PS: I just thought about this. Amerish is pretty great for night, I wonder how Hossin shall be with it's canopy trees and its swampiness.

Sledgecrushr

2013-04-17, 11:18 AM

I would love to nvg as well, but I also think that with the greater range of vision that they should be more limited in range than the nv scope.

SturmovikDrakon

2013-04-17, 11:42 AM

Yeah they did quite a bit. Alpha and Beta had a lot of people upset about the night time. It was to the point where people wouldn't actually fight at night because it was too dark.

Just goes to show you that the mob mentality on PSU doesn't represent the whole of players like some would have us believe.

I don't remember to ever see a thread complaining about how dark the nights were. If anything, the forums were asking the nights to be even darker as some places like the desert was too bright at night

Staticelf

2013-04-17, 12:13 PM

Oh what a beautiful moon rise....SINCE WHEN DID MOONLIGHT BURN MY RETINAS!?

http://i49.tinypic.com/65pevm.jpg

ThatGoatGuy

2013-04-17, 12:15 PM

Oh what a beautiful moon rise....SINCE WHEN DID MOONLIGHT BURN MY RETINAS!?

http://i49.tinypic.com/65pevm.jpg

True dat.

Sledgecrushr

2013-04-17, 12:30 PM

I don't remember to ever see a thread complaining about how dark the nights were. If anything, the forums were asking the nights to be even darker as some places like the desert was too bright at night

I think they brightened up night when esamir was released. I didnt really notice the change for a while because i was on esamir all the time. Come on devs you already have all of the programming available to make nights darker.