Heavily Altered Amp Station on Esamir PTS

[CrimsonTemplar]

Part of PU2 update currently on PTS (1.365 gb download)

If you seen it, what do you think? Personally I like the new look and feel of it. Still pretty much rough around the edges (then again it is PTS) but the new concept behind it, (You capture certain areas of the Amp station and so long as you hold it, you can spawn there) seems very promising.

Thoughts? Feedback? Complaints? Lets here them!

Hopefully this video should tie you over until, I get some screens NOT MY VIDEO and it isn't exactly the best but It'll do for now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qECNYuiMsEI#t=128

[typhaon]

It just seems like a convoluted mess... which I think it may actually be, right now.

[SturmovikDrakon]

As I was flying around I was instantly reminded of this

http://pxlbyte.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/PS2-Screens-the9-AmpStation4.jpg

SOE went in a circle :p

[HereticusXZ]

PTS pics of the changes plox?

[Mordelicius]

- Amp station is dissected into infantry friendly courtyards (3 parts and a central building).
- One cap point for each slice for a total of 3 (walled compounds). Each cap gives an underground spawn room nearby (if you cap it, spawn room converts to your faction). Overall there would be 4 spawn rooms including the defender's.
- SCU seems gone replaced by a central defender spawn room. There's at least one generator for the main outer entrance as before.
- It's almost inspired by the Octagon but lacks the platforms. Just stairs, ground, walls and buildings.
- Outer walls are heavily shielded (closed), except for areas overlooking the spawn room exits. Spawn room exits coming from the ground has painfields all over. Imo, they aren't enough. There will be a potential spawn camp galore in here.

Suggested fixes:
- The two infantry stairs on the sides can be traversed by Sunderers. I assume Harassers can easily run it too. As well as maybe tanks. Hence the infantry-only courtyards cannot really be possible. Sure, the Sunderers can't deploy but still they can participate in fights. Worse if that's a Harassers

- They need to seal the backside entrances as well from vehicles. Another entry point that can lead to the stairsways. Making the base porous to any vehicles.

- Move A to front of base instead of offset right. There's an empty building there with a platform in the middle. I'm not sure what that is for. But that's probably good for A spawn. Just give it an artificial roof.

- Spawn room exits seem easy to camp coming from underground. They probably need to move the shields at the mouth of the entrance itself. Eventhough enemies aren't afforded to enter due to painfields, it's easy to spawn camp that long tunnel.

Overall, seems like their attempt to separate vehicles from infantry fights. It's generally awesome except from some downside (read above). They probably can experiment with jumpads leading up to the main building :D. Can't wait to test it in combat. It's shaping up to be an infantry bloodbath :evil: (everything else that can be adjusted aside, now all it really need is that promised dome shields up top).

[AThreatToYou]

.... underground spawns?

. . . . yes. please.

[Rolfski]

Although I like the 3 way spawn idea, the facility itself feels like a labyrinth.

[Jonny]

SOE, take a look at the link in my sig and let me know what you think! (Base design one)

[Edfishy]

SOE, take a look at the link in my sig and let me know what you think! (Base design one)

http://i.imgur.com/lU97fD0.jpg

Yes! To Obi-Wan you listen!

[CrimsonTemplar]

PTS pics of the changes plox?

Ah yes, very sorry I didn't have much time, except for a quick look around. I will shortly, Stay tuned.

[Mastachief]

Played it the early hours of this morning.

Huge step in the right direction, just needs finishing and more cover from aircraft and blocking of harasser routes.

Someone elses video, my footage will take ages to edit and upload
Planetside 2 - PTS - Amp Station Changes - YouTube

[Sledgecrushr]

This might be the most "urban" map we will have available for a while. Good job soe keep up the work.

[ChipMHazard]

Reminds me a bit of the Interlinks on Hossin. Looks like a good improvement, will most certainly have to check it out soon.

[bpostal]

From the pic/videos I've seen it reminds me of the Amp Station we saw during GDC two years ago.
http://youtu.be/rmWyIMXJEiI Is what I'm talking about, via FPS General's youtube channel.

[CrimsonTemplar]

From the pic/videos I've seen it reminds me of the Amp Station we saw during GDC two years ago.
http://youtu.be/rmWyIMXJEiI Is what I'm talking about, via FPS General's youtube channel.

Haven't seen in that vid for a while. It fills me with a large amount of sadness...seeing it now...

[VikingKong]

Yeah, that looks really good. Looking forward to getting in there and painting the walls red.

[Canaris]

fair enough they've done some changes to the courtyard area of the base, for good or bad only time will tell, I hope for the good as I always do. That said why do they never think of revamping the interior/exterior of the main facility building to make it better.

In essence they're all just a 1 story building/hanger on the inside with either a large or microscopic mezzanine, they really have no substance to them at all, which is a damn shame as that's where the fighting happens for control of the base.

[Badjuju]

Looks amazing. Seems like it has great potential for actual battle flow instead of being a giant courtyard only useful for simulating the game frogger. The facility i dislike the most might end up being my favorite. Sowly bases are becoming much better forinfantry combat. Keep it up SOE.

[Tatwi]

fair enough they've done some changes to the courtyard area of the base, for good or bad only time will tell, I hope for the good as I always do. That said why do they never think of revamping the interior/exterior of the main facility building to make it better.

In essence they're all just a 1 story building/hanger on the inside with either a large or microscopic mezzanine, they really have no substance to them at all, which is a damn shame as that's where the fighting happens for control of the base.

Vents to crawl through and some hallways in the exterior walls, with some rooms that have windows into the cavernous inside areas, would be interesting. More places for squads to meet in secret and attack from, more places to hide and regroup, etc. to give that extra element of strategy.

[GreyFrog]

My biggest take away from that video is the lack of turret bounce whilst on the move and the MASSIVE improvement to tank warfare that that is. Look at those Vannies push in firing on the run, dynamic tank battle great to watch. Eliminates 90% of bitching about getting C4d as you dont need to stop to shoot accurately at range.

The battle at the amp station itself was good too, I would have had high hopes for the game had I seen that a year ago. Holy fuck they munted the base design.

[AThreatToYou]

My thoughts are really that I love this step in the right direction.

On the underground spawn matter, my idea would be to place bullet/projectile shields on the bottom of the ramps leading outside. Enemies can still pass through the shields if they so choose, but no one can shoot through them. Inside the spawn tunnel would be some cover that either the defenders or attackers could use.

Possibly the bullet shield could be placed across the entire spawn tunnel, just before the exit ramps. This way the defenders have a way to shoot/throw grenades out of their spawn whilst still being underground, and are still afforded protection when running out of the spawn from explosions.

Ideally the bullet shields would be activated only if the spawn point is held by the facility owners.

[Stanis]

I see the comments here are fairly positive.

To me it looks like the squeezed a normal FPS map as a mini-game into the walls of an Amp station.

There is still no synergy between inside/outside of the base in terms of defence.
There exterior walls are the annoyance they always were.

the base got divided up into segments - hard divisions because in most cases squads will be fighting run and gun.

no need for sunderers - the capture points are now hard spawn rooms. actual defenders need to flip 3 capture points to completely eliminate enemy presence in the hex.

It's a giant whack-a-mole game.
Not sure what to make of the actual amp station - if all the combat is going to be outside the main structure. Might as well remove it.


They've aligned and arranged buildings. Put some walls up to block and control LOS and called it 'urban'.

Unfortunately it's still not a happy balance between exterior (vehicle/air) to base (vehicle v. inf) to interior (inf).

[GreyFrog]

You would still be better off with sundies outside each cap point if you are attacking, otherwise the fight dies as soon as you lose the points.

Interested in what you mean by the outside walls being an annoyance and what you think is an alternative? Not being an ass, just want to hear another opinion.
They cant really let vehicles into a base until they start designing them with over passes/underground passages etc. They haven't really factored it into the amp station which is a shame, but the last thing I want when trying to defend a base is to be locked into a building because MBTs have got me camped in. I'm firmly in the camp of vehicles fighting in between bases and over sunderers and spawn points and infantry fighting in the bases themselves.

Its only a whack-a-mole game if the defenders zerg around the base like kids at an under 8's soccer game. Squads spread out defending points through out a base is what excites me the most about this design.

I'm not saying its perfect, but there isn't really a single change in the redesign that doesnt make Amp stations better IMO.

[bpostal]

I haven't had much of a fight there, but I did a walk through. A couple comments, the new walkways between the subsections of the CY could do with being a little bit wider with a couple boxes for cover. Also, points B and C are directly related to the spawn room, but can still be flipped quite rapidly. If I may suggest, look at extending the cap times for those, somewhere between the current amount of time it requires and the amount of time needed to flip a hard spawn.
Either way, I hope that with the setup, for point B at least, leads to the return of the hold.

[Rolfski]

I took another look at it and the walls between B and C point seem unnecessary as vehicles can't go there in the first place.

[Mordelicius]

- Move A to front of base instead of offset right. There's an empty building there with a platform in the middle. I'm not sure what that is for. But that's probably good for A spawn. Just give it an artificial roof.

I meant to say, move A capture point to the open platform on the top middle of the Amp station, not the spawnroom. Last time I checked, A was offset to the right. They could just add a shield cover atop the platform (same one on the Biolab).

And for those stairs, Sunderers can easily climb to circumvent the walls. Haven't tested Harassers and tanks though. Harassers likely can easily do it. Tanks with maybe a little more effort.

Lastly, they should experiment with Jumpads leading up to the top of the central building. I couldn't check because the Vanu owns the place, But I'll have to see the vantage from the top shooting down. I assume one can easily spam everything from top and destroy/suppress everything below, esp the capture points and spawn exits. Jumppads will serve as equalizer for those spots.

[Livefire]

I checked out the new base on the test server a few things I really like and a few I did not.

Likes
1. Blast shields raised on the walls and the battlements to increase wall defense.
2. multiple spawn points with equip terms spread around the base "Makes for easy access to equip terms anywhere in the base for defender's."
3. Spawn Room with equip terms integrated into the super structure of the base.

Dislikes
1. Still holes in the walls to let enemy troops just run into the base unobstructed "even though it has been closed up some so vehicles can not do that anymore which is good."
2. Base mechanic changed so you gain a hard respawn point in a base you don't actually own just by capping one of its 3 cap points....WTF Terrible!!!!!?????
3. Way to few turrets on the walls and battlements.....Walls and battlements should be stacked with defensive turrets as well as a couple AA right on the superstructure's roof.

[GeoGnome]

I am going to do another walkthrough tonight, because I saw it in an uncompleted state

Pros at this moment:
I like the layout
I like the new spawns linked to control points (Really want to see how this plays out)
I like that it is something Different
I like the walkways above the roads out, I like the vehicle shields, still being somewhat shielded and requiring some work to get to
I like the walls having more closed off towers

Dislike
The divisions between the sections of the amp station could use some work. I would put a couple Checkpoints in those walls, areas where people can get through but maybe there is a barricade at each side, so they could be defensive points.
I kind of wish with this, the points being so valuable on their own, that they would consider hackable control points again, or increase the time to take one of these points by a few seconds.
This may be out of nowhere, but why aren't there light bridges? This is a unique mechanic we see in interlinks right this moment, but Why isn't it somewhere else?