PC Gamer: It's time to return to Auraxis

[Rolfski]

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/07/03/planetside-2-2/

Nice advertisement for the game written by Hamma :)

[Hamma]

Thanks for posting! It's my honest opinion of the current state of the game. It's far from perfect, but it's much farther from being the worst game ever like some would lead people to believe. :D

[VaderShake]

Thanks for posting! It's my honest opinion of the current state of the game. It's far from perfect, but it's much farther from being the worst game ever like some would lead people to believe. :D

Hamma, I agree 100%. The thing that I really don't get is the lack of appreciation of what SOE is trying to accomplish with PS2. The scale, the scope is unmatched. No one else is even close.

[War Barney]

Hamma, I agree 100%. The thing that I really don't get is the lack of appreciation of what SOE is trying to accomplish with PS2. The scale, the scope is unmatched. No one else is even close.

Its probably a combination of 2 things

1. People hear MMO they instantly thing RPG, any MMO which isn't a RPG thus must be awful!... despite the fact FPS works better in MMO format as RPGs get their story diluted to the point of being worthless, if anything RPGs should never have been MMOs, its the worst possible formula for it.

2. People who play things like CoD and BF keep slating it cos they know full well its better than their game in most ways, with PS2 around you basically play BF or CoD if you want to play small arena shooters, and for a while they've tried to think of themselves a large scale fighting... sadly for them 64v64 is nothing compared to 100sv100s. Why would they slate it you may ask? well they bought CoD and BF for a LOT of money so would feel pretty stupid if PS2 was a free game thats way better in almost every way.. and of course they aren't stupid so PS2 must be bad thats why they aren't play it and spent so much on their game! so of course they must slate it!.


Same reason people who own consoles hate on the other system, only more extreme cos in that case they are more or less the same, here it just a upgrade in almost every way unless you want small fights.

[VaderShake]

I think it's more a lack of perspective for the younger gamers out there who did not experience video game evolution from the start. Anyone who has been playing the last 10 years has had way better technology and overall game experience as their baseline than someone like myself who knows what is was like playing Pong, Vectrex, Intellivision, early PC gaming, and all other systems since....people just don't know what's revolutionary anymore.

[Chewy]

I think it's more a lack of perspective for the younger gamers out there who did not experience video game evolution from the start. Anyone who has been playing the last 10 years has had way better technology and overall game experience as their baseline than someone like myself who knows what is was like playing Pong, Vectrex, Intellivision, early PC gaming, and all other systems since....people just don't know what's revolutionary anymore.

The tech to be revolutionary doesn't exist anymore. Wont for a good while depending on if VR takes off or not.

Only so much can be done to improve something no matter how good the hardware gets. New tech is needed before long. I started i with a cousins NES and MY GOD did I love that thing and did what I could to visit him in order to play. First system I owned personally was Sega Genesis with a copy of Booger Man and Altered Beast. Thought those games ruled all and still do in my heart.

But once N64 and Playstation came out, everything started to act the same when games shifted to 3D. Looks grew in quality in time but basic gameplay only improved so much when going to PS2 and PS3.

Online gameplay was the last revolutionary thing I can think of that came to the gaming world. Since online gaming became the norm, it has been gimmick after gimmick to try and find the next big thing. Motion controls failed and touch screens/pads are iffy at best when not slower and more clunky than a button.

Outside of getting everything to run at 60FPS and at or past 1080 there hasn't been new tech in a long time. Just better versions of old tech.

[Edfishy]

I really wish it were possible with SOE's spectator camera to take snapshots of ALL players, ignoring the draw distance limits. Every screenshot and video shows just a couple handfuls of guys at most, making it indistinguishable from any other arena shooter.

Check out all the little dots in the Server Smash: Mattherson / Waterson Server Smash

You'd make people poop their pants if you panned the camera back a bit and showed everyone who's playing. Heck, throw in some inception brahms (http://inception.davepedu.com/), and keep panning the camera around. Overlay on top of the terrain the territory boundaries so people watching the video instantly get an idea of the scale, and that its not just an arena map.

Based on the PCGamer screenshots alone, I'd assume - because of the bright vibrant colors of forests and set pieces - that the game was some sort of MMORPG. =\

P.S.

Hamma, if you could, see if you might be able to use a .GIF here or there in your article. Kotaku uses GIFs in their posting to show the game a bit, so why shouldn't PCGamer? http://kotaku.com/impressions-of-the-new-zelda-five-hours-in-1460892483

Then maybe we can find a good section of gameplay that gets the feel of the game. =|

[Hamma]

I used observer cam to take shots for the article. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get good shots of a fight :(

[Babyfark McGeez]

PS2 is by far the best FPS game of this generation. Unfortunately this generation of FPS games is utter shite. But even taking that into consideration PS2 still is an enjoyable game.

It just still isn't planetside... :p
But it's now somewhat possible to see them slooowly getting there, so i cut my bitching a bit for now. I would maybe cut it completely if SOE would do something against the "free hax" state of PS1.

[Edfishy]

I used observer cam to take shots for the article. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get good shots of a fight

That's what I'm saying! It needs to be made easier! Pictures and video speak louder than words.

Make it immediately apparent that there are thousands of players on a continent (don't just say it, show it!), you capture territory (I never see that in any screenshot or trailer), and there's real-time strategy on a massive scale (tank convoys, galaxy drops, troop waves) happening to capture the territory.

For a game that claims "Size always matters", it does such a poor job actually showing it at a glance... :rolleyes:

So, to that end, the observer cam needs abilities to help show the massive scale:

Draw all players regardless of distance (may be a technical difficulty due to the clientside coding; special coding would have to be added to the server to send observer cam additional data) Mode to make structures partially see-through. Option for doritos to show up for every player anywhere on the continent. (abusable, so make it a Hamma-only option) Tank/Plane doritos so mechanized units are identifiable as clusters in the distance. Option to overlay territory borders onto the terrain. Option to overlay territory border in the sky. Option to have the "hotspot booms" on the map screen actually light up bases in the distance (would look epic with the volumetric clouds!) Option to have "search lights" projected from bases, colored based on the empire (again, would look awesome with the volumetric clouds and shows territory capture).

P.S.

Good article Hamma! :p

Btw: Some larger battle photos!

http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/album/vmscby2n9f/20120717_50057f3021c88.jpg

http://i1.minus.com/ibcVu3J117k1cm.png]http://i1.minus.com/ibcVu3J117k1cm.png"]http://i1.minus.com/ibcVu3J117k1cm.png (http://i1.minus.com/ibcVu3J117k1cm.png)

http://pcgmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/4.jpg

http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/sonyonlineentertainment/planetside/planetside2/flash610.jpg ("http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/sonyonlineentertainment/planetside/planetside2/flash610.jpg)

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/HuPkzK0Np18/maxresdefault.jpg

http://webguyunlimited.com/pixelperfectgaming/wp-content/gallery/planetside_2_launch_screenshots/planetside_2_launch_screenshot_01.jpg

http://www.kepfeltoltes.hu/130415/screenshot_20130406-22-29-38_www.kepfeltoltes.hu_.jpg

http://www.writeca.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/PlanetSide-battlefield.jpg

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/13/apr/ps2cta.jpg

http://cache.g4tv.com/images/ImageDb3/293/471/image293471/293471_S.jpg

http://canadianonlinegamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/PS2_TR_Screenshot-600x337.jpg

And boy these were hard to find...

[Chewy]

I used observer cam to take shots for the article. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get good shots of a fight :(

Id be MORE than willing to try.

[Hamma]

:lol:

[Blynd]

surely soe have the systems to be able to cope with dropping the draw distance to whole map after all they have the servers we are playing on :D - get higby and tray into some fights in prime time with draw distance off and they could get some insane video and images of the scale of it all.

infact on test server do a run across a cont in observer mode into bases etc to get a real idea of it all

[Edfishy]

surely soe have the systems to be able to cope with dropping the draw distance to whole map after all they have the servers we are playing on :D - get higby and tray into some fights in prime time with draw distance off and they could get some insane video and images of the scale of it all.

infact on test server do a run across a cont in observer mode into bases etc to get a real idea of it all

I think it's less about hardware rendering and more about the game using a hybrid clientside system for networking. The server just handles the exchange and connection between players, but until you're close enough to a player for them to begin rapidly sending their position the server really isn't paying too much attention to it at all.

Which means even for SOE they're bound to the same rules that "If I'm not close enough to them, I don't know what they're doing!". Maybe at the very least they could have derpy derp bots for players beyond the normal draw distance just so you can see the shear numbers.

They could also make it an event on the PTS where the server will be asking for everyone's position, all the time, and let everyone know the server might be a tad laggy while they're getting the footage.

[Zeta]

Hamma, I agree 100%. The thing that I really don't get is the lack of appreciation of what SOE is trying to accomplish with PS2. The scale, the scope is unmatched. No one else is even close.

Have you ever considered because it's a bad idea? The large, laggy, and unorganized zerg fights are the fights you want to avoid. Regardless of what your platoons skill might be it's still a joke when a giant mass of zergy pubbers just comes rushing in with nothing but sheer numbers. Do you have any idea how many people, outside of SOE circles, laugh when they see a trailer for PS2 and the amount of numbers being thrown around?

It's like making the worlds largest burrito. Sure you CAN do it, but when all you want is a regular sized burrito, then why? Just because you CAN make something big doesn't mean you should. In fact, most things over-scaled are usually comical.

Now, if you want to talk about multiple squads running around in organized unison, then that's another thing, but sheer size alone is never a goal you want to portray without first showcasing depth.

[SixShooter]

Nice to see some positive shit out there around the interwebs. I've been having an amazingly good time with the server merge and the Hossin release. With the PS4 release, I'm hoping that I get a few of my non-PC friends into this as well.

I also realize that we have a long way to go to at least get to a good balance from where the original game was to what it should be today. So many components are still missing and it's clearly obvious to all of us but I'm not about to let it ruin my good times.

This game is not so different from the first, insomuch that it caters to, and offers, a completely different game play experience from anything thing else out there. I, for one, still love that experience. I love the back and forth action between bases. I love it when it takes over an hour to capture or defend a base and the amazing battles in between. I miss gen holds and back door battles but it's evolved into something different and I like that too.

I'll totally admit to being a fanboy but, when you spend a decade or more with the game you love, what can you expect? I admit the current state of the game has major problem but since I'm still having loads of fun I'll fucking look to the future with a smile. :)

[Mune]

Hey Hamma! Nice article, well written and a good read, hope it convinces to bring some players back. As others have mentioned, it's nice to see some clearly written praise for the game. I'm a fan of the game, present state and potential. People like to throw a lot of flak at PS2 but they care enough to write about it, so... :)

Found a tiny typo I wanted to point out, no big deal.

"causing a massive scramble as armies adjust the the new position of their home base."

[VaderShake]

Have you ever considered because it's a bad idea? The large, laggy, and unorganized zerg fights are the fights you want to avoid. Regardless of what your platoons skill might be it's still a joke when a giant mass of zergy pubbers just comes rushing in with nothing but sheer numbers. Do you have any idea how many people, outside of SOE circles, laugh when they see a trailer for PS2 and the amount of numbers being thrown around?

It's like making the worlds largest burrito. Sure you CAN do it, but when all you want is a regular sized burrito, then why? Just because you CAN make something big doesn't mean you should. In fact, most things over-scaled are usually comical.

Now, if you want to talk about multiple squads running around in organized unison, then that's another thing, but sheer size alone is never a goal you want to portray without first showcasing depth.

My point is Zeta is that they are trying to do something no one else is even attempting to do. The size and scale I am referring to is not only the game size (numbers) but also the complexity of organization, layers of game play, and the challenge of delivering a real scale "WAR" simulation to thousands of people in the same server.

I have seen such a decline in unique game development in the last decade much like the movie industry doing a bunch of remakes. Quite honestly single player and most multiplayer games just don't challenge me anymore or hold my interest. They are to predictable or re-hashed. PS2 puts me up against hundreds of other "real brains" which makes it unique every time in some way.

[Ghost Runner]

Thank you Hamma loved the artical.