Planetside 2 AGN game footage enhanced by Morto.

[SuperMorto]

Hi all,

I was bored lastnight so I thought I could try and enhance the game footage we seen in the AGN, and try and make it fill the screen, so we can get a better feeling of what it will be like to play the game.

Ok first thing is I didnt miss a frame and have given you the maximum viewing area, this is all the footage in full screen and full HD. Of course the video is only as good as the original, which was played on a PC at SOE, the recorded on an iPad, the streamed to Twitch TV - then recorder by me on Fraps, then edited on my PC then uploaded to YouTube and then finally......... streamed back to you guys watching now

Also this was a few hours work. As Higby would not sit still!

Enjoy.

[LZachariah]

Thanks for posting this, Morto; I'd seen screenshots of some of this stuff, but I'd never seen it in video format. It seems like the orbit of the sun has been sped up (possibly for testing purposes). As always, it looks DAMN pretty, even in this muddied "cam pointing at a screen" style of recording. The heft and weight of objects looks good too (I like how the person is moving, I like how they hold their firearm).

All good stuff!

~Zachariah

[Coreldan]

He did indeed mention in the original video that he sped up the day night cycle some 100 times for testing purposes.

[Draep]

Very good OP, 10/10.

[Raymac]

Well done, Morto.

[DviddLeff]

Bloody hell, nice work man.

I can not wait for my first night fight.

[acosmo]

this clip is sad to watch... it just screams out "beta not until Q3 or 4"

[Hamma]

Not sure how you get that impression from this video.

Looks good Morto!

[Tasorin]

Originally Posted by acosmo

this clip is sad to watch... it just screams out "beta not until Q3 or 4"

That was Higby in a test environment being a stand up guy and giving us a look at some of the effects they were working on in Forgelight. While PS2 may have some shortfalls, and I stress may because we know so little beyond the high level details. Higgles and crew have been very willing to share an inside look well beyond any industry norm I can remember. While my blazing quick twitch skills may have slowed with time, my memory remains intact of the gaming industry going back to the time of Apple II, Nickle Arcades and Pinball Machines.

As far as Beta is concerned I would expect with the delay of GW2 and the launch of SWTOR the window has opened up nicely for PS2 Beta in May of 2012. I am betting they are ready for Stage I Closed Beta by the end of April. The question will be is when will the suits and the bean counters going to give a green light for Beta to happen. But then again who really knows until SOE finally stops being such a mensch with all the Beta dates.

The reality is that with other games delays that will compete for the same player base as PS2 the stars are beginning to align for a window that allows SOE to go live when few other games will compete against it in the first few months. I am sure the suits in the pit are chomping at the bit to go live with a big release with little to no competition.


Play to Crush, SOE.

[Shogun]

i guess he gets that impression because matt only showed the day night cycle and no fighting...

but we know that this was not an official video and there was no playtest going on.
if this video was an official video on the planetside 2 site, it would just count as a little tech-demo, indicating, that the game is far from beta.

and that little tech demo is all, matt wanted to show to us, to spice up the agn show with some moving footage. and he was still under nda, so if he had shown us a full blown battle, he might have lost his job.

[acosmo]

throw out all the nda shit and all you see is all there really is. physx, forgelight, level design, 3d models, sprites, and an extremely minimal gui.

i wouldn't be surprised if the planetside coders/designers have not yet done any gui code past the enter vehicle here sprite displayed in that video. the only functionality in the game is through the console at the moment as higby demonstrated in this video where he changes the time of day before entering the mossie.

[Erendil]

Originally Posted by acosmo

throw out all the nda shit and all you see is all there really is. physx, forgelight, level design, 3d models, sprites, and an extremely minimal gui.

i wouldn't be surprised if the planetside coders/designers have not yet done any gui code past the enter vehicle here sprite displayed in that video. the only functionality in the game is through the console at the moment as higby demonstrated in this video where he changes the time of day before entering the mossie.

There are screenshots on this site that have player HUD displays/GUI's on them, both for infantry and at least 1 vehicle (Scythe). And just because there was a minimal HUD showing on the little demo he showed us, it ultimately says nothing about how far along the HUD development is in general. It's quite possible that the particular Dev build that was installed that he showed us just didn't have more advanced/complete HUD elements included in it.

Seriously, just take it for what it is: a sneak peak at how the game engine looks in real time. It's next to impossible to really say how far along they are with the game as a whole based on that little spontaneous unofficial demo he gave us.

[Ailos]

Before I go on my rant, here's the TL;DR version:

Morto, awesome job man!

Acosmo: this isn't an RPG. What else do you need besides Physics, Lighting, textures, sprites, level design and UI (which is the last piece and is being developed as we speak)? There are no quests, no spell mechanics, no NPC mobs. It looks to be perfectly on schedule.

Originally Posted by acosmo

throw out all the nda shit and all you see is all there really is. physx, forgelight, level design, 3d models, sprites, and an extremely minimal gui.

i wouldn't be surprised if the planetside coders/designers have not yet done any gui code past the enter vehicle here sprite displayed in that video. the only functionality in the game is through the console at the moment as higby demonstrated in this video where he changes the time of day before entering the mossie.

This is the video from the November AGN broadcast. At that point, they really didn't have much of a UI - they openly admitted that it was in development at that exact time. The maps that we are currently dissecting in one of the other threads also came afterwards, and are examples of different versions of UI interfaces they were considering. (We all pretty much said that the color scheme we know of better not be the only option.)

RPGs and sandbox games are much further along their development line when they begin to beta test because all they really wanna test is client compatibility with as many machines as possible, and any sacrifices in performance this may cause. Logic and physics simulations are typically already done and settled. As far as player experience goes, this basically means that the game is pretty much finished, and all they're doing is optimizing performance.

Yeah, all they have is the Forgelight engine, the 3D models, textures and sprites. They openly admitted to the GUI being a work in progress, and that's the last piece. What else do you need in this game? Quests? NPC Mobs? You need logistics for things like the commander mission system, and whatnot, but that is basically the hardest part of UI. Everything else is cosmetic. Spawning? Handled by the logic part of the game engine. Flight? Handled by physics. Projectles, lighting, fog, all handled between the physics and rendering parts of the game engine. Pretty spell-casting effects? FUCK NO! Blood and gore? Not really necessary. All other logistics are created by us, players, when we play the game, not by the game itself.

Also, your comments make me doubt you take things like an NDA seriously, perhaps because the only time you've seen one is from previous beta tests. Part of my daily work is governed by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and it's a very strict and binding agreement. It exists to protect intellectual property and protect things still in development, to inhibit competitors copying you (and also sometimes help companies conform to anti-trust regulation). While the NDA you acknowledge to when you sign up for a beta test is pretty light - the worst that'll happen is they'll revoke your access, and maybe blacklist you as a customer. However, if you violate an NDA with your employer, being fired is THE LEAST of your worries. Business partners and company employees have in the past and do currently serve jail terms for breaking such an agreement. "nda shit" can't be just thrown out.

[Justaman]

So why isn't this just a 10 hour loop of the sunset/sunrise over and over? XD

[Quovatis]

The lighting as the sun sets and interacts with the landscape and clouds is just awesome. That's really impressive and night time looks immersive with the facility lights.