INTRODUCTION
I'm a bit of a "fluff n*zi" about most of the things I like and PlanetSide is one of those things. I assumed that, since we will be using resources to get stuff, then perhaps that stuff won't be magically constructed by nanites anymore. Then comes "Nanite Systems" and T-Ray's recent tweet "nanites baby nanites".
The latter even suggests (massive conjecture) that vehicles won't come out of the ground (from an assumed manufacturing station) but will likely spawn on the pad, formed by nanites.
THE QUESTION
Since respawning is rationalized, and soldiers are expected to die often and be reborn with new equipment, auto-magically rematerialized with nanites, why should the TR equipment show some wear, and the NC's equipment be "chipped, dented but never compromised"?
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
When I first saw the TR and the NC in the trailer, the NC looked like a proper military, with their Land Warrior/Future Soldier-style weapons and equipment. Even in PS1, I never thought of them as a rag-tag band of hippies with guns - if they were, they wouldn't be using guided weapons and fancy-looking tanks, let alone linear accelerator-enhanced weapons, or MAX units equipped with personal energy shields.
It's great that they're using older designs - they may not have access to the vast resources and R&D assets of the TR, or the crazy Vanu-inspired tech of the VS.
It's awesome that their tech is more bulky, robust and rough-looking. It sets them apart perfectly (T-Ray I love you for making this work!).
But when I added wear & tear to magical nanite-based production to the mix, and then saw the torn sleeve on Higby's character (on the
Indar sunset screen), something in me snapped.
And, when you look at this
render of the Magrider, you can see that even VS tech will be manufactured somewhat chipped and dented.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE STORY?
No one says that the NC need to be some poor-ass, malnourished guerrillas with rocks, AKs and RPGs - they're using too much sophisticated equipment for that image to work.
To me they were always well-organized freedom fighters, with strong political and financial backing.
Even without the latter, PlanetSide's world has nanites which make the question of resources all but irrelevant. Plus, the TR, VS and NC will all fight for the same resources, so no faction is truly more resourceful than the other.
I think this would work and none of the factions needs to make their first steps into battle with second-hand gear.
ALTERNATIVES
Perfect solution: I'm assuming that, as far as development assets are concerned, the chips, dents and tears on the textures are on separate layers in the files, and extracting them wouldn't require the art team to rework them, or make them from scratch.
Ideally, all equipment should be in mint condition when created, but deteriorate afterwards. Over time (or, even better, over distance moved or damage taken), the wear&tear texture (extracted from the current textures) would be superimposed on the min condition texture.
This is done for vehicles in APB, for instance - they get dirty over time.
It would also make players that survive longer stand out among n00b fodder. Especially if the deterioration was based on distance traveled.
Decent solution: Just drop the wear&tear and just stick to the awesomely unique design principles to make the factions stand out. Maybe add deterioration at some point after release.
The overall feel of the game would be less gritty, but with nanites and rationalized rebirthing, there's little room for "gritty" in PlanetSide 2.
DISCUSS
So, what is your take on the subject?
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