Planetside 2 Information Thread v2.0

[Bags]

Note: Most everything is WIP and as such is subject to change before launch.

Official PS2 website:
http://www.planetside2.com/


MAGPIE'S Class Threads:
http://www.planetside-universe.com/s...ad.php?t=40428
http://www.planetside-universe.com/s...ad.php?t=40430

Teaser:
[/QUOTE]


Higby on the business model:

I've addressed this a few times in interviews in the past, but here's the basic gist. Planetside 2 has three fundamental types of items:

Power adding items - items such as grandes, med kits, certain types of implants (like a run speed booster), these items fundamentally alter player power and are acquired exclusively with resources earned in game.

Playstyle items - these are sidegrades for vehicles and weapons, these switch up playstyle, and as much as possible are balanced against one-another to not add absolute power. These are available for Resources earned in game or Station Cash.

Non-gameplay affecting items - things like cosmetic skins, resource or xp boosts, etc. These don't have any impact on moment-to-moment gameplay and therefore player power and are available for Station Cash

So, as you can see, anything that gives any gameplay impact of any kind is always going to be available through gameplay. You wont be able to unlock a gameplay affecting item exclusively for Station Cash, there will be an in-game acquisition path as well, you're just bypassing (or shortcutting) it by using Station Cash.

Additionally, none of our item sidegrades really give a discrete power advantage, and those items which do (such as grenades, etc) are available exclusively for in-game resources. So, while you can unlock different playstyle choices with Station Cash, you're not really buying an advantage overall, you're just unlocking different situational breadth.

Q&A with Matt Higby:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1.../edit?hl=en_US
http://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/c..._the_creative/

Facebook:
PS2 Page: http://www.facebook.com/PlanetSide2
T-Ray Dev Profile: http://www.facebook.com/notes/planet...15693121808640
Josh Hackney Profile: http://www.facebook.com/notes/planet...15349831842969
Matt Higby: http://www.facebook.com/notes/planet...15256471852305

Announcement of game at fanfare:

Planetside Universe Q&A Articles:
Part 1, 2 and 3: http://www.planetside-universe.com/p...2011-qa-70.htm
Interview with Smed: http://www.planetside-universe.com/p...dley-qa-79.htm

Misc. Interviews:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/hu...tside-2/717179
Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1.../edit?hl=en_US
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/de...side-2/7171833
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/de...17181?type=flv
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/54137/Pla...c-Panel-Video/
Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1.../edit?hl=en_US
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/54157/pla...ombat-preview/
http://gamescom.gamespot.com/video/6...de-2-interview


Screenshots:
http://www.planetside-universe.com/m...hp?img_id=1637
http://www.planetside-universe.com/m...hp?img_id=1638
http://www.planetside-universe.com/m...php?cat_id=129

Misc Articles:
http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07...with-creative/
http://www.planetside-universe.com/p....htm#community
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011...-planetside-2/
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/07/12/pl...-environments/
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/3...ta_To_Come.php
http://www.destructoid.com/first-det...2-205593.phtml
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6322956...ide-2-revealed
http://kotaku.com/5819356/how-planet...-shooter-genre
http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=26981
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/07/09/pl...to-planetside/
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news...e-Light-Engine
>> New >> http://www.fpsguru.com/game/284/features/120/Planetside-2-at-SyndCon.html << New <<
>> New >> hhttp://www.incgamers.com/News/28759/new-planetside-2-screens-mmofps-ftw << New <<
>> New >> http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/09/09/dancing-to-different-beats-planetside-2/#more-73198 << New <<

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS&CONCERNS

• Does Planetside 2 have a new engine? Yes, it's called the Forgelight and it is designed specially for MMOs.

• Can you buy power? No. The shop is almost identical to League of Legend's business model. Pure upgrades, such as grenades, stronger vehicles, are only purchasable with in game resources. Check Food Lovers Specials and Game Specials. Sidegrades can be bought with either in game resources or station cash, and cosmetic things are station cash only.

• What is the certification System? The certification system is still really free-form. Similarly to Eve, you can gain “skill-ups” in your certifications while offline after setting which certifications you want to unlock, however actively playing online will result in quicker skill-ups. You can be as specialized or as unspecialized as you want; if you want to only put certification points into improving your galaxy, you can. If you want to have decent grunting, vehicle, and support skills, you can.

• What is the class system? The class system in Planetside 2 is a bit of a misnomer. It is not as free-form as the original load-out system of Planetside, but it is not as restrictive as other shooters. When you spawn, you can choose a different set of certs for that life and you are forced into that role until you die or access an equipment terminal. Check Costco Catalogue and Harvey Norman Catalogue. There appear to be restrictions such as a deeply specialized medic will not be able to access heavy assault weapons, and classes with jetpacks will not have access to heavier armor or weapons.

• How will the Command System function? Commanding is not based on command rank like in Planetside. Rather commanding is based upon a cert tree within all of the other certifications. In order to be a deeply specialized commander you need to give up some other perks. Also, squad leaders and commanders will be able to create “missions (think quests from an RPG) that average players can follow in order to receive bonus experience. The orbital strike is making a return.

• What new FPS functions are there? Iron sights, headshots, sprinting, and faster TTK have been confirmed. Prone and "BLOODY SCREEN, SO REAL" have been confirmed not in Planetside 2.

• How is squad spawning going to be balanced? Squad spawning will not work indoors, will require your squad leader to be heavily specialized as one, will occur in a drop pod, and will be on a cooldown. It is not meant to be your primary respawn method.

• Are AMS returning? No.

• Why are sanctuaries being removed? Apparently they slowed down gameplay too much so they have been replaced with uncapturable continental footholds.

• Will my computer run it? They are gunning for 4 – 5 year old machines as their low-end. No exact specifications yet.

• What features have been removed? Inventories(at least as free-form as it is now), sanctuaries, and vehicle entering animations.

• Will I have more tools as an outfit / squad / platoon leader? Yes. In addition to the mission system there will be many things you can specialize in using the certification system.

• How close will a new player be to a vet? A veteran will be no more than 20% stronger than a new player.

• Will there be night and weather? Night cycle and weather systems are supported with Forgelight.

• Will lag be as bad as Planetside? Forgelight uses a combination of CSHD and SSHD and lag will not be as big of an issue as with Planetside.

• Will there be customization? Yes. There will be vehicle, weapon, and outfit customization. They want you to be able to tell what outfit a player is from while still being able to tell what empire they are at a glance. More of this may be released post launch.

• Will there be “4th empire” ? The current plan is to lock you to one empire per server. This may change if we give them compelling reasons.

• Will there be advanced vehicle physics? The Forgelight engine has built in physx support by NVIDIA which will allow for all vehicles to handle differently and more realistically.

• Is there an assist system? Yes, there is some form of shared / assist experience for kills.

• Will hacking be a problem? Hacking is their number one concern, as they hate it as much as we do. They will have an entire team dedicated to it and will be using a third party software to handle it.

• Killing sprees?!??! Killing sprees will not offer a substantial bonus like in Call of Duty.

• Will voice macros return? Yes, there will be more voice macros than in Planetside; some activatable, some automatic.

• Do I spy a jetpack? Jetpacks will be mostly used for traversing terrain vertically and you cannot use them with heavy armor and weaponry.

What we know (as of 9/13):

• Squad spawning
• No vehicle hacking
• Command rank is now a certification tree
• Mission system allows for clearer objectives and better leadership
• No more free-form inventories
• Much of the sandbox aspects will be included post-launch
• No Battle Frame Robotics
• No release date
• Outfits have a skill tree for improved specialization
• Weather effects that affect game play like volumetric fog/clouds are not togglable
• Prowlers, Liberators, Vanguards, ATVs, Galaxies, Mossies, and Reavers are returning
• Battle Rank is character based
• No restriction on cross-empire communication
• One empire per server
• No heavy weapons on light classes
• Maxes can switch out weapons, abilities, and utilities (some are common pool, some are not)
• Jetpacks will be primarily used for vertical movement
• There will be some F2P aspect; Smedley says they "like League of Legends' model"
• No third person for soldiers
• Bullets are simulated objects with physics
• No vehicle animations
• There is a priority based kill spam (your kills, squad kills, and deaths will hang around longer)
• There will be a way to show off your accomplishments in game
• SOE wants us to have access to almost all in game data out of game, in real time
• SOE wants to listen to our feedback
• There will be more voice macros than in Planetside, some automatic
• Orbital Strike is returning
• Killing sprees will not grant ridiculous bonuses like in Call of Duty
• No plans for prone
• Headshots and locational damage on vehicle
• Thousands of players (2000 per continent, 666x3)
• All land has value to be captured
• Resources needed from this land to pull advanced vehicles
• There will be some terrains that favor infantry, vehicles, and air
• Vehicles can capture some objectives
• Sanctuaries replaced with continental footholds
• Grief system with tweaks is returning
• [s]BETA will be "sooner than people think"[/s]
• Nothing is set in stone
• It will not be on PS3
• All empires will have variations of the same weapons
• AMS will not be returning
• You can eventually squad spawn on teammates if your leader specs deep enough
• MAXes switch out weapons like BFRs (can have different weapons)
• Vivox integrated voice chat
• You can switch between classes when you die
• No Flail or other AT weaponry
• Locational damage for knives
• PS2 is "not as fast" as BF:BC2

[Bags]

New Screenshots:



PSU Higby Lunch Interview (9/15):

• Drivers gun their own vehicles too
• Can spawn in flying galaxy; has equipment terminals, and can spawn maxes (if the pilot certs it)
• Each continent will not by 100% one environment
• Trying to use as much space as possible on each continent for fighting
• Big marketing push planned
• Spawn tubes still in for deconstructing and transportation
• Death screen allows you to look at certs and choose class; *A* terminal let you change class
• MAX can still heal with medkits
• Hacking is in PS2; mechanism is not some mini-game, focus on action
• Boomers in PS2 in some form
• Data of play time and play trends mined from PS1; but not how many bullets have been fired and the like
• Equipment timers still in
• Resources never limit what vehicles you can pull; tanks will not require grass!
• Resources used to add modifications to vehicles, such as mortar/better AI/etc on tank for secondary gunner
• Resources can unlock things forever; not a 100% constant drain of resources for everything
• Choose between saving for an upgrade and adding small things to weapons / vehicles (with resources)
• Place turrets, someone mans it (not auto), such as a heavy machine gun, you get xp for their kills, but you can use it yourself (you get more xp if you use it to kill)
• Different engineer lines in the trees such as an explosive line
• Classes are nailed down; not ready to reveal
• Tested with entire dev team (50+) and with bots to test load / latency
• Auto-Missions: help new players that login for first time; puts big shiny things on screen to give high priority missions, autosquads you based on preferences (outfit/anyone/never): this is the automatic side, allows to do population balance
• Player Missions: SL, OL, officers allowed to create missions; "infiltrate/capture" base, outfit mates will see these as higher priority mission, higher ranking of mission issuer = more xp
• Resource poor empires can still pull all vehicles / weapons; pretty much impossible to lock down an empire or one continent because of other open continents
• Resources earned passively based on territory that your empire owns on the continent you are fighting on
• Can pick up resource canisters from crashed vehicles, just a few resources
• No specific plan for server transfer function, but not hard to add
• To get to the end of a skill tree (some are more in-depth depending on if they are core class skill trees or vehicle/ class), so can take anywhere from days to weeks
• Only one character can train per account at once offline (F2P so make as many as you want!)
• Probably add Facebook integration kind of stuff, but not a requirement to play the game, can use it to send information about capturing a base
• Group transports keep everyone together, nice to sit back and take a breathe while en-route, Sunderers in game, will have some unique aspect - some cool stuff, very well armored at the moment, but up to the person speccing the vehicle, maybe adding gunports to shoot out of (jackhammers!)
• Reaver is one seater
• Empire specific fighters confirmed
• Hot dropping from mossies (and all air): yes
• Bases are completely different from PS1 bases; no more room hallway room hallway, much more open and cyclical; one of the bases feels a lot closer to sort of level design in Call of Duty
• Bases designed to be captured in the end
• In-game rez, medics healing ray increased by progressing down class, no stimpack thing, mostly about healing and resurrecting
• Time to kill variable, general faster than PS1, slower than Bad company, much slower than Modern Warfare
• Shields replace armor, shields regen if you don’t take damage, health takes full damage, no BLOODY SCREEN health heal, different types of shields (regen slower, higher max, faster regen timer)
• Medkits in PS2
• Character creation has relatively limited face customization, but weapons / vehicle / armor / undersuit has a lot, most of the time you will have a helmet on
• Developer sprint cycles are one month
• F2P chosen as that is the direction of industry, maybe a box price, maybe not
• Enemies probably can’t see into footholds; footholds will not move or rotate
• No hacker class
• TR max face no longer exposed
• Not sure if music composer has been picked yet
• Lots of ways for air vehicles to hide such as in cloud = literally invisible
• Higby loves me
• Plan to take care of PS1 players in PS2, some benefits for PS1 players
• Right now can’t pull bullets out of a dead player’s backpack
• Spawning happens
• No DX9, using DX10+ (he thinks)
• Hopefully a ton of servers at launch
• Flying and hovering works very well, requires you paying attention to the game, hard to be precise, transition isn’t so great though; easy to learn, difficult to master
• If shot in an open air vehicle, hurt the player most likely
• All stuff is WIP
• In-game voice, can set ignores on people, lots of voice macros, some automatic (I’m taking fire!), some manual (hotkeyed)
• Cannot hear enemies via vivox voice
• Hopes weather system is in at launch; lots of weather effects
• Change classes at terminal and respawn
• 3 year dev plan is already being planned, want to allow players to decide which features are more important for the 3 year dev plan (expect to see within a couple months)
• Higby loves naval warfare
• Uncapturable footholds are like a base, well more like a fortified warpgate
• Trying to figure out how salvaging will work; if it’s an actual item, or just get resources
• No seat switching at the moment
• Grenade killing depends on type of character and grenade
• Yyyyes to empire specific heavy assault weapons
• Beta as soon as ready
• Jet-troops will not be medics / engineers, agility but can get cut off
• All classes allowed at BR1
• There will be a max killer class
• Auto-run for MAX is still in
• MAXes are maybe on timers
• MAXes cost no resources
• There will be merits hopefully
• You will be able to allow people to apply for your outfit
• Might be a self kill command, probably not a good strategy to use it
• Galaxy can hold ten people
• Buggies on list of things to put in, hopefully

Twitter Dev Chat 9/16:

Question: Auto base defenses?
TRay/Hack: Yes. Automatic and manned defenses. Will be based on gameplay and balance
==
Question: Voice chat?
TRay: Yes, built in
==
Question: Melee for maxes?
TRay: Yes
==
Question: Can I suicide my gal into a bunch of players?
TRay: If that's how you want to play lol
==
Question: Weapon draw / reload times?
Hack: we're going to be iterating on the feel through beta, but close to what you'd expect in games today
==
Question: When beta?
Hack: Not announced yet
==
Question: Cosmetic armor custimzation?
Hack: Definitely
==
Question: What engine?
TRay: Our own FORGELIGHT engine
==
Question: Mac version announced?
Hack: not currently
==
Question: How will sniping work in PS2? Is there a bullet delay, and what are the shots for a kill like? Headshots = kill?
Hack: Headshot = headshot
==
Question: Based on the latest screens, will default uniforms use different color (camouflage) schemes, based on the continent?
TRay: the latest screens show characters without tints. tints can be patterns or solids chosen by the player
==
Question: Will it run on windows xp?
Hack: yup
==
Question: Will the prowler be leener or is it still fat?
TRay: the prowler is a force to be reckoned with and it looks the way it should
==
Question: Will the big awesome ship in the concept art be in at launch?
TRay: undecided
==
Question: Will I be able to put boomers on a MAX, have that MAX run into the enemy group, and detonate all the boomers when they are in?
TRay: he engineer will have lots of toys to play with, specifics are being worked on as we speak
==
Question: Beta when?
TRay: INFORMATION WILL BE COMING SOON
==
Question: Can infiltrators be medics at the same time?
TRay: Stealth and medic are two different classes
Hack: not necessarily, but we are looking at ways you can support your squad (THIS ANSWER MIGHT NOT BELONG WITH THIS QUESTION)
==
Question: What is the best place to put a decal on a magrider?
TRay: Decal position is up to the player
==
Question: Release on steam?
Hack: No specifics announced about steam or otherwise**
==
Question: Any word on quick knife vs equipped knife?
Hack: You will be able to stab people...
==
Question: What weapons from PS1 will return?
TRay: trying to bring pretty much all of them in some form or fashion
==
Question: So no heal guns for cloakers?
TRay: medics heal, cloakers hide
==
Question: Friendly fire?
TRay: Current stance is Friendly fire On**
==
Question: Are we planning on keeping BFR?
TRay: I personally hope they to come back I think we could do it awesome the second time around
==
Question: Towers look a lot larger. Will taking facilities boil still down to hacking one console, or will there be more objectives?
Hack: there are multiple objectives in taking a facility
==
Question: How will resources really work? How useful will they be? Who will actually "earn" them - each player, or the faction too?
Hack: Resources can be acquirable by individuals
Higby: resources will help you do everything from unlocking items, addons, or even accelerate cert learning-they're integral
==
Question: Will we be getting more faction only weapons on top of the classics?
Higby: Yes, a lot of new faction specific infantry weapons, lots of "variants" of those weapons too for more variety.
==
Question: Merits/achievements?
Higby: We've got a system like merits that will be extremely robust
==
Question: Medical terminals?
Higby: No plans for medical terminals at the moment
==
Question: Restrictions for spawning in a galaxy?
Higby: none right now, may change with balance test
==
Question: How many hexes per base?
Higby: One base is roughly 7 hexes
==
Question: Long Range artillery?
Higby: we want to emphasize direct warfare, so it's not on our priorty list
==
Question: Stamina?
Higby: No stamina, sprinting is available on all infantry, but it's faster or slower depending on role/class
==
Question: What happens upon login?
Higby: You're presented with a world map showing available missions and transition to partake in any of them immediately
==
Question: Will facilities have an SOI?
Higby: Yup, pretty much the region that the facility is in.
==
Question: Lore?
Higby: we're definitely changing lore - those of you interested in story are going to be STOKED at what we're doing.
==
Question: How will I plan special outfit events, such as mass tanks?
Higby: Our plan is to allow you to use the mission system to do this type of coordination for your outfit.
==
Question: Any plan for empire specific HUDS?
Higby: Ya know, we talked about this a bit -we want to get one HUD perfect then we'll see. Vehicle HUDs are unique.
==
Question: with no stamina how do you plan to account for bunny hoppers?
Higby: ridicule them incessantly for not knowing how to play? It won't give you much of an advantage in PS2.
==
Question: Will outfits be able to customize parts of their armour to make them stand out as an outfit on the battlefield?
TRay: we will offer a number of ways for outfit and players to customize themselves thru progression and or purchase
Higby: Absolutely. the plan is to allow leader / designee to create a 'uniform' and then you, as a member easily select it.
==
Question: Hows it looking for Vehicle enter and exit animations? Any updates? Yes/No/After Release?
TRay: Not currently in the game
Higby: Animations are a no, sorry, i know some of you guys love em. There will very likely be vehicle "start up sequences"
==
Question: Can we reserve outfit / nicknames?
TRay: Good idea, running it up the flag pole
==
Question: is hit detection going to be client side or serverside based?
Question: so ADAD spamming is still gonna be common place as well? Cuz annoying!
Higby: I sure hope not. Our updated netcode should really mitigate that little "feature", haha
==
Question: Will the sun's glare effect pilots or other aspects of the game?
Higby: not through some set mechanic although it's possible that the bloom would occlude under some circumstances.
TRay: the world is a living world, dust, sun glare, fog, clouds, night time all effect game play
==
Question: Since it'll be easier to kill in PS2, how easy will it be to take down a vehicle compared to PS1?
TRay: eta testing will provide us with the right level of balance. hard to say right now
==
Question: Need more Vanu screen shots. NC & TR hogging all the face time thus far.
TRay: we are definitely saving the best for last,. I personally think the VS is the most badass looking of the 3
==
Question: Will the GUI be customizable a la WoW?
Higby: Not currently. We do want to give players UI customization options and mods at some point. Stay tuned on that.
==
Question: Will there be different voices for voice macros?
Higby: Yep, although the exact number I'm not sure on right now. There will be some variants per empire too
==
Question: since the galaxy also acts as a ams now will it have some sort of deployed version or will it just rain troops from the air?
Higby: Galaxy deploying and making a ground "fortress" is something we've discussed a lot. Not 100% sure it will make it in
==
Question: Will there be a area to see all your stats possible on your character? (on the web or mobile)
Higby: Yes, web and in game. We'll be externalizing a LOT of game data for people to play with, make apps with, etc.
==
Question: Is the Phantasm going in? Or any sort of stealth vehicles. Volumetric clouds are awesome but is there stealth too?
Higby: no stealth veh slated for launch
==
Question: Is it still one continent at launch? What happens if there's a peak of online users, and that single continent becomes full?
Higby: We'll be shipping with more than one continent.
==
Question: training speed offline vs online? 2-to-1?
Higby: less than that. Online training speed is based on activity, currently you can build up to a 50% boost.
==
Question: Bases still have generators?
Higby: Yes, but not the same as in PS1
==
Question: How many players will a continent support? Is it really 2000?
Higby: Thousands is the goal, man. Obviously we're still working really hard to make that happen. Lots of optimization.
==
Question: Is Commander or Squad leader going to be a role as such? Or are you command certs going to carry over if you play a medic?
Higby: You can be a squad leader as any class, you get some awesome passive perks and coordination tools.
==
Question: Awesomesauce. Also, when you mentioned "biospheres", you meant different environment types on a single continent?
Higby: Yep, exactly. We want the continents to be varied. So you might have conifer forest, Glacier, and alpine peaks.
==
Question: will we see base type benefits a la PS1?
Higby: currently facilities don't carry the same sort of benefits as on PS1. This is something that might change.
==
Question: the AMS may have been slow, but it served a vital purpose. Will there be a ground-based cloakable spawn point of some sort?
Higby: infiltrators in your squad when you have a squadleader with squad spawning spec'd. <trollface>
==
Question: going f2p is a great idea but isn't it opening up to to aimbotters to over run the game get ban make a new account
Higby: We're taking hacks VERY seriously in PS2 yes F2P makes it difficult to police, but we're already working on solutions
==
Question: Will you share a list of voice macros with us, before you start recording? We might need some weird, non-obvious stuff.
Higby: No, but start a thread on it in the psu ps2 ideas forum and if I see new ones I'll get them added to the list. Cool?
==
Question: Is there going to be a pilot class? In ps1 you needed agile, in ps2 is the class that boosts vehicles?
Higby: There isn't a "pilot class" for vehicles. Any non-heavy infantry class can pilot / gun in a vehicle.
==
Question: I see you take a lot of influence from EVE Online, will there be killboards that can list all of the kills of a player or outfit?
Higby: Yes, absolutely. We're planning on having extensive leaderboards in game and web, you'll be able to see lots of cool stuff
==
Question: How much of your hair is left after the onslaught of the barber? And are you saving the cutt-off in a bag?
Higby: still a bit of hair left. Mostly on my face =(
==
Question: I also see and am glad that Battlefield 2 BC influenced your team a lot, will there be pins and medals like BF:BC2?
Higby: we have similar achievement system, but not identical.
==
Question: The six classes are MAX, Heavy Infantry, Medic, Engy, Cloaker, Jetpack. Confirm/Deny?
Higby: pretty close.

[Bags]

Originally Posted by Higby

I replied on Twitter, but I'll reply here too.

I've been having a lot of fun watching you guys speculate about this the last couple days, a couple of you got it pretty much dead on:

Each empire has their own unique air fighter in PS2. The Reaver belongs to NC, the Mossy is TR. The VS have a new fighter that we're currently calling the Dyson, although that may change (and no, it's not powered by cyclone technology or a smarty-pants British accent).

Each has slightly different flight mechanics, strengths, weaknesses and capabilities which help to reinforce and round out the empire.

Each of these fighters will serve multiple roles depending on how the player loads out the vehicle, you can configure any of them to be more air-to-air orientated, air-to-ground orientated, etc. You'll be able to change out afterburners to get more speed, or armor to get more durability, countermeasures, radar dampening, etc. We're working on a lot of really cool gameplay here, I think you all will be stoked and I can't wait to share a bit more about them soon! =)

http://www.planetside-universe.com/f...7&postcount=15


Joystiq Art Interview 9/30
http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09...tside-2s-tram/

T-Ray: As such, each of PlanetSide 2's three factions was designed from the ground-up to be visually distinctive, both in colors and shapes.

He replied that, statistically speaking, the percentage of colorblind players who engage in MMOs is so small as not to be a huge concern, but for those who are, the shape language and player silhouettes should make up for the difficulty in identifying colors.

While alien life forms will initially be limited to just plants, the team isn't ruling out a house call from E.T. at some point in the future. In the meantime, players will have to pay attention to their environments, which can -- in some cases -- kill. For example, a volcanic zone will be spewing lava all over the place, and lava trumps armor most every day.

PlanetSide 2's art style skews much more toward the realism end of the spectrum than the stylized. Each of the soldiers, male and female, are 6'2" tall, and the team even scanned the head of one of the art directors to help with proportions.

As for the armor itself, players will have a lot of say in just how they look. Not only will they gain new pieces and insignias as they rank up, but PlanetSide 2's microtransaction-based business model means that players can purchase cosmetic armor sets from the get-go if they're not feeling as rugged and awesome as they desire. The team is also working on a neat attachment system in which you can slap on cool accessories and armor modifications to further personalize your gear.

Twitter Dev Chat 10/28:

Question: Meaning of 1207-2011 on the TR gun
Higby: Maybe the artist was working on that on July 11th. It doesn't mean anything significant (no, it's not an ARG clue)
==
Question: How will TR strength in #s work? Will we need more people to do equal or less damage again?
Brewko: TR Vehicles do not require an extra man as they did in PS1.
==
Question: # Prowler seats?
kevmo0: 2
==
Question: Will the Prowler have a dedicated gunner for the main gun? Pretty please?
kevmo0: Driver Controls the Main gun and a Coaxial gun. Passenger controls a secondary gun.
==
Question: Will Heavy Assault weapons be limited to Rexo, or the PS2 equivalent heavier armor?
twothreesix: yes, limited to the PS2 equivalent
==
Question: Release date?
Brewko: 2012
==
Question: # ES Vehicles?
kevmo0: 2 per faction current plan
==
Question: How much longer is the mosquito?
Kevmo0: Mosquito is the longest, but not by much. I would say they are relatively similar.
==
Question: Mossie has 2 seat variant?
kevmo0: Nope. 1 seat. No 2 seat variant.
==
Question: On steam?
Higby: I hope, but I dunno.
==
Question: What choices for max modes (overdrive, lockdown) will TR max have?
twothreesix: charge, lockdown, and possibly 1 more
==
Question: TR specific implants?
Higby: not currently. Our new implant system is pretty slick. I think you guys will like it, but, it's nothing like ps1
==
Question: what kind of weapons can we expect as secondary guns on MBTs? Light weapons like in ps1 or something more substantial?
kevmo0: For the medium battle tanks, the secondary weapons are more substantial.
==
Question: Buggies?
kevmo0: We want to do ES buggies, but it will be after launch
==
Question: How long will vehicle scrap remain on the battlefield?
Higby: right now 30 seconds, but it's subject to change
==
Question: How much faster is the prowler than the other 2 ES tanks?
kevmo0: Still tuning, can't say for show, but noticeably faster. Slower than lightning.
==
Question: Can TR carry more ammo to offset their high ROF?
twothreesix: yes
==
Question: Tank mounted flamethrowers?
twothreesix: We'll see, but maxes will
==
Question: Will TR maxes have similar weapons to those in PS1?
Brewko: Better!
==
Question: Will lightning return?
kevmo0: yes. Different due to MBT gunner change.
==
Question: What weapons from PS1 will return?
TRay: trying to bring pretty much all of them in some form or fashion
==
Question: What weapons for Mosquito?
kevmo0: Classic rocket pods or Air 2 Air Missles. Don't worry, it won't be like the wasp.
==
Question: will the libbie be still a 3 man vehicle? Or will the pilot drop the bombs?
Brewko: The Liberator is a 3-Man Gunship, it's not a bomber like it was in in PS1.
==
Question: Sry to bother you during your free time: Is there more than 1 Heavy Assault weapon for each Empire (MCG and heavy cycler 4 TR)?
Higby: our heavy assault class has access to multiple different types of weapons, several of which are exclusive to HA.
==
Question: how many of those are HA ES? :>
Higby: Right now there are 3 empire specific HA weapons planned, with multiple variants of each. subject to change, ofc.
==
Question:wait. you mean 3 ES HA per empire, right?
Higby: Haha, three empire specific HA weapons per empire. Cool tidbit: HA class does both anti-infantry and anti-vehicle based on loadout
==

PCGamer Preview 3
http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/planetside-2-preview-3/

SOE plans to include a subscription model for those who fancy access to what Matt calls ‘premium features’

Skill system -
Pick one of PlanetSide 2’s skills and it’ll be queued to learn. Log off, and you’ll continue studying how to attach longer range scopes to your Bolt-Driver sniper rifle, get better at hacking enemy vehicles, or another one of the game’s multitude of skills.

1/13/2012 Gameplay Footage

[Bags]

Planetside Webcast 1/26/2012

General Customization
- Vehicles will have three areas + guns that can be customized
---- a performance slot (speed, accel, etc)
---- a defensive slot (armor)
---- a utility slot (EMP, smoke, flares)
---- So, for example, the Sunderer will have five gameplay affecting customization slots
- The guns do not have to be the same type
- EMP disables mines and shields

Quad
- The Quad will be able to have cloaking or a 50 cal machine gun or a rocket pod, and will be able to unlock turbo.
- The Quad will also have a handbreak

Sunderer
- If a Sunderer and Vanguard collide headon, the Sunderer will win, while both vehicles take a lot of damage.
- Sunderer will have a horn

Lightning
- Lightning is a one man tank
- Role is still a "strike tank", but way more versatile; will have the best vehicle AA weapon
- Weaker than a regular tank with rear vulnerabilities; running away is risky
- Possibly empire specific weapons

Liberator
- Nearly has overlapping weapon fields of firing
- Don't need to get directly above the enemy
- Three seats; a tail gunner
- The Liberator was changed from a bomber to a gunship to make it more active for the gunner. The end result firepower-wise is supposed to be the same

Galaxy
- AMS alone as a vehicle was kind of boring
- Galaxy gave more options
- Cloak bubble doesn't work due to size
- More fun to defend it than to try to hide it; becomes a new battle field objective
- Will have more defense weapons while deployed; 4 gun seats. Guns don't change location based on deployment
- No reason to stay in the pilot seat when landed

A lot of things will change with BETA feedback; this is all "in theory" right now, it's what works right now. Once players get their hands on it, they may change mechanics.

1.28.12 AGN With Higby


http://www.twitch.tv/agntv/b/306877601

Question: How will urban combat be incorporated?
Higby: We have a couple diff plans for urban style combat. One of the keystones of our facility design is building them out so they're much larger overall footprint. There's sort of like an urban warzone that surrounds the facility itself. Another way, way further down the road, will have continents with a lot of urban combat; ie a lot of cities. At launch, the concept of "in your face" urban style combat in our facility fights.

Question: Has the feedback on ironsights changed or influenced how you plan on implemtning them?
Higby: We will still definitely have them. WE haven't backed away from the idea at all, but a lot of the feedback has been ways to do it that wont' take away from the PS gaming experience, and that has been very valuable. The feedback from PSU and Twitter has been very enlightening. People bring up issues with things that we'd have no idea they were upset about. We were surprised so many people were upset by the lack of vehicle animations.
A lot of it has been figuring out what iron sights mean for our game; what kind of advantages they give you. It was very split on people who like it, who don't like it, and were meh about it.

Question: New information on the max capabilities?
Higby: Most special abilities are locked down; the Vanu one isn't. We are trying to figure out an empire specific ability to give them; it's a balancing act between what the empire already has and what we want them to have. We have a lot of different options. TR will have lock down, NC will have lock down, and they will all have a generic charge ability.

Question: How will the territory system work?
Higby: 13:08

[Bags]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cpi...layer_embedded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0c9...layer_embedded

[Bags]

http://www.planetside-universe.com/s...2&postcount=60

Originally Posted by Game will have 3 soundtracks

Sure - this actually very cool, and discussed at length between the design team and myself.

The empirical Terran Republic will be treated to an epic orchestral score, which we are actually recording up in Seattle here within a couple weeks (yes, we are doing a bit of the behind-the-scenes footage capture for this).

The New Conglomerate, being the living-on-the-edge, anarchist scavengers they are will be more frontier-like, with a cool blues-rock approach featuring slide guitars and fiddle (little harder-edged than the Firefly TV series' music by Greg Edmonson). This music will all be recorded here in San Diego with local musicians specializing in this genre, following the orchestral session.

The technologically-advanced Vanu Sovereignty will be based around purist electronica, a bit in the vein of what you've heard recently from Daft Punk, but with more of an ethnic flare to ground them in their humanity.

But don't despair if you think this sounds like a departure from the first game - we employed full use of nostalgic thematic material across the board from PS1, and I think you will be delighted with these renewed treatments of classic themes that you know and love.

Hopefully this whets your appetite a bit until we do the full music announcement - good stuff!

Stay tuned! Things are about to get Bad Ass.

- Rodney

[Bags]

Reserved - 6

Why not?

[Bags]

Reserved - 7

I hope I'll need to use this!

[Bags]

Reserved - 8

[Bags]

And with this I have 10 x 15,000 characters at my disposal. Time to look for inaccuracies and fix formatting.

[Ghryphen]

http://www.planetside-universe.com/wiki

[Bags]

Once they start confirming things for launch I'll help you with your wiki.

[FIREk]

Originally Posted by Bags

Once they start confirming things for launch I'll help you with your wiki.

Has this bit of info been processed yet? Higby recently confirmed on Twitter that it was him on them there forums, not someone pretending to be him.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/sho...#post395732389

[Bags]

I have no idea. I've been in class all day.

Read through it. Nothing new here. We've know there is no driver class, terrain will favor different things, and that they want to do hacking but currently don't think it's worth the resources to implement.

[FIREk]

Originally Posted by Bags

I have no idea. I've been in class all day.

I'm asking because these posts are old - Reddit Q&A old - yet I don't recall seeing some of that info before.

Like "There will be several roles for AV in PS2 also." - no idea if it means that the AV class will have many roles, or that class=role, meaning that there will be many classes with AV capabilities.

Also, at the time these posts were made, they haven't strictly ruled out vehicle jacking.

I don't have an account there and there may be more posts by las0m/Higby there.