News: New Esamir Bases

[ringring]

Originally Posted by Figment

A very important observation about the Esamir redesigns: outpost walls have no catwalks.


They're just going to provide save approaches if we can't fire down onto approaching enemies from them.

Catwalks and stairs should lead up to the top of the walls and merlons and ballustrades should be there on the outside (not on the inside) to provide the necessary cover for defenders, without generating cover for attackers that try to take the wall. Otherwise, jetpacks are going to have it easy as cake.

And if there's one thing evil compared to pie, it's cake. A wall you can't man creates no advantage, it creates a blind spot for defenders and boxes the defenders in when the opposition has jetpacks and can come over from any side.

Agree

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by Figment

Not sure what the rules are for the dome with regards to aircraft.

What if passing the dome creates an EMP effect?

Originally Posted by ringring

Or there's a pause as you push through and out again, adding to the risk.

Exactly, with the shields they actually have an excuse to implement some kind of status effect on things passing through them!

Much better then expecting Air not to be exploited when they have a nigh untouchable ceiling envelop to hide in.

Originally Posted by Carbon Copied

Definitely they're a "if we had them" asset but as far as gameplay goes it might be too much of a good thing (I know these are all what, if's, but's and maybe's before we've seen them properly used and finished) I mean if these are used (and location depending) they could be in danger of negating the usefulness of the outer defenses e.g turrets and walls on the larger bases. It's a fine line being walked.

Well I don't know if you noticed, but the shields don't completely enclose the base.

They are basically what I said, an Umbrella that keeps things from coming straight down on you but not from the sides.
This isn't going to keep Tanks from shelling a base for instance, just limit the angles they can do it from.

Originally Posted by Carbon Copied

I don't think either taking geometry sub-level or dome shields are the one answer to solving the issue with one brush but each has its niche base implementation. I mean outposts might benefit from the domes however I'd like to see the resources of the engine that these domes "free up/save" be spent on improving the big POI's considerably; apart from it giving something visually different in the contested environment it would escape that cookie-cutter trap the domes could fall into, variety and the spice of life. So yeah I definitely think they need to rethink the use of them on some of the larger bases.

Well lets face it, Major Facilities need an overhaul period; There is so much shoved into them that just has no use because it's only there for ambiance, while the building itself is mostly just a large shed with a Control Point in it.

I mean, think about a Bio Labs legs and underside...
There is all this fancy looking gribbling, but it doesn't really DO anything!
Why aren't the insides of those Legs hollow walkways so they can be used to get up and down from the dome?
The Dome could then have a basement level underneath it that would double the available play space, taking the Base Design philosophy of the Original Planetside and INVERTING it!

Originally Posted by Canaris

say you have the shielded base but no air support at present and a enemy Liberator comes over and drops the end of their belly gun through the shield without exposing the rest of the bird to ground fire. It's going to be very hard to hit the lib in just it's cannon no?

Yeah, we've been brainstorming over this...
I don't know what the hitbox of a Liberator actually is, but one of the better ideas suggested was that the Shield would actively force something to go through it one way or the other.
So a Lib trying to stick his cannon in will get sucked in entirely.

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by Whiteagle

Yeah, we've been brainstorming over this...
I don't know what the hitbox of a Liberator actually is, but one of the better ideas suggested was that the Shield would actively force something to go through it one way or the other.
So a Lib trying to stick his cannon in will get sucked in entirely.

this wouldn´t be a problem if passing the shield causes an emp effect (weaponlock). as long as any part of the aircraft touches the shield, weapons are locked. so a lib would have to entirely fly inside, wait a few seconds until the emp effect wears off, and could then fire as long as the lib doesn´t touch the shield again.
bombing inside the shield would still be possible, but require precision, stealth and timing. just hovering in godmode and pooping all over the place would be no option.

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by Shogun

this wouldn´t be a problem if passing the shield causes an emp effect (weaponlock). as long as any part of the aircraft touches the shield, weapons are locked. so a lib would have to entirely fly inside, wait a few seconds until the emp effect wears off, and could then fire as long as the lib doesn´t touch the shield again.
bombing inside the shield would still be possible, but require precision, stealth and timing. just hovering in godmode and pooping all over the place would be no option.

No, I think a Weapon's Lock on top of the increased likelihood of hilarious Cleggs skews things too much in Ground's favor...
...This is the real reason I want the Shield Emitters on poles by the way.

I don't mind Air trying to butt into an Infantry Fight, they just have to be ready to get blown up real quick if they don't immediately butt out.

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by Whiteagle

No, I think a Weapon's Lock on top of the increased likelihood of hilarious Cleggs skews things too much in Ground's favor...
...This is the real reason I want the Shield Emitters on poles by the way.

I don't mind Air trying to butt into an Infantry Fight, they just have to be ready to get blown up real quick if they don't immediately butt out.

ok, then it has to be poles with slowly rotating emitter-spiders on top.
i would insist on the rotating emitter, to prevent aircraft from finding a safe spot and do the peekaboo. if this safe spot isn´t static, a little skill is needed to pull of the peekapoop. and i wouldn´t mind the emitter having longer "arms" than the ones we have seen. if there is only a chance to clegg and tangle at a very small part at the very top, it would be too easy.

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by Shogun

ok, then it has to be poles with slowly rotating emitter-spiders on top.
i would insist on the rotating emitter, to prevent aircraft from finding a safe spot and do the peekaboo. if this safe spot isn´t static, a little skill is needed to pull of the peekapoop. and i wouldn´t mind the emitter having longer "arms" than the ones we have seen. if there is only a chance to clegg and tangle at a very small part at the very top, it would be too easy.

Eh, I don't know...
From the looks of it in the Video, they only have around twenty meters or so to work with, so most are going to end up coming in to low and nose dive into the walls anyways.

The Pole and rotating emitter should be in just so the ones who can pull of Low Altitude Flying don't get cocky.

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by Whiteagle

Eh, I don't know...
From the looks of it in the Video, they only have around twenty meters or so to work with, so most are going to end up coming in to low and nose dive into the walls anyways.

The Pole and rotating emitter should be in just so the ones who can pull of Low Altitude Flying don't get cocky.

the size of the emitter barricade could easily be determined with playtesting, and tweaked if needed. so starting with a small emitter and checking if it is too exploitable should be an option.

and i agree on the catwalk thing. we need manable walls.
some of the new basedesign is awesome. especially the outpost with the lower road and the bridges to lob down nades and av missiles from. this looks like it was build with military purpose. right direction. i´d like to see more of this kind. and i hope the bases on hossin and other continents will be designed with this in mind, from scratch.

[CrimsonTemplar]

Originally Posted by Shogun

the size of the emitter barricade could easily be determined with playtesting, and tweaked if needed. so starting with a small emitter and checking if it is too exploitable should be an option.

Well we'll see won't we and judge accordingly, when dese ere changes roll to pasture on the Test server. Hopefully we can see them at the end of this week/early next week. Sooner the better Oi say .

[Aiden]

Originally Posted by Hmr85

You lost me when you got to this part. In all my years of playing PS1. There was plenty of amazingly epic outdoor fights that took place not just near the next facility but also in between them. What you stated was just flat out wrong.

Vehicle fights, maybe. There were few epic outdoor infantry fights. There was a very large segregation between indoor infantry fighting and outdoor vehicle fighting. This was caused by 3 things:

1) The AMS was more vulnerable than the Sunderer.
2) There was little cover for infantry.
3) Infantry AV was weaker compared to vehicle armor.

Infantry just wasn't welcome outdoors. That's not the case in PS2. I see tons of ridge battles every day, and I'd like to keep it that way.

[WSNeo]

Originally Posted by MaxDamage

I do not need to see it polished and finished before I judge it, I am a seasoned gamer of many franchises and indie fps titles

Surely of those many franchises, Planetside 1 is on the list, yes?

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by Aiden

Vehicle fights, maybe. There were few epic outdoor infantry fights. There was a very large segregation between indoor infantry fighting and outdoor vehicle fighting. This was caused by 3 things:

1) The AMS was more vulnerable than the Sunderer.
2) There was little cover for infantry.
3) Infantry AV was weaker compared to vehicle armor.

Infantry just wasn't welcome outdoors. That's not the case in PS2. I see tons of ridge battles every day, and I'd like to keep it that way.

i´d actually like the outside to be a little friendlier to vehicles. my sunderer is killed by infantry 9 of 10 times. c4 mostly. and i am sitting inside hearing just one boom and going from all green to dead in under a second. i think infantry is a little overpowered compared to vehicles. this balance was better in ps1.

[Aiden]

Originally Posted by Shogun

i´d actually like the outside to be a little friendlier to vehicles. my sunderer is killed by infantry 9 of 10 times. c4 mostly. and i am sitting inside hearing just one boom and going from all green to dead in under a second. i think infantry is a little overpowered compared to vehicles. this balance was better in ps1.

I agree that vehicles need more armor (and the Striker needs a nerf...) but I disagree that the balance was better in PS1. I think it was too far in the other direction, to the point of making infantry into roadkill outside of bases.

[Rivenshield]

Originally Posted by Aiden

I'm a PS1 vet, and PS1's gameplay was pretty flawed. For one, combat out in the open was almost nonexistent. Vehicles would zerg from one base to the next, after which they would get out, run inside, and fight the indoor battle. All the open terrain between bases was wasted. There were no epic outdoor battles between bases like with have in PS2.

This seems like a return to that style of gameplay. I don't want to lose that to some rose-colored glasses.

Me either, hardcore bittervet though I may seem. Epic field battles FTW. The devs were generous enough to promise us GIANT ASS VEHICLE BATTLES during beta, and they've done a good job of delivraring. I wanna keep 'em.

[Stew]

Originally Posted by Raymondo

1 hour 18 min mark it starts
http://www.twitch.tv/planetside2/b/407830628

SOE finally seem to get it!! we been asking for actual defensible bases like this for ages now

i find the new base Awesome

It look more and more planetside to me , most peoples was complaining about the lack of fortification

now we do have fortification do not cry about it its Freaking awesome

[Climhazzard]

Originally Posted by BlaxicanX

But, I'd like them in on the condition that they can be shut down by infantry somehow. Either tie them to a base's SCU/generators [...]

Given the current capture mechanic, tying it to the SCU would be kind of pointless. If you're able to destroy the SCU, you probably don't need the extra help from aircraft or tanks on the high ground.

Originally Posted by PredatorFour

Wait, hang on a second there will be no issue with the shield. Completely forgot but they can just let fire 'escape' the shield, but not enter like the spawns. So esf's will still get shot when escaping. (nooooo lol)

I don't think this would go over very well...