News: Amerish Design Interview with Arclegger

[kidriot]

http://themittani.com/features/ps2-a...view-arclegger

Let me know what you guys think!

[synkrotron]

That was an interesting read. I'll probably go over it again. I must admit that, like a lot of peeps, I've spent most of my time on Indar and a little bit more on Esamir but I tend to give Amerish a miss. I do like the general feel for the continent, the "greenery" and what have you, but Indar seems to attract me more so.

But reading that interview is making me think I should perhaps try it some more. I just wish others would too...


Thanks for the article

[ChipMHazard]

Amerish being referred to as America? First time I've heard of that

Good interview and good questions. Always interesting to see the thoughts that go into the design process. Amerish will almost certainly become my new favorite continent, until Hossin is released.
I am looking forward to seeing what they've learned, especially the "underground" parts and bases that for once look like what they are supposed to be. I'm impressed with what I've seen so far.

That said, I'm sadly not suprised in the slightest that they haven't steared away from the current combined arms concept when it comes to designing bases, a choice which I still think is completely daft. Why should vehicles be able to farm infantry at most bases, what purpose could that possibly have besides allowing players to pad their stats? The current cluster fuck is not what I think of when I think of combined arms.
I would still much rather have them introduce many more infantry only bases and vehicle focused open bases/outposts here and there. While also reducing the amount of bases by making the lattice link to facilities and making each zone much bigger with multiple bases/outspost around the facility. Imo, that would be more interesting than the lattice system we have now.

[ringring]

They nearly got it right with the latest Esamir. It's not correct to say there are no good bases, e.g. Palos Solar Array, Snowsheer, Jaegers Fist but also some poor ones such as Andvari Frozen Reservoir while in between there are a lot of anonymous ones.

It's also not correct to say that Esamir is the armour continent any longer. The bases are too close together and the changes they made to terrain prevent easy navigation, compared to what it was.

But I'm interested in the changes to Amerish. The roads were a PITA and changes are potentially good.

I think the idea for giving each base a theme to make it memorable is a good idea. Personally I need to know how to fight each base in the same way when playing golf you need to understand each hole to know how to play it properly.

Overall, a nice interview, not much new information but a nice read.

[BlaxicanX]

Esamir almost certainly is no longer the armor-continent. The terrain is hell to traverse with tanks, and the high walls surrounding most of the major bases makes armor kind of useless around them.

Also, that there is only ONE amp station (tech-plant?) on the entire continent, ensuring only a single faction gets MBT's... kind of says everything that needs to be said about how armor-friendly Esamir is.

Amerish isn't bad. I'd say Indar is the best armor continent. So much of it is desert plains.

[bpostal]

It's always cool to see what the level design people are thinking when they create bases. I'm glad to hear the roads are getting a rework, as it currently stands you really [b]need[b/] Gals to get around on that cont.

[camycamera]

i would like to see these underground parts on ALL continents. and i would like to see the spawn rooms underground on all continents.

[capiqu]

When Esamir came out the devs said that people will favor it over Indar. They didn't. Then when Amerish came out they said the same thing and again they didn't. So the question is after the addition of Esamir and Amerish and then the revamp of Esamir and Amerish what will it take to finally have a better distribution of players outside of Indar.
It will not happen until we get the intercontinental Lattice links. Once we seccure lands on Indar we can then roll on to Hossin,Esamir or Amerish. Oh how fun this was in Planetside1. Most of those that were opposed to the lattice system will then have their eyes opened and they shall be shouting hallelujah!!

[NewSith]

I really wish I could just DL it and speed it up to 3x.


Point is - for all the praise going on here I still see poor design descisions like a point situated BELOW high grounds SURROUNDING it in the catwalks labyrynth-like base. Knowing how PS2 works it's just gonna be attackers sitting on these ramps shooting down at everyone who tries to reclaim the point assisted by spawncampers sitting right next to the spawnroom.


I refuse to believe Clegg is a stupid man, thus I presume his design implies that the point will change hands often: attackers will take that point and than defenders will purge attackers and take it and on and on and on... But it just doesn't work that way. It's another example of how there is simply no incentive to stay near the objective, since enemy will just use you for easy target practice, and thus players will ignore it once again.


Could it be that Clegg just thinks that all casual (evening-after-work) players involve tactical thinking while playing? The designs should be based on a notion that everyone is noob, not a pro.

EDIT: And the fun part is - now he's just gonna be too lazy to move the whole segment above the surrounding catwalks.

[JackD]

I already like the current Amerish since it has quite a few nice and unique bases like Splitpeak Pass.

Looking forward to it, since the redesign of the roads and the area around the Ascent was needed.