PCGamer : Planetside 2 Maps will have "50:50 or 60:40"Indoor:Outdoor combat breakdown - Page 2

nathanebht · 2011-07-13, 01:31 AM

Article quote, "SOE wants to use the new graphics engine to build PS2′s battlefields with a much better balance of indoor and outdoor environments, according to president John Smedley. He’d like to see the maps have a 50/50 ratio, or maybe even 60/40, in favor of indoor environments.

Players will have lots to do in their vehicles, with the different types of continents (snow, desert, mountainous, lava) allowing different tactics and play styles and giving advantages to different players. According to creative director Matt Higby, 'If you have a map that’s all rolling hills, that’s going to be a tank haven. Everybody who plays tanks is going to want to play in this area cause it has wide open vistas–you’re able to see guys from far away. Infantry are going to be dead meat there. Either a plane is going to fly over and pick them off, or a tank is just going to bombard the sh*t out of them.'"

Don't quite get this whole picture. The bases and urban will be extra large and take up a big part of the map? Ground vehicles will be prevented from traveling in large areas? Overhead cover will prevent the use of planes?

Volw · 2011-07-13, 02:45 AM

I see you guys don't 'get it ;-)

Right now, planetside is 100% indoor. All of the hack locations are in bases or towers. Sure there is combat out in the open, however in order to capture players have to go indoors

They're changing it in PS2 to include locations capturable out in the open.

So what Smedley 'means' is that there will be 50%-60% bases, bunkers and towers which when hacked will change the ownership of the specific hex. While the remaining percentile will be ridges, fields, mountains etc etc, which can be captured from vehicles or with minimal indoor combat.

Hope this makes sense.

xcel · 2011-07-13, 06:48 AM

I too would prefer a more outdoor focus.

Rarntogo · 2011-07-13, 08:11 AM

When PS first came out and for, I would guess, a year or so after there was alot of outdoor battles. You had to fight outdoors to even get close enough to a base or tower to fight indoors because there were so many people in the battle. Epic battles for a hills or ravines, bridges etc... any bottleneck where a defender could make a stronghold. It's what gave the game such great diversity. Tanks, planes, infantry all out in the open. You had to break through at least 3 lines of defense before you could get into any base. Every inch of ground was fought for. You couldnt just zerg your way thru, it took planning and coordination. I think this is what they are trying to get back to. When you got the defenders pushed back into a base is when the long hard battle started. Good times and I look forward to that again. 50/50 is what I hope for. I think having missions will help accomplish that.

nathanebht · 2011-07-13, 08:22 AM

Originally Posted by Volw

I see you guys don't 'get it ;-)

Right now, planetside is 100% indoor. All of the hack locations are in bases or towers. Sure there is combat out in the open, however in order to capture players have to go indoors

They're changing it in PS2 to include locations capturable out in the open.

So what Smedley 'means' is that there will be 50%-60% bases, bunkers and towers which when hacked will change the ownership of the specific hex. While the remaining percentile will be ridges, fields, mountains etc etc, which can be captured from vehicles or with minimal indoor combat.

Hope this makes sense.

Oh, thanks for the explanation. Now the 60 indoor versus 40 outdoor comment makes sense.

BlazingSun · 2011-07-13, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by KornDemon

Urban Warfare for example is almost a must for the new game in my opinion. [...] some narrow side roads and choke points, but also big roads and enough space for Tanks and other vehicles to fight.

Originally Posted by Higby

You can have the main roads that all the vehicles are playing on and then you have all the side alleys and sort of little cutaways ...

.

Sounds good to me.

Originally Posted by Higby

Maybe you go around the corner and you’re staring down the barrel of a tank. That’s really cool. That’s really fun

.

Well .. that's not so much fun.

Goku · 2011-07-13, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by nathanebht

Don't quite get this whole picture. The bases and urban will be extra large and take up a big part of the map? Ground vehicles will be prevented from traveling in large areas? Overhead cover will prevent the use of planes?

Sounds like you completely misread that portion. Nowhere does it say anything you just said.

CutterJohn · 2011-07-13, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by nathanebht

Don't quite get this whole picture. The bases and urban will be extra large and take up a big part of the map? Ground vehicles will be prevented from traveling in large areas? Overhead cover will prevent the use of planes?

I don't think there will be game mechanics that prevent their use, merely terrain. A densely wooded forest with a thick canopy would make air strikes next to impossible, and vehicles would have a devil of a time pushing through. Infantry, on the other hand, would have tons of cover and would not have their mobility seriously hampered.

Its a wonderful ideal. With enough population, players will not be often pressed into types of gameplay they don't enjoy, and there will be a wide range of styles of battle to partake in.

I really hope they pull it off.

2coolforu · 2011-07-13, 09:41 AM

I think Higby was including Urban areas into the 'Indoors' percentage. I don't want to be misinterpreting him though so It'd be cool if he could give us an idea of the breakdown

.

Even now in Planetside a large amount of the battles are within towers and bases, and a huge amount are within the SOI so 50% indoor is not that much different to the current % breakdown in the original game - add in Urban combat and I'd expect a huge amount of combat in Planetside would be indoors.

Raymac · 2011-07-14, 03:22 AM

Ummm, it's still going to be Planetside so you will still be able to play where you want to play. You want to spend 100% of your time indoors, go for it. You want to spend 100% of your time outdoors, go for it. It's up to you.

I think what Smed is talking about is just overall average numbers. This is Planetside! We make our own destiny!