News: Community Interview with Matt Higby - Page 4

kaffis · 2012-05-30, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by The Janitor

Hah, so the mission system is mainly to direct the meat for the meat grinder while outfits do the real work. This is genius.

Well, if the only part of the mission discussion you listened to was the first part, sure.

He also briefly touched on, but hinted at much more, how the mission system also has a lot of granularity. That makes it a much more elegant and powerful tool for organization than simply chat.

Platoons are stone age organization tools. Missions, done well, can be so much more flexible, powerful, and easy to use.

What you have to get your head around is *delegation.* Granular mission design is all about coordinating the delegation of mission tasks to appropriately sized units *without having to have one person micromanaging everything.*

JHendy · 2012-05-30, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by Xyntech

I'm somewhat concerned by where the dev team is at with the dedicated gunner idea. I think it would seem pretty straight forward to remove the fixed Magrider gun and replace the gunner turret with a rotating version of the main gun.

That's what I thought too. Just pop the turret on top in rotating form and nerf its damage output ever so slightly to rebalance it.

Xyntech · 2012-05-30, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by JHendy

That's what I thought too. Just pop the turret on top in rotating form and nerf its damage output ever so slightly to rebalance it.

Or maybe keep it the same and give the Vanguard and Prowler dedicated gunner certs a slight buff.

JHendy · 2012-05-30, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Xyntech

Or maybe keep it the same and give the Vanguard and Prowler dedicated gunner certs a slight buff.

I think having a dedicated gunner is enough of a buff already. If you then buffed the other two tanks to match the Magrider, driver gunners would be completely outclassed. Not that I'd have a problem with that as I think it's the way to go, but I don't reckon the devs want to allow that to happen.

Lonehunter · 2012-05-30, 01:43 PM

Finally some details on Infiltrators and Commanders, I plan on doing both lol.

I love everything he said. Attaching Orbital Strikes to resources is great, I love how we can choose different patterns and strengths, and each empire has their own unique choices.

As a cloaker who hasn't Sniped before I'm up for trying it, but most of my game would be close range, sabotage, recon, "gadgeteer"ing, all seem possible in PS2

Mod · 2012-05-30, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by Hamma

This is the final interview in our series

But... but.... what are we going to have to get us through the day tomorrow?

JPalmer · 2012-05-30, 01:44 PM

Who wants to start a Galaxy outfit?

Xyntech · 2012-05-30, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by JHendy

I think having a dedicated gunner is enough of a buff already. If you then buffed the other two tanks to match the Magrider, driver gunners would be completely outclassed. Not that I'd have a problem with that as I think it's the way to go, but I don't reckon the devs want to allow that to happen.

Not really. As Higby mentioned, a regular driver gunned tank with a TOW missile for the gunner seat would have even more firepower against an enemy tank, while one with an AA gun would have significantly more survivability against aircraft.

They will probably have to give dedicated gunner tanks a small boost to their damage and armor, although just having a dedicated driver will probably be a buff of its own.

Also, we don't know if dedicated gunner tanks would be given a 3rd seat for a second gunner, to control an AA or other type of secondary turret. This would again affect how they would need to be balanced, although an armor boost would still probably be in order since you would be protecting 3 people instead of 2 like in most regular tanks that also had 2 turrets.

This is all balance minutia that could be tweaked and sorted in beta though. The main point is still that the option for driving a tank with no need to control a gun would be a nice option. How the balance would play out would be figured out through large scale play tests, whether they needed more firepower or armor or both, or whether they were fine with the base stats.

Purple · 2012-05-30, 01:52 PM

boo you dident ask my question.

i want to know if you buy a customization if it limited to the server? so if ou find out your friends are playing on a different server do you have to rebuy the customization (this excludes sidegrades)

Immigrant · 2012-05-30, 01:54 PM

Great interview, thx Hamma!

Here are my few short thoughts: thrustpads - i still don't approve but I'm glad to hear they will be scarce, daytime cycle - way too short imo, should be at least 3 hours, driver/gunner - seems it's going in good direction so teamwork will be preferable and last artillery/orbital strike - I still fear it will get spammy and it think that solution requiring guys making those shots (either from arty vehicles or nearby tower control rooms) would be preferable and could prevent spam.

kaffis · 2012-05-30, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by JPalmer

Who wants to start a Galaxy outfit?

I'll be first in line for the Sundy outfit.

My favored number for the day/night cycle is 5 hour days.

JHendy · 2012-05-30, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by Xyntech

They will probably have to give dedicated gunner tanks a small boost to their damage and armor, although just having a dedicated driver will probably be a buff of its own.

That's exactly what I said though

Kipper · 2012-05-30, 02:15 PM

Great interview, nice to get some depth for people that have been following PS2 as opposed to the (admittedly nescessary) 'intro'views aimed at attracting new people to the franchise.

Thanks Higby & the PS2 and the PSU teams

I don't think there was anything that I didn't like the sound of in there... seems like a whole bunch of thought is going into everything!

As for the driver/gunner thing - I think an ideal solution would be to have 2 man variants of the ES tanks (and maybe the ES aircraft too) so you had the option of soloing them or building a version with the same capabilities but an extra seat - then everyone has a choice; with the extra effectiveness being countered by the fact that it takes two people to use it.

The Magrider problem could be overcome by the 2-man mag losing its ability to strafe but gaining a rotating turret; just say the extra seat position meant that they had to lose side thrusters to save weight or something

The Kush · 2012-05-30, 02:18 PM

Awesome job.

Matt- I really like the idea of clicking on a base/outpost and that's creates a mission for your squad to defend/attack and gives you bonus xp. Really enforces the idea of teamwork, excellent.

basti · 2012-05-30, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by JHendy

That's what I thought too. Just pop the turret on top in rotating form and nerf its damage output ever so slightly to rebalance it.

Not that easy really. The mesh is set up to have no rotating main turret. In order to change that, they would have to change the mesh. Means they also have to change the UV map, and bang you have to change every single texture.

I would be totally fine with having the mag be always a 2 seater, while NC and TR have the option for the dedicated gunner. The big issue with the driver = gunner is the fact that you cannot drive and gun at the same time without running into stuff. The mag doesnt have that issue, as its main gun is fixed forward.

on top of that, if the PS2 mag is similar to the PS1 mag, then it drives backwards almost as fast as it drives forwards. Means bugging out of a combat zone is easy for us, as we dont expose our butt.