Base powersource / generators

Immigrant · 2012-04-29, 01:54 PM

Will bases in PS2 have upgradable/destroyable power units? I played Tribes Ascend for few days and base generator and stealth play around it is really fun. It would be nice if number and strength of turrets and other powered defenses depended on the number and level of power generators in your base (with a certain cap of course to prevent stacking). This would ensure that the more the empire holds the certain structure the harder it becomes for others to take it. What was the situation in PS1 in regards to this issue? Sorry for asking silly questions but I have never played PS1.

The Kush · 2012-04-29, 03:56 PM

PS1 had generators that could be repaired and destroyed. I believe they said their will be no generators in PS2 but I could be wrong. I personally loved the idea of generators and would have likes to see them return. I remember some of my favorite "last stands" we're in a gen room

Immigrant · 2012-04-29, 04:12 PM

Originally Posted by The Kush

PS1 had generators that could be repaired and destroyed. I believe they said their will be no generators in PS2 but I could be wrong. I personally loved the idea of generators and would have likes to see them return. I remember some of my favorite "last stands" we're in a gen room

Thanks for the info. I found this in Information thread meanwhile:

Question: Bases still have generators?
Higby: Yes, but not the same as in PS1

Good news.

Red Ketchup · 2012-04-29, 09:05 PM

I don't know what generators did in PS1 (never played it) but I think I would be nice if disabling a base's power generator would turn off most of the lights in that base and its courtyard.

Imagine fighting inside a base and suddenly everything goes dark, then a few seconds later a few dim red emergency lights turn on, barely allowing you to see without night-vision items. It could also be a reason to equip those items during the day.

FPClark · 2012-04-29, 09:14 PM

It was like that in PS1...Also the wall turrets would go out and you couldnt use the terms to get gear/vehicles

Xyntech · 2012-04-29, 10:21 PM

I think it would be cool if, along with multiple spawn rooms, bases had multiple generators. Knocking out one generator would only compromise equipment in that immediate part of the base.

I'd also like to see engi's able to use ACEs (or their PS2 equivalent) to set up a temporary generator that could only power a single piece of equipment, or only a single room worth of equipment at a time, with a limited amount of time that each deployed generator could provide power.

Soothsayer · 2012-04-29, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by Xyntech

I'd also like to see engi's able to use ACEs (or their PS2 equivalent) to set up a temporary generator that could only power a single piece of equipment, or only a single room worth of equipment at a time, with a limited amount of time that each deployed generator could provide power.

Very cool. I'd like to see it just power one piece of equipment with a deployable limit of one per person.

Kipper · 2012-04-30, 11:42 AM

As far as I'm aware from what I've seen so far, the capture mechanic will first relate to surrounding territory - the more of it you own, the higher the modifier to your 'capture' speed. Secondly, if i'm not making this up - each base (or maybe each hex) will have multiple capture points, and you start the cap by taking and holding a point, but the more points you hold, the quicker you will capture....

This is gonna spread people out quite a lot, as you'll be able to slow down a cap significantly without entering the base just by taking hexes around it, as well as taking points within it.

It seems logical to me that a base would be split into regions that are appropriate to the setting - an aircraft area, a vehicle bay, power generator, shield control, that sort of stuff, and that would be what gives you the variation over the battles.

Killing the lights could be as effective for a prepared defender as it could for a sneak attacker, depending who thought to bring the low-vis kit (assuming doing so means something else had to be left behind).

Or the primary target might be the air-pad so that you can roll your tank squadrons in unmolested (but defenders might know they're coming and put their strongest defence there so that they can keep CAS flying).

The more variation for me, the better! I don't want to see "attack this base!" being a mission, more like attacking a base being a set of several smaller objectives, with planning being a significant helper to winning.

waldizzo · 2012-04-30, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by Red Ketchup

I don't know what generators did in PS1 (never played it) but I think I would be nice if disabling a base's power generator would turn off most of the lights in that base and its courtyard.

Imagine fighting inside a base and suddenly everything goes dark, then a few seconds later a few dim red emergency lights turn on, barely allowing you to see without night-vision items. It could also be a reason to equip those items during the day.

That is pretty much what happens in the original game. When a generator is disabled, everything in that base stops working. Turrets, equipment terminals, vehicle terminals and spawn tubes all stopped working.

Disabling then generator and then preventing the defending players from repairing it was a great way to gain a huge advantage in a fight. This is what people mean when they say "gen hold."

A lot of players (attackers) got really angry though when this happened because a disabled generator means that they could no longer farm easy kills in the spawn room.

Ailos · 2012-04-30, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by Xyntech

I think it would be cool if, along with multiple spawn rooms, bases had multiple generators. Knocking out one generator would only compromise equipment in that immediate part of the base.

I'd also like to see engi's able to use ACEs (or their PS2 equivalent) to set up a temporary generator that could only power a single piece of equipment, or only a single room worth of equipment at a time, with a limited amount of time that each deployed generator could provide power.

+1

WorldOfForms · 2012-04-30, 02:35 PM

Generators had their use in PS1 - breaking a stalemate or denying tech temporarily, but they caused a LOT of headaches.

They were an easy source of consequence-free griefing, as you could blow the gen at a great fight and ruin it for everyone. And I'm not talking about spawnroom farming.

There were certain outfits/individuals infamous for gen blowing because that's all they would do, killing fights before they got good.

Now, I'm a proponent of never blaming players for using legit tactics, so it's up to the devs to come up with a better design than PS1's gens, because those things needed an overhaul.

DviddLeff · 2012-04-30, 05:44 PM

They have said there will be multiple generators in a base in ps2, and no one generator will cripple the entire thing like in the original game.

Xyntech · 2012-04-30, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by DviddLeff

They have said there will be multiple generators in a base in ps2, and no one generator will cripple the entire thing like in the original game.

Yeah, I'm betting that this alone will take care of most of the problems of the original.

PS1 just ended up being all of your eggs in one basket. Definitely a good thing that the new bases will have multiple generators, multiple spawn rooms, multiple vehicle pads, etc.