News: Smed State of the Game

Hamma · 2012-10-16, 12:41 AM

http://www.planetside-universe.com/n...-game-2896.htm

Tatwi · 2012-10-16, 02:50 AM

In the hopes that the PSU community picks back up a bit, I guess I'll start off the discussion here.

I am happy to know that game performance is the top priority, largely due to the reality that the overwhelming majority of PC users and PC gamers will simply go play something else long before they would consider upgrading their PCs to play PS2. It's just reality. PS2 needs a large population for it function properly, so increasing the accessibility to the average PC user is a smart move. This is especially true, given the unfortunate trend Valve has show us with its Steam stats: AMD is losing market share in the video card department and it's Intel (with their on CPU video) who is picking up that loss, not nVidia. That's a bad thing for "high end games", given that these Steam users are gamers rather than just average computer users. Anyhow, no matter what the game ends up needing, SOE has to make the Min Specs reflect 30 FPS in modest battles, rather than simply being able to load up the game. Doing this will set the right expectations for people, so that they know it's their computer that sucks and not the game.

I can't be the only one to breath a sigh of relief that Amerish will be in at launch. You only get one chance to make a first impression and having a solid meta game at launch really is "the other thing" that will make or break the game's public perception. People can handle a certain level of bugs and the general chaos of a game's launch, but lacking game play depth is an absolute killer. We saw this with SWTOR, where people finished up the story lines and found there wasn't much left to keep them entertained. No one wants that kind of thing to happen to PS2, so it really needs to show people right out of the gate why it's a game that will keep them entertained for years to come.

Smed was nice enough to answer my question about the firing rate being tied the player's fames per second. It's a bug rather than a design feature and it has been fixed in their internal builds of the game. Kudos to the person on the official forums who took the time to test the issue and put together that well written post. It was something that I noticed as well, but I wasn't aware of the math behind the issue and that it did not have to be that way.

I hope Hamma and Jenny are having a fun time at SOE. It will be really cool to see the SOE Live streams and the coverage from PSU, TB, and the good o'l hard working SOE community team! Do you have any plans to consolidate this media explosion into a sensible format, so we don't miss anything, Hamma?

Anyhow, good times, despite me essentially "rage quiting" this evening. I can only take so many teleporting targets at 10 frames per second and other such crazy bugfoolery!

Helwyr · 2012-10-16, 03:16 AM

Overall encouraged by Smed's comments. Performance and meta game are the two biggest issues, and they acknowledge that. Also, very happy to hear about Amerish, that was a map I liked in PS1, and as a Vanu player it's home.

Other good things Smed mentioned later in the thread:

We do have no team killing (and no collision) coming at warpgates btw. We know a cluster when we see one.

It means that weapons unlocks will be done with Station Cash or Certs instead of Station Cash or Auraxium. We have no plans to sell certs. We'll have boosts though.

Wasn't surprised, but a little disappointed at his later comments in regard to PS1 vets criticism of the Class system.

I've read that thread. It comes down to respectfully disagreeing with the OP. a lot of the PS1 vets like the way we did things in that game better. I understand why, but decided how we wanted our advancement system to play a long time ago and while it's not done or balanced perfectly this is the way we've decided to go.

I still hope it can be tweaked to give a bit more feeling of both specialization and flexibility the way I think the PS1 system did well. Although, while it's no big shock Classes are here to stay.

Tatwi · 2012-10-16, 04:00 AM

Originally Posted by Helwyr

Other good things Smed mentioned later in the thread:

Smed Wrote: It means that weapons unlocks will be done with Station Cash or Certs instead of Station Cash or Auraxium. We have no plans to sell certs. We'll have boosts though.

I was a little bummed out to read that, because Cert Points = Time and in no way do Cert Points = Skill (even the world's most awful player will gain a lot of XP/Cert Points over time). If Cert Points = Time and Time = Money, then why not cut out the middle man and just let people buy Cert Points with Money? Logically this makes complete sense, yet for some reason it seems to dramatically offend people. It's not "pay2win", it's "pay to save time".

Ohaunlaim · 2012-10-16, 06:12 AM

Tatwi, I believe buying cert points is frowned upon is because cert points are used for more things than station cash.

For example, I can reduce my tanks timer with certs, but cannot do that with SC.

If I could buy certs, then I could gain access to everything at max level from the moment I start the game. As it is now, I can access all weapons and such, but not the little tweaks that only certs allow. Thus I am forced to actually play the game and spend time in-game.

In other words Certs are greater than Station Cash in this scenario. (Then again only station cash can get you all the nifty cosmetic doodads, so maybe its a wash.)

Mox · 2012-10-16, 06:27 AM

Smed still speaks about releasing the game this year.

At least 2 more conts + meta game + resource system overhaul + mechanics leading the zerg ( coms, lattice, mission system, etc.) + bugfixing + balancing + and the list goes on and on.

I DONT THINK SMED WILL FIX ALL THESE THINGS IN ABOUT TWO MONTHS!

Everybody make ready for another early lauch of an unfinished game!

Rago · 2012-10-16, 06:52 AM

Lets hope they have a proper plan for that one (Aux&Certs)

What do you mean ? almost ?

mbarrett · 2012-10-16, 08:03 AM

Originally Posted by Mox

Smed still speaks about releasing the game this year.

At least 2 more conts + meta game + resource system overhaul + mechanics leading the zerg ( coms, lattice, mission system, etc.) + bugfixing + balancing + and the list goes on and on.

I DONT THINK SMED WILL FIX ALL THESE THINGS IN ABOUT TWO MONTHS!

Everybody make ready for another early lauch of an unfinished game!

that just shows how little you know , the devs have said that they are going to support this game for the next 10 yrs and considering there is a lot of bugs etc , these can be fixed and patched up with updates , same with balancing etc . more continents / vehicles / weapons / customization will be added in as the game progresses

Sledgecrushr · 2012-10-16, 08:06 AM

There is so much left to go into the game. Im really excited to see the ps2 smartphone app when it comes out too.

Valcron · 2012-10-16, 08:10 AM

This game is in a real bad state right now. I was one of the biggest PS1 fans out there, this game simply just isn't Planetside at all- it's Battlefield but bigger maps. They totally sold out to their investors, they needed to make the game with a broad appeal- I get it, but it really ruined the PS franchise.

Crator · 2012-10-16, 08:47 AM

Did you guys miss the part that said they are working on the meta-game which includes continent locks!? Should be ready for launch!

To respond to Wargrim's post below mine. Even if something is screwed up at launch it can/will be fixed. And impressions can be changed fairly easy since there's no barrier to entry into the game. It's free. Don't like it go away for about and month and check back to see what's fixed, for free.

Wargrim · 2012-10-16, 08:58 AM

So they really want to release it in 2012? I think this is a mistake. We are in the middle of October, i do not see how all the technical issues are going to be resolved in just 2.5 month time. Right now, you can always say "its beta". And i think people can accept features comming post launch. But stability and performance must be ready from day one. New players will not have the frustration tollerance of veterans or hardcore fans that have waited years for this to come true. The first impression must be rock solid, or it will have a negative impact. I hope they do not screw up the launch.

Envenom · 2012-10-16, 09:13 AM

Stoked. Love this game and the direction it's going. Some of the most fun I've had in gaming thus far.

EVILoHOMER · 2012-10-16, 09:13 AM

I don't like the idea of the game launching this year, I don't think they'll get everything fixed and SOE has learnt more than anyone that first impressions are the most important thing.

Surely Open beta and allowing people to spend money on station cash would be a better idea? When the game launches then just give people the station cash back so they can buy the stuff they want all over again.

Crator · 2012-10-16, 09:18 AM

^ That sounds like a good idea but I've heard stuff like they have to launch in 2012 due to what they've signed and it's bound by law. I'd assume that means they must start collecting money at that time due to contract.