Gameplay: destructible environments

[Kipper]

I like the idea of elements of bases being blown up, loved taking apart structures with explosives and helicopters in BFBC2 and watching people run as their cover is destroyed around them.

Self repairing or engineer repaired could work really well there.

As much as trees and rocks and terrain being destructible sounds cool, I think that would be harder to do on a persistent game, it won't take long for it to get wrecked and it will probably never really recover - and another battle won't be able to 'wreck' it even more because there has to be a limit, right? If the terrain is hand-built to provide a good level - then it won't make sense to re-shape it too much; maybe just re-texture it to look scarred and broken.

[Hosp]

I love the idea of destructible environs, but the chances of it happening are pretty slim in a game the size of PS2. Hell, even PS1, if the coding allowed for it, it still wouldn't be implemented. SOE isn't going to want to deal with the class action that may result from the numerous CPUs and GPUs that end up melting as a result of it.

[Graf]

Graphics are customizable for each computer(I think I read it in an article, talk about an "Ultra Graphics Option" and such) so if implemented I am sure they would put in an option to scale down the beauty of destruction a bit. Retexturing would be cool, but not as cool as blasting a small tunnel through a hill to get to the small group af sunderers on the other side, you know? It is unrealistic for the release, but they most likely woud do it in an expansion because it would boost the amount of players playing because everyone likes to be an infiltrator, minning the supports on a base, and walking away epically as you ignite the base in a ball of fire and watch it crumple behind you! *Screenshot! At minnimum I hope you are able to shoot through walls(not destroy them) with AP rounds or something. Simple coding, and it gives some sort of interaction with the environment for the launch.

[Gugabalog]

Originally Posted by Marinealver

You could have the bridges auto repair too just like the towers. Quick question is how would the bases repair their damaged structures now that NTUs are not in play?

Maybe the nanites have saturated the atmosphere?

[Kipper]

Originally Posted by Graf

Retexturing would be cool, but not as cool as blasting a small tunnel through a hill to get to the small group af sunderers on the other side, you know?

The problem with that is in a persistent game, when and how does that hole get repaired - and how do you explain it? Otherwise how many days or weeks would it take before all of the continents are just completely flat because all of the mountains were blasted down to sea level?

[JimbobJenkinz]

This would be so cool if there was a good system for repairing them and what not, otherwise you end up with broken shit everywhere.

[WVoneseven]

How the holes repair is the simplest part of this conundrum as nanites could be rebuilding the structures constantly in the same way that organic matter rebuilds. My only question is whether or not destructible buildings are in fact technically possible in the forgelight engine under such high strain from so many players.

[camycamera]

Originally Posted by Kipper

The problem with that is in a persistent game, when and how does that hole get repaired - and how do you explain it? Otherwise how many days or weeks would it take before all of the continents are just completely flat because all of the mountains were blasted down to sea level?

it could be explained the same way re-spawning is explained; the structure is rebuilt by the "nanites" people have been talking about. also, structures could be repaired manually by the engineers, as others had said before, when the base is captured. imagine it: the TR capture a NC base, and clear out all of the remaining NC. the base is devastated, structures crumbled, holes in walls and building, fires raging. however, the engineers are running around with their repair tools, repairing every structure, just like they repair vehicles. it would be cool if it would repair even faster if you had re-captured a base behind the front lines, but slower to repair if you have captured a base behind enemy lines.

destruction would be a bloody game changer in PlanetSide 2. imagine it; demolition squads sent in to blow a hole in the wall to make an alternate route inside a base, tanks blowing massive holes in buildings, MAXs putting suppressive fire on a group while their cover is being blown away bit-by-bit, liberators and galaxies raining down fire upon buildings, completely destroying them, or even drop pods smashing through buildings.

however, even if it is implemented, it would most likely be implemented via an expansion, as it seems a little far-fetched as the forge-light engine has already been tasked with a seemingly impossible task, and maybe asking for this could be asking a little too much. i just hope that it is implemented though... it would be the best. game. ever.

[Gugabalog]

Yummmmmm.... Drop pods crashing through ceilings..... I like the imagery. Especially if there's smoke and dust after impact....

And before people start yelling that would be op or whatever, it would be more likely to happen to friendlies inside structures due to the nature of how drop pods originate over friendlies.