NC tank screenshots

[CGar]

This is sort of an icing on the cake feature, but I'm hoping that the models in-game will morph into damaged models as they sustain damage, that would be cool :P (this would obviously need to be a high end graphics option)

[TheRagingGerbil]

Hazardous - I too share the same concerns. My only thoughts could our they don't want to give away to much to the competition? Ie, Firefall, Tribes Universe, etc...

If I remember correctly, the original Planetside was done in much the same manner. Hell SOE pulled this on us with the BFR's too.

[Tikuto]

Crafting does not make the main part of a game fun at all, in my opinion. that is one thing I do greatly like about DCUO.

[Furret]

I think the model is perfect. As typwn posted, it is definitely comparable to 'modern' graphics assuming you add lighting and other stuff.

Also, a mid range computer should have more than enough power as far as CPU and graphics cards are concerned, because the only reason PlanetSide was so great is because of the sheer numbers of people. Obviously, they're going to need to put in different levels of graphics, but the minimum graphic level should be low enough for even a standard laptop to run it.

[Saieno]

Originally Posted by Hazardous

Smed earlier posted in 09 that he had learned from his mistakes on this very site and now has '20/20 Hindsight', yet i see Core Combat happening all over again! No questions being asked, just implementing as they see fit without the communities feedback.

I'm not so sure really. As was stated I think they want to keep a lot of their ideas hidden for now, until the beta releases around March. They have over 8 years of feedback to updates and the game on the Official Planetside forums, not to mention all of the suggestions on how to make it better. They released MAG which was a step in the right direction, but without a persistent world it lost its relevance. Knowing this, I think they have a pretty good idea of what to do.

[Ghryphen]

I think community input can be a detriment to game development, look at what happened to Tribes: Vengeance with TribalWar's heavy input from the vocal minority. There are a ton if successful games that spawn from developers own vision of how the game should be. The devs also have a lot more data to build on than what the community sees of games, usage stats, balance, bugs, etc.

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk

[2coolforu]

To whomever said that they get 200 FPS. Bull-F'ing-Shizzle.

I have a monster rig, I'm not trying to show off, its an overclocked monster. It demolishes ARMA 2, Crysis and in Bad Company it will hit 160-200 FPS almost all the time.

In Planetside in a 2010 battle (150 tops) I get 60 FPS with full settings, I'd rather they spent the time optimizing rather than getting the graphics looking OMGSOKEWL. The main thing isn't the scenery, I get up to 600/700 FPS in sanctuary but even this comes crashing down when numbers get high. The fact that there are hundreds of guys firing/animating/driving tanks/exploding means that this game is far more stressful than any other. In Bad Company 2 you are probably gonna have about 10 people fighting at any given second and they will use their ammo sparingly, in Planetside you can have 300 people easily (in glory days PSide) spraying and bombarding a base with a constant stream of rounds.

Anyway I'll copypasta my ideas, the graphics look great as shown already they are easily on par with the detailing on the Bad Company 2 M1A2 Abrams.

Begin copypasta from rock paper shotgun

"f you want the average PC to be anywhere near capable of running the game the graphics are gonna have to be below the top class at least, if not below average. Jeez just look at WoW it looks like shit and still its the most popular game.

As for the tank it’s a vanguard, I played planetside from 2003-2010 and you can see the obvious 150mm cannon of the vanguard along with the dual 20mm coaxial recoilless cannons and its general low profile. It looks like its got a gritty reboot and its lost its bright white/gold colour scheme and gained grey/blue, this is INCREDIBLY important information.

1) The NC are in the game, logically that means that the old empires are still there, good.

2) The units are probably gonna be similar, but with a more realistic/modern reboot, this version of the vanguard looks far more like a proper MBT than the other, it has a large long barrelled cannon, it’s no longer massively wide and has a much bigger central turret and looks pretty mean which is good. I’m a fan of the design however as a TR player I hope the Prowler is made to look less like a fat cake and more like a deadly tank.

3) If the NC is present then the battle must be on auraxis or post-auraxis as they were formed on the planet. If the NC exist the TR must exist since they are the only reason the NC exist, however the setting is not necessarily auraxis. The new picture shows a much higher tech battletank that looks less makeshift than the Vanguard of olde, I reasoned that the vehicles in Planetside were so makeshift because basically everyone on the planet were scientists and civillian explorers so they just cobbled together what they could, this tank looks like it is an actual MBT that is in general service. Perhaps Earth got into contact with Auraxis and reinforcements arrived, the NC and VS have garnered support from the opressed peoples of Earth and the Terran Republic has a full blown war/uprising going on, centred on Auraxis and trying to gain full control of the respawning technology/nanotechnology.

4) Finally perhaps the grey colour isn’t for aesthetics, maybe its a camoflague for Urban terrain, what if Auraxis has been built up by extra colonisation, or maybe there is war in the devastated suburbs of an Earth based megalopolis"

[Raymac]

This one image has gone a long way to putting my fears to rest. I think even the most optimistic of us have concerns considering the lack of information so far about PS2, and the closeness of its release. My only hope was that they actually have been working on this sequel gradually for a long time, and are now telling the world.

This image indicates that they arn't totally starting from scratch and being able to come out with a good product by Q2 is a real possiblity.

As Typwn noted so well, there are some major similarities between the new Vanguard and the old Vanguard, most notibly the weapons (1 main cannon and a secondary machine gun). Admittedly, I don't know much about programming, but it would make sense that making improvements to the existing game would take less time than starting from scratch. I always figured for PS2, all they really needed to do was clean up the lag and give it a new coat of paint and you'd be pretty ready to go. Obviously, we'd all like to see some more, but those are the basics. I am about as excited as I've ever been for a game release.

(FYI: I started Planetside just after launch and was hooked instantly. Played for years on Johari, then Markov, then started to drop off after the last server merge. I still loved the game, but it was a shadow of its former self. To this day, the most fun I've ever had gaming has been during Planetside and I've been waiting for the sequel or a similar game to be released for years. Finally, the day has come and life is good.)

[2coolforu]

I am still worried about a Q2 release. No advertising, about 3 sentences of info and one 3d render. No E3 video footage and some Smedley promises.

Please, just please, remove the BFR's xD

[Hamma]

Smed said previously we will not have any BFRs in PS:N

http://www.planetside-universe.com/n...ide-2-2343.htm

[2coolforu]

Thank you Smed and Hamma I couldn't stand seeing the weapon that murdered Planetside brought into the sequel.

[basti]

Originally Posted by Raymac

Admittedly, I don't know much about programming, but it would make sense that making improvements to the existing game would take less time than starting from scratch. I always figured for PS2, all they really needed to do was clean up the lag and give it a new coat of paint and you'd be pretty ready to go.

Sadly improving code is much harder than creating new code, especialy if you didnt create the code in the first place.

To put it simple, there are two kinds of code:
1. Nice, clean code with a big documentation, easy for everyone to come along, understand what was done, and change/improve stuff. This is pretty much the goal of every programmer, but rare to find. Creating "good" code takes alot of time, because sometimes you spend days doing something, just to completly start over in order to improve it. If people would do that at all times, games would just get 10 times more expensive to create.
2. What you see quite more often, and the Planetsides code looks that way, is a big clusterfu** of lines of code without a documentation. Mostly only the guy who wrote it in the first place really understands it, and can make changes. Planetides orginal devs left, and took their knowlege, as well as quite some handy tools, with them. Joel and the crew had a hard time creating new stuff because of that. In fact, they couldnt make changes to the base layouts because they lacked the tools.

The only wise thing SOE could have done With PSN is a complete recode, starting from scratch. And im pretty sure they did that, because the game is a new game anyway, and improving the old code without letting improving the live game is just dumb.

[Raymac]

Originally Posted by basti

Sadly improving code is much harder than creating new code, especialy if you didnt create the code in the first place.

Thanks for putting it in layman's terms for me there Basti. That actually makes alot of sense. I guess I'm just happy that they arn't doing a complete "re-imagining" of Planetside. If the basics of the Vanguard (i.e. the fact that there is a tank called a vanguard with NC logo and same weapons) are still the same then this is likely going to be the Planetside that we all know and love.

Lets face it. I don't know if anybody fell in love with PS because of its graphics style, it was all about the gameplay. I know I've seen Smedley say that he loved the epic scale of Planetside and thats what he wants to keep for Planetside 2. So as long as that is there, then it will still be "Planetside" and I will still love it.

[Indecisive]

My question is......where the heck is the beta? what, 2 months out and all we have is ONE twitter'd screenshot? Thats kinda scary to be honest.

I want PS:N to succeed so bad, but this feels a bit ominous if you ask me.

[2coolforu]

Well the Old Republic closed beta was back in december and that's due for release in March. So it isn't too dire