So the first tech test has ended. I have enjoyed my time with it do far but alot needs work, I feel it is slowly getting there though I can't wait till future updates.
Here is the end of test info on what's making a change from the big man him self:
Hey guys!
It's been a really exciting first week of external testing for us on the dev team. While this phase of pre-beta is primarily focused on solving technical issues (since it is called a “tech test”, afterall) we've also been having a lot of fun playing the game with you guys, and yes, we notice and are frustrated by a lot of the same issues you are experiencing.
I’ve seen a lot of great feedback and suggestions from you guys here, thank you for taking the time to help us make this game great. I wanted to talk a bit about some large changes that you'll see coming over the next couple weeks that address some of the non-technical issues that people have brought up quite a few times. To be clear: this isn't meant to be comprehensively addressing EVERY ISSUE in the game, just some of the big ones that we have confirmed solutions to & which we're working towards.
Base Capture
Currently on beta servers bases have no "secondary objectives", only capture terminals. We're layering in secondary objectives throughout the facilities that add a bit more flow to the bases. For instance, with Zurvan we'll be adding friendly passable shields to the vehicle bay doors, with generators which can be disabled in the courtyard, once within the vehicle bay, attackers can destroy the generator powering the main spawn room, forcing defenders to capture an external outpost or repair their generators. Other secondary objectives like turret generators, vehicle terminal generators, etc will be added to give variation to the various bases.
Along with this, we're varying the availability to vehicles in the outposts, currently a full array of vehicles is available in most of the secondary outposts in facilities, which discourages people bringing vehicles across the map for battles. We're going to be limiting the types of vehicles available at these outposts to the lighter vehicles (Quads, Lightnings) in some cases. We'll also be varying things like availibility of spawners or defensive turrets, and secondary objectives (i.e. a facility shield generator may be at point C, which becomes an important objective for defenders to hold) to give each outpost distinct tactical advantages and disadvantages.
We're currently working on a system which will lock down access to base capture nodes for a certain amount of time after capture also, which should make bases have a more definitive win/loss feel.
There are several flow issues with various outposts that we’ll be addressing as well.
Somewhat related, but deserving of it’s own sub-heading is: BIOLAB.
Man, attacking the Biolab sure isn’t very fun. Currently the teleports are just camped nonstop. Our plan has been to add shields to the buildings housing the teleporters that are associated with the owner of the capture point that’s connected to the TP. I’m not convinced that really solves the problem, so what I think we’re going to do is make multiple spawn rooms up in the biolab dome that are associated with capture points down below, so the infantry fight is a bit more intense up there. We’ll be trying out a variety of other solutions like using jumppads to get up from the groun to the air vehicle decks. We’ll find something fun that makes these fights less of a camp fest.
Coordination & Communication tools
Much of our coordination tools are fledgling or non-existent in the current build. We’ll be spending a lot of time in the next couple months making this way better. Some high level additions that will be coming soon:
1 – better ability for squad leaders to designate targets
2 – ability to distinguish squad members on the minimap
3 – ability to distinguish squad leader on minimap / hud
4 – Platoons
5 – Functional squad browsing
6 – Significantly enhanced availability of slash commands for doing common tasks
7 – Lots of improvements to chat interface, addition of custom channels (with coorisponding voice channels), ability to create multiple windows on the hud, customize fading time, amount, etc.
Map & Minimap enhancements
We’re implementing several features for the map and minimap right now such as:
1 – Minimap will be zoomed out from where it is at, you’ll be able to have some control over zooming
2 -Allowing you to see capture status for bases under contention on the map
3 – Areas with active battles (i.e. hotspots) will be highlighted
4 – Empire priority target regions will be called out based on things like maintaining resources, denying resources, areas being attacked, etc.
5 – Clamping indicators for squad members, waypoints and capture points to the edge of the minimap
Combat Feel
There are a huge number of changes coming with basic combat feeling. A lot of it is bug fixing, a lot of it is features that just aren’t ready yet. Some major changes include:
1 – Aiming “lag” reduction. If you’ve tried to shoot at a target moving laterally on your screen it’s sometimes difficult to hit them consistently, this has to do with bullets tracking a frame or two behind your aim location. This is a bug we’re actively addressing.
2 – Being killed feels bad, man. Not just in a normal way, but in a “the death sequence sucks” way. Part of this is a timing issue, part of it is animations. We agree it’s not good, and we’re going to make it better.
3 – Weapon balance is all over the place, TR and VS sniper rifles are great hipfire death cannons is one example, but there are more. This will be an ongoing effort, but we’ve definitely noticed some egregious issues that will be solved sooner.
4 – Sidegrade weapons. Heck yeah! They exist. These will be sort of an equalizer once we have them in the game, you’ll be able to get weapons that start to feel more like the other empires defaults, and take your empire specific attributes even further. Looking forward to getting all of these in for you guys to start to play with.
Vehicles
There are a lot of bugs and goofiness with vehicles right now. Collision damage on friendly players is insane, TTK is really goofy, vehicle pads are death traps 9 times out of 10, and timers on vehicles are a bit too long without any corresponding certifications available. No secondary weapon options mean that certain roles (notably air cav, vehicle based anti-air) are sorely lacking. These are all things that will be addressed in one way or another in the next 2-3 weeks on beta.
As I mentioned above, this is by no means a comprehensive list, but more of addressing of major issues that we’ve seen reported and been annoyed with ourselves. Please keep the feedback coming and keep the discussion constructive. You guys all have a very influential and important role in this phase of development, your feedback and the feedback from your fellow testers is absolutely invaluable to us right now. We simply cannot build this game into the amazing experience we all know it can and will be without your help, so keep it up. Thank you!
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Topic: Planetside 2: Free-to-Play MMOFPS. 2000 players/server. (Read 1133221 times)