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PlanetSide 2

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File:PlanetSide2logo.jpg
Developer(s)Sony Online Entertainment
Publisher(s)Sony Online Entertainment
EngineForge Light Engine[1]
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Genre(s)MMOFPS
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Planetside 2 is an upcoming video game published by Sony Online Entertainment. The game is a sequel to Planetside originally released in 2003. The game was officially announced on July 7, 2011 at the Sony Fan Fair.[2] As in the first Planetside, Planetside 2 chronicles the efforts of three factions as they fight for territorial control of the planet Auraxis.

Backstory

Lore

PlanetSide 2 is a sci-fi MMOFPS, that is set approximately 200 years after the discovery of Auraxis. The actual chronology, however, starts in the near future. After the Earth has nearly came to ruin after being torn apart by, what we assume was an all-out war for expiring natural resources, world's governments came to a consensus and united under one banner of the world-wide Terran Republic. Some time later a wormhole, that scientists fail to explain, appears and later disappears without a trace. Ex-President of the Terran Republic, Tom Connery, believes that the wormhole is a sign of existing extraterrestrial life and launches several space expeditions, led by him. The first expedition to Moon Belt gives a lead, a figurine of alien nature, giving Connery a reason to start a second expedition, further into space. Several TR ships travel through the wormhole and are stranded for a very long period of time, their situation grows dire. Due to the crews mental exhaustion and provision limit, strict curfews are applied. Later a vote is held about the necessity of the measures. The positive vote wins, but nearly ties with the amount of negative votes. A second vote is called for, a terrorist bomb destroys the ship on which the vote is to occur, killing everyone aboard, including Connery. Curfews pass. Later the expedition discovers a planet Auraxis, and exactly after 175 years later, the war between the Terran Republic and the New Conglomerate breaks out. Following this a group of people, calling themselves the Vanu Sovereignty joins the conflict.

Although the story is very similar to the original, Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) announced that award-winning author Marv Wolfman has joined the SOE team to write the ongoing historic fiction for the upcoming massively multiplayer online first person shooter (MMOFPS), PlanetSide 2. This is the first time the PlanetSide franchise narrative has been detailed.

Empires

Terran Republic

An authoritarian government that leverages military might to maintain strict control over the colonial citizens. The Terran Republic is obsessed with the preservation of law and order and are thus seen by some to be an oppressive and dictatorial force, but many view the TR as the only hope for lasting security on Auraxis.

New Conglomerate

The New Conglomerate operates as a loosely organized band of dissidents, vehemently opposed to the stranglehold that the Terran Republic has on Auraxis. Led by an unusual quorum of outcasts, industry titans, pirates and former military leaders, the New Conglomerate is unwavering and prepared to achieve their goals by any means necessary.

Vanu Sovereignty

Vanu has taught that only through technology can humanity evolve its next state of existence. The Vanu Sovereignty is extremely advanced, employing powerful alien technology on the battlefield. Their singular purpose is to uncover the secrets hidden away in ancient artifacts scattered over the surface of Auraxis and they will annihilate anyone who interferes.


Gameplay

Features

Planetside 2 will be a re-imagining of Planetside, featuring the same world, factions and taking place at roughly the same time period. As in the previous game, Planetside 2 will feature territory control in an open-world, large battles featuring up to 2000 players on foot or in land/air vehicles. The territory system is more complex than in the original PlanetSide, and will play a bigger part in shaping the battlefield.[3] SOE has been taking into account balance issues from the first game. Matt Higby, the creative director, has stated "We're definitely going to be rewarding combatants on lower population empires through mechanics such as proportionally increased advancement rates and resources and we'll be attempting to balance the overall empire saturation on each server as much as we can without force-restricting folks from being able to play with their friends."[4]

The pacing for PlanetSide 2 is going to be faster than the original PlanetSide. It will feature potentially thousands of players. It will also feature familiar first person shooter elements such as sprinting, iron sights, and regenerating shields. An important aspect will be that player skill is the major determiner when it comes to being able to kill other players. Unlockable Skills are planned to only make between 15-20% difference and any player. The model of obtaining the said skills will be similar to the model of EvE Online, with skill taking time to be learnt, however the skill progression will not require a player to be online for its duration. PlanetSide 2 will also feature a unique Day/Night cycle, meaning that battles will happen in different times of day, effecting the general methods for warfare.

Classes

Another thing the game is taking from the genre is the preset classes, with multiple progression trees. The verstility of the original inventory system was replaced with the new class system to provide more teamplay experience and give player the ability of visual distinction. The game presents 6 classes, each of them possess 2 specializations:

  • Light Assault - a jetpack trooper
  • Heavy Assault - a soldier carrying either a strong anti-infantry or an anti-vehicular weaponry
  • Medic - a class responsible for replenishing players' health and reviving them on the field
  • Engineer - a class responsible for vehicle repairs aswell as fortification
  • Infiltrator - a saboteur or a sniper, capable of cloaking
  • Mechanized Assault Exo-Suit (MAX) - an operator of the powerful armored robotic suit, capable of sustaining and dealing heavy damage, the only class that will require Engineer's attention along with Medic's

The classes will not be tied to a character, one can switch a class at any given time, by using an equipment terminal on a base or at a mobile spawn point. Skill progression will not be tied to the active class either.

Vehicles

Planetside 2 will be launched with over ten vehicles to be utilized, The NS (Nanite Systems) vehicles which are 'common pool' vehicles that any faction can obtain. The NS vehicles consist of the Flash, Galaxy, Liberator, Sunderer and the Lightning. The remaining vehicles are ES (Empire Specific) meaning only your empire can obtain your faction's airborne or armored vehicles. The Scythe (Vanu Sovereignty), the Reaver (New Conglomerate) and the Mosquito (Terran Republic) are the three Empire Specific fighter jets. The three Empire Specific Armored tanks are the Magrider (Vanu Sovereignty), the Vanguard (New Conglomerate) and the Prowler (Terran Republic). This makes a total of eleven vehicles thus far and more may be added before launch.

Game Engine and Mechanics

PlanetSide 2 will use SOE's Forge Light Engine which in turn uses nVidia's PhysX API for its physics engine. This enables more realistic vehicle handling compared to the previous PlanetSide, especially when it comes to flying aircraft. Weather and day/night cycles are also possible as well as volumetric fog and clouds which players can hide in. Bullets are also simulated by the physics engine so players will need to compensate for gravity while aiming.

Another improvement over PlanetSide is the introduction of locational damage for soldiers and vehicles (a.k.a. hitboxes). This is customisable by the developers so that a sniper rifle shot to the head can have a huge bonus while high rate of fire weapons, such as the Mini Chaingun, and vehicles have small to no bonus.

Territorial Control and Resources

To begin with PlanetSide 2 combat will take part on the continents of Auraxis which are broken up into many territories. Territories are then split into sectors which can be captured by the various empires, later SOE may introduce multiple worlds to fight on. Some sectors are captured by soldiers, while others can be captured by vehicles. Influence from captured sectors can also spread to adjacent sectors. Each sector has resources, such as Auraxium, although details of how these can be used have not been released. PlanetSide 2 will also feature a player and, possibly, outfit (PlanetSide name for guild) economy.

Mission System

The mission system in PlanetSide 2 is partly automated and partly controlled by commanders and outfits. It provides focal points for players to attack and defend and to help players get into the fight a lot quicker.

Roles and Skills

As a player participates in PlanetSide 2 they will increase in Battle Rank. This is where the similarity with PlanetSide's system ends. A player trains skills (called certs) to improve their character by granting bonuses and allowing access to more equipment and vehicles. Certs train over time whether the player is online or not (although skill training is quicker when the player is in game). By progressing in Battle Rank a player unlocks the ability to train higher level certs. Some certs require the player to have prerequisite certs, for example to train for a Mechanized Exo-Suit you may first have to train a heavy weapons cert.

Roles bring class based gameplay to PlanetSide 2 and centre around well known roles such as medic, engineer, etc. You can switch in and out of roles at will but your effectiveness in that role will depend on your certs. It is therefore down to the player whether they become highly specialised in one role, or branch out to be effective in a variety of roles, however at maximum level, you will be able to unlock everything.

Command Rank does not exist in PlanetSide 2, instead there will be command skills which provide bonuses to team members such as allowing the leader to be a mobile spawn point and unlock orbital strikes. Outfits will also have a skill tree which provide bonuses to their members.


Business Model

Planetside 2 will be free-to-play. The developers have indicated an admiration of the League of Legends model.[5] Planetside 2 will feature certain free aspects, and will include a cash shop. The cash shop will not sell items such as guns or vehicles that make players more powerful, instead the shop will sell equipment, obtainable through the game progressions and cash shop exclusive things such as visual customizations.[6]


Development

The first official indications that a PlanetSide sequel was in development appeared in 2009. On September 25, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) sent a mass e-mail to current and former PlanetSide subscribers, asking to fill a survey that would help SOE design the next generation PlanetSide. "We plan to expand the PlanetSide universe with another game and we need your help with the design. After all, who knows the game better than you, our customers, the people who actually play it! Don't worry about the original PlanetSide, it isn't going anywhere."[7] In addition, SOE registered the domain www.planetside2.com on September 21.[7] On October 11, SOE president John Smedley posted on his LiveJournal account that the sequel's working title is PlanetSide Next.[8][9]

Little was revealed about the sequel until December 2010, when Smedley said that SOE would be launching a first-person shooter in March 2011,[10] which was soon confirmed by Paul Williams of SOE as referring to PlanetSide Next.[11] On March 31, 2011, SOE announced that it would be ending development of their spy-themed MMO The Agency and refocusing efforts on EverQuest Next and PlanetSide Next.[12] Smedley confirmed that PlanetSide Next had been delayed – the result of recently switching to a new game engine – and would be available later in the year.[13] The working title was later changed to PlanetSide 2 The Planetside 2 website was later updated to show a video trailer of the upcoming game. Many interview videos were taken after that showing bits of gameplay, but the biggest off-screen gameplay video was shown at 2012's GDC, showing most of the game aspects.


Beta Testing

Developers of PlanetSide 2 state that the game is still in its raw alpha state, however the early registration for beta testing is already open on http://www.planetside2.com. Though the actual beta date is still unknown, Matthew Higby states that the beta stage will be happening "in the next couple months".

References

  1. ^ "EverQuest Next and Planetside 2 To Use New Forge Light Engine". July 10, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  2. ^ "'PlanetSide 2' revealed at Sony Fan Faire". The Independent. London. July 8, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  3. ^ "Fan Faire 2011 Q&A". PlanetSide Universe.
  4. ^ Biessener, Adam (2011). "Planetside 2: Another Shot at the shooter MMO we've always wanted". XXI (221). Game Informer. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ "Re: Chinese Interview with John Smedley". September 8, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  6. ^ "PlanetSide 2 Will Have A Cash Shop, But Pay-To-Win Not An OptionQ". July 13, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  7. ^ a b "PlanetSide 2 in the works?". PlanetSide Universe. 2009-09-25. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  8. ^ Smedley, John (2009-10-08). "What Planetside Next means to me". Smed's Blog. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  9. ^ Gilbert, Ben (2009-10-11). "SOE's John Smedley calls PlanetSide sequel 'PlanetSide Next'". Joystiq. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  10. ^ Tito, Greg (2010-12-08). "Sony Online Strongly "Hints" Planetside Sequel Coming This Spring". The Escapist. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  11. ^ "PlanetSide Next Update". PlanetSide Universe. 2010-12-10. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  12. ^ Fahey, Mike (2011-03-31). "Sony's MMO Studio Confirms Massive Layoffs, Closes the book on the Agency". Kotaku. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  13. ^ Voecks, Krystalle (2011-04-04). "SOE layoffs affect timetable for PlanetSide Next". Massively. Retrieved 2011-04-15.


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