How To Get Better Wifi On Ps4

GDC-2012-PlanetSide-2-3 Sony Online Entertainment is bringing its massive, multiplayer RPG shooter PlanetSide two to the PlayStation 4, which is no small feat. The costless-to-play game launched last November on PC, and gameplay revolves around thousands of players struggling for to dominate the planet Auraxis across multiple continents. We spoke with creative manager Matt Higby nigh bringing the game to the PlayStation 4, and how it has changed since launching concluding year.

How long have you guys been working on the PS4 version of the game? How early did you lot know it would exist on the PS4?

We knew that we were going to be prepping information technology for next gen system for a long fourth dimension. When nosotros were building [the game's engine] ForgeLight, we kind of had this idea in the back of our heads … that this was something that nosotros were actually going to want to bring over. Back and then, the PlayStation four was chosen Orbis. It was similar some super secret projection, but nosotros knew a lot of the details nearly it. And nosotros knew that information technology was something that was going to be able to run our game. So it was something that nosotros were going to want to be able to take advantage of.

In terms of actively working on it, since around the fourth dimension that we launched, we divide off a couple of the engine coders and people who had been working on enhancements to go and start working on optimizing the engine to exist able to be more than multi-core friendly and things like that. There is actually a separate squad of coders correct now that we've been building up that are working on doing all of that transition stuff, and it's a lot of work.

In that location's a lot of engineering, kind of like plumbing work taking autonomously and reconstructing of the engine that needs to get done for it. That'due south the major matter that'due south been changed about the game. The engine, and some things with the UI, to arrive work better on the gamepad. Other than that, they're getting PlanetSide 2.

Volition information technology be cross platform between PC and PS4?

"The game, vi months later on, is very, very dissimilar than the game was at launch."

They'll be separate, but not for whatsoever technical reason, mainly for logistical reasons. Some of the ways that the PlayStation Network works are a fiddling fleck dissimilar – in terms of like currency that you employ to purchase stuff, is PlayStation currency versus the Station Greenbacks currency. And the update cadence is a fiddling fleck different. You have to go through a split up approval and QA process on the PS4, and we don't want to necessarily handcuff the PC updates to the PS4 approval process. And then we want to exist able to keep the servers updated separately. So we want to be able to keep the servers updated separately.

From a technical standpoint, they're both going to be running on the same thing. We have talked about the idea of doing character interportablity between both. So potentially players who accept a PC graphic symbol, simply decide they really want to play on the console because some of their console friends are there, might exist able to drop their grapheme on the console and play it at that place also.

Take yous seen it yet running on the PS4?

Aye. Yes, we really have. DC Universe Online is actually running on a PS4 correct behind you, so we've had a PS4 devkits for a while. What we're doing right now … and then ForgeLight is a completely new engine. The game is not to the indicate where it's completely playable on it, simply nosotros have avails running. We can render scenes on it and things like that. And we've also started working on adjusting the UI, and we can be working with that on the PC with a controller plugged in and see how does information technology experience, does it piece of work, practice you interact with it well. A lot of the times the menus are kind of cumbersome, they are designed for mouse and keyboard. Those are sort of the biggest developments right now, and where we demand to spend some time is on that interface and controls.

Volition the game still be free-to-play?

Yeah, admittedly, completely complimentary-to-play. Really very little with the core game mechanics are changing. We are however going to take 2,000 players, it's still going to be 64 foursquare kilometer maps, there is still going to exist thousands of hours of character customization. Massive squad play. All those sore of elements are all going to be in that location. The business model is going to remain exactly the aforementioned, and the merely matter that yous'll have to buy with money is going to be cosmetic items. Everything else that effects game play tin can be unlocked through gameplay.

Nosotros're actually happy with PlanetSide two as a championship, it works really, actually well. Our biggest trouble right at present is just that y'all need to have a monster figurer to be able to run information technology pretty well. So, it's really awesome that people will be able to buy a $399 box that's going to be able to run at maximum settings in basically perfectly controlled environments. Y'all don't have to worry about all these different types of hardware information technology tin support. And so that's actually heady.

That reminds me, I played it a lot at launch but haven't played in awhile, and now I have a new gaming PC. I need to see how it looks at present.

Yous know what, we are six months mail service-launch right now, and we're about to release our eleventh update. We took a couple of weeks off in December for the holidays after crunching. But nosotros've maintained the cadence of updating the game basically every single two weeks with new content, bug fixes, new systems enhancements. The game, six months later on, is very, very unlike than the game was at launch. We've improved and so many different areas of the game, from user interface, to new ways for you to customize your character, and the game plays a lot better.

1 of the big things we've been focusing on recently, and we're continuing to focus on, is new thespian experience. So people jumping into the game can more quickly figure out why this is such a cool and unique game, considering that was sort of cumbersome and difficult. If yous had friends, it was awesome, and you knew y'all could jump in and play with them. Only if you were in there by yourself, sometimes it was really challenging. You lot had to piece of work really difficult to effigy out where the fun was. Once you figured information technology out, and understood how it worked, it was super fun. So, building in more than things to help on-ramp people into the game has been such a huge focus for usa.

Was in that location any player behavior in the game that surprised the team after the game launched?

Yeah, there's some weird stuff similar that where … for instance, we found bugs on our server. Like server-side bugs that simply happen on some servers, and it's entirely considering of a weird tactic that 1 outfit uses on that server to be able to do something. Similar sometimes people will, as an outfit, in that location would be a couple hundred people, who would all suicide together and teleport to a new base of operations, almost instantaneously. It was coordinated, and it would cause some issue on the server.

We would say,"What the hell is going on? Why is this server and so screwed upward"? The coders would look at information technology. They'd be like "It seems similar players are doing this." And it is such an interesting thing, because that'southward their own little ecosystem, and that's the mode they play. I outfit starts doing information technology, and and so suddenly the whole server is doing that exact same thing, so you have this totally different gameplay there.

Then 1 of the issues that we accept evidently is that population balance from time to time tin get out of whack, and that makes some servers where everyone at that place thinks that the Vanu Sovereignty is the most powerful faction, merely then yous go on another server and everybody says the Vanu Sovereignty sucks, they can't accomplish anything. That's one of the things that happens when you take a persistent game, where you are creating your character, and you lot are playing the with the same people, against the same people. Each server kind of has its own culture, and its own unique shared history of "This is what happened. This guild formed and they did this, and this outfit came along and crushed them, and they stole all the people from that outfit, and all the bad people quit, and all the adept people came over, and the leaders had all this drama."

So there'due south this really interesting shared history when yous have a persistent game similar that, but having that happen in a completely one hundred percent PvP, competitive FPS game like this, elevates things a little bit. You heard those stories nigh Eve Online all the time. The drama that happens, and the history of that world. With PlanetSide, there are all these different servers, so in that location really is a completely different world of the states playing on i server versus some other. This base of operations is super popular to fight over, considering for whatsoever reason it simply became something that was pop on that server, but on other servers it is non important. No i cares. It's fascinating, it really is.

And so what's next for yous guys, too the PS4 version, which obviously sounds like a work in progress.

Like I said, we are updating the game, and when I talk nearly large game updates, are are putting in lots of stuff. On game update nine we put in brand new vehicles, brand new MAX weapons, so nosotros're adding a lot. Every month or so we're planning on doing a major course refresh. We just did our MAX refresh. The adjacent ane is going to be the Burglar refresh. They'll get new abilities, new weapons, new cosmetic items. It actually gives them a brand new avenue to play the game and opens upwards some new goals to those classes.

"Ane of the biggest things that has surprised me, in a evolution sense from working on this game, is that this is then unlike than any other game in the globe."

And then the game is constantly evolving, constantly changing. In terms of some huge update that's going to come up and radically change information technology, the biggest things are probably when we add together brand new content or a brand new facility type and sort of spread that around to unlike areas. But even little tiny gameplay systems changes, and even sometimes balance and tuning changes really alter the way the game is played.

One of the biggest things that has surprised me, in a development sense from working on this game, is that this is so different than any other game in the globe. Considering if yous're working on an MMORPG, you lot and a few other designers can gather and run through your content and be similar "this content is fun." You will know that it scales and everything works, and you are good to get. But with a game like this we literally have to get a couple one thousand players playing it to see what is information technology like after 24 hours straight of people using this type of tank and this blazon of rocket launcher, and what happens when two hundred dudes in airplanes wing over and use this matter.

It'south impossible to test, it literally is. So we take a test server, and it is awesome for figuring out if things role correctly, if the gun really fires bullets direct. But figuring out if it's balanced, or what happens when it's being widely used, is a little bit more of an unknown.

Where are yous getting nigh of the community feedback?

There's a agglomeration of places. We're very customs focused. I accept a Twitter account, and I'thousand constantly request people for feedback about the game, which is really cool, I love information technology. I practise informal polling on there all the time. If I'm thinking about the Burglar update we're doing next, I'll constantly say "Hey Infiltrators, what stuff practice you lot wish y'all have? Where do you feel weak"? Usually I merely create a new character and play nada but Infiltrator for several weeks beforehand, and effigy out where I'grand running into bug with information technology too. And a lot of our other weapons testers and stuff do like stuff. It'due south great. I recall Twitter is a actually, actually cool tool, especially for game developers.

planetside-2-main Another reason nosotros're then community focused is because of what I was just talking most. It'southward incommunicable for us to figure how things work until it's actually in a game. And so even before we launch the game we were talking to our players on websites like PlanetSide Universe, and PlanetSide has a pretty active Subreddit too. And then we go there and say "Hey, these are the things nosotros're thinking virtually likewise." We would get all of this feedback from people who are really experienced at playing this type of game. We were able to mold around information technology and brand sure we were delivering good things.

One of things we released postal service launch was a tool called Roadmap, it's actually unique. I don't call back that there is whatsoever other game development that has a tool like this. Simply essentially what we have is a website where we've put all the features we're working on for the next six months. Players are able to vote on them so nosotros can tell which ones people care about. The most awesome matter about it is that at that place is an entire word thread underneath it where we likewise take voting, similar to Reddit. So the peak comments are ones that get voted up.

planetside-2-beta-fl We can say that we're doing a new things like orbital strike. We're going release orbital strike as a new ability for commanders to drop bombs on people from space. We tin take an entire discussion thread with that community. We tin effigy out exactly what they are expecting is going to get delivered, what they are afraid of, and months earlier we're even starting to work on that feature we can be making sure that we're edifice it exactly the way our players want, and fugitive the things our players are worried virtually, which is awesome. And then many times information technology's like a crap shoot, knowing if the thing you're going to release is going to be what your players want to have. So being able to have that directly back and along conversation with them has been beautiful.

Will PlanetSide 2 exist available on the PS4 at launch? Or practise y'all call back it'south going to come later?

Nosotros definitely want be in that location at launch, and that's what we're aiming for. Because PlanetSide 2 is such a unique game, it'south non like we're worried about competition on the horizon right now. There only aren't whatsoever other games fifty-fifty coming out that are like information technology. Our focus is really on making sure that we're delivering a really solid, polished product rather than trying to get it up as quick equally possible. And then peradventure at launch nosotros can have a closed beta on the PS4, an open up beta on the PS4, and exist building out of there. We're not entirely certain. We're going to see how it goes.

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