Planetside 2

[buzzmong]

Well, this is rubbish.

Thanks to having to sign up via PSG1 games as I joined after the beta if I want SC I have to buy it from PSG1, who aren't doing a sale. Turns out the SOE and PS1 accounts aren't linked even though the accounts themselves obviously exist in some master server somewhere.

Why the fuck do companies split their communites with rubbish shit like this?

[buzzmong]

Right! Further FPS tweaks for those of us who constantly have the [CPU] tag on their FPS counter:

These go in your UserOptions.ini in your main PS2 directory. Some lines will not be there and need to be added.

Code: Select all

[Rendering]
GraphicsQuality=5
TextureQuality=0
ShadowQuality=0
RenderDistance=1250
Gamma=0.000000
MaximumFPS=75
UseLod0a=1
OverallQuality=-1
LightingQuality=5
EffectsQuality=1
TerrainQuality=5
FloraQuality=5
ModelQuality=5
VerticalFOV=74
ParticleLOD=1
ParticleDistanceScale=0.550000
FogShadowsEnable=1
MotionBlur=0
VSync=0
AO=0
GpuPhysics=0

These have massively upped my framerate to a solid 50-60 (often up to the limit of 75) from a choppy 30-40 in heavy battles and made my game much prettier. It's a decent jump.

It's exploiting the fact the PS2 engine is written in a bit of an odd way and unless you turn certain things to Ultra mode, it tries to keep everything it can on the CPU.

By putting certain things on Ultra, it horses the engine to pass them over to the GPU which is very handy if you've got a good graphics card and were hitting the CPU limit. The framerate limit also works to improve performance because it stops the game trying to max out the CPU trying to render as fast as possible and leaves it more time to work on game logic and physics.


Of interest is that in the dev teams own admissions, they've done lots of heavy optimising for GPU's but not the CPU.

Give it a go, might help make PS2 a bit smoother for you.

[Dog Pants]

Nice work Buzz. It works fine on my machine, but I know there are a substantial number of people out there who suffer from low frame rates.

[Anery]

I've tinkered with some of those settings you suggested, not really made any headway but my FPS isn't that bad really, though I do need to check it next time I am in a bio lab.

Today I did some flying about in a mosquito, mostly just to see what my FPS was like, and I found that it was ridiculously easy to fly. This could be a psychological thing whereby I assume that everything that is not VS is better than we have because thats what kills me, or it could be true. I was under the im pression that the three faction specific aircraft (I was going to say 'fighters' but podding doesn't count) were basically the same to fly, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The Scythe seems to want to invert constantly when flying with the external view up - which is essential if you want to know where incoming fire is coming from or to perform manouvres around canyons etc. Compared to this the Mosquito is easy to fly, you always know which way is up and it doesn't seem to try to flip you into mountains.
It could just be that the Mosquito looks more conventional and that tricks my brain, has anyone else tried out the different faction fliers? Is this all in my head?

[Dog Pants]

I've never tried any other faction, but I don't find the Scythe difficult to fly. Every time I start playing I take one out to a hot zone just so I can get to the action fast, and I'm slowly getting better. I've actually won a few dogfights recently.

[buzzmong]

So, I splashed out some certs at the weekend and got a Commissioner. I rather like it, and it very much suits my preference in play style. It's fantasically better than any of the current Vanu pistols and has already earnt a number of kills.

However, PS2 is one of those games were you don't get to pick your playstyle for each engagement, and although I'm groovy with the Commissioner, I think for the places you use it, the Underboss might actually be a better bet if you're umming and ahhing between the two.

[Dog Pants]

Depends on your other weapon. My medic 'meat grinder' build, designed for Bio Labs, uses the Commissioner as a medium range hitter to compliment the short range of his shotgun.

[buzzmong]

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about shotties. You're totally right on that regard that it's the better bet.

[buzzmong]

GU13 contains a fair few changes.

Highlights are new pistols and a bit of general pistol rebalance (Vanu's have been buffed, others mearly tweaked), ESF cannon tweaks as first part of ESF changes, and a few other weapon tweaks here and there.

Esamir now joins Indar in using the lattice network, and there's been tweaks to the respawn logic. Capture timers have been dropped from 10 to 7 mins on the longer capture points, *massive* changes to buildings on Esamir to add more variation + two new Outposts.

Lots of geneal other tweaks and fixes as well.

[Dog Pants]

Also stupid, unpopular, pay-to-win implants. Buy a fairly effective temporary ability for real cashmoney

[buzzmong]

FYI, Implants were removed from being part of GU13 last week, and have gone back to the drawing board as they were game breaking.

[Dog Pants]

Ah, I misinterpreted this article. The link actually goes to another article (which I read at the time) which says they scrapped it. Well done them.

[Anery]

Some interesting stuff in that update:

XP Changes with Suicides
When an enemy soldier dies from a suicide or logs out, the last player to damage the player (within 10 seconds) will be awarded the kill. This also applies to characters inside of vehicles.

Harasser Tuning
Stock resistance to small arms fire reduced from 85% to 80%
Composite Armor bonus reduced from 6/12/18/24 % to 5/10/15/20%
Adjusted the pitch angle on several of the Harasser weapons so that the player could aim lower to the ground

Much needed nerf on the Harasser, I would have reduced comp armour bonus a bit further but I don't have all the facts.

Esamir Lattice and Facility Enhancement
The lattice system already in use on Indar is now active on Esamir.
Nearly every facility and outpost was been enhanced or in some cases completely replaced to help create better gameplay flow and support the addition of the lattice connections on the continent.
Added two new outposts, The Rink, and Rime Analytic

As much as I hated the lattice network on Indar when it first appeared (due in entirety to the server being swamped and the gameplay turning into deathball vs deathball) since the pop has calmed down a bit I can appreciate it now. Hated Esamir anyway, so whats the worst that can happen?

Reading through the patch notes does induce a little rage when I see the numbers for the NC weapons and vehicles - fuck you Higby.

[Dog Pants]

Also, and just as importantly, Vanu weapons have had a sound retune for a better experience. I'm hoping it's this:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oUKjv9Afck[/media]

[Anery]

I had that for a while, it packs quite a punch but the slow movement effect makes it a curiosity and not much else.

[buzzmong]

Hmm, had a gander through the forums earlier in my lunch break, normal post patch "OMG, WHY NURF??!" threads obviously litter the place but two common ones stick out:

1) Apparently the Vulcan "nerf" has done the opposite and made bugger all difference when shooting ESF's while resulting in Harassers being even more deadly with it against tanks.

2) The changes to the Outposts haven't gone down well due to mostly being the addition of a 30 foot wall around them, turning them into mini castles with only a couple of places in and out. There's also questionable placement of defender's vehicle spawns resulting in some farming going on as they get shot on spawn from what I've read.

Oh, and apparently the new Vanu pistol is rubbish, nothing new there

[Anery]

Gah! That chuffin vulcan shreds my maggie. TR tanks carry them too, even the sauron doesn't seem to match up to the AV output of that thing

[buzzmong]

For reference, based on some ideal figures, but basically the damage changes of the Vulcan:

Code: Select all

MAX +82%
Flash +46%
Harasser +3%
Sunderer +30%
Lightning +22%
Magrider +4%
Vanguard -1%
Prowler +4%
ESF -46%
Liberator -48%
Galaxy -82%

Lightnings can apparently now be killed in under one magazine from behind, and although ESF's take 46% less damage, considering how quickly it shredded them before, it's only adds a couple of seconds of life to the ESF.

[Anery]

Oh look, it does less damage to the NC MBT but more to a Maggie...To say I am starting to get fucked off with all this NC love is like saying Pompeii had landscaping problems. Even the chuffing promotional video focuses on them. I tend to steer clear of them now, I prefer to fight TR - vulcan or no vulcan.

[Anery]

Hossin has had its official reveal, looks very swampy and a bit of a nightmare for lolpodders - probably a bit of a problem for tanks too.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c95JhPzyMJE[/media]

Also, you will notice that roughly 95% of the video is devoted to NC...just saying...