PlanetSide 2
Planetside 2 (formerly known as PlanetSide Next) is a Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter (MMOFPS) game from Daybreak Games Company (formerly Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) ) and is the sequel to their earlier game PlanetSide. Planetside 2 was released November 20, 2012. On June 5th, 2013 it was announced that PlanetSide 2 would be coming to the PlayStation 4.[1] On June 23rd 2015, the PS4 version was released.
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Gameplay
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Backstory
- Main article: Lore
Empires
Terran Republic
"The Terran Republic was formed by the unified Earth government after global war in the 25th century. Their idea of freedom was a bit more strict than some would like but many argue it has successfully kept Earth without war for hundreds of years. Their time on Auraxis has caused them to rely heavily on their honed military tactics and wide reaching resources. They were the originators of the colonization effort of Auraxis. The New Conglomerate see them as an oppressive and tyrannical government. The Vanu see them as unenlightened about the benefits harnessing the alien technology their way would bring. It's no surprise they must fight both factions for their cause."[2]
New Conglomerate
"The New Conglomerate was initially formed on Earth as a mega collective of civilian corporations who worked alongside the Terran Republic until they felt that the Republic's rules were too strict. The N.C. feel that any form of control is "oppression" and that they fight for liberty and freedom. The Vanu see them as unenlightened about the benefits harnessing the alien technology their way would bring. The Republic see them as rebels that would destroy their democratic way of life and form an oligarchy under their corporate masters. It's no surprise they will have to fight both for their cause."[2]
Vanu Sovereignty
"The Vanu Sovereignty are a Transhumanist cult of academics, intellectuals, and technology worshippers who believe human destiny lies in the further development and exploitation of the alien technology. They viewed the rules the republic put on their research as oppressive and fight for the freedom to experiment on, alter, and integrate human beings with the alien technology that was found on Auraxis. They believe all this is the key to the future and are willing to do anything in pursuit of this goal. Of course this is at odds with both the Terran Republic and New Conglomerates views that they could end up destroying all of mankind or render us no longer human by all the integration and alteration. It's no surprise they must fight both for their cause."[2]
Features
This is a summary of key features of PlanetSide 2.
Gameplay
"PlanetSide 2 is a Massively Multiplayer First Person Shooter that delivers truly epic, massive combat on a scale never before seen in stunning, breathtaking detail. Battles take place not between dozens of troops, but thousands; with air and ground vehicles slugging it out alongside squads of troops. Whether in open fields, tightly-packed urban centers or enormous structures, winning requires strategic teamwork and a quick trigger finger."[2]
The pacing for PlanetSide 2 is faster than the original PlanetSide[3] and features thousands of players. It also features familiar first person shooter elements such as sprinting and iron sights. An important aspect is that player skill is the major determiner when it comes to being able to kill other players. Skills are planned to only make between 15-20% difference and any weapon is able to damage another player.
Vehicles
- Main article: Vehicles
Planetside 2 has 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 VTOLs. The three Empire Specific Main Battle 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 update 8 was released in May of 2013 that included the common pool Harasser. This is a returning 3-man buggy from the original Planetside, in addition to multiple decals and skins available though the in-game store.PatchNotes
Game update on August 27, 2014 included the common pool Valkyrie. This 6-man air transport was added as a new vehicle along with new Ribbons and Medals and various bug and glitch fixes.PatchNotes
Game Engine and Mechanics
PlanetSide 2 uses SOE's Forgelight engine which in turn uses nVidia's PhysX API for its physics engine[4]. 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 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 no bonus.[5]
Territorial Control and Resources
From the first reveal of PlanetSide 2, a significant amount of the announcement revolved around the new territory control and resource system.
Combat on PlanetSide 2 takes place on continents. Each continent is divided into capturable territories of different sizes and shapes. Each territory has value in the form of resources. Each territory owned by an empire exerts influence. Influence is a key contributor in determining how difficult a territory is to capture and defend and may have other impact on the game.
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 than the Instant Action button in PlanetSide.
Roles and Skills
As a player participates in PlanetSide 2 they 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.[6]
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.[7] 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.
Command Rank exists differently in PlanetSide 2. Command Ranks are a separate certification tree (Squad Leader) that any player can invest into. The command ranks enable functions such as access to the Spawn Beacon, command chat, waypoints, tactical overlay, and the Orbital Strike. Outfits will also have a skill tree which provide bonuses to their members.
Servers
Planetside 2 will have multiple servers, including USA, European and Australian locations. The server names will be changed before launch.
- Main article: Server
Payment System
The PlanetSide 2 business model is 100% Free to Play combined with a Membership component. Customers could also purchase Alpha Squad which grants various perks and post-launch benefits. Announced on 7th September 2012 at a price of $39.99, the product includes instant beta access, Station Cash
and in-game perks.
Free to Play
The following Customization items can be purchased with Station Cash only.
- Cosmetic Customizations, including Camouflage and Decals
- Boosts, this includes items such as Experience Amplifier, and Resource Amplifier
The following Customization items can be purchased with Certifications 
and Station Cash .
- Infantry and Vehicle Weapon upgrades including Fury, and P2-120 AP
- Implants, received also as random drops.
"We've increased the number of passive certifications for members and scaled the increase in Certification points based on length of Membership. The new cert point rates are as follows:
- 1-mo. member - 24 passive cert points/day
- 2-mo. member - 28.8 passive cert points/day
- 3-mo. member - 33.6 passive cert points/day
- 4-mo. member - 38.4 passive cert points/day
- 5-mo. member - 43.2 passive cert points/day
- 6-mo. + member - 48 passive cert points/day"
Source: http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/server-downtime-03-13-2013.103289/#post-1378658
Media
Video
E3 TotalBiscuit Streams
Images
Infantry and Exosuits
Vehicles
Wallpaper
Concept Art
System Specifications
Below are listed the current recommended specs for running PlanetSide 2 as it was meant to be run.[8]
Minimum System Requirements
| OS | Windows XP |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 or higher / AMD Phenom II X2 or higher |
| Memory | 4 GB RAM |
| Hard Drive | 15 GB free |
| Video Memory | 256 MB RAM |
| Video Card | nVidia GeForce 8600 series or higher / AMD or ATI 4850 series or higher |
| Sound Card | DirectX compatible |
Recommended System
| OS | Windows 7 |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel i5 processor or higher / AMD Phenom II X6 or higher |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM |
| Hard Drive | 15 GB free |
| Video Memory | 1,024 MB RAM |
| Video Card | nVidia GeForce GTX 500 series or higher / AMD HD 6870 or higher |
| Sound Card | DirectX compatible |
Download PlanetSide 2
You can download the PlanetSide 2 client at launch.soe.com/installer/PS2_setup.exe or from Steam at store.steampowered.com.
PlanetSide 2 Team
General
- John "Smed" Smedley - Chief Executive Officer, Sony Online Entertainment
- Josh Hackney - Senior Producer
- Matt Higby - Creative Director
- Roy Eltham - Technical Architect
- Brollywood - European Production Manager
- Rwyn - European Community Manager
- RadarX - Community Manager
Game Design
- Dan "BREWKO" Binter - Game Designer
- Jimmy Whisenhunt - Game Designer
- Luperza - Game Designer
Level Design
- arclegger - Level Designer
- Ire - Level Designer
- Kalyper - Level Designer
Audio Department
- Rodney Gates - Audio Director
- Jeff Broadbent - Lead Music Composer
- Don Ferrone - Music Composer
- InjectedSenses - Sound Designer
Art Design
- Tramell "T-Ray" Isaac - Senior Art Director
- Evil Redrum - Artist
Coding
- CodeForge - Lead Programmer
- Tom Schenck - CyclesMcHurtz - Code Monkey
- JGood - Developer
- Josh - Developer
- Joshua - Developer
- MuldoonX9 - Developer
See Also
PlanetSide Universe PlanetSide 2 Information Thread - Contains more information about PlanetSide 2 Check out the new Giant Weekly Ad for the details of coupons.
References
- ↑ http://www.planetside-universe.com/news-planetside-2-coming-to-playstation-4-3033.htm
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 http://www.planetside2.com/faq.html
- ↑ http://www.planetside-universe.com/p-john-smedley-qa-79.htm
- ↑ http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111555-EverQuest-Next-and-Planetside-2-To-Use-New-Forge-Light-Engine
- ↑ http://www.planetside-universe.com/news-clarification-on-headshots-2507.htm
- ↑ http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=572465#post572465
- ↑ http://www.planetside-universe.com/p-fan-faire-2011-qa-70.htm
- ↑ http://help.station.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/35012/p/5833
