Massive Action Game ... PS3

[Sigurd]

I just saw this clip from E3 2008 : MAG

For all those BF2 etc fans out there. I am contemplating getting my hands on a PS3 for this game.
256 players on one map? with command structure etc.

This should be good if it is well done.

[TevashSzat]

I just saw this clip from E3 2008 : MAG

For all those BF2 etc fans out there. I am contemplating getting my hands on a PS3 for this game.
Damn ... 256 players on one map? with command structure etc.

This should be good if it is well done.

Not gonna be implemented well no matter how much time is spent on it.

It will be way too hectic and organization will be a mess. I don't see how there won't be a ton of lag everywhere too

[Spino]

I don't know what kind of netcode monkeys this developer has working for it but even the best online shooters running on the best servers experience lag issues with anything over 50 people, especially if a good portion of the players are a considerable distance from the server. Given this we must assume that either this developer has managed to perform a programming miracle or.... they've cut corners with the combat aspect of the game engine in order to handle more players.

Based on what little we know about this game I am guessing that they may have done away with a number of 'realism' features that fans of most online shooters take for granted in order to keep their data packets small, thus allowing for a greater number of players. Meaning they might have done away with anything remotely resembling ballistics characteristics & calculations and opted for a 'point & kill' approach as seen in shooters like Counterstrike. Controlling your weapon as you fire or leading the target may not be required because the engine will simply calculate your sucess based on the state of both you and your target. By eliminating realtime/projected ballistics calculations altogether they can cut down on the average data packet size or make room for additional data in each packet to allow for more people to run around on a map without creating lag. When you consider all the auto-aiming going on in console shooters this idea isn't so far fetched. Basically the netcode is probably better suited for CS/MMO netcode instead of an online fps code.

[Decker]

It's called Planetside

[CountArach]

You just know that 99% of people will have no interest in keeping the command structure, thus killing one of the game's most attractive possibilities.

[Decker]

Well it seemed to work in Planetside...tho there was constant bickering among the "top brass," the commanders did a good job of organizing each army into huge operations against each other and coordinating attacks and defense. It can work, but you need the right people.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Not gonna be implemented well no matter how much time is spent on it.

It will be way too hectic and organization will be a mess. I don't see how there won't be a ton of lag everywhere too

Bah! Tribes2 had 64 player games that ran well and that was years ago. Maybe netcode is just harder than better graphics because computers keep getting faster while bandwidth doesn't as much. So graphics improvements don't have to be nearly as efficient as netcode improvements.

CR

[Sigurd]

Ok, I just checked PLAY.COM
They list this game with release date 30th of January 2009 which is before PROTOTYPE in March 2009.

[Sigurd]

Sorry for bringing this back to life.

I just downloaded the beta game which will be playable on servers from the 4th to the 10th of January 2010.
If any of you fancy a game around that time to see what this game has to offer - I and possibly Husar will be online testing this baby.

It is a rather big download - ~300MB + 37MB + ~1800MB

[Fragony]

Willing to take a try, add 'Mylittlepwny'. I hope they can make this work, it worked for Planetside. I am a little bit worried though, Resistance 2 has 64 player on one map, with teamgames there is really no difference between 64 or 16 as you are really only just being on the same map, it really are 4 team games at the same time.

[TinCow]

Coincidentally, an article on MAG just showed up today on Kotaku.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Coincidentally, an article on MAG just showed up today on Kotaku.

hmmmm.......they weren't too specific with how the servers will handle it.......

i might get it. my birthday is in april, so i'll have a few months to read reviews and watch videos before i need to decide if i want it or not.

like it said though, most people are still playing some of the other juggernaut titles that just came out, like modern warfare 2, assassins creed 2, left 4 dead 2. and it is going to be eclipsed by the new juggernauts coming out around its time frame: Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, Army of 2 40 day....

but i hope that lots of people will still be playing. i can tell you that far more than 256 people are online on halo 1 pc multiplayer at any given time, and thats an understatement.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Coincidentally, an article on MAG just showed up today on Kotaku.

That article made the game seemed interesting but doomed. It (apparently) has a creative solution to the lag problem, some interesting features (a slower shooter on that scale? intriguing) but it's being released to low popularity on Mass Effect 2 Day. The only upshot of that is that it'll probably build a small but loyal community that's necessary for team and cooperation based gameplay.

This is one of the games that might make me buy a console, eventually.

[Sigurd]

The BIG DAY is tomorrow!!!

Download the MAG beta client from the US store. Sony will be hosting 256 player games from 1 PM (GMT) and until the 10th of January.

Personally I will not be able to play until the kids are in bed tomorrow night (around 8 PM) as it is a regular work day.

[Prussian to the Iron]

it comes out tomorrow? I'm pretty sure its a few weeks later in january...

[Sigurd]

it comes out tomorrow? I'm pretty sure its a few weeks later in january...

The actual game is still in the future.
It is the BETA client servers which opens tomorrow. Free download from the US playstation store. The servers will run from the 4th of January to the 10th of January.

[Prussian to the Iron]

great; while I'm waiting for my damned corrupted new Fallout 3 GOTY PC disc to be exchanged for a new one, I can play the beta.

[Hooahguy]

makes me with i had a PS3.

[Prussian to the Iron]

makes me glad to know i have both :P

[Sigurd]

Played one round already... seems promising.

It looks like you can choose one of three factions and make a character in that faction and stick with it as long as you desire.
I am currently Raven, a hightech faction.

playername: Sigurd-org

[Prussian to the Iron]

ill download it and maybe play some tomorrow. see if youre on! :)

PSNetwork name: CrusaderSpartan1

dont know why, it was a long time ago.

[White_eyes:D]

My Network name on PS3 is "dotjohn999" it's my buddies.

Same user-name with X-box 360 if anyone has it for "Left for Dead 2".

[Prussian to the Iron]

ill send a frend request (on both)

[Sigurd]

Sorry I missed you PI... I usually play very late at night... well, evening for you young fellows.
That would be around 2200-0000 GMT+1.

For you Americans closest over the pond that would be around 1600-1800 Eastern.
Any later than that and I'll be sound asleep.

Now... back to the game. I don't play as much every day... just an hour or two, which means my progress is slow. I have reached level 5 with sergeant stripes. I was unfortunate enough to spend my skill points on dumb choices. Didn't see the scroll bar for other options.

I guess the number one priority is the ability to revive your commerades on the battlefield which costs about two skill points. I squandered my points on stuff that I can't use yet, which IMO shouldn't be possible such as advanced optics on the assault rifle. I should have gotten better optics on the sniper rifle which I use quite frequently.

Three maps are available when you first log in as a level 1 private. You can't really choose which map you will join, but are queued up with you faction and dumped into one of the three theaters available on the sabotage type game. One theater is in Alaska where Raven (my faction) is attacker another is somewhere in Russia where my faction also is attacker and one faction in central America where Raven is defender. Also - the early games are only 64 player games.

Husar has played this game more than I have and last I saw him, he had reached level 10 which gives him other types of games and larger game theaters (256 players).
So.. Hus, anything you want to contribute?

[Prussian to the Iron]

yeah, sorry i havent been on; my little brother just has to play lego indiana jones 2 on MY PS3 every second of every day. ill try and download it today.

[White_eyes:D]

Yeah....I find the Sniper a little overpower....

4 of us armed with Assault rifles and Medium armor(Noob players) rushed a guy with a machine gun and heavy armor.....he killed two of us in a short burst of bullets and then I threw a nade in to kill him but he run out of it's range.....my other team mate ran in and tried to gun him down....he was killed right there....I then ran in and was gunned down in an instant.(Just trying to explain how my close to medium combat went......"bad" most of the time)


On that same mission I was perched on a rock and sniping guys with that same Heavy armor and killing them in one to two shots...and 90% of the time it was not a head shot.....and I have no upgrades for the thing.(Long range combat was easy.....just need to time your shots and smooth sailing)

Most kills I have ever had in one round so far was...only 14 kills to 36 deaths with that crappy Assault rifle *ouch* that's one of the worst records in my FPS online career...When I was a Sniper it was more 12 kills to 7 deaths which is more boring since your not really fighting your just picking off anyone who is dumb enough to go down that straight path or up that tricky hill. Only a counter-sniper who would appear would kill me on the odd occasion....(And as weird as it may sound.....someone who was fed up with me shooting them going that way, threw a nade all the way up there....I still got him but I was pretty amazed he would go though that much effort....he just had to avoid that area and I couldn't have done anything..)

Still it was fun....

[woad&fangs]

Another promising FPS lost to the idiocy of unlock-able weapons/skills.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Another promising FPS lost to the idiocy of unlock-able weapons/skills.

??? unlockables are fun. though it means that higher level players dominate everyone regardless of skill (I suck, and on CoD4 when I reached the highest level and had all guns, I now dominate just about everyone), it also means that you see a variety of weapons.

ultimately it's the lesser of 2 evils:

no variation in guns, just a couple of each type found with people with no reason to want to level up

or

unlockables that give higher level (not necessarily better) players domination over all the others. however you have something to look forward to.



I'll be on tonight hopefully, since i dont have anything until around......1830 eastern. I tihnk i got 2 friend requests from orgahs, dont remember which. hopefully we'll play tonight!

[White_eyes:D]

In order to play on the 256 maps.....you need to be at least level ten.

I just played one....seemed pretty stable with only a few spots of lag (Mostly when I was respawning)....I was revived about 20 times in that game...I had less respawns this time....

It was kinda like a small scale battle.....I had one instance were I was wondering "where the heck is the enemy?" Next thing I know I see 30 or so guys running for the oil rig(?) trying to protect it.....I was killed instantly after that but seeing that many guys at once made me very cautious.

"Stick to your squad" was all I could think after that
The Chaos of that kinda of battle pretty much meant battles were going on everywhere.....I usually would run across guys cut off from there squads....it meant death to them and points for me...

[Prussian to the Iron]

meh. 64 is still 4 times the amount i play on cod 6.


anyway, from now til sometime around 1730-1800 ill be playing the MAG beta. if anyone wants to play, my PSN id is still up there for a friend request. see you guys on!