A: Ed was describing the game's fiction moreso than its gameplay, so no. But you could create a mod that does this.
Q: Is it in the plans to allow ctrl-k , mine disc, beacon stops?
A: You can force yourself to respawn as in T1 and T2.
Q: Is the administration of tribes (as in clans) online (as in member lists, profiles, etc in the browser) going to be similar to that of T2, reworked or just totally scrapped?
A: Re-worked.
Q: Servers: An online, multiplayer game is nothing without the servers. Tribes 2 servers were not that friendly to set up and run. Will we see an application to help server admins run their servers easily, ie a Telnet app that does not require knowing the actual function names and required parameters, along the lines of a basic Tricon type app ?
A: Tribes: Vengeance is based on Unreal. Check out UT2K3 server administration for examples of what's possible. It's quite powerful:
http://www.unrealadmin.org/
Q: will there be an allowance in map size and design for clans that do not wish to blow out to numbers over 20?
this was the death of my beloved clan, we went from a roster of 12-14 to around 30 and was an industrial sized shitfest to run
perhaps if people want big teams have to map classes (a & b) that allow for clans of different sizes to compete on even playing fields
small clans of mates got dicked bad by t2, it lead to the creation of "superclans" and an overly-political recruitment process
A: Yes, definitely. While leagues/ladders with large team sizes should still be possible, leagues/ladders with small team sizes should be possible as well. When we say the multiplayer game is for 2-32 players, we mean it! =)
Q: When does the open beta or beta begin? I know that the game is a year from depolyment yet it would deffinitly be great to know when this is going to start. Sign up restrictions..etc. dates.
A: Jelly, We are over a year from release, and it's far too early to talk about open beta yet.
Q: Normal mapping has been mentioned in connection with this game. For the general (gaming) public, can you explain what this would mean graphically?
A: Props to programmer Rowan Wyborn for answering this:
"Normal mapping allows us to put extra detail into models without having to use any extra polys. There are in fact some kinds of detail (surface etchings, rough surfaces) which are virtually impossible to do using polys only. It also allows us to do per pixel specular lighting on objects, which really helps give an impression of realism and depth to surfaces (especially metallic or shiny surfaces). It really brings the character models to life, and gets rid of that flat 'computer graphicsy' look that most games these days suffer from."
Hope that helps.
Q: Will Tribes: Vengeance incorporate selectable offensive and defensive spawn spheres?
Reason:
The question is particularly important for tournament mode where, for example, a HOF and LD would choose the defensive spheres to spawn closer to the flag while the HO and LO could choose the offensive spheres to spawn closer to a vehicle pad or forward tower.
A: We're reconsidering how spawning works, but that's all we can say for now.
Q: Will (racial/tribal) attributes affect multiplay in any way?
A: Nope. Beyond texturing and meshes, there is no difference between a Phoenix and Blood Eagle light. The single player game makes use of other avenues to imply racial differntiation (such as equipment availability and AI behaviours), but these do not transfer across to MP.
Q: Compaired to T1 and T2 classic, how fast (aka acceleration and sking) is t:v?
A: This isn't an easily measurable comparison. Unit scales among the three games differ completely, maps are designed differently, art assets are scaled differently, and then of course the physics systems and the parameters therein are completely different.
T:V was re-designed from the ground up in all these respects. The goal is to achieve a highly enjoyable sense of depth perception where you fight against actual people instead of small specks, while maintaining the capacity to reach speeds that feel exhilarating.
Q: In the single player missions, will the different tribes have different weapons and abilities or will that all be the same?
A: Similar to a previous question, but to clarify: in SP, different tribes will exhibit different behaviors, have different equipment restrictions, etc.
However, none of those break the basic rules we've set out for the whole game. For example, the amount of health points a light armor has will be the same between SP and MP, so there's no disparity between the two game modes.
Q: Basically, from history, I know KP and his development on Team Rabbit 1/2 and Imperial Elite. And then there's the creators of System Shock 2 and Freedom Force.
But with all these credentials and big games, there's a big question to the Tribes community about what's going to make it or not make it a new game. Die hard T1 fans want T1 again. T2 people (that weren't T1) want to know what else you can add to make it look pretty. I want to know how you're going to fit the median. I loved T1, blatantly disliked T2, but to be honest, I kinda want a new game. There are those fair share of sequels out in the gaming industry (console and PC alike) and there are fair shares of them being different from its predecessor. So, to reiterate, is this just gonna be another T1? And if so or if not, what's gonna be in it that will be different?
A: It's a new game. There are different weapons, equipment, vehicles, environments, physics, art assets, ways of playing the game, etc. There are also weapons, equipment, vehicles, environments, physics, art assets and ways of playing the game that are very similar or identical to T1 and/or T2. Sorry for the broad answer, but it was a pretty broad question. =)
Q: At the previous Q&A, a question was asked about HERCs, but a definite answer was not give, my question is, Willl there be walking Herculean type vehicles? Vhicles that can run people over and squash them qould be nice
A: Sorry, no. There will be no HERCs. While we did consider it at one point, it was deemed not to fit in with the core design of the game (and a lot of resources would have had to be used to create a _decent_ walking-mechsystem, a system which should really be the basis of its own game).
We'll all just have to keep waiting for a Starsiege sequel.
Q: Standards: From what I've seen in the various threads and in Tribes 2, there's a definite move towards using widely accepted industry standards. Will T:V use even more of these standards, ie file formats, image formats etc. Or will T:V use exactly the same formats that the Unreal engine already uses? Could you tell us what standards are going to be used?
A: UnrealEd is compatible with most industry-standard file formats.
Q: As far as GFX go, will we see a different model for each tribe? For example, will the pheonix heavy male be the same as the Empire heavy male just with a different skin? or can we expect to see different concepts per tribe?(same for light and medium)
A: Completely different armor models per Tribe.
Q: Command Map: A lot of the functionality in the Command Map from Tribes and Tribes 2 was very rarely used. Are you going to simplify the Command Map interface (assuming there will be one in T:V of course) or are you going to try and develop the Command Map in a different direction to the previous 2?
A: We are looking at changing the Command Map to suit our game, which has different requirements to T1 or T2. So yes, we'll be developing it in a different direction to previous Tribes games.
Q: While I love to fight on foot, I also love jumping in a Shrike and using it offensively. Will vehicles, like Tribes2's Shrike, be able to be used offensively against enemy infantry and be very effective in skilled hands? Or will vehicles be like Tribes 1 where they have extremely limited offensive ability.
I ask because I love to fly. It gives Tribes a whole dimension of replayability and I fear that vehicles may end up only being used by snipers to get to their hiding spots.
A: Vehicles are different in T:V than they were in T1 and T2. That's all we can say for now.
Q: what kind of deployables can we expect for t:v?
A: Can't give specifics, but I will confirm that there _are_deployables.
Q: How will the auto-downloader work. Will it get the files from website databases rather than the host; will that server be determined by the host or a common Tribes server? and will it download only maps, or other files such as skins, models, and any other files needed?
A: We're based on Unreal so we have access to the same features implemented by UT2K3, which includes auto-downloading of various assets as well as server re-direction. We haven't yet revealed the extent to which we'll support these features.
Q: Will there be (besides the gratitude of finishing it) anything given to the player (skins for example) if the player finishes the SP game?
A: An enormous sense of self-worth. Otherwise ... maybe.
Q: Are you currently planning on using pixel shaders of any kind for T:V, bump mapping etc al?
A: Yep. Normal Mapping has already been mentioned, various other graphical improvements are in the pipe.
Q: Single Player- Will it be possible to create my own single player game? Say I wanted to create something like Rainbow6 or Project IGI. Something that I could create from beginning to end wtih puzzles to solve like Tomb Raider. Will this be possible?
A: Yes. You'll have access to the same editor, scripting system and in-house tools that we use to make the single player game.
Q: Are there any plans as yet to involve "rogdolleffect" into the jetting portion of the game.
