After the popular Tribes: The Next Q&A, people have been wanting more. Threads would be started at various sites in an attempt to get the dev team to release information; however, rarely would they comply. Finally, the dev team decided to do another Q&A session at Bittah.com saying that they could now answer more questions that previously possible. After a somewhat slow start, the masses started flooding in and myriads of wonderful questions starting coming. Without further ado, I bring you the Tribes: Vengeance Q&A 2! This Q&A consists of 197 questions, but is definitely better than scrounging through the forums, and is undoubtedly worth the time.
And now for the Q&A
Q: Will Tribes: Vengeance incorporate a native benchmarking utility similar to the unreal 2003 utility provided by HardOCP?
A: No.
Q: Is it going to be possible to "rewind" demos when viewing them?
A: No.
Q: Point is, is there any chance of tying in "mystic" type elements with T:V ? Cheers.
A: Nope, no mysticism.
Q: To what degree will vehicles be implented in T:V, and will we see any innovations in this area?
A: The game is infantry-centric, but vehicles are included for a variety of reasons:
- they're fun to drive
- they're easy to use
- they capable of moving in different ways to infantry
We will definitely be having vehicles, but they are being redesigned from scratch to fulfil those criteria.
Q: Will there be Rag doll effects.
A: Yep. They're especially suited to a game where you're likely to be killed at high velocity.
Q: How many differnt armors (ex, light medium heavy) do you wish to incorporate into the game?
A: We're using the classic three - Light, Medium and Heavy - but we're modifiying their capabilites to better balance their use (Medium has been underused, previously).
Q: How the hell are you guys going to get client-side mods to work with the Unreal Engine???
A: If you're talking about customization, we're going to provide some in-game features to allow for that.
If you're not, let me say this: we must maintain the integrity of the game - it has to be a fair and equal experience for all players. So the ability to modify your version of the game to give you an advantage over others is not something we intend to provide.
Q: Has their been any change in the status of a linux port of Vengeance since the thread on tribes3.org. There was one group which expressed interest in doing it, has anything changed since then?
A: Nothing has changed since then.
Q: How will water be handled in T:V -- first, graphically, and secondly, gameplay-wise. Do you plan to let us ski over it? Will we have the same cartoony waves from Tribes 2? What about pixel shaders and the like?
A: Tribes: Vengeance will have water. Graphically, we have the engine and the artists to make it look very cool. Gameplay-wise, our intention is to make water a fun part of any map, not a detrimental velocity-leech.
Q: T2 Base was seen by many of it's players as too 'Defense' orientated. What measures are being put in place to address this issue and keep the gameplay as balanced as possible?
A: Maps, equipment, and physics are designed to keep the gameplay more balanced. Maps in particular play a very significant role. T2 Base had quite a few maps with bases that were very far apart and/or flags that were buried deep underground.
Q: Will you keep up the standard that T1/T2 has in the way of voting missions, removing a player (kick), voting time limit etc the way both T1/T2's have had it? As in, none of this Q3 "/vote yes" stuff and pressing F2 to vote yes, clearly show the vote and a progression, much like T2.
A: Yes.
Q: Will you return the TabMenu (from T1) back to T2? Most people installed a script to return a tabmenu for T2, will we see it from the beginning in T1? (It was *very* useful).
A: The T:V equivalent will be more like T1 than T2, i.e. less intrusive.
Q: what is the current vision for the multiplayer component?
Other then the vague statements of "this is going to be faced paced fun that some people arent going to be ready for", is there a direction that the vengeance team has found and is willing to pursue?
Will we see CTF? A new Team Rabbit incarnate... or something new?
A: Heya Gallium. You'll see CTF. You'll also see new ways of playing the game. We're not releasing details yet.
Q: Another quick question,
For mappers will there be a standalone and solely-developed-for T:V map editor?
A: The T:V map editor is based on UnrealEd. It's modified to be more appropriate for Tribes. Check out the forums at www.tribes2maps.com for details.
Q: The single-player story seems to many of us to be the most exciting part of T:V -- aside from the fact that the franchise is saved, of course! When it comes to the story, I always felt that Tribes 1 was meant to have a very, well, 'tribal' feel to it, to capture certain elements of nomadic cultures like the Native Americans and other roaming tribal cultures, and then stylize them. (That's my feeling, for context). How do you plan to portray the tribal society?
A: The story deals with the different Tribes as if they reflected different facets of our own society. Each Tribe occupies a different niche (technologically, economically and sociologically), running the gamut from poor and nomadic to opulent and decadent. There's still "tribal" tribes, but there are other, totally different groups as well.
Q: IMHO the most fun games are ones that are easy to learn, but hard to master.
How is the game design going to incorporate that, particularly in regard to skiing and vehicle handling? ie, any noob can hop in a shrike and get from A to B, but there should be an noticable difference in skill between a player of 1 month, and a player of a year in what they can pull off.
In Tribes2, it felt like once you got to a certain level of skill development within the game, there wasn't much differentiating the average players from the amazing players (speaking as an average player myself )
A: "Easy to learn but hard to master" is the goal. How to do that is a topic worthy of a book. Briefly, here are some design approaches we're taking:
- create a single player experience that uses all the same systems as the multiplayer experience
- design a physics system from the ground up with a particular learning curve in mind; that learning curve is soft and gradual at the beginning and grows exponentially over an extended period of time
- design armor, weapons, and vehicles that make the best possible use of this physics system in a variety of fun and interesting ways
- keep it simple; allow complexity to emerge from a solid foundation
- allow gameplay to evolve; in fact, encourage gameplay evolution and be careful not to stifle it with unnecessary design decisions
- create a musical instrument to be played for a very long time, not a song to be listened to but once or twice
Q: Will we see any team oriented weapons? (weapons which will require cooperation with othre teammembers to use or at least a variation of its use)
as an example, being able to lock onto a targetting laser location with your missile launcher to force fire on a certain spot.
It would be great to see some weapons which could work together for more impressive results.
A: No weapons require cooperation, but all could benefit from it. When you think about it, even firing a disc to clear an HoF for an incoming capper requires cooperation. I know that's not really what you were getting at, but we're not releasing weapon details yet.
Q: Members of the DEV have said that the official maximum players on a server will be 32 but with edits to config files that number can be increased. If it is relatively so simple to increase the max player count why not give the option to go beyond 32 in-game? Basically what was the rationale when deciding upon a 32 player maximum?
A: The rationale was to be conservative. There are technical wildcards and 32 is a relatively safe number.
Q: Okay going by that it seems to me that the single player experience will be effected depending on what you Tribe you are currently playing. So that made me think of this question.
Will these attributes affect multiplay in any way?
ie: If you create a clan will you then have to decide what faction your clan follows? Thus affecting the technolgies available to your clan? I reckon that could be a really cool concept.
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.
A: No, at least not in the way you're suggesting.
Q: We've already seen the 2 weapon mounts on the Heavy model. Will a player using the heavy be able to use both weapons at the same time (akimbo) or will he be limited to fireing 1 weapon at a time as in the previous games?
A: Sorry, that concept is apparently deceiving. Those weren't two weapon mounts. There are no plans to allow armors to fire two weapons at once.
Q: Will it have an inbuilt Ladder system.
A: No. Our philosophy is that the community can run leagues and ladders while we do our best to enhance and facilitate the process.
Q: Will grenade/mortar rangefinder reticles come with the standard release?
A: We are overhauling the HUD. Can't comment further at this time.
Q: Sorry if this has been asked before(couldnt find it anywhere)
Will there be any implementation of things to be user-friendly towards shout-casters/TribesTV type things?
A: Yes.
Q: Will the bases in Vengeance have moving parts such as elevators or doors?
A: Unreal supports actors called "movers", which are essentially a static-mesh scripted to move between a number of set positions.
Q: What timeline are you useing for T:V? I know you guys have said 300-500 years ago and the DS aren't around but are you guys useing the timeline from the Tribes 1 manual or the one on tribesroleplayers.com (Mainly the DS formation year as 3630 like on TRP or 3530 like in the Manual).
A: Can't give more specific info at this time, sorry.
Q: along similar lines to my last question
do u plan to ENFORCE team style play like t2, or will the team aspect be a little looser and more dependant on star players like t1?
i ask this because our clan was very very loose tactically in t1 and always did well because we all knew each others play so much...this was not so possible with teh precision style offence required in t2
to make a long question short - will it be a chess/team type game or a more individuals in an outfit type game?
A: Teamplay isn't forced. Broadly speaking there is room for the advancement of real individual skills, and given two teams of equally skilled individuals, the team who cooperates more effectively is likely to emerge victorious.
Q: There have been a couple of games, LEADFOOT is one that comes to mind, that actually allow a compressed avi output of your demo's.
Is something like this being incorporated into the game?
Something that greatly excites and intrests the community are the movies that are being put out from T2. The work that goes into them is phenominal, and an ption like this would be a great idea.
A: Although we agree that Tribes movies are interesting and exciting, and that it'd be nice if the process for creating them was simplified, we can't promise any advanced support at this time.
Q: Concerning skins and textures. There are a lot of skinning and texture eyecandy effects I'm sure your going to be putting in. For example, Tribes2 had an alpha layer for an enviorment map.
What system is going to be used for player effects in T:V? Will texture files use a seperate shader support file (like quake 3 did) or will you have multiple alpha layers for anv map, bump map, etc?
A: Here's an answer, straight from Andrew James' (Lead Artist):
"We can use any combination of the following Skin layers set up in a Shader: Diffuse, Opacity , NormalMap, PerPixelSpecular, SpecularityMask, PerPixelReflection, PerPixelReflectionMask, SelfIllumination, SelfIlluminationMask"
Q: Ping Weapons: In 1 of the Tribes 2 patches, the delay on the Shock Lance and Laser was removed. While this stopped the crying from people who can't play with any ping over 80ms, it took all of the skill out of using them. With the shift of emphasis back towards individual skill, will T:V have a similar delay for those weapons?
A: We're not releasing any information about weapons yet.
Q: Are the voice actors (I'm assuming you will indeed have voice actors) for the single player story and the multiplayer vcoms be done by Australians, Europeans, or Americans? (Or any combination. I'm not sure if the voice the voice recording is done in house or not -- I have no idea how that industry works)
A: Our voice recording is done in Boston, but I have no idea what nationality the voice actors are.
Q: Will there still be an "inherited velocity" for the weapons like if you're jetting forward when you shoot your disc it will inherit some of your velocity and shoot a little off like how it is in tribes2?
A: Some weapons wouldn't work without inherited velocity, so yes.
Q: Will Blake "Hexabolic" Hutchins be involved with this creative process?
A: No.
Q: The voice bind menu, will it be upgraded and made more versatile with the ability to add voice commands, or will we be seeing a rehash of what T2 has already?
A: The quick chat system is customizable.
Q: Do you plan on finally including arena in T:V? [ ]yes or [ ]no.
A: We're not releasing specifics about game types yet, but we've expressed our respect for the Arena and Duel game types in other threads. We've also stated our intention to offer ways of playing the game for anywhere from 2 to 32 players.
Q: given the teambased idea of tribes, might we see a multiplayer gametype for playing the single player mission co-op?
A: Sorry, we're not discussing game types at this time.
Q: There has been mention of trees and grass swaying in the wind – is there any chance that wind will be a gameplay affecting element? eg. Players could build up speed faster or be restricted by a tailwind or headwind?
Or maybe having water currents (which was done in Shock 2 - yes, I know.. different game engine) ?
A: There are environmental effects in the game, but we're not providing details yet. Drastic random events don't tend to be much fun (i.e. random lightning strikes that kill you).
Q: What is considered the respectible waiting time after the game is released for me to start stalking KP to help me with an LT Gametype for T:V?
A: Heya Zombee. No waiting time since you can stalk us during open beta. =)
Q: I realise you're not saying much about the vehicles at this stage, but are you able to say whether they will be individuals vehicles, or vehicles promoting teamplay, requiring multiple people to use? or a mixture?
*edit* excluding transports... i'm referring to vehicles which "require" multiple players, ie the tank and bomber of t2
A: There's a mix. There are vehicles that promote teamplay, but none that "require" it, although that depends on your definition of "require."
Q: Will their be floating bases in tribes:Vengeance? Hopefully this is a yes ::crosses fingers::
A: http://www.tribalwar.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=5
Q: Sure, the tank doesn't *REQUIRE* two people, but it's pretty limited without them. So if we assume the T2 tank *REQUIRES* multiple people, will there be vehicles in T3 that *REQUIRE* the same?
Acceptable answers are: Yes. No. No comment. NFI.
A: There are multiple-person vehicles, but they're different than T1 and T2. That's all we'll say for now, sorry.
Q: Seeing as T:V is going to be finshed first, then released (as opposed to released and then finished), will there be time spent on documentation aimed at helping the modding/scripting community, eg function list
A: Yes. It's also helpful that Tribes: Vengeance is built on top of Unreal, so there are already plenty of relevant resources available.
Q: How much will there be in terms of admin mod functionality built into the game out of the box? Most online games come with usual votekick, map selection, admin voting etc, but mods like tricon etc are needed for more advanced admin control.
Is it likely that this functionality will be built into the game, or left for community scripters?
A: We already answered this. ;(
Q: To any dev willing to tackle this one:
What if any measure will be included in T:V that will allow for shoutcasting, viewing, TV:TV, etc.
In short. What are you doing for the shoutcasting of the game?
(followup: what can we as a radio -and now video- org, do to assist you in making sure that your game is covered to the best of our ability)
I ask the followup because t2 promised shoutcast support early on, the observer system was bugged, and rollout was late. (it still is bugged now)
A: Greetings MB. We'll be in touch with you and other casting stations. We're eager to make broadcasting a more integral part of the game, but we're not going to discuss details publicly just yet. It's easy to deliver promises but more difficult to deliver features.
Q: Will vehicles have different skins or logos depending on the tribe they belong to? My shrike looks so boring
A: I can't answer that at this time (ICATATT).
Q: Will flag touches be a part of T:V, and if so will they be used to decide the outcome of major T:V competitions?
A: Someone might create a game that uses flag touches for scoring, but no, standard CTF matches aren't planned to be decided by flag touches. Leagues and ladders are always free to make this a tie-breaking rule if they so choose.
Q: How are CTF matches going to be scored?
A: Sorry, we're not discussing details about game types or scoring yet.
Q: Is the music for the SP story being done in house or do you outsource it?
If you know who it is and can tell us could you drop a name or list some of his/her previous work?
A: The music, sound and VO is all being done in-house at our Boston Studio, handled by a man known only as Eric Brosius. He worked on Thief, System Shock 2, Freedom Force, and plethora of other games which I don't remember the names of right now. He is coo.
Q: Can we expect to see a return of the inventory buying system?
i'd ask if it will be buy on the station ala t1 or the t2- pick then purchase, but i have a funny feeling you guys will take the 5th
A: Um ... we don't have "the 5th" in Australia, so I'll just say "I can't answer that at this time" instead.
Q: Do any of our questions make any difference to what you, The Developers, are actually going to release as the game, or is this just a matter of us trying to guess what we are going to get.
A: As developers, we've already put hundreds of hours into the design decisions of the game. However, there are sometimes posts that help us test those decisions, so we're grateful for the opportunity to hear your thoughts.
As usual, the beta will be your best chance to make a concrete contribution to the shape of the game (and to head off the question, we're not disclosing the timing or nature of the beta at this stage).
Q: What about togleable Heads up display items. For example in T2 you have the show fps real console thingy. After typing this command, next time u come back it goes away therefore requiring a script to make it happen all the time such as FOV. My question is if there is a console command for it then will it be available in the settings section to be toggled on and off and the same with other things such as global/team chat etc.
A: I can't answer that at this time.
Q: Atmosphere: The general atmosphere and feel of Tribes 2 is quite a bit darker than in Tribes. Will T:V move back towards the lighter, brighter feel?
A: Tribes: Vengeance will have a combination of both light and dark settings.
Q: One of the only things I disliked about Tribes and Tribes 2 was that a heavy armoured player skiing at Mach5 could be stopped dead in its tracks by a stationary light armoured player. Has this changed for T:V?
A: It depends on the circumstances. But yes, under some circumstances, this has changed for T:V.
Q: I know this is map related and this is more of a beta related thingy but will the maps be mainy exposed flags , flags in towers/bunkers(talking ctf at the moment and assuming ctf is the main focus) or will there be many indoor only maps?
A: The focus for multiplayer is outdoors, although it's quite possible that well-designed indoor-only maps could be very fun, and we plan to experiment.
Q: Could you implement a method to somehow ease server booking, like the possibility to automatically clear a server at a given time, lock it with a configureable password and grant admin rights to the booking person within a given timeframe?
A: We have plans for advanced server administration features, but we're not publicly discussing them yet. Server administration is one topic in particular where we can benefit greatly from community feedback. We appreciate your ideas on this matter.
Q: imo, skiing was one of the worst things about t2 coming from t1.
will skiing be moved back to more how it was in t1 ? i.e will it take skill/practice to achieve and maintain high speed
A: Our goal is for it to take skill/practice to achieve and maintain high speeds, more like T1 and (to a lesser extent) T2 Classic. However, our goal is also for it to be easier to achieve and maintain low-medium speeds so that non-hardcore players don't feel as frustrated as they do in T1. It's a tricky balance to strike, but we're working hard on it. Movement is the heart of the game.
Q: Retard Control: TAC2 has a feature called the sinbin. Basically, anyone misbehaving gets shoved in there for a while. It's just an observer without global voice and no menus. Are there any plans for similar features in T:V ??
A: Yes.
Q: Assuming this game turns out not to suck like T2, is there any plans for Sierra to sponsor some sort of tournament so I can waste time at this game and get PAID?
Please?
A: You've got it backwards - You pay us to play the game, we don't pay you
We are working with some outside companies to see if we can't get Tribes included in some of the professional gaming leagues. I can't guarantee anything, but we are working on it.
Q: The picture of the base with the disc laucher. Will the Disc laucher actually look like to does in the picture or different?
A: Nope. That disc-launcher is from the proto-type. The new disc-launcher will look completely different and fire horizontally.
Q: A particular problem with Tribes2 that I find very frustrating is that after killing a enemy vehical, either from another vehical or on foot the invisible body of the vehical remained for a few seconds causeing players/vehicals to crash into it and die(or get hurt). This happens nearly all the time when a shrike is shooting a bomber down and then passes through the explosion area straight after. Will this be rectified in Tribes3?
A: We don't plan on including any invisible vehicle remnants.
Q: Will OOB effect gameplay in the same way it has through T1 & T2, ie: flags will not pass through grid while held, but can be pushed outside in order to camp them in the field etc - and will there be a special, what I like to call " GLEEFUL SHINING FAGGOTRY HEADLAMPS " mode, so that ppl like DOX who spend 17 hours a day OOB sniping, have large glowing rainbow coloured targets which rotate above thier heads?
A: There'll be a boundary outside of which regular gameplay won't be possible. Sorry for the broad answer.
Q: Will we see "classic" maps included (ie recreated T1/T2 maps), or will you leave this up to the community?
A: We'll leave this up to the community, although we can lend a hand in some respects.
Q: Will Tribes: Vengeance feel/look/appear anything like UT2/Unreal 2 at all, even remotely? I know your not using any of their textures (just engine), but does it (at the moment) feel/look like a UT game?
A: We have diffferent artists, different aesthetic priorities and different requirements - our goal is to create an entriely unique visual style for our game.
Currently, it doesn't look/feel like a UT game.
Q: will you be able to join clans like in T2 or you will have to write it before your nick like in T1 ?
A: We're not commenting on specific "community features" yet. In general, T:V will have more community features than T1 but less than T2.
Q: Can you give a summary to the story leading up to the approval and the beginning of the development of t:v? Meaning, was this proposed by the developers, proposed at the corporate level? How easy/hard of a sell was it? Did it ever get close to getting canned? Any interesting antecdotes outside of the actual development of the game? Dunno why, but I find that stuff interesting... maybe make some people's heart skip a beat if it ever got close to getting the axe!
A: That seems more appropriate for a Developer Diary entry - you'll have to wait until then.
Q: Will BaseTrash take an important place in the game, especially about gens, vpad and invs ?
A: Whenever those objects are present, part of the game cycle will include the destruction/repairing of base objects. Obviously, this is dependent on the map.
Q: Can you guys say anything about what you're doing to combat cheating?
On a side note I think Jailbreak is a Kickin Rad mod/gametype.
A: We design and implement features in such a way that cheating is discouraged as much as possible.
Q: Apart from the discussion about chooseable spawnspheres ( what I second btw ) will there be other changes to spawning? Will the persons you just killed be able to spawn invisible/in your back seconds after?
btw to all ppl missing ninjas, there's ninjamod respectively ninja-x
A: Respawning players are not invisible.
Q: How much is actually being taken from the Unreal engine? (percentage wise, I know you can't specify exactly)
I'm curious if scripting that was used in Unreal can be used in Vengeance with very little modifying, or if it require a huge overhaul. There was also a concern about all the cheats that were available in Unreal that may be carried over into Vengeance.
A: Can't really answer, except to say that we are definitely modifying the editing tools to suit our game.
Q: Will this mean that HO will have a less important role in regard to attacking enemy deployables and turret monkeys have a less important role in deploying assets?
A: No to both of those questions...you assume too much. Deploying and its counter-measures are a fun part of Tribes.
Q: Lastly what games did the lead designer Ed Orman previously work on, I'm just curious.
Is this the same core team that made System Shock 2/Thief/Freedom Force?
A: I did design work on Freedom Force. Before that, I was Lead Designer on Fallout Tactics for Interplay/Micro Forte.
Q: As an admin of a T2 server I find this one problem i'd like to see addressed.....
Will Admins/Super Admins be given the ability to Private chat amongst themselves on a server easily?
A: No, this isn't currently planned.
Q: Accessibility: Many people are colour blind. 2 of the guys I work with are never really sure who they should be shooting at, which can cause problems. A good example is once, Tasogie dueled midfield then headed for the enemy base and started taking everyone out at the flag. He didn't realize that he'd gone to the wrong base and was laying waste to his teams defence. Soooo funny. Anyway, will T:V have a way to easily change the colour of the IFF triangles? Say a drop down list or slider?
A: We are taking color-blind players into consideration when designing the markers.
Q: Will you be bringing back "How'd that feel?" to the voices? I think we ALL want to know this!!!!!!!
A: There will be voice chats, and you can expect some old and some new. Won't commit to specifics at this time.
Q: Sorry I lied, I think it would be very very useful to implement the CC map as a HUD which can be zoomed a bit and resized as transparent over your main screen a bit like BF1942, I also saw a more 3d isometric CC map from Planetside which definitely looked funky, what is your take on that(CCmap/hud) or is that information you cannot release at this time?
A: I can't answer that at this time.
Q: Are there plans to implement a slightly more perspective aiding flag reticle. I saw my friend had a reticle when the enemy had the flag which was like a little target circular in nature that kind of looked spherical that seemed to help with depth perspective. Will you be looking into reticles along those lines to aide those soughts of things?
A: I can't answer that at this time.
Q: Can you give a summary to the story leading up to the approval and the beginning of the development of t:v? Meaning, was this proposed by the developers, proposed at the corporate level? How easy/hard of a sell was it? Did it ever get close to getting canned? Any interesting antecdotes outside of the actual development of the game? Dunno why, but I find that stuff interesting... maybe make some people's heart skip a beat if it ever got close to getting the axe!
A: I think this one probably falls to me.
In late 2001 Alex “Marweas” Rodberg convinced me that we should start working on a new Tribes game. That was quite a feat, because I had a sweet little military combat shooter that I was just starting work on and it meant I would probably have to give that project to another producer.
We put together a project plan and took it to our executive team. It included:
• Tribes Aerial Assault (in some question at the time)
• Patching T2
• Creating the T2 mods and classic maps
• Tribes Vengeance (pitched under the name code name Tribes Story)
• An interesting and hard to classify project that went thru some (quite successful) testing and early design work but has been put on hold for now.
Oddly the most difficult pitch was the patching of Tribes 2.
It’s very important to note that without Alex none of this would have happened. In what was quite frankly a very dark time for the franchise he picked up the biggest light he could find and lead the entire executive staff to the land of jetpack lovin’.
Once we got the go-ahead (End of December 2001) Alex and I made a big list of all of our favorite developers and started calling them to see who would want to work on a Tribes game. I was very amazed at the response we got. Not only was everybody interested, but also they all seemed very enthusiastic about the project. We asked for proposals from our top seven developers on the big list and got to reading. Only two were really close to what we wanted - many saw Tribes as a tactical team combat game set in the future, like Rainbow 6 w/ jet packs. Of those two, Irrational’s proposal was clearly the winner, and their team also the most fun to work with, which all jibed nicely with our initial list which had them in the top position from day one.
By the end of February 2002 we had signed an agreement to build a prototype of the single player game, and by the end of July we had a full contract in place. The prototype was finished in October and the project given the green light soon after that.
During all of that, we hired z0dd, ZOD, KineticPoet, and Nefilim to build Classic, TR2, and the Classic Maps. To say hired is a bit of an exaggeration, as they likely made around $.25 per hour on the deal, but they did a great job and the TWL ladder is more active than it’s been in a long time.
The most difficult thing about this project has been figuring out the name. For most of the time when we were calling it Tribes The Next or The Next Tribes Game, we simply didn’t have a name. Because of the single player aspect we didn’t want to call it Tribes 3 and have people directly associate it with the first two multi-player only games, but every time we found a good name legal would tell us it was taken. It was Tribes Story for so long that Alex started to like the sound of that name and I just about had to beat him to get a real name out of marketing. Finally somebody in Australia suggested Vengeance, it wasn’t legally taken, and it fit the story well, so here we are… TV.
How’s that?
Q: Thrax will you take advice from a fellow panda and have them include a new version of scarbrae for us old die hard Panda Players?
A: Um... no. Pandas prefer DoD.
Q: Thrax said earlier that this game had a specific release date already. Not just an estimate, or what quarter it will be in, but a day. Tribes 2 was said to be out by November 8th, 2002 for the longest time, but actually came out April 18th, nearly 5 months late. What I am wondering is, if you are currently on schedule, have hit all of your deadlines, and are definitely comming out on that day, or are going to dissapoint everyone and delay the game.
(the date was actually leaked out today, but I'm deciding to be nice and not mention what it was )
A: I saw that date, and while I'd be interested in knowing where it came from, I guess I don't particularly care as it's wrong.
As for the rest of your question, the dev team have made every date, are currently on schedule, and we expect them to hit their final date. Additionally the've built a smart schedule, with hard things up front, so it's less likely than usual that we would run into something that just kills the schedule. And if we do we know exactly what to cut (pre-planned) to get back on schedule without killing key features.
Q: Thrax going off your post about Marweas pretty much saving Tribes and being responsible for this project even starting (nice story BTW), I dont understand why he is no longer involved with the project.
Is he going to be involved with T:V in any way from now on?
It just seems weird that someone with as much interest in it as he did would no longer have involvement.
A: Alex is working on a very major unannounced title. It takes almost all of his time.
Q: Will Vengeance feature gore and blood, or will you be sticking to the Tribes tradition of good, clean fun?
A: A combination of good, clean fun and tasteful pain and suffering.
Q: Will a player be able to shoot directly below and directly above?
A: Yes.
Q: Will there be online stats system for T:V? Something like both UT games already have, or is it already part of the Unreal engine?
A: Sorry, we're not yet discussing our plans for stats.
Q: Gameplay: Body blocking has become a major device for defence. Do you plan to encourage this further
A: Yes.
Q: Will there be an in-game option for changing your FoV?
A: This hasn't been decided yet. Probably.
Q: Servers: This has been asked in the T3.org Q&A thread, but there was no definite answer. Will there be a seperate stand alone server download so that there isn't any need to install the full game off CD?
A: Yes, the current plan is to release a freely downloadable standalone server.
Q: I bet that you're playing at least parts of the game internally. Are there certain moments that stand out in your mind as memorable?
A: Yes. Let's see, um...since it's already known that T:V has ragdoll, I guess I'll say that sending a body flying with a disc is quite memorable, especially at high speeds. Tribes was meant to have ragdoll.
Q: Any plans on countering the D-Stack/Turtle strat you sometimes get when there is a flag stand off in CTF?
A: Countering, no, addressing, yes. In my opinion one of the best ways to address this issue is via map design, but there are other possibilities as well.
Q: Do you have any idea at this stage how restrictive the map ceilings will be?
A: No.
Q: Any chance for a range of views ... just an idea, has anything like that been considered?
A: We have considered this. There's no plans to implement anything like that at this stage.
Q: What can you guys reveal in terms of system specs?
I have a GTS2 with 800mhz Tbird and 512mb of pc133 ram. I'm intending to upgrade to a P4 2.4 800mhz FSB with hopefully a Radeon 9700Pro and at least 512mb of DDR3200 ram. Will this be sufficient to run the game at full eye candy do you think when it is released next year?
A: Your current machine may run the game with a small video card upgrade, but I can't really say for sure. You would definately need to turn everything way down to do it. Your new machine should be quite happy, but I can't say that you'll be able to run with everything turned all the way up. By the time we ship a "normal" new machine may be a P5 5GHz box with 2GB RAM and a gForce 5 with 1 GB of Video RAM. It may be more. There are certainly effects in the game which could be turned up to extreme levels (11) that would take advantage of a system like that.
It's safe to say that your 2.4/Radeon/512MB box will do just fine at the time of release. My 2GHz/GF4/512 box does fine now, and my AMD 1.2/512/9500Pro home machine does fine as well.
Right now we have goals for minimum spec, but we won't set the final values until the last minute. Minimum spec will still allow you to have fun, not just run a slide-show.
Q: Have you been taking into account various forums opinions (please dont) or have you more focused on making the game how the team wants and not how the fractured community wants?
A: There's no black and white answer to this. We're making the game how the team wants. However, there are people on the team who are members of the Tribes community, and part of what the team wants is for the game to be fun and successful, which in some cases involves satisfying the community.
In other words, although we're making the game how the team wants first and foremost, what the team wants often overlaps with what the community wants (whether you realize it or not).
Q: Will the voting system be revamped and full of customizable options? ( to Thrax, he knows)
A: Yes, it's revamped, and thanks for your thoughtful thread at tribes3.org.
Q: any chance of seeing the game playable in 3rd person view?
and by playable i mean not removing my reticles and red triangles
just a small gripe i had with t2 which i figured would be a simple thing to implement
A: The game is intended to be played in 1st person, so that's our focus, but yes, T:V includes 3rd person view and hopefully it won't suck.
Q: Scalability: We know ragdoll physics are definitely planned for T:V, but will there be an option to toggle it off to reduce the load on lower end machines?
A: Here's the answer direct from Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler, our resident physics guru: “Yes, and there is a limit supplied on the amount of simultaneous ragdolls so even when its on it should not bog down but trust me, you WONT want to turn it off! > “
Q: Will the game have, or are you thinking about having dynamic times, as to where the sun moves as time goes by or it changes from day to night in a given period of time?
A: We're not creating a system like that. However, the assets needed to set missions at different, static times (morning, noon, night) will be there.
Q: So, without pulling punches and going outside the scope of your QA mandate (you obviously have one ), has TV been designed well from a T1/T2 player perspective or a bottom line, ROI and marketing perspective? Those goals are very different with minimal overlapping areas. In short, no one wants another T2.
A: I think you're wrong that those don't overlap. T2 sold very well and had a good ROI. T1 was extremely popular (with no ROI due to theft). TV is at it's heart a Tribes game. It will appeal to both T1 and T2 players. It will also appeal to players outside of the existing Tribes franchise.
So, in short, the game is designed well from a T1 & T2 players perspective, and for a huge ROI.
Q:...why did you choose to release [that screenshot]
A: Why does a stripper not just show you everything the instant she starts?
Q: Is that a team number on the shoulder of the guy in the yellow medium armour on tribalwars front page, and if so, is there going to be a full "sports-style" (ie numbers for positions etc) positional interface for captains to use in tournament play?
And can you elaborate on your plans for this at all?
A: Nope, not a team number. I can't comment on the rest at this stage.
Q: Will Vehicles be able to fire flare grenades like in the PS2 version or will it be up to the tailgunner to take care of that..what about shrieks, assuming they are in T3.
A: Vehicles in T:V are completely new - I would make no assumptions based on previous Tribes games.
Q: All due respect KP, Thrax and IE as reps of the development team, and I don't mean to sound unduly pessimistic but that's a Dave Georgeson argument.
A: All due respect to you, but you seem to have ignored (or perhaps misunderstood) the bulk of my post. If you look at it carefully, I didn't really answer one way or the other. Yes, we're developing it how the team wants, but part of what the team wants is to satisfy the community. In typical software development terminology, since you seem to be familiar with the industry, we want to satisfy the requirements of our customers while guarding against the pitfalls of feature-creep. We also want to attract new customers, which involves adding some of our own requirements in such a way that they don't conflict with existing requirements. When conflicts arise, tough decisions are made.
Q: What % of total completion are you at this stage?
A: http://www.tribalwar.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=5
Q: Is there going to be any protection against smurfing as somebody else ala T2 binding your nick to your account so others couldnt use it, or will it be like t1 again where you wernt sure if your mate was really your mate or just some 13 yr old fanboy.
A: There's a means of uniquely identifying yourself but it's different than T2's solution.
Q: Will the new engine offer any greater freedom of movement and rotation of player controlled objects? Basically, I'm wondering if it will be possible to to barrel rolls in flyers, or Superman loops with a jetpack.
A: The jet-pack will work in a way very similar to previous Tribes games. Vehicles are completely new, and will move in new ways.
Q: The only weapon in T1/T2 that has a "cone-of-fire" is the chaingun, and for good reason. Overall, Tribes is a great combination of aiming and slower projectile speed, leaving enormous room for personal player skill.
Are you gonna use pixel-perfect aiming and hit locations for T:V?
(I'm asking this because Planetside took a big step backwards by using an agressive CoF and removing hit locations. I don't want T:V to go backwards either)
A: T:V is in the spirit of T1 and T2, i.e. it favours prediction-based weapons over hitscan weapons. We agree that this is part of what makes Tribes stand out in the crowd. =)
Q: Will the new engine offer any greater freedom of movement and rotation of player controlled objects? Basically, I'm wondering if it will be possible to to barrel rolls in flyers, or Superman loops with a jetpack.
A: To answer this a bit more specifically, there is greater freedom of movement to a certain extent, but not in terms of rotation.
Q: How are you guys going to get the netcode upto scratch for T:V?
A: We have a team of programmers. They program stuff, including net code. (I don't mean to sound like an arse, that's just the way it is).
Q: Will there be a "practice mode" like how it is in Classic right now?
A: Sorry, we're not currently revealing details about game types or modes.
Q: are the ragdoll effects we're hearing about planned to effect gameplay, or just be fancy death animations? (e.g. tripping over things at high speeds, but not actually dying from it)
A: Ragdoll effects are currently for death animations only - we don't intend to have them affect gameplay in the sense you're describing.
Q: there has been a little talk on body blocking. 1 person mentioned its stupid that a stationary light can stop a heavy moving at mach 362. Its also a little strange that both these players can continue playing as normal after the collision. Might we see some movement penalties occur in those situations? Could these include some fancy falling over ragdoll style things?
A: Collision physics are being properly handled by the physics system.
Q: Are you intending to revolutionise the single-player fps genre by adding original mission objectives, instead of the standard "find key, open door, find key, open door" or "defend the objective for 5 minutes" etc missions?
You know what i mean anyway...
A: We may well use some standard FPS mechanics in single player, but standards are good because a) they fit our gameplay in many ways, and b) people are familiar with them.
Keep in mind that some of the best games out there have the simplest objectives, because it's not achieving those objectives that's fun, it's the experience of the game while in-between getting the key or opening the door - moving, fighting, exploring.
Q: will the there be a streamlined comprehensive admin menu system to enable tourny mode, switch all players to the correct teams, prevent unwanted players joining servers and start the map when everyone is ready.
A: Yes.
Q: people were saying before that they didn't like getting killed by the AI.
are there any plans for turrets controlled by human players only?
perhaps something like a cannon in BF that you can access by jumping in, rather than controlling via the command screen as in the last 2 tribes games
A: Nope. However, we believe that human control should always be more effective than AI control.
Q: will there be a command / admin option to simply rename both team's to clan names and force both teams to use custom skins on both models and bases?
A: Team names, possibly something like this. Skins, nope...customization is client-side. Since it's always possible to override customization cilent-side, it doesn't make much sense to try and enforce it server-side.
Q: What are you doing about helping new players, are you possibly going to make option help messages pop up? For example:
If someone suits up as a heavy a message could appear saying:
"You are suited up in heavy armour, this is useful for Heavy on Flag or Heavy Offence"
Or if someone TK'ed instead of having a message in the chat hud you could have one that appears in the centre of the screen:
"You have killed a teammate, if you continue to do this you could possibly be banned"
Are you going to make anything like this?
A: We are creating new and better systems for informing the player, including prompts and messages.
Q: Will the game be a bit realistic like when you re injured you run slower or stuff like that or when you are in water you would be limited in time ?
A: Nope. That's a very RPG-style thing to do, and we're not making an RPG. Tribes: Vengeance is an action game.
Q: Will there be any new funky portable devices to look forward too,
like the motion / pulse sensors ect.
i remember the effective use a radar jammer had back in T1
A: There are new deployable objects - and we consider them funky. No specifics at this time, sorry.
Q: What environments (e.g. grassland, jungle, volcanic, desert, ice, moon, underground, etc.) do you have or are planning on including in T:V?
A: We can't release any details other than what's already out there, so all I can say is look at the screen-shot that's been released, and read the blurb on Sierra's T:V page:
"Battle in vast locations from underground caverns and forgotten cities to acid wastelands and mighty coliseums"
Q: With the ragdoll effects... I only played the demo of UT2k3 but I loved the way you could 'juggle' dead bodies with rockets or whatever... is this part of the ragdoll effect? Will we be able to juggle dead bodies with the disc launcher?
I hope you know what I mean by juggle
A: Potentially ... although I'm not sure how useful being able to juggle a dead body is to the game ...
Q: does the dev team anticipate to be issuing patches to effect gameplay design in T2 style post-release
A: Our intention is to build a solid design up front and tweak during open beta, if necessary. Physics design and implementation are already underway, so we have a long time to refine core gameplay internally before we even hit open beta.
Q: Are there certain gameplay features that you've identified in other games that you are looking at incorporating into TV to increase the userbase?
A: Yes...we play a lot of other games here, including all kinds of non-FPS games. We learn from their strengths and weaknesses. Sorry, no specific examples at this time.
Also, sorry if I seemed a bit harsh in my previous response to you...I thought about it some more and I'd like to return to your question at some point because it's a good one.
Q: Will you be able to bounce off vertical walls with the new physics?
A: Sort of.
Q: we play a lot of other games here, including all kinds of non-FPS games. We learn from their strengths and weaknesses. Sorry, no specific examples at this time...
A: KP's favorite game is Lemmings, which is the genisis of the "Everybody run off the cliff" game type.
Q: Ok..My second post..My first got deleted. I missed the post that referenced
my question but I still don't think that post answered my question.
Anyways...Will this be a problem with T:V?
A: No.
Q: I have a slightly less serious question than most, but one that's still worth answering (I hope). It deals with everybody's favorite voice chat message, "Shazbot." What exactly is Shazbot (besides a Mork and Mindy reference)? I think the Tribes community has used it as an expletive and as a scream of primal joy. In fact, with some of the voices between T1 and T2, it seems some lean more towards the expletive sound, while others sound more joyful.
My question is: Would it be possible to have *two* Shazbots per voice? Since I don't think we'll see a comeback of "Damnit," it would be great if there were a definite pissed off Shazbot sound, and a very happy Shazbot sound. That way, instead of just spamming vgs at the end of every map, if my team wins I could spam vghs (happy shazbot), or if my team loses I could spam vgms (mad shazbot).
Oh by the way, quickie 2nd question if you have time, on the same topic. Will the voice chats be 3 or 4 characters? 4 characters just seems to take too long, and has a bigger chance to hit the wrong key.
A: We use Shazbot as an expletive here (except for Gaffer, who uses it all the time, at inappropriate moments). We can't give specifics as to what voice messages there will be at this time.
Q: Do any current base designs include Unreal Engine "movers"?
In other words, it's a combo question that includes as sub questions:
Do some bases contain doors?
Do some bases contain elevator platforms?
Also:
Will "boost pads" or any other sudden impulse inducing object be available for mappers?
Really, it's a question of what we can do with the meshes and movers on our own maps. Not what type of gameplay will be in the included maps.
A: Jay Kyburz (Lead Level Designer) says:
"Everything that's currently available in UT2003 should, in theory, be available for level design in our game".
We can't answer specifics about base objects at this time.
Q: Has this option been considered for other weapon classes
A: Yes, it was considered and then discarded.
There are really two learning curves to consider: the skill curve, which involves learning how to most effectively use each individual object in the game (including your own armor), and the strategy curve, which involves figuring out what the heck everything does and how it can be used in various combinations both as an individual and as a team.
Our strategy curve employs more equipment diversity than T1 but less than T2. Keep in mind that this doesn't necessarily mean that T:V has less strategic complexity than T2. Often the deepest and most beautiful forms of complexity emerge from very simple underlying rules. I recommend Stephen Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science" for related reading.
Q: Gameplay: In Tribes and less so in Tribes 2, the spawn loadout put players at a major disadvantage. Do you plan to alter this, keeping in mind that this would alter the entire balance of the game and strategies for winning.
A: It's a new game with new equipment and new strategies for winning. As for the spawn loadout, proponents of the clustering strategy would disagree with you; teams like NuTz showed us years ago that the spawn loadout can be a major advantage when used strategically.
Q: Will/Is the action in Tribes: Vengeance very faced paced like that of tribes 1 and not slow like tribes 2? I want to see non-stop action in Vengeance.
A: It's hard to compare perceptions of speed. Our goal is to create a fast-paced game, but "fast-paced" is very different than "non-stop action" which is more about intensity than speed. Intensity is largely a function of map design...smaller maps tend to be more intense while larger maps tend to be more laid back.
Q: Will skiing be the same as T1/T2 in the sense that it is achieved by jumping repeatedly? or will it be more automatic according to the angle of the slope
A: Skiing in T1 is actually quite different than skiing in T2. But no, skiing isn't automatic.
Q: Can you elaborate on Skiing?
A: In order to ski you have to press a button. Sorry, we're not discussing finer details just yet.
Q: Since TV will have its own story and its going to be mod-able will we be able to make our own SP campaigns for it (maybe even MP campaigns). And if so will we be able to make it as compelling as the single player campaign. ie. will we be able to make scripted events, body switching, effects ect?
A: In theory, you'll have access to all the tools we have access to, including the ones we use to create the SP campaign.
Q: Will we see the Julia and heavy models in the final game? I really hope so they both look kick ass especially julia-very realistic and life-like, her model looks better than anything ive seen so far in a game.
A: Yep.
Q: Regarding the Julia model.
When she takes damage will her clothing become torn and tattered...and eventually fall completely off???
and...
will she be wheated or will there be grass on the pitch???
A:... ... ... maybe, in your mind, she will.
Q: With the single player will it be doom style with multilevels and things that you progress to or will it be more along the many missions that you can pick from like rainbow six (and the T2 single player to some extent)
A: I'll say "Doom style" - have a read of the IGN article for some good details:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/395/395218p1.html
Q: “Hey now, don't knock Lemmings! (Thrax is lying, it's not actually my favorite game)...Lemmings was crafted by the same guy who's responsible for the GTA series. Good article about him here:
http://www.gamespy.com/articles/march03/dice/jones/”
Are you developing T:V with a similar philosophy to what's mentioned in the article? ie. medium first, then gameplay?
A: Yes, good eye. The medium for T:V is its physics, and that is a strong initial focus for us.
Q: In theory, you'll have access to all the tools we have access to, including the ones we use to create the SP campaign.
A: We may go into more detail about this in the TribalWar IRC chat on Sunday/Monday.
Q: Is there any lava/quicksand (for example) in T:V besides water?
A: We've already admitted to there being water I can't give a more specific answer at this stage.
Q: When can we expect to see more screenshots/a gameplay/footage video (the one at the expo?)...?
A: The first new screens and such won't happen until around July or August most likely (note that I don't set those dates, PR does). The video we ran at the PRE3 event in LA probably won't ever see the light of day. We'll most likely capture all new video and work up a new piece that includes the cool stuff missing from that video (normal mapping, volumetric shadows, rag-doll animations, the new physics system, player skill, etc...).
Q: I understand you just got back from a motion-capture session in Sydney. I understand that you can't (!! )talk about what was captured, but perhaps you could talk a bit about how the sessions work, and what the technology is like.
A: I know KP did a monkey dance. I'm waiting to see the mo-cap data for that.
Q: I understand you just got back from a motion-capture session in Sidney. I understand that you can't (!! )talk about what was captured, but perhaps you could talk a bit about how the sessions work, and what the technology is like.
A: Hmm! Alright...well there's a very large room with special cameras arranged around it, all pointing inward toward the center. This is the mo-cap room. Actors put on very tight-fitting spandex suits and strap numerous little balls all over their bodies. The cameras are designed to track the balls as the actors move around. All the data is fed into a central system for processing and storage.
We work using takes, like in the movie industry. Some takes are synched to audio. Ben Lee, our art director, directed the takes with the help of Sylvia Chong and Ben Hutchings, our resident animation and cut scene gurus. I suited up and helped out with some acting, stunts, and various "monkey work."
It's quite a cool fusion of the analog and digital realms, and it's very satisfying to see your game characters come to life when they have mo-cap data applied to them.
Q: Will there be bots? (As in can you play against them on MP maps) and if so will they come with support for all release maps? (unlike T2 where it only support very few) and can you simulate lag effects?
Reason: I is gh3y and is 56k w/ d/l limit and cant play etc. Oh did i mention i is gh3y?
A: Here's an answer from Marc Atkin (AI Programmer):
"The goal of the AI System is to provide a challenging and interesting combat opponent, primarily for the single player game. We are not aiming to create computer-controlled characters that could compete one-on one with expert humans, but we do intend to give modders access to the AI tools.
There will be AI difficulty levels, and part of what makes an AI more challenging is its increased aptitude at leading its target. We'll have to see to what extent "simulating lag effects" will be integrated into this prediction code."
So there you go
Q: Are there any 'celebrity' appearances? (aside from KP of course )
ie. Ray Liota as a voice actor in Vice City, trent reznor involved in the music for Doom3 etc
A: Jerry Mathers as the Bio-Derm.
Um, not that I'm aware of.
Q: What kind of copy protection are you planning to employ with T:V?
I like that fact that UT2K3 no longer requires the CD to play. Tribes 2 is a pain because not only does it require the CD, it also requires a login to access the Master Server list.
A: There will be copy protection. It will fall someplace between the honor system and a DNA scan. You will all bitch and moan about it. I will be forced to release the dogs with bees that shoot out of their mouths. Chaos (and hilarity) will ensue.
Q: now for an favourite hate object of mine through both T1 and T2. Clipping, has been in both T1 and T2, its usually an mapflaw, will there be any improvments on this in the unreal engine?
since you obviosly are playing T:V from time to time have you encountered clipping when you have done tests?
A: I'm not sure what kind of clipping you're talking about. If you mean distance cilpping, it's difficult to eliminate that entirely. If you mean characters clipping through geometry, then yes, we try to avoid that.
Q: Will the "tag" system implemented in T2 stay? (i.e. a definite team marking in front or after a player's name). Will the unique naming system stay? (there will only be one SuperSniper, for example).
A: Sorry, we're not discussing specifics at this time.
Q: Is a solid DEMO function (replay/record) a priority for T:V, or is it a feature that might get the axe if release looms large and time is tight?
A: Be sure to tune in to the TribalWar IRC chat where we'll reveal some details about recordings. http://www.tribalwar.com for details.
Also, we've been playing a bit of CPMA here at the office. Fun stuff.
Q: As far as the actual development process goes, could you elaborate on how and or why you deemed those shots to be 21% complete? Im aware you'd be reluctant to release any specific info, but perhaps maybe a more broad answer such as what each of you guys are involved in doing at the moment.
A: The screen shots are not 21% complete (they're finished, I mean what more could I do to an existing screen shot). It's the entire game that's 21% complete. We measure by weight.
Q: It was my impression that 21% figure indicated the percentage overall complete of the entire game not just that particular map.
So of course it begs the question what is your current percentage complete?
A: Complete% > 21%
Q: I believe he means the ski bug ie stopping dead on flat sections when moving fast
A: In that case, no, this has never happened using our new physics system (although it happens when using Unreal's native physics...it's actually quite a tough problem to solve).
Q: Are you doing anything to hide interpolate values from the end user, and/or making it impossible to change those values?
(This is basically turning off client side prediction when an interpolate value is set to zero. A person chops around very slightly, but you only get the exact positions the server sends you.)
It's considered a cheat in many games to change the values and turn off the client side prediction.
*Note* Not all games consider it a cheat. I guess the quesiton is if we'll be able to change these values, or if the game engine will protect the interpolation values.
A: The client will always have control over the quality of its own net connection. This is unavoidable.
Without getting too technical, the interpolate tweak in Tribes (which I must admit I've only recently become aware of) is a way to force your computer to "accurately" display what you're actually experiencing. It's highly debatable whether or not this constitutes a cheat since it effectively allows players with worse connections to boost the "accuracy" of their experience to be closer to the accuracy experienced by players with good connections. By accuracy I mean the degree to which "what you see is what you get."
I'm going to shy away from stating my own opinion on this matter for now. In the meantime, here are some Unreal links for your reading pleasure. These will give you some idea what we're starting with, but keep in mind that it's within our power to change network features as we see fit.
http://unreal.epicgames.com/ut2003tweakguide.htm
http://www.unrealadmin.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=15
Q: In the open beta version your goals will be to fix possible bugs, or u also think to change some stuff depending on beta players request like could be changing disk-jump power, weapon effects, jet-pack duration and so?
What I mean is: will be beta version a complete T:V version still not bug free or we can expect heavy gameplay changes in the final version?
A: Our goal is for open beta to be an enjoyable, well-balanced experience. There will be bugs, and there might be imbalances. We'll be looking for your help to find both of these when the time comes.
In the case of solving imbalances, we've already considered various contingency plans, both generally speaking and for specific imbalances that might arise, so we feel reasonably prepared to deal with them. But we're always open to thoughtful community feedback regarding how to address imbalances as well.
Our goal is definitely to avoid heavy gameplay changes in the final version.
Q: Relating to demo recording, in UT2003 demo recording, (iirc) to record a demo, your fps need to be synced to like 30fps and vsync enabled (or something to this effect) which totally blows, is this going to be in T:V?
A: Tune in to the TribalWar IRC chat tomorrow for details regarding recordings.
Q: http://www.unrealadmin.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=15
This article makes great mention of tickrate. Now, I realize you may not be able to comment on something so technical, but I must wonder: is the tickrate element of UT netcode being closely considered because of it's effect on weapon balance with hitscan weapons?
Or is the amount of prediction based weapons so high in a Tribes style game (only hitscan I can think of is a sniper rifle, if T:V even has one), that the effect is considered negligible?
My main concern really comes down to movement and weapons impact though. I look at the visual of UT handling high speed (provided on that page) where it shows a falling person creating a large gap between updates in which you can hit the player...
Actually. It's highly likely you have already thought of this. There are other ways to do netcode. And I'm sure the network layer of the entire game is being scrutinized very closely.
A: Tribes, including T:V, emphasizes prediction-based weapons much more than hitscan weapons. This emphasis would make it unreasonable to switch to HL/CS-style netcode, for example, which uses a backwards sort of server prediction that Valve calls an "inverse causality" model, which is pretty well suited to hitscan weapons. If you're interested:
http://www.gamesurge.com/pc/interviews/netcode.shtml
Q: I think it's(network code) has been totally rewritten?
A: Nope. Some changes were necessary to get the new physics working. In the future we'll make more tweaks and changes as necessary.
Perhaps at some point David Beswick, one of our programmers focusing on multiplayer, can expand on this a little more.
Q: What sort of bandwidth per /hour do you envision this game using? Is it going to be very frugal like T1 remain similar usage to T2(20mb/hr)*I think*? Or be a massive bandwidth hog like BF1942(50mb/hr)?
Or is that something that can't be revealed at this time?
A: We won't know for sure until later. It'll be more than T1. Sorry, I know that sucks for Australians and anyone else who pays for bandwidth by the MB. =(
Q: are you a fan of spandex?
couldnt find refernce to it before, but im wired so forgive me if my reading and scanning is sub par, but will we see the animated taunts remain, or could we get big explosions like firecrackers that go "you suck" or "omg howd that get in there???" or even "youre team is teh lose"
A: There will be animated taunts.
Q: Will T:V have different faces for each model aka UT2k3?
A: Each different armor has it's own head. It's possible that we will include extra heads that can be selected from.
Q: Do you plane on changing the use of the disc jump? Or are you planning on taking it out of the game (please god no).
Even after classic the T2 D.J. was still pretty bad. And no weapons that I have to carry stupid flares for PLEASE GOD!!!!
A: Disc jumping is in the game.
Q: How does the creative design process work for say...creating the heavy phoenix armor? Do you go to the artist and say, "Sketch me up some heavy armors!" do you go to the writer and ask, "What do our phoenix armors look like?" or does irrationalEd just say, "Hey! I want it to look like a robot with a giant rocket pack and yellow armor!" and then someone just ends up doing it?
A: I say "The game needs 3 armors, different for each Tribe." Ben Lee (Art Director) says "Hey! I want it to look like a robot with a giant rocket pack and yellow armor!".
Like that.
Q: Do you plan to make the game graphics visually better than UT2003? Im just wondering cause in 2 years, the UT2003 graphics will be a little out dated.
A: Better. Yes.
Q: Will the single player story and experience be truly epic along the lines of Halo and Halo 2, will it revolutionize the First person shooter genre? Srry if thats too many questions.
A: Already answered this.
Q: would it be in any way possible to make our own custom animations that could go along with voice animations?
A: We're providing you with the tools that we're using. However, even if you made your own animations, you'd have to then propogate them to other people if you wanted everyone to see that animation.
Q: What kinda music we will have in T:V?
A: Can't answer that at this time.
Q: Lighting: Will lighting and shadows be made and compiled when the map is created and loaded when the map is, or will it be dynamic and made in game? So if you move a building with the editor, will the shadow still be there until you relight the map, or will be it change when the building is moved?
A: UnrealEd currently requires a rebuild of the map for lighting/shadow changes at the editor stage, not at run-time.
Q: Will there be an external model/skin viewer? Tribes customisability (sic) is one of the things I love about it, and being able to view skins out-of-game would be sweet. UTK3 had one, and there were several great fan-made ones for Freedom Force (Irrational).
Also...
One thing I loved in Deus Ex was the ability to choose the colour scheme of your hud.
I know neither of these things seem too relevant, but these sort of things remain in my mind long after the eye-candy is out-of-date (about 2 weeks).
A: We're not planning to create an external viewer, but that doesn't stop someone else from doing it.
Q: Will T:V support 64 bit CPUs like the AMD Opteron? If yes would it be fore only the server or both the client and server or just the client?
A: Straight from Karl Burdack, our lead programmer, although the T:V dedicated server should run on 64-bit CPUs, it won't take advantage of them.
Q: Related to CTF, while I know you aren't revealing gametypes, I think it is safe to assume CTF is in there
Tribes 1 was a flag-centric game. Grabs were inevitable, and the game tended to be played from the grab, out. This kept the flag in play, and pretty much every player needed to know the location of the flag at all times.
Tribes 2 decentralized the flag. Part of this was due to the increased players, as the 14th-16th guys probably had no need of knowing where the flag was. This specialization of roles led to a more complex, but ultimately less action packed game.
Essentially, the franchise moved from an outdoors, grab and chase game, to a specialized, multi-faceted game.
Can we expect more of either in t:v? Might the aim perhaps be for some specialization, but with more grabs, more movement, and more skill requirements? HOw would this be done?
A: Your question is a bit dangerous because it's based on somewhat opinionated observations (which is fine). Without going into specifics, I think this is largely an issue of map design. You can design a map that is very intense with lots of grabs, or you can design one that requires a more laid back, strategic approach. This ability to swing either way is partly the case with making maps in T1 and T2, but even moreso the case in T:V.
As for the maps that ship with T:V, we're not going into details just yet. One thing to keep in mind though is that the community can create all kinds of new maps during open beta. We're really pushing the "empowering mapmakers" idea.
This is also an issue of the game's underlying design. In general, T:V is geared more towards lots of fun and challenging movement within a variety of interesting environments.
Q: Wre the developers going listen primarly to capper whores
A: Hmm, no. We listen to them, but not "primarily."
Q: How might this terrain "detailing" work?
Will additional data be included as an overlay to a heightfield texture or will the heightfield texure itself be modified?
How will such "detailing" be limited across an entire heightmap (in case somebody wants to "detail" the whole thing)?
Will adding such detail dramatically slow down the server or general engine performace?
Assuming no-repeating terrain, what general scale/bounderies will T:V multiplayer action take place on, compared to T2 terrain blocks (at default settings)? (i.e. approx 1x1, 2x2, 4x4, 10x10, etc)
A: We'll do a session with tribes2maps.com sometime soon that will try to answer these and other questions.
Q: will there be more mousemovment options? eg being able to adjust the mouse acceleration like /cl_mouseaccel in quake3, which you cant do in t2 and are left with only the sensitivity option
A: Don't know yet, sorry
Q: Is the multiplayer CTF planning on being more flag-centric in that the flag will probably be in movement a lot, or more toward a stagnant flag a la t2?
A: Eek! Questions like this scare me a little because there are seemingly contradictory opinions. You see, there are T2 players who think that the flag in T2 is much more "in movement" than the flag in T1 simply because you can disc it around.
So I think this might be a case where I'm not 100% sure what you mean. Can you elaborate on what you mean by playing "in" to the flag in T2, and what you mean by a "stagnant" flag?
Q: On a serious note, are there going to be any major changes to the jetpack and/or flight that we know from T1/T2, that are going to impact on how we fight?
A: Nope, there's no major change to jetpacks that drastically affects how you fight. But there are other changes that affect how you fight. These will be revealed gradually.
Q: I'm trying to see if the game is going to be built more around getting the flag grabbed and chased, or more toward keeping it home and not letting it be grabbed.
A: I see...good explanation. This warrants a more detailed discussion, but in general we're emphasizing Tribes as a game about movement. One fun way to move in a competitive environment is to chase and be chased.
Having said that, Tribes is also a game about strategies. Keeping the flag at home is an important part of both T1 and T2. Even on a map like SH, where the flag is always flying off the stand...the ideal is to maintain control of your flag (whether it's on the stand or in the field) so that when your capper comes home he's able to cap.
As for how easy it is to maintain control of your flag...that's a function with countless parameters. It'll be somewhere between not extremely easy and not extremely hard. Sorry for the wishy-washy answer. ;(
In my opinion the ability to disc the flag in T2 made it much easier to maintain control of your flag. So to answer your question properly I'd have to answer the question, "Can you disc the flag in T:V?" But we're not answering that yet.
Q: Following on from that 64bit computing question the question I had previously asked but not been replied to is about optomisation.
will it be heavily optomised for SSE2 Prescott 3dNow etc etc.?
A: Word from Rowan Wyborn, our resident graphics guru, is that the engine is not currently heavily optimized, but a few key optimizations are being made.
Q: One thing that struck me about the SP game was u said u were shooting for 10-20hrs of SP game. I'm sure you'll agree that most tribers can pretty easily pick up any SP shooter and finish it before too long. What I'm wondering is that this strikes me as possibly too short a period of SP. If your going to add it you should make it decent sized and fantastic like a System Shock2 or a Half Life or a Thief.
I know the team definitely has the talent behind it. I may be way of base though how long in terms of gameplay were those above 3 games would you say? I think I remember finishing halflife in under 24hrs of straight gaming. so perhaps 20hrs isn't so bad.
A: The 10-20 hours is an estimate, not absolute. It's obviously almost impossible to measure how long anyone will take to play through any one level (hence the qualifier "depending on skill level"). So we're aiming for 20 hours. Certainly, hardcore players will probably go through it faster than new players.
Rather than a long, drawn out experience, I want to have 20 hours of intense, polished fun in the single player game. I think a lot of games suffer from being padded out just to make their "80 hours of gameplay" boast.
Thanks for the questions everyone...see you around,
KP
Well, that concludes the question and answer period for now Thanks everyone for your interest and questions - it's been informative (hopefully in both directions).
We'll continue to do this kind of thing regularly, so keep an eye out for the next one.
Cheers,
Ed
