New Soldier Update Stream - April 11th, 2019

  • DX11 (This update)
  • Community Playtest Details: 4/12 2PM PST (This PTS update)
  • New Player Tutorials coming soon
  • Mentorship System (This update)
  • Spawn System (This update)
  • Anniversary in May. 16 YEARS! (Sometime in May)
  • Questions

DX11 (Next update)

  • Giving a lot more frames, more mileage with higher/more graphics settings like shadows.
  • Been using telemetry to monitor framerates and frametimes.
  • On telemetry, on DX11 and Full Ultra, with 50 mines exploding, frametimes will not degenerate or have and no memory leaks. Average 10ms frametimes. Up to 45ms on 50 mines explosion.
  • For DX9, it is a lot of hitching, loading, bad things, and can get worse during fights. Alt tabbing on fullscreen causes 1000ms/1 second of frametime, DX11 will only hit 32ms max.
  • DX11 will offer much better frame consistency, and all telemetry results shown were in a 40 man fight in Acan Southern Labs.

Community Playtest (PTS update inbound 4/12)

  • 4/12 2PM PST
  • Runs one Refine/Refuel alert, finding bugs along the way, along with the new Valkyrie vehicle. To find how players will play it.
  • Need to dump as many people to see how server and DX11 performs under heavy load.
  • Reward for participation is the exclusive NSX Rajin ninja star. Which is glowly at night and fires three ninja starts in a vertical pattern.
  • Another undisclosed alert may also run.

Maximum Pressure Alert (Free MAXes alert/Most kills win)

  • Goals: Many people will run telemetry, and compatibility lab will also do this. Recording footage to use for later, other creators also encouraged to participate in this rare opportunity.

New Player Tutorials <!>

  • Fleshing out new tutorials. Over the years have been super rough. Expected games in 2019 have good tutorials.
  • Prototyping right now, super early, practicing.
  • Drew uses golden snowmen for as buttons/activation device.
  • Driving way point checkpoints is demoed, and still in development. But functional. Remnants from Death Race Alert likely.
  • Tutorial tech is made very general, and re-applicable in many areas.
  • There will be flight practice with checkpoint rings.
  • Took lots of effort to make.
  • General idea is that it will be a series of these tutorials that introduce concepts and does a deeper dive in them for the common player. With specific rewards like a Harasser kit, class kit, specific reward for participation in tutorials.
  • Talked about more general, immersive story style tutorial, but beyond the tech and time needed currently. Which is going to be instead used to make the tutorials work.

Mentorship System (Next update)

  • Will be out this update.
  • PS4 Planetside right now, on first play, will squad you up automatically. Can't opt out yet in PS4, will be allowed in PC when added. Allows newer players to squad up into mentor squads firstly and quickly, giving leaders a squad that actually fills up.
  • Mentor rating system, worried about abuse which delayed release earlier, will be in the New Soldier update, along with new player chat channel for questions. (Next update)
  • More tools, more incentives, better community mentors.
  • Wrel demos the Light Assault tutorial, very early and unpolished, started by a primary weapon spawn beacon.
  • Spawns platforms teaching the player how to use the different jumper jets(Basic, Icarus, Drifter). Wipes after finished.
  • Working on tech to allow more, will be more polished and custom as time goes.
  • Mentor squads will have low BR players into squad, no matter what though, nothing can live up to the community veterans who can teach.

Spawn System (Next update)

  • Spawn System Updates inbound, been fixing various bugs with it that could've been missed without testers.
  • Spawn System will be continued to be worked on as more times passes, new version this update.
  • Wave spawn into areas and spawn players into vehicle are looking to be in the coming days. <?>
  • Join combat is getting adjustments.
  • Mentor squads will have low BR players into squad, no matter what though, nothing can live up to the community veterans who can teach.
  • New players will be coming, please help the team be good ambassadors to hold the game community as improvements come.
  • There will be toxic players that will abuse the system, positive players will outnumber the toxic players.

Anniversary in May. 16 YEARS! (Sometime in May)

  • PS1 Classic armor and weapons will be available again around anniversary time. With other stuff likely. Sometime in May. 16th Anniversary of the Planetside Franchise.
  • More Doku common pool helmets/armors are coming.
  • Future NSO Armor sets will be CUSTOM for each faction, NOT common pool.

Questions

  • Q. Will there be an outfit purge for names? <?>

A. Yes, no answer for when yet. Improvements for outfits coming, but slipped down list of priorities as work on other systems. Coming in near future along with outfit purges for names.

  • Q. Does NSO come with its own slot? (Next Update)

A. Will open up one more slot at no charge for both members and non members, just for NSO.

  • Q. Will we be getting unique voices for NSO characters? <?>

A. Wanted it so bad, *deep sighs*, thinking about doing it still, won't be with this update. Will still have sounds from their own faction at the time. Want to do at least filters of default voices, but still in want to haves but don't have yet.

  • Q. Is Drew's vehicle tutorial an instance or shared VR space?

A. For now, shared VR space. Idea for it is that objective and waypoints are for yourself, NPCs can be see by all. There is a tech demo of shared version of the race, that still needs tech created being worked on. Runs issues creating spawn points for players, desync, etc. Still a prototype.

  • Q. PS4

A. Been rough for them and could've done better supporting players. Will be implications for PS4 with DX11, not very large performance update and a lot more tech needed to brought up to date but getting much closer. Can expect an update in the coming months before too deep in the summer. Vastly improve stability, with small performance boost. Asset loading improvements, aka load times will be vastly improve so you don't have to see T-pose man.

  • Q. Oshur <?>

A. With a lot of times being wrapped up, frees lots of resources for Oshur. Shortly after this update as early as this summer, will start seeing livestreams and see progress on Oshur.

  • Q. Updates to the new Spawn System

A. Allowing many more locations than on Live now, and unlock slowly over time. Less strict on spawning in certain places no matter the population. Spread population over the map, and generate new fights with new methods not listed on Patch notes yet that will be out tomorrow.