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[ShawaTheGreat]

Don't read them, for god's sake don't read them!! Unless you want to have to surgically remove your palm from your skull.

Yes, some people in this thread are more than likely allowed to vote for governments that dictate how we ALL live. Scary world.

I think it's more like most of those people are trolling a game they'll never buy. I know companies have to reach out to the consumer, but some times I don't get why they bother with trivial matters. I can't wait for Titanfall personally and I'll wait to play it myself before I say it's butt cheeks. Case in point Ryse.

 

[Type_Raver]

Titan fell.

12 players MP isn't too bad, but that's assuming the lobby you enter will always have 12 people on..

 

[Grief.exe]

Unless you pause the video, one could reasonably expect everyone with a blue/green name over the character to be an actual player.

There are 11 "players" on screen here with more off to the side.

If you look closely, most of those say 'Militia' over their heads. Those are probably the AI players.

 

[oconnomiyaki]

I wonder if you ever played MAG

LOL, wut?

I remember being in the MAG beta and they were asking all these questions about server stability and stuff and I left a snide comment that said "Maybe you should focus on making the game fun before you worry about this?"

And now it's shut down and all copies of the games are coasters.

 

[Papacheeks]

Are you really trying to call out a guy who WORKS for the company?

I asked polity if the info was bad, or in-correct, how is that straight up calling him out?

He says 4 years, I say since the game comes out in 2 months from 2010-lets say end of 2013 is 3 years plus 2 months and week/half.

That's my math, I asked how long they were in development for, he answered. I asked specifically if the info was wrong.

That's all.

Regardless of a person's title on gaf, or title in job I treat everyone the same. No bias.

Just asking that's all.

 

[antitrop]

If you look closely, most of those say 'Militia' over their heads. Those are probably the AI players.

There is also a blue chevron over their heads, marking them as AI soldiers.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Jesus, it's like some people want this game to fail or something with some of these reactions...strange.

It's not strange at all, and has been going on since E3.

This decision has nothing to do with hardware. Not every game is BF or even Halo. This is not the first game with smaller, more tactical multiplayer modes instead of bigger deathmatch stuff. It was done last gen quite well (Gears of War), I think it'll be even better here when you add the AI Titans into the fold.

 

[xxracerxx]

If you look closely, most of those say 'Militia' over their heads. Those are probably the AI players.

*smacks head*

I know that NOW. But if you are just watching the trailer without pausing it, like I mentioned in that post, you could just brush right by the text and just think it is actual players.

 

[HariKari]

That console comment sounds belittling to me.

It's not meant to be. I just have never liked console shooters, being a PC player. And I've never liked small playercounts. So to hear that Titanfall is going to have a really small count is initially disappointing. I'm not the only one in the thread who thought it looked like it was going to be a larger scale game with the trailers and whatnot. Genuine personal preferences for one style are getting mixed in with the pro/anti Titanfall sentiment going around.

The last online FPSs I played was Battlefield 3 on my i7 rig...so I'm not sure what you're trying to say. Also, epic BF 2 rounds with lots of AI were awesome.

So isn't it understandable that this would initially disappoint the 64 player conquest large crowd? That's where I'm coming from. Not trying to take away from people who like small scale games. It's all personal preference.

 

[enzo_gt]

Is there a split-screen option in the game?

4 player splitscreen would make me purchase this game instantly, but with it being online focused and all, I doubt it even crossed their mind designing the game. The days of playing shootan with 3 of your boys on one screen is going the way of the dodo, unfortunately.

It's not strange at all, and has been going on since E3.

This decision has nothing to do with hardware. Not every game is BF or even Halo. This is not the first game with smaller, more tactical multiplayer modes instead of bigger deathmatch stuff. It was done last gen quite well (Gears of War), I think it'll be even better here when you add the AI Titans into the fold.

Even Halo breaks down in match quality at 12 players. 4v4 is the sweet spot and chaos begins to scale quickly after 5v5. Thing is, Halo also lends itself to stupid fun modes beyond that, but that's not the game Titanfall is trying to be.

 

[Fantasmo]

Why do all Titanfall threads always have to devolve into this? We can't just have a discussion, we have to explain things to people and argue with people making left and right.

Downright frustrating.

I feel like I'm the only forum person that still enjoys games.

Titan fell.

12 players MP isn't too bad, but that's assuming the lobby you enter will always have 12 people on..

Strange argument. It's very easy to fill a 12 player server. Especially when you have Respawn/Infinity Ward pedigree, EA publishing and marketing, and Microsoft
marketing.

I can't imagine this game being doa.

 

[Big_Al]

Why not make it 2v2?

Smh

I wonder if you ever played MAG

I bought MAG on release day. It was shit. A higher player count didn't help that game whatsoever or make it actually fun to play.

 

[Grief.exe]

So isn't it understandable that this would initially disappoint the 64 player conquest large crowd? That's where I'm coming from. Not trying to take away from people who like small scale games. It's all personal preference.

If they keep the same level of involvement, I don't see how it would.

As long as players aren't standing/running around doing nothing for prolonged periods of time then the game will play fine. Doesn't seem to be the case from the impressions we have heard, both, from Respawn employees and GAFfers who have played the game at various trade shows.

 

[MThanded]

This is interesting.

 

[biRdy]

So isn't it understandable that this would initially disappoint the 64 player conquest large crowd? That's where I'm coming from. Not trying to take away from people who like small scale games. It's all personal preference.

I've always felt that this excited people who are fans of both COD and Halo.

 

[Papacheeks]

We opened doors in May 2010. Preproduction was underway later that year. Real work on anything resembling what you see in the final game wasn't being done until early 2011 - but there was a lot of gameplay prototyping, concepting, etc. I'd say in all there was a year of just pure prototype/preprod, a little under a year of early production before we ramped up, then probably a good two years of hardcore development. When I say hardcore development, I mean everyone here has been busting their ass harder for longer than I've ever seen before. So much blood, sweat, and tears in this damn game. Seriously can't wait to get it out and hear what the world thinks.

Awesome, thanks for the reply man. Another question if your ok with it. Did you grow up on Unreal Tournament, Tribes things like that? If so did you guy's pull from those for the mobility aspect of the game, like the jet packing, skiing type of movements?

Also did you get to see the Artbook your guys are producing for amazon? It looks like a must have for Mech enthusiast's.

BTW thanks again for the clarification. Awesome to have you on gaf talking to the future community for Titanfall.

 

[methane47]

If you look closely, most of those say 'Militia' over their heads. Those are probably the AI players.

The AI players that have a completely different role from players and are in a class of their own.

and yet we can't even tell the diff between a bot and a player without squinting to see the name.

 

[FyreWulff]

People are STILL thinking higher player count is automatically better?

Is context just completely optional for people at this point? Not every game needs to be, or works as a 64 or 128 player Battlefield style clusterfuck. Some games play great 2v2, some are 8v8, Renegade played best 12 v 12. You design the playercount to fit the game. I bet some of these people in here actually enjoy those modded TF2 servers that had 64 people on them.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

I think there's a lot of confusion about the AI bots. I assume people think the player count is being kept low so that they can fit a bunch of bots in (ie a technical limitation) but the bots aren't meant to be full replacements for human players. They are creep fodder. They are easier to kill probably don't do as much damage as a player would (not to mention they can't call in Titans). If you're familiar with MOBAs, the bots here are more or less the minion creeps, while the players are the hero characters. A hero/player can decimate a group of creeps/bots but, left to their own devices or assisted by a player, creeps/bots can take a tower/objective. So slotting in another player in the bot's space in Titanfall makes as much sense as slotting in another hero in place of a minion in DOTA and that's by design. That's my understanding of it at least.

 

[Grief.exe]

I feel like I'm the only forum person that still enjoys games.

I just finished up Last of Us last week on my new PS3, played some Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons tonight and Metal Gear Rising starting on Thursday, the latter two both on PC.

I'm having a god damn blast right now.

The AI players that have a completely different role from players and are in a class of their own.

and yet we can't even tell the diff between a bot and a player without squinting to see the name.

You are making this point from a 480p youtube screen cap.

Even without going farther its a bit of a stretch.

 

[DKo5]

It's not meant to be. I just have never liked console shooters, being a PC player. And I've never liked small playercounts. So to hear that Titanfall is going to have a really small count is initially disappointing. I'm not the only one in the thread who thought it looked like it was going to be a larger scale game with the trailers and whatnot. Genuine personal preferences for one style are getting mixed in with the pro/anti Titanfall sentiment going around.



So isn't it understandable that this would initially disappoint the 64 player conquest large crowd? That's where I'm coming from. Not trying to take away from people who like small scale games. It's all personal preference.

There has been a TON of debate back and forth in the studio over the years about "ideal" player counts. Can I ask you something? What is it about larger player counts that you like vs smaller? Is it the feeling of a large war? Is it something like interactions per minute? Is it high target count? Is it a general "intensity level"? Potentially higher opportunity for random occurrences of crazy stuff happening?

There was some internal push back when we started honing in on non "large" playercounts (for a while we were only playing 2v2 and 3v3!) because of the perception of "less fun", or the lack of things like I listed above, in smaller player counts.

If those are concerns like what you have - I'd highly suggest checking out the game if you have a chance. Comparing to my experience in Battlefield over the last decade, and games like Planetside 1 + 2, MAG, etc. there's plenty happening in a large enough space that Titanfall doesn't feel like a small player count game. I think thats the crux of it. This isn't a sneaky, empty world, where you're constantly straining your ears to hear footsteps around a corner - this is big, loud, bombastic action that leaves you laughing and screaming.

 

[EmptyCanO'wupass]

Many of my favorite shooters like TF2, CS:GO, Natural Selection 2, and L4D2 Versus are all played competitively between 4-7 players per team. I love the chaos of battlefield style shooters as much as the next guy, but low player count shooters are genereally a better environment for tight teamwork and coordination.

 

[antitrop]

and yet we can't even tell the diff between a bot and a player without squinting to see the name.

As I said, there is a conspicuous blue chevron over the AI soldier's heads, in addition to being named "Militia".

Maybe you can't see it in a compressed JPG, but it's completely obvious in the actual gameplay footage.

 

[Sean*O]

These guys come across like jackasses a little bit. Since when is it wrong to call AI a bot?

Anyway they are super defensive.

 

[TheExodu5]

What's the problem, exactly? If the game plays well and is well balanced for 6v6, that's what it is. My favorite shooter is Counter-Strike and it's balanced for 5v5.

 

[Nags]

Wow. Thought it would be 16 players at least.
Bummer.

 

[Respawn]

Doesn't bother me none. I just honestly want the most amount of people to keep their minds open and give it a try.

Fair enough friend. Preordered since it was on Amazon but damn that 6 player announcement was a heck of a pinch for me.

 

[Klocker]

.

Halo's sweet spot is 4 v 4 imo.

Halo's sweet spot has always been 6 vs. 6. 100% fine with this news. March 11th can't come soon enough.

well according to much of this thread, evidently nobody would buy nor want to play a game with that few players in it.

 

[jcracken]

Pretty sure this means the game is a rushed flopped

 

[Mobius and pet octopus]

Okay. But why would I want to play a multiplayer FPS with any cannon fodder at all? Comparisons with moba games aren't relevant when we're talking about a totally different genre. Whenever I've played a multiplayer FPS I have never wishes for he human opponents to be replaced with AI. Have you?

If the point of the bots is just to make bad players feel good about themselves then why not just set up a decent matchmaking system? Halo 3 seemed to work okay in my experience. I just don't understand why anyone would want to shoot AI bots over human opponents of a similar skill level.

I think I've tried explaining this same point several times. Maybe it needs to be experienced to understand. But I thought the moba comparison would help. You aren't shooting AI over humans. You are shooting them alongside humans.

The point of the comparisons with moba games is to help you understand that the AI are not replacements for humans. That was all. I'm not comparing the game to mobas, I am comparing the AI aspect.

I used to be but the modern ego-shooter is extremely lame now days, very low entry level skill needed for anything other then the ability to auto aim your highly accurate full auto hitscan weapon once or twice into someones back.

I looking for something more in a competitive fps with more dynamics then perfect balance for the player who only flies solo. It would be more fun as to have the other team actually use team work to take it down with instead of just a single person in predictable deathmatch fashion.

We'll see... I mean TDM is always going to be kinda the same in this type of game. If they do objective modes well, then we could see more team play involved. I don't know how fast the TTK is, but hopefully they are aiming for a more precision/control/track type shooter where you need to get headshots for very fast TTKs and they are actually awarding over bodyshots.

I have no idea why you think there will be autoaim. Even on consoles these types of shooters have aim assist. But I'll be playing it on PC where it is all your own control with KBM.

 

[PhoenixDark]

I dunno if smaller/tactical apply, going by the videos and the dev post. Sounds like players will be interacting in a very frenetic way with AI, including deciding whether to pilot or autopilot Titans.

Maybe this is the way to go, in a world where public BF4 matches amount to dozens of people ignoring objectives.

Exactly. For instance I still play Wolfenstein ET, and the absolute best matches are when it's like 6-10 v 6-10. Once you get to 12 v 12 and beyond it's just too hectic, and a total mess of people doing...whatever. Give me 5 good team mates and an objective.

Same with Counterstrike. You can tell a lot of people popping off earlier in the thread have never played stuff like that.

 

[BearPawB]

All that matters is that the maps don't feel empty. And they won't given the nature of the AI in this game. 6 v 6 means smaller, tighter maps. It means never being far from a fight. I am cool with it.

 

[speculawyer]

6 v. 6?

Uh .. . OK. Seems kinda small.

 

[antitrop]

Wow. Thought it would be 16 players at least.
Bummer.

I thought you weren't getting the game because it doesn't have single-player, anyway?

 

[Grief.exe]

If those are concerns like what you have - I'd highly suggest checking out the game if you have a chance. Comparing to my experience in Battlefield over the last decade, and games like Planetside 1 + 2, MAG, etc. there's plenty happening in a large enough space that Titanfall doesn't feel like a small player count game. I think thats the crux of it. This isn't a sneaky, empty world, where you're constantly straining your ears to hear footsteps around a corner - this is big, loud, bombastic action that leaves you laughing and screaming.

Don't discount the importance of good sound positioning with enemy footsteps though!

I hope you guys have them in, Dice essentially removed them from BF4. They are there, just so toned down they aren't really perceptible. Add another thing to a long laundry list of problems with that game.

 

[Syphon Filter]

sounds good to me,i like small tactical styles.

 

[Papacheeks]

These guys come across like jackasses a little bit. Since when is it wrong to call AI a bot?

Anyway they are super defensive.

Wow, watch your tone man, they don't have to have a presence on gaf. But they are willing to talk to communities and people questions via twitter, and on Neogaf.

When you work on something for a period of time and put your heart and soul like any artist you might get a little defensive too.

Also the game isn't out yet so they can't say too much anyways.

 

[DKo5]

Awesome, thanks for the reply man. Another question if your ok with it. Did you grow up on Unreal Tournament, Tribes things like that? If so did you guy's pull from those for the mobility aspect of the game, like the jet packing, skiing type of movements?

Also did you get to see the Artbook your guys are producing for amazon? It looks like a must have for Mech enthusiast's.

BTW thanks again for the clarification. Awesome to have you on gaf talking to the future community for Titanfall.

I played in many "high dollar" Quake and UT tournaments back in the day. If you dig up interviews I did during Gamescom and E3 you'll see lots of mentions of Doom, Quake, Tribes, Unreal, etc. There's a lot of inspirations that have been added to the soup that is the design of Titanfall. I personally think its what is causing a lot of people who, after playing it, have such a good time. It brings back a lot of those old feelings and experiences.

And yes, the artbook is awesome. Its huge!

 

[Tsundere]

Doesn't bother me none. I just honestly want the most amount of people to keep their minds open and give it a try.

Will definitely give it a try on PC. Looks somewhat promising, can't wait to test it out. Looking forward to your future projects as well.

 

[Nags]

I thought you weren't getting the game because it doesn't have single-player, anyway?

What about my post said I was buying it?
You're quick on the Titanfall defense force here. Ease up.

 

[Cheech]

It's a multiplayer only game that is so good, Microsoft spent untold millions procuring it for their new system.

Just from what I've seen, that was money well spent. The crying about this game mystifies me. "Armchair game designers", indeed.

 

[Grief.exe]

I played in many "high dollar" Quake and UT tournaments back in the day. If you dig up interviews I did during Gamescom and E3 you'll see lots of mentions of Doom, Quake, Tribes, Unreal, etc. There's a lot of inspirations that have been added to the soup that is the design of Titanfall. I personally think its what is causing a lot of people who, after playing it, have such a good time. It brings back a lot of those old feelings and experiences.

And yes, the artbook is awesome. Its huge!

Any plans for a Steam version of Titanfall like other EA Partners releases?

Thanks for taking your personal time to answer questions in this, admittedly garbage, thread.

 

[Fantasmo]

So isn't it understandable that this would initially disappoint the 64 player conquest large crowd? That's where I'm coming from. Not trying to take away from people who like small scale games. It's all personal preference.

Of course. I've had PLENTY of games where I didn't like what things were. Typically I change games.

But I can't comprehend why would you expect this company, out of all of them, to cater to a large player count per map? They've never been about large amounts of players. And with the Titans and bots the game gets significantly more complex.

Spoiler

The reason I jumped on you is precisely because you DID "take away from people who like small scale games". You started off very rude. If you see small player count, you're supposed to ignore the game if you like the bigger games, but you jumped into attack mode. You're acting like Battlefield and Planetside don't exist or aren't incredibly popular, and like Respawn should be great at designing and balancing large player games. Hint: that was NEVER their strength.

 

[TheExodu5]

You know what, this is really getting me excited for the game. I've never been a fan of large player counts as firefights feel impersonal and meaningless.

 

[CryptiK]

Im very skewed on what audience they are targeting here... Both Battlefield and COD have multiple game modes with 10+ players per side.

They can't be targeting anything competitive with AI partners, that just wont work.

I really don't understand... It also makes it seem like ONE game mode. Having 6v6 across the board seems a bit eh.

 

[Papacheeks]

I'm obviously not him. Just wanted to say that CoD was pretty bad ass back in the day, as was Allied Assault, so these dudes are working around people who definitely know how to make great shooters.

So I guess it is less a question of whether they can make great hard core games, but WILL they for this game instead of going down the (fun but ultimately inconsequential) CoD4 route.

Well I read alot, and Vince and couple of the other dev's have said they want to get away from call of duty and gravitate more towards Unreal tournament, quake arena, tribes type of skill based gameplay.

 

[antitrop]

What about my post said I was buying it?
You're quick on the Titanfall defense force here. Ease up.

Why would you be bummed out about the number of players in a game you're not buying?

 

[Grief.exe]

It's a multiplayer only game that is so good, Microsoft spent untold millions procuring it for their new system.

Just from what I've seen, that was money well spent. The crying about this game mystifies me. "Armchair game designers", indeed.

I'm glad Respawn was able to fight for the PC version, that would have been a huge disappointment if it was an exclusive.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Just hoping they don't skimp on the PC version of the game somehow. Have it pre-ordered because of a deal on it, and I'm excited to check it out. I guess we'll see here in a few months.

 

[x-Lundz-x]

Looking forward to playing on my 360.