MAG

[Marlne]

Gameplay Information:

 

 

 

• First Person Shooter (FPS)

 

• Aiming for "T" Rating

 

• Wave Respawn

 

- You spawn in "timed waves" and you spawn in with your squad.

 

- Some lucky squads get to paradrop into the combat zone or ride in on APCs

 

• 256 players online

 

- Can be on screen at the same time, so it is not broken down into split areas of the map

 

• Strictly multiplayer - Online only

 

- Possibly only retail release (Ed Byrne stated, "MAG is too massive to be a mere downloadable title)

 

- No splitscreen (Mike Gutmann stated, "We've got huge environments and lots of streaming going on to achieve fidelity - split screen would cause some real limitations)

 

- There will be an offline training course to let you get up to speed with controls, weapons, and all the equipment

 

• Action Shooter at its core

 

• Long Term Goals

 

• Vehicles including ground and air combat (unmanned)

 

• Destructability only with objects that can be destroyed or repaired, not full destruction.

 

• Set in the near future, 20 years from now

 

- Many weapons in the game are weapons currently in experimental/testing phases

 

• Audio cues (like air raid sirens after anti-aircraft positions are destroyed) inform teams if the attacking team is making ground

 

• Game modes ranging from 64 to 256 players

 

• Biggest maps are appx. 1 square kilometre

 

- Maps are based on three global regions - Alaska, Central Asia, and Central America

 

• Matchmaking fast and streamlined

 

• Push to talk (PTT) mics

 

- Squad channel

 

- Command channel (allows squad leaders to talk amongst themselves, as well as platoon leaders)

 

- Company channel (allows platoon leaders to talk together with the OIC)

 

• FREE online play

 

 

 

Player Roles:

 

 

 

• 8 player squads

 

- Inspiration from real life military operations

 

- 4 squads form a platoon, 4 platoons form the company

 

- Each squad, platoon, and company have specific objectives to complete along with secondary objectives assigned by OIC

 

- Allows for a team dynamic even when not in a clan, so the game is more approachable by casual players as well as hardcore players

 

• Lead by people who are "proven" to be good leaders

 

- Squad Leaders vs Even higher Chains of Command

 

- After reaching a veteran level, players can enlist in the leadership tree

 

- Squad leaders can plot waypoints and call in UAVs

 

- Proven squad leaders can be promoted to platoon leaders

 

- Leaders can issue FRAGO commands (Fragmentary Orders), in which they assign an objective by clicking a button that tells the squad to complete something like destroying a bridge

 

• Officer in Charge (1 per team, highest level of command)

 

- Has the ability to call on Strategic Maneuvers, which affect all players on one side or the other

 

- Tactical Asset Recharge is an example manuever that recharges the squads leaders abilities to call in air strikes, special abilities, etc.

 

- Abilities include satellite recon sweeps, enemy blockades, signals jamming, air bombardments, precision strikes, etc.

 

- Still a player on the ground like everyone else

 

- Players around him gain better abilities, like running faster, planting a bomb faster, etc.

 

• Leaders have access to the Command Network Interface (CNI), which is a tactical map overview that allows them to zoom and scan the map and show objective locations, etc.

 

 

 

Character Development:

 

 

 

• Character advancement tree to fine-tune your character

 

- Character development is about customization, personalizing, and specializing

 

- Not a linear progression benefiting the player (ex. not like COD, Battlefield)

 

• Character cusomization (face, voice, armor)

 

• Each player carries a primary weapon, sidearm, melee weapon, and three gear perks (smoke grenades, frags, med kits, rocket launchers)

 

- Can save three loadouts in your armory and switch freely when you respawn

 

• No set classes

 

- Free-form kit creation

 

- You earn skill points and decide how to spend them

 

- Another example is sprinting where you can increase sprint duration by sinking EXP into it if you're the kind of player that wants to get around in a hurry

 

• Earn double experience for completing objectives, killing enemies, healing teammates, etc.

 

- As an example, a sniper can earn extra points by killing enemies in a target area that you are attacking

 

- Earn weapons, perks, and leadership poisitions as you rank up

 

- Reward players for working as a team

 

• Medal/Award system will be in place

 

 

 

Game Modes:

 

 

 

• Domination (256 players)

 

- Attackers start scattered along the map edges and move on foot or ride in one of a few transport vehicles

 

- Defenders must take outer defensive positions to meet the oncoming attackers

 

- Each defending squad is responsible for holding specific areas of the base

 

- Attackers must eliminate front line defense emplacements (bunkers, turrets, tank traps)

 

- Once in the inner base, attackers must take down anti-aircraft batteries and radar sensors

 

- Destroying things like the anti-aircraft batteries allow the attacking team to launch UAVs

 

- Attackers must capture and hold objectives and inflict enough damage to the defenders base to win

 

• Acquisition (128 players)

 

- Escort style requiring attackers to steal two protoype transports from a rival faction and escape to the extraction poin

 

• Sabotage (64 players)

 

- Attackers must infiltrate rival communication facilities and hold two control points at the same time

 

- Once achieved, a final demolition objective is revealed and must be destroyed to win

 

• Suppression (64 players)

 

- Pure infantry battle

 

- Only mode that does not contribute to the "Shadow War"

 

 

 

Factions:

 

 

 

• Three warring factions / Private Military Corporations (Raven, Sver, Valor)

 

- Their power struggle is dubbed the "Shadow War"

 

- You must decalre your allegience to one faction when starting the game

 

- Your PSN friends can only be on your team if they are in the same army as you

 

- You can change your allegience at a later date

 

- Each battle you fight impacts your factions standing

 

- Team with the most prestige plays as the defending team

 

- Once your faction wins enough in a specific mode, your faction gains the contract for that mode

 

- Earning contracts gives you bonus points, perks, weapons, or vehicles

 

• Raven

 

- Have high-tech futuristic weapons

 

- Play style will appleal to fans of sc-fi shooters like Halo or Resistance

 

• Sver

 

- Weapons arsenal may not be as powerful, but players are more adaptable

 

• Valor

 

 

 

General Information:

 

 

 

• Zipper has been working on the game for about 3 years

 

- Created a brand new server architecture to make the number of players possible in game at once

 

- 256 (players) is a number that fits well into the packet structure

 

- Dedicated server structure

 

- Servers make intelligent decisions to relay information to each player's console, optimizing each player's fixed bandwidth

 

- Eliminate cheating by monitoring server activity (tests probability of rate of fire, movement, and player damage)

 

- Algorithm writen that searches for gameplay anomalies to eliminate cheating (similar to PunkBuster for PC gaming)

 

• Almost everything developed in house, which includes: codebase, renderer

 

- Reason being they needed to get all the power they could get from the PS3 and to utilize it efficiently for the game

 

• 30+ fps (hopefully locked at all times)

 

• Has been running 256 player play tests since November 2008

 

• Originally built as a tps, but changed to fps to increase "immersion" (via PSM3)

 

• Will NOT carry the SOCOM franchise name (Confirmed via PlayStation Blog) & (Confirmed via Abigale)

 

• 2009 Release -> Sony confirms MAG for '09 (Press Release via Wired)

 

- Fall 2009

 

• Currently in Alpha stages (confirmed in developer interview - 4/30)

 

• Plans for both closed and open betas

 

- Beta details soon

 

 

 

 

[xViCaRiouSx]

great post goat..... oh wait it was from marine, i just assumed from the 56 paragraph. 347 line post it was from goat.

[DK_Deadly_Intent]

agreed nice post

[Marlne]

thank ya:):)

[Outlaw__Rebel]

At Gamefaqs.com they say it's available Q1 2010. It also says EU Nov. 2009. And soon after in Japan. We're last I wonder whats up.

 

[CpDude05]

I thought mag was supposed to be a 3rd person?

[CDBS14]

nope its an FPS, great post. BUT ABOVE ALL, I LIKE THIS......

 

- Algorithm writen that searches for gameplay anomalies to eliminate cheating (similar to PunkBuster for PC gaming)

 

[Red0ctobeR]

CpDude05 ]

I thought mag was supposed to be a 3rd person?

 

What planet have you been on for the last 6 months.

 

SHEESH

[Chili327]

xRed0ctobeRx ]

CpDude05 ]

I thought mag was supposed to be a 3rd person?

 

What planet have you been on for the last 6 months.

 

SHEESH

Planet Xbox. ;D

[IRISH BULL]

MarauderHD ]

At Gamefaqs.com they say it's available Q1 2010. It also says EU Nov. 2009. And soon after in Japan. We're last I wonder whats up.

 

According to Gamestop.com, 01/12/2009. But the game is definitely in beta right now, but for Sony and Zipper only.

 

Sony conducting MAG beta, you'll never get in

 

So who the hell knows. If you believe the guys on the MAG forums, its coming out this year.

 

If this game goes without a hitch, I believe it will be the game credited with changing online gaming on the console. You know other Dev's are sitting back and waiting to see how this ends up and if its possible. I'm more curious about that honestly, the size of it. Whether your a FPS or a TPS fan, you have to be kind of excited to see the outcome of this game.

[GOAT]

xViCaRiouSx ]

great post goat..... oh wait it was from marine, i just assumed from the 56 paragraph. 347 line post it was from goat.

 

 

I would NEVER!!

 

 

 

 

 

put that many spaces between my sentences in one of my post..

[SEQUOYAH]

I for one am excited. As with most games, there is always one thing that fucks things up.

 

C.O.D. open mic, otherwise great game

 

MAG, no clan structure..otherwise great game.

[Red0ctobeR]

WHere do you hear No clan structure?

 

Because all I have heard is that there is clan structure and support.

[CDBS14]

xRed0ctobeRx ]

WHere do you hear No clan structure?

 

Because all I have heard is that there is clan structure and support.

 

i stand with you there, thats a major feature of this game

[Prane]

This could be the end all be all for me ladies. MAG could officially rid me of this socom sickness once and for all. You heard it here first folks!!!

[Chili327]

SEQUOYAH ]

I for one am excited. As with most games, there is always one thing that fucks things up.

 

C.O.D. open mic, otherwise great game

 

MAG, no clan structure..otherwise great game.

Thats a pretty bold statement..!!??

Also you should categorize open mics as a PS3 issue not a CoD issue. Any game besides Socom is open mic. (and not an issue on the box)

[SEQUOYAH]

All the interviews and videos I have watched state that you will automatically be placed into a game. You can't go in with your clan mates and pick a campaign or map.

 

THAT, I am absolutely sure of.

[SEQUOYAH]

Chili-Palmer ]

SEQUOYAH ]

I for one am excited. As with most games, there is always one thing that fucks things up.

 

C.O.D. open mic, otherwise great game

 

MAG, no clan structure..otherwise great game.

Thats a pretty bold statement..!!??

Also you should categorize open mics as a PS3 issue not a CoD issue. Any game besides Socom is open mic. (and not an issue on the box)

 

Not so Chili. Bigmoneynacku has an xbox and will tell you that the open mic system on the xbox is just as shitty on the ps3.

[Outlaw__Rebel]

In this posting Player Role Line 5 they mention hint of clan support. But Factions Line 4 is questionable.

I'm sure who the information came from.