Tribes Universe - "We've got jetpacks too!" - Games

[IMG]http://imgur.com/atQvJ.jpg[/IMG] [B]ALPHA TESTING SOON![/B] Scheduled release date: Early 2011 Developers: [url=http://www.hirezstudios.com/]Hi-Rez Studios[/url] Official Website: [url]http://tribesuniverse.com/[/url] Features: [quote]Tribes Universe is a persistent online shooter from Hi-Rez Studios, set inside the game universe popularized by such titles as Earthsiege, Starsiege, Starsiege:Tribes, Tribes 2 and Tribes Vengeance. The game is currently in development, with Alpha Testing expected to begin in 2011. The game's highlights include: * Three Tribe (factions) * Full clan (agency) support * First person view (third person for some vehicles) * Full vehicle support (ground and air) * Full persistent world with territory control (no instances) * PvP focused * Huge outdoor maps (about 10x the area of Sonoran Desert) * Large scale fights (100+ players) * Jetpacks, skiing, lots of weapons, etc [/quote] November Q&A: [quote] Hi-Rez Studios discusses roles, game tech, PvP, and more in the upcoming online shooter. We here at Ten Ton Hammer love first-person shooters, so we became delirious with joy when we heard the announcement of Tribes Universe. This online multiplayer shooter is based on the Starsiege: Tribes universe and will probably result in many missed hours of work when it is released. Ten Ton Hammer sat down with Hi-Rez Studios to get more details. Question: Please tell us a little about Tribes Universe. Answer: Tribes Universe is an online shooter that features massive PvP battles on large, persistent open spaces where there is an on-going struggle for territory control. The game is set inside the fictional game universe popularized by such classic and beloved titles as Earthsiege, Starsiege, Starsiege:Tribes, Tribes 2 and Tribes Vengeance. Question: Starsiege: Tribes and Tribes II were favorites to many a LAN party. How do you plan on captivating that feel of a party shooter game and translating it into an MMOG? Answer: I think that “LAN Party” feeling comes from a few different aspects: Really great game performance, “wow that was awesome” gameplay, the special shoot-em-’up competitive camaraderie that comes from playing with friends, and, of course, Nachos. In Tribes Universe, we’re seeking to bring you all of those same things, but you’ll still need to bring your own Nachos. Question: Are you focusing more on the shooter aspect of the game, or are you adding more RPG elements? Answer: We are focusing primarily on the shooter element. In addition, we expect to add a territory control meta game and a high level of world immersion to ensure that players feel that they are participating in an evolving, persistent world and not just a shooter match. Question: In terms of development, are you building a new engine, or using existing technology and knowledge from your work on Global Agenda? Answer: We are using the Unreal Engine and many of the technologies we developed for Global Agenda. The Unreal engine is flexible and allows for many different game implementations. The major tech work on this project, and it’s very substantial, involves a significant server-side re-architecting to better support very large battles. We’re also switching to Scaleform technology for our user interface, which will allow for a significantly sexier UI. Question: Dynamix and Sierra On-Line were powerhouses of development and game publishing in the 80s and 90s. How do you follow a show like that and meet fan expectations? Answer: We are huge Tribes fans, and we certainly feel honored to own the Tribes Franchise, and are deeply aware of the expectations that carries. Nostalgia is always a tough thing to work against, especially in gaming, and we certainly know it is a difficult line to toe between honoring the games that made the Franchise what it is, while also working to extend the Franchise into the future. I think it has really helped us to be doing this right on the heals of Global Agenda, which has given us a solid technology foundation and a reservoir of lessons and experiences to draw from. Question: We understand that it's a separate team working on the title and not the Global Agenda team. How much has this expanded the Hi-Rez offices? Answer: We are adding additional people to the company, and are moving into new offices in December that will accommodate our growth. How many total additional people we add will depend ultimately on the progress we see over the next few months, especially as we finalize some of the core requirements. Right now, we are organizing the Studio into two different teams -- one for Global Agenda and one for Tribes Universe. We have new people on each team, and Global Agenda veterans on each team. Question: Are vehicles still going to play an important role in the newest Tribes game? Answer: Yes, vehicles will be an important part of the game. They will mostly be designed for support functions rather than to be primary damage dealers. Support functions include transport, forward spawn locations, ammo replenishment, stationary defenses, etc. Question: Will the game feature a "holy trinity" of healer, tank and DPS classes? Answer: No. The game is designed around every player being able to do significant damage in addition to support functions. A player can wear heavy armor and shields and be more of a ‘tank’, or carry more repair devices as an ‘Engineer’, but there are no defined classes. There is also a lot less healing than is typical in an MMORPG game. Question: Will the game offer PvE or is it primarily PvP? Answer: Tribes Universe is designed primarily around large-scale PvP. One difference from most typical shooters is that there are more roles to play and all players don’t have to be engaged in pure shooting. For example, a player can specialize in transport of other players, focus on defense repairs, or focus on coordinating groups of players in a large scale attack. Question: Two words can describe the original Tribes experience: Smooth and Fast. Is this the theme you're aiming for in Tribes Universe? Answer: Smooth and fast will play an important role. Tribes Universe will also emphasize group strategy, counters, progression, specialization and tactics that are more extensive than anything a Tribes game has had before. Question: Is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers at this time? Answer: We’re very grateful and pleased with the reaction to our initial announcement of Tribes Universe. We’ve been flooded by enthusiastic Tribes fans, as well as fans of games like Planetside and, of course, Global Agenda, that are telling us this is a game they have always hoped would be made. We’re working as hard as we can to bring a great game to the Tribes Community and very much appreciate everyone’s support.[/quote] November Interview: [quote] We know that the company now owns the beloved intellectual property, and that the company is working on turning the property in to an MMOFPS. But that’s about all we know. And that’s not enough for us. So we put on our thinking caps – they have light bulbs on top – dug deep for some questions and chained the CEO of Hi-Rez and Chief Designer of Tribes Universe, Erez Goren, to a computer until our questions were answered. Lore Hound: The company recently announced that it was taking Alpha registration for Tribes Universe. How far along is the game at this point? How large is the team? Erez Goren: The majority of the work that has gone directly into the game thus far has been in building the technical foundation to support large battles on massive, open landscapes. We are much earlier on when it comes to gameplay. Fortunately, when we built Global Agenda, we did so in a way that left us with an amazing platform for building a Shooter/MMO on top of the Unreal Engine. This means that much of the work around adding weapons, tuning gameplay, etc, is now able to go very fast as we finish the core technical work. LH: Speaking of the Alpha, it is currently restricted to max-level Global Agenda players. Is this to reward those who continue to support GA, or do you believe these players are the best testing group? Erez: Testing during the Alpha stage is not necessarily a reward since it’s not designed as a ‘marketing’ function. The initial part of our Alpha program will be entirely about testing the technical foundation for large battles. Many aspects of the actual gameplay will be far from final and not fully representative or even necessarily “fun” yet. We know that many level 50 players are a dedicated part of our community and those are usually the best players to work in Alpha in what is usually a rough start. Level 50 Global Agenda players do not expect a finished product and already know that we are capable of producing a final game that is much more polished than [what] is seen at these earlier stages. LH: Why did Hi-Rez purchase the intellectual property instead of making its own universe again? Is it for the built-in audience or a way of paying homage to a game the designers loved? Erez: Tribes was a perfect fit for the type of game we wanted to build. Tribes 2 will provide the main inspiration for Universe. Besides just the thrill of working on a game and a franchise we love, with the Tribes IP we get two major benefits; first we get lore and a design foundation that helps us develop the game much faster. Second, there is already a large audience that is interested in the Tribes universe, which certainly makes it easier to generate interest in the game. LH: Global Agenda shied away from equating playtime to the power of a character. Will Tribes Universe follow the same philosophy? Can players expect Tribes Universe to have more MMOG mechanics – leveling, loot, reputation, questing, etc – than GA, or less? Erez: Tribes Universe is designed to have even less traditional MMORPG leveling mechanics than Global Agenda. There are no MMORPG-like quests, loot, or leveling. Progression is primarily based on developing skills with additional weapons and gear that provide for specializations, but is not necessarily more powerful. We are interested in building a more ‘EvE’-like, sandbox universe for an FPS player with certain restrictions and limitations that make it work and provide structure and importance to the battles. LH: When we received the announcement the first question we had was whether skiing would be implemented, and if so, how? Will players be expected to perfect the bunny-hopping mechanic that’s become synonymous with the franchise? Erez: Skiing will definitely be part of the Tribes Universe game play. We’ve been play testing a number of different possible implementations, and will continue to do a lot of play testing before we find the exact implementation that will make the most sense given the other elements of our game play. LH: Can players expect the game in the near future – 2011, early 2012 – since the Alpha is getting underway soon? Erez: We expect Alpha to begin early next year. We’ll make decisions on when we move on to Beta, and ultimately release, based on what we see during Alpha and where we stand against building out our vision for the game. LH: The MMO shooter genre is getting a healthy amount of competition these days. Any concerns about over saturation by the time the game is launched? Erez: We are simply focused on making the most compelling game we can. There are millions of shooter fans around the world, and plenty of room for several competing games. LH: Is there a specific payment structure Tribes Universe is being designed for? Erez: We have not finalized the payment structure at this point. Our most important consideration is which structure will provide our community with the best on-going content and support. LH: Thanks for your time. Can’t wait to check it out. [/quote] Currently accepting applications for alpha testing, register at [url]http://tribesuniverse.com/[/url]

So basically what Global Agenda should have been? Interested.

100+ players all with jetpacks? Oh man this is going to be fun

Oh fuck yes, imagine the bunny gamemode with 100+ people. [editline]29th October 2010[/editline] Disks, disks everywhere.

I sure hope they bring back Hunters from Tribes 2. That was kewl.

Hell yeah, skiing!

Applied :3: You can use your Global Agenda account for it by the way.

I hope I get in.

[QUOTE=Pinut;25725031]So basically what Global Agenda should have been? Interested.[/QUOTE] Exactly, it's gonna be awesome. [editline]29th October 2010[/editline] Applied for Alpha, since i have lvl 50 char in GA i have higher chance of gettin' in. :smug:

I remember playing Tribes 2 in LAN ages ago. Shit was awesome.

Motherfucking Tribes holy shit!

Cannot. Wait!

I've never played Tribes.

Hahahah, I love the title. Hoping I'll get into the alpha, but it's unlikely as I don't have a level 50 character on GA. Although, I am an ancient on GA. Who knows. But, it seems like this'll be a good time. I just hope HiRez doesn't leave Global Agenda behind when they release this.

Applied :D

Global Agenda is shit, worst 40$ I ever spent, im not gonna bother with another one of their games that will dissapoint me.

[QUOTE=ejonkou;25733866]Global Agenda is shit, worst 40$ I ever spent, im not gonna bother with another one of their games that will dissapoint me.[/QUOTE] 1. Why the fuck did you ask out opinion if you call GA shit after 2 minutes of impatience? 2. :frog:

People are entitled to their opinions, Jack. But, I think you should give Tribes a chance, ejonkou. Just wait until there's a free trial if you want to be frugal about it.

[QUOTE=SystemGS;25736490]People are entitled to their opinions, Jack.[/QUOTE] What? That's nonsense. :downs:

hi-rez are making this? as in, hi-rez of global agenda? :downs::downs::downs::downs::downs::downs::downs::downs:

[QUOTE=nige111;25742385]hi-rez are making this? as in, hi-rez of global agenda? :downs::downs::downs::downs::downs::downs::downs::downs:[/QUOTE] Indeed they do. It's gonna be awesome.

oh god. spin fusers everywhere. Heavys raining down on my head. stampeads of rovers. Mortars. OH GOD THE MORTARS. its going to be hell in battle

[QUOTE=XanaToast.;25743913]oh god. spin fusers everywhere. Heavys raining down on my head. stampeads of rovers. Mortars. OH GOD THE MORTARS. its going to be hell in battle[/QUOTE] Oh god. I remember the blaster in Tribes. The thing was a goddamn death machine.

Blaster? I've never played tribes. Explain please.

[QUOTE=unoriginalname;25745654]Blaster? I've never played tribes. Explain please.[/QUOTE] "Blaster A long range, high rate of fire pistol that fires energy bolts at the target, using the player's energy reserve as ammunition, giving the player unlimited ammunition over time. However, this weapon does very little damage, and is nearly useless in conjunction with jet pack use, making it a very weak weapon in most situations. Focused blaster fire from long range by several players could destroy enemy assets such as turrets, scanners, and other stationary equipment. However, most players, especially ones that favored light armor, traded this weapon in as soon as they could get to an equipment station. " Fact is, no one used it, and it was godlike because of the small energy use, decent damage, the projectiles were fast, and so was the rate of fire.

I'd be excited if it wasn't an MMO.

When does the Alpha testing start?

[QUOTE=Grasp;25745049]Oh god. I remember the blaster in Tribes. The thing was a goddamn death machine.[/QUOTE] every tried walking around in the middle of the desert map. Fucking gunships man. everywhere

[QUOTE=Pruneyman;25752564]When does the Alpha testing start?[/QUOTE] Soon.

Signed up, shits gonna be so cash.