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This thread will be kept updated about the game Zipper announced at E3. As of right now its being called "MAG". The acronym for Massive Action Game has been dropped.
Current Update on Thread (7/22):
• Added E3 games.on.net interview about command controls/overview (video section)
• Added a few new charcter screens
• Added MAG dev diary - Command & Control (video section)
• Added MAG dev diary - PMCs (video section)
• Added MAG dev diary - 256 (video section)
• Added MAG dev diary - Shadow War (video section)
• Game in Alpha stages (confirmed), beta details soon
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 (manned) and air combat (unmanned)
• Controllable turrets with machine gun and missle options
• 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
• MAG will be at E3 this year
"Groundbreaking large scale combat, intimacy of 8-player squad combat, and character growth"
Website Info:
• Morse Code heard in background translates to "GI-4/15/09". Determined to reference the Game Informer May issue that had the first new article on MAG.
• Chatter/morse code becomes the loudest over Alaska, Central America, and Eurasia (Kazakhstan) areas. When clicked images flash quick, which are some of the images seen below in the screens section.
Unconfirmed/Rumors:
• Name change to MAG: Shadow War (doubtful)
• Map Locations - Spain, France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Egypt
• Possible Pay to Play online? One time fee or subscriptio - FREE! like every other PS3 game
Images:
Latest Update from Zipper:
Hello, All-
At long last, information about MAG will now begin to trickle out to you!
Details on MAG will begin to emerge, starting today! Be sure to bookmark www.magshadowwar.com and check there regularly for new details.
There
will be some things there for you to figure out for yourself. We hope
you enjoy that and all that we have planned for you over the coming
weeks!
We are looking forward to hearing more of your feedback and discussions here on the MAG Forum!
(Posted 4/7)
Videos:
E3 2008 MAG Presentation, ok quality (Video Starts at 84:11)
E3 2008 Trailer Only (Gametrailer SD)
GameSpot Interview (Interview with Andy from Zipper)
Gametrailers Developer Interview - 4/29 (Discussion of Server Architecture and some game info)
Gameplay Footage - 4/29 (HQ)
Gamespot Developer Interview - 4/30 (HQ) (Discusses current game state, servers, general info)
MAG QA Session on PS Blog - 5/4
E3 2009 Gameplay Trailer & Inteview (SD)
E3 2009 Bombing Objective Gameplay (ok quality)
E3 2009 Gameplay 2 (ok quality)
E3 2009 Conference Gameplay Presentation (HQ)
G4 Hands on Preview (HQ)
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSEStwTLMf4"]E3 Gameplay Showfloor[/ame] (shows some respawn)
E3 Base Assault Gameplay
Dev Diary - Shadow War (HQ) *NEW*
Dev Diary - 256 (HQ) *NEW*
Dev Diary - PMCs (HQ) *NEW*
Dev Diary - Command & Control (HQ) *NEW*
E3 games.on.net interview *NEW*
Links:
Official MAG Website
Zipper Interactive (Updated Website)
Insider Describes the World of Sony's MAG (*Rumors/Unconfirmed)
PlayStation Blog (First Look at MAG) - 7/22 (Reveals first in-game Screenshot)
Interview with Zipper's Tony Iuppa - 4/16 (Part 1)(Part 2)
Joystiq Hands On - 4/29 (New Screens & gameplay impressions)
Destructoid Hands On - 4/29 (Gameplay Impressions)
IGN Hands On - 4/29 (Gameplay Impressions)
1up Hands On - 4/29 (Gameplay Impressions)
G4TV Hands On - 4/29 (Gameplay Impressions)
Joystiq Dev Interview - 4/30
Destructoid Dev Interview - 4/30
MAG Gamer's Day VP Interview - 4/30 (Video - HQ)
MAG Gamer's Day Lead Designer Interview - 4/30 (Video - HQ)
Platform Nation Podcast with Zipper VP - 5/4
MAG Live Chat with Zipper Interactive - 5/6
PSU E3 Impressions - 6/7
Newest Info:
New Gameplay Video, it has German Commentors
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AwCOq1xdaY[/ame]
Wensday August 13th was the day that Sony and Zipper sent Beta "invites" the reason i put invites like that was because it was a email that told you to give ur email address which wants the code however you have to fill out a survey specific to the code you get in that email, One main question was why you want to be in the beta and why you deserve it?
This was the First wave of invites, Most were sent to GAP(Game Advisory Panel) members which is hard to get in for PS3 users.
the next wave is soon, if i get 2 or 3 ill try to give to ppl. Dont ask me, ill give to ppl who i think deserve it(if i do get some codes)
BETA WENT UP I GOT NO CODE YET THOUGH WILL UPDATE
This thread will be kept updated about the game Zipper announced at E3. As of right now its being called "MAG". The acronym for Massive Action Game has been dropped.
Current Update on Thread (7/22):
• Added E3 games.on.net interview about command controls/overview (video section)
• Added a few new charcter screens
• Added MAG dev diary - Command & Control (video section)
• Added MAG dev diary - PMCs (video section)
• Added MAG dev diary - 256 (video section)
• Added MAG dev diary - Shadow War (video section)
• Game in Alpha stages (confirmed), beta details soon
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 (manned) and air combat (unmanned)
• Controllable turrets with machine gun and missle options
• 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
• MAG will be at E3 this year
"Groundbreaking large scale combat, intimacy of 8-player squad combat, and character growth"
Website Info:
• Morse Code heard in background translates to "GI-4/15/09". Determined to reference the Game Informer May issue that had the first new article on MAG.
• Chatter/morse code becomes the loudest over Alaska, Central America, and Eurasia (Kazakhstan) areas. When clicked images flash quick, which are some of the images seen below in the screens section.
Unconfirmed/Rumors:
• Name change to MAG: Shadow War (doubtful)
• Map Locations - Spain, France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Egypt
• Possible Pay to Play online? One time fee or subscriptio - FREE! like every other PS3 game
Images:
In-Game Screenshots
Maps
Factions
Logo
Chacter Models
Concept Art
Trailer Screens
Maps
Factions
Logo
Chacter Models
Concept Art
Trailer Screens
Latest Update from Zipper:
Hello, All-
At long last, information about MAG will now begin to trickle out to you!
Details on MAG will begin to emerge, starting today! Be sure to bookmark www.magshadowwar.com and check there regularly for new details.
There
will be some things there for you to figure out for yourself. We hope
you enjoy that and all that we have planned for you over the coming
weeks!
We are looking forward to hearing more of your feedback and discussions here on the MAG Forum!
(Posted 4/7)
Videos:
E3 2008 MAG Presentation, ok quality (Video Starts at 84:11)
E3 2008 Trailer Only (Gametrailer SD)
GameSpot Interview (Interview with Andy from Zipper)
Gametrailers Developer Interview - 4/29 (Discussion of Server Architecture and some game info)
Gameplay Footage - 4/29 (HQ)
Gamespot Developer Interview - 4/30 (HQ) (Discusses current game state, servers, general info)
MAG QA Session on PS Blog - 5/4
E3 2009 Gameplay Trailer & Inteview (SD)
E3 2009 Bombing Objective Gameplay (ok quality)
E3 2009 Gameplay 2 (ok quality)
E3 2009 Conference Gameplay Presentation (HQ)
G4 Hands on Preview (HQ)
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSEStwTLMf4"]E3 Gameplay Showfloor[/ame] (shows some respawn)
E3 Base Assault Gameplay
Dev Diary - Shadow War (HQ) *NEW*
Dev Diary - 256 (HQ) *NEW*
Dev Diary - PMCs (HQ) *NEW*
Dev Diary - Command & Control (HQ) *NEW*
E3 games.on.net interview *NEW*
Links:
Official MAG Website
Zipper Interactive (Updated Website)
Insider Describes the World of Sony's MAG (*Rumors/Unconfirmed)
PlayStation Blog (First Look at MAG) - 7/22 (Reveals first in-game Screenshot)
Interview with Zipper's Tony Iuppa - 4/16 (Part 1)(Part 2)
Joystiq Hands On - 4/29 (New Screens & gameplay impressions)
Destructoid Hands On - 4/29 (Gameplay Impressions)
IGN Hands On - 4/29 (Gameplay Impressions)
1up Hands On - 4/29 (Gameplay Impressions)
G4TV Hands On - 4/29 (Gameplay Impressions)
Joystiq Dev Interview - 4/30
Destructoid Dev Interview - 4/30
MAG Gamer's Day VP Interview - 4/30 (Video - HQ)
MAG Gamer's Day Lead Designer Interview - 4/30 (Video - HQ)
Platform Nation Podcast with Zipper VP - 5/4
MAG Live Chat with Zipper Interactive - 5/6
PSU E3 Impressions - 6/7
Newest Info:
New Gameplay Video, it has German Commentors
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AwCOq1xdaY[/ame]
Wensday August 13th was the day that Sony and Zipper sent Beta "invites" the reason i put invites like that was because it was a email that told you to give ur email address which wants the code however you have to fill out a survey specific to the code you get in that email, One main question was why you want to be in the beta and why you deserve it?
This was the First wave of invites, Most were sent to GAP(Game Advisory Panel) members which is hard to get in for PS3 users.
the next wave is soon, if i get 2 or 3 ill try to give to ppl. Dont ask me, ill give to ppl who i think deserve it(if i do get some codes)
BETA WENT UP I GOT NO CODE YET THOUGH WILL UPDATE
