Now that we've seen the return of an iconic Planetside 1 classic, the cloak bubble AMS (ie: Sunderer), I imagine it would be relatively easy to bring in another, very closely related, Planetside 1 toy. The Aegis Shield Generator (The thing in that picture is about five feet tall) Back in Planetside 1, the Aegis Shield Generator was an Engineer deployable that created a bubble of invisibility, no one outside could see it, other than a faint haze when up close, and anyone inside could see the landscape, but nothing to do with other players (obviously, in Planetside 2, everything from the inside is just really wavy and wobbly). Essentially, it created an AMS cloaking bubble. It also provided access to an equipment terminal that could dispense Ammo, but not weapons, which was less useful than a full infantry equipment terminal, but of course, better than nothing. It could also be upgraded to provide an actual shield, but the mechanics of PS2 are too different, and it would probably be balanced anyways. Lastly, hackers could turn the bubble into a pain field (like when you get too close to a spawn room). In Planetside 2, an Aegis Shield Generator would provide a place to safely consolidate and regroup, just like a Sunderer, but would trade the Sunderer's infantry terminal, spawn capabilities, and guns for being much easier and cheaper to get into position. A couple of engineers (provided it cloaks vehicles, unlike the current Sundy cloak) and medics inside of an Aegis Shield Generator could help get troops topped up and back into the fight, in a position far forward of where a Sunderer could be easily or safely placed. I also see no reason not to keep the ability for infiltrators to turn the shield bubble into a pain field as a counter. To make this effective, doing so would either have to put the engineers Generator back to a full three minute cool-down, so they couldn't just drop another one, or something else would have to happen instead. Perhaps hacking a generator could destroy it, and cause an EMP effect on all enemies within its influence? I'd imagine an Aegis Shield Generator would work well taking the place of an Engineer's Ammo Pack, and could resupply ammunition to infantry nearby. My gut instinct would be to put it on a three minute cool-down, meaning that an engineer carrying one would be keeping their ability to supply ammo, but they trade ammo dropping convenience for the ability to create a small forward base. This is something I've wanted to see in the game since day one, and got particularly excited when the medic bubbles came out, looking like nothing more than a very small Aegis Shield Generator. Thoughts?
theres so much on the table for engis already, Mana AA Turret, Deployable cover, deployable vehicle ammo just to name a few. but sure, add it in! any addition to the game is usually a welcome one
I would so love this - these were our favourite things in the world from Planetside 1. Such rich gameplay comes from these things. I do take Liewec123's point about Engi's having so much - but i would suggest making it fit into the turret slot. Another good addition would be to allow snipers to 'charge them' to provide a short distance radar, something similar to the advanced hacking skill tree from planetside 1. Sorry may just have gotten carried away with PS1 nostalgia. Next we'll be asking for actual spawn tubes that could be disabled with a surgical gal drop and single point cc's and spawn tubes that could then be 'hacked', defended and held by a small well organised troop of infantry against overwhelming odds. REAL PLANETSIDE GAMEPLAY FTW!
You mentioned that Infiltrators could turn the invisibility field into a pain field in the original, and could 'charge' them to create short range radar. How would that work? An infiltrator goes up to it, holds E, and pulses like the recon darts emerge, or it turns into a pain field as long as E is held? Could other classes do it? Would the other classes be able to do something else?
Not sure. In Planetside 1, if you had the hacking certifications to actually do that, chances are you couldn't do too much else... not just anyone could pull and infil and do it. A hacker could use a T-REK to turn it into a pain field, you'd need another high level hacker with a REK to remove the virus. As for all the other benefits, radar, ammo, and actual shielding, with the nature of Planetside 2, I think it would be best to keep it simple, and simply have the cloak, and the ammo benefit. As for the pain field, I imagine it would have to be disabled by holding E, presumably by any class, and not just an infiltrator.
http://wiki.planetsidesyndicate.com/index.php?title=Aegis_Shield_Generator As magrider fairies, we used to put down an aegis shield generator, and immediately put down an (anti-radar) sensor disruptor. This would mean that we'd be less likely to come up on a radar. One of us would upgrade the aegis shield to provide a short range radar that was only active for people inside the shield (you can't see into or out of the shield field) This would then provide a safe place to retreat to repair. Alternatively you could use it as an ambush point. There were dangers in it - enemy hackers could hack it to generate a pain field so you though you would come back to a safe place only to find that it was really hurting you. Or infantry could saturate it with mines to catch you unawares. Also, it was good to hack spitfire turrets and mine inside there if you found an enemy shield. Again.. it was a place where it could easily be sabotaged... for your advantage or disadvantage. Coming back to your safe place and you find that it has been sabotaged and mined up. With the certifcation tree, it tended to mean that you had to use your cert's wisely. In a magrider team we'd ensure that one of us had hacking skills and a t-rek and the other had the combat engineering skills to setup the aegis shield generator. It wasn't possible for a (non BR40) character to have both. It also used to take up a lot of inventory space for the shield, which meant you didn't have as many mines. Again - an inventory system and a certification system which was more complicated but feature rich. Rich gameplay mechanics made for a much more interesting game.
