Vehicle Wish List

The infantry players here have lots of weapons to choose from- there are types of assault rifles per empire, 6 carbines, 6 light machine guns, 6 sniper rifles, and a few others, such as battle rifles or scout rifles, pistols, shotguns, revolvers, SMG's, grenades, and an NS version of multiple weapon types.

Dozens upon dozens of weapons, each with its unique advantages, disadvantages and quirks. Now there's a topic about adding even more.

Vehicle people have 1 single MRAP across the board- the Sundy, then there's 1 light tank, one gunship, 1 faction specific MBT and one faction specific fighter.
There's also 2 common pool light vehicles, the Harasser and the Flash, and a transport plane.

All these add up for a grand total of a whopping 8 vehicles.

How about a wish list of our own, fellow tankers, drivers, pilots and gunners?

First off, I'd like to see at least 3 ESFs per faction.

The current one would be the heavy fighter, I'd see it getting a slight mobility nerf, but health increased from 1750 to 2000 HP.

The new one would be a dogfighter/interceptor- 2 main guns, secondaries very limited (default ammo pool of 2 reloads, upgrades allow for up to salvos of rockets 4; or 5 spare air to air missiles), 25% more afterburner fuel (both with and without fuel tanks).
This light fighter would also be able to climb to 1250 meters to have an inherent advantage of altitude over every other type of aircraft, and it should be able to outdive and outclimb all other airplanes.

This class would have its own variant for each faction- a faster one, a more maneuverable one, and one with the strongest afterburners and the best A2A guns in the game.

There's also room for a dedicated, 2 man ground attack ESF, one that hovers like a Liberator, and is half way in terms of durability and handling between the Lib and current ESFs.
The pilot would operate rockets or missiles; the gunner?
The nose gun, with available guns of the Liberator, on a pintle mount like that of the Flash- this would allow to have the pilot focus on avoiding terrain, while the gunner blasts target left and right, above and below.
No tailgun would mean it's at a disadvantage when an enemy gets behind it.

Up next- the Galaxy.
This airplane could have a certification that would allow to carry ground vehicles up to the Lightning in size, at the cost of having only up to 6 people on board. Kind of a lighter Lodestar equivalent of PS 1.

A lighter, Liberator size transport with Liberator like performance and durability would be nice as well.
6 passengers, 1 tail gun and 2 guns on the sides- weapons available just like on the Galaxy's equivalent mounts. Pilot has a nose gun as well, making the PS 2 Mi-24 Hind/UH-60 Black Hawk hybrid have some teeth.

The Liberator used to be a bomber in PS 1. How about reintroducing this?
Bombs would be the ultimate high splash or high damage (depending on type) explosive weapons, but with an ammo storage capacity similar to that of an ESF's rocket load without ammo storage upgrades.
They could be laser guided by the bombardier, with rather limited turning abilities (so limited a Lightning could move out of the way, but heavier vehicles would still be in trouble).

The counterplay?
The bombs would fall at a speed of the Liberator + whatever gravity accelerates them to, up to a maximum of 100 m/s, so they'd be visible long before they'd hit. For those who don't look up, they'd whistle loud enough to be heard from 200 meters.

The bomber could be a faction specific vehicle, with each variant having traits of its empire (TR- more top speed, more dakka; NC- more damage resistance, heavier bombs with slower RoF and lower total capacity; VS- more mobility, bombs are blobs of plasma and are launched 2 at once).

So, the air arsenal grows from 3 airplanes to 7, the Galaxy gets a new function.

What about ground combat?
Ground vehicles are more plentiful than aircraft, but there's still room for improvement.

Planetside 1 had a 4 wheel armored car, in fact there was one for each empire. This vehicle would fall between the Harasser and the Sundy- Harasser like durability (as in Harasser with 2nd level armor upgrades when stock), Sundy like performance and weaponry (2 RC gun mounts); room for 8.
A smaller, cheaper and weaker AMS/ammo/repair vehicle.

There's also room for an NS light hovertank. Using a slightly larger Lightning hull and the vertical thrusters of a Liberator to allow it to travel 3 feet above the ground, this tank would not be as fast as a Lightning, but would perform better off road, and- once rivers are included- be an amphibious tank.

I'd also like to see a 2nd MBT (we have 6 of each types of firearms per faction, why not 2 MBTs?).
The NC variant would have the frontal armor of a Vanguard, but the side, top and rear armor of the other 2 tanks. It would come with a long barrel coilgun or railgun (higher velocity, harder hitting, lower RoF)- less damage resistance everywhere but from the front for more wookie- a long range sniper.
The TR variant would bring heavier armor, similar mobility, and an oversized Gattling (I'm thinking of this- http://i.imgur.com/5jOOWkG.jpg). A stronger close range vehicle.
The Magrider's new sibling would share the hover chassis and weapons. It's new features would be less armor (5% less damage resistance all around except rear), but it would come with a magburner in its stock form (with the burner duration and recharge rate getting increased if the upgrade is purchased for the utility slot).

Up next, a tank destroyer, less mobility than the stock MBT (that includes hull rotation speed), a bit more armor. No HE rounds- only AP and HEAT.
This would be another Magrider variant for VS most likely- this one trading mobility for armor and firepower (main gain in shell velocity- 250 m/s for AP instead of 225, 225 for HEAT instead of 200).

The NC would get some 203 mm coil howitzer (200 m/s HEAT, 250 m/s AP, damage of about 3000 per AP round, and a 6 second reload- DPS unchanged, much greater damage per round) mounted in a superstructure on the Vanguard's hull. The NC variant would have a traverse of 20 deg left and right.

The TR variant could come with 2 guns of larger caliber than the Prowler has, also mounted in a superstructure with limited traverse; balanced so that DPS increases a bit, and RoF gets slower.


A heavy tank.
3 man crew, rolling Liberator, built by Nanotech Systems.
Driver operates a pintle mounted gun (available weapons same as those on a Flash, with the same field of fire), gunner has a turret with a twin Dalton based main gun (lots of damage output, not good velocity for long range fights), secondary gunner operates a regular remote controlled weapon station like on every other tank.
Slightly slower accelerating than the Vanguard, a bit less top speed than the Magrider, 1.5 times the hitpoints of an MBT, with the damage resistance of current TR and VS MBTs. Comes with blockade armor instead of directional armor upgrades (when fully upgraded the rear is not a weaker area, other parts become equally damage resistant to the Vanguard with upgrades).

And finally- an infantry fighting vehicle.
This thingy would be a tracked vehicle, armored like a TR/VS stock MBT, with similar performance.
Seats 6 people, driver operates a Lightning turret, gunner operates an MBT secondary weapon system mounted on top of the turret.
Also comes with blockade armor, also common pool.

This gives 10 ground vehicles, up from 5.

Any comments on my ideas?
Anything else that might be fun to see in Planetside 2?

A final note- the Vanguard doesn't look good with a non-EM powered main gun, as it's probably the only such weapon in the arsenal.
Can we have a coilgun, if only as a visual change?

I want a helicopterrrrrrrr!
I'll read the thread now
edit
and empire specific buggies

I would have like to see every faction have it's own versions of all vehicles. Vanu would have a hover bike, buggy and light tank. I would deffinitly like to see an NC tank with a railgun and each faction having a unique mobile artillery.

I would also like to see faction specific mechs, about the hight of BF 2142 so we can see over walls.

Ye i like faction indiviuality
About the BFRs i want them but alot of people dont

If they have no Deus Ex Machina that makes them immune to damage, mechs would be OK.
Not sure if the mech people would like getting shot by much smaller and harder to hit tanks over great distances though, crouching (to take cover behind boulders and other 20+ foot tall obstacles) would be a cool addition to balance the two classes.

As for the helicopter- the dedicated 2 man ground assault ESF would take this role, by design it has a movable chin gun and the ability to hover motionless like the Liberator, lots of durability, less mobility than the dogfighter or standard ESF.

Artillery- this would be limited due to render distance for infantry of 300 meters (or so they say), so maybe a mortar on a self propelled chassis or something, but howitzers firing from 2-3 clicks away would need some big updates to the game engine, if they are to do any killing.
The shells should be objects that can be shot down like Phoenix missiles to allow counterplay on the receiving end other than calling for a search and destroy mission.

Why would you want anything other than the Vanguard?

The Vanguard is mighty and all powerful! Give awe to the greatness of the Vanguard!

ALL HAIL THE VANGUARD!


But seriously, no mechs / BFRs.

Why not?
Isnt a tank stronger than a BFR? i dont see why everyone hates it

While most of those are good ideas, frankly, if there are going to be many more major additions to vehicles, it would be better to look at modification slots instead of 'whole 'nother tank!'. Then people can specialize in one sort of vehicle without having to be sorry that they can't invest into other sources.

Things like changing out the tread chassis of the lightning to give it an amphibious nature, so then you don't have to pick between the lightning and this theoretical hover tank. The liberator sacrifices its gun to gain seats, or an intelligence suite that allows for a huge scout radar or other advanced spotting measures. You want a bradley? The sunderer is more then capable of doing it. Sacrifice armor or weapons to mount an auto cannon on its room. Lose seats to fit room for the machinery or slats infantry can shoot from. It goes on

Doing this would ease the work of balancing and creating an entire other vehicle and still give diversity. And allow people to pick a vehicle type and still have more options, even as the game changes. The people that invested heavily into their ESF or libs, right now, are probably regretting it, for just an example. But give them more options then just 'dalton/zephyr lib or rocket pod ESF' and we might be able to loosen the AA or mix up the game.

Remember: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CripplingOverspecialization

Crippling overspecialization works well in real time strategy games or the like, where you have an entire selection of units to deploy and it's built on getting things that can do the right job to the right place. In those you don't have to spend several dozen hours to make a real mean machine. And be stuck with it until we (if ever) get cert resets. And that doesn't even mention their cost.

Maybe if they weren't as op...maybe BFRs Might be able to make a comeback...Maybe...

They will probably be UP from all the bad stigma they got from PS1

Range and firepower is what the V needs the most IMHO, and properly used the side/top/rear rarely get hit anyways.

I'd personally give up my side/top/rear armor advantage over other MBTs for being able to reach the enemies further and spank them harder- hence the new NC tank idea.

As for mechs- there's a reason I didn't suggest them myself.
I just wouldn't mind them (not a fan either) if they're just another unit with some strengths and some weaknesses compared to wheeled vehicles, tanks, infantry, airplanes; and not a DEM tool for solving all open field battles.

EDIT: As for crippling overspecialization, World of Tanks has everything from 1-shot wonder, sluggish tank destroyers with hull mounted guns, up to lightly armored high speed vehicles that need a dozen or more damaging hits to kill something, and all found their place in that game.
The suggestions I have here in most cases would be closer to going from a Gauss SAW to an EM1 for instance- a visible change in role, but not totally changing the game. Only a few would be a switch from carbines to sniper rifles- but in the vehicle pool we only have our carbines now, and sniper rifles don't exist yet.

http://tv-facts.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Gundam-Seed-Wallpaper.jpg

But seriously, a low-altitude, squad support aircraft of some kind would be nice. Sightly larger than an ESF, has a pilot, and a gunner on each side, with 3 more slots for passengers. Has decent AI weapons for the gunners. Resistant to small arms, but the gunners are exposed, and because it is low flying, the pilot needs to keep an eye out for shoulder-carried AV rockets from infantry. Also make is spawnable from all bases with air terminals. I'd like it as an alternative to Galaxies when transporting infantry.

I wasn't being serious, but yeah I would like other vehicles to cert into on the side. Right now I'm just throwing certs into useless things on my tank because I can. I mean, I just certed Fire Suppression on a Vanguard.



(Though I do want 4x zoom on Vanguard main guns back like it was in beta)

I was thinking of slapping 2 remote control turrets on something similar to a Liberator, and kicking out the belly gun to allow for 6 people on board.

A possible cheaper variant could have open sides and be vulnerable to small arms? On this one all passengers could be able to fire maybe?
Another whole new vehicle...

I want an ice cream truck that blasts ice cream truck music for up to 500m. It can have decent armor (like a Sundy) and only carries me. It's only purpose in the game is for "lulz" and trolling.

• Empire specific assault buggies.
• Revert back to the 2 man driver gunner tank system with a build option to a (1/2) driver gunner with a secondary gunner system.
• Bring back the vehicle trunk in the form of say a kit such as a repair kit to fix your own vehicle (and only your own) or an ammo box to resupply or say a 1 time use loadout change until you resupply your vehicle at a vehicle resupply base or sundy.
• Better animation such as embarking and disembarking. Maybe some vehicle interior with even the view inside as you switch seats.

too bad there's no New vehicle in the Roadmap

i want the empire specific ground vehicle they spoke about in a few Command Center episodes ago

wtb NC Humvee


and oufcourse this, see ya in 2015

The dedicated gunner variants could also have gun stabilization (always, even stock) and 3x zoom optics (as upgrade, instead of 2x).\

I actually have several of the same ideas but with different limitations in mind.

Currently I'm messing around in 3DS with a new AA turret for MBT's which I'll show in a air thread I plan on making when I'm done with it. In fact half of my ideas will be in it. Mostly this turret will just give MBT drivers a skyguard option for their tank.

After that I plan to do a little hack work with the Sunderer and eventually replace the back end with a howitzer. The concept would be to introduce more team work in that the artillery can be up to a hex away but they'll need a LTI on the front lines to mark targets for them. Once the artillery is deplyed, the driver remains in his seat and he switches to map mode, giving him an overlay of what he can shoot at. However even with an LTI, artillery accuracy will still be quite inaccurate due to wind, range, and elevation. I haven't decided yet if the Artillery will have a secondary for defense or not but if it does it won't be anything more than what the Sunderer get now.

Moving on to the birds, my friend and I discussed the option of giving the ESF's bombs, effectively making them fighter bombers. The bombs would take the place of current ATA or ATG pods. The fighter can only hold 2 bombs at a time (requiring frequent returns to a pad) and the bombs will cost resource points. The trade off however will be massive AOE ground damage against infantry and armor. Bombs will vary between the factions and include variations like napalm and cluster. I think these would really help in breaking stalemate situations.

We also had the idea for the open air transport to support small squads, as opposed to pulling a massive galaxy to haul a couple of guys. My variation would just have just one pilot and the ability to seat 5. 2 people would man the 2 AI turrets on the wing and the pilot would get a ESF gun on the nose. 2 more people sitting behind the driver and opposite of the gunners would be able to shoot out of the transport with their own guns, but they are limited to main gun only. Why? Because the first thing we would see with these ships are AA lock on missile gunboats in the air, and quite frankly the last thing air need is to have no escape from ground lock on. The wing turrets would have the same rotations as the guns on the galaxy. The bird would be lightly armored, and have speed somewhere between the lib and the ESF. The purpose is to make this a transport for small squads, not a flying doom machine.

We also thought of creating a 2 man heavy fighter. The pilot (back seat) would have ATA or ATG pods like you described, and the copilot would get use of a rotating gun up front, allowing him to take the fight in any direction. This ship again would be slower than a ESF but carry just a little more armor, probably pretty close to a lib (but not quite at lib level). With the right set up, these things would be downright scary against tanks.

They could make it fragile but with decent weapons
Doesnt have to be OP or UP