Titanfall 2 Q&A Answers (IN ONE POST)

Discussion in 'Titanfall 2 News & Discussion' started by Ik0n88x, Aug 13, 2016.

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  1. Ik0n88x

    Ik0n88x Generation 7
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    So someone did a great job of compiling all the recent Twitter Q&A questions and answers by Respawn Devs on Servers and Matchmaking (links to vids below). I took the time to write them all down and condense it all into one post for you guys (for people who have trouble watching videos and would rather read). I also went back to the EA Play event and added all those Twitter Q&A questions and answers at the bottom.

    MATCHMAKING




    Q: Will it be possible for a player to change their region/data center?

    A: Yes. Just like in Titanfall 1 you'll have a selector from the main menu that you can select from the numerous data centers around the world.

    Q: How will ping be influencing what lobby you join compared to skillrating? Will it favor lower ping above skillrating?
    A: Our #1 metric in matchmaking is to get people into low ping games, that's most important.

    Q: Will there be fully customizable private match rooms that can be played for fun that don't affect ranking?
    A: Yes. Shipping with fully customizable private matches on any map or mode with your friends.

    Q: Are there dedicated servers on PS4?
    A: Of course.

    Q: Will friends be able to group before entering a match/gamemode?
    A: With the Networks feature we'll be talking about soon it will be very easy to party up with people and roll into matches so you don't have to play alone.

    Q: Will you be using a skill based ranking system to find better Pilot matchups?

    A: We will sort by skill within your data center and start making matches.

    Q: Will skill based matchmaking be implemented in public matches? If so, why?

    A: We feel strongly about skill based matchmaking being important to the experience of most players but we've heard from a passionate group that they'd like a playlist without skill sorting so I think we're gonna try to do that.

    Q: How quickly will matches start?

    A: Really fast. Even faster than Titanfall 1 because we're always putting people back into matchmaking.

    Q: Will players from lower population areas be forced onto higher populated/higher lag servers? Will there be a choice?

    A: We don't like doing this and it will try to find a match but after a few minutes it will look for other data centers for you.


    SERVERS



    Q: What tickrate will the servers be rubbing at?
    A: In Titanfall 1 the servers rubbed at 10 snapshots a second and in Titanfall 2 we doubled that so it will be at 20 snapshots a second which improves latency and accuracy of other players and we've fixed a number of other things like hitbox problems and done other things to make it more accurate and feel better.

    Q: Tickrate higher than 30hz this time?
    A: In Valve games the tickrate is really tied to the rate of getting player input to the server.. so a higher tickrate makes the player experience better. In Titanfall 1 we actually fixed that so the player input is totally disconnected from tickrate. So the tickrate is really about AI and not player experience at all.

    Q: What % of servers will be cloud and bare metal? Why move from Azure to multiple cloud services?

    A: The reason is when you're renting a bare metal service you're paying a little bit extra because you don't know when you'll need it so you're paying a premium for the time you use it. (explains more in chart example in video)

    Q: How many people per server?
    A: We're gonna have a range of modes and our design department and all of us work together to see what's fun for each mode and that's what we set the player count at. So we're gonna have modes that go from small all the way up to 8v8.

    Q: When is the beta?
    A: We will be doing a technical test to test our servers and all the new things we've done and we're finishing it up now so it shouldn't be too far away but we don't know a date yet. It will be open so please play the game, bang on the servers and make sure it's all running well.

    Q: Will dedicated servers be available at the launch of Titanfall 2 or will they be available later in the lifecycle of the game?
    A: 100% of servers are dedicated servers running in datacenters all over the world. We'll have even more datacenters this time. We will have private match but we're not gonna do player rented servers though.

    Q: You said in a video recently that you were renting servers monthly for TF2, is that to test or normal practice?
    A: We spent millions of dollars in Titanfall 1 for dedicated servers for players to make sure that they had the best experience and we're gonna be doing the same thing on Titanfall 2. It costs us a lot of money to make sure players have the best experience, lowest latency.. that's all incredibly important to us.

    Q: What steps were taken to improve hit registration in TF2 specifically? And how does it differ from TF1?

    A: It's been a collection of things (changing the way the servers work, simplifying code, destroying systems and building new ones). Along with doubling our snapshot rate we actually doubled the client input rate as well so you're gonna get more accurate input and so it's a collection of a bunch of work from different engineers and you'll see it when you play in the tech test.

    Q: Is there confidence that these servers will hold the wave of players expected to play?
    A: That's what our tech test is for. We hope so. We're prepared for the chance that it doesn't and we're gonna be going crazy trying to fix any issues we find and making sure they'll be there for launch. We're hopeful that the tech test will be a smooth experience but we'll see how it goes. Have some sympathy for us, we're gonna be working hard.

    Q: How many Titans will there be altogether?
    A: Save these questions for Todd Alderman (lead MP designer) for a future Q&A about MP that's upcoming at no particular date yet.

    Q: Will R2 use the same region setup and selection option as R1 or will it be different?
    A: Since we're using multiple clouds and bare metal we're gonna have an awful lot of datacenters in Titanfall 2 so it's gonna be a much bigger list than Titanfall 1 so it gives us some interesting challenges on the matchmaking side so get matchmaking questions ready for next week when Mike (Zilch) is gonna be taking those.

    Q: Will increased input rate require better connections than in TF1?
    A: No. We've spend a bunch of time optimizing our netcode so we can send the same amount of data and still have tons of stuff going on in the game but we're not actually gonna use a whole lot more bandwidth so it should work on the same exact connection as last time and feel much better.

    Q: So if you guys are using Microsoft Azure servers for Xbox, what are you using for PS4?

    A: We're using all of the cloud servers for all of the platforms so that means we're gonna Azure, Google and Amazon as well as bare metal for all 3 platforms.

    Q: Does a cloud server offer a better MP experience than a classic rack server?

    A: Both work really well. Bare metal tends to be a little more efficient for each CPU type because you're not running VM's on top of it so we can run a little bit more servers on a bare metal box than we can on a cloud server but both work great, both are very high performance and there is a little bit of difference bandwidth cost between the two but we figured all that out.

    GENERAL FROM EA PLAY EVENT Q&A

    Q: How many weapons will TF2 have? More than TF1? Will any weapons be returning?
    A: Titanfall 2 has a lot more new weapons and some return with a fresh coat of paint and some new love.

    Q: Will it be possible to change the control layouts?
    A: Of course! Bumper jumper is back, all your old favorites are back!

    Q: Is Titanfall 2 still on source engine?
    A: So TF1 started with source engine but we replaced the render, the audio system, a whole new scrypting system, new netcode and on Titanfall 2 we've just continued improving upon it so it's really our own thing at this point.

    Q: Does Titanfall 2 take place after the events of Titanfall 1 or before?
    A: Titanfall 2 does take place AFTER the events of Titanfall 1 but it's a whole new story with characters that will be returning with many new ones but it's a whole new story so you don't have to play the first one to be able to play and enjoy.

    Q: Will chaining wallruns together allow me to build up massive speed like in TF1?
    A: Yes it will and there are also some more tools you can use to build up speed like the grapple and the slide mechanic so there is a lot of new elements to enter into your wallrunning chains.

    Q: Will Titanfall 2 requires Windows 10?
    A: Nope. Windows 7, 8, 10.. it's all good.

    Q: Will Titanfall 2 have any clan support?
    A: Yeeeeeeessss

    Q: What is the softball?
    A: One of our new grenadier weapons, it holds 6 grenades and is a grenade launcher that's useful against Pilots and Titans.

    Q: Favorite in-game weapon?
    A: Currently the L-STAR, it's a rapid fire energy rifle, it's awesome.

    Q: Will Titanfall 2 on the PC required Origin?
    A: Yes.

    Q: In TF1 there was a getaway after the battle ended, does TF2 have the same system?

    A: Yes, evacuations are back and now you can grapple into the Evac ship!

    Q: Is the Smart Pistol in TF2?
    A: The Smart Pistol IS coming back but we do read the internet and it is different this time. Stay tuned.

    Q: Will there be Pilot/Titan customization options and if so, how deep does it run? Functional or cosmetic?
    A: Both. You can change both how your Pilot and Titan look as well as what they can do.

    Q: Bunny hopping?
    A: Contrary to some information, bunny hopping is in. Mobility has changed a little bit this game but we've added a bunch of stuff like grapples, slides, etc.

    Q: Will there be clan support or a similar feature?

    A.Yes. Networks are gonna make it easier for clans and easier for other groups to meet up, party up, play matches together and coordinate and we'll be talking more about Networks as we approach the MP technical test.

    Q: Any new game modes in Titanfall 2? Bigger, more chaotic or something?
    A: At EA Play we're letting people play a mode called Bounty Hunt. It's kind of like Attrition 2.0, it's waved based, you got a third faction called the Remnant Fleet, lots of cool stuff going on and there's a whole bunch of more stuff we'll go into later.

    Q: Will any platform have exclusive content only available for that platform?
    A: On TF2 no, all platforms get the same content no matter what platform you play on.

    Q: Will there be counters to certain equipment/ordinances?
    A: If you watch the MP reveal video you'll see something called the Pulse Blade that lets you see through walls and yes, there is a kit that makes it so you don't show up.. way to be sneaky.

    Q: Will the old Titan classes be returning?

    A: So in Titanfall 2, a little bit of time has passed and Hammond robotics has replaced the Stryder, Atlas and Ogre Titans with 6 new ones, the older ones aren't being made anymore. So the new Titans have some roots that you seen in Titanfall 1 so like Scorch's roots are definitely in the Ogre and you'll see more of the 6 new ones soon.

    Q: Will there be a season pass and are there plans for iterative single player expansions?

    A: I can confirm no season passes but beyond that, the scope of our post release content has not been revealed aside from the fact that we are not gonna charge for any maps and/or modes that we release post launch.

    Q: Will you still be able to strafe eject?
    A: Yes.

    Q: Is there gonna be 20GBs of sound like TF1?
    A: I'm assuming you're talking about the PC version which had uncompressed sound. I can tell you we have compressed the audio, it's not 20GB and the download should be much shorter.

    Q: Are the gonna be game modes returning from TF1?
    A: We're not going into all the modes today. Obviously we have some new ones like Bounty Hunter that we showed off but we will have some fan favorites returning from TF1.

    Q: Will there be any Dev streams where the community can get involved once the game has released?
    A: Yes, you're gonna see my ugly mug before the Tech Test launches and after so stay tuned.

    Q: Will there still be a MP mode with bots?

    A: Yes. There will be some modes with AI and other modes without AI.

    Q: What kind of new Titan buster weapons can we expect to see or anti-Pilot weapons?

    A: One of the coolest new anti-Titan that you can see in the MP video is the Thunderbolt, it's awesome, does a lot of damage.. kind of a spiritual successor to the Arc rifle but it's for Pilots.

    Q: Will there be more than 10 Generations or be like TF1?

    A: Our progression system has changed dramatically. Generations are different, can't really go into it but expect something different.

    Q: Will there be any new snipers that require you to lead your target like the Kraber?

    A: We have a sniper being shown off at EA Play called the Double Take. It's actually a double barreled sniper rifle and YES it takes time to travel like the Kraber and it's awesome.
     
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  2. Ninjajedaii

    Ninjajedaii Generation 4
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    Very nicely done! Thank you for that !!
     
  3. WhoIsDo

    WhoIsDo Generation 7
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    I can't like this post enough! Great work on rounding all of this up, @Ik0n88x!
     
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  4. Ik0n88x

    Ik0n88x Generation 7
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  5. KernelClamjuice

    KernelClamjuice Generation 6
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    Thanks for the contribution......well done.
     
  6. KernelClamjuice

    KernelClamjuice Generation 6
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    I hope they have an option for clans to add the clan name ..to the gamer tag,,,,,,

    Without having to create a new one,,,,,,,
     
  7. Bruvas

    Bruvas Generation 7
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    you got a third faction called the Remnant Fleet??

    ooooooooohhhhhhhh!!!!
     
  8. rainman0211

    rainman0211 Generation 7
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    @Ik0n88x. My hats off to you for that. Great post.
     
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  9. Slappy

    Slappy Generation 2

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    Thank you very much.