MAG Could Have Even More Than 256 Concurrent Players

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
12,070
0
0
MAG Could Have Even More Than 256 Concurrent Players



The developers of MAG claim that the MMO shooter on PS3 could support more than the 256 player battles they currently have planned.

Mike Nicolino, the Software Manager at Zipper Interactive, and Nate Klee, the Chief Software Architect discussed the framework behind MAG on the Mag Blog [http://blog.mag.com/blog/2009/12/mag-developer-interview-software-leads/]. The shooter is an MMOFPS set in 2025, when national armies are banned which leads to the rise of private military companies. The technological capabilities of the PS3 allow up to 256 players to engage in battles in MAG but the infrastructure exists to allow even more players. MAG, previously known as Massive Action Game, is scheduled to be released on January 26, 2010 in North America on the PS3.

From the beginning, the scale of MAG was important. "I had to worry about the scale of the thing," said Nicolino. "I had to say 'Remember: there's going to be 256 people in this game at the same time. So, we're going to have to make sure that we can implement your idea correctly with that much going on, otherwise, we may have to make some adjustments.'"

Nicolino offered a software developer's perspective on what it is like working on the PS3. "The PS3 is a lot more flexible. It has a bunch of memory, it has a hard drive, and it's a little more PC-like from a development standpoint, so I like that," Nicolino said.

Klee added that there were some challenges to developing for that platform which ultimately paid off: "Building a new engine on new hardware is time consuming for sure, but the PS3 itself is very, very powerful and it takes a custom effort that asks you to think about things in all-new ways to best utilize it." He went on, "That's why MAG only runs on the PS3 by the way - because the system's SPUs are so powerful that they give us the technical capability to simultaneously run 256 players in the way we do."

The players are divided into into 8 man squads, with 4 squads forming a platoon and 4 platoons forming a company, which is why they settled on 256 players. But Klee said that the way MAG utilizes that hardware and networking capability would allow for even more concurrent players:

We built a technology that can support a huge number of players - we picked 256 because of gameplay balance, how we divide squads up, etc. But with our infrastructure, we can increase the number of players to beyond even 256 if we wanted to. There are trade-offs that would have to be made, of course, but the technology supports even more players if the need was there.

If only bigger meant better, then MAG would be the best console shooter ever made by humans. I reserve the right to pass judgement when it is released. You, on the other hand, can feel free to judge away.

Source: TheSixthAxis [http://blog.mag.com/blog/2009/12/mag-developer-interview-software-leads/]

Permalink
 

ChromeAlchemist

New member
Aug 21, 2008
5,865
0
0
Oh snap, here we go...

I'm very interested in this game, but at the same time judging from the beta can they really say "we could have put more, but didn't due to balance issues"? Haven't Battlefield games done that many players (serious question) though I imagine not officially?

Either way, 256 is a good enough number, and if the game is better than the beta (which it should be) then good times.
Greg Tito said:
and it's a little more PC-like from a development standpoint, so I like that,"
Is that the opposite of what other developers have said about the PS3 though? That the 360 was more PC like?
 

Cherry Cola

Your daddy, your Rock'n'Rolla
Jun 26, 2009
11,940
0
0
After this they will build colonies within MAG. And soon, everyone will be living in a cyber-world, killing each other over and over again. Oh the humanity!

Still not getting me to buy it though.
 

Jonny49

New member
Mar 31, 2009
1,250
0
0
I'm really looking forward to MAG actually, ever since they announced it at E3 years ago. I From what I've seen it looks good, I just hope it plays well.
 

Generator

New member
May 8, 2009
1,771
0
0
I think that 256 is a good number to stop at, but I'm still curios just how many more they could have implemented into a single game.
 

jimduckie

New member
Mar 4, 2009
1,218
0
0
sounds cool , but too bad it's only on ps3 , and yeah i have a ps3 but don't play on it
 

GreyWolf257

New member
Oct 1, 2009
1,379
0
0
Times like this make me wish I had a PS3. Not really incentive enough to make me go out and buy one, but the game sounds interesting.
 

OmegaXIII

New member
Jun 26, 2009
811
0
0
Greg Tito said:
The shooter is an MMOFPS set in 2025, when national armies are banned which leads to the rise of private military companies.
"War. War has changed."

OT: I'm actually quite intrigued by MAG, i'll be interested to see how well the tier system plays out
 

MrSnugglesworth

Into the Wild Green Snuggle
Jan 15, 2009
3,232
0
0
I want a PS3 just to play this.


And so I can play God of War 3.


AAAAAANNNNDDDDDD so I can play Shadow of the Colossus in HD!
 

Doug

New member
Apr 23, 2008
5,205
0
0
ChromeAlchemist said:
Oh snap, here we go...

I'm very interested in this game, but at the same time judging from the beta can they really say "we could have put more, but didn't due to balance issues"? Haven't Battlefield games done that many players (serious question) though I imagine not officially?

Either way, 256 is a good enough number, and if the game is better than the beta (which it should be) then good times.
Greg Tito said:
and it's a little more PC-like from a development standpoint, so I like that,"
Is that the opposite of what other developers have said about the PS3 though? That the 360 was more PC like?
No, at least, not that I'm aware of. 64 is the max number of players in the PC battlefield games (I have the console one as well, but I can't remember how many people there are). I think that "Armed Assault" could support 256, but to be honest, I didn't buy it so can't be sure (the demo pretty much showed it was an Operation Flashpoint clone, which whilst good, still had the crappy interface)

I'll be interested to see if this works - if they manage to make this work without huge lag problems, I might have to consider getting a PS3, heh.
 

midpipps

New member
Feb 23, 2009
328
0
0
The beta was alot of fun did not run into too many glitches compared to alot of other betas I have been in. it played nice and the framerate always seemed solid my only one complaint was the amount of time it took to get into a match at times. But that was also good time for me to edit loadouts and spend some XP.

Definitely picking this game up.
 

SamuelT

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2009
3,324
0
41
Country
Nederland
OmegaXIII said:
Greg Tito said:
The shooter is an MMOFPS set in 2025, when national armies are banned which leads to the rise of private military companies.
"War. War has changed."

OT: I'm actually quite intrigued by MAG, i'll be interested to see how well the tier system plays out
Yeah, but "War, War never changes"

OT: I'll say, 256 is quite impressive. Still, I lack a PS3, and am not inclined to buy this, only for that game.

I'll still follow development though
 

p3t3r

New member
Apr 16, 2009
1,413
0
0
it seems like it would take a long time to get into a game. or that you would not be playing at max most of the time
 

Shru1kan

New member
Dec 10, 2009
813
0
0
I find it hard to imagine that this game would be totally maxed out on a server. Good idea on paper, lets see some realistic execution.
 

MasterSqueak

New member
May 10, 2009
2,525
0
0
Fudgo said:
Just imagine if this game had P2P matchmaking.
It'd ruin everything?

I played Planetside, and there was nothing like hitching a ride on a dropship that would fly you to the action, and then JUMPING OUT and landing on top of enemy towers and bases.