Update #1, AKA STUFF

http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/game-update-1.64525/
Patch notes came out, weapon balancing and new stuff, including the new HA rocket launcher!

Notable changes at a glance:
Tech plants have all been changed so that the generator (Now generators) is no longer inside the main section. No more farming or holding off assaults on a tech plant.

Liberators have the tail gun position move, so they have a bigger angle to defend from. Additionally, turrets have been changed.

 

OMG Horns. Now we will be able to hear the noobs coming from miles away!

 

Does anyone notice any difference in infantry rendering? It was supposedly being worked on, but I don't see it in the notes.

 

Infantry rendering still is pretty terrible. Makes it worse for scythes against flak.
On a side note, the description for flak armour is better now, though flak still hurts pretty hard.

 

I asked this on TS the other night and the answer I got was this was NOT the graphics optimization patch that will fix infantry rendering distance.

 

The infantry rendering distance and graphics optimizations are two separate things. This update was supposed to contain the infantry update while the graphics update comes a bit later (January if I remember correctly). Oddly, rendering is not even mentioned in the patch notes. I haven't noticed any changes in the rendering, but I was looking for it.

People seem to think it was to "fix" air rendering ground, but there's no reason to think that. It could be (and in my opinion is more likely) that its an increase in the minimum render distance (maybe 10-30m) to make infantry vs infantry less retarded in high density areas.

 

If noobs want to pay $6.50 just to announce their presence from across the continent, that is.

Yeah. Pay to be able to use a horn. Not Sony's brightest moment, but at least if noobs are in the convoy they won't be able to honk the whole ride there.

 

Personally, I think it should be both, from an infantry perspective, and from an air perspective.
Since you can't do damage to things you can't see, minimum render distance for infantry makes sense.
For air units, even though you can potentially see enemy infantry if you look closely or have zoom on your weapon, you have no way of retaliating against a MAX or HA rocket launcher without getting close. Wouldn't be so bad if aerial splash weapons did damage to units who aren't rendered/max tracer fire is always rendered, but we live and deal with it. Most aggravating in both realms is firing off a shot and said infantry disappears before impact.

 

I can't tell you how many times I've put 5-6 rounds in someone only to have them disappear before I get the kill then seconds later an assist pops up. The double XP weekend was a blast but on Saturday night when we were playing farm the invaders, it was just so frustrating to not see a single enemy until it was too late.

 

I think A2G having a limited render distance is a much needed balance aspect at the moment. If they wanted to fix it, they would just make burster max only hit out to 300m or so.