SOCOM Confrontation: Various Details from Seth Luisi
Author: blykmik
Published: 7/11/07 — 7:00pm PST
The TOU Newswire was fortunate enough to get our first interview today at the PlayStation E3 Press Event. As is well documented by now, this year’s E3 was a “drastic departure” from the previous convention. Instead of a centralized convention and event, developers at E3 are now spread around a number of various locations, venues and hotels in the Los Angeles area.
Sony held their PlayStation Event at Culver City Studios, a movie studio lot and took over stages 15 and 16 to hold both a press conference and a mini floor show complete with playable demos of some of their titles.
Prior to the press conference, industry insiders and journalists mulled around enjoying the Sony provided cocktails and hors d’Oeuvres. It was during this reception that the TOU Newswire caught up with Seth Luisi (Director of Development at SCEA). After politely interrupting him, I asked if he would be willing to answer a few questions about Confrontation for the fans of the SOCOM franchise.
This wasn’t the time for press interviews and it was a bit awkward of a moment but Mr. Luisi agreed to run through some questions with me. I did ask if it would be OK to record the interviews (as I’ve done at past E3 events - 2006 Day 3, 2006 Day 2, 2005), but he said he would then he’d have to get “PR” involved. I took that as a no and grabbed some note paper and began peppering him with questions.
It should be said up front that Seth Luisi didn’t seem to want to give a lot of hard details and specifics, but he was at least willing to speak with me and share as much as he felt comfortable with. I asked if there would be a specific showing of SOCOM Confrontation anywhere at E3 (besides the video clip in the presentation) and he said, “We still haven’t decided that yet.”
SOCOM Confrontation
Over The Shoulder View - One of the first questions I asked was about the new camera angle seen in videos of Confrontation gameplay. While still a Third-Person Shooter (TPS), early footage of Confrontation revealed a more GRAW-like over the shoulder (OTS) view for the player’s perspective. While not fully committing to a definitive answer, Luisi stated that a “classic view” is a definite possibility and that the game may support a player option to choose which of the two views you prefer.
Mics, Chat and Comm. System - Seemingly excited about this question, Luisi stated that they’re looking to do some “really interesting” things with the chat communication this time around. When pressed about what exactly that means, Luisi said that it is too early to say since they are still trying different things out, but one thing he would commit to was that there would be “No global open mics”. I brought up the squad channel system used in Resistance: Fall of Man and he seemed to leave the door open for the possibility of selectively open mic channels.
New Radar Changes? - Other reactions from early Confrontation footage have focused concern on the radar. In some shots enemies are shown on the radar in red causing some gamers to worry that any hope for stealth play from SOCOM may be eliminated. Luisi stated that the details of how the radar will work are “undecided” at this point, but that in the current build of the game, enemies will only show up on the radar when they are visible to the player and the visibility radius for the radar is quite small. He spoke of much discussion amongst the development team about ways to approach this. He stated that some of the complaints about past SOCOM titles was that when there are just a few players left on a map they are often hard to find and the game can get drawn out.
Rating, Blood and Terrorists - Luisi stated that because it is an online only title it makes logical sense that the game will see the return of some of the more mature elements of past SOCOMs. “Did you see the trailer? There’s blood in there!” Though it was part of my question, he did not specifically address what the name of the hostile force will be, but all signs point to the return of terrorists but he did not directly confirm this.
Online Lobby System Structure - They are “still defining” the way the online game lobbies and server setups will work for Confrontation. According to Luisi they’re looking at improving what they’ve done in the past and are aware that the search function for the games “never worked”.
SIXAXIS Implementation - When asked about how Confrontation would use the PlayStation 3’s SIXAXIS controls, again Luisi reported that they’re “working on it”, commenting that they don’t want it to be a “gimmick” and that they are looking for the most meaningful way to implement it. I offered the obvious suggested implementation being the lean left/lean right function and he said that they’re testing a lot of different things out.
Game Modes - Apparently the development team is trying out new things here as well. When asked if there’s any chance to see a return of the classic suppression mode (from SOCOM and SOCOM II), Luisi seemed surprised that it would be wanted. This led us into a discussion about game balance and modes that tend to encourage “camping”. Luisi agreed that on the larger set of SOCOM 3 & Combined Assault map, the new suppression mode was a better compromise. I did make the point that on smaller maps the classic suppression mode seems to give players more of an adrenaline rush as it requires the full elimination of all enemies. We also discussed the need for clear defaults and tailored gameplay modes that work best in an individual map.
All New Maps (Except the one we’ve seen) - Other than the newly updated Crossroads, which Luisi described as the most popular past map, he stated that all the other maps for Confrontation will be completely new and original environments. They are aware that some of the “hard core” past SOCOM players love their old maps, but they are focused on bringing new and unique environments to the Confrontation release.
Public Beta - According to Luisi there will be a public beta for Confrontation but no date was given for when. When asked if there will be time during and after the beta process for tester’s gameplay feedback to be incorporated into the final product, Luisi stated that this time there would be. He said that because the beta can now be downloaded from the PlayStation store, they will not have the same problems as in the past of getting the beta to the testers too late for meaningful changes based on thier feedback. The turn-around time from a finished beta build to the time it can be downloaded onto the consoles of gamers is much faster than ever before. Instead of the need to create a master disc and press copies, the store offers the ability, via downloads, for them to get the beta build to gamers in “about a week.” According to Luisi this will give them more time to take feedback from the testers and incorporate it into the final game. Confrontation’s final release will available as both a download and a Blu-Ray disc at the same time. (No commitment on the release date)
“Damageable Environments” - One of the marketing points of SOCOM Confrontation has been that it will include destructible environments. I asked Mr. Luisi if this means that the physics of the entire world will allow for destruction of anything or if this means only some specific destructible areas. Luisi said a better term was “some damageable” objects and environments and that where it makes sense things would be damageable in game. He stated that allowing everything to be destroyed or damaged would cause some problems with map design and how unintended changes to the gameplay could occur by breaking through areas that would alter the balance and original design intent of the maps.
Much of the rest of the information obtained was from various parts of our conversation that lasted for about 10-15 minutes. Luisi said that “lots of work is being done on the ranking system” for Confrontation and that they are aware of the problems in the past. He stated that moderators are actually employed on SOCOM 3 & CA and they’re “supposed to be reporting” and cleaning up the ladders. He also mentioned that the ranking formula on SOCOM 3 just didn’t work.
Luisi stated that the game’s engine is completely new and not an upgrade or port of any previous SOCOM engine. When asked about gun performance, accuracy and gun spray he only commented that they’re still working on it. This brought us into much conversation about what it is that SOCOM fans want and he seems to make strong distinctions about the differences between the “hard core” player versus the rest of people that play the title. He seemed more or less aware of the desires from the “hard core” SOCOM players but appears to believe that the game should be tailored for a broader audience.
Specifically to this broader audience, when asked about the large drop off of online players with the release of SOCOM 3 and Combined Assault, Luisi says he attributes that mostly to the addition of the credit card verification. When pressed with the fact that SOCOM 3 reached close to 50,000 simultaneous players when it was initially released, he stuck by his analysis stating that most of those people were “unverified” users who never verified because they didn’t want to give out credit card information. I did make the point that, at least on the internet, gameplay changes, map sizes and weapon performance are complaints seen much more often by those that have stopped playing SOCOM.
Luisi made the point several times that the focus on online only for this title is helping to refine the development process and get thing right that have not worked as intended in the past. I asked, “So, will Confrontation have less bugs than SOCOM 3 and Combined Assault?” Luisi replied, “Hopefully.”
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38 Responses to “SOCOM Confrontation: Various Details from Seth Luisi”
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great interview man. Hopefully they’ll allow players to choose the camera angle
Please drop the radar system. It was not needed in socom 1 and 2 because the small maps. On socom 3 and CA maybe. I like the way your gun goes up is s2 when an enemy is near and you had to look for the enemy. They should take it back to that and i’m sure a lot of socom fans would be happy. And lose the OTS view. You can’t go back to the root if your going to change the way people are use to playing.
Nice interview blykmik.
Good work, we’ll see how the game turns out.
This interview answered a lot of questions that I have not seen answered anywhere else, and this interview also makes me even more excited for Confrontation.
Good stuff Freestyle!
“Hopefully” …. was that with sarcasm ? I mean, obviously he’s hopeful it will, but I sure hope that came with a smirk on his face.
As always nice work Free…although I’m not holding my breath, I’d love to see what “new” things they will have done
nice job free. nice story.
Just like I always suspected Seth is living in his own little warped world. People don’t play Socom cuase you screwed it up! Plain and simple! I have at least 30 people on my friends list and they are never on. They don’t play anymore cause the gameplay is no longer fun, just the same reason I go weeks without playing at times. Then again I guess we can’t expect him to admit that he ruined the game!
You’re a legend mate!
Good work.
Nice to see a beta that will actually matter for the final product.
Good stuff, thx.
LMAO…they have(moderators are actually employed on SOCOM 3 & CA and they’re “supposed to be reporting” and cleaning up the ladders) thats great to know I wonder why they do nothing to the shit bags who cheat online then…instead they worry about some fat sh1t ranking up…thats pathetic….FIX YOUR GAMES
Wow…. If they are planning to take away suppresion they are completely lost, they need to go back and see the little things that made socom such a success. Having said that the gameplay is a tactical shooter so there should not be huge red enemy dots on the radar so all can see. Unleashed is right your gun should just pop up the same as ever. Although Luisi is right about the rankings it was very messy and had too many ranks…. I hope that they do not change the mechanics of the game that all these people love so much or socom could become another series that overstayed its welcome
Great interview! Thanks for asking great questions! WTF does he mean, “Hopefully” Hopefully this guy doesn’t get struck by an unmanned vehicle while crossing an intersection! Hopefully he will still have a job.
Thanks for the interview! Good work pumping new info from Seth Luisi and standing your ground on important issues.
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great interview. A few things that I agree and disagree about the game. Lose the OTS view, keep suppresion and fic the ranking system. Those 3 are very important. If you dont have those 3, your losing a lot of customers I will tell you that. And what characters will we be able to put in our name? I say we add the shifts of the numbers and brackets. Such as !@#$% ALL those..
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Just how do we register to get the BETA? I am a hard core Socom player in fact I bought my beta for Socom 3 off Ebay for $100 just because I didn’t get one. I play like everyday and the only reason I have a PS3 is Blu-Ray and Socom and thats it.
I cant believe you didnt ask him the most important question, and the one thing that matters the most to all die hard SOCOM vets. I will ask it for everyone, “What are you guys going to do about the lag”
p.s. if its over the shoulder view only, Im not playing.
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Well as I expected Luisi is hell bent on changing the series despite claims of going back to its roots.In that interview he all but says screw what the fansfrom day 1 want.Forget the people who bought every socom made to make it what it is today.We are going to dumb the game down and change it to try to make it mass market.I garauntee you the so called “evolution” of this game is going to be to just steal ideas from other games and add it to Socom and make a Frankenstein creation out of bits and pieces of other shooters.First OTS from GRAW and a radar system that has Rainbow Six written all over it.I bet we get hit detection similar to RFOM where everyone takes 20 head shots to die to give it the dumbed down arcade shooter feel.
He is in complete denial about whats killed the series. His complete arrogance that the gameplay is not what killed the later titles and his stubborness to ignore us when we all shout out on message boards whats wrong is why we need to really consider boycotting this game.He’s banking on the fact that we’re all going to buy it anyways regardless of complaints cause “hey,its Socom” we need to show him the error of his ways.Maybe poor sales will get him knocked off the series so someone can take over and put it back on track.
I chose a PS 3 before Confrontation was even announced cause i was excited about what Socom would be like on a next gen system.Now I am regretting it cause it looks like its going to be Socom in name only and more like a cheap rip off of other games already on the market.This game is make or break for me.If it doesn’t change,and it won’t cause of Luisi’s stubborn attitude about ignoring us,I will go with the 360 with the better library of games and the hands down winner in multi platform titles quality,Madden 08 is the latest to show 360 has the more expensive PS 3 beat,I feel liek a sucker now,i put faith in my favorite franchise to make a PS 3 worth the purchase and now I feel duped.
I feel like Seth has given me and the rest of the old school Socomers the finger.hundreds of dollars on every PS 2 Socom right from day 1 of the first Socom’s release,multiple headsets purchased fromwearing down with use,and he’s just liek “screw the original fanbase we are going mass market arcade feel over tactical sim that made it so special”.Guess all thats left to say is does anyone want to buy a used PS 3? I’ll sell it for the price of a 360 if anyone wants it.All you self respecting fans from the beginning need top boycott this game.Seth in no uncertain terms told us to go take a long walk off a short pier,don’t make him look good with your purchases of this crap.That will just leave SCEA thinking he’s a genius who should stay on the project.
Sounds interestin’.
Cant wait till it comes out!
And if the online play sucks ass like s3 and CA.
I might just be shittin on your doorstep w/
other disappointed fans.
I bet you could still sell your PS3 and make enough to buy a 360. Join usssss….
Ha! Sorry, I finally got fed up with constantly feeling like Sony and Socom were making a chump out of me. All those promises of upgrades to the game I purchased (hard-drive and new maps, anyone?), and meanwhile, Zipper is off spending all of their energy working on selling me the “next” version of the game.
I’m not saying Xbox is perfect, but that company sure knows how to carry through on it’s promises (particularly when it comes to additional content for games you’ve purchased). Believe me, having a game company treat you like you’re part of a community rather than a resource to be exploited is worth the price of admission.
Sony and Zipper have always acted like my opinion and patronage count for nothing… So they shouldn’t be bothered by the fact that I’m handing my money to a different company from now on. Note to Sony: It’s called CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, baby! Look it up! You somehow managed to turn a Sony Fanboy into a hater.
Great interview. The release of Confrontation brings back memories of my excitement when Socom 3 was being released. That excitement soon turned to disappointment as I stopped playing 3 within the first 2-3 weeks of release and chose to return to Socom 2 (for which I was not alone). I’m thinking the release of Confrontation will be much of the same and will have to wait until another developer who actually listens to the feedback of fans and creates an entirely new game based on the things we love about the original Socom series (1 & 2). If any developer could do that they stand to make a lot of coin.
That’s my two cents…
I’m hoping Slant Six reads the feedback from the actual players and proves me wrong. Do they have a feedback / suggestion forum setup for Confrontation?
- Drop the radar
- Classic view
- Blood
- S2 throwback Lobby (I hated S3’s)
- Prevent Glitches and Coders (or at the very least make a code users tag appear in another color, just so everybody knows who’s using them).
- “Camping ain’t all bad”; sometimes the best rounds are when it’s one player trying to survive the round against an entire team. Plus it gives everyone else a chance to run get a beer.
Yo, this interview was GARBAGE! Not on part of the interviewer but the interviewee! This guy tip-toed around just about every question. Oh right the reason players dropped off of Socom 3 was because of credit card verification. Are you kidding me it was because the game was garbage. They may think the Socom faithful aren’t worth are weight in poo by trying to appeal to a larger audience. Someone needs to to tell them to stop including all this new crap and focus on what was wrong(rank, graphics, clan leaderboards, glitching, player customization). Unfortunately we don’t want more gameplay elements that may ultimately lead to more problems and disgruntled gamers. We want more of the same gameplay from Socom 1 and 2. If they don’t go back to the basics this franchise is doomed unless Zipper(the real creators of Socom)can pull a rabbit out of it’s ass. By the way what do Canadians know about war?
These poeple are FUCKING Retarted… They need to bring back the game play of S1/S2. Or people are just going to quit this game. Period.. let alone not get a ps3. *********IF YOU DONT BRING BACK THE S1/S2 game play this game if going to BLOW******** Get it thru ur fucking heads.
Man I cant wait for this game…also If there is going to be a public beta I WANT IN…please thanks
keep the supression plz
s1 weapon dmg and health, s2 control’s. small maps with 8v8 thats all i want.
look man please make this game first person view if not the game is going to blow why change it up from ps2 it all should stay how socom 3 was just fix all the glitches and keep all the clan roster and the lobies please do not have them open mics how all these new games are being made they are gay just make this socom game diffrent from all the new ps3 games
make this game the best im sick of first person view i want classic view
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