Uncharted 2

[videoholic]

I\'ve played the multiplayer online quite a bit, but I\'m not good at that so I usually lose my ass.

[Viper_Fujax]

I\'ve played the multiplayer online quite a bit, but I\'m not good at that so I usually lose my ass.

whered you get the beta from?

Do you die by grenades too much? or mostly guns? *prays guns*

[videoholic]

Grenades grenades grenades.

Closed beta code came in INFAMOUS

[BizioEE]

Best Graphics Technology
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Release date: Fall 2009
 
The first game still looks great to this day, but Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a show-stopper. The new procedural animation system is simply incredible (characters\' hands fluidly move from ledge to ledge, for instance) and it plays naturally into the massive environments that shift and crumble as you take down the pirates. And let\'s not forget the lush foliage, massive environments and incredible attention to detail. Amazing.

http://games.ign.com/articles/987/987759p2.html

[BizioEE]

Great Trailers :

http://www.gametrailers.com/game/uncharted-2-among-thieves/10562

[BizioEE]

[size=+1]Meet the Women of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves[/size]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/06/17/meet-the-women-of-uncharted-2-among-thieves/

Cool

Co-op in the beta is fantatic.. Looking forward to playing that mode online (too bad it isnt also offline! )

The other MP modes are okay, but nothing I will spend time on.

I recorded a few videos, check my profile on Youtube for all of them (4 co-op videos and 2 multiplayer)

http://www.youtube.com/user/latmask00

[BizioEE]

Very nice, waiting for more

Where have you been ?  Testing Sony Games ? eh eh

Thanks! :P

I\'ve been AWOL, sorry about that. I\'ve been lost on the Gaming Age forums, but this place still feels like home.

[BizioEE]

you are back and that\'s great

[BizioEE]

[size=+1]Live chat on the blog[/size]

2:01
Chris Morell, PlayStation.Blog: Hi everyone, and welcome to today\'s Uncharted 2 live chat on the PlayStation.Blog! We\'re incredibly excited to have Evan Wells and Amy Hennig here from Naughty Dog. Welcome, Evan and Amy!

2:01
AmyH: Hello, everyone!

2:01
[Comment From EmjayX]
hi naughty dog!

2:01
[Comment From Conor]
Hello Naughty Dog !

2:01
Evan Wells: Hey guys!

2:01
Chris Morell, PlayStation.Blog: Evan is Co-President and Amy is Creative Director, and I\'ll shut up now so we can get to the good stuff. Let\'s get this started!
2:02

[Comment From thenatureboy56]
So how long is Uncharted 2 going to be length wise?

2:03
[Comment From Liamario]
How did the Beta goin you opinion?

2:04
Evan Wells: The single player campaign is definitely going to be longer than Uncharted: Drake\'s Fortune. We have over 90 minutes of cinematics alone! And of course we have the competitve and co-op multiplayer modes too!

2:04
[Comment From Alex P.]
What have been your inspirations for the story and the action behind Uncharted 2?

2:07
Evan Wells: The Beta was a huge success. Thanks to everybody who took part. We got a lot of great feedback on the forums that\'s going to make the final game play much better. We\'ve already implemented a ton of the features that were requested and we have a lot of new game modes, maps, and boosters that we\'re looking forward to showing off soon.

2:07
[Comment From Havoc_Maker]
Will Uncharted 2 have multiplayer trophies?

2:08
AmyH: For both Uncharted: Drake\'s Fortune and Uncharted 2, we drew our inspiration from the long-established traditions of the action-adventure genre in books, comics, movies, etc. We always wanted Uncharted to capture the feel of a really great action-adventure movie, but with the player in control -- to really immerse the player in the world and the characters.
Our specific inspirations have been too many to list here -- but we definitely deconstructed all the stories and films that we loved, to break down all the themes, moments, events, set-pieces, etc. that people have come to love in the best action-adventure movies, but to put all those ideas in an interactive context.
That was long-winded. Sorry.

2:08
[Comment From xaos]
Evan and Amy, thanks for taking the time; was there any concern when deciding to add multiplayer that the new focus might hinder the single player experience? Any pitfalls to balancing the two?

2:10
Evan Wells: We\'re still finalizing our final list of Trophies and it looks like we might include a couple of MP trophies, but we don\'t want to have any that require any amount of grinding to rack up a ton of kills or wins.

2:11
[Comment From Jack]
What area of the game are you most proud of?

2:11
AmyH: Actually, developing the multiplayer experience has enabled us to improve and enhance the single player experience, because it\'s allowed us to really tune all the play mechanics and get a lot of great feedback along the way.
We made sure when we set out to create the multiplayer component of the game, that it wouldn\'t impact the single player experience negatively in any way. We expanded the team to accommodate the additional development, and assigned people to focus exclusively on multiplayer or single-player. That way both experiences are equally well-developed.

2:12
[Comment From Guest]
Is there an official planned release date yet or still just sometime in the fall?

2:12
[Comment From Guest]
Will there be split-screen?

2:13
Evan Wells: We still haven\'t announced our release date. So for now it\'s still "Fall", but I assure you that an official date will be announced very soon.

2:13
AmyH: For me, it\'s the overall cinematic presentation and the quality of storytelling we\'ve been able to achieve. It\'s really a tribute to everyone\'s efforts, because all elements of the game have to come together to create a really seamless cinematic experience. We\'re always striving to push the envelope and break new ground in cinematic storytelling, so it\'s been really gratifying to see how excited people are about this aspect of the game.

2:14
[Comment From Russell C.]
How is the hand-to-hand combat in this game? Is it much like the first, or has it been revamped to be more intricate?

2:15
[Comment From Nate]
We saw in Uncharted 1 the drama between Nate and Elena. How important, would you say, is the drama between the characters this time around?

2:15
Evan Wells: We are only supporting online multiplayer. We didn\'t want to comprimise the visuals going from single player to multiplayer and to include a split screen option at this time would have meant making that sacrifice.

2:16
[Comment From manuvlad]
Waht do you guys think about the uncharted movie?

2:18
AmyH: Uncharted is, at its heart, a character-driven story. I think that\'s why the game has such a broad demographic appeal -- we find people of all ages and genders are fans of the game, and I think it\'s because we\'ve got characters (and a story) that are compelling.
So the drama, emotions and conflicts between the characters are critical to our story. Of course there are external plot events that push the story forward, but it\'s really the relationships between the characters the propel the story along. In this regard, I think Uncharted 2 is even more dramatic than the last game.

2:18
Evan Wells: Our entire combat and enemy system has been revamped for this game which includes our hand to hand melee. We now have classes of enemies that will change the way in which you have to approach them. The lightest classes of enemy will allow you to perform hand to hand combat much the same way it was in U:DF, but the medium classes enemies will counter your attacks requiring you to dodge before you can finish them off. Then the heaviest class of enemies won\'t let you melee them at all!

2:18
[Comment From mitchell1705]
Is there going to be a open beta or demo before the full release?

2:20
AmyH: We\'re really excited about the development of Uncharted: Drake\'s Fortune as a movie -- we\'ve been working with Arad Productions for the last year-and-a-half or so, and couldn\'t be happier about their enthusiasm for the project. We\'re looking forward to sharing more info with you all as soon as we can.

2:20
[Comment From Guest]
Can you elaborate a little bit on the stealth mechanics in Uncharted 2? Is it possible to play through the whole game stealthily? And for instance, are there weapons equipped with silencers?

2:22
Evan Wells: Yes, we\'re going to have another multiplayer demo before the game hits shelves. The exact timing isn\'t finalized yet, but it should be available to an even wider group this time, so if you missed the last one I don\'t think you\'ll have any problem getting in this one.

2:23
[Comment From Bryan]
How many multilayer modes? What are they?

2:24
[Comment From Nate Fox]
What are some things you have learned from creating Uncharted 1 that you may incorporate/change with Uncharted 2?

2:28
AmyH: Uncharted 1 gave us a great foundation for building Uncharted 2 -- having that foundation (both technically and in terms of experience) has allowed us to optimize all aspects of our code, as well as giving us more insight into how to create a really well-tuned, polished cinematic gameplay experience.
Like I said above, it\'s critical that all aspects of the game come together to create that seamless experience -- allowing the player to stay immersed in the game.

2:28
Evan Wells: We haven\'t announced all of the multiplayer modes yet, but I can tell you that you have several more competitive modes than we tested in the beta and at least 2 more cooperative modes (that are actually some of my favorite). We also have variations on all the competitivemodes that focus on specific kinds of weapons. And of course our Cinema mode allows you to play back any of your matches and view it from ANY angle. You\'ll also be able to upload those recordings so others can download them and view them on their PS3\'s. You\'ll also be able to upload screenshots from that mode as well.

2:29
[Comment From Modfather]
I am loving the beta, feels good online, so far so good

2:29
[Comment From bg93]
Who writes the story for Uncharted?

2:30
[Comment From Marius]
First I wanna say I loved the Beta but I didnt play the first one. So my question is how friendly is Uncharted 2 for new players, story wise?

2:31

[BizioEE]

Evan Wells: Thanks! We\'ve received overwhelmingly positive responses to the Beta and as I\'ve said before the data that we gathered has helped us make it even better. For instance we now have a skill rating that we use to match players against one another to ensure that the matches are close.

2:32
Chris Morell, PlayStation.Blog: If you\'ve just joined us, we\'re chatting Uncharted 2 with Amy and Evan from Naughty Dog. We\'re about halfway through, so keep the great questions coming (remember, you can see the entire history of the chat by scrolling up).

2:32
[Comment From rukusa]
awesome Evan

2:33
AmyH: It\'s a collaborative process -- I\'m basically like the head writer, but there are several of us internally that work on the story, scenes and dialogue together. Plus we work with our mocap/voice director and actors continually over the course of the project (which is really unusual in our industry), and we do table reads, rehearse and revise the material together. This collaboration really helps the quality of the writing, and helps us get a realism and emotional authenticity that I think a lot of games lack.

2:33
Evan Wells: We were very conscious to make sure that Uncharted 2 was a stand alone experience. There is no expectation that you played the first game to enjoy the second. There are a couple of returning characters that fans of the first will enjoy seeing, but both the gameplay and story will be easy to follow for first time Uncharted players.

2:33
[Comment From Joey]
Will there be more or less puzzles this time around? You guys rock!!

2:34
[Comment From Sponge-worthy]
More puzzles!!!

2:34
[Comment From Guest]
How\'s the platforming / puzzle solving / combat (action) mix in Uncharted 2?

2:37
AmyH: I\'d say there\'s a similar amount of puzzles in Uncharted 2 as in Uncharted 1, but overall there\'s also more problem-solving in the levels -- meaning: figuring out how to navigate the environments, and what\'s the best approach to different combat set-ups. Also, we still have a journal in this game (this time it\'s Nate\'s journal, not Francis Drake\'s diary) to assist in puzzle-solving -- but this time the player will have to thumb through the pages themselves to suss out the solutions to the problems.

2:37
[Comment From Pound_lb003]
What crazy technical terms can you throw at us, that the ND Engine 2.0 boasts?

2:38
[Comment From wsowen02]
How varied are the environments this time?

2:40
[Comment From Luke]
You told us the snow is going to be the best snow we ever saw. We got some footage of that snow in trailers, but can you tell us more, of how this snow is going to work? By the way, you\'re an awesome company Naughty Dog.

2:40
Evan Wells: Screen Space Ambient Occlusion, deferred rendering, cloud computing, paralax mapping, high dynamic range tonemapping, per object motion blur, cascade shadows, sub surface scattering simulation...

2:40
AmyH: Nate does a little more globe-trotting in this game than in Uncharted 1, so there\'s a wider variety of environments. Everything from urban areas, ancient temples, jungle swamps to snowy and icy locales. Nate\'s journey takes him from Turkey to Borneo, up to Nepal and into Tibet and the Himalayas.

2:42
[Comment From Pound_lb003]
Beautiful! Thanks!

2:44
[Comment From Person youll never know]
Will Sully and Elena make a return?

2:45
Evan Wells: We\'re using a variety of rendering techniques (several mentioned in my last answer Cool) to give our snow and ice a realistic look. Drake and the enemies will leave footprints in the snow with 3D clumps that build up around their feet, and it even has gameplay implications when the weather really whips up and visibility becomes an issue.

2:46
AmyH: Yep, both Sullivan and Elena return in this game. If you saw our recent trailer, you\'ll know that we finally let the cat out of the bag on that one. It\'s great to know that people like these characters so much that they want to see them return - I know it means a lot to the actors, too, since they\'re very invested in their characters by now.  Sorry to keep the secret for so long -- the very first scene we mocapped 11 months ago was with Nate and Elena, so it\'s been hard to keep quiet about this for so long...

2:46
[Comment From bg93]
Are we getting alot of epic moments like the helicopter battle?

2:50
[Comment From Sidney Shuman]
This is awfully specific, but: Will that sweet .45 Defender handgun ever make it to competitive MP?

2:50
Evan Wells: Absolutely! We want to create that feel of a summer blockbuster so through out the game you\'re going to be hit with these set-piece moments that push Drake right to the limit of his abilities. You may have caught glimpses of a few of those other moments in our E3 trailer, like being attacked by a tank, and running a long a train as it\'s barreling up the side of a mountain.

2:51
[Comment From GameProid]
The MP beta is tremendous, but I can\'t help but feel it\'d be more fun if the high-powered guns were placed high in the level to encourage more jumping and climbing. Is this something you guys are considering?

2:52
Chris Morell, PlayStation.Blog: We\'ve only got a few minutes left with Amy and Evan (time flies!), so get those last questions in!

2:53
Evan Wells: The .45 Defender is currently only available in our cooperative multiplayer modes. In competitve we found that the more powerful pistols were necessary to stay competitve against the rifles...

2:54
[Comment From sinny]
Are you going to use the motion capabilities of the sixaxis in this game?

2:57
AmyH: Re: the sixaxis, we\'ve refined our grenade-throwing mechanics in Uncharted 2, so that now we have a dedicated button for grenades. The sixaxis controls are optional, but they really enhance the grenade mechanics now that we\'ve got a dedicated button for it.

2:57
Evan Wells: It\'s been a high priority for us with our multiplayer to encourage jumping and climbing. Some of the maps that weren\'t included in the beta offer even more verticality and multilevel gameplay. Sometimes the best weapons aren\'t placed in the highest postions, but the best strategy is to acquire the weapon and then move to a higher vantage point.

2:57
[Comment From UNCHARTED FAN]
Hi Amy, Congratulations to you and all of your team on another fantastic story! Can you delve into how Nate seems to be darker this time around. What\'s happening with his character is very intriguing!

3:01
AmyH: Thanks, Uncharted Fan Smile I wouldn\'t say Nate is necessarily "darker" this time -- we\'re just getting more of a window into his character than we did in the last game. In U:DF, we sort of hinted that he and Sully are slightly shady characters, but pretty quickly Nate was called upon to play the role of the hero, once he and Elena were on the island. In this game, we wanted to explore more of that side of Nate -- who is he in his regular life, what sort of people does he associate with? As a modern-day fortune hunter, he\'s essentially a criminal, but he\'s got an ethical core that many of the characters around him don\'t have.

3:02
[Comment From GREGMILLERSUCKS]
based on the mp beta, uncharted 2 is already looking like the best game on ps3... are you sharing your tech with other ps3 devs?

3:07
Evan Wells: We\'re very fortunate to have a great group of first party developers within Sony that we\'re able to collaborate with. We\'re frequently exchanging technical ideas and even share some code from time to time. We\'ve even posted the entire source code of Uncharted: Drake\'s Fortune to Sony\'s internal severers so that any first party developer can look through it, or borrow from it... and we plan on doing the same thing when Uncharted 2 ships. We also have a group of programmers here at Naughty Dog called the ICE team. They\'ve been busy writing highly optimized code for the PS3 for the last 5+ years, and that code has been shared externally with the PS3 dev community in the form of the EDGE libraries. So, in short, yes we share our tech Cool.

3:08
Chris Morell, PlayStation.Blog: And that\'s all the time we have with Naughty Dog. Thanks so much to Amy and Evan, and thanks to everyone who participated!! See you next time!

3:08
AmyH: Thanks, everyone! Smile

3:08
[Comment From Conor]
BYE !

3:08
[Comment From acid_reflexx]
thank you!

3:08
Evan Wells: Thanks guys!!!

3:08
[Comment From Rodrigo M.]
Thanks a lot!!!

3:08
[Comment From james]
excellet...thankyou  

Nice reading.

Wait is killing me, release soon please!

I want to play around in the snow, sounds fantastic! Not enough snow in todays games. :thumb:

[BizioEE]

get ready for the snow fasty
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-dont-uncharted-2/52546

[size=+1]INSANE![/SIZE]

I just saw it. Pretty much the most amazing game shown to date.

I bow before thee, Naughty Dog! :shy:

I think Resistance 1 just got topped in terms of best snow effects, check out the falling snow in the multiplayer footage. Looks really-really good, hopefully they\'ll have tons of that in one of the singleplayer missions.