atmospheric-flight
Latest
Star Wars Galaxies patch features air-to-ground combat
Sony Online Entertainment continues to twist the knife update Star Wars Galaxies despite the fact that it's closing down in less than a month. The latest patch brings the annual Wookiee Life Day celebration back to the live servers. Interestingly -- or perhaps, maddeningly -- the update also adds the ability for ground-based avatars to engage starships maneuvering in planetary atmosphere (and vice versa). If you've ever wanted to mow down a column of stormtroopers with the business end of your X-Wing's laser cannons, now's your chance. It might take a few practice runs, though, as SOE's patch notes indicate that ground-based suits of armor can mitigate ship gun damage. In any event, you've got a little over three weeks to try it out, and you can read the full patch notes on the official SWG forums.
Ten things to do in Star Wars Galaxies before it's gone
When SOE announced that Star Wars Galaxies would be sunsetted by the end of the year, many players despaired. They gave up. They saw their long years (eight years!) of play turn to dust. But others looked on the impending closure as incentive to do all those things they'd been putting off, all the activities they just hadn't gotten around to. There hadn't been time. The game is too big for anyone to do it all. And that's precisely why Star Wars Galaxies is a legend among sandbox fans despite the NGE disaster. It's a living museum of great MMO ideas from the past, of player-driven economies, of open-world housing, of high-end, game-supported roleplay, of roaming in a game that lets you dictate the terms of your play. It's a rare relic you should see in the flesh, today, right now, before it's gone. You can pick up a weapon and fight in any MMO (excepting A Tale in the Desert, that is), but there are so many things you can do in Star Wars Galaxies that you can't do anywhere else with the same level of immersion. And I'm going to tell you which 10 you should do first... before it's too late.
Off the rails: Star Wars Galaxies introduces atmospheric flight
If you're still on the fence about reactivating Star Wars Galaxies in order to participate in the sunset events from now until December 15th, today's news just might push you over to the dark side... er light side. One of those! This morning, Sony Online Entertainment published Game Update 21, the highlight of which is atmospheric flight. For real. With atmospheric flight, you will be able to travel the skies above and see the worlds of Star Wars Galaxies in a new way. To launch into atmospheric flight, or to return to the ground, you can use your ship's icon in your datapad. Whether you are looking to host a peaceful event in your yacht with the Theed Waterfall as a backdrop or prove your piloting skills against another player over the desert of Tatooine, atmospheric flight will offer a unique way to experience Star Wars Galaxies. The patch notes indicate that players can launch directly into space while piloting through planetary atmosphere, and you'll need some skill to navigate as ships will take damage if crashed into the ground. GU21 also heralds the "Final Battle," which presumably is another stage in the ongoing Galactic Civil War sunset events. Remember, today is literally your last chance to reactivate and give the game a proper send-off.
Fan-run EVE contest will let winner interview CCP dev on podcast
EVE Online is a space-based MMO through and through. In the six years since the game went live, EVE's galactic setting of New Eden has expanded to encompass thousands of solar systems, both charted space and far-flung unexplored systems, as the game's subscriber numbers have slowly but steadily grown. The IP is expanding in new directions as well. Novels now add more depth to the game's lore. CCP Games plans to let players step out of their ships and interact as avatars with Walking in Stations, and the devs have stated that they'd like to bring atmospheric flight to the game at some (undetermined) point in the future. And of course they also have a ground pounder FPS set in the EVE universe in the works. It was some of these things on the horizon that got our friend CrazyKinux thinking about the possibilities that may open up for this sci-fi MMO if planetary colonization or terrestrial gameplay are introduced. In fact, he decided to make this the basis of his next EVE Online contest. It's one we think might interest some of Massively's readers, particularly as the contest winner will get to grill interview an EVE developer on the MicroWarpCast podcast.
EVE Evolved: Features we want in EVE Online
It's been a while since I've done a full-blown opinion piece but this week I figured it would make a nice change from yet more coverage of the recent Apocrypha expansion. No matter where you go in-game, everyone has their own opinion on what features EVE Online needs. For some people, being able to put mining rigs on planets would sound interesting. Others might prefer a new exploration-specialist science vessel or a module that gives resistance to energy neutralisers. There are a lot of ideas out there and some of us spend long nights chatting to friends in-game about the ones they'd like to see implemented. A few pilots have gone as far as to write up full scale proposals to present to CCP on the forum and some of those have even been implemented. This got me thinking – what features would I most like to see implemented in EVE?In this concise opinion piece, I take a look at the top four features I'd like to see make it into EVE Online. What's your top four?
