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Hyperspace Beacon: Getting started with SWTOR Galactic Starfighter
For about a month now, I have been playing the new expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic, Galactic Starfighter. Granted, I haven't logged as many hours as some of those crazy people who have extensive guides on what each component does and how it compares to other similar components, but I have spent about 20 or so hours trying out different builds and testing my skills against other players. I certainly don't consider myself the best, but if I have the right equipment, I can hold my own. I've realized that not everyone jumping into SWTOR's new expansion will know what to do when getting started. I don't think I have to go over the basics like how to hop into your first match, but there are some things a person of average intelligence should know before tackling his first dog-fight. He should also set some goals for his first upgrades. I intend to help you out with that.
Space combat sim Skyjacker to include full co-op play, mission creation suite
Digitilus re-launched its Kickstarter project for Skyjacker, a "first-person, free-roaming space combat simulator." The developer is seeking $150,000 by November 22 to fund the space-faring game. Skyjacker puts players in the role of a space pirate, completing story campaign missions and looting convoys from the game's 10 alien civilizations, upgrading their piecemeal ships along the way. The PC, Mac and Linux game features co-op play, so friends can join in on the space combat campaigns, as well as session-based competitive multiplayer modes such as team deathmatch and capture the flag. Digitilus crafted a mission creation toolset for players to use as well, offering the ability to draw up game scenarios for others to play. While Digitilus successfully raised $36,131 for its Starship Constructor app in January, the full game saw one failed crowdfunding campaign conclude in July 2012, and another cancelled in May 2012. Both of those campaigns had $200,000 goals, one of which rallied $128,238 in support, so the developer's lowered expectations this time around may prove fruitful.
Space sim MOBA GoD Factory: Wingmen aims to make you top gun
GoD Factory: Wingmen is a four-on-four space combat simulator for PC hoping to achieve funding through Kickstarter right now. A Steam Greenlight campaign is also underway. In development at Nine Dot Studios in Quebec, Canda, GoD Factory: Wingmen tasks players with assaulting and destroying the enemy team's carrier ship. It's "essentially a space-sim MOBA," studio founder Guillaume Boucher-Vidal says in the pitch video above, but what sets it apart from other MOBAs is the free space dogfighting and customization options. At the beginning of each match players build their carrier ship from a series of interchangeable parts and as each segment of the carrier ship is destroyed, unique penalties based around that segment are incurred. Oculus Rift is also in the cards, which Nine Dot says is a natural fit for stationary players in a space combat simulation scenario; however, the Kickstarter page notes this feature may not be available right at launch. Right now, the Kickstarter campaign has nine days to go. Currently, GoD: Factory Wingmen is near one-third of its goal on Kickstarter.
SWTOR begins testing Update 1.6
Hot on the heels of last week's Update 1.5 release, Star Wars: The Old Republic has begun testing its next content patch. Update 1.6: Ancient Hypergate is currently on the test servers and allows players to experience a new warzone and tougher space combat. The Ancient Hypergate PvP warzone has been in the works for months now. In it, players will compete to control two energy pylons. While the pylons can open portals to let in reinforcements, they might also do some damage to the controlling team. Also available for testing are a dozen new heroic mode space missions, six per faction. These are designed for the most skilled (and geared out) pilots in the endgame. While the missions may be tough, the bounty of Black Hole Commendations and elite gear should be incentive enough to give them a go.
Taikodom pops into open beta
Are you itching for some fast-and-furious space warfare? Missing your fix after Black Prophecy shutdown? Then you're prime to experience Taikodom: Living Universe, which has leaped into open beta. The sci-fi shooter is now being distributed through GamersFirst. Reloaded Games' CMO Rahul Sandil says he's "stoked" to include Taikodom into the company's roster and promises dozens of additional titles in the coming year. Taikodom is also offering three founder's packages. These packages range from $9 to $49 and include benefits such as in-game items, unique achievements, and lifetime VIP status. [Source: GamersFirst press release]
Taikodom: Living Universe kicks off closed beta
Taikodom: Living Universe is not a game in which you pilot a mining spaceship, nor is it a game in which you work through ornate political structures to accomplish your goals. It's a game in which you pilot a spaceship at high speeds and blow things up. It's the newest title from GamersFirst, and it's just entered its first wave of closed beta testing as of today. Players in the game will be pushed into one of two factions, the Consortium or the Renegades, as they battle for control of the 61 Cygni star system. While the thrust of the game is (obviously) space battles, the game features both PvE and PvP combat as well as a crafting system and advanced character progression options. Take a glance at the gallery below for a look at the game, and if you'd like to have a shot at taking part in a future round of testing, register at the official site. [Source: GamersFirst press release] %Gallery-161761%
Vendetta celebrating 10-year anniversary, prepping new content
Ten years is an eternity in the game industry, and MMOs that manage to hang around for a decade or more are few and far between. One such title is Vendetta Online, which originally released on April 20th, 2002 and is still going strong today. Guild Software is hosting a couple of celebration events this weekend. The company has also announced that its massive 1.9 patch is coming later this year, followed by an even more massive expansion in 2013. Vendetta is unique among MMOs for its twitch-based space combat and extensive trading, mining, and exploration gameplay. Large space battles, dynamic territory control, and player-generated content systems round out the feature set, all of which is coded and maintained by a four-man dev team. The single-universe game server is accessible from a number of different platforms that include Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. In March 2011, Vendetta became the first PC MMO to jump to mobile platforms, and it spent several weeks as the number one paid app on Android devices. Check out the game's official website for more info, and don't forget to sign up for the trial while you're there. You can also read Massively's latest game impressions in Some Assembly Required. [Source: Guild press release]
Ex-MMO devs aim to fund space combat game via Kickstarter
They were part of the force behind many MMOs you've known and loved, including Jumpgate, Auto Assault, LEGO Universe, RIFT, and League of Legends, and now they're banding together for a new cause funded by crowdsourcing. They're the developers at END Games, and they hope to raise a quarter of a million dollars to create a multiplayer space combat game. Despite the team's legacy, however, this new title will not be an MMO. Titled Squad Wars, the proposed project will blossom into a frantic starfighter game that will pit squads of players against each other in the deadly vacuum of space. Instead of focusing on a persistent world, Squad Wars will offer packaged scenarios that will "ensure the most fun every time you login." END Games is also notable in that two of its members were founders of NetDevil: Scott Brown and Ryan Seabury. As of the time of this writing, END Games has $1,430 toward its goal, which must be attained by May 19th for the project to proceed.
A WoW player's guide to The Old Republic
Whether you're a longtime World of Warcraft player or someone who's just recently tried the game and fallen in love with it, you're probably aware that there are other MMORPGs out there. Recently, the game that's been getting the most press is Star Wars: The Old Republic. And if you've sat down and tried it out as a veteran on World of Warcraft, you probably had some idea of what was going on when you started playing, with the only initial speedbump being the lack of an auto-attack feature. But there's more to the game than combat and more things that might trip you up in the long run. So Eliot Lefebvre and Matt Daniel are here to help you out with a massive guide to coming into TOR when you're accustomed to the environment of WoW. Take a skip past the break to find out almost everything you'll need to know when converting from the world of Azeroth to the galaxy of Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Leaderboard: Free-form space combat vs. on-the-rails shooter
If mankind's exploration into outer space has taught us anything at this point, it's that sooner or later we're going to need to strap big guns on our bubbles of life support and blast each other out of the cosmos. It's already a prevailing theme among MMOs, with titles like EVE Online, Star Trek Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Black Prophecy, and Battlestar Galactica Online allowing us to jump forward a few hundred years of technological growth so we can have some space shootin' fun. As of late there seems to be two camps developing regarding MMO space shooters. With the advent of SWTOR, some are warming up to the cinematic on-the-rails style of its space combat game. Tunnel shooters allow for a more scripted -- and potentially more exciting -- experience, and this type of combat has a long history in single-player games dating back to Starfox and before. Of course, the other camp just loathes rail shooters, much preferring the ability to fly anywhere one wants and engage in combat on one's own terms. The freedom of this style of space combat appeals to the inner individualist who doesn't want to conform to what everyone else is doing. In which camp have you struck your tent? Are you for free-form space combat or on-the-rails shooters? Let your vote be heard after the jump!
SOE's John Smedley expresses regrets over SWG mishaps
Star Wars Galaxies may be no more, but its legacy lives on in memories, discussion, and hindsight analysis. Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley had a frank talk with Industry Gamers in which he owns up to the mistakes of how the studio handled the title, particularly surrounding the much-maligned Combat Upgrade and New Game Enhancements. What would Smedley do if he could go back and give it another try? His first regret is launching the game before the space combat system was done, and his second is that SOE didn't talk and listen to its players more. "We would have encouraged more in-depth discussion with the community surrounding the idea of any game modifications," he said. Smedley is highly optimistic for the studio's future, particularly in its fervent belief in the free-to-play business model: "We think that 'Free to Play, Your Way' is our future. Giving players choices is the theme of how we're moving forward as a company, which means greater flexibility for our player base."
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Ensign 1
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, we take the Indie Pitch to the magical world of Kickstarter, to Brandon Smith and Only Human Studios' in-progress space-combat masterpiece, Ensign 1. What's your game called and what's it about? The game is called Ensign 1, and it's a multiplayer space-combat game where players won't be limited to piloting just one fighter during the course of a battle. They will have the freedom to dock and pick up another ship, or to join another player and man some turrets while the other pilots. Players will even have the option of commandeering large space frigates and capitol ships. What's the coolest aspect of Ensign 1? With Ensign, I really wanted to capture scenarios like being in the midst of a huge battle, and finding a derelict ship hidden behind an asteroid, and then being able to bring it back into the fight. Or perhaps being able to land on a pirate base and take control of some ground turrets while your buddies fight in the sky.
SWTOR: Starship operator's guide
Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of an actual, factual, interstellar starship! Or you soon will be, assuming that you're planning to play Star Wars: The Old Republic. Starships have captured the imaginations of Star Wars fans for over three decades now, as the Millennium Falcon, Luke's X-Wing, Boba Fett's Slave-1, and Knights of the Old Republic's Ebon Hawk have become geek cultural icons. It's not Star Wars without the stars, after all, which is why BioWare will be handing you the keys to your very own starship as part of your SWTOR journey. But what does that entail? There's a lot of confusion and misinformation swirling about starships, which is unfortunate. SWTOR's starships are part player housing, part combat vehicle, and part story platform, and that combination lacks an easy analogue in other MMOs. That's why you've got this handy holocron with all of the starship "must knows" to aid your initial voyage to the stars! Coordinates for the jump are plotted. Punch it, reader!
LucasArts hiring for FPS, aerial combat, action/adventure games
On top of last month's outed job listing for an open-world RPG, LucasArts is now hiring for a first-person shooter, an aerial combat game and an action/adventure game. GameSpot noticed the listings, which call for a level designer for a FPS title, a senior gameplay engineer for the aerial combat game and a producer for an action/adventure title. LucasArts sure seems busy these days! The aerial combat game seems like a no-brainer -- LucasArts has a stable of Star Wars aerial combat games it could pull from, so that's our guess considering the position emphasizes a familiarity with "space-based shooters." The other two require even more speculation ... and we certainly wouldn't mind seeing another Republic Commando game.
PAX East: BioWare reveals new Old Republic trailer
Fans were expecting a big showing out of Star Wars: The Old Republic at this weekend's PAX East. BioWare didn't disappoint, as the renowned RPG maker released the newest (and best) trailer for its upcoming Star Wars MMORPG opus. The two-minute short consists entirely of in-game footage and is titled Fate of the Galaxy, an appropriate moniker given that the video is crammed full of epic Star Wars moments from start to finish. Whether you're into space combat, Jedi combat, or pleasingly retro sound effects from the Lucasfilm library (we dare you not to crack a smile at the signature sound of a tauntaun or the squeal of a Jawa as he's shown the business end of a Sith lightsaber), there's something here for just about every fan. Check out all the pyrotechnics after the cut and let us know what you think in the comments.
Battlestar Galactica fires up its FTLs for an in-game trailer
In December of 2003, the SciFi Network (now Syfy) launched a hugely successful re-imagining of the '70s space-opera Battlestar Galactica. Early last year, Bigpoint announced it had procured the license to make a browser-based MMOG set in the same re-imagined universe. Today, we have the first-ever in-game trailer for Battlestar Galactica Online. The press release states that this game is "one of the most ambitious browser-games ever developed," and the trailer features the in-game footage of Cylon Raiders and Colonial Vipers facing off against the Galactica and Basestars. We also get a taste of what actual combat will feel like, with Bear McCreary's musical score as a emotional backdrop. Catch the full, exciting trailer after the break. Beta applications are being accepted on the game's website, open beta begins sometime soon in Q1, and launch will be shortly after that. When the game launches in the United States, it will be available only through Syfy.com. Stay tuned here for more information. So say we all!
Hyperspace Beacon: Beyond the scope
You only have to go as far as the official forums to see the concern over what Star Wars: The Old Republic is offering. I have a major question: Do the concerns have merit? I had an unofficial discussion with my editor, Bree Royce, about the whole idea of complaining to a large gaming company like BioWare. Although I maintain that there is far too much complaining about features that the game will never have, Bree argued that the potential players of the game should continue to complain at every opportunity. What other way can they motivate a top-tier gaming company to deliver the game they want? After some thought, I agreed, but what happens to player desires that exceed the game's scope? I would like to think that developers would re-evaluate the scope of the project if enough people complained, but in truth, that level of reconstruction is expensive. For a game that is already as expensive as SWTOR, I just don't see it happening. The few things that have been changed, like the size of the lightsaber hilts and the Wizard title, are really small things. However, things like taking space combat out of the tunnel are a bit more time-consuming, not to mention costly, and so they are less likely to be changed. But as Bree suggested to me, what other avenue do players have? What I'd like to talk about this week are a few of the top desires of the community, desires that push the scope of SWTOR. I will give the reasons I believe they are pushing the scope of the game, but I would really like to have your involvement. Why do you think these things were implemented the way they were, or why will they not be implemented? Step beyond the break to see my thoughts.
Hyperspace Beacon: Proper PAX preparation prevents poor PAX performance
Welcome once again to your guide through everything Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is soon to be released by EA-BioWare. Larry Everett presents the Hyperspace Beacon. Deborah Shin, the Marketing Manager for Star Wars: The Old Republic told TOROcast at E3 that PAX was going to be the game's biggest event of the year. When I heard that announcement about a month and a half ago, I decided that I would have to make it to this event. Prior to that I was willing to let others do the reporting while I snagged some stories at home. I want Massively to be your source of SWTOR news, so how could I not go to the biggest SWTOR bash of the year? This week's agenda is quite simple in scope, but a bit more complicated in execution. I hope to give you a very brief overview of what we know of our favorite game going into PAX, followed by a few directions I could go with information gathering. Ultimately, I want the fan's opinion. What information do you want to see come out of this fan-tastic exposition? Follow me after the jump, where I break down the possibilities.
The Old Republic clarifies advanced classes' roles, unveils first two combat ships
Whether you're a groundpounder or a space jockey, The Old Republic is gunning your way, big-time. Fans of either (or both!) aspects of the game have a little more to look forward to this week, as BioWare released additional information on the advanced classes and rolled out the first two starfighters for the public to see. In its recent Fan Friday, BioWare clarified the 16 class specializations by listing each of their top three attributes. For example, bounty hunter players have the choice between powertech or mercenary paths. Powertechs will assume more of a tank role, with flamethrowers and defense shields at the ready. Mercenaries, on the other hand, are to be the ranged DPS version of the class, dealing out the pain with dual guns and missiles. If the recently revealed space combat has you itching to jump into the cockpit, you can check out the first two starships (out of six) that will take pilots through the midst of adrenaline-pumping battles. The Fury is an Imperial interceptor (which looks like a predecessor of the TIE Interceptor), designed with speed and firepower in mind. Its counterpart, the Defender, is a standard Republic corvette that's been upgraded with turbolasers and shields for quick combat missions. Hopefully, we'll find out the remaining four fighters before too long!
BioWare teases TOR space combat video
Not to be outdone by all the hemming and hawing over the perceived merits of its space combat implementation in The Old Republic, BioWare has released a short video clip showing brief bits of the gameplay in action. Underscored by John Williams' seminal TIE Fighter Attack music track from A New Hope, the video features some stunningly rendered spacecraft as they fly and fight their way through asteroid belts and in high planetary orbits. The trailer also features the high-quality voice acting that everyone has come to expect from BioWare's Star Wars title, and you can check it out after the cut or at the official website.
