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The Old Republic's 'tunnel shooter' space combat explained
Specifics about the recently announced space combat mechanics in LucasArts and BioWare's upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, have been awfully hard to come by. Rumors have circulated claiming the game's aerial component would resemble an on-rails shooter, while others say it would give players full control over their ship's movement. The real answer, as revealed by the October edition of PC Gamer, falls somewhere in between. According to our MMO-friendly sister site Massively, the magazine explains that players will come across "tunnel shooter" instances while traveling the stars, which will send them down a fixed path while giving them the ability to maneuver around obstacles and shoot enemies. These encounters will feature missions, achievements, cosmetic upgrades to your ship, and could eventually be opened up to PvP and co-op modes in the future. That actually sounds a lot like Kingdom Hearts' Gummi Ship segments, if that means anything to you.
The Old Republic's space combat detailed in PC Gamer
Ever since we heard that Star Wars: The Old Republic was going to include space combat as one of its features, we've felt a bit like Red Squadron in A New Hope -- "standing by." It almost seemed too good to be true, especially since the rumor came out that the space portion of the game would be an on-rails shooter. It's with great glee, then, that we have received more news on TOR's space combat in the upcoming October issue of PC Gamer. The seven-page spread confirms that the space combat won't be a free-form flight simulator like X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, but instead will be a "tunnel shooter" designed to create highly cinematic battle sequences for players to experience. Space combat hotspots will be unlocked as players progress through the game, and while they'll initially be solo instances only, eventually BioWare hopes to implement PvP and team combat in the future. In a tunnel shooter, players will be able to move ships up, down, left and right, although their overall course is locked in by the scenario in question. Ship collision, rotating quest objectives, customizable ship cosmetics, achievements, various difficulty levels and incentives to repeat missions also seem to be a go for this portion of the game. While a lot of the details are still hidden from our prying eyes, we're sure that BioWare will have a lot more to say on this in the near future.
Rumor: The Old Republic space combat on rails?
Those of you looking for levels of complexity and immersion comparable to X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter or Star Wars Galaxies' Jump to Lightspeed might want to hold your horses prior to pinning your hopes on BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic. The forthcoming MMORPG is rumored to feature space combat "on rails," which basically means it could be nothing more than a mini-game or a "tunnel shooter" that severely restricts player movement in the form of pre-set paths and goals. While this is currently unofficial information, you can find a detailed write-up at the German fansite known as Online Welten. Purportedly, site contributors were privy to an upcoming article in PC Action magazine which goes into detail about some of the mechanics. Check out the original article (auf Deutsch) or the Google-translated version.
BioWare confirms space combat for Star Wars: The Old Republic
BioWare's community managers have confirmed that The Old Republic will allow players to engage in space combat, which -- well of course it will. What did you think, that BioWare would announce during E3 that players would have their own spaceships for housing purposes, and that those spaceships would stay permanently on the ground? Are we to believe that the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic is just one big trailer park, with people living out of their dormant A-Wings and TIE fighters, soft mounds of Space-Skoal tucked into their alien oral cavities? Fan site Mos Eisley Radio reported the rumor of space combat first during Comic-Con, which BioWare quickly confirmed in a forum thread. Originally, the announcement was to come when community members had reached a certain social networking outreach goal -- which they didn't. Don't worry, though: Even if BioWare had decided to withhold that info as a punishment for their failure to adequately spread the word, we could have told everyone that, yes, spaceships fly. Details are slim now, but BioWare says further info on the mechanics of space combat will surface in the October issue of PC Gamer magazine.
Space combat has been confirmed for SWTOR! [Updated]
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Space_combat_has_been_comfirmed_for_SWTOR'; While at Comic-Con, the fan site Mos Eisley Radio tweeted a rumor that there will be space combat in SWTOR. Space combat has been strongly suspected since the announcement of player ships at E3, but there was nothing to confirm our suspicions. According to the folks at Mos Eisley Radio, James Ohlen said that each ship will be customizable, and, of course, that the player will be able to use this ship in space combat. Not moments later, this rumor was completely confirmed by SWTOR's community manager, Sean Dahlberg, on the official forum. He confesses in his announcement, "While we didn't quite make the numbers [of Facebook and Twitter followers], we definitely saw how excited the community is about this and how everyone came together. After all of that, there's no way we could hold back with our special reveal at Comic-Con!" So it seems the devs did not punish the fans for not reaching the social media goal after all. He reveals that further details will be available in the October edition of PC Gamer. [Thank you, Mos Eisley Radio, for keeping your ears open!] [Editor's Note: Brooks from Mos Eisley Radio just mailed us to say that all of his information is coming from Darth Hater's liveblog, so props to Darth Hater, and thanks for letting us know, Brooks! ~Sera]
Hyperspace Beacon: Fires of Hope from E3 2010
The Hyperspace Beacon is a weekly guide and discussion by Larry Everett about the yet-to-be-released game Star Wars: The Old Republic. No matter where you were this week, if you are a Star Wars fan, you saw the new SWTOR trailer: Hope. I'm sure you also read the Daily Grind asking, "Do cinematics make you want to play?" It's an honest question. Lots of times these over-the-top trailers mask some of the things producers aren't telling you about the game you are interested in playing. In fact, it may give you greater expectations than the game has to offer. There have been quite a few comments about Star Wars Galaxies' trailers which have caused some players of the seven-year-old MMO to ask rhetorically, "I want to play that game. Where is that game?" So let me tell you up front, Star Wars: The Old Republic does not look like either of the cinematic trailers, but that does not mean it is not a great game. I believe as a fan of this game and as a reporter for this website that I would be doing you, the reader, an injustice by totally giving into the (albeit mostly fan-created) hype that surrounds this game. So this week I want to take things back a notch and hopefully give you a realistic outlook on a couple of announced aspects of the game.
Black Prophecy captures a battle royale in new E3 video
While Black Prophecy has been flying under the radar, so to speak, it continues to pique our interest with slow burn reveals such as custom ship building. The space shooter MMO has been in closed beta for a month and a half, and fortunately for all of us awaiting this action-packed title, Reakktor Media is dropping out of stealth during E3 to give the public a better look. They've released a new two-and-a-half-minute trailer for Black Prophecy that features PvP and clan combat, as well as a glimpse of the missions fighter jockeys can accept. We'll be sitting down with the Black Prophecy crew for a chat at E3 later this week, but in the meanwhile, feast your eyes... upon THIS!
See space sizzle in these five new Star Trek Online screens
First off, alliteration? Always fun. Moving on, we've got five new Star Trek Online screens for your viewing pleasure today. If you're wondering whether or not we're embellishing with our headline, well just take a look at the image above this post. That's a pretty good preview of what your eyes will be seeing in the rest of these images. If screens aren't enough to please you (and let's face it: they never are) then you should take a look at our several community Q&A features covering ships, space combat and ground combat. As usual, the five new screens can be found at the end of our gallery. Enjoy!%Gallery-28615%
Hands-on with Star Trek Online's space combat
Space battles in Star Trek Online are going to be a big selling point for many a Trek fan. I recently got some hands-on time with the closed beta and found several interesting talking points to deliver like hot fresh delicious phasered pizza. I imagine some of you are quite up to snuff on the basics of combat in Star Trek Online, so if you find your interest waning I suggest skipping ahead into the analytical aspect of this feature.%Gallery-28615%
Space combat! Star Trek Online community Q&A answers, part 2
-Drexel-: After we blow up an enemy ship do we have to still deal with the massive explosion of the warp core or is it simply aesthetic? It's a Bridge Officer skill that launches shuttles at a target. If they make it to the target, the boarding party may damage and disable the ship's crew, and systems.
Space combat! Star Trek Online community Q&A answers
It's a little late due to the impending Thanksgiving day gorging, but we've got your second wave of community answers for space combat in Star Trek Online! As this week lands us on a holiday, we'll be putting up the next post for your third wave of questions on Monday, November 30th. For now, we hope you enjoy the answers given by Al Rivera, senior game designer on Star Trek Online.
Massively's Star Trek Online community Q&A: Space combat!
The subject of this week's Star Trek Online community Q&A is probably one of the most popular considering its importance in the game. In fact, we're well aware that many questions in last week's inaugural first post were about space combat. So while we couldn't address those last week, we certainly can do so now! We'll give you until the end of Tuesday, November 17th to submit your questions in the comments section below. Following that, we'll round up a cross-section of the most popular and most poignant space combat questions and by next week your answers will be here, straight from the folks at Cryptic. As before, we're open to suggestions on next week's Q&A topic, so feel free to throw your hat into that ring while you're typing 'em up.
Massively's Star Trek Online beta interview
With beta now beginning, we shot some relevant questions at Cryptic's Craig Zinkievich, executive producer on Star Trek Online. He gave us his insight on what the team's goals are during beta and what some of their toughest challenges were from their point of view. Plus, we even got him to spill the beans on when Klingons would be entering the fray for beta testers -- hopefully the rest of us get to see and hear more about the warrior race soon thereafter. It's a short interview, mostly because we kept our questions on topic and well, also because we didn't want to distract Craig from working on his game for very long. Someone's got to work on fulfilling our childhood fantasies!
Skill and ship progression covered in new STO dev chat
The latest Star Trek Online dev chat was expectedly focused on the skill-based progression system revealed in last week's Ask Cryptic. A particularly interesting answer revealed that although it's possible to eventually earn all the space skills in the game, your ship equipment and bridge officer selection will be a determining factor. Since ground combat is focused around your skill kit, which is based off your career choice, it's restricted by class.We also learned that advancing in rank earns players the right to newer, larger ships. When hitting a new rank, Starfleet will grant one free vessel, but the acquisition of other vessels within that new type will require merit. Knowing that puts us at ease, because we're sure that once Starfleet gets a load of our captaining abilities, they'll have no choice but to give us a trillion merit on the spot.
STO space and ground combat at Gamescom
Gamespot got some hands-on time with Star Trek Online during Gamescom and came away from the experience thoroughly impressed by what Cryptic has been able to do with the license. We're glad to hear it, especially since PAX is coming up soon and we're expecting to get a little face time with the game ourselves.Basically, it looks like Star Trek Online's space combat is exactly what you'd expect, in a good way. There's rerouting of power from one system to another and the ever-important maneuvering of your ship for optimal shield and weapons usage. Plus, they seemed to be quite impressed with the graphics. Oh, space vistas we cannot wait to see you through Star Trek goggles.Mission structure and ground combat were also touched upon. It seems like away teams will only be able to carry two weapon types into battle, although we're not sure if that scales with game progression or not. Interestingly, Cryptic mentioned that special weapons would eventually become available depending on your faction and "type of character" you play. We can't wait to find out more for ourselves in just a little over a week's time.
Massively interviews Star Trek Online executive producer Craig Zinkievich
It's safe to say that everyone here at Massively is excitedly awaiting Cryptic Studio's forthcoming Star Trek Online. So our very first interview with executive producer Craig Zinkievich was both a great opportunity and an enlightening experience. Beyond the cut, you'll find answers on player-made starships, holodecks, diplomatic encounters and much more.%Gallery-28615%
Jumpgate Evolution to launch in June
Eurogamer is reporting that NetDevil's space combat MMO Jumpgate Evolution will be launching in June of this year. This according to a reveal by Codemasters on their official site. With new screens unleashed and a dev chat coming up next week, JGE is gearing up to be quite a contender in the space MMO genre.Eurogamer has also recently reported that Champions Online will be released in June, yet it's important to note that this has not been officially confirmed by Cryptic Studios. Stick with Massively for the latest on this summer's blockbuster MMO releases.
New looks into Jumpgate Evolution
The folks over at MMORPG.com seem to have smuggled a few more screenshots out of Jumpgate Evolution for everyone's perusal. Eleven new images of the game have been added to their online gallery, each one quite gorgeous and jaw dropping. The screenshots themselves are centered around the various types of ships and starbases that can be encountered in the game, as well as some locales like jumpgates and asteroid fields.We have to keep reminding ourselves that this is a very fast paced space shooter that requires both speed and precision, but how are we suppose to be precise when we're looking at how pretty everything in the game is? We just hope they make everything into a blur, otherwise it's going to be really hard for us to pull away from the scenery to shoot down some enemies.
Jumpgate Evolution combat maneuvers shown in walkthrough videos [updated]
Netdevil is a firm believer that the MMOG genre is missing the galactic action-packed and fluid experiences that compare to Freelancer and Wing Commander. What is not lacking is the marvelous economic system found in EVE Online; however, when it comes to combat in space there's a lot to be desired and growth potential. Netdevil is setting out to fill that void with Jumpgate Evolution. We get a look at its current form in this two part developer with Associate Product Manager, Tim Hodges from E3-2008 courtesy of GameTrailers.com. Unfortunately, what we loved about earlier builds that showed off the first action cockpit view is absent but not removed. Several landscapes and bases show a sense of scale and some combat aspects from the game. The videos don't reveal much detail, but for being in such an early state of development it looks okay. Jumpgate Evolution is due out sometime in spring 2009, and the alpha is underway and there's no official word on when the beta will start. However, beta signups are live on the official website. The second video is available for viewing after the cut.
TV shows that could be MMOs: Battlestar Galactica
Watching the final season of the new Battlestar Galactica the other night, and getting only a taste of the amazing, chaotic, shaky-cam ship-to-ship action left us wanting more. But even better than a full episode devoted to space combat would be an MMO based in that world. How would that work, you ask? We're glad you did! Keep in mind that this article assumes basic knowledge of the show universe and its characters. If you haven't seen it, get thee to a torrent, or a rental store immediately!First, consider some of the great two-sided rivalries in MMOs: Horde vs. Alliance; AFS vs. the Bane; Humanity vs. Hell -- Mankind vs. the Cylons fits right in. In fact, since the show itself manages to portray both sides as sympathetic, there isn't too much storyline massaging to be done; the universe of Galactica is nicely morally ambiguous. All that really matters is survival.
