Well, it looks like the german PC Action magazine is out with the feature on The Old Republic. Apparently they were given the same information as PC Gamer will have later this month.
SWTOR-Onlinewelten.com summarized the article, and it's in Gernan of course... but running it through Goggle translator provides at least a framework for the details.
The main thing that stuck out to me, is the space combat. If this is translated correctly, and is true, I'm disappointed to say the least that the space combat is on rails. And that it doesn't (yet?) let you fight other players...
Now, we should all wait until we get a good translation, or the PC Gamer article (or info from BioWare) before jumping to conclusions. Even if the article is right, there could be a lot of details we don't know.
As an example, the advanced classes for the Jedi Knight are listed as Guardian and Guardian Translation is poor. But I guess we know at least one of them will be Guardian for sure. Later it looks like the word Ambassador is used.
"Battle space and spaceships
* The space combat is similar at first glance appeared the 1993 Rebel Assault. You fly a predefined path and shoot at opponents. This way of playing is called tunnel-shooter.
* They preferred this variant instead of a free game style because they deemed a tunnel shooter to be more accessible and for easier implementation of 'events'
* From the bridge of the spaceship you can get to special hotspots to start such space missions. These hot spots are probably activated by levelling of the character.
* Various weapons are available.
* You get quests before you start and can get sidequests during missions.
* Spaceship combat is not the core of the game, but a quick 'snack' in between. Players who have no interest, must not play it either.
* Combined Ground / Space-quest series will not be excluded completely and may well be available in the future.
* A complexity as in X-Wing or TIE Fighter is not available, the space combat is more for casual players. You fire a few minutes by movielike staged space battles.
* The missions do not last particularly long, there will be no missions lasting 15, 20 or 30 minutes.
* There will be many different missions and each environment is different from the others. There will be, for example, a typical asteroid fields.
* If you start a new mission, you start in a different environment with other mission objectives.
* Scenarios, similar to a chase through the trench of the Death Star, should not be missing. There will be no uneventful space flights.
* Escort missions are planned, where you have to accompany a ship and protect them from enemy bombers. Perhaps they also have space stations, you have to destroy or defend.
* In the demo, the task was to shoot down 20 fighters and destroy the capital ship.
* PvP combat in space seems to be not to be in yet, you meet only computer-controlled opponents. There is no Space PvP planned before publishment, but that might still change.
* There will be six different types of spacecraft, which depend on the character class. Jedi classes will have the Vanguard-class, while Sith classes will have the Fury class.
Cleaned it up a bit and I am surprised how well Google tranlator works.
Originally posted by Remains If this is true ( I guess time will tell), then it is a really strange decision Bioware made... It would have been far better to just leave it to an expansion 6 months down the road and do it better, rather than to make a strange, tacked-on mini-game on rails that not even the space-fans will be satisfied with. If they had been honest about making it an expansion later, the fans would have probably been ok with it (probably moaned a bit about it though). And no, this is not likely to get "expanded upon" to later make it an amazing, free-flying space experience. They would probably have to put a crapload of work to turn this from a on-rails thing to a free-flying thing. If it gets expanded, it'll probably be... more railroad minigames, go figure. The discussion on the main site is pretty wild about this, so it has ruffled some feathers it seems.
how is it a strange decision? has any bioware game had extensive space content? ME? KOTOR? nope, that's not their style.
they are adding their brand of story telling and they added this "railed space combat" to give the world more immersion (i am guessing), its better than just doing what the classic KKTOR game did, that is for sure.
i don't think they will add a more extensive space combat in any expansion and nor will they need to.
they don't need to please the hardcore eve or SWG fans, they just need to please their fans. and last i checked, a lot of people have enjoyed the ME and KOTOR games without extensive space combat.
their decision makes perfect sense to me, spend more time and money doing what you do best and less caring about what the fans of other games want.
the JTL expansion for SWG did perfect space combat (IMHO) the fact that TOR (the biggest budget MMO EVER can't pull off anything similar shames me as a games and should shame Bioware.
sure space in SWG was nothing but rocks space stations and other players (and NPCs when you had a quest) but it was real and it really felt like Star Wars.
as much as i loved playing the older Lucas Arts games...they didn't "feel" Star Wars. yeah i know i could get flamed for this ranting and i know TOR will not be an SWG at all. But space combat...something that IS Star Wars.
I would almost rather have NO space Combat then to have a option to do space combat and never want to.
Originally posted by needalife214the JTL expansion for SWG did perfect space combat (IMHO) the fact that TOR (the biggest budget MMO EVER can't pull off anything similar shames me as a games and should shame Bioware. sure space in SWG was nothing but rocks space stations and other players (and NPCs when you had a quest) but it was real and it really felt like Star Wars. as much as i loved playing the older Lucas Arts games...they didn't "feel" Star Wars. yeah i know i could get flamed for this ranting and i know TOR will not be an SWG at all. But space combat...something that IS Star Wars. I would almost rather have NO space Combat then to have a option to do space combat and never want to.
how was the original KOTOR game successful without space combat? i understand you want it in the game sinse it gives it more immersion and reminds you of other games you have played.
but this is a bioware game, this is not surprising in the least bit. look at it this way, instead of getting space combat you get extensive story that is consistent with the bioware brand.
if that doesn't appeal to you, well then you might as well look elsewhere. fans of bioware and the KOTOR games probably will not have an issue with this for the most part.
Third, the fatal flaw in your argument is the assumption that if they deallocated resources from the sound design then they could effectively reallocate them to other areas and achieve more robust development in those areas with the additional man-power. This almost never works. Adding people to a project in mid-development is like turning up the heat on your oven while your cookies are baking: it doesn't result in perfect cookies sooner; it results in burnt cookies.
Let's remind ourselves that we are talking computer code, not cookies. Code to get something done is a 1 or a 0.
However, if you have more people baking cookies, you get more cookies done in the same amount of time.
If you add more developers midpoint, then you accomplish more 1's and 0's. If you have a certain goal, you will accomplish it faster. This is a basic theory in production. If you're going to have an anology, at least apply it correctly.
Jedi-Ritter sind versierte Nahkämpfer, die mit ein oder zwei Lichtschwertern in den Kampf stürmen.
Es wird von den beiden Spezialisierungen des Jedi-Ritters gesprochen: die Hüter und die Wächter.
Der Hüter ist besonders gut darin, Schüsse abzuwehren und Schaden einzustecken und scheint als Tank zu dienen.
Der Wächter ist die Schadens-Variante. Es wird davon gesprochen, dass er mit zwei Lichtschwertern oder dem Doppelklingenschwert auf seine Feinde losgelassen wird.
Jedi-Ritter bekommen einen Astromech als Begleiter, der auf den Namen T7 hört. T7 ist R2-D2 zwar nachempfunden, allerdings deutlich kampfkräftiger und mit Raketen und Blaster ausgestattet.
Als Spezialisierungen des Soldaten sind „Waffenplattform“ (dicke Knarren) und „Super Soldat“ (Sturmgewehr, schnelle flexible Waffen) genannt worden.
Der Jedi-Botschafter kann sich entweder auf „Kontrolle“ oder auf „Unterstützung“ spezialisieren.
Über Spezialisierungen des Kopfgeldjägers ist noch nichts bekannt. Es wird allerdings von einer stark mobilen Version mit Jetpack oder einem stark bewaffneten Kopfgeldjäger ausgegangen.
Auch zu den imperialen Agenten gibt es noch keine weiteren Infos. Vorstellbar wären eine Fernkampf- und eine Nahkampf-Variante mit Vibroschwertern.
Bei Sith-Inquistoren wird von einer schlagkräftigen Spezialisierung ausgegangen, die Fernkampfschaden verursacht. Die zweite könnte die Gruppe mit Verstärkungszaubern stärken und Feinde durch Flüche schwächen. Als Begleiter wurde ein Dashade zu sehen.
Translation:
Jedi-Knights are versatile melee-fighters, which storm into battle using one or two Light-Sabers.
They talk about two Jedi-Knight Class Specializations: the Warden and The Guardian.
The Warden is especially good at deflecting shots and absorbing damage.He seems to take the place of a tank.
The Guardian is the Damage Dealing Variant.They talk about unleashing him wielding two lightsabers or a dualblade upon his foes
Jedi Knights get an astromech as an companion which answers to the name T7. T7 is like R2-D2, but much more competitive, eqipped with blasters and rockets.
The Class Specialisations of the trooper are „Weaponplatform“ (big guns) und „Supersoldier“ (Assault Rifle, quick versatile Weaponry).
The Jedi-Ambassadors Class Specializations are "Control" or "Support".
Specialisations of the Bountyhunter are still unknown. People think its gonna be a very mobile version with jetpack and a heavily armed one.
No Information about imperial agents.Imaginable would be a Ranged version and a vibrosword wielding melee version.
On Sith Inquisitors we assume one powerful DD ranged version. The second Specialisation could be a buffer/debuffer. We Could see one of his companions "Dashade"
This is just the transaltion of the character part, i marked red the lines, which in this article are stated as FACT
This is what you get when you make vague statements without any explanation. The misconceptions are Bioware's own dam fault, they just don't seem to learn. I hope they enjoy reaping the whirlwind.
This is what you get when you make vague statements without any explanation. The misconceptions are Bioware's own dam fault, they just don't seem to learn. I hope they enjoy reaping the whirlwind.
A handful of whiners on a site known for people who will never be happy is a "whirlwind?" I hardly think they'll even bother.
This is what you get when you make vague statements without any explanation. The misconceptions are Bioware's own dam fault, they just don't seem to learn. I hope they enjoy reaping the whirlwind.
A handful of whiners on a site known for people who will never be happy is a "whirlwind?" I hardly think they'll even bother.
Check out swtor official forums bro........ a good 100 pages of pure whining.
The official forum for this game is like crackpot central. 1/4 (or more) Ex SWG vets, angry at BioWare's choice to not recreate a game that was straight up average Pre-CU, and then a train wreck CU+, 1/4 fanbois, and then 1/2 "lobbyist" who think if they cry long and loud enough about their ideas/dealbreakers/threats that BioWare will change the game to suit them.
I go there to check out the news, but the forums are like watching my grandfather talk about kids in his day.
So with all the insane amounts of money and resources devoted to SWTOR, BioWare can't top the space game effort of SWG, a 7 year old MMORPG? To make it worse, from what is known so far... A rail shooter? LOL! Just LOL!!!
I'll wait for the US PC Gamer to confirm the tragedy, but BioWare sure is setting things for the Lowest Common Denominator from what I've gathered so far.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
The official forum for this game is like crackpot central. 1/4 (or more) Ex SWG vets, angry at BioWare's choice to not recreate a game that was straight up average Pre-CU, and then a train wreck CU+, 1/4 fanbois, and then 1/2 "lobbyist" who think if they cry long and loud enough about their ideas/dealbreakers/threats that BioWare will change the game to suit them.
I go there to check out the news, but the forums are like watching my grandfather talk about kids in his day.
Your point is? It contains most of swtor's fans that can actually be bothered to discuss the game. If the game's offical forums is that bad then that implies the in-game community could possible be that bad also which means your essentially downgrading the game...
Either way you look at it it's a large amount of loyal swtor fans, Bioware should at least want the majority to be happy.
Well it was said that space combat was a side game that had nothing to do with the man game. This is exactly what was said. It could be a fun arcade style side game to do if you are board or waiting for friends. Never expected much more for TOR. I have no problem with this. I was never looking to be a pilot anyway. Just want to play the BW story in the main game. It sucks for those expecting a space sim, but this is not a sandbox game. It is a themepark game with story and choice. You can explore, but not as a main feature like a sandbox. I will like it, others won't, that is to be expected in any MMO or game for that matter.
How many people long for that "past, simpler, and better world," I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them? R.A.Salvatore
I wouldn't be surprised if it were true. I'd honestly rather have nothing and have them take the time and do it "right". But, rail shooters, while some may think are "dated" like text based adventures, can still be good.
I'm just hoping that they don't use it as an excuse not to provide something more like Jump to Lightspeed.
The official forum for this game is like crackpot central. 1/4 (or more) Ex SWG vets, angry at BioWare's choice to not recreate a game that was straight up average Pre-CU, and then a train wreck CU+, 1/4 fanbois, and then 1/2 "lobbyist" who think if they cry long and loud enough about their ideas/dealbreakers/threats that BioWare will change the game to suit them.
I go there to check out the news, but the forums are like watching my grandfather talk about kids in his day.
Your point is? It contains most of swtor's fans that can actually be bothered to discuss the game. If the game's offical forums is that bad then that implies the in-game community could possible be that bad also which means your essentially downgrading the game...
Either way you look at it it's a large amount of loyal swtor fans, Bioware should at least want the majority to be happy.
My point is anyone who is not in those catagories, ie- a person who is a regular fan or someone who has doubt, generally writes the official forum off as a source of anything other than Chicken Little like panic/counter panic.
I don't believe half the people that frequent that forum are actually fans (I define fans as people who intend to buy the product when it comes out). I think lots of them hope it fails, and another big hunk is willing to invest a free forum account and 5 mins of their time to post their demands. Not to mention the standard forum warriors who just enjoy forum pvp.
I never expected SW:TOR to have spacecombat at all when I first learned about it. So Im going to try it anyway.
But this implementation of spacecombat is lame. Just some minigame. And their reason for chosing space on rails '* They preferred this variant instead of a free game style because they deemed a tunnel shooter to be more accessible and for easier implementation of 'events' " sounds more like an excuse. Fully 3d spacecombat is a lot more work of course.
Um, so what? Can't expect a MMO to be released in a near perfect state with all features right from the get go. Unless you want the game to be in development for 35 years...
Let's be happy there's any space combat right now and take it as a step in the right direction. The idea of better space combat in a future expansion is the most likely scenario. Remember, MMOs work on the old carrot on stick method. Expansions typical introduce new 'revolutionary' things to the game. From new classes to new continents to new faction alignments etc etc. 'Real' space combat falls under this and I wouldn't be surprised if it was a tactical calculation of both dev time and 'carrot on the stick' feature for an expasion.
Haters gonna hate.
Well, Im going to try SW:TOR for story and not spacecombat.
But about the spacecombat. Its not a 'first step' . There is no reason to expect that they will develop a full 3d spacecombat game for that part at all. They would never have chosen for this implementation otherwise. It makes no sense at all from technical perspective to first develop space on rails and then later on full 3d space. It would only mean its even more work all together.
Sounds like something that PC action may try to pull. If anyone has ever followed this "gaming magazine" before they would know that they do crap like this all the time, with little to no information about what they are talking about. It's just a desperate publicity stunt to gain a few more subs at the unfortunate expense of BW/LA/EA. If you want the real information check out pc gamer magazine they should have the real exclusive space interview/review and article.
This is all just speculation on the part of pc action magazine. Something that they are not a stranger of doing. Make it sound believable enough so that people think they actually know what they are talking about, when in fact they know as much as the people here and on the forums. NADA
In other words it's Galaga in 3d, with a hint of ship customization. Truthfully I don't care either way, as I had no interest in the "space combat" to begin with. Never dug it in SWG either. I remember a game for PS2 years ago, that had a ship that looked an awful lot like the normandy from ME, which was on rails, I can't remember the name, but reading this gave me flash-backs of it. It had an over the ship view, and was very fast paced. Maybe they liked that game...
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I wouldn't be surprised if it were true. I'd honestly rather have nothing and have them take the time and do it "right". But, rail shooters, while some may think are "dated" like text based adventures, can still be good.
I'm just hoping that they don't use it as an excuse not to provide something more like Jump to Lightspeed.
You cannot possibly hope to expect any sort of depth and customization like in JTL with a space rail shooter. Rail shooters completely take any sort of freedom of movement from the player.
Example: You have an enemy fighter on your tail. You have some choices available to you in any half-decent space combat game that grants freedom.
A) Do a series of evasive maneuvers to hopefully throw your pursuer off, hopefully getting into his 6.
Call a wingman (player or NPC) to help you out; you evade until help arrives
C) Zoom over to a nearby warship. If friendly, hopefully the gunners shoot him up. If not, then with some fast, clever flying, use the ship superstructure to weave in it. Hopefully your pursuer gives up or crashes into the ship.
You do NOT have any of those choices in a rail shooter. You fly what the devs d**n well told you to fly with absolutely no deviation whatsoever. Customizeable ship equipment (engines, powerplant, weapons, whatever) play no role because everything is predefined by the devs.
If you want customization and freedom of gameplay in your space game, a rail shooter is the absolute worst thing you can get.
Even when Star Wars Rebel Assault II (rail shooter) came out in 1995, it was inferior in every practical gameplay element already to Totally Games' X-Wing game which came out in 1993. Tie Fighter came out in '94. X-Wing vs TIE Fighter in '97. And X-Wing Alliance in '99, the last good Star Wars space game (11 years ago, so sad). Even Freespace 1 & 2 were good space games which came out in '98 and '99 respectively, and all gave freedom to maneuver and fight to the player. SWG's "Jump To Lightspeed" which came out in '04 had flaws but provided depth, freedom, and quite a bit of customization to the player (can't believe I'm praising an SOE effort here).
Simply put... video gaming for YEARS has evolved past rail shooters and offered more freedom and options to the player in space combat games. Not these days anymore, but it **has** been done. And for BioWare to possibly slap on a rail shooter for a Star Wars MMORPG, with as much money thrown into the game, and especially what past Star Wars developers have done?
It's just pitiful, especially for a AAA dev house like BioWare.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
Comments
Cleaned it up a bit and I am surprised how well Google tranlator works.
For the translation where you get guardian twice.
I would translate the one Hüter = Keeper , Wächter = Guardian.
how is it a strange decision? has any bioware game had extensive space content? ME? KOTOR? nope, that's not their style.
they are adding their brand of story telling and they added this "railed space combat" to give the world more immersion (i am guessing), its better than just doing what the classic KKTOR game did, that is for sure.
i don't think they will add a more extensive space combat in any expansion and nor will they need to.
they don't need to please the hardcore eve or SWG fans, they just need to please their fans. and last i checked, a lot of people have enjoyed the ME and KOTOR games without extensive space combat.
their decision makes perfect sense to me, spend more time and money doing what you do best and less caring about what the fans of other games want.
the JTL expansion for SWG did perfect space combat (IMHO) the fact that TOR (the biggest budget MMO EVER can't pull off anything similar shames me as a games and should shame Bioware.
sure space in SWG was nothing but rocks space stations and other players (and NPCs when you had a quest) but it was real and it really felt like Star Wars.
as much as i loved playing the older Lucas Arts games...they didn't "feel" Star Wars. yeah i know i could get flamed for this ranting and i know TOR will not be an SWG at all. But space combat...something that IS Star Wars.
I would almost rather have NO space Combat then to have a option to do space combat and never want to.
how was the original KOTOR game successful without space combat? i understand you want it in the game sinse it gives it more immersion and reminds you of other games you have played.
but this is a bioware game, this is not surprising in the least bit. look at it this way, instead of getting space combat you get extensive story that is consistent with the bioware brand.
if that doesn't appeal to you, well then you might as well look elsewhere. fans of bioware and the KOTOR games probably will not have an issue with this for the most part.
Ill translate:
Original:
Jedi-Ritter sind versierte Nahkämpfer, die mit ein oder zwei Lichtschwertern in den Kampf stürmen.
Es wird von den beiden Spezialisierungen des Jedi-Ritters gesprochen: die Hüter und die Wächter.
Der Hüter ist besonders gut darin, Schüsse abzuwehren und Schaden einzustecken und scheint als Tank zu dienen.
Der Wächter ist die Schadens-Variante. Es wird davon gesprochen, dass er mit zwei Lichtschwertern oder dem Doppelklingenschwert auf seine Feinde losgelassen wird.
Jedi-Ritter bekommen einen Astromech als Begleiter, der auf den Namen T7 hört. T7 ist R2-D2 zwar nachempfunden, allerdings deutlich kampfkräftiger und mit Raketen und Blaster ausgestattet.
Als Spezialisierungen des Soldaten sind „Waffenplattform“ (dicke Knarren) und „Super Soldat“ (Sturmgewehr, schnelle flexible Waffen) genannt worden.
Der Jedi-Botschafter kann sich entweder auf „Kontrolle“ oder auf „Unterstützung“ spezialisieren.
Über Spezialisierungen des Kopfgeldjägers ist noch nichts bekannt. Es wird allerdings von einer stark mobilen Version mit Jetpack oder einem stark bewaffneten Kopfgeldjäger ausgegangen.
Auch zu den imperialen Agenten gibt es noch keine weiteren Infos. Vorstellbar wären eine Fernkampf- und eine Nahkampf-Variante mit Vibroschwertern.
Bei Sith-Inquistoren wird von einer schlagkräftigen Spezialisierung ausgegangen, die Fernkampfschaden verursacht. Die zweite könnte die Gruppe mit Verstärkungszaubern stärken und Feinde durch Flüche schwächen. Als Begleiter wurde ein Dashade zu sehen.
Translation:
Jedi-Knights are versatile melee-fighters, which storm into battle using one or two Light-Sabers.
They talk about two Jedi-Knight Class Specializations: the Warden and The Guardian.
The Warden is especially good at deflecting shots and absorbing damage.He seems to take the place of a tank.
The Guardian is the Damage Dealing Variant.They talk about unleashing him wielding two lightsabers or a dualblade upon his foes
Jedi Knights get an astromech as an companion which answers to the name T7. T7 is like R2-D2, but much more competitive, eqipped with blasters and rockets.
The Class Specialisations of the trooper are „Weaponplatform“ (big guns) und „Supersoldier“ (Assault Rifle, quick versatile Weaponry).
The Jedi-Ambassadors Class Specializations are "Control" or "Support".
Specialisations of the Bountyhunter are still unknown. People think its gonna be a very mobile version with jetpack and a heavily armed one.
No Information about imperial agents.Imaginable would be a Ranged version and a vibrosword wielding melee version.
On Sith Inquisitors we assume one powerful DD ranged version. The second Specialisation could be a buffer/debuffer. We Could see one of his companions "Dashade"
This is just the transaltion of the character part, i marked red the lines, which in this article are stated as FACT
This is what you get when you make vague statements without any explanation. The misconceptions are Bioware's own dam fault, they just don't seem to learn. I hope they enjoy reaping the whirlwind.
A handful of whiners on a site known for people who will never be happy is a "whirlwind?" I hardly think they'll even bother.
Check out swtor official forums bro........ a good 100 pages of pure whining.
The official forum for this game is like crackpot central. 1/4 (or more) Ex SWG vets, angry at BioWare's choice to not recreate a game that was straight up average Pre-CU, and then a train wreck CU+, 1/4 fanbois, and then 1/2 "lobbyist" who think if they cry long and loud enough about their ideas/dealbreakers/threats that BioWare will change the game to suit them.
I go there to check out the news, but the forums are like watching my grandfather talk about kids in his day.
I lol'ed and I'm one of the olides
So with all the insane amounts of money and resources devoted to SWTOR, BioWare can't top the space game effort of SWG, a 7 year old MMORPG? To make it worse, from what is known so far... A rail shooter? LOL! Just LOL!!!
I'll wait for the US PC Gamer to confirm the tragedy, but BioWare sure is setting things for the Lowest Common Denominator from what I've gathered so far.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
Your point is? It contains most of swtor's fans that can actually be bothered to discuss the game. If the game's offical forums is that bad then that implies the in-game community could possible be that bad also which means your essentially downgrading the game...
Either way you look at it it's a large amount of loyal swtor fans, Bioware should at least want the majority to be happy.
How many people long for that "past, simpler, and better world," I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them?
R.A.Salvatore
I wouldn't be surprised if it were true. I'd honestly rather have nothing and have them take the time and do it "right". But, rail shooters, while some may think are "dated" like text based adventures, can still be good.
I'm just hoping that they don't use it as an excuse not to provide something more like Jump to Lightspeed.
My point is anyone who is not in those catagories, ie- a person who is a regular fan or someone who has doubt, generally writes the official forum off as a source of anything other than Chicken Little like panic/counter panic.
I don't believe half the people that frequent that forum are actually fans (I define fans as people who intend to buy the product when it comes out). I think lots of them hope it fails, and another big hunk is willing to invest a free forum account and 5 mins of their time to post their demands. Not to mention the standard forum warriors who just enjoy forum pvp.
This looks like this goes in a completely different direction for the engine we have seen previews of for space.
Guess we will find out more soon when we catch the magazine article in PC gamer eh.
I never expected SW:TOR to have spacecombat at all when I first learned about it. So Im going to try it anyway.
But this implementation of spacecombat is lame. Just some minigame. And their reason for chosing space on rails '* They preferred this variant instead of a free game style because they deemed a tunnel shooter to be more accessible and for easier implementation of 'events' " sounds more like an excuse. Fully 3d spacecombat is a lot more work of course.
Well, Im going to try SW:TOR for story and not spacecombat.
But about the spacecombat. Its not a 'first step' . There is no reason to expect that they will develop a full 3d spacecombat game for that part at all. They would never have chosen for this implementation otherwise. It makes no sense at all from technical perspective to first develop space on rails and then later on full 3d space. It would only mean its even more work all together.
Sounds like something that PC action may try to pull. If anyone has ever followed this "gaming magazine" before they would know that they do crap like this all the time, with little to no information about what they are talking about. It's just a desperate publicity stunt to gain a few more subs at the unfortunate expense of BW/LA/EA. If you want the real information check out pc gamer magazine they should have the real exclusive space interview/review and article.
This is all just speculation on the part of pc action magazine. Something that they are not a stranger of doing. Make it sound believable enough so that people think they actually know what they are talking about, when in fact they know as much as the people here and on the forums. NADA
In other words it's Galaga in 3d, with a hint of ship customization. Truthfully I don't care either way, as I had no interest in the "space combat" to begin with. Never dug it in SWG either. I remember a game for PS2 years ago, that had a ship that looked an awful lot like the normandy from ME, which was on rails, I can't remember the name, but reading this gave me flash-backs of it. It had an over the ship view, and was very fast paced. Maybe they liked that game...
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
You cannot possibly hope to expect any sort of depth and customization like in JTL with a space rail shooter. Rail shooters completely take any sort of freedom of movement from the player.
Example: You have an enemy fighter on your tail. You have some choices available to you in any half-decent space combat game that grants freedom.
A) Do a series of evasive maneuvers to hopefully throw your pursuer off, hopefully getting into his 6.
C) Zoom over to a nearby warship. If friendly, hopefully the gunners shoot him up. If not, then with some fast, clever flying, use the ship superstructure to weave in it. Hopefully your pursuer gives up or crashes into the ship.
You do NOT have any of those choices in a rail shooter. You fly what the devs d**n well told you to fly with absolutely no deviation whatsoever. Customizeable ship equipment (engines, powerplant, weapons, whatever) play no role because everything is predefined by the devs.
If you want customization and freedom of gameplay in your space game, a rail shooter is the absolute worst thing you can get.
Even when Star Wars Rebel Assault II (rail shooter) came out in 1995, it was inferior in every practical gameplay element already to Totally Games' X-Wing game which came out in 1993. Tie Fighter came out in '94. X-Wing vs TIE Fighter in '97. And X-Wing Alliance in '99, the last good Star Wars space game (11 years ago, so sad). Even Freespace 1 & 2 were good space games which came out in '98 and '99 respectively, and all gave freedom to maneuver and fight to the player. SWG's "Jump To Lightspeed" which came out in '04 had flaws but provided depth, freedom, and quite a bit of customization to the player (can't believe I'm praising an SOE effort here).
Simply put... video gaming for YEARS has evolved past rail shooters and offered more freedom and options to the player in space combat games. Not these days anymore, but it **has** been done. And for BioWare to possibly slap on a rail shooter for a Star Wars MMORPG, with as much money thrown into the game, and especially what past Star Wars developers have done?
It's just pitiful, especially for a AAA dev house like BioWare.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)