Happy Friday!

 

Lead Designer Michael Backus has written the first of many Developer Diaries centered around Galactic Starfighter! We start with some of the history behind the development of the upcoming Digital Expansion here.

Edited October 18, 2013 by CourtneyWoods

Thanks for the background, great read! Where did the SSSp term came from? Was it from the guild summit back in April 2012 or from something pre-launch?

 

Still holding out for capital ship though!

Edited October 18, 2013 by Iwipe

Counting down the days.......

any guess as to when this might show up on test?

 

 

also any news on controller support?

Thanks for the background, great read! Where did the SSSp term came from? Was it from the guild summit back in April 2012 or from something pre-launch?

 

Still holding out for capital ship though!

 

I believe it was from the Guild Summit! That's my first memory of the term anyways.

Greetings Starfighters,

You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Xur and the Kodan Armada.

Joysticks?! You can map them to the ground game already so I assume they will be in GS but will there be any special attention paid to them?

 

Also: discussion question: Are joysticks an unfair advantage?

Edited October 18, 2013 by iiNoSkillzii

You have been listening and what you got from that was to ignore all the current Space combat and add free flight for pvp players only? Not to add any story is that not what was to bring players to SWTOR?

 

All the things you decided against introducing such as capital ships and smuggling and bounties and instead you focus on only adding something for the space flight PvP crowd? Was that what was being asked for on the forums was that really what people were demanding for the SSSP. I thought that what people were hoping for was a JTL experience.

 

As expansions go JTL brought story, new progression, customisation of ship parts and interiors, 2 new species and new crafting. Galactic Starfighter expansion brings a PvP Space mini game and some paint jobs. Is PvP that big a focus for the dev team cause open world faction PvP seems to have been all but forgotten with the only moves to PvP is to make it a mini game fight club? Was Space PvP what the PvP players most wanted?

 

I find it hard to see how Space PvP mini game was what players wanted or where hoping for in the SSSP. I don't know where this view was arrived at from the Dev team 2 years ago when this was first started.

SWG was not fun. Let it go buddy.

Would be awesome if they make specific keybinding options just for starfighter combat. Cause then joysticks could easily be implemented into the game without screwing up other controls.

I'm sure I'll enjoy some Star Wars space PvP (when the queues pop); but, hopefully, Bioware will eventually build on this and add in co-op PvE missions with story. Basically, what I'd really like to see is something like a re-make of X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter - Balance of Power set during the Old Republic era where you could have solo missions (with story), cooperative missions (with story), or multiplayer PvP (with little story). I do have some concerns that getting 24+ (12 on each side) people in the queue at the same time might take a while (especially a while after release when the newness has faded); so, I would like to see missions requiring less (e.g. 4v4 [like the new arenas] & 8v8 [like the regular warzones] and, eventually, 2 to 24 co-op). Edited October 18, 2013 by WhyNot

I agree. It would make sense to have some kind of objective based 4v4. Somthing with a hunt/hide feel, like.. I don't know... Smuggling ?

It's not perfect but it's a great start. I had stopped playing back in 2012 but the news of this release has brought me back as a subscriber

 

Hopefully as they develop the space system, more will be added but as a first start I think this will do well

Nice read.

Thanks

While i'm glad to see this feature, a lot of the other ideas you gave sound awesome, I think PvP was the easy choice in the end. A lot of people I have talked about have had their excitement quickly go away upon learning it's PvP only. Hopefully in the future with the tech in the game now you'll be able to expand on it and add some of the PvE content. I would love for some day to see a Flashpoint or Operation where the first boss is a ship you destroy in space. Or a Daily Hub that takes place on a destroyer that gives you missions to complete PvE objectives in free space.

Based on what you have so far.

1: Your game play is a lot like Star Wars: Rebel Assault where you move your mouse to Steer & Aim. What is Missing in The Old Republic is "Which Way? Left, Right, Up, or Down?" type of Path Steering.

2: In Star Wars: Galaxies you could choose your Patterns & Colors, but it was missing something that F-Zero GX had, Decals such as the Mario Mushroom & more. But I think we, the Players, could come up with some Rough-Drafts that you could Refine. Wish I could send you My Suggested Pic & I'll Explain What it Means.

Is there going to be any PvE content in this expansion?

Sad part about this whole thing...

 

Everything he mentioned that they DIDN'T put in sounds infinitely more fun than what they are putting in...

Interesting read, but unfortunately it sounds more like PR-spin then honesty. Here is what I mean:

 

You may have assumed we weren’t listening, but I promise, we were reading every post… and taking copious notes.

 

We looked at the landscape of possibilities and where there were opportunities, when we quickly realized the answer was simple: PvP. Players had been clamoring for it since launch—

 

Free-flight space gameplay has been the most requested feature since launch, so I'm sure they had plenty to read. But I never read one person request that a free-flight space system be PvP *ONLY*. In fact, I'd like to issue a challenge to anyone reading these words to find a post that was made prior to the official announcement of this expansion, requesting that this system be PvP *ONLY*.

 

Maybe its out there, but I havent seen it. And even if there are rare examples, they were definitely in the minority. Sure, people wanted the space revamp to include PvP options, but the vast majority wanted PvE. Getting back to my opening statements, the vibe I get from this article is "we heard what you wanted, and here it is". Except this isnt how most people asked for it to work.

Edited October 18, 2013 by The_Grand_Nagus

Well, I'm a bit conversative, so I'm not sure if I like this update or not... But will be fun to try it out, let's hope I've got around to buying a new computer then... Or else my 600$ super laptop will have to own face (just like in 8v8, rocking 10 fps solid )

I'm conditionally looking forward to this. Space combat pvp is something I've wanted from day one, but if joystick controls aren't integrated, I'm not sure how much play it will get. I don't want to have to go all crazy formatting my controls for a joystick and then re-format for the ground game.

I believe it was from the Guild Summit! That's my first memory of the term anyways.

Are other things promised/hinted at the guild summit like chat bubbles also coming soon?

Interesting read, but unfortunately it sounds more like PR-spin then honesty. Here is what I mean:

 

 

 

 

 

Free-flight space gameplay has been the most requested feature since launch, so I'm sure they had plenty to read. But I never read one person request that a free-flight space system be PvP *ONLY*. In fact, I'd like to issue a challenge to anyone reading these words to find a post that was made prior to the official announcement of this expansion, requesting that this system be PvP *ONLY*.

 

Maybe its out there, but I havent seen it. And even if there are rare examples, they were definitely in the minority. Sure, people wanted the space revamp to include PvP options, but the vast majority wanted PvE. Getting back to my opening statements, the vibe I get from this article is "we heard what you wanted, and here it is". Except this isnt how most people asked for it to work.

 

Valid Points, it can be as PvP as the War Zones, & the Free Flight should be Limited to Boosters, Brakes, & the Rebel Assault game play. (Check my post)

Damn. Everything he said they could have done sounded so much more awesome than the just pvp. I want guild capital ships. I want pve. pvp is great but that means it's only an expansion for one group of players.

This is a great start.

 

I wonder though, are there plans to expand beyond PvP, or focus on expanding PvP for galactic starfighter?