https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDDPSghZqYE

You can catch the full explanation of the game mechanics on the Twitch stream from EA.

Summery is: 20 person pvp fighter battles with additional 20 AI fighters in the same battle! You can also fly the Millennium Falcon and maybe Slave-one its in the trailer but they didn't say if you can though.

Fell free to discuss and based on this trailer me thinks GSF is gonna take a big hit.

Here is a better quality version of the video:

Here are more details: http://starwars.ea.com/starwars/battlefront/news/live-out-your-star-wars-dogfight-fantasies-with-fighter-squadron-mode

And here is a hands-on from IGN: http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/08/05/games-com-2015-star-wars-battlefronts-fighter-squadron-is-beautiful-chaos

It sounds pretty solid.

At its core, it sounds like Kuat TDM. Powerups are hidden low in terrain, encouraging you to drop out of open air. Missiles and pre-canned evasive maneuvers (I saw a K-turn) are on cooldowns. Additionally, Imperial ships have a speed boost cool down, while Rebel ships have a defensive shield cool down.

It is unclear what difference X-wings and A-wings have, or TIE Fighters and Interceptors, but they all have different missile icons.

Interesting, it sounds like the powerups will include missile cool down reducers and health pick-UPS.

All of that makes for a competent competitor to GSF.

Where things get interesting is that each battle will also have 20 AI fighters and AI shuttles you can shoot down. That will both create an element of chance in player vs. player duels and give an avenue of contribution to new/unskilled pilots.

Also, it sounds like the equivalent of "Damage Overcharge" will be to spawn in the Falcon or Slave I. These ships each have three cool down abilities (instead of just two) and probably have more firepower and durability. That being said, they also make you a priority target, just like DO.

We can't say anything for sure yet, but honestly it has a lot more parallels to GSF (TDM at least) than I expected. I don't see anything that I particularly dislike (except that I wish I didn't have to switch ships to get the DO equivalent -- my immersion!)

The presentation is certainly very polished, and plucks the nostalgia strings in a familiar symphony of Star Wars stuff.

Where's the depth, though? At least based on that article and the visual evidence it seems like a very dumbed down version of GSF's gameplay. Actually, it seems like a version of SWTOR's PvE space minigame if it was taken off the rails.

GSF offers a lot of different possible ship builds, with a lot of different components that allow you to find a combination that suits you. It offers depth of customization, which leads to more varied tactical situations. At least based on the article and the video of gameplay there doesn't seem to be an analogue to GSF's system abilities or engine maneuvers. Losing both of those alone takes out a pretty big chunk of depth.

Maybe it is unfair to judge, but it looks much more like twitch based action rather than something that requires careful thought about where you are positioning yourself, what angle you are attacking from, or what strategy your team might take.

If this didn't have X-wings and Star Wars soundclips, would it even be remotely interesting?

Despon

The presentation is certainly very polished, and plucks the nostalgia strings in a familiar symphony of Star Wars stuff.

 

Where's the depth, though? At least based on that article and the visual evidence it seems like a very dumbed down version of GSF's gameplay. Actually, it seems like a version of SWTOR's PvE space minigame if it was taken off the rails.

 

GSF offers a lot of different possible ship builds, with a lot of different components that allow you to find a combination that suits you. It offers depth of customization, which leads to more varied tactical situations. At least based on the article and the video of gameplay there doesn't seem to be an analogue to GSF's system abilities or engine maneuvers. Losing both of those alone takes out a pretty big chunk of depth.

 

Maybe it is unfair to judge, but it looks much more like twitch based action rather than something that requires careful thought about where you are positioning yourself, what angle you are attacking from, or what strategy your team might take.

 

If this didn't have X-wings and Star Wars soundclips, would it even be remotely interesting?

 

Despon

I think there is more depth there than we realize.

The yellow/red bar above health seems to imply some connection between speed and weapon power. Perhaps your weapons do less damage the faster you go, or vice versa.

Also, the ground game does have customizable loadouts--that may exist for this mode as well, but I'm going to assume it doesn't for the time being.

There are definitely engine-maneuvers on cooldown, though they are likely predefined per-ship. The X-wing and Falcon definitely have K-turns, at least in that build. You also get warned when an enemy is targeting you or locking on a missile--so I suspect the engine maneuver is a defense against that.

And as mentioned, the TIE's have an additional mobility cooldown, and X-wings and A-wings have a defensive shield cooldown of some kind. And it looks like the Falcon and Slave I get both, combining the best of both worlds.

As for whether we'd be excited about this if it weren't Star Wars IP, I think we would for a couple reasons:

1) It's fast. It's hard to tell whether it's as fast as GSF (or perhaps faster), but it blows the pace of Star Citizen out of the water. Speed seems to be the rarest and hardest thing to find in 3D vehicle shooters these days.

2) It has "Star Wars" / WW2 ranges and flight dynamics. Lasers are best fired at enemies 1-5 ship-lengths from you, and missiles are comparable. It's not like a realistic Jet fighter game, where you lock onto someone 2 miles away. Nor does it have Newtonian physics a la Starfighter, Inc.

3) It has a lot of ships going at once, creating the sense of a chaotic battle. This, also, seems rare and difficult to find. Most ship shooter games seem to put you in tiny engagements between a handful of fighters or else giant EVE-style spreadsheet battles between static turrets.

4) It has cooldowns and abilities. Perhaps not as many as GSF, but certainly more than many ship shooters.

5) It's a high profile game attached to a mega-IP, coming out on all major platforms. If it's built well, it will have a healthy and long-lasting population.

While I agree that GSF theorycrafting has a lot more depth and opportunity for customization, let's be honest. Most pilots fly one of four builds, and very few of those pilots derived those builds themselves.

A few aces dabble in eccentric specializations.

Everyone else is flying a bad build because they are ignorant, and they'd be better off letting the game choose a power build for them.

Battlefront won't have that problem.

After watching the twitch stream presentation, trailer, and looking at some other info, it seems like this will have:

Two ship types per side + one Hero ship

10 players on a team

10 AI ships per side

There didn't seem to be a chat window, but that could boil down to alpha things. It doesn't really look like a situation where team coordination really is imperative. Maybe voice comms are built in?

The Sullust map has a whole lot of open sky, meaning no 'terrain' beyond the canyons and structures on the ground, so it's hard to judge what role the map's terrain has in the battles. A couple other trailers seem to show starfighter-y action happening in some desert canyons, so maybe there are more maps?

It seems reasonable to say that on the Sim <--> Arcade scale, it's farther towards Arcade than even GSF, which is pretty arcade-y to begin with.

To each their own. Based on this info I'm not excited personally, but maybe it's what others want. From what I've seen, I could imagine having some fun playing those battles a few times, but it doesn't have the look of something that would keep my interest in the long term. Maybe further info will illuminate hidden depth.

Despon

Thanks Nem, for posting better info.

I ripped my link about 30 min after it aired live hehe. And I just got home from work so a little tired too.

I think that it being based on the WWII flight style having a wingman will be way more important and hence possiblely rewarding too. Its definitely is solo q based but if we can q 4-10 players at the same time in group the opposing team would not stand a chance!

Since this is primarily a FPS game I would think that in game comms are included. Especially for the consoles. PC version would always have some kind of comms of course.

Ultimately, how sticky it is for me will depend on how good I am at it.

One of the biggest reasons I stick with GSF is because it is one of the few games where the usual match features me striding around like a god amongst insects, occasionally getting to duel another such titan. I take great pleasure in carrying a team that would otherwise lose, especially against tough opposition.

GSF allows an ace to really feel like a Jamie Lannister/Achilles hero archetype that casually cuts down swaths of lesser soldiers. That isn't very common in PvP, and certainly not for me But GSF lets me be the boss monster.

As I am still unable to explain why certain experienced pilots plateau far below the higher tiers of acehood, nor how Tomm and a few others seem to exist on yet another tier that I cannot achieve, it is hard to predict how I will do in Battlefront.

If my GSF success is largely due to an advantage in spatial reasoning over the general population (perhaps due to my playing lots of Wing Commander and XvT in my formative years), then that advantage will likely carry over to Battlefront. But if my success in GSF is due to to something else--something native to GSF, then maybe I wont be so good in Battlefront, and I'll experience more frustration than fun.

Besides GSF, I really haven't had any chance to test myself against others in a space shooter since XvT (though I did quite well on its ladders).

Even so, I doubt Battlefront will allow me to average 3-6 times as many kills as the next highest person, as GSF often does. Then again, the presence of AI ships may supply even more food.

Honestly, the biggest thing that I'm excited about for Battlefront is that it will (hopefully) have a large enough community to sustain critical mass for constant pops when I want to play. As much as I love GSF, it has been a constant struggle to nurture and sustain a healthy community on my server, and to get dev attention in this forum. It's worth the work because I love GSF tremendously. But it is taxing.

I realize that by even posting about Battlefront here, I threaten GSF morale and health, and I feel bad about that.

A lot of people have posted a lot of links to other games in this forum. I have always clicked through the links and thought to myself "this game seems slow to me." The link in this thread, however, suggests that there will be a game out there that does not seem slow and it will be Star Wars. I wonder if this is why we lost all developer support.

How will balance work between one faction with shields and the other faction with boost? It seems to me that shields will help beginners more and boost will help advanced players more. Thus, the game will always be out of balance at certain skill levels. I don't have much knowledge of apple vs orange balancing in games, so maybe it is fine as long as you stay on top of it.

Regardless, I sure am excited to play. Thanks for posting this!

Hands-on details. Sounds like there is definitely on-the-fly balancing of engines vs. lasers.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/08/05/games-com-2015-star-wars-battlefronts-fighter-squadron-is-beautiful-chaos

There are definitely engine-maneuvers on cooldown, though they are likely predefined per-ship. The X-wing and Falcon definitely have K-turns, at least in that build. You also get warned when an enemy is targeting you or locking on a missile--so I suspect the engine maneuver is a defense against that.

I remember BF2's engine manoeuvre ability being context sensitive, so hitting it while flying forward barrel rolls, up and down were K turns, left and right were snap turns so hopefully that will be the same as in BF3

I remember BF2's engine manoeuvre ability being context sensitive, so hitting it while flying forward barrel rolls, up and down were K turns, left and right were snap turns so hopefully that will be the same as in BF3

That'd be wicked, and a definite advantage over GSF.

GSF would be crazy if you could dynamically choose between Barrel Roll, Power Dive, Snap Turn, or Retro.

Not saying it'd be balanced. Just saying it'd be crazy

Ultimately, how sticky it is for me will depend on how good I am at it.

I guess that will be the deciding factor for me, too.

One of the biggest reasons I stick with GSF is because it is one of the few games where the usual match features me striding around like a god amongst insects, occasionally getting to duel another such titan. I take great pleasure in carrying a team that would otherwise lose, especially against tough opposition.

 

GSF allows an ace to really feel like a Jamie Lannister/Achilles hero archetype that casually cuts down swaths of lesser soldiers. That isn't very common in PvP, and certainly not for me But GSF lets me be the boss monster.

I'm definitely not that good but being among the upper 20% on the board after each match consistently does bring enjoyment. Even when a match is unbalanced against my team and a loss in inevitable, it's at least fun to see that I did more damage than everyone else on my team combined.

As I am still unable to explain why certain experienced pilots plateau far below the higher tiers of acehood, nor how Tomm and a few others seem to exist on yet another tier that I cannot achieve, it is hard to predict how I will do in Battlefront.

 

If my GSF success is largely due to an advantage in spatial reasoning over the general population (perhaps due to my playing lots of Wing Commander and XvT in my formative years), then that advantage will likely carry over to Battlefront. But if my success in GSF is due to to something else--something native to GSF, then maybe I wont be so good in Battlefront, and I'll experience more frustration than fun.

You probably didn't play Wing Commander or XvT with a mouse, so it's probably not the type of controller being used. I'd say spatial awareness and orientation are major factors. The ability to not only sense what's left, right, in front, and behind, but also above and below, will carry over. Aiming at a point where the enemy is going to be in the near future is also something that requires practice.

Honestly, the biggest thing that I'm excited about for Battlefront is that it will (hopefully) have a large enough community to sustain critical mass for constant pops when I want to play. As much as I love GSF, it has been a constant struggle to nurture and sustain a healthy community on my server, and to get dev attention in this forum. It's worth the work because I love GSF tremendously. But it is taxing.

 

I realize that by even posting about Battlefront here, I threaten GSF morale and health, and I feel bad about that.

Whether it will be able to sustain a large enough community for fast queues will likely depend on whether they have anything else in store to support the game. E.g., I discovered ME3 and its multiplayer mode more than a year after release. During the first year EA organized weekly events with specific goals that kept providing new incentives to login and play.

If Battlefront offers something that keeps people engaged and adds additional maps, modes, etc., after release, it's likely to stay around for quite a while. However, it remains to be seen if the target population in general is large enough to sustain that particular game mode.

Regarding GSF morale and health: It's my favourite aspect in this game but the lack of additional content does its own to threaten morale and health. GSF is only a side project within the big picture of SWTOR and has never been tied into the rest of the game.

I think that Battlefront - simply due to the fact that it has far fewer elements than SWTOR - will have more content additions to those few elements. (If it's successful enough to warrant that, obviously, and they will probably be DLCs).

Having that all that, it's obvious why EA would be against investing a lot of time and money into GSF when there is another Star Wars space PvP game coming out.

Does anyone know if they will have matchmaking or group queues?

Ultimately, how sticky it is for me will depend on how good I am at it.

 

One of the biggest reasons I stick with GSF is because it is one of the few games where the usual match features me striding around like a god amongst insects, occasionally getting to duel another such titan. I take great pleasure in carrying a team that would otherwise lose, especially against tough opposition.

 

GSF allows an ace to really feel like a Jamie Lannister/Achilles hero archetype that casually cuts down swaths of lesser soldiers. That isn't very common in PvP, and certainly not for me But GSF lets me be the boss monster.

 

Who you calling lesser?