Starhawk (new rumors)

Two guys on my friends list are starting to play the closed beta. They were expecting Warhawk but this game seems different. Because there is no tutorial, they don't know what to do. First impression is: Game is hard (probably clueless like in MAG ?), plus some visual complains.

Both of them are sticking around to play more. One of them think it's fun. The other was in the game for 10 minutes before I pinged him. So no concrete opinion yet.
 
The lack of aim assists is going to make the game MUCH harder for the more casual shooter fans of WH. I don't know if that's a good thing. People who didn't have amazing dual-thumb control could still play WH effectively. Perhaps SH needs both modes available, with perhaps a damage reduction when using auto-aim?
 
Got into the beta yesterday (whoohoo) :D

The game has some sticky aim, but you have to be within a certain range as far as i can tell.

Funny though re Patsu's mate's comments. I think the game is prettier in person than what i saw of it in all the promotion vids/materials released.

I also didn't find it difficult at all to figure out what to do. The only mode available is CTF, which if you've played any online MP game in the past 10 years it's pretty self-explanitory.

I didn't spend that long with it last night. Just got in, tested the controls and such, and then messed around with the B&B system (which is AWESOME).

Game feels so good though so far... so much like Battlezone II from back in the day :D
 
Cool ! I think people are still experimenting with the game. Some say the building element takes away shooting time. And the duration for each game mode is too short. I think if the beta testers are more critical at the developers, it's better for the developers and us -- 'specially since this is a closed beta. The project manager needs to make priority adjustments based on these feedback quickly.
 
No offense Patsu to whoever it was that said that but those comments are inane. The b&b thing is completely optional, you can just go into a game and blast away and just forget about building anything if you want to (leaving that to your teammates - as there was always plenty of people staying back to fortify bases and forward capture points in the game i played). It adds strategy and is super fun imo.

Also, stuff like the game duration can be tweaked by the player. Simply start a new game yourself and tweak whatever options you fancy, since the game allows for you to change all kinds of settings for the matches. You'll have no problem filling your matches too, since there are so many people looking to get in games.

There are some criticism i have of the game so far, but i'm directing those to the official beta forums. It just seems like the people you're talking to haven't looked too thoroughly into the option the beta already allows, or just haven't played much of the game so far.
 
I think they complained about the 15 minute limit because pace is slower than WH, and people need to build stuff. While you can run off to fight in the wild, for those people who build stuff, they may feel that time is too short. Good to hear it can be changed. They can always consider increasing the default limit based on feedback.

I look forward to the building aspect too, but I did feel that platforming in Uncharted MP takes away a little intensity. If the combat is fast and dynamic, by the time I platform to my fave spot, people have already respawned once or twice elsewhere. Perhaps SH will have a different experience due to its new pace, vehicles, and buildings.

I usually prefer a good CTF game to other game modes. I think it will be very interesting to play one in SH.
 
Are there any funky game modes that we know of? I was thinking they could have one which is destroy all the opposition's buildings. That could get quite varied.
 
No clue !

I hope they add assorted "traps" to the building blocks. It'd be like playing LittleBigPlanet 3 while flag carrier and other folks bump around the castle.

It would also be a shame if we come up with a nefarious building scheme and the game ended before someone steps in. :devilish:
 
I think they complained about the 15 minute limit because pace is slower than WH, and people need to build stuff. While you can run off to fight in the wild, for those people who build stuff, they may feel that time is too short. Good to hear it can be changed. They can always consider increasing the default limit based on feedback.

I look forward to the building aspect too, but I did feel that platforming in Uncharted MP takes away a little intensity. If the combat is fast and dynamic, by the time I platform to my fave spot, people have already respawned once or twice elsewhere. Perhaps SH will have a different experience due to its new pace, vehicles, and buildings.

I usually prefer a good CTF game to other game modes. I think it will be very interesting to play one in SH.

I wouldn't say that the pace of the game is slower than WH at all. From what i've played it's about the same, but again the game is so varied that it just depends how you're playing (i.e. offensively or defensively). The game sets no hard & fast limits or requirements on the player for building during play. It's an option there for you to use at your desposal. Some players leave the fortifications to their more defensive allies and just rush into the fray guns blazing. Whilst others will stay back at the HQ or forward capture point to fortify and setup armaments to guard the offensive guys when they're retreating home with the enemy's flag in hand.

On defence you get rift energy (RE) from your base (the big harvester thing) that you can use to build defenses to protect the base, or buy vehicles and/equipment from ready build stations. On offence you can still get rift energy whilst not at base, from killing enemies or destroying enemy buildings. So even on offence you have avenues for collecting RE that you can use to buy vehicles/equipment (e.g. jetpacks) or set down stuff like turrets to guard your root. So there's no reason for the pace of the game to be slower, and that hasn't been my experience either. It's still early with the beta too, so people still seem to be learning the ropes.

Since there'll be a single player to this game though, i'm very keen to know if they'll have some sort of co-op "horde"-type mode (so effectively a full blown tower defence minigame). As i think i would enjoy that greatly :D
 
I wish I could try, but probably will get mad at the developers when I try an early release. Puh-lease be super harsh on them during this time. :p
 
Anybody else get their beta invite? I'm downloading now (1.3G), seems to be on a go slow. Will report back as soon as I've had a blast.
 
Bah... I bought a lot too, but may be I complain too much. :devilish:

In any case, I'm not so interested in alpha/beta if I don't see the improvements during these exercises. It usually takes too long for the developers to turn around. Our feedback -- *if* taken -- are usually partly in Day 1 patch (They already knew about the problems and have a fix not quite what we want), plus in another patch a month or three later.
 
Starhawk beta status:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/12/12/qa-starhawk-private-beta-is-reaching-for-the-stars/

1.0.9 patch note:

Starhawk Private BETA Update: 1.0.9
DateFriday, December 9, 2011 at 3:57PM

Today's 1.0.9 update for the Starhawk Private BETA was deployed durring the server maintenance at 4pm Central and contained the following changes:

All vehicle construction times are reduced to 3 seconds.
Moved flag position to the centers of each base in the small Space map.
Fixed bug that prevented CTF games from properly triggering the "Flags Revealed" state.
Fixed ladder exploit in small Space map.
Fixed pre-game CTF exploit.

Here are a few more details regarding the Starhawk Private BETA 1.0.9 Update:

Much Faster Vehicle Construction Times:
This change is intended to greatly increase the usage of Razorback 4x4s, JetPacks and Hawks as well as help players construct new vehicles without feeling compelled to build entire structures just for the default vehicle that it spawns. As a point of reference, the Hawk construction time used to be 30 seconds and now it is only 3 seconds. It should also be noted that, at least for now, all vehicles have the same 3 second construction time.

New Flag Position in Small Space Map:
Players had been using defensive building strategies to protect the flag that relied on the non-buildable railing just behind the flag base. This resulted in layouts that were awkward for troops to traverse. To fix this, we have moved the flags to the centers of each of the team's bases to help minimize awkward defensive layouts.

Bug Fix for "Flags Revealed" State in CTF:
After both flags have been in-play for 120 seconds, the flags are fully displayed on the map. Furthermore, returning you team's flag can be achieved by killing the flag carrier and simply touching your team's flag rather than having to camp by it until it is returned. There was a bug that sometimes resulted in this state not being triggered in CTF games.

Fixed Two Exploits:
Due to the great work of our Starhawk BETA Testers, we were able to get video of 2 unsavory exploits. Both of which are fixed in the 1.0.9 Update!
 
Impressive pace... Another patch a week later.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=33519135&postcount=671

Starhawk Private BETA Update: 1.1.1

Friday, December 16, 2011 At 2:37PM
Today's 1.1.1 update for the Starhawk Private BETA was deployed during the regular server maintenance at 2pm Central and contained the following changes:

New hybrid Organic/Canned missile scrub system.
Prepped engine for Classic Arcade Flight (currently disabled).
New per-weapon reticules for Troop, Hawk & Razorback.
Fixed voice drop-outs between games.
Added Team Deathmatch Gameplay mode.
Added control panel to Supply Bunker.
Friend's games can now be joined via Uplink.
Added LAG Switch protection.
Fixed numerous bugs and crashes.
Fixed bug that was resetting player level when quitting a game.
Fixed JetPack CTF flight exploit.
Fixed Announcement sorting.
Fixed server-list scrolling bug.
Fixed crash related to Air Mines.
Added XMB display of Starhawk Game Status.
Added functionality to send friends XMB messages from the Uplink.
Fixed bug preventing Drop Pods from destroying Auto-Turrets on impact
Added matchmaker now supports both CTF and TDM
Integrated better protections for trying to join full games
Fixed Missing Razorback 4x4 particle FX in Space Map
Added load-bar display when BETA updates are being downloaded.
Increased news ticker scroll speed in the Uplink
Fix bug related to PSN icons not rendering properly in the Uplink

New Hybrid Missile Scrub:
Due to player feedback we have we have now developed new system for scrubing missiles in Starhawk. The goal of this system is to support *BOTH* the organic, free-from maneuvers from Warhawk and the easier "canned" dodges that were included in our first release of the Starhawk Private BETA. We are excited about this new system and we strongly feel that it will give players an accessible yet deep system that supports both newbie and hardcore players. Please know that this new system included with the 1.1.1 Update does not represent "final" tuning -- we are planning to release several updates next week to tune the new missile scrub system so please give us feedback!

Prepping for Classic Arcade Flight:
Also due to feedback from our community, we are in the process of re-enabling the Warhawk Classic Arcade flight mode. It is currently disabled in the flight options screen until we resolve a few more issues and perform a QA pass on it but we are diligently working on it and will deploy an update to the Starhawk Private BETA as soon as we "clear" the feature.

Today's 1.1.1 Update was quite large so please take some time to test the game tonight and this weekend and give us feedback -- we *are* listening and greatly appreciate all of you BETA-Testing Starhawk!!
 
I have two keys, one from Playstation and one from IGN Prime. Anyone who wants the Prime one let me know.
 
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