the Trailer's images scare me

[Lt. Havoc]

I've been eagerly tracking this game over the past couple months. I checked the E3 updates for new screen shots and today I watched the trailer. I thought it looked great minus a couple things of course.

 

1. jetpacks!?! These always become an issue just like bunny hopping in CS and UT (although its more within the nature of UT). While I'm not saying they're out of place I'm just scared they'll taint the game with a high potential for lame trickery. For the most part the Star Wars military unit breakdown followed real-life equivalents. IMO I think widespread use of jetpacks is too much fantasy. Hopefully servers can turn certain functions on and off.

 

2. This is the big issue I saw. Most fo the maps featuring rural terrain were quite flat with only a sprinkling of cover here and there. It seems like it will be a big slug-fest with the armies lining up and firing into each other 1800's style. Yavin and Endor featuring some hills, valleys and what-not. Kind of hard to out flank your opponent or do any serious tactics when you're fighting in flatlands and they can see you coming.

 

just early observations and opinions, I've always been partial to the orgainc wilderness and sprawling terrain style maps as opposed to the rat-maze urban ones. Sorry too many years of FPS like Doom 1 & 2, Duke Nukem 3D, CS, UT, Quakes, AvP, RtCW and all the others have made me loath corridor shooters.

[lukeiamyourdad]

1. I don't think this is much of an issue. Jet Pack troopers will have some kind of disadvantage. I think they can only "hop" for a single burst with it. Perhaps on ground they can't run as fast.

 

2. Geonosis, Hoth and Naboo(Grassy Plains) were simply flat terrain. It's ok.

[MuRaSaMuNe]

Jetpacks should be good. Afterall, Tribes managed to fit them in quite nicely But yeah, it would be nice to have some hills and caves and other ways to infiltrate enemy bases from.

[StormHammer]

I too don't see much of a problem with flat areas in some of the maps. Hoth and Geonosis especially seem to have more vehicle based combat, so perhaps it won't be such an issue for infantry. I'm sure there will be pockets of cover here and there.

 

I like what I'm seeing so far with the game. The sounds, the blaster fire, the vehicles and troop movements - it all pretty much matches up with their aim to recreate the Star Wars battles in detail.

 

As for those using jet packs, it looks like there is a ceiling on how high they can go - and they can be shot down by heavy weapons (the rocket launcher hits a jet-packer on Kamino and sends him tumbling out of the sky). So they're not invulnerable, and I suspect that while flying they'll only be able to use a hand blaster along with grenades.

[Schetter]

I'm sure they'll take another page from BF:1942 with the jetpack thing. Jetpacks were added in the 'Secret Weapons' expansion. They weren't a whole seperate soldier class you could spawn in as - instead there were a limited number of jetpacks located in specific positions on the map, usually not more than one or two. You'd have to find them and pick them up to use them, this so that you wouldn't have an entire army of jetpackers flitting around.

[Sounds Risky]

I think Jetpacks are limited to a class of Clonetroopers and to balance out the coolness of the jetpack he probably will be lightly armed.

 

Probably.

[VanLingo]

The original info release said that the primary function of the jetpack is to reach otherwise unreachable areas.

[eastcoast2895]

1. i think since the jetpack is the special power of one person, there may be some counter attack the separatist can use like the imperial officer and rebel spy relationship.

 

2. that's almost my exact feeling. playing black hawk down that has very flat open maps, they are almost ruled by snipers and getting to the action takes so long that the game gets annoyingly boring, especially since i know the game is fun with the right maps (well at least fun for me).

[Eagle Warrior]

i think that the jetpaks will just have a fuel bar and it will ge easy to shoot the jetpak and the clone will fallllll and dash to his death

[lukeiamyourdad]

They seem really slow when using the jet pack. Shoot them down then.

[Global Strike]

I saw in some screenshots at lucasarts.com of Imperial troops with jetpacks. Maybe they're the only ones who get the jetpack other than the Clone jetpack trooper because the Republic eventually evolved into the Empire. :jawa

[Isair]

Makes sense to me, and jet pack is fine, as long as there is some disadvantage or as long as it's not too much of an advantage.

[Eagle Warrior]

i think that they are going to e the same but the clone will have thermal detonators if that is what he through while flying and the imps will only have it to escape

[Proto]

The question of jetpack is quite clear now as the newest gameplay video at IGN, showing actual TPP xbox action form jetpacked trooper's perspective, pretty much reveals rocketpack's mechanics. It seems that jetpack gives mainly vertical boost, with limited maneovre possibilities. There's allso pretty low ammount of fuel, although it seems to recharge instantly after landing. BTW, those tiny bits show some more details like Gonk power droids, medical droids, overall hud design. They also give a clue how many shots a trooper unit can sustain.

 

You can find the three-part footage here (jetpack is used in third one):

http://media.pc.ign.com/media/617/617664/vids_1.html

 

As for concerns about battlefields flatness I guess there will be enought different locales aimed on different strategies to satisfy both massive intervehicle carnage lovers and hardcore cs tacticians ..

[Eagle Warrior]

ty for the update;)

[Huntsman]

Originally posted by Schetter

I'm sure they'll take another page from BF:1942 with the jetpack thing. Jetpacks were added in the 'Secret Weapons' expansion. They weren't a whole seperate soldier class you could spawn in as - instead there were a limited number of jetpacks located in specific positions on the map, usually not more than one or two. You'd have to find them and pick them up to use them, this so that you wouldn't have an entire army of jetpackers flitting around.

 

Roger, they should be a kit like the BF games. It will work just fine and I don't forsee any balance issues.

[Revlt Coranier]

on hoth where it is flat, it lends a very cool WWI kind of feeling with the rebels waiting in the trenches and the imperials walking straight torward them. not even taking cover. mass slaughter

[joesdomain]

I am sorta worried about the jetpacks for the empire trooper also. It just looks more like a video game than a star wars game. I would hope they work on terrain better. I would not like mostly flat or all flat maps myself. That is boring and it makes it look like fighting during the 1700 and 1800's in America.