Guest DarthMaulUK Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 empireatwar.net are pleased to bring you an exclusive Q&A with Lucasarts Associate Producer; David Silverstein about Empire At War. Covering Multiplayer, population caps, Min Specs and if EaW will be on the Mac. Multiplayer Q&A (19/12/05) Questions answered by David Silverstein, Associate Producer. How many game modes are there and can you briefly explain each one? Single-player has three game types: Campaign, Galactic Conquest and Skirmish. Multiplayer has two game types: Galactic Conquest and Skirmish. Campaign : The single-player campaign is a story-driven campaign where you choose to play as either the Rebel Alliance or the Empire. You go through a campaign of 24 core story missions (12 for each side) that guide you and your heroes through your conquest to either bring freedom or total Imperial rule to the entire galaxy. Galactic Conquest : Scenarios are non-story-driven campaigns where you fight for control of the entire galaxy or just a part of it as either the Rebels or Imperials depending on which scenario you choose. Skirmish : Single-playerSkirmish mode lets you play on a single land or space map and does not include the galactic map. Will players be able to make saves when playing the Galactic Conquest mode, so they can continue the game at a later date? Yes, you can save the game in Galactic Conquest mode in single-player and multiplayer. If you and your buddy are locked in a massive conflict for galactic dominance but your mom calls you downstairs for dinner, you can save the game and continue playing it at a later time. In galactic conquest mode, can you set the amount of planets to play with in the galactic map? The number of planets in the campaigns is locked. However, in Galactic Conquest play, the number of planets is based on the particular scenario you are playing. Some are large galaxies with over 40 planets, some are only 10 planets, and others are in between. Can players build all the units in the game in Skirmish mode, if they can afford to? They can build every standard combat unit in Skirmish play, but there are a couple of galactic-only units that can’t be built in Skirmish play because there is no galactic map for them. Any word yet on how the ladders/ratings will be worked out and will this be across all the Multiplayer modes? Right now we have ladders set up for 1v1 Galactic Conquest, 1v1 Skirmish Land and 1v1 Skirmish Space. We may add more ladders depending on popularity, and players can also create there own ladders. Will the Rebels be able to actually build certain Imperial ships, if they capture any hidden plans? What kind of hidden plans can we expect to find? The Rebels “borrow” most of their technology from the Empire by hacking into Imperial computers at various locations in the galaxy and stealing the blueprints for whatever it is they need, but they can’t build any of the Imperial units. We wanted to keep the factions distinguishable between each other by making sure they have their own distinct units. However, as Chewbacca you can commandeer Imperial vehicles like AT-STs in the middle of a battle – just like in Return of the Jedi! Will there be a unit/population cap? Yes, there are pop caps, and they are a part of the strategic and tactical elements of gameplay. Galactic mode has a large pop cap that you can increase based on the strength of your space stations and how many planets you have under your control. In space combat, the pop cap is a set to 20 and cannot be increased. In land combat, the pop cap is related to which and how many reinforcement points you have under your control as an invader. The defender is restricted to a limit of 10 units but has defenses, garrisons and other means of increasing the number of units on the field without affecting the pop cap. In land Skirmish play, the pop cap is based on which and how many reinforcement points are under your control. Reinforcement points increase your pop cap by different amounts, and it is important to think about which reinforcement points will benefit you the most. Unit size is also an important factor when strategizing your pop caps; larger units take up more space than smaller units and also use up more of your pop cap points than smaller units. When retreating, how realistic is this option in combat? And how will it work? In other RTS games, when trying to withdraw from battle, you still lose nearly all of your units because they don’t really do a tactical retreat, like covering fire etc. Only a few commanders like Grand Moff Tarkin believe that retreating is simply not an option. However, if a battle clearly can’t be won or you’ve brought in the wrong forces, you might want to call a retreat and save as many of them as you can. Of course there is a penalty and while your units are making for the landing zone or in the process of hyper-spacing out, it’s possible a few of them will get attacked by the enemy and not make it out. It’s always best to try and have some distance between you and the enemy for any units you want to save as that will determine how many of them will be able to successfully retreat in time. Community support has been extremely strong. How important will their feedback be if there’s a need to create patches or offer tech support to those who need it? Community support and balancing feedback is extremely important to us. The community is our eyes and ears to our non-vocal audience and helps us make better games. We fully plan to support this product as necessary to rectify any issues that may come up after release. Are there any plans to release a Mac version? Not at this time. Do you have an idea of PC spec for EAW? Yes, the Min Specs are Computer: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible computer CPU: Intel Pentium III 1.0 GHz or AMD Athlon 1.0 GHz Operating System: Windows 2000, Windows XP Ram: 256MB Graphics Card: 32 MB graphics card with Hardware Transform and Lighting (T&L) capability Sound Card: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible, PCI or Onboard Audio Device Internet: 56kbps or faster connection (required for multiplayer only) Thanks to David and Chris @ Lucasarts.com Star Wars: Empire at War is due for release in February 2006 DMUK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowsfm Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 yeay some usful info. guess we cant have 20 at-ats becouse they cost multible cap points Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killerluk Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 "In space combat, the pop cap is a set to 20 and cannot be increased." you mean only 20 spaceships like a squad of fighters = 1 ? or does this apply to capitol ships only? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowsfm Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 cap ships cost more then 1 populatoin point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killerluk Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 hmm i hope someone will be able to mod the popcap lol cause that was what i would like most in this game HUGE space battles and i think if the game runs on the pc specifications they gave that you should be able to at least get huge wars in low detail mode... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowsfm Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 huge lag wars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KerryS86 Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 thats some pretty low pop caps. I thought we were suppose to have big battles and such. I guess i'll have to wait and see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lew Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Popcap: a needed and good innovation to the RTS genre way-back-when, it also helps explain the system requirements (no 20-ISD fleet or dozen AT-ATs marching in). Since the Imps are supposed to be the "numbers" faction, and the rebs are supposed to be the "quality" faction, I hope that the population cap "footprint" of the Imp units is smaller than the reb units. But, they are doing something none of us are- they're playing the game, so they'll make the adjustments. 12-mission campaign. Ok, if they're like a Call of Duty "mission" that spans several different submissions /goals /maps. Not ok if it's like a traditional RTS mission (ie: one map). The various "galactic campaign" options seem like a good thing- a small strat map for a short game, and a bigger one for a bigger game. But, on the bright side, it's probably a pretty good game if they're releasing a demo. If it was a complete turd they wouldn't release a demo- so this is a good thing RE demo: DarthMaulUK: there is so much demo speculation about your "big announcement" that if it isn't a demo you should let people know now, otherwise some of these guys will go nuts hehe. Good Q+A, with one notable exception.... === Community support has been extremely strong. How important will their feedback be if there’s a need to create patches or offer tech support to those who need it? === Not a good question choice. What do you expect their response to be? "No, Lucasarts plans on an aggressive marketing campaign to get a bunch of you to buy it, and then leave you high and dry- we'll have your money, so it doesn't matter! Oh, and if we do decide to make a patch, we won't pay any attention to anyone but the developers." *roll eyes* This question gives no information about the game. The mac one, ok that's fine (even though any mac person should know that if they intend to play the latest and greatest games, they need to buy a PC), because it does provide information about the game. When we only have a limited number of questions that we can "ask," let's try to pick the best ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightLight Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 The pop cap in space is probably a good thing, with alot of units on screen and all the effects it would bog down your system. all sounds good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DarthMaulUK Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 I was expecting alittle more from the community question and as for the Mac one, Mac owners have been asking. The pop cap is a little bit of a worry but it works well in Dawn OF War on a skirmish map. Remember, at the outset, they didnt want us to have giant battles - or one giant army to battle with, like more RTS games. DMUK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkLeeLee Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 is the pop cap for Multiplayer only or it goes into the single player too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowsfm Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 single player 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkLeeLee Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 hehehe i know people are going to be pissed about the pop caps not being bigger but i think its a good move it will make the game little bit more tatical i think and much enjoyable, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xsoy Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 wasent MaulUK supposed to give us some significant news :S alongside the Q&A multiplayer ..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkLeeLee Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 yeah i know they lied...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowsfm Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 mondays not over yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xsoy Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 i know.. all i meant was that i thought that maulUK was supposed to pop the question along with the multiplayer ones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmaster3265 Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 mondays not over yet ???? Ugh, its sunday....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killerluk Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 i thought "Are there any plans to release a Mac version? Not at this time. " = the big news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xsoy Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 maybe.. obviously I had hoped for a demo site or at least a release date bah.. well gotta wait a little longer and that havent killed anyone.. except cowboy in the stand off, that was nasty :S ahem.. carry on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkLeeLee Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 i have been reading some of people threads about pop caps at 20 and they are pissed off big time i dont see anything wrong with 20 i just dont get it what you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foshjedi2004 Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Remember 20 Star Destroyers will be a very painful fleet to face!! Plus I am sure that by editing XML files the limit can be raised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xsoy Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 yeah i think so too.. besides ive heard that fighters dont even count in the population count .. anyone able to verify this? many peps are freaking out cause 20 is too little.. i dont agree.. imagine 20 SD closing in on 10-15 mon calamari cruisers.. thats what i call massive!! - xsoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FleetAdmiral AK Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 yeah i think so too.. besides ive heard that fighters dont even count in the population count .. anyone able to verify this? many peps are freaking out cause 20 is too little.. i dont agree.. imagine 20 SD closing in on 10-15 mon calamari cruisers.. thats what i call massive!! - xsoy True, also if there is no pop cap on fighters I would build a few thousand and have only 1 capital ship. that or go crazy on mon calamaris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killerluk Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 well it would be nice if we could get more detailed info about the pop cap... how much of the popcap would the deathstar be ? do fighters count? are cap ships 1 point or more? is the popcap in galactic and storymode and multiplayer the same 20? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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