Greetings!

[Guest Admiral Thrawn]

Lets do it one game at a time, in the future when 3D games are the normal, then Lucas Arts can easily make something like that so they won't screw up as in FoCom.

[Guest Admiral Odin]

Got another question about, This about Rebel bombers.

 

Now the normal Y-wing will have the ability to be upgraded to a four engined Y-wing. Why did you decide to create an entirely new bomber (the 4 engine Y-wing) instead of letting the normal Y-wing be upgraded to the B-wing?

[Guest hedning85]

My thought to. An Y-wing with 4 engines will feel wrong and I will really miss the B-wing:mad:

 

 

 

:leia:Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper

[Guest crazy_dog]

Maybe there is more than one upgrade for the Y-Wing.

[Guest Thrawn]

Maybe it goes from Y-wing, to quad Y-wing, to B-wing? That would be cool.

[Guest Kavam1]

Any one know if V-wing will be in there as maybe a snow speeder upgrade ? Or anything like that?

[Guest Thrawn]

That's a pretty cool idea. It could have those cluster missles as it''s special weapon.

 

Mr. Gaber: Will there be a V-wing?

[Guest hedning85]

The Y-wing wont be able to upgrade to a B-wing, since Mr Gaber said there will be no B-wings in his last post:mad:

 

Jedi will not be able to deflect lasers, but they are rather strong in defense and offense against vehicles that fire them. No TIE Defenders, B-wings, E-wings or K-wings are currently planned for the game. But we do have A-wings, X-wings and Y-wings, amongst others. X-wings opening and closing S-foils is an item we are currently looking into - we're not sure how to do it and maintain delineation between units, but we're investigating. No promises here.

 

I threw in a bit extra info in case you haven't seen the post.

 

 

:leia:Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper

[Guest Droideka]

1. will the multiplayer be like Half-Life or will it be on the zone

 

2. will the MTTs unload units like in the movie or like inAoK where they just appear

 

3.woulda civ have an advantage over a certain other civ like how trade feds where whooping the gungans

[Guest Garry_M_Gaber]

PART 1:

 

Wow! I can't believe all the questions. This is awesome! It is great to see the enthusiasm you are all showing towards this game.

 

Just a quick status, then onto the questions:

 

Last Wednesday, September 5th, we officially declared Beta. What this means is that every asset, art and sound is represented in the game in a form which we could ship, and that every programming feature has been implemented. We are now firmly in a bug-fixing and polishing phase before our final Quality Assurance (Q.A.) phase. The game is looking pretty solid, as you've probably gathered from the flurry of cool screenshots coming down the pike. We're still very much on schedule for a circa Thanksgiving release, and may even be a tad before that. Anyway, onto the questions:

 

Tie Guy (8/24), games -- and other forms of entertainment -- often draw inspiration from a variety of sources. A company would definitely run into trouble if it tried to use actual source code from another game without permission -- and we're definitely not doing that. Aircraft, detection and stealth are elements that we share with Starcraft and RA2.

 

Captain Fett (8/24), I am not at liberty to discuss future projects, but as soon as I can, I'll let you know. There are Trandoshans in Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, though they are not a civ. There is a particularly nasty one named Pekt who gives Chewie quite a bit of trouble.

 

Well, Wraith 5 (8/24), you never know. I have been known to visit the Zone and play games multiplayer, and I do really enjoy this game....

 

Young David (8/24), I wasn't trying to be evasive at all, just trying to say that although Thrawn, Xizor, Karrde, Daalla and Guri are not in Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, there are several expanded universe units which are, including Mara Jade and the TIE Defender. There is only so much room, and we have loaded this game with lots of "toybox" units which were created just for the scenario editor. And just to clarify, Lucas Licensing has no problem with us using these units in games.

 

Sorry Captain Fett (8/24), that feature was planned but didn't make it into this game. Because of the way that the camera works, it became an interface problem to execute it properly.

 

The feature Tie Guy mentions is in the game. If you set up a group by hitting CTRL and a number key, then double hit the number key, it will center on the group.

 

We're still looking at those pesky X-wings and their S-foils, Thrawn (8/25).

 

If all 800 battle droids are on screen at one time, darthfergie (8/25), yes it could slow down the engine a little. The Flying Whale is the Gungan's Air Transport (it's actually called a Gungan flyer). We have decided to include the TIE Defender with the scenario editor, and it's a cool unit.

 

The aircraft hovers when it is idle. It doesn't actually land, jigga (8/25).

 

In answer to Captain Fett's question (8/25)The Trade Federation can only have 800 droids in one scenario as part of a campaign. In normal gameplay, they are limited to the same max number of units as all the other civs.

 

The Wookiees have a dragon trooper (a creature sort of like a Krayt dragon), and the Trade Federation has Beetle Troopers, which are kind of icky to listen to, Captain Fett (8/25).

 

Mounted Troopers are faster than units on foot, darthfergie (8/25), even on the Trade Federation side.

 

You will not be able to transport sea units over land, god (8/25).

 

In answer to jedi3112's questions about air (8/25), it is a hover which leaves the aircraft in place, so it doesn't fly circles into enemy anti-air emplacements. Bombers have unlimited bombs, and aircraft are repaired by worker droids.

 

That unit is the Royal Naboo equivalent of an AT-AT, called the Steadfast, Thrawn (8/25). The unit tree and unit statistics will be released with the game, and I think you're going to like what we're doing with it - don't want to give away too much now. Units will have portraits. The Naboo are relatively strong in air units. In fact, with certain technological upgrades like Shielding, they can even go head to head with Rebel air. The Trade Federation definitely has STAPs. It will be about as hard to advance through the tech levels as the ages in AOK. Shields cover whatever is in their range. Aircrafts and boats can be protected by a shield. Sorry, there are no Chiss units currently planned for this game. The purple explosion is a way to delineate what is firing at you. There are different explosions for different classes of units. There are no spies or thiefs in the game, but Jedi or Sith can research Jedi/Sith Mind Tricks, which would make them functionally invisible. Workers will not be able to salvage materials, but shields will affect buildings within range.

 

The demo, as it stands now, Paragon_Leon (8/25), will include two civs and perhaps a couple scenarios. It will also only include technologies up to tech level 3.

 

Droids will repair whatever you tell them to, but it is not automatic since it costs a certain amount of resources to do so, jigga (8/25).

 

One thing about the engine I would change, Clefo (8/26)? You will see lots of changes to the engine that our programmers have been executing. Aircraft is one of the big ones. As far as open Beta testing, LucasArts game testing takes place through large dedicated teams of internal testers. For Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, we have extended these efforts with some selected external resources. We haven't generally used the large open beta approach for our games.

 

We have space scenarios and maps in this game, darthfergie (8/26), as well as terrain included in the scenario editor, so that you can create your own space missions. As far as other games we're planning, I can't comment.

 

Close, Admiral Odin (8/26). We're on track for being in stores around Thanksgiving time.

 

Qui-Gon Jinn has a fairly large role in this game - he is your guide through the Learning Campaign, JMaNtK421 (8/26). Minimum system specs do not require hardware acceleration, and should be somewhere around a Pentium 200 class with 32 MB of ram.

 

In answer to Phoenics2 (8/26), to maintain the player's ability of choosing to remove aircraft from a dogfight, they will fire while in a hovering position, sort of like the aircraft in Starcraft.

 

The Naboo Royal Knight is a very effective Mounted Trooper, Destroyer Droid (8/26). He is also impervious to Jedi conversion.

 

Blaster Cannons are parabolic weapons - they all fire projectiles, god (8/26). They do have to deploy (with an animation while this is happening) to fire, and undeploy to become mobile again.

 

anonymousdude (8/26), that second bar is indeed the Faamba's shield health. When it goes away, the shield is still active on surrounding units, but the Faamba is taking damage against its health. When the Faamba dies, the shield disappears. And in answer to Captain Fett's question of (8/27), there is just one Faamba Shield Generator, not two combined units - it would have been a nightmare for pathfinding, and collision, as well as been very hard for the player to control.

 

KansasNavy (8/26), the Gungans can be effective in terrains without water because they've got amazing Mechs, and the Faamba Shield Generator, which is the only mobile shield generator in the game. The Y-wing with 4 engines is an advanced bomber, the third upgrade in the bomber line.

 

There are no weapons of mass destruction, like in Starcraft and C&C, jigga (8/27), unless you count the AT-ATs and Blaster Cannons.

 

The X-wing blasters fire all at once, jedi3112 and god (8/27), as do most units with more than one blaster cannon.

 

No Sarlacc pits currently planned for this game. Sorry, jigga (8/28). There are forests of trees and individual trees in this game, which do affect pathfinding. Not all units can destroy trees, but certain units can (the Blaster Cannon and Assault Mech for example). Plus worker droids can harvest trees or carbon rocks (which are like trees on planets where trees don't exist). Small numbers of units will get special abilities.

 

The equivalent to the AT-AT, Palpatine (8/28), is the Juggernaut (Rebels), Steadfast (Naboo), MTT (Trade Federation), Faamba (Gungans), and the Battle Scythe (Wookiees).

 

Please see PART 2 for the rest of the reply. . .

 

Garry M. Gaber

Director

Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds

[Guest Garry_M_Gaber]

PART 2:

 

The units in Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds obey the laws of physics, Kavam1 (8/28). AT-AT's do have splash damage. Both energy weapons and parabolic weapons will be present in the game. Nova is used for technologically advanced units and Jedi. Units can be turned to your side by your Jedi. I can't comment on 3rd party tools.

 

Tell me about it, Admiral Thrawn (8/28). My fingers are getting tired!

 

The A-wing is a scenario editor unit only. There are three levels of Y-wing, and X-wing (bomber and fighter classes respectively) and one level of Air Transport. There are no real world maps like in AOK, but we do have Star Wars locale maps, where you choose the size and location of a Star Wars planet, and the engine automatically creates a random map for you, complete with planet specific objects and art.

 

jigga (8/29), Bounty Hunters can kill multiple Jedi. There is no freezing weapon currently planned. Those weren't frozen Jedi scalps on Aurra Sing's belt after all. . . Jedi and Sith can research detection, which allows them to see all other cloaked units, including other Jedi and Sith.

 

We are planning for near simultaneous availability in as many worldwide territories as possible. Please keep in touch with your local retailers or distributors for the most up to date availability information, Darth_Rommel (8/30).

 

All units carry player color, Admiral Odin (8/31) - that's how you know whose side they are on. Sith are present as part of the Trade Federation and Galactic Empire civilizations. All other civs have Jedi.

 

The Rebel Airspeeder (special unit on the Rebel side), jedi3112 (8/31), is a detector unit, which means it can find cloaked Jedi.

 

There are no large battleships for space battle currently planned for this game, jigga (9/1).

 

Although that feature isn't included with this game, darthfergie (9/2), I will consider it if there are future expansion packs. Thanks!

 

It would break consistency in the game to have the Y-wing upgrade to a B-wing, Admiral Odin (9/3). That is why the AT-ST doesn't upgrade to the AT-AT - they really are two different classes of units.

 

There are no V-wings currently planned for the game, Kavam1 (9/4).

 

Thanks for the clarification, hedning85 (9/4). We added TIE Defenders to the scenario editor recently.

 

I'm not sure how Half-life handles its multiplayer, but this game will support the Zone, IPX, LAN, direct IP, serial and modem connections, droideka (9/4).

 

Thanks for all the questions, and I hope to give you the news at the next post that we are nearing final Q.A.

 

And as always, thanks for your continued support!

 

Garry M. Gaber

Director

Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds

[Young David]

Thank you for the update mr. Gaber (or can I say Garry?). It was a nice read. It's good that developers keep in touch with their fans ... That is what's so cool about Ensemble Studios.

[Guest Sherack Nhar]

Garry strikes back! Now let's get ready for the oncoming wave of guests from VoodooExtreme, Blue's News and TFN!

[Guest Admiral Thrawn]

O yes, but Will there be Tie-Intercepters as a upgrade of the Tie-Fighter? (Rumors I have heard)

 

Also Garry where can I apply to be affiliterated with Lucas Arts like Galactic Battles and it's forum with Imperial Garrision. Does it require a non-free site?

 

Also dealing with the scenario editor, PLEASE PLEASE enable some form of cutting and pasting!

[Guest Admiral Odin]

Thank you.

 

 

 

Ready for more questions?

 

 

All units carry player color, Admiral Odin (8/31) - that's how you know whose side they are on. Sith are present as part of the Trade Federation and Galactic Empire civilizations. All other civs have Jedi.

 

What I meant to ask was, what part of the unit shows the side, (a random part or something else). For more clarification (what I really want to know) Do the saber color on Jedi and Sith indicate which side they are on. ex. I'm player color blue, do all my Jedi have blue lightsabers?

 

I now see why the B-wing wasn't placed in the campaigns itself, but I now have to wonder why was it ommitted form the entire game. The A-wings, Tie Defender are two ships that can only be accessed from the scenario editor. Why wasn't the B-wing (which is, a famous ship; I least I think so) also placed in that catagory: in the game but only avialble in the scenario editor.

[Guest midgetminnie]

I'm too lazy to sort through this whole thread:mad:, so please simply disregard any questions which have already been asked or you can't reveal yet. Here they are:

 

1) Will there be any action queing? e.g. you want a worker unit to gather carbon right after building something, you can arrange that to happen. I personally think that's a great idea.

 

2) What type of main multiplayer support will SWGB have? e.g. Age Of Empires 2 has zone.com

 

3) Will every civ only have 1 unique unit, or are you considering any more?

 

4) Will the game be mostly ranged, or have more short-ranged fighters than just Jedis and Wookie Berserk?

 

5) Can you please give us an estimate on the system requirements needed?

[darthfergie]

Originally posted by midgetminnie

I'm too lazy to sort through this whole thread:mad:, so please simply disregard any questions which have already been asked or you can't reveal yet. Here they are:

 

1) Will there be any action queing? e.g. you want a worker unit to gather carbon right after building something, you can arrange that to happen. I personally think that's a great idea.

 

2) What type of main multiplayer support will SWGB have? e.g. Age Of Empires 2 has zone.com

 

3) Will every civ only have 1 unique unit, or are you considering any more?

 

4) Will the game be mostly ranged, or have more short-ranged fighters than just Jedis and Wookie Berserk?

 

5) Can you please give us an estimate on the system requirements needed?

 

2) Zone also

3) well actually each civ has more than one in many way. (i.e.- Gungans have Sub & Faambaa) And most of the units on each side will feal unique partly due to the unique art for all sides and mainly because the techs are so diversified to each civ they feel unique.

4) there are diffenatly more short rangers. Since they havn't release the Tech-Tree I don't know all of them

5)Estimated System Requirements:

A. Multimedia PC with Pentium 266MHz or higher processor.

B. Microsoft® Windows® 95, Windows 98/ME, Windows NT®

C. 32 MB of RAM

D. 300 MB of hard disk space; additional 100 MB of hard disk space for swap file

E. Super VGA monitor supporting 800x600 resolution.

F. Local bus video card that supports 800x600, 256 color resolution

G. CD-ROM drive.

H. Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device.

I. 28.8Kbps modem (or higher recommended) for Internet* or head-to-head play.

J. Audio board with speakers or headphones.

*Internet access required for Internet play. May require payment of a separate fee to an Internet Service Provider. Connect time and local telephone charges may apply*

[Guest Admiral Odin]

I'll answer most of those questions. All quoted from Gaber

 

1)don't know

 

2.)

I'm not sure how Half-life handles its multiplayer, but this game will support the Zone, IPX, LAN, direct IP, serial and modem connections, droideka (9/4).

 

3.)civs have only 1 unique unit

 

4.)variety, mostly ranged though

 

 

5.)

Qui-Gon Jinn has a fairly large role in this game - he is your guide through the Learning Campaign, JMaNtK421 (8/26). Minimum system specs do not require hardware acceleration, and should be somewhere around a Pentium 200 class with 32 MB of ram.

[darthfergie]

Originally posted by Admiral Odin

3.)civs have only 1 unique unit

 

I like mine a bit better:D

They have only one UU in a castle but they have others elsewhere too.(i.e.-Sub and Faabaa)

[Guest Tie Guy]

Thanks Mr. Gaber, this is great!

 

Just a few more questions if you don't mind.

 

About the upgrading of units, you said that the B-wing wouldn't fit to be upgraded from the Y-wing, but what about other units? Is the X-wing upgraded from the Z-95? Both were made by incom, and one was basically a smaller version of the other. Another example would be the TIE Fighter upgrading to the TIE Interceptor. Is there any chance that these type of things will be in the game, or will we just see three different levels of power of X-wing?

 

Thanks again!

[Darth_Rommel]

Garry, Just wondering:

 

1) Are expansions planned?

 

2) If so, with what civs?

 

Thnx.!

[Dash4]

What about the Outrider? Is that ship going to be in the game?

[Guest midgetminnie]

Thanks for you answers, DarthFergie . I still have one question though (it's unanswed): Will there be action queing for worker units?

[Dash4]

The ships should be able to land, because if you create a "find the missing ship(or somthing like that)" mission, it would look a little weird if it already were in the air. At least they should be able to...

[Captain Fett]

Hey, Mr. Gaber, will the terrorist attack on the trade center twin towers affect the release and/or quality of GB? If anyone has no idea what the heck I'm talkin about just turn on your tv and watch the news! It's the only thing on! Also, in your opinion do you think that this attack on our economy will affect the quality and/or price of computer products, parts, hardware and software?