GOOD NEWS or Bad news ?! (Empire at War - E3)

[Cain]

I don't know if it is a good news for you or not but here are the latest updates from E3.

 

 

http://www.lucasarts.com/games/swempireatwar/images/screenshots/75.jpg

 

http://www.lucasarts.com/games/swempireatwar/images/screenshots/78.jpg

 

And here are the last Previews from E3 :

 

Gamespy - You might think the last thing we need is another Star Wars RTS, particularly considering the genre's track record with this license. The less said the better. But LucasArts is giving it another go, this time with a developer with a proven track record, and a new approach that actually tries to capture the series' eponymous epic scope.

 

Petroglyph is a new developer, but they consists largely of ex-Westwood staffers, including Chris Rubyor, who's been involved in pretty much any game with the words "Command" and "Conquer" in the title. "The guys are getting back together again," he beams, running down the list of Petroglyph's RTS luminaries. Many of the team members worked on Battle for Middle-Earth and it shows. Empire at War features infantry controlled in squad-sized clumps, powerful unique heroes with special powers, and evocative cinematic graphics.

 

The demo begins on Tatooine, where a modest collection of Rebel troops are unwittingly serving themselves as snacks to a rancor. Rubyor then shows off a classic Imperial assault in which he calls down a squad of TIE Bombers to destroy a power generator. Once this drops a shield, he shows how it might be a good idea to retreat by calling his forces back into space.

 

And here's where it's clear that Empire at War isn't just another RTS with a Star Wars skin. The space over Tatooine is a whole other layer. Using a traditional drag select interface, he sends a bunch of TIE Fighters to attack a Calamari cruiser. By selecting hard points on the cruiser, he can target attacks on its weapons or engines. The ground forces on your ships at this level determine what's available when you switch to the planetside map. You're not building barracks and moisture vaporators and cantinas; you're simply calling down your units and getting into the fighting.

 

But once a battle's won or lost, you're into the strategic map and all its planets. It runs in real-time and you're earning credits and unlocking techs based on the planets you control. You build starbases to defend planets and crank out spacecraft and ground forces, which you then move along hyperspace points (if you're one of the disappointed fans pining for a better version of Star Wars: Rebellion, consider this your new hope). When you meet the enemy's forces, the strategic game pauses and you're dropped into the RTS. This makes it possible to support two-player matches in the grand strategic mode; up to eight players can participate in more limited skirmishes. By keeping the money management at a higher level, Empire at War doesn't remove resource management so much as segregate it.

 

Of course, this higher level also allows for certain weapons of mass destruction. As Rubyor demonstrates the space battle, a Death Star slowly heaves into view. Once it's in position, a switch appears at the bottom of the screen.

 

"If we want, we can blow up Tatooine" he says.

 

"Can I pull it?" I ask.

 

He moves his hand off the mouse and I reach in to take over. A quick swoop of the cursor and a left click later, and Tatooine is a bunch of glowering debris under the Star Destroyers, TIE Fighters, and now homeless Y-Wings. You'll get your turn later this year when Empire at War is released

 

 

IGN - May 18, 2005 - The hubbub at the LucasArts booth is undeniable. In addition to the most excellent Battlefront II, we also had the chance today to check out the latest build of Star Wars: Empire at War. Not much has changed since our last preview of the game but things are getting more and more polished and new bits of content have been finding their way into the game.

 

 

When you consider the quality of previous Star Wars-themed RTS games, Empire at War seems to be getting a lot of things right. We got a good look at a few different battles today and the sense of scale and the pace of the game still impress us. The first battle raged across the surface of Tatooine. As the battle began, we zoomed in to see a rancor wading through formations of troops laying waste to anyone he could get his hands on. The rancor is a neutral unit on the battlefield, unaligned with either faction and is willing to attack both your forces and those of your enemy. The Jawas on the other hand are an uncontrollable group that will fight in the service of the Rebels.

Sadly things went badly for the Rebels once the Empire brought in the heavy artillery. A massive AT-AT lumbered across the sand, blasting away at everything in sight. Though the Rebels were able to take it down (it collapsed beautifully, by the way), the fate of the Alliance was sealed when the Empire called in an air strike of TIE Bombers to blow up their shield generator. The fact that Darth Vader made an appearance on the battlefield helped to push the advantage further into the Empire's favor. He not only swings a mighty lightsaber -- he also has an awesome Force Crush power that can make short work of enemy tanks.

 

The action then shifted to space where an even more impressive battle was going on. Star Destroyers and dozens of TIE Fighters were mixing it up with Alliance cruisers and X-Wings. Though we had seen this kind of space battle before, there were two new treats in store. First, we got a chance to see the new battle camera. This camera offers a very cinematic view of the action, switching to a chase view as a Star Destroyer exploded and then transferring to a view of an Alliance cruiser as TIE Fighters swarmed around it.

 

The second new treat was the appearance of the Death Star. A timer counts down as this Imperial super weapon drifts into position to attack the planet of Tatooine. When the timer reaches zero the Death Star powers up and unleashes a devastating attack that completely obliterates the planet.

 

Those of you who have been following the game know that each of the planets play a role in the larger strategic side of the game, providing significant bonuses and resources that can be used in the battles themselves. When Tatooine is destroyed, it's effectively removed the game and replaced by an asteroid field. Fleets can still battle with each other if they meet in this field, but the victor won't gain any bonuses or resources for winning.

 

This one's looking mighty sweet at this point. We can't wait to get our hands on our very own copies.

 

I should say that "I've told you so" and empty my blaster magazine in all that maded fun of my efforts to have EAW forums hosted by SWR like Warlords for example ... now we stayng on some silly free forums ... ghhhhhrrrrrrr ... they are a good host but nothing compares to my true love SWR when it comes to SW stuff.

 

Anyway for those who will like to keep an eye on this game ... you know were to find us. BTW for the SWR members who are also SWEAW PFF members ; there is an email from Mike Legg (EAW) that is directed at their efforts too. Another thing I could say is that I'm happy that some of our feedback is sneaking his way in the game ... so if you have feedback (High quality one) pls. notify me, Mad78 or Jahled we will make sure that it will go directly to the EAW developers "brainstorm" meetings in a week or two.

 

BTW Evaders can I post a news about EAW in a day or two ?

 

 

Thanks

[Evaders99]

It still seems to take the standard RTS route. It does not display any of the complexity that truly made Rebellion a game of its own.

 

Just because I am not hyping EaW does not mean I dislike in any way. You just jump the gun and try to make facts out of spectulation.

 

In my mind, it holds no connection to Rebellion what-so-ever. It is another Star Wars RTS, hopefully a good one. But we will see when it actually does come out.

[Cain]

It still seems to take the standard RTS route. It does not display any of the complexity that truly made Rebellion a game of its own.

 

Just because I am not hyping EaW does not mean I dislike in any way. You just jump the gun and try to make facts out of spectulation.

 

In my mind, it holds no connection to Rebellion what-so-ever. It is another Star Wars RTS, hopefully a good one. But we will see when it actually does come out.

 

Yeah ... no resamblence to Rebellion ... it has not have 200 planets but in rest has all the Rebellion stuff ... should I say more ? I'm jumping to the gun cause I want SWR to take advantage for many EAW community things and not other silly sites that are already on my neck and they don't wait for the game to come out. Evaders you resemble the Jedi Counsil that not sees true the force the full picture. Speculation ?!?! ... ha ! all I need now are the planets numbers the rest I know for sure that is in EAW (from Rebellion I mean) ... and insted of building an interview next to you with the developers for an EAW SWR section i'm building it for free forums ... how come I should not be upset ?!

 

> "In my mind, it holds no connection to Rebellion what-so-ever."

 

... nor betwen Iraq and the oil. Nothing at all ...

 

I'm totaly drain out ... empty of will and Force - May the force be with you Evaders

 

PS. You do the same thing like you did with the E3 script comments ... ignore the reality.

[Jahled]

Well it certainly sounds interesting; the more so given ex-Westwood people are involved; the C&C series have to be my all time favorite non-SW games; ability to mod not least!

 

Speaking of mods, will it need an editor like RebED to really stoke the flames of imagination like Rebellion? Without the ability to mod stuff like characters, ships, etc, it will never be our long-awaited Rebellion 2, because your stuck with all the same stuff, and will fade in time unlike how Rebellion has not.

[Mad78]

***Mad coughs and prepares himself for saying his usual phrase. Silence falls on the forums***

I say: Wait and see.

[kaja]

Looks great

 

Though I agree with Mad.

[Guest JediIgor]

When you meet the enemy's forces, the strategic game pauses and you're dropped into the RTS. This makes it possible to support two-player matches in the grand strategic mode; up to eight players can participate in more limited skirmishes

 

Eh, I want to see screenshots of this. If it's similar to the galaxy mode in Rebellion then it might be decent. Of course if it IS similar to Rebellion, then having only 20 planets is real laziness.

 

So is only letting two people play in a grand strategic mode. Those guys need to try Knights of Honor...

 

Edit: Found awesome videos at http://media.pc.gamespy.com/media/713/713904/vids_1.html

[Trejiuvanat]

Yeah ... no resamblence to Rebellion ... it has not have 200 planets but in rest has all the Rebellion stuff ... should I say more ?

 

A Death Star is not necessarilly all the Rebellion stuff, Vader appearing in the game was to be expected, but what about the other characters? Controlling 30 characters perside when playing Rebellion was good, adn there were times when 30 simply was not enough.

 

Also Cain you should be wary of those articles. They always write about the cool stuff of the game, never of any problem it might have or any down aspect to it.

 

I'd rather wait and see, as Mad puts it. When it's out someone around ehre will eventually get it and I'll hear to a review of someone I can trust. Faceless notes from the gaming industry are always untrustworthy.

 

I must say that graphically it looks good, I'd want to see how much 'ship variety' tehre is, and if the DS will work as in Reb, especially if one is to destory one.

 

I'll try the videos tomorrow, or the day after that.

[Cain]

Trejiuvanat its the only game were we can really help the developers and thus help our self have a beter game ... BTW the EAW has been delayed until spring 2006 it seems to me to be a LEC management decission but more later the better - we will have more planets and more stuff. What should we ask in the interview now that we have seen E3 presentations ?

 

20 more planets have been added but I don't remember were I've seen this

[Cain]

Now I remember were I saw it !

 

Star Wars Empire at War

 

Control the fate of the galaxy in Petroglyph's first RTS title STAR WARS EMPIRE AT WAR.

 

Set a few years before the events of Episode IV A New Hope, the game will let players rewrite history as well as experience the aftermath of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, the creation of the Rebel Alliance, and Darth Vader's rise to power.

 

Using an entirely new game engine, the game will feature beautifully rendered land and space battles set on over 50 memorable planets such as Hoth, Tatooine and Dagobah as well as never-before-seen environments taken directly from the Star Wars films and expanded universe novels. In the game, players can choose to join either the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire, building and setting up tactical forces that can be unleashed on the enemy in real-time 3D. All of the gameplay and action within Star Wars Empire at War is a persistent, meaning that strategic and tactical elements from previous events will have a permanent effect on the galaxy.

 

As players build, manage and progress their space and ground-based units, troops and vehicles, memorable Star Wars hero characters will begin playing a role in key situations. In addition to the single player campaign mode, the game will include a two-player Empire vs. Rebellion mode and up to eight player online skirmish modes.

 

Will you fight for the struggling rebels and bring freedom to the galaxy, or crush the rebellion under the tutelage of the Emperor?

 

...I wonder how many they will have until the game is released ?! For me 60 up to 80 will be enough. Abouve 100 will be to much.

[Skynxnex]

Man I still think your getting way way way too excited about this Cain.

 

I do admit that its nice they are upping the planets..20 seemed to little and if the Death Star destroys worlds then 20 would mean one easy game once the Imperial side got the Death Star. Anyway, the videos looked good and I have no doubt the game will be fun...but I dont think the game will be anything like Rebellion.