Lytyr

Heros should definately die. After all, if not for Han appearing at the last moment at Yavin, Luke would be dead. Leia would also be dead if not for being rescued; heroes die unless you are careful, or they are lucky. If they're in a ship that happens to be docked on a planet that happens to be blown up by a surprise strike from a Death Star, there should be no magical cloning. My opinion, anyway.

Total speculation here... but from the look of that: 1) The bolt we see in the shot is past the SD while the explosion is only on the underside. 2) The ship seems to have been fully intact - in all other trailers, we see ships deteriorate as they take damage, so this one was probably in near-pristine condition. For the sake of assuming something else, there are two possibilities: either that was a hell of a blast from a hell of a gun, or (I'd wager), we're looking at the effects of a sabatoge/bombing expedition. Simple put, a hero like Han Solo, or maybe a specialised unit, could have infiltrated the ship and planted a bomb on the inside. Sounds like the Rebels, and also explains why the blast is at a funny angle and is past the ship, and why the ship looks undamaged (other then the blooming explosion). Or, conversely, a smaller ship, such as a Corellian Gunship, could have rammed the ship from an angle that would hide it from the camera, although that is more unlikely.

Yes, that's also an important question - I'd expand it also to can you make them arrive at DIFFERENT times as well - that way, you could station a big fleet in a nearby system; leave an Interdictor and a Victory-class or two in the target system; if the enemy force is too big for both fleets to handle, then you run away with those 3 ships and risk loosing very little, insteaf of half your fleet. If, however, you can take the fleet, then you can hold them in and jump your larger group into the system and take them by surprise. Either way, this is a set of questions that I can't wait to get an answer to.

Fett? Psh, at least a quarter of my reasoning behind the empire choice is the forsaken Interdictor - would be a NASTY pest if I could station it halfway through hyperspace lanes, but even if not, it's great fun.

By deep space he means space that has no landmarks or anything in it - just empty space between star systems.

Remember that they could easily let multiple battles happen at once, because either way, there is a population limit (heh, I finally realised a use for the thing). So whether you have 50 heavy battlecruisers in one system, or one in 50 systems, it will be the same system lag, no? Not to mention that putting one ship in a system would be highly impractical in general, as that way your opponent could bring, say, 5 ships to bear and obliterate your attack one by one, or with surface defences and a frigate/bomber complement to the system. So maybe they DO plan fo 160+ battles, but plan the pop limit in a way that will make fleets in more then 3 systems be too divided to work out properely. That way, your one-system fleets will be highly impressive and deadly, but your two/three pronged assaults could also work out and be a strategic success. Another interesting implementation would be Battlefield Generals who gain experience as they fight. The higher their level, the better the AI who controls the battle while you are away. Might solve control problems a bit (though we all know humans can eventually beat all levels of AI).

There's still the question as to whether that's even possible. If it is (which I really hope it is!), then it will give good players that much of an advantage over bad players, assuming they can coordinate well. Anyway, if it's a feature, I would assume you are simply snapped to one of the views, and then can switch between views via the galactic overview map.

1. Will the Death Star's destruction be a victory condition in multiplayer? If so, can it be disabled? 2. Can players access and use the galactic map while managing combat on a space or ground level? 3. When can we expect a fully official review with more information and units and stuff then we've had so far? 4. What will be on Wayland! Tell me now!!!

I'll be playing both, obviously, to get to know the tactics. From then, I'll decide what to play, although at the moment I'm quite settled on the Empire (Interdictors, AT-ATs and Star Destroyers rule).

WAYLAND!!!! YESSSS!!!!! *dies of extacy* PLEASE tell me we'll get cloning vats and cloaking shields with Wayland! Please oh please Petro!

Has there been any official confirmation that destroying the DS in multiplayer will win the game for Rebels?

Hapans = pwnage. I love them - Battle Dragons are so much more refreshing a concept then standard ships. Not to mention the women are all gorgeous. Go Hapes!

Yeah, it might just be the "battle camera" in action, which would naturally focus on the DS's impending doom rather then some Corvette getting pounded by bombers.

Very cool - OVER eighty! Awesome. I wonder which ones?

I'd never heard of it before - where does it appear in cannon, other then that site?

Well, pop-wise, I found AoM horrid, yes - 200 pop was unachievable in 1v1 games (settlements... grrrr), maps were tiny, and most good units took up 3+ pop, which made for dissapointingly small armies and a lack of much epic feeling to the game. It was graphically interesting (myth units were cool), but other then that, I was dissapointed. AoE3 looks like it'll be great, though - I've only got the demo ATM, but it's great fun.

Frankly, the Death Star's destruction should NOT be a victory condition, or at least it should not be an imposed victoy condition - I mean, the first one blew up and the Empire didn't loose. Even after the second DS blew up with the Empire, it probably could have survived if Thrawn had been better placed and a bit more careful. And also, rebel ships are supposed to be invididually superior to imperial ones (TIEs vs X-wings, Corvettes vs Tartans, etc), other then the ISDs which are even with Mon Cal cruisers, in general (though in the game, it appears that Mon Cal cruisers are more powerful, period).

AoE wasn't bad, mainly because of the way the game worked. AoM was horrid. I hope the limit is more EE-style, where's it's present but hugely big.

A good question - I've been thinking a similar one, and ditto for space zones (notably for the ability to ambush w/ Interdictors a fleet in transit to a key system).

An amusing prospect would be taking RPC-style control of a fighter ship and doing the Trench Run manually. And I'm not kidding, either - in fact, any RTS where you could become a unit RPG-style would be awesome. Of course... the Imperial guy could take his TIE X1-Advanced and blow you up... a test of piloting skill, in an RTS! Hehe. But never going to happen - I can imagine the fighters would "dissapear" into the DS, along with attacking fighters; your role is hope that the fighters win, and keep any other enemies from chasing them. Higher veterancy could mean a higher chance of getting it done; for gameplay, wou would have to defeat the shields first before attemping that.

My processor is an ADM Athlon XP 2100... that bad, or good?

Specifically, I believe Tartan Cruisers are made to be anti-fighter, so loading up on those would deter all but massive swarms of fighters. Not only would that blow up the little ships, but it would draw the larger cruisers needed to destroy the Tartans into the area - you could then back up the Tartans with some other cheap cruiser, like Acclamators, and while it would surely die if they brought several Mon Cal Cruisers to bear, that would be several less MCCs pointed at you when you hit them with your real force. Good that you mentionned it, though - I would hope that you CAN station fighter wings on planets, or more likely in space stations, but we can never be sure.

If I'll remember, I'll ask whether or not we can access and use the Galactic Map while playing. Obviously, leaving your forces to fight while you check on the Income rate of Dagobah is ludacris, but I'm wondering whether we could station ships in systems near one we know battles will take place in, and then jump them in while the battle takes place to surprise the enemy.

Nice! Finaly, realism! I imagine they also run over your own troops if you're not careful, though, right? Infantry would then be programmed to move out of the way, one would hope.

Not that I can notice - what in particular do you mean?