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| Singleplayer Update: Hoth Outpost |
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| Greetings Troopers!
For those that don't know, First Strike is being overhauled to change it into a singleplayer focused modification for Battlefield 2142. When EA dropped support for BF2142 this past summer it killed the multiplayer capability of the game. Player counts on the servers were already dropping before this happened, and with only a few devs left working on the mod, and with the fact that the Battle of Hoth map was planned to be the final release anyway, it was decided to cease development and join forces with the Star Wars: Battlecry team to continue development on the Unreal 4 Engine on a new free stand alone Star Wars themed game.
Even though the intended vision for Hoth was never realized in First Strike, there will be a simpler version of Hoth released with singleplayer support that will allow gameplay with iconic Hoth vehicles that include Snowspeeders, trench defense turrets, Speederbikes and the much anticipated AT-AT Walker. To this end the Hoth Outpost map from the First Strike Extended (FSX) mod is being updated.
Outpost Hoth has all the basic components of the iconic Hoth map with a small base to launch the Snowspeeders from, a trench system to defend, and a Power Generator to protect. The map is getting an update with a snow weather effect, the addition of the beta AT-AT Walker and changing some gamemodes to be dogfighting focused.
Dogfight mode allows the combat to focus solely on an aerial dogfight, which has been set up in some other maps and it's very popular with players. The big difference between this and space maps is that it takes much less time to get into the action, and it adds a whole new level of excitement to gameplay with bots. The intensity is maximized with the focus of the bots being in the sky, there are no flags to capture, it is just a case of kill more of the enemy to win. To add some variety there is the classic Snowspeeder versus TIE Fighter dogfight mode and a more challenging gamemode teaming Snowspeeders and X-Wings versus TIE Fighters and Interceptors.
The AT-AT Walker also makes it's debut here having only seeing limited action previously in an earlier publicly released Battle of Hoth map Beta. As a result it has never been fully tested in gameplay, and though solutions to implement some form of Snowspeeder tow cable through Python were considered, none ever made it to the development stage, so that aspect cannot be included. Yes, there are some balancing issues in the map, but it is presented to showcase the work that has gone in to developing the Hoth vehicles.
Future versions of this map will also include more of the authentic props and assets created in the latter stages of the Battle of Hoth's development, which should heighten the authenticity of this map. There is also the possibility of the release of a parred down infantry only version of the Battle of Hoth map featuring only the interior of Echo Base, though this will depend on the complexity involved in adding bot support for such a complicated environment to see if it is a viable option or not.
The new version will also feature more singleplayer maps from FSX and better hand weapon A.I. support. Development is on track for a release by the end of the month. While you're waiting, check out the in game screenshots above from the upcoming Outpost Hoth map.
Until then...
See you on the Battlefield Troopers!
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| First Strike: A Year in Review 2014 |
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Greetings Troopers!
It's that time of the year again, and the ModDB Mod of Year nominations are upon us once more. And this will also be our first MOTY under our new leadership, so let me hand you over to FSDev Dnamro as he lets you know just why First Strike is still a contender, and invites you to go out there and cast your vote for First Strike!
It's been a tumultuous year with EA dropping support for many of their older titles including BF2142 which has effectively killed the First Strike mod as a multiplayer game. However in this past year, the team released the First Strike 1.6 update which featured four brand new maps including the long awaited space boarding map Parmel Invasion, an impressive map which features space combat from cruisers down to starfighters, and for the first time integrates this with FPS infantry action on the same map as soldiers repel boarders and defend the space station at the heart of the map.
In addition to this there was Silver Station, a space based conquest map.
The community map which became Nesmazzda Conflict, which had the added
bonus of being co-op/singleplayer ready right off the bat.
And a little later the prison complex map set on the planet Dathomir.
Unfortunately, by this time most players had abandoned BF2142 as well, resulting in poor turn out. GameRanger managed to save BF2142, but this did not support mods such as First Strike.
With the death of the multiplayer side of the mod, the team decided to join forces with the Battlecry team to develop a free Star Wars game on the Unreal 4 Engine.
The team has been busy working through the issues of converting First strike to the Unreal 4 Engine. With a 10 year age difference between game engines, there is a lot of updating that has to happen, which makes for a slow process. All the textures have to be redone and many models will have to be updated as well. FSDev TALON has been hard at work in his spare time converting First Strike assets for use in Unreal 4, and has even been working on new material not yet seen in First Strike which will make its debut in the Unreal 4 Engine, and we have a preview for you of this work below.
The First Strike mod, however, lives on as a singleplayer experience, as work-arounds have been found to enable the game to continue with offline support. In fact First Strike is currently being revamped with the focus being on singleplayer with a beta release expected before the end of the year.
There are some exciting developments in the works for First Strike, keep your eyes peeled for the next news update for more on that. But until then, your votes will determine the future of First Strike. So go out and vote, and give us feedback in the forums or on the ModDB site.
See you on the Battlefield Troopers! | |
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Closed Alpha Test & Deth..
