1.03 Update and 1.04

An introduction and details on Patch 1.03

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Hey Starhawk players. I’m Pete Mackay and I work with Ron LaJoie (LBI_Ron) here at Lightbox Interactive. Dylan has asked me to be responsible for keeping in touch with the community on the forums daily so if you have questions shoot them my way. As Dylan mentioned in his post, we need to communicate better on the forums and my aim is to improve that.



Our team has been busy working on the 1.03 and 1.04 patches since we dropped patch 1.02 in June. Patch 1.03 will be released soon and we wanted to share with you all of the changes that are coming with it:



Push to talk
Spawn screen now has a shortcut to make changing skills easier
Fixed the laggy pickups
New VOIP architecture - this will fix the drop outs
Ability to play custom music via the XMB
Prestige ranks
Limited host kick
Limited team switching
Major stability and connectivity fixes
Team balance fixes
More music variety in multiplayer games (it will also kick in more often)
Unlocked customization parts now sort to the top of the list
Rift barrels show up on the minimap
Added the option to make clan games ranked or not (clan vs. itself is automatically unranked)
Private games are now unranked
Hawks can now be dismounted in the air if you have a jetpack equipped
Building icons are displayed while dropping in
Increased Spawn Pod maneuverability and damage: in playtests this has helped combat base-ravaging immensely.
New (awesome) Cypress map

We’re really excited to release this update and think you’ll find that we’ve addressed the biggest outstanding issues and added a few new cool things to play with. Personally I can’t wait till you see the new Cypress maps, they’re quickly becoming some of my favorites!



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I've compiled all your questions and the answers below to make it easier to find

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Now if we could only get a bit more freedom in server options I would be set. Such as custom weapon loadouts. Has there been any talk about this?



A primary goal for us is to ensure that all of our game types are balanced. Because fully custom loadouts prevent us from ensuring balance a decision was made to utilize presets instead.



*IMPORTANT QUESTION* is Ron LaJoie related to Jon LaJoie of 'show me your genitals' fame?



No, but he is related to Bon LaJoie of Extreme Tiger Ranching, a long cancelled Canadian community channel reality show.



Can you elaborate on the Team Balance Fixes? How are you accomodating for people entering as parties?



Previously the game attempted to keep parties and clans together on the same team. The original goal was to make it easy for friends to play the game together but the drawback to this was that in a lot of cases it severely affected the team balance (as many of your forums posts pointed out). The changes forthcoming will now prioritize balancing the teams over keeping clans and parties together but will keep parties together when team balance allows it.



Are you going to have an option to not allow parties?



We don’t have any plans to do this at this time.



Many of us that's been here since launch still would like to know how long till we see these changes and have a better since of the timeline for both 1.03 and 1.04.



1.03 is finished and is currently undergoing final certification testing at Sony. Unfortunately because we can’t be certain of when that process will be complete within Sony I can’t be more specific about a date. The team is hard at work on 1.04 but we’re not quite at the point where we can give you a date. I hope that answer is better than ‘soon’



Also the drop pod increase in damage, is it so it destroys unmanned vehicles or is there another reason behind it?



Actually ‘increased damage’ is a bit inaccurate. The change actually slightly increases the damage radius. It still does not damage unmanned vehicles. In addition the maneuverability while falling has been increased with the intention for the drop pod to become a much more effective tool for protecting your base.

Thanks for the feedback and the welcome everyone. Here are a few more answers for you!



Because most of the maps in Starhawk are empty so that we can fill up the map with structures, what was it like making the Cypress maps with a more crowded swamp theme in mind? / LBI_pete can we get a few new screen shots or even a vid clip of the new map plz?



It’s probably easier to just show you. Check out the attached screenshot. It’s a size comparison of some of the maps in the beta with the two new Cypress maps. We also made a conscious decision to include more environmental structures and features that players can utilize. Things like ruined buildings, gnarly root clusters and collapsed pipelines.




Any thoughts on encouraging players to utilize the map more/ Do you have any plans to address the supreme lack of map usage in non-zones games?



The maps were designed to allow for flexibility in how players used BnB. They were also made with multiple game types in mind. One of the drawbacks to this approach is that in some game modes some of the spaces aren’t utilized as evenly.



Will there be a preview of the next loud out + map during intermission? It'd help players avoid the quit penalty if they were to join the next round only to be put in a loud out or game mode they loathe.



This is not in 1.03. It has been discussed for 1.04 but nothing is concrete yet.



@Pete, is it expected that the stability updates will rid us of frequent freezes and kicks to the XMB?



There have been significant improvements to both connectivity and overall game stability in the 1.03 patch, and we will continue to include fixes in 1.04.



Did you also measure the effect this has on zones? Its already too easy to tag someone trying to take one of your zones with a drop pod. This is going to have a significant, negative impact on the game mode IMO.



In our testing the faster speed/larger radius has made capturing zones more difficult, but not impossible. As to enemy towers in your own base our designers are also aware of the potential and it’s something we are looking at specifically during our playtests. This is also something that is tuneable in an update so we can make corrections if necessary.



What about a stats feed/developer API? I made a $50 bet that we would never see a Starhawk stats feed, and I would like to know if you guys plan to prove me wrong.



We are still planning to release the info for XML stats data. The community website (which is still being built) uses the same stats data.



LBI Pete--great work keeping up with us! I've been dying for this kind of regular interaction on these forums since the beta...you're doing a fantastic job so far, and I really hope you keep it up. I can't remember reading a mention of this at all in this thread, but will Troop DM, Tank DM and the small maps be in 1.03 or 1.04?



Thanks! I’m glad Dylan asked me to do it. He hates being away from the forums but running the company is taking up a ton of his time. New DM modes and smaller maps are not part of 1.03 but will be included in 1.04.



Wait in Dylan's post, he mentioned a rage-quit penalty. Is that going to be in 1.04? If so, what will it be exactly?



The rage quit penalty is also not part of 1.03 but are working to include it with 1.04. This ties into the earlier question about displaying what the next map is so that players can quit without taking a penalty.



Do you guys have any plans to have a “spectator” option in private servers(unranked)? Kind of like the Urgent Fury moderating mode.



The spectator mode was originally made to allow us to do some fun in-person tournaments at events with an announcer so it was really rough in terms of a usability experience. Later on we did a bit more work to make it functional for Urgent Fury and MLG but its still not at a level we’d be comfortable releasing. It’s on our development ‘wish list’ though and we’d love to make it available if Sony asks us to do it.



@IBI_pete has there bin any talk of adding more troop guns and vehicles?



There’s always talk of adding more vehicles :smileywink:



I am from Saudi Arabia .. And I would love to see Saudi Arabia flag in the game for clans so that I could creat a clan for me and my friends in middle east ,, so is there any plans for adding other countries flags ? And is there any plans for middle eastern servers ??



Sony has 3 major product regions. The Americas, Asia and Japan, and Europe. The Middle East is part of Sony Europe. Starhawk has one flag icon for each region. This is why you’re likely seeing a European icon in the game list next to your games. As to the question about banners, what countries (other than Saudi Arabia, got that one!) would you like to see?



Can you go into detail a little bit on limited host kick? Is it per round?



The host is limited to one kick every 2 minutes.



Did you guys place more structures in all maps or just the cypress maps?



No changes were made to the other maps. The two main reasons for this are that our artists and designers are full speed ahead on the new Cypress maps and that adding new art assets (buildings, rocks, trees etc) would quickly increase the patch size.



Can we have some stats on the different flight modes?



What sort of statistics are you interested in? I’ll see if I can get one of the designers to put a chart together.



Did anyone else notice that the new maps look like they will not be able to play ground pounder?



It’s hard to tell from that image, but the water level is knee high throughout the map. You’ll be able to run and drive the distance between islands without the need for bridges.



Pete, was wondering where LBI stands on flight in its current iteration?



While we are always looking at game balance (damage, dynamics etc) there are currently no plans to make radical changes to core gameplay mechanics.



Hey Pete did anyone at LBI see that glitch I posted ? and are you guys looking into it ? Last one lol other then FREE stufff are we going to see any DLCs or other things that will pop up on the PSN stor? Thanx



We did, thanks for sending it. Once we are able to reproduce it then we’ll start investigating the fix. DLC is a part of the plan for 1.04 but I’m not sure I can talk about what that is just yet.



is there any chance we could see no-vehicle loadouts in the future? infantry versus infantry type arena matches are very popular and this would make it easier to keep trolls and griefers from joining and ruining an otherwise very fun server and implementation of b&b.



There won’t be any no-vehicle loadouts exactly, but there is a more troop-specific loadout in 1.04. We also just finished our Friday playtest that included Troop DM (which we are calling ‘Arena’ in 1.04) and it was a blast! I think you guys are going to like it.



@LBI_pete is there anything in the upcoming 1.03 that we dont know about, maybe like b&b upgrades or new vehicles?



No, everything that is included in 1.03 was listed in my first post. You’ll see some of this coming with 1.04 though



How will the prestige system work?.. And will we get new emblems when wHow will the prestige system work?.. And will we get new emblems when we prestige or something like that?e prestige or something like that? / Will there be more customization coming with the Prestige levels?



Prestige levels are essentially post-50 levels with new rank icons Alpha through Omega.



So I assume the flight is not really going to be changed since you don't see any issues with it?



As mentioned previously we will not be making wholesale changes to the flight system. But we’ll continue to tune what we have.



LBI Pete, I remember that a while ago it was posted that you guys were working on a 1 flag CTF mode for Dogfights. Can we expect to see this mode in 1.04? / While I'm here, are there any plans to bring back Collection and Hero? Also, is Flight CTF included in 1.4? / are we getting TDM dogfight any time soon? Thanks.



Flight CTF which is called Gatekeeper will be in 1.04. This mode pits two teams in hawks against each other in a race to collect the ball, fly it through the score multiplier gates and finally through the main scoring gate. It has elements of CTF, Flight TDM and the Warhawk Collection mode. This is the mode that Dylan mentioned feels like Quidditch. I can’t make any promises but I’m going to try to get approval to stream one of our internal playtests of this mode later this week so you can see it.



Just an idea, could a skill be added to spawn with the Galloway Revolver. Also, could it be edited to do a little more damage? I said its a fun challenge, but I think it's retarded to shoot 6 shots of CLOSE RANGE from that baby into an enemy, but they still down you with the KR.



When using the revolver aim for the head :smileywink:



Will the Rift Hunter Skin be released to all players of the EU? I ask this because the only way the EU players could get a code was by coming in the top 3 of a Tournament, which was really unfair considering all the US players had to do was watch a trailer.



We made the skin, but then it was up to Sony to decide how they wanted to distribute it. So unfortunately that part of the process was out of our hands. From what I understand SCEE may put it up on the store at a later date.



Also, it is so typical of fanbases with low player counts to start asking for DLC before the game is even properly finished. Yeah, split the tiny user base up even more!



Fracturing the player base is something that we definitely want to avoid. To help with this all of the additional maps will be free, and you’ll still be able to join games that include DLC that you don’t own.



Also, I heard that you guys are planning on adding some really small maps in 1.4, but is this causing problems with the spawn areas?



Closer spawn areas definitely ratchets up the excitement, but they aren’t so close as to allow other players to spawn directly into your base.



I think you alluded to this, but there will be a bnb upgrade in 1.04?



We aren’t at a point where I can answer this question just yet. I’ll post here as soon as I can.



You mentioned earlier that 1.4 will include new DM modes. What are the modes you'll be introducing other than Arena and Gatekeeper?



The other game mode coming with 1.4 is called Assault. It’s a mode where teams take turns attacking the enemy extractors and defending their own. It’s a fun territory control game somewhat similar to Zones but with very clear lines of offense and defense.



Does LBI intend to make even more updates beyond 1.4, or will 1.4 pretty much wrap up Starhawk's development in LBI's mind?



There are quite a few things still on the table that we’d like to make happen. It’s just a matter of whether Sony asks us to develop them.



another thing that i would like to hear about is the razorback. Dylan Jobe said on SH radio after the beta 1.3 patch that there will be other Razorbacks. with rocketlauncher or other weapons.



This is something that the team thought was cool and we still hope we can provide at some point.



this ties in with the idea/suggestions of showing the next map and loadout during the intermission. if this is implemented do you think you can change the minimum amount of time during the intermission to 20 seconds instead of 5-10 seconds??



With the upcoming addition of the ‘coming up next’ display we definitely want to make sure that its useful. We’ll be taking a look at how minimum intermission time affects the usability of this feature and will make changes to it as necessary.



I would like to know who the Server Host is and Ping before I join a server. Can LBI add this to the 1.04 patch?



This is something that I’m not sure about off hand, but I will talk to our network programmers and see if this is something that they can add.



I was just wondering if there was a chance we'll be seeing any weapon upgrades of any sort? Another question I really hope you'll answer is about multiplayer homeworlds. Will you guys change any aspect of these homeworlds to make them more fun for players to hang out in?



We’d love to do these kinds of things in the homeworlds, but again it’s a matter of Sony asking us to develop them. (WTF...Is Sony playing the damn game or is the customers?!)



When can the score limit be added back into the game? It would be really helpful to know if the match you're in has a low score limit or an impossible-to-reach one where you have to wait for the full 30 mins to run out before the next map. Also, can there be other score limits in Zones? Like 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, and 5000?



There are several new score limits in Zones and we’ve also made it possible to add new ones through small game updates. I’ll ask our software guys if we can get the return of the visibility of the score limit.



Will all modes be playable on the six new small maps? Also, can you share any details on the new loadou(s)?



All modes other than Dogfight and Gatekeeper are playable on the small maps. Depending on your player count this can make for some intense matches! To help with this we’re implementing a recommended player count for each map that you’ll be able to see when creating a game.



In the Cypress map, how tall are the tree root arches/ insides. Are they tall enough to fit only troops or vehicles.



There is a good mix of roots that fit both vehicles and troops. This will give both troops and vehicles places they can use for cover. There are also quite a bit more preplaced structures in these maps that only troops can enter. Lots of places for you to hide!



Pete, Patch, When?



The patch is out of testing at SCEA, but we are waiting for approval from Sony Europe and Sony Asia. My money is on early next week, but don’t tell Dylan I said that! :smileywink:



Hey...since the patch may come out early next week (Mon or Tues), can we have the patch notes?



You’ll find the patch notes in the first post of this thread.



My question is: Are these suggestions (particularly the big ones) valuable to the LBI team at all?



The suggestions have been highly valuable! We have already implemented several community requests for bug fixes and new features, and there are still more to come in 1.04.



Hey Pete, any chance of giving players infinite or a hefty amount of Rift while playing in the Homeworld? It's cumbersome to have to wait on barrels to respawn when you are just goofing around with friends.



Excellent suggestion. One of our designers is hooking up higher starting rift energy as I write this. Look for it in 1.04.



1) If you are in a clan match and the OTHER team kicks all your players can LBI make that not count as a loss? Currently if this happens it would be a loss on the clan who got kicked record. 2) Can you make it so only officers/clan leaders can intiiate a clan match? He has found that some people are setting up 1v1 clan battles with friends in other clans to fudge the clan win/loss numbers.



Yeah these seem like an issue. I think the limited host kick will help alleviate #1. And while I don’t have anything concrete for you regarding #2 right now I have spoken to various team members who are having a discussion about it.



Hey Pete, has there been any talk of a lightweight loadout? I'm thinking everything except tanks/hawks/beam turrets/shields.



Speak of the devil! Our designers actually put in a lightweight loadout last night. It’s very close to what you’ve just suggested. This will also be in 1.04. This is also a good time to tell you that when you create a game a tooltip will be displayed that shows the parts included in the loadout you have selected so you don’t have to try to remember or guess.



I know Cypress and the other small 6 maps havent came out, but do you guys have any thaughts or ideas for another map or big updates? Or is it too soon to say? Whats the next big thing? Not trying to sound greedy or anything. I was just wondering where u guys were going next with the game.



We have lots of ideas for things we want to include (including many suggestions from the forums), but as mentioned previously Sony has to ask us to develop them before we can do any work.



Oh. 1 more question. Will bruiser effect the Assult game mode? How will bruiser work in this mode?



I know lots of people here are going to be excited about this one: Bruiser has been removed and a brand new skill has been added that allows you to start the match with a grinder. This was something I know you have all been asking for and I’m glad I can tell you it will be included in 1.04



I can't remember if its been asked/answered, but... Can we have better stat-tracking?



More detailed stat tracking will become available with the community website later this year. Also, if you are ever unsure whether a question has been asked you can always check the first post. I amend it each time I post a new batch of answers.

I know this is a few days old and somewhat...sorry for the delay, I've been dealing with some family health issues past weeks back home. Anyways...looks like we should be able to boot back up here soon. Hopefully this info above can help with any questions or concerns you may have...

~Goodz~

The update sounds really good. Bruiser being removed. Voice chat getting a new architecture. Hopefully it will all work well together and I can get going in the online again.