Hey guys!
We here at Petroglyph are very interested in hearing your feedback and suggestions after playing the demo. Remember that the demo is only a very small slice of Empire at War - there is much more in the final product that we didn't have room to show you in downloadable format. We will be watching all of the fan sites closely, and welcome you all to speak your mind (as long as you can keep it polite and constructive of course).
Also to that end, I have volunteered to do another QA like the last one, probably a week or two after the demo has had time to percolate a bit. So while you are playing, keep some questions in mind :)
Good luck with your downloads tomorrow, and we hope you have loads of fun!
Thank you Darth_Torpid-PG! We will make sure to return our feedback in a positive manner and keep all comments and critiques constructive.
I really can't wait to finally get a chance to test out EaW myself. :D
Posted around the community, but going to post it here as well.
EaW First Impressions (
http://sithwar.xyvik.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=128)
Covers installation, first tutorial, and a few other things. Feel free to leave your thoughts at the TSW forums, or here. Will get to my review later this week with a complete overview.
-Xyvik
-EDIT PS: This was written this morning when the lucasfiles servers were down for at least 2 straight hours, hence my fleeting refence to the horrid state of the servers. I understand what a load this must have been and did not mean the comment as a total insult to the Lucas servers, but merely stating the truth of the moment.
Hey guys!
We here at Petroglyph are very interested in hearing your feedback and suggestions after playing the demo. Remember that the demo is only a very small slice of Empire at War - there is much more in the final product that we didn't have room to show you in downloadable format. We will be watching all of the fan sites closely, and welcome you all to speak your mind (as long as you can keep it polite and constructive of course).
Also to that end, I have volunteered to do another QA like the last one, probably a week or two after the demo has had time to percolate a bit. So while you are playing, keep some questions in mind :)
Good luck with your downloads tomorrow, and we hope you have loads of fun!
It is kind of hard to post feedback when barly any sites seem to work and have the demo or will download it fast and correctly. I'm downloading it now and its stuck on 9 minutes and i've been downloading it for 90 minutes, and now its stuck at 9 minutes...I'm very dissiapointed and wondered why you had to make the file so big? Also it isn't even on LucasFiles as said. Just wondering, thats my feedback....
Because the bigger and better a game is, the more space it will occupy.
That's just how the computer world works, J.
Don't blame Petro and LEC for making an awesome looking game. :D
I hope the AI is more aggressive in the fullversion. In the asteroid belt map it didn't even try to attack my transports eventhough they were unprotected. Also the AI didn't really know how counters work and used bombers against my fighters and not capital ships.
On Tatoinee the AI attacked only one of my control points and that's why it was very easy to defeat its forces. It should have attacked the other points as well because they had far less troops guarding them.
Other than that it's a good demo. I hope someone finds a way to get the AI to attack so we could try defending on Hoth.
It has been stated that the AI wont attack in the demo version, to give players a feel for the galactic map, and building forces - a good idea. I remember Cossacks, the demo was far too difficult, especially when you fell under attack within 3 minutes! So they had to redo the demo.
Demos are there to give you a feel of the game and by the sounds of it, this one does just that
DMUK
Horrid, for the sole fact that with its size and demand no website seems to transfer for any good rate for very long, also for the fact that most of the downloads i have try'd have froze up or disconected sometime. and i would have to start all over again
it's a shame that the demo galactic conquest mode is only 3 planets (had hoped 5 or 7) cause it gives you very little feeling of this mode.
Also to bad we cant play as imperials
In the tutorial missions the voice gets a bit annoying at times specially cause it really says each click you have to do maybe remove that part in the game and just have the buttons highlight?
the action cam has still some bugs to fix i think as i dident get a nice view of the battle but more shots of single crafts firing into space , no fighter chases, or zoomed out shots of the battle or such
The rest of the demo i loved although maybe its possible to make another demo where people can play the imperials and maybe put in skirmish or galactic conquest with 5 or 7 planets ;)
Horrid, for the sole fact that with its size and demand no website seems to transfer for any good rate for very long, also for the fact that most of the downloads i have try'd have froze up or disconected sometime. and i would have to start all over again
Have you tried filecloud.
http://filecloud.com/files/file.php?file_id=2753)
According to people on gamingforums.com it currently has the best transfer rate.
Very Good Demo Guys, Just Finished it. Looks Sexy. One thing on my mind though is are the Tie-Bombers on Bombing Run more accurate/powerful that the Y-Wings? Because thats what I noticed.
i downloaded the Demo once, but it didnt open for 20 min's. I am downloading it again now, with 30 min's left. Hope you guys have that answer becouse iv talked to another 20-30 people and they say the same thing: that the demo will not open. Also, you can only be rebs??? and theres only 3 planetes?? i would have thought there was alot more. Hope you guys come out with a demo with more planets and the ability to be the Imperials. That would be the best!!!
Public Service Announcement (or whatever you want to call it): Please Keep Comments to the Demo only and not the File download/server situation. There are enough threads that have been spammed with comments about it. Any other posts after this about it shall be deleted.
Thank you.
oh, sorry. I didnt know that.
a few other remarks
1: the moving units to other planets is a bit to fast imho
2: the creating units goes to fast
3: it also dont seem to matter if its a fighter you make or a frigate all are the
same time?
4: do smugglers automaticly showup on a planet finance report? seems a bit to easy
to find smugglers and kill em just look at all your planets finance reports and send
a bounty hunter
5: none of the tutorials explained how to move the camera around, rotate,
focus , etc... Maybe a good idea to put that in?
6: i find it kinda weird when you shoot a ship and it has nothing in the hull bar left that it dont explode cause you still have to shoot every hardpoint
dunno if its ment to be like this or if its a bug or something
the good points :)
1: the ai seems to be very good , specially ground combat proved great!
2: graphics are superb the weather effects are great (had a sandstorm destroy some of my units when i dident pay attention OUCH! )
3: great starwars feeling to the game !!!
4: it's very different from most rts games i played wich makes the game very interesting seems like a lot of strategy on wich units to take to battle will be needed :)
5: the demo runs great i noticed no slowdowns, or crashes even with full details on (pc = p4 3.2ghz 1gb ddr400, 6800gt nvidia)
I have been playing the demo all day and I must say its great. The boys/girls at petro did a great job. Now, on to the suggestions,
The zoom needs to be worked on a bit. When right at the ground its fine, the next level up is ok for detail but you can't see much of the map but when you go up one more level your too far above and when you go down your too close, needs to be moved just a bit so you can still see detail but have a larger view of the map. I can live with it as it is but a small adjustment would be better.
When building things on pads, the troops that are doing the building should move to the pad and the more troops the faster it should be completed. I am not yet sure if I like the static pads on the maps, once you know where they are it limits your stratagy since the enemy also knows where to find them. I will need to play the full version to see whether I like them or not. The demo doesn't give you a feel for them since there is just the one map.
The cinimatic camera is nice but It doesn't always follow the action. You should be able to select a unit and follow it.
I am sure that since they made the demo they may have tweaked a few things so I will wait until the retail version comes out before going too in depth.
Overall , its a great looking and playing game, can't wait until the 16th of February so I can play the full version.
*raises glass*
Well done Petroglyph, you should be very proud of yourselves
Disregard my comment on the cinimatic camera, just found out that the "C" key changes the view and you can move the mouse to adjust the angle. Its perfect as it is.
I should point out a few things, since it seems they are coming up a lot:
1) The Demo is actually from early last month's build, so a lot has been fixed/added/balanced since that time.
2) The build times and galactic fleet movement speeds have been radically sped up for the demo and do not reflect the actual build/travel times in the final game.
3) I thought that camera controls were covered in the tutorial, so it is possible that that particular tutorial didn't get into the demo (I didn't work on the demo or the tutorial, so I can't say for sure).
4) The galactic AI has been almost entirely turned off for the demo - it will be much more agressive in the final game.
Again, thanks for all the comments - all of us here are following it closely :D
one thing (that i've heard, i'm currently downloading) that i have issue with is the lack of imperial presence in the demo. i had hoped to try out the imperial side, but i understand that due to size concerns that this could not be accomplished. just makes me hunger for the real deal all the more :)
I really enjoyed playing it to the end and i can't actually make any complaints, bearing in mind the points you just made (Torpid). when we get the full version with all elements being as they should, i can see myself losing many hours to this game. well...not losing...*giving* :)
the controls are obviously very standard for the genre, which makes it easy as pie to get in to. it feels to me, on first impression, like the game that we all expected 'Force Commander' to be, mixed with the way 'Rebellion/Supremacy' should have turned out. which to be honest, is exactly what i always wanted. add to that all the other stuff that this baby will add into the bargain, and i think Petro have made a pretty good game :)
Roll on the UK release ;)
robotsonic
one thing (that i've heard, i'm currently downloading) that i have issue with is the lack of imperial presence in the demo. i had hoped to try out the imperial side, but i understand that due to size concerns that this could not be accomplished. just makes me hunger for the real deal all the more :)
you do get to play Imperial, all be it ever-so briefly. you're right though, it just makes you want it more.
I loved it, very fun, one of the best demos I've ever played, my only complaint was that I couldn't zoom out nearly far enough, other than that it was wonderful, great job to everyone at Petro!
Ahh how far did you wana zoom out ^_^ i could zoom out very very far.
Really? I coudn't zoom out at all, that's weird.
Edit: n/m I had to scroll my mosue a ton for it to go out more.
Thanks devs for letting us give feedback in this manner.
Ground:
General-I dont quite know what to make of it ATM. It may have to do with the AI being off or whatever but it didn't seem engaging. There needs to be some balancing, especially with the speeders.
Speeders-The speeders move fast, stay stationary and shoot at 1 unit at a time, and take virtually no damage. I found this to not only be boring but contrary to the movies! They go around in circles to avoid being hit and to make rounds, they didnt' seem to stay still otherwise they are sitting ducks!
Troop combat- Grouping felt ok, I wish you could group units in more than 1 group: eg if I wanted to group speeders in group 1 the group everything I have as group 2 and be able to switch back and forth. The combat itself was odd, I wish the blaster shots were less accurate though! Seems as though they were always 100% accurate and that it took a certain number of shots to take out a unit. It may be more fun, among other things, to have them miss more but increase the damage done per shot. Maybe 2 or 3 hits per kill but like 5 misses for every hit or something. Give it some variation!
Galaxy stuff: I liked the simplicity of defence/offense with planets. Fleets first then ground then capture, much like rebellion. Again without AI though, I cannot say how fun or interesting it will be. As the demo stands with no ai, it was boring because nothing happened. Will the comps attack whenever they please? Then there would exist some urgency that was utterly lacking in the demo. Ship combat seems ok, although I do not like the size of the units as compared to the capital ships. Stardestroyers, frigates, etc.. should appear far larger or should be bigger on the battlefield. Xwings seem to group up too much. Additionally, it seems attacking the specific parts of a ship (shields, guns, etc...) was not worth it as by the time you took it out you already damage the ship significantly.
Overall-
I think this demo shows a great start and most likely a solid product. It should be the next episode in the Rebelion franchise though, as that is what it most closely resembles.
I think you are doing too much, though. You have ship v ship combat, simplified, like startrek armada but without any RTS elements such as structures. Ground combat is simplified, to a greater extent than say lotr: battle for middle earth, which detracts from it as an RTS game.
Its as though you are doing way too much and as a result each part is too simple. As the demo shows us, they indeed are simple. What it doesnt show us is how this all turns out in the final product. If the overall GREATER strategy is the aim of the game, the lesser details can be cast aside. I hope you guys release an AI update, or a patch to the demo showing off these features of AI and strategy before the game is out, otherwise I see people "picking this up" just to play it a little while, not as a game purchased for real multiplayer play.
i was disapointed in graphics. I turned it to the max. Can someone tell me is it like in black and white it sets the textures for you. I mean if i have a bad video card for example, will i be able to set graphics detail to maximum or not; or will it just say the detail is at max, but really it wont be. Please help!
Troop combat- Grouping felt ok, I wish you could group units in more than 1 group: eg if I wanted to group speeders in group 1 the group everything I have as group 2 and be able to switch back and forth. The combat itself was odd, I wish the blaster shots were less accurate though! Seems as though they were always 100% accurate and that it took a certain number of shots to take out a unit. It may be more fun, among other things, to have them miss more but increase the damage done per shot. Maybe 2 or 3 hits per kill but like 5 misses for every hit or something. Give it some variation!
I like that idea a lot!!!! I think it works so much better!
its a fascinating demo, but it really doesnt give you a real feel of what we can expect in the release version of the game. I LOVE THE SPACE BATTLE!!!!!!!!! petro exceeded my expectations with this, i was really hoping that it would give a great 3-D space feel... and it did. two thoughts thou... no imperials, and i was hoping for a couple more planets.
I don't see why people are complaining about graphics. They seem fine to me, but I guess I'm just not a graphics whore.
Overall, the ground battles felt like a mix of CnC Generals and BFME to me. Can't wait for the full version.
why are some vehicles incorrectly scaled ?
Scale was something they decided not to work on in the game from the outset, although some small adjustments seem to have been made
DMUK
A few thoughts.
- Maps, space and land, felt very small... :/ bit disappointed was expecting larger maps.
- Land battles were to fast, found it hard at times to concentrate on what was going on, perhaps thats just because im new to the game. It all felt very hectic anyway, never got much chance to line my men up, attack in formation, plan my attacks, my final attack was a "charge everyone in" not fun, not what I wanted to do.
- Space ships, the space ships, larger ones, Aclamator, Victory etc, the scale just didnt seem right, they seem squashed and smaller than they should perhaps be, could just be a trick of the eye though but I want my large ships to feel and look large and impressive.
It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but solid never-the-less. Looks like it will be a great game.
My thoughts:
- Better camera controls - mouse 3 should preferably control camera rotation without aid from another button.
- A unit and group list in battle so I can easily and quickly see what forces I have deployed with one click select for units and groups (plus control, and shift modifiers) preferably with icons showing status (attacking, defending, idle, etc).
- Units in the thick of battle (especially fighters in space) sitting around after they complete an order - at the very least they should if superiority go after fighters and if bombers go after cap ships until I reassign. Or even assignments for groups - go after fighters, go after capital ships, target hard points until I command otherwise type thing.
- Not being able to retreat from space combat, not sure if that was a bug.
- It would be nice to have the ability for individual units and ships to retreat (and more unit options in general, stand groud, formations, etc) maybe at a percentage of their value especially in ground combat since it requires a dropship, plus any repair costs, then after a time redeploy as reinforcements fully restored.
- Better balance of unit numbers, for example 5 tanks seems a bit extreme for how powerful they are. The easiest way to win the demo is to load up 10+ tanks which equates to 50 on the map and rush once the big turrets are destroyed. It also gets kind of crowded considering the size of the map otherwise it’d be fine.
- Large turrets seem a little too tough. They should definitely be able to dish it out, but they take it a little to well. There’s no point in even approaching them which should be an option, if a costly one, if you don’t have artillery/bombers.
- Having double-click send units to the first stack of the same type of units in orbiting fleets, or sends them to the surface, basically just a little bit more love on the interface in general to optimize it a bit and make it a little more user friendly. Considering this is real time I suspect that’s going to be important.
- The ability for artillery to target the ground - maybe I missed it, but it doesn’t seem to be an option.
- Battles seem to end almost as soon as they begin - ships especially should be able to take a lot more punishment. Just by their sheer mass these things should be able to take immense amounts of punishment which isn’t something that has been demonstrated well outside the movies.
- Scale has been mentioned, but I’ll add my voice to it.
- Cleaner unit movment, seemed somewhat sluggish and unorganized and generally just doesn't have a good feel to it.
- Larger maps, both planet and space seemed small and overly crowded for what they represented.
- The ability to create or activate (perhaps over time if you control a planet for long periods) more base locations on a planet so we can have extended campaigns on the ground, this also ties into the “small maps” comment - just seems odd it’s a one shot deal for an entire planet and isn’t very engaging. At the very least more populous planets should have more base locations.
- Something for infantry to do, the ability to dig/garrison a trench, group and follow tanks so they work in tandem, planet explosives, or something that gives them a little more purpose, as it is they seem out of place almost and generally not very helpful.
- An engineer unit that can place build pads at a price, ontop of actually using the pad - I think it would add to the battles in a positive way.
-The shield generatpr on land maps doesn't protect against bombers(it should). I hope this gets fixed because you can target the edge of the shield wall with your bombers and most of the bombs hit inside the barrier.
- Large turrets seem a little too tough. They should definitely be able to dish it out, but they take it a little to well. There’s no point in even approaching them which should be an option, if a costly one, if you don’t have artillery/bombers.
the artillery can destroy them easy enough without getting shot at but you need to see em (i had the map upgrade by the merchant) or a bombing run can do it
Ok, after actually playing the ground battle on the galactic version, I must say, I really suck. Although I don't see how I can stop an AT-AT with the limited tech tree.
Capture it with Chewbacca.
----------------
-One another thing. The shield generator and engine hardpoints on ships seems to be pointless because ships can still move without engine and restore shield without shield generators. I think shields and movement should be disabled completely when you blow up those hardpoints.
Well I have to say that I really have never been much into RTS but due to it being Star Wars I had to try it out. And with that said I will be getting the full version as soon as it comes out. I spent about 2 hours last night playing the game and I have to admit I really liked it.
The tutorials were great they walked you though just about everything ( minus the camera rotation ) of which has been stated that particular tutorial might not have made it into the demo.
This will be my next SWG at least for the part that I can play in the Star Wars universe.
Thanks guys for what seems to be a great game. Oh and the one thing that I really like is the feed back from Petroglyph. Its nice to see a game company actually show interest in the players feed back.
One of the Best Demos i ever played. :smash: :smash: :smash:
And that was just 1% of the whole game!!!
Great Potential for the Final game. :vsd: :vsd: :vsd:
Graphics(all at Highest +AF16x)looks awesome.
The Music makes you feel and breathe and taste the whole STAR WARS feeling and atmosphere.
Its just to early to say something about Balance(although the Falcons ability is uber)
Artillary is abit too good (only vulnerable from air)
Unit production times have been mentioned.
Camera angles and movements are good (could need some minor improvement)
Overall great job PETRO :fett2: :r2d2: :thmbup1:
Im looking forward for the final release
rdy to kick some imperials out of space.
I have to say, it was great playing through the demo and I loved every bit of it, nice job PG. :thumb: Now, for some questions and so on.
1. At times I noticed when trying to click on certain hardpoints on Star destroyers and Acclimator, some other hardpoints would be closer. For example, I was hitting the hanger HP and other hardpoints such as laser HP would be very close. Anyway you could make them stand out a little better? (Only one I can think of atm)
1. At times I noticed when trying to click on certain hardpoints, some other hardpoints would be closer. For example, I was hitting the hanger HP and other hardpoints such as laser HP would be very close. Anyway you could make them stand out a little better? (Only one I can think of atm)
Ya exactly. It would be very cool to have an "order" menu for your forces, such that you make an order for a group of xwings to go attack this unit and attack this unit's shield generator. That way when you are in the heat of battle you can select your order and hit execute! Would be very cool, you could just put the orders in a drop down box and have an "execute" button next to it. Would be sweet!
Alot of people aren't reading the suggestions in the game because the large turrets can be taken out by infantry and bombing runs which are very powerful. The Demo is awesome and people are complaining that its too hard which it was in the begining, but now playing the demo way too much I've learned to beat the whole galactic conquest part in 10 or 15 minutes on hard. MY only question to the Dev team, are the tie bombers more direct and more accurate than the Y-wings on purpose and is it along the same lines as the Rebel and Empire Artillery units?(different styles of warheads and different style of attack)
I really loved the demo, after finishing it I found I wanted more. Now I also had difficulty the first time I played the land battle, though now that I have familirized myself with the game it isnt too bad. Im happy, as I havent had a real challenge in a while. I can't wait to see the game with the galatic AI on and more AI in space and land. It is going to be one hell of a game :D.
I really liked just about everything in the demo, although I along with almost everyone wish it would have been bigger it does accomplish the task of creating anticipation for the final product.
Great job petro!!! :)
Was wondering, but in the attack on the asteroids in Galactic mode, why doesnt the station explode? I just keep killing random spawning fighters, all the rest of the Imperial fleet is gone, and all the hard points are gone... Glitch?
Yeah the demo was nice
it would be a miracle if I wont reach 10 hours of play lol :)
Great game! I'm not usually a fan of RTS games. In fact, the only RTS I've actually finished is StarCraft. I am very impressed by EAW though and I'm looking forward to getting it when it hits the shelves.
Ithink the demo is pretty good. Graphics are nice & the Star Wars feel is there.
HOWEVER - the action is way too fast. During the ground battle I feel like it is just a point and click frenzy - it does detract from the fun. I hope they tune it down so that the game feels more strategic and not just a fast paced version of rock paper & scissors.
Overall the game does look promising!
Some feedback.
Any way to let you keep fighting until the enemy is completely obliterated? I hate it when I am giving it good to the Imperials, then they retreat; but do I not get the pleasure of whiping out all left in sight? Instead of instant victory over, move on.
I want to gloat over my deeds for a moment :) Take in the sights of my new conquered planet.
The capital ships should last longer in battle. Space battles are just too franic. I like a bit longer epic battle ;)
The camera controls especially in land battles are not "user friendly". Hard to zoom, orbit position camera angle.
Other things have been mentioned. (Galactic movement and build time was increased for demo I read).
The other thing that i would change is the end. I mean when you finish galactic conquest I think the victory should be celebrated more, instead of just saying you won and putting up your combat efficiency on a screen. Maybe it is different when you win galactic conquest in full version, but if it's not, I think it should be changed. I would like to see courascant celebrating and other planets, like at the end of episode VI. Do you know what I mean?
or maybe a special bonus level? or bonus video? or bonus something?! :)