Nahualli
RealPoor Master of Posts
Joined: 11 Oct 2002
Posts: 8461
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 Posted: 11/01/04 - 16:36 Post subject: JTL is out and it's cool...............
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The much anticipated expansion for SWG : Jump to Lightspeed is out. So far I have to say I am pretty impressed and very much addicted to the space game.
It's very confusing to start. I tried reading through the manuals but found them to be confusing. Once I started playing, everything eventually cleared up. Here's the basic rundown :
There are two new playable species, Ithorians and Sullustians. Meh, no opinion there. Both species have shipcrafting bonuses inherent to them.
Anyone can be one of 3 pilot types at NO skill point cost : Imperial Pilot, Alliance Pilot or Privateer (Freelance Pilot). At no point does being allied make you automatically overt, AKA not like ground PVP. It merely determines what ships you are allowed to pilot. Alliance pilots operate A-Wings, B-Wings, X-Wings, etc, Imperials pilot TIE Fighter, TIE Advanced, TIE Oppressors, TIE Bombers, etc. Privateers pilot both Black Sun fighters and Hutt fighters, eventually they can operate the coveted YT-1300 (Millenium Falcon). Players are not allowed to operate space stations or capital ships.
You select whom you want to serve based on which pilot trainer you speak to. To join the Naboo RSF talk to the guy in Theed. To join the CorSec talk to the guy in Coronet. To join the Empire talk to the trainer on Tatooine, and to join the Alliance talk to the trainer on Yavin (I think).
Space combat gives you "Space Combat" xp which is the only requirement for advancing up the ranks. Again, there is no SP cost for merely being a pilot. The higher in the tree you are, the more certifications you get for ship piloting and ship modification.
Ship Modification is probably my favorite part of the game. In combat you will randomly loot components off NPC ships. These components have a complexity rating and a reverse engineering rating. The complexity rating determines who can apply the part AS IS to your ship. For example, if you find a piece of Royal Alderaan Front Plating with a Comp rating of 4 and you have that certification, provided your ship can accept such modifications, you can "Manage" your ship and stick it on your cruiser by using the new Starship Terminals located in any Starport. You can fully customize your ship in this fashion, from the maneuver boosters, to the secondary weapons array, to the shield emitter, etc. No two ships are going to the be the same for long, as all pieces have a pro and a con, for example, a high output weapon array has a higher reactor drain, so you may opt for a less powerful but less draining weapons array.
In case you didn't guess already, you can use your ship to jump from planet to planet instead of using the shuttles, provided you are at the same SP your ship is docked at.
Combat options. You can talk to your trainer who will send you on missions, or you can simply launch into space from your docing station and look for a fight. In space you can jump to lightspeed (provided your ship is equipped with a hyperdrive) and go seek out new loot and new fights in any of the 20 new zones, or space sectors, surrouding all the existing planets. You can land at any SP only by connecting with the space station in orbit and requesting permission to land. There is no ability to fly the ships at suborbit height.
While in space you control pitch, yaw, roll and speed with the keyboard/mouse, altho you can play with a joystick if you want. Looting is automatically if you destroyed the craft.
Ok, back to the ground game. Shipwrights are a class that DO require SP expenditure. To train as a SW, you need to have Engineering IV and you need to have 6 points free to start down that path. Remember the Reverse Engineering rating on looted components? That's where you come in. As a SW you can take a piece of loot and experiment on it to make it more effective, less draining, etc. You can also build a ship blueprint (experimenting on it like everything else) to make it weigh less, etc.
How to acquire a ship. You are given a starter ship by your recruiter, and from then on its your job to acquire a better one. You only need a blueprint from a SW, which you give to an NPC Chassis Broker located at any SP. Now that you have the chassis you can either buy experimented parts from a SW or start plugging in pieces you find in space.
I think this about covers it for the most part. There's a lot more out there but the expansion is still very new. The missions are much longer and much more involved than regular ground missions, if you're on a seek and destroy mission you will face waves of enemies in a mission lasting up to half an hour, not just 4-5 mobs and then running back to a terminal. Escort missions require that you not only beat off the incoming invaders but also stay close enough to the ship you are escorting, and recovery and patrol missions are sort of the same thing only with different goals.
Yes there are multiplayer ships in the game. Some, like the B-Wing are 2 person combat ships, allowing one person to control the gun turrets while the other flies. Others, like the SoroSuub Luxury Yacht (like Lando's) are not combatant passenger ships, with light speed engines but no weapons. In these you can leave the cockpit and walk around in the bar area and have a part or something, very cool concept. Every multiplayer ship requires one lot (boo).
I will add more in a bit.. lunch time.
-Nah-
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