First Strike: a Battlefield 2142 star wars total conversion mod

Wow, this mod looks interesting. I'll have to give it a try when it's released.

 

Time for another update, here comes another Dev Diary from the vaults of First Strike.

Enjoy.

And you can find lots more info on the mod here...

http://www.firststrikemod.com/eu/




[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_small_tat_house.jpg]


[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_largeadobe.jpg]


[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_slave1.jpg]


[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_jabbas_house2.jpg]


Hello World!

For you who recognize that intro I can say that naw Im no coder, Im actually a texture artist for First Strike! Im using HaVoC's dev diary as a template and starting out with telling you all a little about myself.

I'm Peter "Pumbaa" Jansson from Stockholm, Sweden, I'm 24 years old and I just graduated from Luleå Tekniska Universitet (LTU) in Skellefteå, northern Sweden, where I studied Computer Graphics (CG) for three years. Before that I had no game creating skills what so ever and I didnt get to start out with CG until my second year at LTU. I kind of took a wild shot with my education since I had never done cg before, how was I to know
if it would interest me at all? All I knew was that I liked games. A lot.

Anyhow, when we started out I obviously had a lot to learn. Everything was really confusing and I seriously doubted my career choice several times, but I kept struggling because my personal goals I had kept me highly motivated, also, the more I learned, the greater my thirst for more knowledge became.

Now, I couldn't be more sure about what I want to do with my life. Im enjoying every second I can spare on this, so much I've actually found myself numerous times waking up at about 5am, disappointed mumbling in my sleep "dammit, it's only 5am, I want to get up back to work!".

So how did I come to join the First Strike mod team? Well, during our last year at LTU we had a specialization project where we got the chance to deepen ourselves in any CG area, eg modeling, texturing, animation etc.
I had no clue at all what to specialize in because I had only had a brief introduction to every cg field, but just before the course was about to start I was lucky and suddenly came across FS which combined two amazing things; Star Wars and Battlefield, and I thought "wow, I want to help out with this!" so I sent an application.

I really had nothing to show, only some texturered models I made during one of my very first cg cources, and, hrm, they looked like they were pulled straight out of 1995. Anyway, I recieved a test model that I were to unwrap and texture.
It took me some time and man was I nervous when I sent it back.. I mean, I was placing my entire course on this, but I placed my bets right and actually got a position as a texture artist and my very very extremely steep learning curve straight upwards began.

So far I have had a blast working with the fs team and when the course was over I didnt feel very much like leaving the roup. So, here I am ow.

What I think I admire the most with this team is the dedication and discipline that's daily being displayed. It is truly motivating to see the progress everyone makes several times every week.

Currently Im working hard together with several FS members to finalize our Mos Espa map, which actually just came to its tweaking/testing phase, which could be considered its very last phase.

Mos Espa is a city on the planet of Tatooine which main focus is CQB (Close Quarters Battle) so expect a hear a lot of e-11 blasts while having a blast with ya blaster blasting stuff in our desert town.

My god, I'm hilarious.

Anyways, I can't wait for the day we release. And I can't wait for the day we can play this Rancor of a game with yall.

Till then, strawberry juice.

FSDev| Pumbaa, out.

 

They're coming thick and fast now as we ramp up for the first release of First Strike. Here's another Dev Diary with added sweet eye candy to whet your appetities.

Enjoy.




[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_large_house.jpg]


[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_marketstand.jpg]


[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_jabbas_house.jpg]


[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_wattos_junkyard.jpg]



Howdy folks.
My name's Mattes and I'm a modeller and skinner for FirstStrike. I do a few other things as well but they mostly consist of giving Blitz a headache.
My main focus for the first few months with the team have been Mos Espa models. I hope you enjoy this collection of Mos Espa buildings as our group has worked very hard on them. You can look at my models from when I first started compared to the most recent ones and really see a difference. I've learned so much working with this team. It's given me so much perspective as to how professional game development works.

My latest project was in the trenches. Preacher gave me the honor of working on the Death Star trench. 3 days of work and I managed to randomize Preacher's models and I made 5 trench plates. This was so the trench was more dynamic and not like a Flintstones cartoon where you see the same potted plant every half-second.
Oh wait, do I have to talk about myself? -groans- I suppose if HavoC did...
Well, I was born on a farm (no joke, I really was. I fed the chickens every morning and collected the eggs.) in California. My first computer game was the original Star Wars arcade. I actually still have the floppy disk. It must be a collector's item by now. My first 3d modelling program I got when I was 14 was RayDream Studio 5. It was a fairly basic program that I taught myself (as there was 0 online support). Then switched over to 3ds MAX a few years later.

But aside from computer modeling and gaming, I've been into movies and the film industry. I attended film school for 3 years and worked on several sets as a production designer, gaffer, casting director and other small roles. My goal in my career is to start up a production company that produces movies and games and who knows what else. Sometimes I can't keep up with my imagination. Just like this Dev Diary. It's gone off in tangents and has no structure at all.


But you get the idea. Yesh?

Mattes:

Age-23

Hometown-Sacramento, CA

Favorite food-The edible kind

Hobbies include (but not limited to) - Naming Models "Steve", teasing krazykyle3 about screenshots, and making pointless yet questionable avatars.

Most used words: "Yesh", "scrawbuckets", and "Let go, that's mine"

 

We're really throwing everything we've got into testing right now, not long to go, and we have officially gone from Alpha Testing to Beta Testing, so I'm guessing that means serious progress has been made.

And it has at that.

Tonight we were really giving it some in our space maps and the gameplay and balancing between starfighters is getting more and more polished with additional features that add serious depth to the gameplay with every new build.


And as if you needed anymore convincing, here's the next Dev Diary with some nice new juicy pictures for you to feast your eyes on.





Hey, friends!


They call me JayBiggS and I'm a texture artist for First Strike. I hail from the land of the beaver (Canada) and I've been modding for about 4-5 years now.


Before joining First Strike I was co-founder of the Galactic Conquest mod for Battlefield 1942 and stayed on until development was complete. Then the GC team decided to come up with a brand new concept, and Shattered Faith was born. After a few months of work on SF, the team sort of fell apart and FSDev|Preacher brought First Strike to my attention. The rest is history!


[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_imp_officer.jpg]

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_tie_pilot.jpg]


My duties here consist of texturing models and post production quality control. I'd say the main things I've been working on have been the weapons. I enjoy the challenge of trying to recreate the props used in the films as close as I can get them. I want you to play our mod and watch the Star Wars films, and recognize details you maybe wouldn't have before playing First Strike. We have scoured every possible source, the films, cartoons, games, books, and toys to come up with what we hope will be the most visually accurate depiction of the saga in game form. No small task, to be sure, but thus far I'd say we are approaching that goal.


Well, I'm out of time, I need to get back to work.


See you on the battlefield, Soldier!


Jay "The Hurricane" BiggS


And as if that's not enough, we have a very special treat for you guys due for the next update, so watch this space.




http://www.firststrikemod.com/

 

DEMO TRAILER NOW OUT!
GAME RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2007

WATCH IT NOW !!! >>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgNCw9lyZ4A
[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/vid_demo.jpg]

The team here at FirstStrike is gearing up towards a release very soon and to that end we have created a demo trailer for you to enjoy. The Demo Trailer was premiered on German TV games show GIGA TV last night.
It depicts the land and space battles you can play, moreover the Maps Escape from Hoth and Mos Espa respectively.

High Quality Download
http://woodat.com/video/fs_gameplay2_trailer.rar

FirstStrike Demo - Escape from Hoth & Mos Espa

 

Get this trailer watched, you won't be disapointed.

 

Honors for This Video:


#5 - Most Viewed (Today) - United Kingdom
#69 - Most Viewed (Today) - Entertainment Worldwide
#24 - Top Rated (Today) - United Kingdom
#25 - Most Discussed (Today) - United Kingdom
#64 - Most Discussed (Today) - Entertainment Worldwide
#48 - Top Favorites (Today) - United Kingdom
#4 - Most Linked (Today) - United Kingdom
#87 - Most Linked (Today) Worldwide
#10 - Most Linked (Today) - Entertainment Worldwide
#65 - Most Responded (Today) - United Kingdom



5,056 Views so far and counting.

 

It's been a while (have been a tad busy with getting this mod ready and all that), but with September only just around the corner it's time to keep the updates coming when we can manage it.

This weekend First Strike had one of it's highest profile episodes of exposure when we sent one of the guys to the German Computer Games Convention where he did a live presentation on GIGA's stage. We'll get some footage of that out to you guys as soon as we can.

In the meantime here is a cool Dev Diary come tutorial in all things code from Magus.

DEV DIARY #17 - MAGUS

Hi everybody!

My name?s John Mansir but round these parts they call me magus. I?m 18 and I live near London, and back in March I joined the First Strike team as a coder. I?ve just finished school and hopefully I?ll be going to university in a few months to study physics. I started modding nearly 4 years ago by joining the Battlefield 40000 team for battlefield 1942. It?s been an awesome journey and I?m really glad to have ended up here at First Strike. My job on the team now mostly involves coding vehicles and annoying Woodrow.

I know coding can be boring and you usually don?t hear much about it but I figure there must be at least one person out there who?s interested in
how we code vehicles! To that end in this dev diary I?ll show you how we created the B wing starfighter. Don?t worry, I won?t subject you to big boring
chunks of code, there will be lots of pretty pictures along the way!

Step 1: Get model & texture.

The first step in this process is to retrieve the art assets from the people who created them and load them into 3D Studio max. This time they were
kindly provided by my extremely skilled colleagues RedMonkey and Rybot:

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_bwingf.jpg]

Here?s a shot of the model first loaded up in 3d studio. As you can see from the window on the left it?s in a mish mash of unorganised pieces! These need to be organised into a proper hierarchy so that the battlefield engine knows exactly what to do with all the bits.

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_magus1.jpg]

Step 2: Plan out hierarchy and organise the pieces in max

Now that we have the vehicle in max, we have to plan out how the vehicle behaves. To do this we have to find out what the vehicle is like in the movies. I put out a request for background information on the B Wing, and my colleagues Talon and Dutch_Razor provided me with a whole slew of
stuff about weapon loadouts and special abilities that the B wing has. The B wing has 2 important features that will be important to our hierarchy;
firstly, it starts off in a horizontal position and folds out into a vertical flight position like so:

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_BWINGCONFIG.jpg]

Secondly, according to background lore the cockpit is gyroscopic, meaning that it always faces up regardless of which way the rest of the ship is
facing. After some deliberation we decided that a ship like that would be almost impossible to fly; we came up with a compromise in that the cockpit
should only be gyroscopic when the craft is folding out into flight position. As you can see from the above picture, the cockpit is facing upwards in both
positions. Now we know what has to be done, we can plan out the hierarchy.

In the battlefield engine, each separate piece of a model (known as an object) has to have a certain object type. For example, you can set something to be a ?PlayerControlObject?. These are the base of each vehicle. Each PlayerControlObject corresponds to one position on a vehicle, so in a jeep you would have one for the driver position, one for the passenger position, one for the gunner position and so on. There are many other object types, including ?GenericFireArms? (this is just a fancy name for any kind of vehicle mounted weapon), ?Wings? (These are invisible objects that generate lift to keep air vehicles flying), ?RotationalBundles? (Objects that rotate by player contr

 

It's a bit of a long read this one, but informative, and I've even included a little eyecandy at the end in the form of some nice shiney new in game space shots.

Enjoy.



The following is the transcript from an interview that The German EA Community Team had with members of the First Strike development team, and details on how to enter a First Strike Release Competition.

Read on to find out more.


You thought there was nothing to do, but wait for the release of First Strike? Stick with us and join the big First Strike Release Competition, presented by the FS Mod Team and BF-News.de! Guess what the release size of the client (in megabytes) will be and win one of five download-versions of BF2142. In addition, eight copies of the boosterpack Northern Strike (download) will be raffled!

You have no idea, how big this client could be? Then read through our interview! We sat down with the devs and pulled out every bit of information, we could get: Fighters, maps, history, gamemodes and much more was discussed and some of the information might surprise you. Will we meet at the Death Star? Read through and find out!

A big thanks to the following devs:

? Blitz (Mod Leader)
?xEROhOUR (Press / Recruiting)
? Havoc (Modelling)
? Svenstaro (Modelling)
? Rybot (Skinning)
? Pumbaa (Skinning)
? Woodrow (Coding)
? Dutch (Research)

If you want to take part in the competition, just write an email to news[at]bf-news.de. The email subject hast to be: First Strike.

Include the following:
1. Your guess of the client-size (like: XXXX,XX MB)
2. Your email-address
3. Your F7C ID (register here: http://www.foren.f7c-network.com/boards/register.php-> login here: http://www.bf-news.de/f7c_login.php-> After logged in, you'll find your "ID" printed next to the Header named "Kontrollzentrum".)

Note: If you can't register at F7C-network (because of the language difficulties), then please include a link to your First-Strike Forum profile! Either this or the F7C ID is required!

4. Your choice (not a must): Your BF2 or BF2142 soldier name

The competition will last until First Strike is released.

All members of the First-Strike Team (including Beta- and Alpha testers) and everyone working for F7c-network.com or the FS Mod Page are not allowed to take part in the competition!


- Prologue -

A bit of history: Where did First Strike Start?

*xEROhOUR: *First Strike started way back in August 2005 a handful of guys had an idea, sadly since then most of them have gone leaving myself and Dutch Razor as being from the original team.
Since then Blitz joined our current Mod Leader and the original Galactic Conquest crew ex Shattered Faith, and some incredibly talented guys (they know who they are and if I listed them all we would be here for weeks! Its the most talented, pro active, and "out of the box" thinking team that has made this mod what it is. It really is a team effort.

The expectations towards the mod are very high. Some fans from BF2 ponder whether to get BF2142 only for First Strike. What do you think about this?

*xEROhOUR: *I would say 2142 lends itself very well indeed to the Star Wars format. In FS you get two games for your money Space and Land combat so with the addition of 2142 that?s 3 kickass games for one price, can?t be bad, can it?

Why exactly a Star Wars mod?

*xEROhOUR: *We felt that there was a real need to pick up where SWBF and the X-Wing series left off, with the tried and trusted concept of DICE's Battlefield Series and the advent of the 2142 Engine it provided an excellent opportunity to create and deliver a real Multiplayer SW experience.

Which episodes will First Strike feature?

*Havoc: *First Strike will Feature the Original trilogy Era so that?s episode 4, 5 and 6. This choice was made mainly due to the fact that these are our favourite episodes. and portray the star wars universe in the best possible w

 

...Coming to a Galaxy near you!

Yes, it's time for the news you've all been waiting for. The endless speculation can now come to an end as we the First Strike Mod Team can finally reveal to you the date on which you the public will be able to get a taste of the First Strike experience with Version 1.0.

And yes, it will be released this month, and yes, this year.

The official release date is Friday the 28th of September.

Mark that date in your datapads people, not long to go now.

So to celebrate this announcement and get you in the mood for a little hot blaster action, allow me to reveal to you the final chapter in Woody's Withering Fire gameplay articles.


Withering Fire

Part 3:
Combat

Ok, so the standard game of battlefield 2 or 2142. You jump in the game. Your next few moments are most likely spent sprinting to a flag, killing one or two people on the way, then capturing the flag. You then get up to another person, die, spawn, and repeat. Each combat involves no more than a few people at a time, and the end objective is usually best met by sneaking in to the places that have the least defence.

This is all very well and good to win conquest games, but all it results in is a bunch of tiny skirmishes across the map. We are aiming to change that in FirstStrike. Part of the whole concept of our mod is for the players to take part in an actual battlefield. That is, we want to encourage actual battles. You know, large scale affairs with intense firefights, squads pushing against one another, walkers stomping through the middle, ground being fought over and defended, and blaster fire coming through the mist or clouds. Lots of blaster fire.

To that end we've embraced gameplay that encourages actual combat and engagement. the first step was withering fire. By having multiple people needed to take down a target that automatically centres battles on large obvious targets like vehicles. The focus on support classes and defensive gear also makes group-centric combat more of a reality. The team that keeps itself protected and alive stands a far better chance than individuals who just run around rambo'ing it up.

Another area in which we have focused is the radar. We've taken the UAV ability from the commander and instead have distributed it amongst the players. Various different infantry now have the power to deploy different UAV devices (droids, beacons, portable scanners). This has had the effect of bringing players more directly into combat. Instead of capping the flag by sneaking around, the players are now more encouraged to seek out and kill the enemy before moving on a position. It also makes it important to scout out an area rather than running blindly into it, because chances are the defenders will have planted sensor beacons and thus will see you before you see them.

And, finally, the maps themselves are also being constructed to encourage areas of focus for the players. Objectivemode maps are the basis of most of our designs, where players need to defend or destroy (or both) objectives on the map in order to win. Objectives traditionally provide for more interesting gameplay as they give a clear goal for the players to go for and a sense of achievement when they are destroyed. They also make more sense to defend than flag points and thus you'll find people playing defense more than in conquest mode.

Of course, the large-scale battles are only part of the end goal. The other half is to provide a large array of challenges to the player. We want everything to be diverse so they have many different areas to branch off into. Each kit has its own uses and usefulness, and it'll take quite a while for players to explore them all and figure out the best use for the gear.

The same goes with the weapons. Each weapon handles differently and has varying levels of usefulness based on the differing situations. Figuring out where to use a certain weapon and/or gear gives players a chance to become specialists in multitude of

 

Polish those blasters, power up your converters, engage thrusters.

The time has come, and at last First Strike Release 1 is here. True to our word on the 28th of September 2007 at the stroke of midnight you can now begin downloading the fruit of all our labour. The First Strike Mod Team do hope you enjoy our first release, we?ve all had a lot of fun working on it, and are desperate to see the public?s reaction to our baby as it takes it?s first steps into the world.

And remember this is only Release One, Release Two will have even more content for you to play with, but we?ll let you get your teeth into this first before we start talking about that.

So get downloading and get on the intergalactic battlefield and we?ll see you out there.

And don?t be shy, once you?ve played get on the forums and let us know what you thought of it. We?re dying to know.



All the best,

The First Strike Mod Team

Now here's where you can download First Strike.

http://battlefield2.filefront.com/file/First_Strike_v10_Client_Files

Torrent:

http://www.gameupdates.org/details.php?id=1586

http://battlefield2.filefront.com/file/First_Strike_v10_Client_Files;83232

http://planetbattlefield.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Battlefield2142Mods.Detail&id=20

Here are the dedicated server files...

http://battlefield2.filefront.com/file/First_Strike_v10_Dedicated_Server_Files;83231

Torrent:

http://www.gameupdates.org/details.php?id=1585

Enjoy.

 

Begun this Mod War Has....

Polish those blasters, power up your converters, engage thrusters.

The time has come, and at last First Strike Release 1 is here. True to our word on the 28th of September 2007 at the stroke of midnight you can now begin downloading the fruit of all our labour. The First Strike Mod Team do hope you enjoy our first release, we?ve all had a lot of fun working on it, and are desperate to see the public?s reaction to our baby as it takes it?s first steps into the world.

And remember this is only Release One, Release Two will have even more content for you to play with, but we?ll let you get your teeth into this first before we start talking about that.

So get downloading and get on the intergalactic battlefield and we?ll see you out there.

And don?t be shy, once you?ve played get on the forums and let us know what you thought of it. We?re dying to know.



All the best,

The First Strike Mod Team

Now here's where you can download First Strike.

http://battlefield2.filefront.com/file/First_Strike_v10_Client_Files

Torrent:

http://www.gameupdates.org/details.php?id=1586

http://battlefield2.filefront.com/file/First_Strike_v10_Client_Files;83232

http://planetbattlefield.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Battlefield2142Mods.Detail&id=20

Here are the dedicated server files...

http://battlefield2.filefront.com/file/First_Strike_v10_Dedicated_Server_Files;83231

Torrent:

http://www.gameupdates.org/details.php?id=1585

Enjoy.

 

Sorry I've not posted here in a while, obviously I've been a bit busy with the first release and all.

So have any of you guys had a chance to download and play it yet?

All feedback is welcome as this will be incorperated into future releases (as has already happened with the release of Patch 1.1) as we polish the game ome more add new content and aim to give the punters what they want from this game.

Hope to see you out there.

Enjoy.

 

I thought I'd give you all a quick update on how things are going at First Strike Towers following the release and public consumption of First Strike: Release One.

Well after for myself a holiday, and for the majority of the team a good week or two of solid fragging on public First Strike servers, it has now become another intense period of hard work as we build upon what we already have to bring you the second release. Our intent is to not have long periods without any new content, and to then have major injections of new content that are few and far between.

We're aiming to bring you a steady stream of minor to medium sized releases on a regular basis, these releases will include new maps, new vehicles and characters, and general improvement of current gameplay, content and stability. The next release for instance will include our first fully fledged combined arms map (a vehicle oriented map featuring armour, air forces and infantry) which is where the Battlefield series of games and the game engine truely shines.

This map will not be Hoth, I know a lot of you are waiting with baited breath for that map (don't worry it is coming ), but this map will be more than exciting enough to tide you over until we get the chance to explore the fan favorite battlegrounds of icy Hoth. this map is already looking stunning, and without being tied to a movie based battle it should have quite a few nice surprises in store for you including some EU vehicles including new tanks and speeders. To be frank it's going to be quite a stunning map.

To tide you over until Release Two we have also released a number of news articles of interest including one covering our team's trip to DICE Headquaters in Stockholm, and an interview with the team conducted with Battlefield.com.

Follow the links to read more...

First Strike goes to DICE!

Hey all! A few of us from the First Strike Mod recently had an opportunity to go to DICE HQ in Stockholm, Sweden to show them our work. I would like to say thanks to DICE for making it possible and thanks to my guys for their hard work in getting us there!

Below is a summary of the trip from each team members? perspective. I didn?t think it would be fair to edit their text as this was their experience and they should talk about it as they choose. My experience was just like theirs so I thought I would give everyone the opportunity to read about this great experience if you so desire.

See you in the Galaxy soldier...

First Strike goes to DICE!

First Strike Interview

First Strike is a player created mod of epic proportions for Battlefield 2142. Set across the span of a much loved galaxy, you can fight battles in space, on a dusty desert planet, densely forested moon? sound familiar?

We invited some of the players who created First Strike team to DICE to hear more about how they created their mod. In between playing their mod we found time to ask them some questions about developing a mod...

First Strike Interview

Enjoy!

 

Here's another update from First Strike Towers, just a little hint at what's coming next. Not long to wait now for a little combined arms action. And before you go there, I have to burst your bubble and say no, the combined arms map isn't Hoth (coming soon, but not next), the main bane of getting a decent Hoth map up and running is getting the AT-AT Walkers just right, and y'know walking and all that. Not only that, but the model itself has been perfected and honed so it's much better than what you currently see loitering around the Landing Platform on Endor. Believe me when you first see these behemoths tromping through the snow on Hoth in game you'll know it was worth the wait.

What we do have in store for you with this next patch should make that wait for Hoth a little easier. Anyhow, enough of my waffling, here's the update.



Coming Soon

Hey Troopers!

We at FS have been working hard at bringing you more content and a new patch with some fixes. Although I cannot comment on an exact date yet, we are nearing completion on this patch. Here are a few things you can expect to see in the next patch.

2 more maps
3 more vehicles
Several visual tweaks to art assets
Gamemode tweaks
Certain exploits that have been reported will be fixed
And much, much more!

Stay tuned and keep giving us feedback. For those of you who may not have given us a second chance by downloading the Full Build with Patch 1.1, please get it here

Torrent (Please use this one if you can)
http://www.doubleskill.de Mirror

Our website is full of information and helpful people, and we have a great manual put together by our Devs and community members, so lets have some fun!

 

To help tide you over until the release of First Strike v1.2 here's a little preview of some of the additional content you can expect to be getting to grips with real soon. First off we're going to introduce you to some of the new beauties you'll be able to get behind the wheel of, for the Empire you'll be getting an S-1 Firehawke Tank looking mighty fine all in black, and for the Alliance you'll be getting the hardy Armoured Rebel Freerunner, a speedy but well armed transport.

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_firehawke.jpg]

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_freerunner2.jpg]

As I'm sure you can guess from these assets one of the new maps you'll be getting will be a combined arms map pitching infantry against armour and air forces all on one map which I'm sure you'll agree is where the Battlefield engine really shines. In addition to brand new assets we've also been tweaking existing ones including improving textures on the weapons amongst many other things.

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_E11Update.jpg]

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_MG15Update.jpg]

And before you go there, I have to burst your bubble and say no, the combined arms map isn't Hoth (coming soon, but not next), the main bane of getting a decent Hoth map up and running is getting the AT-AT Walkers just right, and you know, walking. Not only that, but the model itself has been perfected and honed so it's much better than what you currently see loitering around the Landing Platform on Endor. Believe me when you first see these behemoths tromping through the snow on Hoth in game you'll know it was well worth the wait. As an added bonus here are a few shots of the cockpit of the Rebel Snowspeeder, and the new AT-AT Walker model.

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_SSfront.jpg]

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_SSrear.jpg]

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_ATATModel.jpg]

[image=http://www.firststrikemod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_ATATModel02.jpg]

What we do have in store for you with this next patch is really exciting and will knock your socks off, and should make that wait for Hoth just a little easier.

 

Time for the latest update from First Strike Towers.



This is the first of several articles we will be publishing prior to the release of First Strike v1.2. This article deals with the issues raised by introducing combined arms gameplay into the world of First Strike by introducing you to one of the maps to be found in our next release: The Battle of Ryloth.

Backstory

The planet of Ryloth is the homeworld of the Twi?lek, the tentacle headed aliens best known for their exotic dancers and criminal major domos such as Bib Fortuna. Located in the outer rim, this arid world has the interesting quirk of having one side of the planet always facing the sun, and the other forever hidden under the cover of night. This results in a twilight region between this perpetual day and night being the only habitable area on the planet. Yet even in this twilight region, dust storms ravage the landscape and living is no easy task. Such an inhospitable and remote place became an ideal location for a Rebel base. Unfortunately, Imperial Probe Droids discovered the Rebels, and the Imperial Star Destroyer Vengeance entered the system to crush the Rebel forces. After pounding the surface from orbit with its batteries of turbolasers, the Vengeance deployed ground troops to mop up any Rebel survivors. However, due to their hidden underground base, much of the Rebel forces had survived the initial bombardment, and a fierce battle ensued between both factions' forces both on the ground, and in the air.

Combined Arms

Now that you know why we are on this planet in the first place, we can get into what can be expected from the Battle of Ryloth. One of the major elements missing from First Strike v1.1 was a full scale map utilizing ALL of the types of assets that the team had created, all in the same map. With Escape from Hoth and Taloraan you get air (space) combat, and with Mos Espa and Endor Strike Team you get ground combat. With the Battle of Ryloth, the team decided to bring in that missing element, the gameplay that the Battlefield engine is best known for: combined arms. You will be gaining access to several new vehicles on this map, not to mention the fact that this will be the first FS map to feature starfighters on a ground map. However, adding new vehicles and new roles for existing vehicles causes balance issues. The trick here is to get everything balanced just right, and our testers are working extra hard to make sure that Ryloth will be balanced and fun by the time we release v1.2.

New Toys

Without further ado, here are some of the new vehicles you will get to play with come the release of First Strike v1.2.

Rebel Armoured Freerunner

[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_freerunnerINGAME01.jpg]

[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_freerunnerINGAME02.jpg]

Manufactured by the Kelliak Arms and Armour Company, the Armoured Freerunner was considered one of the most powerful additions to the Rebel ground arsenal. Able to be easily reconfigured to meet any combat need, the Freerunner was roughly equivalent to a medium tank in its standard configuration.
Armament: 1 anti-vehicle turret (middle), 1 anti-personnel turret (rear)
Crew: 1 pilot, 2 gunners, 4 passengers

S-1 Firehawke Heavy Repulsortank

[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_firehawkeINGAME01.jpg]

[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_firehawkeINGAME02.jpg]

Despite the Firehawke's deceptive classification of 'Heavy Repulsortank', it was quite fast and agile. Armed with a heavy laser cannon mounted on its primary turret, the Firehawke combined its speed with its ability to strike with precision from great distances, making it a dangerous foe indeed for Rebel ground forces.
Armament: 1 heavy laser cannon (primary turret), 1 medium blaster cannon
Crew: 1 pilot, 1 gunner (operates medium blaster cannon)

T1-B Hovertank

[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_T1-BINGAME01.jpg]

[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_

 

Welcome to the second of the articles we?ll be publishing in our run up to the release of First Strike v1.2. In this article you'll get an in depth introduction to a new map that we are very excited about, and we know you will be too. Our setting is the site of the climactic battle at the end of Star Wars: A New Hope, the Battle of Yavin.


Backstory

For Star Wars fans, this map really needs no introduction. With the Death Star approaching their no longer hidden base on the jungle moon of Yavin IV, Rebel forces launched a desperate attack against the Empire?s moon sized technological terror. Armed with knowledge gleaned from technical readouts of the battle station, Alliance tacticians lead by General Jan Dodonna, exposed a small weakness in the Death Star?s defenses, and the Alliance?s one-man snub nosed fighters were the perfect weapon to exploit it. As the Rebel fighters slipped past the battle station?s heavy turbolasers, Imperial pilots launched their own fighters to engage the attacking Rebels ship to ship. A gruesome battle ensued with the Rebel Alliance?s fate hanging on one pilot?s ability to successfully fire a proton torpedo down a thermal exhaust port less than two meters wide.

[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_BOY01.jpg]

[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_BOY02.jpg]

?Look at the size of that thing.?

When creating our version of the Battle of Yavin, the focus was on recreating the surface of the Death Star as accurately as possible within the constraints of the Battlefield 2142 engine. According to Star Wars lore, the Death Star was the size of a small moon, so getting a full-scale replica of the entire Death Star into the Battlefield: 2142 engine wasn't going to be even remotely possible. Instead, we had to decide what parts of the famous battle we wanted our map to feature, and figure out the best way to implement them in order to effectively mimic the battle we all know and love from the movie. To recreate the surface of the Death Star, artists worked from photographs of the original pieces of the surface model used in Star Wars: A New Hope. The mapper then slotted these pieces together (just as the model makers did for the movie) to create a believable, endless plane of technological terror. Once the basic surface was finished, work commenced on the important objective targets, and other unique assets across the map such as the TIE Fighter hanger bay, the deflection towers, turbolaser towers, the all important trench, and that most holy of holies, the thermal exhaust port in all of its two meter glory. All of our assets were lovingly detailed to the point that we believe this map is likely the most accurate rendering of the Death Star surface to be found in any game to date.

[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_BOY03.jpg]

[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/sshot1_lrg_BOY04.jpg]

?Cover me Porkins, I?m going in.?

Aside from accurate visuals, our most important goal for the Battle of Yavin was to create a fun gameplay experience while effectively recreating a lore accurate version of the battle seen in the movie. The portion of the Battle of Yavin experienced in our map begins at the point where the fleet of Rebel fighters has passed through the Death Star?s magnetic field and are about to start their attack runs on the surface of the gargantuan space station. The map is essentially split into two separate sets of objectives for the Rebel forces. First they have to take out a number of Deflection Towers in the immediate area to disable the battle station?s shields, this will allow them to move on to stage two where they may make an attack run on the thermal exhaust port at the north most point of the trench. The trench cannot be entered by Rebel fighters before the shields are down, and any attempt to attack the thermal exhaust port from above the surface is doomed to failure thanks to an unhealthy concentration of turbolaser towers around that area. So you can see it is essential to complete stage one before attempting any assault on the

 

There were some cracking games on our server last night, the numbers were so good and consistent I had to switch from the testing version of the mod and jump right in there for some good old fashioned current version First Strike action, and I have to say some of those were the best games I've played in any game for a long time.

It seems that people have become more experienced and have realised that if you play using tactics and solid squad work the game will really shine, and the space battles earlier were awesome.

But yes, the Mos Espa rounds were where it really got good, good co-ordination between squads on the Rebel side kept the Imperials consistently repelled from the city, but it never got boring and every now and then they would break through forcing us to re deploy to plug the hole. We got in a little Walker jacking here and there, but there was also some nice Combat Speeder vs. Walker action with gunner and driver slots manned so the speeder could effectively strafe the Walker at speed, almost took it down too, but a second Walker appeared and took us out before we could finish them off. Lots of good tactics all round really, and then in the end it all came down to the wire in both rounds.

The action in the second round was really awesome, obviously stung by Walker theft in the first round this time the Imperials made sure all their assets were manned and the round began with every Walker imposingly thundering towards the south outskirts of the town, it was a solid first onslaught that tore us to pieces. It was an impressive sight.



Fierce fighting then took to the streets and eventually centred around the Ruins as this was as we all know the key CP to the rest of the city, and when a Walker got involved it got really messy. And then I died at an inopportune moment and the damned game switched me to the Imperials . I just had to jump into a squad and make the most of it. The Rebs had a spawn beacon in there and their troops were just constantly spilling out of the area, but with Walker support we managed to push them back though at the cost of that AT-ST, and yeah, it did look real beautiful going up in the centre of that battle with debris raining down on all of us (though obviously it looked more beautiful to the Rebels).

We then pushed on remembering to carefully clear all buildings for sneak attackers as we went. It finally came down to the last district in the north, the Rebels had erected a MkII with a shield and were tearing us up as we tried to approach them down the street, we were both down to around 30 tickets each so every point, and more importantly every death counted. We were not going to successfully bring this thing down in a face on attack not with all the Rebels dug in and supported by a shielded heavy repeater.

So I moved to outflank their position and ventured into the northern outskirts and came at them from the north, they pretty much all had their backs to me, and then something quite unusual for me happened. I went all Rambo on their arses, and for once everything went right. You could have filmed it all in slow motion with rousing/cheesy (depending on your mindset ) music playing and it would have looked good, everything went so right.

Soldier off to the left, threw a grenade at him and moved on to next target dead ahead of me, gunned him down just as the explosion happened and the other kill that had happened off screen appeared on my messages, gunned down another trooper and then threw my last grenade at a Rebel crouched in the CP compound and took him out just as the game ended. It was beautiful. Safe says the Rebels lost that round but I thought we (the Imperials) just lost it, but I could have been mistaken.

Either way cracking rounds, and very well played by all. Up for more of the same this evening?

Same time, same place, the Rogue Tribe server.

If you want in on the action check in here for more feedback from the frontlines and all info to do with all things First Strike.

http://www.fsmod.com/fsforums/viewtopic.php?id=7058&p=1

 

http://www.fsmod.com/eu/


[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/fscommgames.png]

As mentioned in our most recent update, the First Strike team will be hosting a series of community games on our FSMod.com server. Beginning on Saturday, March 1st, the games will be held weekly at 19:00 GMT (7 pm GMT) every Saturday leading up to the release of First Strike v1.2. So come join us for some awesome, fun-filled, teamwork-oriented sessions of First Strike with other active members of our community, including many of our developers and testers. Let's fill that server people!

Basic Info
Date: Every Saturday
Time: 19:00 GMT (7 pm GMT, 2 pm EST, 11 am PST)
Server: FSMod.com
IP: 72.36.221.154:17566

Also, for those of you who would prefer playing on an EU server, BF-NEWS.de is currently hosting First Strike community games on Fridays at 19:00 GMT (7 pm GMT) on their server which is based in Germany.

Basic Info
Date: Every Friday
Time: 19:00 GMT (7 pm GMT, 2 pm EST, 11 am PST)
Server: BF-News.de FirstStrike RC1.1
IP: 83.142.82.230:17569

 

Well here is the latest news report from the intergalactic front lines.

Enjoy.

Community Games Report

Welcome to the First Strike Community Games Report. Over the last few weeks as part of the run up to the release of version 1.2 we have been hosting a series of gaming events. On Friday evenings BF-NEWS.de have been hosting games for our European players, and the FSMod server has been hosting games for those of you States side on Saturdays. And I?m pleased to be able to tell you that they have been an overwhelming success.

With these servers running almost to capacity for the whole evening this gives us and you a great opportunity to see what this mod is really capable of. Promoting good teamwork and emulating the look and feel of the Star Wars Universes battles are key to what First Strike aims to achieve, not little skirmishes, but full blown intergalactic battles be that on land or in space.

Using Battlerecorder we have taken a number of shots from these epic battles that many of you took part in, and I think you can see for yourselves that the results are pretty spectacular. Here you will find battle scenes from all the current maps, Escape from Hoth, Tatooine Mos Espa, Encounter at Mos Entha, Endor Strike Team and Battle of Taloraan. But those found here are only the tip of the iceberg. Follow the link below to the Official First Strike Community Games Screenshot Gallery in the forums to find many more exciting shots from the Community Games.

http://www.fsmod.com/fsforums/viewtopic.php?pid=100108#p100108

In addition to this we also have more exciting news. The First Strike stats system is now fully operational. The FSMod server now records your stats whenever you play there, and by following this link you can see how you have fared so far in the rankings.

http://fsmod.com/stats/

These stats are a preview of the system. All stats will be reset to 0 with the release of 1.2.

To view this articles screenies follow this link...

http://www.fsmod.com/eu/

 

With the release of First Strike v1.2 days (yes you heard right ) away it is time to whet your appetite with another update, this one by yours truly.

Enjoy!



1.2 MAP PREVIEWS: RHEN VAR: ICE PLAINS & RYLOTH

As promised to help satiate your appetite for all things First Strike while we put the last finishing touches onto v1.2 (you know put a little bow on it and that sort of thing), we?d like to introduce you to two more maps that you can expect to wage war over in the not too distant future. The first, Rhen Var: Ice Plains will be new to all of you, but the second map we?ll be focusing on, The Battle of Ryloth will be familiar to those who have been following our progress for some time, so why are we coming back to it again? All in good time.


[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/RVIP_Title.jpg]

Backstory

Rebel agents have discovered a secret Imperial research facility on the remote ice planet of Rhen Var. The facility is well protected, with a full garrison at its disposal. Alliance tacticians have developed a two-pronged attack to secure the facility. The first unit is combat dropped into the ice plains east of the target; equipped with a full armour column they intend to spearhead a direct frontal assault. Spotting the Imperial forces erecting a forward command post outside an ancient Jedi Temple ruin, the Alliance commander knows that his forces must keep them occupied long enough for the second phase of the operation to proceed.


Armored Assault

And so the stage is set, a desolate wintry landscape, vast columns of heavy armour on both sides, this map evokes memories of the great tank battles of our age such as the Battle of the Bulge, but set in the Star Wars universe. With no aircraft featuring in this map, players can concentrate fully on tank vs. tank battle tactics, learning the weaknesses of each vehicle you can formulate the best plan to defeat them, but if being a tank commander isn?t for you there is still plenty for you to do including infantry anti-tank duties. If you are on the Imperial team you will also get to defend your forward command post situated amongst the imposing ruins of Rhen Var?s ancient Jedi Temples, or if you happen to be on the Rebel team you will get the chance to spot targets for Mortar Freerunners. Using an artillery spotting system unique to First Strike, you in conjunction with a gunner aboard these special Freerunners can rain accurate death down on your enemies from right across the map. Let battle commence.


[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/BOR_Title.jpg]

Backstory

The Empire?s counter attack following its defeat at the Battle of Yavin is swift and brutal. The vast Imperial fleet combs the Galaxy in search of Rebel strongholds. Following the discovery by Viper Probe Droids of a Rebel base in the wastes of Ryloth in the Outer Rim, the Star Destroyer Vengeance has been dispatched to the planet to deal with the Rebel scum. Following a devastating orbital bombardment by the mighty war cruiser it is time for Imperial forces to be dropped to the surface to mop up any survivors. This should prove an easy victory for the Empire.


What? No Twi?lek Dancing Girls?

Yes, we have covered Ryloth in an update before, but that really concentrated less on the map and more on the ideals behind a combined arms map, and the new vehicles you?d get to pilot there, but this was thin on actual detail about the map itself, and after several different incarnations the one we have finally selected for your pleasure is a decidedly different animal to what we had back in February. With this map we have tried to provide you with as exciting a playground as possible for you to try out all the new toys in. Canyons in which you can engage in hair raising dogfights with enemy fighters, complex mining installations with a dazzling array of levels for infantry to explore, wide open desert wastelands ideal for ground battles, and last but not least, a fully realized Rebel Base to be assaulted or defended. When you first arrive on Ryloth

 

[image=http://www.fsmod.com/img/FSReleasePoster.jpg]

This is it, the moment you've all been waiting for: First Strike v1.2 has finally arrived! The Version 1.2 patch is now available for download and general public consumption.

Featuring new maps, vehicles, weapons, and an array of bugfixes and gameplay tweaks, First Strike v1.2 blends infantry, vehicular, and even space combat for a truly amazing Star Wars experience. This patch has been in the making since the release of First Strike 1.1 in September of 2007, and we here on the dev team are extremely happy to bring to you all of the new toys to play with and experiences to have in v1.2 We can't wait to see all of you out on the servers with us.

Major Changes/Additions in First Strike v1.2 Include...

-7 new maps
-7 new vehicles
-Persistent stat tracking
-Over 12 high priority bug fixes
-A wide array of visual improvements
-Several new musical scores
-Many other miscellaneous tweaks



Now what are you waiting for? Go download the patch from one of the mirrors below and join the fight!

More Mirrors will be added as they come online, a full list of the mirrors can be found here:

http://www.fsmod.com/eu/

 

Sweet!

 

This was mod of the month in PC Powerplay this month; they said 'if you only have one mod for BF2142, make sure it's this one.'

Good work.