Star Wars: Squadrons

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Daveman
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Daveman »

Got to play through a few missions, still just tutorial stuff (haven't been given option to change fighter, loadout, etc.) but it's very cool. I felt like I was flying better in the TIEs than the X-Wing but time will tell.

Playing on the PS4 and its controller went very well. I did invert the axis and wound up switching the control sticks as it didn't quite feel right on default. Random thoughts so far:

1. It's not a dumbed down action-y game. Every button on the PS4 has a function. Switching power is important, reducing speed to improve turning radius is important, etc.

2. While power management is important, it feels kind of simplified over the old games. Full power to any system is a huge boost (very rapid shield regen at full, lasers at full power and constant regen, etc.) Felt like you need only go full power to a system briefly and then balance out.

3. TIEs get the repair pack things but so do the Rebels and they have shields as well. TIEs are otherwise still relatively fragile.

4. I got that the single player campaign switches between Rebel and Empire but that initial screen sure looked like it was asking you to make a choice when it was really just a moment to customize the two characters. I edited the Rebel and thought I was selecting him, maybe to start the story but all I did was miss the chance to edit the Imperial pilot. Oops.
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McNutt
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by McNutt »

PC question - does anyone know how to change the joystick controls? I want to switch yaw and roll and I don't see a way to switch anything on the joystick. I only get the option to change either keyboard or mouse controls.

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TheMix
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by TheMix »

McNutt wrote: Fri Oct 02, 2020 6:18 pm PC question - does anyone know how to change the joystick controls? I want to switch yaw and roll and I don't see a way to switch anything on the joystick. I only get the option to change either keyboard or mouse controls.

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If I'm reading this correctly... it looks like maybe you hold the button/option to put it in edit mode. But that seems like it wouldn't work well on a joystick. I couldn't find anything else.

Edit: And I wasn't. I see now. For some of the buttons, they do different things based on whether you hold or double tap.

Second edit: Looks like maybe you can adjust it in the config (depending on how diff HOTAS is from joystick):
Can’t Bind Pedals, Can’t Remap HOTAS Fix
Those of you facing the issues with HOTAS which doesn’t allow them to remap controls or bind pedals, here are the fixes. Those of you unable to remap buttons, first right-click Star Wars Squadrons in Steam library > under “Steam Input per-game Setting” select “Forced Off”. Then follow the steps mentioned in this video to remap your HOTAS buttons.

As for those who can’t bind pedals, launch Star Wars Squadrons with throttle unplugged. This will allow players to bind pedals and once you are done. Close the game and launch it again with everything plugged in.

Alternatively, players can just modify the config file. Go to “Documents\STAR WARS Squadrons Steam\settings\ProfileOptions_profile_synced”. Look for the following lines for Yaw.

GstKeyBinding.IncomStarshipInputConcepts.ConceptRoll.4.button 46
GstKeyBinding.IncomStarshipInputConcepts.ConceptRoll.4.deviceid 2

However, the modification depends on the player itself. For us, the Button 47 was z-axis(-) and we had to do trial and error to find that 46 was z-axis(+). This should fix the HOTAS issues with Star Wars Squadrons.

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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Skinypupy »

Two thoughts.

1. This is an absolute blast.
2. Holy shit, I’m terrible at this.

EDIT: This is the first competitive MP game I've tried since the original Unreal Tournament. So, it's been a while.

For those who play these sort of games on the regular, is it fairly normal for every game to be wildly unbalanced? I played six "Dogfight" matches tonight, and every one of them was a complete blowout (i.e. 30-3, 30-5, 30-1, etc.). There's usually one player on each team who is far above everyone else level-wise, and they just go out and mop the floor with everyone else. In the last match, one level 17 dude (everyone else was between levels 4-8) went 26 kills and no deaths, while the next highest kill total was 2. :lol:

If that's the norm, then I just won't bother with playing much outside the story and probably won't double-dip either. I get that I'm not any good (my k/d is currently .10), but if it's typical to have just one or two studs with everyone else being cannon fodder, I'll go back to ignoring multiplayer entirely.

Not sure if there’s usually any sort of matchmaking level balancing in these things, or if it’s just ‘git gud’.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Blackhawk »

I have played enough other multiplayer games to know that truly balanced matches are few and far between, and the 'ringer' carrying one team and stomping the other is pretty common. A lot of the fun in those comes from the balanced moments in unbalanced matches where you just sort of 'click' for a little while.
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Skinypupy
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Skinypupy »

Looks like it’s not just me that was frustrated by the constant dogfight blowout matches.
Squadrons does have multiplayer, which I’ve played a bit since the game went live for everyone. So far my experience has been less than stellar. While the combat and flying are still satisfying and fun, matchmaking leaves a lot to be desired. Every match I played ended in blowouts. Sometimes I was on the winning side, other times I was on the losing side. It wasn’t much fun either way. Maybe as more players spend more time with the game teams will become more balanced and matches more fun.
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naednek
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by naednek »

In the beta it didn't seem out of balance. Maybe it's just because it's new.

I'm playing on my PC with my 360 controller, and I'm having difficulty turning left. I'm wondering if my controller is dying. I've tried calibrating and it doesn't seem to help. Not too please about that.
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Skinypupy
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Skinypupy »

I also just realized that of the 12 MP matches I played last night (10 dogfight and 2 Fleet Battles), the Rebel teams went 12-0.

Dunno if that’s an imbalance in the power of the ships or that the good players only play on the Rebel side, but that seemed odd.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by McNutt »

I was able to find a way to change my joystick so now turning the stick rolls like it should. All is right in the world. Now I just need to map my shield buttons.

I have not tried the fleet battles yet. I'm excited to do that.

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Redfive
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Redfive »

McNutt wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 1:54 pm I was able to find a way to change my joystick so now turning the stick rolls like it should. All is right in the world. Now I just need to map my shield buttons.

I have not tried the fleet battles yet. I'm excited to do that.

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Yeah, I just swapped the roll and yaw controls and all was good.
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Skinypupy
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Skinypupy »

My initial extremely positive first impressions continue to plummet.

Since I was so terrible on PS4, I figured I'd give the PC version a try to see if HOTAS was any better. I signed up for a month of EA Play ($5), which gives me a 10-hour free trial. Figured that was a better option than paying for the full game.

Problem is, it won't load at all. It goes black right after the initial cutscene, and I just have to Ctrl-Alt-Del to kill it. Seems that this is a common problem, and the primary fix is to to switch to windowed mode instead of full screen. However, any time I try and switch to Windowed mode, the game immediately CTD. So I guess I'm completely out of luck on PC at this point. Lovely.

Guess I'll just try and run through the story on PS4 and call it done. Was certainly hoping for more.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by McNutt »

That's a shame. I have to believe that a problem that common will be fixed soon though.

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naednek
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by naednek »

I was able to find my old logitech Freedom2.4 Cordless joystic and man such a better experience!

Now I just need to memorize all the buttons. They keep talking pressing a numbered key and that's fine as the joystick is labeled, but playing in a dark room at night doesn't help :)
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Skinypupy »

I will say that the story has been a blast. Even if I do nothing but that (and the quality keeps up), I’d still say it’s worth the $40.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by McNutt »

I've only played story mode so far and am really enjoying it. I've been using the default difficulty, but it's way too easy. I've noticed a few times where it incorporated some accuracy assist. Screw that.

I tried dogfighting against the computer at a harder level. In a Tie Interceptor I was only able to kill 2 X-Wings before I died. I'm sure the difficulty was a factor, but Those Revel ships sure took a lot more shots to take down.

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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Skinypupy wrote:I will say that the story has been a blast. Even if I do nothing but that (and the quality keeps up), I’d still say it’s worth the $40.
Damn it, that just pushed me over the top to buy.

Someone please note that this is the only game I’ve payed full MSRP on...probably since the mid-late 90’s.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Isgrimnur »

McNutt wrote: Sun Oct 04, 2020 1:52 pm Those Revel ships sure took a lot more shots to take down.
I hear the Bandai ones are easier.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

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Ha!
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by McNutt »

I'm pretty deep into the story and am having a blast. Tonight after I played a few missions I tried my hand at Quick Match. I was thrown into a 5v5 dogfight as an Imperial. I was flying a TIE Fighter and getting my ass kicked. I ended the match with no kills, but we still won. That absolutely cannot be the way I end it. I played a second match and chose the TIE Bomber. Now we're talking! We lost the match (barely), but I ended up with the most kills in the match (9) and several assists.

The team composition in the last game was:
Imperials
TIE FIghter x 2
TIE Interceptor x 2
TIE Bomber

Rebels
X-Wing x 5

Afterwards I spent the points I accrued on a hologram for my TIE Bomber (I think it sticks to all Imperial ships) and switched my loadout to be even better in 5v5 matches by replacing the front shield boost (great against capital ships) with proximity mines that attach to ships trailing me. I'm loving that TIE Bomber.

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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Skinypupy »

McNutt wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 11:31 pm I played a second match and chose the TIE Bomber. Now we're talking! We lost the match (barely), but I ended up with the most kills in the match (9) and several assists.

I’ve played 25-30 Dogfight matches. The most kills I’ve ever had in a match so far is 3 and that only happened once. The fewest deaths I’ve had is 7. :lol:

Further proof that MP just isn’t for me at all. Oh well.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by McNutt »

Have you tried any of the AI Fleet Battles? I'll probably try a few of those tonight. I think my MP Fleet Battles option was greyed out. Not sure if it's a level requirement.

I think the hardest thing is going to be learning the joystick and button mappings. I still can't remember which is my countermeasure button. And I need to get a lot better at learning the engine/laser/shield quick adjusts so I can boost my engines and super thrust out of a turn.

I watched a video of a guy who was showing some tips. He said that for Imperial ships there is a way to keep the engines at full the entire time and do a quick transfer of power to your lasers. It essentially allowed him to have good laser charge even though his engines were always maxed out. I'll have to try to figure that one one.

Also, that guy was doing a review with video from his VR. Being able to easily look all around in a dogfight is huge. I want one.

Edit - I also no longer have a complaint about the lack of empty space in this game. The maps are always filled with things that you have to fly around, like debris, asteroids, dockyards,etc.). At first I thought this was unnecessary eye candy, but it really is a necessary part of these games as it adds to the strategy.
Last edited by McNutt on Tue Oct 06, 2020 9:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by pr0ner »

MP Fleet Battles has a level requirement of 5 or higher.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Skinypupy »

McNutt wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 9:37 am Have you tried any of the AI Fleet Battles? I'll probably try a few of those tonight. I think my MP Fleet Battles option was greyed out. Not sure if it's a level requirement.
Yeah. I've won a couple on Easy setting, but have lost the half-dozen or so that I've played on the Normal setting.

The weird thing about the AI Fleet Battles is that my AI teammates never actually attack the capital ships. Each enemy AI will have thousands of points of capital ship damage to my ships, but all of my team will be in the hundreds.

I've tried taking over the Y Wing/TIE Bomber and doing the heavy damage myself, but that doesn't work well (since I'm terrible at it). The last match had me with something like 30K in ship damage, and the next closest AI teammate had 1,200.
I watched a video of a guy who was showing some tips. He said that for Imperial ships there is a way to keep the engines at full the entire time and do a quick transfer of power to your lasers. It essentially allowed him to have good laser charge even though his engines were always maxed out. I'll have to try to figure that one one.
I probably need to watch some vids, as there's very obviously something I'm missing in combat. Little B was watching me play last night and her comment was "how come they always kill you in 3 seconds but you shoot them forever without them dying?"

I try adjusting shields and lasers, but nothing ever seems to make a difference. Feels like I'm dead the moment I'm spotted, while me plinking away at enemy ships does next to nothing.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by wonderpug »

I think the internet hive-mind consensus is that the AI in the fleet battles is too strong, even on easy difficulty. They seem to just have pinpoint accuracy even at max range. I'm expecting a patch soon.

As for them not attacking the capital ships, I hadn't noticed that but it would explain a lot. I wonder if it would help to tag the capital ship with Y to get them attacking.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Skinypupy »

Finished the story campaign this afternoon, that was very fun. Wasn't crazy about the ending, but getting there was a blast.

Still disappointed that I'm apparently the worst pilot in the galaxy so MP isn't an option, but was still definitely worth the time.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by El Guapo »

Are there any joysticks that would work on an XBox One that would cost under $50? Seems like HOTAS is the standard, but that seems to cost >$100, unless I'm missing something.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Max Peck »

I was able to get a Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas One for CAD $110 last week, so if you can find one in stock somewhere it should run about USD $80 (if it isn't from a reseller that's jacking up the price).
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by El Guapo »

Max Peck wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 11:28 am I was able to get a Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas One for CAD $110 last week, so if you can find one in stock somewhere it should run about USD $80 (if it isn't from a reseller that's jacking up the price).
Is there an off-brand joystick for cheaper? I don't care in the slightest about features, just looking for the absolutely cheapest joystick.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Max Peck »

When I was shopping around last week, I was looking primarily for a low-end PC joystick, and the T.Flight Hotas One was the least expensive option. I got lucky and found one in stock at Amazon for what appeared to be the MSRP. It's already out of stock again, with one reseller listed who's asking CAD $300.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Isgrimnur »

It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Max Peck
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Max Peck »

I'm not sure that I'd want to play a space/flight sim with that controller, but technically it is a joystick.

And as we all know...

Enlarge Image
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by El Guapo »

Thanks. This is generally consistent with what I was finding. All things considered, I'll probably stick with using the regular XBox controller - not as good as a full joystick, but since I'm not playing a lot of flight sims it's adequate for playing Squadrons.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Isgrimnur »

:dance:
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by gbasden »

On the other end of the spectrum, I can report that playing Squadrons with the Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog and Valve Index VR goggles is a really fantastic experience.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by stimpy »

He/Him/His/Porcupine
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Brian »

Angry Joe gives the HOTAS/VR experience a 10 out of 10.
(Standard version only gets a 7/10)

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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by McNutt »

To those of you playing VR, it seems that the Rebel ships have a noticeable advantage based on their open cockpit visibility. Do you mainly stick to Rebel ships?
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by Sepiche »

McNutt wrote: Thu Oct 15, 2020 2:43 pm To those of you playing VR, it seems that the Rebel ships have a noticeable advantage based on their open cockpit visibility. Do you mainly stick to Rebel ships?
I think I would still prefer the Rebel ships for a variety of reasons, but the visibility certainly helps. That said, I'm not sure it's really all that much of an advantage on the whole.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by McNutt »

Maybe it isn't as much of an advantage as I'm imagining, but I bet it really helps pull you into the environment. The videos are really incredible.
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Re: Star Wars: Squadrons

Post by McNutt »

I am really enjoying the multiplayer dogfights. Of course sometimes you just have a horrible team and there's not much you can do about it. My last game ended with three of my teammates having zero kills. It's hard to win that way.

The ability to customize your ship is awesome. I have been playing around with so many different builds. I got my first kill today with my unstable engine. That engine decreases your hull strength, but increases your max speed and acceleration. It also causes a very large explosion when you die that can destroy a nearby enemy. I was doing a joust with an A-Wing. He got in the final shot, but my engine finished him off. Suck it, Rebel!

I've been experimenting a lot with different loadouts. I've only leveled up enough to get what I want on one ship. I need to keep leveling.

I have only payed Fleet Battles against AI and I still suck at it. What is the secret for getting close to the big capital ship? If I have a Y-Wing and attack the Star Destroyer I am usually toast before I can get close. They just open up on me with everything and I don't stand a chance. I want to do the bombing runs, but it's not happening. What am I doing wrong?
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