Battlefront: Renegade Squadron Interview

Once we saw that we could do this, we started to ask how many players we could do it with. Sixteen players, in the beginning, was a pie-in-the-sky type of goal, but with the help of [developer] Rebellion and [server provider] Gamespy, we made it happen.

YVG: Are you going to have voice communications, or any other way for players to talk to each other?

KCC: At this time, we're not, but we're going to have tons of personalization aspects built in. When you go in and create a character, you can change their colors and insignias to create a clan feel. Then of course we have leaderboards, stats, awards and medals for people that we're tracking through Gamespy. People will build their own subcommunities off that.

YVG: Making first-person shooter controls feel right on the PSP has been a challenge. How do Renegade Squadron's controls work?

KCC: Battlefront 2 was actually the number three best-selling game to date on the PSP. We had a lot of success with those controls, but we wanted to revisit them and make them a little more arcade-style, if you will. Now, using the control stick will move you forward, left and right, but it'll also have a target lock feature using the right shoulder button. Hold that down and it'll lock you on a target that you've chosen. So once you're locked on you can circle-strafe around them, use the X button to fire and the circle button to throw your grenades. It has a good flow with the run-and-gun style of the franchise, and these controls are laid out in a very fun, arcadey style.

YVG: Tell us about the new multiplayer mode in Renegade Squadron.

KCC: We created a new mode called Hero Capture the Flag. Instead of having the flags at opposing ends of the map, you can actually choose to play as a hero who runs around holding the flag. You can't actually do anything -- as Darth Vader holding the flag you can't kill anyone. Once you're killed, the flag drops. Your teammates can actually kill you as well, if they want to play as the hero. But this is not recommended -- in this case, your flag becomes vulnerable.

YVG: What character builds are proving popular with the testers?

KCC: Right now, the standard blaster rifle with the jetpack and maximum health is a good one. Again, we've balanced them so that there's no super, uber character -- there's a very fine balance. My personal favorite right now is the rocket launcher with maximum speed and a little bit of extra health. I like making a tough guy who's also really fast.

YVG: Sounds like playing old-school Quake.

KCC: Exactly.

YVG: Tell us about the new space battles.

KCC: This time, we've added playable hero vehicles. For the first time, you'll be able to play as Han Solo's Millennium Falcon, or Boba Fett's Slave One. Once you've achieved the right to play as a hero, you can play as one of these hero ships. They're going to be a tougher and faster version of what you're flying before. Once you get out of a vehicle inside a ship or a space station, you'll be able to play as the hero as well.

YVG: What about capital ships?

KCC: Capital ships have taken a great leap forward. They're much more like the console version, if you remember from Battlefront 2. Previously, we couldn't give the capital ships interiors on the PSP, but this time with the technology that Rebellion has, they were able to create these interiors where you'll be able to take out the shields, occupy the turrets, have great combat inside the hangars of these capital ships. Then, if you want to get in a ship, you can take out the critical systems -- life support, the engines, the shield generator -- from outside using a bomber or X-Wing.

YVG: Will taking out the life support kill the players inside the ship?

KCC: No -- you won't have eight people all choking their lives out. But depending on the game mode, it'll help your side a little more.

YVG: Do you have any other new space vehicles?

KCC: Absolutely. We have the B-Wing, the TIE Defender, Anakin's spacecraft, Slave One, the Millennium Falcon -- five or six new vehicles.

YVG: What about the land vehicles?

KCC: Yes -- not only the bigger ones like the AT-ST and AT-AT, but we've added some cool new vehicles from Episode III that weren't in there before. We have a smaller version of the Juggernaut tank, and some fun new tweaks to the weapons of the existing vehicles.

YVG: What are all the attributes you can tweak on your characters?

KCC: Health and speed are the basic ones, and each one has three levels. The final one we call "capture speed," and that helps you take over command posts faster, and refills your boost meter more quickly.

YVG: Do the points that you spend on attributes and weapons come from the same pool?

KCC: Absolutely. The same menu, the same screen. You go in there, pick weapon one and weapon two, explosives, powerups, special items like a jetpack or landmines, and then buy your health, speed and capture speed.

YVG: Do you have a final figure for the number of maps you'll be including?

KCC: Right now, we're looking at over 20. Every single map we're reusing has been repurposed, and we also have a bunch of new maps in there as well, including some locations that nobody's ever seen in a Star Wars game before. Plus we have old favorites like Endor and Hoth -- people have a lot of attachment to those maps.