Galactic Starfighter still exists! Want to learn the game?

[caederon]

Maybe some of you have never seen GSF played between very competitive skilled teams. Here's a great example of what the game looks like when both sides know what they're doing and get caught up in a back-and-forth match that isn't decided until close to the very end:

 

 

That's from Drakolich's YouTube channel. He also has a ton of great tutorial videos up there, lots of entertaining games to watch, and streams on Twitch as well.

 

If any of this interests you, check out the first post in this thread and attend the tutorial chat event listed there.

 

GSF has a lot to offer to people who are willing to put in some effort to learn the game.

 

- Despon

[benmas]

how to win at GSF

1)own a bomber

or

2)own a gunship

 

haven't played GSF since January 2014, controls felt sluggish and unresponsive, only having the two starter fighters meant i couldn't get close to the other people who had there gunships just killed it for me.

[caederon]

how to win at GSF

1)own a bomber

or

2)own a gunship

Your specious statement is an odd way to deter people from playing. If you get the starter quest, available to everyone at lvl10 from the PvP terminal, you will be rewarded with enough Fleet Requisition after your very first match to buy a highly capable gunship and bomber. One would think that a single match isn't too much time invested before you have access to two of the most useful ships in the game.

 

Alternately, you could spend that 5000 Fleet Req on a Sting/Flashfire (aka the T2 scout) which is one of the dominant offensive forces of the game. Again, you will have the requisition you need after a single match, win or lose, just for taking the intro quest.

 

In other words, roughly fifteen minutes of your time are necessary before you can afford the stock version of either two of the game's best ships, or it's most offensively powerful scout.

 

It's a shame you found the controls not to your liking, but that's no reason to make (incorrect) blanket statements about a game you haven't played in two years.

 

- Despon

Edited May 20, 2016 by caederon

[alycatmoichido]

I hated gsf when it first came out...and quit....told myself never again...what a waste of time...especially being all disoriented and all...

Then an old buddy of mine convinced me this last December or so to try it out again, along with a few pointers...and after a few matches...i was hooked!

I used to be straight regular pvp...nothing else mattered...until i got addicted to gsf.

I was awful at the start, but I didn't give up even though I had my *** handed to me in numerous matches, in numerous and many times hilarious ways. But each match I win or lose, I learn something new...about whichever ship i'm flying, about the ship i'm up against...map strengths/weaknesses...experienced/newb pilot skills/abilities...OK...you get the idea...i learn something every time.

Gsf IS challenging for slow learners like me! But I've come to enjoy the challenge, it isn't a mindless rinse repeat ...

 

I've skimmed over a few of the awesome guides that are definitely helpful...but for me they just don't click...i cant concentrate long enough to remember all the itty bitty details etc which means by the time i'm attempting to adjust my ships/crew accordingly...i forget what i was supposed to do lol...that alone is a huge challenge for me...

So i called out in the gsf channel for help and i found some awesome gsf veterans that were eager and patient enough to help me out.

The gsf community for me has really made the rough learning curve, not such a bad experience over all. Of course there will be some ******e saying negative things or bashing certain play styles or ideas, but over all the community as a whole has been very helpful and open to teaching and helping new/returning players learn this side of the game we all love

 

I heard about gsf school from a few guildies, and via the gsf channel...

At first i was intimidated, worried my newb questions would be dumb, but you know what...however newb i felt my question was, it was still answered and other pilots chimed in the channel as well adding helpful feedback from their own experiences or perspectives....

 

I highly recommend new/returning players curious or interested in gsf to give it a try, and GSF School with Despon is a great opportunity and starting point

 

Gsf has a great community!

We need more fun pilots to enjoy, learn, and own the skies/space with so join us and give it a try

[caederon]

I heard about gsf school from a few guildies, and via the gsf channel...

At first i was intimidated, worried my newb questions would be dumb, but you know what...however newb i felt my question was, it was still answered and other pilots chimed in the channel as well adding helpful feedback from their own experiences or perspectives....

I'm really glad you found it helpful. The whole GSFSchool concept works best when people are active in asking questions and keeping conversation flowing. I especially hope to see questions from new pilots on how to approach attacking a certain ship, or how to handle a tough situation... but I'm happy to answer any question I can.

 

I had a lot of the same problems most new pilots do when I started. It took time and a lot of games played before things started to click and I became an effective participant in matches. There are a lot of non-obvious aspects of GSF and things that are obfuscated by the lack of clear information. Lots of intricacies are hard to pick up on unless you know what to look for.

 

Thanks for participating in GSFSchool chats, I hope people will take your example and join in!

 

- Despon

[AlienEyeTX]

I'm glad you enjoy GSF, OP. Good luck in your recruiting.

 

I got my fill of GSF by levelling a character from 1-10 doing nothing but GSF. I've done my time and I don't envision going back to it again.

 

I still really wish they would find a way to merge space/ground combat into one epic mission/battle.

[Pokerface]

If the Starfighter Thing was PvE, then I would love to learn it, but since it's PvP ... I am not interested.

[ImmortalLowlife]

This has always been a point of contention. There are clear reasons why they chose to go with a kb/m control scheme, the clearest of which being that it's how the rest of the game is navigated and GSF is built on the same code. It also means that it doesn't require a special peripheral to play that a large part of the customer base is unlikely to have.

 

I'll give you the "they used it because the rest of the game uses kb/m", but I don't know anybody who doesn't have at least 1 Xbox or PC controller in their house. There are hundreds of millions of console gamers.

 

 

 

That aside, there are also notable examples of high profile space sims with a very similar control scheme. Freelancer was made by the same guy who's now making Star Citizen, and offered a great kb/m implementation. Elite: Dangerous also offers a control scheme very similar to GSF's (even down to using the F-keys for managing your power levels) It sucks that you didn't find it a great way to control your ship, but it's a legit and workable control scheme.

 

If they ever actually release SC, I might give it a shot...but even then I'd be using either a controller or joystick. If the only option is kb/m I'll never touch it.

 

 

It's also way down the list of reasons the playing population has shrunk... the chief reason being lack of any new content for two years.

 

Not from what I saw leading up to and shortly after release. You stopped seeing that particular complaint because people stopped complaining about that because BW apparently didn't care.

 

 

No game will please everyone, but it's my hope to help people have a better time playing GSF through giving them the tools to overcome the game's challenges.

 

- Despon

 

This I agree with you on 100%, and As I said....best of luck!

[caederon]

I'll give you the "they used it because the rest of the game uses kb/m", but I don't know anybody who doesn't have at least 1 Xbox or PC controller in their house. There are hundreds of millions of console gamers.

Most (maybe all prior to you) of the complaints I have seen against GSF's controls were based on people wanting to use a flightstick style joystick like many past space sims required... and those are not especially common since space sims, prior to the last few years, had fallen largely off the radar. That was what I based my reply on.

 

That said, I don't know that a gamepad would offer enough controls to account for all of the possible keybinds available in GSF. Without actually looking it up, there are at least 20 commonly used buttons. If you really boiled it down you might be able to get it to... 13-ish, but you'd need something akin to the mousewheel too. Flightsticks, at least, offer plenty of buttons and control axes to assign stuff like that to. Seems like it would be kind of unwieldy and limiting on a gamepad.

 

The extra complexity in GSF's control scheme gives it much more depth than, say, Battlefront's aerial combat... which was something many GSF pilots were excited for prior to its launch, then rather suddenly unexcited for once they actually played it.

 

Anyway, given developer indifference (or, perhaps, 'publisher indifference' to be more accurate) and the likelihood they will never overhaul SWTOR into a whole new game engine, the chance of them ever changing the control scheme is pretty near zero.

 

Not from what I saw leading up to and shortly after release. You stopped seeing that particular complaint because people stopped complaining about that because BW apparently didn't care.

People complain about lack of new content all the time. There are threads over in the GSF forum right now talking about that, and there have been complaints all the way back to the last new ships introduced to the game. Many people would love to see new game modes, new maps, new ships, or even just balance changes... like the devs said they knew were needed but then failed to actually implement.

 

Any little morsel of new content would draw back a lot of former pilots and potentially interest new ones.

 

Despite our disagreements, thanks for the good luck wish. Hopefully some people who would enjoy GSF will see the thread here and join us for some flying.

 

- Despon

[benmas]

Your specious statement is an odd way to deter people from playing. If you get the starter quest, available to everyone at lvl10 from the PvP terminal, you will be rewarded with enough Fleet Requisition after your very first match to buy a highly capable gunship and bomber. One would think that a single match isn't too much time invested before you have access to two of the most useful ships in the game.

 

Alternately, you could spend that 5000 Fleet Req on a Sting/Flashfire (aka the T2 scout) which is one of the dominant offensive forces of the game. Again, you will have the requisition you need after a single match, win or lose, just for taking the intro quest.

 

In other words, roughly fifteen minutes of your time are necessary before you can afford the stock version of either two of the game's best ships, or it's most offensively powerful scout.

 

It's a shame you found the controls not to your liking, but that's no reason to make (incorrect) blanket statements about a game you haven't played in two years.

 

- Despon

 

well it was too bad it didn't give me 5000 it gave 2000 to me when i did over 2 years ago

 

so i did try it again on an alt and...

took over 40 minutes to get a pop

had 4 people rage because i had starter stuff

the controls still feel like silly string is holding them together

this time i got 5k and bought a gun ship

even as a noob i still came half way up the leader board

 

playing on the red eclipse if that means anything.

Edited May 22, 2016 by benmas

[caederon]

took over 40 minutes to get a pop

What time of day were you queuing? The GSF-friendly servers, these days, are most active during 'primetime' 8pm-midnight local time. Afternoon/early evening matches are more sporadic depending on what server you're playing.

 

Harbinger often has enough people flying in primetime that there are two concurrent matches. A GSF match takes about 15min to complete. You can check if there is one in progress by using the 'Who' tab and putting in 'Denon Mesas Shipyards' which will show who is in any of those three maps, which are the three GSF maps.

 

had 4 people rage because i had starter stuff

This is particularly odd to me. It's something I rarely see. The people who play the game a lot are unlikely to pick on new players; we know what it's like to start in stock alts because most of us do it frequently. A request in the GSF chat channel ( /cjoin GSF ) along the lines of 'hey, I am new and would like help learning' is likely to get a lot of positive results if there are veteran pilots on.

 

the controls still feel like silly string is holding them together

The controls are never going to change... but have you tried altering your mouse sensitivity? If your issue is one where you feel you're oversteering or your movements are too exaggerated, lower your mouse sensitivity (or raise it if the opposite is true). That has helped people with similar complaints before.

 

this time i got 5k and bought a gun ship

even as a noob i still came half way up the leader board

Since I can't see said leaderboard, I will take a guess as to the meaning of this statement. You have a good enough understanding of aiming that you were able to hit some people and do some damage. Great! A lot of people don't have a grasp on fundamental, basic game skills or even know how to manipulate the interface. That is something I am aiming to change. You don't say whether you were on the winning or losing side, and what the circumstances of the match were, which can go a long way towards explaining personal results.

 

GSF would be better for everyone if new pilots quickly gained the basic skills and tactical knowledge needed to contribute in matches. This is entirely possible.

 

playing on the red eclipse if that means anything.

Of course it means something; where you're playing has a huge influence on what you're likely to encounter and who you'll be playing against. TRE, in my experience, is very pub-dominant. There are a lot of very good pilots that favor flying scouts there. Flying from Imperial side on TRE is often a big challenge, and you're less likely to have veteran pilots on your side. Some of the top pilots do swap sides to try to balance things.

 

Again, the goal of this thread is to provide a chance for inexperienced pilots or people who would like to try the game to learn basic skills that will enable them to compete as quickly as possible.

 

- Despon

Edited May 22, 2016 by caederon

[BenduKundalini]

Most awesome!

 

Have pretty much stopped playing at this point except for the GTN and housing, but might try that sometime if time coincides (I live 9 hours ahead of Harb time).

 

Not the greatest player but I've managed to make a difference with vanilla nova dives on a new toon sometimes (one of the feelings I like the most!). My main just expanded his stable in one big swoop last month, am just missing the cartel ships now.

 

Harbinger often has enough people flying in primetime that there are two concurrent matches. A GSF match takes about 15min to complete. You can check if there is one in progress by using the 'Who' tab and putting in 'Denon Mesas Shipyards' which will show who is in any of those three maps, which are the three GSF maps.

- Despon

 

I had no idea you could insert multiple keywords and still get results

 

Maybe some of you have never seen GSF played between very competitive skilled teams. Here's a great example of what the game looks like when both sides know what they're doing and get caught up in a back-and-forth match that isn't decided until close to the very end:

 

 

That's from Drakolich's YouTube channel. He also has a ton of great tutorial videos up there, lots of entertaining games to watch, and streams on Twitch as well.

 

Wow such mastery. I wish I could pilot my quarrel like that. So smooth, knows every nook and cranny. How the hell does he manage to move while zoomed as he does under one sat around the middle of the vid? Edit: checking out his stock to mastery vids, he's using STRAFE. I need to use a keybind for this!!! (I have a custom layout)

Edited May 23, 2016 by BenduKundalini

[TX_Angel]

Hello, SWTOR players! My purpose here is twofold. First, I would like to remind you of the existence of a deep, engaging part of the game: Galactic Starfighter.

 

GSF fun, until you discover how badly broken it really is...

 

I've played a LOT of GSF matches, I have some fully upgraded ships... what I've learned is that between the "right" scout class, combined with lots of gunships, it becomes boring and stupid...

 

It needs attention, attention it will never get. So while it is nice that you're trying to drag people into it, what most will find is lopsided after lopsided fight that quickly has far more to do with premades and/or bad matchmaking than anything in the game itself.

[TX_Angel]

Maybe some of you have never seen GSF played between very competitive skilled teams.

 

Translation: GSF is great for fully upgraded ships farming noobs in bad matches. The number of times I've seen 50 to 5 matches is a sick joke. And I've been on both sides of that number, it isn't fun on either side.

 

GSF has a lot to offer to people who are willing to put in some effort to learn the game.

 

- Despon

 

Yep, learn how to farm noobs... it is sad, GSF had such potential, but it is worthless now...

[caederon]

Translation: GSF is great for fully upgraded ships farming noobs in bad matches. The number of times I've seen 50 to 5 matches is a sick joke. And I've been on both sides of that number, it isn't fun on either side.

...

Yep, learn how to farm noobs... it is sad, GSF had such potential, but it is worthless now...

Thanks for your embittered negativity!

 

While you may think it's worthless, there are quite a few people who think otherwise... and 'farming noobs' is not on the list of things most veteran pilots want to spend their time doing.

 

You're certainly right that it isn't fun to be on either side of a blowout. That is precisely why I am inviting people to come and learn how to avoid being an easy target and how to be competitive. It is better for everyone if all the players know the game and can contribute to a close, fun match.

 

GSF is at its best when there are evenly skilled teams. Players at all experience levels can learn how to contribute even in ships with few upgrades... and it doesn't take that many matches before your ship is in a state where it has the most important upgrades and is competitive.

 

You seem like the sort of person who likes to tear things down. I would rather build them up. There's plenty to enjoy in GSF, and plenty of people playing it who make an effort to improve the state of the community and the game.

 

- Despon

[Storm-Cutter]

The pilots on impside Progenitor that I fly with, have an unwritten guide that we don't 3- cap if the opposition are being totally crushed. - And we don't act like a bunch of blood-crazed piranha fish in TDM either.

 

- And up to a point this happens pub-side as well.

 

Nothing kills the queue faster than one side being totally dominant. - and some of us are happy to switch sides to keep it more or less even.

 

Of course when the Pub aces are out in force, we fight tooth and nail to the very last shot. Luckily they que about the same time as us most nights.

 

Kudos to anyone willing to spend their time helping rookie or returning pilots. - There's a thread about how new pilots can contribute positively to a match on the GSF forum if you care to read it.....

[benmas]

instead of playing normal PvP i have been playing GSF to try and see what is so good.

 

not only is it very boring sitting at the back acting as a sniper in my gunship killing anyone who dare play something different but the rewards and minuscule at best i cant find any kind of vanity item deco or gear vendor on fleet or in that starfighter area they added with KDY.

 

can someone tell me if there is a vendor or something and what i should try doing to have some fun (play styles etc)

[caederon]

not only is it very boring sitting at the back acting as a sniper in my gunship killing anyone who dare play something different

You're right, it is boring sitting around. Fortunately, there is no rule requiring you to do so! In fact, a gunship is best utilized by seeking out good firing angles, always moving up to a better offensive position, and when the situation calls for it, getting in tight to a satellite either defensively or offensively. If you're sitting back letting the game come to you, you're not using the ship to its potential.

 

I'll point again to

of Drakolich playing gunship in a very close match. He demonstrates numerous times that the gunship can be used in close combat, like

where he knocks out a repair drone, a rather incautious bomber and a turret all with burst lasers, and a quick slug rail to finish off a strike fighter in between. Does this appear boring to you? Does he seem bored in this match?

 

Yes, this is advanced play using that ship class, but the skills behind it are ones anyone can learn and practice.

 

Here is an

in a domination match that ends up a solid win against a quality opposition team. Also quite dynamic and full of action, tactical decisions, difficult engagements.

 

You can check through Drakolich's YouTube for many videos of bomber play that involve much more than sticking the bomber on the underside of a satellite.

 

Driving a car would be pretty boring if all you could do was go straight to the end of the driveway and stop. Any activity can be boring, but if you seek to experience the full potential of that activity, you might find a lot more to appreciate.

 

but the rewards and minuscule at best i cant find any kind of vanity item deco or gear vendor on fleet or in that starfighter area they added with KDY.

 

can someone tell me if there is a vendor or something and what i should try doing to have some fun (play styles etc)

The rewards you can get from Fleet Commendations aren't great, but GSF is an excellent source of quick credits and XP.

 

Hopefully the videos linked above show some stuff you could try to enjoy GSF more, but they are hardly the limit... there are many more roles and strategies you can employ to be a useful contributor in matches.

 

- Despon

Edited May 24, 2016 by caederon

[Storm-Cutter]

 

what i should try doing to have some fun (play styles etc)

not wishing to sound rude, but get out of your gunship for a start....

 

Scouts are highly mobile and can be built for speed (capping nodes, harassing enemy gunships) or evasion- leading enemy fighters into your territory, or a combination of both. They can also be used for strike-and-fade tactics. Some are geared for burst damage and with the right CDs and crew can be quite a handful.

 

Bombers are support / Denial of airspace ships, great for deploying defensive ordnance around a node- they can also be used defensively around gunships or offensively pushing to the edge of your territory to deploy rocket/railgun drones and mines. - They can also deploy repair probes - keeping your team repaired and also reload /boost shield regeneration.

 

Strikes fall in the middle between heavier armour than scouts, a little more firepower at the sacrifice of speed and agility. - ATM they are regarded as needing a bit of a buff. Some can deploy repair probes. They also have more powerful missiles, though the extra damage is usually counteracted by longer lock on time.

 

If you're just testing the waters, then although the tutorial itself is pretty poor, it's actually a good way to spend some time whizzing around, crashing into things, scratching up your hull, targeting stationary node defences and getting a feel for your ship outside a competitive match. With practice, soon you'll be flying a hair's breadth from asteroids and mesas like the rest of us. - But I've seen aces crash into stuff occasionally - trying to squeeze that extra ounce of turn out of their ships.

 

Fully mastered ships are nice, but experience can get you a long way in GSF- as many a stock-night pilot can tell you.

 

GL.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Storm-Cutter

[HeatRacer]

i cant find any kind of vanity item deco or gear vendor on fleet or in that starfighter area they added with KDY.

 

There is a PVP/Starfighter comms vendor in the outer ring of the Strongholds/crafting section of fleet that sells some decos you can buy with fleet comms, like a big scout ship decoration and nice proganda posters.

[caederon]

Reminder - this is happening tonight:

 

GSF School

 

Where: Harbinger impside, /cjoin GSFschool

 

When: Wednesday 5/25, 9pm-10pm EDT

 

I'll be there, to answer questions and offer advice, and will likely have some other veteran pilots around to assist in bringing you up to speed. It'd be awesome if you've already played the GSF Tutorial (click the '?' button in the upper right of your hangar) and if you like, you can even check out some great guides the community has created to get you started... but please, if you have any interest in fast-paced arcade style space combat PvP, show up and let's get you ready for battle.

 

- Despon

Edited May 25, 2016 by caederon

[ikinai]

I am the awesomest pilot, like ever.

 

Load in. Boost. Turn. Crash. <giggle>

Load in. Boost. Turn. Crash. <giggle>

 

Wait, you mean that's not the point of GSF?

[Greezt]

I am the awesomest pilot, like ever.

 

Load in. Boost. Turn. Crash. <giggle>

Load in. Boost. Turn. Crash. <giggle>

 

Wait, you mean that's not the point of GSF?

 

I recommend you turn up at the event and ask Despon that question. He might have a good answer

[ElZaguero]

OP is doing a very good thing, and much respect for that.

 

But as far as GSF itself, I'm solidly with the haters. It's bloody awful. I've tried three times and can't even make it through the tutorial. Never again.

[ikinai]

I recommend you turn up at the event and ask Despon that question. He might have a good answer

 

Oh, I'm sure at some point in the GSF battles they might have seen my main GSF pilot, Lula'belle, scouting around, darting here and there, trying to pull defenders off their marks into a gunners sights.