Reliable sources state that the Millennium Falcon has been sighted on the outskirts of Pinewood Studios in England, built at a secret location for the upcoming filming of Star Wars Episode 7. This is exciting news for people like me who have been following the construction of an actual full-scale Falcon outside of Nashville, Tennessee by Chris Lee and his team of devoted model builders. The sources are reliable because many of the production team on this latest Star Wars film, unlike those from the past, are Star Wars fans, and their excitement seeing the actual Falcon has been too much to keep quiet about. As I’ve covered here many times, The Millennium Falcon is one of the greatest symbols of freedom that the modern human race has. I would say that the time I saw the actual model of it at a Smithsonian exhibit years ago was nearly a religious experience for me. I took hundreds of pictures of it at a time before there was digital photography. It is one of the most recognizable images in the entire world, and that status will be solidified over the next decade. The Millennium Falcon is currently the most photographed fictional item anywhere; it also appears in the most fictional literature being written about in over 200 novels and countless comic books. It is an icon of the Star Wars franchise and it appears that Lucasfilm in close association with the Disney Company has built a full-scale Falcon to film with a seamless tracking shot where the characters can actually walk onto the ship from the exterior with a steady cam rig and up into the interior in one take—just to show off that they can execute such an ambitious task. The Falcon can then be taken to a Disney Park to be placed on permanent display with a similar strategy as Disney has used on The Black Pearl from the Pirate of the Caribbean films. The Millennium Falcon is similar to The Black Pearl in that they are both pirate vessels from their respected franchises.
There are a lot of very real things to worry about in the world such as the debt ceiling issues, the funding of the government, Obamacare, the collapsing Social Security situation, declining wages, a wrecked moral compass on the world stage, but it’s time every now and again to enjoy the things that are good. For me, the release of The Old Republic’s Galactic Starfighter game has been a long time and coming and is something I deeply cherish. The news about the Falcon hit the news wire about the same time as Galactic Starfighter was uploaded onto The Old Republic servers and has given me over the last 24 hours countless pleasure. It is a wonderful game, which is rather complicated and takes some getting used to. But it is the best of the best in my opinion, a nice tribute to my favorite space simulator of all time in X-Wing Fighter from way back in the 90s, and the more modern Xbox version of Star Wars: Battlefront. Galactic Starfighter plays very slick, has lots of things going on the HUD display, and is fast—which is just how I like things.
In my 2004 novel The Symposium of Justice one of the subplots was a story called “The Return of the Flying Tigers” where a group of air combat simulator enthusiasts took to the skies in converted M400 Skycars to attack a Washington D.C. taken over by the United Nations causing a second Civil War in America. The video game players went up against Apache helicopters and other military vessels during raids over the beleaguered American capital. Playing Galactic Starfighter with a host of other live players who are quite good gives the sense that such a thing is very possible. The skills that must be established to be good at the game are fundamental combat strategies that would be taught in any military academy, and it is fun to see that out of all the entertainment options available to the players of the game, that they prefer to fight it out with other pilots in a free world where rewards are granted for heroics, bravery, and daring.
In the real world the attributes that make people good at Galactic Starfighter are penalized, so it should come as no surprise that so many people are fleeing the real world to live in a fantasy one—so to preserve their concept of valor. Galactic Starfighter only opened on December 3, 2013 to subscribers. The game goes live to everyone else in February—so I feel privileged to be able to fly with so many people on a game that has so much early interest, and enthusiasm. It gives me hope for tomorrow to see so many people at least in their minds yearning for the nobility of aerial combat.
It is nice to take a break from the world’s problems and sign in to a place where things make much more sense—a world where risk still earns rewards and everyone doesn’t live in a padded room for fear of becoming hurt. The action in Galactic Starfighter is fast and furious—and highly addictive. I am hooked. It is the perfect homage to the kind of stories that have spawn off a saga born from The Millennium Falcon. It is also why when the next Star Wars film is finished, that millions upon millions of fans will flock from the far reaches of the world to see it in person when Disney places the vintage ship into one of its parks. I’ll be one of those millions, because of what it means to those who find games like Galactic Starfighter to be as essential as food, water and sleep.
In preparation for the start of the new flight simulator on The Old Republic I ran one of the very hard rail missions—the Heroic level 7 runs with my XS-Freighter. Those runs are nearly impossible requiring a pilot to take out several scout ships, run a mine field, and take out a capital ship while navigating an asteroid field at a very high-speed. I can’t recall a time when my heart has beat so hard as it did during this mission, and when I cleared it with a perfect score, I was ready to burst with excitement. That’s how much fun these flight simulators are, and now with Galactic Starfighter how much better a great game like The Old Republic is with the new addition. The very first thing I did on the morning of December 3, 2013 was upload the new addition. And the game hasn’t been turned off since……………
Here is the official press release from BioWare:
12.03.2013
Early Access to Galactic Starfighter Digital Expansion Available to Star Wars: The OldRepublic Subscribers Today
AUSTIN, Texas – Dec. 3, 2013 – The journey to become a legendary Starfighter pilot begins now! Today, BioWare™ a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), and LucasArts granted early access for current subscribers to the new Free-to-Play Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Digital Expansion, Galactic Starfighter. The second Digital Expansion introduces 12v12 intense Player-vs-Player (PvP) free-flight dogfighting and fierce factional battles as the war between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic explodes into space. Players will compete and advance to earn experience, in the form of “requisition” to unlock awesome new weapons, powers and abilities to customize their ultimate Starfighter.
“We are so excited for players to experience all the incredible new content in Galactic Starfighter, while still gaining additional XP and credits to give their ground game characters a boost,” said Jeff Hickman, Vice President, General Manager of BioWare Austin. “Free-flight space combat is a feature the fans have been asking for, and Galactic Starfighter really delivers on that feeling of heart-pounding fast-paced dogfighting action that you expect in a Star Wars™ game.”
Anyone who becomes a subscriber will be able to jump right into Galactic Starfighter and become part of the factional combat and free flight PvP experience (no minimum character level requirements apply). In addition to gaining early access to Galactic Starfighter, subscribers will receive exclusive rewards, including custom paint jobs, two pilot suits and two titles (“Test Pilot” and “First Galactic Starfighter”). Preferred Status Players* will be granted access to Galactic Starfighter on January 14, before the Digital Expansion becomes available to the public beginning on February 4.
Star Wars: The OldRepublic is a Free-to-Play, award-winning MMO set thousands of years before the classic Star Wars movies. Players team up with friends online to fight in heroic battles between the Republic and Empire, exploring a galaxy of vibrant planets and experiencing visceral Star Wars combat. Now players can experience the complete storylines of the eight iconic Star Wars classes, all the way to Level 50 without having to pay a monthly fee. The Free-to-Play option complements the existing subscription offering, providing greater flexibility in how to experience Star Wars: The Old Republic.
For more information on the Digital Expansion: Galactic Starfighter, please visit www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com/galactic-starfighter. Join the conversation by visiting the official Community Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages. For additional press assets, please visit http://info.ea.com.
What is it?
Galactic Starfighter is a 12v12 PvP free flight space shooter. At its core, it is all about coming as close as we can to recreating the incredible experience of space combat as seen in the Star Wars™ movies. It is fast, furious dogfighting action where you get to choose your style of play by selecting the Starfighter that is right for you, be it Scout, Strike Fighter or Gunship (or all of the above!), blowing up your enemies, and then using Requisition (experience) to upgrade and customize your ships.
From the start, we wanted to make sure that we nailed the feel of “free flight” Star Wars space combat, so we’ve taken great pains to get the controls just right. It is flat-out fun to simply fly your ship through the battle zones we’ve created. The Scout feels zippy and maneuverable, the Strike Fighter nails the all-purpose combat role, and the Gunship is really, really good at picking off targets from long-range then relocating to the next cover point to keep out of harm’s way.
Finally, there are a TON of options for customization. And I’m not just talking about re-painting your ship (though I recommend that you do!). I mean swapping out your weapons and engines and SEEING the actual ship change shape, while altering your stats and abilities. I’m talking about equipping Treek as your co-pilot and hearing her chirp at you when an enemy is locking onto you with missiles. PLUS repainting your ship, recoloring your paint job, customizing the color of your blaster bolts and your engine trails. Beyond the visual and audio customizations, Major and Minor components plus Crew equal a HUGE number of stat and ability changes that allow you to tweak your Starfighter to your heart’s content and the Major and Minor components all have full upgrade paths as well.
This is a HUGE update to the game and we expect you’ll be playing and enjoying Galactic Starfighter for years to come.
But Wait, There’s More!
I want to take a moment to point out that this feature is just getting started. What do I mean by that? Well, for Early Access we will have two very distinct battle zones and one game mode plus fourteen unique Starfighters with all of the customizations mentioned above, but that’s not even our full Launch content! Galactic Starfighter is much more than that. In February for our full Launch, we add a new role (the Bomber) plus 10 more Starfighters for a grand total of 24 ships to customize and take into battle. Add to that an incredible new dynamic Flashpoint that is level and role neutral called Kuat Driveyards which ties our ground game story directly into the space PvP action with a new Starfighter area on the fleet and you begin to see that full scope of what we’re delivering.
Taking it one step beyond, we have already laid out significant plans for Space PvP to support it far into the future, so there will be regular releases of content to keep our Starfighters happy for a good long time to come. As with everything in our game, we will be listening raptly on all available channels for YOUR input to shape what Starfighter becomes as it evolves. Thank you for your ongoing support. It means the world to us.
Blaine Christine
Senior Producer
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Rich Hoffman
The Overmanwarrior 