Operation: Omega Dawn

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We’ve just finished development of our v1.2 patch and our first Booster Pack, Operation: Omega Dawn!…which is very different than “Red Dawn” or “Dawn of the Dead” :-)

omegadawn1

I’d like to give our blog readers a bit of info on our first downloadable content – and I’ll try to keep in away from sounding to much like a sales-pitch filled with shallow marketing-speak. The team and I really wanted the Omega Dawn Booster pack to add a new gameplay experience and to enhance the replay value of the core Warhawk game. Not be some nickel-and-dime upgrade that takes advantage of our player community!!! (That’s my own personal opinion on DLC so I’ll get off my soapbox now)

So without further ado…

The Omega Dawn Booster pack adds 3 key things:

* A night-time battlefield with 6 layouts called the “Omega Factory”. It’s huge btw.
* New 7-player aircraft called the KT-424 Combat Dropship.
* And 5 updated bonus layouts for battlefields from the original game so that you can play using the new Dropship.

First let me ramble on about the new battlefield: Many of you all wanted a night time level so that’s what we did. The battlefield takes place at night well… actually at early dawn. We wanted to make this level a bit more challenging and visually improved than our previous levels. It has more involved building layouts with more vertical structures, platforms and detailed spaces for ground troops.

Here’s the map of the entire battlefield.

omegadawn2

This more advanced layout compliments the dropship really well as there are some places in the level that are only accessible by air. This is especially cool for transporting vehicles! We also added some macro scale color changes to the bases to help players communicate locations within the symmetrically balanced battlefield.

You’ll see all of this more in these screen shots so I’ll stop talking about the new battlefield now :-)

omegadawn3

The Combat Dropship is pretty damn sweet I gotta say. During the entire Omega Dawn dev-cycle I was trying to have us deliver on the crazy notion of a “Multiplayer BOSS”. Something that a team could all work together to control and that would require other players to work as a team to defeat the opposing team’s “BOSS”. We’ve had several just wicked memorable moments playing with our testers that felt like classic BOSS battles … but in a fast-paced multiplayer game!

What else?

Oh yeah…we also integrated the Combat Dropship in the 5 biggest layouts from the original game. It really changes the way those levels play which is good ‘cause it gives them a fresh feel … like an Irish spring!

Ahh…there are 2 things you will all ask immediately I’m sure: “when does it come out?” and “how much does it cost?”

omegadawn4

We are in our final global test phase right now (internally it’s called format testing). Once we pass and go “gold” (which is a pretty odd term given a purely digital distribution but whatever) then I can announce a specific date. But we are still on track for our “December” release.

And as far as pricing goes – the Omega Dawn Booster Pack will sell for $7.99 on the PlayStation Store. Why don’t we just charge $8.00? I mean seriously? Does that one penny really fool anyone? :-)

I’ll probably need to make some follow-up posts once you all have had a chance to comment. So smash this site with questions and I’ll do my best to post a FAQ about the upcoming Booster Pack!

As always … Rock on!

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349 Comments

  • @newyourk214 – thanks, I havent seen these. The guns on the dropship are crazy!

    @gamesblow – id like to see some weather maps too. Snow or Rain…or both..? Oh, can’t forget fog too. And new weapons would be cool too.

  • You guys are awesome! a dropship.. sick. massive nighttime map… awesome. these are the kind of things u hope and dream for, then some awesome dudes actually make it and u cant belive it. Dont keep me hanging here… give an Australian PS Store release date soon!

  • that thing is gonna be a beast on the battlefield!!!

  • All of the changes in 1.2 are great–Omega Dawn also looks great. I’m just wondering if you guys are also working on making the game more stable. This is the only game I have that causes my PS3 to crash. It’s not enough to make me stop playing the game, but it shouldn’t be crashing at all.

    I’m sure I’m not the only one with this problem. Warhawk seems to have a reputation for crashing.

  • All previous updates fixed game stability issues… mine works fine now. strange yours is still screwing up naiLS1.

    ***PLS READ THIS***

    Everyone remember the vid of the huge ships from GDC 2006? if not, heres a link

    http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=PdjsCrCsxuc

    That map would be the best ever. Make it. PLEASE! I would pay not $19.99, but $20.00 for this map, just for you hard working awesome dudes at Incog!

  • #305; I remember.. they pulled it out so they can sell it to us.. again.. the clip is one of the clips I started looking at Warhawk, thinking that could be cool! but well we all know what happend.

  • @Dread and zapruder
    You do realize (but obviously don’t) that that’s not a multiplayer map, but was from when the game was to be a single-player game, right?

    zapruder – seriously, what’s your deal? You spend all day trolling, spreading FUD and lies, and for what? If you don’t like it the PS3 or its games, why do you even bother coming here?

  • @305: Those were the carriers I was talking about earlier. I was thinking maybe even having those on a larger scale (maybe twice the size).

    I was also thinking of an idea for a new map…”The Tower”.

    Take Omega Factory’s length, flip it up vertically. Squeeze in the width of it (making it skinnier but taller) and start spinning it around it’s central axis (making a cylinder). There you go: the basic layout for “The Tower”. A vertical map. Surrounded by the ocean, it goes from an underground cavern (where one flag could be) spiralling upwards to the very top of the roof (where the other flag is) way past the clouds. Stalling can be used in an interesting way. Do you keep the stalling height as per usual preventing Warhawks from reaching a certain height of the tower? Or do you say “the Tower has a mechanism to prevent stalling for a certain distance”? Either way, it’d be a very interesting map to play on. It would make excellent use of the dropships as they can be used to bring tanks where they otherwise couldn’t reach, or to quickly transport them up the tower. I think this style of map would work extremely well with Warhawk. It would make for some intense Warhawk fights since the width would be so small (well, much smaller than usual).

  • @Poppa
    Holy crap – “The Tower” idea sounds awesome!
    Hopefully Dylan’s still reading these and hasn’t been turned away by the trolls and banshees.
    Maybe they could even name it “Poppa’s Tower”.
    ;)

  • I still think it would be cool to have a huge airship level. One team is in control of a ground base while the other gets to control a huge airship in the sky with turrets a control room and a deck where warhawks can spawn and land. It could be played like a king of the hill match. Teams compete to control the powerful airship; and you could take control by capturing the bridge or control room.

  • @307 Solace..

    That guy is not trolling, we all know what real trollz are…he is just expressing his opinion and calling em like he sees em! god forbid!

    Of course they want to make as much money as possible, and they found a new way with DLC and Add-ons.

    Just admit it! You’ll sleep better tonight…or else someday you will have to pay a lot for a therapist to dig out these suppressed issues.

    But I’m sure you can justify the price of the shrink, you are pretty darn good at that.

  • @zola
    He’s not trolling? ORLY?
    So, posting nothing but negativity, lies, and disinformation isn’t exhibiting trollish behaviour?
    Then what is it?

    As for me sleeping, I have no problems since I don’t have my panties in a bundle over 10$.
    Sorry, but that’s not the kind of money that keeps me up at night.

  • @Solace: I am 100% in favour of calling it “Poppa’s Tower”. GET ON THAT DYLAN!!! <..>

    =P

    But man, a tower map would be so awesome. Warhawks spiralling around and up the tower, chasing each other down as they weave in and out of any openings in the tower in hopes of shaking off their pursuer (and their damn swarm missiles). An entire section of the tower would be covered in clouds too (knife kills FTW! Not to mention mines!). Too awesome.

    They can even have a multi-tower map. 2-3 towers (smaller than the one tower map of course) connected via huge bridges. You can even make a specific game mode for it by combining my previous “demolition game mode”, where each team has a target to destroy, by making those “targets” the towers themselves.

    And I just want to throw this out there: a Death Star map (not in space, but really high up in the air). But more hollow so that Warhawks can have more room to fly within the Death Star like structure(s).

    And if this hasn’t been mentioned before: parachutes. It would make actual use of the second person riding in a warhawk. For example, two players hop in a warhawk and boost straight for the opposing team’s base (and their flag). The passenger ejects over the base to land (safely and slowly) and get the flag as the pilot circles around back to protect the flag carrier (and protecting the flag carrier should net you points; if you get a kill within a certain radius of the flag/flag carrier, you get extra points).

  • hey Dylan I have an idea for the guns, what you could do is that if somone is in the ship, other than the pilot, then have them control the guns, and if two people are in ship, then have each person control a side, and if you can get enough people to get in, then have each person control their own gun.

  • I mean’t the guns for the dropship, I forgot that.

  • Man i cant wait till this comes out. Nice job you guys oh and another thing my sister would play this game if you could make a girl instead of just having to customize guys so could you pls make a version where there is girls customization.

  • This has nothing to do with anything, I just want to see if my Gravatar is working…
    I also want to give the mods something to do….

  • When is it out?..because Mid December doesn’t help that much..I hope this patch might perhaps have Xmb music player that would be sweet! And best Christmas Present from you guys at SCEA!..=)

  • Sounds great but I’m not sure $7.99 is feasable for this upgrade! I mean we already paid alot for this game, as for all games of course, and though the update sounds awesome I think somewhere around the $2.99/$3.99 range would be more acceptable.

    I also think Naval Battle would be awesome in this game…just a suggestion!

  • Hey Dylan how about some more info on omega dawn? Did it go gold yet? Any post would be great. ps dont forget about your friends over on the forum ok? Also will the next patch come out before or with omega dawn?

  • I have a question about the 1.2 patch. It says it is fixing some CTF issues, is one of them the issue in the Badlands?

    On one of the smaller layouts the flag is located in a bunker. Any one can just go up to the BACK of the bunker and capture the flag and run away. This is a huge issue and my friends and I have been refusing to play on that map mostly cause everyone uses this exploit to get the flag.

  • How about some challenges from diff countrys , like usa vs england and such?.Maybe crown a world champ?

  • Parachutes are a great idea.

    Points for kills near the flag/flagbearer are a fantastic idea.

    My suggestion is, instead of allowing only four mines per player, why not four mines per player per mine source. This would encourage mining in more unpredictable places further away from the flags.

    Please think about these things for the next update!

    As for this one, ROCK ON! $7.99 is not too much for me.

    LEMME HAVIT!

  • I would like to to see something added for the passenger in the Warhawk. Maybe the passenger can fire the machine guns or have control of rear facing weapon. This would be great and give an advantage to those that double up in the Warhawks. In the Tanks and the 4X4’s the second man can assist with the fight, why should the warhawks be any different.

    BUt I love the game and I think that you guys are doing a great game.

  • evangrisel@sympatico.ca

    thanks for making new maps for already awsome game

  • Still its not out when? You said mid December well its around there now todays date is 12/11/07.So where is the Update Patch Jeff?..
    I hope the gamer Developers are working on a way to stop the campers and cheaters in War Hawk! Because to tell you the truth I’m sick of it and so are my friends!..And all the threats from those punks in this game is just ridiculous! Man there lucky I don’t kick there ass in real life!..lol.

  • Sorry but this needs to be fixed ASAP! Dyan Jobe Can You please give us a way to kick the campers and Cheaters out of the rooms in War Hawk?.It would be very helpful even to ban the other teams so there so called friends stop camping and cheating in War Hawk well so if you see him cheating he gets kicked out of the room by all teams well it doesn’t or shouldn’t matter anymore because War Hawk is not fun anymore since the 1.1 Patch came out there is to many cheaters!! I HATE CHEATERS in this game I mean what are they using for a cheat device?.And What is Code 11?.Simple there planes and Tanks are Infinite and they are also infinite the same goes for Ranking up.they do it by tossing the flag over the edge.And when you try killing them your points get lowered!. And you get more Negatives then you should!..Lame..So to tell you the truth War Hawk need an address to contact the webmaster right away in a match if possible like a Email address pops after the match and now the time is raised to 6 minutes so you can report them to the people who developed this game..Now wouldn’t that be helpful Dyan Jobbe?.Just think about because to tell you the truth I think its going to get worse with the damn cheaters in any online game! WE NEED CHANGE! Ok Merry Christmas Dyan!

  • I gotta agree. A lot of people in Warhawk do go overboard with the threats and trash talk. It kinda makes the game not fun when you hear a crap load of hooligans screaming about where they think they bang and stuff. Is there a way we can report abuse in WH, Dylan?

  • I wish there would be at least ONE constant running official ranked server for Deathmatch Dogfights that would rotate all of the maps and start with a minimum 2 players. We don’t ever get to have a one on one dogfight on a ranked server. Please have at least one DM and one Team Deathmatch Dogfight rotating map server. It is difficult to find Dogfight only official servers. Also, I wish you could filter by Map Layout and pick Dogfights Only. Thank you.

  • Three Speech just posted Omega Dawn release dec 20th, thats on the other side of pond.Will it be same date here in the usa? And how about a little more info. Also what about the new patch? Same time Omega Dawn? Ps. your friends on the forum would like to hear from you also. thanks.

  • It is not a question about how much! It is a question
    of when? Go ahead and bring it on.

    1.20 patch will change/enhance what?

  • 20th or end or month for usa release of Omega Dawn. I have been reading sites telling us its coming on both dates. Which date is it? Be nice to hear something from you mr Jobe!!!!!!

  • Dylan said smash this with questions, but he hasn’t come back to answer any of them….Or given us a date…..Whats the deal Dylan, we are anxious to play this (or at least get some answers to othe questions you told us to ask).

    Thanks.

  • not a word anywhere since this blog post.Guess the man has nothing to say, but it sure would be nice wouldnt it? We have some valid questions Dylan. How about a few minutes of your time?

  • Dylan has left information on the booster pack (Dec 20) and the 1.2 patch (Dec 19) on the Warhawk forums:

    http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=warhawk&thread.id=253732
    Says he’ll be doing an FAQ here next week.

  • (from a thread i posted on playstation.com that got a lot of attention, also included is change from player ideas) -hoping warhawk creators read this-

    I think they should incorporate some sort of weather system in the maps that would effect games.
    For example Lightning that could randomly strike planes and create a short flash bang effect. It would also look great just to see it strike random places.
    Immense rain would also add a nice feel to the game perhaps when you’re in a major fire fight.

    Among other ideas how about more vehicles. Just to throw some things out there:

    motorcycles (the old military kind)
    helicopters (would be an easy target i know)
    troop carrier trucks (army rigs)

    Other things that should be acknowledged (this is important to me) is the platforming ability.
    In the Destroyed Capital map you might notice large cavitys blasted into the major buildings.
    They have floors and what appear to be stairs, but when air lifted by warhawk (standing on
    top of a plane) there is an invisable wall that prevents the trooper from entering. These
    things should be available to the clever gamer. Little things for those who look should be
    there for us. The bell towers and half destroyed buidlings in Eucadia. All inaccessible places
    that could prove for very interesting fights. Warhawk creators had the right idea in Island outpost
    when they made the mountains available for us to park on. Why not indulge in this idea of hiding spots.

    I know a subject many gamers can spread their opinion about is what kind of maps should be available.
    What kind of terrain, what kind of atmosphere. Instead of just having the Omega Dawn be the only map
    at night, why not make it a function. A random selection by the server itself to choose weather and time of day,
    but of course have it optional.

  • Dylan sorry for so many posts with questions and thanks for the update on the forum. You just made a lot of Warhawk fans VERY happy. Its great to know you are interseted to know how we feel about the game and what we would like see in Warhawk.Hope Omega Dawn sells like crazy. great work!!!!

  • I hope it does well, i still need to get warhawk, i just dont know if my G router can handle it

  • I would KILL ( people in Warhawk of course ;) ) for a day/night system to be in patch 1.3 that can be applied to every map. Destoryed Capital at night with Warhawks only = Epic Win

  • Dylan i had a question,

    i like what you guys are doing as far as innovating the game and fixing what needs to be fixed so that we can enjoy what many of us believe to be the most balanced and best multiplayer game out. To get to the point, heres something i would like to know; with v1.3 will we be able to customize the skins of our tanks?, also will there be any new awards for the tank…for example a award for shooting a certain number of warhawks, jeeps, troops, etc.?

  • The dropship looks AWSOME but if you guys do make another map pack are you going to:

    1. Add two other classes of tanks as on the stats screen it says Medium Tank.

    2. Choppers?

    3. Jeeps+AA Gun.

    4. Just a thought, a map on a flying Aircraft-carrier.

  • Dylan,

    Is 1.2 going to add more stability to the game. There’s times when I can join fine and times when I can’t join games at all. Is this issue still being worked out?

  • More updated info on the message board in game please. lots dont read the forums or the blog. Also stats coming soon, wish we could go to website and see them. Have a happy Christmas Incog crew!!!!

  • Just noticed the new info about patch and Omega Dawn on the in game message board. Thanks for the news!!!!

  • This is great I have had warhawk and my PS3 for 3 months now and have been waiting for this to come out.
    Jus 1 more day.
    I can’t wait.

  • I was under the impression that we would have been getting 5 new maps and the drop [DELETED] for 7.99, but I was mistakenly wrong. Why should I spend 7.99 for one new map and a dropship? I think that is robbery being that I thought the original game was a little over priced. However, the online play is free and you guys do need cash to keep those servers running, so I might consider the purchase because I really do enjoy playing this game online.

  • I have the US Warhawk game, and a EU user account, when are you removing the problems we have with using the omega update? I was one of the first to buy warhawk, and one of the first to buy the update, and this stinks how you treats your customers! I pay a lot of money for this and cant play it!

  • @347 I tottally agree on that

    I am from Mexico and cant download a single thing, so please remove the region coded software or let us downlad things from any PS store

  • Hm, it looks awsome, However, I got a little issue… =/
    I bought my warhawk from Canada, and got it shipped over to sweden, the thing is that I downloaded this add-one/expansion pack for my warhawk but it didn’t work, so I figured, [DELETED] I bought this in Canada, and it’s so not PAL…
    I’ve emailed the Playstation store Support so that they could somehow help me but I havent got a reply yet, There must be a way to make this expansion pack work on the US/canada editions.. Anyone with any solution at all? If you do, Please email me at: Wolfsoul100@hotmail.com

    thank you…

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