Q&A: Starhawk Private Beta is Reaching for the Stars

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Q&A: Starhawk Private Beta is Reaching for the Stars

At this very moment, a small group of lucky testers are putting the Starhawk Private Beta through its paces. During last week’s PlayStation holiday showcase for New York City media, I had a chance to go hands-on with the beta. But I wanted to learn more about the beta’s reception among the diehard Warhawk community, so I chatted with Senior Producer Harvard Bonin to learn some key findings from the beta: the most popular weapons and vehicles, the sneakiest tactics, and what beta players can expect next.

The Starhawk Private Beta is Live This Tuesday

PlayStation.Blog: Obviously, there’s a private beta going on right now. What have been some of the key learnings?
Oh, boy. There have been too many to name here, but one of the key learnings has been how closely we need to listen to hardcore Warhawk players. We made some changes to the flight controls that they reacted to negatively. We’re now in the process of addressing that, and it’s only because of the beta that we realized. Without a beta, we have no way to do that.

We’ve also seen a lot of strategies we couldn’t have anticipated. The Build & Battle configurations are pretty interesting, people placing walls backwards so enemies can get in but not get out. Some players are employing a more aggressive use of the Spawn Towers, and they’re leapfrogging across the map while planting Spawn Towers in order to progress faster.

PSB: Where do we stand in terms of another wave of beta invites?
We have a lot more invites going out next week (read: this week), and then we’ll go through December with those. At some point, we’ll need to take down the private beta in order to prep for the public beta, which will include new features. So you’ll see us going pretty dark while we prep that public beta for 2012.

PSB: Have you seen any clear trends so far in terms of favorite vehicles?
Well, it depends on the day and the balance. The mech is very popular. In earlier phases of the beta, it was majorly overpowered and was able to forcibly take advantage of enemy bases. We just made some significant changes to the mech with a live update yesterday, so we’ll see how those go.

The jetpack is also very popular because it’s so versatile. On the outer space map we’ve had players going under the map in the outer space level. Just like Captain Kirk in The Wrath of Kahn, you’ve got to think in three dimensions!

Starhawk for PS3

PSB: Have you had to tone down or tweak certain weapons?
Every day something is too powerful. We recently went through a nerf session with the Shotgun, maybe we overdid it. When we make balance changes, we often prefer to swing the pendulum a lot, then in smaller and smaller increments to find the sweet spot. Your initial balance change needs to be big enough.

But yeah, like you mentioned earlier, this is a real beta. It allows us to take our time with balancing: it’s not like we’re scrambling to release the game in a week or two. There’s a big window between the public beta ending and the game releasing. Games need time in the pressure cooker, you know?

PSB: What’s been the reaction to the private beta so far?
Some days they love it, some days they’ve got constructive criticism! We had originally invited very top Warhawk players to join the Starhawk private beta, and they were apprehensive at first. But now we’ve seen some of the harshest critics from before begin to evangelize Starhawk. It takes some time to get your feet wet, but once you do, you begin to find layers to the game you didn’t realize were there. That’s what’s exciting about Starhawk.

Overall, though, it’s been a very positive private beta, both in terms of the constructive criticism and the feedback.

Starhawk for PS3

PSB: What was the logic behind keeping the Outcast and Rifters identical in multiplayer?
Whenever you start to differentiating the skill set of players, it’s tricky. We’re already treading on thin ice with our skill system, which we’ll be introducing soon in an upcoming patch. Our system of gaining skills is different than most games; you earn them by accomplishing certain goals. All of these are designed to encourage players to play in a way that is “optimal fun,” whether it’s assists or playing in a more cooperative way.

PSB: What’s the sneakiest move you’ve seen in the Beta so far?
People love the drop pods, trying to land on an enemy when they respawn. One of the most useful tactics so far is using the jetpack to sneak close to the enemy and then knifing him from behind. It’s not exactly a science, but some of these guys are great at it.

PSB: How is the single-player campaign coming along?
Really well, we’ve recently hit alpha. All the pieces are in place, and right now we’re going into each individual mission to make sure that the core structure, the moments are as fun as possible, and that everything works. Sometimes we have to change the entire layout of a scenario; other times we just have to upgrade the presentation level.

We’re going to start talking more about the solo campaign soon in the next few months, so stay tuned.

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150 Comments

  • Thank you for the beta key invite sony downloading it right now.

  • Has anyone got the voice chat to work? Does anyone know if there will be split screen support in the full game?

  • Seems like some people like me have post on the other that we have recieved beta keys.
    But they dont work. All seems to be outside US. Have a misstake been done?

  • I’d love to be part of this beta but my beta key with uncharted 3 doesn’t work. Says key no longer valid when I entered it. Too bad, I’m still gonna buy the game but I wish it worked.

  • HELP! Ive been playing the starhawk beta for a couple of hours, and I made it to level 2 and then once the game ended and I began my next game, I was back down to LEVEL 1. I played more matches and got back up to Level 2 and then to level 3 without any problems. I was 1/4 away from reaching level 4 when the next game began and i was back at LEVEL 1. AT THE TITLE SCREEN AFTER I PRESS START IT STILL SAYS IM LEVEL 1 when I should be level 5 or 6 now…. any help?

  • I wish I could have gotten in the privet beta I been looking so forward to this game. Well I do have a beta do for the public so really cant wait.

  • is there any way i can get a code i havent played warhawk myself but ihave watched a friend play and really liked it and was hoping that i could try the beta soon.

  • I am interest in a code if there is any left I did not know the private beta was already open. I did not get invited thanks in advance :)

  • This is the first closed private beta i’ve ever been invited to. i’m honored guys. I loved warhawk, played for the longest time. started playing starhawk, honestly the new hawk controls are going to take some getting used to but so far i’m loving it. played for like 5-6 hours straight after it downloaded. Looking forward to seeing the changes that will be made. And btw would be nicer to start off with a little more resources and/or increase the amount of structures a team can have on a map. I found the hard way alot of people like to waste the structure space with useless supply stations back to back. but anyway, keep up the great work, loving the game.

  • IM HOOKED!!!!!!!

  • hmmm if you are hooked then what am I?

  • i played warhawk all the time and still do may i get an invite. ( i would love to play with my friend he got the invite(and i actualy know this kid))

  • Can you guys make a game mode that is headsets only?

  • Maybe the servers I was playing on had lower player counts or something, but I found the beta to be pretty boring. The graphics are a lot nicer than Warhawk, but all this building and finding weapons everytime you spawn really slows the game down.

  • Harvard,
    Any shot of getting a beta code?

    Warhawk was one of my first & favorite online multiplayer games so I’m really excited about getting my hands on the beta.
    Thanks

  • Are they any plans to remove the tv interference effect in the main menu? Are there anymore vehicles planned other than just buggys? Not addicted yet but it’s early days.

  • First time I played the game crashed and needed a reboot. Last night I downloaded the update and got no problems with it. So far the game looks awesome and promising! Kept the good works guys!

  • I would love to get a code for this game!! I already bought Uncharted but can’t wait to play it!

  • I got the 320 GB ps3 that came with Uncharted 3. I saw the beta code in my game case and typed it in. But when I typed it in it had said that it was not valid? Is the beta over or does my code not work?

  • Played the first one, got cussed at over chat because i sucked at evading missles in dogfight, hope this is better!

  • Looks awsome so far.

  • Looks like a mix of gears of war and battlefront II.

  • Hello im in the beta,It is a awesome game,The graphics and quality is great,I like the gameplay and the vehicles are nice,Keep up the good work,Can wait until the game comes out,Its gonna be epic.I want to thank Star Hawk for sending me a invite.

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