Follow-Up: Starhawk BETA Stress-Test

First off, on behalf of LightBox Interactive, SONY Santa Monica and the SONY Network team in San Diego...

Thank you for your help with the
Starhawk BETA Stress-Test!

The team was able to do a ton of monitoring on a variety of Starhawk's back-end systems. They were able to see them fail. Learn how they failed and experiment with hardware and action plans on how to resolve the issues. This would not have been possible without the efforts of our players around the world, all trying to hammer on the system yesterday!

Jose Madrigal, Chris D'Ambrosio, Mark Benevente, Heath McKay, Josephine Chia, Tyler Gaede, Tim Marsh, George Chen 

Many of the players never really see what happens behind the scenes on a global online game so we wanted to take a moment to show you a pic of the team that monitors and supports our global Starhawk infrastructure (that's just a fancy word that IT-types like to use for servers, routers, switches, etc.).

This team is stationed in the SONY Network Operations Center in San Diego where they monitor Starhawk and because the sun never sets on our global community, this team is working 24 hours a day!

So thanks again for helping us stress-test the Starhawk BETA. While it was certainly very frustrating for many players as they tried to log-in, match-make, view the server-list, etc, the end result was a great test of our Starhawk servers so that we can make sure that all of you that pay your hard-earned $60 for Starhawk when we release it on May 8th will have a great multiplayer experience!

That's it for now...back to work!

Starhawk Server Stress-Test Starts Today

We all know what it's like to buy and game, be excited, get home, pop it in and then find out that there are a bunch of multiplayer and server issues that are stopping you form actually enjoying the game you just spent $60 on -- It's a crappy feeling and we all know it!

And to help make sure that doesn't happen on Starhawk, during our BETA we're doing our best to exercise our servers and code to make sure that we resolve as many of these issues as possible! And that's why we have planned a Stress-Test to start on March 21st!

What is a Stress-Test?

For starters, it's a test that is specifically geared to make the servers fail so the team here at LightBox Interactive *AND* the SONY Network team in San Diego can see where the failures are happening. This is all so that we can fix them before you spend your hard-earned $60 on Starhawk when it's released!

The Stress-Test will start right after our maintenance on March 21st at 2pm Central time and will continue until March 22nd at 2pm Central time.

We want as many players to play the Starhawk BETA during this time and especially during the *PEAK* time of 6pm Central. Why 6pm Central? well, its because that's the time when there is the biggest overlap of global players from Europe, Asia, North America and South America.

The SONY Network team in San Diego has modified the Starhawk server-set by taking some of the hardware off-line so that we're running a smaller system with much less capacity. This is of course only *TEMPORARY* for the stress-test but it will help make the Starhawk servers fail sooner and more painfully. And remember, that's a good thing!!!

Please make sure you get online today and play because the more players, the more network traffic, the better. Again, we want to make sure that any server issues are resolved before you spend your $60!!!

Thank you all for your help!!

You will experience network glitches for the duration of the Stress-Test but it will improve the final version of Starhawk!

Starhawk Public BETA Update 1.3.1

The 1.3.1 Update for the Starhawk Public BETA was deployed during the server maintenance today, March 12th at 2pm Central time and included the following modification:

• Temporarily reduced MAX player limit from 32 to 30.

Temporary MAX Player Change:
We have been tracking some server instability related to the newly released 32-player support and increased number of new players playing the 1.3 BETA Update. As a result, we've released the 1.3.1 update today that *TEMPORARILY* pulls the max player cap down to 30.

As we were investigating the server instability we discovered some unsavory conditions that occured right around the 32 player mark -- and, oddly enough, the 33 player mark -- which is *NOT* expected.

The team here at LightBox Interactive is working diligently to make sure your Starhawk BETA experience is as good as possible and we'll keep you all posted on our findings in the coming days. As always, please let us know if you are still seeing issues -- specifically if you guys are noticing a stability improvement on the 30-player servers!

Thank you all again for your help testing the Starhawk BETA! 

Starhawk BETA Connection Issues

We've been tracking some reports of players experiencing a connection issues ever since we opened the BETA up to all players.

The team here at LightBox Interactive and the SONY Network Team in San Diego have been investigating and the Starhawk BETA is indeed suffering from some issues due to the vast increase in player load. There are a number of factors that contribute to this issue and the teams are aggressively working on a fix.

The image above is one of the many graphs we use to monitor the game and you can see just a few instances of player drops as a result of our connection issue.

Players may experience the following issues until we have resolved the connection instability:

• Server List fails to display any games.
• You might be disconnected when you simply view the Server List.
• Quick Match may fail to connect you to a game.

If you are one of the unfortuante players who is experienceing a borked Server List, there are a couple of other ways you can get into a game by pressing  to activate your Uplink.

First, you can use Quick Match on you Uplink's home screen. Just select either Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch or Both. Then select "Find Game" and press .

Now there have been some reports of Quick Match not working properly. But don't worry - there is another way to hop into a game if you're the doubly-unfortunate player to have both the Server List and Quick Match fail.

At your Uplink's home screen, you will see all of your PSN Friends displayed on the right side in what we call the Social Bar. If you select one of your friends and then press  you will bring up the Player pop-up. This allows you to view that player's stats *AND* it will allow you to directly join the game they're currently playing without having to search the game list for it! 

We'll continue to update the BETA Dev-Blog here with the latest developements as well as our in-game mechanisims for letting you all know what's going on.

Our Starhawk Moderators will be sending you all updates while you're playing and these Moderator messages are displayed in the battle-feed. We'll also update the News in the Uplink as well as the News ticker that scrolls along the bottom of your Uplink.

This is the kind of thing that -- while unsavory -- is the *EXACT* reason why big multiplayer games do a BETA. We care deeply about the player experience and we want to do everything we possibly can to make sure that when you buy Starhawk on May 8th, that you get your money's worth and a game that works!

Thank you for your patience while we resolve these BETA connection issues!

 

"Getting Started" Video for the Starhawk BETA

Here's a great video from Gamespot that should give you all the info you need to start playing in the Starhawk Multiplayer BETA. Remember though, the Starhawk BETA is a work-in-progress and only gives you access to a small section of the content in the game!

The Starhawk Multiplayer BETA is now free to download on the PlayStation Store!

Starhawk Public BETA Update 1.2.11

The 1.2.11 Update for the Starhawk Public BETA was deployed during the server maintenance today, February 22 at 2pm Central time and included the following changes:

• Shortened Rocket Launcher reload time.
• Slightly easier missile scrubbing for all 3 flight modes.
• Increased Vulture JetPack and Vulture Rack rift energy cost.
• Slightly reduced Swarm Laser damage vs. Hawks.
• Slightly increased Swarm Laser lock-on time.
• Slightly increased OTS snap assist on Kinetic Rifle.

Rocket Reload Time:
In our last BETA update, we reduced the clip capacity of the Rocket Launcher from 2 to 1. Today's update still requires a player to reload the Rocket Launcher after every shot, however the reload time is now approximately 25% faster and brings it in-line with what we had for the Rocket Launcher in Warhawk.

Easier Missile Scrubbing:
In our last update we greatly reduced the missile scrubbing capabilities of the Classic Arcade mode. This change more closely unified the missile scrubbing potential for all of Starhawk's flight modes.

After we made this change we watched our game data, read what our community was saying and continued to play-test the Starhawk BETA. As a result we felt good about the consistency across all flight modes but felt that the missile scrubbing for *ALL* modes now needed to be increased slightly.

Vulture JetPack Rift Energy Cost:
The Vulture JetPack was becoming far too ubiquitous in battle and we were concerned with what was happening to the gameplay when the vast majority of players were equipped with Vultures.

To help steer the overall unit balance in the right direction we have made some changes to the costs of the Vulture Rack (JP spawner) and the Vulture JetPack. The Vulture Rack used to cost 4 rift energy and is now 6. To construct a Vulture JetPack it used to cost 2 and now costs 3 rift energy.

Swarm Laser Changes:
Today's update lowers the Swarm Laser damage vs. Hawks by approximately 25%. The Swarm Laser damage increase we deployed in the 1.2.10 Update did help in making the weapon system more effective in dog-fights but it was a bit too much.

We have also increased the lock-on time per Swarm Laser by 50ms (which is a very small amount).

Kinetic Rifle OTS Snap Assist:
The reduction of the Kinetic Rifle's OTS snap assist that we made in the 1.2.10 Update yielded the result we were looking for in the reduction of 'snap' exploits and increased requirement for skillful aiming. However after our ongoing evaluation of the balance in Starhawk, we felt it was a bit too much. The 1.2.11 Update opens up the Kinetic Rifle's OTS snap a bit more and we have slightly increased the size of the KR reticle to better inform players of the effective region on-screen for targeting.

Starhawk Public BETA Update 1.2.10

The 1.2.10 update for the Starhawk Public BETA was deployed during the server maintenance today, February 15 at 2pm Central time and included the following changes:

• Significantly increased Swarm Missile damage vs. Hawks.
• Reduced Shotgun max ammo capacity.
• Rocket Launcher now must reload after firing 1 rocket.
• Increased Hawk MG firing time before it begins to overheat.
• Reduced OTS snap assist on Kinetic Rifle.
• Increased minimum Rift Energy granted upon respawn to 3.

Swarm Missile Damage Increased:
This update increases the damage that Swarm Lasers deal to Hawks by more than 100%. As you can imagine this greatly increases the threat of this weapon during a dogfight and also helps to reduce the issue players were experiencing where dogfights felt too long and protracted due to the enormous number of Swarm Laser strikes being required for effective combat.

Shotgun Ammo Changes:
When used properly the Shotgun can be a formidable weapon however we were not seeing the ammo limits really coming into play at all. Players would have the shotgun and just "spam" away until they were dead. To help address this we have lowered the Shotgun max ammo capacity by almost 50% as well as reducing the number of Shotgun shells you get from an ammo box. Previously it was 15 shells and now its 4 shells.

This should help stem the brutal sustainability of the Vulture JetPack and Shotgun tactic.

Rocket Launcher Missile Capacity:
We have been tracking the game data like a ninja ever since we made the changes to the Rocket Launcher targeting in the 1.2.8 Update.

Based on the data we are seeing -- and the feedback from the community -- we feel the Rocket Launcher is currently overpowered. To help address this we are making the Rocket Launcher fire only 1 rocket before a reload is required. This helps space out the cadence of Rocket Launcher attacks which benefits troops and pilots alike.

Hawk MG Overheat:
Simply put, we needed to make the Hawk MG more effective. To this end, we have lengthened the amount of time the MG can fired in continuous full-auto before the gun overheats by almost 50%!

Furthermore, we have adjusted the MG so that it will cool-down from a full overheat nearly 33% faster than previously. However, we've added a 1 second pause after you release  before the MG will begin cooling down and if you fully overheat your MG, you will have to wait 2 seconds before the cool-down process will begin.

Kinetic Rifle OTS Snap Assist:
Having observed and played count-less ground engagements, and having reviewed the gameplay analytics *AND* having read feedback from our community, we've decided to reduce the amount of snap assist on the Kinetic Rifle.

Snap assist is the targeting aid that kicks in when you press  while in character mode. If your target was somewhat nearby your reticle at the time your pressed , the game would help center-up your target to aid you in combat. The 1.2.10 Update makes this a bit tighter and hopefully not as exploitable.

Now Respawn with 3 Rift Energy Minimum:
Previously in the Starhawk BETA, you would initially spawn into the game with 3 Rift Energy and every subsequent respawn would alway start you with a minimum of 1 Rift Energy. Today's 1.2.10 Update changes this so on initial spawn *AND* subsequent respawn, you will always start with a minimum of 3 Rift Energy.

The Planet Dust: A New Map for the Starhawk BETA!

As many of you know the team here at LightBox Interactive is constantly releasing new updates for the Starhawk Public BETA. We're currently working on developing the 1.3 Update which includes a bunch of new features and content. One of the new additions is a massive 32-Player map on the Planet of Dust.

We always get asked when the 1.3 Update will be released and the answer is "when we are happy with it". Even though it's still "just" a BETA, Sony Santa Monica and LightBox Interactive have a very specific set of benchmarks (quality & features) that we need to hit before we're comfortable releasing it to our players around the world. It's a very large update we're working as aggresively as we can to bring you guys an even deeper and more compelling multiplayer experience!

Last night at the studio we took a couple of screen-shots from the latest build so you guys could get a quick glimpse of the new MP Map we're working on adding to the Starhawk Public BETA -- Have a look!