The Warhawk v1.2 patch will go live today at 10:00 AM GMT (2:00 AM PST), and as a result, the game servers will go offline for approximately 6 hours while the patch is rolled out. The Warhawk add-on pack, Operation Omega Dawn, will go on sale after tomorrows PlayStation Store update. Dylan Jobe over at the PlayStation.Blog has posted a detailed FAQ on Operation Omega Dawn, which you can find below.
Can both teams have a dropship at the same time?
YES – the Combat Dropship only spawns in at specific locations and these bases become really important to hold. They also take awhile to respawn so you don’t see them constantly. But some of our best memories from working on Omega Dawn are from crazy Dropship-on-Dropship battles where nearly everyone in the battlefield is in the air!
Can you give us a roundabout estimate as to how much damage a dropship can take before kaboom time?
It’s really hard to estimate the time because it varies from weapon to weapon. It also varies because, just like a classic BOSS, the dropship has a weak point that causes more damage. I’ve seen a well coordinated team take a dropship down pretty quickly…but the inverse is also true. I’ve seen a team command a dropship for 10 minutes or more. It really depends on how you and your team or clan works together.
Out of curiosity, what button grabs the vehicles and do you have to keep it held?
The CIRCLE button picks up vehicles and you don’t have to hold it the whole time. Also, the player who’s inside the vehicle being carried can also cut power to the tractor beam by pressing CIRCLE as well as long as they are in a “safe” place to dismount.
Will it be available through the game like an in-game store or will we have to back out and go to the PS Store, download it, then go back in?
You can buy the Omega Dawn Booster Pack in both places; the PlayStation Store *and* at the Warhawk in-game store. When you buy Omega Dawn from the Warhawk in-game store, it’s very streamlined. You just pick the product from the list, download the content, it automatically installs and BAM, you’re good to go. You don’t even need to restart Warhawk.
I can see how people can be kept out of the new map if they don’t buy it but what about the dropship on the old maps?
The v1.2 patch includes some new features for the server/game list. It allows you to see maps that you don’t have but Warhawk lets you know they are locked until you buy them. So if you don’t have Omega Dawn, you won’t be able to join server running an update dropship version of an older map.
Will the SCEA, SCEE and other dedicated servers indicate the need to purchase the new content before entering the server?
We have also added a very simple color code to the server list. Players will now see a Green, Yellow or Red dot next to the server name that shows that servers content status. For example: if you see a Green dot, your content matches perfectly with the content of the server. If you see a Yellow dot, you have some but not all of the content. If you see a Red dot, you have none of the content.
If you join a server that is running content that you don’t have, you will be allowed to join but prompted that you need the required content to join the game. We then allow the player to buy the expansion content right there once the server has determined what they need.
By the way Dylan, will we see new troop weapons in the near future?
Good question!! I can’t talk too much about it right now but let’s just say that there is some new stuff in the works for ground troops…and it will be FREE for all players!
How about v1.2? I know the Omega Dawn is BIG but I’d like to know how 1.2 is progressing?
We’re done with both. The v1.2 patch comes out on December 19th at 10:00 GMT and the Omega Dawn Booster Pack will be released on December 20th.
How will this effect CTF? Will the dropship be able to carry someone who has the flag? Will it be able to carry a vehicle that is carrying the flag?
It makes a huge difference!! First off, you *can* be in a ground vehicle with the flag when you get picked-up by a dropship. This really changes the way teams work together when playing CTF. Swooping in to pickup your teammate that’s under fire, and whisking him away to safety is awesome!
You can’t be a normal passenger in the dropship when you have the flag, just like a Warhawk. However, if your server is set to allow “FLY WITH FLAG” then you can, just like in any other normal Warhawk game.
Ever consider doing a snow/mountain level?
Hmmm … snow you say?
The question I have is, will someone be able to be in the vehicle while its being transported by the dropship?
YES – its one of the great things about the dropship. You can pickup tanks and 4? with players still in them!
Is this pack being released in all PSN stores at once or will it be available only in the American store?
Very good question!! The Omega Dawn Booster-Pack will be available in all PlayStation Stores world-wide!
Will we be seeing a world-wide release on this or will Europe have to wait?
Ahhh … there’s a trend emerging here! Europe will *NOT* have to wait. Warhawk is a global game and our v1.2 patch and Omega Dawn Booster-Pack is being released simultaneously world-wide. The v1.2 patch is being release at 10:00 GMT and the Booster Pack goes on sale December 20th. The specific hour of the Booster-Pack’s release varies from country to country but definitely on December 20th!
Do you have any idea how much this will cost in the United Kingdom?
YES – It will cost £3.99.
How big will the download be? I’m running short on HDD space at the moment?
The Warhawk v1.2 patch is 42MB and the Omega Dawn Booster-Pack is 143MB.
If I purchase this expansion pack, will all users on my PS3 be able to access it or will it be limited to my (master) account?
If you purchased a Blu-ray version of Warhawk then *any* account can play just like you’ve always been able to. If you purchased Warhawk from the PlayStation Store, then you already know that you are required to use the account that purchased the game.
Any chance of adding minimum rank limited servers in the booster or patch instead of just MAX rank?
YES – We are adding this in our v1.3 patch. I’ll discuss that more in a later post.
Are we going to have flashlights or something like that? Maybe spot lights to shine the sky?
NO – Sorry there are no flashlights or spotlights
You are going to make sure that the patch/content works on non-NA PS3s this time, aren’t you?
Ha…Yes of course!!! That wasn’t really the problem that we faced when the wrong European v1.1 patch was released but long story short … YES!
Have there been any additional fixes in the 1.2 patch or is it exactly the same stuff which was mentioned before?
The same fixes that we mentioned back in this blog post are the ones that you’ll all be seeing in the release of our v1.2 patch on December 19th.
What kind of defenses will the dropship have? I know it will have that cannon but what help would that be against a missile turret? Will there be a stealth mode for it? Can it pick up the same powerups as the Warhawks?
The Dropship is very powerful and has a lot of health. It also can acquire chaff pickups. It can carry 6 of them. Chaff and health are the only pickups that the Dropship can get.
Is it possible that we will see game with more than 32 players and also more official (ranked) servers?
You probably won’t see more that 32 player in Warhawk. On the topic of more servers, we monitor our Official server load very closely. Right now we’re keeping up with demand and if it looks like we ever aren’t keeping up, then we’ll look at supplementing our server cluster.
So I’m guessing America will get this a month before Europe?
Oh wow … this is a bad trend indeed!!! Everyone around the globe will get Warhawk Omega Dawn at the same time!
When you enter the KT-424 as a passenger can you free roam in the ship? Or is it going to be like flying as a passenger in the Warhawk?
NO – it’s not like a capital ship with different rooms that you can walk around in. Size-wise, it’s about 4 times bigger than the Warhawk. When you are a passenger, you get to control a swarm missile turret so that you can help defend the dropship and attack incoming aircraft and other targets.
How will it work for those that do NOT download the content?
Players that choose not to purchase the Omega Dawn Booster-Pack can continue to enjoy the same fast-paced gameplay they have been for the last 4 months. However because they haven’t purchased the Booster-Pack, they won’t be able to play on any of the new Omega Dawn layouts or play with the dropship.
As for this update any chance it will be free after awhile?
Well…I’m not the pricing guy so I couldn’t tell you. Sorry. I will say this though. Our patches like the v1.2 update that gives you new server features and new layouts will always be FREE. I’m a firm believer that an online game needs to continue to fix bugs and exploits but also add new value for the player community.
As far as Booster-Packs…again, I’m not the pricing guy but I gotta believe that we won’t be giving Booster-Packs away for free.
Are the dropships the big ships we saw when Warhawk was still in dev?
NO – those were very early capital ships that were from our singleplayer campaign…may it rest in peace
So, by the sound of “boss”, that means there will only be 1 per map?
There are at most 2 Dropships per map. The vast majority of the time players will see only 1 dropship at a time but sometimes, when the respawn timers are just in-sync and the battles have played out just right, you can get some really great dropship-on-dropship battles that last a long time.
Is this December release for Europe as well or will it fall into 2008?
We take our European players very, very seriously. Actually, we take ALL our players very seriously that’s why we are launching our Booster-Pack simultaneously world-wide.
My question is how will the dropship affect pure deathmatch games?
This is a very good question! The dropship had a very big impact on pure deathmatch games. So much so that we felt it was massively unbalanced so we disallow dropships in pure-deathmatch games.
Will the downloadable content be region coded?
More or less yes…it’s not based on hardware region code, but based on the region where you purchased the game Warhawk. USA, Europe, Japan, etc.
Will Omega Dawn be released on Blu-ray?
NO – The Omega Dawn is available on the PlayStation Store only.
How long are you guys gonna keep making Warhawk Booster-Packs?
For billions and billions of years!! Ha…no seriously we’re not sure. As long as there is a market for it I think we should continue to develop them.
Is the tank glitch gonna be fixed?
YES – OMG! It was a problem that resulted in players being able to mount invisible turrets and warhawks too. It was a terrible exploit that is fixed in the v1.2 patch!!
Will there be new extras like a set of night vision goggles?
There are no new night vision goggles, sorry. But as I alluded to earlier…we do have some new troop stuff in the works for our v1.3 update.
[Via: PlayStation.Blog]
