In a galaxy far, far away... [Star Wars omnibus thread]

[FaultyMario]

TLJ is like the penultimate season of lost. Building of momentum for meh.

[Yw-slayer]

Yessss... give in to your hate of TLJ while Star Trek fans enjoy a golden age with Discovery entering uncharted territory and a Section 31 series coming...

[Rare White Ape]

Shit I still haven't finished season 2.

[JoeW]

Yessss... give in to your hate of TLJ while Star Trek fans enjoy a golden age with Discovery entering uncharted territory and a Section 31 series coming...
Preach!

Don’t forget Picard coming soon!

[Crazed_Insanity]

Really? the new star trek shows are that good?

I am really looking forward to Picard..., will seriously consider getting cbs all access...

The fucked up part is that wife doesn't like freaking scifi..., if I can't watch the shows with her, then not sure if I can find the time to watch them at all... sigh...

[Yw-slayer]

Preach!

Don’t forget Picard coming soon!

Awww yeah!!! Jean-Luc 4 LY431!1!1!!1

[FaultyMario]

Don’t forget Picard coming soon!

What, Salvation?

Salvation!!

[Rare White Ape]

FULLY AUTOMATED LUXURY GAY SPACE COMMUNISM

[Yw-slayer]

Coffee, Ethiopian single-origin, hot.

[JoeW]

It is telling that the Star Wars thread devolves into discussions about the much better Star Trek ;)

[Rare White Ape]

You just wait until the toys come out next Friday. It’ll be wall-to-wall Star Wars across the internet.

[Yw-slayer]

Fixating on toys. How sweet!

[JoeW]

Definitely cute

[Rare White Ape]

I’m not as cute as Adam tho.

[Rare White Ape]

Fixating on toys. How sweet!

What is Star Wars, if it’s not a giant multinational merchandise and marketing juggernaut?

[Yw-slayer]

A fairytale devoid of any factual or logical basis that brings out the worst in toxic sexist white male fandom?

[Rare White Ape]

If I had a rebuttal to that just know that I would deliver it IN YOUR FACE!!!

[Crazed_Insanity]

So....Galaxy's Edge opened recently in Disney World...well, most of it at least, and due to low crowds, I've visited it twice for about 3 hours each time.

The land will feature two attractions. Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run (now open) and Rise of the Resistance (not open til December).

Rise is supposed to be the BIG one....biggest ride Disney's ever made I believe, but until then, the Falcon ride is decent...basically a simulator where you have to steer, or push buttons to somewhat affect the flying. Oh and you're not riding with Han Solo, or Lando, but Hondo from one of the TV series and Chewbacca makes a cameo in the pre-show....it's decent.

The land itself is huge, but still missing something. They have blue milk which is really good (not actually milk), and green milk which I didn't try.

You'll see a couple of stormtroopers walking around, sometimes you'll see Rey or Kylo Ren, but there's definitely a lack of characters and interaction around. To do most things, like build a lightsaber or a droid, you'll be spending a lot of money.

There's also a complete lack of music in the land, which is an odd choice. You do hear, VERY CLEARLY, some very loud sounds of spaceships taking off and landing, and wow did they put a lot of work into making that sound real. But music, especially John Williams music would have made the land feel a lot more special. Oh, did I mention you're on a different planet than any of the movies? A place called Batuu. I guess it's been randomly referenced before, but nothing really points directly to an existing movie.

I didn't go into Oga's Cantina, as the drinks are too expensive and you have to make reservations.

There's also a Play app to play games with QR Codes and puzzles around the land but I couldn't get it to work.

Overall, I hope we'll see a lot more droids, characters, music, and other types of shows or features around the area. Crowds on both coasts have been WAAAAAY below expectations and I'm sure Disney execs are scratching their heads. Perhaps putting everything in the new trilogy wasn't the best idea? I don't know.
I finally paid galaxy’s edge a visit yesterday since work was slow and daughter only had a half day at school...

Anyway, yeah, I totally agree with your assessment. Bumped in to couple of chatty stormtroopers and also Kylo ren, but they really should let actual droids roam around the place more if they’re worried about labor costs... we’ll maybe kids might knock over droids like R2 or kick off the heads like BB8! :p

Anyway, I thought the MillenniumFalcon ride was kinda lame, well it’s not too bad and was kind of interactive, I just wasn’t that impressed. Maybe they shouldn’t have allowed my 7yr old daughter to be the pilot... ;) I did enjoy the waiting area which made you feel like you’re inside of the MF though.

I did find the Coke Thermal Detonator that I was looking for. Spent $6 for a tiny coke... also tried the $8 small cup of blue milk. Not too bad and not that great either. Something I won’t buy again that’s for sure.

I think their main problem just might be that this place doesn’t really bring back any nostalgic feelings. Millennium Falcon was it I guess. I also agree that some Star Wars music would be nice...

Now back to side tracking this thread to Star Trek... the new Picard trailers are definitely stirring up lots of nostalgic feelings which made me want CBS all access...

[MR2 Fan]

I was thinking....remove the Millennium Falcon prop in the land and what's left for people to look at and remember about the movies? almost nothing directly.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, I think that’s probably their primary issue.

Like you suggested, an easy fix for that nostalgic feeling would be to include some very familiar star war theme music in the background or something.

[Rare White Ape]

I’m not sure where the discussion for the next Star Wars game is, so I’ll put this here.

It’s looking good! Almost a Tomb Raider or Zelda-like game, not the linear single player experience that people were expecting.


https://youtu.be/V_--oS1OlM0

[Freude am Fahren]

That looks pretty good. I want to get back into games like this (and Tomb Raider, etc). Tough with my work travel unless I want to go Laptop (yuck).

[JoeW]

I know some of these review videos have been posted before but this is one I haven’t seen...hilarious.


https://youtu.be/5ECwhB21Pnk

[Rare White Ape]

I often see that one in my suggested videos and I always scroll past it.

[JoeW]

It has a great bit about the hyperspace scene.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I pretty much agree with most of what that reviewer said... except the hyperspace part.

I'm assuming prior to reaching 'hyperspace', there is a transitional period that you're still within normal space time... that's when we usually see the spacecraft 'stretched'... and it's only when it disappeared, that's when it entered into a worm hole or another dimension or in some sort of warped reality... So the suicide attack probably happened during the visible 'stretched' part. Whatever objects you want to strike prior to entering hyperspace, it'd better be close enough so that you can actually 'stretch' into it.

As for why this has never been done before? Well, for starfighters, perhaps when it's hit or damaged, hyperdrive are usually damaged as well so you won't be able to carry out such suicide attack... and nobody in their right minds would want to attempt such suicide attacks when everything is fine. Similar to our real worlds... commercial airplanes have been around for a long long time... and it's only until relatively recently that people became crazy enough to fly them into buildings...

So yeah, I'm okay with Rian Johnson's creative twist regarding this prehyperspace suicide attack, as for other criticism about the movie, I totally agree with that review. So Rian Johnson wasn't ALL bad, just mostly bad.

[sandydandy]

Saw the final trailer for Rise of Skywalker. Hmm, okay, whatever. I’ll watch it. Emperor Palpatine returns, definitely saw that coming based on the Expanded Universe material, and I know how as well. Yes old Lord Darth Sidious, my all time favorite movie villain (pre-Thanos), and old namesake in this community. A variation of that at least.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Looks promising... I'll watch it to, but not keeping my hope up.

Force Awaken trailer totally got me excited also, but I walked out feeling meh.

Last Jedi trailer was decent too, but I walked out feeling WTF!

Rise of Skywalker at least brought some nice feeling..., hope I will be able to walk out feeling even better...

BTW, perhaps they need to rename star wars..., they now have so many freaking battle/war sequences on land or at sea now. What's up with that?

Since we now know Jedis can fly like Mary Poppins, maybe they could've just have a dueling lightsaber sequence flying in space of something like that! :p

[Rare White Ape]

Jedi: Fallen Order

I've played about 3-4 hours this morning on PC, and I'm about to delve into another sesh.

It gets a big old thumbs up from me :up:

There are beautiful visuals, no MTX crap, no corporate EA fuckery, nothing in the way of it being a great game.

Plus it is so great to finally be back in a Star Wars game that's worth playing. It's a more relaxed game, and you have plenty of opportunity to just stroll around and soak in the atmosphere.

It's just... nice.

[Yw-slayer]

Sounds good. Will wait for Steam sale.

[Rare White Ape]

Man, this game is really really good. It's a must-play.

I've acquired a few skills on the skill tree and I'm starting to feel like a bad arse Jedi who deflects shots and pushes Stormtroopers off ledges. And the lightsaber combat is glorious. It's everything you want it to be.

The format of the game follows a semi-soulslike blueprint, but with easier difficulty, although you can crank it up and make it really hard if you want. It reminds me a lot of Sekiro (the bit I did get through before hitting a brick wall) to the point where I miss the grappling hook mechanic from that game. You spend a lot of time exploring, and the maps you're given are quite large.

There are a few set-piece sequences, like the opening runaway train from the first level. I'm not a real fan of those, because you're more-or-less blindly following a set of button prompts with very little player agency, while you're presented with a slideshow of explosions and destruction. But the game proper is all about traversing expansive levels, completing puzzles, and taking down groups of stormtroopers here and there, although I wish they'd do more patrolling rather than just waiting for you to pop by and be killed.

The real highlight is when you come across the black-clad Purge Troopers. They're difficult to fight, but instead of dreading them like you do with the game's annoying wildlife, it's so engaging that you actually look forward to the encounter. Well-timed blocks and parries are where it's at, just like Sekiro but a hell of a lot more forgiving.

Moving forward, I'm sure this game will be full of secrets and hidden treasures, as well as twists and turns and more sick-arse techniques to learn on my path to becoming a Jedi.

[Rare White Ape]

If you can only immerse yourself up to your eyeballs in one piece of Star Wars lore before December 20, make it this one.


https://youtu.be/EWsA-OlH2yo

I finished it on Friday night. It kept getting better and better until the end credits rolled. The final third of the game is not quite a masterpiece, but it’s up there.

Now that it’s done I’ve got more free attention to put towards a dozen-or-so comics, two tv series, and a saga film before Christmas. For Star Wars fans: what a time to be alive!

[Freude am Fahren]

I've got my gaming schedule more than full, so I can't wait to pick this up on sale sometime next year.

[MR2 Fan]

So the official BIG ride has now opened at Disney World called Rise of the Resistance (not opening til January in Disneyland) and so far all of the reviews I've seen (while trying to avoid spoilers) have been pretty much overwhelmingly positive....hearing a lot of "best ride ever" even from people who have seen the best of what Disney does in the Asian parks (hint: Typically better than what they have in the US parks).

Met with this high praise, hearing that the park is having to let people in as early as 6am to not back up traffic etc. my friends and I are going to wake up at 4AM this Sunday, drive there (takes 1.5 to 2 hours) and try to experience it.

If all goes well, I'll leave my thoughts next week

[Crazed_Insanity]

Sounds good. Looking forward to January... ;)

[FaultyMario]

Lucasfilms + Porsche AG design = Nerdgasm (https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2019/company/porsche-lucasfilm-star-wars-fantasy-starship-design-19564.html)!

[Crazed_Insanity]

What awesome jobs they have! :up:

[Yw-slayer]

This should be an Imperial ship given that they're owned by VAG. :P

[sandydandy]

Getting ready to rewatch Force Awakens and Last Jedi. Last Jedi will be painful to sit through, but here’s hoping Rise of Skywalker will be so awesome that Last Jedi becomes...tolerable.

[Rare White Ape]

What do you mean?

The Last Jedi was objectively great.

[Rare White Ape]

I’m joking, of course.

Not about the film. I liked it.

[sandydandy]

It was horrid. But I guess I say that because I’m a fanboy. :|

[Rare White Ape]

https://youtu.be/uFVVKKbQk28

[MR2 Fan]

So I rode "Rise of the Resistance" today and honestly could not put it into words for a long while...it is absolutely incredible. You REALLY feel like you've left the place you've been and gone to another place.

I've been on some of the best of the best theme park experiences anywhere and nothing comes close to this. I will say that it isn't a ride....it's more than one ride and several other HUGE set pieces and experiences in-between. There were MANY, MANY jaw-dropping wow moments that you just never expect.

I will say that Disney and the Imagineers have practically created what I would have considered near impossible....meaning having so many parts to it, and they all have to work together. This is hubris, this is confidence, this is spending a s*** ton of money to make the best experience I can imagine for a theme park attraction.

You feel as immersed into a Star Wars adventure as you can possibly expect without having your own lightsaber and doing fighting yourself.

I recommend not being spoiled if you plan to ride it anytime soon at either WDW or Disneyland


I recommend seeing pics online, but yeah, this is the real deal. You start out in Galaxy's Edge on the planet of Batuu, where you go into a Resistance base like you'd see in most of the movies. BB8 shows up and rolls around for real in front of you, then a massive projection of Rey shows up explaining that the First Order may be possibly about to land on the planet so you have to escape and be sure to keep the location of the base a secret.

Immediately the doors open and you go outside (literally, into daylight) and several Resistance fighters (cast members) brilliantly rush you to a pretty good size spaceship, they're fully in character and it feels like you're really doing this escape.


https://cdn-image.travelandleisure.com/sites/default/files/1575476635/rise-of-the-resistance-1-STARISE1219.jpg

The engines light up on the spaceship, then you board, meeting in real life (animatronic), someone like Admiral Ackbar and one of the other aliens from the first trilogy who pilots you off the planet, being escorted by Poe and several X-wings. This is a simulator experience, but you're seeing a LOT of things front and back and it's a large area where you're standing, not sitting.

You get then tractor beamed by the First Order into one of their Star Destroyers. Suddenly the doors open and you have a First Order commander yelling at you to get out.

At that moment, you are LITERALLY looking at the hangar of the Star Destroyer with several dozen stormtroopers in front of you and you're seeing space in probably a 5 or 6 story "window"

https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/78a2318/2147483647/strip/true/crop/750x500+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6a%2F58%2F1fe5152549 a19426eeac647347d2%2F1117zr-1346ms-750x500.jpg

https://d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net/wp/wp-content/images/starwars-riseoftheresistance-stormtroopers-700x345.jpg

You are advised by other First Order guards that you're being processed as part of the Resistance. You're here for a few minutes (basically queueing) then you reach another area with more control panels, rooms of the Star Destroyer and more Stormtroopers on guard. The First Order soldiers still in great acting roles talk to different guests about things...then you're assigned a color for "processing"

You go into a oddly shaped room that comes to a point....you turn around then some Stormtroopers make way for General Hux and Kylo Ren.....Kylo realizes that we have the information to the secret base he's been looking for and tells us not to move.

JUST THEN the wall on your right gets lit up by the glow of a lightsaber it looks like and the whole door opens to some Resistance Fighters telling you to board some vehicles and get out. Finn joins on video as well and tells you how to navigate the base to get out.

What follows is an absolute WHIRLWIND of corridors, getting shot at by stormtroopers, chased by Kylo Ren who puts his lightsaber through the ceiling above you, get surrounded by AT-ATs, then you climb an elevator, the AT-ATs shoot at you, causing the walls nearby to start falling apart, several other things happen and I really can't keep track of it all. You also see the massive cannons that fire from the side of the Star Destroyer and you can see the space battle going on outside. At one point you also come face to face with Kylo Ren on the main bridge with Hux....he tries to attack you again.....then he uses his force powers to pull your ride vehicle near him, only to get hit from behind by a large explosion.

https://www.ocregister.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/OCR-L-RISE-REVIEW-1204-FEATURED-1.jpg?w=620

After a few more things happen that I can't remember, you're pushed onto a separate spacecraft that's docked in the Star Destroyer and it gets disconnected, dropping you into a (simulator experience) wild ride back where you crash land back in Batuu.....then you arrive back outside to be greeted by Admiral Ackbar's cousin, and you disembark the ride.....outside.

[Rare White Ape]

Mother of god.

[MR2 Fan]

Mother of god.

yeah, my friend who went on it with me could barely talk for about 2 hours afterward, lol

Just to note, there isn't any insane rollercoaster like movements or anything, so it's not a super THRILL ride as in lots of motion except for one point.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Not sure if god exists in such galaxy far far away... so maybe mother of force! Or OMF!!!

[MR2 Fan]

you mean MOF....like Grand MOF Tarkin

[Crazed_Insanity]

I was just trying to translate OMG appropriately in the star wars universe! :p

[speedpimp]

This last episode of The Mandolarian was amazing.

[MR2 Fan]

Same Energy

http://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=3435&d=1576546867

[Freude am Fahren]

:rolleyes:

[Rare White Ape]

Duuuun-duuuun-dun-dun-duuuun-duun


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbVsjbBllKQ

[Rare White Ape]

Meanwhile The Rise of Skywalker comes out on the 20th in the US, but it comes out on the 19th in Australia.

That's, like, 40 hours... You all better disappear from the internet until you see it.

What gives?

[Freude am Fahren]

Technically it comes out on the 20th, but like car model years, that doesn't mean much. Used to be Friday (and Wed?) were traditional release dates. Then they started doing midnight releases (overnight Thursday into Friday midnight). Then they gradually moved those into Thursday night until eventually it's just Thursdsay releases pretty much. You can get tickets around here on Thursday the 19th as early as 6:00 p.m. Still advertised as released on the 20th

So only like a 15 hour headstart.

[Yw-slayer]

I'm going to watch Ip Man 4 instead.

[MR2 Fan]

Technically it comes out on the 20th, but like car model years, that doesn't mean much. Used to be Friday (and Wed?) were traditional release dates. Then they started doing midnight releases (overnight Thursday into Friday midnight). Then they gradually moved those into Thursday night until eventually it's just Thursdsay releases pretty much. You can get tickets around here on Thursday the 19th as early as 6:00 p.m. Still advertised as released on the 20th

So only like a 15 hour headstart.


so really like old car model years, it's 19th and 1/2

[Crazed_Insanity]

Duuuun-duuuun-dun-dun-duuuun-duun


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbVsjbBllKQ

Wow.

All movie studios will be like Pixar in the near future huh?

That's pretty amazing game engine... able to do all that in real time?

[Rare White Ape]

So only like a 15 hour headstart.

Except audiences here can watch it from midnight on Thursday morning, so it’s still 33 hours difference. Or 34, because of daylight saving. 36 because of NZ.

Basically starting 15 hours from now you don’t want to be in this thread or on Facebook or YouTube or Twitter or Reddit or watching tv or listening to the radio or talking to anyone until you’ve seen it yourself.

Just block your ears and close your eyes and don’t go outside.

[Freude am Fahren]

Ah, nevermind then.

Speaking of, new episode of The Mandalorian comes out today to not interfere with Ep.9

[TheBenior]

so really like old car model years, it's 19th and 1/2
Or VW/Audi in the 2000s.

[Fiat500]

Well, I enjoyed it.

I saw it in the same theatre where I was blown away by the first one in 1977, I thought that was pretty special.

[sandydandy]

57% rating by critics so far. That's a good thing. It means I'll like it for sure. Audience rating will likely be north of 80%. Audience rating is what I care about as the critics cannot be trusted anymore, seeing as how they botched their reviews and rating of the Last Jedi. 91%...what a sick joke. :smh:

[Yw-slayer]

Yeah, something like 70% for TLJ would have been more accurate. Hee hee

[JoeW]

The ending of the most recent Mandalorian is quite a shocker...

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, good episode.

Still waiting to see the payoff for the end of ep. 5.

[MR2 Fan]

Mandalorian Ep 7


"Is a yoda gonna have choke a bitch?" :lol:

[MR2 Fan]

Here's a very good video about the experience of the Rise of the Resistance attraction (again, if you plan to ride it soon, you may not want to spoil it) for everyone else, enjoy


https://youtu.be/KY4lBl1Y098?t=50

[Rare White Ape]

I’ve just come back from watching Ep9.

Oh yes. Oh yes indeed.

It’s definitely a film.

Yep.


*trying to contain excitement*

[Yw-slayer]

But you know, Haters Gonna Hate Hate Hate Hate Hate and Players Gonna Play Play Play Play Play

[Crazed_Insanity]

Oh fuck off off off off...
Oh fuck off! :p

[JoeW]

Reviews are terrible so far. 58% Rotten tomatoes score and IMDB reviews are pretty bad as well.

Bummer for Star Wars.

But hey Star Trek is still crushing it :)

[Crazed_Insanity]

That's too bad, but at least the new ride looks pretty bad ass! ;)

There's probably some kind of connection to the final movie? That's why Disney delayed it's opening til now?

[sandydandy]

Reviews are terrible so far. 58% Rotten tomatoes score and IMDB reviews are pretty bad as well.

Bummer for Star Wars.

But hey Star Trek is still crushing it :) Yeah 6.8/10 on IMDB. That's lower than Solo. But it's still early! For all we know it's mostly critics voting on that site, and their opinions don't matter.

[Yw-slayer]

Yup, it's going to be awesome watching the end to the best kung fu series of this generation while millions of SW fanboys cry out in agony. Or however that allegedly important and heart-wrenching, but in reality twee and overused, line of dialogue goes.

[JoeW]

Donnie Yen ftw

[Rare White Ape]

He was great as Chirrut Imwe. Perfect role for him.

[JoeW]

In the best Star Wars movie of the modern era :)

[Yw-slayer]

Indeed, best actor and fighter of all the Star Wars movies. In fact, if not for him...

[Crazed_Insanity]

It's really amazing to see kungfu permeating not only Hollywood, but also galaxys far far away! :D

[sandydandy]

Audience rating on RT is looking good at a solid 86%, as expected. I'm excited about watching this. Hopefully tonight.

[Rare White Ape]

You’ll love it.

I loved it.

It’s a proper rollercoaster.

[drew]

I enjoyed it. we (my girlfriend and I) were exactly 25% of the audience in attendance (granted, it was 11am on a Friday).

Two parts I thought were pretty cool:

When Ren and Rey were playing tug of war with the transport, and she Thor-fucked it with lightning. Not so much that, but the acting job by Adam Driver with his non-verbal reaction that said "holy fuck!!!")
Second was when the other ships showed up at the end. That may have been one of the grandest shots of a fleet in any space show/movie, ever.

I did want to see Rey doing more "holy fuck" shit. Like when surrounded by stormtroopers, she just slams them all against the ceiling. Regardless of how many, or how high that ceiling is.

They could dragged the movie out for 4 more hours, just having them revive each other at the end, until they have nothing left in the tank.

[Yw-slayer]

Ip Man 4 was great. I guess I'll need to watch Space Wizards Toxic Fanboy Movie next.

[Rare White Ape]

Drew:

That scene with the zapped transport was pretty damn powerful. I was more taken by Rey’s reaction. Great acting from both.

And the scene near the end where all the Jedi put their power behind Rey, I recognised a lot of voices from so many past Jedi. I’m pretty sure that anyone who’s ever had an on-screen or voiceover role playing a Jedi would’ve contributed a clip just for that moment. I thought it was very cool.

[JoshInKC]

Saw it this morning. - Gotta go with the critics on this one.
For me it slots in below the OT, Rogue One, & the other two sequels. Not sure on ranking in relation to the prequels and Solo. There are some competent scenes, and a couple of sequences I really kinda liked, but it felt like it was trying to do too much and didn't really hang together.
Things I liked: Keri Russell, Oscar Isaacs, Billy Dee Williams, that little conehead droid,
Cont'd: Some of the "things being transported by the force" stuff, the Luke training Leia flashback, seeing the Ghost.
Didn't like: The opening scroll, so much exposition delivery, Rey is Palpatine's Granddaughter, Palpatine himself, hearing Ahsoka's voice, seriously - another superweapon that can destroy planets?

[drew]

Josh, it's all SW, is all about the pew-pew. :up:

Michael, I agree. I was waiting for a couple "key", and said "there it is" to Steph, 2 seconds after telling her I was waiting for it.

[speedpimp]

The ending of the most recent Mandalorian is quite a shocker...

and the Breaking Bad connections strengthen even more.

[Alan P]

So I went to see this yesterday and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. Some good moments, some not so much but I think it wrapped things up nicely. 7/10. Oh and I agree about the opening crawl, didn't feel right, gave away too much.

[sandydandy]

Got tix in hand for tonight. Can't wait!

Watched the Last Jedi again yesterday...and honestly, it wasn't that bad. Maybe I'm just saying that because I know something better is here now. At the time I remember it was the worst thing ever. Also finally got around to watching Solo. It had it's moments, but it was largely meh.

[MR2 Fan]

Watched TROS tonight....Really enjoyed it. Yes it had its flaws, but after TLJ, recovering it into a cohesive story was a huge task and I think JJ mostly pulled it off.

I do have one major issue


The Rey and Kylo kiss at the end, totally unwarranted and unnecessary...had no buildup at all, they were enemies the entire time until the extreme end, why would they suddenly kiss....and IMO it makes the whole Rey calling herself a Skywalker much worse at the end of it.

[drew]

Yep, that was an "ugh, really?" moment.

In fact, I think I may have said "oh, fuck off" out loud.

[Cam]

I do not even have to read the actual spoiler to know what scene you are talking about, because I said the same thing. :lol:

Yeah, just saw it. Contrived. I was entertained, however.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah I didn't like that. They could have just made it a 'moment' and moved on.

Ignoring the actual action, even the pacing of it felt dumb, with the music climaxing, then just stopping then like a pause then it happening. Bad idea, and bad execution on that one.

[Leon]

It was a good tie up to the Skywalker story. Not brilliant, but good.

Have to say though, 1% emotional reaction at any point of the whole movie. I think Ep2 of this trilogy wrecked my enjoyment of this trilogy. I emotionally un-invested at that point.

[Rare White Ape]

I’ve just pre-ordered a 1.1” The Child action figure.

It’s $20.

What does this tell you about me?

[Blerpa]

I liked it. And I liked Episode 8.
It was Star Wars and that's that.

[MR2 Fan]

I'm Rey
Rey Who?
Reyly glad this series is over so everyone can argue about other things

[sandydandy]

Saw it, loved it. Ok didn't love it, but really really liked it. It was a great effort to pull the story back on the rails after Rian Johnson's fuck up. I can certainly see why critics don't like it...but to each their own. Maybe they went a bit overboard in the fan service department, but whatever. It was great.

My list of complaints are very small:
Finn's arc went nowhere...the whole story felt kind of rushed...and "the kiss"...ugh.

Other than that, all good.

[Rare White Ape]

I’m right and you are all wrong.

https://nofilmschool.com/star-wars-critics

Except Blerpa. He’s right.

[FaultyMario]

Merry Christmas, nerds!

[MR2 Fan]

Noticing a huge disconnect in what happened between:


Kylo/Ben and Rey and the kiss. Seems that most men I've seen discuss it think it's way out of place and unwarranted, but a lot of women thought it was great and had a build-up of a romance. :twitch:

[Blerpa]

Actually...

I thought it was well expected: it was like since the first scene they met there was a tangible sexual tension between them.
If this wouldn't have been either a Star Wars movie and/or a Disney family movie, instead of a kiss we would have gotten a steamy angry fuck between the two of them.

[Jason]

Saw it the other day, still processing, as it’s a lot to take in, especially since it’s the end of the Skywalker saga (supposedly).



- I don’t have an issue with Palpatine being back in general, I wish it was built up more. Having him be a surprise at the end of The Last Jedi, or having the Rise of Skywalker split into two parts, with him being a surprise at the end of the first part, would have been way better. Having him revealed as returning in the opening scroll just felt weird.

- That being said, Palpatine being back in general kinda takes away from the original trilogy, and Anakin’s overall story arch. His entire existence was to bring balance, and supposedly that was his final action to do that. Maybe would have preferred a new super bad in the back ground instead, dunno.

- Largely don’t like that Rey is a Palpatine. I think it would have been better if she were just a “nobody” or somehow a Skywalker. One thing I do like, though, is the story of not being bound to the same fate as your bloodline. The OT was all about that, and this kinda turned that concept on it’s head.

- I fucking love the Final Order fleet and scenes, it was incredibly ominous. I do not, however, like the idea of Death Star cannons being on every ship so nonchalantly. That big of a fleet is intimidating enough as it is, to put those guns on every ship again takes away from the Death Star (and the Star Killer Base).

- The general expansion of force powers in the Sequel Trilogy is really cool, I like that Leia trained as a Jedi, I like what she did in TLJ, I like Rey’s unique uses, etc.

- I’m glad Ford came back to do the final scene with Ben at the end. I have a feeling it’s because Fisher died, and maybe she was supposed to do that scene instead. In the end, I think it worked out for the best as that seemed to be the more complex and deeper connection of the two, at least of what we see on screen.

- The Ben/Rey kiss was an absolute wtf. I didn’t get a romantic connection from them at all, instead I got a more sibling connection throughout the ST. That being said, I guess it is in line with Skywalkers to kiss their siblings.

- I hope beyond hope that Rey/Finn/Poe get their own movies beyond the Skywalker saga. They are all really great and complex characters. There’s a lot of story to tell, imo.

- The battle horses on the surface of the Destroyer was such a wtf and enjoyable scene.

- I want more ancient Jedi/Sith lore expansion in film, I’ve really enjoyed the teases that we’ve gotten with the ST.

- Snoke being a shitty clone that Palpatine brewed up ends up being ok for me, since I found him to be a rather disappointing antagonist in the first place. But the whole thing was kinda funny.... Oh hey guys, check out all these Snokes.

- The above is a lot of complaints, but in the end, I enjoyed it, as I always do with Star Wars. It’s rarely ever what I expect when I go in, and sometimes that’s good or bad. The movie had a lot of good humor, action, and space magic ridiculousness, and JJ, as usual brought his rollercoaster flare.

Soooooo anyone know if we’re getting more Star Wars movies, or is it pretty much done for now?

[Jason]

Saw it, loved it. Ok didn't love it, but really really liked it. It was a great effort to pull the story back on the rails after Rian Johnson's fuck up. I can certainly see why critics don't like it...but to each their own. Maybe they went a bit overboard in the fan service department, but whatever. It was great.

My list of complaints are very small:
Finn's arc went nowhere...the whole story felt kind of rushed...and "the kiss"...ugh.

Other than that, all good.

They kept teasing Finn as being force sensitive, I hope if they get new movies, he ends up being a Jedi too. It’d be pretty kick ass to go from being a stolen orphan, to storm trooper, to Jedi.

[Kchrpm]

2022 a new trilogy will start, according to current plans. Current plans also say that it will be all new characters and locations.

[Rare White Ape]

Jason: if you want a bit of Jedi/Sith lore on your TV screen, I highly recommend watching the Rebels TV series, and playing Jedi: Fallen Order, as they’re both littered from top-to-bottom with force lore stuff.

They’re not feature films, but they do deliver on what you’re looking for.

[Rare White Ape]

2022 a new trilogy will start, according to current plans. Current plans also say that it will be all new characters and locations.

Plus we’ve got confirmation of an Obi-Wan series starting Ewan Macgregor, as well as strong rumours of a Doctor Aphra series. More outlandishly, some rumours state that Aphra has already been filmed in secret and will be out in the next 12 months.

Dr Aphra is awesome. You all should go find out who she is!

[Yw-slayer]

Plus we’ve got confirmation of an Obi-Wan series starting Ewan Macgregor, as well as strong rumours of a Doctor Aphra series. More outlandishly, some rumours state that Aphra has already been filmed in secret and will be out in the next 12 months.

Dr Aphra is awesome. You all should go find out who she is!

Copying Star Trek's plans, of course!

[Rare White Ape]

But not Doctor Who.

[Rare White Ape]

They kept teasing Finn as being force sensitive, I hope if they get new movies, he ends up being a Jedi too. It’d be pretty kick ass to go from being a stolen orphan, to storm trooper, to Jedi.

I think they were more building on “the Force is for everyone” rather than hinting specifically at Finn’s Force sensitivity.

No longer is the canon dealing with just Jedi or Sith Force users; Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren used the dark side but they weren’t Sith, the Guardians of the Whills on Jedha (in Rogue One) say “I am one with the Force and the Force is with me” as a sort of personal battle cry, the Cult of Central Isopter are an enigmatic group of death worshippers (who were also present on Jedha) who are force sensitive and travel to areas where death and destruction are about to take place, Obi Wan said to trust only in the Force after Order 66 and that became something that various characters have used in lots of different situations.

There are hints of the Force helping characters everywhere, seemingly at random. Depending on a character’s level of connection to the Force, trusting the Force could be something very influential over their life. Or if they aren’t very Force sensitive at all, trusting the the Force could be the Star Wars equivalent to saying “yeet” before launching head-first into a dangerous situation.

Hold by beer while I trust in the Force! *jumps off speeding star ship while shooting at stormtroopers*

Ooooooorrrrr it could be a cheap crutch that the writers use to miraculously pluck a character out of a bad situation. *shrug*

[MR2 Fan]

I'm waiting for Star Wars Episode X: The Rise of Johnson: Rian Johnson's sequel where he undoes everything JJ Abrams did in Ep IX

[Leon]

I'm going to try to watch the Star Wars Christmas Special ... wish me luck ...

[MR2 Fan]

Happy Life Day Leon!

[JoshInKC]

I'm waiting for Star Wars Episode X: The Rise of Johnson: Rian Johnson's sequel where he undoes everything JJ Abrams did in Ep IX

I'd love to know what he would do, but I also get that he didn't want to do those two back to back.

[Jason]

I really wish he or JJ did all three, just for consistency's sake.

[sandydandy]

I really wish they had the script for the entire trilogy written up in advance of starting the first movie. They apparently did it movie by movie, which is a ridiculous way to write a trilogy.

[Leon]

Happy Life Day Leon!

I need to make better decisions with my life is all I can say after having watched that travesty.

[MR2 Fan]

I need to make better decisions with my life is all I can say after having watched that travesty.

:lol:

[Leon]

Series finale of Mandalorian was such good payoff.

Would rate as *vastly* superior in every way than the latest Star Wars Trilogy.

[tigeraid]

Yup. Mandalorian kicked it up to 11 in that last episode. And the opening scene with the scout troopers was the funniest SW has ever been.

[Rare White Ape]

Yeah that was pretty fuckin good. IG-11 was awesome.

[JoeW]

The target practice was hilarious.

[Yw-slayer]

Watched Overrated Space Wizards 9 last night. Not bad, but of course Ip Man 4 is far superior!

[speedpimp]

Watched the finale of Mandalorian. I laughed my ass off when Apollo told The Child® to "do that hand thing" and Baby Yoda just moved one hand back and forth. So damned cute.

[Jason]

I concur on all things Space Western Serial

[Rare White Ape]

I went to see The Rise of Skywalker again, and I’ve got to say, it’s still an absolute banger of a film.

And I think this thread should go open-season on spoilers. It’s been long enough…

So, mild spoilers ahead! A couple of cool things become apparent on the second viewing.

Right at the start of the film, there’s a horn-headed character (who’s head ends up on the table in Kylo Ren’s star destroyer) named Boolio. He is voiced by Mark Hamill.

On the planet Kijimi our heroes end up in a bar affiliated with Zorii Bliss’ spice runners. The bartender is John Williams, the composer and genius behind the Star Wars score.

A Mon Calamari colonel serves with the Resistance and is referred to as ‘junior’ by Poe Dameron. He is Admiral Ackbar’s son, Aftab. He appears in the comic series Allegiance, post-Battle of Crait, where he helps convince the Mon Cala king to provide a fleet of starships to the Resistance after some tense negotiations involving the Quarren, who also inhabit the planet. Aftab had only seen his father once after his spawning, but was a close student of his military service.

Wedge Antilles was a veteran of both battles against Death Stars, and is also present as a gunner on the Millennium Falcon at the battle on Exegol.

The Ghost from Star Wars Rebels can be seen just behind the Falcon when the assembled fleet finally makes it to Exegol. It’s not the first live-action appearance of the freighter. It was also seen participating in the Battle of Scarif in Rogue One.

[Blerpa]

Wedge Antilles was a veteran of both battles against Death Stars, and is also present as a gunner on the Millennium Falcon at the battle on Exegol.

He's the best "normal" (as for "not a cheat that uses the Force to pilot a starfighter") starpilot of the whole universe of Star Wars.
Legendary! I howled at the screen when I saw him!

[JoeW]

Proof the Force isn’t real. It’s either prestidigitation, weather disturbances or a con.

[Yw-slayer]

Easy Get Out Clause.

[Alan P]

'Don't die Padme, I'll Force Heal you' said Obi Wan, as he summoned his Force healing powers and saved her. Not realised what he'd done for George Lucas's plans for six more films.

[Yw-slayer]

Yes, in Star Trek at least you know the whole thing is just sci-fi.

Whereas with Space Wizard Fanboys it's like a RELIGION OMG MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU OMG OMG DON'T TOUCH MY INCEL LIFE IN THE SERIES PUT DOWN MY RELIGION ON NATIONAL CENSUS AS JEDI

[FaultyMario]

Did you read the twitter thread about ST:TNG characters never having sex?

3445

[drew]

:up: :lol:

[Crazed_Insanity]

Did you read the twitter thread about ST:TNG characters never having sex?

3445

Must not be a star trek fan? I'm confused why that question was even asked. Isn't it obvious that people were having sex? Even Data had sex! Am I missing something? Was that tweet referring to something else?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yes, in Star Trek at least you know the whole thing is just sci-fi.

Whereas with Space Wizard Fanboys it's like a RELIGION OMG MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU OMG OMG DON'T TOUCH MY INCEL LIFE IN THE SERIES PUT DOWN MY RELIGION ON NATIONAL CENSUS AS JEDI

It's not just sci-fi, IT'S THE FUTURE, DAMMIT! OUR FUTURE! (in picard's voice)

[MR2 Fan]

Must not be a star trek fan? I'm confused why that question was even asked. Isn't it obvious that people were having sex? Even Data had sex! Am I missing something? Was that tweet referring to something else?

yeah, literally in episode TWO of TNG, Data and Yar get it on. Then there's Risa, a whole planet dedicated to casual sex

[Rare White Ape]

Yes, in Star Trek at least you know the whole thing is just sci-fi.

Whereas with Space Wizard Fanboys it's like a RELIGION OMG MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU OMG OMG DON'T TOUCH MY INCEL LIFE IN THE SERIES PUT DOWN MY RELIGION ON NATIONAL CENSUS AS JEDI

Whoah slow down there egg head.

[JoeW]

Yes, in Star Trek at least you know the whole thing is just sci-fi.


Whoa! Easy there Tex! Star Trek is clearly our future. Kirk is from Iowa Dammit! That’s a real place on the planet earth. None of which exists in space wizard soap opera!

[drew]

I brake for green bitches.

I'm sure Kirk would have lost his shit in Venusville.

[Yw-slayer]

Whoa! Easy there Tex! Star Trek is clearly our future. Kirk is from Iowa Dammit! That’s a real place on the planet earth. None of which exists in space wizard soap opera!

I mean, The Whole Warp Drive Thing, bro.

FUCK SPACE WIZARDS!!!

[JoeW]

Preach!

I mean Kirk and the gang even visited our time to save the whales to save the fucking planet!

Transparent aluminum anyone?!

Fuck the space wizards!

[Crazed_Insanity]

Transparent aluminum anyone?!



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride

BTW, warp drive is not complete fiction. We've observed gravity compressing space time locally... and our entire universe (space time) is expanding. So space time can definitely be "warped". Once we figured out how, we'll have our warp engines and Vulcan Jodi Foster will contact us.

Star Trek is not even science 'fiction', it's actually very scientific! :p

Oh, and people have sex too. People probably will never stop having sex in star trek.

Luke Skywalker should've had more sex so their galaxy can have more skywalkers. It'd be awesome to have a baby Vader kicking Kylo's ass and marry Finn and then live happily ever after.

[FaultyMario]

Didn't some Eastern-European scientist make a practical advancement over the theoretical Alcubierre drive?

[FaultyMario]

Luke Skywalker should've had more sex so their galaxy can have more skywalkers. It'd be awesome to have a baby Vader kicking Kylo's ass and marry Finn and then live happily ever after.

And then JJ would come along and ignore it and come up with some utterly disconnected (and unconnectable) narrative and present himself as the greatest showrunner ever. Scriptwriting wizards, indeed.


Edit: You guys should listen to the Rumble with Michael Moore episode with guest Todd Phillips in which he describes how and why he was able to launch a project that added depth to a franchise super-villain (and how and why his larger project was cut short).

[MR2 Fan]

And then Rian Johnson would come along and ignore it and come up with some utterly disconnected (and unconnectable) narrative and present himself as the greatest showrunner ever. Scriptwriting wizards, indeed.

fixed :p

[JoeW]

Abrams Trek is awesome Trek. I have rewatched the first Abrams Trek probably 10 times or more.

[Yw-slayer]

Transparent aluminum anyone?!

Not to mention the StarTAC, the RAZR, and mobile phones and communicators!!!

PRACTICAL and REAL stuff always beats out crappy Fake Space Wizard shit.

And yeah, Abrams Trek was so good that The Fake Space Wizards had to borrow him to save their overrated franchise. Yet the Fake Space Wizard Fanboys continue to cry foul because it gets in the way of their census forms and infringes on their Space Wizard Religionl!!

[Rare White Ape]

Last time I checked we had a separate Star Trek thread. Whatever happened to that?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Not enough fanboies to sustain it so they have to come here to whine about Star wizards here... :D

[Yw-slayer]

Oh, we'll post about Picard on that thread very, very soon.

[JoeW]

I couldn’t find a Star Trek thread upon quick perusal of the 23 pages.

[MR2 Fan]

I found it on page 4:

http://gtxforums.net/showthread.php?1763-Star-Trek-Omnibus

[FaultyMario]

Did you hear about the duel of the fates leak (https://www.ign.com/articles/star-wars-episode-9-script-leak-colin-trevorrow-duel-of-the-fates)?

A stormtrooper uprising... It coulda bin a contendah.

[Rare White Ape]

Guess what this game will be about :D

Was leaked by the Microsoft store yesterday. EA will do a full reveal on Monday.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EaVDmYFVcAA6ZjI?format=jpg&name=small

[Yw-slayer]

It's a dating sim?

[Kchrpm]

Don't be silly.

It's an Entourage parody.

[Alan P]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0eRkhR1z6A

Looks very similar to the original X-Wing and TIE Fighter games. £34.99 on origin too.

[Rare White Ape]

I'm disappointed it isn't simply a videogame of this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN_CP4SuoTU

Hopefully it isn't shit.

[Rare White Ape]

Also, full VR support confirmed for PS4 and PC :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

[Crazed_Insanity]

This could be fun if people could play against each other online...

I remember I used to love an old X Wing PC game, this looks kinda promising...

[Rare White Ape]

This game is but one tap of the prostate away from complete satisfaction.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCcfJ9uEwvs

[Crazed_Insanity]

Wow!

[Rare White Ape]

I picked up a couple of pre-orders from EB Games today.

I collected the most sought-after inch in the galaxy... outside of what's in FUD's underpants.

https://i.imgur.com/Ani8MtT.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wVPE5Fz.jpg

Yep, you can pre-order action figures in videogame shops now. EB/GameStop/Think Geek/Zing/etc.

It's highly advisable if you're into collecting Hasbro SW Black Series figures as the good ones sell out almost immediately. I was lucky to pre-order Mando for their second shipment and The Child as soon as it was announced back in December.

Last night I pre-ordered at vanilla OT Stormtrooper and an Empire Strikes Back Darth Vader, which are due in September.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Shouldn't Mando have a shiner armor now? Just recently finished watching the show on Disney+...

Anyway, that's a great show. Jon Favreau should've been in charge of writing the last 3 movie episodes too.

[Kchrpm]

The shows are such a different thing from the movies, and Favreau has more of a connection to the Mandalorian storyline (he played one in Clone Wars).

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, maybe it's easier to tell interesting stories without the 2~3hour time limit?

Anyway, not quite sure why I love the show so much, maybe it's because I had zero expectations?

[Rare White Ape]

The shows are such a different thing from the movies, and Favreau has more of a connection to the Mandalorian storyline (he played one in Clone Wars).

Filoni is the brains behind all the Mandalorian stuff. He basically developed that entire culture with his work on The Clone Wars.

[Kchrpm]

Yeah, I should have added that Favreau gets a lot of the mainstream attention for this but Dave Filoni is his partner in crime and just as influential on the series. It's a great blend of Clone Wars and live action stuff, and they're teaching each other. Could they make a movie out of the partnership? Maybe, but they also just might let Dave continue to steer lots of smaller stories.

Speaking of which, watch The Gallery on Disney+, the behind the scenes show for the series. Lots of interesting stuff. Dave breaking down how the Duel of Fates was literally the fight for Anakin's soul was an insight I had never had before.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Anyway, this writing team rocks! :up:

[Phil_SS]

Agreed. Mandalorian was great!

And the behind the scenes program was a delight. The one on the place where they shot everything with the giant LED screens is crazy. Awesome that they used a game engine to run everything and it really leads to an immersive development process.

[Rare White Ape]

It was all done with Unreal Engine 4. They could adjust the position of objects and props on the fly during the shoot. That part was critical because all the effects are ‘in camera’ and not in post production like other big budget high SFX productions.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, we sell virtual set Technology using UE4 too.

[MR2 Fan]

The Obi-Wan series is also supposed to use the same tech, and why not...I heard it was like $35 million to install and use. I'm sure the price will come down when more installations happen, but it's really great technology, and hopefully will help TV and movie making become cheaper, which IMO is BADLY needed, especially now

[Rare White Ape]

I do have one criticism of it, and that's how dim it made the whole show look. It's fine if they're doing scenes with appropriate brightness levels, but when the entire visual language of the series fails to pop then I have a problem. The daytime shots should've been shot on an outdoor set, and the interiors really needed some proper stage lighting.

About the only bright 'outdoor' scene that I can remember is the encounter with the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine, which would have been hard to do because we have already seen lots of Tatooine on screen before. But even then, it fails to be bright enough. Look closely at how the actors are lit.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5BQFA4ITA8

They must've added a bright overhead stage light to simulate the shine of the overhead suns (and to get some nice bounce-lighting on Mando's armour), with a low camera angle so you can't see it, but only used it as a key light from behind with the faces in shadow so as not to overpower the brightness of the display screens showing the sand dunes in the background. When the camera angle changes from A to B camera the opposite actors are still lit from behind.

That contrast between the shadowed characters and the sand dunes create the illusion of it being bright, but compare it to a shot of old school SW footage from Tatooine and you'll see where it falls short and looks too dim. Instead of a big dark blur, all you see is a big light blur :p

[Rare White Ape]

More info on Star Wars Squadrons:

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-07-04-star-wars-squadrons-hud-and-customisation-options-are-entirely-optional-says-ea


EA has confirmed that Star Wars: Squadrons will permit players to decide if they want to see other people's customisation options in their games, as well as revealing that the flight mechanics and HUD elements will be entirely changeable and optional, too.

"Some players aren't going to want to see any of [other player's customisation choices]," creative director Ian S. Frazier told IGN. "It won't matter how plausible it is, they just want to keep it to exactly what we've seen in the films, no more and no less, and we totally get that. And so we have an option in the game to hide everybody else's cosmetics. So if you flip that on, then all of a sudden, if you want to put a racing stripe or whatever on your own TIE Fighter, you'll see it, but everybody else's is just going to look like a normal boilerplate TIE Fighter for you."

This also applies to your own cockpit experience, too; you can decide to have the information that's usually fed to your HUD display only available via cockpit instruments, for instance, or decorate the cockpit with your own good luck charms.

"When you start the story," explains Frazier, "we ask if you want the standard experience - which we'd expect most players to take - or a hardcore mode, which gets rid of a bunch of UI that helps you localize yourself in space, and makes you rely entirely on the readouts in the cockpit. So for the folks that are newer to the genre, I'd expect them to play standard, and for the folks that have tonnes of flight experience, they might want to try that out.

"By default, we keep that relatively basic," added Frazier, talking in detail about Squadrons power management system which helps players decide "how best to utilise their starship's engines, weapons and shields". "If I hit a button, I will instantly max a given system. Our more advanced players could turn that into advanced power management, and they're individually managing pips of power from one system to another. But that's not the experience that we give to an average new user."

As Tom explained when the game was revealed, Star Wars: Squadrons is set in the years after Return of the Jedi and puts you in the boots of both New Republic and Empire pilots, as you dogfight in space battles from within the cockpit of various famous ships.

Star Wars Squadrons launches 2nd October and has cross-play between all of its platforms: PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and will be completely playable in VR.

I absolutely LOVE playing Ace Combat 7 in VR, and that's an instrument-heavy experience. I think I'll slip quite nicely into Squadrons' VR hardcore mode, like a hot dog into a saucy bun.

[Rare White Ape]

Epic saga looks epic. Blocky graphics tho…


https://youtu.be/39GW7q75-E4

[Rare White Ape]

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES


https://youtu.be/f2VmOqjV_7Q

[Crazed_Insanity]

Wow! Asian Thai fighters?!?!?! :D

[Kchrpm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW7Twd85m2g

[Rare White Ape]

I’ve just had my first session playing Squadrons.

In VR with my flight stick.

If anyone is wondering if it is the real Star Wars fever dream, well I am here to tell you that it is :shocker:

[Kchrpm]

For those without the game and VR hardware, here's an example of said fever dream:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG5-rFEsLKk

[Yw-slayer]

I'm tossing up between psvr version, or getting the pc version and using a flightstick. I suppose I could move my rift rather than use my 34" 144hz monitor.

[George]

I finally watched "Solo: A Star Wars Story" a couple weeks ago. I happened to catch it about ten minutes in while flipping channels. I tuned in just in time to see Han talking to a guy in a window about joining "an organization" - no spoilers from me. I watched it from that point on, and soon realized I was "hooked" and wasn't leaving until it was over.

I liked it. It was a fun adventure and a good backstory. "Star Wars" (the original) came on next. That would seem to be the way to watch them now, or so it seems to me, someone who doesn't know the movies made after Return Of The Jedi.

It was a good enough film that I've found myself thinking about it many times since I've seen it, and that's how I really know if I liked a movie or not afterwards. I'm sure the die-hard Star Wars fans have picked it apart mercilessly (and I think I remember it had poor reviews), but as a casual Star Wars fan, I had no complaints.

Now, they need to get that same actor and get busy making more Indiana Jones movies.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I enjoyed that movie too. I think it suffered thanks to the last Jedi, upset fans probably took it out on this movie...

[Rare White Ape]

I'm tossing up between psvr version, or getting the pc version and using a flightstick. I suppose I could move my rift rather than use my 34" 144hz monitor.

Easy answer: PC version. Your Rift headset will have so much more clarity than the PSVR will.

[Alan P]

I finally watched "Solo: A Star Wars Story" a couple weeks ago. I happened to catch it about ten minutes in while flipping channels. I tuned in just in time to see Han talking to a guy in a window about joining "an organization" - no spoilers from me. I watched it from that point on, and soon realized I was "hooked" and wasn't leaving until it was over.

I liked it. It was a fun adventure and a good backstory. "Star Wars" (the original) came on next. That would seem to be the way to watch them now, or so it seems to me, someone who doesn't know the movies made after Return Of The Jedi.

It was a good enough film that I've found myself thinking about it many times since I've seen it, and that's how I really know if I liked a movie or not afterwards. I'm sure the die-hard Star Wars fans have picked it apart mercilessly (and I think I remember it had poor reviews), but as a casual Star Wars fan, I had no complaints.

Now, they need to get that same actor and get busy making more Indiana Jones movies.
Solo wasn't a bad movie, it was just an unnecessary one. And it caused a few...issues with the reveal at the end regarding the timeline. I liked Ehenreich (I'm not going to go look it up), but the droid and Lando was just weird.

[Rare White Ape]

What was the issue with the timeline? Because I think the character you’re referring to was still alive right up until a few years before the Battle of Yavin.

[MR2 Fan]

that character who supposedly didn't die in the original, um, media that character appeared in?

[JoshInKC]

I thought Solo was meh. It irritated me that there were so many scenes *forcefully winking* as us - 'See, here's why his last name is Solo! You know those dice in the falcon's cockpit? here's when he got those! Here's why 3p0 thinks the falcon talks funny!" Also, I thought the most fun and interesting thing in the whole movie was L3-37, and it just kind of threw her away.
Wish it had been Lando's movie instead.

[MR2 Fan]

I thought Solo was meh. It irritated me that there were so many scenes *forcefully winking* as us - 'See, here's why his last name is Solo! You know those dice in the falcon's cockpit? here's when he got those! Here's why 3p0 thinks the falcon talks funny!" Also, I thought the most fun and interesting thing in the whole movie was L3-37, and it just kind of threw her away.
Wish it had been Lando's movie instead.


Agreed, that seems to be a common trend these days when new producers try too hard to make something relevant from an older franchise.

I definitely think a Lando film would have been better. Donald Glover as Lando worked much better for me than whatshisface as Solo

[Yw-slayer]

Easy answer: PC version. Your Rift headset will have so much more clarity than the PSVR will.

But then I'll need to upgrade to a Hotas?

I guess more fundamentally, I don't have to move much, right? Because there isn't much space around my gaming pc desk for the normal rift setup, which is in the living room for games such as The Climb...

[Rare White Ape]

You don't need a HOTAS but it makes it so much more enjoyable... once you get your controls set properly. They were a dog's breakfast when I first launched the game and I spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to configure it. Thankfully the game is very consumer-friendly and allows you to use pretty much whatever control scheme you want, AND it allows multiplayer cross-play between PC and consoles if you allow it.

And yeah it's a sit-down experience. Plonk yourself down at the desk and off you go. I have to remind myself that people with certain VR headsets need to use base stations, whereas my Rift S has inside-out tracking, so it's easier for me to just move to a different part of the house.

[Rare White Ape]

that character who supposedly didn't die in the original, um, media that character appeared in?

Yes. That character was retconned back into the Clone Wars TV series as a way to help deliver the lore for a certain species of humanoid aliens, which Disney kept as part of canon when they bought Lucasfilm. That species has since featured in a lot of other canonical stories in comics and games. The character then ended up in the Rebels TV series and sought revenge from a certain other character where they met their demise. The conclusion of Rebels takes place within a few months of the Battle of Yavin.

[Yw-slayer]

Alright mate. I'll figure s on me thing out. I as looking at getting a double T16000 setup for space sims but seems here hotas is better. Anyway...

[Yw-slayer]

So I played 40 mins for the first, sort of, two missions after much faffing around. It is good but I am playing on a Rift (not an S) and a Dualshock 4 which made me a bit motion sick.

Recovery not helped by the asshole taxi driver I took to dinner who had basically 50% on/off accel/brake and who thought it was a great idea to randomly steer left and right while driving straight in the lane. But overall it was OK.

Frankly, I'll probably stick with the DS4. It works OK and those school fees are high, man.

[Rare White Ape]

Nerd alert.


https://youtu.be/YwCfCHDUVew

[Yw-slayer]

I'm conflicted as to whether I should stay in default control mode (i.e. yaw on right stick, roll on left/pedals/similar), or shift to aviator mode (roll on right stick, yaw on left/pedals/similar/WASD).

I now remember that I used to play Wing Commander in the equivalent of default mode. But in the intervening decades I've mainly played Ace Combat, or Descent, both of which used the aviator mode. There is also discussion about how in space sims it's OK to keep roll on the left since (generally speaking in relation to space sim physics) there's no difference in resistance due to the lack of, uh, atmosphere and all that good stuff.

Is the stick in the movies mapped to yaw or to roll? I have this vague impression that it's the latter, not least because the fighters can go in and out of the atmosphere?

[Rare White Ape]

I briefly thought about the topic and my conclusion is that the uppy-downy movement on the stick should reflect the pursuit of onscreen targets above and below the field of view, and the lefty-righty movement should cover the targets to the left and right.

This is at odds with typical flight controls (a-la Flight Simulator and Ace Combat) because as you mentioned, steering is dictated by tilting the wings and aerodynamic forces combined with gravity cause an aeroplane to change direction.

In space there is gravity but there is no atmosphere, and everything is considered to be falling at the same rate (so no gravity) which means there’s less benefit to having roll controls on that axis. Combine this with the normally hectic environment of a space battle and it behooves players to make target tracking as easy as possible.

I learned this while playing Ace a Combat 7. That game has a really good HUD which you can basically play the entire game off of (and I almost did, even in VR) and the surroundings were just a very pretty distraction. If I was dogfighting I knew the easiest way to track a target was to put it at the 12 o’clock on the screen and just pull up… assuming there wasn’t any dirt in the way.

[Yw-slayer]

I mean... Imma just gonna try both out and see what feels better to me.

[Alan P]

For me it's got to be Forward on the stick is Pitch down like in an Aeroplane.

[George]

https://oddstuffmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Toilet-Roll-Man.jpg

[JoshInKC]

High quality use of this thread.

Were they traveling single file to hide their numbers?

[Rare White Ape]

Has anyone seen the new episode of The Mandalorian yet?

They brought him back.

The crazy bastards running the show actually went and did it.

They brought HIM back.

[JoeW]

Buuuut no armor...

[FaultyMario]

Sorry, wrong thread.

[JoshInKC]

I was pretty excited to see my east german military surplus shovel make a cameo in the mandalorian last night.
I mean it's totally the wrong shovel to be using for anything we've seen on tatooine, but still.

[Leon]

Rewatching Mandalorian Series 1, before diving into Series 2. So I'll need to avoid this thread until that's done!

[Rare White Ape]

Should only take you 8 hours. Talk to you later today then.

[Rare White Ape]

And seeing as I’m in hospital without access to my PC like a schleb, I’ve actually subscribed to Disney+ to watch this.

This means I can do a full Star Wars re-watch of every movie and every TV series…

[Kchrpm]

Do it while wearing VR goggles, please.

[Leon]

Started Season 2 of Mandalorian with the ex.

She now wants to re-watch the other Star Wars movies (that she hadn't seen before meeting me). I think I've started a thing.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Luke Skywalker knows a thing or two about what we’re going thru...

https://mobile.twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/1325160954057773059

[Rare White Ape]

This week’s episode is another legit banger. A good old heist, some shooty-bang-bang against the bucket heads, and some characters from the past…

EXCITING

I’m starting to get more of a hint as to what the future direction of the next two seasons of this show will involve.

[JoeW]

I can see the direction they are going with baby yoda connection but I’m getting kinda tired of the time they spend featuring him. The show would be even better without so much of the cutesy character. Star Wars has an annoying habit of spending too much time on the cutesy characters.

[Yobbo NZ]

Bit slow on this, BUT TEM IS BACK.

[Leon]

YUP!!

[Rare White Ape]

What about Bo-Katan?

Any love for her, a REAL Mandalorian?

[Yobbo NZ]

Nobody is better than Jake the Muss in space 🤣

[MR2 Fan]

Did anyone notice the director of this latest episode was Carl Weathers himself? Great job he did

[Rare White Ape]

Yeah I saw that, it was a very good effort.

He did well to make the Mythrol look silly with a blaster, while complaining about the lack of hand rails. It’s Star Wars man, get used to it :lol:

[MR2 Fan]

Note: I've never watched any of the other Star Wars TV series, so it's funny how myself and casual SW fans are like "Who?" when the character is seen in the latest episode by the super fans. It's quite a disconnect

Ahsoka Tano

[Kchrpm]

You know what's fun, though? Most of the characters you meet in this series are "who?", so it doesn't really matter that you don't also know that one.

[Rare White Ape]

Season two of Mando is expanding massively outward and making connections to other things, which is inevitable. Showrunner Dave Filoni has been involved with various TV series since The Clone Wars, and he is bringing central characters that he and George Lucas created all the way through to the post-Imperial era.

Super fans, as well as I guess normal kids who fell in love with SW thanks to The Clone Wars, have seen Ahsoka Tano grow up from her introduction as a young teenage padawan under Anakin Skywalker right up to a young woman and now an older wiser Jedi. So it’s no wonder people like me get a bit giddy when we see our heroes realised in live action.

And I think it’s one of the first times something like this has ever been attempted. They were smart with Bo-Karan Kryze, the female Mandalorian. She was portrayed by her cartoon voice actor, who’s character design surely used the actress’ likeness. It would’ve been quite the rush for her to finally wear the armour.

Next-up: Lars Mikkelsen as Thrawn and Taylor Gray as Ezra Bridger, maybe end of this season or part way into the next? I’m getting giddy just thinking about it. We finally have an Imperial character that ranks higher than Moff Gideon, so that means Gideon can be killed off, Kryze can take back the Darksaber, and she can lead the reunification of Mandalore. Then the stuff with the strand casted (clones) of baybeeeee Grogu (which are OBVIOUSLY related to Snoke and the rebirth of Palpatine) can be dealt with in some way. Things in the show might devolve into an all-out war between the Imperial remnant/fledgling First Order and the New Republic with the Mandalorians on the edges of the unknown regions with star destroyers and Mon Cala cruisers and the Chimaera might be featured heavily and ooooh I'm about to cum…

Except Snoke is such a shitty character. Hopefully they can do something about this.

[JoeW]

I'm getting tired of Grogu.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Grojean, I meant Grogu is so cute! How can you be sick of him?!?!? ;)

Anyway, not a super fan or anything and have no clue where the show is going, but I have to say that this is IMHO the best sci-fi TV EVER!

After the Disney take over, Rogue one was my only favorite, but this show is now in distant 1st place. Overall, I’d even rank this above TNG, my previous favorite...

Gosh, imagine if Disney let the creators of mando do Episode 7 8 9?

[JoeW]

I like the show but getting tired of the constant Grogu saturation. It feels like Mando has his hands tied looking after him all the time. I wish he could have handed him off this episode to the Jedi and let the story continue without him.

Now I like Mandalorian and all but Discovery is better in my opinion. As is The Expanse.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, I really really like discovery and also battlestar galactica, but TNG is still my sentimental favorite...

I’ll have to check out the expanse...

Anyway, regarding Mando, I’m not really all that familiar with his way, but suffice to say that a bounty hunter shouldn’t become too emotionally involved with his bounty... without this baby giving him a purpose, he’d simply continue his way aimlessly... not sure if that’d be more interesting.

[JoeW]

Well no one wants mindless bounty hunting...but I just feel a little frustrated with all the Grogu nonsense. And I feel like Mando has been changed a bit due to his interaction with Grogu. So having Mando continue on to discover more things and right more wrongs would be cool. Just not with Grogu "cooing" all the damn time and contributing very little besides trying to get the gear shift knob and eat fish eggs.

[Rare White Ape]

So you’re saying you don’t like character development or hardship?

The producers of MASH said that they always found ways to put their characters in situations that they hated the most. It’s what made their shows engaging. And MASH went on to become one of the most successful TV shows of all time.

Baby Yoda’s presence in The Mandalorian serves to provide an overarching goal for Din Djarin. Without him, Mando would be floating along on Navarro forever like he did in episode one. It’d be like watching a guy get out of bed to go to work every day.

I don’t think there’s any possibility that you could objectively say that The Mandalorian would be better without the presence of Baby Yoda.

[JoeW]

MASH is probably one of my top shows of all time.

I'm saying I don't mind Grogu...for a few episodes as he is a person of interest in this story arc. But as a continual character who does basically nothing is annoying. Star Wars loves to have these childlike creatures in their stories to appeal to the youth...I get it.

But if the entire Mando series has Grogu in it I will likely lose interest. There are a ton of different ways they can develop the arcs with references to Grogu, or have Grogu stay with the Jedi for awhile (or another babysitter). But if we are to be subjected to two more seasons of Grogu centric writing then it will wear thin...for me. It's like having an Ewok or Jar Jar along for the ride...all the time.

[MR2 Fan]

fact: They're selling s---loads of merchandise with baby yoda/grogu...don't expect the storyline to go away anytime soon.

...however with recent hints...he could turn to the dark side

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, I’m sure the creators are aware of fans like JoeW..., I get the feeling that the baby is up to something soon... I do agree that if the entire series ended without any character development of baby yadayada coocoo, that’d definitely be super boring. Have some patience! :p

[Rare White Ape]

Yet another episode where Grogu just sits there and does nothing. Terrible.

[JoeW]

https://youtu.be/2mSd5t2n3ck

[Crazed_Insanity]

Haha...

See, these writers are good.

They torment fans like JoeW just to the point getting ready to quit watching the show and then they switch things up a bit...

[FaultyMario]

Poe Dameron is now Solid Snake.

[JoeW]

This makes me laugh everytime I see it.

3647

[Leon]

They're certainly building up to some serious arse kicking in the final two episodes of the season.

Possibly interesting they showed Baby Yoda using what is typically a Sith rather than a Jedi move toward the end of the episode.

[Kchrpm]

Grogu's an interesting case. They started training him young enough, but then stopped, and he stopped using it, but now is using it get snacks and protect himself and Din.

[JoeW]

Now we are fucking talking. This recent episode was the best yet. Thank goodness for redemption.

[Freude am Fahren]

This makes me laugh everytime I see it.

3647

Buying that ASAP

[Yobbo NZ]

I'm glad Boba Fett is back from the dead.
As a kid who saw Return of the Jedi in a theatre, I thought he was pretty cool back then.

[Crazed_Insanity]

You guys have to agree Boba's suit or armor looks kinda cheezy like a Halloween costume? Older Boba is also too chubby to fit in it..., but glad he can still kick ass though.

[JoeW]

Apparently an Ahsoka series in the works with Rosario Dawson.

[Freude am Fahren]

I hope damn so. I would watch her sit on the toilet and read her email.

[JoeW]

I already have been...don’t tell anyone.

[Rare White Ape]

That was a rumour going around a fair while ago, but I think it was either mistakenly attributed to her appearance in Mando, or purposefully spread to cover for it.

[JoeW]

It’s real. Check the Star Wars Facebook feed.

[Rare White Ape]

Oooh!

So I was wrong. It's not 'apparently' in the works, it actually is.

I found there's also more juicy news:

There's a Lando series coming, a Rangers of the New Republic series, and a mystery thriller called Star Wars: The Acolyte.

There's a new movie coming called Rogue Squadron (I was waiting to see when that would be picked up in the new canon - it was probably the most enjoyable part of the EU for me and it's ripe for attention)

There's a new animated series called The Bad Batch

Hayden Christensen will play Darth Vader in the Obi Wan series alongside Ewan MacGregor set ten years after Ep III

And a prequel series to Rogue One called Andor, I guess following the life of Cassian Andor