Warhawk v1.4 Update “Free Gameplay Modes!!”

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As the storm of E3 approaches, so does our next big update for Warhawk and with it comes 2 entirely new gameplay modes for every map, including the Booster Packs – and these new gameplay modes are completely FREE!

Before I get into the meaty list of updates, let me start off by saying that Warhawk v1.4 will have its global simultaneous release very, very soon…how soon you ask?

In just about 48 hours — July 16th at 10:00 GMT (that’s 3am Pacific)

When we started designing the new modes, we looked at play styles could freshen up the Warhawk play experience. After all, Warhawk is now almost a year old :-) And after a few months of development and play testing, we’re ready to rollout 2 new gameplay modes that the team and I are incredibly happy with: Hero and Collection.

New Gameplay Mode “Hero”

This is a team-based game mode in which one member of each team is randomly selected to be their team’s Epic Hero. Players score points for their team by killing the enemy Hero or by killing enemies while they’re the Hero. The team that reaches the score limit first (or has the most points when time runs out) wins the game.

Hero_1
Really what it all boils down to is a huge battle between 2 armies that are being lead by 2 Epic Heroes!

While you’re the Hero, you get some pretty incredible buffs…the mode’s called Hero after all so you’ve gotta be tough!

You get crazy high damage resistance which is like having 500% health. All of your weapons do twice the damage. And the armor-piercing values for your weapons are increased so that some weapons that normally can’t hurt vehicles like Tanks and Turrets, now can!

Hero_2_L
Now you aren’t the Hero for the entire game. Once you are selected as the Hero, you have a limited amount of time to go on your berserker-blitz-rampage-of-carnage-awesomeness. See the shots above for the Hero meter in the upper left-hand corner. Also note the crazy visuals that are rendered when you’re the Hero. You glow your team color, you emit light the same color as your team, you growl a scary sound that strikes fear in you’re your foes, and of course, energy sparks…must….have…energy sparks!!!

Scoring is simple: If a Hero kills a player, he scores 1 point for his team. If a normal player, or more commonly, a group of players, kills the Hero, 1 point is granted for the team. If a Hero kills the other enemy Hero, then 2 points are scored for the team.

Hero_3
Oh…but here’s the downside for the Hero…everyone is gunning for you! If you die, then a new Hero on you team is given the chance for Epic Hero Greatness!!!

Did I mention that Heroes are always displayed on the mini-map!?!?…and with a star no less!

Simply stated…this mode is wicked intense!

New Gameplay Mode “Collection”

This new gameplay mode is like multi-flag CTF. There are 4 energy cores scattered around the map, generally positioned in the center or between the 2 team’s main bases. Each team has a Reactor where Energy Cores are taken to score points.

Col_1
In the screen shot above you can see 2 Energy Cores positioned on a Eucadian bridge. Bringing these Cores back to your team’s reactor will score points for your team…and you can carry more than 1 Core at a time.

The scoring system is progressive, so if you score just 1 Core, your team gets just 1 point. 2 Cores will score 3 points. 3 Cores are good for 6 points…and if you manage to work as a team and bring all 4 Cores back to the Reactor at once, then your team scores a whopping 10 points!

Col_2
As you can see in the screenshot below, the Cores are displayed on your character and the more you are carrying, the more you see whirling and orbiting around you. You’ll also see them on the mini-map as pulsing energy symbols. The score is displayed in the upper right corner as usual, but there is a new display there for Collection mode. It’s the little yellow number that shows you how many Cores your team currently is currently carrying. This ends up being critical for knowing where your focus should be; Offense or Defense.

Col_3_L
Collection mode is fun as &#@%! and really helps promote teamwork and yield some truly fantastic risk-vs-reward moments!…and you can press the TRIANGLE button to throw the Cores you are carrying! Passing Cores among your team is “super-effective” :-)

So that’s a quick run down of the new modes and we can’t wait to have our player around the world start playing 2 completely new ways to enjoy the fast-paced world of Warhawk!

Hmmm…what should I cover next?

Quick-Join:

While we were glad to provide players with very specific control of which games they join or host via our global server list, we wanted to provide an easier way for new and veteran players to get into their favorite games more quickly and easily….thus the new ‘Quick-Join’ feature.

QuickJoin
Basically what this new feature does, and I imagine many of you have already figured it out, is automatically scan the server-list behind the scenes, pick a good game for you based on your connection, latency, current filter settings, etc. This all happens in just a few seconds.

This way, if you like playing CTF games *only* in base retail levels with no booster packs, you can set your filters and all you ever have to do from there on out is click ‘Quick-Join’. The ‘Quick-Join’ button honors *all* of your filters so you can really customize Warhawk’s automatic server selection.

If you are brand new to the PSN or to Warhawk you’ll have to play at least one ranked game the traditional server-list way, so that the servers can collect some stats before ‘Quick Join’ will work well for you. After that, you’ll be ready for hot, 1-click, automated server selection action! For those players you have already played Warhawk and the servers already have your stats, you’ll be good to go as soon as the patch is released.

Mini-Map Update:

For game modes like CTF, and the newly added Collection mode, we really need to clarify where you need to take the flag or core – we had received complaints that players could get confused as to where they needed to go. Warhawk now draws a much more prominent ring at the location where you need to return the flag or core. Additionally, the mini-map renders an animated green line that connects your ‘blip’ to the return location.

Mini-Map_S

Rank & Award Updates:

Now we know this is a sensitive subject as it relates to how easy, or in our case, how hard it is to rank up, unlock some of the badges and be awarded any of the elite medals. With that said, we have made some changes to make ranking up a bit easier. Here’s a list of what we changed for the Medals and Badges:

  • “Capture the Flag” Medal previously required 500 total captures, now it requires 250.
  • “Capture the Flag” Medal previously required 5 captures IAR (In A Round) and now requires 2.
  • “Capture the Flag” Medal still requires 500 flag saves.
  • “Distinguished Air Combat” Medal previously required 10K total air-to-air kills and now requires 5K kills.
  • “Distinguished Air Combat” Medal previously required 20 minutes IAR of flight time and now it requires 10 minutes.
  • “Master Teamwork” Badge previously required 75 team points IAR and now requires 60 points.
  • “Master Teamwork” Badge still requires 2K total team points
  • “Warhawk Teamwork” Badge still requires 2K total team points
  • “Warhawk Teamwork” Badge previously required 150 team points IAR and now requires 100 points.

We have also loosened the requirements, specifically point requirements, for some of the officer ranks. The changes to the point requirements for rank advancement are:

  • “Major” previously was 150K now its 110K points.
  • “Air Marshal” previously required 170K now its 130K points
  • “Command Marshal” previously required 190K now its 155K points.
  • “Lt. Colonel” previously required 210K now its 180K points.
  • “Colonel” previously required 230K now its 210K points.
  • “Brigadier General” previously required 250K now its 240K points.

Now we realize that there are many players who have logged several hundreds of gameplay hours – the team and I greatly appreciate your dedication to our game and it’s the dedication of our loyal fan base that helped make the development of these free game modes an easy decision!

TOW Missile:

The respawn rate modifier based on player count has been modified to take a longer period of time so that TOW missiles do not respawn as quickly in large player-count games.

Minimum Rank Server Option:

Warhawk official and player-hosted servers now support a MINIMUM rank along with the previously existing MAX rank.

Min_Rank

Respawn Selection Hint:

I know it may sound odd to some of you avid Warhawk players but we actually noticed that there were a number of new players that didn’t realize that you could select a different spawn point when you died. This is primarily for new Warhawk players and this respawn hint is disabled if you have “Hints Display” turned OFF in your options.

Spawn

Updates for Home Game Launching:

Now players that are launching/connecting to Warhawk games from Home can designate which team they will be assigned to before the server is started. Warhawk’s Support of Home Game Launching now also supports the new Hero and Collection gameplay modes.

Afterburner Flight to Hover Transition:

Previously, if you were flying the Warhawk (or Nemesis) with the afterburners engaged, you were disallowed from transitioning into hover mode. While this may have been a bit more realistic, Warhawk is more about fun than realism and not being able to transition into hover when you want to need to is frustrating! So now, you can switch to hover mode even if your afterburner is engaged.

Team Deathmatch Scoring:

The scoring system for Team Deathmatch previously counted base captures towards the team kill count/score. This is no longer the case and now *only* counts kills…as you would expect Team Deathmatch to do :-)

New “Winning Team” Ribbon:

In an attempt to further promote teamwork, Warhawk now awards a new ribbon to every member of the winning team. With this “Winning Team” ribbon, each player also is awarded an additional 50 bonus points.

Rib_1

Kick-Idle Player Server Option:

Warhawk now allows players to set an option on their own servers (player or dedicated) that will auto-kick idle players. Warhawk also now detects players purposely not respawning via the respawn exploit and will consider them idle as well.

So that’s a pretty good summary of the Warhawk v1.4 Update that’s going to be released world-wide on July 16th at 3am Pacific time (10:00 GMT). We really hope you like all the new updates ‘cause I sure know we had a great time making them for all of you!!! And FREE content is always a good thing!!!

Oh yeah…let me take a minute to clarify some stuff about our upcoming Warhawk v1.5 Update and our new Trophy support.

So, while I have just finished writing what is probably *way* too long of a blog post regarding the v1.4 Update…I need to talk about the v1.5 Update, specifically the Trophies. Here’s a quick breakdown of the 56 Warhawk Trophies:

There are 10 trophies based on current stats, ranks and awards and these 10 *ARE* retroactive. This is largely due to the fact that we have this data stored on our global Warhawk Server Cluster. There are 34 other Trophies that are entirely new ‘goals’ and should provide players with plenty of new challenges. And yes, Operation: Omega Dawn, Operation: Broken Mirror, and possibly a new something have new Trophies as well. Each booster pack has an additional 4 unique Trophies.

To earn the Warhawk Platinum Trophy, all you have to do is unlock the base game’s 44 Trophies…you do *NOT* have to buy any DLC to unlock the Platinum Warhawk Trophy. Forcing players to buy our DLC would be super-craptastic and completely unacceptable.

….hmmm, that’s about it for now. The Warhawk v1.4 Update is right around the corner!!

As always, Rock on!

-dylan

—ohh, you crafty, crafty colored text—

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340 Comments

29 Author Replies

  • nice work team
    one thing im worried about is
    im goin for the ctf medal and im only 80 save’s and captures away from the 500 it is not and have got 5 flags in one game
    does this mean when the update comes out i’ll get the medal or will i have to do all that over again
    which if i do i’ll not be happy about

  • @102

    Damn these developers, they’re smarter than us!

    CHEATING IS BAD ANYWAY!

  • HUGE thanks to Dylan and the whole development team for what is looking like an amazing upgrade! My friends and I love Warhawk, and play as often as we can. I do have one question about the team-switch issue around the new “win” ribbon:

    My best friend moved from US to Canada, so we hang out together in blue servers on Warhawk most evenings. During the first minute or two of a round, we will switch teams if possible to play together. This actually often results in us playing on the LOSING team (as that is the team people leave from). We’re fine with that, because together we sometimes turn things around. However, I’d hate for one of us to always lose our “win” ribbon because of the switch. Is there any consideration of legitimate switching (to losing team; or in first 5 minutes of round). I’d hate for the “win” ribbon to eliminate some of the very positive switching that happens. Another example would be a good playing switching to the losing team to help balance things out (which does happen). It doesn’t seem fair that he would lose his “win” ribbon in that case.

  • Please Playstation blog, tell us that sony will absolutely decimate the competition tomorrow like a Warhawk in the sky getting wtfpawned by a sniper 2 miles away!

  • How about when you sit at the home page of warhawk how about ingame chat with members of the buddy list.

  • If nothing else we need to keep games like WarHawk on the PS3! BTW any chance we may get a patch with expanded player support? 24 players is a bit low when you consider the PS3 nativly supports up to 60 players online in any one match and was optimised for it network wise.

    IMHO this game would get way more play time from me and alot more gamers if we could have more players online in a single server. At least 54 players so we can have a good even number of players on each team and can do the large infantry attacks you see all the time in the trailers, and videos for the game.

  • Hello Dylan, i have a couple requests,

    Is it possible, to maybe have at least one, just one server where the previously added booster packs can coexist. I really love playing Warhawk and been playing since launch and bought both boosters. I really enjoy the large scale battles and when you add the APC or the dropship these battles seem more epic. However lately i’ve been trying to go into the Omega Dawn servers only to find 9 or 10 people and only 4 active servers for this booster. There seem to be a couple more people playing Broken Mirror, so it doesnt seem to be a problem at the moment. My online connection is not that good so i cant create a room with as many people as i’d like. So can you do at least one room with these, Omega Dawn would be fun with the APC and vice versa. And i mean a room where both vehicles are playable, not one that aternates between boosters.
    If the reason they can’t be mixed is technical then at least let us know and i wont bother asking again.
    Also, can the expert servers be changed back to 30 minutes rather than 15? 15 minutes seem too short and many games go unfinished because of time restrictions.

    Thanks.

  • Thanks for the update Dylan! I can’t wait for this and 1.5 I just hope nothing bad happens with this update. :)

  • I must say I’m really glad for the continued FREE Warhawk support (Especially in a world where game companies and developers seem to enjoy letting you down and asking the consumer to pay more money.)

    However, there is one small issue that has always annoyed me that I hoped would be changed in future updates.

    Upon death and after choosing a control point to spawn at, the respawn timer begins. At that time if I press the button the check the score, the respawn timer always resets!

    I know its a minor gripe, but I venture to guess that I’m not the only one who constantly checks the scores. Not only that a score check makes the respawn time go by a little quicker. Maybe thats a small update you guys could consider in the future.

    Anyways, congrats on having the most fun and successful game on the PSN!

  • Anyone want to point out this hidden link for the less fortunate?

  • I would just like to thank you for this wonderful news. Also that these awesome updates will be free of charge.

    Furthermore, I would like to thank you once again for allowing people to earn all trophies even without purchasing the DLC.

  • Dylan Jobe always impresses with what he and his team delivers to Warhawk. Wonder what keeps him so dedicated and hard working? I applaud the man.

  • For the ones talking about FFXIII:

    We have A LOT of upcoming titles like: GOW3, R2, KZ2, WNC, UNCHARTED2 (they will obviously make a sequel), LBP, GT5, MT2, TEKKEN6, INFAMOUS, HOME, (maybe a sequel to warhawk :D), SOCOM: CONFRONTATION, etc. That is why the PS3 is an awesome console!!

    You just need to calm down people, you will still get the game. I know a lot of people bought a PS3 instead of a Wii or a 360 because of FF series exclusivity; but hey aside of that game you still got A LOT of triple AAA titles not just like MICROCRAP that their only upcoming titles are Gears2, and “Crappy Human” lol.

    I know Sony will do something tomorrow that will surprise all of us. Patience is a virtue, so lets wait for tomorrow. SONY WILL NOT DISAPPOINT US.

    Now about the topic (sorry); I must say to Dylan and all the WARHAWK team:

    YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!

  • O and I have one question before I quit posting- Can we expect custom tracks in 1.5? Thanks!

  • Nice updates on the game. That’s awesome you keep updating this game for FREE. I don’t even own the game but I appreciate your commitment to your fans.
    That white feather is confusing though.

  • Haha Dylan, you’re pretty sneaky about your “hints”. Someone posted it over on the warhawk forum, so I tried to find it in your post. Dark Gray text. Sneaky sneaky. Thanks for the update. If custom soundtracks don’t make it into the 1.5 patch, are we going to see it in a later update? If so, cool, but I still want it in 1.5 ;-)

  • also out of respect for this developer i will stay on topic but jeff i will let my opinion known at the right time.now on to this game this was and still is the best online game for any system.will there ever be psp support from your team?

  • Nice update i like it already. warhawk is a great game.

  • Above and beyond the call of duty yet again Ingoc.I can’t wait!

  • Dylan, I don’t know if this article is relevant but I found your feather. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_feather

  • were are these 30 min game there like 122 oficial servers & the most of the time they are emty why just put back theso 30 min back plz i dnt care the update comeon bring them back…

  • Why can’t we ever get updates for PSP games? It’s not like Beats couldn’t use some attention and get it’s bugs fixed.

  • White feather? Are they adding birds now?

  • When will the morons at Sony release PSN cards so I can download the expansion packs? I’ve had an import copy of the game for ages but can’t get the exapnsion packs because Sony region locks its stores. Hey Sony morons, I know you couldn’t help letting FFXIII go multiplat but you can at least release the PSN cards so they are freely available.

  • Dylan,

    Can you please set split screen on as default for all unrank games…. My friend and I always have trouble finding split screen games. They are so rare. We rarely play Warhawk now cause can’t find any split screen games.

  • Yay finally a mode that actually promotes teamwork! time to dust off the ol’ Warhawk disk.
    The only reason i stopped playing was because its difficult to find players who A. arent cursing 14 yeards. B. Know what teamwork is. C. Fun to play with

  • look crew of WARHAWK i was observe give mins for everybody like 15min 2omin 30min i kno it can be done plz & everybody happy! like the old times!!! & im not playing so much seens the chage of the serves & propely stop playing it like some of my friends so well thx any way PEACE OUT

  • Great Support Dylan Jobe! I really like how much time and effort yall put into this game!
    I Just really think that yall should include variable weather w/ storms that affect the players. like Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Lightning that can destroy planes etc.
    And Rain, Snow, Hail, Sunny, Dusk etc.
    Along with clouds that actually move around. This would be really cool!

  • Dylan, will you guys ever consider lowering the microphone sensitvity? I’ve got my sensitivity at 0 (zero)%, and my playstation eye picks up my playstation’s fan. If I move it far enough away from my playstation that it won’t pick up the fan, it picks up the air vent instead. It kinda makes it annoying when you’re using open mic, and everyone’s yelling at you to lower your mic’s sensitivity.

    I use headphones when I play warhawk, so I definitely know it’s not picking up my TV speakers.

  • so ummmmmm yea……

    I would LOVE to rank up from Airman 1st class but I cant get that damned “warhawk Recruiting” medal to save my life…….wish you all would have loosen the requirements for that……..I’ve got enough points and other medals to be like 3 ranks higher

  • @Zorox Are you serious? failed?

    I just have to say I’ve got all the PSN games and about 15 BR games.. including MGS, COD, and GTA.. and Warhawk is the game I’ve played the most.. I appreciated how this game has been supported… I know y’all will have to move on, but I will be disappointment once you do…

    With that being said.. you think we’ll get a 2.0 or higher patch?

    I hope you’re still reading.. but I asked this ?? via a message on PSU.. Could you maybe add an option to have game scores sent out via a message or email like been it updates the scores on player created servers.. Or have it to where we could view previous game scores.. It would make tourneys easier to manage..

    Any chance on seeing the Youtube feature added? That would be cool..

    And could we have speculators.. like say if you can host 24.. but you only need 16.. you can set up to 8 spots to watch.. maybe hop through active players’ views…

    Hey Dylan man.. thanks!!! Pass that across your team..

    And accept my friend request man.. what’s up..

    PSN – ThEosSiE

    Holla..

  • This is an awesome update. I’ve been looking forward to new game modes and wondering what you guys at Incog. would be brainstorming up for Warhawk. I can say that I’m pleased, as those game modes sound pretty epic.

    8) <– the guys at Incognito

  • OPERATION: WHITE FEATHER. COMFIRMED!!! MEGATON!!!!

  • At least this looks promising. It’s nice to know that some people at Sony are not incompetent.

  • Hey Dylan~

    CAn’t wait for the update. Do you know if there is plans to support multiple PSN Id’s logged in on one PS3? The reason I ask is it would be nice if oyur having a 4 player split screen game going if you could all build your own stats and eventually earn your own trophy instead of all sharing 1 PSN ID with the (1) (2) or (3) next to it. Some of us share our PS3’s with other PSN users and play online multiplayer split screen. I hope Sony and yourselves eventually look at supporting this feature. Thanks.

  • nice :p i love Warhawk, can’t wait!

  • Great to see the Winning Team Ribbon being added. I have noticed lately that nobody really cares about winning anymore. Everyone seems to only care about getting kills so this update will get people playing the game as it should be played.

    Question: Why are you guys adding Home Support in this update? Home isn’t being released for a long time.

    I’m also loving the fact that I don’t need the Booster packs to get the Platinum trophy. That really pissed me off in Stardust.

    Anyway, thanks Dylan for your continued support.
    Please announce Trophies release date VERY soon.

  • In An effort to prevent base rapes… many players switch sides during matches to even out the games….

    Will those players get the 50 point bonus?

    If not… this may just lead to more base rapes…

    I think, especially, if someone switches teams AND helps to turn the game around that they should be rewarded someway….

    -KTHXBAI

    -Neo_Selen

  • i know nobody’s gonna reply but it’s worth a shot, about the trophies will there be a wench trophy?

  • hey i think that feather might mean….parachute maybe- becuase feathers float nice and easy down to earth, just like a feather- just a thought- because this would encourage players to use the back seat of a warhawk

  • Hi Dylan, Kudos to you on the update. I know it can be hard to face the pack of wild dogs you call “the community” sometimes. However I have some questions about Hero mode that some of us at PSU are concerned with.

    One is will one hit kill weapons be able to kill heroes? (TOW, Binocs, Tank HE Rounds, Run-overs, knive, etc.) Second, will Heroes be able to fly? Third, does the heroes x5 Health transfer to thier vehicles?

    Thank you in advance for a reply.

  • For tomorrows conference please add this.

    We don’t have to be like Mike. We are mike.
    ;)

  • Wow good job with 1.4 I must say i was getting quite bored with this game. I got bored owning people in the air all the time no competition. I want to ask a question if i get in a plane and im a hero how much life will i have?
    Also a question about normal flight how come you made it so that these guys can lock a missile on you than they turn around doing flips while keeping the camrea on you than they release the missile making it look like they shot it backwards.
    Seriously normal flight shouldn’t be a flight to where you can actually be THE BEST at. It should be a flight to where you get to a point and you know you have to switch to pro flight if you wanna be the best. I take down normal flighters but its alot more difficult than pro flighters.

  • lol at your secret links. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:A_single_white_feather_closeup.jpg

    I was looking at it in the PS3 browser and couldn’t find it. (ctrl+U FTW!!!)
    looking forward to the update

  • hi im a first time commenter long time reader, hehe. Anywho i just want to say thanks this will definitely make me play warhawk alot more, oh can you guys give us more than 30 minutes of battles maybe like an hour or 10, thanks please consider this.

  • @189
    yes, he said there would be a trophy related to the wrench

    @Dylan Jobe
    Dylan I want to say that I’m very impressed. I’ve never been a real big online gamer, however TF2 has been changing my perspective on that big time. I wanted to tell you, and I want you to take this back to your fellow SCE developers, I will buy Warhawk b/c of your (the devs) continued support. The fact that you guys are so quick to go back and address brand new features just added to the system. And on top of that you keep creating great new core gameplay. I’m very impressed. Warhawk will join Uncharted as one of my must have games.

    PS, if by any chance you happen to know the guys at Valve, see if you can get them to see the beauty that is the PS3.

  • @MechSamus

    I was just saying the same thing! I have always thought it was weird for the backseat of the warhawk to have no functionality, I knew they had a plan and I always thought it was weird that they never allowed you to leave the plane in the air. Parachutes I thought! but it never came :(

    BRING ON THE PARACHUTES DJ

    FEATHER = PARACHUTE!!!

    FEATHER = PARACHUTE!!!

    FEATHER = PARACHUTE!!!

    FEATHER = PARACHUTE!!!

    FEATHER = PARACHUTE!!!

    FEATHER = PARACHUTE!!!

  • ok so if you are carrying those energy tings and die do they just stay there for the enemy or will they re spawn or dose each team have there own energy thins cuz if there if they do just drop for the other team to grab it would be like 1Xctf (1flag in center teams fight for control) which is my favorite game mode ever created! plz answer

  • With this and pretty much all the updates you have given this game, I can’t help but come back for more. Since you finally have trophies I will be playing this game for a VERY VERY long time.

    I am just downright impressed each time I see an update. You actually care about the fans, listen to what they are wanting, and try your best to keep it fresh. All I can say is THANK YOU! Warhawk has always been one of my favorite MP games of all time, and with the ways things are going, it won’t lose that title any time soon…

  • @188 gues you can not have everything tho it may keep the games from unbalenceing cuz people would stay in game longer to see if there team wins or i could make things crazy

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