REhashing the failed semi-authentic mode.

[Lee]

Semi-authentic was always a weird game-mode. Most of you never even played it. I barely remember its mechanics tbh. It was basically open mode with specific classes unlocked with just a handful of skins...all of which suited the map in question 'somewhat'. It was at most a really bad version of the event server that hosted 1rnd class vs another (mando vs arc....soldier vs soldier...we should rehash that gamemode too). It was supposed to be a middle ground between the then popular fa and the standard open mode....fa was popular a long time ago who woulda thought. Sem-authentic failed miserably, nuff said.

Reboot concept:
Basically we make it fa, but bring in open's point system. So take dotf. We have all the fa slots, but instead of preset gear u get to choose from the normal open point window. So there's only 2 jedi slots with specific skin for each. But u get to chooose the powers they get. And there's way more soldier/deka/fewer-hero/mbe-1-bh. Done. Easy. Whats the point? well it would bridge the gap between open and fa players in a way where both could be satisfied. The question becomes do we really care about bridging the gap or providing fa players any quarter at this point? Probably not. I think the concept could fit well for plenty of maps though with more diverse possibilities. Take deathstar for example, there is plenty of justification to provide slots for every class...so everyone can play what they normally do no problem, maybe even with better balance cause theres not infinite jedi/hero slots....and better yet the removal of deka/sbd. Win-win. Might need to add in some new clone/arc skins to fit the empire timeline tho, not a problem tho.....and would be pretty easy to justify given how senate guards as clones and nobody cared. Amazing what you can do in this modd now and nobody cares. Lets harness that power for the sake of selling something. Plus if Frenzy is the one doing it we can call it semi-retarded mode.

 

[Dra-Gon]

From what I remember, semi-authentic was going through remake and it was supposed to work similarly to what you describe (had custom classes like in FA, could include non-open abilities - i.e. Force Destruction, but you still had that open-mode point selection menu, so you were able to spend the points as you see fit). But for some reason, the work on it was stopped. Perhaps some dev could explain why.

Edit: Just a quick search found Ben writing about it (Semi-Authentic), but I remember there being a more official post

 

[GoodOl'Ben]

Did someone say my name?

Yeah, Wildebeest worked on a Semi-Auth similar to what Lee talked about some time around 2010-2012. My memory on the exact timeline on it is fuzzy. I remember it was around the time SWTOR was a thing and people were excited about the double wrist flamethrowers in that trailer.

I loved the SA concept, Wilde had a few working examples done for Republic Cruiser when it was in beta. I believe significant additional work was still required. I don't think all features and abilities were supported by that time and things were buggy. Another major hurdle was obviously scaling the concept to be supported by all the maps.

It's definitely a project I would love, since it'd give more power for anyone to really make new content in an accessible environment. Hypothetically they could make their own variant of Movie Battles 2's class system if extended through the Legends system. The possibilities for third party modders would be amazing.

Since the team's working hard on finally releasing other old game modes like CTF, that have been dormant for over a decade, I don't see it as an impossibility that Wilde's SA could be revisited in similar fashion. It just needs one or two developers who want to see it become a reality. Currently I'm very busy with my own company that I've founded together with a fellow seasoned MB2 dev vet, so sadly I don't think I can be of help championing something of this scope.

 

[jewbacca]

Suggestion:
- Remove semi-authentic from the game, instead add toggle in visual options to force authentic playermodels on other players.

Each map will still require list of allowed models, and you will have "empire droidekas" and "rebel clones" running around but oh well.

In terms of cost effectiveness this is best. If feeling extra productive you can concieve some replacement skins for clones and droids. Like, you know, clone is, essentialy, a heavy gunner for rebels, and empire droidekas already exist.

Also good because:
- Not splitting playerbase
- FA and legends already exist, why supporting even more stuff
- Finally able to play open deathstar but all soldiers are stormtroopers

 

[MaceMadunusus]

From the MB2 Labs: A New Gamemode news - Movie Battles II mod for Star Wars: Jedi Academy

Semi-authentic mode is being replaced by something awesome: a hybrid of FA and Open modes.

www.moddb.com

 

[Dra-Gon]

wow, looking at the date of that post, it suddenly makes me feel so old

 

[Lee]

Suggestion:
- Remove semi-authentic from the game, instead add toggle in visual options to force authentic playermodels on other players.

Each map will still require list of allowed models, and you will have "empire droidekas" and "rebel clones" running around but oh well.

In terms of cost effectiveness this is best. If feeling extra productive you can concieve some replacement skins for clones and droids. Like, you know, clone is, essentialy, a heavy gunner for rebels, and empire droidekas already exist.

Also good because:
- Not splitting playerbase
- FA and legends already exist, why supporting even more stuff
- Finally able to play open deathstar but all soldiers are stormtroopers

Guess I'll do the negatives then, this:
- Waters down the point of fa/rp/authenticity/lore/cannon to begin with which is: for everyone to willingly participate in some form of 'conceived sense of rp". What do I mean by that? Well forcing all skins on ur screen to look like clones....might give the illusion of what is suggested here, but they aren't gonna act like clones to any degree. If you get people in open to spam something there is a real sense of 'acting' like that thing or at least grouping or doing something team/lore related. Its a pretty watered down concept in and of itself, but its not there at all if you just throw a visual net over things. Like I can't 'get-in' on the peneke pack players rp/group-stuff/sense-of-self unless I'm using peneke pack. It would only dilute both modes imo. Open is already dealing with an infestation of idiot melee users turning it into a timewaste bonanza. Do we really need to add another form of that? I'd say no.....no no no.

-The whole idea of semi-authentic is to avoid splitting the playerbase. It should be done in such a way that it doesn't interfere in open mode....while giving fa/melee/bored/lore/rp players something to drool over. Thus the idea that some maps are superior to others for this as they have more available classes/slots. Like I agree that if turning a switch and making the deathstar 24/7 map into Semi-authentic for 5/10/20/50/100 rounds ...or just 1 day a week (Semi-Sunday/Saturdays..?)...is gonna RUIN the normal everyday for open players (within reason...as these ppl are finicky about everything)...then scrap the whole idea.

Other considerations:
+GOing back to the original concept of SA: I think we can all notice that the two most played maps dotf/deathstar would have a saberist limitation the closer they try to approach the fa brand. So the question is...do u get more liberal? Maybe some red sith guards.....or stormtrooper sith....or something in addition to vader could be plodded in here...mbe stretch into inquisitors here that might work best. Similiarly with Dotf....mbe stretch into characters like mace windu or something as they did apppear after the fact in the end or were alive during that timeline and involved in some way.
+The other approach, which I think should be considered anyways, is to enable some kind of class que or sharing mechanic. Maybe u can 'choose' a class to play 'right now' and 'choose' a class to 'wait to play. And the 'wait to play' mechanic seriously needs to be framed more towards hardcore players. U should lose ur slot on death (not by tk tho obv), not automatically after 3 rounds. Alternatively a battlefront 'hero-mode' concept is invented here and if u do well ingame u get the ability to play as the 'rare-units'....mbe if u dont want to play as them the next person on the scoreboard gets to etc. This is fairly viable and inclusive given "score" now enables even the worst KDA to be top of the board.

 

[[SE] Maren]

Semi-authentic was always a weird game-mode. Most of you never even played it. I barely remember its mechanics tbh. It was basically open mode with specific classes unlocked with just a handful of skins...all of which suited the map in question 'somewhat'. It was at most a really bad version of the event server that hosted 1rnd class vs another (mando vs arc....soldier vs soldier...we should rehash that gamemode too). It was supposed to be a middle ground between the then popular fa and the standard open mode....fa was popular a long time ago who woulda thought. Sem-authentic failed miserably, nuff said.

Reboot concept:
Basically we make it fa, but bring in open's point system. So take dotf. We have all the fa slots, but instead of preset gear u get to choose from the normal open point window. So there's only 2 jedi slots with specific skin for each. But u get to chooose the powers they get. And there's way more soldier/deka/fewer-hero/mbe-1-bh. Done. Easy. Whats the point? well it would bridge the gap between open and fa players in a way where both could be satisfied. The question becomes do we really care about bridging the gap or providing fa players any quarter at this point? Probably not. I think the concept could fit well for plenty of maps though with more diverse possibilities. Take deathstar for example, there is plenty of justification to provide slots for every class...so everyone can play what they normally do no problem, maybe even with better balance cause theres not infinite jedi/hero slots....and better yet the removal of deka/sbd. Win-win. Might need to add in some new clone/arc skins to fit the empire timeline tho, not a problem tho.....and would be pretty easy to justify given how senate guards as clones and nobody cared. Amazing what you can do in this modd now and nobody cares. Lets harness that power for the sake of selling something. Plus if Frenzy is the one doing it we can call it semi-retarded mode.

Based suggestion but that would be a lot of work, and developers are typically too scared of any risk of slight imbalance so there would be a lot of nerf patches which would last a couple years. but I always wanted more options in my customisation and love it when players take map-related classes so hopefully in a few months we'll have something like it after MB2 devs decide to sell me MB2 If not then it'll be around 20 years.