Recovering special classes from the Battlefront 1 PS2 demo

Started by AnthonyBF2, October 13, 2019, 07:31:41 PM

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So I've been collecting and tinkering with the demos and betas recently and the Battlefront 1 demo on PS2 intrigues me the most. It appears there is a fully functioning Bothan Spy with a fully functional disguise kit. There is the gray Imperial Officer with an awesome bottom orbital strike weapon.

I've taken the only featured map, Endor, and converted it into a basic empty level, so that I can load more stuff without hitting the memory limits.

Here is some screenshots:
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The files also show that the Tatooine land speeder and the Hovernaut exists but I haven't tested them yet. I will test them later and if they work, I will try modding the official BF1 game to include these vehicles and characters.
Never let a person named AnthonyBF2 touch your BF2.

It's kinda amazing what didn't get included in the game.

[spoiler][/spoiler]
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Never let a person named AnthonyBF2 touch your BF2.

Based on my research, I've concluded that the game had 6 classes until around May 2004, which is when the Officer class was cut and its defining feature (Health and/or Ammo dispensers) were shifted to the Pilot class. Correlating with this theory is that the Bothan was never an Officer but rather a Special unit, given a few dev quotes and how the Wookiee actually contained that kit in promotional material. Does the Wookiee in this version still retain that kit?

I also find it interesting that the Pilot class is unavailable in this demo. Is that because you had to cut it out to insert the Officers or was that simply how the demo is made? Because I know for a fact that Pilots were developed in tandem with Officers.

does the hovernaut crash or freeze the game ?
mods and maps in progress:<br />--Bf1 expanded edition 3.0 version
-- bf1 tcw battles
-- bf1 seasons mod season 1
-- bf2 expanded edition tbh

it fully works
Never let a person named AnthonyBF2 touch your BF2.

Quote from: Michaeluj on October 14, 2019, 02:49:58 AM
Based on my research, I've concluded that the game had 6 classes until around May 2004, which is when the Officer class was cut and its defining feature (Health and/or Ammo dispensers) were shifted to the Pilot class. Correlating with this theory is that the Bothan was never an Officer but rather a Special unit, given a few dev quotes and how the Wookiee actually contained that kit in promotional material. Does the Wookiee in this version still retain that kit?

I also find it interesting that the Pilot class is unavailable in this demo. Is that because you had to cut it out to insert the Officers or was that simply how the demo is made? Because I know for a fact that Pilots were developed in tandem with Officers.

The pilot is there, you just can't see it because the spawn menu can't display all the characters at once. The Wookiee has the weapons as it does in the retail version.
Never let a person named AnthonyBF2 touch your BF2.

What do you mean by 'fully functioning Disguise Kit'? Is it something that works differently to the one we have in the mod tools?
In Progress:
--Star Wars: Battlefront - Anniversary Edition (formerly Star Wars: Battlefront - Legacy Edition)

On Hold:
--Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron For SWBF1
--Endor: Imperial Base

Quote from: Giftheck on October 15, 2019, 12:25:00 AM
What do you mean by 'fully functioning Disguise Kit'? Is it something that works differently to the one we have in the mod tools?

I wrote that because I was never sure whether or not we already had one.
Never let a person named AnthonyBF2 touch your BF2.

Quote from: AnthonyBF2 on October 15, 2019, 04:37:56 AM
I wrote that because I was never sure whether or not we already had one.

It works in SWBF but it literally just swaps the unit mesh with whatever is used by the first unit set for the enemy team (so if you have a map that for some reason has Rebels vs CIS, the Disguise Kit will change you into a Super Battle Droid if that's the first unit on their team), and makes you invisible to enemies with no time limit. You can't capture CPs and if it's in the primary slot, you can't use your primary weapon. If it's in the secondary slot, you can - which does make it unfair.
In Progress:
--Star Wars: Battlefront - Anniversary Edition (formerly Star Wars: Battlefront - Legacy Edition)

On Hold:
--Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron For SWBF1
--Endor: Imperial Base

Is it possible to extract the bothan mesh from the files?

I was going to say "It should be in the assets of BFbuilder" but I am wrong.
Psych0fred's Chain Isle assets has it if I'm not mistaken.  You should probably use that version instead of an extracted one.
The BOBclan:  A Rich History


Quote from: Unit 33 on November 29, 2014, 03:44:44 AM
'Please, tell me more about the logistics of the design of laser swords being wielded by space wizards' - Some guy on the internet.


Quote from: Michaeluj on October 14, 2019, 02:49:58 AM
Based on my research, I've concluded that the game had 6 classes until around May 2004, which is when the Officer class was cut and its defining feature (Health and/or Ammo dispensers) were shifted to the Pilot class. Correlating with this theory is that the Bothan was never an Officer but rather a Special unit, given a few dev quotes and how the Wookiee actually contained that kit in promotional material. Does the Wookiee in this version still retain that kit.

I'm guessing that there wasn't a true 'Officer' class, but a second Special Class of which the IG Droid, Clone Commander, Imperial Officer and Bothan Spy were all a part of. There was a lot of talk about the Officer having an 'unmask' but looking into it, from all I have read about the development and what I have been told, this was never the case. There certainly isn't a class in the game for anything of the sort.
In Progress:
--Star Wars: Battlefront - Anniversary Edition (formerly Star Wars: Battlefront - Legacy Edition)

On Hold:
--Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron For SWBF1
--Endor: Imperial Base

QuoteI'm guessing that there wasn't a true 'Officer' class, but a second Special Class of which the IG Droid, Clone Commander, Imperial Officer and Bothan Spy were all a part of. There was a lot of talk about the Officer having an 'unmask' but looking into it, from all I have read about the development and what I have been told, this was never the case. There certainly isn't a class in the game for anything of the sort.

Well, the game was in constant flux, completely different from when it was first announced compared to when it was released. On January 13, Tso could only say that there were "multiple" special classes:

QuoteTso: This is still in flux, but at the very least we'll have a basic infantry grunt, a scout, a heavy weapons guy, a pilot\mechanic, and a few special classes depending on the faction. For example, the Republic will have a clone trooper with a jet pack.

Although Borrud, the next day, said that the different factions would have different numbers of special classes:

QuoteBorrud: Each side on each era has a ton of really cool and unique classes and weapons, but as for which is best, I guess that depends upon how you like to play the game. In designing the four sides for the game from the two eras we wanted to make sure that each side had its unique playing style. For example, the Rebel troops have fewer classes and each character has more weapons available -- but overall these weapons are a little less effective than the Empire. On the Empire side you have more classes and units specialize a little more. Since they have fewer weapons, the weapons they do have are more effective. So how do you like to play as a gamer? Do you like the variety or do you like the power? This will help determine which side, and ultimately which era, is your favorite.


Regardless, whatever they wanted to call this class, it's probably best for us to refer it as the Officer for the sake of making a clear distinction between it and the Special class we did get.

In Feb 2004, the following was said about the Imperials:

Quote"For the Imperial side, their special unit right now is the Imperial officer. He can heal troops, he can also deploy a probe droid to steer remotely around the battlefield. The cool thing about the probe droid is he can also call in a bombardment from orbit. He can drop off a beacon, and sound a warning, but then that area is pretty much going to be pummelled from space."

"On the other side is Imperial Officer, who distributes health and ammo, and he can call down an orbital strike. He's the only unit who can spot enemy spies. Then there is the Special Trooper, a big beefy war droids with jet packs. We cant talk too much about him just yet."

Although one thing I want to correct is that the Bothan was originally supposed to be the Special, not the wookiee, according to this quote by Andersen in Feb 2004:

QuoteEach side also has two more unique classes. The first of these share one thing in common with each other, they act as support characters by providing power-ups to their allies. But their other abilities and equipment varies from side to side. The last unit types are all much quirkier. For example, the Republic Jet Trooper's ability to use the jet pack or the Bothan Spy's ability to disguise itself and infiltrate enemy Command Posts.

This would be corroborated by the Wookiee, in April, being revealed to have a Medpack, much like the Imperial officer. So the Wookiee was the "Officer", not the Bothan.

I could go on (this is a long and fascinating history), but a lot was said already, lol.