As of this writing, Rogue Leader is already available on store shelves across America, even though we still have about a week and a half before GameCube itself is released. However, many of you have or will opt to buy the game early, if only to make sure you've got your copy when the launch frenzy ensues.

Thus, our newest (and probably last) tidbit of Rogue Leader preview data shouldn't be too surprising to you early adopters. Right there in the game's instruction manual is a feature that, as far as we know, has never been mentioned before. So sayeth the list of "Special Flight Tips":

"Play different missions at different times of the day."

We can only assume this to mean that Rogue Leader utilizes GameCube's internal clock in the actual gameplay. There are no details available on the implementation, but you can expect to see the sun(s) in different positions through the day for planetary missions, and who knows what else.

Finally, a bit of reassurance for anyone frustrated by the targeting computer at Nintendo's Cube Clubs. Yes, you have to hold down the Y-button as long as you want to use the targeting computer...that is, until you pick up the "Advanced Targeting Computer" upgrade. This hidden bonus item will allow you to simply toggle the feature on and off with Y, as well as select specific enemy targets with the C-stick and then order wingmen to attack accordingly.

Last updated: 08/20/2001 by Max Lake

Jasper Segers of dutchgaming.net has sent a blurry picture of the Rogue Leader control scheme, along with a transcription in to PGC. Thanks Jasper!

Here are the controls:

Control Stick: Fly

+ control pad: Wingmen communication

C-stick: Look around in Cockpit view

A button: Primary fire (hold for rapid fire)

B button: Secondary fire

X button: Targeting computer

Y button: Switch viewpoints

Z button: Roll

L button: Brake

R button: Speed up

Start: Start/Pause game

Here’s the blurry picture of the control scheme.

At E3, R trigger buttons should take advantage of the analog “click action” for varying degrees of boost and brake. At least with some ships, as explained in the editorial The Click:

“In the X-wing or B-wing, the click-action would close the ships' wings making it fly much faster while preventing you from shooting your lasers. At this point, the L button (brakes) would slow you down but your wings wouldn't open again until you reached the click.”

If the Force is with the PGC SpaceWorld 2k1 Away Team, they should be able to get their hands on Rogue Leader later this week and more info to boot. Cross your fingers; Star Wars is really huge in Japan, so the lines for this game at SpaceWorld may be longer than they were at E3!

Last updated: 08/02/2001 by Max Lake

With new Rogue Leader shots spicing up online life lately, it’s time once again to update the preview to perhaps the most exciting GameCube launch title of all.

If you missed this report, you may not have caught the somewhat disappointing news that Rogue Leader will not feature any multiplayer modes.

Here’s what Brett Tosti had to say on the matter:

“Unfortunately Rogue Leader won't have any multiplayer options. We thought about it, but with deadlines we'd have to sacrifice some of the single player features in order to accommodate multiplayer. Instead of a polished single player game we'd end up with a mediocre single and multiplayer game. As much as we want multiplayer, that sacrifice isn't acceptable to us. Maybe the next game…”

Kind of a shame, but what Star Wars fans are getting in the single-player experience more than makes up for the lack of multiplayer. We expect few will complain in the long run; seeing this game progress, it's clear that this was probably the right choice.

There’s some good news though—actually, lots of it! New details have come to light that make Rogue Leader all the more tantalizing. Most of this info comes from IGNCube, who got a post-E3 hands on spin with RL (lucky sods) during a visit to LucasArts.

Believe it or not, Rogue Leader has an improved framerate. The game almost always runs at 60 frames per second (fps), only rarely dropping down to 30 fps. This is greatly improved from E3, where some levels were a bit more sluggish. There are still hiccups according to IGN, though Factor 5 has claimed that the game will run in 60 fps smoothly by the time the game ships. Yow.

LucasArts have proudly pointed out that every level will utilize 5.1 surround sound, with authentic FX from the movies. As reported earlier, the score of orchestrated music mixed with dynamic music tracks and this should sound excellent over the right equipment. (Gee whiz, not only do I have to save up for a GameCube, I’m going to have to start hoarding cash to get a new sound system too!) Star Wars junkies will be getting an earful.

Like the first Rogue Squadron, the game should contain oodles of speech. Earlier this week, news hit that Rogue Leader will have Japanese vocal tracks for its release in Japan, where it will be published by Square/Electronic Arts.

As Rogue Leader is set between Episodes 4 & 6 of Star Wars, the legendary Battle of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back is a part of the game. The battle of Hoth was the most redeeming aspect of the first-gen N64 game, Shadows of the Empire. Obviously, Rogue Leader’s Hoth level looks light years beyond but it’s amazing just how much more visually impressive it is.

The snow-covered terrain is all bump mapped and shows off exquisite detail. Black patches of rocks can be seen peaking up from the snow, giving the terrain a varied look. The snow itself looks almost real too, very fluffly and freshly fallen. There are also windblown streaks visible on the snowfall surface. Incredible.

AT-STs and AT-AT walker units are very detailed and animate similarly to how they appeared in the movies. Both AT-ATs and AT-STs can even be seen in the distance when you are very far away from them. In fact, the landscapes of Rogue Leader are vast & the players’ vantage point allows quite a birds-eye-view. Reportedly, one can see what’s going on in the distance from miles away. Even when flying high off the ground in Hoth, laser fire from enemy walkers can be seen.

What would a Hoth level be without a tow cable? It works similarly to how it did in Rogue Squadron, with the camera angle changing as you circle your way around AT-ATs’ legs to tangle them up.

Some levels will have ground troops, the Hoth level has 150 little guys running around, all of them highly detailed right down to their snow goggles. You will be able to control ground troops as you fly nearby them, by using the D pad. This is similar to how your wingmen are given orders.

In some missions, you can actually change ships. For example, on Hoth, you first use a Snow Speeder, and then switch to X-Wing midway through to cover the rebels’ escape.

Rogue Leader is one of the first games using volumetric fogging, which has been seen in the Cloud City level. Proving how efficient those Germans are (lemme tell ya), Factor 5 are going the extra mile and then some. There are real time physics applied to things like black smoke billowing from downed vehicles, so that as you fly through the smoke, it splits into two streams.

Every object in the game, from clouds to spaceships, feature full self-shadowing and correct shadow casting on landscapes. The shadowing on your craft even changes as you move, with the angle that sunlight hits your wings changes accordingly. Dirt and reflect maps have been added to the vehicles, which will show sun reflecting off your vehicle while in cockpit mode. The amount of detail in this game is utterly phenomenal. Star Wars fans will find it hard to resist this game. The IGN boys repeatedly comment that they were taken out a few times, simply because they were ga-gaing over the graphics, while enemies shot them to smithereens. Looking at the new screens and learning these new details make it very understandable why they were distracted. Rogue Squadron looks almost too good to be true.

There has been speculation that Factor 5 may handle the recently confirmed Episode II title for GameCube. However, from what we know, Thornado will probably be the project that gets the team’s full attention after Rogue Leader ships.

Last updated: 06/19/2001 by Michael "TYP" Cole

The folks at NintendoWeb have posted the second half of their E3 interview with Brett Tosti, Co-Director of Rouge Leader (as well as many SW N64 titles.) Brett talks about exclusivity, hidden bonuses, and the targeting computer, revealing tidbits of information about the game that won Best Action game of E3.

When asked, Mr. Tosti explained that Rouge Leader will only be on the GameCube, at least for "right now." The game was designed around both the system and controller from the get-go, making a port onto another system or the PC very tedious.

NintendoWeb and Brett also discussed the medal system. Factor 5 is interested in creating prizes, in the form of extra missions, characters, etc., which can be "bought" with points earned by medals. According to Brett, players will be able to use these points before they finish the game, and can go back to improve their ranking and receive more bonus points.

...you may be teased by knowing there is a mission available but it's all blacked out so you don't know anything about it. If you earn enough medals up to that point, you'd be able to spend those and unlock it.... For example, let's say you completed the first three missions with silver medals. If you go back and get gold on those first three, that'd be enough to unlock the first bonus mission; or, if you don't do that and go on to play the next three missions and get three more silvers, that'd be enough to unlock the first bonus mission as well. Each medal has a value.

Mr. Tosti also gives some insight on the tactical aspects of the targeting computer. He states that although not integral to completing the game, a player may choose to control his or her troops with the advanced tool. Below, he addresses both the advantages and disadvantages of using the targeting system.

In [the original] Rogue Squadron we didn't have a targeting computer. We had the cockpit view, and people thought it was neat-looking because it looked like the movie, but really it wasn't useful when playing the game - it obstructed your view. So really the advantages didn't outweigh the disadvantages.

Now in Rogue Leader, yeah, your view is still obstructed a little, but when you're in the cockpit, you get to use the targeting computer. And it's really helpful when you have, say, dark Tie Fighters against a dark background. You can't really pick them out unless you're in the cockpit with the targeting computer on.... There's always going to be some sort of auto-target on, but with the targeting computer on, that auto-target range is going to be very narrow. Where as if you were using the Force and just got the feel of how to aim, it'd be a little easier. We've still got a lot of balancing issues to work out.

The more information we learn about this game, the more exciting it becomes. Nintendo, LucasArts, and Factor 5 have a real winner here, and all three of them seem very excited to share information about it.

Last updated: 05/17/2001 by Ed Shih

While on may way back to get another look at Rogue Leader, I caught sight of Factor 5 president, Julian Eggebrecht. After a quick introduction and congratulating him on a great demo, I managed to get extra information on the game in a brief conversation while he was checking out people playing his game.

First, while the official previews state that there will be 11 levels (many of them with multiple stages), that number represents the bare minimum of levels. Factor 5 will squeeze in as many as they can before they need to ship the game so, with a little luck, we could very well see more than 11 levels.

Second, concerning the music, it is definitely interactive and changes on the fly depending on your situation. This all comes thanks to streaming the classic John Williams music off the disc and using the powerful Musyx audio system.

Finally, I asked about load times, which were there for a bit, but not too bad. According to Julian, the load times should be reduced to about 1/3rd of their current times and that overall it is very easy to keep load times down to a minimum and comparable with using a cartridge. Nintendo is very adamant about keeping load times to a minimum. Factor 5 should have no trouble getting load times down and most developers should be able to do likewise. Perhaps other lesser 3rd parties might have some trouble, but it seems that Nintendo has designed GameCube to load games very quickly.

Last updated: 05/09/2001 by Max Lake

Today’s quite a day for Rogue Squadron fans! Rogue Squadron 2 is also the cover game of the most recent issue of Next Generation magazine and with good reason too! The game looks simply awesome! We’ve just added a bunch of new RS2 screens scanned from NG to the game profile.

Earlier, C&VG reported some of first details about the game as well. Apparently, the AI will be highly improved, players will be able to play as Darth Vader and control wingmen on X-Wings. There will also be TWO Death Stars in the game suggesting both Death Star runs from the movies (A New Hope & Return of the Jedi) will be part of the game.

We’ve been waiting to see the Death Star run since we reported on it last time we updated the preview. It will indeed be one of the three levels playable at E3 2001. About the historic run, Factor 5’s Julian Eggebrecht has this to say to NG: “In fact, we’re taking a lot of inspiration from the old Atari game.”

The Next Generation article reveals the control scheme as well & these early reports indicate continue to suggest that the NGC controller works and fits like a charm. The word on the street is that Rogue Squadron features very similar controls to its N64 cousin, so those familiar with the franchise will be able to pick up and play immediately.

The two analog triggers allow you to speed up and slow down (with the amount of pressure you use effecting the speed or impact of the brake), the big 'A' button fires your basic lasers. For mauvering, the left controller stick controls your craft, and when holding the Z-trigger, you can pull off barrel rolls while adjusting the main stick. In the cockpit mode, the small, yellow, C-stick allows you to move your camera whenever you feel the need to do so.

So why does the game look so much like Star Wars the movies? Well we’ve heard from a inside sources who have given us the answer. Apparently, Factor 5 raided the vaults of LucasArts and obtained all of the models from the Special Editon movies! No joke.

What does this mean? Essentially that every vehicle in the game – every X-Wing, Tie-Fighter and Star Destroyer – will possess the same lighting, geometry, aspect ratios (and seemingly almost the same amount of detail) as the movies!!! WHOOOOOOO!

Says one of our source: “I’m excited about Rogue Squadron alright but the people I know who have seen everything say that Nintendo’s stuff is what really blows them away.”

An exciting preview of things to come, no doubt!

Oh, in case anyone forgot, RS2 is still planned as a NGC launch title. Ya gotta figure the PS2 & X-Box fanboys are going to lose some sleep tonight!

(Thanks to Mike Orlando for the assist and our sources who wish to remain nameless!)

Last updated: 08/30/2000

Back in the holiday season of '98, there was more than a handful of great N64 software to be had. Above the rest was a triumvirate of hot titles, which adorned the wish list of many a Nintendophile; Zelda, Turok 2 and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

Rogue Squadron was the second Star Wars game on N64 and made great amends in making up for the first one. Shadows of the Empire (SOTE for short) was LucasArts' first Star Wars game for N64 and featured an odd mix of gameplay styles and a story that took place just in between the movies Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. This new tale was told across formats; along with the game there were also comic books, a novel and action figures. Along with familiar faces from the SW universe, SOTE featured a new hero, Dash Rendar. Dash was a likable fellow, who died at the end --probably since it was the only way to make the character work. Bah! Aside from the disappointing ending & expendable protagonist, the ho-hum combo FPS/exploration parts of the game were dominated over by the exciting dogfight battles, which included the Battle of Hoth.

Factor 5 stepped in and with LucasArts, took the most oft-heard complaint about SOTE (essentially that the game paled in comparison to the first level's Hoth Battle) and made a game solely dedicated to Star Wars dogfighting. Instead of controlling doomed nobody Dash, players took control of Luke Skywalker leading the legendary Rogue Squadron into battle. It played fantastically.

The original Rogue Squadron not only had great gameplay, it was very true to the Star Wars universe. Several subtle nods to the Star Wars movies were throughout the game, making even the most casual SW fan feel right at home as they fought the evil empire. Highlighted by several hidden modes, extra vehicles and voice-acting which wasn't that bad, Rogue Squadron simply ruled. Not to mention, it was one of the first two games published with the ability to utilize the 4MB RAM Expansion Pak & utilize a Hi-Res mode. (The other game was Turok 2).

During Space World, Nintendo showed off the first footage of Factor 5/Lucasarts' next Rogue Squadron. RS2 demos present at the show were very impressive and successfully evoked the sensation you were actually watching lost footage from SW: A New Hope. Scenes of a squadron of X-Wings flying by, detailed right down to the pilots inside of them look incredible. In addition to demos shown at the the pre-SW 2000 showing, Factor 5 showed off some movies of the game to IGNCube. One movie displays 30 or more tie-fighters dive bombing the screen all at once! It has to be seen to be believed. The game will not only showcase such beautiful visuals, it will make them playable. It is unknown what levels and vehicles will be playable in the second Rogue Squadron, however, Factor 5 have confirmed that the Death Star trench run will be in the game and be shown off at E3 2001. That will definitely be something to see!

One of the biggest complaints about the original SW: Rogue Squadron was its lack of multiplayer. Hopefully, Factor 5 will take the time to include it this time around and take full advantage of the Game Cube's multiplayer capabilities (perhaps even the online ones?). Either way Rogue Squadron 2 should be a doozy, and we're looking forward to whatever Factor 5/Lucasarts come up with. May the Force be with them!