Star Wars : The Old Republic : Galactic Starfighter Star Wars : The Old Republic : Galactic Starfighter is the second Digital Expansion for " " , and it was first officially announced on October 8 , 2013 with an intended release to the general public in February 2014 . It centers around the addition of player - vs - player space combat and ship customization . Development . Production . " Galactic Starfighter " is the second Digital Expansion for " " , and it was first officially announced on October 8 , 2013 with an intended release to the general public in February 2014 . " Galactic Starfighter " was first conceived shortly after the release of " The Old Republic " , but before the developers could define what the expansion would actually look like , the project was put on hold in favor of additional content and the Free - to - Play system . It was not until August 2012 that the developers resumed work on identifying how they wanted to approach space content . Comments and requests by fans factored into the discussion , and the developers soon established two main factors : free - flight space combat and ship customization . The developers soon decided to pursue player - vs - player combat instead of developing a large open world with story content and massive capital ships , and work started on the expansion ' s development . For the levels in the Digital Expansion " Galactic Starfighter " , the creative team first collaborated in brainstorming what type of environment they wished to create , and they typically relied on iconic locations and scenes from the movies for inspiration — the Lost Shipyards map was designed with the idea of weaving through asteroids and blasting through an unfinished capital ship . The base design for the map layout was the next step , and scaling was critical : the ships in the expansion are smaller than player characters , allowing the developers to create larger environments relative to the players in order to maximize space . The designers then created a 2D map of the environment which indicated where points of interest and spawn points would be located , and the different ship types are tested to ensure that no type has a major advantage . The artists then expanded on the map to construct the environment , and visual effects and sound design are added to make the level immersive . After a test of the ships in the environment again , levels undergo a great deal of playtesting that sees the developers move or remove environmental objects to create a better level . Announcement and promotion . Prior to the official announcement , " Galactic Starfighter " was teased as the " Super Secret Space Project . " It was first mentioned in the second LiveStream Event on November 29 , 2012 , and was described as " something that is a departure from our normal space game . " It was not mentioned again until August 2013 , when a teaser video was shown at the Community Cantina Tour in Seattle . The video , framed as footage from a surveillance droid in space and an audio report by an agent of the Shroud addressed to the Shroud , describes the agent ' s findings that the Republic and the Empire are gathering their naval forces . A Republic fleet attacks an Imperial shipyard , and the video shows gameplay footage of " Liberator " - class starfighters and Mark VI " Supremacy " - class starfighters dogfighting before the surveillance droid is destroyed . No other information about the feature or its release date was announced during the Cantina Tour . Active subscribers received Early Access to " Galactic Starfighter " on December 3 , 2013 when Game Update 2 . 5 went live , and Preferred Status Players on January 14 , 2014 ; the expansion was made available to Free - to - Play gamers on February 4 , 2014 . Subscribers also receive exclusive paint jobs , two pilot suits , two titles , and the maximum leveling and progression benefit available — a benefit which can also be gained through the purchase of a Starfighter Pass in the Cartel Market . Preferred Status Players will receive two pilot suits and an exclusive title , and any players who subscribed by November 1 , 2013 received an exclusive Gunship unlock with custom paint jobs . Gameplay . Ships , Crew , and game modes . " Galactic Starfighter " introduces player vs . player space combat in the form of 12v12 dogfight matches , as well as a variety of features to accompany the core combat element . Gameplay and the user interface are significantly different from ground gameplay , as well as the traditional space combat . Initially , three starship classes have been announced for " Galactic Starfighter " : the Scout , Strike Fighter , and Gunship , and a fourth — the Bomber — was released when the expansion went live in February . Components are the basic building blocks of a starfighter ; every ship can be equipped with five major components and four minor components . The major components grant weapons and active combat abilities , and minor components grant passive boosts to various statistics . Ships start out with one default component in each slot , though each slot has a number of different options that can be unlocked and used , and each ship has a different set of components that can be equipped . Each component has three to five tiers of upgrades that can be purchased to increase its effectiveness or add additional functionality . Major components have two upgrades in the higher tiers that offer different improvements , allowing for players to construct unique ships . All unlocks and upgrades for starships are purchased with Requisition , a new form of currency that is earned by completing Starfighter battles — participation is rewarded by Requisition , the winning team receives a large bonus , and individual actions can result in Requisition as well . Each ship in a player ' s hangar has a pool of daily Requisition , like the rest experience gained from waiting in a cantina or safe zone , and the daily Requisition doubles the rate at which a ship earns Requisition until that pool is used up . Once a ship has been fully upgraded in each component , the ships is considered Mastered and will earn Requisition at a higher rate . Requisition is divided into Ship Requisition , which is tied to specific ships , and Fleet Requisition , which can be used on any of a player ' s ships . Ship Requisition can be converted into Fleet Requisition by spending Cartel Coins . " Galactic Starfighter " also introduces Crew Members — companions that man players ' starships . Each faction has a set of four entirely new Crew Members , and players can also use their class ' s companions as Crew Members . For a Requisitions fee , players can also unlock the companions of other classes . Crew Members serve two primary purposes : Copilots and Support Crews . Crew Members serving on a player ' s Support Crew work on ships while they are not in combat , and each Crew Member fills on of the four slots : Offensive , Defensive , Engineering , and Tactical . Each companion or Crew Member has a specialty , and they grant a unique combination of two passive bonuses when assigned . Copilots are chosen from the four current Crew Members on the Support Crew , and each copilot grants a different active ability in addition to their passive bonuses when selected as the copilot . The four Imperial Crew Members are Aven Geth ( Engineering ) , MZ - 12 ( Offensive ) , Salana Rok ( Tactical ) , and Writch Hurley ( Defensive ) , while the Republic Crew Members are Ashy ( Engineering ) , B - 3G9 ( Offensive ) , Kendra Novar ( Tactical ) , and Oro Wogawa ( Defensive ) . " Galactic Starfighter " will launch with two game modes , Domination and Team Deathmatch . Domination involves a series of objectives that must be captured and defended , and teams gain points for maintaining control of an objective . Team Deathmatch pits teams of players against each other . The team with the highest player kill score when either time expires or the score limit is reached wins the match . Team Deathmatch maps also contain a Power - ups feature . User interface and gameplay . The content for " Galactic Starfighter " centers around the primary menu , which is accessed by pressing the H key or an icon on the minimap , and the menu features five tabs : Ships , Components , Cosmetics , Crew , and Launch . The Ship tab organizes ships under each of their respective types , and at the time of Early Access , there are a total of 14 ships available with 10 additional ships planned for release in February . The Components tab allows players to select components for their starship out of their currently unlocked components and install them , and the Cosmetics tab is used to alter cosmetic details of the ship such as paint jobs and the color of weapon discharges . The Crew tab allows players to choose which Crew Members or companions they want to use as their Support Crew , and the Launch tab enters a player into the queue for a match . The heads - up display in combat is largely similar to the basic interface of ground gameplay , though the minimap is moved to the upper right corner and displays the entire battlefield regardless of the player ' s position . Next to the map is the scoreboard , which also features icons for objectives ; the icon ' s color indicates which team controls the objective , and dots surrounding the main icon indicate how many turrets remain around the objective . The firing arc is located in the center of the screen , and features orange , purple , and blue curved bars on the left and right sides of the circle . The orange bar on the left measures the weapon power pool , while the purple bar on the right measures the engine power pool . The blue bar on the right indicates the speed at which the ship is traveling , and a smaller circle — the missile targeting reticle — is located within the larger firing arc ; players must keep enemy ships within the smaller reticle to fire missiles , and within the larger circle to target them with cannons . In the bottom left corner of the screen , there is a circular display with an icon of the player ' s ship surrounded by two rings . The rings , which are divided into two sections to signify forward and rear shields , will change color to indicate how much damage has been taken . If the shields are completely depleted , they will not regenerate . The ship icon in the middle represents hull integrity , and will change color depending on how damaged the ship is . To the right of the display are three bars that represent power conversions ; the F1 , F2 , and F3 keys can switch the conversions between Blaster , Shield , and Engine power conversions . On the bottom of the screen , a simplified quickbar that displays six buttons allows players access to the ship ' s abilities . Slots 1 - 4 are mapped to the number keys 1 - 4 , and the remaining two abilities are mapped to the left and right mouse buttons . Abilities vary between ships and components , though the left mouse button is always blaster fire and the right mouse button is for missiles , rockets , or railguns . In combat , distant enemy ships will be framed by small square boxes with the player ' s name above them , and if a player manually selects them or uses the tab button to lock on , a targeting reticle will appear as well as a circle indicating their project flight path . Once the enemy is in missile range , the targeting reticle will turn red , and if the enemy is in blaster range , the targeting reticle and circle will both turn red . Gunships also feature sniper - like scopes for their railguns , and the scope indicates how charged the railgun is . Movement is controlled by the keyboard : the W and S keys are acceleration and deacceleration , the A and D keys are roll left or right , the X key stops the engines , and the space bar engages the afterburners . Holding the Shift key with W or S will strafe up or down . The camera can also be shifted to various modes — holding down the F key engages the free - look camera that does not move the ship , while holding the Z key frees the mouse cursor from the camera . Holding the C key shifts the camera to look at an enemy target , and the Tab button cycles the targeting system through nearby enemy players . The E key allows for manually targeting an enemy near the mouse cursor , and R targets the enemy player who just hit the player . Sensors also play a key role , with four sensor attributes whose range vary between different ships : Sensor Detection , Sensor Dampening , Sensor Communication , and Sensor Focus Range . Sensor Detection . Sensor Detection determines how far away an enemy ship can be detected , while Sensor Dampening reduces the distance from which an enemy can detect the player ; the range of an enemy ' s Sensor Dampening is subtracted from the player ' s Sensor Detection to determine the actual range of the player ' s sensors in regard to that enemy . Sensor Communication determines how far away friendly ships can broadcast detected enemy ships — friendly ships within an ally ' s Sensor Communication range can see all of the enemy ships that the ally has detected .