Star Wars: Squadrons

STAR WARS: Squadrons

Developers
	Motive Studios
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Engines
	Frostbite 3
Release dates
Windows	October 2, 2020
Reception
Metacritic	79
OpenCritic	79
IGDB	81
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Vehicle combat
Vehicles	Space flight
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Sci-fi, Space
Series	Star Wars

Star Wars: Squadrons is a first-person action and vehicle combat game in the Star Wars series. The game features a singleplayer story campaign, as well as two multiplayer modes titled Dogfight and Fleet Battles. It can be played with and without a

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Graphics and video

Resolutions

• Widescreen resolution
• Multi-monitor
• Ultra-widescreen
• 4K Ultra HD
• Custom resolution
• Scaling

Video settings

• Field of view (FOV)
• Windowed / borderless fullscreen
• Anisotropic filtering (AF)
• Anti-aliasing (AA)
• High-fidelity upscaling
• Frame generation
• Vertical sync (Vsync)
• Frame rate (FPS)
• High dynamic range (HDR)
• Ray tracing (RT)
• Color blind mode

Hardware

• Graphics card
• Variable refresh rate (VRR)
• Virtual reality (VR) headset

For a list of games, see List of VR games.

General information

Virtual Reality on Wikipedia

Virtual Reality headset on Wikipedia

Key points

Virtual reality (VR in short) is a simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. This can be used by video games as well as a multitude of other applications.

General

Existing standards that are being utilized by games are following:

• OpenVR (SteamVR's native standard)
• LibOVR (also referred to as Oculus VR; Oculus/Meta's native standard)
• OpenXR (open source, most current standard)
• Windows Mixed Reality
• Open Source VR (OSVR) (abandoned, open source standard by Razer)

Currently, compatibility is up to what standard(s) the game is utilizing and which standard(s) the headset and it's platform support. With compatibility layers, it is possible to translate one standard to another, which a headset's platform may be able to use, but compatibility is not always quaranteed.

OpenXR is a standardization effort to fix this fragmentation. A stable version of OpenXR was released in July 29, 2019, with implementations having been added to various VR platforms as follows:

• SteamVR since 1.16 in February 2021
• Meta Quest Link for all headsets starting with Rift CV1
• Mixed Reality Portal
• HTC Vive Hub (for Vive XR Elite and Vive Focus Vision)

Software

Platforms

SteamVR

Steam is required to install the software, however Steam is not required to run SteamVR.

SteamVR includes OpenVR and OpenXR runtimes.

Meta Quest Link

Meta, Facebook or Instagram account is required.

Meta Quest Link includes LibOVR and OpenXR runtimes.

Virtual Desktop

Paid.

Includes it's own OpenXR runtime called "VDXR".

A software that can project the desktop to the headset as well as including a 3D media player.

The wireless version of the app allows standalone VR headsets to connect to the PC via WiFi in conjunction with the Virtual Desktop streaming app on the PC, without relying on the headset manufacturers' streaming software. The wireless version also allows VR motion controllers to act as XInput devices.

Monado

Developed for Linux. Only has experimental Windows support.

Open source OpenXR runtime.

Mixed Reality Portal

Mostly abandoned, will only work on Windows 11 up to version 24H1.

Does not work on IOT or LTSC versions of Windows 10.

Windows 10 or 11, and a Microsoft account is required to download Mixed Reality Portal from the Microsoft Store.

OpenXR runtime available.

OSVR HDK

Abandoned.

Natively supports SteamVR.

Compatibility layers

Compatibility Layer	Notes
Revive	Open source. Translates LibOVR into OpenXR or OpenVR calls.
OpenComposite	Open source. Translates OpenVR into OpenXR calls.
xrizer	Open source. Similar to OpenComposite.
Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR	Free. Compatibility layer to use any Windows Mixed Reality headset with SteamVR.
Trinus	Shareware. Trinus allows PCVR games to be experienced on hardware not natively designed for it, such as: 1. Trinus PSVR - Compatibility layer and drivers for using PlayStation VR headset, PlayStation Move Controllers, and PlayStation Eye Cameras with SteamVR. 2. Trinus Cardboard VR - Allows streaming HTC Vive (and by extension, SteamVR) compatible games to Google Cardboard headsets over a wireless connection. 3. Trinus VR - Allows streaming HTC Vive (and by extension, SteamVR) compatible games to Google Daydream headsets over a wireless connection.
RiftCat VRidge	Shareware. Allows streaming HTC Vive and Oculus compatible games to mobile VR headsets over a wireless connection or USB.

VR drivers/injectors

VR drivers/injectors are software which transform regular 2D games into ones playable with VR headsets, including stereoscopic vision, head movement and even 6DoF control.

Drivers/Injectors	Notes
vorpX	Commercial. See vorpX page for a list of supported games.
UEVR	Open source. Universal Unreal Engine VR Mod. Brings VR support to any Unreal Engine 4.8 - 5.4 game.
Universal Unity VR	Open source. Universal VR mod for Unity games.
Trinus Convert	Shareware. Light-weight real time conversion.
Vireio Perception	Open source. Vireio Perception supports both D3D9 and D3D11.

Other software

Software	Notes
fpsVR	Paid. Adds a customizable framerate and performance overlay, alongside other settings and utilities.
OpenXR-Toolkit	Open source. This software provides a collection of useful features to customize and improve existing OpenXR applications, including render upscaling and sharpening, foveated rendering, hand tracking to controller input simulation, image adjustments and other game-enhancing tweaks.
OpenVR Advanced Settings	Open source. Adds additional settings and utilities to SteamVR, such as audio/microphone, play area, chaperone, super-sampling, and motion smoothing settings. Source code and pre-compiled installers can be acquired from GitHub.
ALVR	Open source. Stream VR games from your PC to your headset via Wi-Fi.
Bigscreen	Free. Enables using the desktop in VR and has an inbuilt 3D media player.
OVR Toolkit	Paid. An overlay and utilities that has support for viewing desktop windows without the SteamVR dashboard, with customization options, and media controls for music.

Play Area

Games will either choose the play area based on the settings of the used VR platform or let the player decide themself to change to any supported one.

Games which require room-scale might not be playable with standing or seated setups, however games designed for seated play should always work with any setup.

If the setup play area mismatches the one expected by the game, issues can arise e.g. seeing the chaperone when playing games seated near or outside of the room-scale area.

Seated (3DoF)

Common with games primarily made for regular monitors that have an optional VR mode, vehicle simulators or games using VR drivers/injectors, etc.

This is the basic level of support and every headset supports at least this play area type.

Head position is fixed, meaning you can look around, but you cannot move your head away from where it is currently positioned. Position is automatically centered when a game is launched, but can usually be re-centered for when the user's physical head position shifts direction.

Seated play is usually done via keyboard and mouse or a controller. Tracked motion controllers can be supported but will most likely only be used for regular button input.

Standing (6DoF)

More common with games made specifically for VR.

Allows for rotational movement, crouching and sometimes small amount of spacial movement, but generally the player is assumed to not move from the spot.

Allows for a generally wider range of head movement inside of the virtual reality space and usually requires the usage of tracked motion controllers.

Room-scale (6DoF)

Overall really similar to the standing experience, but on top of everything you can also physically move around in the virtual space. Requirements for space vary, but for SteamVR the smallest area should be at least 1.5m*2m.

Utilizes features like chaperone, a virtual boundary which shows the limits of the established play area, or camera passthrough that captures a real-time video feed of the physical environment around the player displayed inside of the VR headset.

List of VR headsets and peripherals

PCVR headsets require a powerful enough PC to be run. Standalone headsets run on inbuilt Android-based systems, but can optionally also be connected to and used with a PC.

Valve

• Valve Index
  • Valve Index Controller

HTC

PCVR only

• HTC Vive
• HTC Vive Pro
• HTC Vive Cosmos
  • Vive Controller
  • Vive Tracker

Standalone

• HTC Vive Focus 3
• HTC Vive XR Elite
• HTC Vive Focus Vision

Oculus/Meta

PCVR only

• Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2
• Oculus Rift
  • Oculus Touch
• Oculus Rift S
  • Oculus Touch (2nd-generation)

Standalone

• Oculus Quest
  • Oculus Touch (2nd-generation)
• Oculus Go (Mobile)
• Meta Quest 2
  • Oculus Touch (3rd-generation)
• Meta Quest Pro
  • Meta Quest Touch Pro
• Meta Quest 3
  • Meta Quest Touch Plus
• Meta Quest 3S

Pico

• Pico Neo 2
• Pico Neo 3
• Pico 4
• Pico 4 Ultra

Windows Mixed Reality

• Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset
• Dell Visor
• HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset
• Lenovo Explorer
• Samsung HMD Odyssey
• Asus Windows Mixed Reality Headset
• Samsung HMD Odyssey+
• Acer OJO 500
• HP Reverb G2

Open Source VR

• OSVR Hacker Development Kit

Sony Playstation

• PlayStation VR
  • PlayStation Move
  • PlayStation VR Aim Controller
• PlayStation VR2
  • PlayStation VR2 Sense Controller

Mobile

• Google Cardboard
• Google Daydream
• Samsung Gear VR

Resources

VRcompare - Website for the comparison of VR headsets.

Emulation General Wiki - Emulators with VR support.

VR mods list - List of PCVR mods.

References

The game was released on October 2, 2020.

General information

Official forums

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Epic Games Store
EA app		Included with EA Play.
Steam		Included with EA Play (Steam)
(unavailable)
Green Man Gaming (unavailable)
Humble Store (unavailable)

All versions require an EA account and Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM.

Version differences

Epic Games Store versions purchased before October 2, 2021 included the Vanguard Squadron X-wing Glider for Fortnite.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\STAR WARS Squadrons\settings
Steam	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\STAR WARS Squadrons Steam\settings
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1222730/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\STAR WARS Squadrons\settings
Steam	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\STAR WARS Squadrons Steam\settings
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1222730/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher		Handled through the cloud sync of Origin.
EA app
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud

Video

Screen settings

Video settings

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen		Hor+ gameplay.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)		TAA High/Low option, as well as a TAA sharpening slider, and resolution scale for SSAA. Cannot be disabled.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)
Color blind mode		Deuteranopia, Protanopia, Tritanopia

Disable motion blur

Some builds (1.1 and previous) of the game have motion blur forced on with no option to disable it.

Modify configuration files
Navigate to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\STAR WARS Squadrons Steam\settings, and find ProfileOptions_profile. Open this file with Notepad.exe or equivalent, and set the values GstRender.MotionBlur and GstRender.MotionBlurEnabled to 0.

Disable HDR

Newer builds of the game may have High Dynamic Range enabled with no option to disable it.

Modify configuration files
Navigate to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\STAR WARS Squadrons Steam\settings, and find ProfileOptions_profile. Open this file with any text editor, and set the values GstRender.HdrEnable to 0.

Input

Controls settings

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Can be found in the settings menu under Controls > Remap Controls > [subsection] > Keyboard & Mouse.
Mouse acceleration		Follows the Enhanced pointer precision option of Windows
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus		Can be toggled using the Allow Mouse Functionality option
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Four presets: Custom (user-specified bindings), Default, Aviator, Southpaw. To specify the custom bindings, go to the settings menu, under Controls > Remap Controls > [subsection] > Controller.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers
PlayStation button prompts		Xbox prompts are used
Motion sensors support
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes	Wired, Wireless (Bluetooth) V2 tested. Wireless adapter gets detected as a flight stick.

Tracked motion controllers

Generic/other controllers
Button prompts		HOTAS-styled

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

• 

  Xbox controller

• 

  Keyboard and mouse

Audio

Audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Master, Music, SFX, Dialogue, and Voice Chat
Surround sound		Auto, Enhanced Stereo, Surround 5.1 & 7.1, and Binaural (Headphones)
Subtitles		Customizable size and background
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Audio > Keep Audio in Background toggle
Royalty free audio		Licensed Star Wars Iconic theme plays in the background

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Latin American Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play
Online play		10	Co-op, Versus Allows crossplay across all platforms, both consoles and other PC digital distribution platforms.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking

Update Easy Anti-Cheat (in case of issues)

Squadrons comes with Easy AntiCheat 4.0.0.0 from 2020. But there is already at least version 6.0.0.0. In case you suspect any crashes or other issues due to AntiCheat, there is a simple method to update to the latest version:
Go to www.easy.ac/en-us/support/game/guides/service/ and download the latest version of "EasyAntiCheat.exe" Copy the downloaded file into the <path-to-game>\STAR WARS Squadrons\EasyAntiCheat\ subfolder among the local game files. Run the downloaded "EasyAntiCheat.exe" in that location. There will be an option to select "Current game" and press "Repair Service". Done[citation needed]

Disable Easy Anti-Cheat

Launch the game using the <path-to-game>\starwarssquadrons.exe executable

Steam users also need to create a text document called steam_appid.txt in the game folder with the contents 1222730 as otherwise launching <path-to-game>\starwarssquadrons.exe directly will not work. An alternative method is to rename <path-to-game>\starwarssquadrons_launcher.exe to something else and then rename starwarssquadrons.exe to starwarssquadrons_launcher.exe as this will bypass the Easy Anti-Cheat launcher when running the game through e.g. Steam's library. This method will have to be reapplied after each update. After a recent patch this method might not work on Origin.[citation needed]

VR support

Headsets	State	Notes
SteamVR
Oculus VR (LibOVR)
Windows Mixed Reality		Requires Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR.

Devices
Tracked motion controllers
Traditional controller		See Input for details.
Keyboard/Mouse
TrackIR		Supports: Yaw, Pitch, Roll, X, Y, Z.

Play area
Seated
Standing
Room-scale

Issues fixed

Crash at the start of a mission

The game might crash to desktop, right after the loading screen has finished, when loading into a mission in singleplayer.

Lower Volumetric Quality to Medium.

Other information

Accessibility options

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11	A D3D12 API can be found in the configuration file "ProfileOptions_profile" under "GstRender.EnableDx12" but it doesn't do anything.

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Anti-cheat	Easy Anti-Cheat	v4.0.0.0 (2020)

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5-7600 AMD Ryzen 3 1300X		Intel Core i7-7700 AMD Ryzen 3 3200G
System memory (RAM)	8 GB		16 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	30 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 AMD Radeon HD 7850 DirectX 11 compatible		Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 AMD Radeon RX 480

A 64-bit operating system is required.