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Line of Defense approaches beta test phase
After a few months of silence, Derek Smart is back with a Line of Defense update. He reports that the title is preparing to transition from alpha to beta testing, even with "setbacks" due to switching the game engine. The team transitioned the game from an internal engine to the Havok Vision engine, which oversees the 25 middleware engines that handle aspects like the AI, atmospheric effects, networking, and more. He says that optimizing the game has been "touch and go for the most part," however. Smart predicts that next year should be interesting for Line of Defense. "All things being equal, we should be rolling in awesomeness by Q2 2014," he writes. "Prepare to have your mind blown. Guaranteed."
Jumping out an airlock is a legitimate mode of travel in Line of Defense
Contrary to many of Derek Smart's previous expansive computer titles, Line of Defense will be "streamlined" to focus on a small corner of the galaxy. In a new dev blog, Smart outlines the scope of the MMO's territory and how it connects to his previously established game universe. Line of Defense consists of four space regions, each with its own planets and moons. The regions are connected by jump gates in the Sirius/Barnard's Star systems pathway. However, when the game first launches, players will only have access to the planet of Lyrius, with other planets and moons coming afterward. Players can teleport from base to base on planets using Dynamic Jump Pads or can transfer to a station via a carrier. Jumpgates, however, will allow players in vehicles to traverse entire regions. But probably the most interesting mode of transportation is to let loose with an orbital drop from a space station down to the planet surface below. The one thing that Line of Defense won't have, however, is the ability to seamlessly transition between planets, bases, and regions without loading screens.
Explore The Old Republic's galaxy (far, far away) in 3-D
While Star Wars: The Old Republic has long since displayed its many, many planets on its Holonet page, BioWare's just released a brand-new map that lets you explore the entirety of the galaxy in three dimensions. The Galaxy Map serves to give players a good feel for how enormous the Star Wars setting is as well as where all of these planets stand in relation to each other. While there are billions of star systems, only a handful support life and will be featured in the game proper. The map is divided up into five major sectors: Coreward Worlds, Unknown Regions, Seat of the Empire, Hutt Space, and Distant Outer Rim. Players can check out the 17 revealed planets within those sectors as well as an up close and personal view of each of the six player starships. It's important to note that the use of the 3-D galaxy map requires the installation of the Unity web player onto your computer.
