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The Star Wars Galaxies devs on how Hoth was made
Just a bit ago we noted the launch of the Hoth heroic encounter in Star Wars Galaxies. Chapter 11, as it is also known, has been a long time coming. It's a project the developers have put a lot of work into, and they were eager to share with us some of the background on the mega-patch's development process. The folks at SOE Austin were kind enough to send over a document detailing just that, written up by the game's former Lead Designer Thomas "Blixtev" Blair and its current Lead Designer, Jesse Benjamin.Join the two developers as they walk through the challenges of fully exploring the Empire Strikes Back movie, the thorny issue of one side being guaranteed to lose, and the critical need for detail and finesse in this difficult development challenge. %Gallery-37499%
How Hoth was made pt. 2
Making It RealJesse: Shadowbrak worked closely with CancelAutoRun to bring a sense of speed and firepower that mirrored the movie snowspeeders into the game. I think they did an amazing job. I really feel like I am flying around in a snowspeeder just like in the movies. Flying a snowspeeder elicits a real strong feeling of excitement - especially when gunning down all those Imperials. Setting up a pass on the AT-AT's while trying to avoid taking heavy damage from the AT-ST and snowtrooper escorts is very addictive and fun. Meanwhile, the rest of the team worked on the other game-play elements. Michael "Fiasco" Farone was recruited to start working on our Wampa Valley area of the encounter. I remember sitting in my office brainstorming all the fun things we could have our wampas do. We came up with some really exciting attacks that bring a lot of fun and personality into the Hoth encounter. When we had our first play test in Wampa Valley we could tell immediately that the fun factor was already there. There were bugs to address, and tuning to implement, but everybody came out of that play test smiling. Following the first game-play test Fiasco came up with a list of more things to add to the encounter. I don't want to spoil the surprises, especially since you have to figure out how to enter the valley to begin with, but there are a lot of cool aspects waiting to be discovered in that area.
Hoth goes live in Star Wars Galaxies!
The SOE Austin team may not be working on an expansion for Star Wars Galaxies, but today it sure feels like the players have gotten one. The enormous content drop, Chapter 11 in the SWG saga, hit the live servers early today like the main blaster on an AT-AT walker. The Hoth heroic encounter is now live on the servers for all players to enjoy. The complete patch notes for The Battle of Echo Base are available in the official forums, and there's an informational press release included below the cut.Highlights from the patch include: The expansive battle itself, which pits Rebel and Imperial heroes against NPC opponents in a timed experience. The Imperials seek to destroy as much of the ragtag fighting force as they can, while the Rebels aim to flee the battle with as many resources as they can. This is easily the most ambitious offering in SWG history, and we explored it thoroughly in a feature from Fan Faire 2008. A new holo-pet system, which will allow players to add fun holographic creatures to their homes. New collections and other side-elements were added to the game to suppor the addition of Hoth. Several classes recieved slight gameplay tweaks and balancing fixes. The character transfer service recieved a big upgrade in advance of next year's free transfer initiative. The Aurilia Guildhall, which serves as the hub for heroic encounter play, has a new memorial to former SWG developer Jeff Freeman. It's great to see a much-anticipated chunk of content go live in a game like this. Check out the developer insight SOE passed on to us as a developer diary, and read on below for the official release for the patch.%Gallery-37499%
Star Wars Galaxies looks to the future with Hoth, BioWare
The upcoming release of the Hoth Heroic Encounter for Star Wars Galaxies has been dominating the official site for the last few weeks. For a plethora of details on the new content, you need look no further than right here. They've got a great look at what 'secrets' players will able to delve into once the patch goes live. New collections, hidden locations, and a massive super-wampa are all in the offing. They also have a piece examining the new high-end loot you'll be able to obtain by successfully completing the encounter. Tokens found in the aftermath of the battle will be tradeable fro whatever piece of equipment a player might want. Plus! They have a fun rundown on the new additions to the holo-pet system, something every Creature Trainer is really going to enjoy.Of course, there's been a lot of Star Wars-related news in the last week, and that's worth addressing too. LucasArts producer Jake Neri and online group senior director Tom Nichols sat down with IGN to explain the future of Galaxies as it relates to the newly announced Old Republic game from BioWare. As far as LucasArts is concerned, SWG and SWTOR can happily co-exist if everything goes as they want it to. Said Neri, "When we launch the game we'll see exactly what will happen. Nobody has a crystal ball. I think the games are clearly different enough that the market can support both of them together." For more details on Galaxies' vitality and capitalizing on movie moments, read into the full article.
Star Wars Galaxies producer says Hoth is coming next month!
In an open letter to the players of Star Wars Galaxies, producer for the title Christopher "Dotanuki" Field gave fans a heads up on what's coming down the pipe in the next six months or so. He lays out a timeline for upcoming patches, revealing that the Halloween event called "The Galactic Moon Festival" as well as The Battle of Echo Base will be released sometime next month! There will be a new Life Day event, along with the first expansion to the Champions of the Force game, sometime during the winter months. Beyond that, the next professions to see updates and patches will be Politicians and Spies, followed by Domestics/Structural Traders.He also notes that they are moving ahead full-force on a plan to deal with the game's many servers with relatively low populations. SWG players have been long asking for a solution in the form of server merges; as we've discussed before, the unique topography of the game's cities and planets makes that difficult. Field states in his letter that "We met with Marketing yesterday to discuss the timeframe of the program as well as the announcement timeframe. All the details are being finalized now. DevH is still hard at work on his tasks." He has no further specifics to offer, but notes that their interactions with marketing mean an announcement will be coming sooner rather than later.
Star Wars Galaxies' new producer hints at future content
Just yesterday we noted that Star Wars Galaxies has a new producer, as long-time friend of the game Lorin Jameson moves into a directorship position for SOE-Austin. The new producer, Christopher "Dotanuki" Field, sat in with the forum-goers last night to answer a number of their resulting questions. Here are some highlights: They are aware of player concerns over server population, and have something in the works right now to address it. Hoth (coming in Chapter 11) is planned as a strictly PvE experience, and at the moment they don't plan on space combat to be a part of the instance. More on Hoth: It will be both indoors/outdoors, and "There are going to be things in Hoth that you've not seen before in Star Wars Galaxies." Droid Commander is right now slated for Chapter 12. They're already at work on a new holiday for the year, something we haven't seen before. A fan asks if the Hoth battle means they're advancing the gameworld's timeline, to which Field responds: "We're not changing the timeline. It's going to be very self-contained and not linked to the game world like our other Heroics." Spy additions/changes are planned for Game Update 6, as are issues with the City system. Five year veteran rewards will be coming with Game Update 5 (coming next week to TC). They're working on some more new weapon models for the game, especially welcome given the new Weaponsmithing system coming in GU5. Before signing off, Field answers a fan who asks what SWG should offer players: "SWG should offer players compelling Star Wars content that makes them feel like they're part of the Star Wars universe. Most of all, it should be a fun game to play. I would hope that SWG has something to offer for all play styles. Whether you enjoy leveling up, Heroics, crafting, casual play, etc... it should always be enjoyable."
