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Angry Birds Star Wars lands on the planet Hoth
A free update for Angry Birds Star Wars adds the iconic planet Hoth to the game. Pigs – even giant mechanical ones – aren't exactly suited for the slippery ice tundras of the frozen planet. If only the Empire were capable of such slapstick, maybe the Rebels wouldn't hate them so much!
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back's Hoth battle recreated in Minecraft
You can make just about anything in Minecraft – like the classic Hoth battle scene from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
Hyperspace Beacon: Hyperspace... beacons
A hyperspace beacon in Star Wars lore guides a space traveler from one safe lightspeed jump to the next. Basically, a nav computer communicates with a hyperspace beacon, requesting jump points to its intended destination, and the hyperspace beacon, being in contact with other hyperspace beacons, replies with the fastest route to that star system. Explorers, like Gav Daragon, would take risky jumps in directions beacons didn't point to. That is how they found Korriban. By the time period of Star Wars: A New Hope, hyperspace beacons were no longer in service. However, we know for certain that less than 300 years before Star Wars: The Old Republic, hyperspace beacons were still in use. Since technology appears to advance quite slowly, I can only assume that they are still used in some capacity during SWTOR. As evident by the galaxy map that BioWare launched this past Friday, the worlds of this time period are strongly divided into territories. The planets of the movies appeared to be united under one banner (although that's not entirely accurate). What I'd like to do today is give you a little tour of the galaxy, comparing this map to something you may be a bit more familiar with: the Star Wars movies. So strap yourself in, kid -- we gotta make the jump to hyperspace!
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite winter zone?
OK, how weird is the whole "Christmas in July" thing, anyway? Are people jonesing for sleigh bells and mistletoe so badly they can't wait for a few months? Who thought it would be a smashing idea to make us think of the cold, dark days of winter in the middle of 90-degree weather? So if we're already at the weird point of thinking about snow while our thermometers are melting, we might as well go the whole hog and talk about winter zones in MMOs. I've always been partial to a good snow-and-ice-themed area, whether it be Winterspring in World of Warcraft, Forochel in Lord of the Rings Online or, y'know, Hoth. What's your favorite winter zone in MMOs? Which areas make you want to wrap a warm fur cloak about you as you venture forth into the fluffy powder and pristine icefields? And what makes that zone special for you? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
SWTOR's Ilum a crystal-clear win for the Sith
While Hoth may take the spotlight whenever someone wants to interview a winter-bound planet in the Star Wars universe, the scrappy planet of Ilum is out to make a name for itself. Star Wars: The Old Republic's 16th announced planet is a remote ball of ice that just so happens to be a major source of lightsaber crystals. Ilum used to be owned by the Republic, but the Sith have since made great headway in conquering the planet and hogging all of those saber-licious crystals all to themselves. BioWare's also hinted at a mystery that goes well beyond a mere resource grab. Although we hate to invoke Hoth in comparison, if you liked the Rebel's base in The Empire Strikes Back, then you're going to feel right at home in Ilum's ice-and-crystal outposts. You can read up on Ilum at TOR's Holonet, and watch the quick flyby video after the jump.
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR's hidden messages
"Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future," were Yoda's words from The Empire Strikes Back, but contrary to the Jedi Master's belief, most of the time there are clues to what our future holds. Like the smell right before a rain storm, or little ticks of involuntary action that give away when someone is bluffing in poker, or that face your mother used to give you which said you were in trouble, clues to what the future holds are everywhere. Star Wars: The Old Republic is no exception. Clues to what the game holds are hidden all over its website. Alyssa Gobelle is the web designer for SWTOR. She has done a beautiful job of constructing a site that is entertaining as well as interesting to look at. Although the busy lettering, Aurebesh, entices the eyes, it also gives away secrets to the game. In April, Gobelle was interviewed by the Holonet Project fan site, where she revealed that the messages are totally intentional: "When they first brought me on, our first major task was to design the HoloNet. We wanted the HoloNet's voice to be as much 'within the lore of the game' as possible so we planned to add some generic Aurebesh to start. But we also wanted to add some hidden teases and notes for you guys to devour and ponder upon and play with. Give some more fuel to the speculation festivities." Continue after the break to find out what some of these "hidden teases" are. Perhaps you can help me figure out what the rest of them mean.
THQ takes Star Wars' Battle for Hoth to the iPhone
Tired of Star Wars games being set on Tatooine? You'll be glad to hear, then, that the just released iPhone Star Wars game -- Star Wars: The Battle for Hoth -- takes place on the far snowier lands of Hoth. Okay, okay, you got us -- Hoth is actually in every single Star Wars game ever made. Fine. But did those games only cost $2.99, and were they meant to celebrate the 30 year anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back film release? Yeah, we didn't think so. The game is said to be strategy-based and will have players strategically defending against oncoming waves of the Empire's worst for 15 levels (read: tower defense). In case the snow-laden planet hadn't already indicated as much to you, yes, there will be snowspeeders. Also, everyone's favorite giant walking war machines (AT-ATs, silly) will make an appearance. Remember: Use your tow cable on the legs! %Gallery-97566%
Hyperspace Beacon: Blaster at my side
Hey, kids, the name's Han Solo. I've been asked to step in here because I know a thing or two about smuggling. I know many of you are lookin' to jump into this line of work, and I'm going to tell you right now: it ain't gonna be easy. You gotta live by your guts, kids. You hav'ta be smooth, and you can't let crazy green Rodians get under your skin. In fact, if a Rodian does come lookin' for you, I suggest you shoot him first. It'll save you some trouble in the long run, but don't forget to pay for the mess. Maybe I should start with some of the greatest smugglers out there. That should help detour you from the insanity of this profession. Although none of 'em is as good as I am, Lando Calrissian, Dash Rendar, and even an old smuggler named Hylo Visz made their marks on history. Their lives were wrought with risky maneuvers, near-misses, and some damned good luck. So I guess if you think you've got what it takes, keep reading -- I'll meet you after the break. [Thank you to Lois van Baarle for letting us use her artwork for the main banner. You can see more of her work at Loish.net.]
Celebrate the Empire Strikes Back anniversary on Hoth
1980 was an exciting year for many. For some it was the Phillies beating the Royals (even though my team didn't win, thus ruining baseball for me forever), for others it could have been Reagan defeating Carter in the presidential election, or maybe they were just excited about someone shooting J. R. Ewing. This all pales compared to what happened at the beginning of the summer. Even at the ripe old age of four, I recall going to see Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in the theater. Forever it dominated my destiny. A Force beyond my control compelled me to celebrate this monumental day, the 30th Anniversary of the release of The Empire Strikes Back. I had to relive the memories; relive the fun of the day I went to see this great movie. I already had my Star Wars rockband boxers and watched the movie through, but I still felt empty. Then it hit me: I could actually go to Hoth to live out the scene of the great battle between General Veers' AT-ATs and Echo Base. I could log into my Star Wars: Galaxies account and just have some fun. I encourage you to find the Star Wars Fanboi/gurl in you and follow me in my adventure to the snowy dunes of Hoth after the break.
Star Wars: The Old Republic takes a trip to Hoth
Click to warm yourself with some hot new screenshots. It was inevitable, right? You can't have a Star Wars game without a Hoth level and Star Wars: The Old Republic will indeed feature the Tauntaun-able tundras that permeate the ice planet. The news comes via the game's site, which points out the planet's storied history of conflict. Years before the Empire and the Rebel Alliance were duking it out there in The Empire Strikes Back -- which turns 30 today -- the Republic and Imperial forces clashed during The Great War. Feel free to take a virtual tour of the planet in our gallery below. If you'd like to know more, check out its profile page on the SWTOR site. [Thanks, Justin] %Gallery-93497%
SWTOR players will trek across Hoth [Updated]
This morning's breaking news of twitter feeds, email, blog posts included a story from videogamer.com about a hands-on preview of Star Wars: The Old Republic. (It's an informative article. A SWTOR fan should read it.) However, the items that drew attention away from the article were the unrelated images scattered throughout the post. After clicking about for a while it was determined they were not just any images, but rather paintings and screenshots of a yet-to-be-announced playable planet of Hoth. This was confirmed by Stephanie Bayer, a community manager for the game, via Twitter, "Have you checked out Videogamer.com today? No? Thar be #SWTOR exclusive stuff there! It's totally HOT(h)! " Who would have guessed the planet named after the famous Jedi Master Lord Hoth will be explorable in SWTOR? For those who may have skipped the best Star Wars movie of all time, this is a frozen wasteland made famous at the beginning of the Empire Strikes Back. Although in the Old Republic time period there is not much interest in the planet. It is mostly the home of tauntauns, wampas, and the occasional crashed spaceship. Fringe members of both the Imperial and Republic factions will conduct their nefarious business on this frozen desert. To read the whole article about Hoth or view the paintings and screenshots hop over to videogamer.com. [Update: the official SWTOR site has updated their Holonet entry with Hoth -- check it out past the break!]
Star Wars Galaxies strikes back, 30 years later
If someone walked up to you on the street and told you that, this month, The Empire Strikes Back is 30 years old, how would you respond? Weeping at the ravages of time? A proud salute to one of the pinnacles of scifi cinema? A quick step away from a stranger who is now looking at you with shifty eyes? For the crew over at Star Wars Galaxies, the response to Empire's anniversary is to lavish players with gifts and goodies. In a recent Producer Note, dev Teesquared was pleased to announce that the entire month of May would be devoted to celebrating this milestone. Each week, all characters over 10 days old will be the recipient of a collection item and an in-game gift -- get all four gifts, and a fifth gift will be tossed in absolutely free! (Wait, is this starting to feel like an infomercial?) You'll also want to swing over to Hoth, obviously, and check out a few special loot drops, including a mystical snow globe that contains the spirit of the Wampa. Other highlights of this article include plans to tune up the Jedi and Beast Master professions, a switch of many no-trade items to make them tradable, and future events such as SWG's 7th Anniversary and the return of Empire Day. Head on over to the Star Wars Galaxies forum for the full broadcast!
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Hoth DLC coming to XBLM after all
As luck would have it, that one missing piece of content for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed that was "exclusive" to the "Ultimate Sith Edition" of the game -- the obligatory Hoth level -- seems to be heading to Xbox Live Marketplace. Spotted by Joystiq reader Andy in the "Coming Soon" section of the XBLM (and seen above), the "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Hoth Bonus Level" certainly appears to be heading to, at very least, Xbox 360 users. We've contacted LucasArts to find out how much the content will cost, when we can expect to see it arrive on Xbox Live for download, and if it will be coming to PlayStation 3 and PC users as well. [Thanks Andy!]
New SWTOR video explores Trooper class development
BioWare offers us a look into the development and philosophy behind the Trooper class for Star Wars: The Old Republic in their latest Developer Dispatch video. They explore the different looks a Trooper can sport, which is everything from Hoth stormtrooper inspired snow gear to the Rebel forces' reds, oranges and whites. Of course, there's plenty of fresh looks as well, for players desiring a less traditional look.The video also goes into the animation of the Trooper and reveals a little of the motion capture sessions complete with prop miniguns. It's quite easily one of the most interesting videos to come out of the Star Wars: The Old Republic project, so we hope that BioWare sees fit to do the same for each of their classes in the coming months. You can find the full video after the break.
Star Wars Galaxies Dev Diary and video: Behind the scenes at Echo Base
The Star Wars Galaxies developers have been neck-deep in snow for months now, it seems. Since the launch of the Hoth heroic encounter in late November of last year, the SOE Austin devs have been tweaking and fine-tuning the experience for the enthused playerbase.The actual encounter is massive, and introduces a number of new roles and play opportunities for even longtime SWG players. We've talked about that before, with a highlight being a look at the encounter from the dev viewpoint at SOE Fan Faire.Today we have the pleasure of offering up a brand-new developer diary from SOE designer Stephen Wyckoff, all about the "engineering support" required to put players in massive Imperial vehicles! Join Stephen below the cut as he talks AT-STs, design, development, and tuning encounters to meet high player expectations. We also have a fantastic new video from the developers that will give you just a taste of what it's like to experience the frozen fury of the Hoth battle. All that and more is beyond the cut.%Gallery-37499%
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 producer letter previews Hoth, Christmas events
The latest Producer's Letter from the head of Star Wars Galaxies development is in! Chris 'Dotanuki' Fields offers up some encouraging words about the team's plans for Hoth, which is now on the Test Center server. The Imperial side arrived first for intensive testing, and the Rebel portion of the instance should now be online for debugging as well. There's still no ETA on the new content going live, but testing on TC means it won't be long now before Hoth goes live. Fields compliments players on the fun seen during the Halloween live event, and notes we may see it as a template for future events in-game. Fields also takes a moment to reiterate statements we heard from SOE CEO John Smedley: Sony Online has no intention of shutting down Star Wars Galaxies any time soon. Star Wars: The Old Republic is still some time off, and they have content planned out for SWG well through 2009.Other future plans for Galaxies include a new 'promo drop' weekend for TCG cards. That'll be going on this weekend, and the drop rate for the cards has been increased to allow more players to participate! Fields' last note for the month is on Life Day, coming to the Galaxy Far, Far Away next month. Giant tress, gift-giving, a new speeder, and some wackiness inspired by the Star Wars Holiday Special will all be in the offing. Look for the giant wroshyr trees in Dearic (Talus), Doaba Goerfel (Corellia), and Wayfar (Tatooine). Good time to be a Galaxies player, for sure.
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.
