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How Do We Get There? And Can We Smash Things Along the Way? Huh? Can We?

July 8, 2010 by
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/All_Terrain_Armored_Transport

Oh…. Dear…

We all know what this is, right? Who doesn’t want to drive something like that? As long as those pesky airspeeders are kept away, you would be virtually unstoppable. One of my favorite memories from a video game is from Battlefront 2 when you get to pilot the AT-AT in an assault on the Rebel base on Hoth. Silly Rebels. Can you say CRUNCH?

Vehicles have been a big part of Star Wars since the beginning. We have spacecraft sure – the opening scene in Episode IV, the space battle between the Devastator and the Tantive IV is epic to say the least. But starships and starfighters are not the focus of this piece. After the droids escape, we see a huge sandcrawler, a landspeeder and others including living mounts (am I the only one who thinks dewbacks are kinda creepy?) before we get into space again.

And then in Episode V we get the real deal. Airspeeders first and then Imperial Walkers. It is not entirely clear how many walkers attacked Echo base, but it had to be a bunch. Figure each of the six Star Destroyers in the Imperial Death Squadron had a full complement (are YOU going to tell Lord Vader you are short an AT-AT? I wouldn’t want to either…) That is twenty per Star Destroyer. Add to that the Executor’s complement of thirty. A hundred and fifty AT-ATs… No wonder the Rebels ran away.

In Episode VI, we see a hoverbarge, repulsorlift sleds and up close and personal views of AT-STs. We had a quick glimpse of one in the battle of Hoth, but on Endor we see them a lot more. We see them get swarmed and smashed by a bunch of rock throwing primitives. Sigh… Some days it just doesn’t pay to serve the Empire.

The Prequels showed more vehicles of all kinds. In Episode I, we see droid tanks, armed landspeeders, living mounts… the works. Episode II of course we see the clone army in all its glory with artillery, gunships, tanks and all sorts and sundry of other vehicles. In Episode III we see other vehicles, including the only film representation of an A6 Juggernaught Heavy Assault Vehicle during the battle of Kashykk.

And now, we come to games. The starfighters get a lot of press of course. After all, the attack on the first Death Star was one of the most iconic scenes in any science fiction movie. Most of the times in Star Wars games, vehicles were things to fight, all the way back to Empire Strikes Back for SNES. Star Wars Battlefront was an anomaly. The first version had no space combat at all, the starfighters could only be flown within the confines of the ground maps. But the tanks and the landpeeders more than made up for it. Battlefront II added space to the mix and then boarding actions on enemy ships, which were also VERY cool but somewhat hard to pull off properly. Especially when the AI of your allies told them to get into the transport that you just carefully landed on the enemy hangar deck, to then immediately crash it.

So, now we come to another game in Star Wars history. Many people who played it loved it. Until things were changed. Star Wars Galaxies had one of the coolest ideas ever. A full online world populated by AI driven characters AND players. And in STAR WARS? What more could anyone ask? Well, aside from them changing things so thoroughly without telling anyone, lying to their customers and treating their customers like trash?

The game itself had flaws, no question. But it was STAR WARS. You could, after they fixed the launch bugs, go anywhere, do anything. You could ride a swoop, get into an X-34, or speeder bike. You could even have an AT-ST as a pet. My only true complaint was that you could not fight from the vehicles. Some of the creature handlers could fight from their mount which was very cool, but still…

Single player Star Wars games have had vehicles as well. The swoop races in Knights of the Old Republic I and II. Jedi Outcast had the illustrious Kyle Katarn ‘borrowing’ a series of AT-STs from the Imperial Remnant during their attack on Yavin IV. Yes, he WAS going to return them. Are YOU going to tell him, to his face, that he wasn’t? Thought not… Jedi Academy had a mission in which you flew a swoop and either used a lightsaber or on board cannon to fight with. The Battlefront series of course had vehicles out the wazoo, and even Republic Commando had a scene where you ‘appropriated’ an AT-TE to dispense some pain on a horde of battle droids. Lego Star Wars has vehicles to use as well.

So… what can we expect in Star Wars: The Old Republic? As an MMO, we will likely not see the same level of sophistication, the sheer scope of The Old Republic defies such things. Any MMO is a huge undertaking, This MMO is supposedly the largest one ever conceived. So… What would we want in a vehicle?

Speed and maneuverability. These things go without saying. In almost any human there is a deep rooted need to go fast. To make him or herself move faster than others around him or her. We want style too. We could drive around in a box. My sister drives around in a box in real life, but then again, she has two kids and a hyper little dog, so she needs the space. I don’t want to drive a box, I have some taste.

Do we want combat vehicles? I can’t say for anyone else but I like driving around and blowing things up. There is something visceral to driving a tank, even a simulated one. Having been in a real tank, I would prefer never to do it again. It smelled of VERY old socks. Thank goodness games don’t have a stench component yet. Combat vehicles though would be much harder to program I assume. Different weapons, different animations, different types of damage taken, different companions manning the guns need different animations… Ick… Just the thought of all the stuff required makes my head hurt. And if we want more than one kind of vehicle… AGGGGHHHHH!!!!

Exotic vehicles are a major part of the Star Wars experience. Whether they are spacecraft or a humble landspeeder, they all play an important part. In an MMO, vehicles provide speed to get to places, or away from them. This is unlikely to change in Star Wars: The Old Republic. But we can expect some new twists, and probably some cool surprises as well.

As for myself, I want to drive this walker APC that was shown in the concept art. What can I say? I LIKE crushing things under the feet of a metal behemoth.

Over to you. What kind of vehicles would you want to see? Do you want vehicle combat?

AT-AT image: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/All_Terrain_Armored_Transport

Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: , ,

Do We Get Rolled By Character Roles?

June 27, 2010 by

Lots of people from all over the place seem to be getting upset about the fact that Bioware ‘seems’ to have followed the pattern many other MMORPGs have over the years. It’s called the holy trinity: healer, tank and damage dealer.

What is wrong with that? For a character to be a jack of all trades usually makes them a master of none. When a person focuses on a certain discipline, it does not necessarily make them utterly useless at anything else.  Case in point: If a person focuses on healing, does that mean he or she can do no damage at all? I don’t know about you, but I loved being a medic in Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142. The shock pads in BF2 were a NICE weapon for up close and personal. One solid shot was almost always a kill. Not to mention, they were quiet. You could sneak in and do a god-awful amount of damage before you were detected.

Let’s take a closer look at Healer, Tank and DPS (damage per second). That is:

– a character specialized only to heal other characters.
– a character designed from the ground up to take damage and hold the enemy’s attention.
– a character designed to actually do lots of damage. 

The whole point is that the tank gets and holds the enemy’s attention. Whether this is a mob of bad guys or one uberly powerful boss, it makes little difference. As soon as the tank holds the attention, the ‘aggro’ in MMO parlance, he will start to take damage. Enter the healer, who keeps the tank on his or her feet and holding the enemy attention. Then the DPSer sneaks around and where possible goes for the throat of the enemy. The reason this combination it is so common is because it works. And not just in games.

What many people do not realize is that there is nothing at all new about these tactics. As far back as the Mongol conquests of much of Europe, these tactics were well known and in general practice. Not just with the Mongols, although they did use them well. Now the healing part is a bit different from historical fighting since no one that we know of had magic to heal their soldiers with at the time, but everything else is the same. You have a tank, someone heavily armored or otherwise protected who can take punishment, get the enemy’s attention and hold it while another force sneaks around to deliver a killing blow. These damaging or killing forces were usually lightly armored, and as fast as people could make them. The whole point was not to fight, but to win. And the easiest way to win? Make sure that no one on the other side survives. Not nice, but hey, all is fair in love and war, right?

But now we get into games. Ever since EverQuest, players have been clamoring for something different, something that did not force them into cookie cutter roles. Now, I never played EverQuest, but I did play World of Warcraft, until I woke up anyway. I almost always played a tank. Occasionally, I played a healer. But to do DPS in those kinds of games, you really need to have better reflexes than I possess. You also have to be willing to get killed a whole lot. In most games, there are tradeoffs. DPS characters do a god-awful amount of damage, but they can’t take it well. Lightly armored characters such as mages and rogues don’t usually deal well with battleaxes swinging at them. Tanks do not do a lot of damage when they fight, but they can take it like nobody’s business. Hitting a tank is easy. Hurting one? Not so easy. And healers… Well… depending on what specialization you chose for your healer you either are immortal, as in nothing in the game can do enough damage to overwhelm your healing, or you are made of glass and depend on everyone else to do everything for you while you keep THEM standing. And pray that nothing bad notices you while you are doing it. Nothing worse than being a healer specced character and all of the sudden, everyone runs off somewhere and leaves you to see that ominous twist of smoke start pouring out of the dragon’s nostrils. AHHHH!!!!! Run AWAY!

So… what do we see in Star Wars: The Old Republic? Not a lot so far. In the E3 group video, we see the Jedi consular character healing while the trooper gets and holds the attention of that big droid. The Jedi Knight and the smuggler work on crowd control, keeping all of the other enemies from attacking while the trooper unleashes hell on that droid. It is very interesting to see the trooper specced as a ranged tank. Tanks don’t usually go that way in video games. Of course tanks in real life are another matter.  Heavy armor, big gun and mucho mobility. Sound familiar? The problem with a tank in real life is similar to the problems for tanks in games. Unsupported, tanks in the real world are easy prey for infantry, mines or artillery. In most games, if a tank does not have some means of damage mitigation, or someone healing him, his lifespan is measured in minutes, if not seconds.

Oh sure, Kick in the door and run into a room filled with bad guys. All of whom are now pointing blasters at… Um… Does this sound like a good plan?

Not to me. I am really looking forward to playing this game, especially after the MAJOR shot in the arm for Trooper esteem everywhere that premiered at E3 this year. I want heavy armor, a big gun and lots and lots of bad guys in front of me. I can and have played as part of a team, and I look forward to seeing what interesting twists Bioware comes up with for this game. And if I have to group to do some content? I have no problem with that. As long as the group isn’t composed of Leroys. And even if it is, well, we will go out with a BIG bang.

Over to you. What roles would you want to see? What roles would you not want to see?

Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: , , , , ,

Jon Stewart interviews George Lucas

June 21, 2010 by

Via the Kansas City Star: The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart will be interviewing George Lucas as part of Celebration V, the festivities marking the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. The event kicks off on August 12th at the Orange Country Convention Center in the United States.

The obvious question: how do we get Jon Stewart to fire some SWTOR questions at George Lucas? Sure, it wouldn’t be the most appropriate forum but public occasions like this are too good an opportunity to miss. Jon Stewart is obviously a Star Wars fan so is it too big a stretch to think he might be counting down until SWTOR is released 😉 You can actually submit your own questions for the interview – so get cracking!

Filed Under: News Tagged With: ,

Sith Sunday – SWTOR in the news

June 20, 2010 by

It’s hard to do a roundup of SWTOR news at the end of a huge week like the last one has been, but here goes:

1. The Wall Street Journal has a great article contrasting financial reform in the United States to some Star Wars lore of a similar vein.

2. For the comic-obsessive (like me), there’s quite a swathe of Star Wars comics on the way.

3. We’d love you to download our iPhone / iPad app. For a buck you help employ writers passionate about SWTOR – that HAS to be a good deal 😉

4. The big part of the week’s E3 announcement was the Hope trailer. Aside from our own opinion, there’s this one and this one to name two. Even the Christian Science Monitor has an opinion.

To top it off, here’s an interview with Lead Writer, Daniel Erickson:

Filed Under: News Tagged With:

Announcing: iPad and iPhone application for Star Wars The Old Republic News

June 17, 2010 by

Over the past two months that our free TOROZ Reader app has been available, we’ve been rapt at the level of interest it’s created. Every day a handful of people at least have downloaded the application so they have a simple way of browsing SWTOR news. Over that time we’ve been working on a Pro version and we’re pleased to introduce it today.

What are differences between the two versions?

You can read all about both the free and Pro versions here, but essentially the Pro version looks a little different, is iPad native and contains a wider variety of feeds including more general Star Wars topics.

How much does it cost?

US 99c / AU$1.19 – of which we get 70%, which will be used to expand the site’s coverage and to pay our writers. We believe it’s a small amount to pay to support independent writing on SWTOR 😉

Does this mean the free version won’t be updated?

Not at all: we’re fully committed to both versions but we need to generate some revenue to ensure we can afford to keep improving both apps!

So it’s over to you – if you’re after a simple but effective SWTOR news browser, then get installing! As always, if you have a SWTOR site you’d like added to the app – let us know.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , ,

Courage and ‘Hope’

June 16, 2010 by

Last year was absolutely EPIC at E3. The cinematic trailer for The Old Republic was a masterpiece. The Sith assault on the Jedi temple on Coruscant in ‘Deceived’ has to be seen to be believed. No one doubted that Star Wars: The Old Republic was going to be epic before that trailer.

After it? There was such a huge response that the SWTOR website crashed. Everyone was looking forward to E3 this year. But then Lucasarts and Bioware did it to us again – I expected a meal and they gave me a five course, full service banquet. They were not content to give us a new trailer, no…

Players will have personal starships. Oh did I not say that right? PLAYERS WILL HAVE PERSONAL STARSHIPS!!!!! Ah! I very nearly went in my pants when I heard that. I don’t CARE if there is space combat now. Knowing Bioware and Lucasarts, if they have starships, there will almost certainly be more to do with them that use them as houses. But I don’t care now. I get my own personal Republic Gunship! YAY! The images were just so cool, and the bits of PvP footage rocked as well.

But then, on the heels of that… They rocked my world. I have so few words. I am almost unable to type, I was so dumbfounded. If you have not seen the ‘Hope’ trailer, do it. Now. You will not be sorry. Spoilers follow this so watch the trailer first.

Oh my god. I have never been a huge fan of Jedi. They were too overpowered, too strong, too fast, too tough for normal people to beat. Sith likewise. Can you possibly imagine someone like Darth Vader falling to a Rebel Alliance trooper? I couldn’t. Until now.

The setting, Alderaan. All Star Wars fans know about Alderaan, the homeworld of Princess Leia, the world destroyed in Episode IV by the Death Star to make a point. The cinematic opened with peace, and then, darkness. The Sith of course as is their wont, invade and destroy. The only thing in their way? A small force of elite Republic Special Forces troopers. But cannon fodder these guys are NOT.

The Sith in charge of the attack on Alderaan is the same one that later lays utter waste to the Jedi Temple – Darth Malgus. This is at the start of his career, he doesn’t have the mask yet. But after the ending, we know why he wears it. I am amazed he survived at all. I guess hate makes a good anaesthetic.

The Republic set an ambush for Malgus and his troops. They don’t have the personnel to fight him one-on-one. So they fight guerrilla style. And when the narrator said ‘For the Republic’ I very nearly jumped out of my chair to charge myself. Dark Side of the Force, ha! Meet grenade launcher, heavy repeaters, thermal detonators and courage! They were swatting black robed forms right and left until Malgus himself entered the act. But even the kind of courage that the troopers had, has its limits. I was stunned when the senior trooper got his tail kicked by Malgus’ Force lightning.  When he was kneeling there about to be killed, I was almost in tears. And then she made her entrance.

I said I never cared for Jedi, and that is true. They always seemed too over the top. But the consular who dropped into the fight made my day. She wasn’t the focus of the battle, but she kept Malgus busy long enough for the troopers to win. She wasn’t invincible. Malgus was obviously better with a lightsaber than she was, cutting her double bladed one in half. She was powerful, I mean, come on! How many people can block a lightsaber with a bare hand? I think it was the same kind of thing Yoda did when he faced Dooku and Palpatine’s Force lightning in Episodes 2 and 3. A lightsaber blade is energy right? That means it can be deflected with great effort. Maybe a bit over the top, but it was very cool to see.

And then the TROOPER saved the day. How many times does a lowly trooper save a mighty Jedi? And how he did it… Omg, that was epic! The look on that Sith Lord’s face was just priceless. I mean I can see the guy thinking…

‘This Republic scum is pathetic! Tackling me, trying to hit me with his hands? Sheesh… How stupid can he be? Wait a moment, what is that in his hand??? A GRENADE!!!’

I laughed out loud when I saw that. High and mighty Sith might be tough, but raw courage can take them down if given the chance. Admittedly Malgus was still on his feet and the trooper was not. But it gave the Jedi time to recover and prepare to hit Malgus with the Force. And THAT is the whole point of this. Teamwork wins wars. Individual prowess means nothing, it is working as a team that makes such things possible. Sith are mighty combatants, true, but if they fight as individuals, they can be taken down, albeit at a massive cost in lives. And that was what won the battle for the Republic, the Jedi and the soldiers of Havoc Squad working as a team to fight and die if necessary.

If you notice, the Jedi’s arrival allowed the troopers time to regroup and fight back effectively. And that means more to me than any special effects or showy force powers. She was not the prime focus of the battle, she was there to keep Malgus occupied until the soldiers, the common foot slogging soldiers, could win the day. Smashing Malgus into the mountainside was almost an afterthought. This was after he had been burned by incendiary grenades, showered by blaster fire, and had a grenade go off in his face. No wonder he wears a mask now…

I found myself crying at the end of that trailer, and I strongly doubt I was the only one as the Republic fleet came to the rescue. It was… I truly have no words. It was epic was about the best I can do.

Such a game as Star Wars: The Old Republic is shaping up to be will be good no matter what. But if THIS is what we can look forward to, such surprises, such epic stories, such… sheer scope and grandeur… Such… Star Wars!

I personally think we have a contender here. We have something epic that may finally, after so long, live up to the franchise.  It may finally be Star Wars. Oh, by the way, the website crashed again, I read something about 25000 hits in about ten minutes or something like that. I have occasionally had my doubts. But now I truly have ‘Hope’…

And we have personal starships!!!!!! YAY!!!!

Over to you, what do you think of this announcement? I know I am going to watch the trailer again. And again, and again.

Filed Under: Events, News, Opinion Tagged With: , , , ,

Hope: the new SWTOR trailer

June 16, 2010 by

Today saw the launch of the second cinematic trailer, and like the first it’s a tasty piece of art. Hell, it’s more than that, it’s a piece that evokes the same level of excitement that the movie releases did for me – it’s a tight, dramatic 5 minutes that further tweaks the excitement levels. Plus getting to see a Jedi hold off a lightsaber with her bare hand tops it off nicely don’t you think?

Edward will be dissecting it for TOROZ in the next day, but just for posterity, here’s the link to watch it on the SWTOR site, or you can watch it here:

Also, am I the only one that thought it felt very much like the fall of Boromir scene in the Fellowship of the Ring?

Filed Under: Machinima, News Tagged With:

Twi’lek, Chiss and E3 predictions

June 12, 2010 by


With the E3 Games Expo imminent, the pre-expo information has picked up in a big way. One of note is an in-depth piece over at Gamespot.

Although a playable Rattataki race was confirmed back in May, I don’t believe Twi’lek and Chiss have been confirmed prior to now. The article also contains some great descriptions of initial quests for each class as well as some more detail on game mechanics. One thing’s for certain – the next seven days will see the biggest influx of SWTOR information to date.

With my crystal ball fired up, here’s a couple of predictions for E3 and Bioware / SWTOR:

1. There’ll be no change to the launch window although hints may be dropped on things progressing well.

2. Indicative pricing will be announced.

3. There’ll be some in-depth display of game mechanics, limited to initial stages of the game.

4. A boss fight will be shown.

5. PvP combat will be shown.

What say you? What are your predictions for E3?

Oh, and one other thing: we have someone on the ground at E3 chasing SWTOR news for us. No guarantees but watch this space for some interesting info in coming days.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , ,

Cannon Fodder or Making Mulch out of Cannon Fodder?

June 8, 2010 by

Here comes trouble...

Companions: cannon and sword fodder, trusted friends or potential backstabbers? The people at Bioware have a history of making really cool games. Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 1 and 2… the list goes on and on. But one of the major themes in every game that has been companions.

I still remember the original Baldur’s Gate. Khalid and Jaheira were two of the best written NPCs in a game I have played. When Khalid died at the beginning of Baldur’s Gate 2, I actually felt sad. Even though he had been a bit of a whiny sort, he had been part of the journey. His sacrifice, while tragic, was needed to further the story. I always tried to romance Jahiera in the game – she was the funniest of all the characters and the hardest to please. So it made it a great thing when you finally did manage to woo her and spend the epilogue of Throne of Bhaal with her. Maybe I just like tough women in video games.

The later examples of companions in Bioware games have been just as epic, or more so. Who can’t like Carth Onasi or Mission Vao as supporting characters? And Bastila… I won’t ruin it for any who haven’t played the game yet, but if you play as a male good guy type, enjoy yourself. All of the supporting characters in KOTOR were solid, well written, and basically good characters. They acted in character and they worked well to support the plot, such as when Mission asked Bastila if the Jedi ever used the Force for fun and then Bastila used the Force to trip Mission up. Or when Carth asked where Bastila’s lightsaber had been when she was captured and she replied that she had ‘UM… I misplaced it’.

Then we get to the newer titles, Mass Effect 1 and 2. The companions in these two titles are incredibly well done. The big guy at the top of the post is my favorite companion of all time. Urdnot Wrex is likely my favorite of all NPC characters I have ever encountered. Big, strong, mean and he doesn’t care. He is the ultimate walking talking tank. The Krogan is an icon to anyone who has played either Mass Effect game. My only complaint is that Wrex is not playable in Mass Effect 2 – we can hope he comes back in Mass Effect 3 as a playable character.

Dragon Age: Origins took companion NPCs to a new level. They added an approval system, you could please them or tick them off and they would react differently. As in real life it is virtually impossible to please them all, every action that you took might please some of them and anger others. Of course some actions are so good (or bad) that they will react overwhelmingly. I won’t ruin the game for anyone who hasn’t played it yet, but it you haven’t you have missed some MAJOR coolness. Epic heroes versus epic villains in a showdown in an epic land. Need I say more?

So… Now we come to Star Wars: The Old Republic and the latest news about companions and the unveiling of one of them. An irreverent, but tough as nails Twi’lek named Vette. If that is the character from the ‘Deceived’ video trailer, you know the one fighting beside Lord Malgus then she is no lightweight or pushover. Even if she isn’t, then she is a similar type of character. And she looks like a fun person to have interactions with. No, not that kind! Get your minds out of the gutter…

Anyways…Where was I? Oh yeah, companions. Bioware has a solid history of creating epic companion NPCs for their single player games. From Baldur’s gate all the way up to Mass Effect 2, their NPCs that travel and fight alongside the protagonist or protagonists have served as comic relief, as cannon and sword fodder and more importantly, as another aspect of the game to explore. Do you keep your companions happy? Do you try and gain their loyalty? Do you try the romance angles when you can?  Or do you not care and just go for the throat of the enemies, whoever they are?

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I always try and keep my companions happy. If I do, there is less chance of them backstabbing me. Yoshimo in Baldur’s Gate 2 is probably the only companion I ever had backstab me when I was not expecting it, but since that was part of the plot all along, well… I shed no tears for him when he was cut into chunks after meeting my paladin’s sword head on. I enjoy wooing the females in the games, and gaining the trust of the males. I explore the other options, but maybe I am just a softie, because it just doesn’t feel right to be mean to people, even when they are virtual creations. I managed to play through KOTOR once as dark side, and stopped. It just wasn’t right for me. And in Dragon Age: Origins, I almost always romanced Liliana. What can I say? I like redheads. A redhead bard with um… ‘special’ infiltration skills? Oh HECK YES!!!!

Companions look to be a major part of SWTOR and knowing Bioware, they will be epic as well as fully voiced. So, romances, betrayals and all other assorted plot twists are coming, both for the main character and for his/her companions. Since we know Bioware, we can assume that some of them will be telegraphed beforehand and some will come right out of the blue and this is a good thing. We want to be surprised; we want to be stunned, shocked, scared, sad, whatever… We want an epic story with epic characters, some of whom we can add to our party to wreak as much havoc as we can. We want companions who make our games unique.

WE WANT WREX!

Over to you: what do you want in a companion NPC? What do you not want in a companion NPC?

Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: , , ,

Sith Sunday – SWTOR in the news

June 7, 2010 by

1. On the Bioware side of things, the latest instalment (part 22) of the Blood of the Empire webcomic is out.

2. From the TOROZ forums: if you want to see how high the bar has been raised in regard to Guild promotion videos, then check this one out.

We’re also just a little bit proud of our contribution to the Hitler meme, with a video on him discovering the upcoming SWTOR launch.

4. From the official forums: Did Darth Vader’s suit restrict him? You can nominate your guild’s website for an award, the Val Stormwind Fan Fiction continues growing, and to prove SWTOR players have a great sense of humour, check out the Justin Bieber vs Miley Cyrus thread.

5. Don’t forget there’s an upcoming Clone Wars virtual world, which will be browser-based.

Filed Under: News

Hoth and Sith: a big fortnight

May 30, 2010 by

On the Bioware side of things it’s been an interesting fortnight. Last week it was the announcement of Hoth as one of SWTOR’s planets.

The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and rightly so – it’s one of those iconic planets that deserves some in-game love. How can you beat a desolate, cold planet with starship wreckage everywhere?

This week it’s the fleshing out of the Sith Warrior, with the confirmation that there are two advanced classes: Juggernaut and Marauder.

Bioware have released a 90-second video to give a sneak peek:

What’s encouraging is the ongoing growth in gameplay footage seeing the light of day. It’s expected to some extent as development matures but still not a surety.

So for those of you rolling Sith Warriors – does the updated Holonet entry give you much food for thought? And how many people are keen on exploring Hoth? I somehow doubt I’m the only one.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , ,

The hook – music and SWTOR

May 29, 2010 by

A VERY important person to Star Wars (photo courtesy Wikipedia)

What comes to mind when a person says the words ‘Star Wars’? Is it the lightsabers, the starfighters, the aliens, the epic battles?

Not to me. In my mind the single thing that says Star Wars more than anything else is the music. Tell me you are not thrilled every time you hear the Main Title from Episode IV. Or the Cantina Band? Or the Imperial March from Episode V? Or even Luke and Leia from Episode VI? Or Duel of the Fates from Episode I? Or even… I have to stop or I will be here all day.

The music of Star Wars is John Williams’ masterwork. Even people who detest space opera movies like Star Wars can enjoy the music. It is at times poignant, at times merry, at times humbling and at times majestic. It draws the listener in ways that can only be described as spellbinding. You WANT to hear more. You want to know what is about to happen. You know something is about to happen because the music just changed. Or as in the scene with Leia, Han and Chewie following Lando into the trap on Bespin, it suddenly goes soft and almost inaudible but with the faint undertone of menace. Or the moment when Luke fought Vader for the first time, the air was THICK with menace and evil, just from the music.

And then you have scenes in the movies that just pull all of your heart strings. And behind them all, the music is what sets them up and sets them apart. The climactic battle between Luke and Vader on the second Death Star – the music was just perfect for the mood, Luke nearly falling to the Dark side. When Luke finally unmasks the man behind the mask a few minutes later… all I can say is wow, well done John Williams.

It is odd. The same repeated notes occur in almost every piece that he has done, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, most of his other works all have the same notes. They may be triplets, quartets, quintets, but they are always the same notes. The Raider’s March from the Indiana Jones series is a strong example of this. Dum, dum dum Da. Those four notes can be sad, mad, happy, excited, tired, angry… So many ways to express feelings with four simple notes.

But let’s get back to Star Wars. How epic did the score make a watcher feel when they saw it for the first time? I don’t know about you, but I felt uplifted and at the same time utterly insignificant when I first heard the Main Title theme from Star Wars blaring out at the drive in theater my dad had taken me to in 1977. I KNEW the movie was going to be epic. Everything that came after that was important, yes, but the music drew me in and held me tight, all the way to this very day.

Let’s look at music in Star Wars games. Almost all the games that have been put out have featured John Williams’ classic score, which by all rights they have to of course. But then again, NOTHING I have ever seen has reached out and grabbed me quite as hard as John Williams did in 1977. Games, plot, action, bad guys, all of these are important, but the music is what draws people back again and again. I still remember the theme from many arcade games I played in the early 80s; most of them utterly boring and repetitive. But the music was a hook. And again, that was what the creators wanted. They wanted people to remember them.

Then came Knights of the Old Republic. Some people loved the game, some people hated it. I was somewhere in between. Parts of it were just as I wanted, parts were kind of ‘meh’. But again, the music, an artful rearranging of John William’s masterpiece, pulled me in and wouldn’t let me go until I had heard all of the bits of it. You don’t usually think about the music while playing the game, you are thinking about how to beat this bad guy, or what is behind that next corner. Suddenly, the music changes and you are like ‘AW **** Here we go again!’

Plot, story, intense action, cool or otherwise memorable characters, horror, humor (dark or light) – all of these have places of importance in any story that has ever been written.  But the music is what really makes things timeless. We can expect that Bioware will manage quite admirably as they have with many of their creations. Jade Empire had a solid score, as did Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. It didn’t detract from the game, it enhanced the game, which is actually fairly hard to pull off well. Their history of making solid games with solid characters and solid soundtracks is well proven in my book.

The music of Star Wars is actually one of the few things that has won awards with each and every release in big screen. John Williams’ collaboration with George Lucas has created something absolutely amazing. Something that simply cannot be matched. A multigenerational modern day myth. And as with many myths that were sung as ballads in ancient times, the music sets the stage. Nothing that I have seen since the first time I saw Star Wars has had such an effect on me, and the music is one of the main reasons.

True masterpieces of music are literally timeless. Composers like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, and others knew this and worked tirelessly to bring forth what we today consider classics. And Star Wars has joined that exalted group, with John Williams taking his place among the greats of music. And all I can say is ‘Well, done, Mr. Williams’. After all, how many people on Earth at the present time who have access to SOME kind of media would NOT recognize this?

Dadada DUM! DUM! Dada Dum Dum!

Over to you. What does music mean to you in a game? Do you turn it off or leave it on? If you leave it on, what is the single most memorable musical scene you remember? What style of music would you like to see in SWTOR?

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