Watch BioWare’s latest trailer to see this Star Wars: The Old Republic class in action! This week’s Star Wars: The Old Republic update is all about the Bounty Hunter and some of the many devices they can use to take down their opponents. Bounty Hunters are feared throughout the Star Wars galaxy and in BioWare’s latest class advancement video, you can see why. The video provides a look at the multiple advancement paths that players can choose from and by the end you’ll be asking one question – where do they get those wonderful toys? Check out the video embed after the break.
friday update
Previews Alderaan Group Mission
This week BioWare’s Director of Production Dallas Dickinson returns with an E3 2011 preview video of a mission to save the planet Alderaan in Star Wars: The Old Republic. The video is short but it makes its time count by serving up a look at one of the group missions that players can engage in on the Alderaan. And while there are no electrocuted Jawas in this one (that never gets old), there are plenty of blasters and lightsabers.
SW:TOR Updates: Writer Blog and Fan Friday
Writing is one of the key elements to crafting a living world and few understand that better than BioWare and the vision they have for Star Wars: The Old Republic. This week’s update is all about those guys that shape the world and keep it evolving to fit the lore – the writers. This week BioWare Writer Ian Ryan takes us through the writing process and how writers continue to shape the game world long after the final piece of the story has been written. The writers continue to play the game and examine each area for subtle details that need improving. One example given is the vast improvements made to the planet of Nar Shaddaa, which has been given quite a new glamorous look to better match the taste of the Hutts thanks to writer feedback. If you’re curious to see the impact that these talented writers have on…
SWTOR Releases a New Advanced Classes Page
If you’ve been wondering about the Advanced Classes in SWTOR and what they will be like, you don’t have to wonder any more. Just after the interview with MMORPG.com about Advanced Classes, SWTOR.com releases the news today of their new Advanced Classes page. This redesigned page gives you more information about Advanced Classes and the unique skills and abilities that your character will have that allow you to customize your character to your very own unique playstyle. You can use this new page to learn more about each of the Advanced Classes more in-depth than ever before to help you make a decision about which you want to play. You can use this new page to find out about the different skill sets that will be available to your class as you level up in SWTOR. Choose from: Sith Warrior Bounty Hunter Sith Inquisitor Imperial Agent Jedi Knight Trooper Jedi…
The Lost Suns Comic Now Available
Issue one of Star Wars: The Old Republic – The Lost Suns will be available in comic shops from June 8th! The announcement was made today in the news section on SWTOR.com. To gain more information on the series for fans, they interviewed Alexander Freed about the comic. Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ – The Lost Suns is a five-issue miniseries from Dark Horse Comics. It covers Theron’s mission and the fallout that comes after. It was written by BioWare Senior Writer Alexander Freed. You may remember him as the author of the previous Dark Horse Comics series Blood of the Empire. The comic series has art from George Freeman and Dave Ross, with covers by Benjamin Carré. Even if you are not a previous fan of the comics, this series ties directly into the storyline of Star Wars: The Old Republic and has events happening at the same time…
E3 Details Revealed
There’s little doubt that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be one of the more anticipated titles at E3 2011. But what does BioWare have in store for fans at this year’s E3 gaming convention? Yesterdays update sheds a little light on what the developer has planned for the event and offers a sneak peek at what fans can expect to see during this year’s EA press conference and it involves a new threat that has yet to be revealed on the planet of Belsavis. The last two years have yielded a new CG cinematic trailer and there’s no reason to think that this year will be any different. Gamespot has posted a pre E3 trailer wich also looks amazing. Check it out here: If you’re not attending E3 this year, you can still catch the press conference on Spike TV or via live stream on EA.com, on Monday, June…
Trooper Class Progression Video Released
BioWare has unleashed a new Star Wars: The Old Republic class progression video, and this one focuses on the Trooper. Watch it below to see some of the armor, weapons and abilities you’ll have at your disposal if you decide to go with this tank class. Will you choose the path of the Vanguard or the Commando?
Fan Friday and 2011 Event Appearances
It’s Friday once again and that means that it’s time for another BioWare update for Star Wars: The Old Republic. This week brings a trio of updates starting with a new video from the recent Fan Site Summit held at BioWare’s Austin, TX studio in April. The video reflects on the event and what attendees thought of their hands on time with SWTOR. It’s nice to see BioWare developing a nice, cozy, friendly relationship with the people that will be objectively reviewing their product. Part two of this week’s update is a new Fan Friday feature, which highlights some of the SWTOR fan art from the community and a new Fan Site Spotlight featuring SWTOR Life with a brief Q&A with Serge “Mikto” Stanarevic about the site. The Fan Friday update also confirmed the 2011 events that BioWare and LucasArts will be showing off SWTOR at. Fans can look forward…
Sith Inquisitor Class Details Released
Yesterdays update to the Star Wars: The Old Republic site is the full reveal of the Sith Inquisitor class. Sith are not shy about their conquest for power and few pursue that goal as aggressively as the Sith Inquisitor. In this week’s update from BioWare, the Sith Inquisitor shows the limitless power that the Force can offer to those who aggressively pursue it. Check out this week’s new video and update to learn more about the Sith Inquisitor, their ships and the sleeping monster and devourer of Jedi known as Khem Val. Inquisitors, the dark geniuses of the Empire, are masters of treachery and dark Force power. Feared as much on the battlefield as they are by prisoners and political enemies, they will stop at nothing to earn themselves more power. The paths to power are many, though. Is your Inquisitor an Assassin, striking down enemies from the shadows with…
Star Wars: The Old Republic Introduces the Codex
This week BioWare’s Principal Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert introduced the Codex. If you’ve played some of BioWare’s other projects like Dragon Age or Mass Effect, you’re probably familiar with the Codex system, which allows players to discover key bits of lore throughout the game by exploring or accomplishing different tasks. This story can help enhance the lore of the world or offer additional narrative to a player’s chosen profession. This feature isn’t just about being another way to deliver story to the player. As Lead Systems Designer, I’m mostly concerned about bringing the fun. Delivering story and context isn’t enough for me – I also want to be sure that we add new activities for players to do and goals for him to achieve. In particular, we saw the codex as a way to reward exploration Here are some more of the highlights: The team had two design goals:…
The User Interface of The Old Republic Explained
A few days ago we wrote a small post about what we know so far about the User interface of Star Wars: The old republic. Little did we know that BioWare will post a major update to the official blog of SWTOR, with new details on how the interface of the upcoming MMO has evolved during development. This new essay, penned by lead UI artist Michael Voigt, delves into how the dream-weavers at BioWare Austin strived to keep screen clutter to a minimum. We used the analogy of the cockpit of a steam locomotive compared to a modern sports car. The locomotive had indicators and dials jumbled in all corners of the cockpit and the sports car had a sleek driver dash containing all the necessary indicators in an organized layout… Our game features beautiful scenic vistas and we wanted the user interface to complement those and not take away…
SWTOR Sith Warrior Progression Trailer
Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me. These are the emotions the Sith Warrior channels to purge weakness from his body and become a cold-blooded, Force-wielding wrecking machine. Check out the class progression overview for Sith Warriors below:
Drew Karpyshyn’s New Novel Revealed
If you love Star Wars lore, then you are going to be really excited about the news that Drew Karpyshyn’s new novel has been revealed. The new book titled, Raven will expand beyond the core game and into novels and comics of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Del Rey Books has already published two novels in the Old Republic timeline, Fatal Alliance and Deceived, and they announced last year that there would be a third Old Republic novel. Drew Karpyshyn, Principal Writer at BioWare would be the author of this book. Fans may know him from the Darth Bane series of Star Wars™ novels. In an exclusive Q&A, Karpyshyn shares some information about the book. This part will be rather interesting to those who are anxiously awaiting the release of SW:TOR MMO: Q: In what ways will readers who have read Revan benefit when playing Star Wars: The…
Friday Updates: Environmental Polish and Class Q&A
BioWare returns this week with a two-part update for Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). The first part of the update goes behind the scenes with Senior Environmental Artist Robby Lamb, who details how the game environments evolve and transform. Lamb details the creation and polish of environments in SWTOR and how he works and re-works the content to make it as epic as possible while maintaining the best game performance. The second part of the update comes in the form of a Community Q&A, which addresses a number of different questions from the community. To summarize, each class will have a number of companions from each archetype. Players can choose which of those will become their main companion and can enhance them through the use of kits. Bounty Hunters will not be able to use jetpacks outside of battle and the Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior will have no…
Friday Update: Animation Blog, Flashpoint Q&A
The latest batch of updates on the Star Wars: The Old Republic site include a dev blog on animations, a community Q&A on Flashpoints, and a fan site spotlight on our good friends TORWars. Also, there’s some concept art and fan art thrown in for good measure. In the cinematic animation blog, Animator Andrew Lauretta explains how animations are created for in-game cinematics. He shows step by step how the team worked on a scene in which characters need to Force Push some guards away and slay a couple of Hutts. The latest Fan Friday segment contains the usual artwork and avatars, and this one also includes an interview with Jeff Hollis, the creator of TORWars. Community Q&A on Flashpoints Today, World Designer Jesse Sky has answers to some of your questions about Flashpoints: Q: Will Flashpoint for Republic and Empire ever meet? – Sirious_Nora A: Certain Flashpoints, especially at…
Friday Update: Pax East 2011 Fate Of The Galaxy Trailer
PAX East 2011 officially kicked off today and BioWare was on hand to show off a brand new trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). The latest trailer “Fate of the Galaxy” shows the escalating tension between the Republic and Sith Empire and offers a look at some of the gameplay for SWTOR.
Friday update: Bounty Hunter PAX East Plans
Not everyone will find the life of a Jedi or Sith appealing in Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). Some will find the rugged lifestyle of a Bounty Hunter more to their liking. After all, one of the favorite characters in the Star Wars lineup is Boba Fett. How can you not have a class fashioned after one of the Star Wars galaxy’s most infamous Bounty Hunters? While Boba Fett is thousands of years from birth in SWTOR, his profession is well intact and BioWare revealed a new look at the SWTOR Bounty Hunter at GDC 2011. The latest reveal offers a look at Mako, a companion that can join young Bounty Hunters on their adventures and a notorious slicer, the Rattataki race, a violent species well-suited for bounty hunting and the D-5 Mantis Patrol Craft ship, built for a true Bounty Hunter. Lastly, a brand new Bounty Hunter class…
Friday Update: Living the Life of a Live Producer
This weeks friday update gives us another developer blog. This time it’s Live Producer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, Blaine Christine that shares some insight about his job. Blaine Christine has worked for BioWare for three and a half years and mainly take care of beta testing stuff right now. I imagine he is the last man who have a look at things before new patches hits the test realms etc. Thorugh out this weeks blog, Blaine Christine quotes a few beta testers with their exstreamly positive (obviously) opinions on the game. Here is the probably most interesting quotes from game testers: “The questing experience in TOR was amazing! The voiceovers and cinematics actually make me wonder how I ever survived the ‘grind’ without them.” “As one of those people who didn’t really care about story in an MMO, after playing TOR I can’t imagine playing another MMO unless…
Sith Temple Art, Podcast Spotlight and Fan Q&A
Today’s update to the Star Wars: The Old Republic site is a package deal that contains new Studio Insider and Fan Friday segments. Both of the articles are packed with content and are worth a look for SW:TOR fans. As always, the Fan Friday segment contains fan art, concept art and forum avatars. In addition, this issue contains the first installment of the new Fan Site Spotlight series. The team talks with the hosts of Mos Eisley Radio to learn more about the podcast. BioWare also announced that it will be hosting a Community Meet and Greet at PAX East on March 12. In this week’s Studio Insider segment, Concept Artist Diego Almaza explains how he created the concept for the Sith Temple (seen above). Rich Vogel, Executive Producer of The Old Republic and Vice President of Production at BioWare Austin, also answers six questions from the…
Friday Update: Building Flashpoints Dev Diary
In BioWare’s Friday update for Star Wars: The Old Republic, World Designer Jesse Sky talks about building “Flashpoints”. So, what is a flashpoint and why might one want to design one? A Flashpoint is a galactic crisis, something so threatening that even the most stalwart heroes must bring allies. The Death Star was a Flashpoint. Luke and Obi-wan spent a few minutes LFG in the Mos Eisley Cantina where they enlisted the aid of Han Solo and Chewbacca. Together, they infiltrated a moon-sized battle station to rescue Princess Leia. Things didn’t go quite as they expected; difficult choices were made along the way. That’s a Flashpoint in a nutshell. In game terms, a Flashpoint is a challenging, cooperative mission that takes place entirely within an instance, which only your group can enter. While adventuring, you’ll be alerted to a crisis developing somewhere in the galaxy. That’s when you know it’s…
Friday Update: New Planet – Quesh
This Friday BioWare awaits us with a new poisoned planet called Quesh. The planet looks and sounds like a Hutt holiday resort, and from the description that’s not entirely wrong. Well, except that none of the Hutts involved are really happy with the whole thing, but that’s probably just a Hutt thing. In a distant corner of Hutt Space, the poisonous planet Quesh orbited untouched for centuries, until the surprising discovery of rare adrenal chemicals drew the Galactic Republic to further explore this dangerous world. Unable to process the chemicals into adrenals, however, the Republic was forced to turn to the Hutts for help. Recently, the Sith Empire learned of this secret and lucrative operation, and swiftly came to steal the prize. The battle over this toxic treasure may be one of the most brutal ground conflicts the galaxy has ever seen, but the winner will gain access to powerful…
Friday Update: Starship Design, Fan Q&A
BioWare has posted two updates on the Star Wars: The Old Republic site today: a Fan Friday segment and a Studio Insider article that contains a developer Q&A and an in-depth look at the creation of the X70B-Phantom starship. The Studio Insider article contains the meat of today’s update. Senior Concept Artist Ryan Dening and Senior Environment Artist Christopher Reeves provides a ton of detail on how an in-game ship is created, and the Q&A with Senior Producer Blaine Christine answers some interesting questions that were submitted by fans on the official forums. Community Q&A We took some of your questions from the last Community Q&A thread to Senior Producer Blaine Christine to get answers, and here they are! Q: How diverse can I expect the enemies to be? (asked by mattjorgdbb) A: Our Design team and Artists have been putting a lot of time and effort into ensuring that…
Friday Update: Three New Biographies Added to HoloNet
Today’s Friday update for Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare has added new information on three notable characters to the Biographies section of the HoloNet. Here are the details: In these new holorecords, you’ll learn about Supreme Chancellor Janarus, stalwart protector of Republic ideals and source of hope for its people. Opposite Janarus, hidden in the shadows, you’ll discover the enigmatic puppeteer of Imperial Intelligence, Darth Jadus. Elsewhere in the galaxy, the cold-blooded bounty hunter Jewl’a Nightbringer ruthlessly hunts down slavers, gangs, and crime lords who manage to catch her attention. Some might remember Jewl’a Nightbringer from the one of the first gameplay walkthrough videos BioWare released. She was one of the bounty hunters that the NPC Mako identified as a winner of the Great Hunt – A bounty hunter thing. Another interesting thing about this update is the Aurebesh Translation’s. You can read more about them over at…
Friday update: Dev Blog Discusses Cinematic Design
For its final Friday update of the year, BioWare has posted a blog entry by Lead Cinematic Designer Paul Marino that explains how a scene is designed and directed in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Here’s his explanation of what his team does for the game: “To put it simply, Cinematic Design is using cinematic presentation to facilitate narrative and gameplay, and heighten emotional involvement. By the use of a directed camera, we’re able to make the story real to the player, allowing them to get involved with the characters and make meaningful choices.” Marino’s job as cinematic designer is to direct the game’s cutscenes, allowing the game’s writing and characters to shine. To see how well the developers have injected some humor and atmosphere into run-of-the-mill quests, have a look at these two videos, recently released on The Old Republic‘s blog: