pet, 12. svibnja '06 u 18:11
got a chance to stand around with SWG producer Julio Torres at E3 and look at the demo for the soon-to-be-released update and the planned live event. This thing looks like the best thing to happen to SWG since vehicles.
Here's a bit about what's going on, with some comments from Julio. I'll have more later on.
Galactic News Sevice update: Imperial forces have instilled martial law in the streets of Restuss on the Nabooian moon of Rori. Rebel forces are expected to attack en masse. Forced evacuations of all civilians are currently underway. Stay tuned for more updates.
Developers usually reserve E3 for anouncing the completion of new games, expansions or updates - things they've been busy creating. Over at LucasArts, on the other hand, E3 2006 is a time to announce what they've been planning to destroy. As in demolish, blow to smithereens, reduce to rubble.
Bye-bye, Restuss.
According to producer Julio Torres, the latest update for SWG, which will be released soon after E3 closes, involves a server-wide event pitting Imperial and Rebel forces head-to-head in a battle to decide the fate of a city.
"There's a master plan here," Torres said. "This year, we're focusing on polishing the experience. We're not doing an expansion in order to polish, expand and enhance what we already have. We made some fundamental changes to the game, we need to let the dust settle and we need to polish the [game] so that people can effectively have the experience expected out of Star Wars Galaxies."
That experience will include a definite escalation in the Galactic Civil War, highlighted by the Imperial occupation of the peaceful city of Restuss, where, rumor has it, the Empire has concealed a device capable of controlling a Star Destroyer, but small enough to fit in a person's pocket. Rebel forces are expected to attempt to steal the device, resulting in a earth-shaking battle through the streets of the city, complete with large Rebel dropships, AT-STs, AT-ATs and untold ground troops.
All of this action takes place over the course of several weeks, with forces on both sides escalating the conflict unil the final battle in the city itself.
Normally, to avoid spoilers, the story would end there, but one enterprising E3 attendee has already posted a video of the demo from the LucasArts booth, so the outcome of all this conflict is painfully obvious. During the course of the battle, the device in question explodes with enough force to reduce most of Restuss to rubble.
Fortunately, that's not the end. According to Torres, the rubble of Restuss becomes home to whole new groups of NPCs with new quests and new adventures to share.
"We're still going to update like we always have," Torres said, "but they're going to be particularly detailed and really polish the experience and enhance the Galactic Civil War."
And the battle of Restuss isn't a one-shot deal. More live events are planned, especially ones in which players and their actions wil determine the outcomes.
In the end, this new update heralds a much-needed step forward in the mostly stagnant GCW, and future updates promise even more epic content, with roles for characters of all classes.
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