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Star Wars: The Old Republic News, Interviews, Media & Podcast

Friday Update: Studio Insider, Community Q&A and Final Comic-Con Details



This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update a Studio Insider. Senior Video Editor Brian Arndt gives us insight at the process of making the opening cinematics for each of the character classes in this week's Studio Insider.

Brian Arndt
Even when something is "final" at BioWare, its often not - not if it can be improved. Once we dropped the opening cinematics into the game, we opened a thread on the Game Testing forums to get feedback and suggestions. While the feedback was really positive overall, the testers had some interesting suggestions. Taking this feedback to heart, we went back to some of the scenes to add extra ships and to incorporate other tidbits. To illustrate, for the Sith Warrior intro, several people pointed out that the Star Destroyers in the background looked a little too static. So we animated and rendered out some new Star Destroyer models from the game. Some feedback we got was that the scene wasn't busy enough so Brandon inserted squadrons of Sith fighters, adding a new layer to the scene as a whole, and to drive it to be the highest quality we could.


The Community Q&A included with the Studio Insider is one on sound design with Senior Audio Artist Scott Morton. BioWare is also once again asking for questions for their next Community Q&A, this time on PVP.

Included as a separate update are the final details for next week's Comic-Con San Diego event.

Official DevTracker posts follow the jump.
DevTracker Posts


Alyson Bridge
In this week's Studio Insider, Senior Video Editor Brian Arndt takes us behind the scenes on the creation of the opening cinematics for each of the character classes. Be sure to also check out the Community Q&A, where Senior Audio Artist Scott Morton answers some of your questions relating to the audio production in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

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Alyson Bridge
San Diego Comic-Con is the single largest pop culture event in North America, attracting over one hundred thousand passionate comic book, movie and video game fans each year. This year is looking to be another big year for the event and both BioWare and LucasArts will be there to make some announcements about Star Wars: The Old Republic, and once more give people the chance to get their hands on the game.

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Allison Berryman
The Old Republic community has a lot of questions and we want to answer as many as we can. In fact, we're starting this new discussion on our forums solely dedicated to finding out what you want to know. Each month we'll create a new thread for you to ask questions in. We'll be reading and reviewing all of your questions and featuring some of them to be answered in a future Community Q&A section of the Studio Insider!

This month, we want questions focused on PVP in The Old Republic. Please feel free to ask us anything you want to know about it!

Some things to remember when posting:
  • Please keep questions courteous and respectful

  • Avoid asking questions that have already been asked this month

  • Ask only one question in the thread

  • Do not bump posts.


Keep in mind that there are some questions we're not able to answer right now, so please don't feel upset if we do not select your question, and please do feel free to ask it again in the future!

Thanks! We're looking forward to your reading your questions!

The Old Republic Team


David Bass
We're thrilled about meeting the Star Wars: The Old Republic community next week in San Diego. In addition to our presence at Comic-Con, details of which you'll find here, we also have a number of great events planned for BioWare Base at the Hilton Gaslamp. Here's the current schedule for next week at BioWare Base:

Thursday, July 21st
12PM - 7PM: Operating hours for The Old Republic demos
4:30PM: The Old Republic signing session
7PM - 8PM: The Old Republic Panel and Q and A

Friday, July 22nd
12PM - 7PM: Operating hours for The Old Republic demos
4PM - 5PM: The Old Republic Panel, Q&A, and signing session

Saturday, July 23rd
12PM - 7PM: Operating hours for The Old Republic demos
4PM-5PM: The Old Republic signing session
7PM-8PM: The Old Republic Panel and Q and A
7PM-10:30PM: Community Meet and Greet

Sunday, July 24th
12PM 5:30PM: Operating hours for The Old Republic demos
3PM-4PM: The Old Republic Panel and Q and A

This schedule is subject to change, and any updates will be posted here as we approach Comic-Con. I hope you guys are as excited as we are to be in San Diego next week! See you soon!

Comments

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  • RockyMountainJedi's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #38 RockyMountainJedi Posted 7/17/2011 5:51:43 AM
    The Barron's comments are unsubstantiated bantha pudu.
  • lucho's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #28 lucho Posted 7/16/2011 7:08:19 PM
    Nice update, am I the only one hoping for a timeline update next week? :/
  • Daelite's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 187
    #37 Daelite Posted 7/17/2011 4:50:45 AM
    You are not alone, however, SAN DIEGO COMIC CON is next week (JULY 21 -24) so maybe after that dust settles we will be blessed with some Gnost-Dural.
  • StarSpider's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 56
    #40 StarSpider Posted 7/17/2011 6:37:12 AM
    I can't confirm this, but I did hear (read) somewhere that they would not be releasing any more until after launch. Hopefully that isn't the case and we'll see another soon - I enjoy 'em!

    Personally though, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Smuggler progression vid sometime in the near future. :)
  • -vice-'s avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #42 -vice- Posted 7/17/2011 8:59:08 AM
    Agreed! That would be sweet...
    Also regarding the "no more timelines until after release thing" I too have read about it somewhere... In the comment section to this same article! Look for Jakushka's comment a bit further down!
  • StarSpider's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 56
    #47 StarSpider Posted 7/17/2011 9:17:23 PM
    HA! That very well may have been it! I swear, with everything I read about this game its all starting to run together, lol...
  • Thanis's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 13
    #25 Thanis Posted 7/16/2011 5:39:21 PM
    Saw this on another website:

    Barron's financial report marks November 2011 as the window for SWTOR's possible release date.


    Electronic Arts has confirmed that it intends to acquire PopCap. PopCap Games is one of the best-known casual-game developers, and one of few [to] have created multiple hits on multiple platforms.
    The price is $750 million, with a multiyear potential earn-out provision. The deal is strategically intelligent, with a fair price. PopCap's business is where EA wants to go, and it has been able to produce new hit intellectual property, which is where EA has struggled. Based on knowledge of PopCap's growth, we expect this to be an $850 million acquisition, which at 8.5 times revenue is comparable to similar assets in the space....
    The deal is expected to be neutral to fiscal 2012 EPS, and accretive by 10 cents to F2013 EPS. We are updating our model accordingly. EA also pre-announced fiscal 1Q (June) positively. It gave disappointing initial 2Q EPS guidance. We are officially moving the expected Star Wars launch from September to November. PopCap is not the key to getting ERTS right.
    We like this acquisition, but this is not going to make or break your ERTS trade this year. The success of Star Wars and Battlefield, on the other hand, will. All eyes now shift to them. Market cap: $8.1 billion.

    Source: http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111904582604576432112118600694.html?mod=BOL_twm_dept

    A little later then I hoped if true, but atleast its this year.
  • Inuyasha1770's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 45
    #41 Inuyasha1770 Posted 7/17/2011 7:54:01 AM
    I doubt it's true. Especially since why keep it a secret and not want to tip off the competition if they are going to release it when every other huge game is coming out?
  • DarthSerious's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 251
    #43 DarthSerious Posted 7/17/2011 12:13:42 PM
    I think BW would be doing other game devs a favor by saying when they plan on releasing. If the problem of releasing a game is money available for spending, and releasing too many games at once can affect a games revenue... Who do you think is more vulnerable to other games release dates? An mmo which normally attracts a lot of customers, a game dev with loyal fan base, and a huge following for the SW franchise compared to other near release dates of what seems to be mostly single player games.

    Sure timing is important but BW has a lot going for them and this need for secrecy seems over reactive and unnecessary, when personally I believe if other devs knew when swtor was releasing then they would not compete with a similar release date which would affect their sales tremendously. So in fact it would be in BW interest and other devs to get a release date for swtor to move out of it's way. That seems logical to me considering what variables are being taken into play for a good release date for video games.

    I mean are game devs out there to curb others enthusiasm for swtor or other important big titles? It would be either short sighted of these other games dev to compete with a similar release date or some kind of angry tactic against other devs. Pride can be a dangerous thing.

    Anyways just an opinion. The wait should be worth while, and it's almost upon us!
  • DarthSerious's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 251
    #30 DarthSerious Posted 7/16/2011 8:32:49 PM
    This is most displeasing. I hope its sooner. Much sooner. May the force breath itself into the game and fix all glitches for an earlier than planned launch for us all.
  • Kelrekk's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 26
    #26 Kelrekk Posted 7/16/2011 6:24:34 PM
    As SR said in his tweet, they are speculating just like everyone else. :)
  • Daelite's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 187
    #29 Daelite Posted 7/16/2011 7:41:01 PM
    Even though it's probably true..... What else would he say, really.
  • Swordwalker's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #19 Swordwalker Posted 7/16/2011 11:57:44 AM
    This waiting is really starting to annoy me...I've been patient through it all but damn it it's ruining my "desire" for playing the game.
  • keginkc's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 112
    #31 keginkc Posted 7/16/2011 10:30:40 PM
    There are times I wish I hadn't heard about the game in 2008. It's a long wait. Sometimes it's frustrating.

    And as soon as the game's out, all will be forgiven. The people who say they won't play, who actually don't play, will probably last about as long as it takes to read the first review about how amazing the game is. And then the yearning will kick in.
  • StarSpider's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 56
    #20 StarSpider Posted 7/16/2011 2:22:20 PM
    Damn right! We as customers.... well as potential customers, have a RIGHT to play this game as soon as possible, whether it's ready or not. BioWare has done nothing but stumble horribly throughout this entire process... and they have lost, by my last calculations, a total of 43% of their potential player base since the game was announced in 2008. Why no release date announcement? Easy, they are trying to hide the fact that this WILL be one of the most legendary gaming industry busts of ALL time. I know for a FACT the game looks and plays awful, and it's EXACTLY like WoW. Now, I haven't personally played SWTOR or WoW, but I trust the opinions my colleagues on the official forums and around the various reputable gaming forums across the web. We know our stuff, and we know a stinker when we see one.

    Good job, BioWare. By trying to be "conservative" with your game updates, not promising anything that might not make it into the final build, and jerking the community around by not answering our questions about an exact release date, YOU have DOOMED this game to FAILURE. Mark my words.

    I have officially lost all faith in BioWare. (TM)
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