I'd love if someone playing these demos was obsessed with voice actors, who could ID a bunch of these. I know every time they put out a video I try to ID them. Like in the recent Jedi Knight video, I'm convinced the Jedi Knight is voiced by Kari Wahlgren(best known to non-anime fans as Ashe in FFXII, which is who the Jedi Knight sounds like), or Steve Blum as the male player bounty hunter from the Flashpoint videos last year. It'd be nice if BioWare could confirm a few of the VAs. It wouldn't spoil the game to just give out the names, and it'd greatly interest and further hype geeks like me and others who love hearing their favorite voice actors in games and anime and cartoons.
I agree to the voice acting thing. I even sent Steve Blum a fan letter when I found out he would play the male bounty hunter. That is almost too good to be true. Back on topic. The character creation thing sounds a lot like DA if it had a lot of sliders and all. I hope that's the case. You could get really in depth with that thing.
Things are nuts in Seattle. I believe 60k people. Been to Blizzcon and E3. PAX blows them away imo (my first time to PAX).
I have played SWTOR a good hour and I can talk about it. I'm EXCITED to talk about it!
When PAX floodgates opened at 10am, I hauled ass to the Bioware floorspace, only SWTOR was no where to be found. At the Dragon Age II booth, they were handing out inflatable Gray Warden Death spears. (I have no idea what they are called!) I asked one of the community managers if SWTOR was at the show. 'Lucas Arts' he replied. BAH! Other side of the floor.
I must not have been the only person to make this mistake as I was one of the first on scene. They must have had 20+ Alienware stations running various classes at the show. However, as much as I wanted to play the game, something, or someone else caught my eye. Standing nonchalantly in the back corner of SWTOR booth was Lead Writer and SWTOR Video Star Daniel Erickson! I talked to him for quite awhile about the game as my son played the Imperial Agent. Erickson was totally personable and cool to talk to. Erickson talked about the Imperial Agent, and how balancing the class for PvP is very interesting (he wouldn't elaborate). This class is a long range class who takes cover and can hit a foe from quite a distance after powering up his shot. I can't wait to see how this class works in a PvP situation.
Erickson also gave an example in PvP about how a Smuggler could compete with a Sith Warrior. He told me in play testing he watched as a Sith did a leap through the air at a Smuggler who was in a defensive position. Smugglers have an ability called 'First shot' or something like that. Erickson described how, as the Sith came flying through the air and was in a downward arc, lightsaber ready for the kill, the Smuggler enabled 'First shot' and put a blaster round into the face of the Sith, sending him reeling backwards. Ughhh, I can't wait to see PvP in this game!
Also from Erickson. Companion NPCs will talk to you, like in Dragon Age. And other players in close proximity will hear them talk to you. I guess this can be very humorous, and there are many many varied topics and dialog lines.
All Classes were present except Jedi and Jedi Consular. The reason I was given is that Bioware wants to keep the Class under wraps for awhile longer.
Anyway, I got extensive testing with the following:
Sith Inquisitor (my favorite right now) Sith Warrior Bounty Hunter
I will write a longer description of each experience when I get back home. But in my opinion, the game is shaping up very nicely. Combat is fast and exciting. Animations are fantastic. For example, with the BH, I enjoyed launching a missle into a group of enemy NPCs (doing AoE damage) and then running into the mob with blasters firing away. When I got close enough I'd unleash a flame thrower to finish them off. You can run around the mobs and your avatar's torso turns with arms up and weapons firing. You can jump off a ledge onto unsuspecting mobs and rain death on them. When a mob climbs to a higher level, your character 'looks' up at them and when fighting, this very much resembles a scene from the films. Hard to explain but I got the feeling of fighting is a 3D space that I don't usually get from MMOs. The ability to move and attack simultaneously with no interrupts is not unique to SWTOR, but man it was fun.
The starting environments are fantastic in detail. Canyons are detailed in shadows, crags, recesses, etc. The overall look is a much sharper looking game world than WoW (I have not played Cat so this may not be the case anymore). However, lighting, architecture and topography are stellar. SWTOR ran fluidly and this build looks more polished than the build I saw from E3. Voicework is the best I've heard hands down. I loved the interactive dialog and the 'tree'. It has been stated that Bioware wants the player to feel powerful from the beginning. I can say I think the game succeeds here without question.
I was immediately sucked into Bioware's class storylines. I can see on repeat plays skipping dialog. But I imagine the first 2-3 times playing through the same class, and making different decisions, most people will listen to every line. It's like watching a movie and I was entranced. The writing is top notch.
The UI is intuitive and exact. No delay from keypress to action. I thought it felt perfect.
I was extremely lucky to get the time with Erickson that I did. I talked to journalists from various major gaming sites who had tried but not gotten the chance to talk to him. By far this was the highlight of my day. The SWTOR booth by 11am had lines to play. The BH looked to be the most popular class based on the lines, not that this is surprising. BH is going to be a lot of fun to play.
Sorry for the fragmented post but I'm tired and over stimulated LOL! I'll write some in depth impressions soon. I'm going to hit the Trooper booth first thing Saturday as that class looks like a blast to play. I want this game bad NOW.
Feel free to ask any questions. If I can I will answer them.
I watched, but didn't get a chance to play at the demo booth. I just peeked in to find the booth, which was harder than you might expect, tucked away into the corner like that.
Impressions:
> Environment - The level of detail is ridiculous and easily the best I've seen in an MMO. It could use more ambient sounds, critters and such. But even w/o (I'm sure more will be added later) those extras, it's still the best I can remember. The color schemes and palette choices were great.
Nal Hutta looks pretty nasty. There was an area near the cantina that I would not want to be near for fear of encountering scumbags.
> Graphics looked good. They were crisp and clear. The 'stylized realism' thing was great. It seems to strike the perfect compromise w/ one caveat. The faces look a little flat. They could use more detail work.
> Animations: Mixed bag. The combat anims look really good. The anims by the creatures/enemies were more nuanced than animations that I can remember seeing in other games. However, the run anim by the character, obviously important bcuz you'll be seeing it all the time, was stiff and uninspired. They all need work. The character's left arm needs to be doing SOMETHING.
The whole time I was thinking to myself that the anims needed to be 'amped.' They seemed like they just got out of bed and haven't had their evil coffee yet.
It *is* pretty cool how ur character turns their head at things in the environment.
> Interface: Great. Easy to use and mostly forgotten. The font choices worked out well for evertyhing.
> Classes: The IA has a sweet stock strike ala the trooper but Bourne ish. The BH has the most in your face abilities so far.
> Races: There is a female Chiss IA that is really strange looking, those red eyes are creepy.
> Glitches: A few. I saw a BH running around w/o his pistol bcuz it disappeared on him. Some enemy guys popped into the ceiling after being shot.
Anywho, I'll see more tmrw. Today I just cruised by and had a look.
IveDefected, nice pics. I like the character select, simple and to the point, 8 slots, 1 per class. I don't see info on which class the character is, which will be essential in the live game for managing alts. The second pic is nice too. If I had to guess, is that pic looking to the Southeast to that island? I've seen the map of Ord Mantell with a bit of land completely separated from the rest of the map on the map, and the unnaturally abrupt edge on the minimap looks about right.
Pagan, your son played Agent while you talked to Erickson you say. How old is he? If he's young, did the game handle well for him? Either way, what'd he think of TOR?
I like what both Pagan and Danthis said on your character looking at things, it's one of those little things I loved about FFXI and SWG. Is it just for things you have targeted, or can you mouseover targets to "look" at them too?
Shame the animations are uneven, but there's plenty of time to fix that. I love what Pagan heard from Erickson on a Smuggler shooting a Sith Warrior out of the air mid-leap. That sounds like something VERY satisfying to do. I can imagine running around pvping Jedi/Sith just to do that and wipe the smug "I'm so awesome because I'm a Jedi/Sith" grins off their faces. :D
Thanks guys - it's really good to read and see pics and stuff, especially as I can't make it there to see it myself! Lots of good info, love the pics, and looking forward to reading and seeing more!
and this is a shot overlooking an Island on Ord Mantel...pretty much everything you see there is accessible.
The second pic... Damn.
Thanks for including the second pic. While it is awesome to see the selection screen for your characters, I have always been a fan of scenery screens in games. That one just looks beautiful - you know, for a war torn zone.:P
Quote from RogueJedi86 "...Shame the animations are uneven, but there's plenty of time to fix that. I love what Pagan heard from Erickson on a Smuggler shooting a Sith Warrior out of the air mid-leap. That sounds like something VERY satisfying to do. I can imagine running around pvping Jedi/Sith just to do that and wipe the smug "I'm so awesome because I'm a Jedi/Sith" grins off their faces. :D
about the animations, this build seems to be pre optimization, with that in mind the FPS, Animation Refresh and the Environmental effects that are in place at the moment are pretty solid and above the curve consistent with other pre-beta build MMOs ive tested.
I dont honestly think they will have any of the major issues we are seeing at launch.
> Environment - The level of detail is ridiculous and easily the best I've seen in an MMO. It could use more ambient sounds, critters and such. But even w/o (I'm sure more will be added later) those extras, it's still the best I can remember. The color schemes and palette choices were great.
It is really hard to convey how detailed the environments are, and you did a great job with this description. I think the level of ambient sound is just perfect at the moment because it lets the music take center stage and stays subtle, but that is my personal preference.
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Posted 9/4/2010 2:59:46 AMI'd love if someone playing these demos was obsessed with voice actors, who could ID a bunch of these. I know every time they put out a video I try to ID them. Like in the recent Jedi Knight video, I'm convinced the Jedi Knight is voiced by Kari Wahlgren(best known to non-anime fans as Ashe in FFXII, which is who the Jedi Knight sounds like), or Steve Blum as the male player bounty hunter from the Flashpoint videos last year. It'd be nice if BioWare could confirm a few of the VAs. It wouldn't spoil the game to just give out the names, and it'd greatly interest and further hype geeks like me and others who love hearing their favorite voice actors in games and anime and cartoons.
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Posted 9/4/2010 3:41:54 AMI agree to the voice acting thing. I even sent Steve Blum a fan letter when I found out he would play the male bounty hunter. That is almost too good to be true. Back on topic. The character creation thing sounds a lot like DA if it had a lot of sliders and all. I hope that's the case. You could get really in depth with that thing.
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Posted 9/4/2010 4:05:49 AMahha that's funny she wouldn't let you take pics IveDefected but damn...
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Posted 9/4/2010 5:25:05 AMThanks for the detailed posts from all who played. Now, go and get some beers ;-)
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Posted 9/4/2010 5:29:35 AMThings are nuts in Seattle. I believe 60k people. Been to Blizzcon and E3. PAX blows them away imo (my first time to PAX).
I have played SWTOR a good hour and I can talk about it. I'm EXCITED to talk about it!
When PAX floodgates opened at 10am, I hauled ass to the Bioware floorspace, only SWTOR was no where to be found. At the Dragon Age II booth, they were handing out inflatable Gray Warden Death spears. (I have no idea what they are called!) I asked one of the community managers if SWTOR was at the show. 'Lucas Arts' he replied. BAH! Other side of the floor.
I must not have been the only person to make this mistake as I was one of the first on scene. They must have had 20+ Alienware stations running various classes at the show. However, as much as I wanted to play the game, something, or someone else caught my eye. Standing nonchalantly in the back corner of SWTOR booth was Lead Writer and SWTOR Video Star Daniel Erickson! I talked to him for quite awhile about the game as my son played the Imperial Agent. Erickson was totally personable and cool to talk to. Erickson talked about the Imperial Agent, and how balancing the class for PvP is very interesting (he wouldn't elaborate). This class is a long range class who takes cover and can hit a foe from quite a distance after powering up his shot. I can't wait to see how this class works in a PvP situation.
Erickson also gave an example in PvP about how a Smuggler could compete with a Sith Warrior. He told me in play testing he watched as a Sith did a leap through the air at a Smuggler who was in a defensive position. Smugglers have an ability called 'First shot' or something like that. Erickson described how, as the Sith came flying through the air and was in a downward arc, lightsaber ready for the kill, the Smuggler enabled 'First shot' and put a blaster round into the face of the Sith, sending him reeling backwards. Ughhh, I can't wait to see PvP in this game!
Also from Erickson. Companion NPCs will talk to you, like in Dragon Age. And other players in close proximity will hear them talk to you. I guess this can be very humorous, and there are many many varied topics and dialog lines.
All Classes were present except Jedi and Jedi Consular. The reason I was given is that Bioware wants to keep the Class under wraps for awhile longer.
Anyway, I got extensive testing with the following:
Sith Inquisitor (my favorite right now)
Sith Warrior
Bounty Hunter
I will write a longer description of each experience when I get back home. But in my opinion, the game is shaping up very nicely. Combat is fast and exciting. Animations are fantastic. For example, with the BH, I enjoyed launching a missle into a group of enemy NPCs (doing AoE damage) and then running into the mob with blasters firing away. When I got close enough I'd unleash a flame thrower to finish them off. You can run around the mobs and your avatar's torso turns with arms up and weapons firing. You can jump off a ledge onto unsuspecting mobs and rain death on them. When a mob climbs to a higher level, your character 'looks' up at them and when fighting, this very much resembles a scene from the films. Hard to explain but I got the feeling of fighting is a 3D space that I don't usually get from MMOs. The ability to move and attack simultaneously with no interrupts is not unique to SWTOR, but man it was fun.
The starting environments are fantastic in detail. Canyons are detailed in shadows, crags, recesses, etc. The overall look is a much sharper looking game world than WoW (I have not played Cat so this may not be the case anymore). However, lighting, architecture and topography are stellar. SWTOR ran fluidly and this build looks more polished than the build I saw from E3. Voicework is the best I've heard hands down. I loved the interactive dialog and the 'tree'. It has been stated that Bioware wants the player to feel powerful from the beginning. I can say I think the game succeeds here without question.
I was immediately sucked into Bioware's class storylines. I can see on repeat plays skipping dialog. But I imagine the first 2-3 times playing through the same class, and making different decisions, most people will listen to every line. It's like watching a movie and I was entranced. The writing is top notch.
The UI is intuitive and exact. No delay from keypress to action. I thought it felt perfect.
I was extremely lucky to get the time with Erickson that I did. I talked to journalists from various major gaming sites who had tried but not gotten the chance to talk to him. By far this was the highlight of my day. The SWTOR booth by 11am had lines to play. The BH looked to be the most popular class based on the lines, not that this is surprising. BH is going to be a lot of fun to play.
Sorry for the fragmented post but I'm tired and over stimulated LOL! I'll write some in depth impressions soon. I'm going to hit the Trooper booth first thing Saturday as that class looks like a blast to play. I want this game bad NOW.
Feel free to ask any questions. If I can I will answer them.
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Posted 9/4/2010 6:06:57 AMI watched, but didn't get a chance to play at the demo booth. I just peeked in to find the booth, which was harder than you might expect, tucked away into the corner like that.
Impressions:
> Environment - The level of detail is ridiculous and easily the best I've seen in an MMO. It could use more ambient sounds, critters and such. But even w/o (I'm sure more will be added later) those extras, it's still the best I can remember. The color schemes and palette choices were great.
Nal Hutta looks pretty nasty. There was an area near the cantina that I would not want to be near for fear of encountering scumbags.
> Graphics looked good. They were crisp and clear. The 'stylized realism' thing was great. It seems to strike the perfect compromise w/ one caveat. The faces look a little flat. They could use more detail work.
> Animations: Mixed bag. The combat anims look really good. The anims by the creatures/enemies were more nuanced than animations that I can remember seeing in other games. However, the run anim by the character, obviously important bcuz you'll be seeing it all the time, was stiff and uninspired. They all need work. The character's left arm needs to be doing SOMETHING.
The whole time I was thinking to myself that the anims needed to be 'amped.' They seemed like they just got out of bed and haven't had their evil coffee yet.
It *is* pretty cool how ur character turns their head at things in the environment.
> Interface: Great. Easy to use and mostly forgotten. The font choices worked out well for evertyhing.
> Classes: The IA has a sweet stock strike ala the trooper but Bourne ish. The BH has the most in your face abilities so far.
> Races: There is a female Chiss IA that is really strange looking, those red eyes are creepy.
> Glitches: A few. I saw a BH running around w/o his pistol bcuz it disappeared on him. Some enemy guys popped into the ceiling after being shot.
Anywho, I'll see more tmrw. Today I just cruised by and had a look.
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Posted 9/4/2010 6:32:47 AMHeres a couple of shots i took
http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/zz351/ivedefected/SWTOR/IMG_0146.jpg
this is a shot of the main Selection Screen
http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/zz351/ivedefected/SWTOR/IMG_0145.jpg
and this is a shot overlooking an Island on Ord Mantel...pretty much everything you see there is accessible.
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Posted 9/4/2010 7:26:55 AMIveDefected, nice pics. I like the character select, simple and to the point, 8 slots, 1 per class. I don't see info on which class the character is, which will be essential in the live game for managing alts. The second pic is nice too. If I had to guess, is that pic looking to the Southeast to that island? I've seen the map of Ord Mantell with a bit of land completely separated from the rest of the map on the map, and the unnaturally abrupt edge on the minimap looks about right.
Pagan, your son played Agent while you talked to Erickson you say. How old is he? If he's young, did the game handle well for him? Either way, what'd he think of TOR?
I like what both Pagan and Danthis said on your character looking at things, it's one of those little things I loved about FFXI and SWG. Is it just for things you have targeted, or can you mouseover targets to "look" at them too?
Shame the animations are uneven, but there's plenty of time to fix that. I love what Pagan heard from Erickson on a Smuggler shooting a Sith Warrior out of the air mid-leap. That sounds like something VERY satisfying to do. I can imagine running around pvping Jedi/Sith just to do that and wipe the smug "I'm so awesome because I'm a Jedi/Sith" grins off their faces. :D
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Posted 9/4/2010 12:48:14 PMThanks guys - it's really good to read and see pics and stuff, especially as I can't make it there to see it myself! Lots of good info, love the pics, and looking forward to reading and seeing more!
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Posted 9/4/2010 1:58:37 PMThe second pic... Damn.
Thanks for including the second pic. While it is awesome to see the selection screen for your characters, I have always been a fan of scenery screens in games. That one just looks beautiful - you know, for a war torn zone.:P
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Posted 9/4/2010 2:07:28 PMI really enjoyed reading Pagan's Post. I could feel his enthusiasm.
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Posted 9/4/2010 3:23:49 PMabout the animations, this build seems to be pre optimization, with that in mind the FPS, Animation Refresh and the Environmental effects that are in place at the moment are pretty solid and above the curve consistent with other pre-beta build MMOs ive tested.
I dont honestly think they will have any of the major issues we are seeing at launch.
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Posted 9/4/2010 3:49:37 PMIt is really hard to convey how detailed the environments are, and you did a great job with this description. I think the level of ambient sound is just perfect at the moment because it lets the music take center stage and stays subtle, but that is my personal preference.
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Posted 9/4/2010 3:51:06 PMIts fantastic to hear all your guys opinions on the game. It really is. For the poor people who couldn't go it truely is great to hear. Thank you.
Keep them up :D
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Posted 9/4/2010 4:21:17 PMYou are such a ninja. I think that may be the first pic ever leaked of the character selection screen. Awesome stuff.