Darth Hater

Last week, LucasArts & BioWare extended an invitation to Darth Hater for another round of Star Wars: The Old Republic hands-on game play at the beautiful Presidio campus in San Francisco. Eager to take another look, Meg and I left GDC and made our way to Lucasfilm where we were treated to playing Level 6 Troopers on Ord Mantell, and also spoke in depth with Jake Neri of LucasArts and Daniel Erickson of BioWare.

During our time in San Francisco we gathered a lot of information that, while pertinent, was not deep enough to warrant an entire post. This article will deal with the general abilities and information that which does not pertain to any one class garnered during the hands-on demo. To keep the information separate this article utilizes a bullet-point format; discussing only the information being highlighted at the time. The bullet-points follow no particular order of importance.

The final class for the Galactic Republic is the Jedi Consular. Based off of Yoda and Obi-wan Kenobi, this force user is skilled in the use of a lightsaber, but focuses on force powers to help defeat his foes. The Jedi Consular is a master of telekinesis and telepathy, wielding the force like puppeteer strings attached to his enemies.

Character advancement and customization are integral parts of all RPGs and many titles have succeeded or failed solely because of their approach to these mechanics. For over a year now, we have waited patiently for the first hints of how we will customize our characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic and now the first official clues are being revealed. During our time at LucasArts we were able to see a small example of how advancement and customization will be handled in TOR.

Over the years, MMOs have replicated many aspects of single player RPGs, and BioWare is continuing that trend with the addition of companion characters. A hallmark of BioWares previous titles, these characters are designed to develop story lines and assist in combat. During the presentation in San Francisco we were given two examples of the type of companions we will see in The Old Republic.

A couple weeks ago we released the first part of our interview with Jake Neri and now we can finally bring you the second half. We used many different sections of this interview in our other articles, but this is the complete transcript for context.

Darth Hater was recently invited out to LucasArts' home base in San Francisco to get a look at the newest class in Star Wars: The Old Republic, the Imperial Agent. During our time at the studio we got to ask Jake Neri a few questions and we also saw a live demo focusing on some of the combat abilities utilized by this Sith sniper. Throughout the event we hastily scribbled notes, attempting to get a real understanding of how the Imperial Agent works, and we came away with some interesting discoveries.

The release of a new Holonet page is always exciting for anyone following Star Wars: The Old Republic, doubly so for the few times we've been lucky enough to learn about a new class. The Class Holonet in particular acts like a buffet of knowledge, giving us many different facts and a few subtle and obvious clues. So lets take a look at what was revealed with this Friday's release of the Jedi Knight class.

Our Dissection of the PAX Demo/Coruscant video is now online. As we did in our last dissection we will be adding and editing new content in so make sure to keep checking out this post for more content in the future. Be warned there are quite a number of images contained in this post and will kill low bandwidth users. Note: Things mentioned in our prior dissections we do not mention in this one. There is also the thread on the forum if you would like to comment there. Thanks to Zoidberg and Sleeper for help on a few of the images.

As promised here is the entire 2nd day gameplay demo that was shown at PAX. This is the demo where the trooper class, seen earlier in our other video, is shown in great detail. Check below for the Youtube embed and direct download link. Enjoy.

Just when I thought there was no way for BioWare to possibly design a class that will be more fun to play than a laser-sword wielding ninja-monk they release game play footage of the Republic Trooper. When BioWare stated each class would represent an iconic character from the movies they were not mistaken, however, the Trooper is not from either George Lucas trilogy. No, this guy is straight up Rambo

Today's last and final demonstration of the PAX Star Wars: The Old Republic demo shows off trooper gameplay footage. Oh also - /dance confirmed in this demo We also got to see a little glimpse of the death/respawn system - RETURN TO MEDCENTER is the death option in the demo when the person demoing the game died. We are hoping to have the full gameplay demo video up today if everything goes well with the bandwidth at PAX.

Youtube Embed:



UPDATE: The trooper video is now up for torrent download. Youtube embed above now up. Youtube also just parsed it into HD so everything should be good there.

Gamespot has the full Day 1 gameplay demo video now online. Seems like they beat us to it :-( . We are still uploading our full Day 2 demo video and should be up later tonight. Part of the delay has been the internet connection we are using to upload it (6hrs to fully upload). We're going to wait on doing the dissection due to the quality of the video seen. Hopefully Bioware posts an HD direct feed soon.

Sean posted a reply to toke, one of the users on the forum, explaining how the different saberwielding styles will have their own advantages and weaknesses like in Kotor:

Originally Posted by toke
Awesome... quick question.. does the Sith always have to dual wield a weapon or can he use a single light-saber and second question if you dual wield a weapon do you lose your privilege of the force? Obviously if he always dual wields the force will still be an option. Just wondering.

Thanks for the update though
While we are not to a point where we can give out specific information (because it is not done yet), there will be bonuses and weaknesses when either dual wielding or using a single lightsaber.

It's a small but important reveal nonetheless at this early date. It can be presumed that the same could apply to multi-blaster use as a smuggler.

A topic that is getting some attention on the forums now is the stun topic, and I want your opinions



Mostly all MMOs have them, some love them, some hate them, they are the stuns Either it gives you a chance to get that vital heal off, or it buys you some time for some quick blows, and then another stun, also known as stun locking But I would like to take a closer look at how the mechanic might be working, and how you can throw your thought at it.

So in the screenshot above, we see our beloved Bounty Hunter, Grell. Now Grell is level 5, and looks like he has two stuns already, the Flamethrower (Ability Three) and the Stun Dart (Ability Four). This could either be the GM has granted himself one or two stun abilities for demonstration purposes, or maybe Bounty Hunters just get lucky. After using the Flamethrower ability, the target has two debuffs, one is the stun debuff, and the other could possibly be the "burning" debuff icon. Also notice that the stun is not broken immediately after re-engaging the target, so it could be a "Cheapshot" WoW style, yes I am sorry for referring to WoW, stun, in which the target remains stunned. Also be sure to take note that the Bounty Hunters Flamethrower ability is a cone effect, for Area of Effect stuns.



Now in the above stun, is the Bounty Hunters "Stun Dart" ability, which well, fires a dart that stuns the target temporarily. Now the footage was cut off short so we could not see if it was a "WoW Gouge" ability, which is a short stun that is broken if you engage the target. My guess is that it will be the Bounty Hunters gouge. Looks like it will be very useful in pulling multiple mobs and acting as a crowd control.



Looks like the Smuggler will be getting his hands on a stun or two as well, the above shot being the "Kick to the Nads", and the debuff being shown with what looks like a counter going around. And by the looks of it, it does lead to the "Head Shot" ability. A second stun for the Smuggler might be the "Flash Grenade", but we do not know at this point



The Sith has the force choke which could be considered a damaging stun, that allows other players to keep engaging the target. On the rate it is currently at, I would expect at least all classes to have one stun, if not two.

Stun in my opinion would help immensely in PvE, as to act as CC (Crowd Control), but it might end up being abused in PvP, as a stunlock LOLIWIN combo. However if we see a return of diminishing returns, it could be phased in just for PvP, and allow you to stunlock in PvE. Looking for BioWare to come up with intelligent cooldowns, and no 10 second stun cooldowns. Now comes your part, I want to know what is your opinion on stuns, are they being overused? Are you afraid that the cooldowns will be to fast? To slow? What did you have for dinner? Stun locks? We need your feedback

The demo walkthrough was just posted:

Whether you were busy being digested in the Sarlacc Pit, Bounty Hunters stole your speeder or like at least one of us you were encased in carbonite and unable to make it to Germany for GamesCom, weve got something for you.

Head over to IGN.com to watch a video of the complete Developer Gameplay Walkthrough showcased at this weeks GamesCom. Get a close-up look at the Bounty Hunter and Smuggler on the worlds of Hutta and Ord Mantell. Jump to the Sith home-world of Korriban and meet the Sith Warrior class. Be transported aboard an Imperial transport ship to see the Bounty Hunter and Sith Warrior decide the fate of the captain and crew aboard the Black Talon.

The video contains almost 20 minutes of actual gameplay footage so check it out at IGN.com

We should have the dissection up in a couple hours, currently doing it right now.

Erick Adams posted an update to give us a rough idea on when the video is coming:

Here's a quick update about the video:

Yes we are in the process of getting the video up and we appreciate your patience while we continue working on this. At the moment it looks like it should be in place later today.

We are incredibly excited to be able to show you this footage, and will be posting updates to let you know how the situation progresses.

Thanks again for your patience while we finish getting the footage posted

Generally when I read the word "Choreographed" I think dancing...

But what does choreographed combat mean? It means, well, dancing more or less. You step, I react, I step, you react Translates over to I swing, you collide, you swing, I collide. The joy of seeing lightsabers clash adds to immersion of the game, because well, it's iconic, and don't know how else to explain it. The epic lightsaber fights of people dodging, hitting, and then jumping over an opponent WHILE hitting, or along those lines, when you think epic Star Wars combat, right? Well, from what previous interviews said the combat will be choreographed, and if done correctly can prove to make a more epic "Immersion-festive" game if I say so myself. But I do have my questions (And will try like hell at PAX to get them answered)



Is the combat going to be like some previous MMOs where you do an ability and you cannot move until the ability is completed? Or until you hit "ESCAPE" to cancel the ability and are able to move again? Or will it be a rework on WoW where you move and the ability is canceled? I am more concerned about Jedi vs Sith combat, and how stand still it might be. How does one clash when moving? Doesn't make much sense. I could only see Jedi vs Sith clashing when both are standing still. But if you are by chance locked standing still, it opens up my next question.




How would PvP work with choreographed combat? Jim the Jedi and Sado the Sith are fighting each other, locked in combat hoping to clash and dodge as many strikes as possible, then Sleeper the Bounty Hunter walks up and sees Jim fighting Sado. Am I then able to target and destroy Jim at ease knowing he is unable to move due to the fact he is in a stand still with Sado? What if ranged vs ranged happens? Is it locked in as well resulting in two more people standing still?

So my final question to our readers is, how do you, or how would you, like to see combat handled? Stand still? Mobility? Take into concideration the choreographed combat How do you think it will work?

This is an opportunity for you to vent out some frustration at Bioware and to help improve the game at the same time if they read it. Just say one thing(more if you want) you don't like so far, why you don't like it, and how you would fix it.

Kinda go with the swtor forum rules on this, I don't want to see "I hate stuff because it is stupid so get rid of it."



For example:

I don't like the Gumby cutouts seen in recent smuggler clips because they are too blocky and too big. One remedy for this would be to smooth the edges and make it less opaque, or just leave the arrow markers seen for other forms of cover.