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11/19/10 Fan Friday / Bestiary update
harvest151
Member UncommonPosts: 217
askajedi)
After the last few weeks of nice, meaty reveals and Friday updates, today we slow the pace down a bit with a brand new Fan Friday.
Featured in this week’s Fan Friday:
New forum smilies, and not just any smilies. Original trilogy smilies. We’ve got C-3PO, AT-ATs, the Death Star, a sandcrawler and more.
New forum avatars – looks like some inhabitants made the cut
Awesome fan art and fan faction
Some new polls
Sadly, it doesn’t look like there’s a developer’s corner in this Fan Friday. We’ll just have to keep drooling over all the Crew Skills info from last week!
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Studio Insider – Flesh Raiders
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The Studio Insider is a chance for us to give you a quick sneak peek at work-in-progress art, special screenshots, animations, and other exciting insights from The Old Republic™ team. This week we’re sharing a fresh look at the creation process for the Flesh Raiders, as well as answering some of the questions posted in the forums.
Be sure to visit November’s Fan Friday to get a look at some awesome fan creations and other goodies!
Flesh Raider Step-by-Step
The Art Team is delighted to share another step-by-step break-down of how concept art is created for The Old Republic. Concept Artist, Diego Almazan, goes into detail regarding the process and thoughts involved in creating a set of Flesh Raiders.
When starting a concept, it’s important to get as much information as possible to help make the creature or object fit best in its place in the game. For this concept in particular, I was excited to take on the task of creating an alternate Flesh Raider which would fit alongside the current set.
After gathering and studying art work and other assets related to the Flesh Raider, I started off with a base which is a rough body sketch similar to an existing one in the game. At this point I was not exactly sure how far we wanted to stray from the original design, so in terms of the head and protrusions on the body I threw out some different ideas on what could be done. I tried not to spend too much time on the base, but wanted to give enough detail so there was a clear idea of what I have in mind. I even threw in a crazy wacky one to see if the team wanted something completely that deviated from the current Flesh Raider model.
Of course they go for the crazy one! I have not added any armor yet, so naturally this model has the most striking silhouette.
From there I went into a bit more refinement and ended up going back to something more like what I had in one of the other roughs. This is generally done to bring it back into the Flesh Raider family, and to incorporate a design that will allow the character to better accept armor. Flesh Raiders tend to pick up whatever's around and wear it for protection and to look more aggressive, so we need to have that in mind when creating the model.
Now I can start layering it on. Tattered rags, tubes, straps, and junk parts are what it's all about! I cake it on thick. Aside from the fact that these are meant to accompany the existing Flesh Raiders, this guy in some variation would be used to portray a boss or at least a stronger type so we want him to stand out. I also keep in mind that many of the parts on this model will come off for the more reasonable looking ones.
Once we have the main concept approved, I can add a back view to show what's going on there. I also started on some color variants. I used the less armored versions to show more skin detail; one has the splotchy skin pattern and the other has tribal paint. You'll also see that the rags and metal plates are different colors too, which makes them unique.
Click the above image for a larger view.
That’s it! There’s an inside look at how we created a set of Flesh Raiders.
Community Q & A
The Old Republic community has a lot of questions and we want to answer as many as we can. In fact, we’re starting a new section on the forums dedicated to this purpose. If you have questions, please feel free to post them on the Community Q & A thread. We’ll be reviewing the questions as they come in, and we’ll answer whatever we can in these updates.
We ask that you would please keep the questions courteous and professional, and that you would avoid duplicating questions that have already been asked. Keep in mind, as well, there are some questions that we’re not able to answer right now, so if we don’t get your question specifically, it’s nothing personal.
This week, Daniel Erickson took time to answer a few questions he rounded up from various parts of the forums:
Q: What happens when a group member leaves during a quest, or even in the middle of a dialog *disconnects*? Will any AI take over?
A: No AI takeovers, the quest or conversation continues without them. You can hit escape and leave a conversation (multiplayer or otherwise) whenever you like.
Q: When getting a group quest, can you get 4 Bounty Hunters or do you have a specific class requirement to start the quest? How will we know which quest we need?
A: You can make a group of any mix of classes, including four of the same. There are several play groups here that enjoy doing just that. Full Trooper groups seem to be the most popular and look pretty amazing coming over a hill.
Q: Can I turn my helmet on/off?
A: Helmets will be on a toggle so you can show or not as you like. The cinematic team has an additional override control they can use to turn it off in conversation (in case you like to keep your Trooper helmet on with the awesome voice processing). That way they can override it occasionally to keep you from wearing your helmet during your romantic kiss scene (bonk!).
Q: Will the Advanced Classes be locked into a particular role, for example: Will a Juggernaut be locked to only a tank, or if he could fulfill other roles as well?
A: Each of the advanced classes is a full, flexible class with various trees that allow specialization. So although the Juggernaut is perhaps best suited to play a ‘tanking’ role, a player could specialize in other roles depending on what skills they choose and the tactics they use with their companions.
Q: Are the origin planets simply starting grounds, or will we come back to them past level 10?
A: You definitely have reasons to come back. Korriban, for instance, is where the Dark Council often meets. There are also reasons later for all of the classes to go to some of the other classes' origin worlds. It's important to us that lower level characters get to see some high level players strutting their stuff early on.
STAR WARS: The Old Republic Fan Friday
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Every week, members of the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Community share a variety of inspired creations from stunning artwork to colorful costumes. We’re shining the spotlight on some of that great work today and releasing new wallpapers, avatars, and smilies.
Be sure to check out this month’s Studio Insider for a step-by-step breakdown of a Flesh Raider concept art. Also, we’re featuring the new “Community Q & A” section to answer some of your questions about the game.
Community Creations
Over the last three decades Star Wars has inspired amazing fan creations across the globe, and our community has played a role by making some incredible contributions!
Share your talents with us on the community forums, and if it’s especially impressive we may feature your work in the Community Creations section of a future Fan Friday.
Fan Art
Community member Yssta created some beautiful painterly pieces of Star Wars art. They are listed in The Work of Sturman (Yssta) with the most recent works at the top. Fantastic details!
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WovenKash from the community is showcasing some Lightsaber images in the forums. Browse through the thread to get a look at all of these remarkable 3D concepts! Stunning!
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Community member Xanfel was inspired by all the concepts art for The Old Republic. Get a look at some gorgeous Jedi and Sith paintings in Xanfels Art Thread. Great work!
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Fan Fiction
"Nothing is 'pure', Simplicio. Emotions do not have defined beginning and ends, even though we pretend that they do by giving them arbitrary names." The story Master and Apprentice: Secrets of the Sith written by community member Darth Slaine follows a Sith master and apprentice through their experiences. It provides an in-depth and thoughtful depiction of Sith teachings, mixed with a decent amount of humor, action, and suspense. This is a cleverly written, must-read piece of fan fiction!
"Therion Foxglove meditated. His muscular chest rose and sank in a steady rhythm of one breath per minute, his eyes unseeing, his mind like the surface of a wintry lake hardly moved by emotions, while he reviewed the events of the day. A ripple of sympathy and care for the younglings he had lectured earlier came with the memory, and as with all emotions he acknowledged it, studied it, and allowed the disturbance to subside until the emotional content of the memory was discharged and his mind was again unmoved in the cool, clear light of the force. There was no emotion, there was peace." Read more of community member’s blauregen story titled Foxglove. A Jedi Knight.
Costumes
Thanks to everyone that posted their Star Wars Halloween costumes in the forums! There are some fantastic uniforms and outfits in there. It was difficult to pick our top four favorites, but we managed to narrow it down to the following:
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Awesome costumes!
Wallpapers
Before watching Master Gnost-Dural recount events in recent history, decorate your desktop with one of these Timeline wallpapers! Visit the media section to download the resolution that best fits your monitor.
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Smilies
Got an eerie feeling about a post on the forums? We have just the smilie for you! In response to requests from forumers, we included a special addition to the Mon Calamari smilie set: It’s a trap! We’re also releasing a classic Star Wars pack for you to get creative with.
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To use a smilie, click “More” in the Smilies section off to the right when creating a post. From there simply click on the smilie of your choice. Happy posting!
Forum Avatars
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The mighty Wookiee warrior named Bowdaar has fought in every death-match arena from Geonosis to Nar Shaddaa. Find him along with other individuals from the Biographies section in our latest avatar update! To update your forum avatar, log in, go to My Account, and click Avatar. From there, navigate through the pages until you find the avatar of your choice. Enjoy!
Polls
We want to know! You can find these polls in the Surveys and Polls section of the website.
Comments
*with Yoda voice*
And that is... why you will fail, SWTOR.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Huh? That isn't fail, that's awesome news.
Thanks for the post OP!
There is much awesome about SWTOR, no doubt. But the chance to click away VO means 300 million dollars for something 95% of all users will click away and read the quest journal instead.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
You would REALLY be suprised. The Quest dialogue and voice overs are really really well done. They are performances, not some crappy asshole reading lines into a mic. I thought the EXACT same thing, and when I demo'd @ GC it really grabbed me and pulled me in. It was way more immersive and interesting that typical crappy questloggyness. Not to mention there are lots of decisions to be made and feedback that determins your alignment and attitude when interacting with quest givers. It is not a simple run here and pick up this quest kinda thing (although it can be). There really is a level of immersion that comes with the voiceovers. The performances I saw were extrodinary.
Understand he said you could leave the conversation, not stop the conversation and take the quest. If someone disconnects in the middle of a dialogue point and you want to wait for them to return, perhaps you just escape out of it and wait for them to come back, then resume the dialogue. You have to select choices no matter what. You'll always be able to skip the voice overs, but its highly doubtful you'll be able to skip making your alignment choices.
Hey, I have no doubt about that! I will LOVE and saviour each moment of dialogue! I LOVE dialogue and I love Bioware stories!
I was just doubting the general audience of hyper hyper kids will have the patience.
@maskedweasel: Hm, that might be so. Let's hope you are right. I hate the idea to be in groups the only one who wants to listen to the dialogue, and everyone else is rushing on without me, because I take the time to listen.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I saw the numbers for Mass Effect 2 which has a lot of shooter elements and shooter fans. I think it was like 85%+ of players listened to the full dialog when playing through the game. The quality of the cinematic experience made people want to hear the story. If Bioware can produce the same quality of experience, I am pretty hopeful that most will not want to skip it.
Your posts always start with some kind of gloom, like FAIL lol, but then when you work through things, your posts become so reasonable :-0. I agree with. I am one of those people in most current games that stopped reading the quests because they were so generic and not interesting. The only game I even read them about 50% of the time was Lord of the Rings Online because that game actually has a story and AOC Tortage to some degree. I want that to change and I want to listen to the dialogue and I am equally concerned about little teeny boppers or immature adults skipping the dialogue in groups.
There Is Always Hope!
It's 600 Million now. Where have you been?
I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil
How often are you going to change your opinion on this game?
Every time I read new facts.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
This is why you fail.
Awesome, so next fact about the game, then you'll like it, then the one after you won't, so all BioWare has to do is time their release to be on the last fact that you like and BAM you're stuck playing the game.
Its as clever as it is devilish. Devilishly clever. As clever as a dev-- ah you get what I'm saying.
I'm not a hyper kid, I just generally hate ghey stories about why a flipping troll needs to be slain and I wish I had a dollar for every lost kid I've saved in a video game. MOST people probably currently skip the dialog in MMOs - I generally just care about advancing my toon. However...Bioware is FANTASTIC ability to make me WANT to hear the story. Hopefully that carries over to this game. I'm glad I can skip some, but I assume I'll want to listen to most.
According to one of the guys on the DarthHater poscast, when he played at pax, he hit escape and it exited the convo. However when you click the npc it started the convo over again from the begining. This way if you need to go or something you dont have to worry about missing it. Spacebar can be used to skip thru dialogue but needs to be pressed everytime someone speaks.
Heh, I don't find it so clever. Unless they want a new quit post in their forums everyday from the same person.
No matter, he'll be playing the game like the rest of us. I don't think he has the power to stay away from the game. :O
"What excites you the most about the Crew Skills system?"
It's questions like these that suggest that Bioware may think its potential subscribers are slathering idiots.
Stop harassing the guy. It's really ugly.
Hi Zerminus. I don't think there is anything wrong with Biowares question.
[mod edit]
There Is Always Hope!
Because it assumes that everyone is 'excited' by this simplistic, indirect, second person 'crafting system'.
It doesn't suggest anything. Thats along the same lines like saying what did you like most about this new movie.
You could easily say i didn't like anything about it.
Also can you stop refering to TOR people in a negative way. It's not nice.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
Funny, I was always taught people who think a single internet poll has to represent all available opinions were the 'slathering idiots' myself.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
Funny, I was always taught people who think a single internet poll has to represent all available opinions were the 'slathering idiots' myself.
Hi zerminus. You have nothing to worry about. These polls are not reflective of everyone, nor are these forums in general since most of the millions who will end up loving this game don't read these forums. However, I don't think your an idiot. I'm sorry I don't work for Bioware though. I can't speak for them lolThere Is Always Hope!
Why listen to the VO or read a Quest Journal when Im treated like a dog on a leash anyway, where Im following an in-game illuminated arrow to my destination that has a big red "x" on the map?
Not really, I saw a leaked video *shame on me I do watch them* and not only the voice over wasn't that great, it didn't fit a Sith NPC at all but the text was quite average. Also it really felt the NPC was explaining to a player what's he's supposed to understand, meaning it killed the immersion as felt very impersonal.
P.S: great wrap up OP, even better than what BioWare did on their forum. Nice to have it all in one post, thx!