Showing the Love Through Live Events

by Tony "RadarX" Jones

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I actually played Star Wars Galaxies. I’m a huge fan of the genre, have read most of the literature surrounding it, and am currently trying to acquire a Boba Fett bobble head doll. What happened to SWG after the combat changes was tragic, but that’s not the scope of this article. I’m in the SOE booth speaking with a developer for SWG, and waiting for him to tell me “we’re working on an expansion” so I can act surprised.

He tells me they are working on creating content in the existing game but with no expansion at this time. I looked at him puzzled. I was in the SOE booth wasn’t I? You said you’re going to work on the current game? After boggling for a few moments, I started to process what he was saying. It was a bold move and hopefully it’ll work out for them, but what do these changes entail?

Apparently, they will be gearing up a live event in the city of Restus on Rori. The background behind the story is, the Imperials have developed a power supply large enough to power a star destroyer. It’s significant because it can fit in a backpack. The rebels want if for themselves, so both sides begin building bases near the city. Once one side completes the requirements, a scripted event will begin and the battle will ensue. I watched as a Rebel force was dropped into two lines and made a suicide run at a mob of Imperials. Feh, computer AI.

As we watched the ensuing battle, artillery began to pound the city. The Imperials had a sizable force, but more importantly the line “Imperial troops have entered the base *zzzz*” can apparently be worn out. The battle continued furiously, and I was assured that it would cause extensive casualties on both sides. A new type of rebel armor was pointed out as a stupid rebel charged a AT-AT. What was interesting, was the armor had a Mandalorian feel to it.

One important feature I did see of this update that will probably be transparent to the player, was the ability to change ingame content on the fly. Buildings can be replaced, areas can be repopulated with NPC’s, and the best part is, it requires no additional downtime. That is a fairly impressive ability of a Development staff. We hates the downtimes…yes we do.

One final thing I was shown, was the character running up a girder to take up a sniping position. Ok, so you have sniping positions what’s the big….wait he’s on the second floor of that building. I never thought I’d see the day when Star Wars Galaxies would go vertical (without a prescription anyway). Apparently they will be adding a height element to the game and will be allowing players to walk on top of buildings. This is a fairly huge step for them. Having players stuck on the ground tends to give an environment a two dimensional feel in a three dimensional world. It also pisses me off that I can’t jump over an obstruction less than a foot high. Minor jumping is essential for immersion, and yes I know things are more FPS like now.

It’s interesting to see what the development team at SWG is doing to keep the game going. I’ve seen a lot of bad press, negative comments…. *sigh* ok I’ve made a few of the comments but it warms my heart that there are a few passionate people that still are tossing the Star Wars love. All players love live events, so keep an eye out for these really cool changes coming next month.

A Dangerous Game of "Mines Bigger!"