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BioWare talks environmental polish in The Old Republic, answers class-related questions

by Jef Reahard on Apr 15th 2011 2:30PM

Betas, Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Ever wondered what "polish" entails when it comes to an MMORPG? The word is tossed about on forums often enough, and just as often, newly released titles are lambasted by gamers who feel that polish is severely lacking in some form or fashion.

Today's Star Wars: The Old Republic update goes behind the scenes at the Jedi dream factory to give readers an inside scoop on how the developers at BioWare define polish and how the team is implementing it into TOR. Senior environment artist Robby Lamb is our guide, and he walks us through the various stages of the art asset creation process, noting the various opportunities to polish and perfect along the way.

Also new this week is a TOR Community Q&A with senior designer William Wallace (no, not that one) in which a smattering of class-related questions are summoned from the depths of TOR's pre-release fan community and subsequently answered at length. Check out all the details on the official TOR website.

Source: TOR website

Reader Comments (20)

Open...open...open............................................

As I play MMOs longer I find myself seeking better and better "environments" in which to play my character.

There are worlds which are beautiful but have very little life to them (Conan was like that for me). And others are crudely illustrated but the world seems to be alive (Zentia).

Right now the best one for me is WoW (sorry).

But I keep looking and am afraid to get my hopes too high for TOR but am definitely looking forward to it.

@Pingles

If you haven't tried LotRO, it may be right up your alley

@KDolo

/shudder

Now THAT game needs some polish. Sure, it looks great if you stay on the roads, but try and explore (even just swimming down a river) and you'll enter the void of no terrain. I found these spots all over, jut trying to cut down on my travel time. Oh, and you lose all points of reference while in there as you can't see the landscapes you just walked out of (I had to use the map to get back to terrain I could see). I do NOT recommend LotRO if you like to explore the landscape. I'd also avoid it if you like class balance, PvP, and fun in general.

You MIGHT like DDO, though the majority of it is instanced it does have some charm to it.

Lets be honest The graphics on star wars old republic are not whats going to make ti number one and stop comparing it to world of warcraft they both two different types of MMOS and the reason why WOW graphics are the way they are is so people on low end that cant upgrade and dont have the money to play wow. Star Wars Old republic will win in the Story Lore that whats BIOWARE is good for is THERE STORYLORE.Also we know when the game actually comes out wow fans the die hard ones will bash the game saying bad graphics and etc to make sure wow is number one mmo as they always do in other mmos by talking bad on the general chat and saying the game is bad and also on the game forums.Plus this game will be different from star wars galaxies they both two different types of star wars mmo.Sorry if this reply is harsh but hate it when people say wow is number one and the graphics in wow is the best and etc.

@(Unverified)

Like they are doing with Rift actually.

After the hackjob they did to Dragon Age 2 I'm not believing a single word Bioware says about their game's 'quality' or state of 'polish'.

@Nenene
As much as I agree, TOR had more time to be polished (a quick check on wiki says it was revealed in 2008), while DA2 had... a year and a bit to actually be put on shelves...
I'd like to think DA2 as a cheap quick release to fuel the resource needed to push out TOR.
But who knows.

Um Nenene BIOWARE has different teams one for Mass Effect one for Dragon Age and one for Star Wars Old Republic and etc other games they do so the Dragon Age team wont be doing Star Wars Old republic and Dragon Age is not a MMO It is mostly a RPG game and although star wars old republic will be RPG and some of it be MMRPG.

@(Unverified)
If they'll fib about one game, they'll fib about another just as easily.

I'll wait and see how it all pans out. Right now though, no pre-order.

@(Unverified)

Which is likely why we are seeing lesser quality games from Bioware. They are releasing 2 sequals and a MMO this year, I don't care who you are that's a ton of work. Their talent is being spread over various projects.

I would rather they release a decent game ever 2-3 years rather then a bad one every year. And more money does not equal better. It's a larger game. This is the year that will really define Bioware, not only in if it can make an MMO, but the quality we are going to see from them.

DA2 was an okay game, but as a Bioware game it was terrible.

@Interitus

Since we are on this topic of convo...

1) Yes, different sub-sections/teams within Bioware do different things. The team behind SW:ToR has been working on that for a pretty long time and are not the same team as DA or ME. Sure, when one of those projects are done, some people may be added to a different team, but they had good starts.

2) Even with the above explanation, IMO, there is only one entity to really blame. Actually, the rate of games coming out in a period of time has increased, thanks to this one entity, but, while I have not played DA2 (and some reviews do like it but I'd like to see myself), I would like to lay the blame for any possible quality at this entity, who took over Bioware at this time in an over-sight capacity, but I now feel, may be effecting the substance and quality of Bioware, as I feared.

The Entity? Electronic Arts, of course. Blame them.

Nenene again i dont understand why you not getting this I mean no disrespect to you. The team that did dragon age is not doing star wars old republic mmo it mostly be the same team that did star wars the knights of the old republic series when part one and two went on xbox .Also George Lucas and his company Lucas Arts people will help Bioware do Star Wars Old Republic because George Lucas is like the head boss of it and Bioware needs to get permission from George Lucas before they do certain things to his story.Just have more faith in this please I am guessing you a die hard fan of world of warcraft and they think nothing will outbeat wow I never said this game will outdo wow i just said it will win in the STORY LORE.

@(Unverified)
cool story bro

^
The 'cool story bro' is actually me, I was using my roommate's computer to post and forgot to log into my own account. That'll teach me to try out RIFT on someone's computer while reading Massively.

Sorry, Irem, please don't kill me :(

I honestly believe that the MMO community is going to go feral and start eating each other unless ToR and GW2 is released soon.

@Dunraven

Let them!

And turn up the music from the Star Trek episode, "Amok Time" while your at it! We need more such battles among fandom's gamers! :P

@Space Cobra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Rl46Dpy-P4&feature=related

For clarity!

Also, I was generally pleased with the info and question/answer sessions, even though some questions were a bit "meh" or "Of course there will be!"

As long as there are available texture packages for 1920x1280 I think the graphics will look pretty kick ass. Not super realistic kick ass but good for sure. So long as it looks not like a shoddy port I think the stylistic approach will be more than acceptable.

Clearly they are 90% finished with everything and after several years of waiting at this point I would prefer polished and perfect over 19 7gig patches to make it work right 2 weeks after launch.

BioWare talks environmental polish in The Old Republic, answers class-related questions

Reader Comments (20)

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 2:45PM winterborn said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 2:59PM Pingles said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 3:20PM KDolo said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 5:20PM Natsumi said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 3:47PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 4:33PM Gaugamela said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 3:48PM Nenene said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 9:05PM PaperSpeaks said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 4:11PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 4:28PM Nenene said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 5:06PM Interitus said

Posted: Apr 16th 2011 6:13AM Space Cobra said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 5:06PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 6:05PM Irem said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 6:10PM Nenene said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 5:32PM Dunraven said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 7:38PM Space Cobra said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 7:39PM Space Cobra said

Posted: Apr 15th 2011 7:40PM Space Cobra said

Posted: Apr 16th 2011 2:32PM fattybeef said

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