In video games as in film, sound design is usually something a designer hopes goes unnoticed, but if it weren't there, viewers might think part of the game was missing. Star Wars: The Old Republic is obviously no different, but there is an extra challenge that comes with working on a widely recognized intellectual property. "Establishment of style has to be done a bit more carefully in The Old Republic than in other games; after all, there is a long legacy of signature sounds associated with the Star Wars universe that came out of the films, television series, and even previous games," declares Audio Designer Scott Morton in this week's Studio Insider. Iconic sounds such as lightsabers igniting, blasters firing, droids buzzing, and ship taking off have to encapsulate the Star Wars feel.
Those of you who like to dive behind the scenes of your favorite game should check out the rest of the Studio Insider all about combat sound. In the same article, Senior Concept Artist Clint Young answers fan questions about the visual concepts of Star Wars: The Old Republic. TOR is really appealing to the senses in this week's Friday update.
Reader Comments (26)
Posted: May 20th 2011 1:34PM Duulin said
I can't wait until next week when they unveil the brand of chairs the developers sit in while coding.
Wake me when we have a release date.
Wake me when we have a release date.
Posted: May 20th 2011 1:51PM Alex Oglitchkin said
@Duulin In this game sound will matter big time to true Star Wars fans. They are just stating they are looking to make the sounds just like we have heard them before. Not many games get praise for having good sound effects.
Reply
Posted: May 20th 2011 3:21PM eyeball2452 said
@Duulin
Ha! Mostly agree. I don't care that much about sound development, but it is something they need to a decent job on. As for the music, I'll probably turn it off before I start playing and either use Pandora or my mp3 collection.
All I care about is PvE and more specifically, the class/combat system, questing content and dungeon/raid content. Everything else is meh.
Well, I would like to hear how the macro/addon system is going to work. Hopefully it's better than Rift. Mashing one button was fun for an hour.
Reply
Ha! Mostly agree. I don't care that much about sound development, but it is something they need to a decent job on. As for the music, I'll probably turn it off before I start playing and either use Pandora or my mp3 collection.
All I care about is PvE and more specifically, the class/combat system, questing content and dungeon/raid content. Everything else is meh.
Well, I would like to hear how the macro/addon system is going to work. Hopefully it's better than Rift. Mashing one button was fun for an hour.
Posted: May 20th 2011 7:53PM entropyboy said
@Alex Oglitchkin
Not many may get official praise but i have loved the music and sound design in most of the MMOs i have played.
But it seems that sound gets less attention from the MMO community because i constant see threads about muting the game and listening to something else while you play.
As for Star Wars:
One of the main reasons i even played SWG was for the nostalgic sound of blaster fire. So i think that a Star Wars MMO has a much higher bar in this category than other MMOs considering its source material.
Reply
Not many may get official praise but i have loved the music and sound design in most of the MMOs i have played.
But it seems that sound gets less attention from the MMO community because i constant see threads about muting the game and listening to something else while you play.
As for Star Wars:
One of the main reasons i even played SWG was for the nostalgic sound of blaster fire. So i think that a Star Wars MMO has a much higher bar in this category than other MMOs considering its source material.
Posted: May 20th 2011 1:50PM Space Cobra said
I am gonna wildly speculate and exaggerate with this sentence from the article:
"And to top it all off, how much cuter is that baby Flesh-Raider once you can hear his little hungry cries for meat?"
I am calling it! In-game baby pets for your characters to take care of and use as pokemon! ;P
No evidence to back me up, either! ;P
"And to top it all off, how much cuter is that baby Flesh-Raider once you can hear his little hungry cries for meat?"
I am calling it! In-game baby pets for your characters to take care of and use as pokemon! ;P
No evidence to back me up, either! ;P
Posted: May 20th 2011 1:51PM dudes said
Release date or I join the vaporware denier cult.
Posted: May 20th 2011 3:43PM Vagrant Zero said
@dudes If you could take a vow of silence when you join that'd be great.
Reply
Posted: May 20th 2011 3:27PM Dunraven said
I'm franky baffled as to why it hasn't been released yet in testing it I can say that the game is pretty complete and Top notch..it's defiantly going to give every other MMO out there a run for it's money.
The only downside is there isn't much for the raid crowd in TOR, but the casual progressionist, the PVPer and the Crafter are going to have scads to do.
The only downside is there isn't much for the raid crowd in TOR, but the casual progressionist, the PVPer and the Crafter are going to have scads to do.
Posted: May 20th 2011 4:12PM (Unverified) said
@Dunraven
not the pvp'er. pvp is an afterthought in TOR. im a pvp'er, and a huge SW fan...wont be buying TOR for sure.
Reply
not the pvp'er. pvp is an afterthought in TOR. im a pvp'er, and a huge SW fan...wont be buying TOR for sure.
Posted: May 20th 2011 5:35PM Laurs said
@(Unverified)
Yes, because obviously saying you're a pvper and a SW fan is enough to be able to judge the game without even having it released to an open beta. Abandon all hope ye who want to actually see SWTOR's PvP before judging it, for this guy is both a pvper and a SW fan, and he.. *gasp*.. WON'T be buying the game, therefore TOR's PvP *MUST* suck...
Reply
Yes, because obviously saying you're a pvper and a SW fan is enough to be able to judge the game without even having it released to an open beta. Abandon all hope ye who want to actually see SWTOR's PvP before judging it, for this guy is both a pvper and a SW fan, and he.. *gasp*.. WON'T be buying the game, therefore TOR's PvP *MUST* suck...
Posted: May 20th 2011 7:14PM NeverDeath said
@Laurs
You haven't heard? Unverified has strong opinions (that are always right) about everything in gaming. He possesses a cornucopia of brilliance which he utilizes regularly to back up his statements. Er, oops. Typo on that last part ;P
Reply
You haven't heard? Unverified has strong opinions (that are always right) about everything in gaming. He possesses a cornucopia of brilliance which he utilizes regularly to back up his statements. Er, oops. Typo on that last part ;P











