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Over at the official forums, Lucas Arts Producer Haden Blackman posted a trip report on his recent in-game visit to one of the planets in Star Wars Galaxies. Here's the mandatory snippet:
The above describes one of several experiences I had while exploring the most recent version of the game. The product has taken tremendous strides forward since my last trip report. Here’s what’s really going on:
-My character was fully-customized using our character generator. I changed the size of his ears, the length of his muzzle, his initial hairstyle, and several other traits to give him a unique look.
-We have several Naboo cities placed, with final art and layout. Theed is obviously a focus for us because it’s familiar to fans, so we wanted to get it right. While the city isn’t as big as it appears in the movies (you’d get lost inside it and never find your way out again!), it is among the largest cities ever built for an MMO, in my experience. The city is also beautiful – we have reflection mapping on statues; wonderful textures on the streets, arches, and buildings; interesting side-locations, like the above-mentioned park; creative touches such as the sea walls; and fountains, with particle effects to create the illusion of running water. We also have examples of interiors, player housing, and municipal structures (like a garage).
-The fact that my character could walk across the bridge leading into Theed is actually a major accomplishment. It doesn’t seem like much, but it represents a huge step forward in terms of collision on specific object surfaces – like a bridge, balcony, staircase, etc.
-The NPC merchants were running basic scripts. When I clicked on the Ithorian, I was offered a choice of weapons and equipment. Clicking on an item transferred it into my inventory. When I clicked on the hairdresser, a list of hairstyle choices popped up (all through temporary UI, by the way). There was also a “skill teacher” who could provide me with a basic blaster or blaster rifle skill – by selecting a skill, that skill was assigned to my character, demonstrating the skill system on a basic level.
-Aside from the NPC merchants and stormtroopers, the other characters were all player-controlled. Basically, I had jumped on the server just to look around, and the next thing I knew, other folks in both San Diego and Austin were logging in with customized characters. At one point, I was surrounded by about fifteen PCs, four merchant NPCs, and ten or so stormtroopers in the distance. All of the characters were at the highest LOD – our character LODs aren’t finished yet – so even those far distant stormtroopers were being drawn at 3,000 polys. And yet the framerate was still very solid. This may have been the best part of the trip…
-Let me tell you again: I was running around in Theed with over a dozen other players, all chatting to one another. Hey, it’s just like a real MMO! |
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SWG: Trip Report
