Posts Tagged ‘companions’

Companions in SWTOR

Now that just about all of the companions for SWTOR have been finalised, we can finally see just how this system will play out for the average player.

People that have enjoyed games such as Mass Effect and KoTOR will be quite familiar with this system, as by in large companions will function in the way that they did in those previous games.
Throughout the story players will meet new companions, and fortune permitting, they may join them on their adventures across the galaxy. There are many different possibilities for each class, and they will generally take the typical stereotypes we are used to from Star Wars films and Games.

Each class will have their own romantic interest, their droid companion, as well as general fighters that should compliment each professions play style. This will mean high DPS sidekicks for Tanking professions such as Jedi Knight, and strong damage-takers for more fragile Sith Inquisitors.

Unlike in the previous games, Companions will take on whole new levels of customisation in Star Wars The Old Republic. Their behaviour will be controlled (to an extent) by the player, so as to maximise their effectiveness in combat, and their appearance will also be changeable, so we should not have every single player walking through Mos Eisley with identical HK-47 models.

As the developers revealed in their recent release, Companions in SWTOR will play a huge part in the story telling, and many of the quests and adventures players embark on will be due to their interactions with their party. This will mean players will grown very close to their in-game sidekicks, and everyone will certainly have a favourite among them.

For some this might be the useful alien that always have their back in combat, whilst others might prefer a master-craftsman Twi-Lek, even if she gives them a lot of back chat.

Blizz, a Jawa companion from SWTOR, sure to be a favourite.

Bookmark to:

Environment Polish

Just today the Bioware developers over at SWTOR released a long article on the way in which they polish environments, characters and objects in Star Wars The Old Republic.

This includes many aspects, ranging from as simple as making the models, to adjusting their textures, finishes and interior and exterior lighting properties. It is vital that the visual designers have all these factors perfectly in balance, otherwise the Game can be hard on the eyes and run extremely poorly.

The number of objects on screen as well as light sources has a direct effect on Frame rate. In fact, it is pretty much the deciding factor in how many fps (frames per second) a players computer will be able to produce. Therefore, to ensure a game which is as smooth to watch as it is to play, developers must analyze all possible environments to ensure that none will excessively lag, or even crash players computers.

The development team also answered a huge wealth of questions, mainly regarding the planned classes of SWTOR. These rectified many issues players had with the game and told us many new facts about game play:

-Healing spec’d classes will still have considerable damage capability, so will be viable in Solo play.
-Different companions will become available as the game progresses, so players won’t grow too bored of their smelly old Wookiee.
-Companions will be upgradable with different armour, weapons and special attacks.
-Armour can affect the class an combat technique of players, such as with Jedi Knight.

All in all Bioware has taken a positive step forward over the last week and a half to ramp up their customer relations, which has brought them back to the front of the online gaming community.

Environments in SWTOR should be easy on your eyes AND your computer.

Bookmark to: