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The music is composed by [[Mark Griskey]] and [[Wilbert Roget, II]].
The music is composed by [[Mark Griskey]] and [[Wilbert Roget, II]].


Babies fall from the sky award
==Pre-release reception==
The title has already begun to receive a great deal of praise from various media outlets several months before its release. [[E3 2010]] provided the public the most recent chance to go hands on with ''The Old Republic''. Many gaming related news sources gave the project accolades for its showing at the convention. [[GameTrailers]] awarded the game both ''Best RPG'' and ''Best Online Game'' of E3.


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 01:14, 11 December 2010

For the series, see Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (series).
Star Wars: The Old Republic
File:Starwarsoldrepublic.jpg
Developer(s)BioWare
Publisher(s)EA Games
Programmer(s)
  • David Scott Edit this on Wikidata
SeriesStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
EngineHeroEngine[3]
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
ReleaseQ2/Q3 2011 [1][2]
Genre(s)Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based in the Star Wars universe.[4][5] Currently in development by BioWare Austin and a supplemental team at BioWare Edmonton, the game was first announced on October 21, 2008, at an invitation-only press event.[6] The Old Republic will be released as a Windows title.[7] The game is scheduled to come out by Q2/Q3 2011.

Gameplay

Members of the two main factions—the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire—will have different moralities; the project's key focus is to differentiate between the player's faction and morality.[8] Each faction will contain different classes, each with a distinct backstory and a branching storyline affected by players' moral choices.[8] Classes will also be exclusive to one faction or the other.[9] All eight of the classes have been confirmed: the Bounty Hunter,[10] Sith Warrior,[11] Imperial Agent,[12] and Sith Inquisitor[13] for the Sith Empire; and the Trooper,[14] Smuggler,[15] Jedi Knight,[16] and Jedi Consular[17] for the Galactic Republic. Although each class will have a distinct storyline, they will be integrated with the game's overall arc.[18] The Old Republic will also use cover mechanics for the first time in MMO gameplay.[19]

Unlike traditional MMOs, classes in the Old Republic are not limited to the typical archetypes (healer, tank, melee dps, ranged etc...). Bioware has stated that each class will support on-the-fly customization that will allow any class to fill any role within a party, eliminating the need to spam channels in search of a specific class needed to fill a role within a group, which can delay or outright stop parties from completing group quests. While each class in The Old Republic will still favor a certain play style (be it ranged, melee, or otherwise), customization combined with companion characters will make for having a class be able to tackle many different situations, with or without the support of other player characters, and without requiring specific other classes in order to move forward.[20]

Players' choices will permanently open or close storylines and affect players' non-player character (NPC) companions.[8] The game's developers believe that the game will provide more context for characters' missions and quests than other MMORPGs offer. Every character in the game, including the player character, will feature full voice dialog to enhance gameplay, and interactions with those characters will feature a dialogue system similar to that used in the Mass Effect series.[8] Players will be able to choose from a variety of NPCs, although spending time with a single companion will help more in developing story and content than dividing time among several,[21] and may even develop a love interest.[22] It is possible for players to "blow it big time" if they fail to meet NPCs' expectations.[21] Players will also have access to dozens of planets,[8] including Korriban, Ord Mantell, Nal Hutta, Tython,[23] Coruscant,[24] Balmorra,[25] Alderaan,[26] Tatooine,[27] Dromund Kaas,[28] Taris,[29] Belsavis,[30] Voss,[31] Hoth, [32] Corellia,[33] Ilum;[34] and the moon Nar Shaddaa.[35] Every player will receive his or her own Star-ship, which was announced at E3 2010.

Footage of space combat was released at Gamescom. The short clip provided by BioWare revealed that space combat would be a "tunnel shooter."[36] A tunnel shooter, otherwise known as a scrolling shooter, is a flying game where the player is on a predetermined track. Game play includes moving right and left on the X axis and up and down on the Y axis; however, players won't have control of the speed of their space craft. Jake Neri, LucasArts Producer, told PC Gamer in their upcoming October 2010 issue that their goal is to "capture the most cinematic moments that we can create. We want players to get in and feel like they're in the movies. It's about highly cinematic, controlled combat moments...very heroic, action-packed, exciting, visceral and dangerous encounters that'll make you pee your pants."

There will be a range of playable races for the player to choose from. So far confirmed are Chiss,[37] Human, Miraluka,[38] Mirialan,[38] Rattataki,[39] Sith Pureblood,[38] Twi'lek[40] and Zabrak.[38] Although Humans can pick any class available, other races have been restricted to only several classes each.

Plot

The story takes place in the Star Wars fictional universe shortly after the establishment of a tenuous peace between the re-emergent Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic,[41] 300 years after the events of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games and more than 3,500 years before the events in the Star Wars films.[8][42] The Jedi are held responsible for the success of the Sith during the devastating 28 Year long Great Galactic War (which led to the Treaty of Coruscant prior to the Cold War) and thus choose to relocate from Coruscant to Tython, where the Jedi order had initially been founded, to seek guidance from the Force.[8][43] The Sith control Korriban, where they have re-established a Sith Academy.[44] The game begins as new conflicts arise.[8]

A collaborative effort between BioWare, LucasArts and Dark Horse Comics has resulted in webcomics entitled "Star Wars: The Old Republic: Threat of Peace" and "Star Wars: The Old Republic: Blood of the Empire", the purpose of which is to set up the story as the game opens.

Development

The Old Republic marks BioWare's first entry into the MMORPG market,[41] and it will be the second Star Wars MMORPG after Star Wars Galaxies. BioWare had long been interested in working on a MMORPG, but waited until they had "the right partners, the right team, and the right I.P."[8] A major focus in the game is on developing characters' individual stories[41] and, in October 2008, BioWare considered this game to have more story content than all of their other games combined.[8] The writing team, which has been working on the game longer than any other developers,[18] includes 12 full-time writers, some of whom have worked on the project for more than two years.[8] The game's first cinematic trailer, "Deceived," was shown at the Electronic Arts 2009 E3 Press Conference on June 1, 2009.[45] A public live demo was shown for the first time at the Gamescom.[46] On September 29, 2009, Bioware announced that they would be accepting applications for testers from the game community. Within minutes, the official website was down due to traffic, and Bioware announced shortly after that the site was being changed in order to accommodate the increase in visitors. Game testing was officially announced to be underway on July 9, 2010, for testers from North American territories. As of September 2010, the official website has shown inclusion of the character Darth Revan and information of his reign in the gameplay. The budget is rumored to be well past 300 million dollars by a company insider. [47]

Other media

A novelization related to the game written by Sean Williams[48] called Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance was released on July 21, 2010.[49]

An internet comic produced by Dark Horse and written by The Old Republic developer Rob Chestney offers backstory to the game.[50] The story spans ten years from the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant to the events that start the game. The comic, titled Threat of Peace, was released bi-monthly, and reached its conclusion in March 2010.

A second internet comic titled Blood of the Empire has been released and follows the story of a Sith apprentice on a dangerous and secretive mission. It is produced by Dark Horse and written by BioWare’s Senior Writer Alexander Freed. The story is set 25 years before the Treaty of Coruscant, and offers readers a new perspective of the events leading up to the start of The Old Republic.[51] A sneak preview of the art was released, followed by the first issue on April 23, 2010.

A 256 page novelization called Deceived will be released by Del Rey on March 22, 2011. This story by Paul S. Kemp, will tell the story of Darth Malgus, the Sith Lord responsible for the sacking of Coruscant.

Music

The music is composed by Mark Griskey and Wilbert Roget, II.

Babies fall from the sky award

See also

References

  1. ^ BioWare Confirms Spring 2011 Release Window For The Old Republic
  2. ^ http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=109426
  3. ^ Thang, Jimmy (2008-12-10). "BioWare Using Simutronics' HeroEngine for Star Wars: The Old Republic". IGN. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
  4. ^ "LucasArts and Bioware Reveal Star Wars: The Old Republic" (Press release). LucasArts and BioWare. 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  5. ^ "BioWare, Lucasarts Unveil Star Wars: The Old Republic". Game Informer. 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2008-10-21. [dead link‍]
  6. ^ Nguyen, Thierry (2008-10-21). "Star Wars KOTOR MMO Announcement Liveblog". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
  7. ^ "The MMO Report: Thursday, March 12th". G4. 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thorsen, Tor (2008-10-21). "Star Wars: The Old Republic revealed". GameSpot. San Francisco: CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  9. ^ "Developer Blog: Creating the Bounty Hunter". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
  10. ^ "Bounty Hunter". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  11. ^ "Sith Warrior". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  12. ^ "The Imperial Agent Revealed!". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  13. ^ "Sith Inquistor Forums". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
  14. ^ "Trooper". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  15. ^ "Smuggler". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  16. ^ "Jedi Knight". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  17. ^ "Jedi Consular Forums". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  18. ^ a b Butts, Steve (2008-10-21). "Star Wars: The Old Republic Preview". IGN. p. 2. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  19. ^ "Developer Walkthrough". BioWare. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
  20. ^ "Jake Neri Interview, Part 2". Darth Hater. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  21. ^ a b Butts, Steve (2008-10-21). "Star Wars: The Old Republic Preview". IGN. p. 3. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  22. ^ Vaughan, Bill (2009-08-10). "SW:TOR Character Romance Possible". p. 1. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  23. ^ "Developer Dispatch: Diverse Worlds". GameTrailers. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  24. ^ "Planet Coruscant Revealed — Trailer". Darth Hater. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  25. ^ "BALMORRA: ON THE EDGE OF ALL-OUT WAR". swtor.com. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  26. ^ "Alderaan". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
  27. ^ "Tatooine". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-12-19.
  28. ^ "Dromund Kaas". BioWare. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  29. ^ "Taris". BioWare. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
  30. ^ "Belsavis". BioWare. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  31. ^ "Voss". BioWare. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  32. ^ "Hoth". BioWare. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  33. ^ "Corellia". BioWare. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  34. ^ "Ilum". BioWare. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  35. ^ "Nar Shaddaa as of september 10 the planet Corellia has also been added". BioWare. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  36. ^ Space Combat in Star Wars: The Old Republic
  37. ^ "In the case of the Imperial agent, we played as a member of the Chiss race"/
  38. ^ a b c d http://swtor.com/news/news-article/20100806
  39. ^ Star Wars: The Old Republic reveal playable species with our hands on/
  40. ^ "As a smuggler, we played as a Twi'lek"/
  41. ^ a b c Star Wars: The Old Republic Revealed (Trailer). GameSpot. 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
  42. ^ "The Setting - FAQ". LucasArts and BioWare. Retrieved 2008-10-21. Star Wars: The Old Republic takes place more than 3,500-3,600 years before the rise of Darth Vader.
  43. ^ "Tython". Star Wars: The Old Republic. LucasArts and BioWare. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  44. ^ "Korriban". Star Wars: The Old Republic. LucasArts and BioWare. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  45. ^ ""Deceived" Cinematic Trailer Released!". BioWare. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  46. ^ "EA reveals gamescom lineup". Game Examiner. Retrieved 2009-08-016. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  47. ^ "EA Artist, Soon To Be Laid Off, Burns EA Management". Game Revolution. Retrieved 2010-10-012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  48. ^ http://www.njoe.com/2009/11/01/sean-williams-to-write-the-old-republic-novel
  49. ^ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345511328/ Amazon listing
  50. ^ O'Connor, Michael (2009-02-27). "Star Wars: The Old Republic web comic released". The Gaming Vault. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  51. ^ "Blood of the Empire Webcomic". Bioware. 2010-03-12. Retrieved 2010-03-16.

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