OVERVIEW
I joined the Star Wars: The Old Republic team midway through development. The title was a massively multiplayer take on Bioware’s Knights of the Old Republic franchise. I originally joined the team as a game designer focusing on general content implementation. After a few months, the world director had me join a 4 person instance team that required more advanced scripting. This groupwas dedicated to the content that was closest to single player experiences of the previous games.
GAME INFO
- Developer: Bioware
- Release Date(s): 2011
- Platforms: PC
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My initial time was spent on implementing content for various planets including Tattooine, Quesh, and Ilum. Throughout most of my time there, however, I focused on the flashpoints that players would experience throughout their journey as an Imperial or Republic character.FLASHPOINTS
Flashpoints were group based instances that focused on a tightly knit, narrative experience that closest resembled the single player experience of Bioware’s past titles. The team consisted of 2 world builders and 2 scripters. I and another scripter along with the world builders, would establish the flow, overall layout, spawning, and scripting needed to bring these areas online.
Boarding Party
Imperial players were tasked with tracking down a high-level Republic prisoner that escaped from an Imperial Prison. Along the way, they were required to prevent an attack that attempted to destroy the Sith Empire.
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Directive 7
In this flashpoint, a rogue AI droid named Mentor had freed the AI behavior of other droids by issuing a protocol (called Directive 7). The droid’s plan was to do the same for all other droids in the galaxy, purging sentient life.
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Kaon Under Siege
In Kaon Under Siege, players were tasked with investigating a crash site on the planet of Kaon, and defeating Rakghouls along the way before meeting up with a Major trying to defend the city. We used inspiration from Left for Dead and tried to introduce horde like behavior at various points throughout the flashpoint.
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Maelstrom Prison
Maelstrom Prison took place after players completed the vicious battle on and above Taral V. Republic players were given coordinates in that earlier flashpoint which pointed them to a secret Imperial Prison. Players were tasked with investigating the prison, freeing Jedi, and learning about what secrets the prison held. This was where a high profile, fan favorite character was also revealed to be held from the previous Knights of the Old Republic games.
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Taral V
A top secret Imperial prison held a Jedi Master who was important to the Republic war effort. In Taral V, players were tasked with liberating the prisoner by assaulting the heavily fortified compound on the planet and accessing the computers for information on the location of the prison.
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The Battle of Ilum
In The Battle of Ilum, a newly self appointed emperor calls his forces in to invade Ilum for valuable resources. The threat to both the Empire and Republic required players to land on Ilum and participate in an already heated war that had been ravaging the planet’s surface. This map was heavily scripted to ensure a feeling of battle going on around the player. During development, I added several layers of ambient warfare throughout the scenes, by having additional skirmishes, flyovers of ships, and explosions that affected the environment as the player progressed.
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The Black Talon
The Black Talon was the first flashpoint we ever created and the model for how other flashpoints would be constructed. In it, players was tasked with escorting a droid to the bridge while defending it from an incoming assault attempting to stop the player from reaching their next planet.
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The Esseles
The Esseles was a Republic transport that routinely carried civilians to the planet Coruscant. The player started out in a cantina aboard the ship mingling with other passengers. While relaxing, the ship comes under attack and the player is tasked with defeating a ruthless leader and his renegades from taking over the ship.
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The False Emperor
Taking place right after the Battle of Ilum, The False Emperor tasked players with invading the final boss’s space station in order to take him down. This was the final piece of story content for the whole game, bringing the overall narrative to conclusion.
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The Foundry
The Foundry took place after The Boarding Party flashpoint. Players discover that a high level Republic prisoner escaped to the Foundry, an ancient weapon capable of mass destruction. They had to track down the master Jedi and defeat him, claiming the Foundry for the Empire.
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