Jaskell from Sony Online Entertainment's Star Wars Galaxies writes this developer journal looking at housing updates in the game's Update 9.

Hey gang, this is Jaskell checking in with a behind-the-scenes look at some of the excellent new features coming with Game Update 9.

Being a Star Wars Galaxies home owner myself, I was excited to be assigned the task of adding new structures to Game Update 9. I had heard that the art team was going to add structures with windows as well as exterior color customization and was impressed that they were taking on such a bold task since these are both exciting new features never attempted before in Star Wars Galaxies. As you might imagine, taking large, multi-room structures and cutting holes in the geometry, then attaching a palette where one never existed, presented a few challenges. Ultimately the art team was able to overcome these challenges and successfully created eight windowed houses with exterior color customization, two of which were completely new structures.

Read Game Update 9 Journal - Housing Updates

Can you see outside these windows Seamlessly? That would have been useful back in the Bounty Hunter days when they used to wait outside your house lol.

Is this the patch that brings back the pre-nge game?  :P

Originally posted by MindTrigger

Is this the patch that brings back the pre-nge game?  :P

Probably not, hence: who cares?

The only reason I still follow SWG's updates is because then I get to imagine what pre-CU would've been like with them.

La la la. :)

 I wonder how many people still play it. I tried the trial a few years back, didnt see a single player.

I would invest a lot of time into it if only they updated the graphics and made the game how it was befire that update, I ve read a lot about that,

There is no reason why MMO can not just be updated and evolved. Look at WW2 ONLINE, has been going for something like  9 years and they are currently updating its gfx engine and there is no sign of it dieng, devs just keep evolving and evolving it.

I notice SOE keeps giving me like 2 week free periods every couple of months to go back and try it, I dd a few months ago and I played for a week and then stopped because it was just terrible. For something as huge as Star Wars, there shouldn't be the option to release crap content or change the game so much that 75% of your player base quits on you just because you wanted to copy WoW. I play WoW and sometimes it sucks and you want to get into the star wars universe and just have fun like we used to. Ehh, heres hoping that bioware mmo won't be just hype.

Sorry i just dont see whats challenging about adding transparent blue.

yea but then the bounty hunters can see in too.   Has this game really upgraded their graphics much since it first came out?  I havent played in years.  How are the numbers.    Server populations pretty high?  thanks much for any info.

Originally posted by Shreddi

1. Has this game really upgraded their graphics much since it first came out?
2. How are the numbers.
3. Server populations pretty high?

1. Not really.
2. Terrible.
3. Nope.

All-in-all, it's been nothing but a horrendous disappointment since the CU. Welcome to the SoE MO.

With all the moaning and groaning you guys do, I find it funny that SW:TOR is being developed with the same devs as SWG had at launch.  People are going to be so disappointed when that game launches.   Really think, what lessons did that crew learn from the SWG experiance of game design?  The only lesson they got was not to change a "Sandbox" for a game.  Just make the "Game" in the first place.

Someone wrote that "WOW is the death knell of the MMORPG..."  Looking at the AAA Market of today, I can see thier point.

Originally posted by John.A.Zoid

Can you see outside these windows Seamlessly? That would have been useful back in the Bounty Hunter days when they used to wait outside your house lol.

From inside the house you can see everything outside just as if you were standing out on the front porch.

From outside the house you cannot see people or items inside the house - unless you've already seen them outside the house, or unless you yourself were inside the house earlier.

In other words, a private house with windows looks empty unless you happen to see the owner entering it.

Originally posted by JYCowboy

With all the moaning and groaning you guys do, I find it funny that SW:TOR is being developed with the same devs as SWG had at launch.

I don't think it's funny; I think it's massively disheartening.

I just hope that they don't make the same mistake, again; otherwise, it's simply another SW game that I avoid like the plague.

Honestly it's a neat feature and I wish it was the same in all MMOs.

I hope it's showing the way to others studios.

Sad thing is the sate of the rest of the game is... well, you know it.

/sigh....yet again the dev team of SWG updates something trivial instead of making the game GOOD again like it was pre-CU.  SOE will NEVER learn....that's why I will NEVER play another SOE game again!!!

Originally posted by JYCowboy

With all the moaning and groaning you guys do, I find it funny that SW:TOR is being developed with the same devs as SWG had at launch.  People are going to be so disappointed when that game launches.   Really think, what lessons did that crew learn from the SWG experiance of game design?  The only lesson they got was not to change a "Sandbox" for a game.  Just make the "Game" in the first place.

Someone wrote that "WOW is the death knell of the MMORPG..."  Looking at the AAA Market of today, I can see thier point.

I find it funnier still that you think you have a point to make, most people here have actually said they liked the game at launch so what would be bad about having them as the devs on this product?

I for one never thought the talent of the devs was/is the problem with the game it's ass hats like Smedley who use deceptive business practices in a highly personal customer service industry like mmo production.

Lot's of people make stupid statements about wow doesn't make it true or relevant.  Todays AAA market mostly attempts to copies wows design but hardly is able to match it's quality or it's mass appeal.I think all this really says is that we are at a point in mmo developement where companies are going to have to try and fail to find their success as Blizzard did.

Originally posted by JYCowboy

With all the moaning and groaning you guys do, I find it funny that SW:TOR is being developed with the same devs as SWG had at launch.  People are going to be so disappointed when that game launches.   Really think, what lessons did that crew learn from the SWG experiance of game design?  The only lesson they got was not to change a "Sandbox" for a game.  Just make the "Game" in the first place.

Someone wrote that "WOW is the death knell of the MMORPG..."  Looking at the AAA Market of today, I can see thier point.

I guess you haven't followed the whole timeline of SWG but I, along with anybody who complains about the NGE, would play *any* game developed by SWG's original dev team. The original development team had nothing to do with ruining the sandbox.

Originally posted by liberalguy

Originally posted by JYCowboy

With all the moaning and groaning you guys do, I find it funny that SW:TOR is being developed with the same devs as SWG had at launch.  People are going to be so disappointed when that game launches.   Really think, what lessons did that crew learn from the SWG experiance of game design?  The only lesson they got was not to change a "Sandbox" for a game.  Just make the "Game" in the first place.

Someone wrote that "WOW is the death knell of the MMORPG..."  Looking at the AAA Market of today, I can see thier point.

 

I guess you haven't followed the whole timeline of SWG but I, along with anybody who complains about the NGE, would play *any* game developed by SWG's original dev team. The original development team had nothing to do with ruining the sandbox.

When TOR comes out, let me know how that sandbox is like.

Originally posted by JYCowboy

Originally posted by liberalguy

Originally posted by JYCowboy

With all the moaning and groaning you guys do, I find it funny that SW:TOR is being developed with the same devs as SWG had at launch.  People are going to be so disappointed when that game launches.   Really think, what lessons did that crew learn from the SWG experiance of game design?  The only lesson they got was not to change a "Sandbox" for a game.  Just make the "Game" in the first place.

Someone wrote that "WOW is the death knell of the MMORPG..."  Looking at the AAA Market of today, I can see thier point.

 

I guess you haven't followed the whole timeline of SWG but I, along with anybody who complains about the NGE, would play *any* game developed by SWG's original dev team. The original development team had nothing to do with ruining the sandbox.

 

When TOR comes out, let me know how that sandbox is like.

Yes there is not going to be any sandbox in SWTOR, DEVS said so i their blog when they announced the game. From their words they are going more for WoW formula, unless you consider that sandbox *rolleyes*

you guys really need to stop comparing every mmorpg to WoW,  it's not like it was the first one to use quests for leveling....not like any of its features are new to the genre.....

Originally posted by Clattuc

Originally posted by John.A.Zoid

Can you see outside these windows Seamlessly? That would have been useful back in the Bounty Hunter days when they used to wait outside your house lol.

 

From inside the house you can see everything outside just as if you were standing out on the front porch.

From outside the house you cannot see people or items inside the house - unless you've already seen them outside the house, or unless you yourself were inside the house earlier.

In other words, a private house with windows looks empty unless you happen to see the owner entering it.

Private houses should have curtains or blinds then lol.

Originally posted by Katilla

you guys really need to stop comparing every mmorpg to WoW,  it's not like it was the first one to use quests for leveling....not like any of its features are new to the genre.....

You forget how much WoW has advanced the Genre even if the genre has yet to catch up because developers are creating games that arn't as good. For example UI's before WoW were all very clunky and WoW set a new standard and WoW set a standard in character movement and combat. Also pre WoW the quest based leveling wasn't that great and it was mostly grinding. However WoW brought quest based leveling and made it really popular and refined the quest mechanics so they're fun.

WoW also put good PVP with good PVE and proved that you need a good balance of both to be popular.

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Originally posted by John.A.Zoid

 

For example UI's before WoW were all very clunky and WoW set a new standard

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Yes and no.

WoW UI was a good one but not for the original delivered in the box but for the addons.

You might be surprised but I really liked SWG Pre-NGE UI. Not only it didn't clutter the game screen but it was very efficient and fitted the sci-fi setting. Even today I wish some games did as well as SWG team did for their game.

Also there were 2 very good things that are still missing in all games now:

The aliases: you could /say hello %TT% => hello Zoid. It was very powerful.

The command lines shortcuts: you could execute any command with the very first unique letters. So no need to type /invite Zoid, /inv Zoid or even /inv %tt% would do the same. Some others examples : /follow = /fo, /dragIncapacitatedPlayer = /dra

After a few hours of playing you would have memorized the most used commands and that was really handy.

For the record both the above features still aren't in WoW ;)

Problem is the original UI looked like it was a placeholders one and done with programmer art or something. People I tried to get into the game hated the look of it like how the icons were hard to remember what they were just from looking at them. Where as if you had a picture like the ones in WoW then you instantly know what they are. Sure the veterans of the game and I was fine witht he old UI and it's better than the new one but it wasn't very Star Wars and it could have been a hell of alot better.

Also I never memorized any command in the game throughout the years of playing. I couldn't be dealing with macros and putting my own things on the tool bar because I don't wanna have to work out what all these /slash commands do. I wish'd they streamlined it all down and got rid of macros personally and I was never a fan of macros and felt they were like cheats or a tool to bypass tedious parts of the game that needed fixing.

Final point is you can't customize the UI in SWG where as in WoW developers have full access to the tools they need to create mods and host them and you can do all sorta of crazy stuff with the UI that you can't do in SWG. All because LA felt that somehow changing the UI to something better would ruin Star Wars some how.

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Originally posted by Cristina1

From [devs'] words they are going more for WoW formula, unless you consider that sandbox *rolleyes*

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Originally posted by Deewe

For the record both the above features still aren't in WoW ;)

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Invite can be shortened to /i (since release). Any command can be shortened, if you add the shortened version to the command-list and I wrote an addon years ago that did exactly what you describe (without needing to add stuff manually).... because I missed that functionality from SWG. *cough*

Originally posted by jaxsundane

Originally posted by JYCowboy

With all the moaning and groaning you guys do, I find it funny that SW:TOR is being developed with the same devs as SWG had at launch.  People are going to be so disappointed when that game launches.   Really think, what lessons did that crew learn from the SWG experiance of game design?  The only lesson they got was not to change a "Sandbox" for a game.  Just make the "Game" in the first place.

Someone wrote that "WOW is the death knell of the MMORPG..."  Looking at the AAA Market of today, I can see thier point.

 

I find it funnier still that you think you have a point to make, most people here have actually said they liked the game at launch so what would be bad about having them as the devs on this product?  The Devs in question are mostly if not all Lucas Arts members.  With SWG, LA is responcible for Packaging, Approving, Recording, Continueity, Marketing and most of all Market Research.  They will conduct the same role with TOR.  SOE Developes and Runs (servers) the game.  Who has the most power over the product?  These are the same guys that agreed to Jeff Freeman's pitch of the NGE.  Absent from LA is Jim Ward, J. Torres and Nancy MacIntire who were the key people in promoting.  SOE catches all the blame for the NGE as they are contractually obligated to.  SOE is not blameless, however, as they continued old practices of releasing the game too early and tried to finish with early sub money.  The Game at launch was totally unfinished as Raph Koster has stated -2 of 7 features were ready for the release-. Posters and vets remember Pre-CU with rose colored glasses.  There were huge bugs, few dynamic quests, unbalanced classes, weak GCW and heavy on time-sink grind mechnics.  Strip the Star Wars skin from it and you had a typical MMO of that generation. BTW, at launch, there was no mounts or vehicals, no space, no player houses or cities and Jedi was a dream.  Crafting was and is still the best system out. The skill based progression(though unbalanced) was really fun and organic.  The UI, I had no problems with until they started changing it.  I later learned from a SOE Producer there are some legal issues(copy right) with the UI that warrant the change pushed by LA.  Like most of the NGE, it was rushed.

I for one never thought the talent of the devs was/is the problem with the game it's ass hats like Smedley who use deceptive business practices in a highly personal customer service industry like mmo production.  Smedley takes the abuse with a frown but doesn't say truly whats on his heart.  He is the last "face" of the NGE and based on his SOE/LA contract will continue to be damned for it.  You say "ass hats" as if there is more than one?  I gave you four more names above but you seem to know more.  Who and what company (SOE/LA) are they with?

 

Lot's of people make stupid statements about wow doesn't make it true or relevant.  Todays AAA market mostly attempts to copies wows design but hardly is able to match it's quality or it's mass appeal.I think all this really says is that we are at a point in mmo developement where companies are going to have to try and fail to find their success as Blizzard did.  Having never played WOW, from my readings they did one thing that seems to have not been done before in the AAA market that propelled them to the front.  It wasn't thier game machanics as most had been done in other games with moderate success.  Though good, it wasn't thier easy to learn and adjust UI.  It wasn't the semi-reconizable and adaptible IP or casual friendly upfront target demographics.  WOW success is from its launch, a completely polished, functioning, few bug ridden product that came out the gate in full run.  AOC failed at this as did WAR.  Blizzard waited but tackled the total of WOW to be complete and polished from its get go.

All that said, its my opinion.  As my Pappy said "Opinions are like assholes.  Everyones got one and most of them stink."