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Star Wars Galaxies: Creating The Tomb of Exar Kun
Szark
News ManagerMember Posts: 4,420
Christine Chugon, an artist on Star Wars Galaxies, has written a dev journal which takes a look at the creation of The Tomb of Exar Kun.
Hi all, Christine "TrandoshYar" Chugon here. I'm an artist on Star Wars Galaxies and I was responsible for creating the Exar Kun heroic encounter dungeon. For this dev diary, I'll give you an overview of how the dungeon made it in game.
This particular dungeon started out as a pencil sketch given to me by Travis "Shadowbrak" Hicks, designer for the Exar Kun encounter. He gave me a layout of room sizes and what the overall theme of each room would be.
Here on Galaxies we use the 3D program Maya. In Maya, I blocked out each room, and using a default human mesh I guessed how big each room would be.
Read more here.
Comments
Awesome! A great piece of work.
It will be a good piece of work when the bugs are taken care of.
Over spawning of Bosses
Location issues in the instance
All kinds of problems with peeps trying to get into the instance.
FIX THE FEAKING BUGS
Excuse me, but what does this have to do with this exact thread? As far as I can tell, nothing. Please shut up and move along. If you can't comment on the exact object of the thread, then you don't need/shouldn't comment.
With that said, I'm looking to get into game programming and I enjoy hearing about the tools of the trade, no matter who they are. Even programmers of a less popular game have done something that most of us haven't, which is make a game. I'll definately look into what this person has to say.
This thread is about an article discussing the creation of this instance. Therefore, he's stating they did a piss poor job at it as they have done for years now. By the way, you'll want to look into programming in general before you decide to jump to game programming, otherwise you will be massively overwhelmed.
I'm currently going to college and learning the fundamentals of C++ programming. I'm doing fairly well with it, though things are getting progressively harder (ie, reading file information using fin comment, though this thursday, our instructor might explain more).
I've also begun to college several books on the subject of programming, general and game related.
But back to the point, his comment didn't have anything directed at the instance. It was just a round about hate comment against the game in general. So like I said, not related to the topic. (ironic as my fist two paragraphs are completely unrelated as well).
lol, I didn't think anyone had any run ins with Exar Kun till way after ep6 in the time line when Luke formed his Jedi Academy on Yavin.
SWG has made a mockery of SW canon repeatedly.
Wouldn't be surprised if Darth Bane walked into Eisley Cantina any day now...
Nice iceing but unfortunatly the cake is well past its use by date , why not fix the game then additions like this would be worth while .
It so shows that some "kids" simply have no idea about SW canon. Same for some other "kids" who post things like "thinking" they gonna meet Exar Kun or say it doesn't fit the timeline. That shows how little people actualy read before they post a comment on it.
"Re-imagining the Exar Kun temple has been a fun and informative process for us. We started with the current fictional canon in the Star Wars universe, as well as the basic temple layout currently in SWG. From there, we worked with Lucas Licensing to further develop the look and feel of the temple. When dealing with established characters and locations in the property, there's always a phase where you're fact-checking against current continuity. We have to make sure our proposed fiction doesn't clash with the established works, including prior movies, games, television, comics, novels... even toys. Fortunately, Lucasfilm keeps a detailed archive composed of decades of established canon - we can cross-reference that to make sure our Exar Kun content fits nicely with the existing timeline. ": Tim Temmerman
Associate Producer, Star Wars Galaxies
LucasArts
OT: nice to see how it works behind the scene, i alway's enjoy things like that regardles the game.
It so shows that some "kids" simply have no idea about SW canon. Same for some other "kids" who post things like "thinking" they gonna meet Exar Kun or say it doesn't fit the timeline. That shows how little people actualy read before they post a comment on it.
"Re-imagining the Exar Kun temple has been a fun and informative process for us. We started with the current fictional canon in the Star Wars universe, as well as the basic temple layout currently in SWG. From there, we worked with Lucas Licensing to further develop the look and feel of the temple. When dealing with established characters and locations in the property, there's always a phase where you're fact-checking against current continuity. We have to make sure our proposed fiction doesn't clash with the established works, including prior movies, games, television, comics, novels... even toys. Fortunately, Lucasfilm keeps a detailed archive composed of decades of established canon - we can cross-reference that to make sure our Exar Kun content fits nicely with the existing timeline. ": Tim Temmerman
Associate Producer, Star Wars Galaxies
LucasArts
OT: nice to see how it works behind the scene, i alway's enjoy things like that regardles the game.
chances are I've got kids older than you, child.The temple was discovered by naturalist Dr'uun Unnh during the "Battle of Yavin". He was killed when a crashing TIE fighter destroyed his speederbike, and his datapad was only found much later.
No one visited the temple until Luke Skywalker and Jan Dodonna a year later, and it wasn't until 10 years after that, when Skywalker establishes his academy there, that the spirit of Kun is awoken.
Besides this obvious conflict, we are all aware of just how canonical it is to have thousands of jedi flaunting their sabers in public durint eh time of the Empire, and then there's always HK-47 showing up on Mustafar, having wookies running around free (and joining the Imperial faction), just to name a few glaring inconsistencies.
SWG is a melting pot of SW names and figures tossed in to lure people into playing the game. They don't give a damn about canon. The only thing that might be accurate, as indicated by the information that you provided above, is the floorplan and general architecture of the temple.
Quoted for infinite truth. However Lucas is to blame for every bit of this. George went bug shit insane right after Star Wars was put in the can, his wife left him with a daughter to raise by his self, the pressure that Fox was putting on him about silly things such as placing the credits at the end of the movie and his sudden almost overnight rocket to stardom was more than he could handle. Gary Kurtz explains what happened to George very eloquently on a episode of Biography.
I would have loved to have seen the original Vision of Star Wars. Instead of Ewoks, enslaved Wookies, Leia not Luke’s sister, Luke’s sister becoming Vader’s Sith apprentice....so much more interesting than the Muppets take the Rebellion. But George suddenly felt he had to write a story for the ankle biters, and ever since then Star Wars has been the most schizophrenic series ever produced. On one hand we have Teddy bears prancing through the fields, holding hands with blue elephant people...then the next movie Little Annie Is slaughtering children with his lightsaber. It is only logical that twisted vision bleed over into other mediums.
Quoted for infinite truth. However Lucas is to blame for every bit of this. George went bug shit insane right after Star Wars was put in the can, his wife left him with a daughter to raise by his self, the pressure that Fox was putting on him about silly things such as placing the credits at the end of the movie and his sudden almost overnight rocket to stardom was more than he could handle. Gary Kurtz explains what happened to George very eloquently on a episode of Biography.
I would have loved to have seen the original Vision of Star Wars. Instead of Ewoks, enslaved Wookies, Leia not Luke’s sister, Luke’s sister becoming Vader’s Sith apprentice....so much more interesting than the Muppets take the Rebellion. But George suddenly felt he had to write a story for the ankle biters, and ever since then Star Wars has been the most schizophrenic series ever produced. On one hand we have Teddy bears prancing through the fields, holding hands with blue elephant people...then the next movie Little Annie Is slaughtering children with his lightsaber. It is only logical that twisted vision bleed over into other mediums.
LMAO
It so shows that some "kids" simply have no idea about SW canon. Same for some other "kids" who post things like "thinking" they gonna meet Exar Kun or say it doesn't fit the timeline. That shows how little people actualy read before they post a comment on it.
"Re-imagining the Exar Kun temple has been a fun and informative process for us. We started with the current fictional canon in the Star Wars universe, as well as the basic temple layout currently in SWG. From there, we worked with Lucas Licensing to further develop the look and feel of the temple. When dealing with established characters and locations in the property, there's always a phase where you're fact-checking against current continuity. We have to make sure our proposed fiction doesn't clash with the established works, including prior movies, games, television, comics, novels... even toys. Fortunately, Lucasfilm keeps a detailed archive composed of decades of established canon - we can cross-reference that to make sure our Exar Kun content fits nicely with the existing timeline. ": Tim Temmerman
Associate Producer, Star Wars Galaxies
LucasArts
OT: nice to see how it works behind the scene, i alway's enjoy things like that regardles the game.
chances are I've got kids older than you, child.The temple was discovered by naturalist Dr'uun Unnh during the "Battle of Yavin". He was killed when a crashing TIE fighter destroyed his speederbike, and his datapad was only found much later.
No one visited the temple until Luke Skywalker and Jan Dodonna a year later, and it wasn't until 10 years after that, when Skywalker establishes his academy there, that the spirit of Kun is awoken.
Besides this obvious conflict, we are all aware of just how canonical it is to have thousands of jedi flaunting their sabers in public durint eh time of the Empire, and then there's always HK-47 showing up on Mustafar, having wookies running around free (and joining the Imperial faction), just to name a few glaring inconsistencies.
SWG is a melting pot of SW names and figures tossed in to lure people into playing the game. They don't give a damn about canon. The only thing that might be accurate, as indicated by the information that you provided above, is the floorplan and general architecture of the temple.
QFE!!
personally i think she did a great job given the circumstances that swg is in. she's a artist just doing what she's told, give the poor girl a break.
It so shows that some "kids" simply have no idea about SW canon. Same for some other "kids" who post things like "thinking" they gonna meet Exar Kun or say it doesn't fit the timeline. That shows how little people actualy read before they post a comment on it.
"Re-imagining the Exar Kun temple has been a fun and informative process for us. We started with the current fictional canon in the Star Wars universe, as well as the basic temple layout currently in SWG. From there, we worked with Lucas Licensing to further develop the look and feel of the temple. When dealing with established characters and locations in the property, there's always a phase where you're fact-checking against current continuity. We have to make sure our proposed fiction doesn't clash with the established works, including prior movies, games, television, comics, novels... even toys. Fortunately, Lucasfilm keeps a detailed archive composed of decades of established canon - we can cross-reference that to make sure our Exar Kun content fits nicely with the existing timeline. ": Tim Temmerman
Associate Producer, Star Wars Galaxies
LucasArts
OT: nice to see how it works behind the scene, i alway's enjoy things like that regardles the game.
chances are I've got kids older than you, child. Ah sorry wasn't sure someone 35 years old could have kids older then 36 years old, afcourse it could be possible if you re-married with someone older then you. The reason why i used the word "kid" is because some of you posters THINK that you know more about things then the people actualy working with and for the company responsible for the game. My post did not share if i agree with what they add to SWG, as many things added to the game i feel are not right in the way I PERSONALY would like to see SW Canon. But then again who are you or me to qeustion then when they are the creators.The temple was discovered by naturalist Dr'uun Unnh during the "Battle of Yavin". He was killed when a crashing TIE fighter destroyed his speederbike, and his datapad was only found much later.
No one visited the temple until Luke Skywalker and Jan Dodonna a year later, and it wasn't until 10 years after that, when Skywalker establishes his academy there, that the spirit of Kun is awoken.
Besides this obvious conflict, we are all aware of just how canonical it is to have thousands of jedi flaunting their sabers in public durint eh time of the Empire, and then there's always HK-47 showing up on Mustafar, having wookies running around free (and joining the Imperial faction), just to name a few glaring inconsistencies.
SWG is a melting pot of SW names and figures tossed in to lure people into playing the game. They don't give a damn about canon. The only thing that might be accurate, as indicated by the information that you provided above, is the floorplan and general architecture of the temple.
If LucasArts decides to make EWOK jedi's then who are we to question that, afcourse many of use would totaly disagree on EWOK ever becoming jedi's, but still it is created by lucas so they can choose what ever direction they want.
Look at TFU, it brings allot more "canon" to SW, do we have to agree on that, afcourse not, but still it's their right to do as they please ( unfortunaly in some cases)
Don't you just love how 90% of these threads totaly ignore the topic and just break down to fans battling the detractors (forgive me if that's not that right word for people against SWG, I've currently got another migrane).
I took a look at the art for the temple and I've got to say it's pretty nice looking. For me to be impressed by the visuals in SWG is a big thing since the game is showing it's age in that area. I think I might even be willing to reactivate my account to check it out.
Seeing this reminds me yet again that learning C++ is only part of the battle I face to becoming a game programmer. I've still got to learn 3d modeling, sound creation, as well as so many other things.
Reklaw, in the future, if you avoid tossing personal insults into your posts you will be taken more seriously.
I know my SW canon very well...movies, games, and EU. However, basically all agree that SWG, and pretty much SWG alone, fails to mesh in any way. We've come to accept it, and expect it.
I'm not saying they did a bad job with the temple. I'm sure it's great. But the way they keep adding random pieces of the SW universe to this ugly, mis-matched jig-saw puzzle that is SWG is just sad.
Originally, the game was set during a very specific time in the SW timeline, and it FELT like you were part of the universe. Unfortunately, over the years, the game has become this deformed mutant of what it was, with random crap stuck on here and there in a way that makes no sense at all.
It's an abomination.
SCRAP THE GAME. Give the IP to someone capable, who will make a SW game that feels like SW, and not a WoW wannabe with SW textures.
Oh, and Stbays, I am pretty sure that most game devs aren't proficient in ALL areas of the development process. For example, the coders will work on the engine, modelers on the models, artists on the textures, scripters on the AI and quests, etc. They work as a team.
Find the area that interests you the most, and become good at it. I doubt that John Carmack would be very good a designing textures, for example, but there is no doubt that he is a BRILLIANT engine coder.
I apologize if anything I said came across as a personal insult. My intention wasn't to attack any one person, but mroe to point out the oddity of how most threads end up.
Yeah, right now my goal is to finish the certificate program at the local community college, which covers a wide variety of game programming related classes. After I finish, I'll have a better idea of where my strengths are and I'll focus in to that area. I love telling stories, so I do imagine I'll end up a script writer or something to that effect, though I also imagine for my first couple of projects, I'm gonna have to spear head the whole thing to get noticed enough to get the (relatively) comfy job of writer.
if anyone wants to see what I used to write, look up Kevin Joe Bays at fictionpress.com (figure a little self promotion couldn't hurt too much. course most of those stories are older and definately not a good reflection of my current writing abilities).
maybe get involved in a few mod projects or open source projects to get some experience under your belt.
That does sound like some good advise. It'll probably be something I'll get into after I get a few more programming classes under my belt. I'm doing fairly well with the fundamentals of C++ (though it seems creating and reading files is causing me some grief...).
Back in the day, I used to do a lot of programming in Basic A and QBasic (these languages are kind of a joke to real programmers it seems, but I dare the eneducated to jump right in and get any where. they're hard when you've never done them ^_^).
(that last paragraph wasn't meant to offend anyone)
3D modeling seems like it'll be the part of gaming programming that'll give me the hardest time. Followed by texture creation, though mainly the from scratch kind. Making textures from real world pictures on the other hand seems easier.
The evil thing is I'm deaf, so I probably wouldn't be the best person to program in the 3D sounds within a game ^_^ so I'll probably shy away from that area.
As I said above, I'm doing fairly well with programming, though part of me is nervous and afraid of what will happen in the future. I hope and pray that I'll continue to do well, but I guess since I can't say for sure what the future will hold, I'm looking to try to direct games. The job of writer/director of video games sounds like the best area. How cool would it be to mold the entire game, gameplay, graphics, sound, and story?
I enjoy following the adventures of each person in the industry cause it let's me see possible futures that I myself might one day have. Course I won't deny that I'm not gonna be taking any notes on implimenting story ideas from SOE, I do enjoy the efforts of the brave men and women who attempt to make new content/revive old content despite the slings and arrows thrown their way from all the forums.
(on that last note, I think everyone, despite how they feel about the direction the "evil" SOE forced the game, the artist and programmers are doing their best to make the most of this situation. When you're a 9 to 5 programmer, you can only do what you're hired to do after all).