each class will be able to get a total of 5 companions through out the game. Each companion will be able to do different types of damage or play different roles in a group. Each companion will also give different bonuses to your crew skills.
Star Wars is an expansive universe. You' will be playing the game, you will be fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Here we make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind Star Wars: the old republic
With more people playing SWTOR beta and game testing now, we are seeing more info coming out about it. While these players are still bound to the NDA, it is to be expected that some general knowledge will come out about the game.
If you will be playing SWTOR with a group of friends, it makes sense to form up your own guild so you can all play together and take advantage of any guild perks and benefits right from the start. Here is how to
Datacrons are part of the codex system in Star Wars The Old Republic. They are placed throughout the worlds for the players to find, usually in hard to reach places. As a reward for this exploration ingenuity, if a player successfully reachs and interacts with certain datacrons, one of the player's character stats will be increased -- permanently. Here is the complete list of Datacrons, rrdered by codex entry #
Gamesutra has an interview with LucasArts President Darrell Rodriguez "On 2010 And Beyond". They talk about all kinds of games-related LucasArts things, but there are a few bit about The Old Republic as well, which I'll quote here:
You've worked with some obviously strong partners to bring some of the Star Wars game in recent years, like Krome. Do you hope to continue those relationships or are you staffing up to sort of bring back control of your products in-house?
[Darrell Rodriguez]: We're doing both. So, we're definitely growing internally, like I mentioned. And we'll also have phenomenal partnerships. We've got a great partnership with BioWare on The Old Republic, one of the best partnerships that I've personally worked with. I love working with Ray on a personal level, Ray and Greg, and we'll continue to look for those opportunities.
How closely do you work with BioWare? They have a very robust creative process that they're bringing to the project. Is it more approvals, or do you support them when they have questions about the lore, that kind of stuff?
DR: We work with them very closely. We work with them very closely on marketing, on the voiceover, on content in the game. BioWare, yes, they are brilliant at what they do, and they've got a great team and a great process, but it's much more than approvals. There's a great back and forth and great communication.
Unlike most MMOs, it's going to be a deeply story-driven one, so I would imagine that it's just a very important process to make sure that it stays consistent with the established parameters of the universe, right?
DR: Yeah. And that's the beauty of the Star Wars universe, that it's infinite. We can look at different timeframes within the Star Wars universe, which is what the Old Republic was.
Do you have people on site at BioWare Austin, or is it more of a conference call kind of situation? How does it work?
DR: There's a lot of frequent flyer miles, back and forth between both teams. Honestly, BioWare's here today. They're here today. We're reviewing a lot of stuff. The game is looking phenomenal. I'm actually extremely pleased with how it's coming out.
Nothing really new there, but perhaps nice to see a bit about how the relationship between BioWare and LucasArts is.
Though the other questions aren't directly related to The Old Republic, follow the link for the entire interview if you're interested.
[link] to interview with Darrell Rodriguez at Gamasutra.
IGN has a short (two-and-a-half minute) video that they've titled "Star Wars: The Old Republic PC Games Preview". There's nothing new in it at all, it's just IGN summing up in broad strokes what we already know over a composite of old footage (particularly the gameplay trailers). But it's a nice overview and might be useful to explain to people roughly what Star Wars: The Old Republic is if they haven't heard of it yet.
I still can't help but cringe at seeing some of the character models though.
The Dark Redemption is a 1999 Australian fan film which was made using the studio grounds of Foxtel in Sydney. This follows the story of how the plans for the Death Star were sent to Princess Leia's ship the Tantive IV as well as Han Solo's escape from Kessel which results in a bounty being put on his head by Jabba the Hutt.
The film came under attack by Lucasfilm due to the fact that the story is constructed within the Star Wars canon.
Plot Two days before Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Rebel Alliance agent Mara Jade is imprisoned on Kessel. Unbeknownst to all, Mara holds the Death Star plans given to her by Kyle Katarn. Upon being rescued by Zev Senesca and Klaus Vanderon, she forwards the plans to Princess Leia's ship.
At the same time, Boba Fett makes a deal with Lt. Pol Treidum to ensure that Han Solo's spice will reach Jabba the Hutt. Fett also attempts to stop the Rebels from escaping Kessel, but is forced to help them when his prior contract (to ensure the spice transportation) requires it.
However, (ostensibly) to create a diversion, Mara jumps into the reactor core. Zev and Klaus assume her dead and make their escape.
Meanwhile, Han Solo dumps the spice as a tactic to avoid capture - snidely remarking that he can handle Jabba the Hutt. The Millennium Falcon escapes.
Blamed for his incompetence in the apparent fiasco, Commander Garrock is summarily executed by Darth Vader.
The success of Mara's mission sets things in motion for the Battle of Yavin. Yet Mara is shown to be an Imperial mole...kneeling before the Emperor, in his throne room on the Death Star, with Vader by his side. Dressed in her Emperor's Hand garb, her fealty to Palpatine is fully revealed. The entire Operation Skyhook has been a scheme by Darth Sidious to ferret out the Rebel Alliance for extermination (much like the leaking of the plans for the second Death Star).
Reaction from Lucasfilm
We've been very clear all along on where we draw the line. We love our fans. We want them to have fun. But if in fact somebody is using our characters to create a story unto itself, that's not in the spirit of what we think fandom is about. Fandom is about celebrating the story the way it is.
Due to the fact that The Dark Redemption places the story within the Star Wars canon, the film came under fire by Lucasfilm and it was excluded from the Star Wars Fan Film Awards and its website, (http://www.thedarkredemption.com), was forcibly shut down. This triggered a reaction from fans saying that they wished to share their own Star Wars fantasies, not to dilute the mythology that inspired them or the revenue that Lucas derives from it.
Recently, Lucasfilm's policy toward fan films has changed, turning a blind eye if they are not made for profit.
This Friday's update is just a Threat of Peace issue. Here's the official news:
The twenty-fifth issue of Threat of Peace™ begins in the heat of the fight between the Jedi and the Sith in Dantooine’s crystal caves. Lord Baras confronts Satele Shan with the fact that her Master was responsible for the attacks that threatened the peace process. When Satele hesitates, Lord Baras tries to urge her towards the dark side, even as Master Dar’Nala screams at Satele to strike the Sith Lord down…
And it'll likely remain fairly sparse for the next few weeks as Sean noted on the official forums:
While we have announced our target launch window, we also realize there is a lot of information to release between now and then. We met with the development team soon after returning from the holiday break and discussed some of the information we want to release. In going over that, we decided to wait on a few things to ensure we are giving the community the most accurate information possible. We understand that pretty much everyone would love to have all the information about The Old Republic now but we wouldn't be serving the community properly if we told you all about a particular feature or mechanic only for it to be completely different than the way we explained it when The Old Republic releases.
We definitely have some new reveals and announcements coming up but I wanted to inform everyone that our next couple of updates won't be those. And while I'd like nothing better than to tell you what is on the horizon, I can't for the very same reason as I talked about above. We have a plan on what information we want to release and when we want to release it but we always make sure the rest of the team is confident with the information we are releasing before we put it out there.
Ah well, so it goes. With more than a year to go before release we'll have to be patient one way or the other anyway.
The Galactic Center of Coruscant (pronounced /'kʊɹəsɑnt/), originally called Notron, also known as Imperial Center or the Queen of the Core, was the political hub of the galaxy for millennia. It was generally agreed that Coruscant was, during most of Galactic history, the most politically important world in the galaxy. At various times, it was the capital of the Galactic Republic, the Galactic Empire, the New Republic, briefly the Empire Reborn, the New Republic again, the Yuuzhan Vong Empire occupation, the Galactic Alliance, the Fel Empire and Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire. These governments, that all controlled Coruscant, controlled the galaxy in the process.
A large number of the galaxy's trade routes—including the Perlemian Trade Route, the Corellian Run, the Metellos Trade Route, the Koros Trunk Line, and the Leisure Corridor—went through Coruscant, making it one of the richest worlds in the galaxy. Tellingly, the planet's hyperspace coordinates were (0,0,0), and the military designation was Triple Zero. Accordingly, it was the main planet of the all-important 'Sector Zero', a military designation for the Coruscant and surrounding systems.
The actual planet-wide metropolis of Coruscant was divided into smaller 'cities', (though each was the size of the average country by most standards). Among these was the administrative center, known as Galactic City, Republic City, Coruscant City or the City of Spires under the Galactic Republic, Imperial City during the rule of the Galactic Empire, and New Republic City under the New Republic, and later Yuuzhan'tar when the planet was under Yuuzhan Vong control.
Description
Surface
Geologically, the planet was composed of a molten core with a rocky mantle and a silicate rock crust. At its poles were huge ice caps that were popular spots for tourists.
The entire surface of Coruscant was covered by sprawling kilometers-high skyscrapers and cities, and boasted a population of over a hundred billion to several trillion, depending on the era. Following the end of the Clone Wars, an official census noted 1 trillion official permanent residents. The statistics did not include transients, temporary workers, unregistered populace nor residents of orbital facilities. Because of these omissions, the "real" population of Coruscant was estimated to be three times the official amount.
Night view of the Senate District from 500 Republica, c. 19 BBY.
Coruscanti skyscrapers dwarfed all the original natural features, including mountains, as well as floors of oceans which once covered a large proportion of Coruscant's surface. Areas of Galactic City were broken up into levels, megablocks, blocks, and subblocks. Coruscant itself was divided into quadrants, which were divided into zones. Below the skyscrapers was Coruscant's undercity, where sunlight never reached. Artificial lighting illuminated these lower levels and advertisement holograms could be seen everywhere. There were numerous establishments for entertainment, catering to a myriad of alien species. The residents were collectively referred to as Twilighters.
Water
Coruscant was once a world mostly covered in oceans. However, all natural bodies of water were drained and stored in vast caverns beneath the city as a result of years of overpopulation. The only body of water visible was the artificial Western Sea, with many artificially-created islands floating on it, used by tourists on holidays.
With no other bodies of water available to feed and water its trillion inhabitants, Coruscant's architects, along with many others from around the galaxy, worked together to build a self-contained eco-system in the massive buildings set all over the planet. Polar cap stations also melted ice and distributed water throughout the planetwide city through a complex series of pipes.
Pipes bring water from Coruscant's polar regions.
Manarai Mountains
One of the few pieces of Coruscant's landmass that were left untouched were the Manarai Mountains, twin peaks that stuck up out of the ground near the famous Imperial Palace. The Manarai Mountains included the tallest peak, Umate; many floating restaurants; Monument Plaza; and were home to the Flames of Umate cult. It was beneath the Manarai Mountains that the Lusankya was hidden. The mountains were destroyed during the Yuuzhan Vong assault on Coruscant.
Neighborhoods
Galactic City was divided into quadrants, "several thousand" in number, with each quadrant further split into sectors. Each sector was numbered on official maps, but sectors often had nicknames, such as Sah'c Town (sector H-46, named for a prominent family that owned a large portion of its land) and The Works, the largest of Coruscant's designated industrial zones. (Coruscant practiced zoning, which is the designation of specific areas of land for particular purposes, such as governmental and senatorial, financial (including banking zones), residential, commercial, industrial, and manufacturing. Manufacturing and industrial zones were typically the largest designated areas of the planet.) The Works was once one of the galaxy's major manufacturing areas, where spacecraft parts, droids, and building materials were heavily produced during centuries, but as construction and industry became more efficient and cheaper away from Coruscant, The Works fell into disrepair. It gained a reputation as a hub of criminal activity and many locals stayed away from it. A similar, but more dangerous area, was the Factory District, which was once the industrial heart of Coruscant until it too lost out to competition from producers in other Core Worlds. By the time of the Great Jedi Purge it lay in ruins and was almost completely deserted of sentients, because of the feral droids that prowled its streets. It was located on the opposite side of the planet, and was much more dangerous than the Southern Underground, Invisible Sector, which were infamous in their own right. Another area of Coruscant was CoCo Town (short for "collective commerce"). Many diverse species lived there and worked in manufacturing. A partially enclosed open-air plaza near the Senate building, the Column Commons, was so-called because it housed most of the HoloNet and news media corporations.
The multi-layered surface of Coruscant.
Livability Coruscant also orbited relatively far from its small star Coruscant Prime, ranging from 207 million to 251 million km. Thus, Coruscant did not naturally have a climate suitable for Humans. Coruscant's Humans countered this by erecting a series of orbital mirrors that reflected the sun's warmth and light. Several of these mirrors would be destroyed in the Battle of Coruscant during the Clone Wars, although it is unknown whether this had any lasting effect. It is known that thunderstorms and rain occurred during 19 BBY and 3 ABY, possibly as an effect of the altered sunlight from the remaining mirrors.
The planet produced trillions of tons of waste an hour. Though almost everything on the planet, from clothes to packaging and machinery, was recyclable, some waste was too dangerous to recycle such as worn-out hyperdrive cores were delivered to one of five-thousand garbage pits on Coruscant, there they were put into canisters and chemically shot into a tight orbit around Coruscant where garbage ships would collect them and transport them to nearby moons for storage. Some of the most dangerous materials were shot into the nearby sun and completely incinerated. Garbage not exported or destroyed was mixed into a slurry of silicone oils and processed by garbage worms who chewed it into pellets removing any remaining organics, plastic, or recoverable metals. They turned millions of tons of pellets into carbon dioxide, methane, and other gases. Another problem for a world like Coruscant was the unimaginable amount of carbon dioxide and heat energy that its trillion-being population generated each day, so thousands of carbon dioxide-reactive atmospheric dampeners were put into place in the upper atmosphere to prevent atmospheric degeneration. The first set of these planet-wide dampeners, developed by the Galactic Republic, was known as the Coruscant Atmospheric Reclamation Project.
Near the planet's core were a number of massive power relay stations. The lowest levels were abandoned to mutants and scavengers, such as the cannibalistic, mythical Cthons. The foundations of many of the buildings, some of which weighed billions of tons, also extended deep into the planet's crust.
Galactic Standard Time was developed on Coruscant and revolved around the hours in a single Coruscant day, 24, with 368 local days a year.
Public Safety
The Public Safety Department was in charge of preventing situations that might endanger the public's safety. Fire fighting, rescue and cleanup was performed by the Coruscant Rescue Ops which dealt mainly with the tens of thousands of ships that were in the capital. Each planetary district maintained their own teams. Law enforcement was provided mostly by the Coruscant Police Force. They were assisted, at various times, by the Jedi Order, Judicial Forces, the Republic Security Force, clone troopers of the GAR, the Coruscant Guard, the Stormtrooper Corps, the Coruscant Planetary Defense Force, the New Jedi Order, the Galactic Alliance Guard, and Galactic Alliance Security. Police droids were also used. The CoCo District maintained its own constabulary force.
Panoramic view of the planetary cityscape of Coruscant from the High Council Chamber
Defenses
As of the Battle of Coruscant during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Coruscant had a four tier defense system. The first and "uppermost" tier was a series of mines. These were deactivated during the Battle of Coruscant at the behest of Lando Calrissian because he believed that they would do more harm than good, only to be reactivated by Calrissian later when the attacking Vong fleet was in the midst of it, thus trapping many more foes.
The second tier was a series of Golan Defense Platforms, mostly Golan II types. The command platform was dubbed "Orbital Defense One" and was larger than its cousins. Most of these were destroyed when the Vong broke through New Republic lines, including Orbital Defense One.
The third tier was a massive planetary shield, controlled by a series of relays on the surface of Coruscant. The shield seems to have worked by some kind of dispersion of energy released onto the shield. The Vong employed a tactic which involved waves of kamikaze ships crashing into the shield, overloading the relays, and effectively bringing it down.
The fourth and last tier was an array of rooftop turbolasers, akin to the point-defense systems on some capital ships. Some were operated automatically, others by Human gunners and astromech droids. Also counted was the proton bomb in the Chief of State's office, which was detonated when Vong soldiers occupied the Imperial Palace. The explosion destroyed the building housing the office, and the data towers on Coruscant.
It is unknown as to whether the Galactic Alliance incorporated these same defenses during the rebuilding of Coruscant.
The Works landscape.
History
Pre-Republic
The very early history of Coruscant is a bit sketchy and is not well known. Coruscant was considered by many to be the Human homeworld. Millennia ago, the Celestials could have removed Humans from Coruscant with which to populate Corellia.
Around 200,000 BBY, the near-Human Taungs attempted to conquer the 13 baseline Human nations of the Battalions of Zhell. A volcano decimated the Zhell, the ash filling the skies for two years, so the Taungs adopted the name Dha Werda Verda (Warriors of Shadow) for themselves. The Human Zhell eventually recovered and drove the Taungs offworld.
One hundred millennia later, Coruscant was surveyed by the Columi, who dismissed the planet as a primitive disappointment, despite the already planet-spanning ecumenopolis of Galactic City. New buildings were built on the old. As a result, there was virtually no exposed land. In the forgotten underlevels of the city, there was darkness, pollution and crime. Higher up, there were government offices and penthouses owned by the elite. The lower fifty levels of the ecumenopolis is said to have last seen sunlight around 95,000 BBY.
Coruscant was one of many worlds conquered by the Infinite Empire of the Rakata, who used Human slaves to build the Star Forge in 30,000 BBY. Under Rakatan domination, the Humans of Coruscant's colonization attempts were limited to sleeper ships, which ended up on Alderaan, in the Tion Cluster, Seoul 5, Kuat, Alsakan, Axum, Anaxes, Atrisia, Metellos, Corulag, and many other worlds. The Rakata were eventually decimated by a massive plague, leading to slave revolutions on Coruscant and other subjugated worlds.
Over the next two centuries, Coruscant was linked to other Core Worlds, including Corellia, Alderaan, New Plympto and Duro, by hyperspace cannons, via the Herglic Trade Empire. It was during this time that the Coruscant government peacefully absorbed the nearby Azure Imperium. During these pre-Republic years, the languages of Coruscant and its neighbors meshed to become Old Galactic Standard.
Coruscant at the time of the Great Galactic War
Early Republic
In 25,053 BBY, the Corellians and Duros invented the hyperdrive proper, allowing Coruscant to become the capital of a democratic union: the Galactic Republic. 53 years later the planet became the galactic centre, and remained the Republic's capital for twenty five thousand years. Shortly after the formation of the Republic, the Perlemian Trade Route was mapped, linking Coruscant to Ossus and bringing the Jedi Knights into the Republic. Over the next millennium, the Corellian Run was mapped, linking Coruscant to Corellia and beyond. Blasters were also invented on Coruscant around this time, and the famous Galactic Museum was constructed in 12,000 BBY.
From the very beginning, Coruscant, as the Republic's capital, was the primary objective in several wars. The earliest among these was the Tionese War with the Honorable Union of Desevro and Tion in 24,000 BBY, in which Coruscant was bombarded with Tionese pressure bombs. Other early battles included the Alsakan Conflicts, the Duinuogwuin Contention, the Great Hyperspace War, the Third Great Schism, the Great Droid Revolution, and the Great Sith War.
Following the devastation of Ossus, the Jedi Council took up residence in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, to which many Jedi relics from Ossus were taken. The Temple was greatly expanded, including the building of the original Jedi Council Chamber. The Temple was repeatedly expanded including in 3,519 BBY, 2,519 BBY (when the Jedi Archives were built), 2,019 BBY, and 1,000 BBY (when the Temple spires were finally fully rebuilt).
At some point, the Senate Rotunda was founded, replacing the previous assembly place. The exterior of this massive structure would survive the planet's transformation into the new Yuuzhan'tar.
Today BioWare gives us a new Timeline update, in which Master Gnost-Dural talks about the surprise attack of the Empire on the Republic. Here's the official news:
A new holorecord in the Jedi Archive tells the story of the Sith Empire’s surprise attack at the start of the Great War over 28 years before the Sacking of Coruscant. Master Gnost-Dural notes the brilliance of the Imperial military’s carefully orchestrated assault which put the Republic at a disadvantage for the duration of the conflict.
BTC 28 – Centuries after being driven into exile, the Sith Empire returned from deep space to launch the most calculated military assault in Republic history. Strategically revealing its attack in a menacing manner, the Sith struck fear into the hearts of the Republic’s defenders even while orchestrating surprise attacks at carefully targeted locations across the galaxy. When the Republic fleet rushed to respond, they discovered the Sith had established puppet governments on several planets in the Outer Rim. Surrounded by enemies and traitors, the Republic fleet was forced to scatter, allowing the Sith Empire to sweep through most of the Outer Rim without further challenge. The Empire’s initial victories put the Republic at a disadvantage for the duration of the Great War.
You can also download a high resolution version of this video.The video mentions a couple of planets we haven't heard before (which isn't to say that those will be in the game). To quote Darth Hater:
We noticed a few more planets mentioned, specifically in the Tingel Arm sector: Belkadan, Sernpidal, and Ruuria. A green planet is shown, referred to as located in the Sluis sector of the Outer Rim. We think this is Sluis Van (find credit: bigbaldpapa).
And the video even more sets up the Sith Emperor as a big bad.
The Visual Effects Society (VES) announced the nominees for the 8th Annual VES Awards ceremony, with awards in various categories for film, animation, television, commercials and video games.
Among the various categories Star Wars: The Old Republic has been nominated for "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Video Game Trailer". I'm assuming that this refers to the "Deceived" cinematic trailer they unveiled at last year's E3 (mainly because it's the only official trailer):
Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't the only BioWare Trailer nominated; one of the other nominees is Mass Effect 2 (with I assume their cinematic trailer revealed last Christmas). Both trailers were created by Blur. Though that makes me wonder why the Dragon Age: Origins trailer wasn't nominated.
Other nominees are DJ Hero (with I'm guessing this trailer) and Halo 3: ODST (I'm guessing for this trailer). I think that they make a decent chance of winning.
Congratulations to BioWare and Blur on the two nominations.
The 8th Annual VES Awards will take place on Feb. 28, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, CA.
With Mass Effect 2 right around the corner, IGN posted an article, titled "IGN Presents the History of BioWare", looking at the history of developer BioWare. Starting with their humble beginnings as two students of medicine programmign educational software at the University of Alberta, right down to the present day of them working on Star Wars: The Old Republic it looks at the string of successful titles they've released, the publishers they've worked with and such.
Here's an excerpt:
Shattered Steel was a modest success, receiving positive reviews and seeing decent sales. Of particular note was the detailed deformable terrain that allowed players to blast craters in the sides of hills, and zone damage that allowed strategic-minded sharpshooters to take out weapons mounted on enemies. Interplay was pleased with the game, too, and a sequel was planned for 1998. It would never come to pass, as BioWare's second game was about to completely eclipse anything Shattered Steel could have hoped for and define the company's direction to this day.
Though you most likely already know most of it, it's still a nice read to see where they've been and perhaps get a bit of an idea from that where they might be going.
In the "not SWTOR" news column a somewhat interesting rumor just surfaced.
It's been leaked (by the court filings of the case between Interplay and Bethesda over the Fallout MMO Interplay is working on) that Bethesda is working on it's own "World of Warcraft type MMO". Now VG247 claims to have been "very reliably informed" that this MMO is in an Elder Scrolls MMO. Combined with earlier rumors that elderscrollsonline.com has been registered by ZeniMax (Bethesda's parent company) as well as a slip-up stating that the next Elder Scrolls game is set 200 years after Oblivion and it's looking quite likely to be true.
Apparently the MMO has been in development since late 2006. If we estimate a development cycle of four to five years then that means that this "Elder Scrolls Online" might release around the time that Star Wars: The Old Republic is slated to be released as well.
Of course, it's all just rumors for now. But could be interesting. Oblivion at least always felt like an MMO you happened to be playing alone anyway.
Atton Rand, nicknamed "Jaq," was a pilot, and one of the Lost Jedi, who helped the Jedi Exile defeat the Sith Triumvirate. He joined the Galactic Republic military and fought loyally under Revan in the Mandalorian Wars. He defected to Revan's side when the Jedi Knight became the Dark Lord of the Sith. While under Revan, he was put through intense combat training to make him an effective Jedi hunter. His job was to capture Jedi so that Revan and his acolytes could attempt to convert them into loyal Sith by means of torture, manipulation, and on pain of death. However, when a female Jedi prisoner revealed that he was Force-sensitive and that he would likely be subjected to such treatment himself, he went into hiding on Nar Shaddaa.
Biography
Fighting in the wars
Atton, nicknamed "Jaq," fought in the Mandalorian Wars as well as the Jedi Civil War. He originally served the Republic, but when Revan defeated the Mandalorians and assumed the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, Atton Rand defected to his side, along with a great number of the Republic forces that had served the Jedi in the war. During the start of the Jedi Civil War, Rand was part of an elite special forces unit, trained to hide their presence and thoughts from Force-users. He and others like him were sent on missions to kill or capture Jedi that would then be broken and converted to the Sith cause. It was here that he learned Echani combat methods and how to hide and keep himself from being probed by Jedi.
Rand seemed to have a natural talent for masking his presence, and his superiors recognized his passion for wanting to make Jedi suffer in any way he could, but most of all by making them fall to the dark side. However, near the closing days of the war, Rand was eventually confronted by a female Jedi who informed him of his Force-sensitive nature, warning him that the Sith would undoubtedly come after him and break him into a Dark Jedi if they found out. Rand believed her since he had already heard rumors of disappearances of those who were found to be Force-sensitive in the ranks, but his hatred of the Jedi wouldn't allow him to see reason, and in retaliation he captured her and tortured her nearly to death.
Then just when he thought she would die, she awakened the Force inside him, and allowed him to see life, to see what he was doing to it all around him by harming others. In response, he killed her. Rand later revealed that at first, he thought he would love to kill her, but at the end he killed her because he loved her. Disillusioned and pained with self-loathing, he deserted the Sith and went into hiding until the end of the war.
After fleeing the Sith, Rand hid in the Refugee Sector of Nar Shaddaa, blending in with tens of thousands of refugees who had been displaced in both the Mandalorian and Jedi Civil wars. It was here that he became a smuggler. In the year 3,951 BBY, Rand made his way to the mining facility near the destroyed planet Peragus. He was apprehended by the station security for a security violation and imprisoned within a force field. Ironically, this predicament saved Rand's life. Shortly after being imprisoned, the mining droids and ventilation systems became corrupted and the facility was cleansed of all life while Rand remained safe within his Force cage.
The Exile
Atton was soon discovered by the awakened Jedi Exile and, after a brief introduction, was rescued, with the help of another Force-sensitive named Kreia who had been brought to Peragus with the Exile. They agreed to work together until they could escape from the station, with him helping the Exile as she searched for a way to reach the Ebon Hawk. As they were working, the Harbinger, bearing Sith LordDarth Sion, docked at the station. Due to Kreia providing a distraction, Rand and the Exile were able to reach the Ebon Hawk and leave the facility. During their escape, the Harbinger's weapons fire started a chain reaction that destroyed the fuel-laden asteroid field and mining facility.
This forced the three of them to stay together as they fled for Telos IV, where they were imprisoned for suspicion concerning the explosion at Peragus. Annoyed at once more ending up in a cell, Atton spoke of soon being able to leave the Jedi. However, when they were given free roam of the station after being cleared of the crime, they found that the Hawk had been stolen. This led to an investigation that ended up on Telos's ravaged surface, where they met the mechanic, Bao-Dur. After fighting their way to a transport, they tracked the thief to an old, abandoned irrigation system near the planet's north pole. Shortly after landing there, they were imprisoned by Atris, a Jedi historian. Calling herself "the last of the Jedi," Atris imprisoned Atton, Kreia, and Bao-Dur, much to Atton's disgust and annoyance.
During their incarceration, Kreia became suspicious of Atton's lingering fear of the Jedi, and used the Force to probe his mind, ignoring his protests. Despite his skills for shielding his thoughts, he was unable to prevent her from unearthing his entire sordid past. She then used this knowledge to blackmail him into staying with the Exile, for, despite his uncaring demeanor, he didn't want her to know what he had done, or who he really was, for fear that she would think less of him. Thus, when the Exile returned and offered to let him go his own way, he refused. However, as the Exile had been speaking with some of the Handmaiden Sisters, she discovered and asked about his Echani training. Loathe to delve into his past, Atton covered it up, saying that he had faked it. However, the Exile could see that he knew the combat form, and considered him an asset. When she told him so, he was pleased with the compliment, and his attraction to her grew.
Kreia blackmails Atton.
Atton accompanied the Exile throughout her mission to find the remaining Jedi Masters so she could discover truly why she had been banished, and why she'd lost the Force. They traveled to several planets on this quest, such as Nar Shaddaa, Onderon and its moon Dxun, Dantooine, and Korriban. Due to his knowledge of Nar Shaddaa, the Exile frequently consulted Atton while there, and he was happy to give advice. However, Atton was not pleased when the Exile gave the Ebon Hawk to a man named Ratrin Vhek, who claimed to be the real owner of the vessel. This, however, proved fortuitous, when a group of slavers named the Red Eclipse murdered him, believing him to be the one who had claimed their pre-arranged landing pad. The Exile slowly proved her loyalty to Atton as her friend while there, which greatly pleased him, as his attraction to her was blossoming; something that she was beginning to return, calling him an expert at slicing when he asked to help her with a slicing project. She also challenged his twisted views of the Jedi Code, showing that not all Jedi were arrogant and ignored the weak.
However, Atton's carefully woven web of lies eventually came crashing down; while on Nar Shaddaa the Exile was approached by two shady Twi'leks who told her that they had seen Atton when he was first in hiding there, and that he wasn't a mere smuggler, but a murderer. She confronted Atton about this, and while angry at her persistent questions, she had earned enough of his trust at this point that he told her the whole truth about his past. She forgave him for what he had done and welcomed him to stay with her on her journey to stop the Sith, and at his request she awakened him to the Force once again, and trained him to become a Jedi Sentinel. In this he became more and more loyal to her, starting to care deeply for her safety and welfare.
During their trip to Dantooine in their search for Jedi Master Vrook Lamar, they encountered a man named Mical, who had once been a hopeful for apprenticeship to the Exile. He joined her in her search for the Jedi Masters, something Atton hated, as he was very jealous of him and his prior friendship with the Exile. The Exile, however, treated them both in the friendly manner despite their differences, but Atton would continue to irritate Mical during their travels.
Personality and traits
During a few of his conversations with the Exile, Atton revealed that he served in the Republic military during the Mandalorian Wars, and thus revealed much of his personal feelings and why he was such an enigma. As a witness to the brutality of the Mandalorians and the loss of millions of Republic lives, Atton grew to despise the Jedi Order. He viewed the Jedi as hypocrites - cowards who swore to protect the Republic, but chose to stay within the safety of their temples of Coruscant and Dantooine while the Republic crumbled under invasion. Only Revan and the Jedi who rallied to his cause, such as the Jedi Exile, commanded Atton's respect and dedication. He came to see Revan as a savior and a leader that he would follow to the ends of the Galaxy and beyond. When Revan turned against the Galactic Republic, which Atton and many others had grown disillusioned with during the war, Atton did not hesitate to declare his loyalty to the only person he thought had earned it. In his own words, "We were loyal to Revan. That was enough. He saved us."
Atton faced the galaxy with dismissive apathy and sarcasm. His laid-back attitude and unwillingness to take a position of responsibility often jarred with Kreia's grimness as the two traveled together. He also had an irrational hatred of droids—on Peragus, he asked the Exile if she had destroyed the HK-50 because "droids can't be trusted," referred to T3-M4 as a "trash compactor" and even suspected T3 of stealing the Ebon Hawk on Telos, saying "He's probably joyriding around the system right now, laughing at us—laughing at me!" Where this dislike for droids stems from is unknown, as it appears to pre-date the droid rampage on Peragus, which is furthered evidenced when he said that droids "break in the head".
Having been betrayed and tricked numerous times, Atton was slow to trust others, yet appreciated when others trusted him. He also liked to impress people he respected, not wanting them to think badly of him. He was naturally cocky, giving the appearance that he breezed through life without a care, though after his encounter with the female Jedi who showed him the Force, his emotions were in almost constant turmoil. However under that cockiness lay a man who hated the Jedi that did not fight in the war, and had some doubts about the Jedi that did, and despised arrogance. He also hated being used, which became evident at his reluctance at and subsequent loathing toward Kreia's blackmail.
Atton was also a fighter who refused to give up, often standing to rejoin a fight even when seriously wounded. He furthermore relied on his gut instincts to see him through. These instincts turned out to be surprisingly reliable, though this could well be attributed to his Force sensitivity.
Talents and abilities
Atton was skilled in combat, being an expert in the handling of pistols and a practitioner of Echani combat methods. He was also a competent slicer, able to use loopholes in programming to attain his own ends. One example of this was when he used the standard transmission hail for freighters landing on the Peragus Mining Facility to gain access to the communications system by bouncing it back to the main console. He was also a fair pilot, managing to escape General Vaklu's fighters and land on Dxun, where he proved he had some mechanical skill by repairing the damage done to the Ebon Hawk.
A remarkable aspect of Atton's nature was his resistance to Jedi mind techniques. He originally taught these to himself so that he would make an effective assassin, as they would prevent him being detected and give him some resistance to Force powers. The defense was so effective that even Kreia had to make a concerted effort to probe his mind. He later taught the Exile one of the techniques he used; it involved keeping the mind occupied, for example, by imagining playing pazaak or counting sounds made by the Ebon Hawk's propulsion. Another technique he used was concentrating certain base emotions (e.g., lust) to keep Force wielders off-balance when trying to affect his mind. He could also mask his presence from the Jedi (and even some of the Sith he was working for) that relied on the Force to sense people's presence.
Another remarkable ability he seemed to possess was, by some means, recovering from injuries that might otherwise appear grievous, able to stand and fight again and again after being downed in combat.
Atton proved a formidable Jedi hunter, using his skill at discovering a Jedi's weak points and exploiting them. For instance, he usually refrained from attacking Jedi directly, choosing instead to kill or maim their allies, especially their Padawans. Because of the Force bond between the two, this would ruin much of the target's concentration and focus, allowing for an easier kill.
He was also a Force-sensitive, having limited training in the Force. The Jedi Exile recognized this, and trained Rand as a Jedi Sentinel.
The Star Wars universe is an expansive universe. You're playing the games, you're watching the movies, you know the how, but do you know the why? Each week we make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind Star Wars: The old Republic
This is a slideshow video of some of the many battles that take place throughout the expanded Star Wars universe and as well as battles that are seen in the Star Wars movies. I have used photos taken from comics, movies, novels, tv shows, and video games.
The music used in this video includes:
-Throne Room & End Title
The battles featured in this video include:
Galactic Civil War - 7 ABY - Battle of Tantive V
Galactic Civil War - 7.5 ABY - Battle of Selaggis
Galactic Civil War Thrawn Campaign - - 9 ABY - Battle of Obroa-skai
Galactic Civil War Thrawn Campaign - 9 ABY - Battle of Sluis Van
Galactic Civil War Thrawn Campaign - 9 ABY - Battle for the Katana fleet
Galactic Civil War Thrawn Campaign - 9 ABY - Third Battle of Coruscant
Galactic Civil War - 10 ABY - Fourth Battle of Coruscant
Galactic Civil War - Opertation Shadow Hand - 10 ABY - First Battle of Mon Calamari
Galactic Civil War - Opertation Shadow Hand - 10 ABY - Battle of Pinnacle Base
Galactic Civil War - Opertation Shadow Hand - 10 ABY - Second Battle of Balmorra
Galactic Civil War - 11 ABY - First Battle of Phaeda
Galactic Civil War - 11 ABY - Second Battle of Phaeda
Galactic Civil War - 11 ABY - Battle of Ord Cantrell
Galactic Civil War - 11 ABY - Second Battle of Mon Calamari
Galactic Civil War - 11 ABY - Second Battle of the Maw Installation
Galactic Civil War - 12 ABY - Battle of the Jedi Praxeum
Galactic Civil War - Empire Reborn Campaign - 13 ABY - Battle of Yavin IV
Galactic Civil War - Crisis of the Disciples of Ragnos - 14 ABY - Battle of Korriban
Galactic Civil War - Black Fleet Crisis - 16 ABY - Battle of Doornik-319
Galactic Civil War - 18 ABY - Battle of Centerpoint Station
Pre-Yuuzhan Vong War - Third Vagaari War - 22 ABY - Battle of the Redoubt
Pre-Yuuzhan Vong War - Shadow Academy Crisis - 23 ABY - Battle of the Jedi Praxeum
Yuuzhan Vong War - 25 ABY - Destruction of Sernpidal
Yuuzhan Vong War - 25 ABY - First Battle of Dubrillion
Yuuzhan Vong War - 25 ABY - Battle of Dantooine
Yuuzhan Vong War - 25 ABY - Battle of Ithor
Yuuzhan Vong War - 25 ABY - First Battle of Ord Mantell
Yuuzhan Vong War - 25 ABY - First Battle of Gyndine
Yuuzhan Vong War - 25 ABY - First Battle of Fondor
Yuuzhan Vong War - 26 ABY - Battle of Yag'Dhul
Yuuzhan Vong War - 27 ABY - First Battle of Coruscant
Yuuzhan Vong War - 27 ABY - Second Battle of Borleias
Yuuzhan Vong War - 28 ABY - Battle of Bakura
Yuuzhan Vong War - 29 ABY - Second Battle of Coruscant
Legacy Era - Confedartion-Galactic Alliance War - 40 ABY - Battle of Kashyyyk
Legacy Era - Sith-Imperial War - 130 ABY - Battle of Caamas
Legacy Era - Sith-Imperial War - 130 ABY - Massacre at Ossus
Legacy Era - Sith-Imperial War - 137 ABY - Battle of Mon Calamari
Driven by revenge, Boba Fett has helped The Empire hunt down and destroy the last of the known Jedi Knights.
But with his prize close at hand, the final truth will lead him to an ultimate showdown with the darkest power in the Galaxy
This Star Wars fan film has been on out for a while, but I hadn’t seen it until now -- it’s pretty impressive for a fan film. Not only does it throw in Walkers and TIE Fighters flying over a forest as Jedis take cover I noticed even the wipes between scenes were done in a style identical to the actual movies, a nice detail touch. And it has Bob Fett in it!
This Friday sees both the next three pages of the threat Threat of Peace comic as well as a Fan Friday update. The latter they decided to spruce up a bit, but more on that in a moment. First we've got the comic; here's the official news:
The twenty-fourth issue of Threat of Peace™ drops us right back into the action as Jedi Knight Satele Shan and Master Dar’Nala press their attack against Lord Baras. Satele is given pause, however, when Baras reveals the truth—that Master Dar’Nala was responsible for the recent violent attempts to undermine the peace treaty. As Satele considers the implications, Baras makes the bold attempt he’s been planning—now that Satele sees the true weakness of the Jedi, Baras urges her to join the Sith…
But more interesting perhaps is that the developers have decided to make these Fan Fridays a bit more interesting by showing some early work-in-progress stuff by the developers themselves in a new "Developer Corner". I guess you could see the developers as fans as well (just that their stuff actually gets added to the game).
This they have a short work-in-progress video showing Balmorra's Imperial Shield. As they put it:
This week, we’d like to share an environmental visual effect from the planet of Balmorra. This animation shows the inner base in Sobrikill Valley where the townspeople work in the military base under the watchful eyes of Imperial troopers. The Empire added the shield below to protect themselves from Republic bombardment.
They also have a first view at character customization by showing some scars and burns that players can choose while customizing their character's face.
And finally they added a couple of new forum avatars as well:
Tatooine (pronounced tætu'in) was a desert world in a binary star system in the Arkanis sector of the Outer Rim Territories. It was inhabited by poor locals who mostly farmed moisture for a living. Other activities included used equipment retailing and scrap dealing. The planet was on the 5709-DC Shipping Lane, a spur of the Triellus Trade Route, which itself connected to the Sisar Run. The planet was not far from the Corellian Run. It had its own navigation system. However, it would still play a role in galactic events, serving as the home of Anakin Skywalker. It was here that Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn recognized Anakin's potential to become a Jedi and where he introduced him to Obi-Wan Kenobi, his future master and mentor. Tatooine was also the home of Anakin's son, Luke, where he lived until his early adulthood. The planet built up a very bad reputation, often being viewed as the cesspool of the galaxy due to the high-level of criminals who could be found onworld.
Geology, geography, flora & fauna Tatooine is thought to have been one of the oldest planets in known space and was composed of a molten core with a rocky mantle and silicate rock crust. Fossil records suggest Tatooine was once covered in large oceans, which dried up, leaving behind many geological formations including Beggar's Canyon, formed around 2,000,000 BBY. Other notable geological features included the Dune Sea, an enormous desert, Mushroom Mesa, a vast formation of giant standing stones, and the Jundland Wastes, a rocky region.
Because Tatooine orbited two suns, Tatoo I and Tatoo II, the planet was covered in deserts and rock formations, while the days were extremely arid and bright, especially during double noon. In fact, it was so brightly lit by the suns from space it could appear to be a star itself. This was the case for the people who discovered Tatooine as they first thought Tatooine was in fact a star until they approached and discovered that it was a desert planet. Due to the extreme conditions, only a relatively mild region of its northern hemisphere was habitable, and less than 1% of the planet was covered in surface water. The average humidity level was 5.4%.
Population
The inhabitants of Tatooine included many different species from many parts of the galaxy, as can be seen in the multiple bars and cantinas in the cities. Most creatures on the planet loved to gamble on nearly everything, especially podracing, though the sport declined after the rise of the Empire. This may attest to the fact that the planet has long been controlled by the Hutts. Human natives of the planet often had unusual sounding last names, such as Fardreamer, Sandskimmer, Darklighter, and Skywalker.
History
A map of Tatooine's settled areas
Infinite Empire
Tatooine was once a lush world that had large oceans and a world-spanning jungle inhabited by the native and technologically advanced Kumumgah. Sometime in its history, the Rakatan Infinite Empire invaded the planet and conquered and enslaved its native inhabitants. The Kumumgah eventually rebelled and managed to drive the Rakata off the planet. In response they subjected the planet to an Orbital Bombardment that "glassed" (that is, fused the silica in the soil into glass, which then broke up over time into sand) the planet and boiled its oceans away. This drastic climatic change split the indigenous Kumumgah into two races: the Ghorfas—also known as Tusken Raiders or Sandpeople—and the Jawas. It is a planet where natives (specifically middle-aged and older Humans) are often mistaken to be a decade or more older than they actually are due to the twin suns and harsh climate.
Galactic Republic
Tatooine was first discovered by the Republic in 5,000 BBY, and in 4,200 BBY the first colony named Anchorhead was established. Unfortunately, these first Human settlers disrupted the native Ghorfa culture, provoking their evolution into the Sand people, later known as Tusken Raiders. Over many years, the settlement was abandoned and recolonized over and over.
The planet was represented in the Galactic Senate by Sidrona Diath. During the Great Hunt, the planet was cleansed of terentatek by the Jedi.
Although Tatooine was deemed not worth conquering by the Mandalorians during the Mandalorian Wars, a group of Mandalorian exiles settled on Tatooine after the war, although their fate was never known.
At the time of the Jedi Civil War, the planet was practically controlled by the Czerka Corporation. They were attempting to mine ores from Tatooine, although they soon discovered the ores had strange magnetic properties which made the metal corrode very fast and thus useless for production. Later, Revan came to Tatooine during his quest to locate the Star Forge. He discovered that Czerka Corporation was attempting to eradicate a nearby tribe of Sand People due to attacks on Czerka's sandcrawlers. With the help of the recently purchased droid HK-47, Revan was able to communicate with the tribe and negotiate a truce after infiltrating their settlement. It was revealed to Revan that the Sand people considered the Czerka to be invaders on their land, which was the reason for the frequent attacks.
Czerka’s mining involvement in the Anchorhead settlement proved fruitless, and the company began Czerka’s Secret Weapons division on the planet, due to no restrictions from the Republic. Sometime between Revan’s visit and 3,623 BBY, Czerka completely pulled out of Anchorhead, abandoning the Secret Weapons complex. This left the planet populated by dissidents and criminals, though the Republic still used the planet for a supply stop. The Sith Empire also set up a small outpost near Anchorhead in an effort to discover the secrets of the Czerka Secret Weapons division. Some time after their involvement on Tatooine, the planet was forgotten until the Republic rediscovered it in 1,100 BBY.
I just got an email from Sean Dahlberg, Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Manager, with the following text:
While we have not announced a specific date, we can confirm that we are targeting a spring 2011 release for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. We’ve got a lot of exciting updates and reveals planned throughout 2010, including the first-ever hands-on testing for the game. It’s not too late to sign up to be a game tester, so go to www.swtor.com/tester and sign up today. We can’t wait to share more about the game with you as we progress through the year, so make sure you stay tuned to the official website for details.
You can also read the update on the official forums. Thanks Sean.
Note that this is a target; they might miss their target it if they run into problems or such. This isn't an official release date announcement.
The news has been making the rounds across gaming news sites. Yesterday during EA's fiscal year 2010 update conference call CEO John Riccitiello apparently made a statement that could be interpreted as indicating Star Wars: The Old Republic's potential release date. When asked about EA's upcoming plans for next year he said the following:
"On the digital side, while we've got a great number of incredible initiatives, one key driver is going to be the launch date of our major MMO," Riccitiello said.
"As it stands today, the game is making great progress towards a spring 2011 launch. But given the volatility of this particular sector, and the fact that we haven't yet provided a specific launch date, we will be excluding the revenue from our fiscal 2011 guidance plans."
No specific mention of Star Wars: The Old Republic, but people are reading "our major MMO" as meaning that game. Other candidates could be APB or Need for Speed: World Online, both scheduled for a 2010 release, or some major MMO that they haven't announced yet.
Another thing that isn't clear from the quote is whether he's referring to calender year or fiscal year when saying 2011; it looks like calender, but seeing as their fiscal year 2011 runs from April 2010 through March 2011 I'm not sure how Spring 2011 would start producing revenue for their fiscal year 2011 anyway.
So there's a lot of question marks. BioWare has refused to comment or confirm that he was talking about SWTOR. It seems unlikely though that SWTOR will release this spring; next spring seems more likely target (if later than the late 2010 that people were hoping for). And also note that he just says that they're on target; that doesn't mean at all that the game won't be delayed some (perhaps for the holiday season of 2011).
As it is it seems best to anticipate that Star Wars: The Old Republic won't be released before Spring 2011.
[link] to rumor at Darth Hater. [link] to rumor at Kotaku. [link] to rumor at IGN. [link] to rumor at Eurogamer.
