[SWTOR] Star Wars: The Old Republic

Playing director in the Star Wars™ universe is one of the coolest jobs anyone could wish for. As a lifelong Star Wars fan, being able to visualize scenes with Bounty Hunters, Smugglers and Jedi harkens back to my days as a kid creating Star Wars films with a home video camera and a bin full of action figures. This passion for Star Wars filmmaking has come full circle – as I completed cinematic design work on Mass Effect 2, I was asked if I had an interest in working on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to be a part of the team!

So, what is Cinematic Design?

This is a question I get asked a lot. To put it simply, Cinematic Design is using cinematic presentation to facilitate narrative and gameplay, and heighten emotional involvement. By the use of a directed camera, we’re able to make the story real to the player, allowing them to get involved with the characters and make meaningful choices.

The inclusion of Cinematic Design is what sets The Old Republic apart from other MMO games. Rather than being led by a disjointed, text-driven narrative, the Player is part of a dynamic plot in The Old Republic. In conversations, we can show those subtle moments where characters interact with and affect one another; where choices matter. Do we kill the Sith acolyte? Do we spare him? Will he show up later in our character’s path to be dealt with? Or will he fight alongside us, supporting us in the most crucial of times? These choices are gameplay, presented in cinematic form. Sure, they could be made through the use of simple point-and-click, text-only interface, but the reward of our choices would be passed over and the player would never fully experience the impact of those decisions.

Other BioWare games have proven how rewarding interaction in conversations can be. In The Old Republic, we extend this approach to the group level – every player in the party has their say in which direction the conversation will go. A young exile takes an adversarial tone with the group, and challenges them to a duel. Your Sith Inquisitor grows impatient with him and chooses to detonate some nearby explosives – but will it be overruled by another who votes to fight him? Beyond advancing your story, this system extends the gameplay experience into conversations, allowing the vote roll to factor into how the narrative plays out.

A Day in the Life of a Cinematic Designer

A Cinematic Designer puts on their director’s beret for each scene they work on. Is this a scene for the Jedi Consular? It will most likely be a quiet, emotionally-centered setting, focusing on the difficult choices ahead. Or perhaps it’s a scene for a Bounty Hunter who confronts an obnoxious nobleman and has to choose the best way to extract the information he needs. For each scene, the approach is similar to that of a live-action shoot. The Cinematic Designer reviews the script, considers what actors are involved and what location the incident takes place in, and ultimately answers the question “What does the player need to know once the scene has ended?”

To ensure that we produce exceptional scenes, designers work closely with other departments. Nearly every discipline in the studio works with Cinematic Design in some capacity. If there are questions about characters and how the scene plays out, the designer reaches out to the Writing team to make sure their take on the scene is on-target. If the designer needs a specific animation captured for the scene, they speak with the Animation team and review capture data for the shot they're putting together. Having access to such a large range of world-class talent really helps shape our cinematics into memorable experiences.

Once all of this information is gathered, the Cinematic Designer can compose their work. We have access to a wide selection of Star Wars music and sound effects, one of the largest animation libraries ever compiled for a game as well as the most voiceover dialog ever recorded for any entertainment project, and it’s our job to put all of it together to create powerful scenes.

Though a large part of a Cinematic Designer’s role is that of a director, there’s much more we need to take into account. A Cinematic Designer is part filmmaker, part game developer, and part gamer.

Each conversation we produce is considered from all three points of view. As a director, we consider things like: how do I shoot the scene? Does the location support the action that needs to take place? As a game developer: how does the scene work within the game around it? And ultimately, as a player: how does this fit within the larger context of my game experience? Is this scene memorable? Do I understand what’s going on? Each of these perspectives help craft how the game's narrative is presented and remembered. Creating these moments for the player is probably the most rewarding part of being a Cinematic Designer on The Old Republic.

Conclusion

As I mentioned earlier, the cinematic presentation of narrative can turn the simplest event into a pivotal moment. It's this crafted layering of camerawork, performance, direction and gameplay that allows us to emotionally invest into the characters and the world around them. To put a romantic spin on it, the Cinematic Design team members are the visual composers of this chapter of the Star Wars universe, developing scenes that players will remember for years to come. We hope you enjoy what’s in store as much as we enjoyed telling it.

Thanks for reading and may the Force be with you.

Paul Marino
Lead Cinematic Designer

TOROcast was given the opportunity to fire off a few questions to BioWare after the Jedi Immersion event to clarify as well as expand on some of the information we were given while attending the event. We would like to give a special thanks to Principal Lead Combat Designer, Georg Zoeller, for answering our questions!

TOROcast: When looking at the Jedi Knight and their two Advanced Classes, the skills that they acquire within their chosen AC seem to pigeonhole them into either becoming a tank or a melee DPSer. Is this the case or will it be possible for those Advanced Classes to move beyond one trinity role?

Georg Zoeller: While the Jedi Guardian can become a fully capable Tank (in terms of the trinity), they can also be specced to be competitive damage dealers, even with a single saber.

TOROcast: Now that we have seen quite a bit of information regarding the Jedi Knight and the Jedi Consular, can we expect the Sith Warrior and Sith Inquisitor to be gameplay mirrors, or are those classes going to be quite a bit different from their Republic counterparts?

Georg Zoeller: The Jedi Knight and Consular fill the same functional roles on the Republic faction that the Sith Warrior and Inquisitor fill on the Empire side. As such, there is a fair bit of similarity in their respective capabilities, although the detailed gameplay mechanics can deviate between the two.

TOROcast: There is some concern over Consulars being limited to dress-like robes and 'that hat.' Will they be able to have options to look more like a Jedi Knight?

Georg Zoeller: There is a good variety of outfits available for Consular characters, including some non-robe outfits, but a Consular is not able to wear the armored outfits available to the Jedi Knight, so they will never be able to achieve the exact same look.

TOROcast: Early in development, BioWare said that they were doing something unique and special with healing. What is happening that is different compared to a typical MMO design?

Georg Zoeller: In Star Wars: The Old Republic, improving your character’s Presence attribute, which governs healing ability, also improves the character’s active companion in various ways. Coupled with the ability to adjust companion behavior and equipment, this enables the player to function as a healer; even in solo situations.

TOROcast: It has been long debated about which class is the best healer for the Republic since it is known that the Smuggler has healing abilities. Will one class be a superior healer or are they both completely viable as a primary healer?

Georg Zoeller: All classes with access to healing abilities (and there are more than you think) are completely viable as primary healers in The Old Republic.

TOROcast: Will a Jedi Knight or Jedi Consular ever have a reason - other than just for kicks - to fight with a non-lightsaber weapon? Would that include blasters?

Georg Zoeller: Jedi Characters can wield certain non-lightsaber weapons, but blasters? No. Who brings a gun to a lightsaber fight anyway?

TOROcast: Consulars, Sages in particular, appear to have very little need for a lightsaber. Is it possible for a Sage/Consular to simply be unarmed or would there be significant drawbacks to that?

Georg Zoeller: While you could certainly play a Sage unarmed for roleplaying reasons, you would sacrifice not only the ability to finish off opponents who managed to get close to you with a quick strike, you would also sacrifice the defensive benefits a lightsaber can offer, especially when dealing with pesky blaster fire.

TOROcast: Consulars appear to rely deeply upon their Force points for their abilities. What recourse do they have once they are drained of Force points and still have enemies attacking them?

Georg Zoeller: Both advanced classes have ways of handling such a situation, depending on their skills. For example, a Sage may be able to sacrifice health in a last bid to overcome his attackers - an ability that can obviously backfire when seriously outnumbered.

TOROcast: We know balancing questions are tricky to answer, but what has your approach been to balancing the Shadow? MMO players can quickly recognize the dangerous PvP potential of a stealth class with burst damage, crowd control, healing, and ranged DPS.

Georg Zoeller: While the Shadow will certainly be a very versatile and potentially deadly adversary in the hands of skilled players, they are balanced to handle lengthier fights like any other melee class. They also are not equipped to heal themselves, which should alleviate some of those fears.

TOROcast: The story that we have seen for both Jedi classes from levels 1-10 seems very epic in scale considering it is such an early level. Should we expect something similar for all classes? Will that scope continue throughout the game?

Georg Zoeller: Yes. Smile

Again we would like to thank Georg Zoeller for taking the time to answer our questions. Thank you.