Patch Notes: Client Patch 8/30/2017

The much anticipated CLIENT PATCH arrives tomorrow! Patch notes follow down below. The brand spanking new EiF Launcher will be available to load up the patch, as well! Instructions will be available. I’m sure you will all be grateful  I didn’t add my *squees* and *happy dances* throughout these notes, you’ll just have to guess at which ones are my favorites!

  • 4 new player races:
    • Devaronian Females
    • IG-100
    • Mirialans
    • Zeltron
  • New creature mounts have been introduced! Note that not all variants of a creature can necessarily be mounted – only the largest, toughest versions of some of these animals can carry a rider.
    • Narglatches
    • Gurrecks
    • Greater Sludge Panthers
    • Tusk Cats
    • Gualamas
    • Bordoks
    • Blurrgs
  • Entertainer Missions have been reworked using the new Fame system, which replaces the old Image Designer line in the Entertainer Profession. Entertainers with more fame can command higher payouts, particularly for gigs that require travel.
    • Fame-enhancing clothing and attachments will be coming at a future time.
    • Fame is not retroactive for already-established entertainers. The SWGEmu code that should force an update does not work, and we are investigating and will patch as soon as we have a solution.
    • Only a single entertainer mission can be taken at a time.
  • Munitions crafting has been re-added to the game. See the next Friday Feature to learn more about the Heavy Weapons revamp.
    • Weaponsmiths now have a number of new cores and components to craft to create heavy weapons.
    • Grenades, mines, and rocket launchers use explosive cores.
    • Flamethrowers and acid rifles use tanks.
    • Heavy beam weapons use capacitors.
    • Light lightning cannons use static cores.
  • Armor slicing has been re-added to the game.
  • Races that previously lacked customization now have basic morphs and palettes available, including:
    • Abyssin
    • Cerean
    • Duros
    • Gungan
    • Iktotchi
    • Kel Dor
    • Kubaz
    • Togruta
  • The first stage of the GCW has been implemented. All planets participating in the GCW now have factional troops present. (See this Friday Feature!) Planetary control scripting is still in process and has not yet been enabled, but is coming soon.
  • Port Jato, an underworld-themed player hub, can now be visited via friendly smugglers who take cash in advance. These smugglers generally don’t like being found anywhere near law enforcement, but can likely be found at the watering hole of criminal-infested hives of scum and villainy.
  • Devaronians and Kel Dor no longer appear headless when wearing hats or hoods.
  • Paintings now have backs.
  • Cats can now swim.
  • Ubese armor jackets now correctly offer chest protection.
  • Two-strap bandoleers now use the correct color palette.
  • Up to six missions can be taken from a standard mission terminal.
  • BER rates on harvesters have been changed from pre-CU BER calculations to NGE BER calculations.

Sandarie
Community Manager

One Happy Twi’lek!

Friday Feature 6/2/2017: Enter the Cats

Star Wars Galaxies has long struggled with the idea of obsolescence. An Empire Divided launched without any player transportation – only shuttles – which meant characters spent a lot of time on foot, hoofing it to distance POIs after landing at the nearest shuttle.

Creature Handler mounts were the first to cut into that, with a handful of mounts available to everyone (well, everyone who had befriended a Creature Handler!): carrion spats, kaadu, lesser dewbacks, and lesser bols quickly became a common sight; larger mounts, like the giant carrion spat or the larger dewbacks, were sources of pride among the Creature Handlers.

Then came the speeders.

Creature mounts quickly fell out of favor, even among the Creature Handlers. Fast-moving swoops became ubiquitous; even the slower speeders, like the Speederbike and the X34, barely saw use. Speed was king.

And it’s hard to blame players. Creature mounts were clearly obsolete, and have remained so ever since. Even NGE mounts like the rancor were a novelty, not a serious mode of transportation.

That changes on Empire in Flames.

The Clone Wars CGI cartoon actually demonstrated Talz riding narglatches. Not only were they a viable mount, but they kept pace with the Republic force’s BARCs!

In SWG, creature handlers running missions often use cat creatures for just that reason. Cats in various forms can almost keep up with a swoop. That said, creature handlers still generally resort to driving a swoop themselves, since the mountable creatures are too slow to be efficient at running missions.

Adding cat mounts to Empire in Flames has to walk a fine line – on one hand, they need to be valuable and useful if we expect players to actually seek them out, rather than just use the same old swoops (and improved speederbikes) that are already in use. On the other hand, creatures aren’t killed off in the same way speeders are blown up; if they’re too good, we essentially kill off the speeders market.

How do we walk the fine line?

First, by speed. Cat mounts are slightly slower at natural speeds than a swoop; at /gallop the speed boost makes them slightly faster.

Second, by skill. Only the largest cat types can be used as a mount, and none of them are available to non-creature handlers. Your CL10 cowardly gurreck or BEed narglatch? Don’t expect them to carry you across the planets. While the list has not yet been finalized, powerful wild cats like the narglatch matriarch, grand wrix, and greater sludge panther are strong enough to carry a rider.

Coming soon in the client patch!