NOTE: All images used are from an internal build of the mod and do not represent the final product.
Greetings from the LOTOR dev team! It's been a while since we discussed the state of the mod and how development is going. We are still currently beta testing the mod and making constant changes as we go to ensure we have a mod worthy of a 1.0 release.
Multiplayer Beta Feedback:
In February, we started doing multiplayer beta tests to see how well the mod handles multiplayer and what new bugs need to be fixed. Thanks to our beta testers, we've prevented such catastrophes as the "Rubicator" vanilla event from triggering with every hostile fleet kill. Their input has led to several reworks and new additions to the mod, and we are thankful they are willing to provide feedback. Besides that, it was a lot of fun to watch the galaxy burn from multiple perspectives, aka the Hutt Empire using Credits to destabilize certain parts of the galaxy or the constant visit by the Muun salesperson about possible loans.
That being said, we have hit our limit for beta testers and will not be needing to recruit anymore. (It's not that we don't enjoy the presence of new testers, but what's the point of sharing with only a select few when we could release it to everyone very soon?!)
Several aspects of our mod have been reworked following the 3.3 update. As of now, our mod is updated to the most recent version with the necessary changes made to jobs, buildings, and traditions. Furthermore, we needed to streamline some areas and change a couple of megastructures and technologies with the removal of admin capacities.
Communication Relays give you a certain amount of base intel on neighbouring countries alongside reductions in empire size from pops and colonies because of the additional communication infrastructure.
As usual, everything is WIP and subject to change.
In addition to small changes and tweaks, we also found the time to add a couple of new ascension perks.
Certain areas of the map have been expanded with new hyperlanes, allowing for easier travel between worlds and new ways for the Unknown Regions to reach the main part of the galaxy.
We are currently experimenting with a new mechanic representing the Major Trade Lines in the Star Wars Galaxy by connecting systems alongside them through "wormholes" that allow the bypass of certain planets while still making blockades possible.
With this feature, it should be easier and faster to travel across great distances in the galaxy, but at the same time, the trade routes can be disabled in the game start menu.
A slightly less daunting but still crucial for immersion is name list reworks. Some name lists, such as the one used for the Jedi, have been rewritten almost entirely to have era-fitting names. Others have received tweaks to either expand the selection of names or remove some leftover Paradox names.
Another area of immersion rework is empire rooms. Many rooms have been modified to better fit with their assigned empires. For example, the old Duro room has been replaced with a new one that better represents them living in orbital cities above their homeworld. Rooms that seemed empty, sparse, or uninteresting have been reworked or replaced entirely, such as the old Hutt and Coruscant rooms.
To improve accessibility for people without certain DLC, namely MegaCorp, we also have variants of certain empires like the Czerka Corporation that don't require the Megacorp DLC to function. These variants are still in the early stages of proper testing and are limited to the empires using the MegaCorp DLC, and will most likely need to be reworked.
Further Additions:
With every batch of reworks comes new additions. We've expanded some starting events for some key empires, giving the player new things to do in the early game. However, not all empires will have starting quests, and not all empires will have empire-specific ones. This also applies to empire-specific traditions, which we've added several since the last dev diary.
Additionally, new government types and authorities have been added to certain empires. These new government and authority types are era-appropriate and reflect how these empires existed in this broad period of galactic history.
As we wrap up this dev diary, we'd like to thank you for your support and are happy that the RMG Discord now has over 1,200 members on the server!
Before we publicly release the mod, we will publish another dev diary with words from our team and what to expect in our mod on release and beyond. Stay tuned! (soon I promise)
