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Archived News-February 2006
Week 3
Friday February 17,
2006 |
Empire at War For
PC Now Available! |
Star Wars Empire at War has become
available for the PC! It is available for shipping now, so get them while they
are hot! This game looks very interesting and is getting pretty good reviews.
This anticipated PC game puts the power to command an entire war for the
Star Wars galaxy at your fingertips, with battles focused on
action-packed combat rather than tedious resource gathering. Set a few years
before the events of Episode IV A New Hope, LucasArts' new PC game lets
players wage war on ground and in space, as well as experience the creation of
the Rebel Alliance, the strengthening of the Empire and the beginnings of the
Galactic Civil War.
Order yours now!
Star Wars: Empire at War Collector's
Edition - PC
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Star Wars: Empire at War -
PC
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Friday February 17,
2006 |
Path to the Force
- Episode 55 |
Today we have Episode 55 of Star
Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force which has been created by Nathan Ciprick. You
will be able to access these stories through the Comics
section. Check out the latest episode!
Star Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force-Episode
55
Be sure to join us next week for the fifty-sixth episode of Star
Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force. Then join us every week as we continue to
follow the adventures of the Wookiee E'nac from the Star Wars Galaxies videogame
in the form of Gamics! |
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Friday February 17,
2006 |
Homing Beacon
#155 |
The latest Homing Beacon has
arrived and today we get to talk about the filming of Star Wars. With the
completion of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, George Lucas and his crew
have taken digital cinema from its shaky infancy to visionary heights with the
Revenge of the Sith finale.
"In order to do something like Episode I, II or III, I had to
create worlds in ways that I couldn't do in the old fashion way," says Lucas. "I
couldn't build sets that big, I couldn't have that many extras, I couldn't
create that many costumes."
During some of the earliest interviews about this trilogy, Lucas
had expressed that one of his greatest concerns about the future Star
Wars films was expense. "It will be unbelievably expensive," he said at the
1989 opening of the Disney/MGM Studios, where he broke the news that Star
Wars would return in the '90s. "And that's one of the things holding it up.
If there was a way of doing them less expensively, it could make it easier to go
ahead and do more. But there are just huge, huge amounts of money involved."
The decade that followed saw huge investments of time and
creativity in digital experimentation. In 2005, Lucas reiterated the concern of
what it would take to bring these new Star Wars epics on the screen using
traditional methods. "Financially, I'm a little tiny company -- I'm not like
these big studios here, and for me, doing a $100 million movie is a really big
deal. That's as much money as I can pull together. I couldn't possibly produce a
$300 million movie; it's just not possible for me to do that. So, I have to be
able to create a big world for a very small price."
It began by creating big worlds for a small screen: namely, The
Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Were it not for the early ventures in
digital backlot, crowd replication, set extensions, and other visual tricks
practiced in the critically acclaimed television series, the new Star
Wars movies may not have happened. The other breakthrough was the commitment
to leaving film behind and shooting entirely on HD video.
"We were designing cameras three years before Episode I, but we
didn't get it finished for [principal photography]," says Lucas. "We did get it
finished for shooting our delay unit, which is a two-week shoot we do a year
after. We shot two weeks of it digitally with a real big, huge, funny prototype
camera. It sort of looked like an old Technicolor camera with cables all over
the place."
When it came time for Episode II, the digital cameras weren't
finalized and delivered until just weeks before principal photography began. "It
was real Beta-testing movie making," says Lucas. "We were experimenting; we
hadn't quite done this before. We were learning as we went along and made
Episode II. The great thing about Episode III is that I used the same crew, same
cast, same equipment, same everything and we all knew what we were doing. It
took me one movie to figure it out. And we pushed it much further because on the
first film we had maybe 25% digital sets; the second movie, we had maybe 50%
digital sets and in Episode III, I'd say there's 85% digital sets. We were able
to push the limits of what we needed and it allows you a whole different kind of
flexibility from what people were used to in making movies." |
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Thursday February
16, 2006 |
Star Wars
Battlefront II PC Patch Released! |
Finally, at long last, the
promised Star Wars Battlefront II PC patch update has been
released!
Here's a report on what's new in the 27 MB patch:
NEW CONTENTS AND FEATURES -------------------------- Added support in
both Singleplayer and Multiplayer for additional maps.
Added support for
the LCD screen on the Logitech G15 Gaming keyboard.
Added additional
server-client functionality to increase the online
experience.
RESOLVED
ISSUES --------------------------- Corrected functionality issues with
Droidekas.
Adjusted the weapon animation speed based on how fast the
player is moving.
Corrected an issue that caused the remote rockets
awarded to heavy weapons class soldiers to become invisible.
Corrected an
issue with the sky texture on Geonosis.
Resolved various stability issues
associated with multiple hardware configurations.
Improved stability for
computers using Dual-Core CPUs with NVIDIA GeForce 6 or GeForce 7 graphics
cards. Please check the NVIDIA website for future driver updates which may
resolve any existing issues.
Increased stability for both Singleplayer
and Multiplayer portions of the game.
Corrected an issue that caused
player icons in the mini-map to disappear.
MULTIPLAYER
IMPROVEMENTS -------------------------- Increased Multiplayer performance
for LAN and Internet games.
Increased Multiplayer stability for LAN and
Internet games.
Corrected an issue that caused a decrease in network
performance when rolling starships in Space maps.
Increased stability
between game sessions and map cycling.
Reduced the ability for players to
SPAM text messages during online play.
Corrected an issue that caused
hero characters to not appear in Multiplayer games.
BALANCING
IMPROVEMENTS -------------------------- Corrected an issue in Space maps
with starships inside of hangars.
Corrected collision issues with the
Ball Mode of Droidekas.
NOTE: Users hosting Star Wars Battlefront PC
Dedicated Servers will need to download and install the updated version of the
PC Dedicated server software for compatibility with the 1.1 version
update.
FILE NOTE: The International update includes support for the
United Kingdom, French, German, Spain, and Italian versions of the
game. The patch can be downloaded from the
official site here. This is great news for PC owners and prospective buyers!
They are also finishing up the testing of the Mod Tools and it will likely be
made available within the week. There were several "Fan Made" maps for the
original Battlefront that were very good and fun to play. I hope we get to see
more great worlds and map modifications made by the fans in the near
future! |
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Thursday February
16, 2006 |
Kevin Graham's
Sketch Cards |
Kevin Graham, one of our staff
members and featured artists is now offering sketch cards! If you are into comic
book art, etc. you may have seen the special sketch cards Topps includes in
their packs of cards by different artists. Although Kevin hasn't had the honor
yet, (but at this rate soon will) he is offering his own personal custom sketch
cards. Here is a word from Kevin:
I am currently taking orders for custom
sketch cards. I will draw any character you wish from Star Wars, Lord of the
Rings, Superheroes, etc. One character per card. Headshots are best. The sketch
cards are standard size and will fit into any sleeve for collecting. They are
done in Pen and Ink, Colored w/ Prismacolor Markers, Watercolor, etc. The custom
sketch card will be mailed in a protective holder and can be shipped world wide.
You can choose to have them in black and white or colored. Black and
White: $20.00, Color $30.00. Shipping is included in the price. You can pay by
Personal Check or Money Order. Please contact me at info@kevingrahamart.com
for mailing address to send payment to. Please indicate what character you wish
to have drawn. Payment must be received before illustration will be started and
mailed.
More information available on my site: http://www.kevingrahamart.com.
Thanks for your interest.
Kevin
I have posted his latest piece which can be found here. See
other great artists over in the Featured
Artists section. Enjoy! |
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Thursday February
16, 2006 |
Empire At War:
IGN Review |
IGN's Steve Butts has written a
thorough, and fairly positive review of the brand new Star Wars game Empire
at War:
Sadly, the overall presentation and setting is only half the story.
Star Wars: Empire at War still has to succeed as a strategy game. On that level,
Empire at War offers up more than a few interesting innovations as well as a
handful of disappointments. The innovations and the authenticity of the Star
Wars setting will likely encourage die-hard franchise fans to look past the weak
points, at least for the short term. Hardcore strategy junkies who are looking
for more than just a chance to relive their backyard battles won't stick with it
nearly as long.
Where Galactic Battlegrounds merely asked the player to fight a
series of battles, Empire at War lets the player take part in nearly every
aspect of the Galactic Civil War, from managing production and strategically
maneuvering forces around the galaxy all the way to leading bands of soldiers
and spaceships into direct combat with the enemy. Empire at War manages to
integrate and balance the two experiences very well. Determining just how to
build up your forces and take over the galaxy is every bit as important (if not
exactly thrilling) as squaring off against your enemy in a face-to-face battle.
If you're at all interested in this game, I'm sure you'll want to
read the
full review. |
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Wednesday February
15, 2006 |
ILM Honored
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BBC
has reported that Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects team behind
Star Wars, Harry Potter, Narnia, and countless other films
has been honored by U.S. President George Bush:
Industrial Light and Magic, the special effects firm behind the
Star Wars films, have been honoured by President George Bush.
The firm, founded by George Lucas, was one of seven recipients of
the National Medal of Technology.
ILM is nominated for two academy awards for War of the
Worlds and The Chronicles of Narnia.
Lucas attended the ceremony at the White House's East Room to
receive the medal from the president.
ILM has also worked on recent blockbusters Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban and the Chronicles of
Riddick. |
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Tuesday February 14,
2006 |
LEGO Star Wars
II |
With a comical take on the Star
Wars Trilogy (Episode IV A New Hope, Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and
Episode VI Return of the Jedi), LEGO Star Wars II follows the Rebel Alliance's
battle to dismantle the Galactic Empire and rebuild a galaxy in pieces. From
Darth Vader's pursuit of Princess Leia aboard her Blockade Runner to a showdown
on the reconstructed Death Star, the game includes even more of the
family-friendly LEGO action, puzzles and humor that earned the original LEGO
Star Wars such popularity and acclaim. |
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Monday February 13,
2006 |
Path to the Force
- Episode 54 |
Today we have Episode 54 of Star
Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force which has been created by Nathan Ciprick. You
will be able to access these stories through the Comics
section. Check out the latest episode!
Star Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force-Episode
54
Be sure to check back later this week for the fifty-fifth episode
of Star Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force. Then join us every week as we continue
to follow the adventures of the Wookiee E'nac from the Star Wars Galaxies
videogame in the form of Gamics! |
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Monday February 13,
2006 |
Star Wars Themed
Valentine's Day E-Cards |
With that magical day just over
four hours away (for me anyway), why not send the special someone in your life a
Star Wars Valentine's Day Card like the one below?
For more cards like the card above, click here. |
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