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SWTOR News
7/30/10 10:08 AM -
Friday Update: Nar Shaddaa 
by sado
, posted July 30th, 2010 at 10:08 AM
This week's Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ update is a planet update in the form of Nar Shaddaa:

Sean Dahlberg said:
Circling the planet Hutta is its largest moon Nar Shaddaa, the ultimate corrupt city. Dominated by underworld concerns and owned by the Hutts, this sprawling mass of skyscrapers is considered one of the most dangerous and exciting places in the galaxy, where anything can be had for the right price.

Access the HoloNet to learn more about Nar Shaddaa. Check out this video to see the endless city that covers the moon's landscape. Also, don't forget to visit the media section for never-before-seen screenshots, concept art, and wallpapers showing this capital of illegal commerce.

The Cantina Boaaaat!

Also included in this week's update is a new issue of Blood of the Empire and information on the Threat of Peace in print. Working Dissection and decoded Aurebesh after the jump.
 
Working Dissection




As with all working dissections, we will be adding stuff as we find it. Feel free to let us know if you find anything in the media related to Nar Shaddaa and we will credit you with the find.

Decoded Aurebesh

Moon of Corruption
Shadow Town
Vrblthers (Credit: LegoBlock)
Entirely Dependent on Illegal Commerce
Nar Shaddaa  
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75 Comments
Comment by sojournerjedi made on August 2nd, 2010 at 7:08pm
I don't see why everyone has top complain about the "Vegas" look. Everyone has fond memories of the KOTOR series but if you reinstall it and look again Nar Shaddaa in KOTOR 2 was very bland, mostly tall steel boxes with a hazy night time cityscape in the background. The ambiance this time around is vastly improved.
 
Comment by Elkesai made on August 3rd, 2010 at 4:05pm
I'm not so sure making a comparison to Vegas qualifies as a complaint. Just as I'm not so sure one or two people mentioning it qualifies as "everyone." But perhaps you are referring to the official forums...I don't go there much.
 
Comment by Hobowan made on August 2nd, 2010 at 9:03am
looking forward to the podcast. any idea when it will be up ?
 
DH Team
Comment by sado made on August 3rd, 2010 at 1:38am
Soon, no ETA at the moment but it's in the can. Pete is working on the edit atm.
 
Comment by Danthis made on August 1st, 2010 at 11:39am
The Sith Warrior meets his one known companion on this planet. With all the Hutts around there are probably high level smuggler and BH stories here as well.
 
Comment by L1b3rta made on July 31st, 2010 at 8:27pm
The pictures seen in this thread remind me alot of the nightlife (the colours, style, atmosphere etc...) as how Coruscant looked in SW episode 2, can anyone else relate to this aswell?
 
Comment by Chino made on July 31st, 2010 at 7:02pm
http://www.mycomics.de/content/star-wars-old-republic-ii-kapitel-10.html
 
Comment by adipokerface made on August 1st, 2010 at 4:00am
yay cheers. The one time of the week my german A-level comes in handy :D
 
Comment by Elkesai made on July 31st, 2010 at 3:44pm
I finally read the comic. So, the Emperor is Flemeth...

If you think about it--studying how shamans escaped death, and the idea of living through descendents. Making people into vessels to be filled with his will.

He's Flemeth all right, just not in name.
 
Comment by DarthAgonny made on July 31st, 2010 at 1:24pm
guys, is that an iktotchi on the Nar shaddaa video? he appears in the low-right front moving toward the camera.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Iktotchi
 
Comment by heybarn made on July 31st, 2010 at 7:09pm
I was thinking that also after watching the large flv version of the file... but it could also be Twi'lek tentacles I guess :-?
 
Comment by theunwarshed made on July 30th, 2010 at 8:19pm
on topic: glad to see NS finally included (as if there were any doubt)

off topic: all of these worlds look desolate to me. im hoping it's just part of the design process and that eventually all of the npcs will be added to flesh them out. on a side note, i really hope the npcs react to player actions. im currently playing APB and it's really humorous to see how the npcs react to the antics of the players (the devs did a really good job with this).

 
Comment by Bencor made on July 31st, 2010 at 12:13am
Desolate and sterile:( where is the clutter and grime? its supposed to be a crime-ridden den of madness!
 
Comment by Elkesai made on July 31st, 2010 at 4:58am
Looks like they're trying to draw in some Vegas-types. In other words, it looks rather glitzy. But even Vegas looks far more gritty than this.

On the other hand, the zone(s) on NS in this game won't represent the entire moon. After all, they do mention the the upper areas can be the most desirable of places, and the lower levels not so. Kind of reminds me of another world description in the game.
 
Comment by Xayl1 made on July 30th, 2010 at 7:13pm
sweet I love Nar shadda
 
Comment by Asomatous made on July 30th, 2010 at 5:35pm
Aww Man! Hard to believe I'm among the few, if not only, that dislike these screenshots. The illustrations are nice but there screenshots hard to stomach, remind me of some game from 1990.

I'm bummed out, every time they release something new about this game I cringe, definitely feels like I might not enjoy this one.
 
Comment by Eslates made on July 31st, 2010 at 11:21pm
Busted
 
Comment by Bencor made on July 31st, 2010 at 12:16am
I tend to agree on the screens for NS. Ive loved the other planet reveals though-i just feel that the planet has a empty-warehouse feel. it may just be necessary MMO design tho.
 
Comment by Jamis made on July 30th, 2010 at 6:47pm
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ac/SMB3-gameplay.gif

There's another screenshot from a game released in 1990. Super Mario Bros. 3. I can see how think they look about the same. /sarcasm

In all seriousness though, I can understand if you just don't like the cityscape theme on Nar Shaddaa, but that doesn't mean it looks bad. The graphics for TOR are just fine IMO. I'm glad it's not going to be some overblown Crysis like powerhouse that no one will be able to run unless the have the absolute latest gaming PC.
 
Comment by Vastori made on July 30th, 2010 at 5:42pm
I can see where you are coming from, but don't let one planet's theme throw you off, just don't roll a Smuggler. ;)
 
Comment by thejedibunny made on July 30th, 2010 at 5:18pm
i think bioware are gonna have to do a good job on this to beat Omega from ME2
 
Comment by adipokerface made on July 30th, 2010 at 4:57pm
In the comic where Teneb Kel has the vision of the emperor's minions, is one of them a Voss? If so it could be a good display of just how powerful the emperor is if he's got a hold over someone in a race vastly superior force-wise..

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c107/adipokerface/Picture1-2.png
 
Comment by Elkesai made on July 30th, 2010 at 6:52pm
He looks like one of the Superfriends.
 
Comment by adipokerface made on July 30th, 2010 at 4:58pm
also check out the elephant man's sister behind him!
 
Comment by MechaGodzilla made on July 30th, 2010 at 4:14pm
rofl, one of my comments last night on here was, paraphrased,"I'd rather see Nar Shadda". speak of the devil
 
Comment by FarScholar made on August 2nd, 2010 at 7:30am
Well I'd rather get a game testing access... Now just have to wait for the email to arrive... /cross fingers
 
Comment by Downertool made on July 30th, 2010 at 4:03pm
The cantina reminds me of Omega from ME2, and hopefully just as active.
 
Comment by Fizl made on July 30th, 2010 at 5:18pm
Im wondering if its the Jek Jek Tar
 
Comment by LethalSharpshooter made on July 31st, 2010 at 9:43am
It would be awesome to visit there again!!
I wonder if they have removed the (to humans) toxic fumes? :D
i hope not, because that's what made Jek Jek Tarr iconic.
 
Comment by Loekii made on July 30th, 2010 at 4:19pm
I agree with regards to the atmosphere. Hoping to see more utility among the bar staff (games, quests, information, etc).
 
Comment by Elkesai made on July 30th, 2010 at 3:38pm
The cityscape here may possibly be the view from the edge of the playable zone, to give the illusion:

http://www.swtor.com/media/screens/nar-shaddaa

That's what it looks like to me, anyway.
 
Comment by wolten made on July 30th, 2010 at 11:25pm
I really hope your wrong, but deep down, I think your right. This screenshot looks to me like it is just background panoramic.

I know DH has said that "hallway zones," think single-player Bioware game zones, are supposedly nonexistent in the game... But it really is hard to fathom being able to go into ALL of those buildings, especially the really far ones.

If you CAN, and with planets like this, it really puts the "go anywhere you want" MMO to new heights. And if all those buildings are occupied like a real city? Amazing, which is why I completely agree with you.
 
Comment by Elkesai made on July 31st, 2010 at 4:53am
I'm actually okay with it being what I think it is. It's better than the scenery just ending with a big wall or something. But I also continue to hope that the playable areas are huge as well, and not confined enough to have to instance them because of a large population of players.
 
Comment by Evel made on July 30th, 2010 at 12:34pm
I noticed from when I was working on my previous dissection some "vending machines" looking graphics that I speculated were for ground transportation and in the second image of this dissection (next to the Cantina Entrance) I see those same graphics. Here is the image I made for the previous dissection:

http://infernal-empire.com/images/SWTOR-Dev7-04.jpg
 
DH Team
Comment by Zoidberg made on July 31st, 2010 at 4:54pm
In the E3 gameplay we found that ground transportation was initiated by talking to a droid rather than a phone booth. Purpose of these objects is left for speculation again.
 
Comment by Elkesai made on July 30th, 2010 at 3:40pm
Looks to me like Dr. Who is in town... :)
 
Comment by Xavier made on July 30th, 2010 at 5:19pm
Wow, the Tardis in TOR? That spells trouble.
 
Comment by Xavier made on July 30th, 2010 at 12:33pm
Nar Shadaa is awesome!

In regard to the comic though, anyone else think Darth Thanatos is Teneb Kal? With the exception of the mask, they are wearing the exact same armor. I'm wondering if this is a Sith version of Luke's test in the cave on Dagobah.
 
Comment by LethalSharpshooter made on July 30th, 2010 at 2:37pm
I believe it's a vision of his future, where he's a member of the Dark Council, named Darth Thanaton. :D
 
Comment by Jaramukhti made on July 30th, 2010 at 7:39pm
I think you may be right. It would keep in line with the comics' tendency to provide story for the important characters we will be meeting in the game world.
 
Comment by humanityzend made on July 31st, 2010 at 12:20pm
If it is, it could be hinting at a few gameplay mechanics there. One being that at some point, as a Sith, we may be able to change our name to a "Darth" title. Another would be a hint at the possibility of the player, in their own class storyline, ascending to become a member of the Dark Council. If that isn't what is implied...then at the very least we now know a third member of the Dark Council, to add to the previously revealed Darth Muur, and Darth Howl((hate that name >.>))
 
Comment by Hobowan made on July 30th, 2010 at 12:20pm
How awesome is that? If they now also bring corellia i'm satisfied Forever (in terms of planets)
 
Comment by DarkImperialAgent made on July 30th, 2010 at 3:48pm
It's Bothawui for me. I don't know why I want to see that planet so much, but I do. Corellia is a favorite of mine too though.
 
Comment by r2d2arm made on July 30th, 2010 at 12:18pm
One of the concept arts was "revealed" as the slideshow image for the E3 article I believe. Great addition and something for the KOTOR 2 fans. Nar Shaddaa has appeared in many other Star Wars games as well (Jedi Knight, Jedi Outcast, etc.), so it is nice to see it in TOR too.

Rather curious that they still have it labeled as a planet! Need to change that section header to Planetoids now! :p
 
DH Team
Comment by sado made on July 30th, 2010 at 12:36pm
Yep I remember that image and thinking "gotta be Nar Shaddaa" but at the time we were working on all of the E3 content so I never stated it publicly on the site.
 
Comment by LethalSharpshooter made on July 30th, 2010 at 2:35pm
I was also certain that it was Nar Shaddaa - it looked to seedy to be Coruscant.
But E3 came and went, without any news on NS, and that concept art was forgotten... :D
 
Comment by Altyrell made on July 30th, 2010 at 12:08pm
Well, can we officially say that this is a giant "FU" or BioWare "giving the finger" to those that kept saying BioWare is ignoring, not going to include, overwriting, etc all that happened in KOTOR 2?
 
Comment by Chronx6 made on July 30th, 2010 at 1:20pm
Didn't they state KoToR 2 was cannon is just a lot of what went on in it wasn't widely known and more behind the scenes and so you don't hear about it often?
 
Comment by Altyrell made on July 30th, 2010 at 1:41pm
Ye, but there were people who kept saying that K2 wasn't going to be in TOR, despite us presenting evidence to the contrary
 
Comment by LethalSharpshooter made on July 30th, 2010 at 12:11pm
Giving the finger? Isn't it more like giving the people who loved KotOR 2 (like me) what we want? :)
I was satisfied as hell, I didn't feel like they were giving me the finger.
 
Comment by Altyrell made on July 30th, 2010 at 1:17pm
i meant giving the finger to those that kept saying TOR was going to have nothing to do with K2. I didn't mean that BW was giving the finger to those that kept asking for more stuff from K2.
 
Comment by LethalSharpshooter made on July 30th, 2010 at 2:33pm
OK. :)
 
Comment by Xilln made on July 30th, 2010 at 11:56am
Good to hear there's a version of coruscant for evil people! Who doesn't love city planets?
 
Comment by RogueJedi86 made on August 1st, 2010 at 7:14am
The planet's affiliation is listed as Neutral, so I guess it's not quite Evil, unless we mean Neutral Evil people. :P
 
Comment by LethalSharpshooter made on July 30th, 2010 at 12:06pm
We all do... but I wouldn't say no to good planet either.

There's a lot of dark side-tainted planets in Star Wars, but very few pure light side-planets. It would be awesome to visit a place that is as strong in the light side as for example Marka Ragnos' tomb is in the dark side. :)

EDIT: I read "Who doesn't love EVIL planets?", so my comment seems a little odd now. Bah. Oh yeah, I love city planets too. Ecumenopoleis FTW!!!
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ecumenopolis

Nice to see Nar Shaddaa again. I hope Griskey composes the score for this pla- I mean moon again, and that they'll reuse the Nar Shaddaa score among the new tracks (almost as good as confirmed). The flythough video gave me KotOR 2 vibes. :D
 
Comment by DarkImperialAgent made on July 30th, 2010 at 12:24pm
That's what Tython is supposed to represent...but that's a starter world. And the Sith DO have Korriban AND Dromund Kaas.
 
Comment by LethalSharpshooter made on July 30th, 2010 at 2:29pm
Add to that that Tython are tainted by the dark side because of the Force War around 25000 BBY. :(

I think the reason to why there's so few pure light side-places in Star Wars are because it would be boring with completely safe and peaceful areas. The Sith controls Korriban completely, but as always in the Sith there is infighting and stuff. While if the Jedi had controlled all of Tyrhon it would be boring, now they have to handle the different pirates (IIRC) that plagues the place, and other hazards like flesh raiders.
 
Comment by Fiasco made on July 30th, 2010 at 3:39pm
Forgive my Force ignorance. Could a light side planet still have dangers? A bear or dinosaur is not "dark side" is it? A criminal or murderer is not "dark side" are they? It is my understanding that evil/ bad guy != dark side. It was my understanding that only force users could be dark side.

If the above is correct, there could be a "light side" planet and still be playable.
 
Comment by LethalSharpshooter made on July 31st, 2010 at 9:52am
Well, it could... but it would still be hard to make the Jedi be in control of the place to the same degree that the Sith are in control of Korriban. The SIth can control a planet completely and fight each other while if the Jedi control a planet completely it gets boring.
That's why Black Sun have taken over a lot of Coruscant's undercity, that's why there are pirates and flesh raiders on Tython, and that's why separatists are fighting the Republic on Ord Mantell... "Good" planets cannot be completely controlled by the good guys, because then it would be boring gameplay-wise.

Dinosaurs... hehe. :D
Now that would be awesome enemies!
"Introducing Jurassic Park as the next playable location in The Old Republic!"
 
DH Team
Comment by Zoidberg made on July 31st, 2010 at 4:52pm
Is it "Good" to completely control the free will of all inhabitants of a planet and force them to be "Good?" As a result the Good Guys are in a lose, lose situation.
 
Comment by LethalSharpshooter made on August 1st, 2010 at 8:54pm
If there would be only Jedi and Republic-loyal soldiers on a planet - then Good would rule without contradicting itself. :)

Think Tython, but without pirates and flesh raiders, ever. They have never been there, as the planet is hidden in the galactic core or something.
 
Comment by Jaswar made on July 30th, 2010 at 11:40am
wow cant wait to get there and do some gambling
 
Comment by Snodge made on July 30th, 2010 at 11:38am
Is that a sail barge, or a precursor to one? Either way, could it also be a form of transport, perhaps specific to Hutt controlled territories?
 
Comment by Jaswar made on July 30th, 2010 at 11:43am
in the video you see the craft pulling up to dock i suppose , so ya i guess it may be some type of taxi system just slowly cruising around to different spots on the moon there
 
Comment by LegoBlock made on July 30th, 2010 at 11:07am
On the Holonet Nar Shaddaa page (in Aurabesh) it mentions Vrblther. Looks like another addition to the bestiary.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Vrblther
 
DH Team
Comment by sado made on July 30th, 2010 at 11:55am
Added to the list.
 
Comment by Xeyed made on July 30th, 2010 at 10:26am
wanna know what all the arubesh (is that how you spell it?) says
 
DH Team
Comment by sado made on July 30th, 2010 at 11:03am
Looked through all of the Aurebesh on those images and it's all gibberish from what I can gather. Working on translating the Aurebesh on the holonet entry now though.

Update: Aurebesh translation of the Nar Shaddaa holonet page is up now.
 
Comment by DarkImperialAgent made on July 30th, 2010 at 10:25am
I love this update! Nar Shaddaa has been one of the most speculated games on a lot of people's lists. Great to see Bioware finally reveal it after dropping so many hints. What's wacky is since Hutta is a starter world, it was made small on purpose (but it's still a planet). Nar Shaddaa is simply a moon and technically smaller than Hutta, but may actually have a larger game-playing space in TOR since they're treating it as a separate "planet" and not simply an instanced zone which is what many theorized.
 
Comment by Cpt. Carnage made on July 30th, 2010 at 10:24am
Wow, that looks nice. Neon everywhere - like it.
 
Comment by Peterisjustok made on July 30th, 2010 at 10:19am
And after you guys just did that lore update of Corellia. I think Bioware is messing with you guys. : D
Thanks for the update!
 
DH Team
Comment by sado made on July 30th, 2010 at 10:26am
We did one on Nar Shaddaa ages ago ;)

http://darthhater.com/2009/07/24/the-smugglers-moon/

Although, it was back when the lore updates were much smaller and primarily done by Zoidberg.
 
Comment by DarkImperialAgent made on July 30th, 2010 at 10:24am
Well we know pretty sure that Corellia will be in-game. So that makes at least 15 planets at launch which is just enormous!!
 
Comment by Caliber made on July 30th, 2010 at 10:31am
One should factor out the starting planets due to the size difference as compared to "normal" planets.
 
Comment by John_Roy made on July 30th, 2010 at 1:35pm
I think there will be a few more planets still. The first four are pretty much the "Goldshire" of TOR, and really don't count. Take them out and we have 10. I think there will ultimately by more like 12-14. Corellia seems to be coming, and Geonosis has been mentioned a lot in the marketing. Wish Kashyyk was on its way, but it looks doubtful. There hasn't been a peep about it so far.