The guys over at BioWare Austine made a blog post about the upcomming ‘Onslaught’ Expansion for Star Wars: The old republic. Check it out: 5v3z23
As the launch of the ‘Onslaught’ Expansion comes closer and closer, we’re back with another behind-the-scenes interview with Charles Boyd, so they can share what went into the creation of Mek-Sha, a brand new planet coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic.
With the ‘Onslaught’ Expansion, players will be exploring two new planets, Onderon and Mek-Sha. While Onderon is an established planet in Star Wars lore, Mek-Sha is brand-new. Why do you feel it was important to add a new planet, as well as an existing one?
Charles: While it’s always a pleasure to visit old favorites and take a fresh look at them, it’s also important to us to give players some totally new areas as well. And of course, it’s very exciting and a huge honor to get the opportunity to create a new location from scratch for everyone’s favorite galaxy far, far away.
Building off the last question, what drove you to create Mek-Sha? Why a lawless smuggler’s den on an asteroid?
Charles: The let players experience those aspects of the story directly.
As you were creating Mek-sha, what other SWTOR planets did you draw inspiration from?
Carrie: When dreaming up how to create Mek-Sha, the concept team did a lot of research into asteroids, planets, and space bodies, looking for interesting ways to show a “pirate” outpost hiding on or in an asteroid or destroyed planet. Being inside an asteroid shell is Nar Shaddaa to really look at how some of our more involved modular based sets were constructed. Then they took that knowledge and spring boarded it forward into the solutions you’ll see in Mek-Sha.
What steps did you take to make Mek-Sha unique?
Carrie: Mek-Sha detail and care put into the area.
Lastly, what’s something both of you are excited for players to see once they set foot on Mek-Sha?
Carrie: I am team has worked diligently to ensure this is a unique, compelling, rich, story-driven area for the player to explore and enjoy.
Charles: For me, the contrast between the extreme density of the structures contrasted with the huge, open vastness of space cast of interesting characters that I can’t wait to see players interacting with during the storyline of Onslaught!
Thank you for your time Carrie and Charles! If you’d like to see more news about the ‘Onslaught’ Expansion, be sure to keep an eye on our newsfeed.
