Developers from Ubisoft Massive and their compatriots over at LucasFilm shared a number of new details today with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con regarding Star Wars: Outlaws and the two locations revealed for the game thus far: the new moon Toshara, and Tatooine. Including, yes, that you can both work for and betray (if you want) Jabba the Hutt.
Speaking to IGN, director Julian Gerighty says that Toshara is inspired by the eastern African savannah, and was specifically designed with heroine Kay Vess' speeder (which yes, is at least somewhat customizable) in mind, with lots of wide, open plains. The team even visited Tanzania for inspiration.
"We start off with a biome, in this case, southeast African biomes as an inspiration, and then you put a twist on it to make it feel a little bit alien," Gerighty said. "If you think of the first shots, maybe not the first shots, but the first the shots of Tatooine. Beautiful, recognizable architecture, but two suns. For us, it's having this huge mountain and carved into it into the amberine of the mountain, the crystalline substance is a city, and these outcroppings of orange, very reflective material. That's what brings the really alien nature to it. Familiar but fresh."
Lucasfilm senior creative executive Matt Martin then stepped in to mention Lucasfilm's "80/20" rule of designing locations that are 80% familiar, but 20% alien or fantastical. In this case, the east African inspiration is the familiar, but the city and the massive outcroppings of crystal are the 20% fantastical.
Later in a panel on the subject at SDCC, the group gave even more detail. Tatooine was evoked again as a somewhat similar landscape with large, barren expanses. But as it was put on the panel, “It’s not just about re-creating Tatooine. It’s about creating a place with its own sense of history.”
"When we first thought about where to bring Kay," Gerighty said, "Lucasfilm Games encouraged us to create our own locations, and Toshara was born out of that challenge. How would Massive build that open world? That hive of scum and villainy."
Toshara specifically has been designed with the aim of letting players live out the "scoundrel" fantasy Massive is building around Kay. They mentioned not just the city carved into a giant rock and the plains surrounding it, but the use of wind power connecting the plains to the city.
But, of course, Outlaws will also visit Tatooine. (Like pretty much every other recent Star Wars media entry.)
"If you close your eyes and give people a choice to go anywhere in Tatooine?" Gerighty said. "Mos Eisley. And specifically one watering hole in Mos Eisley. The opportunity is that you can see all the nooks and crannies. You can see all the things that are informed by the Lucasfilm archives.
"This concept of virtual tourism is important to us. If you’ve ever wondered the distances from the moisture farms to the cantina? We have an experience for you."
We'll also be spending a lot of time at Jabba's palace, it sounds like, running missions for the Hutt himself and navigating the criminal underworld he's at the center of. And yes, it's possible not just to work for Jabba, but also to betray him - which of course has its own set of consequences.
Unfortunately, we didn't get any new looks at gameplay or new trailers during today's panel, but hopefully we don't have to wait too much longer for more. Star Wars Outlaws is expected to release in 2024.
You can catch up on all the other news coming out of Comic-Con in our roundup of everything announced.
