Milestone 4

* Milestone Schedule
* Roadmap
* Milestone Feedback PC
* Milestone Feedback X360
* Art Feedback

## Milestone 4 - Monday, 21st August 2006

Documentation:

* Updated Preliminary Technical Design Document
* Final Design Overview Document, incorporating feedback from Greenlight Meeting
* Draft Design Document
* Final Milestone Schedule

Running on PC and X360:

* Targeting / lock-on
* 2-player on-foot on terrain over network
* Split-screen 2 player
* AI character traversing terrain
* AI flying ship in air (Not taking off / landing)
* Restarts
* FX - electricity

Technology:

* Cloth

Key Deliverables:

* Completed character from MS2 with full set of Placeholder animation and accessible in current maps
* All builds will be delivered on X360 from this point

## Milestone 4 - Monday, 21ˢᵗ August 2006

Summary:

* 2-player on-foot on terrain over network and 2-player split-screen

Content Detail:

* This milestone presents the completed Clone Trooper character from MS3 with a full set of placeholder animations (accessible in current maps).
* 2-player on-foot on terrain over network
* 2-player split-screen
* Beginnings of AI for Character and Ship

Gameplay Features (Controls):

* Targeting / lock-on

Gameplay Features (AI):

* AI character traversing terrain
	+ Would like to have 2 teams of characters fighting each other on the ground.
* AI flying ship in air (Not taking off / landing)
	+ Would like to have 2 teams of characters (maybe 5 each) fighting each other in space.

Gameplay Features (Vehicles):

* Hover vehicles traversing terrain sensibly

Gameplay Features (Miscellaneous):

* Auto-land Button (outside hangar)
* Simple respawn option on Menu

Art (Characters):

* R2-D2
* Dwarf Spider Droid
* Buzz Droid
* Tri-Droid (Octuptarra)
* Assassin Droid (camo battle droid)
* Pilot Droid (blue battle droid?)
* Super Battle Droid
* IG-88
* Zam Wessell
	+ Excluding all cloth components. Will be submitted again with Cloth.

Art (Weapons):

* Fusion Cutter

Art (Vehicles):

* Speeder Bike
* Tri-fighter
* Republic LAAT Gunship
* BARC Speeder (Clone Speederbike)
* Sith Speeder
* X-Wing

Technical (Network):

* Split-screen 2-player
	+ only on the terrain
* 2-player on-foot on terrain over network

Technical (Effects):

* Electricity

Technical (General):

* Cloth Code Implemented
* Restarts

Production:

* Deliver Windows Build
* Deliver Xbox 360 Build
* Final Draft Technical Design Document for Greenlight Meeting
* Final Design Overview Document, incorporating feedback from Greenlight Meeting
* Final Design Document
* Final Milestone Schedule

**Project Title:** ***Battlefront III***

**Developer: Free Radical Design**

**Milestone: Milestone 4**

**Production: Ted Fitzgerald**

**Gabe Gils Carbo**

**James Morris**

**Milestone Review PC Version**

August 23ʳᵈ, 2006

**Milestone 4 Description**

Documentation:

* Preliminary Technical Design Document[Lucasarts: Approved. Final draft due on September 25th]
* Final Design Overview Document, incorporating feedback from Greenlight Meeting on July 25ᵗʰ[Lucasarts: Approved.]
* Draft Design Document[Lucasarts: Approved.]
* Final Milestone Schedule[Lucasarts: Approved – Pending inclusion of localization dates]

Running on PC:

* Targeting / lock-on[LucasArts: Approved. It should be noted, however, that this only works on AI at the moment]
* 2-player on-foot on terrain over network[LucasArts: Approved]
* Split-screen 2 player[Lucasarts: Approved]
* AI character traversing terrain[LucasArts: Approved]
* AI flying ship in air (Not taking off / landing)[LucasArts: Approved]
* Restarts[LucasArts: Approved]
* FX – electricity[LucasArts: Approved]

Technology:

* Cloth[LucasArts: Approved]

Key Deliverables:

* Completed character from MS2 with full set of Placeholder animation and accessible in current maps.[LucasArts: What constitutes the ‘full set” of placeholder animation? In-game we are not seeing additional moves but it does not appear to be a full set of moves/animations? In the stage, the same set of moves/animations have been in for 2-3 milestones now. We need more information here][FRD: All animations are currently placeholder. The set of animations in there are constistent with the current capabilities of the player. New motion capture data should be implemented over the next few months.]
* All builds will be delivered on X360 from this point.[LucasArts: Approved]

## General Feedback

On the PC side, MS 4 is a noticeable improvement over MS 3. There are now additional vehicles to select, and several buildings on the ground that make the area look like a small settlement. The multiplayer addition, both splitscreen and network, also are great to see at this early stage. It was rather enjoyable to get our first kills in BF3.

On the ground we were pleased to see Tatooine starting to evolve into a small settlement. The buildings thrown into the multiplayer give one some cover to play with and also give us a better sense of the scale of the map.

We also found the cloth curtains and spent some time with them. On that note, can you let us know at what stage of development cloth is? How different from the current implementation will the final implementation be?[FRD: Cloth is currently working with the scenery and is being worked on this month for use on characters and should be showcased next month.]
As we roamed the small settlement we saw laser blasts and quickly were able to find the AI troopers fighting with each other. Their constant dance of fire/dodge/stumble/run is proof of milestone but somewhat strange to observe. We were able to target and lock-on to the AI’s although it was somewhat cumbersome and rather difficult to tell when we were locked on. Is the target reticule being used a final asset or placeholder (i.e. in-progress) visual cue?[FRD: The targetting reticule is placeholder art. Our intent is to make it more in line with the BF2 reticule in later revisions.]
The look of the reticule has been a polarizing feature here, and we wondered if there are alternatives. We found the target lock and tracking mechanism somewhat confusing. It’s not clear to the player when orbiting kicks in. The lock is not broken based on proximity, but orbiting does seem to break based on proximity. A suggestion to improve the system that we like is using a global “pad-lock” that is consistent across land, space, on-foot, and in-vehicle gameplay. When the player hits the pad-lock, their view would swing toward their target. This would have to be tuned to prevent it from becoming an auto-aim feature. We understand that there may be some unknown major ramifications of going with a system like this, but we would love if you can explore this suggestion.[FRD: Thanks for the suggestions, we'll investigate the possibilities of this idea.]
The new vehicles available were a welcome addition, although we’re curious as to why the speeder bikes are only present in the 360 build.[FRD: The 360 build was locked down earlier than the PC which meant they were slightly out of sync by a few days. The PC build had the speeder bikes removed intentionally]
We liked seeing the glow of the X-wing’s thrusters, and look forward to seeing the full effect. What are the plans for these types of effects? When can we expect to see them in and working in the game?[FRD: A particle editor is currently in production to aid the creation and management of these effects. As a consequence we are not planning on implementing any new effects for a couple of months.]
Going up into space, we saw the addition of the sky-blue effect at the edge of the planet, further enhancing the feel of being in space. We feel it’s probably too large right now however.[FRD: Noted.]
After some time spent looking for them, we were able to spot the flying AI ships and saw that they do an adequate job of chasing and firing at each other. They are, however, much faster than the player, and rather difficult to find in the large expanse of air/space available to them.[FRD: Noted.]
See our concerns below.

We also made our way into the capital ship and saw the bursts of electricity. Our feedback is attached on a separate art-feedback document.

Overall we feel that it’s a solid PC milestone build which proves out the technology meant for delivery on MS4.

Once again, well done!

## Open A Issue(s)

*(Provide details on “A” related issues if any. “A” issues are issues that cause the developer to not pass the current milestone. Use the headings from the milestone description list as a guide for reviewing open “A” issues.)*

## Open B Issue(s)

*(Provide details on “B” related issues if any. “B” issues are issues that should be fixed by the developer to improve the quality of the game and to guaranty passing the current milestone. These issues are of lower severity to level “A” issues. Use the headings from the milestone description list as a guide for reviewing open “B” issues.)*

**Design**

* The flying AI ships are very hard to see unless they are right on top of the player. This makes it very hard to locate them. Even when we have the radar map working, players will still need to visually find ships in the sky in order to understand the flow of the air battle.[FRD: We are considering a variety of options to aid identification and location of NPC vehicles and ships and hope to strike a balance between grace and functionality. We will present our ideas at a later date.]
* The recoil on the guns as currently implemented causes the player to constantly readjust their aim when they’re firing. We feel that this mechanic is too hard-core for battlefront. The Star Wars blaster fantasy is to be able to fire bursts of laser blasts and fill the air with lasers as seen in the movies. This would not be possible to do with the gun recoil as it is now.[FRD: Noted.]
* The infantry controls are currently not sensitive enough. This is evident when we play multiplayer. When one turns, the trooper does not turn fast enough to keep up with a player running across the screen in front of us.[FRD: This is noted and something we aim to address in the very near future.]

## Open C Issue(s)

*(Provide details on “C” related issues if any. “C” issues are issues that should be fixed by the developer to improve the quality of the game. These issues should be addressed in later milestones. Use the headings from the milestone description list as a guide for reviewing open “C” issues.)*

**Art/Animation**

* We like the new radial blur effect that occurs during turns and under speed boosts. However, it happens very frequently during turns. It should probably only be used for extreme maneuvers so that it’s not distracting to the players. Please see further feedback on the art feedback doc.[FRD: This is not intentional and will investigate. It is intended when thrusting, so it may be that the player finds themselves thrusting during a turn too easily.]
* The ship cockpits are starting to take shape and are generally looking great. There’s a small problem with the targeting reticule as it’s currently sorting in front of the cockpit which can be noticeable.[FRD: This is a bug. Noted.]
* We’re all excited to see the start of special effects such as the lightning on the reactor room. In terms of look, the lightning arcs are too uniform currently. Ideally, there should be different intensity arcs mixed in. It would also be ideal if the lightning functioned as a light source (googled picture of electricity attached).[FRD: We'll see what can be done to incorporate your suggestions. Having the electricity FX act as a light source shouldn't be a problem.]
* The bridge on the exterior of the Invisible Hand is missing the glass portion.[FRD: Noted.]
* The lightning arcs from the reactor room can be seen when looking through the glass toward the rear of the ship.[FRD: Bug. Noted]
* The gun ports that were visible on the outside of the Invisible Hand are also gone. Is that intentional? Note that if you fly just right outside of the hangar, you can see them pop into view momentarily.[FRD: This is unintentional and will be fixed]
* When standing inside the glass bridge of the Invisible hand, there are several turrets which appear to be floating slightly above the glass of the bridge.[FRD: This is a bug where interiors are not perfectly aligned with exteriors]

**Engineering**

* It’s great to see the AI battle it out in the air; the action looks fast and furious when one’s close to it. However, the AI zips around much faster than the player can. At this point it’s completely impossible to follow the AI with one’s ship.[FRD: AI ships are set to the same speed as the player controlled ships. However, we agree that tweaking to the AI ship speed is required to aid playability.]
* Additionally, the AI is able to fly into the no-fly zone areas of the map. If you run the game long enough, you will notice that they eventually get lost and will disappear for long periods of time.[FRD: Bug. Noted]
* The AI troopers fighting on the ground are easily seen from quite high up in the air due to their laser blasts. This is great and should work well in the game. However they feel very small and hard to target when flying. Hopefully the auto-aim will alleviate this. Will skimming work on the ground or only over capital ships?[FRD: Skimming is intended only for Capital Ships. Targeting of ground based AI should be aided by the widened splash-damage area of vehicle lasers.]
* The Jedi starfighter’s cockpit view is too wide. You are positioned too far back to the rear of the craft which subsequently results in much of the action being blocked by the cockpit itself.[FRD: Camera bug. This view is true to film, poor for gameplay!]
* The automatic landing is working as designed. Very nice addition, and seemingly can handle most of the awkward approach positions that we’ve tried.[FRD: Excellent. Thanks for the feedback.]
* The controls on the troopers feel somewhat sluggish. Even if I hold the stick all the way toward one direction, it takes a long time for the trooper to start facing that direction and then to actually turn.[FRD: Please see the comment for ‘B’ list item 3.]
* When playing in split-screen, the game uses a wide-angle view that is distracting. This is particularly so when one turns or spins around. The POV should be narrower so that it’s not distracting/disorienting to the player.[FRD: We'll see what can be done to address this. One consideration is having a vertical split rather than a horizontal one.]
* The speeder bikes are not available in the PC build.[FRD: The Speeder bikes are part of the supplied PC build assets and viewable in the Stage rather than the game. The milestone requirement for the Speeder Bike was an art deliverable.]
* When flying high, sometimes one can see a large square as the detailed textures of the ground are loaded (see picture).[FRD: This is a bug relating to terrain rendering.]

* It’s possible to land one’s ship inside the room with the turbo lasers by flying into the hangar, and then flying out of it very slowly while keeping close to the edge of the ship (i.e. don’t cross the portal). Hangars are for newbies![FRD: This is a portalling bug.]

**Overall Rating: *PASS***

**Project Title:** ***Battlefront III***

**Developer: Free Radical Design**

**Milestone: Milestone 4**

**Production: Ted Fitzgerald**

**Gabe Gils Carbo**

**James Morris**

**Milestone Review PC Version**

August 23ʳᵈ, 2006

**Milestone 4 Description**

Documentation:

* Preliminary Technical Design Document[Lucasarts: Approved. Final draft due on September 25th]
* Final Design Overview Document, incorporating feedback from Greenlight Meeting on July 25ᵗʰ[Lucasarts: Approved.]
* Draft Design Document[Lucasarts: Approved.]
* Final Milestone Schedule[Lucasarts: Approved]

Running on PC:

* Targeting / lock-on[LucasArts: Failed. We were unable to target the AI.]
* 2-player on-foot on terrain over network[LucasArts: Approved]
* Split-screen 2 player[Lucasarts: Approved]
* AI character traversing terrain[LucasArts: Approved]
* AI flying ship in air (Not taking off / landing)[LucasArts: Approved]
* Restarts[LucasArts: Failed. The restart option is not in the pause menu, and “Go To Frontend” option in debug menu seems to lock up the game.]
* FX – electricity[LucasArts: Failed. There’s no electricity on the 360]

Technology:

* Cloth[LucasArts – Failed. There is no cloth in the 360]

Key Deliverables:

* Completed character from MS2 with full set of Placeholder animation and accessible in current maps.[LucasArts: What is a full set of Placeholder animation? How can we view it? The stage only has the test walk for the stormtrooper.]

[FRD: The branching of the 360 build from the PC build introduced slight content differences. This was partly due to the 360 build being locked down earlier than the PC build in the interests of code stability. Development of the PC version leads the 360 version.]
## General Feedback

We’re very excited to see the game running on the 360. There was some initial confusion about how to launch the build, but once that was resolved we were able to run it without any problems. Please note that in the future the build needs to be launched from the 360 directly rather than from a networked PC. This will be part of our milestone requirement going forward.[FRD: We will review our options. As game development proceeds there will be a need to launch directly into certain areas to allow swift demonstration of deliverables.]
We saw the delivery of two different res files, one with few objects and one with the same (or more when we count the speeder bikes?) objects as the PC build. We noticed that the when loading the full objects map, the performance of the game dropped significantly as you had warned.

We saw that the AI in the 360 behave just like in the PC, although on the 360 we had a much harder time finding the flying ships than we did on the PC version.[FRD: Please see the response in the PC MS4 report]Moving on to multiplayer, we were very happy to see both split-screen and network multiplayer working. We did note that in split-screen the UI does not seem to work. When will the UI work in split-screen?[FRD: This will be working in the next deliverable. This was intentionally disabled in the interests of stability]
Although we were disappointed that the 360 build was a few days behind the PC, we feel that this is a strong delivery for the Milestone and are happy as we both met the requirement to run the game on a 360, and additionally were able to play in both split-screen and network multiplayer.

In future milestones we’ll expect that anything listed as working on the Milestone Schedule will be working on the 360.

In order to synch our expectations on each milestone delivery, the Milestone Schedule should be specific on the state of the deliverable. For example, if cloth implementation is a deliverable, the Milestone Schedule should be specific about the state of the delivery, such as: Cloth physics implemented, 64X64 textures, 10% complete. They should also note the projected final date and state, e.g.: Final cloth physics, 256X256 textures, bump mapping, and destructibility due by MSX. Another example is the “Jetpack class” listed in the next milestone delivery. What exactly will be delivered? Will it be working 100%?

We feel that in the future it would be helpful for us to go over the milestone deliverable list prior to its delivery in order for us to better understand what will be included in the delivery.[FRD: Future Roadmap comments will be distinguished by platform. In most cases, features on PC or 360 may only be found to be working/non-working in the closing stages of milestone development. It is for this reason that some intended features are disabled. In the week leading up to the delivery of the milestone Free Radical will supply information to LucasArts as to any such issues and any differences between platforms]

## Open A Issue(s)

*(Provide details on “A” related issues if any. “A” issues are issues that cause the developer to not pass the current milestone. Use the headings from the milestone description list as a guide for reviewing open “A” issues.)*

## Open B Issue(s)

*(Provide details on “B” related issues if any. “B” issues are issues that should be fixed by the developer to improve the quality of the game and to guaranty passing the current milestone. These issues are of lower severity to level “A” issues. Use the headings from the milestone description list as a guide for reviewing open “B” issues.)*

**Design**

* The flying AI ships are very hard to see unless they are right on top of the player. This makes it very hard to locate them. Even when we have the radar map working, players will still need to visually find ships in the sky in order to understand the flow of the air battle.[FRD: Please see the response in the PC MS4 report]
* The recoil on the guns as currently implemented causes the player to constantly readjust their aim when they’re firing. We feel that this mechanic is too hard-core for battlefront. The Star Wars blaster fantasy is to be able to fire bursts of laser blasts and fill the air with lasers as seen in the movies. This would not be possible to do with the gun recoil as it is now.[FRD: Please see the response in the PC MS4 report]
* The infantry controls are currently not sensitive enough. This is evident when we play multiplayer. When one turns, the trooper does not turn fast enough to keep up with a player running across the screen in front of us.[FRD: Please see the response in the PC MS4 report]
* The pause menu does not have a restart option.[FRD: This was disabled intentionally and will be present in future builds]

## Open C Issue(s)

*(Provide details on “C” related issues if any. “C” issues are issues that should be fixed by the developer to improve the quality of the game. These issues should be addressed in later milestones. Use the headings from the milestone description list as a guide for reviewing open “C” issues.)*

**Art/Animation**

* All the button graphics used in the build are Playstation ones rather than Xbox ones. Additionally some of the button graphics don’t display. For example on the title screen the text reads “Press <blank> to start”. [FRD: Noted]
* The blue band around the world that is seen from space adds a great sense of being in space, but it’s currently too thick and pronounced. [FRD: Please see the response in the PC MS4 report]
* Some of the textures on the 360 build are much less detailed than their PC counterparts. [FRD: The example above is a rendering issue that will be looked into. Overall, texture quality is as high as memory constraints will allow. Texture streaming aids visual quality in this area. Optimization of textures, streaming and memory is ongoing.]

360PC
**Engineering**

* Some of the special effects that were present on the PC do not work on the 360. Specifically there’s no radial blur on the 360 build, and the lightning in the reactor room is not there. [FRD: Noted]
* We noticed that the size of the world rendered when flying is limited to a large square of textures that update as I fly forward. [FRD: This is the transition from lo-res textures to the megatexture. Optimisations to memory and texture streaming will address this issue.]

* The respawn option in the pause menu does not work, although the debug menu option does. [FRD: Noted]
* When accessing the controls or sound setup sub menus, the extreme right hand portion of the text is displayed over the menu graphics. [FRD: Noted]
* When I back out to the main pause menu from one of the sub menus, the text is shifted roughly one pause menu page down from where it should be. [FRD: This has now been fixed]
* The game loading screen with the controller is cut off at the left and the right of the screen. [FRD: The image is not optimized for the display ratio (widescreen). This will be addressed in future builds]
* The short “jerk” that occurs when one enters or leaves the hangar of the capital ship is much more noticeable on the 360 than on the PC. [FRD: This was one of the final PC improvements that was not able to be implemented into the 360 build for delivery]
* There’s a strange corruption on the shadows on the trooper on occasion [FRD: This is a result of buildings in the scene being placed as props rather than environment objects which has a cost on shadowing. This will be addressed during environment production]

* While in first person view, the gun clips onto the screen. [FRD: Noted]
* The automatic landing on the 360 doesn’t seem to work. The text message appears but we haven’t gotten it to engage yet. [FRD: This was one of the final PC improvements that was not able to be implemented into the 360 build for delivery]
* When standing on one of the gun ports inside the ship, one can see part of the ship’s superstructure just outside. [FRD: We seek clarification on this. Can you supply an example screengrab please?]
* Laser Blasts in the 360 splitscreen are much harder to see than in normal mode. [FRD: Noted]
* While playing in splitscreen, we noticed that when the two players approach each other head-on, the game’s framerate tends to drop to a crawl. [FRD: Noted – this will be addressed through ongoing optimisation]

**Overall Rating: *PASS***

**Project Title:** ***Battlefront III***

**Developer: Free Radical Design**

**Milestone: Milestone 4**

**Production: Ted Fitzgerald**

**Gabe Gils Carbo**

**James Morris**

**Milestone Art Feedback**

August 23ʳᵈ, 2006

**Overall**

There were a lot of great new assets in this build. After reviewing the objects on the stage against various reference files, the following models were pretty much spot on:

We shouldn’t have any trouble clearing the above assets with Licensing.

The remainder of the assets did include some discrepancies with the reference material. In some cases the shape of the model seemed a bit off, in others the detail of the textures was not quite right.

While there is quite a bit of feedback regarding these assets, overall we have been impressed by the quality of all the art that has been delivered. With a small amount of alteration we are confident that these assets will be approved by Licensing.

Note: In cases where there has been a conscious choice to deviate from the film reference (e.g. the base coloration of the pilot droid, or the addition of the new fusioncutter) please let us know the game logic behind these decisions. We can typically get approval for non-canonical artistic choices, especially if there is a strong gameplay reasoning behind them, but we will need that information in order to make a strong case.

## Characters

### R2-D2

* The textures toward the bottom of R2’s dome appear low-res and stretched compared to the textures at the top of his dome.

[FRD: We are reviewing the texture and will optimize it to address this issue]
### Zam Wessel

Face

* Zam’s face appears too narrow. The actress has a very round face.
* Zam’s lips seem stretched horizontally. The actress’ mouth is not quite so wide.
* Zam’s nose is a bit more prominent than the actresses.
* Lighting differences on character’s face often have a harsh, aliased edge.[FRD: These issues all relate to the stage viewer, how it handles lighting and perspective rather than the model. Future version of the stage will contain the Orthographic option to show assets in that view]

Costume

* Zam is missing a band from her left leg.[FRD: This detail will be added]</div
* Her veil is red on both sides. The outside of the veil should be purple.[FRD: This is due to the WIP status of the cloth code and will be addressed in future builds]
* The shape of her binoculars is slightly off. The center piece is above the eye pieces. In the film it is below.[FRD: When viewing the model in Maya rather than the stage, this issue is not present and again is a perspective issue in the stage that will be eliminated with the Orthographic option]

### IG-88

Body

* IG-88’s torso is shorter than it is in the film. This causes his head to look disproportionately large.[FRD: Noted]

### Clone Trooper

Width

* Overall, the clone trooper appears to be too narrow when viewed straight on.
* This is most evident in the helmet. The eye and mouthpieces in particular appear to be distorted. You can also see the “pinching” at the bottom of the helmet, which normally has two prominent ridges that extend from the base.

[FRD: Noted]
### Stormtrooper

* The shape of the stormtrooper’s eyepieces seems a bit off. They should be a bit larger.
* The helmet seems a bit narrow. The bulges at the base are not as prominent as in the film.
* From the side the shape of the stormtrooper’s helmet differs quite a bit.
* The front of the mask is nearly flat, whereas in the film it extends slightly.
* The back of the helmet does not have the same distinctive curvature
* The indentation below the eyepiece is a slightly different shape.

[FRD: Noted]

### Pilot Droid

* The Pilot Droid’s back differs from the film model. There is a third ridge along the back “panel”. The panel also appears to occupy less of the unit’s back.
* The color differs from the film version – but this may be beneficial for the player. We can probably clear this with licensing.

[FRD: Noted]
### Super Battle Droid

* The SBD’s “eye” ridge is very lightly colored. In the films it is generally a lot darker (grimier) than the rest of the metal causing it to stand out more.
* There is a concave indentation on the rear of the SBD’s head that does not appear in the films.
* There is a ridge along the SBD’s back that does not appear in the films.
* The SBD’s “cod piece” differs from the film’s in shape and texture.
* The SBD’s “calf” is a single piece. In the films it is divided into two pieces.
* The droid’s texture does not have the same metallic quality as seen in the film version. It appears to be more “matte”.
* The elbow, knee, and shoulder joints do not quite match the film versions’.

[FRD: Noted]
## Non-Character Droids

### Dwarf Spider Droid

* The tip of the dwarf spider droid’s blaster is slightly different from the film version.

[FRD 08-30-06: All reference material used to create this asset featured the fatter droid laser. Examples below]

## Octuptarra Droid

* The droid’s “eyes” are shaped slightly differently than the film version.
* The droid’s foot is only one piece. In the film the droid’s feet are split into pieces.

[FRD 08-30-06: The reference material on the right does not match the reference material for Octuptarra droid we have been using. It appears to be reference for the Tri-Droid. Examples of the reference we have been using for the Octuptarra droid is shown below and were derived from a supplied ILM asset under the filename of *tri\_droid\_EP3\_3D\_201.MB*.]

## Vehicles

### BARC Speeder

* The rear portion of the BARC speeder doesn’t quite match the film version.
	+ The shape and placement of the engines seems to differ.
	+ Beneath the engines there is a large piece of geometry that changes the shape of the back portion of the vehicle.
	+ There is an insignia of some kind on the front part of the engine that does not appear on the film version.
	+ There is no gun mounted above the engines.

[FRD: Please review the image of the revised model below. The model will be incorporated into future builds]

### Jedi Starfighter

* The markings on the underside of the ship do not match those in the film.
* The Republic insignia only has 6 points. It should have 8.

[FRD: Noted]
### Droid Tri-Fighter

* The Tri-Fighter is missing missile bays.
* The ball inside the center sphere appears to be much larger than the film version.

[FRD: This model matches the ILM model very closely. We will send the comparison image shortly]
### X-wing

* The shape and placement of the rear of the ship seems off.
	+ The back portion of the fuselage seems low in relation to the cockpit. As an example, notice that in the films R2 sits higher.
		- You can also see that in the game model there is a greater distance between the top of the rear cockpit and the fuselage.
	+ The four engines in the game model seem smaller, and possibly lower than in the film version.
* The shape of the blasters differs from the film version.
	+ In the films there is a piece just before the tip of the blaster.
	+ There is also a ring on the wide part of the blaster that does not appear on the game model.
* The nosepiece differs somewhat from the film version.
	+ There is a very pronounced curvature. In the film it is not as obvious, the piece appears more angular.
	+ The nosepiece seems to be longer and more narrow than in the film. This can be seen in the notch on the top.
* The shape of the engines seems to differ from the film version.
	+ In the films the top half of the top engine is wider than the bottom half. In the game the bottom half of the bottom engine sticks out farther than the top.
		- This is also true for the bottom engine, where the position is flipped.
* The texture along the top of the X-wing’s nose suggests a panel that does not appear in the film. (looks like a long narrow rectangular piece built into the ship).

[FRD: Noted]
### Hailfire Droid

* The core portion of the droid is in the center of the wheels. In the film it sits more toward the back.
* The core portion of the droid sits below the engine part of the wheels. In the film it rides above this area.
* The markings on the top of the droid’s core differ from those seen in the film.

### AAT

* When viewed from the side, the AAT seems a bit shorter than it does in the film.[FRD: We believe this is as a result of perspective. Please see review the orthographic view below]

* When viewed from the front, the AAT seems quite a bit more narrow than it does in the film. This is especially noticeable in the middle portion. [FRD: We believe this is as a result of perspective. Please see review the orthographic view below]

* The dome on the front portion of the AAT does not seem to be as prominent as the film version.

[FRD: Noted and addressed]
### LAAT Gunship

* Viewed from the side, the LAAT appears quite a bit shorter than the film version.
* Viewed from the front the LAAT seems significantly more narrow than the film version.[FRD: We believe these two points are as a result of perspective. Please see review the orthographic views below (Top image is ILM reference, bottom image is the FRD model)]

* The cockpits are not as prominent as they are in the film.[FRD: Noted and addressed in the images above]]

## Weapons

### Fusioncutter

* The fusioncutter’s plating makes it appear a bit more bulky than a standard Star Wars weapon.
* The multiple barrels on the end have led to some confusion regarding the weapon’s function.
	+ Is there a preliminary spec available?
* There is already an established look for a fusioncutter in the Star Wars universe. Depending on the functionality, it may be best to consider an alternate name, e.g. “fusionslicer” or “blastcutter”.[FRD: Steve Lewis is contacting James about proposals for this objects uses]

## General

### Electricity

* Is it possible to change the color of the lightning seen in the engine room?
	+ It has reminded some of the default After Effects lightning plug-in.
* Is it possible to add a bit more variety and action to the lightning’s pattern?
	+ In its present form it resembles blue lines animating at a steady pace. Some randomness, branching, and more dynamic movement may improve the appearance.
* Can the electricity cast light?[FRD: Noted]

## Battle Damage

* Many vehicles feature “carbon scoring” that makes them look worn and battered.
	+ Will every vehicle of the same class share the same “battle damage”?
		- If so, it is likely that players will notice the repetition with next-gen fidelity.
			* Is it possible to apply different scorch marks and scratches to different vehicles of the same type?[FRD: This would be unworkable for technical reasons and is not preferred]

## Radial Blur

* The radial blur does not quite convey a sense of speed yet.
	+ It will need to be combined with other effects, engine glow, sound, etc.
* At first glance, we think it might be more effective for blur to kick in when you first boost, and then gradually let up after you achieve maximum speed.[FRD: Noted]

## Cockpit

* In the X-wing and the Jedi Starfighter cockpits, the player seems to be seated fairly far back. It is difficult to see the action. [FRD: The camera will be repositioned]
* Will the player see their hands / feet in cockpits where controls appear?[FRD: This is not intended functionality]
* Will cockpit instruments (like Radar) react to game conditions?[FRD: This is not intended functionality]

​