The imagery features a pair of Rebels, a woman with a standard blaster, and a man with a scoped rifle, flanking a pair of Stormtroopers – one with his rifle at the ready, the other priming a Thermal Detonator – as the forest moon of Endor burns in the background.
In the distance, behind the Empire’s AT-ST, we get a glimpse of Ewok villages in the trees, hopefully indicating verticality in DICE’s map design. A defeated AT-ST sits smoking in the woods. Perhaps this suggests destroyed vehicles remain on Star Wars Battlefront’s battlefields.
DICE remains close-guarded with gameplay specifics, but speaking with IGN, Star Wars Battlefront Design Director Niklas Fegraeus explained a bit more of what’s to come when the first-person shooter arrives this fall.
“The scale of our maps and modes offer a great variety” depending on the location, Fegraeus explained. Hoth, where the Rebel Alliance fought off invading AT-ATs in snowy plains, will differ in size than the dense woodland of Endor.
“We have actually made the decision to specifically tailor certain maps to certain game modes,” Fegraeus continued, “and what we get from that is not only incredibly varied scales, but also gameplay that will allow players to live out some of their most memorable Star Wars battle fantasies.”
DICE’s Frostbite Engine brings that to life by way of the studio’s “internally developed photogrammetry systems.” With photogrammetry, developers can use photographed images to achieve an incredible level of detail – we saw this in The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, which IGN nominated for Best Graphics in the 2014 Best of Technology category.
“Perhaps the hardest part about bringing the franchise back is managing expectations,” said Fegraeus. “Star Wars fans, including ourselves, are incredibly passionate about the universe. Each of us have our own personal favorites. However, with the talent we have here at DICE, the Frostbite technology at our fingertips, and the fantastic working relationship we have with Lucas, I believe we will deliver a Star Wars experience that excites fans around the world and gives them the chance to play out battles in some of the most iconic locales in the series history.”
It won’t be long before we see what he’s talking about – DICE is set to reveal Star Wars Battlefront this spring. “We’ve been showing the game to some close partners and one of the things we hear is that it doesn’t feel like other shooters and that it’s fully born from Star Wars. That really strikes a chord with me and the team as that is exactly the emotion and feeling we are going for and we can’t wait to show the world more this spring.”
