Update notes for June 29th,2004 *** Secrets of the Force*** Major Features Jedi Revamp Part 1: Publish 9 brings us The Secrets of the Force. In The Secrets of the Force, existing Jedi may now re-allocate their skill points based on the type of Jedi they would like to create. When you log on, you will see a window pop up that will prompt you to convert your Jedi to the new Jedi skill system. In the new Jedi skill system, you may remain PvE (with the exception of the occasional Bounty Hunters wanting to prove themselves) or may choose to go on to the new PvP Force Ranking System (FRS). Jedi must choose their path to Force mastery by following the path of light or turn to the dark side. The FRS is a PvP mechanic that allows a Jedi to advance beyond the rank of Knight. It consists of two skills trees, one for Light and one for Dark. Each skill represents a Force Rank. Experience to attain these Force Rank skills is gained and lost through PvP actions. Light Jedi will vote on advancement and Dark Jedi will fight for advancement. To advance, the Light Jedi and Dark Jedi have gathered into groups and have set up their own secret Enclaves, hidden away from the Empire, allowing only a set number of players to advance into the various Force ranks. Only a set number of players may attain a given rank within each Enclave. Therefore, in order for one to advance, another must be demoted. Jedi who enter the FRS are automatically set as always overt for their aligned faction (Rebel for Light and Imperial for Dark). As long as they stay within the FRS, they can not go covert or resign/change factions. Please visit our Jedi Conversion Guide for further details. Jedi Conversion Guide Hero of Tatooine: Due to high player demand, we have revamped and reintroduced the famed 'Hero of Tatooine' quest. The quest utilizes brand new static and dynamic content. Find the hero and see if you have what it takes to acquire the Marks of Altruism, Intellect, Courage, and Honor. For players who previously completed the quest, you will retain your badges and may complete the quests from where you left off or from the beginning. To start the quest, the player must first seek out and speak with the Hermit of Tatooine. Loot Kits: Loot kits are a new mini-game for collectors. Players can collect a new type of loot from NPC's and combine them to make better items. Players can start by visiting Junk Dealers to request a 'loot kit'. These loot kits are containers that will be used to collect miscellaneous items dropped from NPC's and can be turned into a new reward for players to keep or sell back to the Junk Dealer. Update Notes List Items Art

Fixed some occasional issues with per-pixel lighting where the light would appear to be coming from the wrong

direction

Fixed the Mandalorian helmet so that it is wearable by Rodians

Fixed a problem with Squill death animations causing them to flip over after death

Fixed a problem with the Grand Healer's robe that was causing a hole to appear in Mon Calamari neck

Fixed a problem causing too much transparency on Wookiee skirt fur

Removed a leak in particle emitters that has caused some clients problems, whereby particles would build up and lower frame rate while the particle system was alive. (e.g. flamethrower effect)

Wookiee Armor now correctly displays the base fur in uncovered areas

Fixed a potential graphical glitch with Corellian corvette walls related to some new video drivers

Sun no longer produces glare inside structures

Fixed water effect on Radeon 8500-class cards

Badges

Character badges are now located on a tab on the character sheet instead of the examine window

The Character Sheet now displays a list of badges earned by the player and also badges not yet won

Bazaar / Vendor

Made improvements to the commodities server response time

Fixed a problem that could cause invalid bids and take money from your account

Fixed a problem where you receive an email saying you've been outbid even if you bid on an auction in which you are already the highest bidder

Improved auto retrieval code for vendors

Players will now be notified when placing an auction bid that is invalid because there is a another bid with a higher value

Fixed a problem with MyBids not updating correctly

Fixed an issue where vendor registration would not correctly re-register until the server restarted

The detail description should now appear on all new items being put on the Commodities Market.

Client Stability Enhancements

Fixed two memory leaks including one that would occur each time a rider dismounts from a mount or vehicle without storing it

Combat

Improved combat visuals and head tracking in combat. 'Head tracking' for melee combat is now disabled. This addresses problems with head tracking in many of the complex melee combat animations. Notice that the neck no longer snaps around in an unnatural way when executing the move.

Adjusted several combat special moves to no longer bypass Toughness defenses

Healing commands are now visible in the combat queue.

Crafting

Weapon/Droid Crafting tools have been fixed and will not work with every single draft schematic in the game.

Weapon/Droid Crafting tools have been fixed and will not work with every single draft schematic in the game. Items crafted using the Generic Crafting Tool that are not handled by any other specific crafting tool such as a can still be crafted and experimented on with a Weapon/Droid Crafting tool.

Made the "misc" crafting type display correctly when selecting a schematic

Lightsabers can no longer be crafted with a Weapon/Droid Crafting tool and now require the Lightsaber Crafting tool

Lightsabers can now be experimented on when using a Lightsaber tool next to a Weapon/Droid Crafting Station

GCW

Fixed several fire rate problems with manual turrets.

Grouping

Fixed a problem with the group UI not correctly displaying the group member name under certain situations

GUI / Keyboard

Removed 5 loading checkboxes from initial loading screen FPS display now correctly goes up to 30 fps (not 29)

Fixed a problem with the GUI not updating XP totals when XP is gained or lost

Can put Vehicle and Pet objects in toolbar to call/store vehicles and pets

Added options in the chat options menu to filter out chat from /afk players

Jedi will no longer have to reset their special Force UI's every time they zone or log

Toolbar now adds default commands for brand new characters.

Command Queue now displays some non-combat commands as appropriate.

Attribute Mod window can now shrink vertically to only one row.

Items that are reduced to 0 hitpoints, show up as red in your inventory (unless it is equipped in which case it still shows up as an equipped item)

Fixed several typos in Command Browser Window.

Fixed a typo in the master BE skills window tooltip description

Datapad no longer continually offers you help

Removed Crash bug involving giving the /alarmremove command an invalid index

Macro Editing Window - Removed crash bug, improved UI consistency

Holocron / Knowledge Base

Added Holocron entries for the Force Rankings under "Professions"

Fixed several typos in the several sections of the Holocron.

Inventory

Equipping/un-equipping/transferring items now goes through the Command Queue. Equipping armor and weapons also has a delay associated with it. This is to prevent combat system exploits that were occurring.

Traps, Grenades and Heavy Weapons in nested containers will now function correctly

NPC's

Fixed typos in NPC conversations: Bestine Political Quests, Corellia Heralds, Corellia Static Quests, Corellian Corvette, Dantooine Static Quests, Dathomir Static Quests, Imperial Theme Park, Jabba's Theme Park, Junk Dealers, Loading Screens, Rebel Theme Park Quests, Talus Static Quests, Tatooine Heralds, Tatooine Static Quests, Yavin IV Static Quests

AI improvements: on steep hillsides and cliffs, creature aggressiveness and accuracy has been improved

Other

Fixed a problem where free trial users could not deposit money into their bank account if they were near the 50k limit

Pets

Removed vitality loss from PvP deaths

Added "Incapacitation Recovery" option for pets. This will allow the pet's master to revive an incapacitated pet to 1 HAM point.

Profession: Bounty Hunter

Fixed a crash to desktop issue that happens when taking a bounty hunter mission and traveling

Temporarily reduced BH - Jedi Bounty Mission rewards (Credits & XP)

Profession: Combat Medic

Fixed an issue with Combat Medics swimming and combat actions

Profession: Doctor / Medic

If the player attempts to heal an illegal target with /healDamage, the command will default to the player even if the target is not a combat target.

Profession Entertainer & Dancer

Entertainers/Dancers: Modifying /watch and /listen so that you can perform these actions while sitting on the ground

Profession: Image Designer

Fully decorated all the Image Designer salons

Added music inside the Image Design salons

Master ID timer changes (a master outside the Image Design salon gets 1/2 time, a master inside the Image Design salon has no time required)

Profession: Jedi As part of the Jedi revamp, Jedi will find that they will have to deconstruct their lightsabers via a new radial menu option. Jedi will be able to use their crystals and pearls as they will be reclaimed using the new system. Please make sure you have enough free inventory space before attempting to deconstruct any lightsaber. New lightsabers are a weapon that is also a slotted container based on a player's level. The only items a Jedi may place in the lightsaber are 1 Color Crystal and 1-4 (based on lightsaber type) 'tuned' Force Crystals or 'tuned' Krayt Pearls. The stats of the basic lightsaber will remain at its crafted values, however stats will go up and down based on the values of the crystals placed within. The lightsaber's blade color will be determined by the 'Color Crystal'. Lightsaber's without a color crystal cannot be used. Based on its generation, lightsaber's will gain slight stat bonuses along with more container slots to put crystals in. There are 4 styles available to each lightsaber skill line now. A Jedi will now be required to 'Tune' the crystal or pearl he/she wishes to use. A Jedi will use the Force to tune the crystal to their body. Once tuned, the crystals and pearls will only fit within lightsabers crafted by that Jedi. Jedi may only use lightsabers that they have crafted. Lightsabers, tuned crystals, and pearls will all be tradable to others. There will be a description on the crystal and pearl after it has been tuned to the player who tuned and the stats will be visible at the time. Lightsabers may not be sliced. All crystals and pearls must be tuned. A lightsaber must have 1 color crystal in it to power on. All crystals must be in the lightsaber prior to equipping it as once equipped the lightsaber inventory cannot be altered. A player must unequip a lightsaber if they wish to change the setup of their crystals. Lightsabers will no longer decay; now, crystals and pearls decay based on damage. Once the condition of a crystal or pearl reaches 1 or lower it must be replaced. The crystal/pearl's text will change to red when it is no longer usable. These changes will affect players who have already unlocked their Force Sensitive (FS) slots. Players who have not unlocked their FS slot may continue to master professions for credit, but no new players will become Jedi until Publish 10, The Jedi Trials. Players may still unlock their slot, but it will not be active until Publish 10.

Reworked Force Healing line. Heals now cost a proportionate amount of force cost based on the amount they heal. Heals are no longer for a random amount, but have a fixed maximum for each ability. Different abilities have different force cost efficiencies. Fixed a bug where 2 dueling dark Jedi get an imperial TEF Fixed a memory leak that would occur every time a new lightsaber was turned on or thrown Jedi don't regenerate force power while incapacitated

Fixed a bug where all thrown lightsabers emitted a red swoosh visual. Swooshes for thrown lightsabers now match the color of the blade

Added Entertainer healing skill mods to Force Sensitive Healing skills

Profession: Merchant

Fixed a problem with the Merchant entry fee window incorrectly applying entry fee

Profession: Smuggler

You will no longer be able to slice an item by using a tool in a crate. You will have to remove it from the crate first.

Profession: Tailor

Fixed missing color option on Bandoliers (Now both color options are available)

Technical Support

Fixed a problem where the optional hardware information reports would sometimes be sent with an incorrect station id

Added warning for known bad older card/driver combination

Setup - Win 98 no longer incorrectly reports CPU is too slow

Setup screen - automatic settings for low-memory conditions

Theme Parks / Missions / Quests

Reintroduced the 'Hero of Tatooine' quest, utilizing brand new static and dynamic content

Tutorial / New Player Experience Made bubble chat greeting from helper droid appear only to owner Vehicles / Mounts

Enter/Exit vehicle changed to toggle

Vehicle hit points should now be saved properly when making repairs

Fixed vehicle orientation when traveling over water

Smoothed ground effect more when driving off of a cliff

Players can now use the radial menu, in addition to the previously working slash commands to enter and exit a vehicle while in combat.

Removed the option to mount an Incapacitated or Dead Mount

World

Improved terrain LOS and terrain generation

Increased occurrence of Stintaril Prowler spawns

Loot Kits: Players can now visit Junk Dealers to request a 'loot kit'. These loot kits are containers that will be used to collect miscellaneous items dropped from NPC's and can be turned into a new reward. Loot kits are free for the asking and one per customer. Players can speak to different junk dealers in order to get new loot kits. Once players decide which loot kit they would like, they may begin collecting the parts. To complete a kit, players will need to gather 10 different items that go with the kit. To see what items the kit requires and which ones have already been gathered, 'examine' the kit. This list also will tell the player what items they still need to loot by use of a 'yes' or 'no' next to each item in that list. Only items that the kit actually requires can be placed inside the kit. When a player gets an item that fits with a kit they own they can instantly drag and drop it into the kit and the kit then will count that item as recovered. Kits will not be tradable between players although all the looted parts will be. Kits can only be placed in your main inventory slot or in the bank. The loot kits examine window gives a basic description of what the kit will make, as will the names of the kits. These items can be kept by the player or sold back to the junk dealer for a 1000 credit reward.