official Star Wars: The Old Republic

[Lexcyn]

Its because there is a LOT going on, on the screen. This is a newer game just like BF3, it takes newer hardware. You have tons of smoke, lighting effects, debris, etc going on. Its going to take more. My graphics are set to High and it looks amazing.

Problem is I can run BF3 at High locked to 60FPS with VYSNC but get crap frames in SWTOR on whatever the default values were (medium, highish). There is no reason for that. My system is not low spec either.

[DrunkenBeard]

Can anyone on the Beta confirm that there is no Combat Log ?

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Problem is I can run BF3 at High locked to 60FPS with VYSNC but get crap frames in SWTOR on whatever the default values were (medium, highish). There is no reason for that. My system is not low spec either.

What are your specs? I'm looking forward to the upcoming stress test but I don't want my experience to be made worse by low FPS. I currently have a Core2Duo E6750 @ 3.2 GHz, Radeon HD 4870 512 MB, and 8 GB of DDR2 RAM. I hope that's enough to run the game on medium settings with 30+ FPS.

[Nagisan]

Don't know what you guys are on about, I was playing a smuggler and could handle 5-6 mobs at a time fine.

But any ways, they really need to optimize the graphics engine, I don't know why I get such low FPS in this game since the graphics are not that great to begin with.

I'm not a huge fan of classes that focus around range (only played healer because at the time it felt like the only viable class at lvl 15 or so out of the ones I tried).

As for performance, I agree and it is something I completely forgot about. I have an i7-970 (hexcore, 3.2Ghz) with 24 GB of ram and an AMD 6950 GPU, and there were times in towns (no real action going on, just lots of people running around) where I was getting like 10-15 FPS. I mean I do run @ 1920x1200 and had it on the highest settings, but still, given the quality of the graphics, it shouldn't be running THAT bad....I mean, CoD:MW looked better and ran a hell of a lot better on an even weaker system than I have now.

EDIT: While I do not know how well (or how badly) the performance scales with a system, from my experience in the last beta, Anaron, you may have some FPS issues. I cannot say for certain, but at my resolution on high settings, 30-40 was good FPS for me (I personally much prefer 60 minimum though, anything lower and it gets really annoying). In short, it was playable, but I personally chalked its performance up to bad optimization due to a beta. But if they are stress testing the servers here shortly and (from the sounds of it) performance hasn't really been improved much since the beta I was in, then good luck to anyone with a GPU older than this generation.

[Lexcyn]

What are your specs? I'm looking forward to the upcoming stress test but I don't want my experience to be made worse by low FPS. I currently have a Core2Duo E6750 @ 3.2 GHz, Radeon HD 4870 512 MB, and 8 GB of DDR2 RAM. I hope that's enough to run the game on medium settings with 30+ FPS.

I'm running a i5 760 @ 3.0Ghz, Nvidia GTX 570 and 8GB DDR3 RAM ... so yeah I doubt if you will get even what I'm getting (25-40FPS).

EDIT: Forgot to mention I am running at 1920x1080.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I'm running a i5 760 @ 3.0Ghz, Nvidia GTX 570 and 8GB DDR3 RAM ... so yeah I doubt if you will get even what I'm getting (25-40FPS).

EDIT: Forgot to mention I am running at 1920x1080.

Wow. I didn't know it was that bad. I'll be lucky to get over 20 FPS at 1680x1050. I was somewhat worried about the performance ever since I saw screenshots and videos of the game. The graphics look decent but not great. Is there anything that stands out in terms of image quality? For example, pretty water effects.

[Lexcyn]

Wow. I didn't know it was that bad. I'll be lucky to get over 20 FPS at 1680x1050. I was somewhat worried about the performance ever since I saw screenshots and videos of the game. The graphics look decent but not great. Is there anything that stands out in terms of image quality? For example, pretty water effects.

Water is basically a GIF image LOL. The worst performance hog is shadows right now but even turning them off for some reason I still get low FPS. I don't know if it's just the beta build has a bunch of debugging stuff running or what ... but it seems to me that the graphics engine is not optimized enough (I believe they are using a modified KOTOR engine which was not that great to begin with - correct me if I am wrong on that one).

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Water is basically a GIF image LOL. The worst performance hog is shadows right now but even turning them off for some reason I still get low FPS. I don't know if it's just the beta build has a bunch of debugging stuff running or what ... but it seems to me that the graphics engine is not optimized enough (I believe they are using a modified KOTOR engine which was not that great to begin with - correct me if I am wrong on that one).

I guess that's why I haven't seen any screenshots with water. You'd think they'd at least get that right. I'll laugh out loud if the water effects in Half-Life 2 look better. They're using HeroEngine which is an engine that's designed for MMO games. I've never heard of it until now and it looks like The Old Republic is the first AAA game to use it. They should have used Unreal Engine 3. Not only does it look better, it performs better too. The Odyssey Engine used in KOTOR and KOTOR 2 is simply too old for any game now. It was replaced by the Eclipse Engine used in Dragone Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Origins ? Awakening.

[Lexcyn]

I guess that's why I haven't seen any screenshots with water. You'd think they'd at least get that right. I'll laugh out loud if the water effects in Half-Life 2 look better. They're using HeroEngine which is an engine that's designed for MMO games. I've never heard of it until now and it looks like The Old Republic is the first AAA game to use it. They should have used Unreal Engine 3. Not only does it look better, it performs better too. The Odyssey Engine used in KOTOR and KOTOR 2 is simply too old for any game now. It was replaced by the Eclipse Engine used in Dragone Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Origins ? Awakening.

Ahhh I did not know that about the engine. But yeah, it's not a very robust engine it seems.

But honestly the water in HL2 does look better and that is sad. I mean, comparing it to WoW, they took a while to get good water effects as well but in this day and age you'd expect them to release a game with these features and not have to add them in as they go.

Who really knows though ... maybe they will surprise everyone for release.

But after playing the beta I am on the fence about pre-ordering or even buying the game - the performance was that terrible for me that I simply cannot play a game with such low FPS. Now, maybe they do have debugging running in the background but it just seems like it's poorly optimized.

[S00N3R FR3AK]

FYI NDA has lifted.

[trag3dy]

I've got a beta code I have no intention of using if anyone wants it.

First come first serve, a little more than 4 and a half hours to claim it left:

You've been invited to the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic Beta.

Your beta key is : CPAR-4A2U-A6T4-UN4H

To be invited into the upcoming test you must redeem the code by 11:59pm on Friday, November 18th, 2011 at:

http://www.swtor.com/redeembetacode/

Once the test date is set you will receive an email from the SWTOR team with instructions on how to start participating in the bet

[Knightwolf20024]

ill throw a couple of my keys in the mix too

You've been invited to the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic Beta.

Your beta key is : AZVG-WL3W-HWUL-JYDY

To be invited into the upcoming test you must redeem the code by 11:59pm on Friday, November 18th, 2011 at:

http://www.swtor.com/redeembetacode/

Once the test date is set you will receive an email from the SWTOR team with instructions on how to start participating in the beta.

Beta Key: AKNH-GE8F-TDGG-XWYW

[Hell-In-A-Handbasket]

Can anyone on the Beta confirm that there is no Combat Log ?

its been confirmed by a Dev that there is no combat log at launch

[Hell-In-A-Handbasket]

Havent got a tester email yet, but went to the tester section and got the auuth for the 25th weekend session. So good idea to check out swtor.com/tester regardless of email

[bobeck]

invites for the next round of testing are going out...good luck everyone who wants in

[Lexcyn]

Sweet, NDA has been lifted so we can post pics/videos :D

[SMELTN]

yeap NDA is gone bye bye, and invites are going out today for everyone for this weekends last Beta test.. Anyone who registered on the site and said they wanted to be part of the beta before 11-11-11 "should" get an invite for this weekends test.

If you don't see it in your inbox by tonight, then make sure you check with some other sites who are giving out beta keys.. Keep in mind its a 20+gig download so get started early.

[spacer]

Keep in mind that Bioware is planning a staggered beta test this weekend to simulate the release. So the quicker you accept the email's testing invitation and register it on the website, the sooner you can join the beta.

The latest that I heard was, there will be 3 waves of access. Those who accepted the invitation the quickest will get in on 12 PM EST on Friday, with the next set getting in 12 PM EST on Saturday, and the last 12 PM EST on Sunday. That means, the unluckiest bunch (slowest to accept the invitation) will only get about 14 hours of gameplay time between when they're let in and when the beta ends.

[Miuku.]

Since the NDA is now officially gone, as a long term beta tester (as in one that did alpha-beta testing when the game ran at 5fps on a mega-monster Xeon with 580s with more than 10 people on screen at once) I'll just say; it'll flop hard in the long term unless they make radical changes in the quests and end game content.

The quests are uninspiring awful grind, space combat is "do mission once, then do it 50 times more to get new shield booster so you can grind the next one 50 times more" and so forth. Up to level 30 it's an mmo in "name only" and the loading times coming/going to PVP at the time of the closed beta were completely abysmal (and I'm sporting pretty ludicrous grade hardware here). Texture quality is WoW in 2006 quality as well as most of the quests. The only saving grace is the voice acting and that doesn't really save anything in the long run.

I had high hopes for it when I got accepted, it didn't take long for me to realise the total flop the game would be. When I voiced my opinions to the developers, the answer was; we don't aim the game for the hardcore crowd.

I wonder who they're aiming it at then, because anyone who has played WoW has seen everything the game has to offer and more.

[Nagisan]

daPhoenix, I feel the same way you do. I was really excited to get into an earlier beta test, but was sorely disappointed, to the point I only played the game for half the beta duration (weekend beta). I know beta's are not about having fun in the game, but just seeing the state it was in 2-3 weeks ago, I know for a fact release isn't going to be much better. The best parts about this game were voice acting, and being able to wield a lightsaber. Performance was crap, and the game story progressed very quickly while (in comparison) your character level progressed very slowly. You could only go to about level 12 on the main story (while doing a few side quests) before you had to either grind, or go back and do every side quest you could find. I also voiced my opinions through the survey they offered at the end of the beta (rather than speaking out in the beta forums, though I did make a post there it seemed to fall away very quickly), but never got any sort of response back.

[Dashel]

Don't forget to update your security questions.

I'm still on the fence since I've sworn off WoW and there isn't much else on the horizon. That said, I'm worried about the generally flat world experience so far, which usually only gets worse with progression.

[Nerd Rage]

If you don't see it in your inbox by tonight, then make sure you check with some other sites who are giving out beta keys.. Keep in mind its a 20+gig download so get started early.

Do you know how early they let you download the 20gigs prior to testing? I have the 24 mb launcher downloaded, but it won't let me login to download the client yet.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Ahhh I did not know that about the engine. But yeah, it's not a very robust engine it seems.

But honestly the water in HL2 does look better and that is sad. I mean, comparing it to WoW, they took a while to get good water effects as well but in this day and age you'd expect them to release a game with these features and not have to add them in as they go.

Who really knows though ... maybe they will surprise everyone for release.

But after playing the beta I am on the fence about pre-ordering or even buying the game - the performance was that terrible for me that I simply cannot play a game with such low FPS. Now, maybe they do have debugging running in the background but it just seems like it's poorly optimized.

What a damn shame. It's 2011 and they decided to use an engine that's supposedly designed for MMO games. I like to check out the latest and greatest in terms of 3D graphics technologies and I've never even heard of HeroEngine. The most likely explanation for the poor performance is the engine. It probably isn't well-optimized and I hope it gets better in the final release. As you said though, it's sad that a game from 2004 has better water effects than one that will be released in 2011.

[Jub]

What a damn shame. It's 2011 and they decided to use an engine that's supposedly designed for MMO games. I like to check out the latest and greatest in terms of 3D graphics technologies and I've never even heard of HeroEngine. The most likely explanation for the poor performance is the engine. It probably isn't well-optimized and I hope it gets better in the final release. As you said though, it's sad that a game from 2004 has better water effects than one that will be released in 2011.

The HeroEngine has lots of potential. 'tis a really good engine with good support for "live" interaction with the game world from the management side of things. I don't think the issues some people are facing has anything in particular to do with the engine itself, but if anything, BioWare's implementation of it. That said, I max the game out at 1920x1200 with no problems at all on a single 5870.

[Hell-In-A-Handbasket]

Do you know how early they let you download the 20gigs prior to testing? I have the 24 mb launcher downloaded, but it won't let me login to download the client yet.

Already downloaded mine fully, was having issues like you said, but had to fill out 3 of the 5 security questions so i could log in to download. There should be a link in the launcher