New EA Star Wars Game In Development At Visceral Will Feature Classes, Skills, And More

While we have known about the Amy Hennig-led Star Wars game at Visceral for a while now, we are getting some new details about what it will actually play like. This news comes by way of a job description for a Senior Game Designer at Visceral Games.

According to the post, the new designer must be ready for "Embracing and contributing to the project vision in areas of hero control/mechanics, AI behaviors, combat/weapons, class design, skills/progression, enemy design, story, and boss encounters." Ignoring the pretty obvious video game tropes like the boss fights and AI behavior, it seems Visceral is looking for someone who knows how to do classes and skills.Additionally, a bullet point further down in the posting makes reference to the ideal candidate having experience making an in-game economy.

Taking these quotes from the job description, it seems this new Star Wars game will likely be an RPG of some sort. Players seem like they will be able to make a custom character, and outfit that character with the skills, weapons, and gear that they want. Players can then use this character to fight bosses, buy and sell things in markets, and maybe even explore the galaxy (depending on your interpretation of "navigation mechanics."

The full job posting is as follows:

THE CHALLENGE AHEAD:

BRING YOUR SYSTEM GAME DESIGN SKILLS AND SAVVY AND YOUR LOVE OF STAR WARS TO VISCERAL GAMES, EMBRACING AND CONTRIBUTING TO THE PROJECT VISION IN AREAS OF HERO CONTROL/MECHANICS, AI BEHAVIORS, COMBAT/WEAPONS, CLASS DESIGN, SKILLS/PROGRESSION, ENEMY DESIGN, STORY AND BOSS ENCOUNTERS.

What you will do:

• Partner with Visceral design leadership, design team, artists, code, audio, and animation to deliver design systems that capture the creative vision of the game.
• Research subject matter relating to the design objective to ensure the authenticity of the experience.
• Own design systems from conception to the final stages of polish, facilitating communication and coordinating departments to ensure the vision is clearly understood.
• Be a positive influence on the entire team and as a designer, evangelize the ultimate promise to deliver “fun”.
• Proactively seek out opportunities to identify and deal with issues before they arise.
• Constantly self-critique and accept outside critique. The more feedback you receive, the more you can tailor your work towards what is best for the game.
• Demonstrate a willingness to keep an open mind to coworker’s ideas, incorporating suggestions when applicable.
• Participate in the research and development of new tools and design systems.
• Contribute to establishing and enforcing consistent design practices, constraints, and metrics throughout projects.
• Mentor other designers and lead by example.

Who you are:

• You have solid experience in the games industry working as a systems designer, shipping at least two titles.
• Experience working on 3rd person action/adventure games, demonstrating major contributions in the areas of hero control schemes, enemy design, navigation mechanics, and combat.
• Experience working with a game engine and using scripting tools to assemble heroes, enemies, AI, and interactive objects by collecting and implementing animations, models, audio, and effects into one complete system.
• Extensive understanding of the systems design process including motion models, weapons tuning and feel, enemy concept and design, tools/upgrades, economy, balance, testing, etc.
• Experience in rapid prototyping to test feasibility of concepts.
• Ability to pitch design concepts in a clear, detailed manner, through strong written and verbal skills.
• A team-player who understands the importance of collaboration, and can communicate effectively with all disciplines and departments.

In regards to what ELSE we know about this mysterious Star Wars game, it seems very likely that veteran voice actor Nolan North is involved somehow. Given his track record of being a leading man in gaming for so long, he probably knows a thing or two about what game developers are working on what games. Alongside a possible reveal of The Last of Use 2, North has also provided some information on what Amy Hennig and the team at Visceral Games are working on.

The relevant bits start at around the 18:00 minute mark in the video.

This news comes via a Q&A session North hosted at Metrocon over the weekend. Among the various questions asked, one was about Amy Hennig's involvement in Uncharted 4 before she left developer Naughty Dog. Hennig had acted as the director of the first three Uncharted games. North mentioned that there was work that had to be scrapped due to new producers and people coming onto the project. Once on the topic of Hennig though, North started dropping hints about what she had moved on to do at Visceral Games.

It's been well-established that Hennig has been in charge of making a Star Wars game for Visceral after EA secured the Star Wars license. North has just confirmed that this new Star Wars game will play out similar to Hennig's previous work in the Uncharted franchise. "If you're a big fan of Amy Hennig with her styles of stories, the big thing about her is that she's gone to EA and is going to reboot a brand new Star Wars franchise in the style of Uncharted and I happen to know a lot about it and it's gonna be awesome," said North.

North was then asked a follow-up question if this new Star Wars game was the long-thought-dead Star Wars 1313. North confirmed that Hennig and Visceral are NOT making Star Wars 1313, but did share an interesting story about how he was involved with the motion-capture for the Star Wars 1313 trailers that were released a few years ago.

This isn't the first time North has teased his knowledge of Star Wars games either. Based on some recent tweets, North seemed to have dropped a subtle hint at his involvement with... something. Based on the hashtag he used, we may know more sooner rather than later.

North would then go on to clarify that he is, in fact, involved with something. He wasn't quick to shout out what, just that something was in the works.

So what do you think? Are you getting RPG vibes for the new Star Wars game based on the job description? Would you be okay with Nolan North being the lead actor? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.