Casey Hudson's Star Wars RPG: Shorter Sagas, No Soulless AI, and a Dash of Skepticism
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Casey Hudson, at Aracanaut Studios, reveals his vision for *Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic*, emphasizing shorter, replayable experiences and a firm rejection of 'creatively soulless' AI. He aims for a release before 2030, leveraging a small core team augmented by contractors.
Alright, mate, gather 'round because we've got some whispers from the digital ether about *Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic*. Now, obviously, it's way, *way* too early to be setting our hyperspace coordinates on anything solid – the game was only just revealed last December with one of those super shiny CG trailers that scream 'hire us, talented devs, without breaking your NDAs!' But hey, we're Jeff, and we're always looking for the tea leaves in the data streams, aren't we?
One thing we might just be able to carve into the digital holocron early? If Casey Hudson, the wizard behind Aracanaut Studios, has his way, this KOTOR spiritual successor won't be filled with what he so aptly calls 'creatively soulless' AI. And honestly? Fair dinkum, Hudson! As he told Bloomberg, he just can't imagine where generative AI is actually helpful in the creative process, summing it up rather bluntly with, 'I'm just really unimpressed with it.' Aren't we all, mate? It's like trying to get a spell-casting assistant who just re-arranges existing incantations – technically functional, perhaps, but where's the *spark*? The genuine magic, eh? It's a sentiment I reckon a lot of us feel when we see the current state of play.
Hudson's aiming for a smaller core team, too, hoping to avoid the 'hundreds and hundreds of people' scale that made things tricky at places like BioWare back in the day. He plans to bring in contractors to co-develop, which, you know, is a classic move. It’s like gathering a temporary adventuring party for a specific quest; gets the job done, but sometimes you wonder if those temporary bonds are as strong as the ones forged over years of dungeon crawling.
Another interesting tidbit? Hudson isn't looking to give us a 200-hour epic that needs a life insurance policy to complete. 'Bigger isn't necessarily better,' he explains. 'A lot of players just want to play something and finish it.' Hear, hear! Who's got the time to get stuck in Act One for 20 hours when the real world keeps trying to drag you back from the Outer Rim? The plan is for replayability through multiple storylines, which is a clever way to keep us coming back for more without having to sacrifice our entire social lives.
And for those of us with calendars marked for every single game release, Hudson's doubled down on getting this RPG out before 2030. 'Making games that take five or seven years – none of us want to do that,' he states. Honestly, a game dev who wants to ship before our grand kids are playing? What a concept!
So, shorter games, more replayability, and a big fat 'nope' to creatively soulless AI. While it's all still just shimmering in the early development phase, Hudson's vision for *Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic* is shaping up to be curiously refreshing, blending a touch of old-school wisdom with a healthy dose of modern player understanding. Let's keep our wands crossed, eh?
*Original source and more insights from Oisin Kuhnke at Rock Paper Shotgun
Tags: StarWars, RPGs, GameDevelopment, AICreation, KOTOR
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun