Development
"First off, we all know about the fact that the game is built from the ground up for the PSP. From this we crafted a twofold mission statement, or main goal for the project: 1) Deliver a fun, compelling game with all the features and highlights of a traditional Battlefront experience that the millions of fans out there have come to expect.
2) Consider the PSP audience that likes to play games on the go and sometimes for shorter periods of time compared to the consoles."
LucasArts announced Renegade Squadron in May 2007. The announcement stated that the game would be the only original Battlefront game of 2007, and it was to be developed by British-based independent game design company Rebellion Developments. Despite having never worked on a Star Wars game, Rebellion had prior development experience with other PlayStation Portable titles, such as a port of the first-person shooter game Gun.
The game's developers made it clear that it was being designed specifically for the PSP. LucasArts made this decision after Rebellion convinced them that the PSP's multiplayer capabilities were well-suited to another Battlefront game, in addition to the strong sales of Battlefront II on the PSP. The game's lead designer, Mike Hosser, stated that the development team tried to retain some aspects of Battlefront II, specifically its "fast and furious action". Other elements borrowed from Battlefront II included the controls—LucasArts solicited feedback from players of the previous game and subsequently decided to make Renegade Squadron's controls more "arcadey" so players could learn them faster. After screenshots of the game were released, several forum posts from fans complained about the game's visuals compared to its predecessor. In response, Hosser claimed that Renegade Squadron "boasts a longer view distance, higher resolution textures and better lighting".
The design team stated repeatedly that the focus of Renegade Squadron was its customization system. There were initially concerns in Rebellion that the feature would lead to unbalanced gameplay; lead programmer Richard May stated he was "worried it might lead to uber-classes and be a balancing nightmare, losing some of the trade-off structure that the old class system provided." Prolific testing of the game eventually assured LucasArts that the system had been implemented appropriately.
The game's setting was based primarily on the Clone Wars and Civil War eras of Star Wars history. Rebellion took inspiration for several missions from comments made in passing from the Star Wars films. Hosser stated in an interview, "For instance, a diversionary attack on Sullust is mentioned during a conversation between Vader and the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. In Renegade Squadron, you'll get to take part in that attack." The planet of Boz Pity was similarly mentioned in Revenge of the Sith but wasn't portrayed in the movie, so Renegade Squadron's artists took the opportunity to create the planet based on ancient Cambodian architecture like Angkor Wat. Concept art for the game was provided by Rebellion's comic artists, and the cutscenes were based on the company's comic properties like 2000 AD. While storyboarding the in-game cinematics, Rebellion assistant producer James Valls was careful to ensure that Renegade Squadron was in accordance with established Star Wars canon.
Read more about this topic: Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
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