Battle of Hoth: Echo Base Update news

Greetings Troopers!

It has been quite a while since we had a development based update, so I thought it was high time we got this out to you people to show you were we are at with our work on The Battle of Hoth. It has been a slow slog, life has a tendency to get in the way of long term projects like this, such as myself having the joyous arrival of a baby girl last Christmas, believe me she has been taking up a lot of my time these past 7 months.

That said, work does still progress, and this update will show you some of the less glamorous locations within Echo Base which will help fill in the gaps and flesh out the massive location which is a bustling Rebel Outpost. Where do the Rebel personnel sleep? Eat, receive briefings? At the initial concept blocking out stage we looked to the Dorling Kindersley book of Star Wars Complete Locations for inspiration where movie reference wasn't enough and to help fill in the gaps. Following are some of the results.

First up, the Briefing Chamber. Once we distilled the massive cross section illustration of Echo Base now to the key locations seen in the movies and the essential other elements we wanted to feature, this location stood out as a must have. Effectively a large arena featuring a projector screen and a nice juxtaposition of prefab elements and carved out ice chamber, this could prove to be a striking location to look at, but also an interesting one to battle in, with wide open spaces, but also minor pockets of cover in the form of the chairs in the center of the chamber, not to mention the podium on stage. You'll be dodging more than rotten tomatoes if you take up position up there.

With the Bunk Room, or Standard Personnel Quarters we are looking at just a standard generic room that can be scattered around the base. Within these you might find hidden pick-up items, or just a respite from the battles going on within the base.

Then we move on to our final location of this update, the Pilot Ready Room, a last place for pilots to catch up on their battle plans or relax prior to jumping in the cockpit. This room features a number of elements that will be familiar to Star Wars fans. The centerpiece is a holographic projector based on the one in the briefing room on the Rebel cruiser known as Home One or the Headquarters Frigate, which featured in Return of the Jedi. Additionally there are holographic Chess tables (which can be programmed to show tactical data as well as animated Chess pieces) and couches similar to those seen within the main hold of the Millennium Falcon. This mishmash of items can easily be justified by the prefab nature of the base. All the materials they brought in to build the base will most likely be modular living space components from their ships, and there has always been a bit of a thrown together nature to Rebel Alliance tech reflecting the various cultures thrown together to form the Rebellion.

Well I hope you have enjoyed this look at what we're currently working on. Next up we'll have the more easily recognisable key location of Hangar 7, so keep your eyes peeled for that one.

Finally, don't forget that this weekend sees the opening round of the new Campaign this Sunday. Numbers are still pretty low so the event might get postponed for a week or two to allow more people to join. If you want in on some epic First Strike Star Wars multiplayer action sign up today at Rebel Defiance:

Rebel Defiance Campaign Registration

Until next time,

See you on the Battlefield Troopers!