Star Warshas come a long way since a single film about a young man setting out to follow a mysterious message conveyed by a bizarre pair of droids. Now, it’s an enormous franchise encompassing books, films, TV shows, comics, video games, theme park rides, and much more. The team at Massive Entertainment are thrilled to contribute to this expansive universe withStar Wars Outlaws,an open-world action-adventure game taking place during the events of the original film trilogy. The development team approachedStar Wars Outlawswith the desire both to honor the stories that came before and add something new to the franchise in the form of scoundrel Kay Vess, her adorable companion Nix, and the epic heist they work together to pull off.
Star Wars Outlawsgame director Mathias Karlson and lead concept artist Samuel De Vos spoke to Game Rant about what it was like working with Lucasfilm Games, the process of designing Nix, Kay, and their home-away-from-home starshipTrailblazer,and the philosophy behind the game’s open world and flexible level design. Both Karlson and De Vos were thrilled to get tocreate a newStar Warstitleand were especially excited to see fan responses to the game, such as cosplay, fan art, theories, and more.This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Working In TheStar WarsUniverse
Q: How much collaboration is there or isn’t there with other properties withinStar Wars?For example, you’re making a game, and you say, “I want to have a healing mechanic for the character.” Do you call Lucasfilm? Do you say, hey,Jedi Survivorhas a healing mechanic, do you talk about how your mechanic is going to work vs. other things in games, movies, TV, or other properties?
Karlson:Our partnership in general is very healthy, in the sense that they are really custodians of what makes itStar Warsand experts in that. To the degree thatwe thought we knewStar Warsin the beginning, and then start[ed] to realize, okay, we don’t have all the detailed, nuanced instincts in place yet. And they’ve really been helping us on that journey of ultimately getting faster, because we’re getting better at doing it.
And I think it’s always been in the spirit of - what do you want to do? Let us help you get there. They haven’t been putting up walls and saying: no, you may’t do that, because we don’t do that. It’s really been okay, let’s talk about it. And so, I think, from our perspective, we’ve been able to be very focused on what we want to do. And then they have kind of just dealt with it, in terms of guiding us. Not towards or away from anything, but [giving us] very, very good points.
Creating Kay’s Companion Nix
Q: Are you aware of what other properties are doing? Do they keep that secret? If you were heading down the direction of the “scoundrel” story, and then a “scoundrel” TV show came about, what would you have known?
Karlson:I think, yeah. We don’t know everything. We know a little bit. But it’s been really smooth for us in how good they’ve been at guiding us toward the target. We’ve really been in the creative driver’s seat.
Q: I want to talk a little bit about Nix. As far as designing this character that is so interesting, feels unlike anything you’ve seen inStar Wars,but also is a core part of the gameplay. Can you talk a little bit both about conceptualizing the design of the character but also factoring it into gameplay?
De Vos:The team has done an amazing jobconcepting Nix. It’s such a cool creature. And it is amazing to see the fans' reaction. It’s clear that everybody loves Nix.
What is interesting with Nix is that it’s acompletely new creature to theStar Warsuniverse. So it was designed by Massive in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games. It’s a merqaal - that’s the name of the species. And it is based on a lot of different things. Like a lot of elements withStar Wars,there’s a lot of grounded, familiar things with Nix - like an axolotl or a salamander. But then, that interesting combination of different references gives it that alien element, that fantasy element that really makes itStar Wars.
And what I specifically think is very interesting with the design is how youinteract with Nix. It’s Kay’s pet. It’s an emotional support that works both ways. That is visualized a little bit with the fur on Nix’s belly, which is very soft. And then, on the contrast, we have the bulletproof scales on Nix’s back, very inspired by a pangolin. And that sort of hints a bit more at the utility that Nix has.
Karlson:One question I was asked today is “what was the very first inception point of all the different reasons thatNix exists?” We knew when we were shaping Kay’s character that she’s had a rough past. She needs to be a little guarded. And we want to show that there’s a heart in there from the very beginning. And Nix was that chink in the armor.
We also really wanted to put a twist into how you have a lot of utility in approaching situations differently, from stealth to combat. It all just converged on Nix, and I think it really informed the size of Nix. I really want you to feel like you’re playing two characters, but as one. When you separate,Nix needs to be able to very naturally do thingsthat don’t make sense for Kay. So the size difference I think just naturally intersected that.
Q: So you go back and forth and say things like “Okay, from a gameplay perspective, we think it’d be beneficial for Nix to be able to go through vents.”
Karlson:Yes. And that in turn needs to inform how we approachlevel design. How do we build it into the environment? The Holy Grail in games is when you can start relying on the players to be intuitive. When they intuit that something works or doesn’t, then you’ve done your job perfectly. And that’s what we were trying for when you say “I can’t reach that, but Nix can.” Or you reach for one of his many abilities in a situation where maybe you don’t want to expose yourself, or you need to multitask. And so I think it just kind of fell into place from all these different angles.
De Vos:Oh, and I want to add a small erratum - “bulletproof” is, of course, “blaster-proof,” since this isStar Wars.
Designing Open World Levels And Unique Starships
Q: Designing levels where you can approach things in different ways, you can have these different reputations with various syndicates and groups. That kind of gives you freedom, but also makes it challenging, as you can’t limit players to just one path. Can you talk about designing levels and encounters so that players are given that freedom?
Karlson:I think you need to start from the mostopen-ended possible scenariothat you want to support in the game. And, from that, you’re able to go to specific situations. In certain quests, we’d want to say, okay, we’re going to lean a bit more into this aspect, and a little bit less on this [other aspect]. And now, in this bit later, we’re doing the inverse. And that’s how you create a very fun roller coaster when you’re following the campaign.
But it all needs to come from the most open-ended situation. You verify that you support every tool the player has, reflected not just in the level design, but also theenemy placement and their behaviorsand their ability to act. From being completely un-alerted, to suspicious, to knowing where you are, to having just known where you are, but you’re now out of view, and they’re looking for you, all the way back to de-escalation. The journey really just needs to harmonize with your tool sets and your instincts as a player and how you want to approach it.
So a place like thePyke’s territory, an open environment like that, where you have freedom in which direction to approach, you need to be able to identify “Okay, if I go head-on there, we’re going to get this type of challenge. If I go there, I’m going to get maybe this benefit, but it’s going to come with a different type of challenge.” We verify that also translates into variety - if you make decisions, it’s not just multiples of the same experience, it actually means that you have a different experience depending on what you select.
Q: WithinStar Wars,there are a lot of different starships. Can you talk about designing your own starship, how that process works?
De Vos:TheTrailblazeris Kay’s home away from home, within the studio already a very iconic ship. That was really the goal or the team that worked on designing theTrailblazer -to create a silhouette that feels very grounded in the universe, but also very iconic and recognizable. Some of the inspirations for theTrailblazerare a little bit similar to what we talked about with Nix: we talked about our pets. For theTrailblazer,a turtle shell is actually a big inspiration for it. I think, once you hear that, it’s actually quite easy to see it in the design. It also goes back to similar inspirations to the original [Star Warsfilm] trilogy. A lot of ’60s and ’70s designs, especially ’70s. A monorail, for example.
And the functionality that you have for theTrailblazershould also be reflected in itsphysical appearance. The amount of agility that you have should not be a surprise when you get into theTrailblazercompared to when you see theTrailblazerfor the first time. And the team did an amazing job, and I hope that the players will see theTrailblazeras iconic, like it is to us.
Karlson:Early on, we talked about it and said it’s almost like a high-powered pickup truck. It needs to be fast, able to go anywhere, and sturdy. But it’s not a lorry. It’s not a truck. And it’s not a sports car. It’s somewhere in between. I think drawing real-world, even thematic, inspiration helps create the familiarity that is the foundation of theStar Warsworld. Things are very familiar, very relatable, and then always have that little twist. A little quirk.
The Fan Response ToStar Wars Outlaws
Q: While working on the game, has it sunk in that you’re stamping all these things you’re creating inStar Warscanon? Do you think about the idea that these characters could show up, not just in a future game that you make, but in a show or a movie or at Disneyland? Does the thought cross your mind that people could show up at Disneyland dressed as Kay?
Karlson:I mean, that would be the dream, right? Of course, it’s not something that’s with you day to day. Sometimes you get a moment, like at an event, you get a little time to step back and reflect. Yeah, it would be such an honor. If that happens, we would be stoked. I mean, to put the whole process into two words, we’ve felt responsibility, but also excitement. You want to do it justice. And being able to add new alongside the familiar and iconic in one game has been great.
De Vos:I think, for me, there was definitely one moment. Like you say, it’s not something that’s on your mind every day. But when we revealed Kay and Nix to the world, it definitely slipped into my mind. And you see that first cosplay, and you think, okay, it’s out there, and people are taking it and doing their own thing with it. Creating cool jackets with images of Kay or Nix on the back. And that sort of lets you dream a little bit and think, this is now part of theStar Warscanon.
Karlson:A few people on the team are very passionate about the community, and they scour the Internet and find all this fun fan art and cosplay and print it out. So on one of the walls in our dev space atMassive, we have this ever-growing collage with amazing printouts of all this stuff. It gives you that reminder when you come in every morning. It’s cool.
Q: What is the thing you’re most excited for people to experience in the game? And what are you most excited to see from the community - cosplay, art, discussions, etc?
De Vos:For me, besides fulfilling that “scoundrel” fantasy, and going along that path together with Kay - I think if you look really close, and pay attention to a lot of details in every place, but especially very densely populated places like Mirogana or Myrra, the team has done such a great job at adding such granular details. Things written inAurebesh. Scribbles referencing certain events. And I’m super excited for so much of that to be available to everyone, especially the diehard fans. Because I know that all of that will be translated. All the effort that the team has put in will all be out there. The references will be made. Maybe some things will stay hidden - but, knowing theStar Warsfans, the chances of that are quite small.
Karlson:I think, for me, I could cherry-pick a lot of ingredients that I think are really, really cool. But it’s really to be able to share with everyone that full range of scale and experience within an openStar Warsworld. Meaning: having your own ship, hyper-jumping betweendifferent planets, exploring space, seamlessly landing, driving in your speeder, exploring the surface, getting sidetracked. Ending up in a cantina playing cards. To be able to do that in such a lovingly hand-crafted, detailed world. That lived-in feel that really isStar Wars,thatStar Warsreally deserves, is something that we’re really proud of.
De Vos:It also makes me think, when we watch walkthrough videos, people will have their own version of Kay with a customized jacket. Maybe Nix looks a little bit different. And that will be a fun reminder of the agency that the player has, a visual way to describe that experience.
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