AT-AT Driver news

Greetings Troopers!
Following on from our last development related update we'd like to introduce you to the second of the new and unique character assets we've been developing for the much anticipated Battle of Hoth map. Earlier this year we showed you the first new character model to be developed for First Strike in some years. Now we'd like to introduce you to his best buddy, after all what would an AT-AT Commander be without a crew under his command?

So today we take a look at the development of the AT-AT Driver. Now at first glance the AT-AT Driver appears to be just a new paint job on the existing character costume for the Imperial TIE Pilot, with a few bits and bobs added to make it appear different from the original, and on the surface you'd be right. But as we investigated further, and we researched this character's uniform for the development of the in game model we found that there was quite a bit more to it than that, for example the helmet size used was considerably larger than that used for the TIE Pilot, helping to give it a more unique look, and most interestingly the armour for this unit is not actually white as it appears to be in the movies and most promotional material and models of this character, it is actually a quite deep grey which appeared white under the bright studio lights during filming. So to be in keeping with our efforts to strive for authenticity within First Strike you'll find that our AT-AT Driver sports grey armour too. There was also much work involved in finding decent reference images of a lot of the new specific details which adorn the uniform of the AT-AT Driver, but I believe we've done a good job of tracking these elements down and have translated them successfully into our work on the character mesh.

In game this character mesh will take on the role of the Imperial Support Trooper on the Battle of Hoth map, giving the AT-AT Driver an appropriate engineer/logistics type role on the battlefield when not behind the wheel of an All Terrain Armoured Transport. However the AT-AT Walker cockpit will be where this soldier feels most at home, and no more so than when his Commander hollers over his shoulder...

"Target, Maximum Firepower!"

And don't forget to head over to our First Strike Community Games Saturday and Sunday nights at 20:00GMT.

See you out there Troopers.