Star Wars Outlaws Dev Talks Making Mos Eisley, Tatooine In-Game

Star Wars Outlaws Dev Talks Making Mos Eisley, Tatooine In-Game

As a lifelong Star Wars fan who’s spent countless hours wandering the digital halls of Tatooine since the original trilogy premiered in the 70s, I can confidently say that the team behind Star Wars Outlaws has outdone themselves with their recreation of this iconic planet. The attention to detail, from the dusty streets of Mos Eisley to the familiar hum of the cantina’s background music, is nothing short of breathtaking.


Introduced nine minutes into “Star Wars: A New Hope,” Tatooine stands out as one of the most renowned planets in the Star Wars universe and among the most iconic entertainment locations overall. This arid world, situated in the Outer Rim with two fiercely hot suns, has been recurrently depicted over the past five decades across various Star Wars movies, television series episodes, numerous novels and comic books, a multitude of video games, and now, Tatooine appears again in “Star Wars Outlaws.”

Among four interstellar worlds ripe for exploration, the planet Tatooine from the game Star Wars Outlaws will boast many familiar spots, such as the Mos Eisley spaceport and cantina. In a conversation with several key developers and creators of Star Wars Outlaws, Game Rant learned that Benedikt Podlesnigg, the art & world director for Outlaws, had some insightful comments regarding the reproduction of legendary planets like Tatooine.

How Star Wars Outlaws’ Devs Made Tatooine as Authentic as Possible

In the narrative of Star Wars, planets have consistently played significant roles, with Tatooine standing out as one of the most prominent. Not only is it where the Skywalker family’s journey begins, but it also serves as the birthplace of the entire Star Wars franchise, being the first planet viewers encountered in the 1977 release of Star Wars (later re-titled Star Wars: A New Hope). The original depiction of Tatooine in 1977 was rich with intricate world-building details, from its diverse alien population to its unique wildlife and architecture. Every subsequent portrayal of Tatooine has built upon these foundations, continuously expanding the depth and complexity of this iconic planet.

In creating their rendition of Tatooine for “Star Wars Outlaws”, the developers were determined to make it as true-to-life as possible. As for how they achieved this authenticity, Podlesnigg shed some light on the development team’s methods: they aimed to make Tatooine feel real and genuine.

“Lucasfilm Games granted us ample creative liberty and collaborated closely with us to maintain the accuracy of famous Star Wars locations. Our team, who are all dedicated fans, have been meticulous in their efforts to honor the original content, especially when it comes to Tatooine. The opportunity to genuinely step into the Mos Eisley cantina, explore it, and immerse ourselves within an open-world setting, is truly awe-inspiring.”

In Star Wars Outlaws, I’ll get the chance to roam through some iconic Tatooine spots, with the Mos Eisley cantina being one of the standouts. This is where Han Solo and Greedo had their famous showdown, and poor Ponda Baba ended up losing a limb. Inside the cantina, I’ll cross paths with all sorts of fascinating characters, and might even find myself engaged in a few mini-games to kill time between my thrilling adventures.

Instead of merely focusing on iconic spots from Tatooine, as one might expect, the creators of Star Wars Outlaws delved deeper. Podlesnigg shed light on the diverse resources the team utilized to truly embody the essence of Tatooine in their game: Star Wars Outlaws.

“For extensive research, we delved into relevant resources. We aimed to understand the elements that might have sparked creativity among filmmakers from that era, as well as exploring Star Wars-related content.”

To create an authentic representation of Tatooine for our purposes, we drew inspiration from references used in the films, such as filming sites in Death Valley and Tunisia. Additionally, we aimed to accurately portray certain locales depicted in the books by referring to cutaway images of them.

Despite Tatooine being a familiar setting in countless Star Wars stories, the team behind Star Wars Outlaws is striving to make their version of this well-known location feel genuinely authentic. Achieving that level of authenticity is no easy task, but based on what we’ve seen so far, Star Wars Outlaws is clearly committed to doing it right.

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2024-08-24 15:26