Battlefront devs, Peter Mayhew respond about Chewbacca’s fur

Ever since the Death Star trailer dropped yesterday, it seems that Battlefront’s newest hairy guy can’t get a break.

It’s been just over 24 hours since yesterday’s gameplay trailer for the new expansion. In that time, numerous posts complaining about Chewbacca’s fur have been made on Reddit and the game’s official forums.

Developers on Battlefront have since taken the time to respond to the qualms.

First, lead designer Dennis Brannvall commented on the issue via Twitter: “It’s the best looking Chewie and the best-looking completely fur-clad character ever made in a video game, [in my not so humble opinion].”

Lighting lead Oscar Carlan also noted that Chewbacca changed drastically in the final days of the expansion’s development.

“We simplified Chewie’s fur to reach [performance] goals,” he wrote on Twitter. “It went from amazing to awful to decent the last days. Unsure which ended up in the trailer.”

He added that “if we can make it better we will.” Furthermore, Carlan noted that the “trailer was recorded while things still changed so I don’t know [if Chewbacca looks different in-game].” Carlan also hinted that getting a smooth 60 frames-per-second with Chewie was a challenge and that “his [appearance] is based on the environment; he looks better in the vicinity of a direct lightsource.”

My personal favorite response, however, is Peter Mayhew’s cheeky reply. Mayhew, who is a frequent Redditor, played Chewbacca for all five of the Wookie’s on-screen appearances in the Star Wars movies.

In response to a comment about how Chewie looks “straight out from the shower”, Mayhew wrote: “You crawl out of a trash compactor, and let’s see how you look.”

Personally, I’m fine with how Chewbacca looks in the trailers. I would rather have a game with a smooth 60 frames-per-second, rather than one with choppy gameplay. Fur is difficult to render because of all the extra polygons required.

I also agree with Dennis’ assessment. This is certainly Chewbacca’s best interpretation in a video game yet. Part of the issue, I think, is that Battlefront is an amazingly stunning game. Chewie (in the trailer) admittedly doesn’t stand up to some of the other models in this game.

That said, I think the Wookie looks fine. They nailed his gait and I’m excited to play as the walking carpet when the DLC arrives on Tuesday.