Star Wars: The Old Republic update will add enhanced shader effects

As I trudge across Star Wars: The Old Republic’s planets, my cyborg boots regularly cake themselves with the prismatic mulch of various alien grasses. Despite being a pervasive prop, foliage usually doesn’t get much attention, but that’s not the destiny the Force deigned for The Old Republic’s verdancy. In a brief blog entry, BioWare Senior Technical Artist Ben Cloward revealed the inclusion of shader translucency effects to leaves and grass in the upcoming 1.5 patch update.
After the patch releases, players maxing their shader complexity setting can spot sunlight filtering through slightly translucent grass and leaves for an increased glowing effect. Cloward provided a few comparison shots of the shader level differences and hinted that frolicking in fields of gold marks the start of “even better improvements in the pipe for future updates.”