Welcome To CUEmu
Welcome to our passion project dedicated to bringing back and revitalizing the Combat Upgrade era of Star Wars Galaxies.
Originally introduced in April 2005, the Combat Upgrade (often referred to as CU) was a pivotal point in the game's history. It transformed the core combat mechanics, balance, and progression in ways that we believe was a step in the right direction.
Our goal is simple:
To recreate and preserve the CU experience
as faithfully as possible, allowing longtime fans to relive cherished memories and new players
to discover the magic of this era.
More Balanced Gameplay
The CU brought significant changes to professions, abilities, and combat. With an emphasis on role balance and strategic engagements, it offered thrilling group content and a different combat style branching from the roots of Pre-CU combat while not being overly simplistic to the likes of the NGE.
No Destruction Of Character Development
Unlike later changes in the NGE, the CU retained a layer of depth in character development, keeping skill point allocation and complex profession path options that allowed the game's unique vision to remain intact while also changing the combat for the better to fit the evolving MMO genre at the time.
A Step In The Right Direction
Whether it was forming spontaneous "spin groups" (large group AoE mission running) on Dantooine or defending guild cities, the CU era fostered a tight-knit community. It's these shared adventures and triumphs that have stood the test of time. Additionally, the inclusion of new content, Kashyyyk and Mustafar specifically, was what the game desperately needed to keep players engaged.
Client Features
The CU client has additional capabilities such as anti-aliasing, support for other shaders types, lighting, and various other additions that allow for enhanced visuals and content support.
SWGEmu Core3
CUEmu is built atop SWGEmu's Core3 server software. By utilizing a tried and true codebase as a stepping stone for bringing back the CU, we've inherited over 15 years of work towards development of Pre-CU emulation. This has provided us the ability to, over the years, work on the CU version of the game while merging in updates from the base Pre-CU game where applicable, allowing us to focus on mostly CU specific features.
Authentic Recreation
We strive for an accurate representation of the CU ruleset from skill progression to combat calculations, ensuring an experience that feels just like the original. This being said, we also do not believe in implementing things broken. If something didn't work during live, it will eventually work here, although likely with marginal effects.
Community-Focused
The strength of Star Wars Galaxies has always been its community. We're committed to fostering a welcoming environment where guilds can grow, crafters can flourish, and adventurers of all play styles can find a home.
Ongoing Development & Refinement
While we aim for authenticity, we remain open to adding quality-of-life improvements and fixes that align with the spirit of the CU without compromising the charm and game mechanics that defined this era. CUEmu's goal is to replicate Publish 23 specifically, while sprinkling in select changes from publish 24. While some changes were for the better, others were game breaking and silent preparation for the NGE that would later completely alter the state of the game.
Become Part Of Our Community
If you've ever yearned to rally a group in the forests of Endor, tackle a Krayt dragon on Tatooine, or simply relive the camaraderie of the CU era, we invite you to join our growing community. Together, we're rebuilding the galaxy one step at a time—creating the perfect place for veterans and newcomers alike.
Relive the greatest saga ever told - yours.