kalimeeri

Well, you're going to be busy for a while with the kids ... but not forever. This packrat got rid of tons of stuff last year using the rule 'If I haven't used it or even looked for it in two years, out it goes.' However ... if you look at a game and remember it with a fond smile, KEEP it. Some classics are really tough to find, if you become obsessed about playing them again; not to mention that your kids might enjoy them when they get old enough--mine did.

Yes. WinXP (esp with SP2) is not friendly to some older games; and while compatibility mode sounds good, it doesn't always work very well. Not to mention that newer hardware sometimes doesn't translate backwards fluently (Audigy vs. Soundblaster AWE64; and just try to find a gameport joystick these days). After completely hosing up the audio codecs of my last XP installation, trying to get voice to work in Freelancer, I decided I would continue to feed and care for a 500 mhz Win98 machine formatted with 16-bit disc access ... on which the game works right out of the box. Much less aggravation than trying to remember what setting I tweaked when some other app no longer works properly. I also keep a 90 mhz DOS machine, and even that's too fast for vintage games like Wing Commander 1 and 2 without major Mo-slo action. If you have the room and can still find them, these old machines are gold--newer ain't necessarily better, IMO. (And I hate throwing something that still works perfectly well away.)

Loved the all the KQ and QFG games, up until the last ones in each series. KQ7 is styled differently, but still a good game. After that, it was hard to tell what genre of games Sierra was making; I sold Dragonfire on eBay, and never did finish Mask of Eternity. I have been going back to my older games too, because I haven't seen much current stuff that interests me--everybody's doing MMORPG's, and I don't care for them. Just finished Anachronox, thinking about starting up BG1 again, or Buried in Time. But Freespace is haunting me too. I'm thinking about buying Psychonauts, though, out of curiosity, and waiting to see what X3 looks like when it comes out.

The best at what? Hey, is this just a popularity poll? Because characters like poor little Calo Nord always get shafted on those. One... Two...

Sorry, can't agree. Maybe 'Kreia' did not fight, but 'Kae' did, up to the point where she disappeared forever. The timeline is too murky to be of any real help, and appearances can be deceiving due to darkside, disease, and mileage. But the game specifically mentions and emphasizes Kae's name and history over Revan's other masters, and there are way too many references and coincidences between the two to ignore. It would explain a great many things, such as Kreia's personal hatred for the Council and Atris' disdain in particular. ("That is not her name."--Atris) If that is true, then what WAS Kreia's real name? Since Kreia was one of the main characters in the game, wasn't that information we did need to know? Why even mention it? I believe the problem is that in trying to be subtle, the point was lost--there was just not enough to infer a definite conclusion. Maybe CA didn't want to give away the store, but one more line, or a slightly different wording might have done the trick. But in the end, it makes no difference, one way or the other. It's only a question of character motivation/backstory.

Not sure it was ever a 'viable' world like Dantooine. It did look more volcanic, with sharp peaks and caverns and gas pockets, and those things would probably have been part of its makeup from the get-go. Remember, too, that the Sith merely took over an existing structure for their academy, one that had presumably been created (at the core) by an ancient race. Whether that race used it because of its power, or were the cause of its power, is unexplained; but at some point that power became darkside, which was what drew the modern Sith to it. So all that time under darkside influence would most likely have brought out the worst of what was already there, making it an ugly, totally depressing world. But I'd think there was a reason this ancient race built in the core rather than on the surface--perhaps, as you said, as a cover, but certainly because the surface was unsuitable. As far as the Mandalorians go, obviously this taboo is deep in their lore, but I wonder why. Canderous/Mandalore is pretty much darkside, as is their general philosphy. So why are they repelled? A racial enemy far in the past?

Yes! Nectar of the Gods, and handy for preventing the odd massacre. Certain brands of already-ground coffee do not make my stomach happy, due to non-coffee additives and filler. So it's always whole-bean, the darker the better, with one exception: Cuban coffee. Especially fine con leche, made with condensed milk, is instant addiction. I've sacrificed three expresso machines at that altar; worn them completely out. Just don't indulge if you're planning on sleeping anytime soon.

Nope. No way--she's not the forgiving sort. Because it's so easy to get influence with Visas, it's best not to have any conversations with her until Handmaiden is a Jedi (or very close.) That can take a while, if your exile isn't the beefy variety, because you have to fight Handmaiden without armor in order to get her attention.

I don't think it's a contradiction; I think that 'true Sith' is being taken too literally. From Kotor 1's loading screens: Millennia ago a rift in the Jedi order saw the followers of the dark side exiled from Republic Space. Outcast Jedi settled on the Sith home world, and over millenia the two peoples became one. It sounds as if the 'true Sith' as a pure species were conquered and assimilated by the exiled darkside Jedi. The 'species' is extinct, in that sense. This occurred prior to the Hyperspace War, and history records are very sketchy or non-existent (again according to Kotor 1). Perhaps what Kreia is referring to as 'true Sith' are actually this amalgamation of species: true Sith + darkside force users. 1000 years ago the forgotten Sith returned to the Republic and the Great Hyperspace War began. Naga Sadow was one of these...

I think the complete Visas/Nihilus scene would have to be recorded externally during gameplay, but the separate audio clips are available. Just depends what you want. I'll send a PM to explain.

It will do this if you are using a No-CD .exe. Or another piece of software (spyware blocker, etc) is blocking changes to executables without asking.

Hard to say, or even guess. Might just be that the patch got lost in LA's preparations to move to their new 'LucasLand' headquarters.

That's a big 'if.' If Revan had simply wanted to rule the Republic, he could've let Malak finish the grunt work, and then taken over. Or with the Republic on its knees after Malak's defeat, he could've finished the job--he had the tools at hand. Instead, he handed it back. Some folks aren't suited to sitting behind a desk and ruling; they're restless souls that soon lose interest. Fix something that's broken, and move on to another frontier.

That's very true; but in essence the determination of good vs. evil depends on who writes the history books (i.e., the winner of the conflict).

Many people like to categorize in terms of absolutes; but in real life no such distinction exists. Nobody is pure good or pure evil. Revan emerges as someone who effectively changed the course of history, though his methods and intentions were incomprehensible and misunderstood--sometimes intentionally--by those in power. Most of the Jedi Council perceived him as a threat to their own power structure, and as a consequence so did the Jedi. A young and impulsive person, believing implicitly in his own fate and ability, might say, "You want to see bad? I'll show you bad." I agree, in full, with your assessment; such a character is far more interesting than one that can be easily labeled.

Wasn't TSL set only five years after K1? I think Kreia or somebody also said that after the fight with Malak, Revan did some more traveling and investigating, so has been gone four years at most. The Council acted, all right--they went into hiding. They didn't have a clue; they couldn't detect Nihilus, and if they had run up against him, they would have used their standard Jedi combat and died. He was just one guy, using an ancient Sith technique. The Republic galaxy wasn't going to change, and it wasn't going to survive unless something drastic was done.

He wanted to destroy the power structure within the Republic, not the Republic itself. It was doing more harm than good. Share something as powerful as the Star Forge with people who already enjoy their influence too much?

Good timing to buy TLJ; the sequel, Dreamfall, is due out this fall.

Was it? 'Destroying' the force itself would destroy all life. She merely wanted people (Sith and Jedi) to have free will, instead of being pawns to the Force's power. Wars were fought and people/planets died as part of its 'balancing act.' Exile didn't need the Force to survive--that was her ideal for everyone. She didn't set out to kill the Jedi Masters; she just wanted them to see that her gray philosophy had been right all along. They could have helped preserve the galaxy, but they refused to listen again. She's not only tired of messing around with them, but they threatened Exile. No, not evil. Desperate maybe, and out of time. A 'seer' and a very sad hero, who used whichever alignment worked best to achieve her goal. She contrived situations to 'train' Exile to make up his own mind, instead of relying on notions of 'light' and 'dark'.

The 'true Sith' may be the ruling faction of their part of the galaxy, but I doubt that they are the only species or culture within it. Many worlds may have been conquered, leading to factions similar to what the Mandalorians, the Wookies, the Twileks, etc. are to the Republic. So there are many opportunities for varied badass enemies, depending on which planet of that galaxy is visited.

http://www.scummvm.org/downloads.php Version 0.7.1 scummvm and also the Freeware CD versions of Beneath a Steel Sky and Flight of the Amazon Queen available for download.

Its easy as pie to install and play with the SCUMM emulator, in fact you dont really have to install it. Just place it on somewhere on the HD and you're good to go. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I've been a bit shy of introducing some of the DOS-only games to my newer machine since Callahan's Crosstime Saloon did some nasty dance all over Win98. I'll give it a shot. Check out the sys req's from the game box for some nostalgia: 386DX-25 (486 recommended) 4 MB of RAM or greater VGA graphic adapter MPC-rated sound card MPC-rated CD-Rom drive Mouse MS-Dos ver 5.0 or higher This game will run through Windows but is not recommended-->(LOL!)

In name only, I think, although I've seen the logo on a couple games since their implosion (Arcanum). I'd heard that Jane Jensen was making another game on her own (somewhat along her Gabriel Knight plotline) but I think that fell through. It's been almost a year with no news/info on it.

I have the original game, but if I remember right it was a pain to install even in DOS ... what does the emulator do? Maybe I can actually play it again...

On the other hand, one of the BEST recent experiences I've had with companies was with APC; my UPS failed its self-test last year in the middle of hurricane season (Murphy's Law, oh yeah, whyever not, right?). Battery wasn't holding enough of a charge, but the unit itself was fine. They shipped me not just a battery but a whole new unit right away; all I had to do was put the old one in the same box and send it back. No arguments, no lengthy back and forth 'try this, now try this..' and no down time. That's the kind of customer service that fosters brand loyalty.