alanschu

Yes there is the overall plot. But in terms of programming, different branches need to still be related enough, otherwise a lot of work goes into stuff that people may never see. I'm not saying that this is a good thing, I'm just telling it like it is. Warren Spector made comments similar to how people wished the could have joined up with UNATCO and perhaps other stuff in Deus Ex, but he said that in doing so would require the developers to basically code in two different games, one for people that sided with UNATCO and one for those who didn't. As much as he would like to do that, it would never be approved. You mention different paths, but these different paths cannot be too different, otherwise it is like programming another game. If a decision about who is dead or not causes a branch, it could very likely mean that huge chunks of the game could be very different. When large parts of the game become very different and not very related (in otherwords, truly becoming a separate branch), then you end up coding a lot of material that can only be seen from that one perspective. I would bet that despite there being two different endings to KOTOR, the path taken in KOTOR 2 will be virtually identical, barring changes in NPC banter and an overall atmosphere to the planets, but the quests and planets and the order you do them in and all that will probably be pretty much identical. Any differences will probably only occur at the beginning of the game. If this is not the case, than I will be impressed and very happy, but I doubt it.

I cannot vote because I cannot say. I always try to roleplay the character the first time through (which often means I miss a lot of sidequests too, I'm after Malak dammit...no time to deal with sand people). I started out being a good guy in KOTOR but ended up being seduced by the dark side, particularly after Korriban. When I saw the opportunity to retake the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, I went for it (which coincidentally gave me enough DS points to be all the way dark at that point....it was kinda cool).

My comment was made more in relation to your paraphrasing of individual choices...not Bastila. If they considered every single individual choice in the game, you would spend the entire game telling the game what you did last game. They have to draw the line somewhere, lest the actual story of the game becoming too convoluted. You can still have the choice for Bastila without it being very complex (which it shouldn't be, otherwise you put in too much effort that not everyone is going to see). And it's been five years....if they wanted her dead, they could still make her dead regardless of what you said without stepping on any of the choices. The bulk of the different story trees most likely has more to do with the large choices in the game (Bastilla's may have been considered a large choice, although I would say her being LS/DS would be a more significant one), particularly what happened to Revan. I highly doubt the story is going to be any different with the exception of missing cameo appearances if the player killed Juhani at the grove or temple, marooned Carth, or whatever. It's so much work for little gain IMO. If we see Bastila in the game (or anyone else that could potentially be dead), it will likely be someone we just bump into, briefly talk to, and go about our business. Building giant plot structures around characters that might possibly be dead is just a waste of time, because if they are dead, what then.....a whole different story? It would be cool, but it would stretch out development time. It would basically be two games in one.

Please remember that Warren was considered as one of the best game designers in the business at the time before DX:IW. With a portfolio consisting Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Thief and Deus Ex is pretty damn impressive say the least. Some minor critizism about the design choices were made before the release, but most thought that "Hey, it's a Warren Spector game, i can't be bad!". DX:IW didn't suck because it wasn't like the first Deus Ex, it sucked because horrible design choices. Warren Spector still is considered one of the best game designers. And besides, Deus Ex: Invisible War was Harvey Smith's brainchild....not Spector's.

Grand Theft Auto and Knights of the Old Republic are two VERY different games. You cannot really compare the two since creating a larger city in SA simply means having more random cars driving around and whatnot. Having larger areas in KOTOR involves creating a purpose for those larger areas, with additional NPCs, quests, and so on. Your analogy is poor. And don't justify/rationalize your responses by saying you are picked on (downgraded or whatever) because you speak out against the game. There are plenty of people on this board that have concerns about the game.

Because an engine is scalable does not mean that it will not take advantage of the latest graphical features. It just means the put in more effort into the engine to allow people with older hardware to still play the game. As much as I like the Crytek engine, I still think that the Source engine looks better. As for the AI, I have only played the demo, but is the AI the same "great AI" that lets me hide in the bushes while I shoot them, and watch them run around the bush I'm in without ever seeing me? I can guarantee that Half-Life 2 will also have fantastic AI, which technically shouldn't be something that is discussed here since things like AI are exclusive for games, not engines.

Half-Life 2 most definitely has an engine that exists.

I got to lvl 20 in KotOR, in the temple of the Rakatta planet. So if there hadn't been a cap, i probably would be about lvl 24 when completing the game. Sith Lords is implied to be a little longer, so mayby if you completed every single aspect of the game, you could get lvl 30. However the cap hasn't even been pronounced yet. If you got to level 20 while in the Temple on the final world, I would bet you'd be lucky to get to level 22.

Except for the fact that I would want to play the game to run around and adventure....not play a turret minigame.

That still overlooks the history of the developers. Just because they formed a new company does not mean you should take away their previous accomplishments.

I think that the comment was not based on individual choices, but the choices that individuals that played the game made. I would think that many smaller choices could and would be omitted.

Episode IV had Vader escaping. But it makes sense, since Lucas couldn't leave the story wide open for a sequel because he didn't know that there would be one.

Still....all that got rid of was the celebrations at the end....it still seemed like a pretty happy ending.

It would be neat if you could sell your apprentice on being a Consular or something. In fact, I'd go more for Ender's approach, where you'll have a male and female, and how they grow is based upon how you grow. It'd be neat if it wasn't all perfect though. If you turn to the Darkside, then have some dialogue if not to psychotic lure them to the Darkside, but if you are a crazy person than they will be repulsed by the Darkside and revert back to LS or something. In any case, if this game does indeed have an apprentice (which the *ding**ding* would indicate), I'm betting the farm on the apprentice turning on you at some point.

I tend to use theatre when talking about classical theatre, but I go to a movie theater....wierd I am. I'm also more of a saber person than a sabre person. Seems more balanced.

Probably...but tonite still bothers me

I only remember 3 for Serpent Isle

And a level up in the FF games generally didn't mean a whole lot.

Yeah....I thought the I looked out of place....but it just seemed naked without it

Return of the Jedi's ending is the epitomie (sp?) of happy endings

I know. Since we do not know where Revan is, I think it would be bizarre to suddenly have Bastila bumping into us looking for adventure.

Neutral ending in Return of the Jedi?? The destruction of the Empire with mass celebrations across the galaxy is neutral??

The biggest thing about DVDs is that they are not a far enough leap in technology like CDs were. CDs could hold hundreds of floppies. I'd like to see a DVD release, but I know that the costs associated with dual releasing are higher. Whether or not said company cares about that sort of thing is another matter, considering the dire situation LucasArts PC gaming was in earlier, I'd bet they are more concerned about the bottom line. However, newer games like Farcry and UT2K4 have shown that it is indeed more viable, so I would say it is much more likely than when KOTOR came out.

To be fair I did have plague, and since I was LS it was very expensive to use when I used it.

I had 460 fp with my consular last game, and there were still times I ran out of FP while on the star forge I like to go crazy with the force wave