Aaron Contreras

Bao Dur is more or less mute in both games I have played. I think - aside from Kreia and Atton - you should really just stick with NPCs who share alignment with your PC. I have influenced Bao Dur over to the extreme dark side, but he still acts/talks/reacts like a good guy - basically just a cosmetic change. I don't really get the point of an influence system if certain conversations/events (jedi training/remote improvement) are nearly impossible to get if you're a hardcore bad guy.

I think what is missing is a consistent false flattery option: 1. What a great idea Atton! You're so cool! 2. [Lie] What a great idea Atton! You're so cool! I really don't like how buttering up your party members can often result in shifts to the light side. Twisting actions to your benefit would also have empowered the player immensely. Say you do something really evil (or good) which results in a flat Influence loss with a party member. Give the player the opportunity to Persuade/Influence the NPC to cancel out the Influence loss of your actions.

There are several flashbacks in the game.

Yes. Remember the interactive conversation flashback where the PC is exiled? Same sort of thing. Would've helped immensely.

Nope. Nihilus obtained the Ravager at Malachor. He didn't follow Revan or Malak. He comes from Elsewhere.

I went through the game as a neutral Sentinel who focused on Wisdom, Charisma, Awareness and Persuasion. I only used one regular old lightsaber. I never got a prestige class 'cause I was neutral. Only died with my main character in the last dungeon - and only then when I wasn't paying enough attention. You should be fine building your character however you want.

You can expect to work longer hours for less pay. How many hours longer and how much less pay depends upon the company. I worked an average of around 50-60 hours a week for about five months on my last project. There was also about three weeks in there where most of us took 8 hours off a day to sleep, shower and change clothes. Most developers on the project put *way* more time in than I did. If you want to make good money and just work 40 hours a week the game industry probably won't have a lot to offer you. I couldn't imagine working these hours if I had a kid.

Not that I am aware of. I tried to do one planet 'evil' and two planets 'good' and ended up 'evil' without making a choice. No. Hanharr is the best wookie ever.

Nihilus is such a paper tiger in the end. He...somehow 'it' seems mroe appropriate...had such great potential, too. Sion is barely in the game. The mining station...Korriban....last dungeon. He is a great thug/bloodhound/unstoppable force character...but those only work if you use them. He should've been stalking you at every turn. Thinking about it...I didn't feel hunted by the Sith at all. How *did* the Exile lose connecton to the force? Post-traumatic stress disorder? How did the Kreia form the bond? Wasn't she cut off from the force by Nihilus and Sion? On the plus side, I really like the transformation of the Sith from the first game to the second. KOTOR 1 Sith were effectively no different from the Empire. The Sith as freaky manipulative world-eating assassins is much more appropriate.

Word. I think almost all of the problems with this game are due to not enough development time. Some of the events are pretty silly as well - that bit where the main character is captured by Goto is ridiculous.

I attempted to exhaust conversation options with party members after every completed planet. They often appeared broken - Bao Dur was almost mute my entire game. Having your two party members stop and talk to each other randomly would've been great. It was a real breath of fresh air in KOTOR 1. The character design and dialog of KOTOR 2 is awesome...but yeah, I feel like I really didn't get to know any of them aside from Kreia.

I have noticed practice options for the card game and swoop racing. I don't know about the turret minigame.

It is frustrating to try and be both dark and loved by your companions, especially the ones who lean towards the light side. Best advice is to try and figure out what makes each character tick. My high WIS/CHA character can *sometimes* squeeze out a conversation option that makes them happy without giving him unwanted light side points. Teeny-tiny spoilers possible below. Atton has been completely silent since I left Telos. He refuses to talk about anything but Pazaak. Bummer. I did hit a bug with him after the bit where he and Kreia are locked in the force cage - I was able to loop the same influence/light side gain conversation options several times in a row. Maybe I broke him? Hope not. Either way, I haven't noticed much complexity in dealing with Atton - you're either understanding and joke around with him (light side/influence gain) or you threaten and abuse him needlessly (dark side/influence lost). I have a hunch this relationship will expand later on in the game...but it feels really neglected so far. Kreia is a manipulator and sees herself as your mentor. Despite how crafty she is, I've had a very easy time telling her what she wants to hear. It probably doesn't hurt that my PC is pragmatic, bitter and very insightful. A high awareness helps a lot with Kreia. I love having a character that you can gain both influence and dark side points with - though I hope there are some conversation options where you please Kreia with your insight and cunning while humbling her with your 'light side' morality. The Handmaiden has a bit in common with the lawful good samurai/paladin/noble warrior mold. I've lost (too much) influence with her lately simply by being sneaky - even though I'm being sneaky to help out the good guys. I'm hoping there is some opportunity to point out the hypocrisy in her ethical system later on in the game - violence is violence no matter what rituals you mask it in. My character doesn't want to enslave or seduce her - just open her eyes to some of the ugly realities he has experienced. Be nice to T3-M4 and he'll love you. A pity you gain light side points for it. I don't think being kind to a droid is a mark of spiritual enlightenment. I get the sense that T3 is really the only companion you can trust...which makes him all the more valuable to a dark PC. The zabrak is another favorite NPC of mine, though he sadly seems to play second string to the others. Keep your history with him in mind and he should be pretty easy to score influence with. Great voice acting on this guy. Sure hope I can make him into a jedi.

This should probably be under the spoilers category.

I remember seeing a list of who designed what area in the game somewhere on this forum. Ran some searches, by my board-fu is apparently lacking. Anyone got the list or a link? Just wrapped up Dantooine last night, game keeps getting better. Each area is precisely long enough to keep me up just an hour past my bedtime. The extra-special conversation bits on the Ebon Hawk after each planet are great, I really like 'spending' my influence.

Nice touch.

It was really discouraging to watch my alignment crawl steadily up towards light side while I was doing everything I could short of betraying my character concept to bring it down. I took the game seriously when it says the main character carries the weight of a world on his shoulders. He cannot recover from the wounds of his past. He will drag his followers into hell with him. But he has no reason threaten Atton or abuse T3. Why whip your followers without reason? They'll suffer enough simply by association with you.

It is extremely difficult to go dark side in this game - so far - without being your average moustache-twirling nutjob. I don't think being nice to your traveling companions should bring you over to the light side. I'm attempting to have them love me even as I lead them astray and it just isn't working.

Great character. Awesome voice acting. Love the cosmetic touches - first time I went into first person with her I couldn't help but giggle. I don't think I would easily buy into the main character being so important if it wasn't for Kreia.

Good summary, Leferd. The area design I've seen so far really lets your character do their thing, regardless of how you built them. Lots of opportunities to use skills, stealth and brute force. I feel comfortable enough that I'm going to level up based on what I think is cool over what I know will be effective. Crazy, huh?

About four hours in. Minor spoilers contained. I didn't like the commerical serving as an intro movie. I just bought KOTOR2 - why are you marketing it to me? Atton Rand comes off a little too strongly like Carth at first impression. I think this is entirely due to the visual design of the character and maybe the fact that he seems geared for pistol fighting. He has a good look - very Star Wars - but I think a strong, unique visual element would have helped him. Beard, scars, hairstyle, etc. I think Kreia is going to be my favorite NPC in the game. It is silly, but I love the fact that she is an old woman. So uncommon in a CRPG. Her writing is top notch and I've *think* my bastard PC has been able to manipulate her into gaining influence, even though he doesn't take her seriously. T3 rocks the house, ya'll. The graphics and animations - so far - look slightly worse than I would have hoped for. This isn't a big concern for me. I don't like the design of the first two outfits your PC gets. Noticed some clipping issues in the first area. Ugly bug, but it didn't hurt gameplay at all. I want my character to go dark, but I want him to go dark without being a moustache-twirling psycho. I've had trouble doing this - gaining Light points because I don't constantly threaten to murder and abandon my party members. The conversation with Kreia after the first area seems to be setting the tone for the rest of the game. Very cool angle if I sniffed it out. I'm going to try and work with this plotline - hopefully my PC will be able to slide down into the dark side simply because he can't walk away from war, unable to shake off the ghosts of the past. The first 15 minutes of Telos was a little jarring. You're all primed and pumped up for the main storyline...then you're suddenly getting phone calls and being invited onto subplot stuff. I've never felt that a character saying, "Well, we're stuck here now...so we might as well explore the area." is satisfying. On the other hand, the Ithorian/Corporate conflict was interesting enough to almost keep me up *way* past my bedtime. Looking forward to getting into this area when I have the time.

Jason - You rock. Thanks for the links.

Great topic. As someone who is really focused on making it into development, I'm curious about the following: What were the contents of your portfolio? NWN mod, other mod? Pencil and paper stuff? Writing samples? I'd love to see as much as you are comfortable sharing.

Great idea for a thread. I think it would be much more effective if you provided *links* to a page of screenshots, rather than sticking them in the message.

I really miss the Stranger. If you live in the Seattle area and don't read it...for shame.