Starwars

As someone pointed out in the comments, it's nice to have an interview that actually seems to contain some form of interaction between the two people. I've gotten so used to the standard questions that gets asked in interviews, that it really stood out to me. Good job on that. I always like reading VDs comments on the industry, it's fun to watch people get pissed off. I agree with most of his points as well. Even though VD might be on the other extreme of the spectrum, it's just refreshing to see a developer not going the "super polite and respectful" route when asked about things. AoD is probably the game I'm looking forward to the most, together with the Purgatorio mod for NWN2.

Heya Petra. You're right in that I would normally like a lot less fighting than we normally see in cRPGs. Or perhaps, more ways to bypass combat (if one have the appropiate skills). But well, I don't like KOTORs combat much. It's sort of based on D&D, but it has a lot less options which is a bit of a downer if one comes from D&D background (whether computergaming or P&P). Now, this can be used to create a tighter and more focused combat experience, as the devs can balance the game better (since there are less possible builds), but KOTORs combat is just to easy. AND (heh), I'm not to fond of realtime with pause systems. I definetely agree though that it's lots of fun to play a Jedi and wield the Force. It also looks nice visually. But yes, I think our tastes just differ from each other.

If I've understood correctly, I think work on Mask of the Betrayer started pretty much around the time when NWN2 was released. They probably had a good idea on how to do the project by then, since there are references to Rashemen, the Astral Plane and whatnot in the NWN2 loading screens so it's possible they started working on it even before NWN2 was released. I'd say that about a year is a good guess. It's possible that they have a story outline, or a basic idea on a possible expansion, as there are mentions of Chult and a few other things in the Mask of the Betrayer loading screens. It would make sense in feeding the modders new material as well, seeing as how Obsidian would implement jungles and things in that case. My guess is that they will see how well MotB did before/if they get the green light though. Personally I really hope there will be another expansion. MotB was really excellent, and I think expansion packs are an excellent vehicle to try something different and perhaps deeper. MotB felt like a real work of love, and not a "product" so to speak.

They've said that it would be good, but there seems to be a lot of doubt and "maybes" and "it would take a lot of work" so far, so I'm not sure. It doesn't seem to be prioritized in the same way as for the Elder Scrolls, so I wouldn't bet on it.

My problem is a change from the Fallout goodness, but I also agree with your post. I never played Arena, but I played Daggerfall around the time it came out. I did play the game a lot, mostly due to being drunk on the freedom and enormous world offered. But it's not what I'd call a good game, I was very frustrated with it. Daggerfall was an enormous cup of potential, but it wasn't even close to being filled. Come Morrowind, I thought it'd be a grand upgrade of Daggerfall, with annoyances removed and features polished etc. I thought Bethesda would try to fill the cup up. But instead they shrank the cup itself (whew, far out man), and the same was done with Oblivion.

It's not really that lame if you ask me. Sure it shouldn't be exactly like the old ones. But hey, update it to a fancy 3D engine, give the turnbased combat a huge overhaul/upgrade, put in camera options similar to NWN2. I mean, if Fallout is really just a name nowadays, then why even bother making a sequel instead of developing something new of their own? At least for me, games that hit me the hardest are brand new games. Sequels will always be compared to what's been done before. The game seems to differ so much from the original games, that I honestly can't see why they chose not to just develop a franchise of their own instead and have it be inspired by Fallout or whatever. If Baldurs Gate 3 shows up, should that be a first-person free roamer as well? I don't think it's to hard to understand why many Fallout fans are pissed off at the changes. Just imagine a similar gameplay change in a franchise that is even bigger than Fallout. What if Elder Scrolls V underwent a similar change? Fans would cry bloody murder. Also, it's strange as I was really glad to hear that Bethesda made the game take place on the East Coast. I figured that was a great way to avoid having to deal with how to develop the existing setting in a logical way. And also that it allowed them to make their own imprint on the series. I also (stupidly I guess) thought that Bethesda would keep the gameplay somewhat intact, or at least make an effort to go away from the free-roaming first person RPGs like the Elder Scrolls, try something really different (for Bethesda). So what happens? Turns out that the Brotherhood of Steel makes a return, as well as the Super Mutants even though the game is set on the East Coast. The writing effort showcased in previous Bethesda games kinda leads me to believe that the reason for their presence in DC will be rather hard to swallow. And the gameplay is changed around completely. I agree that STALKER was a very atmospheric game (though I think it was a rather flawed diamond so to speak). But what made the game special for me was that it was a very new and fresh idea, started on a "clean slate" so to speak. I wish Bethesda had chosen that approach with this game.

Most of my trouble stems from that it's not actually reminiscant of Fallout. If I didn't know about the A) The Vault Suit (though it's different as well) and B) The Brotherhood Armor there's no way in hell that I'd guess it's a Fallout game. Neither from what the (especially) actual gameplay seems to be, nor the purely visual style. The best one is the one only portraying the area, but even that seems rather cluttered and nothing seems to stand out. That's not a problem as it might look very differently in motion, but you'd think that screenshots released at this point would try to show off how it's connected to the older games. There's not much of a "future of the 50s vibe" going on here. I'm actually a bit surprised that they actually released a screenshot with the atomic car exploding (yay?), and having a Super Mutant stand next to it seemingly completely unaffected (YAY!). I mean... whut? That said, I do think the environments in the game will look quite amazing. I think it might be where the most talent in Bethesda lies, as the environments in Oblivion look extremely good for what they are (I think I read somewhere that the area around the Imperial City was actually supposed to be jungle?). I think the sense of nature is definetely there, and I'm sure these people will create gorgeous looking areas for Fallout 3. Whether these areas will have what I want in a Fallout game is another matter. I've been pessimistic about the game being a sequel for the other Fallouts for a very long time now, but I'm getting increasingly pessimistic about it as a stand-alone game as well. It just doesn't look (again, only judging from what the gameplay seems to be like here in these screens, could obviously be *very* wrong) like a game I'd like very much.

Creating a character for Arcanum can be rather intimidating at first, but it really is excellent once you "get over that" so to speak. Lots of options, and the fact that Troika extended the conflict of magic vs technology (which is important to the game) to the character creation was really great. Not what I'd call balanced, but certainly plenty of options. I especially liked all the backgrounds. Most people (myself included) seems to prefer playing some form of Gunslinger. The combat system is pretty terrible, but being a Gunslinger has a certain cool factor about it. It can be rather hard to start off a character like that though. On the other hand, a melee character will pretty much breeze through the game, but is quite boring to play. I never actually tried to play a mage, guess I should do that sometime...

Started up Planescape: Torment again. You know, I always get amazed just at how much this game pulls me in. Good writing can really do wonders, yessir. The first point in the game where I always realize how special this game is, is when you run into Ingress outside the Mortuary. This little sidequest is more moving to me than most full main quests in other games. This is one game where I would *really* have a hard time being evil against certain characters. It's to bad that the game kinda falls apart around the time when you get to Curst. I think it's then pretty boring right up until the ending where it turns good again. Unfortunate.

Well, what I like about the free camera is that I can sometimes create my own "cinematic moments". Dueling it out with a Sith Lord in the dark with a full zoomed out camera, only seeing the two lightsabers flashing. Then zooming and spinning around etc etc type of thing. Anyways, another things that *really* bugs me but I suppose wouldn't be changed. The combat needs to be more deadly. It bugs the hell out of me that I can stand and basically bash a Tusken Raider or whatever with my friggin' lightsaber, and he's only taking damage like I'm hitting him with, well, something not quite so deadly. It does not need to be instant death or anything, but it seriously feels silly that my character, a Jedi, have to spend time bashing away at a Tusken Raiders gaffi stick. Something needs to be done to at least lessen this effect I think. Obviously it's a bit hard to balance the combat in a game where you are playing something as powerful as a Jedi Knight, but even so. And argh, please remove the vibroblades. I don't know if there were an original invention of KOTOR or not, but they're awful. It makes sense for Jedi to wield lightsabers because of their supernatural senses, but I don't see why regular people/aliens would actually fight lesser battles/wars with freakin' swords when there are blaster rifles at hand. You can't block blaster shots with Vibroblades (again, except if you're a Jedi perhaps). Of course people could keep a melee weapon (likely something smaller than a sword though) about their person, to quickly stab someone who might turn hostile on them. But I just don't see it being a "weapon of war" so to speak. There can be exceptions of course, with specific alien species or human tribes that use special forms of melee weapons due to *extreme* skill with them. But I just don't think people would run around waving swords around when there are things like blasters.

I agree that combat animations have become an important part of the KOTORs, but what can I say? I feel they can still look equally impressive (in a different way perhaps) using a top-down perspective (well, a free camera so to speak like in NWN2). In some ways I actually think it could look cooler as one would get away from the characters, and therefore potential animation "quirks" so to speak that may not be as appearant as when the camera is right up the butt of the PC. And it's not a suggestion to remove the camera/control system of the current KOTORs, simply to add another view. While it didn't bother me greatly, there were times where I *really* wish that my view wasn't so "locked" as it is in the games.

I would definetely want Obsidian to have a go at KOTOR3 (with MCA in the lead). I think KOTOR2 is a bit of a flawed diamond, flawed largely because of the *very* tight schedule they got to make the game. I'd love to see an Obsidian KOTOR where they have all the time they need to get all the content in. As for battles, I think it's without a doubt the weakest side of the KOTOR series. Now, I doubt many KOTOR fans would want to see a heavy, more strategical turnbased system like I do, so I suppose that's not plausible for this game considering it's part of a series. But I'd seriously want to have a more beefed up and complex combat system, that actually requires some thought. As well as have the overall approach to encounters be re-evaluated to include memorable and difficult encounters instead of hordes of easy and boring enemies. If possible I'd like to have the D&D remnants of the rule system removed and have it be replaced with something that doesn't feel like "D&D lite". I still want the game to be statfocused and left to the characters skill (no "twitch" so to speak), but have the rulesystem be its own beast. I suppose I'm fine with the KOTOR cameraview, though I don't like it per say. I'd like to have a top-down camera included (like the NWN2 one) in the game though, with completely mouse-driven gameplay. That would be a huge help for me personally in managing the party. I believe the actual gameplay outside the story/conversations to be really lacking in these games, and I think it pulls the games down. It's to boring, to simplified.

Just finished up KOTOR2. This time I decided to do evil playthroughs. I'd done a Dark Side playthrough of KOTOR1 before, but not KOTOR2. I must say that KOTOR2 was especially enjoyable, I liked it a lot more now than when I played it before. I enjoy the story of KOTOR1, it is very Star Warsy so to speak. Fun and easy to follow, with a nice twist to the story. The trouble with KOTOR1 for me is that nearly all of the stuff outside the main story is, well, not that good. When looking back on the areas you visit, there are really not a lot of them that I think fondly of unfortunately. Taris is fine until you get to the Undercity and have to go throughthat, the gang base and then Daviks place. Argh, it's so boring. Dantooine is probably my favourite planet all in all. Nice atmosphere, you get to become a Jedi, and there are not that many frustrations. I hate the "solve murder" quest though as it just clicking, clicking, clicking without use of skills/stats or anything. The family feuds is really nice, and satisfying as Dark Side. Tatooine and Manaan are my least favourites of the Star Map worlds. For some reason I've never liked the Sand People quest, and the areas are to big and uninteresting. Manaan is OK while in the city, but the underwater base is boooring. Kashyyyk is not bad and doesn't have any big frustrations. A bit uninteresting though. The unknown planet (before the Star Forge) is awful, and feels thrown in to lengthen the game. It's nice you get the choice on who to aid here, but that race is one of the most uninteresting and strangely annoying in the game. The Star Forge itself is a terrible "last dungeon", god I hate games where they just throw enemies at you almost endlessly. The main story saves the game for me, it's not enormously complex or anything, but it's told nicely and it's engaging in a Star Wars kind of manner. I actually really enjoyed KOTOR2 this time around. I really liked the overall direction Obsidian took, trying to sort of insert gray areas into the universe but still keeping the classic Light/Dark side. The story is very, very enjoyable though harmed by some missing content. This game also has some classic scenes to it that really got me into the game. The first conversation you have with Atris for example is just wonderful, and very well written (as is most of the game). Peragus is a missed opportunity I feel. They've got a great "spooky" atmosphere going here, but it just goes on for to long unfortunately. Telos is also rather boring, and I don't like the part where you're not in the city at all. The planets all their annoyances, but unlike KOTOR1, I don't view them with contempt when thinking back on them. It never, or very rarely at least, goes over my "frustration threshold". Nar Shadaa is a slight disappointment I think, as I would prefer... well, not sure. More interesting roleplaying in an urban atmosphere I suppose. The whole Jekk'Jekk Tar bit is a bit boring, as is G0-T0s yacht. Quite possibly the worst bit (unfortunately) is Nihilus' ship and Malachor V/The Academy. Just way to much fighting going on here. While the engine itself is fairly fun visually, the combat in these games is simply not fun at all to me. Granted, I like the combat more in KOTOR2 for some reason, but it just doesn't the spot for me, and there are no places in the game where I felt combat was truly fun. It's a shame as the game does a great job of setting up a memorable encounter (Darth Nihilus for example), but the actual encounters themselves fail to deliver. This holds true for both games, except that I think KOTOR2 does a better job of making the "key battles" feel memorable from a story point of view, as well as in the visual sense (again, approaching Nihilus on the bridge is a great moment). I also liked the companions a great deal more this time. Kreia I consider to be one of the greatest characters in cRPG history, and I really love that she is actually in your party during the game. The others are a bit hit-and-miss though, but I feel ultimately more interesting than KOTOR1s. I decided to bring along G0-T0 this time around, and I grew to like him quite a bit (in the "evil bastard" sense). I've always disliked him before, but when giving him a chance he totally delivered. He had some fun moments. It's also nice how the influence system actually lets you influence some of your companions this time (seemingly something that Obsidian removed from NWN2 and MotB). While it's definetely not completely consistant, I feel it's a good step forward for RPGs, and I hope we'll see the return of that in future games from Obsidian. If there ever is a KOTOR3, I really really hope that Obsidian will be the ones getting the chance to do it. I felt they were very unfairly treated in how (or rather, how little) development time they got. Nevertheless, they still managed to deliver a game that for me outshines the first game by quite a lot. While I suppose they went away from the "Star Warsyness", I feel that is all in all a good thing as I don't think it fits very well in a compelling roleplaying game. It inserted a sense of mystery and darkness into the universe, and still didn't overstep and feel completely "out there".

I'm currently replaying KOTOR2, and I have to say that it's a *lot* better than how I remembered it. I always preferred it slightly to KOTOR1, but after playing through both games now (well, I'm not quite finished with KOTOR2 yet, nearing the end) I think KOTOR2 is a lot better than 1. The main things I don't like are the remnants of KOTOR1, mostly the combat system which is such a snore. I do find combat more fun in KOTOR2 though. I'm playing Dark Side (which I've never done in KOTOR2 before) and I'm very pleased that the influence system actually allows the player to, yes, influence the companions. While it's not perfect (for example, companions still sometimes react with their "original alignment" which can make for rather weird character interactions), I find it to be very enjoyable and I wonder why that part of it was more or less scrapped from NWN2 and MotB. Perhaps it's simply to ambitious for the devs to feel that is worth implementing? I don't know. I can understand it in the case of NWN2 since the game is rather massive and complex as it is, but it would've very nice to have it fleshed out in MotB (to go with the new revamped "scores"). And granted, since we have the Force in Star Wars it probably makes more sense to have the PC really be able to affect the companions, but I still would've liked it in the other games (perhaps to a lesser degree). I'm also one of the people who would've preferred if the influence numbers stayed in the background of the game, as it feels a bit to "gamey" to have them in front of you at all times. I think it's fine to have it like in KOTOR2 where it simply says "Influence gained/lost", but I don't think even that is needed. I still feel Mask of the Betrayer is the best Obsidian has released, it's excellent. But after playing KOTOR2 again, I have to say that it has been "bumped" up quite a lot on my RPG list, it's much better than I remembered it.

Finished my replay of KOTOR1, decided to do an evil one. Game is pretty much how I remember it. Very Star Wars, which is fun but not exactly what I'm looking for in a RPG. Still, it's pretty engaging I think. It's rather bogged down with a few boring areas though. The whole bit in the Undercity until you leave Taris is one big snore, and I also remembered how much I *hate* the Star Forge. It seems I actually had supressed my memory of that area, and it all came flooding back to me. Urgh. Still, it's a fun game. Started my replay of KOTOR2 and just made it to Telos. While I think this game is far from perfect, it's just closer to what I want from my RPGs. Obsidian may have gone away a bit from the "Star Wars feel", but I feel that is the right decision when it comes to making a fun RPG. It's an interesting take on Star Wars. I had forgotten about the writing completely, it's actually very good from just a dialogue standpoint. Some of Attons and Kreias interactions with each other (and with the PC) at the start of the game is quite good, and some of them are very fun and actually quite Star Wars-y. The whole Peragus bit is a bit hit-and-miss. I feel they have a really nice and spooky atmosphere going on here, but it just goes on for to long. With all its flaws, I feel KOTOR2 is generally a very underrated game. Especially in the sense that it's sort of in the shadow of the first game, which I disagree with. I really hope the restoration mod will come out sometime in the near future.

Replaying KOTOR (and am gonna replay KOTOR2 as well after that most likely). Remembered how much I hate Taris from the Undercity and onward, blech. Just made it outta there thankfully. Is there any list for recommended mods for KOTOR2, haven't looked through the forums yet?

Amen to that. I would say that the game definetely has one of the most enjoyable evil experiences I've played in a RPG. In fact, I normally don't enjoy it much at all, but I really liked it in MotB.

Killap released his Fallout 2 restoration project, check it out. http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40443 Time to start up Fallout 2 again.

As far as I know, there are no soundtrack releases for either NWN2 or MotB. However, the soundtrack can be listened to anyways. The files in the NWN2 directory (in a folder called NX1_music or something like that). They are in .bmu format, and I'd be careful to play them in a regular media player as there have been reports of the files getting corrupted and thus won't play in the game anymore. So what I'd suggest is getting a tool from the NW Vault that can convert bmu files to mp3. Copy all the .bmu files in the directory and paste them elsewhere. Then use the program and convert the newly pasted files into mp3s. http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Other.Detail&id=225 Well worth it, the MotB soundtrack is extremely good.

Oh, I definetely agree that Arroyo would devolve technically, especially given its out of the way location. However, I still don't buy the actual descent into them becoming tribals in that period of time. There are no remnants (working or not) of technology to be found, there are weird prophecies of Chosen Ones etc. The Chosen One himself is largely very ignorant of the world, and I do not believe for one second that more of the Vault Dwellers knowledge and experiences wouldn't have been passed down to new generations in such a short timespan that it is from Fallout 1 to 2. Instead it seems to be all stuff of mystery, prophecies. I could've bought that if there was big gap of several generations between Fallout and Fallout 2. Arroyo also had some contact with the outside world given that they traded with Klamath (though I don't remember the details of that, so correct me if I'm assuming something strange). If Arroyo was in a state of decay more similar to a community like Modoc, I would find it easier to believe. Totally agree on San Fransisco though. I think it's an awful area both on paper, and even more how it was implemented (it feels very unfinished). In fact, it's often at the time where you travel to San Fransisco that I lose interest in Fallout 2 when replaying it. I think New Reno is suspicioussettings-wise. There is appearantly an established porno-industry, but how many working VCRs or whatever is there throughout Fallout? Enough to support filming porn? Stuff like prostitution makes all the sense in the world I think, but porno-industry I'm not so sure about actually. But even moreso, I find New Reno hard to accept in how its run. Since it seems to be largely fueled by tourist trade basically, how does it turn? I doubt the inhabitants of New Reno have much to offer in terms of moneys to the high-ups of New Reno, and gambling institutions draw largely on their appeal for tourists I think. Are there that many travellers in the world of Fallout? Obviously the crime families had contacts outside of New Reno as well, but... Then there is just that "italian mobster" thing which I think is a bit over-the-top. Big gangsters with Tommy-guns and feodora hats? I think it's a bit to obvious. Nevertheless, New Reno is a wonderful town to visit in the RP sense.

The official patch disabled the second time limit (or severely delayed it, can't remember). The time limit for finding the Water Chip is the same however. As far as I know there's no other way to change it, but could be wrong.

To bring this slightly back on topic, this was always one of the hardest things about Fallout 2 for me to accept. That the humans would devolve into a more primitive state, sure thing. But that the Vault Dwellers (who no doubt was experienced with technology as well as had grown "powerful" through his journey through the wasteland) descendants (and there aren't even that many generations after, can't remember exactly how long after Fallout 2 takes place) would turn into tribals with crazed medicine men, with prophecies of artifacts (the GECK which is viewed as a sort of mystical force) and what have you I find extremely hard to grasp. I just don't see them abandoning all that knowledge that the Vault Dweller must have had in such a short time. I know it wasn't supposed to be in the game from the start, but the Temple of Trials only serves to reinforce the weirdness of this. Especially since the inhabitants of Arroyo live in little tents, with the huge Temple sitting next door. I adore Fallout 2 but speaking strictly in terms of the setting I think it ran away in a few to many directions despite the time passed since Fallout 1.

Finished Call of Duty 4 today. I had heard it's short before I started it, but the ending still caught me by surprise to tell the truth. Certainly a well made game though, the best missions were when they really released all mayhem. Not sure what I'm gonna play now.

I don't think there is any mod at the moment with 15 hours of playtime that I'd recommend (I hear Pool of Radiance is fun though, haven't tried it). Nighthowls in Nestlehaven is fairly long, and has both roleplaying and combat. Combat was generally challenging, but there was way to much of it for my taste. The best one so far is Harp & Crysanthemum. While it's not as long, it's the first mod for NWN2 that I would call very good and with no glaring flaws. Very impressive.

Django Reinhardt - Limehouse Blues