kefka

Since you start Kotor2 as a Jedi does that mean the "saving level" trick will be a thing of the past? Or will players be saving all their experience to make a prestige class this time? You aren't forced to do it but Jedi were so much better that it made sense to wait. The prestige classes do appear to be high level which should rectify this problem. I always thought it weird to put your abilities on 'hold'.

Jedi Academy had better lightsaber combat than Kotor. Sabers in Kotor were nothing but a glowing magical sword. I hope they can be made more deadly somehow, without the frustration. Reloading because of lost limbs would get old fast, but sabers should be clearly superior to ordinary melee weapons. Insta-kill lightsabers would also be acceptable if the chance is small, say 1% to a max of 10% depending on your level. Most people hate that idea, though. Oh well.

Pazaak and Swoop Racing were pretty good, but the turret shooter was god-awful. At least it's optional this time, though more variety in the attack pattern would go a long way. It wasn't a bad game as such, just very repetitive - the exact same sequence repeated ad nauseum. Swoop Racing is also going to be improved.

Prestige Classes.

I'm not sure why that seems iffy. I just don't intend to buy an Xbox, in much the same way as I don't own a PS2. I had pretty much decided to skip this generation of consoles. I did, however, pick up a Gamecube because it was dirt cheap and had the Resident Evil series. hehe, that was exclusive to the Cube for a while. Maybe so, but when Microsoft acquired Bungie they made Halo an Xbox exclusive and were very non-committal about a PC version. We all knew it would arrive on PC eventually but to all intents and purposes it was an exclusive. Anyone who wanted the game bought an Xbox or did without. After the "certain period" you speak of people had lost all interest in PC Halo.

Jade Empire sounds interesting but there's no way I'll play it if it's an Xbox exclusive. I have nothing against the Xbox, I just have no intention of buying one. A future PC release is not entirely out of the question, though, since Halo - which was also supposed to be exclusive - was eventually ported to the PC.

With more animations it might also be possible to make combat flow realistically. KotOR is a realtime game but it still has "rounds" and when an attack is completed you stand there like an idiot waiting for the next round. With longer and more elaborate animations they could flow seamlessly and make lightsaber combat like the movies - not the disjointed, clumsy fights in KotOR.

Yeah, they did become tedious after you'd seen each one a thousand times. Not even master critical strike or flurry changed the animation. But, like Craftsman said, in KotOR2 they will become better and more complex as you improve. This will probably be based on the feat level not your character. I just hope they change that ridiculous Power Attack animation. With a single weapon you do a freakin' somersault! Once I'd seen that I never took the feat again.

I think Alan meant the "appearance" of Revan, not the level you'd reached

You can't import your saves in KotOR2. If Revan appears he'll almost certainly wear the robes and mask, and not utter a single word. A cameo most likely. I hope they don't expect me to kill Revan...

day/night cycle would be a nice addition but schedules are too much hassle in a linear game. You want to be able to find NPCs fast, not worry if they're in bed, at work, or taking a leak behind some bushes. I like scheduling in Gothic2 which makes the game feel alive, but in a story-driven rpg it might not work so well. NPCs should do more than pace around though

KotOR2.. no doubt about it. if not...

You can never be 100% sure, but I'm 99.999999999% sure. Close enough.

I don't think KotOR2 will be as deep as PS:T, storywise.. That's not possible with a vocal cast, unless you want to keep the actors around forever, reading mountains of dialog. And some people didn't like that much text anyway, which is why PS:T has just as many detractors as fans.

these shots have already been posted, but this link is better. I don't need to zoom in now to read the text.

If you can *jump* in the sequel I'd consider that an improvement. Do you really need to walk around a step that is at most 6 inches high?

What do you mean? The same engine? Hmm, that's a small price to pay for a sequel that took 2 years instead of 4. Don't get me wrong, I'm a graphics whore, but I think the Odyssey engine is good, and Obsidian have optimized it a bit for the sequel (if rumors are true of course).. What that means exactly I'm not sure, but we're not likely to get a Kotor game that requires pixel/vertex shaders any time soon... unless they license a brand new engine.

Well, it's nice to see all these wish lists but I think the feature set has already been finalized. What we say here will likely fall on deaf ears.

Yeah, but I'm hoping they include that part of the story.

Well, since KotOR2 apparently takes place 5 years after the original there's a good chance we'll learn what happened to those characters.

It seems strange to me too, I wish they'd just announce the damn game, but I think the plan is to announce at E3. These mags were probably given the go-ahead because they're so close to E3. I'm still guessing though, because I don't see the point either. LucasArts has to be the reason why.

Well, maybe because these shots were taken from an exclusive preview? That's the only reason I can think of. The game designers can't comment until K2 has been officially announced. The decision rests with LucasArts of course.

I'd like a sequel to PS:T but I think it's pretty clear now that Delaware is KotOR2. So, PS:T would be my first choice, then K2.

Rumours? You mean a magazine preview with quotes from Obsidian's Chris Avellone and LucasArts? I'm sure the mag just made all that up. Hey, maybe this is a belated April Fools?

Well, we'll just have to wait and see. I think K2 is going to highlight the difference between classes. I doubt we'll get just a few extra powers or +2 to armour class. A prestige class should be special, and even more-so considering there's far less classes in KotOR to worry about.