kefka

Fallout3 designed with consoles in mind wouldn't even resemble the first two. Delaware is a console/PC game. I sincerely hope that it isn't Fallout3.

Vrook is responding to Vandar's comment about Revan being killed. I think the actual response is: That line gives it away really. It is an obvious clue. I suspected that he was still alive at that point but never guessed that you are Revan.

That's true, but I was thinking more of Uthar Wynn and Yuthura Ban. They were very well written. If all Sith masters were like those I'd join them in an instant. Childish threats and taunts I can do without.

Well, the droids on Dantooine are extremely simple like you said, and the battle is over in about 10 seconds because of that. It couldn't "last forever" unless you had no way to damage them. That's what I meant. I initially fought them with lightsabers and made no progress at all.. then I put Zaalbar in my party and they were easy. Most droids in Kotor have energy resistance but at least you have some devastating force powers or special saber crystals to use against them (too late for dantooine, however). I agree that lightsabers are too weak. Even Jedi should consider a melee weapon for all the advantage a saber gives you. Anyway, combat is a weakness of KotOR but I still enjoyed it. I proposed instant kill lightsabers for Kotor2 but most people didn't like that idea, saying it would lead to too many reloads. The battles would be over in seconds. Blasters could be a little stronger too. They get progressively worse when your enemies have good defense vs blasters - dark jedi/energy shields, etc.

Almost everything you do in KotOR is 'beneath' a Sith Lord, until you discover you are one, then the writing starts to reflect that. Prior to that, you have petty "hand over your money or die" threats, or simply act like a childish bully. You're not a Sith, more like a common criminal. Going to Korriban last is your reward though - you finally get the dialogue a true Sith deserves (well, it could be better but you can't quibble!).

Perhaps you meant the droids on Dantooine when you find the first Star Map? Yes, they are fairly tough, especially with lightsabers (energy resistance) but since both Canderous and Zalbaar are available with melee weapons the droids are simple. If you only rely on Jedi (without destroy droid) then yeah, I see how this could be a problem.

What moment is that exactly? I only remember fighting the Star Forge droids that Malak sends against you, and those fell easily to my force lightning.. hehe! If you mean the unknown world temple, then yes, there are two strong droids blocking your path, but they can also be destroyed by lightning or destroy droid. I never had any trouble with droids to even consider them a threat.

The Sith Masters on Korriban are my favorite characters in KotOR - very charismatic and were far more convincing than the stuck-up Jedi council. If only you could join the Sith instead of those do-gooders. *sigh*. More characters like Uthar Wynn and Yuthura Ban, please.

What are "levels" anyway? Just a guide as to how strong you are, that's all. If you increase 3 levels during a battle then you know you've done well, and since levels are different from game to game, level 50 in Final Fantasy is like 20 in Kotor. It's all relative. I'd prefer it if you had no levels, just one big pool of experience, and you improve your character from that. Can anyone tell the difference between lvl 19 and 20? Not really. Maybe a single feat and a few extra hit points. Big deal. Just give me the skills and feats and forget the levels.

Kotor2's release will coincide with Episode 3 so it wouldn't surprise me if you play Vader. It's the perfect opportunity for a cash-in, and LucasArts don't miss out on them too often.

The Creeping Fear Rumored title for Star Wars Episode 3. :D "Sith Lord" doesn't sound so bad now...

Nice find, pregethwr Sith Lord sounds OK. At least Jedi isn't in the title. Now that would be lame. :ph34r:

As the name implies, this will be a dungeon crawl. The outdoor scenes are probably just interludes before entering another dungeon. When you've had total freedom in a living, breathing world like Gothic2, confined settings don't appeal to me any more.

Yeah, that's the problem with a direct sequel, there's no way to realistically start the game without making your character weaker. I mean, you're already either the Sith Lord (DS ending) or Jedi Master (LS) and in both cases you've beaten Malak. You can't become more powerful than that, nor would you need to. Who would your enemies be? That's why if they want to use the same characters, Dark Lord Revan's idea is the best: Players who finished the game lightside might complain but Revan always had the potential to fall again, so that's easy to explain. Fighting your own PC from KotOR is a neat twist.

Obsidian won't be able to reproduce KotOR's success from a story standpoint. I'm sure they have the temptation to do something similar, or even continue the story directly, but Bioware hit the jackpot with Revan. Being Dark Lord of the Sith was a masterstroke which fascinated people long after completion. The amount of interest this character has generated is amazing. TNO never had that level of support even though Torment is a superior game. Obsidian should just write a great story and not even try to replicate KotOR. It can't be done. Other than that, I think a Star Wars RPG should have a movie feel. The use of cinematics and cutscenes, while annoying to some, achieved that rather well. Just allow the player to trigger these scenes and not at the story's behest and I'll be happy.

The Xbox is basically a PC in console form anyway. But it's the users that matter, and they want more action-oriented games. It works both ways of course. PC role-players hated the arcade mini games. In fact, some people still can't leave Taris because of the turret shooter. I hope they've allowed for any class to be used in KotOR2, but to tell a deep story you often need certain things forced on you. I don't mind so long as you drive the story, not the other way around.

I wasn't particularly attached to Aeris myself, but there was something about her death that was incredibly moving. All the elements of game design came together to produce a flawless sequence that struck a chord with almost everyone. The execution was perfect.. and the music.. oh God, the music! It might not have been a total surprise but it was a shock how sudden she died. So coldly snuffed out by Sephiroth, which hit like a bolt out of the blue.

I'd have to rate FF7 as my favorite too though FF6 is a close second. I played VII more than any other game. Even after completion I spent ages fighting Emerald weapon... that was one tough mofo. Sephiroth was a joke by comparison. The death of Aeris is still one of the greatest scenes ever. Came as a complete shock and the music was unforgettable. Even Cait Sith had a good send-off.. that stupid talking cat and stuffed Mog. I have only good memories about FFVII. B)

I much prefer cutscenes that use the game engine than CGI movies. I never liked CGI even when FFVII was one of my favorite games. Squaresoft loved them though, which made their in-game graphics seem pathetic by comparison. Nowadays they can look equally as good. I imagine we're only about 5-10 years from photo-realism. That's not an excuse to overdo cutscenes; designers just need to integrate them better so the game plays seamlessly. Yes, I do remember something about HL, thanks for asking Oh you mean cutscenes? Well, perhaps, but not many like KotOR that's for sure. I think Valve had an aversion to cutscenes actually, much prefering scripted events. The only forced cut I can remember is when you're captured by soldiers and put in the trash compactor. You never had the opportunity to fight.

I don't see this as a problem. Production values are becoming so large now that they almost rival small movie budgets, and a great soundtrack is very desirable. Audio is more than just music. I see no chance of studios hiring a first-rate composer and then consider voice actors to be of secondary importance - they go together. Now that people have come to expect a full cast of vocal characters, there's no way we'll return to the days when voices were rare. Budgets and time constraints dictate this to some extent, so only large studios hire professional actors at present, but in time everyone will need to. When DVD replaces CDs expect more spoken dialog than ever. Limited space has also been a restraining factor.

I fully agree with that. Intrusive cutscenes have always been my major gripe about KotOR. Bioware had an obvious reason to do it that way though. KotOR is a story-driven game, and they are telling that story. I didn't like certain situations being forced on me as a player, but then movies do a similar thing to you as a viewer. KotOR was an interactive movie for want of a better term. The story was set in stone with very little room to maneuver, except light or dark. The story wouldn't collapse by removing them, but it would make a helluva lot less sense. And some situations did require a forced cut-scene, most notably Jolee & Juhani before entering the temple. I wanted to go in solo but the way the game was written it required either their sacrifice in the temple or you staying loyal to the Jedi. Would the story have worked without that cutscene? I doubt it without a rewrite since they clearly wanted you to make your choice by killing Jolee. This is but one example, I'm sure there are plenty more.

Why not have the best of both worlds? A game can still be a pure RPG and be a cinematic experience. KotOR maybe overdid the cut-scenes a little, taking away control from the player too many times, but the story couldn't work without them. Technology is changing the face of RPGs, and games in general. You can do so much more now with graphics and sound that they cry out for a movie feel, and designers are only too happy to oblige. Even PS:T had a number of cut-scenes; they weren't too intrusive but they were there to further the story, like KotOR. So it certainly shows that a game need not be crippled by cinematics.

I think there's such a thing as too many options, but I regret playing the ToEE demo now. It wasn't the best introduction to the game. There's a basic tutorial but a demo is meant for playing, so I dived right in. Probably a mistake.

I played the demo for ToEE, and was immediately turned off by all the options. The menu system is fairly intuitive, if I had the slightest idea of what each option did. Given time I'd probably get used to it, but since KotOR anything that has a steep learning curve just to master the controls/rules, is more a trial of patience than fun.

hmm, I can see this rule discussion going on forever, but the only pertinent question is whether Bioware's changes were an improvement or a detriment to KotOR? That's all that matters to me, would the exact SW ruleset have produced a better game? I can't answer that since I'm not obsessive about rules, but clearly Bioware's modified rules irk some people.