4 QUESTIONS TO HELP IMPROVE THE BEST GAME EVER!

[Jenai Starr]

(Warning: this is a lot of crap to read)

 

To the developers of KotOR 2, can you please change the y button move you can do with a melee weapon in KotOR 1 to a sheathing, holstering action? In KotOR, the y button would turn on your lightsaber as you spun it around your head. I thought it was lame that you couldn't twirl your blasters, or do a cool pose with a blaster rifle. It would be cool to use the y button to turn on and off the lightsaber and it would be great if you can turn on your lightsaber during a conversation or pre-fight cinema to add flare to the gameplay. Imagine this, instead of running around town with your weapons drawn, you can have your blasters holstered, your vibroblades sheathed, and your lightsaber turned off and hanging from your belt (preferably hidden behind a jedi robe). When combat ensues, your characters would automatically draw their weapons to attack. And for fun, if there isn't a battle going down, you could hit y to draw your weapons just for kicks and then hit y again to put them away. Oh wait, there's more. Imagine this in KotOR 2, when you get your force powers, you could be able to draw your lightsaber using the force pull. You could have your lightsaber on your belt (which is where it should be when you're not using it) and then you could press the y button to turn it on and bring it to you. When you're done with it you could press y to turn it off and clip it back to your belt. A jedi should never draw his lightsaber unless he or she must. This action can expose a jedi or even a dark jedi to enemies such as bounty hunters. Both sides of the force have countless enemies. So, it would make sense to not run around with your weapons in hand, especially a lightsaber. Which brings me to question #2, can you make a feature that puts you in danger if you draw your weapons in a town full of people. This could trigger ambushes from bounty hunters or possibly people you should've killed or left alone in the past. An ambush could happen when you're alone or off guard, like stopping to have a conversation in the middle of the dune sea. Surviving an ambush could net you massive amounts of xp and light side, or dark side points depending on how you handled the situation. I have another question. Question #3, can you guys at obsidian please incorporate the force choke and force kill into more conversations? If a fool is in your way you could have 4 force options, #1 light side force persuasion, #2 dark side force persuasion, #3 force choke, and #4 force kill. It would be cool if you could interrupt any insult with a force choke and it would be killer if you could use force kill on the insolent. This is my last question. Question #4, can you please give players the option to use force persuade (light side) and force choke (dark side) to shut their teammates up? I know I'm not the only KotOR player that got sick of all the meddling the NPC's do. Plus, if you guys at obsidian are making the decisions of the character affect the other party members, this would be a great feature. You can get your teammates to fear you, or despise you, or even like you if they initially hate you (there are a lot of weak minded fools in the universe). I wrote a lot of crap and I hope someone at obsidian reads it. I would've asked a few questions about combat, like could you please add different animations for attack, critical strike, power attack, and flurry? But i know that obsidian's already working to fix the repetition of combat from the first KotOR. Keep up the good work guys! The e3 footage of KotOR 2 in action made my jaw drop, so I know the final product will as well. May the force be with you and serve you well.

[Darion]

hey he is telling a good point u know, would be fun to turn your lightsaber on and off.

Also it's ilogical(as he said) to run around with your weapons at sight.

And who didn't dream of been Darth Vader killing unhelpful civilian with the force????

[anari_quun]

Regardless of the way the post is presented, Star raises a great point: Characters should not have their weapons drawn in non-combat situations.

 

Lightsabers should be hanging on belts or diguised by robes; blaster pistols should be holstered, and rifles could be slung across a character's back. This could happen automatically after, say, 60 sec of no combat. There would be no penalty for not having weapons drawn should a combat situation arise; in addition there is a great opportunity for cool animations when characters draw their weapons. In KOTOR I, when weapons are changed in the subscreen, we then see the character do this cool fighting stance. This could instead happen when weapons are drawn before a fight.

 

Having weapons drawn around civilians should have some effect: certainly change their dialog, or even make them panic, call for help, or fight you. If you ran into a shopping mall with a shotgun in hand, people would freak out, call the police, etc. I think this should be reflected in the game somehow. Maybe, people would just get down if things got ugly and get up again after everthing settled down again, a la Ben Kenobi in the Mos Eisley Cantina. Hey, I'm just throwing things out there. This might be going too far with the scope of this game, but I think the weapons should holster at some point in time after combat.

 

I do think it looks silly when a character runs around with a pair of guns out or a lightsaber in hand, not using it for several minutes or even hours. And how do you open a box with your hands full, anyway? Remember Ocarina of Time: Link's sword was stashed away behind his back instantly and came out when he was ready to fight.

[Raven]

hey, if you guys dont want to have your weapons, just go to your equipment screen and take it off, or you could sell them.

[Iolo]

Regardless of the way the post is presented, Star raises a great point: Characters should not have their weapons drawn in non-combat situations.

 

Lightsabers should be hanging on belts or diguised by robes; blaster pistols should be holstered, and rifles could be slung across a character's back. This could happen automatically after, say, 60 sec of no combat. There would be no penalty for not having weapons drawn should a combat situation arise; in addition there is a great opportunity for cool animations when characters draw their weapons. In KOTOR I, when weapons are changed in the subscreen, we then see the character do this cool fighting stance. This could instead happen when weapons are drawn before a fight.

 

Having weapons drawn around civilians should have some effect: certainly change their dialog, or even make them panic, call for help, or fight you. If you ran into a shopping mall with a shotgun in hand, people would freak out, call the police, etc. I think this should be reflected in the game somehow. Maybe, people would just get down if things got ugly and get up again after everthing settled down again, a la Ben Kenobi in the Mos Eisley Cantina. Hey, I'm just throwing things out there. This might be going too far with the scope of this game, but I think the weapons should holster at some point in time after combat.

 

I do think it looks silly when a character runs around with a pair of guns out or a lightsaber in hand, not using it for several minutes or even hours. And how do you open a box with your hands full, anyway? Remember Ocarina of Time: Link's sword was stashed away behind his back instantly and came out when he was ready to fight.

I thought the original did have different dialogue responses based on if you had weapons out. But it shouldn't sheave your weapons automatically. You should choose to do it explicitly. Games shouldn't keep on doing more for you, removing the fun. The dialogue of the characters around you alone should be enough to make you sheave your weapons, making it fun to discover on your own. It can be made an option to automatically sheave weapons after combat I suppose.

[Raven]

Regardless of the way the post is presented, Star raises a great point:  Characters should not have their weapons drawn in non-combat situations. 

 

Lightsabers should be hanging on belts or diguised by robes; blaster pistols should be holstered, and rifles could be slung across a character's back.  This could happen automatically after, say, 60 sec of no combat.  There would be no penalty for not having weapons drawn should a combat situation arise; in addition there is a great opportunity for cool animations when characters draw their weapons.  In KOTOR I, when weapons are changed in the subscreen, we then see the character do this cool fighting stance.  This could instead happen when weapons are drawn before a fight.

 

Having weapons drawn around civilians should have some effect: certainly change their dialog, or even make them panic, call for help, or fight you.  If you ran into a shopping mall with a shotgun in hand, people would freak out, call the police, etc.  I think this should be reflected in the game somehow.  Maybe, people would just get down if things got ugly and get up again after everthing settled down again, a la Ben Kenobi in the Mos Eisley Cantina.  Hey, I'm just throwing things out there.  This might be going too far with the scope of this game, but I think the weapons should holster at some point in time after combat.

 

I do think it looks silly when a character runs around with a pair of guns out or a lightsaber in hand, not using it for several minutes or even hours.  And how do you open a box with your hands full, anyway?  Remember Ocarina of Time: Link's sword was stashed away behind his back instantly and came out when he was ready to fight.

I thought the original did have different dialogue responses based on if you had weapons out. But it shouldn't sheave your weapons automatically. You should choose to do it explicitly. Games shouldn't keep on doing more for you, removing the fun. The dialogue of the characters around you alone should be enough to make you sheave your weapons, making it fun to discover on your own. It can be made an option to automatically sheave weapons after combat I suppose.

there is an option! put the damn thing away form the equip menu!

[anari_quun]

These are merely suggestions; no one says if the devs are even reading them.

 

Hopefully, if a change would add four months to the release of the game, the devs wouldn't implement it. And shame on us if we weren't nitpicky about the little details of the game; little things can add a lot to a game experience, especially if they make the game more plausible.

 

While I realize that weapons can be "put away" via the subscreen, this takes way too much time and would become tedious. "Holster weapons" could simply be another item on the action menu, next to dialogue, thus allowing it to be selectable but eliminating the need for another button on the controller.

 

Of course changing the dialogue and everything would take forever; I don't expect the devs to do this. But it does seem reasonable enough to change some animations. Maybe not.

[Quiquag]

We do nit pick about the game, but our ideas for the most part aren't stupid. This thread wouldn't have been attacked as much if ......

I wrote a crap load of reasons why this thread sucked.

1. The entire post was in caps....and it was a very very long post.

2. It was a strain on the eyes to read for the above reason.

3. The entire thing was like one giant thought/ sentence/ paragraph

4. He repeated himself in about three different ways.

5. His ideas were unrealistic

6. Later on in the thread he refered to us as rude "Earth humans"

7. His ideas were stupid

8. His ideas would waste a lot of buttons on the control pad

9. He actually used the phrase "May the force be with you" and he was serious

10. His post showed evidence that he spent way too much time thinking about his stupid idea. He had a lot of time to think about how stupid it was, however he decided to post it anyway.

[Laedorius]

I can understand where he's coming from, though; it does seem just a bit strange that no civilian looks at you twice when holding a lightsaber in your hand. Also, in KotOR II, you're going to be the last known Jedi. It would be difficult to understand exactly why the enemy could not find you when you have your lightsaber in plain view.

[maia]

5. His ideas were unrealistic

 

7. His ideas were stupid

8. His ideas would waste a lot of buttons on the control pad

 

10. His post showed evidence that he spent way too much time thinking about his stupid idea. He had a lot of time to think about how stupid it was, however he decided to post it anyway.

 

Well, his presentation may have been sub-optimal to term it mildly, but why all the venom? It did look extremely ridiculous when during the dialogue the weapons got twirled in people's faces. It looked equally ridiculous and damaged immersion when the party was running around with weapons drawn and nobody reacted.

 

There is no need for an additional button - there already is a button dedicated to completely useless "flourish". It could be used to holster/unholster instead.

 

Morever, reaction to drawn weapons has been implemented in some games - the Gothics, for example, and it did add to the atmosphere quite a bit, IMHO.

 

And the different lightsaber hilts feature is much more useless than this one, yet it got lots of discussion and probably would be included in the game.

[Raven]

5. His ideas were unrealistic

 

7. His ideas were stupid

8. His ideas would waste a lot of buttons on the control pad

 

10. His post showed evidence that he spent way too much time thinking about his stupid idea. He had a lot of time to think about how stupid it was, however he decided to post it anyway. 

 

Well, his presentation may have been sub-optimal to term it mildly, but why all the venom? It did look extremely ridiculous when during the dialogue the weapons got twirled in people's faces. It looked equally ridiculous and damaged immersion when the party was running around with weapons drawn and nobody reacted.

 

There is no need for an additional button - there already is a button dedicated to completely useless "flourish". It could be used to holster/unholster instead.

 

Morever, reaction to drawn weapons has been implemented in some games - the Gothics, for example, and it did add to the atmosphere quite a bit, IMHO.

 

And the different lightsaber hilts feature is much more useless than this one, yet it got lots of discussion and probably would be included in the game.

yeah, but still, why take away your weapon, these are all horrible reasons. i dont think people will react to something that supposively everyone has in the star wars universe, a weapon (unless its pointed at them, of course).

 

give me one good reason to not have a weapon!

[Quiquag]

So you can be killed easier? Or so you have to go and equip your weapon everytime you want to battle.

[anari_quun]

Whoa whoa whoa...I think some people are missing the point:

 

Characters should holster their weapons when they're not using them, adding to immersion (realistic believable situations).

 

However, this would not mean that the weapons aren't immediatly accessible. As I explained before, as soon as combat started, the weapons would be whipped out, ready to go, not wasting any time. I think this is perfectly understandable.

 

It's not about taking weapons away; it's about concealment. There are large parts of any RPG where the player is not fighting; why should he/she have weapons in hand? Put 'em away for a while.

 

If anyone seriously thinks I'm advocating making combat harder by adding an extra step to the engagement, you are mistaken. I'm just striving for reality. If someone attacks you, the weapons would be drawn instantly, automatically. Simple.

 

The only argument I can see against this is that it would add significant time to the production of the game. In all other respects it is a reasonable suggestion.

[Raven]

Whoa whoa whoa...I think some people are missing the point:

 

Characters should holster their weapons when they're not using them, adding to immersion (realistic believable situations).

 

However, this would not mean that the weapons aren't immediatly accessible. As I explained before, as soon as combat started, the weapons would be whipped out, ready to go, not wasting any time. I think this is perfectly understandable.

 

It's not about taking weapons away; it's about concealment. There are large parts of any RPG where the player is not fighting; why should he/she have weapons in hand? Put 'em away for a while.

 

If anyone seriously thinks I'm advocating making combat harder by adding an extra step to the engagement, you are mistaken. I'm just striving for reality. If someone attacks you, the weapons would be drawn instantly, automatically. Simple.

 

The only argument I can see against this is that it would add significant time to the production of the game. In all other respects it is a reasonable suggestion.

you say it wouldnt waste time, but

 

the enemy gets a first hit cause you dont have a weapon

 

you gotta get rid of a button to have a 'holster' and a 'unholster' button, waste

 

putting away your weapon is like putting your head between your knees and kissing your ass goodbye, your open to get slaughtered

 

hey, why dont they add a surrender key too, you know, to make it more realistic

[Iolo]

Drawing weapons automatically during combat would be fine. I am not sure I'd be a fan of automatically sheaving them after combat though. There should be something to be said for a Dark Jedi who decides to wield his lightsaber in full view of normal citizens outside combat as a means of intimidation.

[Iolo]

So you can be killed easier? Or so you have to go and equip your weapon everytime you want to battle.

Not a big deal. Set up auto pause to pause immediately upon seeing the enemy. They don't get a single hit in before you are able to bring your weapons out.

[OLD SKOOL WHEELMAN]

i still don't know...

[EnderAndrew]

KOTOR is supposed to be an RPG last time I checked. RPG means, role-playing game.

 

So, sometimes things that would kill the immersion factor of the game are important to players.

 

Several people have responded with ridiculous claims that you might as well throw your weapons away. However, RPGs aren't about killing everything in sight. If you want that game, then go buy Battlefield Vietnam.

 

Even Ultima VII allowed you to put your weapons away, and take them out. Funny that, there are umpteen million features Ultima VII had that many modern day RPGs still don't feature in their engines.

[anari_quun]

Exactly. It wouldn't waste time because the drawing of the weapons would be, according to the underlying rules of the game that are dictating when and how damage is actually happening, instantaneous.

 

An analogy: When buffed by Master Speed, you get an extra attack. You don't actaully SEE the attack, but it's there; it happens. Likewise, even should there be a frame or two of unholstering action, an attack would still occur at the same time as when your character already has his/her weapon in hand. We would see the characters pull out their weapons, but according to the rules of engagement there would be no penalty for this action. It would merely be graphical, aesthetic.

 

As to the "holster": button, I've already addressed this by making it an item in the action menu.

 

Does everybody understand now? If not, I don't think I can clarify this any more.

[Raven]

Exactly. It wouldn't waste time because the drawing of the weapons would be, according to the underlying rules of the game that are dictating when and how damage is actually happening, instantaneous.

 

An analogy: When buffed by Master Speed, you get an extra attack. You don't actaully SEE the attack, but it's there; it happens. Likewise, even should there be a frame or two of unholstering action, an attack would still occur at the same time as when your character already has his/her weapon in hand. We would see the characters pull out their weapons, but according to the rules of engagement there would be no penalty for this action. It would merely be graphical, aesthetic.

 

As to the "holster": button, I've already addressed this by making it an item in the action menu.

 

Does everybody understand now? If not, I don't think I can clarify this any more.

i understand that your stupid, thats about it

[Jenai Starr]

Thanks for the info, Opus131. Nice name by the way. I don't know netiquette, but I do know proper english. I used all caps because I felt like it. I'm not a flame warrior and I'm not here to battle. I use my computer for one thing, entertainment. This is the first forum i've entered. The only reason I decided to join this sea of anonymity was to learn more about Kotor 2. I prefer more friendly communities. Forums consist of people with too little on their minds and way too much time on their hands. By the way, I admit that I am somewhat of a newbie. I bought my computer in 2003 and I'm still learning. I do know this, since you sent me those links that makes you a http://www.winternet.com/~mikelr/flame23.html. (force kill)

[Jenai Starr]

This post goes out to the people that understand my ideas, thank you and I'm sorry for the huge paragraph in all caps. I was really tired and I forgot how many people are out there that are so quick to judge and execute. You guys obviously realize the importance of concealing your weapons. This doesn't have to be implemented, but it would add some great elements to gameplay.

 

The Y button was used in Kotor 1 to twirl your melee weapons. This button can be used to draw and holster your weapons. In Kotor 1, when a fight happens your characters automatically attack. In Kotor 2, If your weapons are holstered, you'd automatically draw them and attack. i don't know about you, but i don't want to unequip my weapons in the menu screen unless I have to.

 

I thought that If the devs added this feature, new and different scenarios could be added to the actual story. I call theses scenarios ambushes and alternate encounters.

 

In an ambush scenario, you'd be walking around Anchorhead with your weapons in hand. Bounty hunters hired by the Sith to search out and eradicate any remaining jedi or republic agents would notice you and attack you later. When you get ambushed you'll be forced to fight. Before the end of the fight a conversation will ensue. You'll have the opportunity to end their lives or acquire information about the Sith and perhaps let them live. The information they'd give you could unlock secrets that you normally wouldn't come across (powerful weapons and armor located in the various Sith bases that you're sure to infiltrate).

 

In an alternate encounter, normal citizens would notice that you're a jedi and agent of the republic. This would affect how the townspeople react to you. Most citizens would be more or less reluctant to provide you with information (depending on their alliances). Some citizens would ask you for your help and offer to hire you (these jobs would reward you credits an xp you normally wouldn't earn).

 

The idea to use force choke in more conversations is an obvious one. What Star Wars fan wouldn't want to bust a Vader everytime they're insulted?

 

Force kill could be added to coversations with bounties or npc's you have to get rid of to continue or complete a quest.

 

I sent a more condensed version of these ideas to the developers. I recieved responses from all of them. They informed me that announcements will be made regarding gameplay and that most of my questions (ideas) will be answered. They gave me the impression that some of these ideas have already been implemented. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Jenai Starr]

This post goes out to the people that don't understand my ideas. I won't sink down to your level with nonsensical insults.

 

I will make this assumption, Raven, you're ignorrant. If you weren't then you would realize the importance of this feature. It would replace that stupid twirlling move from Kotor 1, which was a waste of a button, the Y button. There's also a difference between unequiping a weapon and holstering it you silly little tach. Let me explain so someone with your intelligence could understand. Unequiping a weapon would be putting it in your backpack (you know, the thing you bring to kindergarten?). Holstering a weapon means to place your weapon in a holster located near your pockets (you know the things you carry your milk money in?). In Kotor 1, your characters automatically start attacking during battle. In Kotor 2, your characters would automatically draw their weapons and attack. So you wouldn't be "putting your head between your knees and kissing your ass goodbye.

By the way, nice comment to anari, someone who brought insight to this topic. You proved to all of us that you truly are pantha poo doo

 

I will also assume that you Quiquaq are ignorrant. For one, you have no right to call yourself a Star Wars nerd. The earth humans remark was a joke, because no humans come from Earth in the Star Wars universe. You replied "Earth humans??? Oposed to Mars humans??...What the hell?" Which proves that you don't know jack about Star Wars. You see, my jedi character Jennai Starr is a human from Coruscant, not Earth. Also, the Earth humans joke was for the people, like you, that responded rudely. You call my ideas stupid, but what man doesn't holster his gun or sheath his sword when he's done with it? Weapons are heavy. That's why holsters and sheaths were invented. So warriors wouldn't have to constantly carry their weapons in hand. By the way, oposed is spelled opposed. So, if you're going to insult me for being stupid, at least try to pretend that you're not as well.

 

In Kotor 1, The twirlling of melee weapons could be done with a push of the Y button. I just said that it was weak that you couldn't twirl your blasters or do something with the rifle. I personally think that twirlling weapons is stupid. I feel that holstering your weapons is not a stupid idea. I own a handgun and carry it on me. If I walked around with it in my hand it would freak people out and get me arrested or possibly shot.

 

I'm just saying that holstering your weapons is not a waste of time. If you're a jedi, and you're wearing a cloak over your robe, you should be able to hide your lightsaber. You'd be an idiot not to. Also, wouldn't it be cool to have the lightsaber fly into your hand from your belt? Nevermind. Don't answer that. Nothing you write will be worth reading.

 

By the way, since this forum is for suggestions, and since my ideas are so stupid, I'd like to read some of Raven and Quiquaq's ideas and see how wonderfully brilliant they are. (force kill)

[anari_quun]

I'm glad there're others here to make suggestions and not just waste time and space. I guess we'll just have to filter out the rabble to get some real information. Thanks for the props Jennai; obviously, I believe your idea has merit.

[Maria Caliban]

Jennai,

I had a certain amount of sympathy for you when you first posted...

You said you weren't going to sink to their level with insults