Concerns

[Dwarrior]

Before you decide to "strike me down" after reading my topic description, please hear me out. I don't want to be grilled to extra crispy on my first topic. I am 30 years old, a gamer for 20 of those, and I grew up loving SW. And I, like many of you, really love KOTOR 1. Played through multiple times with different people in party, planets visited in different order and light/dark side like I am sure many of you did too. Even as I type this, I have a game saved in which I have yet again seen something new during the course of play.

I am a bit concerned about the sequel though. But let me just get this out of the way right now. I believe in Obsidian. I know who is there, and I know what their collective track records are. I believe in Bioware as well, another group of fine and talented people who gave us great times and will continue to do so. The ablilities of the people in question are undisputed. But I also need to say this: I have my doubts as to whether 14 months is enough time to create a game that will equal or surpass KOTOR 1. A game with that complexity and polish and story doesn't come down the pike every day, or even every year. Even with the right people at the helm, it still takes TIME to create all the content necessary for a game of this scope. Especially if KOTOR 1 is the target to shoot for. I may be looking forward to the release, but my excitement is squarely in check. I would not be upset if they delayed it until the spring to make sure it's a winner. I am sure I am in a minority here, but I would rather wait for gold later, then settle for bronze now. Agree? Disagree? Thanks for reading.

 

DW

 

p.s. I also went through 21 pages of posts in an effort to NOT retread somone else's discussion, if I did, I apologize.

[KOTORFanactic]

Its a touh decision, wait extra for one of the most anticiapted games ever, or get it as soon as possible.

 

The main thing I know that cut time was that they r using the original engine (with polish and tweaks). Sequels nether usually live up to the hype, because either

 

1) 2 much is similar to the first

2) they changed it 2 much

 

Obsidian r baarely changing the game at all, just adding a bunch of aesthectically pleasing extras, and with it being very similar to the original in looks, gameplay etc etc etc, that is no bad thing is it.

 

Don't get me wrong, I understand your concerns, and they r indeed valid, but I thought I might ease some of them. Might not, but heh, I can always fry u into a crispy salad if you disagree with me.

 

*Prepars force lightning*

Can't have my food raw can I?

[Leferd]

One of the primary reasons why the development time is roughly 1 year as opposed to 3 is that Obsidian does not need to create and test the game engine from scratch.

[Dark Wastl]

Time doesn't matter, it's done when it's done. Having more time doesn't mean a game will be better.

 

There is nothing big they could add now. The story is finished, the characters are all there, the engine was only slightly modified and most of the programming is done.

Heck, even the music is ready.

[Craftsman]

I dont mind waiting.

[Spook]

Hopefully any problem at realease at X-box will be fixed when it comes to PC, as well as some bonus for us PC players that have to wait like in KotOR.

 

 

It is just hard that we PC players get it in the beginning of next year, instead of during chrismas time when we have a lot of free time on out hands.

Well, can't get it all I guess.

[GarethCarrots]

with rpgs games shouldnt need an overhaul, as long as the engine is satisfactory its all about content, which im sure will be great, as for releasing it to soon not a chance of them doing it, they obviously know what they are doing and most probably planned to release it now from the start, so they will have had ample time and preparation, its not like theyv been chopping the release date around to much, thats always a sure sign of trouble

[starwarskid15_19]

whyd u have to make me start worrying about that. i was just happy it came out so soon...now im not sure.

 

damn newbs

[Craftsman]

They will not release teh game until it is ready. Be sure of that.

[Gotag]

Personally, I wouldn't be too worried about it.

 

A number of things work in Obsidians favour. They don't need to reinvent the wheel as it were. The game engine is the same and while they will take the time to tweak it and add new effects, they have all of Bioware's documentation available to them should they need it. In addition they can simply pick up a phone and talk to KotOr's devs if they have any questions re the mechanics.

 

This basically leaves two things, content and balance. Content side is the hard part and basically takes two forms. Story and candy. A few months to flesh out the story should be plenty of time. Dialogue, quests ect.... All that is needed here is a good imagination and between Lucasarts and Obsidian they shouldn't have any problems. Whether we love it or not, well, that is as much a matter of taste as anything else. They need to strike a balance between "freshness" and overworld consistancy with the emphasis on "freshness". Small inconsistancies will no doubt really grate on hardcore starwars fans but for 90% of the potential customer base they won't either know or care.

 

To put is simply, a good story will make or break this game and there is no minimum on how long that takes to do. If they got it right then a couple of weeks is plenty of time.

 

Candy side though is another matter. New skills, new powers, new feats these all require a fair amount of work. Implementing them within the engine is easy. The hard part is balance. You introduce a new power and perhaps all the rest are junk in comparison. That would really take the shine off the game. While I expect they will avoid huge imbalances, I don't expect miracles. Some skills and some powers will be almost mandatory. Ya, more development time would no doubt avoid or lessen this but realistically they have to get the game out the door sometime. This is somewhere where PCs shine compared to the Xbox. Patches can and should tweak balance to increase player build options.

 

All in all though, if the bones of the story are good then the time they have had to make this game is plenty.

 

Gotag

[Craftsman]

A nice essay there.

 

Yep i have to agree with ya. The devs have it under control.

[DarthRevan987]

I wouldnt worry too much man....The only thing that can ruin this game for me is a tired old pointless storyline...The game will resemble its prequel in alot of good ways.Changing the game completely could mess it all up for a brotha.The only thing that i am worried about is the number of encounters you will have with Sion...Even though he might not be the main villian in this game I will get real sick of running into his butt on planets...I hear you will run into him atleast 2 or 3 times...Good Lord.

[Craftsman]

Chris has said that he really wants the player to be emotionally involved. You just dont throw statements around like that.

 

KOTOR 2 = A classic in the making

[Delerius_Jedi]

Well said, Gotag.

 

Personally, I don't think the game will have problems getting me emotionally involved, as there were moments in Planescape:Torment, that almost had tears forming in my eyes.

 

I do have faith in Obsidian's creative talent.

 

However: In terms of the PC version I hope that Obsidian uses every hour of every day from December to February with hardware testing and bug fixing. I say this because with KOTOR, bugs such as the Carth-bug were eliminated for the PC version. But the PC version flat-out refused to run on alot of platforms in the retail version. Bioware had to release a beta patch for alot of people to be able to even get to the character creation screen.

 

And these were normal PC's, not just custom-rigs with special drivers etc. So, I do hope they dedicate all their efforts towards making the PC version running perfectly, post the December Xbox release. And that they will continue to support KOTOR2 through patches, where neccesary.

[GarethCarrots]

whyd u have to make me start worrying about that.  i was just happy it came out so soon...now im not sure. 

 

damn newbs

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

the word newb is ridiculous! you no nuthin about me at all, for all you know i could be george lucas okay im not but the amount of posts i have made does not dictate my knowledge of what i post on. what a naive person you must be!

[Laozi]

I'm pretty sure that they would hold the game back if they where not confident tnat it was ready, I remember how Fable was supposed to come out a full year previous to its actual release, so most games makers have no problem postponing even well-anticipated games

[Dwarrior]

Well I certainly hope you are all right. I want this game to be classic as much as anyone. KOTOR 1 actually turned me on to investigating other parts of the SW timeline that I never checked into before. Not every day that a game comes along like that. I told my youngest brother right before he played it for the first time, that any game that calls on your emotions and makes you care about the characters or feel BAD about choices you make is a game you might wanna check out. And so he and my other brother both did and they loved it too. I told them about my post here and they wanted to kill me, lol. Anyways thanks for the responses friends.

[nightcleaver]

And besides that, they, "Hit a very important milestone" which confirmed they could confidently put out the game two months earlier than planned. To me, this says they've managed more than just the baseline. Also, a few features have far more improvement than they originally suggested - 40 new heads, for instance, and 7 (or thereabouts) stances whereas they were originally saying three. And like everyone else has been saying, the story can be developed in easily the time alloted them so far.

[Craftsman]

It all going good.

[Iztoj Uub]

Si-phyl and Ol-lie, the Si-phyl and Ol-lie Show!!!!!

 

ROCK!!!!!

[Craftsman]

[Iztoj Uub]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Haven't you ever seen that show????

I'm sad for you if you haven't.

[Meshugger]

Chris has said that he really wants the player to be emotionally involved. You just dont throw statements around like that.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That's one of the few reasons on why i think that KotOR II will be a good game.

[Craftsman]

Lets hope its work ehh

[Viper1000]

Think about it this way... with the immense popularity of KOTOR with gamers and the media where can KOTOR2 go wrong? Everything as far as the surface is concerned is the same with a few tweaks. The only thing they can screw up is the storyline and the characters. With 14 months of development I'm sure that's plenty of time to get a good solid storyline out of an experienced group of developers.