KOTOR Will Rise Again

Via Joystiq, an article on the Next Generation site profiling the future of LucasArts. Aside from the corporate vision on the whole, LucasArts VP of global sales and marketing Nancy MacIntyre discusses the much-drooled over 'Star Wars 07' (you may have already seen the tech demo online). She also goes on record as saying that successful franchises like BattleFront and KOTOR will return on next-gen systems. "We typically work on these games about eighteen months out. We really treat these games like they are a theatrical release from the perspective of mapping everything out. We know that we need to be out there talking early and often and so you will see us handling the basic things like [fan] websites, but we'll also do web-docs and developer diaries and behind the scenes and all the kinds of information that these core fans really want to know."

This isn't the troll you're looking for...

[Odiumjunkie]

You can go about your business. Move along.

Wii

[From A Far Away Land]

How long until the Wii has lightsabre modifications [if it doesn't already]? I don't really keep my finger to the pulse of gaming, but it seems like a natural for the controls you can wave around.

Re:

[wampus]

Seems like a natural fit. I loved playing Jedi Knight with my flightstick, a Wii-mote making lightsabre noises in my hand might be enough to make me actually play another Star Wars game.

Re:

[PieSquared]

It is for exactly that reason that I would be really careful about buying the first star wars game to come out. There is a good change the first one will be that gimmick and nothing else. I don't want to play a game that is entirely swinging a lightsaber and nothing else. The idea certainly holds great potential for a part of a well thought out and interesting game, but there could be enough profit in just the gimmick to not be a motivation for a real game the first time.

I'll hold out for a few weeks aft

Re:Wii + Lego Star Wars!!

[mabhatter654]

Just for fun and to ease what you said about the first game being a gimick.. the first game should be a LEGO Star Wars game. Then the plot dosen't matter as much.. the focus would be on having fun!

Re:

[wampus]

That was the right. I like to switch it up. Tell your mom to send more pics.

Re:

[PIPBoy3000]

It doesn't yet, but LucasArts has expressed an interest in doing something along these lines. It's odd because several people I've described the Wii to have specifically mentioned lightsabers.

Re:

[Fozzyuw]

It's odd because several people I've described the Wii to have specifically mentioned lightsabers.

hehe, it's the first thing my older brother said (who was a kid when Star Wars burned it's story into his head). With the remote speaker, I can see the 'wooh wooh' of the lightsaber to be a great fit... now if they could just make the batteries last longer! =)

Cheers,
Fozzy

Re:

[Odin_Tiger]

One problem, though, is that there's no force-feedback. Sword-swinging action might be good for fighting games or something like Morrowind / Oblivion in that you always follow through completely before starting your next attack. For light-sabre type stuff that would sorta suck because if your attack was blocked in the game but you followed through IRL, the resulting movements of your light-sabre would be unpredictably wild, but if you paid attention to make sure you didn't let your arm get out of sync wit

Re:

[oc255]

Play WiiSports, specifically the baseball game. Get up to bat, tell Player2 not to pitch. Wave the baseball bat around at the plate and observe the 1:1 motion. Imagine this is your sword/lightsaber/etc. It works pretty well.

I understand what you are saying about the "follow through" disconnect but I don't think it's as big of an issue as I thought before I saw WiiSports. In baseball, the bat hits the ball, slows a bit and the disconnect really isn't there because the time passed on impact is super shor

Re:

[kfg]

baseball is not the same as a sword block like you are saying, by that I mean blocks in a KOTOR type game would be often and rapid compared to the one-shot nature of a baseball hit.

Push a Hot Wheels car around on your desk. Now go out and play in traffic and get pushed around by a car going 60 mph.

The former can be simulated with a force feedback mouse. The latter cannot.

Perhaps that's not the sort of empirical experiment you would be happy with. Try this:

Get a baseball, a baseball bat and a T-ball tee. Wha

Re:

[oc255]

I'm not talking about force feedback at all. Is this flamebait, wtf is going on here. The OP was talking about the disconnect between the Wiimote and the sword getting blocked. See my mouse+edge of the screen bits.

Re:

[jackbird]

Picture this (stolen from a previous, inspiring, slashdot comment):

When your lightsaber collides with your opponents', the onscreen avatar's lightsaber stops, while a ghosted version reflecting the controller position is displayed. What happens next is determined by the spatial relationship between the ghosted lightsaber and the real one, by rules TBD in playtesting.

Re:

[Chimera512]

that is the best (and only) answer I've heard to solve the inherent problems in Wii related lightsaber ventures, now we have to just hope the designers are at least as smart as whoever posted that and can make it work in game...sounds like it could work though.

Re:

[Jackmn]

stolen from a previous, inspiring, slashdot comment

Mine [slashdot.org] by any chance? =)

Re:

[jackbird]

yes.

Re:

[Fozzyuw]

I didn't follow your train of thought 100%, but like the poster above me stated, Wii Sports and it's Basebase (bat) work really well for how close the bat mimics the remote.

As for your concerns of blocking and such, it's simple, just design the game mechanics to take this into effect. For example, if you're going to block with your lightsaber, then you hold the A+B buttons down, which will put the lightsaber into the 'block' position. As for the animation regarding this, they can chose to 'instantly' mo

Re:

[NeilTheStupidHead]

If I were to guess, I'd say that they'd simply use force feedback to indicate when your lightsaber was being blocked/was blocking. Give the player a bit of 'grace' for over-swing and force them to learn some control of their movements. Now admittedly, I've never been involved in a real sword fight, but in swinging wooden practice swords around with my friends, we quickly learned that the two wooden swords will bounce off each other when someone blocked a very strong swing. There was more than one incident w

Re:

[amuro98]

I can't recall the name of it, but there's an arcade game at my local Dave & Buster's which gives you a small foam replica of a samurai sword that you wave around inside a sensor area. On screen, you see the game sword moving in the same way. In the game you play a samurai who has to fight feudal-era demons and zombies - essentially Onimusha with a better controller, or Samurai Jack vs. House Of The Dead.

Anyways, the only control you have is how you swing or hold the sword. And yes, the monsters can

Re:

[Akaihiryuu]

Someone just needs to hurry up and invent the holodeck already.

And use the wii puck for force powers

[doug141]

My god, that would be awesome. Left hand motions execute force powers, right hand swings the saber. Or dual sabers.

Re:

[shoptroll]

That video clips has Wii written all over it. If it can pull of Metroid Prime 3, that tech demo should be possible on a Wii.

Re:

[asit+ler]

This may be california dreaming, but what if we had Battlefront 3 on the Wii? Lightsaber noises and much slashing when in Jedi mode, much aiming and B-button smashing in "normal troop" mode, and (!) tilt-control with A-targeting, B-primary fire, and Z-secondary fire in "space battle mode" with some C-button/stick use for position changing, or nunchuk-flicking...

Same with the KOTOR franchise.

Of course, the game length would be limited by the size constraints of the DVD9 format, but the X360 proved there is

Finish the job, please...

[Randolpho]

KOTOR was amazing. KOTOR2 was..... unsatisfying. It had a lot of potential, but was not finished. Please, Lucasarts, finish the job. Follow the KOTOR paradigm, not the KOTOR2 paradigm.

Re:

[MooseMuffin]

Someone needs to convince Bioware to make their own sequels.

Re:Finish the job, please...

[Enderandrew]

No, someone needs to convince LucasArts not to ship a game 3 months early and then completely cut off the ending.

KOTOR:2 was superior to KOTOR:1 in all regards, save for the fact that it was unfinished.

Bioware made Baldur's Gate, and then the Obsidian crew (when they were Black Isle) made a FAR SUPERIOR game using the same engine called Planescape: Torment.

Their NWN:2 shines head and shoulders over NWN. Obsidian has arguably the most talented staff around.

They need a publisher who will support them. Obsidian didn't have that when they did KOTOR:2.

Re:

[RsG]

Seconded. Black Isle/Obsidian are a damn fine developer. PS:T and Icewind Dale are every bit as good as the Bioware games made using the same engine, which is saying something.

Plus, if you look at the stuff that was cut from KOTOR 2 at the last minute, you begin to see the potential it had. I think it would have been head and shoulders above the first game, had they been given the time to get it right. Of course, "developer makes good game, publisher forces early release (usually for Christmas)" is an o

Re:

[Enderandrew]

They tweaked the rules to make all the attributes more important, added combat/lightsaber styles, more Force powers, Prestige Classes, etc. So from a pure mechanics standpoint they really improved the game.

They added Influence, and allowed you to alter the members of your party. My wife played Dark Side, and I watched her pry Atton's secrets from him, and use them to twist him to the Dark Side. It was a great moment. Truly that was an improvement over the original.

All of the characters had depth, includ

Re:

[MrChom]

Prestige Classes were a nice touch, as were the new force powers...they needed work though (Restriction of powers at some levels to certain classes, or restriction by dark/light not just a penalty point system).

The lightsaber forms were next to useless though. I have now done two run throughs of the game, lightside I used the forms once and then never bothered again. Second time through as darkside I never bothered using them.

I think the issue with KOTOR 2 is that it added too much in one go. The new wor

Re:

[beaver1024]

No matter what they will do, Obsidian's reputation is now tainted by the debacle that is KOTOR 2. The good games released previously was under the name of Black Isle not Obsidian. Hence people who do not keep up with the industry will not know what Obsidian is capable of given a good publisher. In any event, Locust Arts owns the rights to the SW franchise and will more than likely be interfering in KOTOR 3 just like they did with KOTOR 2. I will not waste my money like that again.

Re:

[djp928]

Their NWN:2 shines head and shoulders over NWN.

Is this the same NWN:2 that stealth-corrupts your savegames and eventually makes it impossible to finish the game if you've been foolish enough to "only" keep four or five saves around?

Anybody have any idea when they're going to fix this issue? I realize I'm going to have to start again, but I'd sure like to play the game and have some assurance that I'm going to be able to finish it at some point. Preferably without having to fill up the 50 GB of free space

Re:

[Enderandrew]

Funny. I know plenty of people that have played the game to completion with not a single problem.

Re:

[djp928]

I'm sure they have. However, the technical support forums for NWN:2 are littered with complaints similar to mine. Just look for the "Unpacking Module" bug. I've yet to see anybody in any official capacity even acknowledge that they know of the issue.

I want to play the damn game so bad. I spent $300 upgrading my system so I could run it. I just need them to patch this bug (or at least tell me what I can do to avoid it) so I can finish the stupid game.

-- Dave

A hell of a lot was left out..

[Channard]

.. such as a branching plot where Kreia could be saved, the factory making HK47 clones and more. There's apparently a project in the offing to restore some stuff which can be found in the game's files. But I doubt it'll be able to raise KOTOR 2 to the point where it's actually a worthy sequel to KOTOR.

Re:A hell of a lot was left out..

[RandomPrecision]

KotOR2 Restoration Project [team-gizka.org]

Re:

[KillerBob]

I'd suggest you download and try TSLRP [team-gizka.org] before you discount it. The amount of work that's being done on the project is significant, largely because the amount of cut content being restored is huge.

And before somebody asks the obvious question... when it's done. Probably some time between Christmas and Duke Nukem Forever.

Re:

[vastabo]

Ask, and ye shall receive...
http://www.team-gizka.org/ [team-gizka.org]
They're making great progress, but don't ask for a release date.

Cue Kenobi Voice

[Anonymous Coward]

"Which reminds me...I have something for you..."

*unzip*

Your father wanted you to have THIS when you were old enough...

Re:

[Tackhead]

> "Which reminds me...I have something for you..."
> *unzip*
> Your father wanted you to have THIS when you were old enough...

I think we've solved a mystery here.

In the original, as we all know, Han shoots first, and all Leia has to say to Han (5 minutes after kissing her brother "for luck") is "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!"

A couple of re-imaginings later, when Han doesn't shoot first, and Leia's all ga-ga over him, and won't have anything to do with her brother.

I'

Chris Walken as Obi Wan

[Alzheimers]

The way your dad looked at it, this LIGHT SABER was your birthright. He'd be damned if any of the SITH were gonna get their greasy GREY hands on his boy's birthright. So he hid it in the one place he knew he could hide something: TATTOINE. Five long years, he wore this watch ON TATTOINE. Then when he died of dysentery, he gave me the LIGHT SABER. I hid this uncomfortable piece of metal ON TATTOINE for two years. Then, after seven years, I was sent home to my family. And now, little man, I give the LIGHT SAB

Rise of the Sequels!

[__aaclcg7560]

If they make number three, number ten won't be that far off.

Re:

[qyiet]

If they make number three, number ten won't be that far off.

I believe George Lucas already covered this with "Attack of the Clones"

Lightsaber controller

[arniebuteft]

This just screams for a special wiimote that looks, feels, and sounds like a lightsaber. Of course, it'll be a $100 add-on, but how bad-ass would it be to see your on-screen character swinging around a lightsaber, matching every one of your real movements. Of course, you'd still be able to play with the regular controls, but having a functional lightsaber remote as a limited-edition add on would probably generate a lot of interest. Of course, methinks a lot of people in the target demographic would get w

Re:

[BitwizeGHC]

how bad-ass would it be to see your on-screen character swinging around a lightsaber, matching every one of your real movements.

Sorry, but LucasArts has to protect the integrity of their intellectual property, and it simply would not do for their Jedi characters to show all the lightsaber prowess of the Star Wars Kid.

Re:

[crossmr]

I have to echo this, imagine what you could do in a Star Wars game on the Wii. You could mimic the force powers for really intuitive gameplay. A thrust would send a force push, a yank would pull them forward, a 45 degree forward thrust would choke someone, a double thrust could shoot lightning, a completely verticle thrust could send people flying up, a swirling motion could confuse them, etc and then of course the light sabre. Special attachment, controller, etc not withstanding, even using the wii mote it

Pictured: Star Wars Empires at War

[StikyPad]

Holy crap, the stormtroopers have no feet! He cut off their feet! What kind of sick bastard would do something like that? That's just despicable. I can't believe they would even put something like that in a game.

Nancy MacIntyre

[TheJediGeek]

This is the same person that said there was "too much reading" in Star Wars Galaxies which is why they had to rip the game apart and target the ADD crowd. I would go on another SWG rant, but it's been said. Just a reminder that she's the PR person that helped kill the game.

Great

[eison]

Maybe they'll actually finish the next one.
Probably too much to hope for...

Re:

[Deltaspectre]

It could be worse....

They could finish KOTOR II and sell it as KOTOR II.5

KOTOR

[ObiWanStevobi]

Love and hate the KOTOR games. The storyline really sucks me in. (maybe I'm prone to it, hence the nickname) However, there are a couple major problems that need to be addressed.

BUGS!!!

Do not release another bug filled KOTOR game, please! KOTOR 2 had so much going for it until you hit bugs that completely ruin the game.

The second complaint is that as soon as you become a Jedi with all the cool moves and gear, the game is done. I don't mind the progression, but give the player more time to be a Jedi.

Good Thing

[skorbutrage]

This can be a good thing if they finish it, and bring HK47 back again, i loved KOTOR and liked KOTOR 2, as far as i see, finishing it up properly and giving us a bit more of the KOTOR story should at least keep hopeless addicts like me quiet for a while.

Re:

[semifamous]

Personally, I like this idea. I think that bringing back both the droids would be the smart thing to do since the "Star Wars" saga is supposed to be from the droids' point of view anyway. Not having HK-47 and T3-M4 would be dumb.

Not interested in another KOTOR game..

[d_jedi]

if it's half-finished like KOTOR2 was.

Would it be too much to ask for Obsidian to actually go and fix the bugs/add the missing content as a game update/patch? That would satisfy me..

As it is, maybe I'll pick up KOTOR3 when it's in the bargain bin. But I won't be going out on release day to pick it up like I did with KOTOR2.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, when the publisher won't pay for you to finish the game -- much less fix the bugs -- why should you the developer pay out of pocket? You get a lot of ill will going beneath the surface between you and the publisher after you've been screwed over. I also think the NWN2 / Atari bullshit was pretty bad too. Developers shouldn't have to fight tooth and nail just to do their job. How would you like it if I told you to add a feature, but then forced you legally not to be able to work on said feature unt

Re:

[kuerin]

why should you the developer pay out of pocket?

To salvage its credibility and reputation, perhaps? To my knowledge, Obsidian never even acknowledged that KOTOR II was released in a broken and unfinished state. And I question whether Obsidian is as blameless as its defenders insist. The developers knew that they were working under significant time constraints, and yet they chose to tell an overly ambitious plot that they should have known could not be implemented in time.

If Obsidian is too proud or

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm, no. Before you go around saying pretty ugly things like that, you should at least look into the matter superficially.

Obsidian let Lucasarts know that they were ahead of schedule and would possibly be able to release int he spring. Lucasarts thought they could get Obsidian to finish EVEN FASTER and told them to release in the Christmas season before the spring... far far earlier than Obsidian actually expected to finish.

Obsidian left a ton of material in the game that was cut - obviously to demonstrat

Re:

[kuerin]

I'm aware that Lucasarts advanced the deadline. But everything I've read about the matter indicates that the deadline was reduced from about 14 months to 12; I've seen nothing to suggest that Obsidian originally believed that it could develop through spring. If you have proof of that alleged fact, I'll revise my opinion.

Assuming that the deadline was reduced by two or three months, neither of us can say for certain whether the game would have been properly finished with that extra time, but I submit that

Re:

[NNland]

Obsidian had 13 months to develop KOTOR2, which is 5 months shy of what Lucasarts has just said they like to give people, and from what I understand, significantly shorter than what they were originally told would be available. Also, patches aren't developed out of the goodness of developers' hearts, the money to develop the patches has to come from somewhere (publishers), and if they (publishers) refuse to pay (not uncommon), patches won't be made.

I would also mention that KOTOR2 (among other games) that

Re:

[NNland]

Make that "approximately 13 months". Want a reference? Gamespot has a "Developer Interview".

Awesome!

[tttonyyy]

My wife loves the Knights of the Old Republic games (despite not being a Star Wars fan), so it'd be great to see them continue. The depth of plot and attention to detail is amazing on the Xbox, so I'll be expecting at least as much from the next gen consoles. :)

New Engine?

[atomicstrawberry]

From memory, the two KotOR games used a heavily modified Neverwinter Nights engine. If they do a new one, I really, really hope they can use a new engine. Not because the graphics began to look a bit dated, but because of the ludicrously high loading times. Compare them against most PS2 RPGs and the loading times are an order of magnitude slower in KotOR, and that's without taking into account the auto-save time. It was really frustrating when you'd need to walk through two or three areas to get somewhere,

Acronym Hell Again

[szembek]

KOTOR == Knights of the Old Republic We shouldn't have to google this. Put it in the summary.

Re:

[GrayCalx]

Its one of those, "if you have to ask, you're probably not interested" stories.

star wars games are all good games

[coolamber]

From the Next gen article http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_conte nt&task=view&id=4236&Itemid=32&limit=1&limitstart= 1 [next-gen.biz] "Star Wars games, nowadays, are almost always good games." This shows you how arrogant Lucasarts is. I personally love Star Wars but the majority of the games created under the franchise are crap. There have been a few absolute gems, but the company needs to take some cues from the companies that actually complete their games before releasing them.