Interview KotOR interview at Star Wars Knights

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

<A href="http://www.starwarsknights.com/">Star Wars Knights</a>, a fan site for <A href="http://www.swkotor.com">Knights of the Old Republic</a>, has posted an <A href="http://www.starwarsknights.com/interview001.php">interview</A> with <b>Casey Hudson</b> and <b>Mike Gallo</b> of <a href="http://www.bioware.com">BioWare</a>. Here's a cut:
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<blockquote><b>CR:</b> Gamers are still wondering a lot about the character creation; like what portraits there will be and how many voicesets. Could you guide us through the character creation?
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<b>Casey:</b> You start by choosing your gender and class. You can be either a soldier, a scoundrel, or a scout. These classes each have statistical implications, and they also dictate whether your character is big and strong, small and quick, or somewhere in between. Next, you?ll see a close-up of your character?s face, and you can choose from a wide variety of different appearances. You?ll also be able to choose a voiceset for your character, though currently we haven?t settled on a final number for how many there will be. Once you?ve decided how your character will look and sound, you can choose your name (or generate a random one).
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You will be able to create a quick character and jump right into the game, or create a custom character and spend some time adjusting your stats. If you choose to create a custom character, you start by determining your character?s abilities. These include things like strength, dexterity, and constitution, and will dictate how well your character is able to perform skills and feats in the game. Next, you?ll determine your starting skills and feats, which give you the capability to do things like special combat moves or hacking computers. This is where you can really start customizing your gameplay experience. Throughout character creation, we have a button that will automatically assign recommended stats if you want to see a configuration that we think will work well.</blockquote>
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So, basically, reusing the character creation for <A href="http://nwn.bioware.com">Neverwinter Nights</a>.
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For additional reading left up to the viewer, spot the <i>Everything we do is better than the last</i> answer. It's in this one too.
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Spotted this at <A href="http://www.homelanfed.com">HomeLAN Fed</a>.

 

[Spazmo]

Well, the character creation system from NWN is functional, and it's the same core rulesystem (not D&D, but d20), so there's no real reason to change it.

But about those classes: aren't they more or less moot since you're pretty much certain to become a Jedi anyways?

 

[Constipated Craprunner]

I think its more what kind of Jedi you are.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I'm not sure why KotOR has classes anyway. Just expand the skill set, balance it, and you're good to go without those arbitrary classes.

 

[Constipated Craprunner]

I'm not sure why KotOR has classes anyway. Just expand the skill set, balance it, and you're good to go without those arbitrary classes.

It's a console RPG.
Pathetic gameplay is a requirment.

 

[Trash]

Cheap comment pall, for some reason the idea of an rpg set in the star wars universe just sounds great to me.
Though you might debate wheter Bioware are the people to work on it, Lucasarts is in on it as well. And they happen to be the company that I hold responsible for making me waste way too much time on classics like Monkey Island 1 and 2, Tie fighter, X wing and Jedi Knight.
Lets see what the game will be like after we had a chance to play it, right?

Trash

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

Personally I like this snippet from the interviewer:
"CR: Gamers are still wondering a lot about the character creation; like what portraits there will be and how many voicesets."

yeah portraits and voicesets that's what I look for in character creation, obviously more important than things like skills and customization.

 

[Spazmo]

Trash, LucasArts is publishing KOTOR. I don't care how many times they've said it's a joint project, I am confident that it's a perfectly normal developer-publisher relationship.

And for the record, Ron Gilbert (the man behind Monkey Island 1-2) left LucasArts. Totally Games made X-Wing and TIE Fighter and they're no longer part of LucasArts. And most of the people who made Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight have left LucasArts. I don't really see LucasArts as much of a developer anymore, although I think they'll do good with the upcoming Full Throttle 2 and Sam & Max 2.

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

Wasn't Grim Fandango a LucasArts game? I loved that game and it absolutely oozed style.

 

[Spazmo]

Yeah, that's right. Adventure games are about the only thing LucasArts does internally anymore. And I keep forgetting about Grim Fandango because I haven't played it yet.

 

[Trash]

But don't you think that they'll have a say about what will be happening with their best franchise? I just hope they'll have a close watch on the project and make sure that it is...well worthy of the star wars name.
Then again, some previous star war games sucked, not to mention the last 2 movies.
Oh hell, you can debate about these things for a long long time but, the main thing is. We won't know wheter the game will be crap or great till we see it. I personally doubt it will be the best thing ever to happen in rpg land but I'll settle for a fun game experience set in a cool setting.

Trash

 

[Araanor]

I've given up on thinking that Bioware would learn from past mistakes. It will be the same thing all over again. And it will stay like that til they manage to flop.

 

[Vault Dweller]

But don't you think that they'll have a say about what will be happening with their best franchise?

Well, think about it. LucasArts' decision to hand over the deal to BioWare was obviously based on NWN early concepts. NWN is critically acclaimed, award-winning, ass-kicking game in general public's opinion. Give me one good reason why LA should be concerned about making NWN in space. NWN - good. Star Wars - good. NWN plus Star Wars plus multi-coloured esily customizable lightsabers - very very good.

Then again, some previous star war games sucked

They did, didn't they. Obviously, the single fact that it's a game set in SW universe is not enough to make it a game worth playing.

We won't know wheter the game will be crap or great till we see it.

No, but we can always guess let's see, NWN did not turn out so good overall and was very dissapointing from a role-playing and story-telling perspective. It seems like BioWare is paying more attention to customization then to anything else. Also, any PC RPG that is being developed for a console is going to have a sub-standard rpg quality by default. So taking all that into consideration, it's very hard to give KotOR the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Trash]

Give me one good reason why LA should be concerned about making NWN in space

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Sure, star wars is the biggest franchise Lucasarts have. They don't want to screw it up by giving everybody and everything licences to use it. NWN in space, I don't think so. NWN was aimed at multiplayer and making your own mods. Shame they fucked up the single player game (which imo seemed more like an afterthought)
KOTOR is single player oriented, so they'll have to make sure it will be fun to make it appeal to people. Allthough I'm sure it won't be the role playing game of the centurie I'm hoping it will turn into another BG2. Which wasn't the best thing ever but which managed to keep me interested and in which I had quite some fun playing it.

Also, any PC RPG that is being developed for a console is going to have a sub-standard rpg quality by default

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Erh? Morrowind anyone? Allthough I hated the dialogue system in the game I just loved the ability to go out and explore and wander at will. Not one of my fav rpg's but defenitely not bad for a game that was also developed for the x-box.

Oh well, ín short, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. We'll see....
Cya,

Trash

 

[Spazmo]

Sure, star wars is the biggest franchise Lucasarts have.

Twenty, or even thirty years from now, I think more people will remember The Secret of Monkey Island than they will Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Erh? Morrowind anyone? Allthough I hated the dialogue system in the game I just loved the ability to go out and explore and wander at will. Not one of my fav rpg's but defenitely not bad for a game that was also developed for the x-box.

Morrowind: pretty graphics, generic dialogues, simplified skill system, click fest combat system. It's like FPS Diablo. Not even Daiblo 2 mind you. Exploring? Yes. Totally gorgeous sights, the game really motivated me to climb a mountain, swim to distant island, etc. Well, don't want to sound to ... I dunno, negative... but if I want to see something really really pretty I will download a wicked wallpaper. Morrowind was not supposed to be Myst 4, it was supposed to be a great role-playing game (in my humble expectation). That did not happen. I blame the console version for that. Of course, it's only my opinion.

Shame they fucked up the single player game (which imo seemed more like an afterthought)

That's my main point.

KOTOR is single player oriented, so they'll have to make sure it will be fun to make it appeal to people

Of course. But 'people' is a very generic term. Who are these mysterious people? RPG fans who expect solid gameplay, hell of a story, and character developement? Or people who are more concerned about the way their characters look, who just wanna have fun without concerning themselves with role-playing elements and don't have time or attention to follow a decent dialogue line?

Oh well, ín short, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt

You do that and may the force be with you

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

Despite Bioware's atrocious track record as of late, I am with Trash on this. I will wait and see what the game actually is before passing judgement. That said, my expectations are not too high for KoTOR, but I am willing to be pleasantly surprised. Of course I am expecting little from it as a CRPG, but that doesn't mean it won't be a fun or enjoyable game. Hey I got a kick outta the BG games tho they hardly rank as, imo, great CRPGs.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Sure, star wars is the biggest franchise Lucasarts have. They don't want to screw it up by giving everybody and everything licences to use it. NWN in space, I don't think so. NWN was aimed at multiplayer and making your own mods. Shame they fucked up the single player game (which imo seemed more like an afterthought)
KOTOR is single player oriented, so they'll have to make sure it will be fun to make it appeal to people. Allthough I'm sure it won't be the role playing game of the centurie I'm hoping it will turn into another BG2. Which wasn't the best thing ever but which managed to keep me interested and in which I had quite some fun playing it.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Basically, that's something the NWN fans love to say, NWN is primarily a multiplayer/mod game, but the fact of the matter is that BioWare spent a hell of a lot of time hyping up the single player campaign. They're still hyping how wonderful the story is for the game, in fact.