Interview KotOR back-forth at Games Domain

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

There's a nifty <A href="http://www.gamesdomain.com/articles/1443.html">Q&A</a> about <A href="http://www.swkotor.com">Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic</a> over at <A href="http://www.gamesdomain.com/">Games Domain</a> where the <A href="http://www.bioware.com">BioWare</a> folk answer questions about making the game for two platforms, release dates, and so on. Here's one that allowed them to re-iterate their most over-used PR tagline:
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<blockquote><b>GD: Was there any point where Microsoft or indeed anyone told you "oh, it's a console game, don't make it to complicated as you would a typical PC game" - even though it's effectively a dual developed PC/Xbox title?
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Teresa Cotesta:</b> Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the first role-playing game based in the Star Wars universe. In creating this game, one of our main goals was to ensure we stay true to the Star Wars universe, and create an immersive story with action packed sequences and exciting characters. LucasArts has been great to work with and has provided us with tremendous support to ensure this happens. Our goal here at BioWare is make every game better than the last one, and using our experience from past games such as the Baldur's Gate series and Neverwinter Nights, we aimed to make this the best possible RPG experience on either console or PC.</blockquote>
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I still want to know their definition of <i>better</i>. Personally, if they want to make the best possible RPG experience, they should set their goals higher than what they've made and look towards what <A href="Http://www.interplay.com">Interplay</a> <i>used to make</i>, in house, back in the late 1990s.
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Spotted this at <A href="Http://www.homelanfed.com">HomeLAN Fed</a>.

 

[Spazmo]

They can't design (or program) for shit, but they sure can dodge a question! I bet they actually have dumbed down the game considerably (Jedi Ted: "You must go to Dantooine on the next liner and meet Jedi Tom. DANTOOINE! LINER! JEDI TOM! Here, let me make you a note. Hell, I'll just send you there. Enjoy the long, dull cutscene!") to appeal to FF players.

 

[Xento]

Saint, they could also look at what Troika has done and is doing.

 

[Spazmo]

No they can't. They've proven time and again they have neither the inclination to do it or the skill.

 

[Xento]

Who? Bioware or Troika?

 

[Spazmo]

BioWare. Troika is one of the rare few good PC RPG development houses.

 

[Rosh]

BioWare spends more time on pathfinding dodges out of questions than time on the pathfinding in their games.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

hey

ya ^ their professional dodge ball players

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Saint, they could also look at what Troika has done and is doing.

Yeah, they could, but I think they should be more inclined to look at things like Fallout and Planescape: Torment, since they like to bring those names up when citing features of their titles. They made countless comparasons of Fallout when pimping NWN, and the end result was that BioWare made one of the shallowest campaigns ever when they cranked that bad boy out. When doing Witch's Wake, they compared that module to Planescape: Torment several times, but it was nothing close to PS:T, either.

We know they know those titles exist, after all. However, despite that knowledge of those two existing, BioWare still can't make a CRPG where the items are balanced appropriately. They can't make multiple paths through a quest which is based on the abilities of the player character. They can't even make decent non-combat quests, for the most part. NWN had one quest that didn't involve combat, and it was decent, but come on. The majority of it was mindless hack and slash drivel that nearly any RPG developer could cough up if they set their standards low.

One thing I wonder is if they really, really believe that NWN was better than anything else they've ever made. If that's the case, KotOR will be really pathetic.

 

[Xento]

Well, I've never played Planetscape: Tournament, or NWN, for that matter, but after that post, I don't think I WANT to try NWN.

BTW, what is your avatar supposed to be? Looks like a pig with a demon face.

 

[Spazmo]

Geneforge. www.spiderwebsoftware.com

Play it.

 

[EEVIAC]

What on Earth? How does "we aimed to make this the best possible RPG experience on either console or PC" have anything to do with a question about Microsoft pushing their weight to get a certain (accessible) type of game?

This is the exact sort of behaviour which creates discontent in fans. If its dumbed down, why don't they just say its dumbed down, surely they know we'll find out sooner or later. More than that, I would have some respect for the developers. Transperancy is good, it establishes trust between the people who play games and the people who create them.

Have I completely missed the point? Are Bioware and Team UpChuck the wave of future? Its my own fault, I should be giving my money to Jeff Vogel...

 

[d3aD]

making it look as beautiful as possible

so it's like an interactive screen saver...
sweet...

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Well, I've never played Planetscape: Tournament, or NWN, for that matter, but after that post, I don't think I WANT to try NWN.

I really didn't like NWN much at all. There's a review of it I wrote on here you can check out for my opinion on the subject. It's rather long, but it covers the campaign in some fair depth. Just click on reviews and it's down near the bottom.

BTW, what is your avatar supposed to be? Looks like a pig with a demon face.

It's a Servant Mind from Geneforge. Basically, a Servant Mind is a living computer which controls various aspects of Shaper facilities in the game as well as serving in other typical computer-like aspects.

You can also find a review of Geneforge on here.

This is the exact sort of behaviour which creates discontent in fans. If its dumbed down, why don't they just say its dumbed down, surely they know we'll find out sooner or later. More than that, I would have some respect for the developers. Transperancy is good, it establishes trust between the people who play games and the people who create them.

Well, look at all the promises they made with similar statements about NWN and how utterly dumbed down that was. It didn't even have to worry about a console port, either, and it was basically mindless hack and slash.

Have I completely missed the point? Are Bioware and Team UpChuck the wave of future? Its my own fault, I should be giving my money to Jeff Vogel...

I don't think TEAM CHUCK has much of a future at this point, but supporting Jeff Vogel is always a winner.

 

[Chadeo]

Well all of the BG games, and NWN sold like crazy, even after not living up to the pre-release hype.

This means that either the vast majority of the buying public has no clue what an rpg even is, and thus does not know what they are missing, or they honestly think that BG and friends gave them a good story, and deep game play.

I really hope it is the first, but from comments people make all the time, I tend to think it is the second. (OMG the bartender has huge boobs LOL, of course I will kill rats for her LOL)

In either case though, if you just want to pimp your game, you will say almost anything about it before you release it just to try and lure in a bunch of people before the reviews come out. Then after reviews are out, you ignore any bad ones, and hype any good ones. This is just marketing 101. Honesty, and actually caring what the fans think or feel is unimportant. This i why I hate bioware, but love blizzard. When I buy diablo, I know EXACTLY what kind of game it is going to be, they do not try to put lipstick on a pig.

Another reason to support your local shareware developer, they at least have the guts to show you what you will be paying for. They do not need to rely on marketing to sell, their work can speak for itself.

It will be a cold day in hell before I buy another bioware game.

 

[udarnik]

It will be a cold day in hell before I buy another bioware game.

Yes, but someone needs to bite the bullet and buy them in order to do a fair review. Hopefully Saint_P will keep buying them. I'm a little amazed that he made it through NWN's official campaign and still retained sufficient will to live to write an honest review of it. I think I was battered into indifference during chapter two and if anyone had asked me WHY NWN was the worst rpg I'd ever played, I'm sure I couldn't have mounted as detailed an argument. For example, I instinctively loathed Aribeth, but I didn't realize by chapter two that the reason was because she eclipsed your character and made your actions meaningless.

Anyway, who's going to sacrifice themselves, their time and money, for the holy cause of gaming Truth?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I'm a little amazed that he made it through NWN's official campaign and still retained sufficient will to live to write an honest review of it. I think I was battered into indifference during chapter two and if anyone had asked me WHY NWN was the worst rpg I'd ever played, I'm sure I couldn't have mounted as detailed an argument. For example, I instinctively loathed Aribeth, but I didn't realize by chapter two that the reason was because she eclipsed your character and made your actions meaningless.

I made it 2/3s of the way through Chapter 3, and that's where I stopped because honestly, I couldn't stand having to wander around aimlessly until I found the right direction to lead me to the third and final stone I needed considering that was basically the set up for Chapter 1 and 2. You show up in a new chapter, they tell you that you need to find X number of SPECHUL ITEMZ and then you just wander around one of the four directions possible until you find them..

 

[udarnik]

Ah, yes. I remember how shocked I was when I discovered that Neverwinter had four areas that all had a special item that had to be collected. Shocked in the way one would be if a neanderthal walked in on your cocktail party. Every area played exactly the same. It was as if I had stumbled into the rpg equivalent of Centipede. The game never changes, and you can move any direction you like, as long as it's left or right. Might and Magic III had more open-ended gameplay. Bard's Tale was a more sophisticated rpg, and yet NWN sits on 2 GIGABYTES of hard-drive space. What a glorious waste. What repetitive unimaginative crap.

 

[Spazmo]

I played through the whole thing. The only good part was when a lich wondered what kind of half-elven fury I could muster. I thought it was a fairly good line.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Ah, yes. I remember how shocked I was when I discovered that Neverwinter had four areas that all had a special item that had to be collected. Shocked in the way one would be if a neanderthal walked in on your cocktail party. Every area played exactly the same. It was as if I had stumbled into the rpg equivalent of Centipede. The game never changes, and you can move any direction you like, as long as it's left or right. Might and Magic III had more open-ended gameplay. Bard's Tale was a more sophisticated rpg, and yet NWN sits on 2 GIGABYTES of hard-drive space. What a glorious waste. What repetitive unimaginative crap.

Yeah, that really bothered me. Having to locate several items and bring them back isn't that bad of an idea, but the way NWN did it.. And the fact they did it in the first three chapters at the basis for those chapters.. It's just absurdly lame and highly uncreative. It boiled down to entering a chapter and having the choice of the cardinal dirctions. That alone should have kept NWN out of the running for any CRPG of the Year Award, in my opinion, because anyone out there can come up with one mechanic for a game and then beat it to death.