LIGHT and DARK side choices

[Tidus01]

Don't you all think that the game developers should have given the gamer the choice of the light or dark side earlier in the game?

 

 

 

 

 

I totally think they gave you the choice near the end because they were to lazy to redo the story lines. You know, they should just let you choose to be dark whenever you feel like it...

 

for example: your with kyle on a mission and you kill him. You finish the mission and it shows you scenes of you confronting luke and him asking, "Where's kyle? "

 

You say, " i killed him. "

 

He engages in a battle with you, you force push him and run away.... that would just be funny....

 

then , not getting the light side missions, you turn to the dark side, join tavion, do missions for her and ONLY AT THE END you get the same ending where you decide to harness the power of the scepter of yourself!

 

Booyah!!

[peloquin]

I know people are working on this, recording new script and doing playermodel swaps for light and dark side characters in game so you will start off on the dark side and have the choice to maybe turn back to the light side. The story would go that at the start you've just changed to the dark and have been brough before darth sidious (swap for luke) to begin trial to see if you're worthy. Then have Alora swaped for kyle or luke who is on your trail throughout the game trying to turn you back to the light side. When we get to the part in the game where you choose sides you either stay with the dark and go on to bigger and bader things or you decide to let go of your anger and put a stop to the insanity you almost created on the quest for the scepter.

 

I think perhaps that was what the makers of this game we're relying on...fan based mods. Basically they have made it really easy to mod the game, added a few new features and said here ya go now have fun with it and see what you can come up with. I have no doubt that a more detailed game from Raven would have resulted in a much more restricted modding community. And in the end I would really prefer be given the keys to open up the game and play arround with it than not. I would think Knights of the old republic that's due soonish on pc will be a much more "pretty" looking game than JO is but we will not even have one tenth of the modding ability we have with JA. Take one or the other I guess.

[Tarus]

That is basicly it though...if they gave the choice earlier then it requires twice as much work.

[Tidus01]

you say its twice the work, maybe your right... but if you do twice the work a you say that would definetly add loads to the experience and therefore, like others said, the game will not be as short as it is.

 

its better for the developers to take more time, for if they could create a game which would entertaine the gamer more than the " original" academy game, then what the hell? just do it.

 

you'll get more money that way.

 

if i heard that you could be good and evil - two different stories - i would probably pay more if it cost more.

[Prime]

Originally posted by Tidus01

I totally think they gave you the choice near the end because they were to lazy to redo the story lines.

As a software developer I can tell you that decisions like that aren't made because they are "lazy" They are not junior high school students. Budget, time constraints, and resource constraints are what decides what stays and what goes.

 

Originally posted by Tidus01

its better for the developers to take more time, for if they could create a game which would entertaine the gamer more than the " original" academy game, then what the hell? just do it.

But extra time means extra money, as you have to pay for all the developers time, pay to develop all the new resources you'll need. This drives up the total development costs. Twice the amount of time and effort means twice the amount of money.

 

Originally posted by Tidus01

you'll get more money that way.

 

if i heard that you could be good and evil - two different stories - i would probably pay more if it cost more.

But they won't get more money that way. If the development costs are twice as much, then you have to sell twice as many copies to make up that difference. Or, if you only sell the same number of copies, you'd have to charge twice the price to make back the same amount of profit. Are you going to pay $100+ dollars for that game? Is the average Joe? Of course not.

 

Lucasarts and Raven have to draw the line somewhere and leave things out so that they can get the game finished in a reasonable time and at reasonable cost.

[king yoda]

i think tidus´s idea is not so bad, this would be a cool story.

[-=FB=-Jagged]

tidus' idea is great. the game is short. BUT THE GAME DESIGNERS MAIN PURPOSE IS TO MAKE MONEY. they aren't lazy, they have money limits, time limits, computer capability limits, and a horde of other things to worry about. they could have left us hanging with the game we have now, and tightened it up to make it harder to crack. but no, they allow us the opportunity to mod the game into what we want it to be.

 

IMO, there really isn't any reason for complaint. They did the best story they could with the constraints they had, and they made it so we could change it up, not just a bit, but A LOT. i think they did a heckuva job.

[yoda_alex]

I have no doubt that the developers were on a tight schedule. In a few months when HL2 and DOmm 3 come out they are going to make Q3 graphics look very dated. What are you going to but with limited money, a brand new revolutionary game like HL2 or a slightly crappy looking Star wars game?! OK people in ths forum might go for the SW game but the general public won't.

 

The problem with JA is that the game was maybe too ambitious given the time and money constraints. If instead Raven had got cracking on an EXPANSION pack for JO named Jedi Acadamy right after JO was released with the same graphics detail as JO but all the extra bits to pull the fans in (the dual sabre/ staff, additional force powers...) they could have got it done a lot quicker less money. I think people feel let down by JA because it was billed a s a completely standalone game but it felt more like an add-on.

 

I would have been quite happy to pay £20 (about $30) for an expansion pack that contained, say, 14 missions the last 4 of which could be played through as either the dark side or the light side. In fact, take out the training missions and the crappy tier levels and you are left with 9 levels. Throw in a 2 level mission and a 3 level mission and you've got a 14 level expansion with enough new stuff to make it sell well, a reasonable cost coming out about a year after JO. Then you can make a killing selling both games together in a single box (like half life with opposing force) thus giving new life to the original JO!

 

The trouble is we were expecting a game that seemingly promised the very best of JO and JK all rolled into one and we were dissapinoted when JA didn't have the polish or the finesse of the previos games.

 

PS - I am not a cheapskate and I don't regret paying £30 for JA. I just think it would have been better as an expansion.

[Elegy]

Bah, this is an FPS. Those kind of games are generally kinda linear. The darkside/lightside branch here in this game was kinda reminescent of the first Jedi Knight game, only this time you get to actually choose on the spot instead of getting darkside/lightside points through the powers you use the most.

 

But if you want diverse storylines, go get an RPG.

[boinga1]

Yeah. The original JK wasn't really any different, light or dark, besides the cutscenes and the names of the levels. Of course, same for JA- although at least darkside Jedi would attack you, and you got a different end boss...

 

Anyway, I like the "conscous" choice in JA. Kyle DOES say that you rpowers don't matter, it's how you use them that does. Turning to the darkside SHOULD be a conscious choice- YOU are the one who decides your feelings, not your abilities.

 

Although I liked how, in JK, they took away your lightside powers of you went dark. It DOESn't make sense that you could have full lightside powers and be on the darkside. Perhaps they could take away your level 3 light powers, and give you level 1 or 2 dark powers.

[-=FB=-Jagged]

thats so dumb... when yoda said unlearn what you have learned that AINT what he meant.

 

in JA, healing is a light side power, right? in the book shadows of the empire, vader can HEAL himself using anger. JUST BECAUSE HIS MOTIVATION IS WRONG, DOES NOT MEAN HE DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO ALL FORCE POWERS, including light side.

 

its the same with jaden. learn what you want, and use it the way you want to. do you want all power for yourself? fine: choke people, saber em, and heal yourself too. want to save galaxy? k: trick people to sneak by, heal yourself, and HEY! kyle uses choke and lightning, why shouldnt you?