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More on your old crew: Obsidian explains its decisions


Darth333

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More of Chris Avellone's ramblings:

 

I added my own personal ramblings in orange

 

I did not used Spoiler tags as I consider this remains quite general and does not reveal any part of the story. Obsidian simply reitarates what we all know already but with an explanation on why they made those decisions.

 

/ Designer Ramblings: New Cast

 

There are reasons why we didn’t use the original cast from Knights of the Old Republic 1 as companions in the sequel. It isn’t because Bastila suddenly got her own TV series and decided that computer games were beneath her, or those pictures of Carth at the leather club that surfaced earlier this year, or anything like that, although their agents and lawyers might tell you differently.

 

One reason was the sequence of events that occurred in Kotor 1. There’s many different ways the game could end up, and not all of them would allow for the companions to travel together again happily ever after. ok we all know this I think...and I don't care about Bastila's "nice ass" as you guys say ... As for Carth, it seems that we have a good replacement for him with Atton Rand :xp:

 

The second reason is that in some cases, we felt the stories for these companions had come full circle in the first game. Each of them had their problems and challenges during the Jedi Civil War, which we felt had had a chance to be addressed in the game and resolved (especially Juhani, Carth, Bastila, Zaalbar, etc.). does the "etc." covers Canderous, Jolee and Mission??? We already know that HK-47 and T3 are coming back - thateing said, he does not exclude cameos

 

The third reason is keeping the “voice.” Not only is it risky to take someone else’s character and try to do them justice (which can be a painful experience for developer and player), but once you’ve read a batch of Star Wars novels, there’s nothing more painful than trying to watch others get Han Solo and Luke Skywalker “right,” which is difficult, because all you’re doing is faking the character - you didn’t create them, you’re only mimicking their voice and personality, and while sometimes this works, oftentimes it just ends up creating something less than the original. Nothing to say here apart that I agree

 

The fourth reason was stagnation. Knights of the Old Republic is a brand-new Star Wars license, and as such, has a chance for a fresh start. Rather than keep the same characters for 4, 5, or 6 games (if it ever gets that far), erm...and 3?...does that mean that 3 is coming for sure? :sheepdanc we have a chance to keep shaking up the universe with every game and keep the universe from becoming stagnant – again, after reading a ton of Star Wars novels, using the same 5-6 characters again and again hamstrung by the same series events starts becoming confining, and you can feel it in some of the stories and novels. I think that’s part of the reason they started introducing a new cast in the later novels, some of which fans have really enjoyed.

 

The last reason was more of a personal decision. For me, creating companion characters is one of the highlights of developing a role-playing game, and who you travel with over the course of the game and who acts as a sounding board for your character’s thoughts and feelings can end up being a large chunk of the role-playing experience. Furthermore, there are certain aspects to the Star Wars universe that were more appropriate for certain character types to advocate or denounce (which Kreia and Atton do considerably, as do others), and it felt better to do them with new characters than to use the old ones. There’s certain things I’ve always wanted to say about the Star Wars universe that would be difficult for the K1 cast to voice and still remain in character.

 

That said, we did try to include characters from K1 for continuity, although we tried to take many of the underdogs from K1 and inject more into them – this should come across more notably with T3 (you’ll encounter him before the others).

 

Anyway, had to say it.

 

Off to Gen Con!

 

/ End Designer Ramblings: New Cast

Can't wait!!! :D

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This is very good to know

Rather than keep the same characters for 4, 5, or 6 games (if it ever gets that far), erm...and 3?...does that mean that 3 is coming for sure?

 

and it sounds like KOTOR III is on the cards so

whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I'm happy now!

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Originally posted by Darth333

ok we all know this I think...and I don't care about Bastila's "nice ass" as you guys say ... As for Carth, it seems that we have a good replacement for him with Atton Rand

 

That's ok....I'm sure there will be some other nice 'tail' to keep us guys happy ;)

 

^^

(Shooting for the "Chauvinistic Pig of the Year Award" :D)

 

Frankly, I'm glad they're not recycling the original cast (I'd be happy without T3 as well...but I digress). Part of the fun of KotOR was getting to know your crew (lackeys) and what their stories were, and with TSL's already revelation that each NPC has their own 'agenda' I think it'll make for a definite 'unique' experience this go around.

 

I do however hope that since they decided on using cameos, that they at least do them justice...afterall we've ALL done our share to put them through Hell and back in KotOR I :dev11:

I'd hate to think they were going to be "one-liners"...

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Originally posted by Prime

Actually I would be surprised if they didn't do KOTOR 3. Why turn away from such a cash cow and huge fan favorite?

Actually... If I recall correctly... wasn't KOTOR 3 mentioned in the article that came out about the LA layoffs, that some of the people working on KOTOR 3 were part of the layoffs?

 

;)

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Originally posted by RedHawke

Actually... If I recall correctly... wasn't KOTOR 3 mentioned in the article that came out about the LA layoffs, that some of the people working on KOTOR 3 were part of the layoffs?

 

;)

 

THOSE are the ppl we need to find, and 'ask' about the models/animations editing problems

 

[Dominate Mind] Man, LA really screwed you over...too bad there's no way to get even....or is there? Wouldn't you just love to give away trade secrets?[/Dominate Mind] :dev11:

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Originally posted by RedHawke

Actually... If I recall correctly... wasn't KOTOR 3 mentioned in the article that came out about the LA layoffs, that some of the people working on KOTOR 3 were part of the layoffs?

 

;)

That was back in August. For those who are interested, our article was:

LucasArts has just confirmed that they have layed off around 31 employees. Among these 31 employees are the rumored team of people who have began early work on KOTOR3 :|

 

GameSpot and GameSpy are covering the story.

 

Originally posted by ChAiNz

THOSE are the ppl we need to find, and 'ask' about the models/animations editing problems

 

[Dominate Mind] Man, LA really screwed you over...too bad there's no way to get even....or is there? Wouldn't you just love to give away trade secrets?[/Dominate Mind] :dev11:

Good idea ChAiNz! If they do this, they'll need a lawyer :sign2::dev11:

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Originally posted by ChAiNz

THOSE are the ppl we need to find, and 'ask' about the models/animations editing problems

Like just about everyone in the industry, they are do doubt under legal obligation not to devilge any corporate proprietary information after they leave. On my original job offer they were very explicit about what I can and can not do after I leave...
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:eek: I wonder what KOTOR3 would be about if it was made? Perhaps it would be similar to the trilogy in that in KOTOR1 the Jedi are being hunted down, then in KOTOR2 the Sith seem to be taking control, so perhaps the third one will be about the Jedi pwning the Sith..... Just my 2 cents.

 

KOTORManiac

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