Miltiades Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 I disagree, Melkalis. BioWare has developed a whole bunch of games, of which KotOR is but one. Since then, they have been working on Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Jade Empire & some other projects. It is impossible to recall a lot of detail of a game that is 4 years old when you have been busy working on numerous of other projects all that time. I think that it is remarkable that a developer is still willing to answer questions about content being cut for a game that is 4 years old. Also, I think that scrapping developer tools is done almost always. The game's not supported anymore and they have moved on to a newer and better engines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V. Melkalis Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 And I think your point is argueable. No amount of time and work is enough to make an artist forget about the details of his masterpiece. 4 years is a minimal time distance in therms of memory. Ron Gilbert still recalls in detail buttloads of both technical and plot based aspects of the games he developed back in the 90's and he still tells us about it on his blog. He loves his productions has part of himself. These guys just see it was work. I'm not saying that its wrong. I'm just a bit surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrisG Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 David was "A" Lead Writer, not "THE" Lead writer of KotOR I. As such, he was part of a large team that was all under the direction of the overall Design Team. I will post the total staff at the end of this post, but wanted to add my two cents about this. David is from what i read in his notes and from a review of other posts and work he has done, a very conciencious and dedicated artist of high calibre. It is a very demanding world that of game design and the overall development is in the end controled by a few lead figures and everyone else take on their individual piece and puts their hearts and minds and souls into it in a very intense development cycle. Often a game will have this kind of total focus and all you do, and think and dream about are the problems that are within your reach. And then, finally, after hundreds of meetings, consultations, writes and re writes, working sessions in which you see scripts, hash out what can and what can't be done with the capacity of the engine, meetings with Art or Design to see what the concept art says you should do, meetings with senior direction staff, then the staged releases, re work sessions, combining the music scores, working with the voice actors, re scripting, over and over for months, you are ......done. And the next day or week, you are assigned to a new project and it begins all over. For the creative people like David, who actually have to "create" or write the story, and make it real, theirs is a awesome responsiblity and task. They literally 'birth" the game and make it what it will become but then they have little control of what comes after, for their vision is then crafted and MADE into the physical (digital) reality of what it becomes. I think it is quite awesome that David recalls such detail as he shares with us and that he is willing to share with us at all. He has been very kind and generous with his time and his energy in this way. In the end, as he himself says, and others say about such processes, the overall path of development sees much created and much cut, there are many changes. That we are intrigued with and willing to work to regain and restore parts of the game that were cut is remarkable and he seems to recognize and appreciate this and responds with what he can. As for who to contact on the technical side, let us keep hope, and I will work on it, I must do this in conjunction with some other projects that I must carry on with, but I will try again with Drew K who was indeed on the Lead Design Team of the overall direction of the game and some of the technical staff i will try for as well. In the end, with the demands and the pressures of game development becoming more and more intense rather than less so as Game Devel companies are aquired and merged and faced with ever increasing pressures to sell units and speed production, we are fortunate some masterpieces like KotOR do and can occur and that some of the actual people who made them are willing to speak and share with us. Development Team of KotOR: Knights of the Old Republic Development and Production: BioWare Core Game Design David Falkner, Steven Gilmour, Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn, James Ohlen, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts Producer / Project Director Casey Hudson Executive Producers Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk Lead Programmers David Falkner, Mark Brockington Lead Designer James Ohlen Assistant Lead Designer Preston Watamaniuk Art Director Derek Watts Lead Animator Steven Gilmour Audio Producer David Chan Lead Tools Programmers Tom Zaplachinski, Darren Wong Lead Graphics Programmer Jason Knipe Quality Assurance Lead Scott Langevin Assistant Producer Nathan Plewes Programmers Marc Audy, Robert Babiak, Sophia Chan, Howard Chung, Michael Devine, Dan Fessenden, Aaryn Flynn, Andrew Gardner, Ryan Hoyle, Janice Thoms, Craig Welburn Graphics Programmers John Bible, Patrick Chan, Peter Woytiuk BioWare Lead Tools Programmer Don Moar Tools Programmers Owen Borstad, Timothy Smith, Kris Tan, Sydney Tang BioWare Director of Programming Scott Greig Additional Programming Brook Bakay, Korin Bampton, Rob Boyd, Brenon Holmes, Stan Melax, Charles Randall, Don Yakielashek Senior Writer Drew Karpyshyn Designers Jason Booth, David Gaider, Lukas Kristjanson, Cori May, Andrew Nobbs, Brad Prince, Aidan Scanlan, Peter Thomas, John Winski Sound Implementation / Additonal Sound Design David Chan, John Henke, Steve Sim 3D Artists Dean Andersen, Nolan Cunningham, Mike Grills, Lindsay Jorgensen, Jessica Mih, Matthew Park, Arun Ram-Mohan, Sean Smailes, Mike Spalding, Jason Spykerman, Michael Trottier 2D Artists Sung Kim, Mike Leonard, Rob Sugama, Rion Swanson Technical Artists Harvey Fong, Tobyn Manthorpe 3D Visual Effects Artist Alex Scott 2D GUI Art Rob Sugama Additional Art Matthew Goldman Concept Art John Samuel Gallagher, Casey Hudson, Sean Smailes, Mike Spalding, Derek Watts BioWare Director of Concept Art John Samuel Gallagher BioWare Director of Promotional Art Michael Sass Promotional Artists Todd Grenier, Michael Sass In‑Game Animation Carman Cheung, Chris Hale, Mark How, Rick Li, Kees Rijnen, John Santos, Larry Stevens, Henrik Vasquez Cutscene Director / BioWare Director of Art David Hibbeln Lead Cutscene Animator Tony de Waal Pre‑Rendered Cutscene Artists Christopher Mann, Sherridon Routley, Gina Welbourn, Shane Welbourn In‑Game Cutscene Animators Carman Cheung, Mark How, Rick Li, Kees Rijnen, Larry Stevens, Henrik Vasquez Quality Assurance Alain Baxter, Derrick Collins, Nathan Frederick, Mitchell T. Fujino, Keith Hayward, Scott Horner, Curtis Knecht, Bob McCabe, Ryan Plamondon, Chris Priestly, Ian Stevens-Guille, Stanley Woo BioWare Director of Quality Assurance Philip DeRosa Director of Marketing Scott McLaughlan Communications Coordinator Teresa Cotesta Communications Associate Tom Ohle Communications Manager Brad Grier Senior Web Developer Robin Mayne Web Developers Jeff Marvin, Duleepa Wijayawardhana Community Manager Jay Watamaniuk Live Team Producer Derek French Joint CEOs Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk Director of Finance Richard Iwaniuk Director of Human Resources Mark Kluchky Accountant Jo-Marie Langkow Payroll / Benefits Administrator Kelley Grainger Human Resources Coordinator Theresa Baxter Human Resources Assistant Leanne Korotash Senior Systems Administrators Chris Zeschuk, Craig Miller Systems Administrators Brett Tollefson, Julian Karst, Nils Kuhnert Receptionist Agnes Kokot Goldman Special Thanks Scott Greig, Diarmid Clarke, Jonathan Epp, Chris Christou, Brent Knowles, Kevin Martens, Deo Perez, Keith Warner, Dan Whiteside LucasArts Producer Michael Gallo Assistant Producer Julio Torres Content Coordinator Justin Lambros Lead Tester Kip Bunyea Assistant Lead Tester Adam Goodwin Testers Nick Dengler, Clay Norman, Tony Christopher, Chris Thomas, Randy Chu, Brandon Hutt, Jason Lee, Ian Parham, James Morris, Sony Green Compatibility Supervisor / Lead Technical Writer Lynn Taylor Compatibility Technicians Darryl Cobb, Brian Deksnys, Benjamin Estabrook, Kristie Garber, Kim Jardin, Dan Martinez Additional Compatibility Testing Michael Blair, Bryan Finoki, Eric Knudson, Scott Taylor Quality Services Computer Technician John Carsey Lead Sound Designer Julian Kwasneski Additional Sound Design Paul Gorman, Todd Davies, Clint Bajakian Cutscene Mixing Jory K. Prum Original Star Wars Sound Effects Ben Burtt Original Music Composed By Jeremy Soule Original Star Wars Music Composed By John Williams VO Director Darragh O'Farrell Senior Voice Editor Cindy F. Wong Assistant Voice Editors Harrison Deutsch, Coya Elliott Voice and International Coordinator Jennifer Sloan Voices Recorded At Screen Music Studios Cast Jennifer Sloan (Bastila Shan), Raphael Sbarge (Carth Onasi), Rafael Ferrer (Darth Malak), John Cygan (Canderous Ordo), Kristoffer Tabori (HK-47), Kevin Michael Richardson (Jolee Bindo), Courtenay Taylor (Juhani), Cat Taber (Mission Vao), Edward Asner (Master Vrook) Addtional Voices Provided By André Sogliuzzo, April Stewart, Bill E. Martin, Brian George, Cam Clarke, Carolyn Seymour, Charity James, Charles Dennis, Dan Hagen, Darren Norris, Ethan Phillips, Frank Welker, Gregg Berger, Grey DeLisle, Hillary Huber, J. Karen Thomas, James Horan, Jason Marsden, Jess Harnell, James Kevin Ward, Kevin Schon, Kimberly Brooks, Kristoffer Tabori, Liz Marks, Lloyd Sherr, Michael Gough, Michael Ralph, Nathan Carlson, Neil Kaplan, Neil Ross, Nick Jameson, Patrick Fraley, Patrick Pinney, Paul Amendt, Phil Lamarr, Rino Romano, Robin Atkin Downes, Robin Sachs, Simon Templeman, Steven Jay Blum, Sumalee Montano, Tamara Phillips, Tom Kane Manager of International Production Darren Hedges International Producer Bryan Davis International Lead Tester David Chapman Director of Marketing Liz Allen Product Marketing Manager David Zemke Marketing Coordinator Chris Susen Public Relations Manager Heather Twist Public Relations Specialist Alexis Mervin Internet Community Relations Specialist Ronda Scott Internet Marketing Jim Passalacqua Manual Editor Brett Rector Manual Writers Michael Gallo, James Ohlen, Lukas Kristjanson, Drew Karpyshyn Manual Cover / Manual 3D Art and Design Gregory Harsh Director of Sales Meredith Cahill Sales Coordinator Mike Maguire Sales Analyst Greg Robles Channel Marketing Manager Timothy Moore Channel Marketing Specialist Katy Walden Director of Sales Operations Jason Horstman Materials Manager Evelyne Bolling Manager of Quality Services Paul Purdy Quality Assurance Supervisor Chip Hinnenberg Product Support Supervisor Jay Geraci DVD / CD Burning Goddesses Wendy Kaplan, Kellie Walker LucasArts I.S. Chris Brody, James Carpenter, John Doak, John von Eichhorn, John Hannon, Daryll Jacobson, Chris McAllister, Gary Pfeiffer, Richard Quinones, Joe Shum, Victor Tancredi-Ballugera, Chad J. Williams Lucas Licensing Stacy Cheregotis, Chris Gollaher, Kristi Kaufman Special Thanks Adria Wilson, Andy Alamano, Brent Oster, Brett Schnepf, Camela McLanahan, Candice Gindy, Clint Young, Dan Martinez, Denise Gollaher, Donna Czerwinski, Emily Duval, Haden Blackman, James Miller, Jannett L. Shirley-Paul, Jeff Kliment, John Carsey, Jon Knowles, K.C. Coleman, Karen Chelini, LEC‑RPM, Leland Chee, Lisa Swart, Malcolm Johnson, Mark Barbolak, Mary Bihr, Matthew Urban, Matthew J. Fillbrandt, Mike Nelson, Peggy Ary, Rachel Hardwick, Randall Breen, Reeve S. Thompson, R. J. Berg, Seth J. Steinberg, Shara Miller, Simon Jeffery, Steve Matulac, Tina Carter, Tom McCarthy Very Special Thanks George Lucas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V. Melkalis Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 TL : DR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Loto Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Are you planning on having any more of these Q and A's in the future? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jvstice Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 I have a question for David if he's willing. As Revan restores Hk 47's memories, the 2nd memory he/she restores is of the droid's employment on Sleyheyron for one of the crime bosses before the boss got blown up. Was there any intention of developing Hk 47's ties to the planet any further story wise upon your party's return there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Fett Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 You should contact SS, the head of Team Hutt. Maybe you could get him to include something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sithspecter Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Hey Chris, could you ask DavidG what makes the blaster bolts/awareness line stop on an object in a module? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevanMMaster Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 What about the Revan Robes? Lets see if he could give us some advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth InSidious Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 He's already said he can't help with technical information. Why do you persist in asking for such from him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Loto Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Perhaps David G. might remember a few lines that made Suuda so funny. It would be worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrisG Posted March 9, 2008 Author Share Posted March 9, 2008 I think we can gather a new list of questions, now, and I will send it over to David Monday, i had not wanted to flood him so waited a bit, but we can ask him for more info on things that he knows, he has given us a pretty clear idea of what he does actually know and not, so i will gather a new llist and post it here for review and then send it over. We can also try some of the other Biwoar tech staff, and see if they maybe able to help us with some of the technical things. Always worth trying. Great to see the restoration work continuing, sorry to have been silent for a bit myself, medical stuff and winter combined so please make your questions as detailed as possible so i can know who to direct them to, David or some of the other staff and we will keep trying, certainly we have the wonderful work you all are doing already to show as proof that you all are more than willing to do all you can on your own. Great Respect to you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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