learning curve?

[HBK]

Hello all,

I'm a n00b here, my first post, but I am excited about JK Outcast. My question is, with all the force powers and now apparently 'advanced' lightsabre controls, how steep is the learning cure for this game? The only FPS games I've played are Half-Life (and CS), Quake II and III, and currently Alien Verus Predator 2. Those games seem pretty basic compared to the options available in Outcast.

 

Of course noone has played it, but have u heard anything? Was it difficult to learn the original Jedi Knight? Will the controls be similar?

I am also mainly talking about multi-player.

 

Thanks for your time.

[Desslock]

Yes there will most definately be a learning curve

 

How steep is anyones guess. Not many have actually played and if they did, they probably cant say.

[TUS_Tomcat]

My guess (note: guess, i dont have the game ) is that it will be quite alright. Since you DONT have the saber right away, and start with guns and no force, and then get your saber in a later level, at the academy

 

Now what place could be better to be taught how to use it, than the jedi academy? I expect a sort of saber tutorial there.

 

And Forc epwoers, you wont suddenly have em all at once so that should also be gradually introduced.

 

I wouldnt worry about it

[Pedro The Hutt]

Yeah, there'll probably be a bunch of Force(& perhaps saber) tutorials in the Jedi Academy.. this seems to be a good hint towards it.

(I wonder if that banana peel on the floor is a Monkey Island reference lol)

[Cracken]

Wow, I didn't even notice the banana peel the first time I saw that. It would be pretty keen if you actually slipped on the banana peel, and then Yoda's ghost appears and laughs at you.

[Gabrobot]

lol:D

[L'Equa Sinar]

The original JK learning curve wasn't too bad, but as ppl have said, the saber & force will be introduced slowly into the game, but i'm sure they will provide the much needed challenge when they do arrive, without driving u mad!

[HBK]

Thanks for the replies so far. The Academy looks interesting. Definetly be spending time there.

But...

I have a follow up question about the MP. Any word on the 'netcode'? I currently play AVP2 and the MP can be downright trash sometimes due to lag and packet loss.

[Cracken]

It's going to have an improved version of the Q3 netcode, which is the best out right now. AVP2 sucks because it uses the LithTech engine, which has been crap since its inception (Only NOLF was good, but the MP sucked there, too). Q3 netcode is awesome.

[HBK]

Cool, thanks for responding. I really can't wait to play this game. I was playing AVP2 to hold me over until JK2 came out, but like you said Cracken, it's netplay IS crap most of the time and I don't know how much more I can take. To bad, it could have been sooo good. I'll probably hunt down a copy of JK and play that until Outcast come out, get used to having powers and the like.

[StormHammer]

Welcome to the forums, HBK. Hope you're enjoying your stay. Here... *hands over a chocolate Jedi Medallion*

 

Why not try and pick up a copy of the original JK...I know it's on budget release in some places, and it would give you some background to the story, while introducing you to the concept of Force power use and using a lightsaber?

 

Failing that...as stated above, re-introduction to the Force and saber will be gradual throughout JKII's SP game, and it should be easy enough to pick up. If you're mostly interested in MP, you might want to think carefully about assigning some hotkeys for various Force powers. In JK you could either scroll through them and select one (which was fairly slow, though not too bad for SP), but you could also assign whichever keys you liked to activate them, which is a lot faster.

[HBK]

Mmmmmm, chocolate Jedi Medallion.

 

Thanks StormHammer. I will be getting the original JK. Can't wait to play. Hotkeys, hmph, never thought of that.

[Cracken]

Then again, most MP games in JK nowadays are NF Sabs BGJ. And on those that aren't the only power you need is grip, because most players don't know how to get out of it. Let's hope that's fixed.

[DeathBoLT]

The learning curve in JK mp was pretty steep.. at least if you play to win, because people have learned so much about gameplay that there are a lot of things to get down to reflex. JK FF Guns is probably the fasest paced style of gameplay ever. I can't recall a single game that was faster. FF powers and the lightsaber(to a limited degree) added an additional dimension that, IMO, made JK stand out amoungst the quake clones, etc.

 

If force powers have the same usefulness that they did in JK, I'd suggest taking steps to allow yourself to rely heavily on them with hotkeys that are in a position that you can touch them without lifting your hand or stopping. Also look to force speed, force jump to increase your ability to attack from any angle and look for people attacking you coming in from the air at mach 2, etc. In JK, utilizing the force speed/jump combo allowed you to reach any point on the map in a second or so. I personally hope you'll be able to use curves on maps as ramps to achieve great distances, etc. as you were able to in JK.

 

The lightsaber is looking to have an increased role in JK2 due to its pixel-pixel collision detection and blocking effect. Quake, etc. never had a melee weapon that sufficently mimicked JK's melee gameplay.

 

 

Not to worry tho, force powers may not have as big a role as they did in JK and even if they do, strategies will be probably be so different that you'll have as much of a chance as any other JKer to pick up on strategies. Having played other games will also have probably started you having a mindset that will have you looking for strategies and force combos that give you maximum mobility and firepower.

[Kurgan]

There will be a definate learning curve once you add the "six sense" of the force to the standard "run and gun" FPS module everyone is used to by now.

 

The force powers and weapons will be different from JK/MotS, so even there, there will be subtle or dramatic differences that will need to be learned and mastered. Counters, timing, and all that.

 

As to the saber stuff, there's two new stances, so you'll have about 3x the moves (plus that "locking" stuff if it's in MP) to learn (to compare.. there were about 10-13 saber moves in JK/MotS).

 

And then there's the more important aspect of learning movement through the maps, using the items/pickups appropriately and the dymanics of the situation. It will definately take more practice than learning to play Quake3.

 

It sounds like in order to get good at multiplayer, you'd want to train in botmatches (set the difficulty just a bit higher than you're comfortable with, to improve your skill and gradually raise it as you get better) as opposed to playing SP, because many of the force power effects will be different in SP from MP and bot matches will simulate MP. Just a thought...

[TigZy]

Originally posted by Kurgan

As to the saber stuff, there's two new stances, so you'll have about 3x the moves (plus that "locking" stuff if it's in MP) to learn (to compare.. there were about 10-13 saber moves in JK/MotS).

 

Plus, something was said about 8 moves which are separate to the existing stances (I think, not entirely sure on whether they're separate or part of each stance).

[Bowen]

A little bit like Requiem: Avenging Angel. That was the closest thing to JK and MotS after they came out. It was a pretty good game I thought

[darky]

Going back to the discussion of the learning curve, one great thing about the original Jedi Knight was that you could go to the Zone (where JK is still played quite a lot) and set your own rules. For instance, perhaps you're a beginner who has played Quake, but not a whole lot else. You could make your multiplayer rules to have no force and no sabers. An all-guns match. Later on, if you wanted to experiment, you could have a FF (full force, for you awesome newbies out there) sabers match. It's all about your playing style and your playing ability. Anyway, if JKII has the options that JK had in multiplayer, what with "ranks" (how many powers your Jedi can have, basically) and the like, then you can create your own learning curve, as it were.

[Kurgan]

True. I did most of my learning in the early days on low force (4 and under). Then worked my way up to the higher levels... (with MotS I played personalities mostly, then worked up to Jedi Master)