Three Saber Stances.....

[Fardreamer]

I'm guessing normal is chudan and heavy is hasso. What could "light" be?

[ChangKhan]

Originally posted by Fardreamer

I'm guessing normal is chudan and heavy is hasso. What could "light" be?

 

The strong stance is definitely hasso (or, in medieval longsword stances, vom tach or the "Falcon" or "High" Guard, though held more vertically).

 

But the other two stances - fast and medium - don't have a direct kendo analogue...

 

The fast stance is probably most like chudan because it is best for defense, but it does not point out towards the enemy. The saber is held in front, slightly to the left and tilted toward the upper right so that is crosses diagonally in front of the body - good for a frontal defense and quick, short attacks. In medieval longsword fighting stances, it's probably most equivalent to the pflug guard.

 

The medium stance holds the saber to the right side at the hip, slightly tipped forward. It is not the best for defense, but allows for quicker and broader attacks. I don't know if there's a traditional stance that exactly correlates to this guard, maybe a posta breve (short guard) or a more vertical posta corona (middle guard)

[Jedi_Overlord]

I think the light stance is easiest, because of quick recovery. However, depending on how much damage the heavy stance does, it may become more popular.

[Zek]

I'm guessing Heavy will be very popular, judging by the fact that most people used nothing but the wide swing in JK...

[MrCrusher]

How quickly can a player switch between these stances? And, will saber point and edge damage differ?

[UseDaAgression]

Well in JK there were two choices and normal attack sucked. I think light and normal will be more seen

[Belgirion]

that would be cool if someone with the light stanced locked sabers w/ someone in heavy stance and the light guy gets knocked back

 

like when Obi-Wan did it to Darth Maul and maul knocked him back into that pit

[JaG|Kaiser]

It's been vague. I plan on waiting.

[Fardreamer]

Wow, thanks for clearing that up ChangKhan. I'm glad to see you researched swordfighting and fencing before you made the lightsaber system - that ensures moves will look correct as well as cool.

[Toa Tahu]

How are we going to toggle between stances,ChangKhan?That was a eloquent explanation,though slightly vague,please elaborate,thanks.

[nykel007]

What I want to know, is whether we'll be able to link like a move in one of the styles with another? If so, (24*3 = 72) individual moves we would have at our fingertips. Chang, can you say something on this?

[Daedelus]

I'd like to know how to change stances also. The explanation was pretty cool though

 

D

[TUS_Tomcat]

ChangKhan, i dont know what everything you said means (i know a couple of em), but it sounded really cool

 

 

Oh and sorry about my triple post guys, was on my other old comp (PIII 450) and it mustta freaked out.

[Pedro The Hutt]

*sees Changkhan's post* I've got nothing to worry about anymore , the saber system really seems well worked out now. (and now I'll definatly go for the quick/light style now that I know it has a chudan-ish stance ^_^")

[ChangKhan]

There is one key that cycles to the next attack style. You can cycle at any time you want, even in the middle of a swing, the new style will not take effect until the beginning of your next attack (including chained attacks... so you can do a strong attack and, if your timing is good, you can chain to a fast attack, etc.)

[ChangKhan]

BTW, before JK2, I didn't really know anything about swordfighting (other than having played the Bushido Blade games and liking them)... but I found this page:

 

Star Wars: Lightsabers

 

and it's an excellent analysis of the 4 films and how the lightsabers are used...

 

Here are some examples of the different stances:

 

Heavy:

and

 

Medium:

and

It's not the *exact* pose, as you can see here:

and here:

 

Fast:

(note the saber held on the left side, tilted diagonally back across the body and held vertically... the best defensive stance for blocking incoming blaster shots - which is what the fast style is recommended for)

[Zek]

ChangKhan, if I may change the topic a little bit... Is JK2's saber combat system set up to prevent the hit-and-run tactic that was required in JK? Basically, in JK you stay back from them, try to get to their side, do a heavy swing, and back up again until you're ready. Will JK2 be more geared towards acrobatic and varied combat like in the movies(if so, how?), or will people resort to hit-and-run to try and minimize damage taken?

 

The thing is, in JK you could block any swing passively just by looking at them right; the only way to get a hit in was to swing when they just swung or when you're next to or behind them, so people never bothered with frontal attacks. Will it be possible to actually exchange blows up close in JK2 without one person simply not doing anything and being impervious to attack? Or will it still be a battle to get behind the enemy, just with more acrobatic methods of doing so?

[Fardreamer]

I'm impressed. Very impressed. This was the kind of research I was doing for a possible saber mod, thinking you Raven guys would blow it, but it seems I underestimated your ability to understand players' desires.

 

The original Jedi Knight's lightsaber system was poorly researched, as was most of the game. The developers just threw in any old thing they felt like, without checking if it fit in with the Star Wars theme.

[ChangKhan]

Originally posted by Zek

Is JK2's saber combat system set up to prevent the hit-and-run tactic that was required in JK?

 

There is no simple "yes" or "no" answer to this question because there are so many variables that a saber duel can take many different forms. It depends on your style of play, your enemy's style of play, the amount of force power the two of you have allotted to your saber offense and defense, what saber styles you're using, the environment, what other force powers you have, what acrobatics you are good at doing, etc, etc. So, in short, yes, you could end up having the kind of encounters you described, but you could just as easily have one of many different kinds of encounters, depending on all the above variables.

[UseDaAgression]

A raven Dood posted in my Subject :D :D :D :D hehe. He made a good point though...

[ryudom]

excellant.

[Zek]

Chang, could you give some examples please? In JK, if you ran up to someone from the front and just started swinging, they would block every blow as long as they felt the need to stand there, and nothing would ever get done unless they reverted to the keep-your-distance tactics. The only real alternative is just swinging wildly and standing in front of eachother, in which case it's pretty much who hits first. The main variance in this is if Force Grip is involved, in which case it's basically just grip them and slash them in the back till they die.

 

I guess my question is, will the new acrobatics and saber swings really change saber fighting much, or will it just be more fancy new ways to achieve the objective of getting behind them?

 

Maybe that's hard to answer... Will you be able to block any saber swing by standing stationary like in JK, or will you actually have to do something more active to block a specific swing? The primary problem I saw with JK was that the frontal defense of a lightsaber is essentially impenetrable, so combatants have no choice but to go for their opponent's back. I supposed actual acrobatics would add more depth to that sort of a fight, but I would really like it if a no-holds-barred frontal saber fight were possible too.

[ChangKhan]

Zek,

No, the front defense is not impenetrable. Strong attacks can knock away and break through some defenses. And if someone is swinging at you -perhaps winding up for a strong attack, you can hit them while there is an opening, particularly with a fast attack. Don't worry so much...

[Zek]

Will interrupting their swing with a hit of your own stop their attack, or will you likely take a hit in exchange like in JK?

[ChangKhan]

Originally posted by Zek

Will interrupting their swing with a hit of your own stop their attack, or will you likely take a hit in exchange like in JK?

 

The interaction of two sabers is pretty complex. *If* two attacks do collide, they may: bounce off each other, or one may be stronger and knock the other attack away while continuing through, one saber may deflect off the other or both may... or you may end up in a saber lock. If one is attacking and the other defending, the likelihood of each of these outcomes changes somewhat (again depending on all the variables I mentioned in my previous post).

 

Don't worry...