Guest Neumi Posted March 1, 2000 Share Posted March 1, 2000 The geman magazine "Gamestar" had a preview about Obi Wan. Stephen Shawn (Outlaws, Mysteries of the Sith) is project leader. Obi Wan is more complex than a standard 3d shooter. It's not about jumping around and fire rockets. There are only a few guns in the game, normally you use the lightsaber and the force: the player has to think about how to kill the single enemies. In one level you must free prisoniers, but if you do a front attack, the droids will shot them. The solution is a hidden passage, you can use. Most of the time you run with the lightsaber through the 13 big levels. There is a key to change from explorer mode to combat mode. In JK you used the keyyboard to fight with the light saber. In Obi Wan you should use the mouse. Every move with the mouse causes a different move with the lightsaber. The left mouse button causes attack moves, the right button causes defence moves. Sword fighting becomes complex using combinations and special moves. If you move the mouse in a circle, Obi Wan will do a move swirling around. You can also do different moves for combinations. 2 combat profis where used for the motion captioning. At the moment, 40 moves with the saber are avaiable. normally you will play with the 3rd person view. There IS a 1st person view, but fighting with the sword and rolling arund becomes much easier when you see the whole Jedi. Obi Wan can run, jump, climb, roll and he can do some cool jump moves. plus there aer force powers like force healing, force distraction, force jump and force push. You can talk to friendly NPC's. The plot follows the TPM plot, but shows Naboo, Tatooine and Coruscant. But there are more locations as shown in the movie: you must infiltrate the palace through a underground city. The designers wanted to create levels taking place before and after the movie, but Lucasfilm forbid it. The new graphics engine uses dynamic lights. When Obi Wan activates the lightsaber, we see something like a blue aura. The programmers are proud of the physic engine. If you push two hanging objects, they will bounce independently. You must solve some puzzle in this way using game objecs. Ther will be no level editor, but besides DM there will be some cool MP modes. Example: Team A has to escort Queen Amidala to a safe place while Team B will try to kill her. Commentary of the author: Instead of a shooter I saw complex sword fighting in a physically realistic world. Let's hope the amount of puzzles and tactic will not push Obi Wan out of the genre. ------------------ ================== Everybody's playing the game But nobody's rules are the same Nobody's on nobody's side ------------------ the Blood Angel has spoken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilhuf Posted March 2, 2000 Share Posted March 2, 2000 Vielen Dank für die Nachrichten. That sounds very exciting! (No editor however HA! What a surprise). A lot of sword fighting. 40 moves! And even a new gameplay mode. (Probably similar to the Bodyguards v. Assassins mode in HL TFC). Was this article posted online as well Neumi? Wilhuf [This message has been edited by Wilhuf (edited March 01, 2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Darth Kurgan Posted March 2, 2000 Share Posted March 2, 2000 Also similar to the "hostage" mode in Rainbow 6, and "Commando" mod for JK. Sounds cool. Sounds interesting (and promising), assuming the source is reliable. Like you say, how does this information affect the whole "First Person Shooter" thing (LEC keeps referring to it as a FPS), if you're going to be spending most of the game solving puzzles and using the saber in third person mode? The rest of the info all sounds plausible based on what we do know, but it would be nicer if we could read the article ourselves (wish I could!). Thanks for telling us though. Whatever happens, I hope they manage to pull of a winner so we can have something to look forward to. ; ) Kurgan [This message has been edited by Darth Kurgan (edited March 01, 2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted March 2, 2000 Share Posted March 2, 2000 Thanks for the Update Neumi. It all sounds very promising. If the article's right, it's a shame Lucasfilm stepped in to prevent some pre- or post-TPM elements. I suppose it's because the other films are still in the pipeline, and George might want to make reference to things before and after TPM that we don't know about yet. How's that for looking on the bright side I wonder how we're going to get easy access to 40 moves? I'd think that was a configuration nightmare. Anyway, I think I'd better get some practice in - and maybe it's time to treat myself to a new mouse. Like the Intellimouse Explorer. Mmmm. ------------------ 'I have a very bad feeling about this.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Conor Posted March 2, 2000 Share Posted March 2, 2000 You could probably get some basic practise in with Die by the Sword (Interplay). That had a sword/mouse option, although I preferred the keyboard. If they pull this off it could be amazing. There are possibilities for a control disaster though. ------------------ "Preach the Gospel. If necessary, use words." -St. Francis of Assisi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Darth Kurgan Posted March 2, 2000 Share Posted March 2, 2000 I hope it's not like DBTS. I mean sure that game had a great idea, but the character was sluggish. Plus with the mouse option, you could just swing your mouse around wildly and get tons of hits (where's the skill in that?). With the "arcade" multiple button layout, it was more reasonable, but still kind of clunky. A better idea I think would be more like in the Bushido Blade games. They allow verticle and horizontal hits to collide and block. You can lock blades and "tap" to get out of them and shove the other guy. You have selectable "stances" by one button that allow for different moves. Then you have a couple of different attack buttons for lighter and harder attacks. Plus you get the usual jump, crouch, etc, and the ability to throw something (your saber?) That I think would work best. Maybe holding buttons would give you other options (like holding a button would make you stand and face your opponent no matter where your weapon was aimed, or a button that made you block automatically). I just hope they allow you access to other weapons besides just fists and saber (and force). That's a big part of the "shooter" experience (the projectile weapons). I also hope there's alot of force powers (not just 'push' -only or something dumb like in TPM game!). Kurgan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dark_JVS Posted March 2, 2000 Share Posted March 2, 2000 I have just read the article in Gamestar. Kurgan, there is hardly any information Neumi hasn't told us in his post, except the fact that LEC wants to publish it in the 4th quarter of 2000! And that really hurts,'cause I thought they'll publish it until next summer! I have been surprised about the fact, that you can do 40 moves. And all with the mouse? First I thought "Oh my god!" but then I thought of saber fights in JK. I think in Obi Wan there will be several possible offence and defence strikes and saber movements in the air. Obi Wan can roll, so there will be saber strikes while rolling too. All in all it's still a lot, but it sounds not like a configuration nightmare anymore. I hope the game supports the new Explorer mouse. To all those, who think of buying it, THE MOUSE IS REALLY KEWL! It always works fine. Believe me, it's worth the money! JVS ------------------ The truth is in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Darth Kurgan Posted March 2, 2000 Share Posted March 2, 2000 I suppose there's no way I can read the article.. is it online? Can you scan the pages and put them up on the forum? That would be really nice. It's not that unbelieveable that 40 moves could be pulled off using the mouse. I don't think they mean ONLY with the mouse (even if you had a four button mouse, that's a ton of moves). Probably using the mouse and keyboard button-combos in some cases. I'd like it if they finally got some decent joystick support as well (you know, so a joystick could actually run well on the game and handle the functions). Kurgan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilhuf Posted March 2, 2000 Share Posted March 2, 2000 40 discrete lightsaber moves does seem like an awful lot of choices. Probably a combination of mouse and multiple keys could give you most of your options. Draken had a number of nice melee weapon moves available, and it was modeled loosely on the Jedi Knight arragement. There were extra moves as well, such as a spinning attack, reverse slash, downward slash, back flip, crouch attacks, rolls. These were accomplished by tapping a move key a few times followed by a mouse click. Aiming was done with the mouse. It wasn't terribly difficult to do, but did require at least some skill and timing to do well. It will be interesting to see how the mouse is used for making the Obi saber moves. Wilhuf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jedimathias Posted March 2, 2000 Share Posted March 2, 2000 Two words...ROCK ON! Sounds cool. I hope the "adventure" and "explore" characteristics are not such of a big part of the game as the article suggests. I want FPS! :-) P.S 40 saber moves... Ya BABY! ------------------ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vagabond Posted March 3, 2000 Share Posted March 3, 2000 I hate to be a wet blanket, but this sounds like it could severly suck. Personally, I don't play FPS games with a mouse; I use my trusty Joystick, Throttle, and Pedals combination. If I can't play this game the same way, and do everything without using the mouse, then I won't be getting the game. Plus, the thought of having to solve stupid puzzles sounds anti-fun. "I've got a bad feeling about this..." ------------------ VagabondNomad on the Zone... All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted March 3, 2000 Share Posted March 3, 2000 It just occured to me that if the game allows it, you should be able to bind a combination of moves to one hot key, like you can in some other games. THAT would make access to forty moves a bit easier. In response to Dark_JVS: an end of 2000 release isn't necessarily a BAD thing. It depends on how many people have been working on this project, and for how long prior to the official announcement. ------------------ 'I have a very bad feeling about this.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Grand Admiral Thrawn Posted March 3, 2000 Share Posted March 3, 2000 Just because it isn't coming with a level editor, doesn't mean that it won't be editable. JK didn't come with an editor, and it's editable... ------------------ The Darkside? I've been there. Do your worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dark_JVS Posted March 3, 2000 Share Posted March 3, 2000 That might be right Stormhammer. I'm sorry Vagabond, but I think the game will be damn hard to play without the mouse. Since System Shock (first part) more and more people have played shooters using a combination of keyboard and mouse. And it's really the best solution, as you can see on the zone. The really good players only use that sort of control. LEC might have found out ... On the other hand JK has full support for several pads and joysticks. And nowadays a company cannot publish a FPS [or sort of] without joystick&gamepad support. I'm sure they'll have found a solution. Maybe the advantage of the SW gamepad to record special moves will be useful for Obi Wan, who knows?` JVS PS.: who of you is going to buy Force Commander? [interested IN FC mp games] ------------------ The truth is in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Darth Kurgan Posted March 3, 2000 Share Posted March 3, 2000 Maybe I just didn't have the "right" joystick. I tried about three different ones, two of which were rather great ones (one was a flight stick, the other my current gamepad.. the first one was my crappy 6 button gamepad), the trouble was they all had this annoying "drift" effect, that is the centring/movement was jerky and erratic. Plus aiming with the POV hat kind of sucks (it's easy to aim "UP" and "DOWN" but precision is tough). If I ever found a joystick that was really great for JK that didn't cost a fortune, I'd get it (Vagabond?). Apparently Vagabond is the exception to the "Mouse/Keys are best" solution. ; ) I honestly didn't start using the combo until JK came out. The rest of the FPS released prior to it except Quake (even Dark Forces) I played with a gamepad, and still do. Without a reliance on mouse-look/aiming you really don't need a mouse (Dark Forces just has a straight look UP and DOWN, so buttons do it just right). Kurgan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solo_anakin Posted March 3, 2000 Share Posted March 3, 2000 OB1 sounds like its going to be a pretty good game. 40 saber moves As for Mouse/Joystick I have never tried to play an FPS with a joystick, IMHO they simply do not work well for that sort of game. Mouse & keyboard is the way to go. So in essence LEC is making the game to work best with what does work best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilhuf Posted March 3, 2000 Share Posted March 3, 2000 I gave up a fifteen year joystick habit to play JK with mouse and I have yet to regret it. Mousing came to the online gaming scene back in the day, when Q1 wasn't cool. Check out House of Mouse, an interesting and amusing page on why the mouse is 'the way to go.' http://www.planetquake.com/mouse/ Mmm wouldn't it be nice to be able write aliases for chained Obi-Wan commands (e.g., cycle through all weapons until reaching the most powerful, execute mulitple saber combos, or zoom your FOV in and out again). Recursive, multiple command script binding in an LEC product? 'I think you overestimate their chances...' Oh well their competitors had this kind of functionality four years ago. Puzzles in Obi-Wan would probably be a good thing™ to keep player interest going. Half of the fun is exploration, and trying to understand your environment. The Nar Shadda levels and later Valley of the Jedi levels in JK were excellent examples IMO. Many of the puzzles there were fairly simple, and often required some running and jumping to solve them (e.g., jump on the right floating cargo container at the right time in the right order). Interesting way to require the player to use action moves to solve a puzzle. Hey Vagabond are you into flight or space combat sims? (Ever play XWA or Freespace2?) You mentioned you use pedals in JK. Sounds like an interesting control scheme. Wilhuf [This message has been edited by Wilhuf (edited March 03, 2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dark_JVS Posted March 3, 2000 Share Posted March 3, 2000 Kurgan, I'm sorry, I haven't bought the magazine, but maybe Neumi can arrange to scan the article for you... Btw, do you speak german? ------------------ The truth is in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Neumi Posted March 3, 2000 Share Posted March 3, 2000 I HAVEE access to a scanner, but I can't put the sites on a internet page. Maybe someone else? But there really isn't much more about the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Darth Kurgan Posted March 3, 2000 Share Posted March 3, 2000 I know a little German, and I can probably translate. I guess I'm just really excited by the prospect (and I want to finally read one of these legendary German mags that always has the insider info). ; ) If you can scan the pages, you can email me the picture files (JPG, as high quality as you can) and I'll upload it to my own site(s). How'se that? I own a scanner too, and if I had the mags, I'd do it myself! I have a fast DSL connection and plenty of webspace, so don't worry about file size or anything. kurgan@iastate.edu (no spam please, just the scanned pics) Kurgan [This message has been edited by Darth Kurgan (edited March 03, 2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jedi Master Xai-Qui Posted March 4, 2000 Share Posted March 4, 2000 40 different ways to kill someone, yippee! That will make a fun multiplayer!!! (I have a Intellimouse Explorer!!!!) I am glad thet the project director of MOTS is in charge for two reasons: It is likely it will be a cool game and I read an interview where he said he likes looking at the patches for JK/ MOTS and realising that it was a good idea not to include certain things in the game. Maybe he might have a say on whether or not it is editable? Thanks for the news, how come us lot in the UK never get any news like this from mags? ------------------ The truth? Even Reality does not exist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted March 4, 2000 Share Posted March 4, 2000 I actually managed to find the magazine's web site. Point your browser at: www.gamestar.de Be warned - it's all in German. I persevered, and managed to hunt down the words Obi-Wan under their Previews section, but I couldn't find any other information or screenshots. Then again, not being a German speaker, I got a bit lost :-( And you're right, Xai-Qui. Why haven't we got a mag dedicating centre-spreads to this game? ------------------ 'I have a very bad feeling about this.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dark_JVS Posted March 4, 2000 Share Posted March 4, 2000 I wonder why all those german mags have such insider info's. I think , if they keep giving good marks to the game, LEC probably will tell em' some secrets, or how's that possible? All the other previews I have seen, even had no screenshots. Well, gamestar had some, the newer ones. JVS PS.: Nobody here who is going to buy Force Commander? ------------------ The truth is in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Darth Kurgan Posted March 4, 2000 Share Posted March 4, 2000 Yeah, I went and found the website as well, and I was able to use babelfish to translate it to english. However, all that was there was: Title: Star Wars: Obi Wan Category: 3D-Action Manufacturer: LucasArts "Ersteindruck": Very much property ATS date: 4. Quarter 2000 Listed under the column of previously previewed games. Perhaps the online version has no article on it? Can any of your German speakers tell me what "Ersteindruck" means in english? ; ) The only bit of useful info then was that the release date was pushed back to fourth quarter 2000 (Sept-Dec). So ObiWan will be out by the 21st century (and by the Third Millenium)! Also, in depth previews on the online version are only listed as: Force Commander Grand Prix 3 Praetorians Team Fortress 2 WarCraft 3 Republic Allegiance Black & White Kurgan [This message has been edited by Darth Kurgan (edited March 04, 2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Darth Kurgan Posted March 4, 2000 Share Posted March 4, 2000 Perhaps this ObiWan preview was in a previous issue (not the current one). Is there anyway to browse back issues on that site? Or, again, somebody could scan some pages and email them to me. ; ) Kurgan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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