Those Little Frog Things On Level 2

[Guest Dave Maul]

Those little frog things on level 2 near the mushrooms are supposed to take away 10 points, but shooting them with Amidala's blaster actually gives you 12 points. I can't be bothered to check with the other characters, but it may be helpful to any newcomers.

 

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Dave Maul

[Guest Darth Wart]

You know, Dave, you're right, and that is an interesting little piece of programming. I've thought about it a lot.

 

[For the record, the normal 5 jedi get points deducted for killing those things, but the three unlockable characters receive points.]

 

The whole riddle, of course, is why.

 

Now, since the first character I unlocked was Maul, everything made sense to me at first. I thought it was in keeping with the Jedi philosophy that you shouldn't get points for killing helpless, harmless creatures, but that such an activity would be in keeping with the Sith philosophy.

 

But that doesn't explain Amidala and Panaka, who ALSO receive points for killing them. I thought they were good guys....I can understand Maul getting points for meaningless cruelty, but NOT those two.

 

Another thing that doesn't make sense: ALL the characters receive points for swiping the potted plants on the Theed Palace. Now if, as I originally thought, this little quirk of programming was meant to show us that true Jedi must have respect even for the most inconsequential forms of life, why do you get 50 points for taking out the potted plants? How were they harming anybody? That's where the logicality of the points-system seems to break down. You can't argue (as I joke in my walkthrough) that the potted plants were "in the service of the Dark Side.")

 

Enough to say that Albert Schweitzer was probably NOT among the lead programmers of the game.

 

Possibly this whole thing is yet another glitch in the programming; I don't know. But it's hard to see how something like that could have been anything other than deliberately planned. Yet the underlying philosophy is plainly contradictory.

 

If I ever got to help design a Jedi game, that's how it'd work: the Jedi would have to refrain from killing potted plants and harmless jungle creatures, while the soulless Sith could kill them with impunity. I think that would be a really cool way of suggesting the deeper philosophy of the Jedi way in the middle of an otherwise brainless game.

 

But the way it's laid out in JPB is simply confusing.

 

(I should point out that those "little frog things" are considerably more vicious and deadly in the PC version of TPM. They only seem to be harmless in THIS game.)

 

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Wart

 

Get your free JPB guide at:

http://jedipowerbattlesguide.homestead.com/JPB.html

 

[This message has been edited by Darth Wart (edited August 18, 2000).]

[Guest Darth Jevec]

Maybe, Amidala and Panaka are secretly sith...naaa..it makes u think though.

[Guest Darth Jevec]

Those frogs in the pc version were so anoying at that one part. There was like 10 of em all trying to eat my knees. Then i got mad a killed em all with 34 health left.Then i caught up with Jar Jar and i cant believe he wasnt killed when all those Droids were shooting at me.

 

then i ran and met up with Qui-Gon.Those frogs almost made me lose the mission. grrr