Timeline discussion (SP)

[BloodRiot]

well... the basis of the discussion would be for a JA like FPS game... the same character/storyline/gameplay characteristics but set in the golden ages.

 

I also agree that the JK series should always be related to Katarn in some way.

 

Maybe i just didn't clarify my initial post enough... for that... mea culpa... but JA seems to gather enough potential and possibilities to make a good storyline in the golden ages... maybe a total convertion or something.

 

I'd probably be a part of a team that wanted to build a MOD SP storyline in JA in that era.

 

It's not that i dont like the post ROTJ timeline... I'd just kill for a sample of the big jedi vs sith battles in the good ol' days

 

Something in the likes of the Jedis at geonosis in ep2...except fighting sith instead of the geonoseans and trade federation droids.

 

 

Cheers

[StormHammer]

Originally posted by toms

However, maybe a game set in two eras, with you controling different characters in each (telling parallel, related plots). THat would be cool, as actions of the golden-age character might affect the missions for the "modern" character... and they could go to town with the levels, having you revisit levels that have been totally changed by the passage of time...

 

The ultimate would be a JK-like game where you play Anakin/vader as he hunts down all the Jedi....

 

You know...we must be on the same wavelength or something, because I had been thinking exactly the same kinds of things. So I really like your ideas, and I think they have a wealth of potential. A game along these lines would fit well in the current series of games, without detracting too much from the current timelines.

 

 

As for the other points raised about setting a game in the 'Golden Age'...well, I think the main problem until now has been that there are only some EU stories to go on. When DF and JK came out, we already had a very good idea of the Star Wars universe and what it entailed in that timeline, because we'd seen the movies, and so had something solid to build on, something to use as a solid reference key.

 

That isn't really true of the 'Golden Era', i.e, 4000 years in the past. Yes, we have the 'Tales Of The Jedi' series, but I imagine nowhere near as many people have taken the time to read those stories as the number that has gone to watch the movies.

 

So in this context, I think Knights Of The Old Republic is actually immensely important as a showcase for that era, defining some of the key locations, the abilities of the Jedi and the Sith, etc. Although the game will have it's own story, I am assuming there is some tie-in to the existing EU material, and that the game will 'set the stage' for that period of the SW universe. In a way, this game could be as important for this period of the timeline as the original movies were for the classic timeline.

 

My point is this...once KOTOR is released, and has been played, it should provide a good context for those players regarding the key players of the time, the key events and locations of the time. It would then seem more viable to me to follow up with other games set in the same period, but for different genres, including FPS games in the same style as JA. In those terms, it would be extremely important to provide solid links between the EU, KOTOR and any other game set in that period. That timeline needs to build up a solid context on which other games (and other media) can build and expand, just as most Star Wars games until recent years built on the Original SW Trilogy, and newer SW games are building on the Prequel era. If the Prequel games had been made without the movies as a context, for example, would they have been half as popular?

 

So in my view, Lucasarts have actually made the best possible choice for a first game set in this period. KOTOR is an RPG, and as we all know, RPG's carry a lot of minute detail and epic storylines (usually). It is an ideal showcase for the period, not just in terms of the story, but how people [/i]lived[/i] during those times. As soon as this context has been established, it should be easier to build other games onto it, and expand it.

 

I also agree with JediLurker that we need a series of games that continues in the Classic timeline. Other recent SW game announcements are more and more building on the Prequel era, which is fine. But the OT timeline still needs to be continued, and I would hate to see it abandoned any time in the future in favour of the Prequels alone.

 

I think there is room for all 3 current timelines, the 'Golden Era', the Prequels, and the Classics. And there is really no reason to be constricted only to these timelines, either. With the wealth of EU material that exists, the 'history' of this strange fictional universe is growing all the time, and so it's scope is frankly limitless.

[toms]

yeah... i was looking at it from a JA point of view, not a DF series one. I defnately think that the Ep 1-3 era is ripe for a decent FPS on the PC/xbox... although i guess they might be waitng until they have Ep3 out of the way so they have less risk of conflicting with it.

 

as for the Katarn/DF link... i have a sneaky suspicion that they have run out of options there... they can't really do another one, (10 years later, again ) with kyle learning stuff AGAIN. might be why they decided to go for JA instead.

 

I still think Evil Kyle or Mara

[txa1265]

That's the whole thing, isn't it ... don't think about it from the DF/Kyle perspective, think about it from the 'being with a lightsaber and force powers' perspective.

I agree that there are rich possibilities in all three areas ... and beyond. Some here don't think much of the prequels - personally I like AOTC as much as, if not more than, TESB (although TPM is at the bottom of my list). I certainly think there is interesting stuff to be done in that era. I also think the era they are exploring - the post-RotJ ers, has more to yield. The 'Golden Era', as StormHammer says, will be opened wide with KOTOR, and can be used as a fertile launch grounds. And, of course, there is the whole NJO era that is untouched.

 

As for Kyle ... I don't know how they can give him another 'fresh start', which was one of my concerns last year before we had any inklings of JA.

 

Mike

[BloodRiot]

I think Kyle will follow the Ben Kenobi role now... he has learned to master his powers to a greater extent than before thus making him not fit for a player character cuz he's at a higher stage and therefore slower to rise and too powerful for a startup character.

 

A starting character should be a relatively unexperienced padawan. It grants greater speed in advancement since he's starting low... and the more basic stuff is easier to pickup than the master stuff.

 

So basically the player character should be something in the likes of Luke in ESB while Kyle should be something like Obi wan in Ep2.

 

And if the series goes on we may even see Kyle more like Qui-Gon or Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi.

 

It's not exactly something unprecedented in SW...specially with the prequels...we saw how the same characters had a totally diferent impact on the story and the ones who are the main characters, sometimes play other secondary roles of similar importance.